Jayne hat baby!
Love parents who start their kids out right. Makes me want to knit a jayne hat. maybe I'll knit a jayne hat for some random person.
raining! hooray!
The Boy and I constructed kung pao chicken tonight. slow burn build to serious chili. egg nog preferred treatment.
had fun wandering around the internet looking at our native snakes and spiders. and the crazy uckiness that is spider bites. and the crazy psychosis that is "hey, I've got a big supperating wound on my hand; I'm going to lance and drain it myself with a turkey baster and rub it with essential oils and then post pictures of it as a brown recluse spider bite."
a) don't. self. medicate. at least not until after you've been to the ER.
b) brown recluse spiders = common in midwest. bites = not so common.
c) don't. self. medicate.
seriously.
yet another reason why I don't want to be a physician.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Friday, November 09, 2007
Marit SMASH!
I just spent the last hour and a half redoing my physics lab calculations. I had to redo them because the equation we used in lab was wrong.
turns out Burris was, once again, correct. ("both of these sentences are wrong. however, take heart, because there's always someone wrong-er.")
yep.
I get to redo aaaall those calculations...again. because my corrected equation...was wrong.
turns out Burris was, once again, correct. ("both of these sentences are wrong. however, take heart, because there's always someone wrong-er.")
yep.
I get to redo aaaall those calculations...again. because my corrected equation...was wrong.
Thursday, November 08, 2007
lions and tigers and bears, oh my!
it looks like sunny california has finally decided to join the rest of the party and start fall.
tried out an african dwarf frog in the big tank with aristarchus- aand it looks like aristarchus isn't a 'plays well with others' goldfish. froggy squished himself into lots of little crevices and goldfish tried to squish into them too- and now it looks like he's got a fuzzy growth on his gill covering that I'm hoping is injury related and not fungus or something like that.
Froggy is now sharing a tank with Phronima the Betta, who is supremely uninterested. the froggy seems pretty uninterested in anything except hiding between Princess Leia's legs.
...I'm sorry. I couldn't resist.
so far he's also pretty uninterested in the froggy food I got him- hopefully he's just in the aaaaahwhat's thatwhat's that wheretheHELLamI stage and isn't going to be a picky eater, because I don't want to play bus tag again in downtown oakland. yeesh.
frog is (so far) named Hermit Leatherface or something like that. yes, The Boy named him. he was the one that wanted a froggy, and I think he's somewhat disappointed that Aristarchus didn't want a playmate. we'll try a ghost shrimp next, but he'll probably try to eat that too.
hey, frog has decided to come out from under the plant (and Leia). hi, frog.
(I've decided to name the froggy in my head, at least, La Grenouille. not because la grenouille means the frog but because I am unashamed in my love for NCIS. who doesn't want a frog named after an international arms dealer?)
Bettas are strange creatures. this is my first time owning one, because I really didn't care about them- and it's too depressing to walk past them in pet stores because they all look starved and suffocated and diseased and depressed in their little cubes, and you can't save them all because if you bought them all and stuck them in a tank they'd kill each other and buying 1.5-2 gallon tanks for them all would bankrupt you. and taking care of them all? yikes. plus then you've got the knowledge that the next day or next week, the pet store gets a new shipment.
anyway. not a big fan of tetras or other things that would do well in my little hex tank, and not a fan of leaving it sitting on my desk endlessly bubbling to itself, that left me with a betta.
yes, I could have kept it empty as a hospital tank...but...there's nothing else in Aristarchus's tank, and I think it's so small that it would be too stressful to really be a good hospital tank.
and besides- it's kind of entertaining to watch him swim around, minding his own business, then freak out because "MALE!!!! MINE MINE MINE MINE!" ...is actually his own reflection that he can see occasionally because of the refraction index of the hex tank. ok, it's really entertaining.
he's also picking at the substrate. I didn't think bettas were supposed to do that.
oh well. back to the physics. fluid dynamics YAY! ...not.
tried out an african dwarf frog in the big tank with aristarchus- aand it looks like aristarchus isn't a 'plays well with others' goldfish. froggy squished himself into lots of little crevices and goldfish tried to squish into them too- and now it looks like he's got a fuzzy growth on his gill covering that I'm hoping is injury related and not fungus or something like that.
Froggy is now sharing a tank with Phronima the Betta, who is supremely uninterested. the froggy seems pretty uninterested in anything except hiding between Princess Leia's legs.
...I'm sorry. I couldn't resist.
so far he's also pretty uninterested in the froggy food I got him- hopefully he's just in the aaaaahwhat's thatwhat's that wheretheHELLamI stage and isn't going to be a picky eater, because I don't want to play bus tag again in downtown oakland. yeesh.
frog is (so far) named Hermit Leatherface or something like that. yes, The Boy named him. he was the one that wanted a froggy, and I think he's somewhat disappointed that Aristarchus didn't want a playmate. we'll try a ghost shrimp next, but he'll probably try to eat that too.
hey, frog has decided to come out from under the plant (and Leia). hi, frog.
(I've decided to name the froggy in my head, at least, La Grenouille. not because la grenouille means the frog but because I am unashamed in my love for NCIS. who doesn't want a frog named after an international arms dealer?)
Bettas are strange creatures. this is my first time owning one, because I really didn't care about them- and it's too depressing to walk past them in pet stores because they all look starved and suffocated and diseased and depressed in their little cubes, and you can't save them all because if you bought them all and stuck them in a tank they'd kill each other and buying 1.5-2 gallon tanks for them all would bankrupt you. and taking care of them all? yikes. plus then you've got the knowledge that the next day or next week, the pet store gets a new shipment.
anyway. not a big fan of tetras or other things that would do well in my little hex tank, and not a fan of leaving it sitting on my desk endlessly bubbling to itself, that left me with a betta.
yes, I could have kept it empty as a hospital tank...but...there's nothing else in Aristarchus's tank, and I think it's so small that it would be too stressful to really be a good hospital tank.
and besides- it's kind of entertaining to watch him swim around, minding his own business, then freak out because "MALE!!!! MINE MINE MINE MINE!" ...is actually his own reflection that he can see occasionally because of the refraction index of the hex tank. ok, it's really entertaining.
he's also picking at the substrate. I didn't think bettas were supposed to do that.
oh well. back to the physics. fluid dynamics YAY! ...not.
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
wanna bikkit!
...but instead I'll settle for
FISHY!
Meet Phronima.
FISHY!
Meet Phronima.yes, that's right, I named a betta after a parasitic hyperiid amphipod. shutup.
and yes, that is a little action figure of luke skywalker with his lightsaber in hoth getup. the white blurs off stage right are the leg and arm of a Leia action figure with a blaster in hoth getup. why do I have them in my betta tank? because my neptune figurine is a little too big, they were just sitting around randomly gathering dust, adn because it makes me smile to see the expressions on their little plastic faces. it's like they're going ...this is no ice planet...this is a...ohmygod what's that? aaaack! why can't I move? it's like I'm stuck in this strange, pseudo-dynamic position? nooooo!
...
I warned you that physics was driving me insane. if you didn't believe me, that's your own fault.
the suspense of the pattern swatch continues...
and yes, that is a little action figure of luke skywalker with his lightsaber in hoth getup. the white blurs off stage right are the leg and arm of a Leia action figure with a blaster in hoth getup. why do I have them in my betta tank? because my neptune figurine is a little too big, they were just sitting around randomly gathering dust, adn because it makes me smile to see the expressions on their little plastic faces. it's like they're going ...this is no ice planet...this is a...ohmygod what's that? aaaack! why can't I move? it's like I'm stuck in this strange, pseudo-dynamic position? nooooo!
...
I warned you that physics was driving me insane. if you didn't believe me, that's your own fault.
the suspense of the pattern swatch continues...
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
and what did we learn today, class?
1) don't forget; when you draw out the chart such that you are pleasèd, and you write out the stitches such that you mightst knit while BARTing, and you are working on straight needles and not in the round you must reverse every purl row, else you get modern art knitting.
(ok, technically I learned that yesterday. oh well.)
2) go ahead and experiment- yes, yes, a pumpkin pie crust made of panko, butter, and diverse spices is worth a shot...but please remember....put the pie on the tray, yes. now put the cookie sheet under the pie! NOW! because otherwise the three smoke detectors freak out and the house fills up with pseudo-smoke and The Boy makes worried noises and makes you go Marit Smash!
(guess I get to clean the oven tomorrow. woo, hoo.)
3) the second you're the only one left in the building, everyone and their mother will call, and your phone will start to freak out.
4) contrary to popular belief, when someone is on speakerphone, pushing the 'speakerphone' button will not then direct them to your headset, but instead hang up on them.
5) can I get a do over?
(ok, technically I learned that yesterday. oh well.)
2) go ahead and experiment- yes, yes, a pumpkin pie crust made of panko, butter, and diverse spices is worth a shot...but please remember....put the pie on the tray, yes. now put the cookie sheet under the pie! NOW! because otherwise the three smoke detectors freak out and the house fills up with pseudo-smoke and The Boy makes worried noises and makes you go Marit Smash!
(guess I get to clean the oven tomorrow. woo, hoo.)
3) the second you're the only one left in the building, everyone and their mother will call, and your phone will start to freak out.
4) contrary to popular belief, when someone is on speakerphone, pushing the 'speakerphone' button will not then direct them to your headset, but instead hang up on them.
5) can I get a do over?
Sunday, November 04, 2007
fie on greenpeace, fie.
I had planned on another fun ranty blog, but I just ran out of energy.
just remember: only trust greenpeace as far as you can throw them.
and remember one other thing: your happy, uber-organico, small farm cuddly wheat was genetically engineered. oh yes. that's right.
oh, yeah. and go play in the dirt.
just remember: only trust greenpeace as far as you can throw them.
and remember one other thing: your happy, uber-organico, small farm cuddly wheat was genetically engineered. oh yes. that's right.
oh, yeah. and go play in the dirt.
Thursday, November 01, 2007
things I've learned this week:
1) don't trust the microwave timer. it lies. the paj-ers was salvageable, though.
2) if the bottle the mixer comes in is really cool, they've spent more money on the bottle than the mixer. it will taste like orange kool-aid, and not at all like a 'monster mango' margarita.
3) it is possible, if you're a) inventive b) insane c) desperate enough, to make a passable semblance of whipped cream in a cocktail shaker.
4) knitting is a source of fascination to really really drunk people on BART.
5) berkeley pizza joints got nothin' on pizzaria uno. (although that should be obvious, and I tried to spell 'pizzaria' as 'pizzarea' and then frowned, trying to figure out why my presentation on caesarea maritima had popped suddenly into my head before going ....ah.)
6) 5.6 earthquakes in san jose really freak out the fishy. yes, that's right, I've finally lost my california earthquake virginity. hoorah. and I'm living on the Hayward fault. hoo...rah?
7) physics still sucks.
2) if the bottle the mixer comes in is really cool, they've spent more money on the bottle than the mixer. it will taste like orange kool-aid, and not at all like a 'monster mango' margarita.
3) it is possible, if you're a) inventive b) insane c) desperate enough, to make a passable semblance of whipped cream in a cocktail shaker.
4) knitting is a source of fascination to really really drunk people on BART.
5) berkeley pizza joints got nothin' on pizzaria uno. (although that should be obvious, and I tried to spell 'pizzaria' as 'pizzarea' and then frowned, trying to figure out why my presentation on caesarea maritima had popped suddenly into my head before going ....ah.)
6) 5.6 earthquakes in san jose really freak out the fishy. yes, that's right, I've finally lost my california earthquake virginity. hoorah. and I'm living on the Hayward fault. hoo...rah?
7) physics still sucks.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
hulk smash!
...would you like to hear the saga of the emeryville post office and the mysterious invisible package? well, technically 'parcel.'
of course you don't, but I'm going to tell you anyway, because if I don't, my options are a) scream b) make the title of this entry not hyperbole, or c) some combination of the above.
here we go.
I check the mail on the 13th of october. there's a litte orange slip saying that the USPS, in all its glory, tried to deliver a parcel to The Boy but we weren't here so please call to arrange a redelivery.
I called. I arranged a redelivery. I sat, trapped at home, awaiting the bell or the phone telling me to let the post office man in.
the package never came.
no little orange notice was left.
I called again. I arranged a re-redelivery. I sat, trapped at home, awaiting the bell or the phone telling me to let the post office man in.
the package never came.
no little orange notice was left.
I call again. I play tag with the automated 'tell me what you want' speak-menu thing. I play tag a lot. I go through the redelivery menu. it tells me the package has been returned to sender. I don't believe it.
I call again. I play tag trying to speak to a real person. I play a lot of tag. I finally get to a point where I speak to a real person- because I am given the number for the emeryville post office. (I tried to get it earlier, but all 411 gives you is the national 1800 number. The post office tells me (at this point I'm trying really hard to not be obviously pissed off at the guy on the phone with me.) that they have the package and it'll be sent tomorrow.
I hope so. I really hope so.
if not...hulk smash!
of course you don't, but I'm going to tell you anyway, because if I don't, my options are a) scream b) make the title of this entry not hyperbole, or c) some combination of the above.
here we go.
I check the mail on the 13th of october. there's a litte orange slip saying that the USPS, in all its glory, tried to deliver a parcel to The Boy but we weren't here so please call to arrange a redelivery.
I called. I arranged a redelivery. I sat, trapped at home, awaiting the bell or the phone telling me to let the post office man in.
the package never came.
no little orange notice was left.
I called again. I arranged a re-redelivery. I sat, trapped at home, awaiting the bell or the phone telling me to let the post office man in.
the package never came.
no little orange notice was left.
I call again. I play tag with the automated 'tell me what you want' speak-menu thing. I play tag a lot. I go through the redelivery menu. it tells me the package has been returned to sender. I don't believe it.
