# 02 Sep 2001, 01:15AM: Weekend Update Without Norm MacDonald:

I enjoy a long weekend of fun right now. I have been socializing with Zack, whom I know through Seth, and Leonard. I'm listening to Moxy Früvous's You Will Go to the Moon and loving it. My parents are about to come over and view Stomp (a musical/concert) with my sister and me. And K5 outages such as the one these past few days make me want to switch my diary to something I control more, such as my personal webspace.

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/2/161558/3452

# 03 Sep 2001, 04:13AM: Stomp! And Honey.:

My parents came by and my sister, parents, and I watched "Stomp", which was fun. I liked the effects of the lighting and choreography, which varied between references to tribal ritual and sort of Venetian-blind-neon-sign allusions.

The racial balance of the work bothered me. The performers were obviously making some jokes about the supposed lack of rhythm of whitefolk, and at their expense -- and, since the whole experience is a wordless celebration of rhythm, that's unsettling. The "dorky white guy with glasses" was sort of the underdog/star of the show -- all the other performers showed off how skilled they were, and he pretended (I'm guessing) to lack that facility. It was interesting to try and figure out how much was acting and how much wasn't, and to catch little grace notes and moments of pure artistry.

In other news, I had interesting and fruitful conversations with my sister, my parents, Dan, and Leonard. Oh. and at breakfast with my family, I made this involved joke about how the supposed medicinal properties of honey are made-up by the honey manufacturers, which don't let you know about the Dark Side of Honey. I was just joking. And they didn't really get it. Thank goodness for my friends.

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/3/191315/1054

# 05 Sep 2001, 03:19AM: Despair and Rejuvenation:

Today was a jobbe faire. How depressing. A political science major like myself has to basically sell on the points that aren't so strong, namely, "I know UNIX" and "I speak Russian." More info on being dissed by VeriSign below, along with sightings of celeb look-alikes and books.

I had some good handball earlier today. In an actual game, a ball came to me and I hit it hard and far enough to score a point for my team! I like this game inordinately, at least in some measure disproportionate to my skill.

Russian wasn't bad, either. I may even be the star of the class right now, probably since I lived in Russia with Russians over the summer. So I feel as though my possible superiority "doesn't count," although of course it affects me regardless of its causes. (Actually doing the homework helps too.)

I had a fun lunch with Alexei at Tako Sushi. Then -- thinking about the awful fact that I have to find a job, come May.

So I printed up 31 resumes and went to Ye Olde Jobbe Faire, where the phrase I most often heard was "we're looking for engineers right now." I dropped off some resumes and got some free stuff. I told the Amazon flack that I wouldn't work for Amazon because of the one-click patent (not giving him a chance to first say that he wouldn't hire me because there are no openings for the likes of me).

But the biggest deal was the VeriSign dis.

There were two women at the table, and they should have just said, "You're not what we're looking for, sorry." But instead they made nice-nice, and then, as I was walking away from the table and they thought my back was turned, one said to the other, "Yeah, she doesn't fit at all."

I was stung! They should have just played it straight from the start. I said to her, "I'm sorry about that," and continued walking away.

I really shouldn't dwell on this. I probably wouldn't work at VeriSign anyway, even to try and fix what's wrong with them from the inside. But it certainly helped my non-enthusiastic mood during Russian History later that day.

I don't even know what I'm necessarily looking for in a job, much less a career. Anyone got a suggestion of a career or job that I might like and probably have not considered?

Odd sightings. In the past two days, I've seen a fellow who looks a lot like Detective Munch's character from Homicide (the dead NBC drama) and a guy who looked like a mad Bob Newhart.

And I've seen, in the past week or so, in three different incidents, three different people reading The Godfather by Mario Puzo. Is this an Oprah Book Club selection? Is it because the 30th Anniversary edition just came out? Why?

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/5/181959/2033

# 06 Sep 2001, 03:27AM: Answers:

Aha. After two more Puzo sightings, I discovered that the reason why so many people are reading The Godfather these days is that Political Science 1 requires it. ??!!, if I may.

More Political Science comedy and tragedy, and job fair triumphs, and private grief, in the full story.

Boring lecture. Whenever I try to imitate my lecturer in Political Psychology this semester, I end up sounding like a Jack Nicholson (or possibly Christian Slater, since, as some comedian once noted, one impression generally degenerates into another).

The lecturer's style has begun to remind me of my father's lecture style -- long and boring, possibly punctuated by bizarre and humorous anecdotes. The subject material in today's discussion and lecture made me feel like a sophomore again (I'm a senior). So obvious and easy! Personal characteristics and environmental factors affect people's political beliefs and behaviors. Tell me something I couldn't tell you in my sleep, Jack.

