Alex's Alliterative Adventures

There’s only one way to overcome your fears.

It’s even mildly delicious. While the water was boiling and the sauce was warming, I was being struck by creative bursts from all sides.  Chunks of sausage!  Minced onions and peppers!  Wait… that’s it! Meat and vegetables! It’s all so simple.  So terrifyingly, beautifully simple.

And kev, in answer to your question, yes, I do have a window.

Or rather, I had class.  Today.  The other one.  It seems like a cool course, where we can make a 3D game for the final project if we so choose.

In other news, I managed to get a game I made on my new cell phone. I couldn’t get the coolest games, because this phone likes to touch itself, but that’s ok.

There’s a crazy party in Ã…rhus, Denmark for the next week or two.  A friend of mine from waterloo is spending the next 4 days in Germany, Italy, and Belgium, to name a few. I know a few more people who are spending the weekend in Stockholm. I think I’ll probably head down to Copenhagen with a few friends myself, and save Ã…rhus for next weekend. I have to learn to find just the right mix between working and adventuring.  I only have to pass, and I never get to see my grades, so I don’t want to stress myself out, but I would actually like to learn some CS material while I’m here.

I don’t know why, but I think I might have a minor phobia of cooking.  When shopping for ingredients for meals, I am overwhelmed with dread.  Uncertainty paralyzes me, and I’m unable to think anything except “I’ll burn this” or “I can’t cook, who am I kidding”. I think about the delicious meals I’ve seen others make and become depressed at my inability to consistently produce the same.  The bizarre thing is, I actually can cook. I’ve done it before, and I’ve personally cooked some of the best meals I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.  I’m 100% aware that my aversion to cooking is irrational, but it’s so much easier to just cave in and buy another frozen pizza.

Weird.

One of the most popular clubbing songs in Sweden right now is Botten Anna by Basshunter.  I heard someone say that it ranks number two on the charts, having recently fallen from number one. Tonight I decided to look up the lyrics (in English and Swedish). The song opens with this catchy hook:

Jag känner en bot
Hon heter Anna. Anna heter hon,
och hon kan banna banna dig så hårt
Hon röjer upp i våran kanal.
Jag vill berätta för dig att jag känner en bot.

For those of you who don’t speak swedish, including me, here’s the translation:

I know a bot,
her name is Anna, Anna is her name
And she can ban, ban you so hard
She cleans up in our channel
I wanna tell you, that I know a Bot

Part of me is waiting for everyone to rip of their prosthetic faces to reveal the evil alien mouths underneath, because something has to be wrong.  This country has surpased the maximum level of allowable awesome.

This would be why I’ve been neglecting you guys.  Also because I hate you and I want all of you to die.

<3

note: There are also shots of my prison and/or room up in the gallery.  Go nuts.

ps. Yes, I got a camera phone.  Don’t feel bad for the old camera, it’s just a camera, it has no feelings.  Besides, the new one is much better.

Today, I had my first EDA110 lecture.  EDA110 is equivalent to the cs course at waterloo that’s notorious for being every cs student’s lowest mark.  In the lecture, we learned three sorting algorithms that I learned in grade 11. We then analyzed their efficiency, which I did a year or two ago. We also got the marking scheme for the course, which says that we we have to either pass the combined marks of the assignments and the exams or pass the exam. Also, if you fail your final exam, you get to rewrite it.  Twice.

Best. Term. Ever.

If you ever find yourself on exchange at Lund University, allow me to give you some friendly advice: in the period before you join a nation (kind of like a frat), keep your passport & letter of acceptance on you at all times. The added bulk is a bit of a pain, but I can tell you from personal experience that not being able to enter a party because you stumbled while reciting “your” birthday is not worth the forgetfulness, especially when your friends are waiting for you inside.Another helpful hint: Cell phones are no longer a fun little toy to show off to all of your friends, they are now a cornerstone of society. They’ve become part of this complete breakfast.

The… the school helped me.  Waterloo actually helped me. On their own time.  I’m rendered speechless.

 

Photos still to come, but here’s a memorable spanish saying from last night: “Only dead fish go with the current”.

I had a great night at the malmo festival, but I was relying on someone else’s camera for all of the pictures.  I’ll have to post them when I get a hold of them, but in the mean time, I sleep.

The professor that I was supposed to meet this afternoon wasn’t in his office when I arrived, so I did what seemed appropriate given the situation: I knocked on doors and bugged people until someone helped me out. One of these people was a professor that teaches a mobile graphics course here at Lund. (For those of you who aren’t aware, I’ve spent 8 of the past 12 months working for a mobile gaming company, which involved a lot of work with mobile graphics). Unfortunately, this course has a prerequisite graphics course which I haven’t yet taken. He suggested that I should take his course, and that he would waive the requirements and do his best to make sure I don’t fail like Napoleon. I’ve never been invited into a course before.  I feel all warm and geeky inside. The only hard part is going to be convincing waterloo to let me learn things, instead of just stagnating.  We shall see.

I have a class tomorrow morning at 9am, so I decided to leave the party early. At half past midnight I got the impression that things weren’t dying down anytime soon, so I decided to make my exit. When I left the building, I passed a line of 20 or so people that were still waiting to get in. This country is nuts.