I call again. I play tag trying to speak to a real person. I play a lot of tag. I finally get to a point where I speak to a real person- because I am given the number for the emeryville post office. (I tried to get it earlier, but all 411 gives you is the national 1800 number. The post office tells me (at this point I'm trying really hard to not be obviously pissed off at the guy on the phone with me.) that they have the package and it'll be sent tomorrow.
I hope so. I really hope so.
if not...hulk smash!
Monday, October 22, 2007
um...
this weather is starting to make me twitchy. it's fall! Fall, you know, Autumn, when the leaves turn red and orange and fall down and make great piles to squish and crunch and throw at people and the weather turns cold and the air is crisp and nippy and you feel all snuggly.
Not in San Francisco.
firstly: most everything is still green. some of the maples have turned colors. most of the leaves that have fallen aren't pretty colors, they're just dead. the passiflora vine down the street from me is green, green, green and blooming strong. it's october 23. it's weird.
secondly: the temperature is more ADHD than minnesota in fall. hot-cold-hot but windy-colder no wind-hothothot-cold with vengeful wind-warm and beautiful-freezing-hot. Today it's hot, but luckily the breeze has started.
thirdly: it's october, and my basil and mint are going "WHEEEEEE!!!!" I'm going to have to make pesto soon, or else replant the basil before the mint goes terminator on the pot. in october.
it's just wrong.
have been inspired to start on the fingerless shooting mitts...but I can't find the yarn. hooray apartment living? it's...somewhere.
someone give me a kick in the pants on the following:
T4.
mitts.
going riding more than spastic random almost-weekly times.
unpacking. (what is this crazy stasis I've succumbed to? someone hit the undo button.)
Not in San Francisco.
firstly: most everything is still green. some of the maples have turned colors. most of the leaves that have fallen aren't pretty colors, they're just dead. the passiflora vine down the street from me is green, green, green and blooming strong. it's october 23. it's weird.
secondly: the temperature is more ADHD than minnesota in fall. hot-cold-hot but windy-colder no wind-hothothot-cold with vengeful wind-warm and beautiful-freezing-hot. Today it's hot, but luckily the breeze has started.
thirdly: it's october, and my basil and mint are going "WHEEEEEE!!!!" I'm going to have to make pesto soon, or else replant the basil before the mint goes terminator on the pot. in october.
it's just wrong.
have been inspired to start on the fingerless shooting mitts...but I can't find the yarn. hooray apartment living? it's...somewhere.
someone give me a kick in the pants on the following:
T4.
mitts.
going riding more than spastic random almost-weekly times.
unpacking. (what is this crazy stasis I've succumbed to? someone hit the undo button.)
Saturday, October 20, 2007
remind me again why I'm doing this to myself?
because I just love physics, yes I do, just love how a 1 part problem and a 10 part problem are both worth 5 points. love it. love the fact that we have 20 problems with between 1 and 15 parts each due per homework assignment. love the fact that it's an algebra based class, but he uses calculus notation in class so I have no idea how to make the symbolic reasoning parts of the problems work because I was clearly high on kiln fumes and investment powder dust when the call went out to line up for your algebra skills.
and yes, I did procrastinate. we get a week and a day to do these problems so that if you don't understand something you can ask about it in class. (which basically means that if you're like me and you don't understand anything, you get it in class and then have 24 hours to do the homework)
but here's my reason for procrastinating. other than the fact that...it's me we're talking about.
merely opening the website makes me tense and irritable and frustrated. the levels of those go up exponentially related to the time I spend working on them, and they stay up for hours after. If I spent an hour a week working on it (ok, let's be reasonable. it'll take me 2.), then i'll be frustrated, tense, and annoyed (and the likelihood that I will become unhinged dramatically increased) for several hours after the two hours working on it. do I want to spend 5 hours of each day of each week like that? no. especially not since I'm sure that the more frustrated, tense, annoyed, and unhinged I get the more frustrating, annoying, confusing, and tiresome I get to those around me.
So I condense it into one day. usually it's not this bad. usually it's survivable. this time, I came very close to giving up on the 4 problems I had left. but hey, 14 % is better than 0 %. right?
ugh.
On the other hand...
I'm glad to have friends who, when I say to them "The physics must die." say in response "Must die must die the physics must die / for the sake of the nation, this physics must die, must die, this physics must die."
bonus tibi quod nomen carmen* possum es.
bonus points to you who can name that tune.
*carmenis? ...really shouldn't try freehand latin translations after 7 hours of physics.
and yes, I did procrastinate. we get a week and a day to do these problems so that if you don't understand something you can ask about it in class. (which basically means that if you're like me and you don't understand anything, you get it in class and then have 24 hours to do the homework)
but here's my reason for procrastinating. other than the fact that...it's me we're talking about.
merely opening the website makes me tense and irritable and frustrated. the levels of those go up exponentially related to the time I spend working on them, and they stay up for hours after. If I spent an hour a week working on it (ok, let's be reasonable. it'll take me 2.), then i'll be frustrated, tense, and annoyed (and the likelihood that I will become unhinged dramatically increased) for several hours after the two hours working on it. do I want to spend 5 hours of each day of each week like that? no. especially not since I'm sure that the more frustrated, tense, annoyed, and unhinged I get the more frustrating, annoying, confusing, and tiresome I get to those around me.
So I condense it into one day. usually it's not this bad. usually it's survivable. this time, I came very close to giving up on the 4 problems I had left. but hey, 14 % is better than 0 %. right?
ugh.
On the other hand...
I'm glad to have friends who, when I say to them "The physics must die." say in response "Must die must die the physics must die / for the sake of the nation, this physics must die, must die, this physics must die."
bonus tibi quod nomen carmen* possum es.
bonus points to you who can name that tune.
*carmenis? ...really shouldn't try freehand latin translations after 7 hours of physics.
Friday, October 19, 2007
well....here's a little story for you.
See Marit.
See Marit's laptop.*
See Marit's laptop run. Run, laptop, run.
What a good laptop.
(fast forward to summer, 2006)
See Valhall.**
See Marit's laptop in Valhall.
See Marit open her laptop in Valhall. Open, laptop, open.
What a cracked screen!
(fast forward to summer, 2007, after losing the laptop for 2 months for repair)
See Valhall.******
See Marit's laptop in Valhall.
See Marit's laptop play dead. Play dead, laptop, play dead!
What a clever******* laptop.
(fast forward to fall 2007)
See The Boy.
See The Boy with Marit's laptop.
See The Boy performing surgery on the laptop. Code, laptop, code!********
What an efficient autopsy.
*this is The Beast, in all its beefy schwarzenagger-ness.***
**See also the evil**** gremlins in Valhall.
***ugh, just remembered/realized that I'm now a constituent of the guvernator. siiigh.
****possibly not evil, just misunderstood. although they never came forward, which is more irritating, possibly, than the act itself.*****
*****I know. too much terry pratchett.
******possibly mimes brønn. I don't actually remember which it was.
*******clever in that it'll work again...after a full lobotomy. yeesh.
********not code as in make a program that might do something, but code as in bring the nurses running while the doctor's name blares over the PA system.
So there you have it. The Beast is dead. autopsied. cannibalized for parts. pictures later.
this is what happens when your motherboard stops....doing whatever a motherboard is supposed to do. Probably died because of the screen's dying, and it just took a while to die. Considering that I didn't use my laptop much from when I got it back to when it refused to function (moving and not wanting to lug it to boston and being on a boat kinda cuts in on your computer time), that's not that much of a stretch.
O you who sat on my laptop and shattered the screen, you owe me a guinness. no- lots of Guinnesses.
And now it's far past my bedtime and I didn't even get to address my irritation at the institution that is Apple and iTunes.
See Marit's laptop.*
See Marit's laptop run. Run, laptop, run.
What a good laptop.
(fast forward to summer, 2006)
See Valhall.**
See Marit's laptop in Valhall.
See Marit open her laptop in Valhall. Open, laptop, open.
What a cracked screen!
(fast forward to summer, 2007, after losing the laptop for 2 months for repair)
See Valhall.******
See Marit's laptop in Valhall.
See Marit's laptop play dead. Play dead, laptop, play dead!
What a clever******* laptop.
(fast forward to fall 2007)
See The Boy.
See The Boy with Marit's laptop.
See The Boy performing surgery on the laptop. Code, laptop, code!********
What an efficient autopsy.
*this is The Beast, in all its beefy schwarzenagger-ness.***
**See also the evil**** gremlins in Valhall.
***ugh, just remembered/realized that I'm now a constituent of the guvernator. siiigh.
****possibly not evil, just misunderstood. although they never came forward, which is more irritating, possibly, than the act itself.*****
*****I know. too much terry pratchett.
******possibly mimes brønn. I don't actually remember which it was.
*******clever in that it'll work again...after a full lobotomy. yeesh.
********not code as in make a program that might do something, but code as in bring the nurses running while the doctor's name blares over the PA system.
So there you have it. The Beast is dead. autopsied. cannibalized for parts. pictures later.
this is what happens when your motherboard stops....doing whatever a motherboard is supposed to do. Probably died because of the screen's dying, and it just took a while to die. Considering that I didn't use my laptop much from when I got it back to when it refused to function (moving and not wanting to lug it to boston and being on a boat kinda cuts in on your computer time), that's not that much of a stretch.
O you who sat on my laptop and shattered the screen, you owe me a guinness. no- lots of Guinnesses.
And now it's far past my bedtime and I didn't even get to address my irritation at the institution that is Apple and iTunes.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
2 boxes down...
sooo...
yesterday I watched an NCIS episode where this serial killer was finally caught (because he was stuffed in a furnace exhaust thingie) only he wasn't the serial killer, his lovely schoolteacher wife was.
her name was Karen Burris, and when they popped her name up on the screen I about died laughing, because it immediately brought to mind none other than my dear professor Simon Burris.
in honor of that (and him) I give thee...
Burris quotes from greek and latin. mostly from latin, because I can't find my greek notebooks.
sigh. now I get...the joy of physics.
yesterday I watched an NCIS episode where this serial killer was finally caught (because he was stuffed in a furnace exhaust thingie) only he wasn't the serial killer, his lovely schoolteacher wife was.
her name was Karen Burris, and when they popped her name up on the screen I about died laughing, because it immediately brought to mind none other than my dear professor Simon Burris.
in honor of that (and him) I give thee...
Burris quotes from greek and latin. mostly from latin, because I can't find my greek notebooks.
- "Didja have a good weekend? I didn't, and I'm going to take it out on you."
- "I'm ruthlessly efficient that way."
- "cheating is cheating; it's foul, it's disgusting, it's dirty."
- "I guess I'll ask for volunteers before I go to the Cards O' Death."
- "both of these sentences are wrong: however, there's hope, because there's always someone wrong-er."
- "'he always gives my sons and daughters roses'...he sounds confused."
- "I'd like to have two groups working on each sentence; that way, you'll be in competition and someone will get hurt."
- "Ladies and Gentlemen, it's all about shame. Public humiliation.:
- "well, I don't know about YOUR colon. Someone claim this colon."
- *coughing fit followed by heroic pose* "We go on! ...I don't know why you're laughing."
- "Preach it, brother!"
- "I've got a cold...if I should sneeze and mucous should drench your papers...just open your umbrella."
- "I forgot to take my drugs this morning."
- "Y'can't tell me it's like that! I mean- where does it say 'the classics professor gives roses to the pretty girl?'"
- "Culture good! Grammar better. Much, much better!"
- "have you ever tried to make love to a tree?"
- "Actually, I'm in a Led Zeppelin mood. I've got a strong urge to grow long hair and rip off my shirt and jump up on the table. but I won't do that. I signed a contract when I took this job that I wouldn't do that anymore."
sigh. now I get...the joy of physics.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
I have an iguana on my laptop.
concert last night was a. ma. zing.
luckily, the unidentified person sitting somewhere behind and to the right of me decided to open their crinkly candy excruciatingly slowly during the chopin piano concerto before intermission, because if they'd pulled that during the saint-saens I would be blogging from a jail cell. although no true jury of my peers would have convicted me.
clearly they didn't read the guide that the san francisco symphony so kindly provides you as you purchase your tickets- it includes what to wear and when to clap.
I had a most amusing picture pop into my head (probably because I recently watched Lord of the Rings with The Boy) but I had this image of Gandalf conducting a symphony and turning around to face the audience when they start clapping between movements to shout "You...shall not...CLAP!" and bringing his baton down dramatically.
but that's just my brain.
lookit- iguana!
that's a marine iguana. they eat fuzzy green marine seaweedy-algae goop that grows on rocks in intertidal zones, and there's nothing weirder than seeing a whole mob of these battleworn mini-godzillas munching away on electric green goop in a tide pool. something about it makes your brain go .....mmnope.
and then you turn around and see....
....the beachmaster.
luckily, the unidentified person sitting somewhere behind and to the right of me decided to open their crinkly candy excruciatingly slowly during the chopin piano concerto before intermission, because if they'd pulled that during the saint-saens I would be blogging from a jail cell. although no true jury of my peers would have convicted me.
clearly they didn't read the guide that the san francisco symphony so kindly provides you as you purchase your tickets- it includes what to wear and when to clap.
I had a most amusing picture pop into my head (probably because I recently watched Lord of the Rings with The Boy) but I had this image of Gandalf conducting a symphony and turning around to face the audience when they start clapping between movements to shout "You...shall not...CLAP!" and bringing his baton down dramatically.
but that's just my brain.
lookit- iguana!
that's a marine iguana. they eat fuzzy green marine seaweedy-algae goop that grows on rocks in intertidal zones, and there's nothing weirder than seeing a whole mob of these battleworn mini-godzillas munching away on electric green goop in a tide pool. something about it makes your brain go .....mmnope.
and then you turn around and see....
