beard | The Dubious Monk

campbell river, library, movies, photography

the secret russians

Is it strange for the cashier at the liquor store to ask you questions about what you’re going to use your purchases for? I mean, if I’m just going to go home and drink a bottle of vodka chased with a bottle of kahlua, maybe I don’t want to tell her. I understood the part where she was interested in the beer she hadn’t tried yet, but found the question about the colour of my Russians a bit invasive.

My neighbour here is an inventor/handyman and it’s kind of interesting. He’s very secretive about his invention which has the potential to “take down an industry” but not a big one like automotives. He borrowed my camera to take some pictures yesterday but didn’t want any help getting good ones and even bought his own SD card to put them on. Which makes me curious. He’s got a patent lawyer doing some searches for him. I don’t know at what stage it gets to pass out of the veil of secrecy. As soon as it does I will let you know.

I was terribly disappointed that Cloud Atlas didn’t make it to Campbell River. I hope that doesn’t bode ill for Django Unchained. Because they’re very similar movies, I understand. (I am not at all worried about the new Bond movie getting here.)

Oh hey, do you want to see what I look like without a beard? And without a hat? Boom.I was trying to figure out the last time I was that clean-shaven and I think it would have been spring of 2004. Of course, this was for a Halloween costume, which I don’t have any pictures of. I think they took a couple of me in costume doing storytime on Wednesday but I didn’t get a copy.

And thus concludes my blogging about whatever random things I thought of before making dinner.

Tagged beard, branding, cleanshaven, cloud atlas, conversation, django unchained, halloween, handyman, invention, inventor, james bond, kahlua, liquor store, skyfall, vodka

11.05.31 [Tuesday]

when you find a stranger in the alps

My mother is complaining I haven’t been blogging enough. This is because she doesn’t read Librarianaut. Six posts in the last week. That she doesn’t care about my topics over there is a completely separate issue. (Hi Mom!)

Recently the exciting secrets I’ve been keeping from the blog include how I went to get backup keys to my apartment copied, and the place in the mall told me I had to go to a certified locksmith. I suspect that’s because these keys have “Do Not Copy” stamped on them.

The other day Javier was playing guitar in the common area. It turns out he knows something like three songs and can spend hours trying to play them correctly.

Friday was the last day at work for one of my coworkers. We went to the fish market for lunch. At the fish market there are very few vegetarian options, which wasn’t a problem for me, since I could have a greek salad. But my boss felt bad so he ordered me two salads and potato wedges. It was an amount of salad designed to be ridiculed.

My boss was so happy today when he learned I know a bit about Photoshop. At quarter to five he got me to install it on my computer so I can begin graphics tasks tomorrow.

The last couple of days have been very rainy. I told Holly she should bring a Chinese umbrella since throwing one away there and buying a replacement here that costs ten times as much would be annoying. I think I’m also going to forgo trimming my beard till she can bring along ultracheap clippers. So far that’s the main thing I forgot to bring from Canada that I kind of need. It’s one thing to have a massive hobo beard when I’m off travelling but another when I’m going to work every day.

I do love the small office vibe we’ve got where I don’t have to feel underdressed in jeans and a half-buttoned shirt (over a tshirt – I don’t expose my Hemsworthian pecs to the office just yet). It’s possible I’m being ruined for corporate work, but that’s all right with me.

Okay Mom, there you go, a pile of boring minutiae. This is what happens.

Tagged apartment, beard, boring, boss, canada, clothes, dress code, fish market, guitar, holly, javier, keys, librarianaut, locksmith, minutiae, mom, photoshop, salad, umbrella, work

10.01.06 [Wednesday]

3 Comments

books, movies

that was a long goddamned day

I’ve been reading 2666 but because it’s divided into five parts, I’ve been breaking it up with other (lighter) books in between. (I owe you teeming handfuls a review of American Gods; it’s coming.) Right now I’m reading The City and the City and I just love it. It’s about a crime that happens in a city where there’s another city right there sharing the same streets but they’re in different countries and in each city you aren’t allowed to see (or interact with) the things that are happening in the other. Things aren’t invisible; you are not allowed to see them. If you look at someone/thing in the other city too closely you’ve broken the rules and the all-powerful group that deals with Breaches comes and takes you away. Possibly to kill you, but I’m not done the book yet (I’ll review it for reals when I am).

This organization, Breach, is so powerful they could act with utter impunity, but if it’s not an emergency they have to follow the rules and be asked to handle things. I like this common idea of powerful entities having rules to follow. Vampires can’t cross running water. Police need a warrant. Breach must be asked. But. I don’t care about the little guy breaking the rules. In fact, I expect it, and get sort of sad when the powerless person doesn’t try doing something other than follow the rules. I’m having a weird time with how few people agitate against Breach in The City and the City. There are some, but I keep on wanting to shout at everyone, “You can see things! You shouldn’t have to unsee them!” But it’s a book and the characters (thus far) are well enmeshed in their setting.

A lot of fiction I read deals with the individual and celebrates the individual, especially in the face of power. For example, there’s an article I linked to a long time back about Murakami always wanting to be on the side of the egg not the wall, and you know how I feel about Murakami stories. Yesterday I watched a National Film Board movie from the 60′s called “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen.” He was all young and bright-eyed. In one bit Pierre Berton is trying to get young Leonard Cohen to say what he stands for, what great idea drives him, what issue burns in his soul. And Leonard Cohen says, “No idea; I just check if I’m in a state of grace.” His companion explains that Leonard Cohen is talking about the task of the individual to live one’s own life, but Leonard Cohen is sort of dismissive. I like that.

Of course, it’s easy to “identify” with the powerless when you’re a white guy with a beard and a Mac.

Tagged 2666, american gods, beard, haruki murakami, individuality, kafka, ladies and gentlemen mr leonard cohen, leonard cohen, mac, nfb, philosophizing, pierre berton, poetry, police, power, rules, the city and the city, vampires, white

07.12.19 [Wednesday]

the outermost layer

I had my interview with MCC today about going to Cairo. It went twice as long as we’d sort of scheduled but that was fine. There were lots of questions about stuff. We sidetracked off into new media for a while which was fun. And about my blog specifically, not that the HR people read it and had objections but about what I’d be doing with it. They’ve had issues in MCC Egypt with writing by the workers provoking situations, so now anything going out “representing MCC” has to go through the Country Reps. If they take me, it looks like a certain organizational name will be redacted from these pages, so I can continue to cuss and link to questionable content.

I was stumped on the question “What do you think might be your biggest disappointment with the Cairo assignment?” How does a person answer that? She saw I was floundering and moved to “Well, what’s your biggest disappointment from China?” and I talked a little bit about the trained monkeys phenomenon, but also about how that wasn’t as big a deal for me as it was for people who were actually teachers.

Anyway, I did my best. They got to meet me, see what I’m like and stuff. If I go, I won’t be allowed to have a beard. Or a shaved head. Because of the greater levels of meaning those things carry in Cairene society. Apparently no one there likes ambiguity in any form. You’re supposed to look like what you’re supposed to look like. And bearded guys are clerics.

Tagged beard, cairo, interview, mcc, new media, teaching

The Dubious Monk

chinese curses since twenty aught two

Tag Archives: beard

when you find a stranger in the alps

that was a long goddamned day

the outermost layer

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