Funeral

I learned something on friday, my laptop isn't a witch. It didn't float when I tried drowning it in a thermos full of tea in my seminar, so at least I don't have to worry about a witch-laptop. But now I've got a new problem, my computer is dead, I've lost an old friend.

My files from the last month are gone it looks like, but let's see what the computer guys say. I'm using a loner laptop, an old mac of Amna's, and every time it takes a few extra seconds to load I kind of die inside.

Worst part, I've lost my work from the last two weeks, so I won't be turning in those papers on time. That's for sure. Let's see how much I can recover from my memory, and I'll be careful not to spill tea on my brain.

Car-nukkah

This year I'm forgoing christmas in favor of Hanukkah. Let me think, one day of presents - or eight? Humm...that's a tough call there. It's like, would I rather have one hot girl on my arm, or eight? Actually, maybe that isn't the best analogy, I'm not sure I'm capable of handling one. Or maybe it is?

I'll be in Mexico over christmas, so skipping it is no big loss. Besides, I'm in SoCal over Hanukkah, so it wins the holiday war. Actually, Jake and I have been celebrating Car-nukkah, since we always seem to be on the move at sundown. Check out my awesome hat, Jake gave it to me in a Crown Royal sack. It's a "Jew in a Bag," just add water since that's like 90% of what we're made of. Following Isaac Brock, the other 10% is shit.

La Boheme

Yesterday I went to the opera like a proper academic should, making up I hope for some of the non-academic stuff I do, like I don't know, maybe this. That's right, wait for it to load. As John pointed out, I'm not even Latin. Or having friends like this. Some opera was definitely needed.

Who went - surprises: Jake, Amna, and I. We saw La Boheme in downtown LA, and it was pretty much badass. They weren't so much people as enchanting nymphs. People don't make noises like that and people tend to speak english, so I leave the inference to you. You can see a clip here.

Then after teaching at 7:00 fucking AM I got sucked into a picket line for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). The union represents the service employees for the UC system, thats janitors, cooks, security guards, bus drivers, groundskeepers, etc. They're on a one day strike over contract negotiations with the UC Regents, what do you know, the regents bargaining in bad faith. So I carried a picket sign for an hour until reinforcements came and I could abscond back to my philosophy.

Look what business ethics does, it makes me care about the workers or something. I've learned that life is generally better when one has few cares, so this whole business ethics thing might be bad for my well-being. We'll see.

Nocturnal

I think I've become a nocturnal climber somehow, not sure what led to this, but it appears to be the case. With the quarter coming to an end, this is the only time I seem to find to get outside. An entire day is out of the question. Don't get me wrong, you can't climb for shit at night without a head torch, but it's excitement, and I live life to the maxx.

So Jake, Amna and I headed out to Rubidoux for some bouldering. Just as it passes midnight, Amna's birthday began! Then she sprained her ankle. She got what some might consider the world's longest piggy back down. What a lucky girl.

Late Night Quarry

After our last night quarry debacle, Jake and I opted to forgo the headlamps this time, climbing by the eerie glow of the LA lights. These lights have stolen the very stars from the sky, so I put them back in, with nebulas and shit.

And I've just got to say, what a stuck up prick Europe is. It tarnishes the aesthetics of ending the english names for the continents with the female latin ending 'a'. I call bullshit - if the Americas, Antarctica, Africa, Asia, and Austrialia are all female, why does Europe have to be such a fucking contrarian? Besides, Europe was named after a princess...guess her name...Europa. So what the fuck?

Was Europe feeling vulnerable, merely stating its individuality like the goth dude wearing a black dress and eyeliner in junior high? Or is Europe sexist, positioning itself as the patriarchical leader of the world just as the father is the head of the household? I lean towards viewing Europe as a douche bag asshole, but then again, that's kind of my default stance towards everything.

By the way, check out page 44 of this issue of Urban Climber. I'd forgotten that photos even came on paper, I though you could only view them on computer screens. But I've got to say, there's something about print that gives this photo so much more substance. Old fashioned?