....the beachmaster.he's huge. huge as in "no sir, mr beachmaster, I'm not in any way shape or form trying to mess around with your harem. nope. not me."
also, huge as in "c'mon, mr beachmaster- just smoosh the kid. really. we won't mind. it'll be his fault- he's the one poking at the young seals and trying to get closer to them and running at them and being loud and annoying and we're in the galapagos- is it too much to ask for a visual demonstration of natural selection? mr beachmaster? please?"
but that's a story for another day. back to the physics lab.
ripped out my last 3 inches of scarf. any ideas on a slightly shiny feltable wool?
also, huge as in "c'mon, mr beachmaster- just smoosh the kid. really. we won't mind. it'll be his fault- he's the one poking at the young seals and trying to get closer to them and running at them and being loud and annoying and we're in the galapagos- is it too much to ask for a visual demonstration of natural selection? mr beachmaster? please?"
but that's a story for another day. back to the physics lab.
ripped out my last 3 inches of scarf. any ideas on a slightly shiny feltable wool?
Monday, October 08, 2007
soooo....
happy Cephalopod Awareness Day!
beware the kraken!
beware the kraken!
PINTELyoutube disappointed me. I was hoping for a video clip of the above, but no. you'll just have to check it out yourself.
You're pullin' too fast.
RAGETTI
You're pulling too slow. We don't want
the Kraken to catch us.
PINTEL
I'm savin' me strength for when it comes.
And I don't think it's Krack-en, anyways.
I always heard it said Kray-kin.
RAGETTI
What, with a long A?
PINTEL
Aye.
RAGETTI
No-no-no-no-no-no-no. Krock-en's how
it's pronounced in the original Scandinavian,
and Krack-en's closer to that.
PINTEL
Well we ain't original Scandinavians,
are we? Kray-ken!
RAGETTI
It's a mythological creature, I can
calls it what I wants.
roughly a year ago...
I was in BC with my parents hoping desperately for an open mechanic so we could see just how badly we'd destroyed our undercarriage pulling out of the starbucks on our way home to tacoma, so that the next day I could fly out to Boston.
...strangely enough, I think today I'm feeling about the same.
Happy Thanksgiving, filiis canadiensis!
I'm not sure about that declension. oh well. live with it.
I was in BC with my parents hoping desperately for an open mechanic so we could see just how badly we'd destroyed our undercarriage pulling out of the starbucks on our way home to tacoma, so that the next day I could fly out to Boston.
...strangely enough, I think today I'm feeling about the same.
Happy Thanksgiving, filiis canadiensis!
I'm not sure about that declension. oh well. live with it.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
it's exam time...
and you know what that means...
you finally get to hear all the silly little comments that my organic chemistry prof has said and I have enjoyed enough to write down in my notebook.
woo!
first off, an observation: my chem prof clearly never stopped playing with tinkertoys. he also is in love with the word "wow" and chemistry in general.
"Spectroscopy is just awesome! ...it's good stuff."
"if you drink old wine, or bad wine, you get a headache because the alcohol has oxidized to acetaldehyde already. so...dring good wine, and you'll be fine."
"what is that thing...in the window region..." (that's to the tune of 'how much is that doggie in the window,' by the way)
"uh huh. wow, yeah, see? see the strain? yeah...wow." (playing with tinkertoy again- this happens every class, most recently with a bicycloheptane and with ethane stereoisomers)
"oh...shit." (after writing on the whiteboard with a permanent marker.) "uh..."
"you can take it off with vodka." "or nail polish remover." "or armorall windshield wipes." says the class.
"Ah, yes, but why those?" (blinks from classroom) "Ethanol! solver of the world's woes!" (big grin.) by this point he'd found the whiteboard cleaner and paper towels tucked under the podium.
I know. he's no burris.
you finally get to hear all the silly little comments that my organic chemistry prof has said and I have enjoyed enough to write down in my notebook.
woo!
first off, an observation: my chem prof clearly never stopped playing with tinkertoys. he also is in love with the word "wow" and chemistry in general.
"Spectroscopy is just awesome! ...it's good stuff."
"if you drink old wine, or bad wine, you get a headache because the alcohol has oxidized to acetaldehyde already. so...dring good wine, and you'll be fine."
"what is that thing...in the window region..." (that's to the tune of 'how much is that doggie in the window,' by the way)
"uh huh. wow, yeah, see? see the strain? yeah...wow." (playing with tinkertoy again- this happens every class, most recently with a bicycloheptane and with ethane stereoisomers)
"oh...shit." (after writing on the whiteboard with a permanent marker.) "uh..."
"you can take it off with vodka." "or nail polish remover." "or armorall windshield wipes." says the class.
"Ah, yes, but why those?" (blinks from classroom) "Ethanol! solver of the world's woes!" (big grin.) by this point he'd found the whiteboard cleaner and paper towels tucked under the podium.
I know. he's no burris.
Friday, October 05, 2007
glee!
so Aristarchus has been moved to his happy new tank.
I get to figure out a better way of siphoning sand, since I'm not used to it, but oh well. he seems to like it.
he digs peas, I've discovered. I think he has shark genes well hidden in his genetic makeup, because he tore the one I gave him apart in milliseconds.
a week from now I get to go to the san francisco symphony, which is performing the saint saens organ symphony. glee!
I get to figure out a better way of siphoning sand, since I'm not used to it, but oh well. he seems to like it.
he digs peas, I've discovered. I think he has shark genes well hidden in his genetic makeup, because he tore the one I gave him apart in milliseconds.
a week from now I get to go to the san francisco symphony, which is performing the saint saens organ symphony. glee!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
fishy!
I've decided that Aristarchus is totally an appropriate name. he's super curious, and no less inquisitive than the (sadly) late Herodatus. (curse you, malfunctioning vacation feeders! at least he gets to sleep with the bamboofish.)
granted, goldfish are supposed to have the proverbial 3 second memory, which could explain why he investigates every nook and cranny all the time, but even herodatus and ovid would dart away and hide behind a plant when I'd put my face close to the tank to get a better look at them. (the advantages to being ridiculously myopic- built in macro lens.)
Aristarchus swims right up and mugs for me. probably has something to do with nonbinocular vision- he looks at me with his left eye, then his right, then sometimes he'll wash rinse repeat, other times he'll flounce away and go try to eat the plant. it's plastic. that doesn't seem to matter.
he got a spinach treat today, but he only ate half of it. maybe next time I'll cut it smaller.
duty (hah)- I mean knitting- calls.
granted, goldfish are supposed to have the proverbial 3 second memory, which could explain why he investigates every nook and cranny all the time, but even herodatus and ovid would dart away and hide behind a plant when I'd put my face close to the tank to get a better look at them. (the advantages to being ridiculously myopic- built in macro lens.)
Aristarchus swims right up and mugs for me. probably has something to do with nonbinocular vision- he looks at me with his left eye, then his right, then sometimes he'll wash rinse repeat, other times he'll flounce away and go try to eat the plant. it's plastic. that doesn't seem to matter.
he got a spinach treat today, but he only ate half of it. maybe next time I'll cut it smaller.
duty (hah)- I mean knitting- calls.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
fun fact:
the current temperature here in emeryland/oakville is 14 degrees Celsius.
in Alta, it's 11 degrees Celsius.
that's Alta, Norway.
...?
not that I'm complaining, but the fishy might be none too happy.
in Alta, it's 11 degrees Celsius.
that's Alta, Norway.
...?
not that I'm complaining, but the fishy might be none too happy.
Friday, September 28, 2007
to combat the current mood:
meet Aristarchus.
yes, I know it's a bit of a ridiculous name for such a little fish. but he's a black moor, which is a variety of the telescope-eyed fancy goldfish, and aristarchus was the first greek astronomer to develop the theory of heliocentrism, so it makes sense. and besides that, maybe he'll give me good physics karma based on his namesake, what?
shut up. he's pretty.
yes, I know it's a bit of a ridiculous name for such a little fish. but he's a black moor, which is a variety of the telescope-eyed fancy goldfish, and aristarchus was the first greek astronomer to develop the theory of heliocentrism, so it makes sense. and besides that, maybe he'll give me good physics karma based on his namesake, what?
shut up. he's pretty.
sigh...snif...
friends, relatives, and relatives of friends:
stay healthy.
no more cancer. no more chemo. no more dying.
someone invent a make-everything-better ray.
stay healthy.
no more cancer. no more chemo. no more dying.
someone invent a make-everything-better ray.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
under attack. no. seriously.
it's tempting to wonder where Murphy (as in murphy's law) gets his bodyguards, and how expensive they would be to bribe...
...but then I've been rereading a series of books by Walter Jon Williams sold under the anthology title of Ten Points for Style which involves lots of thievery and bribery and all sorts of fun stuff.
give praise to Triple-A for the power of the happy little membership card! The Boy and I avoided a 120 dollar fee for rescuing our keys from the ignition as we waited outside the Target with a full cart of goodies.
look! plant!
(the plant isn't included in the goodies from le target boutique, incidentally, I'm just excited that I finally have green in my apartment again. and it's actually three plants, not one, and I confused the poor home depot woman to no end:
PHDW: finding everything you need?
Me: (balancing pot and three little plants and coffee mug) yep! actually, no- what's the smallest bag of potting soil that you sell?
PHDW: that one- (pointing to a small bag, but small bag of potting soil + small apartment = large bag of taking-up-space-soil)
Me: oh. Do you sell it by the pound or anything out of the garden center?
PHDW: er, no. But the small bag isn't really very- I mean, it will get used up very quickly, even in a small garden.
Me: MmM,* I've got a really small apartment, and all I want to do is plant these three (gesture with coffee cup at plants) in this pot (jiggle pot with elbow) so I was hoping there might be some other way. that's ok.
PHDW: oh. (strange look at choice of plants and pot.) you could try a greenhouse.
Me: where would-
PHDW: there's (insert name here, I've forgotten), they're nice-
Me: I just moved here, I've no idea where anything is, really.
PHDW: oh. (frowns.) well, it's over there (points) up by berkeley. or just drive up San Pablo, they're scattered all along it.
Me: thanks!
PHDW: you're welcome. hope you enjoy oakland! (disappears rapidly into plumbing section.)
*that's MmM, the norwegian tritonal utterance used for 'yes, I'm listening' 'oh, really?' 'hell yes,' 'what?' and more.
also, after this, one of the guys in the home depot shirt-but-not-apron (which I think means they're sort of the minions of the ones with the aprons and the big smiles and the wish to help you do whatever you needed to do that brought you to the home depot in the first place) saw me wandering the garden center (looking for mint and basil and another pot, thinking that I could get them and then get the bag and not feel bad because then I could make fresh tea and pesto and use up the bag of soil at the same time, but alas, no cookie) and said:
"Down the aisle by the trees there's a bag of soil that got ripped and isn't sellable, you could plant them and then check out in the garden center to pay for the plants and pot."
at which point he went back to watering the hanging plants.
so I did. and now I have plant! yay!
(just imagine how bad it's going to be when I finally make it down to the fish store and get a fish.)
aaand....look! T4!
I know. far cry from tank top, isn't it? sadly, my goal of getting it done this summer failed utterly.
one more row, then I get to fold and pick up the edge, which is going to be depressing because it will effectively halve the length I've knitted.
knitting 350+ stitches on ittle needles is...annoyingly slow.
all my really old UFOs are like that, though. three shawls. sad.
and look!
band weaving that I'm actually mildly ashamed at posting, because it's really awkward, but I keep trying to remind myself that it's my first time since, um, almost ever. (not that it does any good in getting past the art OCD inherited from my mother, but oh well.)
two picking patterns; started the chevrons before deciding no, thanks, I'd like to keep my sanity and went on to less finicky pursuits.
yes, I'm hiding most of the ick in my hand. shutup.
and I might be getting a job offer! woo! The Boy mentioned to one of his clients that his fiancee was looking for a job in the bay area, and today they asked him for my contact information for something temporary or part time and unspecified, but still! glee!
oh, yeah. the subject heading. attack, yes...by the ants. here's what not to do, upon finding a few ants in the bedroom, idly wandering around the floor.
Oh, look, ants. grrr. back already, eh? well, I'm wise to you...and since there's no food in here...instead of squishing and sweeping and spraying blindly, I'm going to wait...yes, wait...until you form trails so that I can unleash the power of the industrial chemicals upon you! muahahaa!
don't do that, because this is what the ant scouts do:
Scout battalion one reporting to hive mother! the big pink thing has taken the bait! UNLEASH THE HORDES!
and you return to this:
ants. everywhere. ev. 'ry. where. all over the floor. crawling up the walls. along the baseboard. but still...not in any discernible entry or exit point. seriously. ugh.
and half an hour in which to deal with them before I have to go get on my bus to go to my favoritist class in the whole wide wonderful world...
...not.
...but then I've been rereading a series of books by Walter Jon Williams sold under the anthology title of Ten Points for Style which involves lots of thievery and bribery and all sorts of fun stuff.
give praise to Triple-A for the power of the happy little membership card! The Boy and I avoided a 120 dollar fee for rescuing our keys from the ignition as we waited outside the Target with a full cart of goodies.
look! plant!
(the plant isn't included in the goodies from le target boutique, incidentally, I'm just excited that I finally have green in my apartment again. and it's actually three plants, not one, and I confused the poor home depot woman to no end:PHDW: finding everything you need?
Me: (balancing pot and three little plants and coffee mug) yep! actually, no- what's the smallest bag of potting soil that you sell?
PHDW: that one- (pointing to a small bag, but small bag of potting soil + small apartment = large bag of taking-up-space-soil)
Me: oh. Do you sell it by the pound or anything out of the garden center?
PHDW: er, no. But the small bag isn't really very- I mean, it will get used up very quickly, even in a small garden.
Me: MmM,* I've got a really small apartment, and all I want to do is plant these three (gesture with coffee cup at plants) in this pot (jiggle pot with elbow) so I was hoping there might be some other way. that's ok.
PHDW: oh. (strange look at choice of plants and pot.) you could try a greenhouse.
