I just bought a townhouse with far too many rooms. You can can live in one of them!
I'm still closing the sale of the townhouse, so I won't be moving in until late July or August. There's lots of cool new stuff in it including...
Does this look nicer than your current place? If so, then keep reading.
I have 3 rooms available, however, I'm willing to bundling two of them together as one. You get a bedroom and a study! Do you like to read? Fill your study with books! Are you illiterate? Hang up posters! The possibilities are endless!
Dimensions of the room & study are 10x10 and 10x9
The other room is on the lower level. It is 10x11. You get a fireplace! Yes, FIRE!
There's 3.5 bathrooms, which means you get your own bathroom and there's a guest bathroom. Imagine the look on your guests' face when they learn this. There's so many bathrooms in this place that even people who don't live here get one.
Other things:
Where is this wonderful place??
Fair Lakes, which is in west Fairfax, VA. Distances from other things:
Starbucks - 0.8 miles
Fairfax Vienna Metro - 10.0 miles
Tyson's Corner Mall - 10.6 miles
Hate to drive? There's a bus stop! Hate to ride with strangers? I'll carpool with you! Hate me? Get a bike!
Want to even more pictures? That webpage might not be available in the future since the house is going off the market. Also that furniture in the pictures doesn't come with the house, but my stuff looks better and is more comfortable (I sat in all of that stuff when the real estate agent wasn't looking and it was definitely just for looks).
Okay the big question: "How much will all this amazing stuff cost me?" I'm still closing the deal and I'm crunching the numbers and it will vary depending on what room you want. If you're interested, give me a call or email and we'll talk about your new life in a townhouse. It will be fantastic.
Getting in contact:
Email: austin.keeley (at) gmail.com
Phone: 757.284.4412
Posted by austin :: Permanent Link
I'm two weeks into graduate school. It's the point of no return because now I can't get a full refund and my employer won't reimburse me the difference. At least the class is moderately interesting. We're doing some low level programming on the MIPS architecture and things are challenging enough for me to stay interested. We're doing stuff with circuits and transistors now which feels more like electrical engineering than computer science, so I suck at it. I think I finally figured out what at transistor is.
Posted by austin :: Permanent Link
I finished my first day of grad school. I got kicked out of the academic building, parked in the staff lot and had to get security to let me out, and the first words out of my professor were "I hope all of you have a good knowledge of assembly language". Overall, not too bad. No one said this was going to be easy.
Posted by austin :: Permanent Link
I'm going back to college next week, this time for grad school at Johns Hopkins. Fortunately, they do most of the engineering stuff outside of Baltimore so I can at least keep it in the Washington metro area for most of the classes. The best part about this is that my company wants to pay for the tuition; grad school isn't cheap either.
They also gave me an intern at work to guide through the corporate jungle. He's a pretty qualified guy; triple major, military experience in Iraq, good GPA, etc. I can't really think of much to teach him, other than how to check in code to the source version control server and to let him loose on whatever tasking they want to give him as an intern. When I was an intern, I mostly dicked around at a quasi-legal startup company (that doesn't exist anymore because Symantec bought them out). I say "quasi-legal" because it was being run literally in the CEO's backyard pool house. One of my tasks as an intern was to skim the pool. Really.
Posted by austin :: Permanent Link
I've never owned a laptop but I finally bought one. It's a Lenovo IdeaPad. I was going to get a Dell because they're a little cheaper, but everyone in college had a Dell laptop and that's all you saw around campus. Everyone and those damn Dell Inspiron notebooks. They felt so flimsy and plastic and loaded down with pre-installed junk. Now look at this Lenovo IdeaPad. Lenovo bought out IBM's ThinkPad line and spun off these guys. It's got 3 gigs of RAM, a dual core processor, and cost $550. I mean just look at this thing. There's no gaudy decals or stickers or celebrity endorsements. It's black and pretty simple. My only complaint is that it comes with Vista, and I really don't want that so I'll probably format the drive and install Ubuntu, Fedora, or OpenSuSE. Coworkers told me to get a Mac, but I don't really like the OS. It's pretty to look at, but I'd rather have a good lean Linux OS. Plus, I might screw around with Backtrack Linux.
Posted by austin :: Permanent Link
I finished reading 2666 by Robert Bolaño last night. I'll admit it; the only reason I read the book was that it was getting some intensely good reviews, including places in the best of 2008 lists from the and the Washington Post. It also won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 2008, which is a fairly pretentious title. These are people who scoff at your collection of vampire or boy-wizard books. I also expect it to win the 2009 March Madness Tournament of Books (my bracket has it beating A Mercy in the final round). So what's this book about? There's some stuff about murders in Mexico and a plotline about 4 university professors looking for a reclusive German fiction writer. I don't think I liked the book for it's plot, but the style was where the book really captured my attention. It's hard to describe. Some have called it the Ulysses of the 21st century, but I don't know if comparing it to Joyce is really correct. There's a lot of frame stories and that are weaved in and out. In addition, the whole book is more of a framework of five loosely connected plots that seem to cross genres. It starts off as a kinda dapper story about 2 guys who fall for the same girl, then moves into a violent and graphic crime novel, and then finishes as a war novel.
