I'm having one of those Fail Days where I put my watch in a pocket and then later couldn't remember where I put my watch. Ugh at least the day's almost done.

My Mexican pineapple comes with a tag printed with the coloring and pattern of the Italian flag.

I am confused.

That's hours I could've been sleeping

I managed to keep myself up half the night lying in the dark by having an argument with myself about whether or not "apathy" counts as a type of feeling, only to conclude that "feeling" is an inadequate term. More specifically, I concluded that "apathy" should be grouped with the other things such as "happy" and "sad" as "states of emotional being".

...and then I did manage to fall asleep and dreamed that someone gave me a basilisk tooth as a present. Not HP basilisk but basilisk as of mythology of yore. Though for some reason the teeth had an oddly metallic sheen.

This is what I get for researching story lore before bedtime.

Dec-Jan., up to this point, in between the traveling and the stolen stuff and getting replacements and one weekend of sickness, I was lagging behind in my martial arts classes, which meant that I haven't been training regularly, which meant that right now I'm back to square "wow I am sore in really weird places".

At least I didn't randomly sprain a toe this time. Also this has all been a very good education in anatomy.

Have discovered really fantastic raspberry strudel (an entire box for under 3$!) and Scott's lent me 6 CDs of Dr. Demento's novelty record collection so I'm all set for a drawing session once I finish excavating my room the the detritus that builds up over the course of the week. Grad school's also been terrible for my general household-y tidiness, apparently.

Pondering whether or not I need to build up my stamina to hike the Inca Trail, given that I don't do any aerobic exercise regularly and it'll be at high elevation. (Probably.) Pondering that if yes, when the heck am I going to find the time to do this. (Hmm.)

Someday I will remember not to read while cooking and stop burning my dinner. (It's only a little burnt this time, in my defense, because I did finally manage to exercise an ounce of self control and pull myself out of text.) (Wait wait does this mean there's hope where one day I'll figure out how to cook AND read at the same time?)

Have you ever blown your nose and be staggered by the sheer VOLUME of snot that can be stored in your nasal cavity? I mean in terms of cubic centimeters of liquid it's pretty impressive how all of THAT can fit up there. Is the nasal cavity like the TARDIS? Bigger on the inside? I mean I've actually done cryosection through nasal cavity before and it's not like the entire thing is lined with mucosa and snot is still mostly water based, which means should also be less dense as a solid than a liquid and I have no idea where I'm going with this....

...ugh still got chores to run.

Saw a place called "The Promiscuous Fork" along the bus route today. Am not 100% sure it's a restaurant but am terrified to contemplate what it could be, if it were not a restaurant.

One day I will figure out how to eat sprinkle-covered cupcakes without shedding sprinkles everywhere. In the meantime: labmate brought cupcakes! My replacement credit card came in. The bookstore was having a sale on art supplies so I broke into a new sketchbook (sadly the Strathmore ones are sold out but I guess I get to try a different brand? It's flat-bond, at least, I like none-wire bindings) and the weather's warm again!

I like this week much better than the last. I feel that I can write a thank-you note to someone about it.

In fact the only thing that's missing is my building access card but eh. I've high hopes of persuading someone to take out my culture plates for me on Sat. so maybe I won't even have to come into lab this weekend and would THAT be a nice way to end the week?

Have just realized that thanks to the theft I no longer have a mp3 player.

Am still more upset about the sketchbook.

I haven't been this cold in the morning since Davis. South Cal, I am disappointed in you.

Liver with freezer burn looks equal parts fascinating and disgusting.

It's a mystery in January

Why do they make tanktops with sew on tags? I just spent two hours twitching as the scratchy corners jabbed at me over and over again. It's more annoying than that tiny pebble in your shoe because most people would not blink if you stopped on the sidewalk and shook out your shoe, whereas tanktops are worn against the skin, so usually you can't just strip off your top on the side of the road to remove the stupid tag. Instead you grit your teeth and bear it and it rapidly becomes like a mild form of torture (although it may be that if I bore it long enough or had to deal with something distracting enough I will no longer notice it's not an experiment I feel like doing. Instead I am removing the tag).

Shrimp poppers are wonderful. And goes with none of my teas.

One of the vendors sent a package of gummy bears along with our order. I find this adorable. Also: candy!

I always get thrown off when one of the databases I use lists Macaca mulatta as "rhesus monkey" and the other one lists it as "macaque". There's always this moment of "OHNOESIMISSEDONE" before the inevitable "oh wait" followed by "WHY".

I know I should be grateful for the auto-shut function of the lab freezer door, but it keeps trying to shut on me. Literally. Occasionally I end up with a weird line of ice along my side from it. Some day I will discover the perfect way to wedge my foot under the door to prevent this from happening without losing my balance in the process. However, today is not that day.

Okay despite of the fact that it is only Tuesday I am fully ready for this week to end already.

My lab building is so complicated that I need someone to draw me a map to figure out how to get to a lab on the east side.

I have been working in this building for four years.

About half of the people who come in to talk to my PI needs help with directions.

My PI thinks our building is this way because architects hate us.

The cricket is INSIDE THE WALL. I don't know how to deal with this but eventually I was tired enough that I went back to sleep. (Just please, please don't mate and procreate inside the walls. Walls full of crickets are --no, just --NO.)

Had a talk with PI today. My current run of the protein project may be a no go but the possible alternatives are... . Well, the RIGHT experiments to answer the question will mean that I won't finish before June.

Time to go and drown my depression in tea.

(No it's not THAT bad. I mean all things considered I'm pretty well off. It's just that I LIKE being ahead of the curve and failing to do that that so blatantly makes me feel really disappointed in myself but this too, shall pass.)

A cricket that has somehow survived the cold snap last week migrated into my place. It was loud enough to warrant a cricket hunt at 3am in the morning. I think it may have taken up residence under my bed but I am not up for dragging my bed around at 3 in the morning so guess what I'll do when I get home today!

Also received spam in work email inbox for talking to Russian women. There was much lol'ing.

This is the weekend in which we ordered a boat for lunch.
(And it was delicious.)

I have found this to be true: the older I am, the more excited I am about getting socks.