Me: where would-
PHDW: there's (insert name here, I've forgotten), they're nice-
Me: I just moved here, I've no idea where anything is, really.
PHDW: oh. (frowns.) well, it's over there (points) up by berkeley. or just drive up San Pablo, they're scattered all along it.
Me: thanks!
PHDW: you're welcome. hope you enjoy oakland! (disappears rapidly into plumbing section.)
*that's MmM, the norwegian tritonal utterance used for 'yes, I'm listening' 'oh, really?' 'hell yes,' 'what?' and more.
also, after this, one of the guys in the home depot shirt-but-not-apron (which I think means they're sort of the minions of the ones with the aprons and the big smiles and the wish to help you do whatever you needed to do that brought you to the home depot in the first place) saw me wandering the garden center (looking for mint and basil and another pot, thinking that I could get them and then get the bag and not feel bad because then I could make fresh tea and pesto and use up the bag of soil at the same time, but alas, no cookie) and said:
"Down the aisle by the trees there's a bag of soil that got ripped and isn't sellable, you could plant them and then check out in the garden center to pay for the plants and pot."
at which point he went back to watering the hanging plants.
so I did. and now I have plant! yay!
(just imagine how bad it's going to be when I finally make it down to the fish store and get a fish.)
aaand....look! T4!
I know. far cry from tank top, isn't it? sadly, my goal of getting it done this summer failed utterly.
one more row, then I get to fold and pick up the edge, which is going to be depressing because it will effectively halve the length I've knitted.
knitting 350+ stitches on ittle needles is...annoyingly slow.
all my really old UFOs are like that, though. three shawls. sad.
and look!
band weaving that I'm actually mildly ashamed at posting, because it's really awkward, but I keep trying to remind myself that it's my first time since, um, almost ever. (not that it does any good in getting past the art OCD inherited from my mother, but oh well.)
two picking patterns; started the chevrons before deciding no, thanks, I'd like to keep my sanity and went on to less finicky pursuits.
yes, I'm hiding most of the ick in my hand. shutup.
and I might be getting a job offer! woo! The Boy mentioned to one of his clients that his fiancee was looking for a job in the bay area, and today they asked him for my contact information for something temporary or part time and unspecified, but still! glee!
oh, yeah. the subject heading. attack, yes...by the ants. here's what not to do, upon finding a few ants in the bedroom, idly wandering around the floor.
Oh, look, ants. grrr. back already, eh? well, I'm wise to you...and since there's no food in here...instead of squishing and sweeping and spraying blindly, I'm going to wait...yes, wait...until you form trails so that I can unleash the power of the industrial chemicals upon you! muahahaa!
don't do that, because this is what the ant scouts do:
Scout battalion one reporting to hive mother! the big pink thing has taken the bait! UNLEASH THE HORDES!
and you return to this:
ants. everywhere. ev. 'ry. where. all over the floor. crawling up the walls. along the baseboard. but still...not in any discernible entry or exit point. seriously. ugh.
and half an hour in which to deal with them before I have to go get on my bus to go to my favoritist class in the whole wide wonderful world...
...not.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
physics...
so...we've already established the depths of my hatred of physics.
there's just one problem. I love my physics lab prof. he's hilarious. here's an example (before I go back to the stupid physics stupid online stupid homework stupidity.
this is from an e-mail regarding some questions we're supposed to answer for our next lab report.
"for those of you who are still underage and, therefore, not yet acquainted to alcoholic beverages:
question 5) Stoli vodka is made of 40% vol. alcohol and the rest is water. I thought everybody knew."
giggle.
there's just one problem. I love my physics lab prof. he's hilarious. here's an example (before I go back to the stupid physics stupid online stupid homework stupidity.
this is from an e-mail regarding some questions we're supposed to answer for our next lab report.
"for those of you who are still underage and, therefore, not yet acquainted to alcoholic beverages:
question 5) Stoli vodka is made of 40% vol. alcohol and the rest is water. I thought everybody knew."
giggle.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
heeheehee.
sooo....
I can see it now...
a Hollywood exec, delving further into the depths of remake-and-redo-and-revision, scans the news. Bingo! flunkies are scrambled to listen to the pitch, which goes something like this:
I got it! ok. so. bond is dead- we don`t need bond. but bourne`s taken over that genre, we don`t want to get into that, but we gotta make a spy movie so...here`s the scene- super spy politico-thriller BUT and here`s the thing- we do it in Russia with russians, call it- I don`t know what to call it, you figure that out, just get me Vin Diesel or the Rock. kay? and somebody write me up a viral ad campaign about spoofing brokeback mountain, yah?
...and then the flunkies quietly slink away, muttering about senility (hah, tried to write salinity, woops)
ANYway.
I have an idea for what to do with the other end of my scarf! yay! ...I`m going to go insane, but oh well.
yeesh. there`s two guys reshingling a roof behind my building- it`s ridiculously windy today, and I don`t envy them their perch.
I made myself giddy earlier today by finding this song by the Forsvarets Stabsmusikkorps (the Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces) called Concertino for Euphonium and Band (Bloody Euphonium).
I love it. hooray euph!
aaaand... your random act of internet for the day....if you have a slightly warped sense of humor, or are sleep deprived and are mainlining caffeine. or if you`ve ever been through a Hell Week as a techie.
clicky!
I can see it now...
a Hollywood exec, delving further into the depths of remake-and-redo-and-revision, scans the news. Bingo! flunkies are scrambled to listen to the pitch, which goes something like this:
I got it! ok. so. bond is dead- we don`t need bond. but bourne`s taken over that genre, we don`t want to get into that, but we gotta make a spy movie so...here`s the scene- super spy politico-thriller BUT and here`s the thing- we do it in Russia with russians, call it- I don`t know what to call it, you figure that out, just get me Vin Diesel or the Rock. kay? and somebody write me up a viral ad campaign about spoofing brokeback mountain, yah?
...and then the flunkies quietly slink away, muttering about senility (hah, tried to write salinity, woops)
ANYway.
I have an idea for what to do with the other end of my scarf! yay! ...I`m going to go insane, but oh well.
yeesh. there`s two guys reshingling a roof behind my building- it`s ridiculously windy today, and I don`t envy them their perch.
I made myself giddy earlier today by finding this song by the Forsvarets Stabsmusikkorps (the Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces) called Concertino for Euphonium and Band (Bloody Euphonium).
I love it. hooray euph!
aaaand... your random act of internet for the day....if you have a slightly warped sense of humor, or are sleep deprived and are mainlining caffeine. or if you`ve ever been through a Hell Week as a techie.
clicky!
Sunday, September 16, 2007
I. hate. physics.
no, really. I swear. (a lot, unfortunately- physics seems to bring that out in me.)
not a cuddly oh-I-dislike-my-homework-and-commute-to-it but an honest hatred.
carol kane as mrs white hatred.
yes. that badly.
and you can add to that list any and ALL online homework/teaching/coursework programs. Blackboard, this means you. KATIE-that-used-to-be-MOODLE too, and Luther's wife would be rolling in her grave to be associated with it. MasteringPhysics...grr.
trying to figure out physics problems is bad enough. trying to figure out physics problems when any little hiccup in the internet can disconnect you and make you restart, or a glitch in refresh rates can load the page twice (and thus, if you've input the incorrect answer, dock you twice), or refuse to show you parts of problems OR the hints which we are supposed to use even when they're not helpful AT. ALL. grr.
give me paper! give me pen!(cil!) give me ANYTHING but the computer's baleful glowy screen glaring impersonally at me. give me old school or give me death.
sigh
on the other hand, I had bulgolgi and jap che and bubble tea today.
and I went to go see Parry Hotter and the Phoder of the Oenix today. mmm, Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman. I've never read the books (I lie, ok, fine, I read the first two, I try to forget), but I'll defend Snape all day for two reasons: 1) it's stupid narrative to have him be truly evil and 2) alan rickman.
And The Boy was very gracious in putting up with my physics theatrics that mostly involved muttering, growling, shouting, or pleading (or weeping) at the computer.
here's a fun "america makes my brain hurt" moment for you- so I got bubble tea today, and they gave me a little cardboard sleeve thing so I wouldn't freeze my hand off, and the sleeve has an ad for maidenform lingerie with two shirtless sultry-looking models on it, gazing out onto the world with too much eyeliner and airbrushed cleavage. which begs the question...if sex is bad horrible and corrupting and oh dear god protect the airwaves...why do I have softcore porn on my bubble tea?
that *fzzzt* sound was yet another of my brain cells short-circuiting.
I get serious knitting time on saturdays. I leave at 1120 for a 1300 class, and then get home around 1800 after class gets out at 1615. hoo. ray.
gonna leave early for Ochem tomorrow so I can get coffee (mmcoffee) and then go wander through the happy little king's englishy bookstore. I am going to booby trap my wallet to tazer me if I reach for it, however.
not a cuddly oh-I-dislike-my-homework-and-commute-to-it but an honest hatred.
carol kane as mrs white hatred.
yes. that badly.
and you can add to that list any and ALL online homework/teaching/coursework programs. Blackboard, this means you. KATIE-that-used-to-be-MOODLE too, and Luther's wife would be rolling in her grave to be associated with it. MasteringPhysics...grr.
trying to figure out physics problems is bad enough. trying to figure out physics problems when any little hiccup in the internet can disconnect you and make you restart, or a glitch in refresh rates can load the page twice (and thus, if you've input the incorrect answer, dock you twice), or refuse to show you parts of problems OR the hints which we are supposed to use even when they're not helpful AT. ALL. grr.
give me paper! give me pen!(cil!) give me ANYTHING but the computer's baleful glowy screen glaring impersonally at me. give me old school or give me death.
sigh
on the other hand, I had bulgolgi and jap che and bubble tea today.
and I went to go see Parry Hotter and the Phoder of the Oenix today. mmm, Alan Rickman and Gary Oldman. I've never read the books (I lie, ok, fine, I read the first two, I try to forget), but I'll defend Snape all day for two reasons: 1) it's stupid narrative to have him be truly evil and 2) alan rickman.
And The Boy was very gracious in putting up with my physics theatrics that mostly involved muttering, growling, shouting, or pleading (or weeping) at the computer.
here's a fun "america makes my brain hurt" moment for you- so I got bubble tea today, and they gave me a little cardboard sleeve thing so I wouldn't freeze my hand off, and the sleeve has an ad for maidenform lingerie with two shirtless sultry-looking models on it, gazing out onto the world with too much eyeliner and airbrushed cleavage. which begs the question...if sex is bad horrible and corrupting and oh dear god protect the airwaves...why do I have softcore porn on my bubble tea?
that *fzzzt* sound was yet another of my brain cells short-circuiting.
I get serious knitting time on saturdays. I leave at 1120 for a 1300 class, and then get home around 1800 after class gets out at 1615. hoo. ray.
gonna leave early for Ochem tomorrow so I can get coffee (mmcoffee) and then go wander through the happy little king's englishy bookstore. I am going to booby trap my wallet to tazer me if I reach for it, however.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
a quickie
I hate labs that are engineered to fail. hate. in 30 minutes I need to go catch my bus(ses) to get to class on time (yes, I know, I leave at 1110 to get to a 1300 class. shut. up.) I have a lab report that I think is crap but I can't do anything about it because the experiment was crap and the directions as to what he wanted in the lab report were also crap. crap, crap, crap.
blarg.
however, this might entertain you. here's a picture of my data sheet, post organization. now...what does that color pattern remind you of?
DR WHO....it never really goes away...
...and neither does physics.
and in the words of bill van cleave-
minion! make me a sammich!
blarg.
however, this might entertain you. here's a picture of my data sheet, post organization. now...what does that color pattern remind you of?
DR WHO....it never really goes away...
...and neither does physics.
and in the words of bill van cleave-
minion! make me a sammich!
Friday, September 14, 2007
life imitating discworld...
so apparently writing BOIL ME AN EGG, ALBERT yesterday conjured up a whole series of discworld-aktige ting.
first, Anoia, Goddess of Things That Get Stuck in Drawers, paid me a visit. stupid spatula.
then, I had a wonderful glimpse at the wonder (hah) that is the postal system here in emery-land (or oak-ville, if you like that better)
and then... none other than Foul Ole Ron got on my bus home from physics.
no, really. I jest not. He was muttering when he got on bus, muttering for the ten minutes he was on the bus, and muttering when he got off the bus. I say muttering, but it was more like serious conversation at high decibels. muttering with projection? I kept waiting for a "buggrit. buggrem. millenium hand and shrimp." The Smell was there, too, all the way until I got off at my stop several blocks down.
AND anniken had just called me! it was a total terry pratchett day.
I just got the urge to knit something disc-y. and I need to talk to syvilla about yarn for my inaugural yay-I-moved-to-san-francisco knitting project, which is either going to be a laptop case for my shiny new laptop or a scarf or...an...or.
but eyah. on to the physics lab report! ...er...
first, Anoia, Goddess of Things That Get Stuck in Drawers, paid me a visit. stupid spatula.
then, I had a wonderful glimpse at the wonder (hah) that is the postal system here in emery-land (or oak-ville, if you like that better)
and then... none other than Foul Ole Ron got on my bus home from physics.
no, really. I jest not. He was muttering when he got on bus, muttering for the ten minutes he was on the bus, and muttering when he got off the bus. I say muttering, but it was more like serious conversation at high decibels. muttering with projection? I kept waiting for a "buggrit. buggrem. millenium hand and shrimp." The Smell was there, too, all the way until I got off at my stop several blocks down.
AND anniken had just called me! it was a total terry pratchett day.
I just got the urge to knit something disc-y. and I need to talk to syvilla about yarn for my inaugural yay-I-moved-to-san-francisco knitting project, which is either going to be a laptop case for my shiny new laptop or a scarf or...an...or.
but eyah. on to the physics lab report! ...er...
