Oregon snow 2008
December 23, 2008
My day without power
December 22, 2008
Today was a strange and unpleasant experience. On what will possibly be known as the coldest spell of the year, I awoke today to a frigid house, snowed in, and without power.
It was fantastic in a sense to realize how deeply I had become complacent about my energy dependency. All of the sudden, things got really hard without heat, light, transportation, or entertainment. Our neighbors next door still had power, so it was particularly striking to appreciate how hamstrung we were by this invisible force.
Just at the edge of defeat (sleep), at about 11:50 tonight (after 16 hours), our power was restored.
There’s at least 6 inches on the ground right now. I’ve never seen anything like it in my 13 years living here. The snow continues to fall, late at night. We’ll be lucky to wake up tomorrow and still have power.
New tinkerings
December 15, 2008
Every journal I’ve ever kept has ended abruptly. Here’s what I wrote in my first earnest journal, when I was 11 years old:
Hello
I have to face it: I love reading my own journals. The problem is I hate writing them. So just remember the agonizing pain I’m going through to write this journal. If this journal ends abruptly (like many of my disappointing findings) you may forever perceive me as a loser.
Well, we both know how that one turned out.
The past 8 years have seen two paper journals, a romance with deviantART, two blogs, and Shape, each of which stopped as I either moved on or became too ashamed at my lack of diligence posting.
I’ve been picking through these old journals, each of which has managed to surprise me. Optimism. Frustration. Memories. Little things and states of mind that I’d completely forgotten about. Dear reader, if you have any old journals lying around, I’d like to remind you to read them.
Each journal came at a time when I needed to capture my state of mind for posterity. Each died when the burden of upkeep came to outweigh this need. As far as I can tell, this blog shall be no exception. Thus, I’m pleased to say hello and welcome you to my latest blank slate. Perhaps there shall be no farewell.
Last, an introduction: I’m a young student currently finishing up an undergraduate degree in Computer Science at PSU. I’m inspired by the open source movement. Generally, I enjoy making things, particularly when they do or make other things… or compel people to do or make things. My favorite meal of the day is breakfast, and I hope to travel someday and live in a foreign city. Alien abductions, origami, and steganography are all relevant to my interests. I enjoy learning random and amusing facts, and therefore probably spend a little too much time hanging out on reddit. I’m constantly exploring new music. Finally, and above all, I think the world is a really beautiful and interesting place, and would sure love to see it stick around for another few million years.
So there you have it. In this blog, I’ll write about art, programming, life, and anything else that catches my fancy. While I can’t promise a conclusion, I can promise some interesting times ahead. I hope you’ll join me.
-C