A Wandering WeyrCat...

John Branyan does Shakespeare's The Three Little Pigs

2012-01-30T19:36:00.000-08:00

Besides the fact that the comedian is really funny, his "Three Little Pigs" as done (mostly) Shakespearean is REALLY impressive! I LOVED it and just had to share! :D ENJOY!

Pretty good day, til socked in the jaw.

2012-01-30T17:11:00.000-08:00

It's still a pretty good day. Though smiling about it kind of hurts.

-On the way to school Hubby and I watched a sloooooow one-manned vehicle get nicked by an unmarked car for driving in the carpool lane (YES!) Talk about satisfying. We cheered the rest of the way there.

-While sleepy in chem I wrote all the notes by hand instead of referring to his printed notes (that he encourages us to bring.) I think the act of writing it helps me learn it, so I felt better about the material today.

-My German professorin decided she wanted all of us to take home and redo the homework we were turning in that day, because she wants it in complete sentences. While this may seem kind of crappy, I'd forgotten mine in my German folder at home.

-The chem TA I went to see said my pre-lab and flow chart were good, and hinted at where I could/should make it better. She did tell me to put in less detail on the flow chart, but the things she mentioned removing are actually vital, so I'll chock it up to her first semester as a TA (she told me so). I gave her some friendly tips on what my previous lab TA told us she isn't supposed to divulge (she asked, and I was kind enough to be honest.)

-The physics tutor turned out to be on duty when I showed up to ask about scheduling and I spent an hour getting a "what I need to know about trigonometry to pass Physics I" lesson. Guy was pretty cool. Liked my wedding ring and asked where I got it. I gave him the info (I LOVE turning people onto this ring!) and he commented on the Lady he thought would love it.

-I finished my online physics homework, with a LOT of outside help. How did I get so behind? It's ok. I plan to become a regular with the physics tutor after I read the material and have questions.

-On the way home, hubby and I watched sloooooow one-manned vehicle get nicked by a state-trooper that had someone else pulled over to the left side of the Interstate. Not joking. We lamented the guy in front of us (probably going slow in hopes of going unnoticed, as if that ever works,) and we both saw the Trooper see the car and TRACK it until we passed him. Eyes locked, his head swiveled with it. While Hubby and I were guffawing about the size of the black car's driver's cohones and/or brain, the Trooper came FLYING up the lane, lightbar going, and the black car attempted to slide into regular traffic (as they always do!) Trooper slid in behind him and coaxed him back out and over to the side of the road. OH MY DOG we were LAUGHING and LAUGHING! Twice! TWICE in one day we got to see those cell-phone-using, illegally-in-the-HOV-lane, SLOW-DRIVING people who ALWAYS seem to be in front of us, get pulled over. Wonderful.

-I discovered there were still Sprite Zeros hidden in the back of the fridge! (WEEEE!)

OW!

-Now, Rook did slam into my jaw with her rock hard skull while trying to get a ball, thus cause my glasses to fly off and chip at the bottom of each glass, while I spun around dizzy. I dropped to my knees and put my head and arms on the outside table until it passed. Hurts. Icing it, but it still feels the size of a golf ball. I also have a headache, and a minor toothache.

-I don't have any ice cream.

-OpenOffice chewed up the physics lab report I spent two hours on this weekend. I was able to correct the errors, but it took me about 20 minutes.

-I still have homework and studying to do.

So while it wasn't a perfect day, and I previously thought it was a GREAT day, the throbbing jaw and head encourage me to downgrade it to just a 'pretty good day.' Still... It was pretty good.

Some cool stuff for you:

The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See It's a very logical argument and a demonstration of the logic puzzle that represents our few choices regarding global climate change (and the possibility that it's NOT happening) .I think everyone should watch it. Whether you think think global climate change is happening, not happening, human-caused, or naturally occurring. I encourage you to watch.

I know her videos aren't for everyone, but a good number of her videos are very funny to me. This one, I think, can appeal to a LOT. I think you'll like it!

This one's also rather amusing, in a "Hey! I identify with that!" sort of way. You either do these things, or know someone who does!
http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-5-stupidest-habits-you-develop-growing-up-poor/

Also, my landlord just let the upstairs apartment out as a halfway house. So, I'm finally getting a pistol of my own. I kind of liked the Sig I was planning on a couple years ago, maybe in Rainbow to match my knife (why not make deadly, pretty?), but Hubby has a guy in his unit who's SWAT, a Prepper, and has a Deputy for a wife, so he asked his opinion. He honestly recommended the Ruger LCP. Such a tiny little thing. Maybe I can get the Distributor Exclusive. It looks like the plastic 'silver' cowboy toy guns I had when I was little!

Upper Body by Female Bodybuilding Bible.

2012-01-26T09:57:00.000-08:00

I log my PT at Fitocracy.com!
This workout: The Female Training Bible:
This music: Lindsey Stirling's violin stream.

WeyrCat earned 133 points for:

Walked up the stairs (in lieu of the elevator):
- 1 floors (+5 pts)
- Poetry class.
Dumbbell Bicep Curl:
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
- Today's PT brought to you with the awesome violin stylings of Lindsey Stirling. Whodathunk violin music would have a beat you could rep to?
Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press:
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+7 pts)
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+7 pts)
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+7 pts)
Bent Over Two-Dumbbell Row:
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
Dumbbell Bench Press:
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+7 pts)
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+7 pts)
- 5e, so 10total. Superset with skullcrushers.
Lying Barbell Triceps Extension ("Skullcrusher"):
- 10 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
- 10 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
- 10 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
- Dumbbell 5lbE. Superset with chest press.
Dumbbell Squat:
- 0 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
- 5 lb x 10 reps (+5 pts)
- 10 lb x 10 reps (+10 pts)
- Why only ONE dumbbell when I'm squatting two of them? I'm sorry but this doesn't make sense. Is the system programmed to know the difference? It knows on Squats, the lb is doubled, but not on curls? Why do that? I doubt it does. Let's test. I did one bodyweight set, and three with two 5lb dumbbel
Barbell Squat:
- 10 lb x 10 reps (+6 pts)
- VOTES FOR WOMEN! 2-5lb held in line.
Barbell Bench Press:
- 10 lb x 10 reps (+6 pts)
- VOTES FOR WOMEN! 2-5lb held in line. Removed one set from dumbbell version.
Goblet Squat (dumbbell):
- 10 lb x 10 reps (+6 pts)
- Tried for the quest :D used my 10lb. LOVED IT
Bench Dip (Seated Dip):
- 5 reps (+4 pts)
- Used the couch. My butt touches the floor O_o
Barbell Deadlift:
- 10 lb x 5 reps (+6 pts)
- My knee pops. Maybe I'm doing it wrong? /videos.

Ok, so, I learned: The points are doubled when the weight is doubled (on squat). Still... if I'm holding the dumbbells in line like a bar, simply because I don't have a bar, why input only HALF the weight I'm squatting? Comments?

PS: My 5k is this Saturday! SO EXCITED!
We signed Hubby up too. Though we're both signed up for the "Competitive Co-Ed 5k" they only list corrals by gender 45 minutes apart. I hope they're not going to be silly about it. If I have to I'll have one of us ditch the timing chip to run in the other corral. If someone wants to get butthurt over it, they're taking a 5k tooooo seriously.

Can I play too Momma?

VoteEasy.Org

2012-01-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

I really like this site and have used it a few times over the last decade or so. Sometimes it surprises me, sometimes not. It asks you your stance on big issues and then "ranks" the candidates according to how they have voted or stood on those issues. Obama and Libertarians always end up WAY up front for me, and then everything evens out as I keep answering questions and rating "How important the issue is to" me.

This came out pretty much exactly how I thought it would. The Libertarian candidate, who probably doesn't have a leg to stand on in America, matches my ideas 62%. Ron Paul is the next choice at 49%, but note where ALL the Republicans are: All in the low 40s. There's only one Democrat on the board (probably because he's already President, do the Democrats have to back him because he's already President or can they push another Democrat candidate? Hmm. I'm betting they have to back him.

So. I rather hope Ron Paul gets the Rep. nomination. I know some people who already say they're voting for him. I pray Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, and Rick Perry get hit by a bus, so it's a good thing in all trials prayer has no evidence of making any impact on the physical world. Still, the way things are going I wouldn't put it past the future to have the Thought Police snag me up and deem me an UnPerson for such remarks.

Cest la vie.

Interesting: The Libertarian candidate jumped BACK a scosh when I said "Yes" to gun ownership.
Ron Paul kinda seems like a Libertarian too, but it would be easier to get elected on one of the Two-Party-Tickets (thanks, idiot Americans!) Gary Johnson WAS on the Republican ticket but left (I think it says December 2011). Probably because, like Ron Paul, someone that pretends to be For the People instead of For the Church doesn't stand a snowflake's chance in hell.

PS: Why does The Google spellchecker underline Santorum, but not Romney? Weeeeird.

Caveat: I agree with the above, except I think, since they are all Private sphere issues, that they should be kept in Private places, excepting firearms and marriage (derp). Alcohol, cigarettes, porn, drugs, and sex, should be at Home or in Bars/Dens only. Please not in Public. I don't want to watch you have sex OR breathe in your second hand smoke, so keep it to yourself.

That is all.

Tell your Rep to VOTE NO on SOPA/PIPA!

2012-01-18T13:45:00.000-08:00

In case you don't know, I feel strongly about this.

I used the Wikipedia rep-finder to contact my local Representatives. I sent them all e-mails, and called the numbers provided. One lady took down my opinions and promised to "pass them on." I left a message for another. One line is constantly busy. The last line's mailbox is full. WE THE PEOPLE do not want this bill. Yet... because our reps don't represent US, I fear the end of the internet is nigh.

One of my reps responded (probably with a smart-filter responder) to the email I sent him about SOPA/PIPA. I'll post it at the bottom since it's the same political "sandwich" you always hear when they dodge you.

If you STILL are unsure what SOPA/PIPA are and how they affect you, watch this vid for a very understandable breakdown.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Here's an amusing video that would be illegal if SOPA passed. (His use of a copywrited tune, though legal under the Parody clause, could land him in prison for five years if some judge feels it's wrong!)

If you haven't signed a petition, written your Representatives, CALLED them, please DO SO before January 24 when

they vote themselves the ability to CENSOR what you READ, HEAR, SEE, LEARN!

Imagine going back to a time when you couldn't look up definitions or homework questions, search 500 year old patterns and recipes. Remember when your knowledge of the world was limited to what your local TV news channel wanted you to know?

DO NOT LET ANYONE CONTROL YOUR ABILITY TO LEARN FOR YOURSELF!

See what it's like to be left in the dark.* Then, PLEASE, contact your local political yahoo and tell them you will not go gently into the night.
Want to know where that phrase is from? Too bad. "The internet... is down."

--*On Jan18,2012, Wikipedia.com went black to represent how much freedom of information could be lost if the Government censors the Internet and controls your input. Left up was a submit box where you could enter your zip code and be given a list of the Representatives for your area, and their contact information. If you have not taken part in the fight, you should. We the people don't control the Representatives anymore, and we will probably lose. Don't go without a FIGHT.

SRSLY.

Now, the letter, for those interested in the jargon.

Skip to the starred line if you already know what "representatives" think about the opinions of those they represent.

Dear Mrs. Kepley:

Thank you for contacting me to express your views regarding H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, and S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act. I appreciate the time you took to write to me, and I welcome this opportunity to respond.

As you know, H.R. 3261 and S. 968 would allow the Attorney General to take legal action against individuals associated with an internet site committing or facilitating online piracy, including criminal copyright infringement and trafficking in counterfeit labels, goods, or services. The bills would also allow for legal proceedings against foreign nationals who are associated with delinquent domain names that harm American Internet users.

The Internet is a critical tool in our 21st century economy. It is an extremely important engine for economic growth, innovation, and communication. Inventors and innovators, large corporations and small business owners all use the Internet to make public their ideas – ideas that have revolutionized the way we communicate with one another, get information, and do business. Unfortunately, the Internet has also been used to steal these ideas, hurting the ability of businesses to compete in the global market place.

Please know that I understand your concerns regarding Internet security, free speech, and innovation. The Constitution guarantees that innovators have the exclusive right to their properties for a limited time in order to receive benefits from their investments. We must ensure that these rights are protected on the Internet and that we have a regulatory system that punishes infringing activities. Producers of intellectual property (IP) content, such as TV, music, movies, and software lose an estimated $250 billion dollars annually due to IP theft from rogue websites, costing the U.S. an estimated 750,000 jobs. Furthermore, if IP content holders are unable to protect their investments, consumers may lose out on the very content that they use the internet to access.

On the other hand, I agree with you that government regulations must not encroach on the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment of the Constitution. Please know that I will not support legislation that implements censorship of information, denies online access to safe goods and services, or impedes the ability of entrepreneurs and consumers to share ideas, freely communicate, and start new businesses. I believe that Congress must pursue a course that maintains a balance between the free flow of information across the Internet and the need to protect individuals who publicize their intellectual property.

H.R. 3261 was introduced by Representative Lamar Smith of Texas on October 26, 2011 and has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, which is scheduled to further consider the bill in February, 2012. S. 968 was introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont on May 12, 2011, and was referred to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary. The bill was reported favorably out of committee and has been scheduled for a vote in the Senate. I will certainly keep your views in mind should any of these bills come before the House of Representatives for a vote.

Once again, thank you for contacting me about this important issue. If I may be of further assistance to you on this or any other matter of mutual concern, please do not hesitate to contact me. I also encourage you to visit my official Web site at www.alceehastings.house.gov to learn where I stand on many of the issues affecting our district, state, nation, and world. With warm regards, I remain,

Sincerely,

Alcee L. Hastings

Member of Congress

*******************************************

In other words, I've already decided that I'm going to vote FOR it, so I'll just use the "sandwich technique" to make you think I actually care about your opinion while completely ignoring your desires.

My reps don't represent ME or anyone else in my pay grade.

VOTE NO ON SOPA/PIPA! Reps are supposed to vote based on how THE MAJORITY FEELS (whether that, in itself, is flawed or not). If REPRESENTATIVES cannot do the job right, I'm sure the American people would be HAPPY to go to their designated voting booths and TELL YOU what you can't seem to figure out.

Neopets

2012-01-16T08:27:00.000-08:00

Holding Page.
I used to be HUGE into Neopets. In fact, I played so long ago that the navigation bar looked like the one above! The whole site has been overhauled several times and nothing looks like it used to.

JainaWyr was born a Shoyru. At some point, I turned her into a Purple Camo Poogle. It's cute, especially the poogle attack face, but now that Shoyru's can be camo (PURPLE camo) my goal is to idly earn enough points to turn her back the way she was! It'll take a while, since I don't actively play.

JainaWyr,
(in about 450k)
Her Xmas Pawkeet "Moonkin"
and in about 250k, his Fleaf!

I wanted to read to her as much as I could. I think before I was a good runner up for the Neopian Book Award. Now, a few years later, the books read are in the 2ks. Since I don't play anymore it's not a big deal, but WOW!

An alphabetical list of what she's read isn't really necessary. They keep a list of what she's read here:
So it's more important to keep a list of the things she REFUSES to read, so you don't keep buying it over and over again!

--><--

Books JainaWyr found Boring!