Thursday, September 13, 2007
someone turn off murphy′s law, already...
so I got distracted when Freya called me (yay!) and walked slower than normal and missed my first bus- no big deal, since I was just headed to coffee and wifi at barnes and noble and there was another one in 15 minutes- but I get on the bus and get to the barnes and noble no trouble.
well, except for the fact that my zipper killed itself and I have to unpick the end to refeed it. oh well.
oh, and except for the fact that barnes and noble is apparantly playing opera today...not so conducive to concentrating well on the physics homework. good thing it´s not due until sunday.
halfway done with the solar scarf- yeah, that one, that I started little over a year ago...I´ve placed my halfway marker and have started on the home stretch! the long home stretch, but that´s ok. and once I figure my public transit routes out fully, I can break out the hard stuff- yes, T4. da da daaaa. maybe a goal of getting a tank top done by the end of this year will be fulfilled since it´ll be the wrong season to wear it.
although I am a california girl now, so...maybe I will wear it.
and then...it´s time...for...Tubey.
yeah, right.
well, except for the fact that my zipper killed itself and I have to unpick the end to refeed it. oh well.
oh, and except for the fact that barnes and noble is apparantly playing opera today...not so conducive to concentrating well on the physics homework. good thing it´s not due until sunday.
halfway done with the solar scarf- yeah, that one, that I started little over a year ago...I´ve placed my halfway marker and have started on the home stretch! the long home stretch, but that´s ok. and once I figure my public transit routes out fully, I can break out the hard stuff- yes, T4. da da daaaa. maybe a goal of getting a tank top done by the end of this year will be fulfilled since it´ll be the wrong season to wear it.
although I am a california girl now, so...maybe I will wear it.
and then...it´s time...for...Tubey.
yeah, right.
...BOIL ME AN EGG, ALBERT.
sorry, I just feel like Susan because my hair is going crazy on me today and because I am boiling eggs. mmm, eggs.
off to the barnes and noble for some coffee and homework time, then to physics. whoo.
and then- tomorrow- (cue suspenseful music...go) I AM GOING to put together one of the dressers. I will. yes.
aaaand I should go walk to my bus.
off to the barnes and noble for some coffee and homework time, then to physics. whoo.
and then- tomorrow- (cue suspenseful music...go) I AM GOING to put together one of the dressers. I will. yes.
aaaand I should go walk to my bus.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
your what hurts?
aah, åsta. I think of you every time I bike past my street, because on the corner is a motorcycle-shop-tattoo-parlor-sandwich-espresso-cafe thing. yes, I am in san fraaaancisco. I have yet to visit, but soon...soon.
it...
...so, yeah, I got distracted by searching for moleskines online. I think they stopped making my big happy pretty lined ones...boo.
I have no idea how the boy takes so long in the shower. seriously. I take less time, and I shave my legs and wash my crazy psycho hair.
physics tomorrow. woo.
it...
...so, yeah, I got distracted by searching for moleskines online. I think they stopped making my big happy pretty lined ones...boo.
I have no idea how the boy takes so long in the shower. seriously. I take less time, and I shave my legs and wash my crazy psycho hair.
physics tomorrow. woo.
Saturday, September 08, 2007
wooooooof.
no, that's not a sign that I've finally gotten a dog. that's an explosive outrush of air. so here's why I haven't been heard from since early august...
finished camp. international day insanity as planned. pack up skogfjorden. oh, yeah. before packing up camp, don't sleep because you're sitting up with åsta burning and writing on the dvds to give to the villagers. at all. except for a little impromptu nap.
drive down to mpls with elsebet and pia. go eat with lars and some random german, pam, james, robbie, dave, ebet, pia, and jens.
get stuck in traffic and miss plane. actually, I could have made it, but the mental midget struck again and sent me running flat out for my...seat number. 26 C, and my gate was supposed to be 10 F, which if you have ever been in the MSP airport, you'll be wincing in sympathy.
go sleep at ebet's house, wake up eeeaaaarrrrlly and go to MSP to fly to Seatac. the plane is slightly delayed, but not by much. I get to SEA, go for lunch with Gretchen and Jesse, then back to my plane to SFO.
visit the boy briefly, then fly back home on thursday afternoon. but no, murphy is not yet done with marit. oh, no. my plane is supposed to leave SFO for SEA at 1309. at 1309 they say we'll have more information for you at 1350. at 1350 they say more information at 1415. at 1415 more info at 1500. at 1500 more info at 1550. at 1550 more info at 1630. at 1630 more info at 1715. at this point I'm in line asking if there's any way this plane is ever going to leave, and failing that, what airline will you put me on so that I can actually get to seattle sometime today? ack. as I'm standing in line, we hear this: more information at 1800. I bail, get on a united flight, go out, recheck in, get sent through extra screening (yay, shiny glass boxes with airpuffs...) finally get to SEA at 0200 or something ridiculous like that. (oh, and my original flight finally left SFO at 2034. damn.) the next morning, actually later that morning, we fly out of SEA for houston, have a big layover, then to guayaquil ecuador, then sleep for another maybe four hours before getting shuttled around and stuck on the plane for santa cruz, the galapagos.
more on the galapagos and marit-as-cruise-photographer later.
on the 25th we leave the galapagos, spend a really long time in transit, and arrive in tacoma on the 26th. what day does my first class start? august 27th. oh. joy.
so I fly down to SF, go to class, go pass out in my apartment, have a few days of chill time due to the vagaries of the cost of air travel, then fly back to tacoma on wednesday.
sleep thursday.
friday IKEA run and stuck in traffic (curse you, I-5 on labour day weekend!) and dinner party with Tony and Bert (not gert, oops)
saturday bumbershoot festival with ebet and midge and pack van
sunday pack van and monday, tuesday, wednesday drive to SF.
high winds + 21 foot cargo van stuffed to gills = not fun. semis of the world, I salute you. little pinkish corollas, I salute you too, but with a different finger.
thursday 3 hours of physics and then wandering lost at berkeley at night. not. fun.
friday....more IKEA. finally have desk! and flour, and other essential foodstuffs. and joining the dark side.
yes, it's true. I now have a macbook. hauling the beast was survivable as long as it wasn't dead weight...and now it's actually dead weight. matt thinks it can be resurrected, but with a full lobotomy. notsogood.
and now it's saturday, and in 45 minutes I have to go to my physics lab. ugh.
I feel like a pinball.
finished camp. international day insanity as planned. pack up skogfjorden. oh, yeah. before packing up camp, don't sleep because you're sitting up with åsta burning and writing on the dvds to give to the villagers. at all. except for a little impromptu nap.
drive down to mpls with elsebet and pia. go eat with lars and some random german, pam, james, robbie, dave, ebet, pia, and jens.
get stuck in traffic and miss plane. actually, I could have made it, but the mental midget struck again and sent me running flat out for my...seat number. 26 C, and my gate was supposed to be 10 F, which if you have ever been in the MSP airport, you'll be wincing in sympathy.
go sleep at ebet's house, wake up eeeaaaarrrrlly and go to MSP to fly to Seatac. the plane is slightly delayed, but not by much. I get to SEA, go for lunch with Gretchen and Jesse, then back to my plane to SFO.
visit the boy briefly, then fly back home on thursday afternoon. but no, murphy is not yet done with marit. oh, no. my plane is supposed to leave SFO for SEA at 1309. at 1309 they say we'll have more information for you at 1350. at 1350 they say more information at 1415. at 1415 more info at 1500. at 1500 more info at 1550. at 1550 more info at 1630. at 1630 more info at 1715. at this point I'm in line asking if there's any way this plane is ever going to leave, and failing that, what airline will you put me on so that I can actually get to seattle sometime today? ack. as I'm standing in line, we hear this: more information at 1800. I bail, get on a united flight, go out, recheck in, get sent through extra screening (yay, shiny glass boxes with airpuffs...) finally get to SEA at 0200 or something ridiculous like that. (oh, and my original flight finally left SFO at 2034. damn.) the next morning, actually later that morning, we fly out of SEA for houston, have a big layover, then to guayaquil ecuador, then sleep for another maybe four hours before getting shuttled around and stuck on the plane for santa cruz, the galapagos.
more on the galapagos and marit-as-cruise-photographer later.
on the 25th we leave the galapagos, spend a really long time in transit, and arrive in tacoma on the 26th. what day does my first class start? august 27th. oh. joy.
so I fly down to SF, go to class, go pass out in my apartment, have a few days of chill time due to the vagaries of the cost of air travel, then fly back to tacoma on wednesday.
sleep thursday.
friday IKEA run and stuck in traffic (curse you, I-5 on labour day weekend!) and dinner party with Tony and Bert (not gert, oops)
saturday bumbershoot festival with ebet and midge and pack van
sunday pack van and monday, tuesday, wednesday drive to SF.
high winds + 21 foot cargo van stuffed to gills = not fun. semis of the world, I salute you. little pinkish corollas, I salute you too, but with a different finger.
thursday 3 hours of physics and then wandering lost at berkeley at night. not. fun.
friday....more IKEA. finally have desk! and flour, and other essential foodstuffs. and joining the dark side.
yes, it's true. I now have a macbook. hauling the beast was survivable as long as it wasn't dead weight...and now it's actually dead weight. matt thinks it can be resurrected, but with a full lobotomy. notsogood.
and now it's saturday, and in 45 minutes I have to go to my physics lab. ugh.
I feel like a pinball.
Friday, August 03, 2007
the worst part about today...
...is that it is still. not. over.
add being a part of the gullfisken evening program to the list of things I am never allowed to do again. it'll be ranked just below Dr Who.
add being a part of the gullfisken evening program to the list of things I am never allowed to do again. it'll be ranked just below Dr Who.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
whoa...not fri, and updating...?
crazy!
still researching what laptop is the best choice for me right now...my old dear beastie is fixable, but the fix required is akin to a lobotomy...
sad day.
so now I'm looking at either a tablet PC or a (gasp, cue darth vader march) macbook. tsk, tsk, I know. but the littleness is appealing.
need to figure out what's up with schools! anyone know anything about berkeley and non degree seeking students?
still researching what laptop is the best choice for me right now...my old dear beastie is fixable, but the fix required is akin to a lobotomy...
sad day.
so now I'm looking at either a tablet PC or a (gasp, cue darth vader march) macbook. tsk, tsk, I know. but the littleness is appealing.
need to figure out what's up with schools! anyone know anything about berkeley and non degree seeking students?
Thursday, July 12, 2007
au.
my head hurts.
my chest, however, feels much better.
I can't believe I'm still awake...actually, no, I can believe that I'm still awake. what I can't believe is that I'm supposed to have isbjørnklubben tomorrow morning. uck.
somebody build me a time machine so that the me from five years from now can come to me tonight and tell me what I should do and why it's going to be awesome that I should do that. whatever it is.
peer gynt is not not not not not the play to try to explain-perform-stage when overtired and stressed. although very entertaining things come from it, such as "knappe 'dude'n" and "filosofiske freakout."
my chest, however, feels much better.
I can't believe I'm still awake...actually, no, I can believe that I'm still awake. what I can't believe is that I'm supposed to have isbjørnklubben tomorrow morning. uck.
somebody build me a time machine so that the me from five years from now can come to me tonight and tell me what I should do and why it's going to be awesome that I should do that. whatever it is.
peer gynt is not not not not not the play to try to explain-perform-stage when overtired and stressed. although very entertaining things come from it, such as "knappe 'dude'n" and "filosofiske freakout."
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
dizzy. bleiah.
baked today in strenggruppe. whee! havrebomber er på gang! but now I'm really dizzy and not sure why. might be heat from oven and tired and the overly disgustingly crappy day I had yesterday.
went to a research seminar earlier today, going to do some research later today, am pretty excited.
sleep soon. hopefully. although I need to do some research for computers.
and knit. goal = finish tank top by end of summer.
Hah.
went to a research seminar earlier today, going to do some research later today, am pretty excited.
sleep soon. hopefully. although I need to do some research for computers.
and knit. goal = finish tank top by end of summer.
Hah.
Monday, July 09, 2007
strange. it doesn't want to let me give it a title. iiinteresting. oh well.
what I was going to put as my title was..."free again...kind of."
it appears that the only time I get a chance to update this happy little blog is when I have a free day, as my free time on normal days is spent in several ways:
1) running around getting ready for next activity.
2) sleep. glorious sleep.
3) talking to the bestemt entall. that's the singular definite, otherwise known as the boy in camp code. aaah, grammar...always a solution to every problem.
4) buried nose in book in effort to retain english-speaking capabilities.
5) zoning out in valhall- it doesn't actually count as sleep.
6) midnight viking kitchen raids. don't knock it til you've tried it. ååååheeeeiii....
so, anyway. my cabin is now up to 5 people- our resident crazy norwegian-finn has arrived. Saw randi the other day, which made my saturday suddenly so much better than it had been looking.
looking forward to our evening program tomorrow. and our day program. am almost to the knitting-together-of-the-hem row.
what I was going to put as my title was..."free again...kind of."
it appears that the only time I get a chance to update this happy little blog is when I have a free day, as my free time on normal days is spent in several ways:
1) running around getting ready for next activity.
2) sleep. glorious sleep.
3) talking to the bestemt entall. that's the singular definite, otherwise known as the boy in camp code. aaah, grammar...always a solution to every problem.
4) buried nose in book in effort to retain english-speaking capabilities.
5) zoning out in valhall- it doesn't actually count as sleep.
6) midnight viking kitchen raids. don't knock it til you've tried it. ååååheeeeiii....
so, anyway. my cabin is now up to 5 people- our resident crazy norwegian-finn has arrived. Saw randi the other day, which made my saturday suddenly so much better than it had been looking.
looking forward to our evening program tomorrow. and our day program. am almost to the knitting-together-of-the-hem row.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
your what hurts?
the turnover rate for cute little coffee shops is sadly high- first we lost Cyber Bugs coffee/internet shop...and now Moos-a-Brew has become Cantabria Coffee Co, which is just not kitschy-cute enough.
