Pyrotechnical display is just a fancy word for fireworks.
Daylight saving has ended and the days are one hour later now. Though I understand that in a way, this signified the beginning of winter, the weather change yesterday was ridiculous. It was even foggy outside, when I left. And it was cold enough that this morning I got out my poofy jacket, all ready to go.
Annie was moaning earlier today about bio. Or more specifically, about something along the lines of "bio is killing me in slow and painful ways". Added to her list of grievances is her eight 'o clock o-chem class. Once the nights get longer, gloom seeps in either but hey, all in the spirit of All Hallow's Eve, yes?
Class reg yesterday for me. 16 credits so far. Annie had taken a look at my schedule and pronounced me to be insane. I was not encouraged by the fact, but oh well, I'll take it as it comes.
Rose has had the free run of my room for three days now, and is currently deriving much pleasure from stalking the cat-nip-scented toy that Annie brought back over the weekend. (It's dead, Rose. DEAD. You may stop trying to kill it now.) She's also been sleeping outside for two nights, making it a very restless night for me the first night out and a very wary one the second. Last night she has migrated up the bed and eventually slept on my head (her breath's awful, for future references) so this morning I found my hair sticking out in all directions I've never thought possible before, despite of my discovery over the summer that I have, apparently, the type of hair that sticks up if clipped short enough. Hats are wonderful things.
And there will be lectures and work and homework and much rejoicing (with candy, of course) when it's all over. Cheers.
20061031
20061028
Recap: A picture's worth
Photo entry!
Gotta love one of these, eh?
All done just this morning. With labels for your amusement.
Bienvenido a mi casa. Or should I say, a nos casa?
Cat picture at the very bottom, so keep scrolling down. How's that for an incentive?
Gotta love one of these, eh?All done just this morning. With labels for your amusement.
Bienvenido a mi casa. Or should I say, a nos casa?
Cat picture at the very bottom, so keep scrolling down. How's that for an incentive?
20061027
Recap: It's green AND it wiggles
This week has been stressful. As predicted, group papers, much like group projects, means that the overall efficiency per person decreases while the total time spend on project increases. I had three hours of extra time on Sunday because the others didn't send in their stuff, and, try as I might, the efficiency of three hours on a Sunday was not enough to cover for the toll of the midterms week.
There, enough of that kind of language-- let's see if anything interesting has happened to me this week. Checking. Checking.
And the answer is, no, most assuredly. I can tell you about my midterms but that will either give people heartattacks or bore them to sleep, depending on the person. Rose is progressing slowly in terms of socialization and I'm currently at the point where I'm debating between getting her used to being picked up and getting her used to living outside the cage. Annie has donated some spare towels to day, and the most shredded one will, very likely, end up as the cat's chew toy. We also talked of starting our own herb garden indoors eventually, from the other day when I adopted the peas. Kate and I carved a pumpkin this afternoon and there are no reported human casualities. Annie's mom said that she'll be missing out on all the blood and it turns out that we're missing out, too. For some reason I don't feel particularly regretful.
Well-- onwards then. Possibly two more midterms next week, and then there's always the class registration....
There, enough of that kind of language-- let's see if anything interesting has happened to me this week. Checking. Checking.
And the answer is, no, most assuredly. I can tell you about my midterms but that will either give people heartattacks or bore them to sleep, depending on the person. Rose is progressing slowly in terms of socialization and I'm currently at the point where I'm debating between getting her used to being picked up and getting her used to living outside the cage. Annie has donated some spare towels to day, and the most shredded one will, very likely, end up as the cat's chew toy. We also talked of starting our own herb garden indoors eventually, from the other day when I adopted the peas. Kate and I carved a pumpkin this afternoon and there are no reported human casualities. Annie's mom said that she'll be missing out on all the blood and it turns out that we're missing out, too. For some reason I don't feel particularly regretful.
Well-- onwards then. Possibly two more midterms next week, and then there's always the class registration....
20061020
Recap: Feuille
The amount of time spent per class, as usual increases dramatically with the arrival of midterms. This has been a particularly eventful week with what I hope was the longest Monday this school year (hope, since I don't care to repeat the experience, ever again. There's a certain limit to the number of hours I'm willing to spend at school, and this's pushing it).
There are other events too, such as the final arrival of our foster kitten, Rose (will post picture within two weeks, promise). A description? Of course. Rose is a four-month old black and brown, medium haired tabby found in a litter of four in an abandoned attic/roof type place. She's, so far, petite with ears still on the large-ish side as typical of kittens. She also has round, terrified looking gold-eyes, which slowly gets less terrified looking and round as I chant my text at her. Eventually she event went to sleep during parts of it (proving that 1. textbooks really are that boring and 2. that textbooks are actually good for something such as, say, putting a high-strung kitten to sleep). Though she did purr through the bit about oxalate ion during chem, much to my bemusement.
I also adopted five pea-plants from my bio lab, from when our group did the gibberellin experiment. We had the option of either throwing it or adopting it, so of course I adopted the one for our group (there were two pots of five plants each for each group of five people). My labmates are amused by my tendency to adopt plants. So where my parents, come to think about it. My roommates are, however, the ones who will have to deal with it.
Am mostly caught up in terms of homework now. Still have one more paragraph to write and one more chapter to read (not to mention another midterm coming up) but all in all, I'm making fair progress, I'd say. Before you ask, Lusine, I am still working on the story. In fact, I've the rough draft in long hand and if I can get to an open computer lab somewhere on campus next week I see about getting it mailed over.
Davis homecoming game tomorrow. I'll see about going online again (really, my state of contact has been shameful lately). Rose says 'hi'. (Actually, she says "eow", but use that imagination, folks, use that imagination....)
There are other events too, such as the final arrival of our foster kitten, Rose (will post picture within two weeks, promise). A description? Of course. Rose is a four-month old black and brown, medium haired tabby found in a litter of four in an abandoned attic/roof type place. She's, so far, petite with ears still on the large-ish side as typical of kittens. She also has round, terrified looking gold-eyes, which slowly gets less terrified looking and round as I chant my text at her. Eventually she event went to sleep during parts of it (proving that 1. textbooks really are that boring and 2. that textbooks are actually good for something such as, say, putting a high-strung kitten to sleep). Though she did purr through the bit about oxalate ion during chem, much to my bemusement.
I also adopted five pea-plants from my bio lab, from when our group did the gibberellin experiment. We had the option of either throwing it or adopting it, so of course I adopted the one for our group (there were two pots of five plants each for each group of five people). My labmates are amused by my tendency to adopt plants. So where my parents, come to think about it. My roommates are, however, the ones who will have to deal with it.
Am mostly caught up in terms of homework now. Still have one more paragraph to write and one more chapter to read (not to mention another midterm coming up) but all in all, I'm making fair progress, I'd say. Before you ask, Lusine, I am still working on the story. In fact, I've the rough draft in long hand and if I can get to an open computer lab somewhere on campus next week I see about getting it mailed over.
Davis homecoming game tomorrow. I'll see about going online again (really, my state of contact has been shameful lately). Rose says 'hi'. (Actually, she says "eow", but use that imagination, folks, use that imagination....)
20061007
Recap: No depth involved
Home again, after school has started.
School has been interesting so far (notice I used the word "interesting", which therefore means that it's been a very mixed-sort of inexperience and I'm still unable to pin a more specific, one-word adjective on it). Latin is both more and less helpful than I'd expected, as far as connections with English go. It probably helped my Spanish more, had I continued to actively learn the language. In terms of English, I just get clobbered (repeatedly) over the head with all these grammar/ syntax terms that I've never heard before. My only consolation is that the native English speakers in my class are as confounded by the gazillions of rules and exceptions as I am which, in retrospect and considering the current standards of English, is poor comfort. One interesting fact that I've learned though: English apparently had regular (by which I mean weird and irregular) endings for words (think Spanish) all the way until the French took over, at which point they've apparently decided that the endings weren't fashionable anymore and dropped them.