A Tale of Two Lupes

How to Make Papyrus
JubJub Pop Up Book

Fantastic Faellies

Fishing For Zafaras

Gruslen Pop-Up Book
Learn Social Skills
Morguss Spell BookNimmo - Now and Zen
Poetry For Peophins
Pop Up Zafara Book
Pteri Battle Manual
Springy Gelert Book
The Little Scorchio

The Luckiest Babaa

The Meercas Bad Day
The Mighty Blumaroo
The Threat OutsideTuskaninny Treasure
Tyragh the Terrible
World Class Wockys

The books she HAS read, I like to keep

JainaWyr's Read Booklist	Books Jaina found Boring!
A is for Aisha Acaras in History Advanced Learning Advanced Papyrus Making Advanced Poetry After the Battle Aisha Book Algebra All About Air Faeries All About Glass All About Fire Faeries All About Light Faeries All You Need to Know About Your JubJub Alphabet Babaa Care Baby Shoyru Book Back In Peaceful Times Billy Blue Hat Blumaroo Dance Moves Blumaroo Guide To Dancing Blumaroo Love Stories Book of Origami Paper Book of Swords Breakfast Treats Brainy Blumaroos Breathe Brightvale Maps Brightvale Potion Manual Bubble Sculptures Caring for Eyries Caring For Your Mazzew Cartography For Beginners Classic Moehog Tales Collecting Moon Rock Confident Kyrii Constellation Spotting Counting Babaas Crazy About Quiggles Curious Korbats Cybunny Colouring Book Cybunny Down Cybunny Financing Dance Away Dark Faerie Magic Day In The Life Of King Roo Defenders Of Neopia Annual Defend Yourself Drawing Kiko Earth Spell Book Edna Elephante Dreams Eye-Sha Faellie Handbook Faellie Tales Faerie Folk Feathered Friends Feeding Lupes Fishing Made Easy Forever Ferny Gallion Care Gallion Colouring Book Gallant Gallions Comic Gelert On Treasure Island Geometry Level 1 Ghoul Catchers: The Quest Continues Grarrls Are Great Grooming Your Faellie Grundo Food Guide to Lupes Healing Koi Hoppers Hayday How to be a Model How to Draw Guide Illusens Novel Im Not Angry Inside the Mind of a Lupe Island Cybunny Guide Ixi Pop-Up Book JubJub Know How JubJubs Day JubJub Manual Know Your Motes Kau Comics Kau Pies Kaus Guide to Better Grazing Keeping The Peace Kiko Care Kiko Food Guide Kiko - Fu Kiko Pop-Up Book King Hagan Know Your Collectable Cards Know Your Motes Koi Owners Manual Koi Tales Korbat Calculus Korbat Games Kougra Classics Kougra Tales Kreludan Bed Time Stories Kreludan Christmas Carols Kreludan Cookie Book Kreludan Facts Kreludan Fashion Kreludan Recipes Learn to Fly Learned Royalty Lennies in Love Lenny Crosswords Library Tales Little book of puzzles Loyal Lupes Mage Spells Magic Spells Maraqua Colouring Book Meepit vs Feepit Game Guide Modern Spells Moon Missions More Than Carrot Cake My First Babaa Mynci Law Mynci Tails Mystery Island Tour Guide Mystery Of The Kougra Paw Mythical Kyriis Nomi the Grey Faerie Neopets Puzzles and GamesNeopian Encyclopedia A - E Neopian Encyclopedia F - J Neopian Encyclopedia K - O Neopian Encyclopedia U - Z Neopian Times Issue 3 Neopian Times Year 6 Annual Nerkmid Mania Nest Builders Manual Nimmo Gift Ideas Nimmos Ogrin Deluxe Book Ogrin Survivor Oopsy Daisy Orange Central History Orange Grundo Survival Handbook Pazo the Lonely Aisha Peopatras Petpets Petpet Biology Petpet Park Pirate Small Talk Playing with Fire Purple Power Quiggle Quotes Radio Active Pteri Part 1 Rainbow Painting Robin Lupe Robot Days Ruki Adventures Sakhmet Natives Sakhmet Petpets Sakhmet Tales Sarahs Guide to Neopia Scaredy Acara Scorch E O Scorchio Book Scorchio Cooks Seasonal Faerie Tales Shiny Scales Shoyru Heroes Shoyru Mysteries Shoyru Songs Shoyru Surprise Sick Kyrii Sinister Skeith Skeith Inspired Treasure Maps Skeith Magic Snowy - A White Kougra Story Squeaky Elephante Book Tales of Bravery The Secret Behind The Jewel The Angry Chomby The Big Book of Karma The Big Blue Blumaroo Book The Chomby Fight The Cowardly Tuskaninny The End of the Tunnel The Fire Shoyru The Giggling Quiggle The Gorgeous Gallion The Grarrl Who Crushed Tyrannia The Great Chomby The Green Book The Kreludan Flag The Life of a Double Crosser The Littlest Elephante The Lonely Elephante The Lost Kau The Macho Kyrii The Magic Paw The Mover The Plushie Coffee Table Book The Sad Shoyru The Secret Behind The Jewel The Secret Chomby The Secret of Treasure Island The Shoy (Very Rare) The Story of the Ghoul Catchers The Tournament Handbook The Ultimate Field Guide to Neopets Tome of Selket Tonu Talk Tooth Faerie Book Top Tuskaninnys Turmac Snacks Train Koi Training Your Moehog Trectse fo Thade Ultimate Neopets Tips! Ultimate Wocky Manual Unique Unis Victory Is Ours Walking Book Watch Out Waterlogged Book When Your Meercas Hurt Wishing On A Star Wonderful World of Gardening Yurble Tales Zafara Music Zombie Unis

Review: Sphere

2012-01-08T11:41:00.001-08:00

Sphere by Michael Crichton

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's very easy to 'get to know' the main character and to see how he sees everyone around him. It's the right level of history, description, and opinion. The details of the book make it easy to BE there. I found the story engrossing, just the right level of confusing, and once I dug in I didn't stop until I had to. The ending it nicely tied together and leaves me with that little bit of "hmmmm, I wonder..." Great book.

View all my reviews

What's on my Mind? Information overload.

2012-01-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

School starts next week. I'm excited, and already missing vacation at the same time. Still glowing with how great vacation was! Beach, camping, family, tons of time with hubby...

The rest of this is largely my opinions on some politics and the state of the American country, and then some really cool articles I want to share with you. Dessert is the books and movies I've devoured in my time off :)

In my news feed, I'm watching the National Defense Authorization Act scare me and scores of other people nightmares of internment camps. Our president being okay with it, and so many people just not knowing what's going on.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alton-lu/the-national-defense-auth_b_1180869.html

I'm worried about the Stop Online Piracy Act locking down our 'internet borders' and thrusting us into an era where the government controls what we see, hear, read, and what we're allowed to learn. It seems like such a good idea (to corporations) to control their products and prevent 'theft' and distribution of these products. Our government chastises other countries for "Information Blackouts" caused by the government shutting OFF the internet to keep their people mentally trapped, to CONTROL their information. This shouldn't be! It's metaphorical stone throw from book burning.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alton-lu/the-national-defense-auth_b_1180869.html

Speaking of book burning, Rick Santorum, who is running for PRESIDENT, thinks it would be a good idea if "...our civil laws ... comport with [God's] higher law." This is America, WHICH god? We have a few here. Oh, "not any god (but) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." So much for religious freedom. Didn't we just spend ten years hunting down a bunch of people who thought instituting "God's law" into "State law" was a good idea? He's never get away with it, theoretically, since the Constitution strictly forbids it. Then again, so many states have laws that back "God's law" while completely ignoring common sense and human rights that it's terrifying to think if those people backed this idiot (and were the majority, which I still try to believe they are not) America could really end up the Christian States of America as the rest of the world already jokingly sees us. Be religious, be faithful, but don't be a conquering maniacal jack-rabbit about it. My apologies to the jack-rabbit.

http://articles.cnn.com/2012-01-05/opinion/opinion_obeidallah-santorum-sharia_1_rick-santorum-santorum-two-santorum-one?_s=PM:OPINION

The National Center for Science Education reports every week MORE states with bills designed to keep students IGNORANT of evolution, geology, basic biology, all to further the crumbling farce that it Intelligent Design, Creationism, or whatever you want to call it. Sadly people in our government (who of course pander to the majority and thereby support these affronts to vast amounts of work done (by people wielding the Scientific Method trying to DISPROVE themselves!) Our government supports our ignorance, whether it's because they're really that self-blindfolding themselves or because it's simply convenient to have a populace you can whip up into a frenzy with something as ~~insubstantial~~ as religious bias. Scratch that, religious bias is terribly substantial, ask anyone who's been persecuted for being something other than a quaking sky worshiper.

This one makes me just about the most angry... I'm not sure if it's because we're trying to teach our children NOT TO THINK and not to expect the answers to the question "Why" or because people are purposely shoving MISinformation and ignorance in childrens' minds. Disgusting.

"She didn't want to know how a thing was done, but why. That can be embarrassing." - Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury 1953.
" A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man's mind. Who knows who might be the target of the well-read man? Me? I won't stomach them for a minute." - Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury 1953.

http://ncse.com/news

So the state of America is currently one morphing into a land where ONE RELIGION rules the government; our information will be controlled which means information is DENIED us; the government can send military troops to your home and put you prison indefinitely without evidence or trial (a sad step down from the act that allowed them to ransack your home without anything more than Spidey Sense, thanks Patriot Act!)

I don't think I need to reiterate how worried I am about what will be left of the world and reason when I bring a child into the age of free-thinking.

----------------------------

In some better news, Stephen Hawking turns 70 tomorrow despite being diagnosed with ALS 49 years ago. The man is a genius and should be considered an international treasure.

http://www.hawking.org.uk/

This poem is like a grammatical brain teaser and I recommend to anyone and everyone! You have to read it out loud, of course.

http://www.thepoke.co.uk/2011/12/23/english-pronunciation/

Scientific American has had some really cool articles lately, I'll let you sift since you may not be interested in them in the way I am. :)

The Secret Lives of Bats [Slide Show]: Scientific American

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=secret-lives-of-bats

A new guidebook offers fascinating details about the 47 species that populate the U.S. and Canada (and a really cool slideshow!)

The Case of the Missing Polygamists | The Primate Diaries, Scientific American Blog Network

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/primate-diaries/2012/01/06/case-of-the-missing-polygamists/

The origins of our sexuality is the greatest mystery in human evolution. But could our prime suspect be a case of mistaken identity?

(I think:) IOW: She's not a gold digger, she's a discerning maven of evolution, backed by generations of tried and true tactics for genetic endurance.

Everyone jokes about the corrosiveness of Coke but it turns out Mtn Dew is worse. Orange juice equals Mtn Dew in this respect, but I doubt you're pounding glass after glass of OJ during your LAN party...

"...soaked human molars in Mountain Dew for two weeks (a period of time comparable to approximately 13 years of normal beverage exposure, ...) the molars' enamel lost more than 6 percent of its volume. "...molars soaked in Coca Cola for two weeks lost slightly more than 1 percent of their enamel volume. (... In the study, Diet Mountain Dew eroded more than 8 percent of the tooth enamel in the course of two weeks.)

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=can-mountain-dew-really-dissolve

Field Test: Biodiversity - The Great American Zoo Trip - Pictures, More From National Geographic Mag

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/visions/field-test/sartore-biodiversity/assignment?source=link_tw20120106ngm-sartoreintro

Join photographer Joel Sartore in the field as he travels far and wide to photograph endangered species.

No really, Watch the video! It's so neat!

Spare Parts for Humans: Tissue Engineers Aim for Lab-Grown Muscles, Limbs, Lungs and More [Video]

http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2012/01/04/spare-parts-for-humans-tissue-engineers-aim-for-lab-grown-muscles-limbs-lungs-and-more-video/

A new research breakthrough has enabled scientists from the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh to grow human tissue.

Me: Wonderful. Amazing. Science. Stem cell research and it's fruits. I have warm fuzzies that are tingling with excitement!

ROLLERMAN.

Vid of a guy who made himself a rollerblade suit. It's really jaw-dropping.

http://shelby.tv/#!/channels/4d7ac94af6db241b5d000005/broadcasts/4ef786d17a18a2272a00064a

I watched/Read...

Valhalla Rising, 2009.

Ok, Valhalla Rising, kinda weird. In my head it feels like the monolith scene from 2001: A Space Odyssey, but Norse. And then, NOT terribly Norse either way, except that he's supposedly a viking, and they have 'tribes' and some cold Europe garb and carvings. And it's supposedly the Crusades, but MUST be 1st since the vikings really didn't exist beyond that. Otherwise, SEEMS generally period. Little dialogue, but if you're into slow, dark, brooding films it's ok. The characters or expressive and in chapter 'Hell' no words are necessary to really disturb me. 3/5

Helen Mirrin's Prospera in 2010's "The Tempest." In short... It was great! They switched a couple scenes around, and of course truncated monologues, but otherwise it was really well done. :) I enjoyed it.

The movie Centurion. Not bad. I enjoyed it. Eye rolled the gratuitous gore, but otherwise good story.

Gnomeo and Juliet: Awesome. Even Patrick Stewart as the Shakespeare statue. ♥♥♥ The UNBRIDLED Shakespeare references EVERYWHERE are great. It's a game to catch them all! PS. ♥ Featherstone!!

Finally finished Pillars of the Earth (mini series). Wonderful.

I read (and you may find the reviews here in the blog or on Goodreads.com

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4915891-weyrcat

Hook, Podkayne of Mars (Heinlein),

Fahrenheit 451 (Bradbury),

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Stevenson),

The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It (Niven),

Rocket Ship Galileo (Heinlein),

And currently reading, Friday (Heinlein)

If you made it this far, congrats!

Framboise, Boon. 2/5

2012-01-03T20:36:00.000-08:00

Trying Framboise Boon (a lambic boasting being brewed in Lambiek) and reviews call it clear, only slightly bitter but kind of funky, and overall good. Pretty sure mine has over a teaspoon of sediment in the bottom. Dark muddy rose color. The bitter and funk is there, but I'm not enjoying it. The sediment is probably raspberry bits... buuuuuut, not sure I want to find out. Maybe the other framboise I've had has been filtered... Found a BeerAdvocate review mentioning the sediment, so at least I'm (probably) not being poisoned.

One interesting thing about it...
The funk, and I'm thinking it's from the sediment, tastes a little like the smell of firewood ash. I'm not sure if I hope the sediment is oak barrel or raspberry bits...

Nope, firewood ash is exactly the taste.
It's soggy, or brittle, and disintegrates when I scoop it out with a butter-knife. The smear is brown.

I feel like I have a science experiment instead of a framboise. Maybe if it was tastier, but it's not. Harumph.

Ok ok. Let's pretend it's not a framboise, since there's not really enough raspberry for that. It tastes like I'm drinking campfire. On that note, it's delicious but bitter (I suspect campfire ash would be too!) But as a framboise? No, thanks.

PS. Totally not drinking the last bit. The bitter gets harsher and longer as you get to the sediment. Bleh.
I feel like a snob, but I'm disappointed.

Today I:

2012-01-02T23:31:00.001-08:00

Prepped packages for shipping.
Went to laundromat.
Returned sauce at Publix.
Got gas.
Folded laundry.
Filled out census,
Paid electric bill.
Did dishes.
Did the first hw for Chm2.
Ran with hubby.
Made dinner.
Hunted Spartan coupons (signed up).
Migrated my good Photogratrophy shots to Noah.
Put away laundry.
Put away unfumigated dry goods.
Got rid of bread board etc (cleared drawer).
Made bed.
Cleaned litter box.
Oh, and made coffee.

Rawr.

Review: Hook

2012-01-01T20:09:00.001-08:00

Hook by Terry Brooks

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I kind of expected a little more depth. Granted creative license and all, but the book felt... half. Like, instead of getting in the characters and trying to breathe more life into them (since a reader needs more than a watcher) he simply wrote the script in First Person. He did put a little more emotion in, but even Tink's Bigness feel dry. Booo.

In a reply to a similar review I posted:
Your review mirrors my feeling with one exception; Brooks' creative license left out certain thing I felt were vital (at least, because I grew up on the movie.) What's a paramecium? According to Brooks, a one celled organism with no brain.
Bzzzzzt. He chews up the best dialogue of the movie (for me). Btw.. it's a One celled critter with no brain, that CAN'T FLY.

Still manages to be a quick, okay read. I'm unsure how many of those 3/5 stars are riding on how much I loved the movie though.

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Resolutions PLANS!

2012-01-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

I don't have Resolutions, I have plans.
Not, plans to plan something... or plans work toward that goal I've wanted. I just skipped the middle man and committed.

For January,

1. I have tickets to see Enchanted Island. The Met Opera will stream a production to some movie theaters. This production is the characters of A Midsummer Night's Dream, shipwrecked on The Tempest's island. I'm thrilled. I bought my tickets as soon as they became available.

2. I'm running the Komen 5k. Haven't been able to raise any money yet, but I'm not the only one. I'll be running on a team for my university.

In February,

1. Husband and I have committed to the SPARTAN RACE. After over a year of wanting to be able to do it, we're just going to GO DO IT. SO excited.

:) GO ME!

2011Dec28 Myakka Camping & 11.3mi Hike

2012-01-01T13:03:00.000-08:00

I'll have to blog in pieces. I've had a great winter break and there's just too much to put in one post.

Husband and I took some time to go see some family of mine that were down in Florida. It was awesome. More on that in another post.

After leaving them (all too soon,) we set up camp in the Myakka State Park. We'd reserved two nights, though it's so busy during winter that we couldn't camp at the same spot twice. We got in, set up camp, and found the Nature Trail. We did the 1.3 miles really quickly since it was a short trail. It actually seemed too short, so we doubled back at a sign that said "Canopy Trail" thinking we'd missed part or that there was another leg. The Canopy Trail led to a 70 ft tall Canopy Walk. Winding stairs took us about halfway to the top (over the canopy) and had a soft bridge you needed to walk over. It was sooo neat. On the other side was the rest of the stairway up to the top. Shane read that scientists use the view to keep an eye on growth and health of the trees in the surrounding forest. We snapped a few photos and scooted down. It was more crowded than anything else we saw all weekend.

From the Nature Trail we popped over to the Bird Walk. A boardwalk went out over a marsh and there were lots of birds (heh)! I saw Sandhill Cranes for the first time (and learned they sound like our cat. "rRRRRrrrrrr!" The only boar we saw all trip, we saw at the marsh. We also saw a deer (the only one all trip as well.) We saw a flock of Purple Martins swooping around (we assumed they were demolishing all the bugs that were everywhere) and picked out a pair of Palm warblers really close to the bird walk. Very successful!

My legs were shaking from the weight of my boots when we got back to camp. It's been over a year since I wore them and my legs were tired. We settled into a GREAT dinner of beef shish, roast sweet potatoes, and the best hot cocoa ever. It wasn't COLD but it was chilly. We thought we wouldn't need the winter bags so we didn't bring them. We survived though.

The next morning we packed up the whole camp (since we planned to be gone past check out time and had to be in another camp site later in the day.) Camp breakfast is always great for some reason, even when it's just oatmeal and coffee. We'd packed everything we needed the night before and after making final adjustments headed out to the trail head. Myakka has 38 miles of trails and several primitive campsites for backpackers. The road outside the trail had a couple trucks with passes stating which primitive site they were registered for on what nights. We almost missed the trail head! The dirt road from the main road continues on (for bikers) and we had to start there. We found a sign for the trail head but the 'entrance' looked too small to be a trailhead so we skipped it assuming that we'd come to the first "structure" with maps (which the entrance sign said we would). However, about a half mile up we were still on the dirt road, though seemingly still in the right place according to the map. We peeled our eyes and after another quarter mile or so we saw a parallel trail in the woods next to us that had the orange markers for the actual trail! Chagrined but happy to have found it, we hopped on the trail. Good thing too; the hiking trail split off from the biking trail shortly after that and we didn't see it again until miles later.

A lot of the Myakka hiking trail is a prairie of waist high saw palmetto, with a "one foot after the other"-wide trail. Our pinky toes were screaming by the end of the hike. We ate at the camp stops, and generally complained and cheered along the way. It was great. The woods were great. Even the prairie was great. The spiders were great. No four-legged monsters though. Saw some backpackers that were out there for the night, too. After weaving in and out and in and out of the 'Prairie' and checking ourselves at every road junction, we did a 10.9 mile hike (plus the 0.2 there and back to get there from the road proper). 11.3. Definitely a PR for me! Shane's over 12 (he cheats: military rucking!) We're talking about going back, now that we know more about the trail and the primitive sites, and actually backpacking. Need to finish breaking in our boots though!