I miss Pie in the Sky.
well, no...I miss Eric's baking. thaaaat's why I miss Pie in the Sky.
I have started on the tunic-tank top thing (T4). slightly terrified- I've now knit my 8 rows and my purl-hem-turning-row and now get to start on the T4 itself....eep. it's been too hot to knit on anything else- although I finished my Jayne Hat (for me, this time!) and wore it a few days ago, to the confusion of the small children and the amusement of my fellow counselors- so the giant shawl of doom is still in its baggie.
I'm living with three other counselors who are working all summer, which means we get to live in a cabin to ourselves and get to be 'aunts' to a different cabin. I'm an 'aunt' to the credit girls, which is pretty entertaining. today we're going to have a Stavanger Hunt (if you mispronounce Stavanger, which is a city in southern norway as well as the name of our cabin, you get something that sounds like scavanger) ending up back at the cabin for a brief film. Then us 'aunties' are going to have our own cabin evening together. muahaha. popcorn and apples to apples.
It's my free day today, so I got to sleep in late and have no responsibilities whatsoever- except for making sure my responsibilities are covered by other people. so far so good, although the post office has hidden itself from me so Kim will have to deal with not having actual 90 cent stamps.
I miss the boy.
I hope my dad is remembering to feed the fish. he's got 14 day feeders, so there's not much that can go wrong.
My computer has a cold. That, or it seriously hates me and is possessed by anti-me spirits. it decides to freeze and die, and then it won't turn on repeatedly until it decides to turn on and load windows fully. I'm starting to consider considering (how's that for decisiveness?) looking for a new laptop. something tiny. and functional. and tiny. Adam's little flippy tablet thing, for example, although that's definitely more money than I'd want to spend...
mom's random text message is still bothering me. it involves my birthday present and an injunction to not purchase anything major online...what does it mean?! bah.
I have a 5 dollar coupon to borders/waldenbooks and I can't use it because it expires on the 30th and the closest thing I've got is a b. Dalton, which is barnes and noble- although I do have a gift card to them, which is happy. if I can find it.
I miss Pie in the Sky.
well, no...I miss Eric's baking. thaaaat's why I miss Pie in the Sky.
I have started on the tunic-tank top thing (T4). slightly terrified- I've now knit my 8 rows and my purl-hem-turning-row and now get to start on the T4 itself....eep. it's been too hot to knit on anything else- although I finished my Jayne Hat (for me, this time!) and wore it a few days ago, to the confusion of the small children and the amusement of my fellow counselors- so the giant shawl of doom is still in its baggie.
I'm living with three other counselors who are working all summer, which means we get to live in a cabin to ourselves and get to be 'aunts' to a different cabin. I'm an 'aunt' to the credit girls, which is pretty entertaining. today we're going to have a Stavanger Hunt (if you mispronounce Stavanger, which is a city in southern norway as well as the name of our cabin, you get something that sounds like scavanger) ending up back at the cabin for a brief film. Then us 'aunties' are going to have our own cabin evening together. muahaha. popcorn and apples to apples.
It's my free day today, so I got to sleep in late and have no responsibilities whatsoever- except for making sure my responsibilities are covered by other people. so far so good, although the post office has hidden itself from me so Kim will have to deal with not having actual 90 cent stamps.
I miss the boy.
I hope my dad is remembering to feed the fish. he's got 14 day feeders, so there's not much that can go wrong.
My computer has a cold. That, or it seriously hates me and is possessed by anti-me spirits. it decides to freeze and die, and then it won't turn on repeatedly until it decides to turn on and load windows fully. I'm starting to consider considering (how's that for decisiveness?) looking for a new laptop. something tiny. and functional. and tiny. Adam's little flippy tablet thing, for example, although that's definitely more money than I'd want to spend...
mom's random text message is still bothering me. it involves my birthday present and an injunction to not purchase anything major online...what does it mean?! bah.
I have a 5 dollar coupon to borders/waldenbooks and I can't use it because it expires on the 30th and the closest thing I've got is a b. Dalton, which is barnes and noble- although I do have a gift card to them, which is happy. if I can find it.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
mmmmm.....
felt somewhat like a machine, finishing so many projects- Dr Who, my Saami shawl, a Jayne hat of my very own (okay, okay, so I need one more tassellet- it's done), a little cell phone carrier in the shape of a jayne hat, and the recycled silk sweater.
oh, the recycled silk sweater, which shall henceforth be known as...the Turtle Net Sweater.
why? you might ask...well, here's how it is:
Turtle Net: 100 meters of 3in square mesh gillnet. hellishly difficult to repair. unending.
Recycled Silk Sweater: many meters of yarn turned into a sweater of triangular mesh. hellishly difficult to repair/seam/rip/etc. seemingly unending.
plus, one half magically has a different colorbase than the sleeves and the other half. one is clearly warm-predominant, while everything else is cool-predominant. sigh.
therefore, recycled silk sweater = Turtle Net Sweater. evil. shudder.
but oh well. two more days with the boy and then it's off to camp. eyep. the madness shall ensue again.
and check this out!
Telemark PrOn!
man, I want to be skiing right now.
oh, the recycled silk sweater, which shall henceforth be known as...the Turtle Net Sweater.
why? you might ask...well, here's how it is:
Turtle Net: 100 meters of 3in square mesh gillnet. hellishly difficult to repair. unending.
Recycled Silk Sweater: many meters of yarn turned into a sweater of triangular mesh. hellishly difficult to repair/seam/rip/etc. seemingly unending.
plus, one half magically has a different colorbase than the sleeves and the other half. one is clearly warm-predominant, while everything else is cool-predominant. sigh.
therefore, recycled silk sweater = Turtle Net Sweater. evil. shudder.
but oh well. two more days with the boy and then it's off to camp. eyep. the madness shall ensue again.
and check this out!
Telemark PrOn!
man, I want to be skiing right now.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
ook. or perhaps that should be eek.
today I discovered something that is both highly entertaining and somewhat...disturbing.
you, yes, you yourself can now own your own personal Librarian. That's librarian in the Terry Pratchett sense- your own soft, cuddly little mechanical/electronic orangutang to feed bananas to.
finished the David Weber/John Ringo series consisting of March Upcountry, March to the Sea, March to the Stars, and We Few. quite entertaining, and now I have to reread them all because as I'm reading along in We Few I come across this phrase: "...Dark 'Lord' of the Sixth" in reference to an admiral of the Sixth Fleet. I chuckled to myself and went, "ok, kind of cheesy, but no way would I have been able to resist, were I writing this book. "
then someone on the other side of the fight curses "Dark Helmut" (the aformentioned dark lord of the sixth, who gets dubbed that at least 3 times that I remember).
and a tac team quotes the wizard of oz (I'm melting, I'm melting! and follow the yellow brick road).
and there's an alien flying a fighter designated Red Six.
and someone says "I'm from the IBI. I'm here to help you," which immediately dropped Mark Hamill's face into my brain saying "I'm luke skywalker, I'm here to rescue you!" (even though that's a mite thin).
and someone has a quote from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, ('fell deeds await! now for wrath, now for ruin, and a red dawn!') referenced as coming from 'an ancient human history.
and then, not 50 pages from the end of the book...a defense captain for the good guys sings these words: "fifteen thousand tears I've cried. . .Screaming deceiving and bleeding for you.." and I about died. Evanescence in spaaaace! I love it.
I loved all of it. I had a brief thought that maybe it was too much, but no- no way. it didn't distract from the world, or from the experience created by the authors. and who is to say that, 1500 years in the future when the navy is a space navy and we've met aliens and colonized other worlds that people still aren't reading Tolkein, or consider him to be history, or listening to evanescence or watching star wars? okay, maybe not. still. it was enough to make me want to be all fan-girly and write an email to the authors (David Weber and John Ringo, if you've forgotten, and you should go buy their books) and say "soo...how much fun did you have writing this book?" and "how do I get to even the first step up to where you are now?"
I could dream. someday I hope that someone will read something of mine and laugh just as hard, escape just as easily into a different place. and not sue the pants off of me, which would be nice.
and sound the trumpets, the choirs of angels, the rock'n'roll bands of the devils, the scraggly euphonium ranks bullying those silly french horns out of the way-
I not only finished Dr Who and gave it to Lars and gave y'all a picture as proof...
I finished the Saami shawl! wheehooo! yaaaaaaay.
and I finished a sleeve and a seam on my weird recycled sari sweater thing. I am never, ever, ever knitting something requiring seaming in recycled sari yarn. ew. slubby shreddy evil deathness.
you, yes, you yourself can now own your own personal Librarian. That's librarian in the Terry Pratchett sense- your own soft, cuddly little mechanical/electronic orangutang to feed bananas to.
finished the David Weber/John Ringo series consisting of March Upcountry, March to the Sea, March to the Stars, and We Few. quite entertaining, and now I have to reread them all because as I'm reading along in We Few I come across this phrase: "...Dark 'Lord' of the Sixth" in reference to an admiral of the Sixth Fleet. I chuckled to myself and went, "ok, kind of cheesy, but no way would I have been able to resist, were I writing this book. "
then someone on the other side of the fight curses "Dark Helmut" (the aformentioned dark lord of the sixth, who gets dubbed that at least 3 times that I remember).
and a tac team quotes the wizard of oz (I'm melting, I'm melting! and follow the yellow brick road).
and there's an alien flying a fighter designated Red Six.
and someone says "I'm from the IBI. I'm here to help you," which immediately dropped Mark Hamill's face into my brain saying "I'm luke skywalker, I'm here to rescue you!" (even though that's a mite thin).
and someone has a quote from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, ('fell deeds await! now for wrath, now for ruin, and a red dawn!') referenced as coming from 'an ancient human history.
and then, not 50 pages from the end of the book...a defense captain for the good guys sings these words: "fifteen thousand tears I've cried. . .Screaming deceiving and bleeding for you.." and I about died. Evanescence in spaaaace! I love it.
I loved all of it. I had a brief thought that maybe it was too much, but no- no way. it didn't distract from the world, or from the experience created by the authors. and who is to say that, 1500 years in the future when the navy is a space navy and we've met aliens and colonized other worlds that people still aren't reading Tolkein, or consider him to be history, or listening to evanescence or watching star wars? okay, maybe not. still. it was enough to make me want to be all fan-girly and write an email to the authors (David Weber and John Ringo, if you've forgotten, and you should go buy their books) and say "soo...how much fun did you have writing this book?" and "how do I get to even the first step up to where you are now?"
I could dream. someday I hope that someone will read something of mine and laugh just as hard, escape just as easily into a different place. and not sue the pants off of me, which would be nice.
and sound the trumpets, the choirs of angels, the rock'n'roll bands of the devils, the scraggly euphonium ranks bullying those silly french horns out of the way-
I not only finished Dr Who and gave it to Lars and gave y'all a picture as proof...
I finished the Saami shawl! wheehooo! yaaaaaaay.
and I finished a sleeve and a seam on my weird recycled sari sweater thing. I am never, ever, ever knitting something requiring seaming in recycled sari yarn. ew. slubby shreddy evil deathness.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
wowzers.
amazing what you find when you're trapped at home with the air conditioning man. apparently there's a big (well, comparatively) scandal involved with the creator of this site, which I didn't (still don't) know much about except in relation to references in other webcomics, and an artist connected with david and goliath, creators of the somewhat cute, somewhat...okay...mostly stupid kitschy tshirts/keychains etc found in places like target, spencer's, that sort of thing.
I was getting somewhat frustrated because there were lots of sites saying the equivalent of "boo todd yay pp" and no representation of todd's/david and goliath's side- which is still true, but the evidence of this website is sort of scary. granted, several of the examples are a stretch and could be considered parody or coincidence (or at least, if I were the creator of the original I'd shrug and move on), but the majority are...a little scary.
aah, the wonderful world of plagiarism.
although the forum of one of the sites made my day just by this phrase: "I knew it. I knew if you put Thomas Kincaid and Hot Topic too close together, there'd be cross-pollenation." said by Relatively Bear.
but HEY! check it out!
drumroll, please...you call that a drumroll? seriously? sigh...
I was getting somewhat frustrated because there were lots of sites saying the equivalent of "boo todd yay pp" and no representation of todd's/david and goliath's side- which is still true, but the evidence of this website is sort of scary. granted, several of the examples are a stretch and could be considered parody or coincidence (or at least, if I were the creator of the original I'd shrug and move on), but the majority are...a little scary.
aah, the wonderful world of plagiarism.
although the forum of one of the sites made my day just by this phrase: "I knew it. I knew if you put Thomas Kincaid and Hot Topic too close together, there'd be cross-pollenation." said by Relatively Bear.
but HEY! check it out!
drumroll, please...you call that a drumroll? seriously? sigh...
yes! Dr Who is done! done done done, done, fin, finished, ferdig, never ever ever again. no. you can see mine and the second one I did for lars- he's got it doubled around his neck so it doesn't show the full length. the stewardesses on the plane to minneapolis were giving me very strange looks. one lady walking back from the bathroom stopped and commented thusly-
lady: oh, what lovely colors! are you making a sweater? that's gorgeous!
me: thanks. no, it's not a sweater, it's a-
lady: oo, an afghan?
me: no, it's a scarf- if you're familiar with the Dr Who TV show, that's where it's from.
lady: (blank look)
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
well, drat. and caution- rant ahead.
a bit of happiness before the rantiness. apparently, there's such a thing as the World Association of Copepodologists. I love it. love love love it. I want to belong to the WAC. I mean...c'mon. it's copepods. hooray for copepods!
plus, there's the amazingly sexy Coastal and Oceanic Plankton Ecology, Production & Observation Database, which just so happens to spell copepod.
