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.
Friday, March 16, 2007
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.
Friday, November 17, 2006
booooooom
So now it's off to minneapolis for a week and then mexico on the 25th.
on the 26th I join the crew of the Robert C. Seamans and sail to Tahiti.
be back in mid january.
have fun knitting
as nyline says-
stay out of work. stay out of trouble. stay out of jail.
on the 26th I join the crew of the Robert C. Seamans and sail to Tahiti.
be back in mid january.
have fun knitting
as nyline says-
stay out of work. stay out of trouble. stay out of jail.
Thursday, November 16, 2006
t minus...oh god.
it is 2054. in 13 hours I will be turning in my final draft of my research proposal and shortly after that I'll be on a bus to boston and after that on a plane to minneapolis and after that (on the 25th) I will be on a plane to puerto vallarta in preparation for sailing to tahiti.
eeeeep.
looking forward to bumming around boston for awhile with siv before I have to fly out.
had an amusing interlude today in nautical science:
our captain said "yeah, so not so long before we sail out on next sunday, huh?"
us: "...saturday...?"
captain: "...nnnope, sunday."
class: "uh...saturday the 25th is when we were told to be on the dock..."
captain: "...huh. that's interesting. we never leave on saturday."
so SEA is working on getting our whole boat lodging for the night, either on board or somewhere. aaah, excitement.
I managed to knit 5 hats and teach 7 people to knit. the red hats are slowly taking over. muahahaha.
well.
so I guess, dear blog, that this is goodbye until mid-january, unless I get ambitious over the interim week before I get on the boat.
eeeeep.
looking forward to bumming around boston for awhile with siv before I have to fly out.
had an amusing interlude today in nautical science:
our captain said "yeah, so not so long before we sail out on next sunday, huh?"
us: "...saturday...?"
captain: "...nnnope, sunday."
class: "uh...saturday the 25th is when we were told to be on the dock..."
captain: "...huh. that's interesting. we never leave on saturday."
so SEA is working on getting our whole boat lodging for the night, either on board or somewhere. aaah, excitement.
I managed to knit 5 hats and teach 7 people to knit. the red hats are slowly taking over. muahahaha.
well.
so I guess, dear blog, that this is goodbye until mid-january, unless I get ambitious over the interim week before I get on the boat.
Monday, November 13, 2006
once again I'm playing the "why doth technology hate me" game at the MBL WHOI library.
arg.
it'll be working, and then sometimes the pregnant pause between when I click "scan again" and when the happy green light sweeps across the page leeeennnggthhheeennnnns and then it decides it's no longer connected to the computer.
and I found a great article but it's in a volume that's checked out. who lets people check out journals? whaaaat? sigh.
ah well.
home friday night! on boat friday after that! AAACK!
arg.
it'll be working, and then sometimes the pregnant pause between when I click "scan again" and when the happy green light sweeps across the page leeeennnggthhheeennnnns and then it decides it's no longer connected to the computer.
and I found a great article but it's in a volume that's checked out. who lets people check out journals? whaaaat? sigh.
ah well.
home friday night! on boat friday after that! AAACK!
Thursday, November 09, 2006
notes to self.
sooo...yeah. notes to self.
#1. self, if you're knitting with handspun thick-and-thin bamboo yarn... do not (repeat; NOT) try to kitchener stitch the ends together. your yarn will fray and dehisce; indeed, it will dissolve before your very eyes, causing them to weep tears of frustrated agony. you will rip 3 rows to finally, on the third try, make it all the way through the ends without fraying.
#2. self, do not try to kitchener while sitting in the common living room where people will ask you questions constantly about things both related and unrelated to knitting.
#3. self, after wiping the tears and sweat from your face and brow, do not NOT NOT think to yourself "I should block this." you shouldn't. you're working with bamboo. go ahead. submerge it in water and just try to squeeze the water out. yeah. that's right. instant gross fuzziness. now you've got a sopping wet blob that you want to block, but it'll be mildewy before it's dry.
#4. self, invent a time machine. go back. hit me over the head when I contemplate doing numbers 1-3.
oh, and hey, have you heard? the solution to global climate change isn't in cleaner energy and more efficient use of resources- it's in putting a giant mesh screen around the earth to reflect solar energy. or about moving the earth out of orbit using H bombs. or about shooting sulfur particles into the atmosphere.
I'm serious. people have published papers on this. nobel prize winners have published papers on this.
be afraid. be very afraid.
