sic transit gloria mundi

Desert Power

2008-03-12T06:20:49Z

Route 66

2008-03-03T16:21:06Z

Ed's Camp & the rustic Kactus Kafe. We never really figured out if there was someone still living there or not..there was a car or two parked next door beside another shack, but no obvious sign that this was an actual commercial establishment..or had ever been one.

Overlook

2008-02-25T16:05:22Z

Daily Photo: Distances

2008-02-19T05:37:13Z

The further dots out in the valley are vehicles on I-40 somewhere between 10 and 15 miles away, and the mountains more than 20 miles. One could actually distinguish (barely) between tractor-trailers and large cars. Florida sucks.

Daily Photo

2008-02-14T07:04:42Z

Hoover Dam

2008-02-13T02:19:58Z

Bridge-To-Be

Interesting design...somehow reminds me of The Rocketeer. It's too bad good architecture became extinct in the wild somewhere around the end of the last century.

Death Star superlaser, anyone?

Blizzard's backup power generators for the WoW server farm.

Daily Photos

2008-02-12T07:19:44Z

Taken of:
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Knowledge

2008-01-09T07:55:10Z

It's so rare that one actually sees history, as a living, breathing entity. The reenactor I talked to at Fort Matanzas last month spoke for several hours about everything from royalty to living conditions to firearm technology of the era. To have knowledge so deep and broad, such that one can understand the nuances of 16th century politics, why they existed, and how the repercussions of those events are still felt today...is to truly master history. Such a damn rare sort of person to meet, like a walking Wikipedia...shame there aren't more like the same.

In short, my current politics teacher leaves a bit to be desired. I suppose my GPA isn't that important anyways.

Objects d' art

2007-11-07T19:25:12Z

Arnaldo Pomodoro is an Italian sculptor. He was born on June 23, 1926, in Morciano, Romagna, Italy. He currently lives and works in Milan. His brother, Giò Pomodoro (1930-1993) was also a sculptor.

Pomodoro designed a controversial fiberglass crucifix for the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The piece is topped with a fourteen foot in diameter crown of thorns which hovers over the figure of Christ.

Some of Pomodoro's "Sphere Within Sphere" (Sfera con Sfera) can be seen in the Vatican Museums, Trinity College, Dublin, the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., and the University of California, Berkeley.

In 1999 he founded Fondazione Pomodoro in Milan. Originally conceived as a centre to document and archive the work of the artist, it opened an exhibition space in 2005, hosting exhibitions of prominent artists such as Jannis Kounellis. The director of Fondazione Pomodoro is Flaminio Gualdoni. - From Wikipedia.org

His foundation's website is in Italian, but the Opere Nel Mondo link on the right has some decent pictures of some of his larger works. I'd desperately love to own some of those sculptures, but where does one find room in an apartment for a ten-foot-wide bronze sphere?

ltwesjanson @ 2007-02-23T22:51:00

2007-02-24T03:53:15Z

not feeling well-running a fever I think. for all two of you out there, if I'm incommunicado for the next day (two? three) that's the reason. cyas

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

2007-02-01T18:47:56Z

I wake up to the weirdest shit...today I slowly floated up to consciousness to hear some unfamiliar girl's voice arguing and shouting in the living room. Something about turtle tails and bleeding. So I threw on some pants, wander out, and there's this chick standing there with a miniature turtle (one of those pet stores sell in aquariums) in her hand, complaining loudly that there's something wrong with it because it's tail is missing and it's bleeding. One of my roommates and two other random dudes are also sitting there playing video games. And apparantly all of this is normal.

Sometimes I think that "What the fuck" is just far too weak of a phrase.

Grrrr

2006-12-11T20:30:01Z

It seems to me like I do my best/deepest thinking when no one else is around, and when there's no real way for me to record my thoughts. Like when I'm driving, my mind starts to wander and I have really interesting strings of thought, but by the time I arrive the feeling has disappeared and I'm left with just vague memories of insight. Occasionally it happens when I'm drifting off to sleep. Why is it that some people can express themselves so thoroughly and skillfully, communicating their inner selves on demand?

ltwesjanson @ 2006-10-22T23:52:00

2006-10-23T03:59:03Z

From what I recall, last fall semester there were close to 50 or 60 pages of writing for various essays at New College. This semester I've had virtually nothing so far, and now comes this essay. The classwork is tremendously easy, and then suddenly we're producing a research paper on an environmental problem, with more detailed specs than anything at NCF I wrote. I virtually guarantee that out of 25 or 30 students in the class, at least 15 to 20 of them won't get higher than a 50% on the assignment.