I repeat, and will probably continue to repeat for the rest of my life: I do not understand fashion.
Being home again? It is nice, of course, as it generally is when you visit, which is what this actually is. But I AM thankful that I could be home on Mid-Autumn (happy belated Mid-Autumn to you all, too, though the Americans tend to call it the Mid-Autumn festival, much to my bemusement.) (You do not say "happy fourth-of-July BARBEQUE", you say, "happy fourth of July." So as for why people insisted on tagging on the word "festival"...well...?) I had "I'll Be Home for the Holidays" going through my head during part of the train trip, which amused myself no end. I also tried to write too, with dubious results. Clearly being on a swaying (side to side motion) train does very little to improve my penmanship. Equally apparent was the fact that cacti are a good conversation starter so, ladies and gentlemen, if you ever want to go out and meet people, lug around a container of cacti and see where it'll get you.
I have just blogged with no intentions in mind, and I find that I don't mind, either. I am still on schedule and on par for everything. Most of the plants in my garden have made it. The sky is blue outside of my window and has the particular sort of appearance that always made me feel like it's very close. Within reach, in fact.
School has been interesting so far (notice I used the word "interesting", which therefore means that it's been a very mixed-sort of inexperience and I'm still unable to pin a more specific, one-word adjective on it). Latin is both more and less helpful than I'd expected, as far as connections with English go. It probably helped my Spanish more, had I continued to actively learn the language. In terms of English, I just get clobbered (repeatedly) over the head with all these grammar/ syntax terms that I've never heard before. My only consolation is that the native English speakers in my class are as confounded by the gazillions of rules and exceptions as I am which, in retrospect and considering the current standards of English, is poor comfort. One interesting fact that I've learned though: English apparently had regular (by which I mean weird and irregular) endings for words (think Spanish) all the way until the French took over, at which point they've apparently decided that the endings weren't fashionable anymore and dropped them.
I repeat, and will probably continue to repeat for the rest of my life: I do not understand fashion.
Being home again? It is nice, of course, as it generally is when you visit, which is what this actually is. But I AM thankful that I could be home on Mid-Autumn (happy belated Mid-Autumn to you all, too, though the Americans tend to call it the Mid-Autumn festival, much to my bemusement.) (You do not say "happy fourth-of-July BARBEQUE", you say, "happy fourth of July." So as for why people insisted on tagging on the word "festival"...well...?) I had "I'll Be Home for the Holidays" going through my head during part of the train trip, which amused myself no end. I also tried to write too, with dubious results. Clearly being on a swaying (side to side motion) train does very little to improve my penmanship. Equally apparent was the fact that cacti are a good conversation starter so, ladies and gentlemen, if you ever want to go out and meet people, lug around a container of cacti and see where it'll get you.
I have just blogged with no intentions in mind, and I find that I don't mind, either. I am still on schedule and on par for everything. Most of the plants in my garden have made it. The sky is blue outside of my window and has the particular sort of appearance that always made me feel like it's very close. Within reach, in fact.
20061001
Recap: Quis es?
End of week two and I've already lost track of the number of cups of tea that I've drank. Not that I've had that many. In fact, on school days I doubt I'd have time to drink tea at all, so even THAT's going to be reduced.
Two days of school so far, and moving on to day three.
The temperature's already started dropping, which can only mean one thing-- that it will keep on dropping. I've a pretty good idea of my room configuration now and where to put stuff if more stuff comes, so should I find the time and the incentive, I'll take pictures of my room and post it. (Have added and will add the newspaper clipping and postcards unto my wall, thanksverymuchLusine, in that order.) No sign of the cat yet but it's going to be a whole new week soon.
Over and out. If I remember more later, I'll post.
Two days of school so far, and moving on to day three.
The temperature's already started dropping, which can only mean one thing-- that it will keep on dropping. I've a pretty good idea of my room configuration now and where to put stuff if more stuff comes, so should I find the time and the incentive, I'll take pictures of my room and post it. (Have added and will add the newspaper clipping and postcards unto my wall, thanksverymuchLusine, in that order.) No sign of the cat yet but it's going to be a whole new week soon.
Over and out. If I remember more later, I'll post.
20060924
Recap: End of week one
At a glance:
Hours worked: ~10
Cups of tea consumed: 6
Number of times kitchen flooded: 2 (and there is still no sign of the dishwasher repairman)
Phone calls made: 5< n < 10
Hours of movie/clips watched: ~4
Items destroyed by animals other than human: 0
Number of disputes with roommate: 0
All in all: so far, so good. Now let's see what happens when classes start on the 28th.
Had to go in for work yesterday as Friday was VERY windy and we couldn't plant anything (and by "windy" I meant the roadcrew telling me I have to take a detour because "the trees are coming down and you want to be careful"). Still getting to know my coworkers (three, so far), and am reaching the conclusion that you meet much more interesting people at work than at school (though all of them do go to school here).
In a series of comments and conversations religion and homosexuals again surfaced. One of my coworkers reaccounted how she met one of her friends while the friend was dating a guy and now the friend's dating a girl. This coworker grew up in the middle of the desert and has referred to herself as a Christian and a red-neck. She said something along the lines of that 'she doesn't approve of what her friend's doing, but if her friend is really..you know...she's not going to stop being friends of her because of it.' Which then made me think of Annie's grandmother, who's convinced that Annie's going to hell because she's studying evolution biology. It begs to differ between the ideas OF religion and the ideas IN religion.
I repeat: I have nothing against religion in general, or anything specific type of religion. I think that it'd be wonderful to have that much faith in something but frankly, religious fanatics tend to scare me.
Meanwhile, from NY Times we give you this article:
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat
By MARK MAZZETTI
A stark assessment has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Give the agencies a medal, will you?
Hours worked: ~10
Cups of tea consumed: 6
Number of times kitchen flooded: 2 (and there is still no sign of the dishwasher repairman)
Phone calls made: 5< n < 10
Hours of movie/clips watched: ~4
Items destroyed by animals other than human: 0
Number of disputes with roommate: 0
All in all: so far, so good. Now let's see what happens when classes start on the 28th.
Had to go in for work yesterday as Friday was VERY windy and we couldn't plant anything (and by "windy" I meant the roadcrew telling me I have to take a detour because "the trees are coming down and you want to be careful"). Still getting to know my coworkers (three, so far), and am reaching the conclusion that you meet much more interesting people at work than at school (though all of them do go to school here).
In a series of comments and conversations religion and homosexuals again surfaced. One of my coworkers reaccounted how she met one of her friends while the friend was dating a guy and now the friend's dating a girl. This coworker grew up in the middle of the desert and has referred to herself as a Christian and a red-neck. She said something along the lines of that 'she doesn't approve of what her friend's doing, but if her friend is really..you know...she's not going to stop being friends of her because of it.' Which then made me think of Annie's grandmother, who's convinced that Annie's going to hell because she's studying evolution biology. It begs to differ between the ideas OF religion and the ideas IN religion.
I repeat: I have nothing against religion in general, or anything specific type of religion. I think that it'd be wonderful to have that much faith in something but frankly, religious fanatics tend to scare me.
Meanwhile, from NY Times we give you this article:
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat
By MARK MAZZETTI
A stark assessment has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Give the agencies a medal, will you?
