h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Holy wow, it's been a while! So much backlog.

But, well, as sad as it is to say, I guess there just isn't just that much of a draw in h2g2 for me... a lot of the people I used to talk to are no longer around (some have died others just wandered off). The few I am still in touch with, I'm in touch with through other means (Skype, email, even Facebook, although I'm not terribly active there). A lot of the societies where I used to go outsane with the other nutters went silent, and I suppose the whole 'going outsane' thing really feels like a phase more than anything else, now. I am still very fond of this place - it means a lot to me, in many ways - but now it's more like nostalgia. Like the house where you spent your formative years, and then moved somewhere else, or maybe more like your old school; you still pass by there sometimes, and you remember the good times and the bad times and the interesting times, but it feels slightly weird to actually go back in. I feel bad that it's become like that, but I suppose it's inevitable.
Anyway, I dropped back in - at least for a while - because, well, first I got an email from Amy about the uncertain future of h2g2, and then, while looking for a certain quote, I was going through a bunch of old threads, and I got nostalgic. So here I am again. *looks around, touches the walls gingerly* It's just like I remembered, and yet different.

~*~
Anyway, that's not what the subject line is about.
Back when I last wrote here, I was still looking for some final answers from the US, about a PhD. Well, those answers were negative, and I was pretty upset for a while, but then I contacted my old professor (and a kind-of sort-of mentor, in a way) and he confirmed that he'd love to have me do my PhD for him, and we figured out what I'll be doing for the MA thesis I need to do in order to do a PhD here, and since that thesis is actually a part of what is going to be my PhD (it's a translation of a medieval Arabic satirical work called The Epistle of Forgiveness, which has a rather interesting premise and a lot of tedious details; the thesis will be a part of it, the PhD will be the whole thing), that part's pretty much figured out as well, and I went through a bunch of bureaucracy at Uni, and am now officially a Masters student (again), and trying, every day, to get myself to sit down and do another bit of translation (procrastination is a terrible thing, but I'm working on that with my therapist), in between doing some work on work, like, for money, because I do want at some point to be able to move out of my parents' house, and, well, this segment is already one long run-on sentence as it is, so it's time for a break.

Anyway, yeah, that's life for me right now. Dan, in case you've been wondering (Yeah, remember that guy? I sure do), is doing pretty well, too. He's gone back to school, so now actually has more of a daily routine than I do, but he's just on his third quarter there and is already on the Dean's List, so I'm proud of him. He might be able to come here in summer for a Hebrew course, but that might be too expensive, so we're still not sure how that'll all work out. We'll see.

Anyway, as long as I'm still around, and since there is no way I'll actually read through all my backlog, how about you lot? I mean, you lot who are still here, of course, how's life, the universe and everything, and how do you feel about h2g2, and the upcoming change, and all that?

Oh, and also, while I'm here, a bit of a plug:
Some months ago, I started a blog. Not a personal what-I'm-doing-and-my-thoughts-on-stuff-and-whatnot kind of blog - I think this journal is the closest I've ever had to one of those things, and to be honest, even in this little corner of the 'net I sometimes screen stuff that I feel is too personal - but more of a 'specialist' kind of blog. You see, I have a bunch of old postcards and photos and such, mostly ones that I buy in used book stores, sometimes even stuff I just find in the street; I've always been fascinated by these things, but most of the time, they've just been sitting in my drawer. A few months ago, I started making them into a blog. I scanned them all, and every once in a while I post one, with some details about what I like about it, sometimes a little internet-research I did on the places mentioned in it and such (and now and then, a _lot_ of research; I ended up finding some pretty interesting stories), or other times just baseless speculations about what might be the stories behind them.
I like it. You might, as well:
http://foundsandfragments.blogspot.com

(PS - Don't be freaked by all the Hebrew, it's a bilingual blog, so that my non-Hebrew-speaking friends could read it too. And because I like translating.)

Long time no see *waves*

I'm quite alright, thank you, recovering from the latest H2G2 annoucement and otherwise busy with real life.

*waves back*

Long time indeed. And yeah, RL tends to take up a lot of, you know, life. Ah well...

It is so good to hear from you and have you drop in for a visit. I have missed you . I hardly miss a day that I do not drop in. By for now. Take Care. . .. ... . .. ...

PS. I love your blog. It is lovely. Nice to read in the very quiet early morning hour here, 4:30 AM .. I think that I have read that Chicago is lovely at night because many of the buildings are outlined in lights. . .. ... . . .. ...

Aww, thank you for saying that! It's very sweet. Maybe this time around I'll stick around a bit longer, even.


