More bars for my prison. Tell me one of you gets that.

Where do you want your life to go in five years?

Forward in linear time. Ask a silly question, get a smartass answer in return.

Seriously, and setting aside that I hate this question (it's one of those things people love to ask that I just find silly), in five years I expect I'll be teaching, probably with a mix of love and hate for the job and my students. I'll probably be married, and at the least, considering bringing another generation of wacky Atreides into the world.

You and I both seem to be going through some major changes in our life, and the way we approach it, due partly to new relationships. Do you find it scary sometimes? I do, but in a roller coaster, good scary way, how about you?

No, not really. There was a sense of that in the beginning, but now it seems to have dissipated. What I get now is more a feeling of finally being on the right track, doing what I want with someone I can actually consider an equal. To tell the truth, my last relationship and the way I approached life then scared me more.

Is there anything truly original left in the world, or has it all been done before?

Well, no one's shoved a red-hot poker up his ass on national live television while singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" and miming Hamlet, so sure, there's something original left. Gods, that question sounds like a lyric from a bad 1970s lounge song sung by Carly Simon or Engelbert Humperdinck.

(no subject)

Hrm.

Yesterday's math test was odd. I finished the thing with 40 minutes left to spare of class time, so I went back and re-did all the problems using my calculator, plugging my answers into the equations and seeing what I got. In all cases, I got the right answer. So I'm pretty sure I got a good grade, if not perfect.

By universal tradition, when I get the test back, it'll be an F. But if it all checked, then that's impossible. So barring any weird Heisenbergian physics, I should be ok.

That'll be nice.

(no subject)

Ok, I love Disneyland -- love it. I'd go once a year if I could afford to. But the guys in this article take it to a whole new level.

Now, far be it from a geek like me to denigrate someone else's obsession, but boy, that just seems a bit much.

(no subject)

I belong to 27 LJ communities. Of those 27, only 10 are actually on my friends list and therefore read regularly. Of those, I only post regularly on 4.

Perhaps it's time to drop out of some communities.

(no subject)

Yay, another question!

Who are your favorite musicians, and why?

Oi. I'm not so much the musician (due to long years of atrophy in that skillset), so bear with me here as I mangle terminology and just sound like a git. Also remember I have weird tastes.

Kitaro: There's something about his music, whether the dulcet meanderings of much of his earlier work or the steel guitars of the more recent work on Mandala. Kitaro captures the very essence of the universe and distills it into musical notes.

Tori Amos: The raw power channeled through her voice amazes me. I think she's at her best with nothing on stage but her and a piano, letting the voice of the universe move through her.

Yo Yo Ma: If I was a tenth as talented as Ma, I'd have audiences lined up. His talent at mixing eastern and western sounds into one instrument's voice is phenomenal.

Sarah Chang, Midori Goto: As Yo Yo Ma is to the cello, so are these women to the violin.

Ashley McIsaac: I've heard he's a jerk in person, but the man plays like no other, and in a style of violin I'd love to learn even more than classical. His performance on "Sleepy Maggie" amazes me every time. What I love most is his ability to move between punk-sounding playing and classical work with no awkwardness.

Richard Thompson: I just love his stuff -- funny, sad, and everything in between. '52 Black Vincent makes me melancholy every time I hear it.

Louis Armstrong: Nothing more need be said, he was a master.

Tracy Chapman: I miss Chapman, especially her more bluesy later stuff.

Leslie Fish: She's got an odd voice, but her lyrics, music, and performance make it a minor concern.

Heather Alexander: I've heard very little of Heather's work other than her filk stuff, but the woman's got a voice like liquid honey, and that's more than enough for me to keep listening.

Ok, I'm stopping now. No more time.

(no subject)

Hong Kong superstar Anita Mui, famed singer and actress, star of The Heroic Trio among other work, held a press conference to end the endless speculation revolving around her health. Since the suicide of her friend Leslie Cheung (Chinese Ghost Story among other films and a singer as well), Mui has also been dealing with deep depression. Hong Kong's rabid paparazzi has not left her alone since.

Her main concern, other than undergoing treatment, is that the media not continue to disturb other patients as they have been in their lust for the story:

If you [the paparazzi] want to follow me, go ahead . . . but please don’t disturb other patients. Illness itself is not horrible. It is the rumours and speculations that are the most disturbing.

Mui stressed that she was going to survive: “I am going to win this battle."

I wish her the best. She's brought me a lot of joy through her work.

(no subject)

11 Injured, one critically, on Disneyland's "Thunder Mountain" roller coaster.

Hmm. Of course, I just found out, searching to see if there had been previous accidents in the Magic Kingdom, that there have -- and yet I've never heard of them. Interesting control of PR they've got.

It does explain why Space Mountain is shut down for refurbishment; a couple in Utah just sued Disneyland over an injury when one of the cars on that ride derailed.
Edit: "just" was two years ago, July of 2001.

Eh. Doesn't matter. I'll still go and have fun; the ratio of accidents is small compared to the people who ride them every day.

Though a derailment on the Matterhorn could seriously ruin your day trip life.