#1. self, if you're knitting with handspun thick-and-thin bamboo yarn... do not (repeat; NOT) try to kitchener stitch the ends together. your yarn will fray and dehisce; indeed, it will dissolve before your very eyes, causing them to weep tears of frustrated agony. you will rip 3 rows to finally, on the third try, make it all the way through the ends without fraying.
#2. self, do not try to kitchener while sitting in the common living room where people will ask you questions constantly about things both related and unrelated to knitting.
#3. self, after wiping the tears and sweat from your face and brow, do not NOT NOT think to yourself "I should block this." you shouldn't. you're working with bamboo. go ahead. submerge it in water and just try to squeeze the water out. yeah. that's right. instant gross fuzziness. now you've got a sopping wet blob that you want to block, but it'll be mildewy before it's dry.
#4. self, invent a time machine. go back. hit me over the head when I contemplate doing numbers 1-3.
oh, and hey, have you heard? the solution to global climate change isn't in cleaner energy and more efficient use of resources- it's in putting a giant mesh screen around the earth to reflect solar energy. or about moving the earth out of orbit using H bombs. or about shooting sulfur particles into the atmosphere.
I'm serious. people have published papers on this. nobel prize winners have published papers on this.
be afraid. be very afraid.
Monday, November 06, 2006
rockin' the MBL WHOI library
and once again I have ensconced myself in the MBL WHOI (pronounced mumblewhoee! but standing for Marine Biological Laboratory Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute)
and once again, I have spent several productive hours doing nothing but going oooo...articles...and oooo...I can access them, because I have the power! (in the form of a little happy swipy card. mm. swipey card.)
supposed to be writing my revised introduction and a materials and methods to my paper, though. I'll get there eventually. playing with the fount of knowledge is more fun, though.
started knitting a scarfy thing out of some more of michelle's fab yarn. can't take more Zissou hats just yet. need more boring public policy classes before I can manage that. I think I'm going to cheat and kitchener the ends together in a pseudo-moebius scarf. I'd attempt a real moebius but that, I think, would kill my brain.
two weeks left until I go home. three weeks left until I get on the boat. eek.
and once again, I have spent several productive hours doing nothing but going oooo...articles...and oooo...I can access them, because I have the power! (in the form of a little happy swipy card. mm. swipey card.)
supposed to be writing my revised introduction and a materials and methods to my paper, though. I'll get there eventually. playing with the fount of knowledge is more fun, though.
started knitting a scarfy thing out of some more of michelle's fab yarn. can't take more Zissou hats just yet. need more boring public policy classes before I can manage that. I think I'm going to cheat and kitchener the ends together in a pseudo-moebius scarf. I'd attempt a real moebius but that, I think, would kill my brain.
two weeks left until I go home. three weeks left until I get on the boat. eek.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
ROP!
ok, ok, so the nautical science's prediliction for three letter acronyms is getting to me. today is the first installment of Random act Of Poetry; acronym so chosen because "rap" means burp in norwegian but "rop" means call/cheer and I'd rather think of having a cheer of poetry than a burp of it. and "roap" looks like a frog with indigestion.
so. without further ado: TS Eliot's "The Hollow Men" (1925)
so. without further ado: TS Eliot's "The Hollow Men" (1925)
I
We are the hollow men
We are the stuffed men
Leaning together
Headpiece filled with straw. Alas!
Our dried voices, when
We whisper together
Are quiet and meaningless
As wind in dry grass
Or rats' feet over broken glass
In our dry cellar
Shape without form, shade without colour,
Paralysed force, gesture without motion;
Those who have crossed
With direct eyes, to death's other Kingdom
Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men.
II
Eyes I dare not meet in dreams
In death's dream kingdom
These do not appear:
There, the eyes are
Sunlight on a broken column
There, is a tree swinging
And voices are
In the wind's singing
More distant and more solemn
Than a fading star.
Let me be no nearer
In death's dream kingdom
Let me also wear
Such deliberate disguises
Rat's coat, crowskin, crossed staves
In a field
Behaving as the wind behaves
No nearer --
Not that final meeting
In the twilight kingdom
III
This is the dead land
This is cactus land
Here the stone images
Are raised, here they receive
The supplication of a dead man's hand
Under the twinkle of a fading star.
Is it like this
In death's other kingdom
Waking alone
At the hour when we are
Trembling with tenderness
Lips that would kiss
Form prayers to broken stone.
