Dean Christakos« August 2006 | Main | July 2008 »
September 29, 2006
With No Senators to Represent Me, I Can't Be Blamed
Speaking of senators (65 of them, anyway):
(via Echidne)
Posted by Dean at 11:58 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
My Car
Given some earlier discussion of bumper stickers in the comments, I was also reminded of another one. My car is now more than 10 years old, it failed the Washington, DC safety inspection the first time around, and I can see parts of the underbody rust away (the shell of the muffler was hanging off!). This bumper sticker spotted in Ann Arbor came to mind:
“I know my car is crappy, but I have a Ph.D.”
Granted, though, my car has been through a lot over the years.
Posted by Dean at 9:58 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
September 28, 2006
The Reality of Being a DC Resident Sinks In
When I was exhorted to call my senators over an upcoming bill, I thought about it and suddenly realized that I don't have any senators.
Posted by Dean at 8:57 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack
September 27, 2006
Obscure Liquor Search
Big shout-out to Grand Wine and Liquor in Astoria, New York for stocking Barbayanni Ouzo Aphrodite, my favorite kind which before I was only able to find in Greece. I picked up another bottle in Greece over the summer, but then I seem to have promptly finished it, requiring me to re-stock. Fortunately I now know I don't have to go all the way to Greece when I run out of the stuff.
Posted by Dean at 3:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 26, 2006
Why Newsweek Sucks
I've always regarded Newsweek as the flakiest/weakest of the news weeklies. Here's more evidence.
Posted by Dean at 5:43 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 22, 2006
Moved to DC Random Ten
Sitting in my new apartment here in DC, the first random 10 songs on my iPod are:
1. "Dancing Queen" - The Sugarcubes
2. "One" - Johnny Cash
3. "Tetsuwan Atomu" - Man Or Astro-man?
4. "California Dreaming'" - The Mamas and the Papas
5. "Heavy Duty" - Spinal Tap
6. "Shama Lama Ding Dong" - Lloyd Williams
7. "Paper Stars" - Blake Hazard
8. "Me and Bobby McGee" - Janis Joplin
9. "Hang On Snoopy" - The McCoys
10. "There She Goes Again" - The Velvet Underground
Posted by Dean at 9:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 21, 2006
I've Been Passed Over Again!
Oh, well. Maybe next year.
Posted by Dean at 8:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 20, 2006
Getting out into the nightlife
So, if you're out in DC and looking for a place to get drinks, drop by Le Bar near Lafayette Park. It has the ambience of a New York City bar, except that the wait staff gets to you in their own time. However, once they bring the dirty vodka martini to you, it's actually pretty good.
Posted by Dean at 10:21 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 16, 2006
Hello from DC
I have arrived and settled at my new home in Washington, DC today.
Continue reading "Hello from DC"
Posted by Dean at 2:41 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 14, 2006
Pit Stop In New Jersey
I'm currently in NJ packing up a few things I've been storing here at my parents' house. Check out this retrospective of moments that make one proud to be from New Jersey:
Posted by Dean at 11:29 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 13, 2006
Goodbye
|
When I wake up in the morning -The Avengers, The End of the World |
Today I have left Cambridge for Washington, D.C. Thanks so much for the good memories. It's time for some new adventures. I'm glad I got to tie up my loose ends and see everyone off before I went. For those I didn't get a chance to see, I will likely be visiting Boston every so often. I am tied to this place. As for my friends and family: visit me in D.C. I'm going to look at this as another chapter in my travels that I have chronicled over the past 6 months.
From Adrian Tomine's Optic Nerve #4:
Posted by Dean at 6:02 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 12, 2006
The Avengers Come to Cambridge
The Avengers were a San Francisco punk-rock band from the 1970s fronted by the pixie-like (but strong-voiced) singer Penelope Houston. They're one of those groups for whom I've thought, "wow, if only I were 15 years older, I could have gotten a chance to see them live, and that would have been great!" This year they decided to go on tour after I-don't-know-how-long and their final tour date was Sunday night at TT the Bear's Place in Central Square.
