But then!

The car broke down! No matter how many times I tried it adamantly refused to start! Woe!

Well, I called my mother (since it was her car, after all, and who knew what secrets it was hiding), and she told me my stepdad just walked in, and just a minute, he’ll be right there. Sure enough, about ten or so minutes later, he shows, checks my car and figures that the battery is dead. At that time there was a trio of jeeps at the station, one of them tugging a motorboat. Along with my stepdad, they get together and push the car out of the way, jump-start it, then pack up and leave, no doubt to the beach.

I follow stepdad to the nearest garage where he gives me some money to buy a new battery. Battery replaced, I start my car and go home.

…

The end. XD

That kind of situation has the potential to be an opening for any kind of movie you want: romance (pick any of the six or go guys with their jeeps and their motorboat), action (conspiracy and thereby sabotage!), horror (whereby I had inadvertently driven into the radius of some horrible curse that will change my life forever), whatever.

But… real life just isn’t exciting like that.

Be glad?

Well, we ended up seeing her for a total of maybe five or ten minutes. We kept changing the plan during the day, hoping to be able to catch each other, but to no avail.

So there I was, all out of sorts about this, but then I saw her online and she said thanks for taking the time to come, I was really glad to see you.

It didn’t go as perfectly according to plan as I had hoped, but it just goes to show you should go ahead with these kinds of things; it’s the thought that made it in the end!

Or something.

I don’t know if this is a problem that is encountered as often in literature as in sciences. As far as I can tell, the definitive reference on a given text *is* the text itself, not whatever analysis someone has written on it. Considering that texts make up a large part of literature-oriented studied, I’d say it happens far less often than in sciences.

Specifically, in mathematics and/or computer science (speaking broadly, details notwithstanding) there are very few “texts” in the same sense as they exist in literature. If academic papers, the ones introducing and/or defining a particular topic, are to be thought of as “texts”, then both mathematics and CS are highly unapproachable.

When I first started programming, a professor picked up a yellowed copy of the C Programming Language off his shelf and told me to look up whatever I needed there. Since it’s written by the designers of C, effectively the “authors” of C, I consider this book to be both the text and its own definitive reference. Today, whenever I program in C, this is the book I use.

However, I can’t say the same about C++, probably largely because I first learned using a number of other books. Although the C++ Programming Language is in the same sense the text and its own reference as the C book, it’s not the first thing I think of when I need to look something up. Instead I pick of one of about three textbooks (“analysis”) that I learned C++ with.

This says as much about learning procedures (whatever you learn first typically stays with you, so learn well the first time) as the clarity and approachability of the book itself (C++ containing C for all practical purposes). In some ways this is similar to literature: in some cases the original text is so obfuscated for whatever reason (language disuse, vocabulary and grammar differences) that what students typically learn is an analysis (“textbook”) that has been found to be most approachable.

The conclusion:
* The original text should be used to learn a topic; this will preserve the author’s intentions and allow scholars to draw their own conclusions. The exception is if the original text is proven to be too difficult, in which case it’s best to use an analysis/textbook or simply postpone said topic until it is easier to comprehend.
* And yet, to each his own. Whatever works of the majority might not work for you; all that says is that you process things differently… which can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on the situation.

…wow, this turned out to be longer than I expected! And to think it just started with me going, “huh, funny how I prefer this reference that I found to that reference that we used in class”.

Two long posts in a row!

And with that out of the way, on to the fun part!

Isn’t it nice when you find out that someone thinks the same way that you do? My friend H and I have very little in common. We watch and like the same shows, but for completely different reasons!

