Let's talk, it's been too long.

Hello! Have we sat down and talked, lately? It's been too long, I think!

The last month has been filled with a lot of happenings.

We were just visited by good old friends, photoed above. I'll call them Andrew B. and Nicole A. to protect their identities. No wait, maybe that gives away too much. A. Berns and N. Anderson. Better. They may not want it advertised that they were associating with us Copelands.

It was a short trip, but we packed in some good times. There were burgers made, New York skylines viewed, brewery tours taken, fancy meals eaten, and even a trip to see some Art. They brought along good weather and even better subway luck. I doubt we spent more than five minutes waiting for all seven trains combined.

Berns took a great picture of me cooking some burgers, which I'm now using without his permission. 

Most importantly, though, they harassed our cats. Which is awesome.

Doesn't Livia look abused?

I turned 25 years old in March. Alicia treated me like a king, with some scavenger hunting, a few gifts here and there (Scotch glass! Minimalist art book! Book by this guy! Trip to Target to buy Neft Shotgun!), and even a midnight trip to a bar to celebrate a quarter century. I guess I've gotta thank my parents. But if I do that, I have to thank their parents, and so forth. Oh well. Thanks Mom and Dad! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa! On both sides! 

I'm teaching even more, now. I picked up an additional teaching gig Tuesdays and Thursdays from now until the end of the semester. It's through the tutoring center at Citytech, so it only pays half of my normal teaching gigs, but it will still work out to a little extra cash every week. 

I have not yet received my teaching appointments for the summer and fall, but I've got no reason to suspect they won't come. Apparently I can keep teaching college mathematics as long as I'd like. I'm worried that the position is a bit of a dead end (I can't get a better position without a degree) and it's limited money, but for now, it's good to have a decent paying job. 

Taxes are done! I actually did them myself this year. I feel like I understand taxes about a thousand times more than any time before. Which is to say I don't understand them very well, but at least I know what's going on now. I'm just proud we didn't procrastinate until April 14th. 

Would I do them myself next year? I'm not sure. I really, really enjoyed the experience and I felt like I've now got a good handle on tax preparation. Still, I might want to run it by a tax service next year to make sure I'm not costing us money. 

I'm happy! It's been strange not attending class this semester. In fact, it's been scary not knowing what the future will hold. Never in my life has my future been so wide open. I could be doing a hundred different jobs in a few months. I'm disappointed that I'm being rejected for jobs that seem perfect for me (bank teller?). But I've really started to relax about the whole experience and try to keep an open mind. 

 This picture is unrelated to anything above. But Berns really got a good looking photo of us, didn't he?

I'll see if I can't return to my old update formula later this week. But take that with a grain of salt. If you're reading this, you know my record on blog posting. 

Good talk! 

Boston Trip

You may have seen Alicia's fantastic coverage of our March 29th trip to Boston. Here's my contributions.

We started out the day early as heck. I believe we woke up at 5am to leave at 5:45am to catch the 7am boarding of a bus to Boston. It was a 8 hour round trip, but it was really nice to leave the city. 

Here's Alicia in the bus station when we arrived: 

That's the smile of "I'm not sitting on a bus anymore!" 

I was a bit worried about all the walking, as we didn't have any means of transportation in Boston. Luckily for us, everything in downtown Boston was within our usual walking distance of Brooklyn. 

First stop, Boston Commons. It's like Central Park in NYC, but supposedly used for much more than a park. It was nice, wide open, and comfortable.

Yeah, that's rain. There was a lot of it.

From there, we saw a lot of history. Let's skip all that and go straight to what I remember: 

What? It was raining outside and it was my Spring Break!

We saw a lot, and Alicia documented it pretty well. My camera is getting up there in camera-years, and really couldn't handle the rain. Thus the lack of pictures. But it took a good photo of this half drank beer at the Cheers bar built into the tourist shopping center. 

Overall, the trip really tested the strength of our Umbrellas. But it was a fun trip and really cheap! 

Me with my beard. Had you seen that yet? I've finally figured out how to keep it short.

Playing the Lottery

I thought I'd come out and confess that I've started playing the lottery. They started featuring the Powerball, one of the biggest multistate lottery in the US.

But that's not what got me started. What got me started is a list of instructions to follow should you win. I hadn't actually thought of the logistics of winning the lottery. I couldn't find any copyright concerns and the website was called "Rotten Library," so I'm going to go ahead and publish the list here for you:

   Strangely enough, winning millions in the lottery can be the worst thing that ever happened to you. The money can strain relationships with your spouse and relatives. It can turn your friends and neighbors into leeches. It can ruin your privacy. It can cause security problems, threaten your physical safety. Paradoxically, it can lead you down the road to bankruptcy. And, of course, it can also turn you into a raging asshole. 

