September 2011
1 post
1 tag
Two Years of Traveling
I’ve lived in Kuwait for a little over two years now, and although I wouldn’t say it’s the greatest place to live, there’s no doubt it’s given me a chance to travel more internationally. I have been able to travel from Southeast Asia to India to Northern Europe. I’ve learned how to get tourist visas and become familiar with several regional airlines (Ryanair,...
July 2011
1 post
“At some point the one machine we have made, the continuous cloak of electronic...”
– The Technium: The Internet Is My Religion
June 2011
1 post
May 2011
1 post
April 2011
4 posts
“The United States Military (Waterhouse has decided) is first and foremost an...”
– Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon
Don't Beat Yourself →
Andy Ihnatko on a great scene from one of my favorite movies, The Hustler. A reminder to take a walk, wash your face, have a snack, or do whatever’s needed to get your head straight and don’t beat yourself.
Seth Godin On Flipping a Coin →
By refusing to lie to yourself, by not telling yourself a fable to make the decision easier, you’ll understand quite clearly when you’re winging it.
March 2011
3 posts
Kevin Kelley on Art →
Kevin Kelley, reflecting on art and making a tacky wreath made out of cheap toys with his kid:
It made us giggle at times. The thing is completely useless. But it evoked something vague when we hung it outside my studio door. It’s pleasing in a strange way. Looks like art to me.
I love reading Kevin Kelley’s posts for his seemingly endless supply of genuine curiosity.
Stockholm, Wedding Song
In honor of the upcoming trip to Stockholm for the 2011 Dynamic Languages Conferece (and… let’s be real, a chance to escape Kuwait for awhile and do some sightseeing), here are three songs:
Lykke Li - Little Bit
The first, from Swedish indie singer Lykke Li (who just released a pretty damn good follow up album).
The Knife - Heartbeats
The second, from a masked, electro-pop...
February 2011
2 posts
I stumbled upon this recording the other day of my...
January 2011
3 posts
WatchLittle Little Italy (cutesy ride at Ferrari World Abu Dhabi)
dereksBAC.txt
One night after a party in college, I vomitted and passed out. My roommate (also a computer science major), stayed up with me a good portion of the night (I was later told) to make sure I was ok. Fearing I had severe alcohol poisoning, he found a formula to calculate blood alcohol content online and jotted down his calculations.
I found the following file (named “dereksBAC.txt”)...
My Favorite Things of 2010
Struttin’ That Ass - Official Remix
From my old hometown of Huntsville, AL.
Chewbacca On A Squirrel Fighting Nazis
Washing Machine Self Destructs
My fave part of this is the big bag of money Superman already has at his feet. He just wants MORE MONEY.
Via
Bed Intruder
Another one from Huntsville. That city was on fire...
December 2010
1 post
October 2010
5 posts
Enough, Enough Already About The Wire
Ok, one more thing:
In the intricate network of The Wire the story lines derive from the worlds of street-corner drug dealers and big-time traffickers, the police of homicide and drug enforcement and “special crimes,” the in-office brass, the dockworkers who knowingly and unknowingly unload the drug shipments, the union leaders, the foreign suppliers, the public schools, the newspaper, the...
WatchThere was a little oil spill at the beach near our apartment.
WatchThe highlight from my recent trip to Qatar. Our Filipino waiter at an Italian restaurant singing to my Lebanese/Armenian friend Marty.
September 2010
3 posts
I'm Finally a Professional Photographer
Polish Wikipedia has officially acknowledged this.
Four of my pics were featured on the Polish Wikipedia page for the 2010 Bahrain Formula 1 Grand Prix.
I can now cry with joy, sell my digital SLR for a lomo, and then kill myself.
A Quote from Augie March
People don’t do what they have a talent for, but what their preoccupation leads to. If they’re good at auto repairing they have to sing Don Giovanni. If they can sing, they have to be architects. If they have a gift for architecture, they wish to become school superindendents or abstract painters or anything else.
Anything. It’s a spite. It’s having to prove full...
1 tag
To Kuwait: Pt 4 (Settling In)
This is the final part of my Moving to Kuwait series.
Closer to the coast, were I was to live, the temperature was cooler. When I reached my new apartment, I found it very agreeable (especially coming from the conditions of the transient camp). My place had an ocean view, and I remember being surprised at how much tile was plastered everywhere. Later I learned that tile was easier had than the...
August 2010
1 post
1 tag
To Kuwait: Pt 3 (Landed)
This is part of my Moving to Kuwait series.
The high was 120 the day we landed in Kuwait. They said the wind would feel like a hair dryer, and they weren’t kidding. Getting off the plane, I instantly thought how I’d never experienced such heat - it was comical. With dust in the air and the bright sun beating down upon us, I wondered with a fellow employee how people could live in such...
July 2010
5 posts
WatchFire
WatchBack in Kuwait
WatchFun with my Dad’s new RC trucks
Shot with an iPhone 4 and edited with iMovie for iPhone.
June 2010
8 posts
Maybe the Scariest Story Highlights I've Ever Seen
South African doctor invents female condoms with ‘teeth’ to fight rape
1 tag
To Kuwait: Pt 2 (Almost Landed)
This is part of my Moving to Kuwait series.
The training continued in Georgia.
We took basic medical classes (introductions to bandaging wounds, CPR instruction, etc). Sitting in these classes, there seemed to be too much humor. Sure, you can have a sense of humor, but I wondered if joking devalues life dangerously. Does it turn life into a Hollywood movie?
They also taught us about improvised...
“Remember when you were a kid and somebody pulled that “What do you put in a...”
– American Drink | American Shine
1 tag
To Kuwait: Pt 1 (Kuwait is Closer to Her)
This is part of my Moving to Kuwait series.
It’s been 11 months since I arrived in Kuwait for work. Throughout the initial move and since living here, I’ve taken notes occasionally on my impressions. I’m just getting around to compiling them, but I hope the initial feel still comes through.
We were in a tough spot.
It’s a long story, but my wife was being forced to go...
When I moved from the U.S. to Kuwait, it took...
The Law of Unintended Consequences
The law of unintended consequences is an adage that says intervention in a complex system invariably creates unanticipated and often undesirable outcomes. It is commonly used as a warning against the belief that humans can fully control the world around them.
Photoblog - Unintended consequences
American Drink
Just because I live in Kuwait doesn’t mean I can’t dream.
American Drink
WatchIndia
May 2010
10 posts
WatchLangkawi, Malaysia
WatchSaturday Afternoon
A Concert at Applebee's
Local blog 248 AM recently got fed up with people saying there’s nothing to do in Kuwait and decided to post a series of entries refuting this claim. Here’s a recent post describing a live band that plays at a couple Applebee’s locations on Fridays and Saturdays.
I don’t think he helped his case…
Seriously though, Mark puts out a great blog overall, but I’ve...
“But here’s the key. I never share anything on any site anywhere on the web...”
– Tweetage Wasteland : Are We Really Dumb Zucks?
“If Howard Zinn had but one lesson to teach us, it is that cultivated citizens...”
– Cultivated Play: Farmville
“I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have...”
– Roger Ebert: The Essential Man
99
The man exudes the attitude of a boxer, a man who has won a fight, not a race. Or a matador who has just delivered the perfect killer thrust.
Julian Ryder on #99, Jorge Lorenzo
“Don’t train for a career—train for a life. The career will take care...”
– The golden age of movie critics - Roger Ebert’s Journal
April 2010
7 posts
