Quick Saturday entry to indicate that I just got out of the shower and realised I’d written my own programming language. Don’t think that had quite sunk in last night, the end felt like a bit of anti-climax.
Feels so good now though. Must jump up and down some more. :)
It’s finished!
Who would ever have believed it, almost 16 months after I sat down to seriously start the project, Bearscript is done. The todo list is empty, the wishlist is fulfilled, and now the proper job of writing code in it can be started. This point signifies the end of adding any more language features or changing any more of the syntax, meaning that anything written in it from now on won’t suddenly be broken by future revisions.
Many times I didn’t think I’d get to this stage, and I came close to throwing in the towel more than once (especially this time last year), so it feels great to finally get it done. I’m far too tired tonight to be doing any kind of celebrating, but there will be much jumping up and down tomorrow.
Now to get back to Bearthing, so that there’s actually a public front end to this. And then looking forward to seeing what people come up with!
Not much to write about today. Cleaned up around the flat, watched last weekends Doctor Who, played with the dog, worked the rest of the time on Bearscript. Almost there.
The new Ben Folds album arrived in my mailbox this morning, once again confirming the genius of Mr. Folds and his piano pounding skills.
Interesting DVD included in the package, although only 30 minutes long rather than the advertised 40 (unless of course there is some hidden stuff I just haven’t found). It should have been longer however, and the jumping around in the "aren’t we hip because we can’t sit still" camera direction does get a bit tiring.
Ben himself, as always, comes across as an extremely likeable guy, not afraid to call out bullshit when he sees it. Such a shame he’s not a bigger star, but then you get the feeling that’s not really what he’s after.
Can’t wait to see him live in a couple of months.
Things were fairly quiet where I started, sitting with all my other friends. Occassionally there would be some sadness as one of them would disappear, and every once in a while there’d be some movement for me too, but I’d always end up back in my usual seat. Something told me today was going to be different.
First I was tipped over like I’d been so many times before, but then there was shaking, and bouncing, some beeping, followed by lots of vibration and deafening noise. That’s when I knew things would never be the same again, and I didn’t even get a chance to wave goodbye.
When I finally came to a rest, I didn’t know where I was. The sounds were muffled, but I could tell they were different. For a while I sat perfectly still again, so I got the chance to contemplate what might happen next, and whether or not I was up to it.
I’d always heard rumours about the light, how quickly it appeared, and how easily you were led towards it when it did. But nothing prepared me for the falling, and how free it would make me feel.
After the landing, that’s when the other people came to the party. And we all mixed together so well, perfectly suited to each others strengths. Somehow we all just knew what to do, like somebody had actually planned it this way. I’d never met these people before and yet all of a sudden I could feel myself getting closer to them.
Which is what made it so difficult when we were suddenly split up. I didn’t have much time to be sad though, because it wasn’t long before the temperature started rising. I’ve never been a fan of the heat, it makes me feel funny inside. But with the help of my new found friends I think we did our best to rise to the occassion.
Thankfully it didn’t last long and we were given the chance to cool off again. And just as I was started to wonder what happened to everyone else, the bond between us was sealed up again, and this time it was sweeter than ever.
Now I’m sitting in the dark, cold again, and feeling as if something is missing. A part of me feels removed somehow, like I’m no longer whole. But it’s ok, I finally feel as if I’m fulfilling my destiny. And that tastes great.
I find that it’s much easier to write these posts when I have something to complain about. When things are going as well as they are at the moment, and they are going fantastically well, it’s much harder to come up with new superlatives to describe the events of the day.
How can anybody complain about getting a message at 4pm to say that they were going to get an extra special dinner that night? And they’d find it even harder to moan when said dinner was better than they could have expected and was washed down with two bottles of fine wine in the company of somebody very sweet.
Tomorrow is my last day of the week, for I have once more taken Friday off so that I might enjoy a long weekend. Plans are being made for how that enjoyment will manifest itself, and I already know it’s going to be good.
Everything is.
Another night, another book. This time Blankets by Craig Thompson. A graphic novel weighing in at 592 pages, this isn’t my normal fare, but at GR’s recommendation I have it a shot.
It’s sweet, touching, funny and ultimately a harrowing and emotionally draining experience. I don’t think any other book has got to me the way this one did.
I also whipped through Monkey vs. Robot which made for an entertaining 7 minutes. Go Monkeys!
It all started so innocently. It’s a Monday after all, it’s not a day for waking up in the morning and being excited about it. The day went past at a fair click, surprising considering what was waiting for me at the other end of it.
Got home, drove straight past. Needed to come at this from another angle. 180 degree change in angle and I got there again, this time made it inside.