IV
The eyes are not here
There are no eyes here
In this valley of dying stars
In this hollow valley
This broken jaw of our lost kingdoms
In this last of meeting places
We grope together
And avoid speech
Gathered on this beach of the tumid river
Sightless, unless
The eyes reappear
As the perpetual star
Multifoliate rose
Of death's twilight kingdom
The hope only
Of empty men.
V
Here we go round the prickly pear
Prickly pear prickly pear
Here we go round the prickly pear
At five o'clock in the morning.
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
Between the conception
And the creation
Between the emotion
And the response
Falls the Shadow
Life is very long
Between the desire
And the spasm
Between the potency
And the existence
Between the essence
And the descent
Falls the Shadow
For Thine is the Kingdom
For Thine is
Life is
For Thine is the
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
blarg.
boston is an entertaining city, especially when it's halloween weekend. I saw several entertaining (and very cold) people while we were walking around. I think the winner for "most likely to regret this the next morning" was the man in the giant penis costume, who, although he was quite drunk and probably should have been hauled off in one of the passing police cars for a night of detox, never managed to get either a taxi or a police car to stop. If I'd been in the police car, I probably wouldn't have stopped either. I have a feeling things like that end up in lockers and posted on precinct walls for months afterward.
I scared ro's boy and his roommates and ro's brother when they decided to put on Gone in 60 Seconds. Ro and Maggi and I were going to get our naut on (do our nautical science homework) but I'd forgotten to bring my almanac so I decided instead to read my articles to start a framework for my character for our policy class; however, when I looked over and saw the credits rolling I decided that since I'd be distracted anyway I might as well give up and watch. I kept the articles on my lap, though, so I could pretend I was studying. one of the boys said "we could watch a movie with a plot, you know," and although we all started responding, I responded fastest with "but with these cars, you don't need plot." then they were confused when I went back to my homework after they put in Fast and Furious after the movie ended. they accused me of being a car elitist, to which I agreed. Gone in 60 is an ok movie with amazing cars; Fast and Furious is a bad movie with bad, boring cars.
I also can't wait for the new bond movie. just for the Aston.
I have finished the first Zissou hat. so far, the reactions have been mixed- they're excited about it, but think it rather unfortunately resembles...well, it's been dubbed the condom hat.
I think I'll be revamping the design.
I tried submitting a post by email again on friday, but failed. it was about me being willing to surgically remove my uterus with my teeth. I'm less willing to do that today; ahh, the wonders of advil. and cocoa.
I scared ro's boy and his roommates and ro's brother when they decided to put on Gone in 60 Seconds. Ro and Maggi and I were going to get our naut on (do our nautical science homework) but I'd forgotten to bring my almanac so I decided instead to read my articles to start a framework for my character for our policy class; however, when I looked over and saw the credits rolling I decided that since I'd be distracted anyway I might as well give up and watch. I kept the articles on my lap, though, so I could pretend I was studying. one of the boys said "we could watch a movie with a plot, you know," and although we all started responding, I responded fastest with "but with these cars, you don't need plot." then they were confused when I went back to my homework after they put in Fast and Furious after the movie ended. they accused me of being a car elitist, to which I agreed. Gone in 60 is an ok movie with amazing cars; Fast and Furious is a bad movie with bad, boring cars.
I also can't wait for the new bond movie. just for the Aston.
I have finished the first Zissou hat. so far, the reactions have been mixed- they're excited about it, but think it rather unfortunately resembles...well, it's been dubbed the condom hat.
I think I'll be revamping the design.
I tried submitting a post by email again on friday, but failed. it was about me being willing to surgically remove my uterus with my teeth. I'm less willing to do that today; ahh, the wonders of advil. and cocoa.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
tried the email posting. failed miserably.
I may be giving Mimi a run for her money, but all that's behind me, because....
right now, at this very moment, I am sitting in the Marine Biological Library of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute.
and I have a card with my picture that lets me into the building whenever I want.
3am on a sunday? sure, no problem.
I am in nerd heaven. holy (reverent) shit, am I in nerd heaven.
Monday, October 23, 2006
death to microbes
at least the ones that are making me sick. I blame my house. 10 girls, all sick to varying degrees. whee. when we all woke up this morning we were worried that we weren't going to be able to do our debate on the cape wind project. unfortunately we regained our voices.
my head hurts. blarg.
stage one of the massive 'steve zissou' hats has begun; looks like the world is going to gain a bunch more knitters in the next few weeks.