From a dis to an interview. The job fair was better today than yesterday. I got an interview with RAND that went into overtime. Hurrah!

The business buildings. I may have a discussion section this semester that meets in one of the buildings in the business school. I can't stand the business school. It's so well-kept and corporate-funded and full of self-assured Future Exploiters of America. Biff and Buffy.

Faith. I have had at least one significant experience of loss recently, and now another one may be imminent. A few months ago, I doubted my faith in God for a few days. Recently, it's happened again.

I really don't want to believe in God just because I have been taught to, or because it's habit, or because the idea of God comforts me when I'm sad or scared or tired or lonely. Why do I believe, and should I? And would I live my life much differently without this belief? I already try to make my own meaning; would I stop treating people and things with respect? Where does my belief in God fit in, with regard to my system of values? This is something I'll be thinking about in the next few days, at least.

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/6/182754/3396

# 07 Sep 2001, 12:24PM GMT+5:30: Job Fair, Day 3:

This is really almost all I want to talk about (except for the fact that Seth dropping by unexpectedly yesterday was one of the ten best surprises I've ever had in my life). Freebies from the last day of the job fair included: two flying discs, several pens and highlighters and keychains and brochures, a laundry bag, a tote bag, Post-Its, cool Post-It sticky bookmarks, a water bottle, a visor, fidgeting toys, a CD wallet, candy, and a first-aid kit.

If you can believe it, the freebies were better last year.

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/7/15240/80820

And we created standards!

Fri Sep 7th, 2001 at 10:38:28 PM PST

Went to a meeting of the Science Fiction Working Group tonight. No, we didn't create standards for sci-fi. We talked about sci-fi in academic terms, more specifically about The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. Alert readers will remember that I taught this book in my class last semester. A great book. I enjoyed the discussion, although sometimes I felt in over my head. I was the only undergraduate, you see. The graduate-student host taught me Rhetoric 1A during my freshman year here at UC Berkeley. I'm always glad to (re)meet neat people.

A fun-packed weekend approaches: brunch with friends tomorrow, a Unix billion-seconds dinner in the evening, and then a party I'll hold on Sunday night. Whew!

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/8/13828/34759

Filed under: Reading

# 08 Sep 2001, 12:20PM: Humor for your weekend:

Links this morning. Afternoon. Whatever. Check out John's homepage and Alexei's new diary entry. They're funny.

Also, the Modern Humorist story on fall movies made me laugh out loud in the computer lab. And I certainly couldn't repeat the joke (the Tolkien ref) that had made me guffaw. Not even in Berkeley.

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/8/152032/3591

# 09 Sep 2001, 08:31AM GMT+5:30: The Great Conversation ... About Savings!:

So let me contribute to the discourse about yesterday's events. You've heard from Leonard. You've heard from Seth. Now, the third side of the story. brainwane's take.

So Leonard and I wished to join Mr. Schoen in celebrating the billionth second of Unix. We assumed that the proper thing was to meet up with Seth after the EFF Share-In in Golden Gate Park. The Muni bus was late (what did I expect?!), and the driver seemed loathe to, you know, make up for lost time, give out information to passengers and the like, do that whole "friendly service," that sort of thing. At one point a woman who had been dissed by him started rummaging in her handbag, and I was thinking that she might pull out a gun. Good thing it was just a little change purse that emerged.

There was a sign behind the driver's seat: "Information Gladly Given but Safety Prohibits Unnecessary Conversation." Leonard and I discussed it. It's rather not as one-size-fits all as they'd like to think, Leonard noted. (This sort of incident turns me towards Leonard's anti-large-city view, away from my previous city-as-freedom-and-excitement position.)

Result of all this plot: instead of getting there about half an hour before the blessed event (and about an hour after the EFF Share-In ended at 5, I presume), we got there about twenty minutes before 6:46:40, and Seth was nowhere to be found. At first we weren't sure that this assemblage was the right one, since we saw no EFF paraphernalia. Even though we did eventually see people with EFF hats and tie-dyed shirts cleaning up, there were really very few EFF people cleaning up from the share-in, compared to the number of hippie/gutter punk/bum stereotypes who really didn't seem in a hurry to get anywhere else (and were not wearing tie-dye).

So people from the EFF vaguely consensus'ed that Seth and his groupies had left for dinner somewhere. Leonard and I checked out exactly one restaurant on Haight on the vague idea that the party might be there -- also, I'd been there before. They weren't.