Surprised dog, pawing, "hello", hugs.
Pizza, TV, juice, movie.
Chat, convince, kiss, bed.
Good things come in fours. Even better things come with a limp.
I just finished reading High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, which was a cracking good read. But then, I’d place the film in my all time top 10, so I was bound to enjoy it. It was quite a strange read because the film is such an accurate translation, leaving nothing of any real substance out and actually going as far as quoting complete passages from the text. It meant that I kept seeing the film play in my head as I read on.
And read on I did, making it from cover to cover in one weekend, which probably means I’m going to become all nerdy and intellectual any minute now. Especially since I’m already trying to decide what I’m going to read next.
Sunday turned out to not be anywhere near the disappointment I thought it was going to be. There was more good news, and although lacking the same discovery of ancient artifacts, nothing arose to wipe the smile from my face.
Of course it can only go wrong from here. I’m sure it’s almost inevitable I’ll get hit by a bus tomorrow or something.
Another week comes to a close and there’s not much to complain about. Making it through the work days is much easier when everything is falling apart, motivation is in a much larger supply in a panic situation.
I don’t think the weekend is going to hold much. I’ll probably do a little bit of light reading, perhaps code up a storm, but definitely try and get through the large collection of music that I got from Mark. Of course the promise of a good nights sleep holds a lot of attraction too.
So the West Wing has come to an end in typically excellent fashion. It was nice to see Josh looking a lot more healthy and being a lot punchier than he’s been throughout most of the season, his dialogue really suffered ths year. It’ll probably be five months before the new season starts, and that’ll probably be the last, so I hope it goes out with dignity.
Also, the Cookie Monster is going to start teaching healthy eating. Is this what it’s come down to, kids have gotten so fat that we have to get health advice from a blue monster that for his entire life has advocated mass consumption of baked goods. I’m sure it’ll not be long before they bring back the Marlboro Man promoting a cancer charity.
Matthew McConaughey was on The Daily Show talking about his new film, Sahara. He was either drunk, stoned, or is perhaps even more stupid than I ever gave him credit for. I’m not sure how Jon Stewart managed to sit there and speak to him at any kind of intelligent level, he seemed unable to comprehend even the simplest questions. The suggestion that he was the kind of guy who liked to jump off things was met with a level of confusion usually reserved for babies being taught advanced calculus.
And finally, there’s the hope of good times ahead. But since even saying that will probably jinx it, I’m just going to go back to putting my feet up, listening to some good music and chilling out.
Robot Chicken is quite possibly the funniest comedy in years.
That is all.
Well my plans for today have all gone to hell, and it was the first time in months I’ve actually been looking forward to something. I should know by now not to get my hopes up, and even though there’s a VERY good reason why I was stood up, I’m still really upset.
But how I feel isn’t what matters here, my real thoughts are with my friend and her family.
Didn’t sleep too well last night, so I had this plan of heading off to bed early, especially as it’s given me a bit of a headache. Of course these things rarely pan out and instead I’m sitting here at almost midnight as always.
That’s about all I have to write. I think my imagination is asleep already.
Whipped through the other nine episodes of House today, making it a solid ten on the "how much time did I waste watching TV" scale.
I’ve moved onto Lost now, but only managed the first seven minutes of the pilot episode before switching to the latest Channel 4 cheap TV countdown, The 50 Greatest Comedy Sketches of all Time. There were some odd choices, and although I don’t agree with what came number one (Lou and Andy from Little Britain), at least it wasn’t as obvious as the dead parrot sketch again. It would have been a much more enjoyable program if they’d actually showed the whole sketch though, instead of show little bits of them in random order (and often the same bits, in a different order).
All of this does mean a pretty unproductive weekend. But who cares, I still enjoyed it.
House is an excellent television show, as I found out tonight when I finally started watching it. I made my way through seven episodes, and it’s probably just as well there’s only another nine to go, because otherwise I think my productivity would be stalled for a while.
I also think I’ve become addicted to Nesquik, something I’ve never liked before because my only exposure to it was the powder that you mixed yourself. But now that it’s being sold cheaply in big cartons, I’m sucking it down like it’s going out of fashion. I kicked the Coke habit a few months back, so I suppose it’s about time I replaced it with something. It’s probably a time limited offer, but at least it’s a reasonably healthy addiction to have while it lasts.
Hell of a time, amazing all the things that can go wrong in just four days. But it made for the most enjoyable work week in a while, chaos can be a good motivator.
Tax disc turned up in the post this morning, ending the danger and excitement of driving illegally.
Finally, here’s two pictures I saw in the last couple of days that seemed oddly familiar. I’ve been here with someone.
Maybe it was just a dream I had.
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