Category Archives: Random Neuron Firings

Free Trojan Association

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No, I’m not giving away warriors or infectious computer programs or, um…those other things. :-)

And no, I’m not writing a post about the Association of Free Trojans — if there actually is an Association of Free Trojans. Rather, I’ve deliberately misplaced the modifier to confuse you. Kidding again. I just have stuff to say about the word “trojan.”

Last night, while reading/researching, I ran into the word no fewer than three times. This, I surmised, was a sign: time to free-associate about trojans. [OK, I’m not *really* free-associating, but…you know.]

You hear the word “trojan” a lot; many times in connection with computer issues. There are three definitions one must keep separate in the virus/trojan/worm game, however (squeaky-clean, freshly-manicured Mac users, you can skip this section, although the Mighty Blue Apple has been known to get the occasional worm):

  • Virus: something your computer catches from an infected source, like media (CDs, portable drives, files).
  • Worm: a kind of virus spread mostly via networks.
  • Trojan: a bad piece of programming masquerading as something else

There are lots of schools that feature a Trojan warrior as their mascot. My school does. But I wonder how many people, when they think of a Trojan, first think about how the citizens of Troy got their collective butts kicked via the ultimate humiliation of the Trojan horse joke.

I would imagine a person’s first thought upon learning of the ruse dreamed up by Odysseus would be, What a buncha wankers. Well, if the knee-high strappy sandal fits…

They really bought it, lock and stock. Amazing. Different culture then, though. And really, how do we know Virgil didn’t make it all up? But still, I have to wonder when I see athletic teams called “Trojans” — why did they choose that mascot? I’m sure there were brave and powerful Trojan soldiers. But that’s not really their claim to fame.

Thus ends my Trojan association, but not my fondness for all things old. Take today, for instance. Tis a special day indeed. Behold the email I received from my fiend PK:

Hail, Mistress well met! I would remind thee that Thursday bringeth Talk Like Shakespeare day withal, to honor his birthday revels. Mayhaps it behooveth thee to visit yon web site:
~
Well, mayhap I will.
~
Finkus outus.

Various & Sundry XIII

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  1. Well, now that this is over with, whatever will we do for entertainment?
  2. Amusing, but you know, really true. (Like I’d know…)
  3. You rarely see Slovenia in the news. By the way — Kay is home, and we visited on Tuesday. Life is good.

This is a place I would like to visit.

This is a place I would like to visit.

This is not.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

(Supposedly, there is a rock wall that keeps people from sliding off into a 360-foot freefall. Nice.)

I prefer the dry ground, thanks all the same.

Fink, scaredy cat

Me likey.

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I like stuff. And I think it’s good to make lists of the things you like (OK, it’s fun to make lists of things you hate, but let’s look on the bright side of life today, shall we?).

(More)Things That Make Me Happy (in random order)

  1. Marshmallows. Fluffy, yummy goodness. They’re among my favorite candies to eat. And shoot. (Now about that launcher…)
  2. Palindromes. Cool ones, like Do geese see God? and Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas!
  3. When someone posts a comment on RtB.
  4. In-tune singing. Can’t be overrated.
  5. Cherry pie filling. The no-sugar-added kind, right out the can.
  6. Fluff. Mixed with #5. Awwwww maaaaan….dass beautiful.
  7. When Jakey comes to visit.
  8. A good book on a cold night under a warm blanket.
  9. Musical theater. Most of the time.
  10. Hearing Lars laugh.
  11. Going to breakfast with good fiends, and….
  12. Reconnecting with old ones.

I wish I could add “getting ready for school” to the list today, but alas. And it’s not the going to school part. It’s the getting ready part. It simply takes too much effort to get this face prepared for safe viewing by the general public.

Oy.

Whatsa matta you

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Why you look-a so sad?

Remember that song? It was called “Shaddap You Face,” a parody on a stereotypical Italian mother telling her son that she feared he wouldn’t amount to anything. I remember the chorus:

Whatsa matta you? Hey! Gotta no respect.

Whaddya tink you do? Why you look-a so sad?

It’s-a not so bad. It’s-a nice-a place.

Ah, shaddap-a you face.

The rest of the words are funny, too — tune was like 27 verses long. I’ll have to look them up. It was kind of like “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” and “Macarena”: silly, catchy, but ultimately overplayed and eventually deep-sixed where it belonged.

OK. I hate weekends. Is that a bad thing? I think it’s because I lack a project. Well, that, and some other stuff. But I’m growing restless. Is it that I miss the aggravation? Could be. My hunch is that I’m going to have all I can handle come the end of the month when exam scores are sent. Then I’ll have me a project. Yeah.

I would like for you to comment on this drawing. Does anyone besides me see Mr. Limpet?

Discuss.

Fink, in a funk


Square pegs

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The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous Roman candles, exploding like spiders across the stars, and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes, ‘Awww…’

It’s good to run across people like that once in awhile, although I haven’t lately. The above quote (by beat generation poet Jack Kerouac) reminds me of this old Apple Computer ad…when was that anyway?…that featured the unmistakable voice of Richard Dreyfuss. Click here to watch.

At school, I see kids who are different but awesome, guided by their own drummer/spirit — and who are made to suffer on account of it. It makes me sad. Here’s to those people today. Be who you are. Turn over some tables in your life. Love something. I will heart you for it.

FO