Photo Meme

PerpetualBeginner tagged me!

Rules are as follows:

1. Go to your Picture Folder on your computer or wherever you store your pictures.
2. Go to the 6th Folder, then pick the 6th picture in that folder.
3. Post that picture on your blog and the story that goes along with the picture.
4. Tag 6 other people that you know or don’t know to do the same thing and leave a comment on their blog or an e-mail letting them know you chose them.

I am not going to comply entirely:
- My sixth folder has one single picture in it
- Aside from having an aversion to chain-letter like schemes, I don't know 6 bloggers.

I am also not going to show the one picture in folder 6, though I will describe it: it is a picture of a cute little girl and her two middle-aged temporary foster parents sitting at a table. It was taken on the 25th of May, 2007. This is the little girl that the German foster agency was planning on having us parent for permanent foster care. That is, until a doctor said she needed to be institutionalized. Putting up the photo would likely break a German privacy law or two, so I won't.


This picture is the sixth picture from my seventh folder. It was taken on the 10th of June, 2007. We were visiting my sister, PerpetualBeginner, and her family during our Summer vacation. We all went out to a local reservoir, where we had great fun hunting for fossils and skipping stones. This was an attempt to photograph a fish. If I recall correctly, the fish is actually in the photo, but I certainly can't find it now.

Injury and a Book

Well, I managed to injure, possibly break my little toe on my left foot during Jiu Jitsu on Thursday. I don't even know how or when exactly - just at the end of class I noticed my toe was hurting and progressively worse. It was probably my own fault: I was tired and was making all kinds of mistakes. The toe looks to be straight - I even pulled on the end a little to be sure it was straight, but the whole side of my foot is discolored. Yesterday it was purple and green, this afternoon when I got up (yes, I went to bed rather late) it looked almost normal, but now after moving around a bit the discoloration has increased again, so I'm taking it easy, with my foot up while I surf and do stuff online.

Part of that "moving around" today was visiting some friends of ours: A. and her daughters M. (5) and L. (3). M. wrote a book, which she proudly showed us, about Jesus Christ, and Peter Pan, and Ariel and Melody, and Pirates, complete with pictures. After showing it to us, she said we should take it to the bookstore, so we could sell it. :-)

Inauguration Day

Generally a very happy day! :-)

Today we started Ruhi Class 1. K. and I are the co-tutors. Though not everyone showed, I'm very happy with our start. K. is sick, a cough, sore throat and running a slight fever, so I did most of the leading. Her being sick was also the excuse for two of the no-shows - getting sick is no joke when you're over 70.

Of course, today our latest president was inaugurated. Things are looking very bad economically, and I think we really need a smart and inspiring president to lead us out of it: half the battle is getting people motivated.

I finally ordered some new glasses - my old glasses are pretty damaged and keep falling off my nose. Decent glasses are expensive!

Oh, and K.'s power supply is on the fritz again - I need to resolder the connector, which is really difficult because the plastic bits melt before the solder does. I may end up ruining the connector. Why do they make such stupid connectors?!

Film List from Perpetual Beginner

Copied from Perpetual Beginner's blog. Supposedly if you’ve seen over 85 films, you have no life. I have 88.

A few things to note:
- this doesn't adjust for age - the older you are, the more you'll have seen (I'm 47)
- I don't have a television, and haven't for most of my life.
- I have watched a lot of these films on long flights - one trip to the U.S. usually equals 6 films (you'll note I've seen a bunch of sequels without having seen the originals :p ).

There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste this . Then, put x’s next to the films you’ve seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 8

(x) The Princess Bride
( ) Anchorman
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
( ) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 12

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 12

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 18

(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
( ) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
(x) Robots
Total so far: 23

(x) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(x) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
(x) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
( ) Never Been Kissed
( ) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG (The Original)
Total so far: 27

( ) A Cinderella Story
(x) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
(x) Flubber [the original]
Total so far: 29

(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From ***
(x) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 33

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
( ) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
total so far: 36

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Slevin
( ) Ocean’s Eleven
(x) Ocean’s Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(x) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 40

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
( ) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 43

( ) Best Bet
( ) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
( ) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
( ) Big Trouble in Little China
( ) The Terminator
( ) The Terminator 2
( ) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 47

(x) X-Men
(x) X-Men 2
(x) X-Men 3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
(x) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
( ) Freaky Friday (the original)
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 57

( ) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
(x) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 59

(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 65

( ) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 65

(x) The Jacket
(x) Kung Fu Hustle
(x) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
(x) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard (? - there was a typo: Willa74 - I presume this is Willard)
Total so far: 72

( ) High Tension (Haute Tension)
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 75

(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) the Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 77

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 83

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
(x) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Grand Total: 88

A change of pace

I spent Monday and Tuesday fixing bugs, and was feeling really good about being "back in the saddle", working on things I do well. However, late Tuesday I found out that we're stopping bug-fixing until we update our documentation. *sigh*. I understand, and actually agree with the decision and the reasons for it, but dang it feels like I was just getting up to speed on a race-track, when it's suddenly decided we need to do some boating. :p

On Tuesday evening our local "Round Table of the Religions" had a meeting at the local mosque. It went surprisingly well: there was a lot of anger, sadness and grief over the situation in Gaza, and some recriminations over who did or didn't do what in relation to a "silent march" that turned decidedly vocal and anti-Israel. Altogether, however, the people at the round table remained relatively respectful and we managed to work through to something of an understanding, and make some decisions on how to go forward.

It's not yet midnight (11:45), and I'm going to bed! I must be sick or something.

Back to 'Normal'

It is 2:40 am, Monday morning. I've just finished calling all kinds of family. Today Jiu Jitsu starts again, and I am not really in shape. I need to stretch more, work out more. The last class wasn't class - it was belt testing, and I didn't get tested. I don't think I covered that here yet: my Sensei thought that maybe I should get tested, but I really didn't feel comfortable. I missed too many classes and didn't go to the weekend retreat (or whatever it's called).

I've been working from the living room the past two weeks, but I think I need to move back down into my office and be available on my office phone. Back to normality.

I've finished reading Saltation, the sequel to Flegling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. More disappointment: not only was the story arc from Fledgling not closed, it wasn't addressed at all, and it opened up a whole new can of unresolved worms. :p

I think I'll go to bed now. Sleep is not a bad thing.

Three Kings Day

Well, I've been rather remiss. It is already no longer Three Kings Day, also known as Epiphany. Today we were at J.'s birthday (same J. as we visited for Christmas Eve). We were there for over 4 hours - I didn't give M. guitar lessons, but I did play guitar, Kelly did sing, and I also did some dishes. I should do dishes at home more often.

Three Kings Day is an official holiday for my company, because it is based in Stuttgart, even though I am in Hessen, where it is not a holiday. I did a little bit of work today, but not much - I'm a bit behind and should really step it up.

I've been working on upgrading a program of mine to figure out the dominant frequency of sound input, and after that, convert it to a note plus whether it is high or low. I would really like to have some (immediate) feedback there without having to bother somebody else about it.

I've just finished reading the draft of "Fledgling" by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. It had the easy style that I like, but I was disappointed that so much was left hanging at the end of the story. I'm sure that wasn't intended - the story grew too long in the telling - but it was disappointing none the less.

I need to get some sleep ASAP. Thursday we have an 8:00 am appointment with a repairman... :p