20060921
Recap: People, impending school, and dust
This would be the second "Oh look I have internet at home again" entry I've typed in the past three months, which means that, by default, it wouldn't be as interesting as the first entry (which wasn't that interesting either) and therefore, to avoid that, we'll just sum up the entire thing in one sentence and be done with it so the time that you'd normally expect to spend on the rant of the virtues of cyberspace can now be devoted to some other random form of rambling.
The apartment now has internet access.
Okay. Now, moving on.
[Warning: long post.]
A description of the apartment is, I suppose, in order. The apartment is large and very airy-seeming because of the vaulted ceiling in the living room and the MILLIONS of windows. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But there ARE a lot of windows. Two per room and five in the living room/dining room area (they're connected). That's not taking into account the glass door to the balcony and the window in the kitchen. The windows themselves are very unique, being the up-down kind instead of the slide-sideways kind and always letting out a monstrous squawking noise when you let it down. We also have lots of shelves, most of which we have discovered and a few of which may still be hidden. We'll eventually have to make acquaintances with all the shelves just to make sure that the previous owner didn't leave something evolving away in a backwards cabinet.
Annie was here all the way until Monday, during which we went through our joint possession and discovered that we had three cheese graters and the odd mayo-maker (I kid you not; and then later Kate used the mayo-maker and made mashed potatos). Kate's been here and will continue to be here, exercising her increasingly frayed self-control over the numerous phone calls from her relatives. Just during lunch today we discussed whether or not she was in denial still, as she originally said she was, after she pointed out that she's not finding anything to freak out over at all. I pointed out that if there's nothing for her to freak out over then there shouldn't be anything for her to be in denial about, either, so we hypothesized that she's in denial about being in denial.
My new job started this Tuesday, more or less to my surprise (especially given that I've just contacted the professor on Monday) and so far it has involved a lot of labels. I've successfully wrote the word 'SPINACH' 120 times and noticed that it is in fact similar to the word 'SPANISH'. I've also in the course of my employment (i.e., Tuesday and today) tried a piece of smoked salmon. That was interesting.
Layout? Yes. I did say that school's starting, didn't I?
Just to mention: clicking squirrels. If anyone's curious, ask Kate.
The apartment now has internet access.
Okay. Now, moving on.
[Warning: long post.]
A description of the apartment is, I suppose, in order. The apartment is large and very airy-seeming because of the vaulted ceiling in the living room and the MILLIONS of windows. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But there ARE a lot of windows. Two per room and five in the living room/dining room area (they're connected). That's not taking into account the glass door to the balcony and the window in the kitchen. The windows themselves are very unique, being the up-down kind instead of the slide-sideways kind and always letting out a monstrous squawking noise when you let it down. We also have lots of shelves, most of which we have discovered and a few of which may still be hidden. We'll eventually have to make acquaintances with all the shelves just to make sure that the previous owner didn't leave something evolving away in a backwards cabinet.
Annie was here all the way until Monday, during which we went through our joint possession and discovered that we had three cheese graters and the odd mayo-maker (I kid you not; and then later Kate used the mayo-maker and made mashed potatos). Kate's been here and will continue to be here, exercising her increasingly frayed self-control over the numerous phone calls from her relatives. Just during lunch today we discussed whether or not she was in denial still, as she originally said she was, after she pointed out that she's not finding anything to freak out over at all. I pointed out that if there's nothing for her to freak out over then there shouldn't be anything for her to be in denial about, either, so we hypothesized that she's in denial about being in denial.
My new job started this Tuesday, more or less to my surprise (especially given that I've just contacted the professor on Monday) and so far it has involved a lot of labels. I've successfully wrote the word 'SPINACH' 120 times and noticed that it is in fact similar to the word 'SPANISH'. I've also in the course of my employment (i.e., Tuesday and today) tried a piece of smoked salmon. That was interesting.
Layout? Yes. I did say that school's starting, didn't I?
Just to mention: clicking squirrels. If anyone's curious, ask Kate.
20060914
Recap: On your marks
Tumbling blocks-wise, this's going to be very interesting.
My conclusions so far:
A.) That inside the house internet will not be possible until 20th the earliest.
B.) Davis is currently at the stage where the temperature can be anywhere from 70-something (high point of the day) to 90-something.
C.) I'll need to learn how to operate the dishwasher. Which shouldn't be too bad, considering I had to deal with the dishmachine in the DC and I don't have to take apart the dishwasher each night after I'm done using it. I hope.
D.) Cats and plants do not mix, so I'll need to start adapting whatever plants possible to outdoor weather.
It turns out that all three of us (my roommates and I) are going to be there on the Saturday, so that our first night together will really be our first night together. And the furniture dragging that will ensue. Oh yes.
My conclusions so far:
A.) That inside the house internet will not be possible until 20th the earliest.
B.) Davis is currently at the stage where the temperature can be anywhere from 70-something (high point of the day) to 90-something.
C.) I'll need to learn how to operate the dishwasher. Which shouldn't be too bad, considering I had to deal with the dishmachine in the DC and I don't have to take apart the dishwasher each night after I'm done using it. I hope.
D.) Cats and plants do not mix, so I'll need to start adapting whatever plants possible to outdoor weather.
It turns out that all three of us (my roommates and I) are going to be there on the Saturday, so that our first night together will really be our first night together. And the furniture dragging that will ensue. Oh yes.
20060912
Recap: A little of this and that
Taken from NEW YORK TIMES today:
Interviews found voters expressing degrees of skepticism
about President Bush's motives in delivering a set of
high-profile speeches on terrorism.
-"In Unpredictable District, Some Say Bush Is Politicizing
Terrorism" By CARL HULSE
You know what's better yet? The fact that THAT article was followed by THIS:
President Bush sought to place the war in Iraq in the
context of an epic battle between tyranny and freedom.
-"In Prime-Time Address, Bush Says Safety of U.S. Hinges on Iraq" By JIM RUTENBERG and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Well well. Some of those who chose to remain blind are so because they don't know any other way of existing, and some of those who choose to be blind chose with their eyes wide open. The latter are always the ones who baffle me but, as the saying goes, there's no accounting for taste, i.e. opinions, i.e. I'm sometimes so incredibly bewildered by people and am even more bewildered to find out how NOT alone I am.
But those who pay any marginal kind of attention do notice things. That's good to know.
I'll wager that the region here-abouts would be listed as one of those "unpredictable districts"-- oh wait, nevermind, we're predictable. We're predictable enough that Mr. President wants to avoid SF at all costs which is still, I think, showing an remarkable deal of forethought for him (or for his counsellors, who knows?). Or maybe that was self-preservation. In the present era, it's often hard to tell them about.
In terms of Davis preparation, I'm at the stage of "Okay all my stuff except for my laptop and my sketchbook are in boxes now so those are the two things that I will waste all my time on". (It's a very long name for a stage, but it's also a very important stage in what I'm now going to call my Yearly Migration Period.)
Meanwhile, according to ENN, global warming will bring back dinosaur-era-like weather (though, as far as I know, no dinosaurs). Which makes me wonder what some of the fast-evolving species, the drosophila (fruitfly) for example, will look like by then. Then again, it probably wouldn't look THAT different. Bugs (Hexapoda/ Insecta, specifically) have very resilient design and the majority of it's always kept the same, as can be seen in those bug-containing ambers. Maybe we'll see a return of the giant dragonflies? Or maybe ants and cockroaches will finally take over the world. Species extinction is imminent, anyhow.
Not-so-subliminal message made yet more obvious: global warming is no cause for joy.