I love NRK urørt.
I'm designing a tshirt for our class. hopefully it'll go over well. Maggie's almost finished with her Jayne hat. I finished Tara's. and Lisa, you now have a Jayne hat. gimme your address and I'll send it to you.
I'm going through bookstore and coffeehouse withdrawl. guh. I can't breathe. stupid lymph nodes.
I need to get back to work. yay verily yay.
my head hurts. blarg.
stage one of the massive 'steve zissou' hats has begun; looks like the world is going to gain a bunch more knitters in the next few weeks.
I love NRK urørt.
I'm designing a tshirt for our class. hopefully it'll go over well. Maggie's almost finished with her Jayne hat. I finished Tara's. and Lisa, you now have a Jayne hat. gimme your address and I'll send it to you.
I'm going through bookstore and coffeehouse withdrawl. guh. I can't breathe. stupid lymph nodes.
I need to get back to work. yay verily yay.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
because I just fried my brain on tomorrow's presentation, and need salvation before starting my summary.
| Your Life: The Soundtrack | |
| Opening credits: | Folk Dance from Romeo and Juliet- Prokofiev |
| Waking up: | Glamorous Indie Rock and Roll- The Killers |
| Average day: | Blow Me- Turbonegro |
| First date: | Overtid- Momosoma |
| Falling in love: | Wheel of Fortune- Dead Man's Chest Sdtk |
| Love scene: | Margit Hjukse- GÅte |
| Fight scene: | Chewin' Fingers- Gluecifer |
| Breaking up: | Ultrasonic Sound- Hive |
| Getting back together: | A Winter Tune- Eilif Svensson |
| Secret love: | Church on Sunday- Green Day |
| Life's okay: | The Imperial March- John Williams |
| Mental breakdown: | What's Another Day- Maria Mena |
| Driving: | Ut- De Lillos |
| Learning a lesson: | Shoop Shoop Song- Rockapella and the Nylons |
| Deep thought: | Symphony #3 in C minor op 78 "Organ" -Saint Saens |
| Flashback: | Allegro from Oboe Concerto #1 in Bb Major- Empire Brass with Bill Kuhlman (handel) |
| Partying: | Fullstendig Oppslukt av Flukt- De Lillos |
| Happy dance: | Skip Under Lide- Lumsk |
| Regretting: | Incomplete- Pamyua |
| Long night alone: | Åsgardsreisa- Lumsk |
| Death scene: | I Got Mad (Tatu Remix)- DJ Otsta |
| Closing credits: | Venelite- GÅte |
| Take this survey | Find more surveys Bzoink - The Original Survey Site | |
Sunday, October 15, 2006
"these are not the pants you're looking for."
for your random nerdy fun o' the day, courtesy of matt.
The top 15 "Star Wars" lines made by replacing a word with 'pants.'
1) I find your lack of pants disturbing.
2) You are unwise to lower your pants.
3) Chewie and me got into a lot of pants more heavily guarded than this.
4) The Force is strong in my pants.
5) I cannot teach him. The boy has no pants.
6) Your pants, you will not need them.
7) I sense the conflict within you. Let go of your pants!
8) In his pants you will find a new definition of pain and suffering
9) Pull up! All pants pull up!
10) A disturbance in the pants. I have not felt this since near my old master...
11) The pants will be down in moments, sir, you can begin your landing
12) I want them alive. No pants.
13) Away with your pants, I mean you no harm!
14) Lock the door. And hope they don't have pants.
15) Looks like someone's beginning to take an interest in your pants.
The top 15 "Star Wars" lines made by replacing a word with 'pants.'
1) I find your lack of pants disturbing.
2) You are unwise to lower your pants.
3) Chewie and me got into a lot of pants more heavily guarded than this.
4) The Force is strong in my pants.
5) I cannot teach him. The boy has no pants.
6) Your pants, you will not need them.
7) I sense the conflict within you. Let go of your pants!
8) In his pants you will find a new definition of pain and suffering
9) Pull up! All pants pull up!
10) A disturbance in the pants. I have not felt this since near my old master...
11) The pants will be down in moments, sir, you can begin your landing
12) I want them alive. No pants.
13) Away with your pants, I mean you no harm!
14) Lock the door. And hope they don't have pants.
