still with the birds

April 14, 2004 by Eric Richardson

So I'll never understand the LAPD chopper. This morning it woke me up. I tried to just ignore it, to fall back asleep, but it kept circling. It was here for at least twenty minutes, every thirty seconds or so coming into view overhead on the northern edge of its rotation. It was flying pretty low, too, so it was loud. Then, all of a sudden, it started using the loudspeaker. I couldn't quite catch what it said as I moved out to the balcony to get a better vantage point. Immediately afterward it veers off and makes a bee-line for downtown. No clue what it was doing here.

In other news, I think I discovered today that pidgeons are trying to make a nest on our balcony. They're also undeterred by the openings and closings of the door.

hmmm

April 13, 2004 by Eric Richardson

So I'm sitting in class now, sort of listening to the lecture, but also still working on the intro and conclusion of my paper. I've got a body that I'm comfortable with, but I have no idea what my intro is trying to say. All I need is a good third of a page and I'll be happy. That and a small conclusion will give me a solid five pages, which I think is a decent day's work.

The paper's due in discussion at the end of class, which means I get to duck out at the beginning of the movie, head over to Annenberg, and print this out. That gives me about an hour to finish. I think I'll make it.

excuse me, Mr. Cube

April 13, 2004 by Eric Richardson

When talking about someone in a paper, normally you would introduce their full name and then use only their last name in subsequent mentions. What do you do when talking about Ice Cube?

"The role played by Cube is..."

Heh. That reminds me of a Simpsons quote, from last season. Flanders pictures himself in Hollywood, where he's standing along Hollywood Blvd. A man walks up...

Ned, I'm James L. Brooks.

Oh, can I call you Jim?

James L. Brooks is good.

Ah, Simpsons. In other news, my collection is now up to 321 episodes as I fill in early seasons I had neglected before. I think that just leaves me 10 or so short of having them all.

and the other birds...

April 13, 2004 by Eric Richardson

An LAPD chopper is circling overhead right now, close enough that I get a breeze every time it passes me. I've never quite understood why the chopper's here so often, yet so rarely do I actually see whatever it is it's watching from above. This one's doing wide passes, unlike a lot of times where you see them flying fast and hard to keep a spotlight on a suspect on the ground.

to the birds

April 13, 2004 by Eric Richardson

So the other day my roomate D4 had one of his all-time best ideas, bringing one of the old beat-up chairs from our living room out to the balcony for the day. Today I'm appropriating that idea for a location to write my paper.

One thing I didn't count on... Pidgeons. I've only been out here ten minutes and already two brids have been in landing approaches before I shooed them away. The first time they veered off and landed on the edge of the roof to survey the situation. The second time one got even closer. They're gone for now, but I highly doubt this is for good.