The cacti live on. Mom's afraid she might accidentally kill it, so I might be bring THOSE with me to Davis as well.
Interviews found voters expressing degrees of skepticism
about President Bush's motives in delivering a set of
high-profile speeches on terrorism.
-"In Unpredictable District, Some Say Bush Is Politicizing
Terrorism" By CARL HULSE
You know what's better yet? The fact that THAT article was followed by THIS:
President Bush sought to place the war in Iraq in the
context of an epic battle between tyranny and freedom.
-"In Prime-Time Address, Bush Says Safety of U.S. Hinges on Iraq" By JIM RUTENBERG and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Well well. Some of those who chose to remain blind are so because they don't know any other way of existing, and some of those who choose to be blind chose with their eyes wide open. The latter are always the ones who baffle me but, as the saying goes, there's no accounting for taste, i.e. opinions, i.e. I'm sometimes so incredibly bewildered by people and am even more bewildered to find out how NOT alone I am.
But those who pay any marginal kind of attention do notice things. That's good to know.
I'll wager that the region here-abouts would be listed as one of those "unpredictable districts"-- oh wait, nevermind, we're predictable. We're predictable enough that Mr. President wants to avoid SF at all costs which is still, I think, showing an remarkable deal of forethought for him (or for his counsellors, who knows?). Or maybe that was self-preservation. In the present era, it's often hard to tell them about.
In terms of Davis preparation, I'm at the stage of "Okay all my stuff except for my laptop and my sketchbook are in boxes now so those are the two things that I will waste all my time on". (It's a very long name for a stage, but it's also a very important stage in what I'm now going to call my Yearly Migration Period.)
Meanwhile, according to ENN, global warming will bring back dinosaur-era-like weather (though, as far as I know, no dinosaurs). Which makes me wonder what some of the fast-evolving species, the drosophila (fruitfly) for example, will look like by then. Then again, it probably wouldn't look THAT different. Bugs (Hexapoda/ Insecta, specifically) have very resilient design and the majority of it's always kept the same, as can be seen in those bug-containing ambers. Maybe we'll see a return of the giant dragonflies? Or maybe ants and cockroaches will finally take over the world. Species extinction is imminent, anyhow.
Not-so-subliminal message made yet more obvious: global warming is no cause for joy.
The cacti live on. Mom's afraid she might accidentally kill it, so I might be bring THOSE with me to Davis as well.
20060907
Recap: Phones? Phones.
The joy of explaining the same thing to three different people after thirty minute waits is namely this: there isn't any. I tried to get some information for setting up the phone-internet at the soon-to-be apartment-home and was sent from the original phone reception center to the online service reception center and finally to an online service specialist. On the other hand, I got to listen to some very impressive guitar playing over the phone (the style of the waiting music varies greatly from company to company, as I've learned), though half way through I think it's switched over to saxophone.
I don't know, I wasn't entirely paying attention, having been deriving immense pleasure in drawing phones being zapped afire by a certain floaty-type robot. Drawing is a very good way to channel impatience. I even drew a waiting-for-phone Nick comic which might show up somewhere, eventually.
Why the three people? Namely because the apartment place made an error with the zipcode and the phone company disagreed with the error in zipcode, but it took a specialist to figure out the disagreement with the error in zipcode. There was a lot of numbers involved this morning and, if I were to look over my random scribbling (which I won't, because it looks ...alarming is an understatement) it'd look like I was trying to solve a calc related-rates problem. There're less pertinent drawings, however.
Mostly it came down to "Huh, okay. Moving on and THANK GOD that it's over."
I have located a tea kettle and it's roughly the size of a grapefruit.
A bloggy entry, isn't it?
I don't know, I wasn't entirely paying attention, having been deriving immense pleasure in drawing phones being zapped afire by a certain floaty-type robot. Drawing is a very good way to channel impatience. I even drew a waiting-for-phone Nick comic which might show up somewhere, eventually.
Why the three people? Namely because the apartment place made an error with the zipcode and the phone company disagreed with the error in zipcode, but it took a specialist to figure out the disagreement with the error in zipcode. There was a lot of numbers involved this morning and, if I were to look over my random scribbling (which I won't, because it looks ...alarming is an understatement) it'd look like I was trying to solve a calc related-rates problem. There're less pertinent drawings, however.
Mostly it came down to "Huh, okay. Moving on and THANK GOD that it's over."
I have located a tea kettle and it's roughly the size of a grapefruit.
A bloggy entry, isn't it?
20060903
Random: Rubber duckies
I don't know how many of you have heard this, but it's a pretty interesting story.
Once upon a time, a cargo of twenty-something thousand rubber duckies (and frogs, and other things) accidentally went overboard in the middle of the ocean.
Some of them drifted so far north that they froze, and then the mass of frozen things hang around for a bit until the ice finally melted and soem of the rubber adventurers then bobbed up on the beaches of eastern US. (More info see here.)
The drift path of the duckies, as indicated by the large arrows. Smaller arrows indicate the ocean currents. As expected, the oceanographers fell in love with the duckies.
When asked how a rubber ducky can survive eleven years of ocean-traveling, the company that makes them made a comment about how the duckies were made to endure the bathtime of two-year-olds which, apparently, will inflict the same amount of strain as ocean salinity levels coupled with Atlantic ocean storms coupled with being frozen in the artic circle for up to five years.
Ah the hardy ducks. Just imagine the sight: thousands of rubber duckies bobbing up and down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Once upon a time, a cargo of twenty-something thousand rubber duckies (and frogs, and other things) accidentally went overboard in the middle of the ocean.
Some of them drifted so far north that they froze, and then the mass of frozen things hang around for a bit until the ice finally melted and soem of the rubber adventurers then bobbed up on the beaches of eastern US. (More info see here.)
The drift path of the duckies, as indicated by the large arrows. Smaller arrows indicate the ocean currents. As expected, the oceanographers fell in love with the duckies.
When asked how a rubber ducky can survive eleven years of ocean-traveling, the company that makes them made a comment about how the duckies were made to endure the bathtime of two-year-olds which, apparently, will inflict the same amount of strain as ocean salinity levels coupled with Atlantic ocean storms coupled with being frozen in the artic circle for up to five years.
Ah the hardy ducks. Just imagine the sight: thousands of rubber duckies bobbing up and down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
20060901
Recap: Count downs, yet again
Yesterday was a very productive day. I congratulated myself and made a cup of tea.
Today is a counter point to yesterday. There are, at this point, no more items on the immediate to-do list. My job today as charged by my parents is, strictly, to "take some time and think if you'll need anything else for Davis." When my parents tell me to "take some time and think" I will, inevitably, sit down and think. The result usually involves a headache and more lists (speaking of which, I've quite a number of THOSE already). Then the list will lead to more tea which will lead to more thinking and therefore more tea and...the cycle will go on until I recall that there's a life outside of tea and list-making and I wander off to do something else. Usually also involving paper.
Currently nine cacti have sprouted under my care, though more will be coming. According to the manual some of the seeds are timed so that they take a year to germinate. Quite a test of patience there. The spiders have made their entry into the household and I flattened two while reading the other day (they crawled over my book, I was trying to read, and ergo-). The battle against the wasps had been fought and won, and the ants haven't tried anything funny...yet. (When 10% of the biomass are them, you're bound to be a little wary.)
Off to do more thinking then.
Also, "ladies, please come and pick up your gents".
Today is a counter point to yesterday. There are, at this point, no more items on the immediate to-do list. My job today as charged by my parents is, strictly, to "take some time and think if you'll need anything else for Davis." When my parents tell me to "take some time and think" I will, inevitably, sit down and think. The result usually involves a headache and more lists (speaking of which, I've quite a number of THOSE already). Then the list will lead to more tea which will lead to more thinking and therefore more tea and...the cycle will go on until I recall that there's a life outside of tea and list-making and I wander off to do something else. Usually also involving paper.
