RyanHarne.com

In celebration of my first few steps into another culture’s language, I watched Run Lola Run tonight. The movie is fantastic. Listening to people speak a language that you so desperately want to converse fluently in is doubly fantastic. It’s a strange position to be in - envying an entire nation their tongue. The particular struggle I face is overcoming the lack of pronunciation an American socialization provides, since German has two or three extra sounds that don’t exist in spoken English.

I mentioned to someone my current summer plans of self-teaching myself this language, as far as I can do with just books and audio lessons. “I’m trying to teach myself German.” She responded, “Are you sure, Ryan? I mean, that’s an entire country.”

My only complaint so far with the self-teaching is that the audio lessons seem to set me up for approaching a German and begging that [s]he speak English to me. Phrases like “ich verstehe nicht” and “aber nur ein Bisschen” are not precisely empowering. However, I will conquer my fears and tackle this language like… Jason tackled the Minotaur. Even though I don’t believe there was a physical scuffle involved. But that’s ok. Tonight I will partake in a Nightime Nyquil and that’s all that matters, at the moment. Mach’s gut.

I discovered the best attire for a hot, humid climate is as little clothing as possible. Since I do not wear shorts outside of the gym, that means jeans and a t-shirt. Too bad that look is uncomfortably blasé. I wonder if there are aerating pants on the market.

Returning to my apartment after a closing shift makes me want sugar. Perhaps my body loses a lot of glucose in the standup/walkabout exercise I get while closing the shop, but it certainly demands some refreshment when I return. (FYI: icing belongs on desserts or in the container, not on spoons).

The official dirt on VT’s College of Engineering Tablet PC affinity has been released. After an exhaustive review of their nondisclosure meetings with vendors, the CoE chose Fujitsu to sell Tablet PCs to all incoming engineering freshmen. Plus, Microsoft gets their foot in the door and will be able to help engineering freshmen adjust to the Tablets that just might be able to run their latest operating system, Windows Vista, which ships early 200_. ::Sigh:: I am very much exasperated from the Tablet fiasco and I hope incoming freshmen wise-up and refuse to follow this “requirement”. The only professors who would give freshmen a hard time are those who headed up this entire operation (notably, those mentioned in the latest news release).

There is no use getting worked up over a bit of administrative tomfoolery. I will just head to the gym to calmly release those pent-up frustrations.

Twenty-one has come and gone. I even worked tonight, though I did see a few friends during the shift. All in all, the day was nonchalant, as I would desire it to be. My only regret is that I am unable to celebrate with the many friends who are scattered all over the country. Dag, yo.

My current solace is chocolate chip cookies. I have an insatiable stomach for sweets. If my keyboard were covered in powdered sugar right now, I am telling you I would chew my way from Q to ?.

Thanks to the many good birthday wishes. You’ll get yours.

I must admit, I am falling in love with The Beatles again. Someone showed me how awesome The Beatles were for busy coffeeshop music, and WOW, now I love the songs again. A rebirth of joy, if I may. I truly lost touch with their tunes a couple years ago, but they’re back.

Speaking of rebirth, I was given an introduction to This American Life on the northward trip to Manhattan during spring break. Last night, Erin reintroduced me to the show, I came back to my place, downloaded some streams, and WOW, I found a new source of podcasts. My summer session has provided much opportunity for listening to In Our Time and a wonderful accompianment has arrived. For a fantastic This Life show, check out episode 281 from January 21, 2005, “My Big Break”.

Ok, so now I must work and be a birthday guy.

Frasier has his Eddie, Springfield A&M has their Sir Oinkcelot, and, now, Bollo’s has their birds. On my shift last night, there was a commotion just outside the baker’s door. There was a baby bird trapped in a storage unit attached to the restaurant across the alley. The parents were feverishly rushing about the spot, flying back and forth, returning to the nest probably to check the nest time after time for a magical return. Since I was running the counter, I could only watch the scenario unfold for so long before having to return to the front.

During the summer, the baker’s door is usually left open to let in air from the outside because ovens typically run hotter even than the obscenely humid air. A bit later in my shift, I heard the chirping at an unusually loud level from the front of the shop. Some time earlier I had noticed the baby birds (actually, there ended up being two) had gotten loose from the storage thing and were chirping on the side walk while the parents were wondering how to return them to the nest. The babies were chirping quite loudly, fluttering around without any true liftoff. But now, one of the babies had gotten in the store and I was to do something.

We found it hiding underneath the end of a bench. And, gosh, it was so small. Its body was so larger than a ping pong ball, and when I put my hands around it (after it had jumped all over me) it weighed similar to a quarter [25 cents]. I wanted to keep it, put it in my pocket, and take it home with me to love and cherish - but, those parents needed it more than I. I took it outside and set it down next to its sibling, where they continued to cry for a while after. Later in the evening, I had noticed they were gone and I believe the story followed that someone had located the proper nest and took the birds back home. All that I could think of during the ordeal was the fragile yet majestic creatures birds are and I think everyone should watch Winged Migration.

Much earlier, though, I had shown another barista MacSaber (for MacBooks / for PBooks or iBooks) and her immediate response, apart from her jaw dropping, was, “Wow… now, I really need a Mac.” Watch and Watch. Oh, it’s a good Friday.

Though closing up Bollo’s during the summer is a relatively peaceful and easy operation, somehow it skews my abilities to fall asleep once I arrive back at my place. Thus, I lay in bed for a while, become restless, read and eventually reach those Zs. Tonight is my first evening off, so I am looking forward to a simple collapse into bed, hopefully one that ends up to be very relaxing. Despite the Summer One 2006 pace being a few notches more relaxed than a traditional semester, it is no easier waking up in the morning.

But, so far, the summer in Blacksburg is great. The weather is mild (maybe too mild), the coffee consumers frequent and regular, and the robins abnormally large. I will try and get a photo of one, but, SERIOUSLY, I saw a robin this morning that was easily 10 or 12 inches long from beak to tail. Perhaps evolutionary processes truly are expedited when there is more oxygen in the atmosphere (i.e. when less commuting students are around, i.e. when less engines consume the available oxygen in the atmosphere and replace it with carbon dioxide). A nice Summer One, indeed.