Back at the car we changed into sandals, which we stayed in the rest of the camping trip. We 'left' the park, re-checked in, and found that our new campsite was a hop skip from the old one in the same ring. This was was more rocky, but more entertaining too. The site was butted up against woods instead of the road, and the woods were full of hawks. They'd hear something and the whole flock would up and fill the sky. We heard them all night. It was great.

Our reward for hiking so far was a dinner of bbq babyback ribs, baked beans, coleslaw, hot cocoa, raspberry wine and beer. We pigged out and then watched our fire die away. The wood we got from the on-site place was wet and didn't burn well. We were lucky to be given a bundle of wood by a gent who was leaving as we arrived the night before. We padded the bags extra well and crashed.

Breakfast was scrambled eggs with sharp cheddar, maple sausage, and hash browned potatoes. Fantastic. Camp was broken down in a jiffy and we wet our firepit. Neither of us were ready to leave, but we didn't have much of a choice. We were already planning the trip back!

It only took us an hour or so to get back to his mom's house. We checked on the animals, showered, washed clothes, and took Irma out to eat. She's the reason Shane loves camping so much. Half of our time out there is him telling stories about her. She's awesome. He's awesome. Camping, is sooo awesome.

Picasa doesn't let me insert images the way I like, so bear with, or just click out to see the whole album. Not all the pictures will fit here. :)

Review: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

2011-12-22T20:40:00.001-08:00

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For the story? Without rereading I can only give three. For the audiobook version by Digivox, read by Andrew Morely? 0. Flat 0.

The orator is so monotone and lacks the ability to pause between speakers that it's one long ramble. Excluding the third disc (The letter monologue) it's difficult to follow. I could glean the story and generally who was speaking but it was like following someone with a thick accent. I'll probably read it in print to fill in where I couldn't grasp the moment appropriately from listening. The story seemed great, but the delivery is poor.

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Why GoDaddy is an awesome company:

2011-12-22T10:54:00.001-08:00

I've had WeyrCat.Com for... longer than I should admit. Over a decade now. My Dad got it for me as a birthday present and I've been taking up cyberspace ever since. I've used GoDaddy for as long as I can remember and when my previous free hosting fell through I picked up some GoDaddy hosting (great deal 4.99 a month!) Now, last month (approx) I bit the bullet and put a redirect on my DotCom to kick people over into my Blogger, since I simply haven't had time to keep up with the ways the Internet demands pages be built and photos be hosted. I do most of it through Google services now (Picasa, Blogger, etc) but I hadn't turned off the hosting.

A GoDaddy rep just called me to let me know I was being billed for something I wasn't using and offered to cease the payments. She says that often times people will do something like I did, or simply stop using their FTP, yet continue to be billed. How nice that a company, that could have stayed quiet and let me be auto-billed, pulling in money for nothing, to call me and let me know. I've dealt with companies before that actually REOPEN old accounts to start billing you from them again (ahem, Wells Fargo) and GoDaddy goes out of their way to make sure I'm not spending more than I need to.

I pitch them when I hear someone talking about needing a site or hosting, and this is why. Great business practices, great customer service, great service period. I've never once got off the phone with a GoDaddy rep and been irate. That speaks volumes.

Review: The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It

2011-12-18T14:12:00.001-08:00

The 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People: What Scientists Have Learned and How You Can Use It by David Niven

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Not bad, as far as short self-helpers go. Some were things that made me go "Yea, this doesn't apply to me." Some made me think "I knew this, I really should start doing it." And for some, I took notes. I like the research references at the end of each Point.

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Trans Siberian Orchestra, Dec09.2011

2011-12-18T13:27:00.000-08:00

You know that song, Christmas Eve Sarajevo? If you don't know the name you've probably heard the song anyway. I recommend this vid to refresh your memory.

Well Husband remembered that Trans Siberian Orchestra (the group commonly known for the tune) plays here in Florida every December, and thought he remembered that his granma had always wanted to go. SO, we called her up, invited, her, bought tickets, and two days later, drove 2.5 hours to get her, then 3 hours to Miami, and then did the whole thing in reverse. It was awesome.

We had dinner at the Chili's at the Port. Chili's is Chili's but the view was wonderful! We watched the sky go from day, through twilight, and into night. The whole marina ended up lit by colorful lights, and then was made even brighter by the boats decorated for an upcoming boat parade.

After dinner we walked the short distance to the concert hall. We were a couple hours early and pretty much just hung out until they let us in. Some of the buildings were "dressed up" for the holidays. I couldn't get a good picture of the blue building covered in snowflakes, but I did get one of the interesting Town Hall looking building lit up in solid blue.

The show itself was fantastic. There were two halves, the first was the 'Christmas' music we were expecting, including the Christmas Eve Sarajevo that I'm sure was the only song some of us had heard previously. The second half was stuff from their "upcoming album." It was all very good! Except for the bum song. It just.. wouldn't... end. Shane decided it might be a bet among the bandmembers somehow. Everything else was fantastic! The LASER lights were neat, if not a little scary. They had some triangular video screens throughout the show that became DRAGONS for a song, complete with fire. My favorite part though? The violinist. Ever seen a head-banging violinist? How does he PLAY like that? The whole band (except for the seated strings section, courtesy of Miami's own Symphony) ran around the stage like, or because they are, rock stars. SO COOL! I didn't get a whole lot of photos because I was too busy rocking out to Beethoven. Srsly. Granma Irma loved it! And was very happy that Shane mistakenly thought she had said she wanted to go!

If these are showing up right, the first is a blue but empty stage. You can see the triangular light boxes they flip and twirl around. The second should be LASERS! The third, my favorite pic, shows the violinist rocking out down front. They ran all across the stage and even up on some floating walkways. So cool.

Dragons. Hard to see, but that's because they're spitting a giant FIREBALL at the audience. These guys rock classical music so hard. Irma leaned over and whispered (shouted) "Beethoven could have no IDEA!"

Best. Concert.

Edit: 12/20/2011 Just found this YouTube account that vid'ed most of the concert, in case you want to see how AWESOME it was :D
Here is his YouTube.
Christmas Eve Sarajevo
Requiem (You'll know it when you here it.)
Now I'm just listening to the whole thing over again. :D

Final Grades; Official[ly late] Post

2011-12-18T10:21:00.000-08:00

BAD Blogger! BAD!
You'd think with a fancy shmancy smartphone and a netbook and NO MORE SCHOOL that I'd have time to update my wee blog. Well you'd be partly right. My phone is doing this odd thing where the screen shuts off randomly. I hear it's a "Pocket Detection" error, but I seem to have no way to rectify it. To be continued...

Final grades were posted, and I'm rather proud of myself. I should be, I wracked my brain cells the last couple months since going to part time. Here, my dear readers (meaning me, and maybe my dad and Granma hehe), are the results:
-Biodiversity: A. (Made 92% on the final!)
-Biodiversity Lab: A.
-Chemistry I: A. (Made a raw 83% on the final, which was curved to 95%)
-Chemistry Lab: A-. *My calculations said I'd end up with a 89, and they don't round. Someone did!
-Biostatistics: A. Busted my butt on that final presentation, and got an A. WEE!
-History of Civilizations: A. I BOMBED the final with a 72%. I got a 95% on my final paper.

By the time finals were over I had secured my classes for the next semester.
Chem2 and lab. Physics1 and lab. German1. Interpretation of Poetry ( my last creative expressions and GRW.) Six classes again, but I'll start this semester at part time so I shouldn't need to 'catch up' midway through. I was able to get a digital version of the Physics text for both 1&2, so with the digital text I'm reusing for Chem2 I've saved over 400$ that way. Good, since the online homework system for Physics will cost 95$ itself. Yikes.

That's it for school until the second week of January. I'm keeping busy by not keeping busy, and fun reading Heinlein and Ornithology, an Ecological Perspective. We also have backpacking planned (and went to a concert! More on that later!)

PS! Husband got all A's too, but that was a given :P

Review: The Alphabet Of Manliness

2011-12-13T20:54:00.001-08:00

The Alphabet Of Manliness by Maddox

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

My husband had this and loved Maddox's stuff when he was a little younger, and while some of it was... riiiiiight, as soon as I shut off the part of my brain where my IQ was stored it was actually kind of amusing. Couldn't really read it all in one sitting, so I read a page or two while on the toilet. Captive audience, you see. Some of it was kind of funny, aaaand some of it kind of meh. Not sorry I read it, but glad I didn't pay money to do so.

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Review: Rocket Ship Galileo

2011-12-12T16:19:00.001-08:00

Rocket Ship Galileo by Robert A. Heinlein

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The audiobook version is read by Spider Robinson. He's not monotone per say, sometimes he sounds very natural, but, in the end it doesn't matter. Heinlein's story is so interesting that I don't hear the orator anymore, I simply see the story being played out. I LOVE the mini-lectures. He's always sure to explain the physics of what's going on. I love that. In classic Heinlein fashion it ends without a "true ending," though everything is wrapped up neatly. I love that too. Let's face it, Heinlein was a great writer, and this is a great book. :)

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Anne McCaffrey, 1926 – 2011

2011-11-22T16:54:00.001-08:00

As the WeyrCat I feel I must say Thank you to this lady who so shaped my young-teen reading habits. My mother owned tons of her books and I came to love more than the dragons she was so known for, but space, the exploration of other planets and peoples, technologies and what humans could achieve through science. Sure, some of them were a wee campy but her books largely shaped who I grew up to be. Writers touch people, and she definitely touched my life and therefore everyone in it. Thank you. ♥

- Made official on her publisher's (DelRay's) website.Anne McCaffrey: April 1 1926 - November 21, 2011.

-From Wired.com

McCaffrey helped pave the way for women writers in fantasy and science fiction, and was both the first woman awarded a Hugo Award and the first awarded a Nebula Award. Even in her 80s she continued to write, and over her lifetime produced a prodigious number of books and short stories. She was still answering readers’ mail on her website as of a few weeks ago.

[Image Credit: WritersWrite.com]

Decent grades, cool science, depressing politics.

2011-11-20T07:23:00.001-08:00

Had a wonderful chat with an older gent while I was on patrol this week. Was given some wisdom:

1. Get the best education you can get.
2. Have the confidence and will to become an expert in your job within six months.
3. Don't be afraid to take well-thought of and responsible risks; you never know how much you can gain.
Best advice I've had in a while. Respect your elders, they're smarter than you.

The rest is grades, whining, and cool articles from the net :D

It's really hard to calculate your grade in a class when the syllabus is unclear and the TA is awful about getting grades up (or handing the assignments back to you, for that matter). I Do know I got an 88% on the third exam. Considering I only studied the weekend before I'm ok with it. Now now, don't look at me like that. The exam makes up 5% of my grade. I should get full participation points (I did all the online stuff, early, and write at length for the in-class prompts (got 100% on both that got posted to the gradesheet), and the TA likes me. IF I somehow lower my grade on the final paper from what the final draft was, say from 95 to 90, and only get an 80 on the final exam, I keep my A with a 91%. Granted, these 'bare minimums' are not my goal, but I like to see what it would take to scrape by. Lessens my panic and I'm more effective. Besides, reducing the time I spent on my WOH allowed me to increase the time spent on Biodiv, which is why I got my 95. That, and because I went so slow when filling in the evil bubbles. :D

Still don't know what I got on my Biopractical, but there were only two that I remember not studying. I put "mid sacral ridge" for "ambulacral ridge" (boo) and couldn't recall the last feature that differentiated humans. I skimmed it because A. I'm a human, it should be easy right? B. There were, like, 15!! Ok ok I know, I deserve to miss the point. I put "highly developed brain" which was one of the 15, but I don't remember if it was 'Top 4' which is what the question wanted. I'm sure I aced it anyway.

My raw 72% on the Chem Exam 3 became an 82%. I'm happy for the boost, but wishing I wasn't so far from an A. We were told the average for the exam, after the curve, was a 60%. Yikes. Makes me feel a little better about my 82, but still. Must figure out what I'm soft on so I can bolster it for the final. I've started going over the questions for each covered chapter to see what I'm flaky on.

I'm done with Bio Lifeline and Bio Lab, which will give me more time for the other classes. Need to whip this Biostats paper into shape pronto. I thought I had a solid topic until the professor told me to dump the data and get a new set. Rather perturbed since the chick behind me has somehow correlated protein content of candy bars and the death rates of the poor. No, really. I KNOW he went over the difference between Correlation and Causation, yet he's back there hmmming and "that's interesting"ing. Bleh. One chick is doing FOOTBALL stats. seriously? He told us it had to be biological data, this IS BIOSTATISTICS. He also mentioned that if she found anything interesting he'd pay her for it. -.- Almost enough to make me wish EYE had big boobs, no brain, and could afford to buy a bachelors with daddy's money. Ok, so I'm bitter. But me and the mathematician are the only people in the class who obviously KNOW how to use the biostats we've been taught. We can look at the data and tell you what it means. I've been very vocal the whole semester, to the point where he'd tell me someone else had to answer because he wanted to make sure the rest are 'getting it'. The mathematician still didn't have data on Friday. Probably because, like me, he wanted REAL data, not candy bars and football. I had to find new data and "find something interesting" within a week. He wants drafts of the paper on Monday, so I'm scrambling to find something. So I did. And it's still got birds. HA. It also has very weak correlations, but at least three of them and I can make a very good story for it. SO, if I do the presentation (optional) and really push my pseudoscience I might be able to get an A out of it. Though, I only got B- and B+ on the other two. I really want my A, because I know what I'm doing. I'm also bitter that the girl who obviously has no clue how to read a t-test is the only one who got an A on the first paper, and is going to get a good score for candy bars and bad correlation. You know what else correlates? The decline of piracy and the increase of global warming. *raspberry*

Ok, I'm done being catty and bitter. For now. rawr.

Oh, I finally finished season 5 of Bones. Figured I'd tuck that in here so no one notices and asks where I found the time :D GLEEEE!

A couple things interesting on the net this week that I wanted to share.

Disney Family Fiesta 5K featuring the Three Caballeros - Friday, January 6, 2012
If Amazon Wishlist allowed me to put more than physical stuff on it, I'd add this. I have some burning desire to run at Disneyworld. I can't seem make myself GO running though. I'm scared to run in our neighborhood and then I keep telling myself it's such a waste of time to go all the way to the park to run AND that I'm a bad dog-mom because I can't handle Rook well enough to take her with me, resulting in me feeling guilty if I 'force' myself to go do something she'd give her tail to go do. It's a vicious spiral, really.

This is.. wow! :D From the OwlPages.

While I love watching the little owl "Athene Noctua" (really, Little Owl) seem to soak up lovins, don't get any ideas! Raptors are NOT PETS. You can't 'TAME' them. Captivity should be left for injured animals acting as educational tools (most zoos) or as temporary housing during rehab. If it comes back to YOU, find, but don't keep a wild animal against it's will.

Ok, off my soapbox. I particularly love the head massage :D Little brat.

I should present this to the Biology department as a more interesting way to cover Cephalopoda.

"Why an octopus is more awesome than your mom." Teehee.

Mid-Ocean Creatures Control Light to Avoid Becoming Snacks - ScienceDaily
Some tiny octupi (3 inches!) can make themselves transparent. Or rather, they are transparent, and can use their chromatophores to make themselves opaque. The transparency hides them from silhouette-hunting animals below them, but when the headlamp of some creepy underwater fish hits their reflective eyes they use the chromatophores to become an opaque brown-red. They also know the difference between shadows moving around them and actual light that would hit them. Smart critters.

US Congress rules that pizza is a vegetable - The Journal.ie

"Congress voted that anything containing two tablespoons of tomato sauce can be labelled a vegetable, putting pizza into the vegetable category."

Jaw-droppingly stupid.
Btw the way, if you haven't seen Idiocracy, now would be a good time.

Sebastion Millon is an artist I stumbled onto on Facebook. He's a bit rude and there's quite a bit of dismemberment, but I LOVE his Owlies.

The UC Davis Pepper-Spraying of Protesters.

After seeing This Image

I looked up the incident. This shared page shows an officer BRANDISH his pepper spray at the watching crowd like a prize fighter waving his gloves, then proceeds to leisurely spray down the seated protesters. In sweeps he sprays their bowed heads and chests, and even goes back over a couple of them. I guess he thought he missed a spot. He then signals to another officer that he's out, and the other officer comes over with another can and STARTS SPRAYING THEM IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD while the first officer starts physically removing the people. In the end you can see one person come over, try to protect themselves with a hoodie, and lay over some of the sprayed students to try to protect them from more pepper spray.

I don't even care what they're protesting for. They were doing it as peaceably as you can get. I'm so angry I'm tearing up.

This is the video.

Today, NPR posted a video of the Chancellor walking to her car. Sounds banal until you see the line of students sitting in silent protest, all the way there. Just, staring at her.

This is that video, and the article.

I'm going to keep an eye on it, but I probably won't post more about it. Something about the situation infuriates me.

The intricate dance between air and oceans - Climate NASA
One more cool sciencey bit then I'll go. This article debunks the cute photos of people standing in huge snow drifts and captioning "where's this global warming?" Turns out Global Warming (the warming of the oceans specifically) CAUSES everything from blizzards to droughts. Neat.
It's like a butterfly effect: warmer oceans disrupt 'normal' ocean air flow and causes subtropical air and water to be forced northward (melting the Greenland ice sheet). Not only does this effect the subpolar ecosystem by dumping fresh cold water into it but it results in "blocking events" which cause the winter "weather system" to be slower, accrue more water and stay/get colder, resulting in Snowmageddon. Savvy? Global Warming = MORE blizzards, not less.

Grades, Goals, and Giggles.