Currently nine cacti have sprouted under my care, though more will be coming. According to the manual some of the seeds are timed so that they take a year to germinate. Quite a test of patience there. The spiders have made their entry into the household and I flattened two while reading the other day (they crawled over my book, I was trying to read, and ergo-). The battle against the wasps had been fought and won, and the ants haven't tried anything funny...yet. (When 10% of the biomass are them, you're bound to be a little wary.)
Off to do more thinking then.
Also, "ladies, please come and pick up your gents".
20060828
Recap: And there was much rejoicing
Total hours slept: 8
Total number of classes signed up for: 4
Total number of items on TO-DO list: 6
Total cups of tea drank: 0
Total number of emails processed: 12
Total number of boxes sorted: 4
Considering that it is currently 10:08am, I would say that the stats are still, so far, in my favor. Alright, onwards:
Yesterday, as most of you who read this know, was Kate's birthday. We had a movie day at her house (the last one this summer, I think, since Berkeley starts today and all other schools follow). Kate's rabbit was...'rambunctious' is nicest word I can use for her behavior. For some reason she had decided that her litter box was an enemy worthy of her foil and thus spent an admirable amount of effort headbutting it. I'm not entirely sure why she was doing that, since I AM pretty sure that she knew the litter box was (and still is, I hope) not alive.
Anna arrived next with a hug for Kate and the opening phrase "happy birthday!" which was immediately followed by the comment "Kate, your hair's wet." (Kate had just taken a shower.) We put out food. There was a lot of food. We put out more food. Kate chased Anna away from the kitchen. Well, not 'chase', exactly. It was more along the lines of Kate giving Anna one of her patented looks and Anna announcing that okay, she'd leave the kitchen now. (It was just as effective as a spatula.) Kate's mom came and they went to pick out movies. Kateryna came in the midst of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and aside from Anna, we all agreed that the science-defying movie of twitchy people was incredibly creepy. Kateryna brought "orangenade" soda which is, apparently, suppose to be like lemonade except with oranges. After about two seconds of consideration, we decided that healthy soda is an oxymoron and (I forgot who said it) anything that ends with the 'aed' sound is probably bad for you.
There was lunch (more food). Kate made us sandwiches. There was a very nice green table cloth that we, during the course of the day, redecorated with pineapples, mayo, and orangenade.
Soniya came in the middle of MIRRORMASK which I believe did not help her understand what the movie was about. It was not one of those movies that you can pick up in the middle and still figure out what happened. It WAS pretty though. And then there was (but of course) cake and the choir of "happy birthay", afterwhich Kate blew on her cake (because there was no candle) and wished that she'd never have hear us sing "happy-birthday" again. (I don't know, Kate. Do you think if I wrote it down here, for the records, that we'll remember it in time for next year?) Then there were presents and now that I've thought about it, Lucy, I am sorry that I didn't take pictures of Kate's expression. You'll just have to ask her what she got and imagine the expressions she must've had. Use that imagination. (Hem.)
We saw photos those of Lucy in Armenia (we were all very puzzled, by the way, with the one picture where Lucy dressed up and pretended to be an old woman) and we saw photos of Chicago, with occasional photos of Kate's mother in Chicago and one (yep, one) picture of Kate in Chicago. Soniya (and the rest of us) demanded to know why there wasn't more pictures of Kate and (Soniya) introduced us to the phrase "pristine beauty." In otherwords, the phrase "your photos need more 'pristine beauty'" meant "your photos need more you in it and less of the other stuff/people." I found (and still find) the idea of Kate as 'pristine' highly amusing and continues to wonder if I'm the only one who finds it funny.
Malvina came just as everyone was leaving (at around five). When she found out that we were all leaving, she ran back out and signals for Aaron to stop (eventually the signaling had to revert to the o' cellphone method) and wait for her, since she was not going to stay long then, either. At this point the rabbit was tired out (or bored out of her mind, couldn't say which) and could be found stretched out on the floor of her cage.
This was about the point when I left. As I was about to leave Kate went and got the box of soy-cracker-things that I brought, so now I have a box of soy-cracker-things and I really do think, Kate, that you will be seeing them in Davis.
Haunted by soy-cracker-things.
Still here: Ladies, come pick up your gents.
Total number of classes signed up for: 4
Total number of items on TO-DO list: 6
Total cups of tea drank: 0
Total number of emails processed: 12
Total number of boxes sorted: 4
Considering that it is currently 10:08am, I would say that the stats are still, so far, in my favor. Alright, onwards:
Yesterday, as most of you who read this know, was Kate's birthday. We had a movie day at her house (the last one this summer, I think, since Berkeley starts today and all other schools follow). Kate's rabbit was...'rambunctious' is nicest word I can use for her behavior. For some reason she had decided that her litter box was an enemy worthy of her foil and thus spent an admirable amount of effort headbutting it. I'm not entirely sure why she was doing that, since I AM pretty sure that she knew the litter box was (and still is, I hope) not alive.
Anna arrived next with a hug for Kate and the opening phrase "happy birthday!" which was immediately followed by the comment "Kate, your hair's wet." (Kate had just taken a shower.) We put out food. There was a lot of food. We put out more food. Kate chased Anna away from the kitchen. Well, not 'chase', exactly. It was more along the lines of Kate giving Anna one of her patented looks and Anna announcing that okay, she'd leave the kitchen now. (It was just as effective as a spatula.) Kate's mom came and they went to pick out movies. Kateryna came in the midst of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY and aside from Anna, we all agreed that the science-defying movie of twitchy people was incredibly creepy. Kateryna brought "orangenade" soda which is, apparently, suppose to be like lemonade except with oranges. After about two seconds of consideration, we decided that healthy soda is an oxymoron and (I forgot who said it) anything that ends with the 'aed' sound is probably bad for you.
There was lunch (more food). Kate made us sandwiches. There was a very nice green table cloth that we, during the course of the day, redecorated with pineapples, mayo, and orangenade.
Soniya came in the middle of MIRRORMASK which I believe did not help her understand what the movie was about. It was not one of those movies that you can pick up in the middle and still figure out what happened. It WAS pretty though. And then there was (but of course) cake and the choir of "happy birthay", afterwhich Kate blew on her cake (because there was no candle) and wished that she'd never have hear us sing "happy-birthday" again. (I don't know, Kate. Do you think if I wrote it down here, for the records, that we'll remember it in time for next year?) Then there were presents and now that I've thought about it, Lucy, I am sorry that I didn't take pictures of Kate's expression. You'll just have to ask her what she got and imagine the expressions she must've had. Use that imagination. (Hem.)
We saw photos those of Lucy in Armenia (we were all very puzzled, by the way, with the one picture where Lucy dressed up and pretended to be an old woman) and we saw photos of Chicago, with occasional photos of Kate's mother in Chicago and one (yep, one) picture of Kate in Chicago. Soniya (and the rest of us) demanded to know why there wasn't more pictures of Kate and (Soniya) introduced us to the phrase "pristine beauty." In otherwords, the phrase "your photos need more 'pristine beauty'" meant "your photos need more you in it and less of the other stuff/people." I found (and still find) the idea of Kate as 'pristine' highly amusing and continues to wonder if I'm the only one who finds it funny.