I immediately sought a bookstore and we wandered for twenty minutes or so around Booksmith, a not-bad bookshop on Haight. But they have no Gordon Korman. Grr. He's my favorite children's author/young adults' author, and it seems as though I can never find his work anywhere. I recommend almost everything he's done. Start with something like Losing Joe's Place or This Can't Be Happening at MacDonald Hall! or A Semester in the Life of a Garbage Bag or Don't Care High or Son of Interflux.

Anyway.

L-dawg bought some Terry Pratchett. We waited something like twenty more minutes for a Muni to take us back to civilisation. We realized that we hadn't really noticed when the billionth second had passed. Oh, well. Happy billionth second, Unix! Here's to ... well, however many more seconds of Unix are best for consumers and innovation and stability for computing infrastructure in the universe.

Other news. I updated/rearranged my homepage and wishlist. And today I have a brunch that I thought was yesterday, and then parent time, and then a partyish thing.

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/9/113140/3157

Filed under: Reading

# 10 Sep 2001, 03:25AM: Sunday, Sunday:

I had a terrific time on Sunday. I've written a bit here about my brunch and parental interaction and party on Sunday, and on my handball improvement and general viewpoint shift re:skill-learning.

And --does anyone who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area want some veggieburgers?

Brunch. I had brunch with friends.

Parents. My parents came over and we socialized somewhat and now I have FAR MORE frozen dinners and veggieburgers than I can eat. Anyone want some? Especially the veggieburgers?

I'm serious. I have something like ten boxes in my freezer, each of which contains six or eight veggieburger patties. Take my burgers! Please! (Henny Youngman died during my senior year of high school. Micah Roy, who was in my AP English class, complained about the way that most people delivered the joke, which did not make "Please" into the punchline it's supposed to be. That was the first time I had ever gotten why that joke was so funny. Micah is now, I think, at some California State University studying towards the law.)

Surprisingly enough, we all got along. Freaky.

Party. This was really neat. So many people came over and had fun! Leonard, Steve, Zack, Alexei, Jeana, Vinay, Adam, Matt, Seth, Aaron, Bem, Nathaniel, and Shweta all were over at various points between 5pm and midnight or so. I'll have to list the presents I got at some different time. I got calls from Dan, from my sister Nandini, and from John. Thank all of you!

Scrabble, Set, and "Before I Kill You, Mr. Bond..." were played. The latter is a Cheapass Game and, as such, is fun. I remember liking "Lord of the Fries" and "Give Me the Brain!" more, but that was over a year ago.

Music played included Moxy Fr|vous, Everclear, Naif, and Chaif. Stuff read included Amar Chitra Katha, Big Science (science cartoons), and The Comic History of Rome (just looking at the pictures of this book from the 1850s).

I played host and laughed a lot. I think other people had a pretty good time, too. One of my most successful parties to date! Of course, now I'm rather fogged from lack of sleep. So I can't give too many specifics. But trust me, it was a good time.

Redecoration. I put up some more posters and things, including:

A clipped article about Dmitri Sklyarov from the San Francisco Chronicle.
A Yuri Gagarin poster that has his words in Russian.
A "Hail to the Thief!" bumper sticker.
A postcard with freaky Russian propaganda -- looks like a painting of kids with weird-shaped heads agitating at some sort of protest rally.
A DeCSS sticker.
The "COFFEE, TEA, OR DEATH?" headline from the San Francisco Examiner that Seth spotted for Leonard and me while I was in Russia.

Handball. Today I discovered the secret to the backwall shot. One really must hit it when it's rather low to the ground. I'm not sure why. It probably has something to do with the fact that such a position makes me bend over and put more power in my swing, or gives me greater accuracy somehow. In any case, after much frustrating repetition, I Got It. That's the main thing I like about sports. As long as I'm not inconveniencing anyone else with my slow learning curve and general lack of ability, I enjoy that process a lot.

Skill-learning in general has become much more enjoyable and productive for me since I started learning to not mind making lots of mistakes. Going to Russia helped with that a great deal. There, I just had to go ahead and make mistakes and just work on making people understand me. I learned to accept the "good enough." Parents should teach their children about the joys of satisficing, don't you think?

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/10/182549/940

Oh yeah, the painting

Mon Sep 10th, 2001 at 03:46:37 PM PST

Yesterday, at the party, Steve, Leonard, Zack, and I painted. That is, we used watercolors (a little box I picked up for less than a buck at some garage sale, I hope) on binder paper with a tiny brush, generic cotton swabs and cotton balls to Make Art.