Some more random updates, some of which might appeal to some of you:
* Some months ago, I have started watching Doctor Who. Please don't ask me what I think of Tennant vs. Smith or all that, though - when I say 'started' I mean STARTED. At the beginning. It takes quite a long time, of course, especially with all the RL stuff that I'm trying to give priority to, but I recently finished season 7 (Doctor #3), and the whole experience is quite a lot of fun. I really loved Hartnell (and I love the concept of the Doctor as an old man in general, since he really is quite old, but I know they won't be doing that anymore, ever since they realised he can be a sex symbol); Troughton it took me longer to start liking, as it was quite a change, at first, but he gew on me eventually, sometime near the end of his Doctoring career; and Pertwee is pretty awesome so far. Whatever happened to that cool car of his?
* As you may know, Stephen Fry has recently visited Israel to film for a documentary about languages he's working on (sounds brilliant, BTW). Well, I _almost_ stalked him. He posted some photos from the Israel Museum, and I figured hey, it's a gorgeous day out anyway, I've been dying to get out of the house all morning, and I've wanted to get around to do the museum's student membership thing for a while now; let's go out and see if he's still there. He wasn't, which actually was a bit of a relief because I was feeling terribly awkward about the whole thing. I mean, what are you supposed to do in these circumstances, anyway?
The next morning, when he posted about filming in Mount of Olives (very close to here), I didn't even think about trying to go and see him. Had enough of it. I am a terrible stalker, I suppose.

Thanks Ginger!

That does sound interesting, about Chicago. I suppose PC could confirm or deny it, when/if she gets here...
And jeez, I didn't realise it was so late/early, there - although of course I should have, since that 10-hour time difference is quite relevant to me. Why aren't you asleep?!

nighthoover will be along shortly

Praice bee!

*waves*

*waves back*

I was hoping you might pop back by here. With all the shake up, I was thinking of all the folks that have gone quiet lately and because of the BBC thing wondering about all the folks from far flung parts of the world (us that don't pay license fees, but still have a vested interest) so you were in the middle of that Venn diagram of thought.

I'm hoping that this big upcoming change will be a good thing, but other than offering to help or donate, there's not much I can do about it. Mainly, I'm determined to see it through.

Good luck with the degrees and all that, and work on your stalking skills.

I'm glad to see you back

*lugs in a basket of mufflewhumps for everyone*

I will admit that I've been wondering how much of the influx of semi- researchers is due to my running around like a madwoman around the web yesterday, cutting-and-pasting

There's definitely some due to your work. Keep it up.

I already covered everywhere yesterday--about the only thing left I can do is share my fb note over and over, to try to bring it to the attention of those that overflowed the tag limit and haven't been on to see it yet.

Crumbs I've seen more semi- researchers in the last 48 hours than in the last few years! At least there's an upside to this shake-up.

*also waves*

Hi, it's nice to 'see' you all again, too.

And I suppose it makes sense, people coming back. I mean, sure, it might feel awkward to visit your old school, but if you heard that it was going to be sold off to some developers, wouldn't you come back? Possibly to organise/attend some big concert or something, bringing the whole community together against the evil developers, and making sure the protagonist ends up winning the heart of the girl that----- Excuse me, I appear to have tangented to the plot of an 80s movie.

You know what I mean, though. I haven't actually visited h2g2 for a long time, but this made me want to come back - either just from nostalgia or as a show of support, I'm not sure.

(a) Just kinda bumping this thread up to maybe gather some more replies from old friends. I'm such an attention whore sometimes, ain't I?

(b) On a slightly more serious note, I've spent the last couple of days going through a whole bunch of old threads - like I said, the good times, the bad times (most notably a really horrible period back in the summer of 2006 that in retrospect makes me want to slap myself and say 'pull yourself together and stop acting like an idiot') and the interesting times. Really, there are just so many threads and conversations here, and so much history in them; I haven't been following the discussions about the site's future very closely, but have been wandering, if the site gets moved, these can all be saved, right? There is SO much stuff I'd hate to lose!

(c) Not really related to any of that, I'm just kinda wondering if I could get Dan to come back. He drifted away from the site around the same time I did, but have not wandered back in as often as I have, and thus missed the whole BBCid thing and couldn't sign in again and just sorta said 'ah, screw that'. Is there any way to regain access to an old account?

(a) You're impossible! You've been all over the place for so many years now!

(b) Maybe? There must be a thread already on the subject. Well, "a thread". One of many; it can get slightly confusing.

(c) To the best of my knowledge, no