Journal for 2003 October 13
I haven't written for a while. Originally, I told myself, it was because I had homework that needed grading for which I had to use the morning train ride, so that I would not do as much grading in Claudia's time with me. Over the past week, though, I've ended up using that time instead for an inefficient light sleep, always anticipating the inevitable call for Needham Center, my stop. Evidently my habit of sleeping 2:30 and trying to wake at 7:00 has gotten to me.

My last entry was almost 2 weeks ago-- I have two weeks and two weekends to try to save from possible oblivion. I will start with what occupies my mind: the PA Renaissance Faire which I got back from 6 hours ago.

I spent the last week waiting for the splendors of the Faire, and the first half day of Faire remembering that it isn't about splendors; it's about having fun. I frowned upon a hillarious group called the Tartan Terrors which spent as much time doing shtick as playing music. That judgement has reversed; they're shtick was not 100% clever shtick, but it was worth enjoying 100%. They enjoyed being on stage, and that's why they were there; should we have been any different?

I went to many performances, including a combined musical time of about 7 hours and 1 hour of non-music show. The second day I spent about 2 hours shopping for a token of my affection for my beloved (it takes me time to get into a mood where I want to spend money). I decided to find a piece of jewelry other than the typical kinds, as Claudia scared me away from thinking I could get her anything there that she would like. My thought is to ease into it from this direction and evaluate the response. I got a beautiful set of hair pins with intricate glasswork jew-tops. For myself, I finally bought a (Chrismassy) CD from Bells and Motley, a husband-wife pair deep into historical accuracy and overflowing with a collection of medieval musical instruments.

Also, one night after Faire, I played a new game: Lamarckian Poker (quite well done). I've written down a Description and Instructions.

Stepping back, during the last week at Olin I have been amusing myself by creating a taxonomy of all abstract human pursuits, based on my belief that the existance of academic departments, likes and dislikes between them, and differences in approach and method are a result of mental strengths or skills which must be developed, rather than pools of knowledge to be learned. I encourage people to look at and comment on my Taxonomy.

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If you have any questions or comments that you want to email, feel free to contact me, jrising@ mit.edu.