15) Looks like someone's beginning to take an interest in your pants.
aha.
apologies for being incommunicado. it's always entertaining when the internet companies decide to fight over who's paying whom and cuts off the internet to any subscriber to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's internet system. which means, in this town, practically everybody.
it's back now. obviously.
went out for sushi last night with the entire crew of the Seamans (except for two), which meant that a horde of 18 students descended on this tiny hole-in-the-wall sushi place. very good, though. I had sashimi and gyoza and some edamame and some sake and mochi ice cream. mmm.
still miss bibim bap.
this has not been a good year for chargers. first I lose my mp3 player charger somewhere in canada, then I leave my phone charger at home in WA, and now the replacement mp3 player charger that I picked up (having been promised that it would work with my player though it (the charger) is generic) doesn't work. gr. trying to track down a real charger is becoming difficult. ah, well. eventually...
lots of reading to do before lunchtime barbeque. and cleaning.
started Jayne Hat the 3rd.
I may have locked myself into knitting (or teaching people how to knit) 20(ish) 'life aquatic zissou' hats. I should probably find a picture; I've never seen the movie.
it's back now. obviously.
went out for sushi last night with the entire crew of the Seamans (except for two), which meant that a horde of 18 students descended on this tiny hole-in-the-wall sushi place. very good, though. I had sashimi and gyoza and some edamame and some sake and mochi ice cream. mmm.
still miss bibim bap.
this has not been a good year for chargers. first I lose my mp3 player charger somewhere in canada, then I leave my phone charger at home in WA, and now the replacement mp3 player charger that I picked up (having been promised that it would work with my player though it (the charger) is generic) doesn't work. gr. trying to track down a real charger is becoming difficult. ah, well. eventually...
lots of reading to do before lunchtime barbeque. and cleaning.
started Jayne Hat the 3rd.
I may have locked myself into knitting (or teaching people how to knit) 20(ish) 'life aquatic zissou' hats. I should probably find a picture; I've never seen the movie.
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
east coast style
so I've moved into my little cottage thing which I share with 9 other girls and have set up a schedule for cooking and cleaning (tonight was a lovely little veggie stirfry. I'm plotting a sweet fruit salsa-y thing and gado-gado for when it's my turn.)
the redeye was entertaining. I sat next to a chad-clone and he was entertaining until he fell asleep. we sat on the tarmac for awhile- apparantly finding burn marks on wheels is a bad thing. landed in Boston and wandered around dazedly until coffee was found (huzzah!) then sat out on the sidewalk for about an hour (was supposed to be, anyway, until the bus that was supposed to arrive at 0915 arrived at 0950, which sent me into exhausted panic stuff) and then slept on the bus. ran into two guys, one on my trip, the other going on the atlantic trip, and we had a lovely evil long walk after we got off the bus in Falmouth. here's what we did:
walk out of bus station; spot bike path. "hey, wasn't the school practically on the path?"
we proceed on bike path.
we cross a road. no sign. "let's keep going."
we proceed on bike path.
still proceeding.
yep, still proceeding. it's hot, and we have all our luggage. I'm wearing crappy shoes.
we realize we're about to hit ocean. oops. we turn onto road.
we walk along road until we hit a streetlight, and road construction.
we turn right, after asking several motorists just where the hell woods hole road is (which was 28th st- or, the road we crossed first.)
we walk along road, turn left into school, up the hill, and register, then walk down the hill into our houses and fall over.
here's what we should have done: proceed on bike path. turn right on road. walk around bend and into school.
oh well. at least it was nice and sunny, not cold and rainy like today.
ah, but today...
today, we took a tour of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI)/MBL library and got our picture taken for our cards. ooo.
then, we got to take a tour of WHOI's Oceanus ship and see all the fun toys you see in National Geographic or Discovery Channel stuff. giant winches, all sorts of fun beepy electronic things, entertaining montages (i.e. the little joystick, very technical-looking that is used to steer the ship; in front of it, however, is a little plate that says <---to left to right--->. I have a picture of it, but not yet on the puter.
then we walked into the other slip and got to salivate over the Corwith Cramer, which is the ship that the atlantic crews use. (ours is the Robert C Seamans). Still. all gloriously terrifying in its beauty of lines and canvas and scientific toys.
then three of us went to the pie in the sky coffeehouse and got coffee. mmm.
but in non SEA stuff-
almost done with the sari sweater thing, although I have to buy more yarn if I want sleeves.
started Elsebet's wristlets on the plane.
there are some knitters here, but it seems like most of them left the yarn at home.
super jealous of all the WA skoganites, because there's viking day this weekend and I'm going to be up at dawn for some nautical science thing and then later some kayaking. whoo!
