shiny shiny

I no longer work for the chemistry department. Being a lab-equipment gofer is one or two degrees of magnitude below my skill set, the pay sucked, and I was bored.

So instead I fell ass-backwards into a job in the art department, maintaining/upgrading/protecting a lab full of Apple G5s. There are few things more beautiful to me than 17 Apple Cinema Displays, all lined up on the lab tables. While installing and removing various applications yesterday, I found myself frequently stopping to stroke the edges of the displays. I remain in disbelief over their incredible design and beauty.

I also set a new personal (and group-of-close-friends) record on the disc golf course last week: -14. It turns out I have excellent skills when there's no wind; the next day, we shot a round in a strong breeze and I finished at par. The inconsistency frightens me, for when Derek and I play, we (of course) play for skins.

I needed some new music to groove to while playing poker, so I picked up My Chemical Romance's Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. This album reminds me a bit of Taking Back Sunday's Where You Want to Be, only with a little less screaming and a little more stylistic variety... in other words, it's pretty sweet. Also got the new Franz Ferdinand... at first listen, there were no tracks that had the instant-love, crack-addiction quality of Take Me Out, but all the tracks are good, whereas the first album had some big hits and some even bigger misses.

Tests next week in western civ, russian, algebra, and the week following (I think) in communications and comparative politics. Fun, fun. It's definitely starting to feel like fall... school is getting serious, and the weather is turning cooler (38 degrees on my way to school yesterday, and 50 at 10:30 this morning).

I'm writing a story for the Dakota Student about a German-American friendship organization called Atlantic-Brücke. An official from AB participated in a young leadership conference in Bismarck a couple of weeks ago, and was struck by the plight of refugees fleeing the great flattened Gulf Coast. Two phone calls and two days later, German companies had committed $150,000 in aid money for victims of HK. (not hong kong) A few more phone calls, and there is $50,000 waiting in a checking account at the Bank of North Dakota, with more available if needed. Now, there is a small delegation of German and American officials traveling around North Dakota, offering aid to refugees who chose to came all the way up to the great (soon-to-be) frozen north. Anything these people need that is not being provided by federal or state aid agencies, AB is taking care of. Due to our deserved reputation as a six-month icebox, though, and with winter coming soon, there are only about 30 families in all of ND that are eligible for assistance.

What blows me away is the juxtaposition of German efficiency with American clumsiness. Our president is on vacation, and the guy in charge of natural disasters for our whole country doesn't hear about the craziness in New Orleans affecting millions of people for three days. A week later, relief efforts are underway. Meanwhile, someone who isn't even affiliated with the German government makes a phone call, gets a phone call, and in two days has eliminated all intervening red tape and is ready to help people halfway across the world.

Thanks, Germany! (don't forget to read the Dakota Student on Tuesday.)