I know. I just used the words 'sexy' 'database' and 'plankton' in the same sentence. I don't care.
on with the rant! I shan't be offended if you cease reading- I've illuminated the darkness of your non-copepod knowing soul. I'm content.
my nice happy non-ecoterrorist Sierra Club shares a close connection or two with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. and it's impossible to tell what's coincidence, what's vitriol and what's on second. (I don't know/third base!)
Drat. the sscs makes my skin crawl almost as much as the earth liberation front. sigh.
I have reaffirmed my -I can't really call it hatred, but it's pretty much as close as I get to true hatred- towards PETA. I can understand and empathize with the desire to not test cosmetics on animals, to better conditions for feedstock like chickens and cows and turkeys, etc. free range good, antibiotics and growth hormones bad. check. no argument here. but condoning violence, giving money to anyone even remotely connected to terrorists like the earth liberation front- no. the whole point to freedom of speech is that violence isn't necessary to be heard. ugh. blarg blarg blarg. stupid.
and wounded! I have been sorely, deeply, painfully wounded by the knowledge that The Man- Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver)- is on the board of directors of the sea shepherd conservation society.
that's like finding out obi-wan kenobi was emperor palpatine's bowling buddy.
MacGuyver on the dark side. whaat? and Pierce Brosnan. it makes you want to go...ok, yeah, great, support the environment! stop non-indigenous sealing! awesome! but don't, oh god don't support ecoterrorism. they sink ships. they say it's legal, but it's legal in the way that only really slimy smarmy lawyers can find. it's vigilantism at its worst. or finest. it's a greenpeace spinoff.
and greenpeace runs ships into reefs. oh sorry- they had bad charts given to them.
and they blow up ships. no wait, that was France's fault. and it was, actually, but you gotta wonder why greenpeace needed the ship in the first place.
there is no impartiality. you go to a greenpeace website, a peta website, a sea shepherd website, and it all looks great. sometimes sort of intense, but hey, intense can be good. although the phrase
"We accomplish these goals through public education, investigation, documentation and, where appropriate and where legal authority exists under international law or under agreement with national governments, enforcement of violations of the international treaties, laws and conventions designed to protect the oceans." (from the Sea Shepherd website)
should make you kind of go ...hm... if you're reading carefully.
and then you go to something like activistcash or the center for consumer freedom websites and get bombarded by "look! evil! they LIE! see this and this and this and this" (I'm paraphrasing. actually no, I'm hyperbole-ing, but you understand. or maybe you don't.)
and then you go look up who exactly is running those websites and get sent to websites saying "Look! EVIL! funding from phillip morris/exxon/enron/cato institute/heartland institute etc etc etc bad bad bad don't listen!"
(and if you really want your head to hurt, look up who's running/funding the websites of the websites of the websites.)
it's a depressing cycle. are they (peta/sscs/greenpeace, etc) as bad as they (activistcash, etc) make them out to be? probably not quite so evil.
are they (activist cash, etc) as bad as (peta/sscs/greenpeace etc) say they are? probably not quite so evil. everybody's got fingers in everybody's pies.
but it does beg the question: if government/big industry/etc hates all environmental advocacy groups and tries to discredit them with lies, terrible lies...then why does a google search for the ocean conservancy yield nothing like the vitriol connected to peta/sscs/greenpeace etc? or the worldwide wildlife fund? the nature conservancy? earthwatch?
maybe they're just not important enough.
I don't really care that neither side is telling the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I subscribe to the parenting philosophy of "if you're both fighting, you're both not right." or to the Simon Burris philosophy of "no, you're wrong. but take heart- there's always someone wrong-er."
still. in this age of going green, buying green, offsetting your carbon footprint through action or donation, etc...
where's your money going, ultimately? do you know?
plus, there's the amazingly sexy Coastal and Oceanic Plankton Ecology, Production & Observation Database, which just so happens to spell copepod.
I know. I just used the words 'sexy' 'database' and 'plankton' in the same sentence. I don't care.
on with the rant! I shan't be offended if you cease reading- I've illuminated the darkness of your non-copepod knowing soul. I'm content.
my nice happy non-ecoterrorist Sierra Club shares a close connection or two with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. and it's impossible to tell what's coincidence, what's vitriol and what's on second. (I don't know/third base!)
Drat. the sscs makes my skin crawl almost as much as the earth liberation front. sigh.
I have reaffirmed my -I can't really call it hatred, but it's pretty much as close as I get to true hatred- towards PETA. I can understand and empathize with the desire to not test cosmetics on animals, to better conditions for feedstock like chickens and cows and turkeys, etc. free range good, antibiotics and growth hormones bad. check. no argument here. but condoning violence, giving money to anyone even remotely connected to terrorists like the earth liberation front- no. the whole point to freedom of speech is that violence isn't necessary to be heard. ugh. blarg blarg blarg. stupid.
and wounded! I have been sorely, deeply, painfully wounded by the knowledge that The Man- Richard Dean Anderson (MacGyver)- is on the board of directors of the sea shepherd conservation society.
that's like finding out obi-wan kenobi was emperor palpatine's bowling buddy.
MacGuyver on the dark side. whaat? and Pierce Brosnan. it makes you want to go...ok, yeah, great, support the environment! stop non-indigenous sealing! awesome! but don't, oh god don't support ecoterrorism. they sink ships. they say it's legal, but it's legal in the way that only really slimy smarmy lawyers can find. it's vigilantism at its worst. or finest. it's a greenpeace spinoff.
and greenpeace runs ships into reefs. oh sorry- they had bad charts given to them.
and they blow up ships. no wait, that was France's fault. and it was, actually, but you gotta wonder why greenpeace needed the ship in the first place.
there is no impartiality. you go to a greenpeace website, a peta website, a sea shepherd website, and it all looks great. sometimes sort of intense, but hey, intense can be good. although the phrase
"We accomplish these goals through public education, investigation, documentation and, where appropriate and where legal authority exists under international law or under agreement with national governments, enforcement of violations of the international treaties, laws and conventions designed to protect the oceans." (from the Sea Shepherd website)
should make you kind of go ...hm... if you're reading carefully.
and then you go to something like activistcash or the center for consumer freedom websites and get bombarded by "look! evil! they LIE! see this and this and this and this" (I'm paraphrasing. actually no, I'm hyperbole-ing, but you understand. or maybe you don't.)
and then you go look up who exactly is running those websites and get sent to websites saying "Look! EVIL! funding from phillip morris/exxon/enron/cato institute/heartland institute etc etc etc bad bad bad don't listen!"
(and if you really want your head to hurt, look up who's running/funding the websites of the websites of the websites.)
it's a depressing cycle. are they (peta/sscs/greenpeace, etc) as bad as they (activistcash, etc) make them out to be? probably not quite so evil.
are they (activist cash, etc) as bad as (peta/sscs/greenpeace etc) say they are? probably not quite so evil. everybody's got fingers in everybody's pies.
but it does beg the question: if government/big industry/etc hates all environmental advocacy groups and tries to discredit them with lies, terrible lies...then why does a google search for the ocean conservancy yield nothing like the vitriol connected to peta/sscs/greenpeace etc? or the worldwide wildlife fund? the nature conservancy? earthwatch?
maybe they're just not important enough.
I don't really care that neither side is telling the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. I subscribe to the parenting philosophy of "if you're both fighting, you're both not right." or to the Simon Burris philosophy of "no, you're wrong. but take heart- there's always someone wrong-er."
still. in this age of going green, buying green, offsetting your carbon footprint through action or donation, etc...
where's your money going, ultimately? do you know?
Sunday, April 08, 2007
advice?
so I set up my fishtank. once it's done building up a biofilter, then I want to get a fishy, because I miss Ovid.
but I'll be leaving all summer for the skog and, quite possibly, moving to the sanfran area sometime after that.
grarg.
someone give me a major kick in the pants so I finish Lars's Dr Who.
and then someone agree to kidnap and beat some sense into me if I ever think of making another Dr Who.
must rip out crown of beret, too.
and finish shawl the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
and finish the samesjal.
and the rest of the projects in the happy stashbox.
good lord.
but I'll be leaving all summer for the skog and, quite possibly, moving to the sanfran area sometime after that.
grarg.
someone give me a major kick in the pants so I finish Lars's Dr Who.
and then someone agree to kidnap and beat some sense into me if I ever think of making another Dr Who.
must rip out crown of beret, too.
and finish shawl the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
and finish the samesjal.
and the rest of the projects in the happy stashbox.
good lord.
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.
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.
"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.
 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" 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.
Monday, February 12, 2007
brain melty.
done with CV!
mostly done with cover letter. need to read through it. writing a "here, this is why you should hire me and this is what you've got what I want and what I got you want" letter is harder than it sounds. ugh.
I love the letterhead on Aaron's reference. it's in arabic. so is all the contact information at the bottom.
in celebration of being done:
mostly done with cover letter. need to read through it. writing a "here, this is why you should hire me and this is what you've got what I want and what I got you want" letter is harder than it sounds. ugh.
I love the letterhead on Aaron's reference. it's in arabic. so is all the contact information at the bottom.
in celebration of being done:
Lead Stick Well done. You've managed to get 85! |
You totally rock! Either you completely cheated, or you know your stuff! Congratulations! Feel free to talk to me about percussion, as it is of interest to me. By the way, may I have your autograph? |
 |
| Link: The Percussion Knowledge Test written by mistressdenna |
Official Wench! Congratulations! You scored 77%! | |||||||||
pirates official wench! there be no low life 1 piece of ait wenches fer me when ye be about! | |||||||||
|
Saturday, February 10, 2007
woohoo!
yes! pleading to the gods of cyberspace equals result! (that's result in the sort of sketchy Jeff voice, because it's more fun that way.) thank you thank you thank you Aaron.
I now have three letters of reference coming although I still haven't heard from Jan (plead, beg, help out a fellow skandihuvian, o gods of cyberspace and gmail) -hah, and that just reminded me of the Oh God of Hangovers, the Forgetfulness Fairy, the Verruca Gnome...ah, Terry Pratchett.
anyway. now I'm too wound up to sleep. I may actually have a chance at my internship. But I need to sleep so I can get solid work done tomorrow and so I can ravage my pathetic pretense at a CV and a cover letter and make them shiny and glittery and inspiring of 'oh-my-god-we-must-hire-this-one' statements thanks to my aunt Helen's magic.
possible skiing sunday. weehee! still jealous of Debbie, who left the boat and promptly began a backcountry tele haul in the Wasatch. gr.
I'm out of Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak books. gasp. whine. snif. on the plus side, after about a week I probably won't be going 'mustmovetoalaska....mustmovetoalaska...mustgetbiiiigpuppy...mustmovetoalaska' like I have been this week. my freshman year roommates are probably right, I caught a terminal case of arcticitis when I lived in norway.
I found the most awesome valentine's day present ever but it's too expensive to justify me sending it to myself. and I could send it to matt but then I'd just steal it, which would be rude. I can't help being a total sucker for cute teddy bears.
and socks. I have new socks, knit for me by mum. mmmwarm. we have to leave the window in the room where the computer is open a crack -that was some horrible sentence structure, it's time for bed- because if it's not the smoke alarm goes off (of course, it goes off every time you look at the stove, but hey, it's not like you're supposed to cook in a kitchen or anything.) so as a result it's really cold if you're bumming around the internet trying to burn off a glee-rush.
and that leaves me wondering what a ghee-rush would look like, and with that, I'm forcibly removing myself from the keyboard. night.
I now have three letters of reference coming although I still haven't heard from Jan (plead, beg, help out a fellow skandihuvian, o gods of cyberspace and gmail) -hah, and that just reminded me of the Oh God of Hangovers, the Forgetfulness Fairy, the Verruca Gnome...ah, Terry Pratchett.
anyway. now I'm too wound up to sleep. I may actually have a chance at my internship. But I need to sleep so I can get solid work done tomorrow and so I can ravage my pathetic pretense at a CV and a cover letter and make them shiny and glittery and inspiring of 'oh-my-god-we-must-hire-this-one' statements thanks to my aunt Helen's magic.
possible skiing sunday. weehee! still jealous of Debbie, who left the boat and promptly began a backcountry tele haul in the Wasatch. gr.
I'm out of Dana Stabenow's Kate Shugak books. gasp. whine. snif. on the plus side, after about a week I probably won't be going 'mustmovetoalaska....mustmovetoalaska...mustgetbiiiigpuppy...mustmovetoalaska' like I have been this week. my freshman year roommates are probably right, I caught a terminal case of arcticitis when I lived in norway.
I found the most awesome valentine's day present ever but it's too expensive to justify me sending it to myself. and I could send it to matt but then I'd just steal it, which would be rude. I can't help being a total sucker for cute teddy bears.
and socks. I have new socks, knit for me by mum. mmmwarm. we have to leave the window in the room where the computer is open a crack -that was some horrible sentence structure, it's time for bed- because if it's not the smoke alarm goes off (of course, it goes off every time you look at the stove, but hey, it's not like you're supposed to cook in a kitchen or anything.) so as a result it's really cold if you're bumming around the internet trying to burn off a glee-rush.
and that leaves me wondering what a ghee-rush would look like, and with that, I'm forcibly removing myself from the keyboard. night.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Hey! The bathroom looks useable again!
no more piles of first aid kit/ jewelery/ contacts/ shells/ CDs/ pins/ carabiners/ etc threatening to overwhelm the counter and fall into the sink when I'm trying to use it.
LIFEWISE-
...let's agree to not mention the state of my room. my closet -almost- looks habitable. for once my room resembles the horrorscapes that shows like 'clean sweep' adore.
finishing up my CV and cover letter. still waiting on a response from Aaron and Jan. (aaron! jan! this is your devoted sharkbait/labbie pleading!) I suppose I could terrify both Aaron and Homeland Security by calling his office (which is in Muscat, Oman) but that would involve calculating time change, a rather awkward conversation (hey, long time no see...uh...yeah, I need another reference...) AND the use of my cell phone, because we don't have long distance on the house phone. and I don't want to think about how much that bill would be. plus The Boy would like me to avoid piqueing the interest of the alphabet agencies since he's thinking of heading that direction and would like to be able to pass the security clearance tests, which is pretty entertaining when you think about it.