Steve's looked the best, but he took it home. Zack left his behind when he left the party and we ended up using the back of it to score the Scrabble game.

I recommend having watercolors around the house. You never know.

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/10/184637/114

# 20 Sep 2001, 06:09AM: I exist:

This is my first entry since Monday, 10 September 2001. Very diary verite. Lists as life.

Usually I write stuff down in my notebook that I want to put in my weblog. But I haven't really been doing that so much. So I'll just tell you some stuff I wrote down in my notebook since 10 September.

some phone numbers & email addresses, e.g., of the girl who sold me the readers used from my Political Psychology class so I didn't have to buy them new
a citation for an article on software patents
the approximate name of an author (Bernard Sumner) of some biography of Peter the Great that my history professor thinks isn't bad
time and date and place of an infosession that would have taken place on September 11
Russian homework
Address and hours of the nearest blood bank
The name and tagline of a new movie, Bandits, as seen on the ad on the side of an Alameda County Transit bus. Slogan: "Two's Company. Three's a Crime."
Sun., 7 October, the Pacific Film Archive is showing Metropolis at 7pm, call 510-642-5249 for more info
Address of a friend in Maryland to whom I mailed a letter
Phone numbers to call to volunteer at a phone bank
Day and time of my rescheduled scholarship interview (it would have been September 12)
Information about various essay contests, e.g., Watchword Press, Summer Literary Seminars in St. Petersburg
Baraban, a site for Russians and Russian speakers in the San Francisco Bay area
Phone number to call to volunteer as a Russian speaker for Jewish Family and Children's Services
A reminder to meet my sister for an errand
appointment to meet my Russian graduate student instructor
stuff to go in Leonardonics
A Tonight's Episode that Alexei suggested
The embarrassment I suffered when my cell phone rang out loud in history class on Monday the 17th was much more intense than any fright I experienced during my hostage dream the previous night.
(to be sung to the tune of "In the Jungle") In the lecture, the useless lecture, the poet writes a poem....
Call numbers for books in the UC Berkeley library
Appointment to meet with the professor with whom I'm doing research on open source software project organizations
Titles of recent novels
the beginning of a limerick
"Grammatically Incorrect with Bill Maher"
Yet Another To-Do List.

Today I find out that yet another person I know from my freshman year of college has a child. Dude, I can hardly write a paper, which is much easier labor. Wow. I don't know whether they're more mature than I am, which is a thought that takes me aback.

I saw Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and I took a dance class in which I learned some rudiments of mambo and a tiny bit of waltz, and I've cried and laughed and had intoxicating and interesting conversations. I'm moving on, and part of that is writing this. Thanks for listening.

And now I am going to go get free food at a recruitment/info session.

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/20/21926/9375

# 23 Sep 2001, 04:25AM: It's been a quiet weekend in Lake Wobegon:

I'm listening to the Dar Williams CD that Seth gave me for my birthday. Mortal City is the title. This weekend: regrets and fun. I missed the birthday party of a special friend of mine, and I wish I hadn't, and only part of the reason isn't my fault. I'm sick, cough sniffle sneeze. Read on, fair K5er!

So, on Saturday, something like five things were supposed to happen.

Steve's birthday party, whose theme was rockclimbing, about 11am-2pmish
Laura's equinox barbecue, 3ish to 7ish
Hanging out with Leonard, time variable
Listening to "A Prairie Home Companion", six to eight pm
Watching The Big Lebowski, late night

But what happened? I got sick. I started coming down with something Friday morning -- I knew I should have gotten more than six or seven hours of sleep -- with the sneezing and the sniffling and the stuffy nose and the slight headache. And then on Friday night I felt myself getting worse, and on Saturday I knew I wouldn't be able to race around that day.

And Friday afternoon I learned -- this is one of the two or three times that the Daily Californian's Daily Calendar has ever been useful -- that West Coast Live, Saturday 10am-noon, would be hosting Garrison Keillor and Douglas Coupland! And I could go to the taping at the Julia Morgan Center on College Avenue! I mean, cool! Garrison Keillor, of whose "A Prarie Home Companion" I'm a fan. Douglas Coupland, about whom I've heard only good things, expecially from Anirvan. And I wouldn't have to do too much walking around and stressful socializing with new people and physical activity! Problems:

I would be late to Steve's rockclimbing party.
No one would be able, I presumed, to give me a ride to the rockclimbing party.
I wouldn't, therefore, be able to go at all to the rockclimbing party.

