Well, it’s been a while. I finally took a minute …

Well, it’s been a while. I finally took a minute to update the blog. I also updated the picture section of my site. In recent news, I moved, threw a party, met various people, imbibed various liquids, thus reaching various higher states of unconciousness. In short, lots of fun. Oh yeah, and I worked a lot. Cheerie-O!

Merry Isaac Newton’s Birthday

Finally got some time on my hand. So, to celebrate Sir Isaac Newton’s birthday (see my previous post)I learned a couple of new Fortran tricks today. Also, I figure I’d better update the blog, otherwise what’s the point …
Got a few interesting pictures lately, thought I’d post at least the one. There’s this subway station, where the seats are a bit strange: one (anatomically correct) naked guy holding two equally naked ladies and one fully clothed chemical engineer (meet Maria). A fine example of German humour.

Merry Christmas!

As most of you may know, Christmas is really a derivation from the celebration of the Winter Solstice, that the baby Jesus was NOT born on Christmas but probably in spring. But sir Isaac Newton’s birthday was in fact the 25th of December! I just get a kick out of the idea that christians worlwide are wishing good ‘ol Isaac a merry birthday.
Anyway, hello from Berlin, and here is a link to my new webpage. I am still heavily working on it, but the basics are there. Stop by and say hello sometimes!

Leaving soon …

My 10 years trip (almost) to the good ol’ US of A is winding down now. It’s a little strange to be leaving. I’m finally off to Berlin (in about a week now, pending a visa). It’s also amusing that one of last thing I did in America is see some European modern art. Go figure.
I saw my first Van Gogh/Picasso/Rodin/Cezanne/Matisse/Rafael etc. this past week-end, while Leah was visiting. It was amazing. “Irises” from Van Gogh was particularly breath-taking. I also liked the Picasso “Weeping Woman with Handkerchief” I show here for my mom who always liked Pablo.
Anyway, it was a good(free) time. The low point of the day was the tut-ankhamon exhibit: expensive, short, crowded as hell. I probably was a little cranky as we’ve been walking all day, but still …

What’s Wrong with this picture!

I’ve been at UCLA for a week and I have to say, my views on LA have begun to change. The campus is great, if not for the odd hummer-limo-hound-from-hell occurrence.
I’ve been having a a lot of fun here: The first week was basically a bunch of tutorials on density functional theory, molecular dynamics, and kinetic Monte-Carlo methods…
I have an office (with a window!) for the duration of the stay, and I have even started work on my own stuff. Things are basically great!

Finally left Columbia.

Said godbye to CoMo on the 15 of August. Emotional. It was a great time in my life in more sense that one. I got a degree, made fantastic friends, met a wonderful woman, … All and all a postive experience.
I got to spend a couple of days in St Louis with my adorable niece. She started to speak a few months back and now she just won’t shut up. Her favorite word is ‘NO!’. Hilarious.
Made it to Goleta yesterday, where I’ll stay for a couple of weeks, then I’m off to UCLA and the IPAM workshop. Things are rolling …

Second and Third birthday gifts this year

I haven’t posted anything or a while. Not that there hasn’t been anything going on but busy, busy …
So I go get my mail this morning and find this package from Leah’s parents. A bit of background: As everyone knows, Conan is crazy about green beans. Last christmas, Leah bought a bunch of cans of green peas by mistake, and I mean a bunch. So we decided to wrap them all differently and give them to her Brother Paul for Christmas. It was funny. That same day Alia, Paul’s daughter, lost my cool clip-on watch with a blue LED light on it.
I guess they finally found the watch, and couldn’t finish all the peas …

The Spam Letters

I love the idea of striking back at spammers. This guy, Johnathan Land, does a wonderfull job at it. This is a perfect sample of what you’ll find on his website. Hell, he even made a book out of these things. Tell your friends.

it is NOT photoshop!

I don’t even know what to say. I just saw this for sale (yes, it’s not photoshop), and thought it was hilarious, and sadly nostalgic. Imagine the face people would make if you were to pull this out of your pocket when you cell-phone rings. Pure three stooges comedy …

G8 and nincapoop

As I was reading the news I stumbled on this article where Shrub jr. states that he would oppose any kyoto-like agreement between the other G8 nations. Fuck (I thought), what a nincapoop! But later in the article, I learn that he stated that he would consider getting rid of farm subsidies in order to help African nations. Farm subsidies have made it quasi-impossible for us poor schmucks to get into western markets, which is really bad since farm products is mainly what Africa produces. So I find myself thinking (with horror): he may not be such a nincapoop after all!
But then I read the fine-print: he’d do it only if the EU does it first. That ain’t ever gonna happen since that’s how the euros get us to lower our prices so we can keep selling our shit cheap. That way they kept us borrowing, re-imbursing, and on and on …
So relieved to find that he is indeed a nincapoop, and with my belief system again safe (as it is based on the fact that junior is a complete nincapoop), I went on with the rest of my evening …
But really, I just discovered the word “nincapoop”, and it is now my favorite word. I am so grateful that numbnuts will give me a chance to use it in a sentence everyday, twice a day.
Cheers