self, in oz, 2005, non-academic silly hat
I did a little genealogy research some time ago, and found a distant ancestor named Tore Tinghatt. He apparently acquired the name by turning up at an assembly (Thing) with something peculiar on his head. Challenge accepted.
Right now I am off-line at 30.000 feet, en-route to Australia again, to acquire a silly hat. It will take a while, but if all goes to plan, I will post-grad from RMIT with a few years of research on information architecture and four dimensions, some aussie wine under my vest and a silly hat on my head.
Wish me luck.
And so three years ended. Higher education. Just as I got good at playing the game, it is over. It was a mixed kettle; these three years. Most of the courses seemed exciting on paper, and a good handful of them turned out to be dreadful. Pointless. Insulting. Yes, digital media production is a new-ish branch, and my university college a small one, but dmPro is clearly the stepchild of the IT department. A good deal of the lecturers there would rather not have us meddling in their pure, proper information technology. The sign of small minds. 
D.C. is a strange city; it feels like a bubble. It is a smallish, administrative city in a very very large and powerful country. It is rather anonymous. It seems, in this city of administration, power and museums, people live here for a few years, and it gives the city a neutral feel. I am sure the masses of security forces helps too. The city have some lovely, quirky neighbourhoods; places I could live. A little outside the centre, there is life. The city centre is over-dimensioned with bizarre architecture. A mish-mash of styles and taste. Sometimes it works, sometimes it is awful. A new nation cherry-picking world history. 