Argh! Well, partly out of sickness (I felt that I was too sick to go to a physically oriented event but not too sick to sit in a theater for two hours), and partly out of selfish calculation (how often do I get to see Keillor OR Coupland, much less the both of them?), and a tiny bit out of Leonard's wish that I go with him to the taping, I chose the taping over the party. I'm sorry, Steve. I have presents & a card for ya, and I'd love to treat you to dinner sometime, and I'm really sorry especially because I know that you're really busy these days, with research and other friends and your growing interest in political movements. I hope you forgive me.

So Leonard and I went (his account) to WCL. (We are still laughing over his fundamental attribution error joke.) I enjoyed Keillor's insistence during the interview that we should have specific phrases and terms to refer to the events of September eleventh (e.g., "the terrorist attacks" or "the hijackings and bombings" rather than "all of this" or "the recent events" or even, maybe, "the national tragedy," I infer). I got my copy of Lake Wobegon Days signed, and am quite pleased that someone whose work I so enjoy is such a gentleman when it comes to his fans. He takes the time to make every fan feel as though he cares about her.

Anirvan was supposed to be with us, since he's a huge Coupland fan, but he instead went to the March Against War and Racism in San Francisco. Leonard and I speculated -- at his suggestion -- as to whether a war against war and for racism would work, and vice versa. Leonard suggested that perhaps, to stay on message, War and Racism marches should be separate, so as to stay on-message. I wrote it up as an Audience True Story, and Sedge Thomson (the host) read it on the air! Whooppee! Not counting Segfault, this is the first time I've been published in years. And, after the show, not only did I receive a balloon half-filled with water as a souvenir, AND get my book signed, but I also introduced myself to Mr. Thomson, and he remembered my name from the story, and said that he had liked it. Oh, approval from others, how sweet.

Leonard and I went to Laura's barbecue next. My sister, who lives with Laura, was unavailable to attend, so I was her ambassador. The grilled portobello mushrooms were fantastic, with the green-and-wax bean salad and the roasted peppers tied for a close second. Fun people, too. I wish I could have stayed longer.

The PHC was a rerun from 1985. Boy, they were wacky back in those days. But I'm usually on the side of more skits and less music, and this particular show didn't sketch enough for my taste. Oh well.

I rested in between all this excitement, by the way. I was sick. I took naps.

And, late at night, I went to see The Big Lebowski. Leonard's regard for the film -- well, do I really need to say much except that I felt such praise oddly compelled me to see the movie on the big screen? And yes, I enjoyed it. Recommended. Maybe not for my parents, what with the potsmoking and the 200+ f-words and the complicated plot, but it's an exuberant and nonsensible media experience.

I feel better today. Russian homework, coming up, but not before a list of weirdness I saw in the classified ads of the East Bay Express earlier today:

Alexander Pope Salon. Yes, a hairdresser's.
Night Photo Workshop. What the heck is this?
Icarus Bungee ("Shouldn't it be Daedalus, not Icarus?" "It shouldn't be either.")

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/23/192522/427

One more thing

Sun Sep 23rd, 2001 at 04:31:16 PM PST

On Friday night, I had a terrific conversation with Seth, but had to stop because I was tired and needed to sleep. I'm glad we talked.

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/23/193116/273

# 26 Sep 2001, 08:14AM: Have fun in SLC!:

Steve, have fun in Salt Lake City.

Alexei's Diaryland profile reminds me of Katie, that Reed College student who was on my St. Petersburg trip:

"Hands down, the best thing you can do when you have a huge headcold and you sound terrible is to put on a Tom Waits album and sing along, because you've FINALLY got the range to do it."

I'm a little sick. Waaah. I'm feeling better than I was over the weekend, but darn it, it's Wednesday. I shouldn't be coughing and blowing my nose anymore, I feel.

From Russian class yesterday: "It's always March on Mars."

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/26/11147/2278

# 28 Sep 2001, 08:29AM: Not much to say these days:

For some reason I haven't felt a strong urge to write much these days. I've been going to class, hanging out with friends, exchanging e-mail, and doing nothing much out of the ordinary, as far as I can tell. The most unusual thing I've done in the past few days is watching the "Star Trek: Enterprise" premiere, then Burned By the Sun yesterday night, and then the "Friends" season opener. Oh, and forgetting how to spell "premiere" a minute ago.

Originally published by Sumana Harihareswara at http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2001/9/28/112943/346

Cogito, Ergo Sumana for 2001 September

And we created standards!

Oh yeah, the painting

One more thing

Cogito, Ergo Sumana for 2001 September