Oh and the title. You can probably google for what it means, but it's best to just let it go. You'll figure it out in the end notes.
Posted by austin :: Permanent Link
By now, everyone knows about The Amazing Spiderman #583, the special edition Barack Obama issue where Spiderman meets the president. It's been on the news and was sure to become a collector's item. I saw a lot of press coverage about the comic, but not a whole lot involving the comic itself. Was it any good? Is it well written? How does Spiderman even get a ticket to the inauguration? I needed to find out. So I'm going to do what CNN didn't do: review the actual comic.
First the cover. There were actually two covers to The Amazing Spiderman #583. The one featured by the media was the special inauguration edition, on the right, however, the normal print, on the left, is far more common. I think I like the one on the left better. First off, it has Peter Parker with a pair of "cougars". That's awesome. I'm not too sure if writer Mark Waid knows what a "cougar" is, but I'll give him a pass. Second, why is Spiderman in the background? Isn't Peter Parker Spiderman? Is this some kind of expression of duality of the ego and the alter-ego? Like Parker is trying to seperate himself physically from his secret identity? If so, that's pretty deep for a cover that talks about cougars. Third, who is Parker talking to? He's just staring dead-on at the reader talking about how he's going to nail these cougars. "You've cock-blocked me for the last time, Spiderman!" ACTION IS HIS REWARD! (in nice bold letters) Also note the "Special Tribute to Dating Issue!!" tagline at the top. Yes, this entire issue is about dating. The Barack Obama inauguration part is a supplement story at the end. No one inside the media will care enough to actually review or talk about the random dating story that comes before hand, so I'm doing you that service. Back when I was obsessed with comics, I didn't do a whole lot of the dating thing. I have no clue why they decided to make this comic. It's like Mark Waid is at the staff meeting with the other writers and they're trying to figure out how to sell a comic about Spiderman's awkward dating life. "I know! Let's put Barack Obama in it!" So basically the entire mass print cover is a train wreck of awesomeness and we haven't even opened it up.
The comic starts off with Spiderman fighting a generic Iron-Man knockoff villain. The fight lasts exactly two pages. That's probably not good for his self-esteem. While trading blows, Spiderman offers up sarcastic advice to the would-be supervillan. That's one thing I couldn't get into about Spiderman. The writers would try to make him say witty one-liners thoughout his fights. Some are good, some are corny, some are awful. They're usually just groan inducing.
The fight sequence is witnessed and narrated by Betty Brant, a reporter for The Daily Bugle (whups, it's actual just The DB now) who files the story on her Blackberry before Parker even shows up. Betty, it seems, is one of those girls that every guy has. They claim to be "just friends", but there's some weird underlying tension going on that won't surface until a bizarre night of tequilla shots. What keeps all this buried is that she is trying to help Peter find a girlfriend. I think every sitcom has played this storyline out: Girl tries to help guy find someone but falls for him in the process. It's a well worn path. What happened to Mary Jane? Wikipedia is telling me that Peter Parker and Mary Jane got married but later had both their memories wiped so they both forgot about it. The entire Spiderman story arc has had so many re-writes that it has gotten to be ridiculous. That's a common problem that plagues long-running comic book series; the writers want to do something genuinely creative to break up the tedium of Spiderman (or Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, etc) fighting the same stock supervillans with the same plans for revenge, world conquest, etc. So they throw a "big" event in the mix, like the death of a prime character, a total rewrite of the origin story, or the revealing of a secret identity. This is good for making the stories interesting and genuinely engaging, but it angers a lot of fans and because it throws off everything. The solution in the end is to write in a zany time travel or memory disruption plot to tie up loose ends. Marvel's done it a few times. DC destroyed a few universes in the process, but they've done it too.
Anyway, back to Spiderman. He's meeting up with Betty to do some speed dating (oh how convienient, they're both single). The speed dating shows that Peter is horribly awkward, which I find hard to believe. Doesn't have have some kind of spider-agility that keeps him from being too terrible of a klutz? Apperently not. The speed dating scene, while wholly ridiculous, does have one amusing panel with "Rod". I like this Rod fellow. I also like how pencilist Barry Kitson even included some stray chest hair beneath his unbuttoned shirt. Not to mention the half-raised eyebrow and whisper thin goatee.
Damnit, Mark Waid, why did you have to ruin it with such a lame pickup line? On the next page, Parker's spider-sense is set off by boobs.
After the failed speed dating, Parker and Betty set off for the soup kitchen that Aunt May is volunteering at. Along the way, he beats the shit out of a lesbian.
