Thursday, March 29, 2007

update, finally.

so I didn't get the MBARI internship that I was hoping for, but the pain is mildly lessened because there were 170 applicants for 18 positions, and for some reason 6 of those positions weren't filled. why? no idea. maybe the professors leading them decided they didn't really want a labmonkey. maybe MBARI ran out of money to support those extra positions. dunno. next year?

besides, this way I get to torture yet another round of kids with norwegian. and the badestrand. muahahaha.

finished an aaaancient pair of wristlets (dalegarn aya or aja or whatever its name is) and found enough yarn in my stash to construct a hat.

I am never ever ever going to decide casually "hey, I know- I'll design a nice floppy beret-crossed-with-a tam! it'll be great!" want to know why?
Q.E.D. (note that I am using it to cover my face in shame.)
because the usual "oh, god, surely I've knit enough by now to accomodate a head and I can do crown decreases? no? ...obugger." cycle of pain is trebled when it comes to a beret. and I've no excuse- I'm sure I could have found a pattern easily online. but le no. I had to be le creative.

(-kates, help, I'm having flashbacks to high school and lunches out on the lawn...eep!


I'd put on the wristlets to show how they look but....I spilled scalding hot noodle soup all over myself in the car a week ago (no, I wasn't driving. I was in the passenger seat, in a parking lot.)

and today is the first day that my hands haven't itched like mad (healing = evil sometimes) so I'm afraid to aggravate them and not sleep until 0400 again.
look! the boy skis! look! tatami mat! look! people more pyro than me!
why am I posting a picture of my tatami mat? because it is proof that my room finally looks good- and that I have enough floor to roll it out.















Friday, March 16, 2007

some days I really hate having two x chromosomes.

fun quotes!

"you will never enjoy the world aright till the sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens and crowned with the stars."
thomas fraherne

"ectoparasite-modulated deposition of maternal androgens in great tit eggs."
ok, so that's not really a quote, it's the title of an article. still.

"may your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view."
edward abbey
(that's what I wrote at the top of the mainmast, in case you were wondering, which you weren't, but that's ok.)

"those who visit foreign nations, but associate only with their own countrymen, change their climate, but not their customs. they see new meridians but the same men; and with heads as empty as their pockets, return home with traveled bodies; but untraveled minds."
c.c. colton

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same god who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
galileo

so anyway. knitting knitting knitting, and off to the hot shop tomorrow for some glassblowing watching. whoo!

I found a most depressing tv show. "are you smarter than a 5th grader?" yes, you could potentially win a million dollars for proving that you, an adult, presumably in your mid 20s or older, are smarter than a 5th grader. an actual 5th grader will help you answer the questions for two of them- you can peek at their answer or take their answer once each. the woman I saw received the question "what country is on the USA's northern border?"

...and she peeked at the 5th grader's answer. peeked. USA- northern border. it's not like we're in europe, where you've at least got lots of options in lots of places. dear lord.

tomorrow I have to clean my room. I need to rip out the top of the beret I was knitting because I (once again) succumbed to the thought that I'd knit enough, I'd have enough space for a head...notsomuch. maybe if I had a really flat head. right now it actually looks like a fashion hat- recognizable as a beret, but funky looking on normal people. if I were a supermodel with electric- green eyeshadow and four inch long eyelashes, it might look decent, in the way that anything that crazy is decent-looking.

I found that the type of blueberry I fell in love with in finnmark is most likely the mountain blueberry or dwarf bilberry/blueberry/huckleberry/whortleberry, also known as Vaccinium caespitosum so now the next step is finding seeds or plants and planting them.

I also found that I really, really, hate that "mid-march" is such a broad span of time. waiting for a response from MBARI is killing me. ugh.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

internet = way too entertaining.

sooo...what follows is the result of my mom giving me a card she picked up in the market in seattle that was an explanation of my 'sign' in the african astrology system. (I'm the market, if you're wondering.) this, of course, led to my searching for the website of the company that made the card, which led in turn to finding a company that sold the cards, which led to flipping through their systems that they had and finding my place in the egyptian zodiac (see below), aztec zodiac, etc etc etc. internet = evil.

I really should have been cleaning my room. I also really should have been working on the hat. I'm trying to make a pattern for a floppy beret-y hat. hm. not working stunningly well.

Set

Perfectionist, prone to anger or irrationality. Aspects of Duality.
Colors: male: turquoise, female: black
Compatible Signs:
Geb, The Nile
Dates:
May 28 - Jun 18, Sep 28 - Oct 2
Role: God of chaos, evil, the desert, war, violence, conflict, and sandstorms
Appearance:
Form of a man, with the head of an unidentified donkey-like animal. He was sometimes seen as a pig or a hippo.
Sacred animal:
the mythical "Set animal"

What is Your Egyptian Zodiac Sign?
Designed by CyberWarlock of Warlock's Quizzles and Quandaries




You are The High Priestess


Science, Wisdom, Knowledge, Education.


The High Priestess is the card of knowledge, instinctual, supernatural, secret knowledge. She holds scrolls of arcane information that she might, or might not reveal to you. The moon crown on her head as well as the crescent by her foot indicates her willingness to illuminate what you otherwise might not see, reveal the secrets you need to know. The High Priestess is also associated with the moon however and can also indicate change or fluxuation, particularily when it comes to your moods.


What Tarot Card are You?
Take the Test to Find Out.