Tips for the Latest Instant Millionaire
[Bear in mind that none of us is a lawyer or a lottery millionaire, so these recommendations are anything but authoritative. Caveat emptor, you rich bastard.]It's great to be rich, but fame is a bitch. So your primary mission is to claim the money without divulging your identity or having a mental breakdown. Here's how to do it:

1. Don't tell anyone. The single most important rule for maintaining sanity after winning the lottery is: Do everything you can to keep your precious anonymity intact. Of course that means keeping your goddamned mouth shut. Don't share the news with your friends, neighbors, coworkers, or family. Resist even the urge to tell your spouse or significant other, at least for the time being. Otherwise you will have forever blown your one chance at being anonymous. You can always spill the beans later, after all the excitement has died down.
2. Don't sign the ticket. After you write your name on that ticket, you might as well call up and announce the news to your local TV stations and newspapers. Remember that the state lottery commission will publicize the identity of every claimant. Toss the ticket into a clean Ziploc bag (to avoid spills, etc.) and temporarily stash it someplace away from excessive heat, sunlight, pets, children, roommates, coworkers, etc. Make sure it's someplace safe that you won't forget.
3. Act casual. Maintain your normal routine. Continue to attend work, school, church, social functions, etc. Whatever's typical for you. When people ask you what's up, refer to rule number one.
4. Make a few photocopies. At your earliest opportunity, take a trip to a 24-hour Kinko's around 2am when nobody's around and make six copies of the ticket, both front and back. Use one of the self-serve machines and take any and all bad copies with you (i.e. leave none in the trash). And before you leave, doublecheck to make sure you didn't leave the original in the machine.
5. Rent a safe-deposit box. Contact your bank and see if they have any vacant safe deposit boxes, tell them you're going on a trip and need to store some documents for a few months. Make a point of asking them how much it costs, even though you couldn't care less. You're trying to keep up appearances. When you go down to the bank in person to open your box, you will probably need some ID and your bank card. Bring the ticket, along with some other (fake) papers. Don't show them the ticket, obviously. Loose lips sink ships. Stash the ticket in the box and put the box key on your keyring. Don't lose the key.
6. Open a blind trust. Hire a tax attorney. Once you're a client, the lawyer is legally bound to maintain your confidentiality. Tell them you want to open a blind trust in order to claim the lottery prize as an anonymous trustee. Provide three photocopies of your ticket. All contact with the lottery commission will be made through your lawyer.
7. Contact a financial planner. Rich people don't tend to stay that way without a little planning. If you have the choice between annual payments and a single large payout, you should consider the big jackpot. It's less money total, but it's probably about the same as the annuity if you take the lump sum and invest it in interest-bearing savings bonds. However, the single large payout may incur a higher tax rate. Ask your tax experts.
8. Tie up any financial loose ends. No reason to procrastinate now. Pay all those traffic fines and parking tickets. Catch up on alimony or child support payments. Settle any debts. Instruct your financial planner to scrub those black marks off your credit score, but don't cancel your credit cards -- that'll screw up your rating. And don't think it won't matter anymore. It matters.
9. Draft or update your last will and testament. If there were ever a time for estate planning, it's now.

I read that, got excited about the lottery, but then thought the same thing I always do: it's a waste of money. The odds are simply so far against me that they are not worth trying. What finally pushed me to purchase my first lottery ticket was realizing two things:

1. Tickets are only $1. Seriously... Is there anything in this world that is actually only $1 anymore? My god is that cheap, and it lets me think about having fun with the logistics of winning the lottery. 
2. I was married in Las Vegas. I love gambling. Maybe spending $1 a week isn't so bad. After all, that will come to a whopping total of $52 at the end of the year. Perhaps I'll skip a fancy meal once a year with Alicia. 

So, I've got my Powerball ticket posted on the pinboard above our desk. I'm using my cell phone as a random number generator, because if anyone's going to generate some random numbers, it's me. I'm actually considering switching to a smaller state lottery. The odds of winning the Powerball are so low, it's almost no fun. I'd take $500,000 just as happily, ya know? My only complaint about the smaller lotteries is that it happens every day. I can't afford that! 

If I take the advice above, you probably won't ever find out I've won it. Sorry! Wish me luck anyway! 

Damages films on our street

Just going through some of my pictures from Fall 2009. Back in November, the FX show "Damages" filmed a few scenes in front of our building. They posted flyers all over the street two days prior to filming, then began to park trucks everywhere. I didn't see anyone famous walking by the apartment, but there were signs pointing to catering, trailers and principle photography. It was a cool insight into how a show is made (there were a lot of people!).

Here's some pictures I took from my roof:

Thanksgiving Pictures

Just a quick assortment of pictures from the holidays:

First off, Alicia and I attended the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade:



Here's the crowd from left to right:




I guess we had to expect it would be busy: this is Time Square in New York City.

It actually wasn't bad, though. The police only let a certain number of people through to the parade. We arrived an hour early, so it worked to our advantage.

This girl:



... has pictures on her blog. In fact, she has so many posts about Thanksgiving, it would be awkward to post links to every one of them. They are on the front page right now, but if you're reading this months in the future, check out her posts on December 1st, 2008.