Fast foward. Betty attempts to set up Peter on a date but (as usual, per this issue) he is late on the account of being Spiderman. In the course of waiting for him, Betty and the setup date, Haley, get really really drunk. Parker finally shows up and Betty gets really feely with Peter. Now we're getting somewhere. Well, "somewhere" is a coffee shop where Peter buys her coffee and a taxi cab ride home. Damnit Parker, you do this the next morning, not beforehand!
Anyway, the rest of the comic pans out with Peter showing up at Betty's apartment later on her birthday and screwing things up with "a quiet night in" instead of a big night out. Peter has to explain that he couldn't bring more people with him because (surprise!) all of her so-called-friends secretly hate her behind her back. Even Aunt May thinks she's a bitch. Apperently it's all because of lame work-related politics involving a worker's strike or something.
Things get all emotional because Betty learns the truth, but Parker's a nice guy and gets her to look past those worthless friends. So the friendly date night doesn't end on a bad note.
I've had dates go like this, only the panels are reversed.
Overall, it's not a bad issue, despite the lack of Spiderman. Also, the scene on the cover never really happens. What's the deal with that? Do they draw the cover before they pen the issue's story? I suppose that it's non-uncommon for that to happen. I think the whole issue was just an excuse to draw lots of cleavage. Well, that wraps things up for this - OH NO WAIT THERE'S THE OBAMA STORY.
The supplementary story, titled "Spidey Meets the President!", is what most people were probably expecting when they bought this issue. It's fairly short and done by different talent than the main dating story. I almost wish that they would have just done a full issue with this plot because it's more interesting that watching Peter Parker strike out several times.
The story begins with Peter Parker snapping pictures at the inauguration in DC while whining that he had to take the bus. Peter Parker, you dick. I had to stand in line for about an hour at 6:30 am to get on a metro to see the inauguration and you're moaning about riding a bus like the rest of us commoners.
Suddenly...
A limo crashes into another limo and out of the smoldering flames and wreckage steps... Barack Obama?
I like that line. You juxtapose vehicular destruction with the president-elect telling everyone to just be cool. We now have two Obamas? This isn't in the Constitution! So while the Secret Service is standing around looking around, Spiderman swoops in and breaks the 4th wall. The only way to solve this is with simple trivia! What was Barack Obama's nickname on his high school basketball team? A question only the real Barack Obama, or anyone who has access to Wikipedia, would know.
No, that's not just a good idea, it's the BEST IDEA EVER. Picture it; Spiderman makes an impromptu basketball net out of spiderweb and the two Barack Obamas play 1-on-1 for the United States Presidency. Absolutely epic. But no, apperently the thought of playing sports flusters the imposter so much that he reverts back to his original form, the Chameleon. The Chameleon is, in my opinion, one of the lamer villians in Spiderman's rogues gallery. His power is to look like other people. Yeah, okay. In real life, this would probably make him an incredible assassin, but when you are placed in a universe of superheroes, you're pretty much on par with Aquaman. In fact, the Chameleon has such bad PR, that he needs to announce his name to everyone within earshot to avoid confusing him with a masked mexican wrestler.
So the Chameleon's whole plan was to impersonate Barack Obama and take the oath of office instead of him, thus somehow bypassing all reasonable aspects of democracy, and making him the most powerful man in the world. It's not a particularly well thought out plan. It's like he scrapped the whole plan together while watching CNN the night before. The oath was flubbed during the inauguration and had to be retaken, so maybe Chameleon was on to something. Still, The Chameleon doesn't even attempt to fight back. It's possibly one of the most one-sided fights in comic book history.
After the Chameleon is subdued, Spiderman and Obama share a moment together and there's a weird joke about Joe Biden. A better piece of dialogue is Spidey commenting that Obama might not want to be seen "palling around" with Spiderman. A nice subtle reference to the Sarah Palin comment about Obama's connection to Weather Underground, and the fact that Spiderman traditionally has a less-than-warm relationship with New York City. Spiderman and Obama do the iconic fist bump and Obama takes the oath.
So while the Obama mini-story is pretty good, I still find it lacking. There was a lot of media fanfare over it and it's still probably good to find if you're into collecting. If you don't know where your nearest comic book store is, ask that guy in your office who won't shut the hell up about Firefly. Better yet, try to find a copy of The Amazing Spiderman #573, where Spiderman teams up with Steven Colbert to fight The Grizzly.
Posted by austin :: Permanent Link
I'm planning on going into the District to see Obama's inauguration on Tuesday. This is against the better judgment of everyone I know. Most people are staying out of the city and taking a holiday, but I'm going to ride the metro in at around 6 am and find a spot on the Mall, then maybe go to the Lincoln Memorial afterward for the concert. It's going to be an absolutely miserable day; crowded metros, freezing temperatures, and I can't even carry a bag with food or bottled water. The numbers are looking like 2 million people, although some have estimated 4 million. Ugh, I can already tell this is going to be a bad idea, but maybe I'll get to be on TV.
Posted by austin :: Permanent Link
other things i like.
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