What's weird is, I know I managed to pull off quite a few last-minute saves last year, cranking out essays until 6 in the morning and doing well on them. But it's like the Engine isn't kicking in. It's left me, and I can't find it, and things are closing in. If not for that bloody paper, life would be pretty good, but the only thing I can think about is a clock ticking away.

ltwesjanson @ 2006-10-10T03:20:00

2006-10-10T03:23:39Z

Fall is one of the few times left when I really feel a sense of wonder just walking around in the evening and nighttime, just to see the high spooky cirrus clouds, the chill breezes, and the scent of fireplaces burning somewhere. It really reaches some inner level of emotion in me. Florida without humidity is truly a great place sometimes.

ltwesjanson @ 2006-09-18T22:08:00

2006-09-19T02:12:09Z

My dad's outdoor cat is slowly becoming an indoor kitty. Over the last few months we've been letting him in for longer and longer periods of time, sometimes overnight. One day last week he was inside all evening, and then my dad put him out. Come morning, my mom opened the sliding glass door, and he zipped in off of the porch. Apparantly at some point during the night he had managed to work the screen door open and get onto the porch. Last night I caught him trying to use his weight to slowly push the sliding glass door open, when he wanted out. He is by far the most intelligent and articulated cat I've ever seen, between his prehensile tail and damn near opposable thumbs.

clusterfuck

2006-09-05T16:37:50Z

I seem to have lost my cell phone somehow, as we can't find it anywhere.

This is really kinda strange, because by all rights it can't be missing. On Sunday, up in Tampa, I called Blaine from outside his apartment door. I know for a fact I had the phone then. We spent quite a while playing games, watching the movie, and then I went to sleep. I seem to recall turning the ringer on my phone off, right before falling asleep. When we left, I thought I still had it. On the way home, we stopped at Chik-Fil-A and had lunch. Then dropped Georgie and Michelle off (got out of the car for only a moment), and then dropped Taylor off (didn't even get out of the car). Then I went home.

Facts:

I've searched the car thoroughly, while calling the phone, and found nothing.

Blaine has searched his apartment, while calling the phone, including outside his door, and found nothing.

We've searched my bedroom while letting the phone ring, and heard nothing/seen nothing.

I even looked outside in the front lawn, in the offhand chance it fell out of my pocket into my sleeping bag, and then out onto the yard when bringing my stuff inside.

I looked up the number for that franchise, and spoke to the owner of the Chik-Fil-A, and he said no one had found any cell phones.

Theories:

A: Phone is in Blaine's apartment, and Blaine didn't spot it.
B: Somewhere outside Blaine's apartment, I dropped the phone in the parking lot.
C: It fell out of my pocket while eating lunch, and either wasn't found, or was picked up and stolen by someone else.
D: Phone is lost somewhere in my house, and we somehow cannot hear it or see it.
E: Georgie and Michelle somehow accidentally picked up my phone and took it with them.

Solution:

I'm fucked, because I have no phone, I've only got a handful of numbers that I pulled off of calling records online, and I've got no clue where the damned thing could have gone. If you're reading this, please do me a favor and send me an e-mail with whatever phone numbers of yours I've lost (wesjanson at gmail.com). Thanks!

-----

2006-08-05T08:01:50Z

yey, I 19 now.

and I got another article accepted.

yey!

ltwesjanson @ 2006-07-29T22:18:00

2006-07-30T02:23:31Z

The music of Star Wars Episode One is something that still moves me, almost 7 years later, unlike anything else. Damnit, I can listen to those unearthly pieces and still remember what it was like to feel curiosity and awe. I can't even find words to describe what it feels like, because those weak adjectives have lost their meanings to me. Of all the music I listen to, that soundtrack is still almost the only one that can do it to me. And I think I know why: all of the CDs I own that have that effect (Episode One, Return of the Comet, Holst's Planets) I first listened to and fell in love with, before 2000 or so. Sometime around the age of 12 or 13, it seems I lost my inner child, the ability to feel wonder. Why did it disappear? Where did it go? Will it ever come back?

ltwesjanson @ 2006-07-05T23:36:00

2006-07-06T03:39:42Z

Giving speeches really, really sucks. I halfways suspect it'd be less fearful being shot at in war. Nagging perfectionism sucks too.

Where's everyone gone off to? If you're reading this, what've you been up to lately? How are things going? Where are you at?

ltwesjanson @ 2006-06-17T02:39:00

2006-06-17T06:44:31Z

After watching THX 1138, I've decided I agree with Taylor's sentiment: The future really, really sucks. Oh yes, and Taylor's previous comment, while in Blockbuster (when I questioned whether the movie would suck): "Hey, it's a DVD, it can't be bad!"