They put on a great show, and the venue was completely packed. I also whipped myself into an excited frenzy that evening.
Then there's always the pride one has at being able to show one as "been someplace" the night before when your hand-stamp is still visible the next day:
More pictures of the show available in my photo archive.
Posted by Dean at 8:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 11, 2006
I Miss This Place
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was the community my grandparents joined when they first came to America. The last time I was there was December of 2000. There was nothing quite like coming to a small church in a 19th century building that was surrounded by a huge complex of modern skyscrapers.
Posted by Dean at 11:02 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 7, 2006
Time Keeps on Tickin', Tickin', Tickin' Into the Future
I was born 32 years ago today in upstate New York. My parents wrote a stunning 30 letters on my birth certificate to name me Constantine Kleomenis Christakos.
This is the first birthday I've celebrated since 1998 in which I have not been enrolled in school.
This year my birthday is a power of 2. I am 25 years old. This is the first time my birthday has been a power of 2 since I was 16 and I won't have another power-of-2 birthday until I'm 64. In binary, my age is 100000. Last year my age was a prime number, and next year my age will be a palimdrome with two prime numbers as its factors (while these facts are all interesting, keep in mind that all positive integers are interesting).
I have lived in Essex Fells, New Jersey for longer than any other place I've lived-- just less than 12 years, edging out Cambridge, where I lived for 11 1/2 years.
In all these years, my jobs have included washing lab glassware, software tester, website builder, system administrator, IT consulting developer, patent researcher, and perl-programming data specialist. In October, I will be an actual scientist.
I don't miss my 20s.
Posted by Dean at 9:20 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 5, 2006
I Hope Kevin Smith is Done Now
So, I finally saw the movie Clerks II last week. Now, keep in mind that I'm never one to miss a movie about New Jersey. (I even watched Jersey Girl!) However, I'll be blunt about Clerks II-- the beginning was great, the end was good, and almost everything in between was worthless. It became clear somewhere around the middle of Mallrats that Kevin Smith had completely run out of ideas (and keep in mind that, unlike many other Kevin Smith fans, I actually liked Mallrats*). Clerks II basically re-runs the plot of Clerks, repackages and repeats the same jokes and gags -- which are no longer fresh and now warped into something unfunny because Kevin Smith tried to top his previous achievements from Clerks -- but gives the movie a happy ending.
*As I'm fond of pointing out, of the original Kevin Smith trilogy, I relate to Mallrats the most. After all, growing up in New Jersey, I spent a heck of a lot more time reading comic books and hanging out at the mall than I did working in a convenience store or dating lesbians.
Posted by Dean at 11:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 3, 2006
And so it begins...
Driving up from New Jersey to Cambridge a couple of days ago, I saw this car on the highway that indicated the shape of things to come on the political front over the next year or so...
Let's get a closer look at that bumper sticker:
Posted by Dean at 3:26 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
September 2, 2006
New Online Toys
Runthere.com is my new favorite online toy, as it allows me to plan out running routes using Google maps. While the distances of the Charles River bridge loops are well-known, runthere.com allows one to create arbitrary running routes and measure their distances, or calculate the distance is takes to get to the Charles River before running a loop. In my case, this will be useful for planning runs through my new local running area, Rock Creek Park.
Posted by Dean at 7:04 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
September 1, 2006
Moving Out Random 10
All moved out. My apartment is cleaner than it's been since... I moved in back in May of '03. The first 10 random songs on my iPod this morning:
1. Cretin Hop - The Ramones
2. I've Got to Use My Imagination - Gladys Knight & the Pips
3. Roger and Out - Neil Young
4. One of These Days - Pink Floyd
5. Jerry's Got a Squeeze Box - Red Elvises
6. Tomorrow Comes A Day Too Soon - Flogging Molly
7. Rock 'n' Roll Boy - The Donnas
8. What Becomes of the Broken Hearted - The Four Tops
9. Shut Yo Face - Trick Daddy Featuring Trina & Tre
10. I'll Be There For You - The Rembrandts (oh, the shame!)
Posted by Dean at 12:08 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack