Days of Summer >> 7/31/16

1. 7/31/16
1. Wake up bright and early.
2. Clear out the car.
3. Bike off to work. Arrive with enthusiasm and help Ross with a few things early.
4. The slog begins, as we’re stuck trying to communicate between C# and linux command line over ssh connection.
5. Lunch! Good lunch with I, and I return to work refreshed.
6. Day oscillates between frustration and productivity. We have an odd meeting with Mike, which is sort of like prep for a presentation, but he doesn’t grill us or anything. I guess our progress is satisfactory...
7. Day ends on a good note, as some incisive reasoning cuts through unnecessary code and bridges all three layers of our build onion.
8. Return home, scramble to clean and shower.
9. Alex texts me to say she can’t find the driveway, but when I run out she pulls up but two minutes later.
10. We go in, chat with Mom and Dad over prepping dinner; M is off at Isabelle’s. At first it’s pretty awkward/stressful for me, for no reason whatsoever.
11. Eat dinner. Izzy comes down, makes Alex laugh with silly cynical comments. Dad grills Alex ceaselessly by way of conversational strategy; she responds unfazedly.
12. After dinner, head downtown and get ice cream at Mallard’s. By this point, the atmosphere is lighter. M is around but seems content. We get our ice cream and the conversation continues. I get this crazy very strongly flavored rum chocolate ice cream, whilst Alex enjoys the lemon mint ice I used to love (still do, I discovered!).
13. Return home. I grab the guitar and goof around for a bit, then we watch Dr. Horrible. There’s so much I don’t remember :) Really great. Alex and I sing through the evil in me / some kinda harmony duet.
14. Write this log and hit the hay, relatively early.
15. Real quick update on what’s been going on:
1. Camping on Oregon coast Monday-Friday. A bit disjointed--too much driving. Get to ATV through sand dunes though!
2. Meet with Dad’s childhood friends Russ and Penny Okamoto on Saturday. Super nice people. Talk about physics and CS, eat homegrilled pizza. Catch up with their daughter Chloe, who’s going to Texas for nursing school and doesn’t know how to throw a frisbee.
3. Friday before this, I drove to Seattle for the Friday dance, ended up giving Eleanor and Ryan (who went on a date!) a ride to Eastside. Also met with Jannel, talked about personal philosophies, nihilism, etc., she has a very similar personality to mine :) Aalso, got into dumb conversation about Lutheranism at 3am, one of those yes-I-can-convince-you-it-makes-sense-if-I-earnestly-converse-long-enough deals. Then went to Farmer’s Market with Eleanor in the morning, she bought all sorts of expensive veggies, talked ancient history :) Met Emily Allaway from Math there.
4. Before that, I get into a really productive philosophical conversation with Dad. He argues that I should think of myself more as a generative engine than a clearly-defined-worldview builder, that there is something I accrue by living, a wisdom, even if it is not crisply defined. Because the world is complex beyond imagining, and crisp, hewn-in-stone definitions are often counter-productive (why the Supreme Court bakes flexibility into our legal system). Then I start reading Meaningness, which basically argues the same points, in a very clever framework, exposing my harsh utilitarian ideals as a perfectly natural emotional trap, a form of eternalism; it also offers an antidote to slipping into the counterpart of nihilism. Very, very apropos :)
5. Before that--gosh, I think Julie and Ken go to Hawaii and I watch the cousins.
6. Ok, past my bedtime, gotta wake up and give Alex the Bellingham tomorrow. Good night!