A sample conversation, regarding a show that had a live version:
H: I liked the actor because he played (the character) A.
Me: I hate A. His live version actor is the one that made me like him.
H: What! No! He’s adorable!
Me: No, the actor is adorable, A himself is annoying.
And so on…

Yesterday we had an acquaintance come over to our place. He had recently started working in the same line of business that my mother had been in. Because of several factors, my mother found that there were some things that she simply couldn’t talk about with her workmates (as simple as, say, discussing things in your native language, since it’s a highly diverse workplace). Said acquaintance, however, both thinks similarly to the way she does and is himself similar to her…

You can imagine the result for yourself. No less than three times in so many hours (I counted, I had nothing else to do) did she mention that it was so nice to find someone who understands, who thinks the same way she does, and since you’re just starting out let her give you a few pointers about how things get done in this business. It was incredibly boring for those of us who had little interest in their line of work, but still terribly amusing to watch. The two of them were sparkling at each other like: “meetings! deadlines! projects!” XD

Me? I found my soul-mate in an interview with one of my favourite actors. It was full of short questions and equally short answer, but one particular answer had me fangirling flailing sparkling like mad. The question was: “What would you like God to grant?”, The answer: “That all the people in the world could smile”.

It’s a really nice thought! It sounds a little naïve, sure, but I adore him for choosing to say “smile” instead of “happy”, “rich”, “free of disease”, or “world peace”. A smile may be a small thing, but it is not to be underestimated! Even if your day was full of all manner of lousiness, there’s a good chance you’ll remember that one thing, event, or person that made you smile during the day. It’s not difficult or costly or time-consuming. It’ll likely make someone’s day that much better, or hopefully just make someone’s day!

Succulently put, it is my personal mission to make at least one person smile everyday. Even if it’s as simple as smiling at them first! In some way, hence this blog!

Hopefully this long entry will make up for not updating? Hopefully it won’t become a habit!

Practice is a measure of skill! Or is that the other way around? How skilled you are (regardless of how talented you are, for the sake of argument) is largely dependant on how much and how often you practice, yes? Of course, how and what you practice is determined by your skill level. I guess that makes them interdependent?

Even if there are things that “you don’t forget”, like riding a bike, all that means is that when you begin riding after a long time, it’s relatively easy to remember the basic skills and go back to something resembling your previous level. On the other hand, you’re not going to reach the speed or stamina of a pro just like that, yes?

The same is true for other skills, especially languages! If you say “I know this language” but you haven’t practiced for the past two years, well… I’m sure many of you have been in that situation at least once XD

On an unrelated note, people say someone or something is “worth its weight in gold”, but wasn’t that when gold was itself a unit? Gold today is worth whatever the market says it’s worth. If anything, I want to be worth expensive, 24-karat gold!

…too philosophical today, perhaps?

Google just released their browser, Chrome. It’s a beta, but it looks interesting, so I’m giving it a shot! Not giving up Firefox yet though…

This comment sponsored by the fact that Google pwns WordPress; ergo let us be on their good side xD

Today I’ve seen several people in my vicinity being tired for some reason or another– work, family, whatever. I’m tired because I had a big long plan for today, but ended up getting maybe two-thirds done. So I can sympathize, even if I still end up feeling like “hey, I’m not the only one that’s tired! Yay!”

I don’t know if you can call that a good thing, though?? I think it is. When you know other people are trying their hardest even though they’re tired, it kind of makes you want to try as well, doesn’t it?

Ah, just for the record, the tiredness I’m referring to is the “I put a lot of effort into this” type of tired rather than “I’m no longer interested” type. The first one is good and makes you feel accomplished, the second is just… meh. Isn’t it?

Let’s just call it “effort” instead!

I managed to drink a little over two (small) bottles of water today, which is better than usual. Maybe I’m getting used to it? I hope so!

I spent most of today indoors, but I did walk outside for ten minutes… does that count as excersice? XD I should probably try harder! Then later in the evening I went with my dad to visit some relatives. That was fun, since I hadn’t seen them in a while. One of them had just had a son, which I didn’t know! It was a cute little boy, who thankfully took more after his mother than his father.

Maybe I can get more things done tomorrow! Good night!

I wonder if it can be helped that a CS student says “hello world” for greetings?

Lately I’ve been thinking: “I need to change”. Last week I wrote myself a list of changes that I want to make, and starting today I’ll be monitoring myself on a weekly basis. Things like drink more water (not cola, juice, or coffee; water!), spend more time out in the sun (walking to the car doesn’t count!), spend more time around family (obligations don’t count!). They’re all things I already do, but I think doing them more often will be good.

Summer is almost over, nooo! That means that I have about three weeks left to get whatever book, game, movie, or series out of the way before it gets too busy to have fun. In the meantime, enjoy it!