2011-11-14T21:56:00.001-08:00

So. Today I found out I got a 95% on my Biodiversity exam. WOOT! Also, this means I only need a 65% on the Final to keep my A. I of course wouldn't settle for that, but it's nice to have the security.

I took my dread Chem exam today, the raw score is 72% (ugh). We get to write our choices down and then compare them to the key that goes up an hour after the exams are closed. My first test was around the same, but was raised to a mid B due to some tinkering and curving. I'm hoping this does the same but I'm disappointed. I know I redirected a lot of effort into the Biodiv exams (the one above and the Practical Final tomorrow). I'm going to put all the time I WAS putting into the Bio Lab into Chem and see if I can't strengthen my base before the Final. I need a 90% on the final to keep my A. Bleh.

Still no word on the History of Civ exam. It takes forever for those TA's to get back to us. I know they have their own exams, but sheesh. I did get a 95% on my rough draft. Happier about that, since the rough is 15% of my entire grade. Together with the final draft, the darn thing is 35%. The final exam is only 10%, and I'm breaking my neck and fingers twice a week trying to get her notes down. Ah well.

Shane and I started a competition this week. We're going to use the fighting spirit to put us back on the health track. We've let the stress of the semester bite us in the face (or is the bottom?) Did 0:27:30 on the Ellip at ~5.7mph, 2.44mi and a supposed 300 calories burned. Good, because I ate Salsarita's today because I didn't wake up on time to pack food for an 11 hour day at the university. Bleh.

My niece Ashlyn turned 3 today. Reeeeediculous. <3

Registration opened today, but I couldn't...
From the FB: Yo, MORONS who run the university servers. If you can't convince Admin there's a better way (over thousands of students trying to login to register at once when it 'opens') you might want rent more bandwidth for the night. Dicks. The whole 'self-service' area is crashed out. I was logged in early, ready with CRNs in notepad. Got auto-logged out at midnight (something the server doesn't normally do, I might add).

I was/am irritated. :( Jocks get to register a day ahead of 'real' students, and now I'm going to lose a slot to someone else too. It's hard getting what I need to mesh with each other and work. Harumph. Can we do registration by GPA or something? Seriously. Then, if I had to wait because I didn't have a high enough GPA, that, I could deal with. That some moron or slacker or god-knows could end up with my precious chem lab (there by precluding me from chem lecture, and setting me back A WHOLE SEMESTER FROM GRADUATING) makes me... peeved. It's been an hour. No choice by to give up and hope I can get some tomorrow. I need to sleep so I can wake up and continue avoiding the house/chore/dog/shopping/etc so I do well on my final.

Some giggles: (It won't let me put the images next to each other grid style. Bear with as I get the hang of it.)

Not a giggle but awesome.
"Girl Scouts Replaces “Fashion, Fitness, and Makeup” Badge With “Science of Style”

Post by George Takai, no less!

And oh yea, if you're a Blizzard Baby or looking forward to D3 (or just fondly remember the first two) you'll like this.

An NPR article "Evelyn Lauder Dies, Co-Founder Of Pink Ribbon Breast Health Awareness"
"Evelyn Lauder escaped Vienna, Austria with her parents in 1938 after Hitler annexed the country. The family eventually arrived in England where they were separated for a time. In 1940, they sailed to New York." "She was a vice president of the cosmetics corporation founded by Estee' Lauder, her powerful mother-in-law." She died at 75 of non-genetic ovarian cancer.

Inhabitat posted an article about some tidal turbines that should power 4,000 homes in Europe in 2012. I need to remember to go dig up more about it.
-World’s Largest Tidal Energy Farm to Open in France in 2012.

aaaand something awesome from last week, when I wasn't flooding the internet with awesome :)

Dear John Social Media,

2011-11-13T06:04:00.001-08:00

Dear Social Media,

I think we're spending too much time together. I just feel smothered. I check my Facebook before my email these days. I download special apps for my computer and phone to make sure 'updates' get to FB, Twitter, AND G+. I stream some of my news feeds through FB, instead of RSS, and then feel bogged down when I have to go hunt through the mess to FIND the news stream I want to read. As a consequence of snatching up short blurbs of either densely packed information or witty one-liners, I'm pretty sure my attention span is MUCH shorter than it used to be. It's sometimes a struggle to get through a news article when I DO find the stream I want. I find myself breezing over paragraphs in the "TLDR" mindframe, figuring the topic paragraph and the ending paragraph will give me enough context clues to absorb the article. Having previously been a prolific reader, I'm rather appalled with myself. You know, I think I'm losing my 'spelling' too, darn you autocorrect etc.

I decided to look up if there were any studies done on this 'dumbing down phenomena', but I got distracted before I found any real data. No really I did, I found a hilarious article, but if I post it NOW I don't think you'll finish the blog. I went to share the article (I was on my phone) when I realized it wouldn't post to all three networks from there. So I dragged out the laptop and plugged it in so I could post it from the browser. Then I realized the link was SO LONG, I couldn't add a comment when it went to Twitter, so I went to shorten it in Ow.ly.com. You know, there's and ad on their site for their Toolbar.

Ow.ly Social Bar 2.0
In the age of sharing, linking, retweeting, capped attention spans and character limits, people need things to be shorter, better, faster, stronger.

I'm rather disturbed, because IT'S TRUE. Not because a toolbar says it is, but simply BECAUSE IT IS. I'm becoming a character in Idiocracy, where all my past-times come with ads attached, and all my goals are minuscule because the old 'grinding' of NES (and even WoW) is dying out. I feel like I'm trapped in Brave New World.

I don't blog anymore... I post snippets through my social media. The unimportant stuff? Nah, not worth the blog (so why post it to SM?) The important (to me) stuff? Doesn't get posted because I've already posted it, people don't read the blog anyway BECAUSE I SM, and sometimes I plain forget to 'repost' because (yep) I already posted it. Doesn't matter that the info gets sucked up in the stream and never seen. You know, my grandmother reads my blog, but doesn't participate in social media. Have there been times I posted about grades without putting it on my blog? I don't remember what info I write in the snail-mail letters, because I've put everything in SM already.

SO, my memory, my attention span, my TASTE, my ability to spell etc etc... I think it's all declining.
I are scared.

SO... Social Media. I'm breaking up with you. We can still be friends (har har), but I'm going to try to be more discerning about what I 'share' and 'tweet' and 'post' and 'like' etc etc. People probably don't need or want to know EVERYTHING I thought was cute yesterday (all though that crying Skyrim dragon was great). So...Maybe, a blog a day. Or every couple days depending on what turns out to seem interesting to me. Sure, I'll drop in the news articles I found really interesting. Maybe even put a tiny gallery of the super cute pictures I couldn't bear NOT to share. But really SM, I need a break. And it's definitely you.

Oh, for those of you who just scrolled to the bottom (I know you did) here's that funny "No attention span" article from DailyMash.

Lazy gets what lazy earns.

2011-10-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

So, I subscribe to a couple different blogs. I like to read them instead of the 'morning paper'.
One woman was trying to get into nursing school at the same time I was. She got in, I didn't, but we still poke each other back and forth. She wrote, and deleted, a post about people not holding up their end of some school work. We all encounter that in school, work, family, etc, and I felt the need to write her back. I ended up motivating mySELF with my comment, so I wanted to post it here. I want to be able to refer to it whenever I get frustrated for 'having to do it all myself'.

"I'm making this comment based on a post you made that no longer exists, and since you may not want that content out and abouts, I'll make my reply a wee vague. Hopefully you'll still 'get it'. ;)

I transferred out of pre-nursing and back into Biology, so I knew that I was putting myself back into a realm dominated by people who just want their C average to get their degree and get out. Sometimes it's almost funny, getting an email the day before an exam from a girl who claims her computer crashed and wiped out all her notes from this past unit, asking someone to send her theirs. I used to be the person who, when getting an email saying someone missed a day, would send them my notes. I quit after one semester where the same girl sent the same email every week, for three weeks. She wasn't even attending, but was getting my detailed, touch-of-OCD notes! I felt silly for letting myself be used. The same kind of thing happen in group projects. I just finished one where the others in my group sent me 'what they had' two days before it was due, and it was obvious they'd cranked it out in 10 minutes. I spent 8 hours yesterday 'fixing' a project we had 2 weeks to do because I had to do the work of three people. And, I'm going to get an A on it... but they will too.

Why the long story? I complained, at length, to my husband who gave me great advice on it... All the work I do, even if it benefits someone who doesn't deserve it, benefits me. I've learned whether or not I can depend on certain people, and I'll know not to next time, which also benefits me. So, while frustrating, in the end, I did well, I'm doing well, and they won't be able to skate by forever. Someday these coat-tail riders will have to do something themselves, and then it will be painfully apparent to their superiors (who don't give C's in the real world!) that someone else is willing to work hard for the chance they're throwing away.

Call it karma or come-uppance, they'll get their life lesson. You and me, we'll just keep working hard to make sure when OUR chances come around, we're worthy of the challenge!"

110929 Stress, Grades, and EASY Recipes

2011-09-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

Highlighted Cliffnotes for you TLDR's.

I've discovered I'm over-busy.
Full time work, full time school, part time dog mom and wife. Yep, wifery is now only part time, and I don't like that. Work used to be the place I got most school work done, when I only had 2-3 classes and could squeeze hw/study in between cars and on the Easy Day (Sunday), AND, if I was too burned out from a Hard Saturday to do much of anything on Sunday I didn't suffer too badly.

I'm suffering.

I was sick most of this month (allergies plus tired plus brain fried plus eating like crap 'cause we didn't have time to cook.... ). I'm walking proof that when I get poor sleep (6,6,10,8,10,5,8) and eat garbage, you feel like garbage. I actually don't know what day it is somedays. I'm not exaggerating. I also missed an online quiz for chem. I plum forgot. Ten points. Forgot.

I did do decent on my first midterms:
-Chem's 79 was raised to an 88, due to some questions he didn't like. Need much more work.
-History of Civ, 103. Got them all right, including the extra credit. Needs less work. Ok, maybe not, she was unhappy so next test will be "identification of terms". Bleh. How can someone make ME tired of pre-1500s??
-Got a B- on my Biostats report. He was very clear that everyone who didn't have a title lost a whole letter grade. Oops.
-Biodiversity lecture, I got an 86. Really want to bring it up, I also really blame her weird life cycle. I KNOW the life cycle, but when I filled the chart out and then moved to the questions on it, the questions make it clear that she was putting things in a different way (rotating some of them a quarter turn clockwise, for example, which would make them in the wrong place at first glance.... won't know, she doesn't let you review them).
-Biodiv Lab, I got 38/35. Missed one, got the EC, and he gave everyone 2 points for "fuzzy photos". They weren't, and it makes me wonder if grades were low.
-Chem Lab, no practical. But I did drop my grade from an A (91) to a C (78) by missing that online quiz :( Should be able to bring it up simply by doing the rest (raise the average with more entries). I'm still upset though.

Pulled myself out a little bit this week, whipped up Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff (one night's dinner, one day's lunch) on Tuesday. We found time to run yesterday (1mi R, 0.5mi W, 0.5mi R, 2mi Wback), but ended with with Turkeyized-Hamburger Helper for dinner. Cooking for today through the weekend, and I remember now why I loved my toaster oven. The house isn't a bajillion degrees, but I broiled Greek Swordfish and am baking Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes! I also have Mexican Chicken in the crock pot. BAM! :P

So, trying to slam water and get stuff done. Three exams next week.
I'd blather more, but I'm busy! :D
Here's the recipes I'm using/adapting, btw.

Recipes below!
Crock Pot Chicken Stroganoff

1 lb frozen boneless skinless chicken breast (used thawed thighs)
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can fat-free cream of mushroom soup (just low sodium)
16 ounces fat free sour cream
1 (1 1/4 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix
Directions:

1 Put frozen chicken in bottom of crock pot.
2 Mix soup, sour cream, and onion soup mix.
3 Pour over chicken.
4 Cook on low for 7 hours (or high for 4 hours).
5 Serve over rice or noodles (rotini!)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mediterranean Stuffed Swordfish

2 (8 ounce) swordfish steak (about 2 inches thick)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cups fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite size pieces
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup crumbled feta
Directions

(I broiled mine. Five mins was too much and cooked it through, but didn't burn/overcook O_o)

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil grate.
Cut a slit in steak to create a pocket that is open on one side only. In a cup, mix together 1 tablespoon olive oil and lemon juice; brush over both sides of fish. Set aside.
In a small skillet, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil and garlic over medium heat. Cook spinach in oil until wilted. Remove from heat, and stuff into pocket. Place feta in pocket over spinach.
Arrange fish on grill, and cook for 8 minutes. Turn over, and continue cooking until cooked through.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
(I scaled down to just make two).

6 sweet potatoes, even in size and scrubbed
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
salt & freshly ground black pepper
Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2 Place sweet potatoes on sheet tray and bake for 1 hour or until soft. Remove from oven and let stand until cool enough to handle.
3 Split potatoes and remove the flesh to a medium sized bowl, reserving skins. In another bowl, add brown sugar, butter and cream cheese and the all of the spices and mash with a fork or rubber spatula.
4 Add the butter and cream cheese mixture to the sweet potato flesh and fold in completely. Add the filling back to the potato skins and place on a half sheet tray. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Crock Pot Mexican Chicken With Black Beans

4 -5 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) jar salsa (Newman's Black Bean and Corn!!)
4 ounces fat free cream cheese
4 ounces nonfat sour cream
Directions:

1 Place all ingredients except cream cheese and sour cream in crock pot.
2 Cook on low 6 hours or on high 4 hours.
3 Last 45 minutes add sour cream and cream cheese.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oxymoron: Facebook Privacy settings....

2011-09-25T10:12:00.001-07:00

Dear Diary, I'm so glad there's a place in the universe where my thoughts are safe. LJ brought critisism and spam, Myspace was pretty much all spam, FB sold our every move to marketers, Google stored our every click and tried to tailor our universe around what it felt matched those clicks, now... dear diary, there is only you.

Dear little sister: Your thoughts are only safe in your head. If you don't want your every thought public, keep them to youself. Love, every big brother that's ever stolen a diary and used it for humiliatory purposes. PS: No Johnny doesn't like you. I asked.

$179 vs $29. Yes, it's a real question. Glasses...

2011-09-06T09:14:00.000-07:00

Hmm, I've worn the same pair of frames for 6 years. Change the lenses lazily (about every two, when I should do them every year). I pretty much only get them updated when taking them off and squinting seems to work better. Now, I didn't like these frames when I got them, they were a lopsided compromise, and I've been hunting around for new ones. I found a few I like, and even almost purchased a cute cheapy pair. However...

I ran into a pair the other day that I actually tried on twice. (Trust me, it's significant.)

But they cost WAY more than I've ever spent on a pair of glasses. (I'm cheap, too!)

I've hunted around online and found the only three places that sell the pair. Even the most expensive online store is less expensive than the walk-in glasses place. Then I worked out lens pricing.

Shop Online Cheapies.

TOTAL ~300 ~179 ~29

Frames. 178 99 10

AntiGlare- 60 30 5

Scratch-resist ?? 7 NA

UV-block ?? 7 NA, add $3 for clip on shades.

I stopped hunting shop prices, well, she stopped letting me hunt with "well we really need to see the frames and blah blah blah". Unless you're going to charge me an extra $5 for each square-micrometer, I'm betting those prices don't/shouldn't change. You just want me in the store so you can pressure-sell. Bite me.

Why I need those things above:

-AntiGlare. Have astigmatism? Tried driving at night? LOOK AT THE PRETTY LIGHTS!!! It's like acid-light. Neat, and kind of relaxing if you don't focus on any light and give yourself a headache. Difficult to drive with.

-Scratch-resistant: Did I mention I've had these lenses two years? I'm not 'hard' on glasses, but I do WEAR them, take them off, drop them, stuff them in weird places when I forget my case... Oh, and my right lens has a centimeter long Temper-toothmark. Even scratch-resist can't solve everything.

-UV-Block. I like my retinas, thank you. And it's not a whole lot more to get a teensy bit of block for when it's too dark to wear shades.

The two pair I'm comparing pricewise are shown below. Sorry the pictures aren't me facing the same way in each instance. The Dexter photo is my in the digital "try it on" and the Sinister was taken in a hurry while trying to show off the super-cool purple/gold marbling that makes the arm look like purpley wood! I've included images of the frames in complimentary angles. The bottom pair are the cheapies that I like. The frontal-photo makes me think I should be wielding a crow-bar and spattered with alien blood, but the other photo shows that rectangles really aren't all that bad on me.

SO... The question goes,

Get another pair of glasses I can Live With, that I like better than the pair I'm currently wearing, cause Hey! I'll still be able to see!

Get the pair of glasses I think are super cool lookin'?

and

No, getting lenses for the pair I have isn't an option. It would actually cost me over $150 to "bring my own frames" to these damn glasses vendors. No, I haven't shopped around to heavily yet, 'cause I hate these frames. Really. I can't wait to donate them. They won't want them.

If getting to choose the latter, how do I reconcile the price O_O I don't really waste a whole lot of money. Salsarita's once a month is about 8$; I haven't bought wine in a while; I don't have a gym membership or a game subscription; my birthday isn't until April; I've sold most of the stuff I can sell; Hmm....

It's going to be a busy semester!

2011-08-24T18:53:00.000-07:00

It took me a couple hours of hitting refresh on "Add Class CRNs" every fifteen (ok, five, I'm impatient) minutes, but someone FINALLY dropped and I was able to add to the Chem class I need! I didn't expect that to work! I'll have a heavy load this semester, but I really need that Chem: it's the first of a line of FIVE chemistry classes that must be done one after another (no concurrency allowed!) GLEE!
OK, shower and bed, I'm running in the morning! I expect postings to be very sparse for the next few months :P

Chem2045 (101 for Science majors) and Lab.
History of Civilization - writing requirement.
Biostatistics - yep.
Bio1011 - Biodiversity (think Core Biology, large scale) and Lab.
Oh, and Yoga on Monday :P

Grades, PBCZoo, and Science Museums! (Draft Where'd those pix go?)