Knitwise:
Lars. oh, Lars. I know that I've been teasing you with the Dr Who scarf for too long, and I am ashamed. but barring any unforeseen-but-maybe-convenient-circumstances you should be able to dodge Daleks with the best of them this summer.
(what?! almost finished?!)
Mum and I are officially on yarn diets. I'm going to try to knit only from my stash this year. first I need to get my room to the point where I can get AT the stash. I can see it, but I can't use it. it taunts me. she's knitting me another pair of socks (yay!) and she's going to start eventually on the world's most terrifying project EVER- socks for my grandma, who not only knit, but she KNIT. (sadly past tense. stupid joints.)
I need to go through the Dominic Deegan archives and figure out a better pattern for
Taylor's wristlets.
RECENT HISTORYWISE-
I can't get my mom's Mac to accept my flashdrive and pictures from my non-Mac, so no visuals of the trip. If you want to see the ship, she's the Robert C. Seamans (showing here). I will, eventually, get pictures up. sigh.
the semester began with 6 weeks of on shore classes in Woods Hole MA; I took Oceanography, Nautical Science (how to navigate/run the ship/physics behind how sails work etc), and an Ocean Science and Public Policy class. The end result of the Oceanography class was that we wrote a formal research project proposal of what we planned on studying and sampling once we got to the boat. We had several guest speakers, including Francisco Chavez, who our group dubbed the 'rock star of el niño' and who works with the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
We lived in student housing, 10 people per house, and we were in charge of feeding ourselves. I lucked out with the house of all girls, so we had a very entertaining time of it, especially when we hosted thanksgiving dinner with our professors and anyone else who would fit in our living room. our dinner conversation reminded me strongly of when you invited our anatomy class over for dinner and charades. What happens when you get a houseful of science gerls (our contraction of nerd and girls) together? copepod rice krispie treats and dinoflagellate cookies, which were our contributions to the school all hands lunch. our class thought it was hilarious, the crew and staff were slightly disturbed, and the other class (more humanities based) thought we were terrifying.
On the boat, we became crew members and were assigned to one of three 7-person watches that rotated between two 7 hour shifts (in daylight) and three 4 hour shifts (night). we also rotated through the engineering department, learning how the boat worked and how to fix things and code restrictions and such, and the galley, serving either as dishwasher, assistant steward, or steward. When our watch was on shift, we were further divided into two groups, one of which was on deck steering/setting sails/checking the radar and the boat, and the other of which was on the science deck. Twice a day the science department organized deployments of a hydrocast, which samples water at preprogrammed depths for on-ship analysis, a CTD (conductivity temperature density) probe, a fluorometer, and a CDOM (carbon and dissolved organic matter) probe, and a variety of nets that sampled either at the surface or at a depth we chose based on what we were trying to catch. We'd haul it all back on board and test for oxygen concentration levels, nutrient (nitrate/nitrite, phosphate) levels, zooplankton biomass and lots of other interesting procedures that become quite interesting when you're doing them in 9 foot seas, or at three in the morning.
My individual project was on parasitic amphipods on gelatinous zooplankton. I sampled and keyed out organisms (mainly salps, which are basically a gelatinous tube with a stomach, reproductive organs, and muscles) and then determined if they had any parasitic amphipods attached. if they did, I keyed them out and then looked at my data set to see if there were any interesting patterns of statistically different population groups. (there weren't.) The coolest parasites are the phronimids because they hollow out a salp or doliolid into a barrel and then lurk inside them to feed and raise their broods. They're supposedly the inspiration for the appearance of the queen alien in the Alien movie series.
They rock. in fact, this is how much they rock-
see? Baker's all "wait...hold the camera...I gotta process the awesomeness that is Phronima..."
LIFEWISE-
...let's agree to not mention the state of my room. my closet -almost- looks habitable. for once my room resembles the horrorscapes that shows like 'clean sweep' adore.
finishing up my CV and cover letter. still waiting on a response from Aaron and Jan. (aaron! jan! this is your devoted sharkbait/labbie pleading!) I suppose I could terrify both Aaron and Homeland Security by calling his office (which is in Muscat, Oman) but that would involve calculating time change, a rather awkward conversation (hey, long time no see...uh...yeah, I need another reference...) AND the use of my cell phone, because we don't have long distance on the house phone. and I don't want to think about how much that bill would be. plus The Boy would like me to avoid piqueing the interest of the alphabet agencies since he's thinking of heading that direction and would like to be able to pass the security clearance tests, which is pretty entertaining when you think about it.
Knitwise:
Lars. oh, Lars. I know that I've been teasing you with the Dr Who scarf for too long, and I am ashamed. but barring any unforeseen-but-maybe-convenient-circumstances you should be able to dodge Daleks with the best of them this summer.
(what?! almost finished?!)
Mum and I are officially on yarn diets. I'm going to try to knit only from my stash this year. first I need to get my room to the point where I can get AT the stash. I can see it, but I can't use it. it taunts me. she's knitting me another pair of socks (yay!) and she's going to start eventually on the world's most terrifying project EVER- socks for my grandma, who not only knit, but she KNIT. (sadly past tense. stupid joints.)
I need to go through the Dominic Deegan archives and figure out a better pattern for
Taylor's wristlets.
RECENT HISTORYWISE-
I can't get my mom's Mac to accept my flashdrive and pictures from my non-Mac, so no visuals of the trip. If you want to see the ship, she's the Robert C. Seamans (showing here). I will, eventually, get pictures up. sigh.
the semester began with 6 weeks of on shore classes in Woods Hole MA; I took Oceanography, Nautical Science (how to navigate/run the ship/physics behind how sails work etc), and an Ocean Science and Public Policy class. The end result of the Oceanography class was that we wrote a formal research project proposal of what we planned on studying and sampling once we got to the boat. We had several guest speakers, including Francisco Chavez, who our group dubbed the 'rock star of el niño' and who works with the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
We lived in student housing, 10 people per house, and we were in charge of feeding ourselves. I lucked out with the house of all girls, so we had a very entertaining time of it, especially when we hosted thanksgiving dinner with our professors and anyone else who would fit in our living room. our dinner conversation reminded me strongly of when you invited our anatomy class over for dinner and charades. What happens when you get a houseful of science gerls (our contraction of nerd and girls) together? copepod rice krispie treats and dinoflagellate cookies, which were our contributions to the school all hands lunch. our class thought it was hilarious, the crew and staff were slightly disturbed, and the other class (more humanities based) thought we were terrifying.
On the boat, we became crew members and were assigned to one of three 7-person watches that rotated between two 7 hour shifts (in daylight) and three 4 hour shifts (night). we also rotated through the engineering department, learning how the boat worked and how to fix things and code restrictions and such, and the galley, serving either as dishwasher, assistant steward, or steward. When our watch was on shift, we were further divided into two groups, one of which was on deck steering/setting sails/checking the radar and the boat, and the other of which was on the science deck. Twice a day the science department organized deployments of a hydrocast, which samples water at preprogrammed depths for on-ship analysis, a CTD (conductivity temperature density) probe, a fluorometer, and a CDOM (carbon and dissolved organic matter) probe, and a variety of nets that sampled either at the surface or at a depth we chose based on what we were trying to catch. We'd haul it all back on board and test for oxygen concentration levels, nutrient (nitrate/nitrite, phosphate) levels, zooplankton biomass and lots of other interesting procedures that become quite interesting when you're doing them in 9 foot seas, or at three in the morning.
My individual project was on parasitic amphipods on gelatinous zooplankton. I sampled and keyed out organisms (mainly salps, which are basically a gelatinous tube with a stomach, reproductive organs, and muscles) and then determined if they had any parasitic amphipods attached. if they did, I keyed them out and then looked at my data set to see if there were any interesting patterns of statistically different population groups. (there weren't.) The coolest parasites are the phronimids because they hollow out a salp or doliolid into a barrel and then lurk inside them to feed and raise their broods. They're supposedly the inspiration for the appearance of the queen alien in the Alien movie series.
They rock. in fact, this is how much they rock-
see? Baker's all "wait...hold the camera...I gotta process the awesomeness that is Phronima..."
Saturday, January 20, 2007
I'm avoiding the boxes, I admit.
surfing the internet should be banned. how's a girl supposed to get anything done when there's things like this that give me such entertainment? for example- you may now address me as "Empress Marit Freya the Weird of Frome Valley" or "Lady Marit Freya the Sanguine of Oxbridge by Camford," but I would prefer the following:
mainly because it made me laugh the hardest. my alter ego is "Empress Dagmar the Antediluvian of Ofsted in the Bucket." now how do you say that på norsk? ...kanskje ikke. ha'kke peiling om hvordan det ville oversette.
okei. back to work, I understand. tomorrow- What I Knit This Semester, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the red yarn. er, sort of. not really.
 | I have just been dubbed: Viscountess Marit Freya the Euphonious of Mellow under Trollness Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title |
mainly because it made me laugh the hardest. my alter ego is "Empress Dagmar the Antediluvian of Ofsted in the Bucket." now how do you say that på norsk? ...kanskje ikke. ha'kke peiling om hvordan det ville oversette.
okei. back to work, I understand. tomorrow- What I Knit This Semester, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the red yarn. er, sort of. not really.
Monday, January 15, 2007
the return
sooo...je survivrai!
after six weeks of sailing from puerto vallarta mexico to papeete tahiti and then a week of working on the boat I have returned to the frozen land of the north, which I expect is really only frozen because the weathergnomes have taken pity on me because I've been deprived of snow for the past two fall-winter seasons.
how else do you explain Tacoma's current state? although it is entertaining to snigger at the weather when it comes on and people complain of bitter cold and they're talking about 15 degrees fahrenheit weather. granted, I'm cold, but I have an excuse.
almost almost almost got a tattoo in tahiti. would have, but the artist was busy. and james would probably have to kill me for getting ink without him.
lots of fun sailing. lots of partly digested food lost to Neptune in the first few days. for some reason my watch was the one that had the most hard-hit seasick people, although it gave us a chance to impress the scientists when we would tagteam learn how to do the procedures. (rachael would be ready to come back from the rail about when I couldn't stand being in lab any more, and vice versa). lots of very entertaining night orders from the chief scientist.
I have become an authentic real live shellback. take that! I have been punished for my crimes against neptune (bleeding into his ocean without permission -I still maintain my innocence. I didn't ask for the winch handle to bite me) and emerged triumphant. and with all my hair, because I'm not stubborn at all. no, you don't get to know the sordid details. cross your own damn equator.
I can pour noxious chemicals behind my back and staggeringly drunk (not that I would) because nothing can be worse than pouring chemicals for nitrate analysis in the middle of a squall with 9foot seas.
I can use lots of nautical, salty-sounding words and know what they mean. (as a side note, katy, dithy- I HAVE A PLOT!)
I can survive (albiet with difficulty and occasional moments of great confusion to my shipmates) 6 weeks without contact from my fiancé. if I don't see him soon though I'm gonna go crazy.
I have lots and lots of pictures, all of which are still on the boat because the computers hate me and refused to burn the cds. sigh. as I develop the pictures off of my real camera I'll slowly start to open the floodgates.
I can knit on a heeling ship and have successfully trained my shipmates to take flying leaps for yarn as it tries to roll overboard.
I'm jealous of Haley, because I want a puppy to play with, and her family just got another seeing eye puppy to train. sigh.
I've descended into utter randomness and incoherency. time to go back to sleep. mmmmsleep.
after six weeks of sailing from puerto vallarta mexico to papeete tahiti and then a week of working on the boat I have returned to the frozen land of the north, which I expect is really only frozen because the weathergnomes have taken pity on me because I've been deprived of snow for the past two fall-winter seasons.
how else do you explain Tacoma's current state? although it is entertaining to snigger at the weather when it comes on and people complain of bitter cold and they're talking about 15 degrees fahrenheit weather. granted, I'm cold, but I have an excuse.
almost almost almost got a tattoo in tahiti. would have, but the artist was busy. and james would probably have to kill me for getting ink without him.
lots of fun sailing. lots of partly digested food lost to Neptune in the first few days. for some reason my watch was the one that had the most hard-hit seasick people, although it gave us a chance to impress the scientists when we would tagteam learn how to do the procedures. (rachael would be ready to come back from the rail about when I couldn't stand being in lab any more, and vice versa). lots of very entertaining night orders from the chief scientist.
I have become an authentic real live shellback. take that! I have been punished for my crimes against neptune (bleeding into his ocean without permission -I still maintain my innocence. I didn't ask for the winch handle to bite me) and emerged triumphant. and with all my hair, because I'm not stubborn at all. no, you don't get to know the sordid details. cross your own damn equator.
I can pour noxious chemicals behind my back and staggeringly drunk (not that I would) because nothing can be worse than pouring chemicals for nitrate analysis in the middle of a squall with 9foot seas.
I can use lots of nautical, salty-sounding words and know what they mean. (as a side note, katy, dithy- I HAVE A PLOT!)
I can survive (albiet with difficulty and occasional moments of great confusion to my shipmates) 6 weeks without contact from my fiancé. if I don't see him soon though I'm gonna go crazy.
I have lots and lots of pictures, all of which are still on the boat because the computers hate me and refused to burn the cds. sigh. as I develop the pictures off of my real camera I'll slowly start to open the floodgates.
I can knit on a heeling ship and have successfully trained my shipmates to take flying leaps for yarn as it tries to roll overboard.
I'm jealous of Haley, because I want a puppy to play with, and her family just got another seeing eye puppy to train. sigh.
I've descended into utter randomness and incoherency. time to go back to sleep. mmmmsleep.
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