Driving back into town, in the right hand lane, I had a driver pull out of a line of stopped cars and into my lane, nearly causing an accident. I didn't see his turn signal until he was already changing, and thus didn't slow down (since my lane was clear). And he obviously didn't bother looking before deciding to amble on over to the next lane. The only thing that saved us from a collision was the fact that there was an empty turn lane to the right, and I swerved into it, went around the guy, then back. The thing that really amazes me on reflection is that I only had a couple tenths of a second to act, and that somehow my brain was able to process the danger, figure out what to do, and swerve, all long before I "knew" what was going on. It makes you wonder how often our reflexes save us..and what would happen if they didn't work so well.

Oh, and Aeon Flux actually wasn't that bad of a movie. Kinda strange, but not too bad.

ltwesjanson @ 2006-05-10T21:45:00

2006-05-11T01:53:14Z

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1)VF saleslave
2)maintenence crew
3)Receptionist
4)Writer (sortof)

Four Movies I'd watch over and over:
1)Blade Runner
2)Collateral
3)Minority Report
4)Crimson Tide

Four places I have lived:
1)Palmetto, FL
2)Parrish, FL
3)Smoky Mountains (sortof)
4)Sarasota, Fl

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1)Cowboy Bebop
2)Battlestar Galactica
3)The Simpsons
4)Various

Four places I have been on vacation:
1)St. Augustine
2)NYC
3)The West (Utah, Colorado, Wyoming)
4)Smoky Mountains

Four Web sites I visit daily:
1) Gmail
2) Fark (sad)
3) livejournal
4) slashdot

Four of my favorite foods:
1)Coco Joe's Waterice
2)Cannoli
3)Pez
4)Chicken

Four Places I'd rather be right now:
1)St. Augustine
2)In bed, asleep
3)Out west
4)Someplace rainy up in the northeast

Tag four people to do this:
1)Megan
2)Taylor
3)Gretchen
4)Jessica

ltwesjanson @ 2006-04-26T23:55:00

2006-04-27T03:59:16Z

http://www.redbonealley.com/

Never eaten there. Almost did, once, a few years ago, but wound up going to a Golden Corral because the lines were too long at Red Bone.

What struck me about the place was the fact that it seemed like a two or three floor-tall alley, with tables along the walls. Seemed really kickass for a restaurant.

I hope some day I'll get the chance to go eat there.

ltwesjanson @ 2006-04-09T02:06:00

2006-04-09T06:15:51Z

Within the last few weeks I've noticed certain things about working full-time that I had not previously known. Such as the fact that while weekends are precious things, sleeping in means not being able to do anything else that day. And if you get sick, you're screwed.

It's difficult to get my mind around the massive shifts in perspective from one world to another. Out at the range are people who have spent the last half century practicing and perfecting their knowledge of precision shooting-tough old buggers who know so damned much it makes you want to just give up. But they're just the older segment of a larger group that has such radically different values than the rest of society, but which can generally be defined as the military.

But then you drive back into town, and you find the 9-to-5 working stiffs, the rich people, the ignorant children, the destitute, and of course the thin crust of wealth on top of everything. Such differences! It's overwhelming to imagine holding up two of those people together in the mind, and comparing their beliefs, values, goals, knowledge. Where do I fit into it?

ltwesjanson @ 2006-03-15T01:52:00

2006-03-15T07:11:28Z

I drove down and visited New College yesterday to finish up some registration/class issues, in regards to withdrawing and applying to MCC. Then I spent a few hours hanging out with friends.

Today I felt really strange. Disconnected, on autopilot, depressed. I felt like I'd been destabilized somewhat by Monday. Not because the visit was painful-indeed, I had fun and felt welcome. But for some other reason I can't quite say, it had a delayed impact on me. And no, it's not regret over leaving the school. It's more of an emotional conflict about myself, and recognizing that fact doesn't solve the issue.

Why has there been a band-aid sitting behind my keyboard for as long as I remember?

Georgie asked me what my goals in life were, and I couldn't really answer him. Part of me finds the question incomprehensible, while another part knows the standard answers aren't sufficient to me. Another part of me is wondering now whether my earlier responses are the product of a temporarily incapacitated emotional state, or if they can be considered "genuine" (whatever that means). I only wish I had an answer.

ltwesjanson @ 2006-02-25T04:48:00

2006-02-25T09:48:59Z

Finally starting to get settled into the work routine.

Bored.