Malvina came just as everyone was leaving (at around five). When she found out that we were all leaving, she ran back out and signals for Aaron to stop (eventually the signaling had to revert to the o' cellphone method) and wait for her, since she was not going to stay long then, either. At this point the rabbit was tired out (or bored out of her mind, couldn't say which) and could be found stretched out on the floor of her cage.
This was about the point when I left. As I was about to leave Kate went and got the box of soy-cracker-things that I brought, so now I have a box of soy-cracker-things and I really do think, Kate, that you will be seeing them in Davis.
Haunted by soy-cracker-things.
Still here: Ladies, come pick up your gents.
20060824
Random: Avoid styrofoam
Yes I am, by large, still paying attention.
As the title suggests, this's a post mainly to advocate that people should avoid using styrofoam whenever possible. (I know in some instances you don't have a choice, but when given the option....)
Why?
Did you know that styrofoam cups actually gets lighter as you drink from them?
When people say "styrofoam" or "foam" they're usually thinking about polystyrene, something that's made from petroleum (a derivative of). Polystyrene, as the name implies (poly=many) is made of styrene. Styrene has a tendency to leak onto other stuff. Namely food. Especially food that contains fat. (Yum, styrene in your food, how about that?) When you eat styrene, it may not stay as styrene in your body. Your body makes (metabolizes) styrene oxide out of it. Styrene oxide is not proven to cause cancer in humans (carcinogenic), but it is known to cause cancer in animals. (Which I take it to mean lab rats, because, pardon me for asking, are humans not animals? Default human arrogance strikes, once again.) So it's put down as PROBABLY cancer causing to humans (scroll down to "unsaturated polyesters" under "monomers"), though there's also this (scroll to section under "How likely is styrene to cause cancer"). In any case, styrene kills brain cells (i.e. counted as a neurotoxin).
So yes, if you can, avoid styrofoam.
SF's got a head start on it though
And while I'm at it ("it" meaning scientific/environmental info dump), I might as well as try a little propaganda:
Go here to sign an open letter (you can get your name listed as "anonymous" if you're feeling squimish) to demand that Ford keeps its word and its commitement of making hybrid models. (Ford vehicles, by the way, supposidely have "the worst fuel economy". See site.)
As the title suggests, this's a post mainly to advocate that people should avoid using styrofoam whenever possible. (I know in some instances you don't have a choice, but when given the option....)
Why?
Did you know that styrofoam cups actually gets lighter as you drink from them?
When people say "styrofoam" or "foam" they're usually thinking about polystyrene, something that's made from petroleum (a derivative of). Polystyrene, as the name implies (poly=many) is made of styrene. Styrene has a tendency to leak onto other stuff. Namely food. Especially food that contains fat. (Yum, styrene in your food, how about that?) When you eat styrene, it may not stay as styrene in your body. Your body makes (metabolizes) styrene oxide out of it. Styrene oxide is not proven to cause cancer in humans (carcinogenic), but it is known to cause cancer in animals. (Which I take it to mean lab rats, because, pardon me for asking, are humans not animals? Default human arrogance strikes, once again.) So it's put down as PROBABLY cancer causing to humans (scroll down to "unsaturated polyesters" under "monomers"), though there's also this (scroll to section under "How likely is styrene to cause cancer"). In any case, styrene kills brain cells (i.e. counted as a neurotoxin).
So yes, if you can, avoid styrofoam.
SF's got a head start on it though
And while I'm at it ("it" meaning scientific/environmental info dump), I might as well as try a little propaganda:
Go here to sign an open letter (you can get your name listed as "anonymous" if you're feeling squimish) to demand that Ford keeps its word and its commitement of making hybrid models. (Ford vehicles, by the way, supposidely have "the worst fuel economy". See site.)
20060822
Recap: The buzzing continues
My cellphone contract has expired, so now the service is canceled. I expect there'll be a new number of some sort within two weeks. Meanwhile, there's my home number and of course, email.
What else? Well, list-making is currently reaching it's crescendo, as well as, I think, the purchasing of random objects by my parents. Kate and Annie, if you two are reading this, I have now gained the possession of a small-ish bulletin board/whiteboard-agenda. It's-- I didn't know people use that particular combination enough for it to make it to the shelf as a consumer product, but it did. I wonder if I can stick it on the fridge. Which reminds-- clocks, anyone? Shall we have a clock somewhere?
Aaaannd that's the way it's going to be all the way until September. My parents asked if I felt nervous about going to school or if last year's experience was enough to ...uh... 'rub the shine off', so to speak. To be honest, being nervous didn't even make it onto my to-do list, and this year is going to be different enough from last year (statement, not an opinion) that I doubt last year's events will be sufficient to prepare me for anything. Now NEXT year, it may be a different story. Then again, it may not; I tip my hat to Murphy's Law, which has all the inevitability of entropy.
Mom bought a tiny cacti set with the instructions that I'm to start it for her and have it growing by the time of her birthday, as my present to her. Yes, she plans on maintaining herself afterwards (personally I'm thinking of making a sign that says "DO NOT OVER-WATER" and taping it to the pot, because she tends to over-water plants). This just tops it all in terms of my summer of "let's start this from seed!"
Let's go and grow some cacti!
What else? Well, list-making is currently reaching it's crescendo, as well as, I think, the purchasing of random objects by my parents. Kate and Annie, if you two are reading this, I have now gained the possession of a small-ish bulletin board/whiteboard-agenda. It's-- I didn't know people use that particular combination enough for it to make it to the shelf as a consumer product, but it did. I wonder if I can stick it on the fridge. Which reminds-- clocks, anyone? Shall we have a clock somewhere?
Aaaannd that's the way it's going to be all the way until September. My parents asked if I felt nervous about going to school or if last year's experience was enough to ...uh... 'rub the shine off', so to speak. To be honest, being nervous didn't even make it onto my to-do list, and this year is going to be different enough from last year (statement, not an opinion) that I doubt last year's events will be sufficient to prepare me for anything. Now NEXT year, it may be a different story. Then again, it may not; I tip my hat to Murphy's Law, which has all the inevitability of entropy.
Mom bought a tiny cacti set with the instructions that I'm to start it for her and have it growing by the time of her birthday, as my present to her. Yes, she plans on maintaining herself afterwards (personally I'm thinking of making a sign that says "DO NOT OVER-WATER" and taping it to the pot, because she tends to over-water plants). This just tops it all in terms of my summer of "let's start this from seed!"
Let's go and grow some cacti!
20060821
Recap: SF trip, part II, continued
Part I at the bottom, if you're viewing this before I wrote the next post. Scroll down please.
...
Near the path to Stowe Lake was a statue of a woman with two children. At one point when we're passing by, someone asked, "But who's the nurturing lady?" to which a boy (elementary school age) who happened to pass by grinned and answered, airly, "Oh, that's my mother."
We cracked up, to say the least. The guy was very much confused until we explained that we were refering to the statue. But I-- yes. It's the statue of a 'pioneering woman' or something of that sort (as dictated by the inscription below the statue) with two naked children. The boy looked to be one of those nice Asian boys, passing by on a bike, which made his statement all the funnier.
That's my mother, indeed.
Stowe Lake had an island on the center, which we went on and yes, Lusine, Kate climbed things. Kate has a tendency to climb things. We saw ducks and seagulls and turtles and of course, people. Later on we wandered past again, looking for the shuttle, wondering if there even is one. Much to our surprise, there exists the free Golden Gate Park shuttle. It is not a myth. However, it was going the other way and so we waited for one that was going the direction that we were aiming for. We saw horses (with riders, of course), and cars, and people in rollerblades and on bikes. We saw no other shuttle aside from the one whose driver indicated we should wait for the one that's going our direction. Eventually we gave up and just decided to wander some more, passing by many blackberry brambles on our way, which Malvina and Kate exploited ("come and taste the sun-sweet berries of the earth", Kate?)even though SF is not exactly the ideal site for berries. Not enough sun and relatively high salinity.
