Anar caluva tielyanna - The Sun shall shine upon your path. (Source)

Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo - A star shines on the hour of our meeting. (Source)

These phrases come from Tolkien’s high-elf language called Quenya.

I first discussed Quenya on this blog over five years ago in a post about Elvish Names, and more recently in the comments on my post about Dancing 2008.

Resources:
• Parma Penyane Quettaron - “Book of Missed Words”
• quenya lapseparma - Elvish names
• English-Quenya Dictionary
• Quenya-English Dictionary

There’s a ridiculous amount of resources available if you check out the Quenya Wikipedia page and references. And of course, Google.

Tags: elvish, Quenya, Tolkien, words

I’ve been waiting for Liam & Me to release an album for the last two years. They had one EP, but it sold out ages ago and I can’t find it for sale anywhere. Still waiting for their new album to release. In the meantime, I crank the “There’s a Difference” MP3 I grabbed from their PureVolume (or somewhere) back in ‘06. Occasionally, I’ll hop onto their Myspace and listen through the playlist.

If through the magic of the webs somebody finds this post and knows where I can legally acquire their music, please oh please let me know. (Liam & Me is based on Philadelphia, PA.)

I used to think networking consisted of constant pandering and ingratiating oneself to another. I’ve come to realize much networking can happen by relating with people who have common interests and goals, helping them out, and receiving favors in return. Networking doesn’t have to be shallow — people appreciate it when you ask genuine questions and provide real answers.

Through this communication and interaction, you can develop a bond and both parties benefit through the sharing of life, skills, and knowledge.

Recommendation: Freakonomics Blog (New York Times). If you enjoy reading about economics and sociology, the Freakonomics blog is a good place to find articles of interest. I find at least a few of the articles every week to be compelling and cause me to rethink my position socially, culturally, and economically.

Today’s article, Michael, Meet Curtis: Philanthropy Gets Personal, was one of these. In it, Sudhir Venkatesh, shares the story about his introduction of a multi-millionaire philanthropist to a squatter in Chicago.

Other recent articles of interest include “The Illogic of Farm Subsidies, and Other Agricultural Truths,” “How Cops Really Want to Police, and Oprah’s effect on the presidential vote.

Tags: Freakonomics, Liam & Me, networking

I now own a Paul Reed Smith SE EG electric guitar. And I Rock.

I won the guitar from a contest when I signed up for a subscription to Alternative Press magazine a few months ago. I found out about winning a couple weeks ago, and the guitar arrived unexpectedly on Friday. My roommate texted me at work and I anxiously awaited being able to return home for the remainder of the day.

Yesterday, I bought some gear for it including a strap, picks, electronic tuner, and an intro book to playing guitar.

I’ve managed to learn three chords so far. C, D, and G. As soon as I’m able to transition between them with enough speed to make a cohesive song, I’ll put something on YouTube. For now though, just bask in the photographic glory.

Tags: Alternative Press, guitar, Paul Reed Smith

Here are photos from my trip home to Colorado for July 4th weekend. I got to spend a lot of time with my family as well as seeing a few of my friends for food and fun. These photos are from July 4th with my family and relatives and also from a hike w/ my parents and brothers on that Saturday.

Tags: family, relatives

“I am a pirate, you are a princess, we could sail the seven seas.” - PlayRadioPlay!

I’ve done much in the last Eleven Days. Written, rewritten, applied, and phone interviewed. Now applying for more.

On the side, people continue to pay me for being creative. I enjoy this. It’s nice to have positive cashflow.

On Saturday, I wrote a Python script to parse Apache log files and dump the data into a MySQL database. I worked on improving it Sunday. Monday night, I had to do some other work, but I’m looking forward to getting back to the Python. Coding is fun and I love it especially when I’m in the groove. The zone. Focused in, ignoring everything else, and just coding.

I watched the season finale for Deadlist Catch tonight. Somehow, a show about crab fishermen has become one of my favorite television shows. I’ve been pairing back the number of shows on the DVR “to record” list in an attempt to free myself from the constraints of the television. I called up the satellite co. and threatened to cancel my service, but I settled for a price drop of $12/month. I like to watch the occasional Nebraska Huskers football game in the fall and it’ll be here soon enough.

Upgraded the blog to Wordpress 2.6. Whee. A few minor tweaks and improvements to the back-end as usual. On the front-end, the only difference you’ll notice is an extra smattering of Quenyan words I grabbed from some dictionaries and language guides recently as inspired by comments on a recent post.