2011-08-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

Greetings!
Haven't blogged in a while, or written letters, or done anything in a long while but I have something to show for it! A in Calculus, A in Biological Principles Lab, and B+ in Bio-Princ lecture. I wasn't slacking, I'll have you know. I studied my brains out and missed my A by 4 points (356/360). I don't know what happened. I did throw up a status on it, I was that distraught, I'll paste it here:

Felt like I got a 99%, got an 87%...

Since school ended Husband and I have still been kind of busy, but in a good way.
Went to the Palm Beach Zoo; it was fantastic. I expected it to be kind of small but we got there just after they opened and stayed almost until closing. The only reason we fled early was to escape the downpour that snuck up on us. We plan to go back to finish it: there were some animals that didn't show *coughTIGERS*. They have a volunteer program that teaches you to care for the animals and teach others about it. I squealed, and plan to find time in the next couple semesters to participate. Shane mentioned it would look good on my Graduate application, but all I could think about was HUNTER. Hunter is the zoo's Great Horned Owl. He made an appearance at the "Wings Over Water" show. I got my picture with him (like a good little owl groupie). Photos (don't worry, there's only 77 heh) can be found on my Picasa!

From 110809PBCZoo

We went to the Palm Beach Science Museum, but it was really small. They did have an awesome tornado machine, whisper-dishes, and some cool stuff for kids. I think most science museums are for kids, to get them interested in science. We called it an early day and I made him watch Tangled with me. I do have some photos (of course).
-Oops! Where'd I put them...?

On Friday, Husband woke me up bright and early and drove me down to the Ft. Lauderdale science museum 'Museum of Discovery and Science'. It was so mcuh fun! I got a bunch of pictures from there too lol. Their bottom level is a Florida Ecoscape and we got to see sharks, turtles, the coolest purple crustacean ever, along with bats, snakes, spiders... so cool. There was a spot where kids could play recycling-sorting games, and use a hand-crank generator to light up different kinds of light bulbs, it was really cool. The top floor was half aerodynamics stuff: flight simulators, an air pressure cannon, planetary rover models and OH SO MUCH MORE! The mineral exhibit was cool, and the medical section had a laser surgery tool you could use to shoot out "tumors" from a little robotic face. They had a little Egypt exhibit but I don't think their mummy was real (though the PBC Science Museum's was!) They did have dinosaur fossils though. One little girl was terrified of them and her grandmother could not convince her that they wouldn't hurt her. It was very cute.
It took us a couple hours to go through everything, and the icing on the cake was the IMAX documentary "Born to be Wild". Even if you can't see it in 3D on the HUUUGE screen I recommend it. I won't spoil it, but it's about a couple of women who rehab orphaned elephants and orangutans, respectively. It was phenomenal!
I got photos of this museum! Duh!
-link-

So yeah, crammed science in my skull for six weeks so that I could go play with science. :P

OH I almost forgot! My husband told me that if I got straight A's he would get me a laptop. Now, I was trying for straight A's anyway, but I've been wanting a working laptop for a whle. I bring the old Toshiba to work on the weekends to go through slides for school but it can't run plugged in and only gets two hours of life before it needs two hours of charging, so it's a little frustrating. I didn't get all A's, but HE GOT ME A NETBOOK ANYWAY! I have this cool little Acer Aspire (the chip is called 'Atom' hehe). I can even use the net on it through my Android. I should be able to do online homework (Blackboard) on it. There's no CD rom (which is probably for the best, since the only things I've been tempted to ISO and install have been games). I'm so spoiled.

That's about it! Back to goofing off (reading _Greek and Roman Science_ by Don Nardo, and perusing _The Cuisines of Germany_ by Horst Scharfenberg!)

Felt like I got 99%, got 87%. ...??

2011-08-09T15:32:00.000-07:00

So... I got a B+ in Biological Principles. I missed an A in Biological Principles by 4 points. 356/360.

I'm actually a little blindsided because I came out of the final exam feeling like I did 100%. I identified one I missed, but still felt I was getting almost a perfect score. I knew everything. I blazed through the test and was sure I was going to be at the top of the "honor roll" (list of highest grades on the exam). I got 91/105, an 87%. I actually cried! How can I feel like I did so well, and get a B? How can I get three A's in a class, and one B, and get a B overall?
Shane thinks I'm crazy, but I'm disappointed in the whole semester. To put EVERYTHING into something to only get a B+. I brought my notecards to my husband's brother's memorial service. For a B.
3/4 exams I felt I nailed it, and didn't do close to what I thought I did. So, I'd study more. Steal time at work to study more. Stay up later. Normally I do about as well as I feel I did, except here. You either know the material or you don't, and I KNEW it! Not 87% knew it, I thought I had a 99%! I just don't understand, and I'll never get to because I can't go see what I did wrong. I can't see where I lost FOURTEEN POINTS. My husband is proud of me, and I'm a lighter shade of devastated.

July11-17. Mangos, school, .. that's about it.

2011-07-17T14:53:00.001-07:00

Not a very interesting week; hubby's playing Army so I feel like a single mom. Needy pets, 40hr job, two summer classes, AAAAHHH!

Mangogeddon continued and after freezing a bunch of tupperware full of mango I realized I was out of tupperware! I relocated the tupperware bricks into baggies and pulped what I had. I repeated the process later in the week with what had riped, and there are now 2-2cup bricks, 1-4cup brick, 4-1 mango baggies, 3-2 mango baggies, and 2-1 mango loaves of bread in the freezer. Three unripe mangos in the fridge, one in the fruit bowl. I'v thrown away a ridiculous amount of fruit in the last couple weeks, mainly because we have no way to harvest besides waiting for them to fall. I know some of our landlord's workers can climb up the tree or onto the roof, but I'm not risking broken bones for more of what I have a surplus of.

Took my first Bio Principles exam on Monday, got a 92%. Really happy about that. Offset it Friday (in my mind) by forgetting my iClicker for the first time in two years and, according to Murphy's law, our second 8 point quiz was given. This quiz is 20% of my quiz grade and I spent 30 minutes of class trying to hide that I was crying, and the rest of the two hours trying not to start up again. I'd had four hours of sleep and was hungry so I was not coping well. After class I tossed the gradescale and my grades into Excel and showed myself that the quiz meant so little in the grand scheme, that I still had a 96% and if I repeated my original Exam/Quiz grades the rest of the semester (92 and 75 respectively) I would still get a 90% in the class. I want an A, and I like the material, so I'm trying to dig in. Second exam Wednesday; such a short semester means quarter exams every 7-10 days.

I wish I'd understood about this summer A-B-C thing, because Prof wasn't kidding when he said we shouldn't be taking more than BioPrinciples at one time. I thought I was going to nail my Calc quiz but only got a 70%. Doesn't hurt my grade, due to drop tests, but gave an alarming view of where I really am. Exam Friday.

Trying to repump my motivation to run and work out. Been allowing myself to 'relax' in the middle of this courseload and I realized yesterday that I haven't really run since before we moved. I'm scared to run outside, alone, you see. It took me six months to work up the courage to run 0.5miles from our last house, and I think I only did it 'cause I was mad. However, I don't want to spend money on a gym membership again; I do not get my money's worth out of my here-and-there habits. I've paid an activity fee with the University allowing me to use their gym but it's like dodging poo... I commute, so my bag is kinda bulky. If I take gear for the gym I need the bigger, bulkier, bag and it doesn't fit in the locker. Did I mention they tried to kick me out of the gym for bringing my backpack onto the floor? The locks sold at the grocery store were BOGO free, so I did. If I have to split my crap into two lockers in order to run on the treadmill I've already paid rent for, so be it. I hope to maybe find/use the track once I get some distance back. I've resolidified my Short Term Goal of a 5k in the end of August or beginning of September, and am recommitting myself to the Disney Princess Marathon in February ... of say 2013. When I planned on the one only one year out, I got discouraged as it got closer and I wasn't making progress. So, plan FAR out, as a reward for finishing mini-goals and training.

There are many excuses, but I'm tired of looking at running as just 'one more thing I don't have time/energy/strength/ for. I can, and I'm gonna, gosh darn it!

Guess I had more to talk about than I thought!

04July-10July. Mango bread; Plantlife; and Circumcision.

2011-07-10T08:30:00.001-07:00

This week didn't have a lot too it, except that I've been really busy the whole time. I spent most of Independence Day catching up on housework and homework while Hubby pulled a double-time shift. I had a beer with lunch (Sam Adams East-West Kolsch) and had enough time (read: got bored enough) to finally sit down with Photoshop and recreate my highschool diploma. My mom 'filed' mine when I left everything I owned with her as I marched off to Bootcamp and that was the last anyone ever saw of it. I love her, but I unfortunately get my organizational skills from her! I think it turned out rather well, especially since it's just for my wall anyway.
It took longer than I thought it would. Looked up diplomas to get the wording right, then had to dig around for signatures that could be used. Took me a silly amount of time to find a signature for someone with the name Anderson, large enough to manipulate. The others, shrug, no one remembers those people, but the principal's name? Wanted that right.
Tuesday I spent four hours down with a caffeine headache. I've been slamming coffee this summer and then had none on my blessed day off. 200mg caffeine, 1000mg acetaminophen, and sipping a cup of coffee, it still took four hours for it to ebb and disappear. Afterwards I tried to run a bunch of errands and baked up a loaf of eggless mango quickbread. Eggless, because I had none, mango, because we have too much. I pulped and froze six ripe-to-overripe mangoes that had been collected since the rains earlier in the week created mango-geddon. There are more mangoes than that, twice that, in the trash because they were either infested, or unripe and split, or too ripe and split. Unbelievable yield this mango tree produces! I found a recipe online and editted it a little. I ended up making two more loaves for the freezer on Friday. I may end up making more!
The cactus behind the house bloomed, and it's lovely. The blooms are huge! Bees are having a fantastic time. My photos aren't focused (I may have to trade in this expensive phone for another, excepting that all the Droid2s seem to have this problem...) BUT, they do show how awesome this plant it. I like having a cactus near the house, reminds me of Arizona!
I'll have to add photos later, since this phone is also unable to rotate photos so they aren't sideways....
A brief note: got 100% on my last Calc quiz, and scored some extra credit on my Bio quiz (from 76% to 86%) which I needed. I dislike short quizzes because if you miss one you might as well miss half. First bio exam on Monday, so spending this weekend reviewing, cramming, etc.

Paliphrasia/Palilalia

2011-07-09T09:53:00.001-07:00

I always wondered if there was a name for it. I was sure there was, humans name everything. When I was young I would mouth or whisper the last sentence I said. I started trying to stop when people started pointing it out, though I still did it in my head. It happened more obviously when I spoke spontaneously (any normal conversation not rehearsed) so I thought it may be mind-to-mouth in reverse, as if people think-then-speak but because I spoke first my brain would rewind and then think.

I still sometimes do it, but when I'm alone I do it outloud, sometimes complete with smiling and hand gestures. Sometimes I review whole short conversations (just my side). I've been doing it a lot lately (or maybe it seems like a lot lately since I noticed I still do it). Today I finally looked it up.

Most of the people who say they did it say they had normal to advanced language development. This is different from what Einstein had; he developed language slow and repeated sentences to himself Before speaking (according to one poster). It can be packaged with autism, OCD, and some other things. There's another version, echolalia, where the person not only repeats themselves but other people's speech.

Wiki calls it palilalia. "...The repetition or echoing of one's own spoken words." They draw their source from a text on Tourette's syndrom.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palilalia

American Heritage Medical Dictionary 2007 determines palilalia to be the repeating of words at the end of a sentence with increasing rapidity.
-http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=palilalia
They call paliphrasia the "involuntary repetition of words or sentences in talking." Although it doesn't mention rapidity, it does offer palilalia as a synonym.
-http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=paliphrasia

Weekly WeyrCat 27June-03July

2011-07-03T06:58:00.001-07:00

School:

I started Biological Principals this Monday. The professor is a marine biologist who's been at FAU for 25 years. He's also hilarious, no-nonsense, and replies "no" when asked if he was in the military. He's specific about what he demands of a student: No tech in class, excluding dedicated audio recorders (which he recommends for those who feel the need to write everything down). He started the day off by calling security on a girl who refused to move closer to the podium (no sitting in the back five rows) because she wanted to be able to charge her laptop (not allowed in class anyway). He actually laughed at her. He asked nicely, then instructed her, then informed her he was calling security. He did. They came and escorted her out while she flipped him off and yelled "F* YOU!" Wow... just... wow. Pride man... Pride and entitlement. The body of the class seems like a bunch of material I've already learned, so as long as I stay on top of it I believe I will get a good grade.

The lab is going to be very fast paced: We did three labs the first day. Easy into labs, but the third required us to test a hypothesis and write a mock scientific article on it. I thought it was kind of neat, but I did my work alone (choosing an experiment I could do alone) so I could gauge which students were not worth grouping with. I despise students who just copy other students, and they tend to make themselves obvious. Noted one the second day; she asked about the mock article and said "But it's a group project, right?" People don't ask that unless they think they can get away with just putting their name on someone else's work. Fact.

Friday June 24, I was late to my calculus exam. I took the same train I always take, but instead of taking 30 minutes to get to the college train station (4 stops) it took 30 minutes to get to the first stop. I emailed the professor in route, but it didn't get me any extra time on the exam. We ade it to the train station, then I had to wait 20 minutes for the bus to arrive. I usually get to class 30 minutes early, I arrived 30 minutes late. I ran out of time and ended up just filling in a few bubbles at the end. Someone had made the professor angry the day before too, and I base this on an email he sent us the night before. For the first exam we were allowed to be a sheet with notes on it, this was forbidden us this time. This could just be him working us into thinking for ourselves, except there was also no curve this time. So, from note paper and generous curve to NO note paper and no curve... All in all I ended up with a 65%. Devastated. I took a quiz this last friday and got a 90%. I may have lost my shot at an A, but I can still get a respectable B. I'm going to still try for an A, who knows!

PT:

Been, not lazy, but busy and tired. Adjusting to a new schedule, and a stressful weekend (coworked showed up 40 minutes late without calling anyone *ME* to tell them he would be), so I don't think I've really done anything. I did some gatehouse PT at work last Sat, just squats and lunges.
On Friday I went to use the school fitness center, to run on the treadmill. I changed, found my bag wouldn't fit in the locker, and tried to bring it with me onto the floor. I found a treadmill up against the wall out of any flow of traffic and set my bag next to it. Some meathead bouncer actually tried to oust me from the gym! "I can't let you have that here." I tried to explain: First time trying to use the gym, I take the train and don't have anywhere to store it, it won't fit in a locker... No dice. I wen to the front desk with my plight and the little girl there was all "It won't fit in the day locker?" Note, the day lockers are the ONLY lockers in the lockerroom for students to use. She went to get the manager, who asked me how long I was planning to work out. At this point I was already really frustrated and said "One mile, twelve minutes, that's it!" He put my bag in the back office, and I went for a fast, angry, run. I retrieved my bag, changed, and wish I had tried to run longer. I was still mad. I thought about trying to get my activity fee back, seeing as how if I don't get really creative I won't get to use the gym! Since Shane got kicked out the day before for trying to lift while wearing jeans, we comiserated, angrily. So ridiculous.

1. Run, treadmill. 1.0 mi. 0:11:51 0.5inc. EndHr140.

Lie-barry:
(I despise when people call it that, same as "You're a good draw-er"... anyway...
1. Finished reading _Unlimited_ by Jillian Anderson.
(Official Review I posted on Goodreads.com) I really did love this book. I plan to buy a copy for myself! I took notes, wrote quotes, and the whole while really felt like I was building something. Cheesey, I know, but whatever uplifts you, right?

Highly recommend it, she talks like a real person through the whole thing.

2. Finished listening to _The God Delusion_ by Richard Dawkins.
I finished God Delusion today, and I almost started the book over just to read it again. There's only been one other book I enjoyed so much as to be tempted to do so, and it was a whole series, Dark Tower by Stephen King. I borrowed this audiobook from the library and will be purchasing a hardcopy of my own. I loved that the book was read by the author (Richard Dawkins) and his wife; while listening to audiobooks I sometimes wonder if the orator is doing justice to the book, emphasizing the right parts, etc. It made me smile to know that i this book the emphasis would be in, and on, the right ideas.

In short: I absolutely loved it. I wish everyone would read it. Evolutionists, Creationists, Athiests, Diests, Christians (and related faiths), Panthiests (and those of you who don't know yoh are Panthiests yet). If you are a fence-sitter you will no longer be. If you are a Christian (or other Theist) you should read this book, not to be pursueded NOT to be a Theist, but to see the other side, or if nothing else, to know thine enemy.

I can't, shouldn't say anything more. But read it.

3. Starting _God is Not Great and Religion Poisons Everything_ by Christopher Hitchens.

Other shtuff:

This one's only this long cause I'm trying out this new weekly format thing. :P

It's been raining like mad all week, good (since we're on water restrictions) and bad (because it can make commuting on foot and public trans kind of icky). It has caused a storm of mangos in the backyard. Some smash open when they fall and get pounced by bugs before they can be saved, but we've rescued some "splitters" which work well in my morning shake and his oatmeal. Some unripe ones have fallen, can't keep those splitters but the ones that don't split are hanging out in my fruit bowl. We're going to stop buying bananas for a week or two while we eat up this yummy harvest. Thinking of adapting my banana bread recipe to make mango bread this week! I'll have to hurry since he runs off to do his two weeks for Uncle Sam next Friday.

The rain has also been good for mushrooms around campus. I got some great photos of some dinner-plate sized ones, once my Android's camera stopped acting up. I'm close to fed up and thinking about taking it to the Verizon and having them swap it. What good is a 5mp camera that doesn't focus. I've looked it up and it seems to be a common problem with the Droid2. Grrrr. So, not as many cool photos as I would hope.