I like my Chacos, but they're a tad...fiddly.
I think that sort of concludes the randomness. Wait, no. I hate books with pseudo science written for a lay audience. Although that's not entirely true- some of the James Rollins stuff is nice entertaining fluffy reading. (buckyballs in the blood? queen of sheba? what? carnivorous pseudosentient trees?) maybe it's just that we've been forced into reading Michael Crichton's State of Fear. reiteration after reiteration after reiteration...I mean seriously, once you've had 100 pages to convert one character away from blind ecoactivism/terrorism, you really don't need to spend another 200 pages converting two other characters. that's when you use the literary equivalent to a cut scene. blarg. the graphs and footnotes are also very annoying, both because they disrupt the page and because it's impersonating a scientific paper. and I hate being thrashed over the head with the same 'stunning revelations' every 30 pages. it's the same problem I had with the Da Vinci Code.
ok. thus concludes the randomness.
oh, and I love my jacket.
the redeye was entertaining. I sat next to a chad-clone and he was entertaining until he fell asleep. we sat on the tarmac for awhile- apparantly finding burn marks on wheels is a bad thing. landed in Boston and wandered around dazedly until coffee was found (huzzah!) then sat out on the sidewalk for about an hour (was supposed to be, anyway, until the bus that was supposed to arrive at 0915 arrived at 0950, which sent me into exhausted panic stuff) and then slept on the bus. ran into two guys, one on my trip, the other going on the atlantic trip, and we had a lovely evil long walk after we got off the bus in Falmouth. here's what we did:
walk out of bus station; spot bike path. "hey, wasn't the school practically on the path?"
we proceed on bike path.
we cross a road. no sign. "let's keep going."
we proceed on bike path.
still proceeding.
yep, still proceeding. it's hot, and we have all our luggage. I'm wearing crappy shoes.
we realize we're about to hit ocean. oops. we turn onto road.
we walk along road until we hit a streetlight, and road construction.
we turn right, after asking several motorists just where the hell woods hole road is (which was 28th st- or, the road we crossed first.)
we walk along road, turn left into school, up the hill, and register, then walk down the hill into our houses and fall over.
here's what we should have done: proceed on bike path. turn right on road. walk around bend and into school.
oh well. at least it was nice and sunny, not cold and rainy like today.
ah, but today...
today, we took a tour of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI)/MBL library and got our picture taken for our cards. ooo.
then, we got to take a tour of WHOI's Oceanus ship and see all the fun toys you see in National Geographic or Discovery Channel stuff. giant winches, all sorts of fun beepy electronic things, entertaining montages (i.e. the little joystick, very technical-looking that is used to steer the ship; in front of it, however, is a little plate that says <---to left to right--->. I have a picture of it, but not yet on the puter.
then we walked into the other slip and got to salivate over the Corwith Cramer, which is the ship that the atlantic crews use. (ours is the Robert C Seamans). Still. all gloriously terrifying in its beauty of lines and canvas and scientific toys.
then three of us went to the pie in the sky coffeehouse and got coffee. mmm.
but in non SEA stuff-
almost done with the sari sweater thing, although I have to buy more yarn if I want sleeves.
started Elsebet's wristlets on the plane.
there are some knitters here, but it seems like most of them left the yarn at home.
super jealous of all the WA skoganites, because there's viking day this weekend and I'm going to be up at dawn for some nautical science thing and then later some kayaking. whoo!
I like my Chacos, but they're a tad...fiddly.
I think that sort of concludes the randomness. Wait, no. I hate books with pseudo science written for a lay audience. Although that's not entirely true- some of the James Rollins stuff is nice entertaining fluffy reading. (buckyballs in the blood? queen of sheba? what? carnivorous pseudosentient trees?) maybe it's just that we've been forced into reading Michael Crichton's State of Fear. reiteration after reiteration after reiteration...I mean seriously, once you've had 100 pages to convert one character away from blind ecoactivism/terrorism, you really don't need to spend another 200 pages converting two other characters. that's when you use the literary equivalent to a cut scene. blarg. the graphs and footnotes are also very annoying, both because they disrupt the page and because it's impersonating a scientific paper. and I hate being thrashed over the head with the same 'stunning revelations' every 30 pages. it's the same problem I had with the Da Vinci Code.
ok. thus concludes the randomness.
oh, and I love my jacket.
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