1 photo

cactusoftheeast




I'm doing 42 things
  

cactusoftheeast's Life List

  2. 1. sign up for a course in PHP
    1 cheer     		1 person
  3. 2. Sleep less, live more
    1 cheer     		17 people
  4. 3. Skydive
    		11,413 people
  5. 4. Live like an ascetic
    1 cheer     		1 person
  6. 5. Publish an article in a scholarly journal
    2 cheers     		36 people
  7. 6. Force myself not to speak English for one month
    2 cheers     		1 person
  8. 7. Host an amazing 21st birthday party
    1 cheer     		2 people
  9. 8. Make many new friends
    1 cheer     		6 people
  10. 9. Find something to do in New Jersey
    		2 people
  11. 10. Experiment with Poser 6
    1 cheer     		1 person
  12. 11. Perfect my throat-singing technique
    		1 person
  13. 12. Shatter my sense of reality
    1 cheer     		1 person
  14. 13. Write down all my dreams in one year, then get them taken for interpretation by a dream analyst
    2 entries . 1 cheer     		1 person
  15. 14. finish (most of) my summer reading list
    3 entries . 2 cheers     		1 person
  16. 15. Imitate foreign accents convincingly
    2 entries . 2 cheers     		9 people
  17. 16. Report the human side of a war
    3 cheers     		1 person
  18. 17. spread cream cheese perfectly on a bagel
    1 cheer     		1 person
  19. 18. Concoct a recipe for mustard
    		2 people
  20. 19. Turn out to be a good professor
    		1 person
  21. 20. Speak more
    		19 people
  22. 21. Survive Princeton without becoming a Coastie
    3 cheers     		1 person
  23. 22. Bike to Mount Horeb
    		2 people
  24. 23. Climb the Piz Buin (mountain)
    		1 person
  25. 24. Circumnavigate all three large lakes in Madison, Wis.
    2 cheers     		1 person
  26. 25. Play the following instruments competently: Ney, Zither, Bandoneon
    1 cheer     		1 person
  27. 26. Bake really good bread
    5 cheers     		15 people
  28. 27. Speak as fluently in German as I can in English
    3 cheers     		1 person
  29. 28. Spend some time in Kabul, Afghanistan
    2 cheers     		1 person
  30. 29. Learn to yodel
    5 cheers     		126 people
  31. 30. Go skiing at least three times every winter
    1 cheer     		1 person
  32. 31. Open a winter food cart on State Street Mall specializing in stews
    1 cheer     		2 people
  33. 32. Read Dostoevsky, Chekhov, and Turgenev in Russian
    1 cheer     		1 person
  34. 33. Shepherd livestock for a day
    1 entry . 3 cheers     		1 person
  35. 34. Bribe my way into the Northern Caucasus
    1 cheer     		1 person
  36. 35. Attend a Deishovida concert in Vienna
    		1 person
  37. 36. Deejay a break-dance session as "DJ Azalax"
    1 cheer     		2 people
  38. 37. Build a desk for myself
    1 cheer     		1 person
  39. 38. Write a short but influential novel
    2 cheers     		1 person
  40. 39. Paint a scene I remember from Tokat, Turkey
    1 cheer     		1 person
  41. 40. Dabble in the following languages: Hungarian, Persian, Kyrgyz, Lithuanian, Mongolian
    1 cheer     		1 person
  42. 41. Complete the Polar Plunge again
    1 entry     		1 person
  43. 42. Whistle really loudly with my fingers
    5 cheers     		31 people
Recent entries
Cultivate an appreciation for foreign film
The Good and the Not-So-Good

I have “cultivated” an appreciation for foreign language film—I have seen enough now to recognize which foreign films are good ones and which are not worth watching, and have established quite a repertoire. For example,

Highly Recommended
  • Turtles Can Fly (Bahman Ghobadi/Iraq (Kurdistan)/2004)
  • In July (Fatih Akin/Germany/1999)
  • Up and Down (Jan Hrebejk/Czech Republic/2004)
  • Dark Horse (Dagur Kári/Denmark/2005)
Not Necessarily Recommended
  • Kandahar (Mohsen Makhmalbaf/Iran, Afghanistan/2001)
  • Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel/Germany/2004)
  • The City of Lost Children (Marc Caro, Jean-Pierre Jeunet/France/1995)

Any recommendations from you?

The only thing left to do now is to watch some of the “classics” like Fellini and Kurosawa—

Jun 21, 2006, 09:28AM PDT | 3 comments


finish (most of) my summer reading list (read all 3 entries…)
Fatelessness by Imre Kertész

This book is absolutely, unconditionally stunning.

It is quite possibly the best book I have ever read, simultaneously horrifying and special. It is difficult to read, not because of the language or the plot but because it causes such conflicting emotions which you are forced to reconcile.

Fatelessness follows a Hungarian boy as he is sent to Auschwitz and other concentration camps, where he is “fated” to survive stoically, step by step. Definitely deserving of the Nobel Prize. ()

On to Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, all in all quite a different read—

May 30, 2006, 04:43PM PDT | 0 comments


finish (most of) my summer reading list (read all 3 entries…)
The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk

I just finished my first book from the summer reading list, The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk. It’s a sort of intellectual foray into identity—whether two people who look essentially the same can actually become one another given a lot of time and effort. Overall, the final chapter made the book worth reading, but it was a little slow at times. The whole feel of the book was a little magical, and anyone with an interest in Ottoman culture should give it a look. ()

On to Fatelessness...!

May 26, 2006, 12:32PM PDT | 0 comments


See all entries ...


 

I want to:

The world wants to...

Tara Anderson wants to complete the tkga master knitter hand knitting program, level 1 volunteer in India find a song I only know a few lyrics to Take more pictures write a novel be less arrogant i want to talk to people online just to talk Change my car Watch a Joan of Arcadia Episode write a book win a poker tournament inspire someone Go see Third Day in Concert be hot make more money Send a postcard to Postsecret Get out more run a marathon Weph wants to visit all 50 states write a play learn to play golf Learn Spanish love my family be more confident Italygirl wants to move out travel triple my reading speed Have life experiences that make interesting stories
43 Things Login