There have been a lot of really good science articles this week (what I read instead of the newspaper, along with blogs like "Oh She Glows" and a few more). I won't subject you to them in this week's entry since it's already SOOO LONG! By the way, that morning shake I'm having? I hijacked the idea from the Green Monster shake on "Oh She Glows".

06/21 My car was robbed

2011-06-23T11:03:00.001-07:00

Nothing wakes you up in the morning like having your car robbed in the middle of the night.

After going through everything, they got: A sun-cooked GPS and cord (doesn't work), earbuds with no backing on them anymore (could see the wires), a bunch of useless keys from the center console, and *the only important thing* Shane's ACU backpack containing his $50 textbook and his notebook.

They missed: $30 I forgot to take out of the sunglass holder (for tolls yesterday), $200 in an envelope in the glovebox (Granma's been hiding money apparently), keys/transponder to mom-in-law's house which I had only JUST put in the upper sunglass holder. They tore everything out of the glovebox, pulled apart the owner's manual, pulled everything out of the center console, weird little cigarette holder thing.

We got in at 1130p, brought everything we could carry in, and must have forgot to lock it because nothing was broken. They smoked in my car while they rifled, assholes. Sheriff says two other cars in the neighborhood got the same treatment last night.

The sheriff took prints, and DNA from the trunk latch (had to pop the trunk to get Shane's backpack.) I didn't know they did that. They hope to match it to stuff they pull from the other two cars.

We did have a mini-panic attack when we realized a set of the keys they took were for the two fireboxes we have in the house (1 of two sets). Somehow we were smart enough to put one key for each firebox on each ring, so we have a key for each still. Just medical records and harddrive data backups, but such a pain in the butt when you lose the keys. Need to get copies made now.

Could have been so much worse; I'm relieved for so many reasons.

After class I canvased our neighborhood, then walked the alley behind our house on foot. I hoped they'd rifle the backpack while walking, see it didn't contain anything valuable, and dump the text and note books. Those are the things that really suck most. The backpack stinks (good-for-anything ACU backpack) but those notes are everything Shane's done in class this semester. :(

The worst part for me is that I think I heard it happening. It took me a while to fall asleep, and Temper was crying. I meowed for her but she wouldn't stop. She's been strange since we moved, stress and new sounds. I got up to bring her to bed once, but she left, and began crying again. There was a thump; Rook and I both raised our heads to listen. Another thump. Temper likes to knock stuff off counters to watch them fall. I also do not know the sounds of the neighborhood at night. I though of waking Husband, but didn't: it was probably nothing.

I think I heard them going through my car :(. Shane says, and is probably right, that if I had made him check it out he could have been hurt. Since they 'didn't get anything important' (backpack, notes, textbook, my comfort,) that it's better this way.

Work work whine whine.

2011-06-18T06:46:00.001-07:00

Of all the places to stupidly dispose of your diabetic hypodermics, the WORK TRASH CAN is not one of them. Glad I looked in before retrieving my spoon. I despise that guy more and more every day. When I got here I sat in my car, as I do, and I could hear him hollering (or really, complaing loudly) for me to come in. I finally did at 5til and he was gone 30seconds later, grumbling about sick this and smoke that. I don't smell any woodsmoke. Wanna take bets on whether he relieves me those 5mins early?

Holy crap dude, at least know the first name of the person you're coming to see. I need something! Oh! That giant bag of weed in the seat explains the stupidity. How much is it when it's say, half a cup? Maybe three quarters? Loose, not packed. His name even autopopulated his vehicle info, meaning he's been here before, and yet...

Omgoodness... the library has Laurell K Hamilton's _Hit List_ on hold for me, but I can't get it til Monday, and this weekend would be perfect to tear through it! OH THE MANATEES! I didn't expect to get it this fast, the hold line was long. They did order something like a bajillion copies though. So many books and so little time! I just picked up Jillian Anderson's _Unlimited_ and have been looking forward to that. Just started Richard Dawkin's _The God Delusion_ on audio (my 'patrol/elliptical book) and just mentioning I started it cause a comment war in my Facebook. I adore my friends: they are varied, intelligent, and speak their mind!

Oh! I got Darla to shut up!

No really. Nothing in your life has ever been as bad as Darla's. Exhausted? She's been more tired. She's worked longer hours, more shifts, while sick, hungry, broke. She's sicker than you, but tough since she never goes to the hospital, though "she really should". So frustrated and tired and gnat-bitten that you wanna cry, sissy boy? Well Darla's been there, with hang-nails on all ten toes while marching uphill in too-tight Army boots in the blazing hot sun while it hailed. You got nothing on her misery, not that any of it is self-induced, but boy will she tell you about it.

I tend to be unwilling to let people know I am completely unsympathetic to their plight, especially when I'm going to have to deal with them often. However, I'm really really tired of Darla. Tonight I made Darla shut up and go away. She opened her mouth about feeling poorly and she thinks its her bad diet (she complains she cannot afford food). I told her if she'd buy less cigarettes she could buy more food. She ignored me. Started talkin about the daughter. She said her daughter's food stamps were taken away pending a drug test that they want her to pay for. 'How's she supposed to pay for it, if she's on welfare?" I replied "Budget for it."

For everything she countered with I replied "Budget for it". No job? Boyfriend does? Budget for it. She tried a new tack with the deadbeat dad thing (baby's father isn't her current boyfriend). "She didn't have to get knocked up." "Everybody gets knocked up." "I'm not knocked up." "Yea well you're married." "So only unmarried women get knocked up?" Silence. "There's birth control, condoms, abortion. She had options. Now she needs to budget". She finished her cigarette in silence, finally said she had to get back patrol.

On a really good note: sweet elderly gentleman-friend of a lady here brought me some pizza. /lurv

Ooh the pretty colors! Chakras?

2011-06-12T12:26:00.001-07:00

Root: under-active (-50%)
Sacral: open (12%)
Navel: under-active (-38%)
Heart: under-active (-6%)
Throat: under-active (-6%)
Third Eye: open (12%)
Crown: open (19%)

So, a thought train took me to some page telling me my Yellow Chakra may be weak. Confused I looked up chakras. I had a basic knowledge of what they were but OOH Look a quiz! Eclecticenergies.com seems to think me yellow (or navel) chakra is weak, too. Like, stupid weak. Red/root? What's that? Ok, off to learn more about these chakraaaa.

Ooh, found the descriptions http://www.eclecticenergies.com/chakras/introduction.php

According to this, I am:
Very Nervous, balanced emotionally & sexually (maybe a tad over emotional), pretty passive & indecisive, balanced in loving, and in expressing myself, I may fantasize a tad too much, and I may over-intellectualize (what, like, overthink things?) This is presuming 0% is balanced, though it does say you should be open. I don't have any stating "over-active" though, so I'm unsure. Wait, how can I be nervous AND balanced emotionally?

Doctor! What does it MEAN??
Apparently balancing my chakras (little batteries poweries my soul) will help alleviate the problems such imbalances cause (see above, Janna's extreme nervousness). How do we do this? It appears one should use elaborate hand gestures and chanting mantras while focusing on the chakra specifically attached to the gestures and mantra. The site says you should start from the root and work your way up. Makes sense, hard to balance your indeciveness if you're anxious.

"Warning: don't use this meditation for the Crown chakra while you don't have a strong Root chakra (you need a strong foundation first)." Hmmm.

Now I do think that meditation is good for a person. I even think if you focus on a part of your body you can gather an awareness there (monks who raise their body temperatures and steam-dry sheets!) I'm not sure how much spot-cleaning you can do on a particular problem, it would have to be an all over work-in-progress. As with muscles, you can work a particular muscle group, but you cannot focus on losing fat from your butt. Maybe, a chakra is a 'muscle group', but I still get the feeling you can't work on just one. I guess it's not a huge jump from focusing on your desires and negative thoughts (to change them, of course) to focusing on your Root chakra while attempting to redirect anxiety into confidence.

Hmmmmmm.

Going to work might be less work!

2011-06-09T09:02:00.001-07:00

Busting more buttocks today.

Spent an hour lounging in bed, reading various articles and simply enjoying the rare occurrence.

Started computer format (redoing the drives finally). Started dinner, cleaned catbox, dumped all the water out of the totes I'd set outside yesterday (not knowing it was going to downpour). Checked on fungi (see below) and had to move raspberry pot away from house: no gutters, and the edge of the pot was hammered by a stream of rain off the roof all night. Missed the sprout by inches, or it'd have broken. Placed it under the tree for now.

Put away most of the laundry (ongoing process, it's hung all over the house willy-nilly). Stripped, vacuumed, redressed mattress.

Dinner:
Balsamic honey pork tenderloin, over (Jonagold) apples. Will serve with baby carrots. Probably plain, since I'm not sure what herbs won't make the carrots participate in overwhelming the whole meal with spices.

I found two recipes online I wanted to make, Bavarian Pork Tenderloin and Honey Glazed Tenderloin. I decided to combine and alter the two.

Ingredients:
1.5lb pork tenderloin
1/3 cup honey
1 tbsp Worcester sauce.
1 tbsp Splenda brown sugar (or 2tbsp b.sugar)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar.
1 large (red) apple.

Preheat to 450.
Slice apple about 0.5cm thick, layer in 13x9 lined with foil and sprayed lightly with oil. Cook tenderloin for 15 minutes. Combine other ingredients.
Reduce heat to 350, baste tenderloin with half of honey mixture. Cook 25minutes.
Baste with rest of mixture. Cook 20minutes or until cooked all the way through.
Recommend letting loin rest 5-10 minutes before slicing to allow the glaze to thicken. Serve with some of the glazed apple slices.

Fungi!
Some cool fungi popped up in the yard last night. I didn't notice it was fungi at first, as it looked like a small cluster of yellow, oblong, 1"long fruits, possibly fallen from the small palm frond they lay under. I meant to go peak at them, wish I had. Four to five hours later they were a cluster (about 5" by 6") of cream colored orbs, topped with tan dots at their apex, and looking as if they were fusing together. I photo'd them, quarter for scale.

The next morning (it rained all night) I checked on them: the base of their heads are flaring out, looking a little jagged as if the gills are too long. Two-to-three hours later they appear the same but are yellowing significantly, probably from the heat.

I posted it to the Project Noah.
Habitat: Sod grass, next to black garden mulch, under young palm?frond tree. Often sprinklers, no rain for over a week.

Settling the house.

2011-06-06T18:33:00.001-07:00

Busted my butt today; so why am I so agitated?

Went to school, got my exam back, nasty, but the curve gives me an 85.

Went to get oil changed and tires rotated, and ended up with those, two recall refittings, filters changed, power steering flushed, and waiting two hours. Shane ran the other errands while I was in class (Vitamin Shoppe for his Jackd, Petco for foods, Best Buy for DSL modem). He set the modem up, though we couldn't get service through it.

I came home, he went to school. I called the bank about a declined charge, straightened that out in 30min. Called ATT about DSL. Called ATT back about the setup, spent an hour, made appointment for the tech to come out and make sure the damned retrofitted phone jack actually works. Changed the catbox. Unpacked and stowed the blanket tote. Righted the skewed vanity. Unpacked partials of boxes (bathroom, bookcase). Sorted laundry. Forgot to go get prescription.

Rook decided to go swimming without permission. Shane came out, he feels it's ok, but we have to be out with her until she learns to wait. Somehow I felt he was saying I was negligent, which he couldn't be since he's put her out alone more oft than I. I started sorting computer files for a c-drive-redo. In the middle.... I put the dishes away, as asked, while he washed and put his dinner in the oven. Later, I took it out again. I took the 35lb bag of dogfood and stowed it in the trunk (yay gas mileage!) since it doesn't fit in her food box. Went back to prep another disk.

Had to take Rook to potty, can't be alone now you see, and Shane was reading. Temper cries at the door now, since she can't see through it. It really pushes Shane's buttons; he's been commenting as to maybe having to get rid of her. I'll be devastated. Everyone's stressed.

This is going to be hard to adjust to. I think I made the wrong decision. I wish I hadn't been scared of the thug neighbor and the very dirty, unsafe feeling, neighborhood. Too late.

16hrs + headache * liter of coffee =

2011-06-04T07:33:00.001-07:00

No really, I went to bed last night on 500mg tylenol and a glass of wine to try to zonk out with a throbbing in my forebrain. It worked, but when I woke up it was still there and angry. I forgot my belt, my chapstick, couldn't find my sunglasses, tried to fall down twice (poor balance and a cat NAMED Shmoosh), and a few minutes late. Hubby was kind, scratch, awesome enough to come from his overnight to bring me the mini coffee maker. He even braved Walmart (which he hates) to pick up cream, sugar, and a bonus prize (Choco Tacoooooo!) I am way spoiled.

1000mg Tylenol and 1.5cups of coffee later, it's still there but only throbs when blood is forced into my skull (bend over, sneeze, etc). I think I'll make it.

Had a woman call to complain that we gave her nurse a 'hard time' at the gate. Our job is to screen people, derp, but since I didn't do the giving I passed it to the other gate, whooo happens to be the Captain of the site. Cpt calls me back to give me the low-down: A nurse came to the gate with no idea where she was going. She didn't know the resident's name, address, nothing. It took Cpt a couple minutes to dig through the nurse's paperwork to find a clue where she was going, and get her in. She complained to the resident. When I relayed it to Cpt, Cpt called her, resident promptly claimed she 'never said we gave her a hard time'. Two, two people trying to cover their bums because they are unable to own up to something. I thought we were grown ups here?

Worried today: Cousin-in-law Mary told me Granma & Granpa had to be evac'd due to a fire in Nutrioso! Fb digging revealed they'd started to pack up importants. Email from Mom says they're fine, with some of their importance. Status of cabin unknown. :( Praying and worrying.

Had a guy tell me that if I got my pants fitted and hiked em up a little I might get more tips. (Blink blink). I miss my 9mm.

Unpacking, phoning, and EVILLE ex-landlady.

2011-05-31T17:10:00.001-07:00

Busted my bum today. Today Hubby had to work but I was home with the mess. I tried to be productive.
Cleaned the litter box, unpacked two totes, broke for breakfast. Unpacked and collasped uncounted more boxes, filled bookshelves, spun couch, moved elliptical, arranged most of kitchen. Pigged out on ice cream and a glass of wine for an early lunch. Addendum: Frey Natural (organic white: bleh. Tastes like lightly carbonated, slightly bitter, blah. But I'm not a huge fan of white wines anyway.

Called FPL, old electric off. Called water company, old water off tomorrow 0730 (stinks, I know she's moving in as soon as she has keys.) Shopped internet providers. ATT it is. It'll come on next week. Called Comcast, turned on net off. More boxes, more ice cream.

Ten minutes on the elliptical to help offset the ice cream, definitly not enough. Showered, and went to meet landlady for the walkthrough. (Since I ended with the landlady rant: We went feom her to the gym, where I warmed up, did inc chest press 3x10,15lb. *Yay! We then drove to check out the small gym I hunted, that I knew Shane would love, even though he said it's too far. We chatted with the owner, got a week pass, he did some more chest (I did inc chest flyes, 3x10, 10lb). He told me to stop there, but I snagged a 10 and tried some tri extensions. Right arm was fine, left, the tri locked. God I hate that. Too much home lifting. Owie. We left. He loves it. Doesn't even wanna shop the other gyms I found. Wants to sign up. Do I know my hubby, or what? We hung out, then I hit the public laundromat. Miss my washer and hang-rack. $5.25 for 3 loads washed and mostly dried, still no place go hang the damp. Grrrr.

Arriving at the Papaya house, the landlady was already there and pulling foliage out of the backyard.

She opened our meeting with the command 'open da doa.' I did so, smiling, and held it open for her to enter first. She'd already been in (so why have me open it?) 'I'ma have ta pay for cleaning service.' 'Excuse me??' I cleaned this house harder than I've ever cleaned (and we cleared military housing in 24 hrs, leaving only the slightly pet-shredded carpet to count against us.) I was instantly furious. The bitch jumped me! 'This floor is filthy!' Oh... my... god. Bitch I could have licked that floor when I left! 'No, it isn't. I swept multiple times, then mopped twice!' 'Look at all this dirt!' 'There's no dirt! I STEAM MOPPED!' 'It's all ground in dirt! (She toed over chips out of the tile, and 20 years of ground in staining.) Look,' she points to a tile 'ask your neighbor, we bleached this tile. Look how clean it is!' Excuse the fuck out of me, but hooray for you, you hands and knees stripped one fucking 9x9 tile. I hands and knees'd all the baseboards, the walls, every tile with some cat puke stuck to it (the moving was very stressful). 'What about that broken winda?' 'What broken window?' 'The bedroom window! It's broken.' 'We never even touched that window, it is NOT broken.'

At this point Shane arrived, having come straight from work. I spun around 'This is yours, I just got here. I'm going to get my plants.' I did that. They'd already been in the backyard, hacked out what was left of the plants that made the yard beautiful and then liveable. She'd moved my plants and a branch of my Persian Shield is snapped off. I collected my plants, one at a time, and set them in. My back seat. I also took an extra bucket off the potting soil from my garden. Can't believe I'm leaving it there for her to simply raze. I went back in and she was still trying to convince Shane the place was destroyed, that tenants are supposed to keep up the house (bzzt, try again). She even accused us of breaking the water heater, citing her proof as the fact that it was full of water. Well, got me there wiz kid, I concede it was full of water. (Insert eye-rolling). She somehow decided we should have told the previous landlord it was broken. Interesting. I don't recall taking cold showers for over a month, just so I could lay it on her... In fact I only suffered through one cold shower, and one towel-bath. I skipped the third day entirely, excepting hot spots.