We went up Kennedy Road, we went down Kennedy road and I lost my directions once, causing others to walk even more (sorry, guys). Eventually we wandered down on Irving, where Malvina lead us into Starbucks and bought us things to drink (thanks Malvina!). There was still some time left before our ride got there, so we continued wandering. We went into a Russian grocery store-like place, where Kate bought a chocolate egg-- one of the ones that, apparently, had a toy inside (it was a mountain goat. It was a mountain goat?). They also had pickled apples. I've never seen pickled apples before which reminds me-- has ANYONE ever seen canned spinach before? Just curious.
Continued wandering, eventually entering a VERY random store which included but is not limited to things such as penguin-shaped bath salts, toy guitars, furry stuffed-animal crabs, and very opinionated fridge magnets ("Like a rock, only dumber," said one, with reference to Mr. President; "Reversing progress one day at a time," said another, same subject matter ).
We left Victoria as the N-line stop and went on an earlier transit than our ever-so-helpful cal-train trip-planner suggested (that's a lot of dashes. Isn't that a lot of dashes?) so we ended up getting to the Cal train station early. Finished the rice crackers (which apallingly healthy for a snack and unexpectedly popular). Sat around on the ground. Talked. Called our parents. Got called by our parents. You know how that usually goes. Got on the train, very uneventful and zippety-do-da we're back.
Despite of what my mother may have thought, I did not encounter any terrorists during the trip. There was one lady who asked us how to get to Stern Grove or some place that sounded like it while we're waiting for the shuttle, to which we replied that we don't know (or in Kate's case, "We're not natives."). After which Victoria used a particularly terrifying kind of voice to tell us that she thought the place was "REALLY far from here." (Note to self for the future, do not ask Victoria for directions, especially when feeling paranoid.) That was, however, my extent of terror for the day. And as Anna put it, "We should do it again sometimes, guys."
Satisfactory for a recap?
[13:23 ETA]
Kate, I have your newspaper and your Advil.
Yes, Lucy, I let her climb things while she was on drugs. Shameful, isn't it?
Also, if anyone want a fullsize copy of any of the photos, email me.
...
Near the path to Stowe Lake was a statue of a woman with two children. At one point when we're passing by, someone asked, "But who's the nurturing lady?" to which a boy (elementary school age) who happened to pass by grinned and answered, airly, "Oh, that's my mother."
We cracked up, to say the least. The guy was very much confused until we explained that we were refering to the statue. But I-- yes. It's the statue of a 'pioneering woman' or something of that sort (as dictated by the inscription below the statue) with two naked children. The boy looked to be one of those nice Asian boys, passing by on a bike, which made his statement all the funnier.
That's my mother, indeed.
Stowe Lake had an island on the center, which we went on and yes, Lusine, Kate climbed things. Kate has a tendency to climb things. We saw ducks and seagulls and turtles and of course, people. Later on we wandered past again, looking for the shuttle, wondering if there even is one. Much to our surprise, there exists the free Golden Gate Park shuttle. It is not a myth. However, it was going the other way and so we waited for one that was going the direction that we were aiming for. We saw horses (with riders, of course), and cars, and people in rollerblades and on bikes. We saw no other shuttle aside from the one whose driver indicated we should wait for the one that's going our direction. Eventually we gave up and just decided to wander some more, passing by many blackberry brambles on our way, which Malvina and Kate exploited ("come and taste the sun-sweet berries of the earth", Kate?)even though SF is not exactly the ideal site for berries. Not enough sun and relatively high salinity.
We went up Kennedy Road, we went down Kennedy road and I lost my directions once, causing others to walk even more (sorry, guys). Eventually we wandered down on Irving, where Malvina lead us into Starbucks and bought us things to drink (thanks Malvina!). There was still some time left before our ride got there, so we continued wandering. We went into a Russian grocery store-like place, where Kate bought a chocolate egg-- one of the ones that, apparently, had a toy inside (it was a mountain goat. It was a mountain goat?). They also had pickled apples. I've never seen pickled apples before which reminds me-- has ANYONE ever seen canned spinach before? Just curious.
Continued wandering, eventually entering a VERY random store which included but is not limited to things such as penguin-shaped bath salts, toy guitars, furry stuffed-animal crabs, and very opinionated fridge magnets ("Like a rock, only dumber," said one, with reference to Mr. President; "Reversing progress one day at a time," said another, same subject matter ).
We left Victoria as the N-line stop and went on an earlier transit than our ever-so-helpful cal-train trip-planner suggested (that's a lot of dashes. Isn't that a lot of dashes?) so we ended up getting to the Cal train station early. Finished the rice crackers (which apallingly healthy for a snack and unexpectedly popular). Sat around on the ground. Talked. Called our parents. Got called by our parents. You know how that usually goes. Got on the train, very uneventful and zippety-do-da we're back.
Despite of what my mother may have thought, I did not encounter any terrorists during the trip. There was one lady who asked us how to get to Stern Grove or some place that sounded like it while we're waiting for the shuttle, to which we replied that we don't know (or in Kate's case, "We're not natives."). After which Victoria used a particularly terrifying kind of voice to tell us that she thought the place was "REALLY far from here." (Note to self for the future, do not ask Victoria for directions, especially when feeling paranoid.) That was, however, my extent of terror for the day. And as Anna put it, "We should do it again sometimes, guys."
Satisfactory for a recap?
[13:23 ETA]
Kate, I have your newspaper and your Advil.
Yes, Lucy, I let her climb things while she was on drugs. Shameful, isn't it?
Also, if anyone want a fullsize copy of any of the photos, email me.
Recap: We have ventured forth... part I
"You have to include that joke in your recap," said Kate. "When you write the recap."
"I am (writing a recap)?" I asked.
"Yes," stated Kate. "You are."
...
"...It's Sunday morning over were you guys are, and despite my jealousy I hope you'll all have a great time (and take pictures! ahem)," wrote Lusine.
To which I've decided, oh well, "You'll hear about the trip (maybe with pictures too) in my blog, which I'll type a entry in, next morning."
So, my salutations to the two ladies. Here's a long and detailed recap of the events of yesterday. Blogger won't let me upload pictures this morning, so you'll have to go under my yahoo account to see the photos (#9-19, though Anna went 'trigger-happy' and took many more pictures of all kinds of things until her camera ran out of batteries, so ask her for pictures too). Cheers.
...
It was a gray and cloudy morning when we met at Costco, which was very empty, due to the fact that most people had better things to do on a Sunday morning (i.e. before 9am) than to meet in front of a store that doesn't even open until 10am. Ashley had apparently left for Arkansas, and Christine's moving in to Berkeley (good luck, Christine!), Soniya's working at the Jazz Festival so, when the counting began, the group consisted of Anna, Kate, Malvina and I.
We played around with the ticket machines which for reasons I can't fathom only returned changes in coins. Therefore, when Anna inserted a twenty dollar bill, it sounded like she'd suddenly won lottery. Oh the clinking. Oh the number of coins. Oh the-- Chuckee? Chucky? Cheese tokens. Token. Singular, I hope. One has to wonder how it got in there. But Anna had a cat-shaped purse which she was very excited about. Look! It's like a cat!
The train came on time. That was nice.
