Prospects ahead

I came up with a vague outline of my dissertation at around 7:15 this morning (those thoughts are immediately followed by "wow it ate my brain, clearly"). I'll need to check with my adviser to see how plausible it is.

Mostly I just feel like writing right now and can't afford to spend hours on it. I've slept lots last night (about ten hours -- great, isn't it?) and it (well, and the prospect of tea immediately after this) has put me in a chipper mode. (I think we can safely add "sleep" to the list of things that makes me happy.) I thought I should make a post with the images I've saved up this week while a) I still remember b) I still have the right laptop open and c) before incurable cases of brain disorder suck all the optimism out of me. (I could've chosen leprosy instead, and peripheral neuropathies, but it's hard to take something with armadillos seriously.)

Right. First of all, there was unexpected thunderstorm in SD on Wednesday. I was outside, eating lunch, when I noticed it getting darker and darker. Then it started sprinkling, and I thought, "Okay, well, odd SD weather, it'll probably pass because it's CA and it doesn't rain here in the summer." Shortly after that there was thunder and a downpour. I spent the rest of my break bemusedly trying to dry my glasses on my shirt in the bathroom.

I took two screencaps of my gmail, because I have the tree & sky background on and I've never seen a thunderstorm there before:



I do have my cell images on Ivy, too, but it's a) unpublished data, technically, and b) very large file so I'm not going to upload it.

Conferred with Lucy on who might be coming this summer (hi Victoria! I got the thing in gmail) and will be scrolling through more ads for housing this week to try to find a place and figure out the details for move-in when I do find the place. An option (if they're okay with partial rent and the rent is, in fact, cheaper than my current place) is for me to pay double rent for a month and a half, which will a) give people two places they can stay (hmm someone still need to bring an air mattress or sleeping bag or something; I have one spare cot mattress and a sleeping bag, that's all) at when they come down to SD and b) give me more time to move so that I can pack / move a little bit of stuff each day in the time after lab and c) still leave myself with enough time to clean up this place so I won't my deposit. (One of my classmate tried this last month and it seemed to work out okay with her.)
But yay, people! (Lucy, I think I have further proof that I should list each person as an individual item.)

Okay, tea and project.

Only a first year

I've never had anyone feel sorry for me because I'm a first year before. It's a novel and unnerving experience, when I was patted on the back in a "you have a long way to go yet, young grasshopper, I'm glad I'm not you" kind of way.

I went out and got a bar of chocolate.

The two events may or may not be related.

Further update on my apartment hunting: I have found more studio apartments. They continue to be more expensive than my current one bedroom. The cheapest one is currently a hundred dollars per month more expensive so we'll see -- if the managers of my current place decides to raise the rent I might move to the place behind Ralph's, since it's closer to campus and has the studios on the top floor so I feel less like I'm living in a cave (that is possibly connected to the Arctic in some secretive magical fashion that I'm currently unaware of).

We'll see.

I should also mention that there is wind outside today. Possibly up to five mph. However, since it rained earlier and in all likelihood will rain again later, it's still not the ideal kite-flying weather. (By the way, the kite came with a manual that warns me to not pull a Benjamin Franklin, because the manufacturer will be held responsible for the consequences &c &c.)

There are also blueberries, which have improved my day considerably. I'm going to make tea in a continued effort to improve life.