How'd the turkey go, you ask?



Pretty well. We even had a fancy setup for it:



The four place settings were to include Alicia's friend from High School, Tanya, as well as her boyfriend Jorge. It was a great Thanksgiving. Not as good as spending back in Minnesota, mind you, but a fine night indeed.

Halloween Parade

I've got some Halloween pictures to share. Better late than never, right? 

First off, here's me: 

And here's Alicia:

There's a spooky atmosphere, as captured by this photo:



Turns out, the spooky atmosphere is caused by green hair:



In that last one, you can see the what the parade was about: cool puppets. I'm sure there were a ton of costumes, but we weren't in the front, so they remained invisible to us. Here's a better idea of what those ghosts looked like:



The old fashioned faces were a nice touch.

There were floats:



This one in particular was cool, but it stopped in front of us for about ten minutes.

It was fun though, costumes everywhere. I've never seen New York so crowded and that says a lot.

Hello!

It's Friday night!

My school semester began Wednesday, with several classes. Wednesday's are my big day. But already it started going well. And has continued through today. Where I normally keep an eye on the clock, this semester I've been upset when class ended.

I'll elaborate more later, but things are going good. Alicia and I are going to grab some food for now.

Sorry about the lack of updates!

News, otherwise

I'm on my way home! I'll be in Minnesota Thursday through Tuesday. I've got my cell phone with me, feel free to give me a call: 347-260-6862. My time is pretty booked, but I'm sure I could say hi if you're around.

I've got at least three posts scheduled to be published while I'm in Minnesota. So check back to see what I've got coming.

After I'm back Tuesday, I'll have until Sunday to relax, as class starts Monday, August 25. I'll be right back into the teaching and learning mode.

Hacker Conference

Last weekend (July 18, 19 and 20th) I attended The Last H.O.P.E., a hacker conference here in New York put on by the magazine 2600, the Hacker Quarterly. H.O.P.E. stands for Hackers on Planet Earth.

What's a hacker conference about? Well, this one was about the hacker community, security, and general internet connectivity. Plus a lot of computer geeks.

Really, I don't consider myself a hacker. I could understand the presentations, but it just isn't my cup of tea. I don't really want to spend a lot of time learning computer security systems, coding, etc. I'd have stayed as a Computer Science major if that was the case.

But this conference was exactly the kind of thing that made me excited to live in New York. You just don't see these happening much in the Twin Cities.

Ultimately, I fluctuated between really enjoying it and being a bit bothered by it. Given that it was a conference made up of 80% guys between 15-30 that pride themselves on their ability to stay indoors, body odor was a problem sometimes. But there was some interesting stuff. And great speakers!

Here's some tidbits:

The ID card you got to grant you permission to the conference areas was a white circuit board as pictured below:

The backside had a small battery. It was a functioning tracking device. Basically, it could tell where I was when I was within the conference areas. I was able to log in to the conference website and see where I currently was, where I had been, what talks I had attended, where others who registered were. Near the big conference rooms, there was a screen displaying the current data:

Theoretically, I'm one of those red dots. If there weren't so many dots, mine would have read 3225, which was the id number. It was pretty cool, as the tag flashed red every five seconds or so as it sent out a signal.

There were talks from about 10am until midnight Friday, Saturday and Sunday (talks ended at 7pm). As you can see from the empty conference room below, attendance was at capacity. The conference rooms were named after famous Computer Scientists, the one below is named Turing:

I didn't take the picture of the crowd, so theoretically you can see me in there somewhere (but don't look too hard. I knew where I was and I couldn't find myself). This talk was made during Steven Levy's talk. Levy is a technology writer who writes for Newsweek. He also wrote the book "Hackers" back in 1980ish.

Other cool speakers include Lazlow (who co-wrote GTAIV and has done radio work for many of the previous other Grand Theft Auto video games), Adam Savage from Mythbusters, and the guy who was the consultant for Sneakers (early 90's spy movie with Robert Redford).

I learned about safe cracking, lock picking, telephones, internet testing, and a ton of other things technology related. Speaking of lock picks, here's the beginner set I bought:

Alicia and I have both gotten a tiny luggage lock, but that's it. Neither of us has managed to get the master lock pictured. It really feels like an art. You use the S shaped thing to spin the lock like a key would. Then, while providing torque (turning it), you use the blue handled tools to push the "pins" into the lock. When you first start, it feels easy. But then you have trouble getting the pins right. It just doesn't wanna work.

All in all, the hacker conference was great for getting out of the house and doing something. I don't go to many bars, and I'm kind of a bum about seeing music shows. This made me feel like I've gotten something out of living here. Huzzah!

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Footnote: I've usually only posted pictures I personally took so that copyright issues weren't a problem. I couldn't find much in the way of credits or limitations on some of the photos in this post, so I've included links to their original source. Just click the picture for credits. If you own the rights to any of these photos and do not want me using them here, feel free to email me. You can find my email at the top right under "about me."