I wrote our new address on a scrap and gave it to her, ignoring her 'I'll send you your refund in a letta from me.' I just know we're going to end up in small claims with this idiot. She claimed to be a landlord, and know this and that, and then acted directly opposite ay every turn. My burner once popped and caught fire. I got it off/out, but she happened to be there. I relayed it to her and she made it sound like I'd have to replace it. Excuse e moi? Wear and tear, Lady, that's you. Old shit giving out, that's also you. I replaced the stove knobs, scrubbed countless nasties that were in the house from previous tenants, REPAIRED shit. This place really is better than when we got it. Hag.

Shane, who has done some FL realty before, says she's basically trying to take us for a ride and use our deposits to refit half a duplex that's seen 20 years of tenants. The window is installed wrong, by the way. Something I never noticed since I NEVER TOUCHED IT. We tacked a blanket up over it (graveyard shifts) and never saw it. The cat never even sat in it! The front door doesn't seal, the slider rollers are worn and shot (heard her complain about that too), the fridge handle rusted and popped off, this shit isn't damage we've done. It's decomp. Tell me I should have had the landlord fix this and that. Bitch I should have called you day and night when I went a week without a pot burner, DAYS without hot water, had you come fix the slider, the maligned door, crooked cabinets, the missing cabinet toe-block, the non-functioning bathroom fan, the non-functioning sprinklers.

We lived quietly. We took care of our home. We even spackled the bookcase anchors with REAL SPACKLE! Not toothpaste! For a woman who mowed over my purple queen. WHICH she commented on 'See I told you it'd grow back.' ... I took a deeeeeeep breath, and nodded, and turned to leave.

BBQ on a Diet Day!

2011-05-29T12:55:00.001-07:00

One of the resident's fathers comes through and chats with me now and again. Today they had a bbq and he brought me a plate! This is a rare occurrence: I've only ever gotten two plates in my 11 months here, BOTH from this nice man.
Today happens to be a diet-day, thanks to my recklessness this week.
I was brought (approx) 845 calories. I pared it down to 520. *See before and after plate hehe.
Altered the rest of my day's diet to accommodate. Will eat the portion allotted in increments (except the burger and potato salad. I smashed those). Interestingly, though those two were all I had (343 cals) I feel stuffed O.O been consuming rather small portions spaced out by much water on my penitential-diet-day. Assuming I don't tinker, which I will, I'm looking at a 301 calorie deficit for the day. Yesterday finished paying up moving-week, so these 301 are pure weight loss. :)

PS: You can kind of see my weekly graph poking out from the side there!

The Island of Dr Moreau- H.G. Wells

2011-05-28T13:52:00.001-07:00

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is really cool. I love the forward, a young man presenting the tale following as a an account written by his uncle who may have believed it really happened, (leaving the reader to feel... maybe it did!)

The story itself was also very cool. Wonderfully descriptive, yet not tiring about it. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll simply state that YOU should read it. :)

I must also mention how, to me, the Law felt like a reflection of Man and religion... an attempt to embody an unattainable Self, an attempt to hide or disown instincts and mentalities innate. It was probably on purpose, it was done so well.

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On Moving...

2011-05-28T13:35:00.001-07:00

Haven't updated in a while, school and moving you know.

Did I mention I got A's in both my classes? I should have.

At work, and it's going as usual:
Want to punch some of these people in the face. Bleach blonde b***h in a Bentley insists she's on the list and eeeeveryone knows her. She's on the list all right, as 'No entry unless resident confirms.' Ex wife.

Also, (from my FB), I spend a lot of my day smiling around wanting to poke holes in peoples' tires. Just had one who forgot her ID (doesn't know the code for the apt she stays in, since she's not -actually- the resident there) and, of course, spouts off about how I'm the 'only one who gives her this problem'. I ran her plate thru the system as a roundabout way of getting her in (a favor she would never know nor admit, since I could antagonize her further, so says SOP). While I did so, back turned and all, she continued on about me 'then wantin to drive around and wave and smile and shit, like you not a...' and it continued. So, finding she most likely was who she said she was I turned around, gave her a huge smile, a girlish head tilt and and bob, and wished her a woooonderful day.

_________________________
Moving has been fun. Enslaved brother-in-law and his stronger-than-she-looks fiance to huck boxes for a couple days. Had a great time over Bezzerwizzer in the evenings.

This is a reply to someone asking how its been going, and I think it sums it pretty well.
Yesterday was odds 'n ends. Won't get to move the last of the 'last minute junk' boxes til Monday, since we both work like dogs over the weekend. Most of the hands and knees scrubbing is done, the carpets, spider armageddon(sp?). I kept most of them alive around the doorframes since none of the portals actually sealed to the outside; obese happy spiders until yesterday. This will be the cleanest home any tenant ever returns to her, should she continue to play landlady. She made vague noises of keeping our security if the place wasn't 'clean'. We clean all our residences this way, but I'm growly towards her anyway. No WAY she's keeping 1200$ just cause she thinks it isn't clean enough. I have photos, half a gig of them. Rawr.

We've eaten like awful pigs this week; partially from feeding the slaves, and partially from not having stocked the fridge due to the move. Sweet Tomatoes for us, Cici's, King Buffet (shown), Tokyo Saigon, oven pizza, beer, wine, chips... all with no time for the gym. Eek! I've kept decent track and am starting to repair today with a deficit. If I didn't overshoot cals burned (used CardioTrainer/Spark) then it should only take a couple days to balance out. Will be nice to get back on the elliptical and run.

Still more scrubbing, more moving, and of course All the unpacking, to go.

PS: we spent about an hour in the pool with Rook on the second day. I may get brown this year. :)

Review: Bullet

2011-05-13T16:44:00.001-07:00

Bullet by Laurell K. Hamilton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

While this was MILES better than the previous installment (hmm, most of the sex seems to make sense, story is nice and full with only a teensy bit of seemingly pointless sideline branches (COUGH the rotting master of Augusta) that get clippingly solved in the end) I have one problem....

How do you just cause Padma, Master of Beasts, to be extinct in ..one...line...? A member of the Council, someone riDICulously scary, but his death is mentioned in a summary afterthought? Why not at least a small installment, like Flirt or the first chapter in one of the multi-books?

/grumble grumble/

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PT 9x5 & 9-5.

2011-05-08T20:08:00.001-07:00

Though Sundays are my brain dead, swollen knees, no real way to PT/cardio I managed some today.

*5min condensed Yoga as sun salutations.
*10min (cumu) Iron Yoga / upper body weights 2lb.
*5min of Spark's Cardio Kickboxing vid (from memory)
*A set of bodyweight squats
*Half a mile (1480 steps) pacing the cube (cumu).

I also devoured half of Robert Hamilton's book _Earthdream_ which I recommend!

Paradise Lost- John Milton. 4/5.

2011-05-07T11:42:00.001-07:00

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It took me a short while to hurdle the dialect, but it was worth it. A vivid telling of Genesis, partially from Satan's view. I sometimes got a little lost in Milton's often parallels to myths I've never read (probably common knowledge at the time the non-rhyming long verse was written). I think my favorite part was the naming of Satan's minions, assigning them each a worshipped god of mythology. Pretty much tickled pink by that for some reason.

Enjoyed seeing Satan's viewpoint of Hell and Chaos. Heard some quotes I knew well but not where from, 'abashed the Devil stood...'. One thing... the son of God is born in Heaven before God creates Man... Maybe I misunderstand the Bibble but I don't recall that being so. A little polytheistic, don'tcha think?

Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead. 2/5.

2011-04-30T07:08:00.001-07:00

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Get the softcover, find the break between Parts 2 and 3, tear the book down the spine at this break, read cliffnotes or some summary for the first half, then read the rest. I heard Ayn Rand took a long time to write this, her first real book. From a turned down screenplay she built a world where views are outrageously extreme. Characters are unbelievable and the viewpoints are expressed with a sledgehammer.

The last two parts are better, not really more believable, just bettwe written. She expressed some very good points, a few solid ideals, motives I can agree with, but she does so with the air someone who just 'knows' they're right when everyone else is wrong, so that even if the speaker IS right you just can't wait for them to shut up!

If I go on I'll rant. Decent writing, acceptable ideals presented poorly, unbelievable characters. Read it, but through audiobook so you can't stop at scream at how RIDICULOUS something is every 3 pages.

PS: ending doesn't match bullheaded stupidity outlined in first part of book. Sigh.

Why I couldn't take socialism seriously. Or. I'm a racist hardnose.

2011-04-24T05:16:00.001-07:00

Why I couldn't ever consider socialism seriously: SRO Jean Amilkar. ...

It's not a hard job. The rules are simple. Stay awake, be polite, be professional. When among failing that he shove some faded state worker badge in my face as his basis for me not to have a right how to tell him to do his job to the standards expected of us, mockingly calling me boss and telling me he hope I get paid Captain's wages for the way I talk, and threatening to tell HIS direct supervisor that I 'always' give him a hard time... all I can do is chuckle.

Chuckle that the first night we met I was my polite, professional, self at work, while the whole night he called me 'sweetheart' and ended up leaving empty food wrappers (including a huge chip bag) in the patrol vehicle. PS: I hate the nickname Sweetheart from anyone under 65.

I chuckle that even Darla, another SRO, fiercely insisted I forcibly remind him to clean the gatehouse as the last time she relieved him it was filthy. I did, he all but saluted, until he realized I logged off the computer. He insisted that I was to log back in so he could use my screen to log vehicles. The hell I would. I told him to log in to the temp screen, the instructions are on the wall. He tried to pitch a fit so I repeated myself and told him if he had problems to call Darla, as she was on patrol and knows how. He's been an SRO for months, how could he not know how to log in.

He smiled and made jokes when I relieved him the next morning, though I'd not been in the mood seeing as I WOKE him up in the gatehouse. I'd also reminded him that morning that we aren't suppose to park our POV's behind the gatehouse as the resident next to the gatehouse complains (word of mouth). Either way it's unsightly. I didn't even mention the unspoken fact that he would have had to abandon the gatehouse to go retrieve his POV from the parking lot.

Today I did mention it, but suddenly its 'always'. I simply asked him what time he left the gatehouse unmanned to go get his vehicle from the parking lot. His confusion written on his face, though his English comprehension seems to be passable in a way his speaking of it isn't, I slowly asked him what time during his shift he had abandoned the gaehouse to go get his vehicle. All the sudden its 'oh I didn't know you were the chief' and 'I hope you get paid good, Chief'. All the sudden, I'm 'always on his case'. He brings up the patrol car being parked 'in the parking spot' but (me?) not saying anything about it to the other guy (insert something mumbled sounding vaguely accusing me of being anti-Haitian... interesting since the guy on patrol, who speaks Creole, and I had a nice chat last night. I didn't seem racist to him.) I outlined that this is an easy job, but he needs to take it seriously because what reflects bad on him reflects bad on the company. Oh he didn't care.

He stormed to his car and brought back some faded clip badge and shoved it two inches from my nose. I think I get points for not raising the argument to a physical altercation at this point, the presumptive prick. He made noise about being 'a state worker' and that he could 'come back here' I spat 'I don't care! In THIS job you follow THESE rules.' Tired of it all, I went back (as I had said it before) to telling 'Just go home Mr Amilkar. Get out of my gatehouse.He stormed to his vehicle, muttering bullshit under his accent, and drove away.

Go on. Go tell your boss that I've aaalways been mean to you. Tell him I'm racist, and think I'm the boss. Go tell him all the bullshit you can think of. I wrote a report when I caught you sleeping. I'll write a report for all of this too. You'll keep your job, because there somehow aren't enough useful, hardworking, intelligent, capable people applying for your job.

More's the pity.

Don Giovanni...

2011-04-17T05:14:00.001-07:00

Last October I bought myself birthday tickets to Mozart's 'Don Giovanni' (an opera, circa 1780s). I requested the shift off last January. My current work schedule (and Shane's Drill schedule) meant
1. Off 1530.
2. Home to walk/feed dog, shuck uniform, grab dinner from fridge,
3. hit road just at pre-rush hour to Miami.
4. Pick up husband from drill, eat,
5. Get to Opera House, Curtain at 7.
When I got there a bus was dumping soldiers and the lots were packed. It was more efficient to get dressed in the car. Ever tried to put on a garter belt, in a parked car, with a pulled sternocleidomastoid?
Oh, then after the opera, dump hubby back at drill, drive home, walk/feed dog, out by 1230, up today 0630, finals start finals this Monday. kek

The opera itself was supercool. It's easy to dislike Don Giovanni (our main character slash antagonist) while liking the way he was written. The sidekicks are always cooler though (go Leporello!) When Donna Anna's fiance (see, don't even remember the dude's name) I wanted to poke him in the eye. Love and vengeance are fine, but holy cow stop whining! Donna Elvira was awesome, her actress playing her great! They did it all in a vision of a mottled early 1900s, maybe 30s? I dunno, there was handguns (a few) and flashlights, sunglasses, but it was hard to peg. Donna Elvira wore pants when she was being hardnose: muwahaha! Shane only fell asleep 7-8 times, which is pretty good for us both getting up pre-6am. He says he had fun. I'm glad he says so :P

I'll have to con hubby back into his suit so you can see how cute he is! I don't have many photos, but it was very eye-catching (when Donna Anna's whiner wasn't whining...) There was times when I just watched the orchestra play, seeing all the bows whip back in time is surreal.

Phoenix: Free Puppy!

2011-04-12T20:50:00.000-07:00

My sister took in a dog from her neighbor when they moved, but cannot keep her.
They told her she was a 4mo Lab.

She appears to be an 8-12 month old mix, with some Terrier dominant. There is no scar on her belly, so we're unsure if she was fixed. Turns out she was purchased from a swap meet. The previous owner (not the neighbor) docked her tail. She's energetic, and doesn't steal food off the girls' plates.

Her name is Rayna, won't you take her home? Send me an email weyrcat AT gmail DOT com.

Poor mouse...

2011-03-24T17:56:00.001-07:00

I had to crush a mouse :( The resident didn't stop for him when I did. He crushed some front part and it lay there wriggling and twitching, dying painfully. I angled at it, and crushed him with my tire, so he wouldn't lay there in agony. I hate humans. I saw it, he had to...

I'll plant a seed for him tomorrow. It's the best I can do, poor little thing.

Oxygen thief...

2011-03-23T07:39:00.001-07:00

I knew he was an oxygen thief when he changed lanes with no blinker, driving a 2011 'Juke' and a plate that read 4GDBDIT. He weaved in and out, getting nowhere. Then, in front of me at a red, he opens his door and tosses an apple core into the street. I actually flung my hands up in bewildered disgust. I guess he saw the motion because he flipped off his rear-view mirror. I stand by my theory that people who litter should be shot. This one, to death.

Oscar's got nothin' on this grouch.

2011-03-20T05:44:00.001-07:00

Got off my 16hr shift after doing a fair bit of studying/hw all day. Got home. Got upset. Went to bed. Slept like crap. I forgo showering to steal an extra 30mins sleep (since at MAX I get 6, without the shower). I dangerously hit the snooze twice. Got up, got dressed, got out.

Shmoosh had an accident and there's feces on the bathroom counter. It will be there tomorrow when I get home from school, since I get home tonight after 16hrs, take a fast shower where I double shampoo, and pass out praying I have everything I need for Lab Monday in close proximity.

I took out 'my recycles' to the curb, but the rest of the trash will probably sit in the house, and miss trash day (this morning). The laundry stand snapped apart, again. I picked it up quickly so it wouldn't incur more damage.

So, I'm dirty, my house is dirty and waiting for me, I have a quiz, an exam, and a 7page lab this week. I slept like crap, have 16hrs to sit in the same tiny booth I sat in yesterday, uncomfortable in an ill-fitting uniform and an AC that freezes you if it blows but cooks you if it doesn't.

/growl

'Stop being so awesome, you make us all look bad.'

2011-03-13T06:28:00.001-07:00

I was told by the LT that CPT hadn't signed off on my opera date (apr16) because it was too early too (I put it in Jan20). There's a memo in the computer today stating no more days off are to be requested/granted for apr17/23 cause 'the week is taken'. LT has an APPROVED vacation slip, that whole week, put in 3/11 and signed 3/12.
Furiouser and furiouser.
I'll keep my scuttlebutt to myself, but I think favoritism is rampant in the brass here, and it's pissing me the heck off.

This week I've also been chewed out for being efficient in a way the Cpt hadn't thought of, and was accused of trying to set policy and overstep my job description. The idea was thrown out (though co-workers tell me, without prompting, that she trashed it 'cause she didn't think of it, not because it was bad.)

I've also been reprimanded for doing MORE than any other Patrol officer would have, yet it was somehow not enough. I should have called the PD to wake up the resident who yet again forgot to close his vehicle door. I checked the perimeter to ensure it was his carelessness again, and not a thief. Apparently, that was too dangerous.

I am to remain ON THE PHONE (my personal cell btw, since we aren't issued one) the whole time I walkthrough the clubhouse, since an officer found vandalism and drugs last week. He did NOT call the PD (in that instance he should have). I've asked around and no other patrol officers (I'm the only female btw) has been instructed to do this.

Aaaall stemming (or awfully damn convenient timing) from an offsite LT using my name in a report, in which this other LT caught another patrol officer leaving half an hour early (timesheets are poor babysitters). The Cpt believes I was trying to get the lazy officer fired. All this coming so quickly after is awfully odd, don't you think?

She once buttered me up over my adherence to SOP and work ethics, my attention to detail on patrol and in report. Spoke of trying to get me a mini-raise so I wouldn't change sites over money. Now all this.

God help those who help themselves, cause no one else does.

Wonderful Day! Thrifting and time with Hubby

2011-03-07T18:14:00.000-08:00

So today is my first real day of Spring Break. I tried to sleep in, but woke up after 8 hours anyway!
I did some quiet cleaning (I'm more relaxed when the house is clean) and set to pestering hubby after his alarm went off. We planned our week (glass bottom boat tour with Granma Irma tomorrow!) and headed out to thrift!