The trip over to SF involved stopping at San Carlos, taking a bus to downtown SF, then taking another bus from there to the Golden Gate Park. Getting off at San Carlos was not very eventful...until we saw the bus arriving when we're still some distances away from it. There was running. We came up to the bus, where it stopped at the red light, to have the driver indicate with his hands that the bus stop was in fact at the next ...block (well, it was sort of a block, given the train-station set up). So? More running. But we caught the bus on time, which allowed us to catch the other bus on time (always a good thing), and during the course of the entire trip got to listen to the enlightening conversation between Malvina and Kate on the usage and effect of drugs vs steroids, which drew some very odd looks from our fellow passengers. (But we're teenagers, so we got to get away with saying an awful lot of strange things.)
Met Victoria at Park from which point we went to the conservatorium. There were lots of plants. We looked at the plants. There was also a butterfly exhibit in place while we visited which was very nice, which I thought was nice, in theory. However my current tolerance for butterflies is "no more than three live ones", and there was an entire ROOM full. After a few minutes I decided that I wasn't too keen on getting over my phobia on the spot (didn't feel particularly like suffering that day) and left to the room. Got Kate to take pictures for me though. Thanks Kate.
We met a survey taker on our way out, who insisted on us taking a survey. "It'll only take a few minutes," he said, "And I'll even help you with the hard questions."
He began by inquiring the number of people in our group, then our age bracket. 25-30? He tried. 18-24? Ye-es, we agreed. Malvina gave Kate a sideways look. "Well, she's 17." To which Kate very emphathetically stated that there was only seven days left, SEVEN. To which the survey taker (a guy) remarked that he's a virgo too. Oookay, we thought, and waited for the next question.
"What's your reason for coming to the conservatory?" He inquired politely (and he's always polite, by the way). My first thought was, because Malvina wanted to go to the restroom, which I can't very well say, so I said something along the lines of "because we know where it is." Which, I think, the guy found disappointing.
We wandered over to the outside gardens after that. At this point Anna was asking repeatedly if we were going to have lunch, so we sat down on the bench by the chrysanthemum garden and had lunch (and I illegally fed a bird but shh, don't tell).
Should we try to find a shuttle or wander, we wondered, after lunch. Wander, we decided, and therefore did, passing by the survey taker (poor guy) again (there were actually a surprising number of them that day), upon which Kate cried "Avert your eyes! Avert your eyes!" I think we concluded that survey takers are the current equivalent of social leprosy, and from that point on, whenever Kate saw a survey taker she would say "Avert your eyes!"
We saw a dancing class outside of De Young Museum. That was very odd. And Anna is apparently obsessed with mini coopers, letting us know-- one way or another-- whenever she spotted another one. At one point I think she started talking to them, saying how cute they are. I wasn't entirely sure, but we continued our wondering and eventually arrived at Stowe Lake.
Okay, far too long, breaking this into two posts.
20060817
Recap: Books, pens, books, what?
Classes are over-- and classes are about to begin again, soon. There're still dozens of little errands to run, things to clear up and parents to sooth (must this occur every year? Every?). I'd start the mental preparations except now I'm convinced that no amount of preparations is enough for the actual experience. It's much more interesting, anyway, to take things as they come. Interesting, not necessarily easier. Choice is, actually, not an actual issue in this question, so it's just a matter of perspective. You can either accept it or fight it, and I've decided that the energy spent fighting something inevitable could be put to better use. Such as continuing my attempts to reduce the length of my to-read list, for example.
What has happened lately?
Well, Kate's in Chicago and I'm currently taking care of her rabbit, who has decided that she really liked curtains. Lusine's in Armenia and suffering from some combination of boredom and heat, though it's not so bad now, I hear, since she started having art classes. Victoria's still in SF. Anna's around, having just been freed from classes, and likewise, has errants to run (not to mention work).
My dad's finally finished the floor. That's something. And I've been collecting plants after a fashion. Mostly though, I've slept. I even slept until nine this morning which was very strange considering my usual habits, but very nice also.
Nostalgia. And I don't even know what I'm nostalgic for. Oh there are guesses, as there always will, but for this once, I don't think I'm about to hit upon the answer any time in the near future. Nor do I want to.
I'll leave off this very much rambling post with something my old ESL teacher has sent me:
ZEN SARCASM
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me,
for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much
leave me the hell alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and
leaky tire
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your
neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be
promoted.
5. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
7. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of
car
payments.
8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have
their
shoes.
9. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish,
and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
Delete Reply Forward Spam Move...
Previous | Next | Back to Messages Save Message Text | Full Headers
Also, ladies, come pick up your gents.
What has happened lately?
Well, Kate's in Chicago and I'm currently taking care of her rabbit, who has decided that she really liked curtains. Lusine's in Armenia and suffering from some combination of boredom and heat, though it's not so bad now, I hear, since she started having art classes. Victoria's still in SF. Anna's around, having just been freed from classes, and likewise, has errants to run (not to mention work).
My dad's finally finished the floor. That's something. And I've been collecting plants after a fashion. Mostly though, I've slept. I even slept until nine this morning which was very strange considering my usual habits, but very nice also.
Nostalgia. And I don't even know what I'm nostalgic for. Oh there are guesses, as there always will, but for this once, I don't think I'm about to hit upon the answer any time in the near future. Nor do I want to.
I'll leave off this very much rambling post with something my old ESL teacher has sent me:
ZEN SARCASM
1. Do not walk behind me, for I may not lead. Do not walk ahead of me,
for I may not follow. Do not walk beside me either. Just pretty much
leave me the hell alone.
2. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and
leaky tire
3. It's always darkest before dawn. So if you're going to steal your
neighbor's newspaper, that's the time to do it.
4. Don't be irreplaceable. If you can't be replaced, you can't be
promoted.
5. Always remember that you're unique. Just like everyone else.
6. Never test the depth of the water with both feet.
7. If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of
car
payments.
8. Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have
their
shoes.
9. If at first you don't succeed, skydiving is not for you.
10. Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish,
and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day.
Delete Reply Forward Spam Move...
Previous | Next | Back to Messages Save Message Text | Full Headers
Also, ladies, come pick up your gents.
20060813
Annoucement: Ladies, come and pick your your gents...
If you would like to reclaim / update your character, now's the time to do it. I daresay that all of them have "gained" (AHEM) enough personality to be stand-alone characters. Ah yes, about the reclaiming / updating: when a character's reclaimed, he won't appear again in my writing / art. Updating is, well, updating. You download the character profile, add / change what you will (if you would be so kind as to make the changed parts a different color, that would be much appreciated)) and then send the edited version back (email or, I don't know, you can always print it out and thwack me over the head with it?). Here are the profiles (.doc) uploaded under my geocity account. Listed alphabetically by last name we have:
Mssr. N. Lucille
Mr. M. J. Reynolds
Mr. G. F. Smith
Oh yes, if you reclaim your character, email or otherwise. Just let me know. You are not allowed to claim someone else's character unless she consents and yes, I'm leaving Zach out of it and he's not open to anyone's claim.
Any further writing (in planning or otherwise) will be postponed until I get some form of response from the three people I'm waiting to hear from (who hopefully still reads this). Meanwhile, the random sketches continues haphazardly at my livejournal.
Cheers. The year-long experiment has certainly been an experience.
Mssr. N. Lucille
Oh yes, if you reclaim your character, email or otherwise. Just let me know. You are not allowed to claim someone else's character unless she consents and yes, I'm leaving Zach out of it and he's not open to anyone's claim.
Any further writing (in planning or otherwise) will be postponed until I get some form of response from the three people I'm waiting to hear from (who hopefully still reads this). Meanwhile, the random sketches continues haphazardly at my livejournal.
Cheers. The year-long experiment has certainly been an experience.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)