Author: Bryan

vacation!

I’m currently sitting in my parents’ condo in Tabernash, Colorado. We got here via train–crazy, right? Yesterday we were on the slopes in Winter Park, and today we’re busy researching the best way to construct snow sculptures. My life has been a haze of relaxed euphoria since I filed my dissertation. It turns out just working a full-time job is much easier than being a grad student–and they send me paychecks every now and then.

Anyway, Leslie just got done posting pictures of our holiday adventures so far. You can find them in the usual place:

winter park

teach your kids math. not too much, though…

Driving yesterday I heard a PSA about helping to bring math into everyday life for kids. I’ll paraphrase:

“Encourage your kids to make change when you buy things at the store. Teach them to hunt for the best deals on the shelf. Make math a part of every day life and you’ll ensure they grow up smart enough to make the right financial decisions for themselves. This message brought to you by the California State Lottery“

Yes, you read that right! Teach your kids to add and multiply, but be sure not to teach them probability, because then they might realize what an insane, regressive, predatory tax the lottery is. This reminds me of the ad my dad once heard on spanish-language AM radio in Austin where one guy advises another to save the money he’s spending on night school to learn English and spend it on lottery tickets instead. At least the message there is consistent…

we moved

It’s been a busy month. On top of Jeff getting married, trying to find a job, and finishing my dissertation, we also moved to an awesome two bedroom house in Rockridge (North Oakland). As part of this transition we finally obtained the quintessential piece of IKEA furniture, the Poang chair. What’s more, we purchased this chair like-new at one third the retail price from craigslist, which makes this like the ultimate example of bay-area 20-something home furnishing. Too bad we don’t get to sit in it much:

sous in poang chair

braid

 When I broke down and got a fancy new TV, I decided to get the Xbox 360 instead of the PS3 because of the sizeable selection of games you can download for a fee directly from the couch. This includes old arcade classics as well as new stuff. A couple of days ago, a game called “Braid” was released, which is a sort of puzzle game done up like a painting. It started blowing my mind about 5 minutes after I started playing it, and hasn’t quit. Since. Here’s what it looks like:

braid screenshot

The music fits in perfectly with the look of the game. Here’s a little YouTube action so you can get the full aesthetic:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br3Oo1g9nZQ[/youtube]

I usually get frustrated in puzzle games pretty quickly, when the difficulty ramp is too steep, or bored, if it’s too easy. Braid is perfect, right in the middle. I’ve solved 3/5 of the worlds, and haven’t been once tempted to reach for a walkthrough. What’s more, Braid doesn’t have any complicated rules–you learn everything by observation, and so the overall experience is very satisfying. It was $15 and has already paid for itself.

awesome!

Let’s discuss a number of awesome things, some sarcastically and some earnestly. In an awesome meeting this week with my advisors, we decided that my schedule for finishing my dissertation was too aggressive to get all the necessary results in and text reviewed, so my graduation slipped by a month! Awesome! Leslie put together an awesome invitation to this year’s camping trip to Utica reservoir:

utica invitation

How could you not go? Looks too awesome to miss. Also assuredly awesome is our upcoming road trip out to Colorado with the pup. You would not believe how many motels will let you bring your dog right in the room with you.

You’re probably thinking that there are too many awesome things in the world for you to keep track of all of them in your head, and you’re right. That’s why God created Awesome Overload as an authoritative source on awesomeness. Don’t miss it… they need submissions!

chapters

Yesterday I gave Jonathan the first three chapters of my dissertation for review. There will be many more chapters and many more drafts, but its a good feeling anyway. Summer is here, the puppy is six months old and infinitely more tolerable. You should check out the three new albums Leslie just perfected on the gallery. Let me whet your appetite (this one was taken by Clare):

ferocity

Beware the ferocity of the puppy!

the xbox trick

The one bit of our sprawlingly complicated TV setup that can’t be manipulated via remote control is the turning on and off of our XBox, which we use for watching DVDs. We have to actually get off the couch to turn it on and off. One night whilst lamenting this burden, Leslie had the epiphany that we could train Sous to do it. You know, she’s five months old now, she should be pulling her weight around the house.

It turns out it was pretty easy to do with the clicker… I just had to glue a piece of a plastic easter egg to the switch so she could hit it with her nose. There have been calls for internet video of the feat, and we’ve finally gotten around to it. So, by popular request:

[qt://overt.org/images/sous_xbox.mov 480 376]