Yesterday I started breaking down examples for my pedagogy presentation and made parts for the first and second movements of my quartet. Composition is going well too, although the piece took a detour yesterday and ended up somewhere unexpected. So far it's resisted my attempts at getting to the ending I had in my head, so I'm just going to let it drive for awhile and see where it takes me. I'm hoping to finish the essence of this movement sometime this week.

Here's a funny commercial for Chun King Chow Mein from the 50s. This kind of Chinese mocking would never get by in today's climate (MP3, 942KB).

I'm in love with PDF files now that I can make them. For quick jobs, it's an easy and compact way to preserve layout and formatting when sending something to others. Turning my class handouts into PDF files lets all the lazy bastards who skip class download them later on, and is easier than my old method of scanning documents and saving them as images. Tomorrow I'll convert my cat into PDF and post it for you to download.

I've posted some new Booty pictures on the Photos page. There's also some pictures from yesterday's trip to Marsh Sands Beach in Panacea.

Every city has its own breed of annoying driver, and the D.C. metropolitan area is no exception. Someday, when I can affordably mod my car with a fake license plate that drops down over the real one and a radar absorbing (Quiet Steel) frame, I'm also going to add a pneumatic nail gun to the undercarriage. With this, I can covertly shoot nails into the tires of annoying drivers, causing them to have a safe but irritating flat tire several hours later. Such a weapon of mass deflation could be used on:

• people in left turn lanes who stop ten yards over the line and then don't back up until oncoming traffic is about to hit them
• lane changers who don't signal, and the subset, lane changers who immediately get back in the old lane
• people who see the left lane going fast, so they get in it, thinking it will magically make them fast
• people who slow down to 5mph fifty yards before the left turn lane, even though said lane is long enough to land a jet
• people who block the box (traffic-related only)
• officers who pull people over during rush hour, making everyone else slow down and gawk
• people who come to a complete stop when merging onto the interstate at the Yield signs
• people in yuppy cars with yuppy headlights (highly focused pinpoint beams that always seem like they're set to HIGH BEAMS)
• people in yuppy cars with three or more headlights
• people on cell phones who don't maintain the flow of traffic
• officers who drive the speed limit in hopes of setting a good example
• people who flick cigarettes out the window
• people who think it's their civic duty to prevent you from going over the speed limit
• elderly drivers who feel it's their right to drive on highways and then drive it like they're on a sightseeing safari in the Serengeti
• solo drivers in SUVs who obviously use it to putter around rather than haul goods or transport whole field hockey teams

Got an annoying driver story to share? Let me know!

Yesterday's notable search terms:

needed tibetan typist for the project, uri brian, debussy disliked mahler

"Write My Lyrics" Contest Results

Congratulations to Chris "Doobie" Fraker, for winning the popular vote and a $10 gift certificate to Amazon.com! Chris' song, Shac's Lamentable tells the tale of another VT alumnus who randomly decided to up and move to Israel for no apparent reason. The song received 5 votes and beat entries by Kathy Smith and Carol Uri (as well as two more entries hastily scribbled down by me to make the contest look bigger than it really was, since I have lots of expertise in looking big).

As a lyricist, Chris gained insight into his subject matter through shared years in the Blue Ribbon Brass quintet . When asked whether any other quintet members, such as the first trumpet player, had any influence on him, Chris demurred (30 KB MP3).

The Effing Snow by Kathy Smith (2 votes) Who You Are by Brian Uri! (1 vote) Shac's Lamentable by Chris Fraker(5 votes) Winter in NOVA by Carol Uri (2 votes) Cat Fight by Brian Uri! (3 votes)

Download or Print the Entries (TXT) See the score (GIF) Listen to the Recording (3MB MP3)

Now that the contest is over, the next Audience Participation event will be this Wednesday: a NAME THAT TUNE contest in which you will only be given the bass line! In the meantime, don't forget that today is 12 of 12!

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

5:20 AM: Waking up at the Hour of Ridiculousness.

5:43 AM: Post-shower, post-shave.

5:52 AM: As always, Booty and Amber are ready for breakfast.

5:54 AM: Daylight Savings Time is pretty worthless if it's still dark when you leave for work. It does give me time to ponder what the neighbours are up to, with their blinding lights at all hours of the night. I expect it's something dastardly, like the movie, The Burbs.

7:32 AM: Seventy-five cents for a bagel was a decent deal. A dollar was good, as long as I got there first and consumed vast quantities of cream cheese. $1.25? Rip-off.

7:39 AM: Sunrise between the Oracle buildings.

12:24 PM: Stopping at the gas station on the way home. As soon as we learn how to make cars run on methane, we'll be all set.

1:15 PM: Telecommuting with my loyal cat, who assisted by sitting behind me in the chair and gradually outsourcing me to the floor. This picture gives me the build of a linebacker, but it's an optical delusion. It's all in the chin.

1:34 PM: Lunchtime. I believe I am ready for St. Patricks Day.

6:55 PM: Driving to Red Robin for dinner.

7:30 PM: The tastiest tray on the menu: Red Robin's Cod Fish and Chips meal. Rebecca had the Chicken Bruschetta Burger. Service was weak.

8:39 PM: Post-dinner wine while reading up on Spain. Next month's 12 of 12 will be from Barcelona!

See more 12 of 12ers at Chad's site !

