Typical Night in Berkeley

Walking back from the gym I noticed a crowd around an SUV, some peering under it. It looked like a cat was hiding under so the family with the car didn't want to drive away and risk running it over. I asked what it was- it was a loose, possibly feral, Guinea Pig. Since the family was dressed up and I was coming back from the gym and dirty, I volunteered to crawl under and chase it to safety. So I did.

After that I went to an Indian restaurant because I had a $50 gift certificate for the place from a friend. After some fuss, they gave me food and marked the gift certificate down to $42 to account for the meal. Ten minutes into eating, an old Indian man, possibly the manager, came by my table and asked to see the certificate, then confiscated it because they thought it was forged or somehow not authorized.

Hofstadter's Law

Here's a beautiful little quote/law with a double meaning that acts itself out:

It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's law.

(hint: it's called lazy evaluation for the non-computer scientists)

Randomized Algorithms: for Job Promotion

http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/12/13/random-promotions-and-the-gervais-principle/

Opinion on Fire Trucks

Fire trucks should play something heroic like The Ride of the Valkyries instead of the dreadful wailing noise they do now.

Job Title: "Distressed Trader"

http://www.thirdave.com/ta/people-investment-team.asp

My Plagiarized Autobiography (In Progress)

Demian will constitute most of the chapters covering my early years up to the end of high school. I might also add in some other anecdotes but the writing quality of those parts will be worse.

On the way home

On the BART
The tough-looking gangster-dressed guy in front of me was reading "A Guide for the Ghetto"

Chapter: "How to Hustle and Win"
A crucial, bolded point from the book: "You ain't worth sh*t if your word ain't worth sh*t"

At the bus stop
Two couples making out, both extremely passionately. Big lady dancing nearby starts meandering over and then whispers "they should go get a room"; Me: "no it's ok"

Man nearby the stop, who I found was named Edward Brown, told me a Greek myth, among other things, about a man (don't remember the name) who carried a lamp around during the day looking for just one other real person, and didn't find one. Said Berkeley felt the same way except for me, for listening

The effective dimensionality of human personalities must be high, since odd encounters are so frequent