http://unknowngenius.com/blog Chemically-enhanced neural rewiring, on a semi-regular basis... Fri, 09 May 2008 06:52:29 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Currently, they still oscillate between Nobel Prize and two Advils. Seriously: who goes out until morning on a Monday night? More to the point: who goes to work the day after, on a national holiday? A sucker, that's who. http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/05/06/my-ambitions/ Don't you think? I mean, the alcohol, the drugs, the neverending nights of feral sex, the uninspired blogging... it gets old, really. Alright, so maybe not the booze, drugs and sex part. But the blogging part: definitely. I don't mean the part about writing inane crap that nobody in their right mind ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/05/03/this-is-all-getting-really-boring/ Albert Hofman, discoverer of the lysergic acid diethylamide compound (better known under its initials) and advocate of a mature, non-repressive approach to psychedelic drug experimentation, died this week at the age of 102. Yet another tragic example of a young life cut short by the evils of drugs. http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/05/01/last-ride-on-the-magic-dragon/ Oh yea, and I'm also totally craving ochazuke for some reason. http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/04/28/bored-sleepless-and-pointlessly-anxious-about-the-future/ Moving on... Hopefully I'll soon have a couple Tokyo pics to bring back the mood to now. Unfortunately, I completely omitted to test the camera on my new keitai before purchasing it and it turns out it has really crappy lo-light performances... So we'll have to figure ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/04/27/paris-backlog-last-goodbyes/ Never got around to post pics of last year's Bathroom Project. Last September, A. helped me redecorate my bathroom walls in the most unoriginal, immature, teenage way we could think of: wacky magazine wallpapering. It took a couple trips to riverside bouquinistes to find all necessary ingredients to that lo-grade art ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/04/27/paris-backlog-ephemeral-bathroom-art/ Vita Find a home. Get my Gaijin Ausweiß. Resume working out. Academia Finish all unfinished uni projects Get seriously started on my research. Make up my mind on the whole PhD thing. Pick a subject. Pick a country. Pick an advisor (not necessarily in the above order). Technica Fix WP Plugin DB. Ditch Wordpress. Drop Spam Karma (see item above: sorry folks, we had ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/04/14/roadmap/ "By eschewing obfuscatory verbosity of locutional rendering, the circumscriptional appelations are excised." [sic, emphasis mine] http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/04/11/unintentional-self-referential-jocularity/ Because I just don't use this blog enough for my own self-serving interests (please ignore all 1,182 past entries full of pointless navel-gazing, when considering this statement), I thought I'd post a short blurb here regarding my quest for some living quarters in Tokyo for the Summer: I am looking for ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/04/08/room-wanted/ Stuff I emptied out from my apartment: 56 sq. meters' worth of furniture, art, daily life crap and assorted paraphernalia. Stuff I still owned after distributing everything else to friends, family and random strangers: 6 small boxes (books and some clothes). Stuff actually in my possession and not currently sitting in a ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/04/06/trimming-my-life/ This morning, I sat through the last written test of my life.(*) (*) Don't get all excited now: I am far from done... Still got a couple reports and projects to hand in, not to mention thesis defense(s) in the coming months/years. Not to mention JLPT in December and any other ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/03/27/end-of-an-era/ China's recent efforts in Tibet to thwart the nefarious plot set in motion by that most infamous of evil-doers (Peace Nobel Prize recipient 14th Dalai Lama, in case you hadn't seen through this two-faced monster for who he was) apparently seemed to have awaken some conveniently fast-asleep Human Rights concerns ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/03/23/international-olympic-committee-inc/ U.S. gold futures surged above the historic $1,000 mark If this is not "The Market's" way of saying "Fuck yea we think this is a recession!", then I don't know what is. http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/03/13/in-other-boring-news-that-may-affect-your-life/ After spending most of January and February in a sleep-deprived haze, working on half a dozen different scientific endeavours (to somewhat positive results, according to my advisor, so my liver shall not have died a painful caffeine-overdose death in vain after all), H's stay gave me a chance to take ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/03/03/barcelona-travel-notes/ Feeding birds in Rodin's garden, bathing in light and learning a couple fascinating things about gothic architecture in the Sainte Chapelle, taking the perennial walk through Montmartre before heading out for authentic swiss fondue with family and friends. http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/03/01/more-touristy-stuff/ http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/02/25/dali-museum-in-figueres/ http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/02/25/h-in-paris/ Among other funky features of the really cool boutique hotel we stayed at in Barcelona: a couple recommendations posted on the bathroom wall... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/02/25/casa-camper-in-barcelona/ Buying novelty lighters off Lin, whenever going for drinks at La Perle, has become sort of a tradition. This week's incredibly tasteful edition: a built-in flashlight, projecting very cheesy depictions of ladies in lascivious pose on the nearest plain surface you point it at (a version ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/02/18/lighters-market/ Harold and Loïse, popping by for tea. Here seen demonstrating the, erm, impressive floor-to-ceiling space of my apartment... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/02/18/dad-daughter-january-backlog/ Jacques took us on a guided tour of Paris' Christmas lights (as well as some not so christmassy ones)...Exceptionally, we pushed it to the farther suburban fiefdom of Nicolas Sarkozy's best pal ever: Patrick Balkany, mayor of Levalois-Perret (about 10 minutes East of Paris). Definitely worth the ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/02/18/christmas-lights-january-backlog/ Rie, standing in the middle of the Nympheas room at the Orangerie museum, taking it all in... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/02/18/nympheas-at-the-orangerie/ On New Year's Eve, shortly after our dinner party and before heading out our separate way for the second half of the night, Pierre and I opted to take a bottle to the roof for countdown (an old tradition). Thus failing by very little to make New ... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/02/18/new-years-countdown-december-backlog/ Who ever said the French didn't bathe? In Paris, even birds hop in their bathtub (or nearby rain puddle near the central fountain of the Luco) at least once a day... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/02/18/public-bath-in-the-park-january-backlog/ Of course, no Parisian christmas would be complete without the traditional lighting of the candles on Jacques' authentic Swiss christmas tree... http://unknowngenius.com/blog/archives/2008/02/18/swiss-christmas-tree-december-backlog/