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

7:04 AM: Post-shower and foggy, both mentally and physically.	7:38 AM: A toasted plain bagel with cream cheese for breakfast. The whole-grain bagels just don't taste as good.
8:28 AM: Telecommuting.	10:10 AM: Amber arrives to keep me company while I work.
12:01 PM: Velveeta Shells and Cheese for lunch, predictably so.	1:15 PM: Kitties working as hard as I am.
3:23 PM: Still hard at work, typing on two computers at the SAME TIME.	4:14 PM: Taking a quick trip out back to dig up some dirt for my office plant at work, which has barely survived on the same pound of earth for the past five years.
4:52 PM: Mike (of Mike and Chompy) is in the neighbourhood, and stops by to eat his Chick-fila. This is not a meal that you share.	6:12 PM: Cleaning up the utility room, where my new heating system was expertly installed by Cascade Comfort Services of Sterling.
6:32 PM: Relaxing with a bit of Warcraft.	8:18 PM: A late dinner of Totino's Pizza!

See more 12 of 12ers at Chad's site!

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

6:07 AM: This is probably why I wake up every morning with my legs in uncomfortable positions.		6:18 AM: Showered and ready for work.
6:22 AM: Waking up to the rain is never fun, but at least it's light out in the morning again.		6:39 AM: Arriving in the parking lot at work, listening to Radio One.
8:27 AM: No sign of sunshine from the office.		11:19 AM: After a quick trip to the post office, I'm home for a warm bowl of clam chowder and the paper.
11:32 AM: Discovering via e-mail that there isn't room for me at the 2 PM meeting, freeing up my afternoon and saving me a 50-mile round-trip to Skyline.		1:17 PM: Working from home.
4:45 PM: I had planned to clean out the shed for springtime this afternoon, but with the rain continuing, I settled for a good stiff vacuuming.		5:23 PM: Playing the DS Fire Emblem game which, like all games in the series, has an expectedly nonsensical title like "Radiant Path of Radiance".
6:25 PM: You know the drill -- if I'm not eating Shells and Cheese on the 12th, I'm eating a Totino's pizza. I'm also watching the 5th season of Weeds.		9:16 PM: Rebecca's home!

See more 12 of 12ers at Chad's site.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

5:56 AM: First wake-up post spring-ahead.		6:07 AM: Showered and shaved.
6:26 AM: Obligatory shot of the One Way sign.		7:40 AM: View from my office.
10:26 AM: Home early to wait for a package delivery, telecommuting with Booty.		11:45 AM: Leftover German food for dinner.
1:30 PM: Introducing my new Ultrabook, an HP Folio 13.		3:10 PM: Hours later, after uninstalling a bunch of crappy HP bundled software.
5:15 PM: Home from a trip to the Anal Gland Express...		5:16 PM: ...for the purposes of issuing a stop-work order on this bootylicking.
7:21 PM: Testing to see if this new laptop beats the 75 minute battery length of the previous 2008 laptop.		8:22 PM: Amber adds hair to all of my bags.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12:30 AM: One cat is ejected from the room for bad behaviour.		5:17 AM: Time to get up!
5:31 AM: This is what I would look like with Lasik surgery.		6:24 AM: Working in the office.
7:48 AM: A puffin bay grey day.		11:25 AM: Stopping off for lunch on the way home.
12:11 PM: Back to work (from home) after lunch.		1:14 PM: The new Starcraft game arrives by mail.
3:28 PM: Doing builds.		3:59 PM: Running and Community.
8:00 PM: Taco Night!		8:39 PM: Tax Night!

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

5:26 AM: Searching for bathroom ghosts.

5:58 AM: Ready to work.

6:57 AM: Back home for breakfast after discovering that the network was down. Our network is down a lot for a technology company.

7:20 AM: Ready to work, again.

8:45 AM: Booty keeps me company.

12:04 PM: The 500 Hats of Marie Callendar.

12:33 PM: Back to work with my typing coach.

1:15 PM: Time for a feeding frenzy.

4:18 PM: Three miles in 40 minutes.

5:00 PM: Playing Diablo 3, but finding that Demon Hunter Vaulting is bugged in the latest patch.

6:45 PM: Reheating leftover corned beef and cabbage for dinner.

9:12 PM: Rebecca is hooked on Hearthstone.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

5:15 AM: Getting ready for work.

6:25 AM: Writing proposal content.

9:29 AM: Deploying cloud applications.

10:14 AM: Home early to a disapproving Booty.

11:23 AM: Washing the winter salt off of my car.

11:37 AM: Lunchtime.

11:52 AM: Checking on cat number #3, who has moved upstairs from behind the dryer to under the couch.

2:37 PM: Booty proofreads and judges my proposal content.

5:34 PM: Running on the treadmill with The IT Crowd.

6:48 PM: Sunset over Herndon.

8:00 PM: Burgers at the counter at The Counter.

8:49 PM: Winding down with House of Cards.

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12 pictures of your day on the 12th of every month

3:03 AM PST: Awake and ready for travel in Topanga.

4:22 AM PST: Sitting in some hippie hotel near our rental car agency waiting for the shuttle bus.

5:23 AM PST: Finally through LAX security.

5:41 AM PST: Apparently, I'm having bull testicles for breakfast (for $15).

6:31 AM PST: Boarded and awaiting departure.

8:15 AM PST: Flying is fun, for now!

2:06 PM EST: Flying is getting old.

3:02 PM EST: Standing higher to signal our ride.

3:34 PM EST: Reuniting with old friends.

5:08 PM EST: Bags unpacked, laundry laundering, and groceries procured.

7:46 PM EST: Teriyaki pork and tater tots for dinner.

8:43 PM EST: Maia muses upon her misspent youth.

Patio Day

Our patio came to life in just 13 hours over 3 days.