I got a variety of shorts and skirts (something I sorely needed after less than a year in FL with only AZ clothes, jeans pass in NC, but I wanted a little less lately...) I also got a gorgeous little red dress. I'm 27 and never owned one! My husband loves it, and at first told me I wasn't allowed to wear it outside the house! I can't wait to wear it on one of our date nights! We stopped off for the best Dairy Queen Blizzards we'd had in a while (TONS of cheesecake and chocolate, and at least half an inch to an inch over the rim. I seem to get jipped often, so this was fantastic!) We hit another thrift store and I begged my way into a mini-crock-pot (which I have to use within a month or it he gets rid of it hehe).

When we got home I settled in with a glass of port, checked my email, and discovered my bank card number had been charged 362.99 that I never spent. F#@$. I checked the bank and there were 6 other transactions I never made, but all under 100$ so BoA didn't notify me (I have my threshold at 100, 'cause I almost never spend more than that from my personal account). Called the bank, stopped the card. Talked to the Fraud Dept, and was told I have to wait for the transactions to clear before I can submit a claim, soooo call back tomorrow. I did learn that some of the charges were authorized through the PIN. Interesting since I don't actually KNOW the PIN. It's the one BoA sent me when I got the card. I promptly lost that. Six months ago (heh). She was very helpful though: told me if I called the companies who charged me they sometimes kill the charges themselves. Good plan....

-1.00 CHECKCARD 03/07 PAYPAL 4029357733 NE
-1.00 CHECKCARD 03/07 XOOM CORPORATION SAN FRANCISCO CA
-5.00 CHECKCARD 03/07 BB *PROCESSBYBLACKBAUD 866-992-3374 CA
-20.00 CHECKCARD 03/07 FS 877-327-8914 NE
-362.99 CHECKCARD 03/07 XOOM CORPORATION SAN FRANCISCO CA
-1.00 CHECKCARD 03/07 PAYPAL 4029357733 NE REVERSAL

So, I call in descending order of cost. I know the charges will be reversed to ME, but I don't want this person to get anything out of it. I dig up XOOM.

Xoom, an A+ reputable cash transfer site, was VERY helpful. She looked up the charge with my name and the card's last four, and sent me to Disputes. The lady at disputes apologized, found the charge, and said that it had been flagged and automatically cancelled. Sweet. (The 1.00 charge is the tester-charge, like what happens when you get gas.)

The 20.00 phone number goes to FastSpring, an online company selling digital commodities. I am forced to leave a detailed message, and send an email, explaining what happened and asking them to reverse/refuse/refund. I don't want this guy to get anything. Interesting: When you call their number, the automated system states: "If you have found a charge on your statement from us, and don't remember making it, please press 1." It then goes on to tell you that you probably just don't remember making the charge. BS, but I checked anyway. Nope.

The 5.00 is BlackBaud, a processing company who said he could not cancel the charges but gave me the information of the company that received the money: SIECUS, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States. Someone DONATED 5.00 from a stolen card. Wtf? I was forced to e-mail them as well. Nothing against sex-ed, but I don't want this guy's will to be done.

The PayPal one has a partnered Reversal, meaning they sent the 1.00 tester, and something didn't sit right, so they cancelled the purchase/transfer and refunded the money. GLEE.

His will, undone. So far the only two things outstanding that I couldn't fix myself are the donation (which is actually a good cause, but if I'm going to donate $5.00 this month, it's going to be to NPR. If parents don't teach their kids about Sex-Ed, they deserve knocked up or STD ridden children.) Aaaaand the internet commodity. Ah well. Bank of America is so awesome, I have Zero Liability for fraudulent charges and would get all my cash back anyway, but since I don't know if BoA ends up taking the hit, I thought I could help. Plus, I really really don't want that guy to get anything his way.

What thief donates to Sex-Ed?

I am satisfied, on my second glass of Marsala, and soon on to bed. :) GLEE!

OH And I bought the beautiful amethyst/peridot necklace I wanted from Rainforest Site. $25 necklace for $8. GLEE!

My age old question rears... Teacher or Nurse.

2011-03-06T08:59:00.001-08:00

I have a year of core requirements to decide if I want to change my major from BSNursing to BSBiology. It would invalidate some NC work (whoever decided A&P is lower div, never took it). Considering the BSN invalidates most everything from CA and AZ... it kinda stings. Don't want to 'start over' again.

I started with fun stuff and no advisor. It's hard to get one of those you know! Religion and psychology. Was gonna major/minor for fun!

In CA I shifted to Gen Eds, but everytime I change colleges there are different Gen Eds. Jazz = Music in CA but not FL. Skills for Student Success (how to be a college student) req CA,NC but apparently not FL.

As a nurse I get to help people, have some hand in biology, and make money to take care of my family.
As a teacher I would get to warp minds, I mean, teach kids to love science! Dissect! Muscles! Skeleton! I prefer Middle School to Post Secondary I think, but who knows. Summers off to work on more school or take a wee vacation. But money would be so much less.

A FL nurse BSN, in the first year, averaged a 50-54k salary.
A FL teacher BS, in the first year, averaged a 37-48k salary.
A $9500.00 difference. That's almost a new car...

When I webbed my goals last month as part of a Spark exercise I tucked it away as a bookmark. I found it a week later and was surprised to see Nurse not on it anywhere. I wondered... I always phrase the nursing as a stepping stone to teaching.
•BSN -> Army Nurse -(20yrs)-> Science Teacher til I die.
Husband keeps telling me to ignore the Army, probably means he'll go back. We decided we couldn't both go in if we wanted kids. Dual deployments are rough on spawn.

Hubby says if I stop trying to plan every moment of the future, and just plan for tomorrow or next year, I'd be less stressed. He's right on that. But it's hard when the choices I make now affect the future so strongly... Just look at my years of wasted credits :(

And another thing... Yoga!

2011-03-06T06:39:00.001-08:00

Another thing I notice about cardio-trackers (like my beloved SparkPeople and my gps enabled CardioTrainer...) they don't count Yoga...

Now, CT does, but I use it to give me an at-a-glance view of progress in last 7 days. Spark is where I try to keep my fit minutes so I can track a differential between eaten calories. It does what my old spreadsheets did, without having to retranslate for each new device.

Spark does have Pilates which is what I'll be logging it as, though I wouldn't do Pilates. It's a yoga ripoff with some dudes name attached. I just wanted to share what other (useless) stuff Spark DOES have in Cardio...

Acting.
Coaching sports.
Fishing (3 kinds. standing river, sitting, standing bank).
Frisbee- general.
Gardening.
Hacky sack.
Line dancing.
Massage work.
Officiating a sports event.
Stagehand.
Taboganning (sure, but how often is it entered guys?)
Unicycling.
And 13 kinds of Wii Fit, excluding Wii Yoga.

Really?

PT:
•5inc pushups (to help the sore of yesterdays 5:10.)
•13min Yoga: 3 sun salutations, +WII, Wide forward bend, and boot camp arms.
•Probably more here and there :P

Not quite an ode to my vacuum...

2011-03-04T10:32:00.000-08:00

You know what? I'm going to start logging housework as yardwork in my CardioTrainer. Some things don't make sense (like it having Stagehand as an option but not Yoga.) But housework?

Seriously, anyone who thinks housework doesn't burn as much as yardwork has never DONE real housework. I don't mean standing there doing dishes or sweeping (though those are work too). I mean the work usually only MOM'S know about. The people who don't think housework is HARDwork are the people who don't know that you can SCRUB with a vacuum hose. They don't know that the air sucked up in a vacuum comes out in a hot blast, hard to avoid, when you're crouched beside the short hose with the scrubber, holding it together so it won't fall apart, and the vacuum falls over at you beCAUSE of that short hose. They don't know that the tooth attachment on a vacuum is NECESSARY for getting up surprise cat/dog/child puke out of a carpet. Those who DO, know when you scrub and the brown comes up, it's a good surface mess that takes only 2-4 minutes, and that when it leaves a red kool-aid like stain, that it's forever, but you scrub anyway.

These people know that it takes HANDS AND KNEES to get nose/ball/hand prints off of the walls, and that you usually have to be oh-so-gentle (and thus more time-consuming) when you RENT and scrubbing too hard or too fast starts to takes upthe cheap paint. They know that black grout is a blessing, and juuuust how heavy a load of wet laundry is when you don't have a working dryer or hang your laundry.

Housework is HARDwork. And if you don't think so, trade your rake for the vacuum. Oh, and don't forget to get in the corners under the cushions.

Feb Date: Skorpios II. Loved it.

2011-03-01T15:18:00.000-08:00

Dates have been sporadic this semester, but our grades are fantastic hehe.
We ended up going on our date on March 01 at Skorpios II, the first Greek place we've found since we had to leave our beloved "The Greek Place" on Fort Bragg. I'd had my eye on the place for most of the month and it did NOT disappoint!

I ordered a spinach pie for an appetizer, and ordered dinner right away. I opted for a Feta and Spinach Stuffed Flounder. Little did I know it came with a bunch of extras! I also ordered a Greek beer, Vergina, which Shane felt tastes like Budweiser. I liked it, either way (3/6). I demolished the spinach pie, giving a meager third of it to hubby. Yum! They brought me a lentil soup (mmmm, even Shane liked it, but I didn't tell him there were lentils in it.) We both had Greek salads. They ALSO brought us pita chips and tzatziki (mmmm). By the time dinner came I was full! The plate was HUGE. I ended up nibbling the delicious dinner, and splitting it into three more meals (two lunches and a dinner) over the next couple days. SO GOOD!

Shane didn't like how slow the waiter was, but I thought he was just giving us distance. He knew we were new and even brought us both of the deserts offered with our meal (usually rice pudding OR a kind of cookie. He brought one of each!)

I loved the place. I think Shane was lackluster about it, but it was a good date. PS The pictures are all blue, because the entire inside was lined with blue lights. :)

Been working so long to qualify...

2011-02-27T17:05:00.001-08:00

All the other pre-nursing girls have been fidgety for two weeks. I haven't been. Tomorrow if the last day they officially decide. I thought of checking my email a few times, though I knew no letter would be there yet (if they chose to use that medium.) Not sure if I'm anxious to know if I got in, just anxious to know the decision. It's a subtle difference I'm not sure I can explain. I think I'll be excited if I get in, but it's been so long thinking about it (years?) I'm not sure I'll be disappointed if I don't... Feels weird.

I did poke around at shoes on the net, telling myself if I got in I'd treat myself to some comfy though less-than-pretty nursing shoes. My cousin has a scrubs pattern, thought of getting that from her earlier this week, but didn't cause I might not need it. I'm not sure where I am in this.

Cause I can't yell at them..

2011-02-26T10:51:00.001-08:00

I'm hot, wearing a polyester uniform missing all but two shirt buttons, working two 16hr shifts back to back and trying to do my gorram job. I don't CARE if you used to live here. I don't CARE if you know the first three digits of the gatehouse phone number. I don’t CARE that you have frozen food in the back. I'M trying to do MY job, which is screen these people's guests, and if YOU didn't make prior arrangements this is not my problem. I'm trying to help you ANYWAY.

I CALLED the number you gave me, which could be anyone. So while I'm grilling this person to make sure he's who I need him to be to finagle YOU inside, how about you not gripe and moan eh? I don’t need to let you in. I can turn your grumpy ass around and make HIM, who IS on the guest list, come down and escort you in. But I'm not doing that, am I? No, I'm trying to help you. So how about you smile, wait patiently, and be thankful that someone isn't cutting corners and letting just anyone in here.

5/5 Swallowing Darkness (Gentry 07) Laurell K Hamilton

2011-02-24T22:50:00.001-08:00

I loved it. While some Merry books I could take or leave, this one was amazing. They were all so real, I giggled, my heart race, I CRIED (and I don't do that...) I am comfortable in saying this is my favorite of the Merry Gentry series. I'd actually become upset at LKH as I like Anita less and less when at first I loved her. Now, they seem reversed. This is so well written, so engaging! The battles, the emotions, everything crystal, I love it. I just do.
*Also, kudos to Claudia Black, reader of the audiobook, for embodying the characters so well and giving them each their own distinct sound. So many can't do that.

Sleep Challenge, Week 2 COMPLETE

2011-02-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

From my SparkPeople blog!

I've always had such a hard time 'waking up' in the morning, driving to school groggy, fumbling through classes, living on caffeine. Since I've gone to bed an hour earlier, to wake up an hour earlier (match hubby's up time, so no more multiple harsh wake ups from his snooze button!), stopped pounding water before bed (no more midnight potty breaks!), and used my new morning time to do 10mins of sun Salutations, I'm way more awake in the mornings. I haven't missed breakfast yet, and while I'm tired at the SAME TIME I always was (10-11pm) I'm not forcing myself to stay up til midnight or later, staring at the computer screen and accomplishing nothing, JUST to 'get in my free time'. The only thing I've lost time on so far is World of Warcraft, which was my way to have free time. I'm findin NEW 'me time' by popping in audiobooks on my 20mile drive to and from school. :) So far, there are way more smilies in my daily log than there used to be! I'm checking off week 2!

Still writing in my sleep log, and all the other 'habits' have become natural. I can't wait to see what week 3 has!

Mmm Carrots

2011-02-20T13:23:00.001-08:00

There's a family at work that always stops on their way in and out of the estate, so their children can wave and yell hello or goodbye. They're terribly cute. Today when they came by I was munching on a carrot, trying to hide it from most visitors. For them, however, I kept it visible as I knew they would ask, and did.
'Why are you eating a carrot?' They both asked.
'Because they're delicious! Carrots are one of my favorite snacks!' I took another bite and smiled at them.

Yes... let them learn that carrots are snacks... not evil vegetable side dishes but delicious snacks... MUWAHAHAHAHA! Ahem, no really. Teach them young, to eat the skin and all, on all their veggies. Except turnips. That would just be masochistic.

RE. Adjustment of test 2 grades..

2011-02-20T08:52:00.001-08:00

(This goes to my professor as soon as I get home. And if she refuses to change it, it goes to the head of the math department. Her 'adjustment' is outrageous, and can be read at the bottom if you're behind.)

Professor,
This adjustment is unfair; please allow me to demonstrate why.
First: I, and everyone else who worked hard, studied, came prepared, and did well (considering the average) deserve our grades. Mine was an 83%, lower than I hoped, but acceptable. Those who did not study, those whom even You chastised for not completing (or attempting) the homework until the night before the test, those who blatently announce in the test room to the back back row that they need someone to cheat from, they also deserve the grades they got. We were all informed, before Exam 1, that there would be no curve and no retakes.
Second: The self-limiting 'curve' set in place ONLY benefits those who did poorly. In fact, the more poorly one did the more it benefits them. Assume the class average represents Student A who got 57% on Exam 2, and that Student B got an 83% on Exam 2. Assume that for the next three Exams, both students achieved 85%.
For Student A, when half the difference of Exam 3 (85%) and Exam 2 (57%) is added to Exam 2, (85-57=28. 28/2=14) Student A now has a 71. Student A now passes with two letter grades higher than they earned.
For Student B, the same steps, (85-83=2. 2/2=1) Student B gains 1percent and now has an 84. Student B's letter grade does not change.
Continuing with Exams 3 and 4, as proposed, continue to add many percentage points to Student A while giving Student B only a fraction of a point, resulting in Student A ended with 81.5%, and Student B an 84.75%. Student B did not benefit at ALL from this proposed adjustment. Even Student C, who only achieved 05% on Exam 2 receives a 73.75% after this adjustment. This is in no way fair to the students who actually worked for their grades.
Repurcussions: I am waiting for acceptance into the BSN, Bachelors of Nursing, which is a competitive program where entry is determined by grades. My grades must be higher than another student's for me to get slot we both want. If Student A is GIVEN 24.5%, simply because they did poorly, Student B now risks losing her Nursing slot to a student to failed where she succeeded. This is unfair.
You mentioned in class that as a teacher one wants to help students. Helping a student to pass by simply changing a failing grade to a passing grade, does not help the student; it hurts the students who did pass.
You mentioned that a good student could raise their grade to over 100%, but as we see from the self limiting nature of this adjustment that this is impossible. Starting with an 83%, if I get 100% on the next three tests, Test 2 has a maximum of 97.88%.
You also mentioned that simply giving EVERY student 10% would not be fair. I disagree! Giving every student 10% allows you to raise their failing grades, while raising the passing grade accordingly, to preserve the natural grade curve.
One cannot favor one student over another. Grading must be fair, and equal, and everyone MUST be graded with the same rule, or the point of testing and grades and the entire learning process is devalued.
I urge you to recall this unfair adjustement, which benefits those those who fail and injures those who pass.
Adding 10% to EVERYONE is fair.
Dropping the lowest grade for EVERYONE is fair.
This adjustment is not.
A very concerned Student B.
Janna A. Kepley
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: College Algebra Professor <***@fau.edu>
Date: Feb 17, 2011 5:38 PM
Subject: Adjustment of test 2 grades..read please!
To: Students of College Algebra, FAU 2011.
Hi students,
Adjustment of Test 2 Grades:
Test 2 grades were generally poor and, we feel, due to a failure by many to prepare properly by doing the associated MyMathLab homework. You will have the opportunity to raise this Test 2 grade by doing better on the next four tests.
If your Test 3 grade exceeds your Test 2 grade, your Test 2 grade will be adjusted by adding half the difference to your current Test 2 grade. Further, if any subsequent Test grade exceeds your adjusted Test 2 grade, again half the difference will be added to your Test 2 grade.
For example:
If one's Test 2 grade was 54, but one's Test 3 grade is 80, the Test 2 grade is adjusted to 54+13 = 67;
furthermore: if one's Test 4 grade is 81, the Test 2 grade is further adjusted to be 67+7 = 74;
furthermore: if one's Test 5 grade is 82, the Test 2 grade is further adjusted to be 74+4 = 78
and finally: if one's Test 5 grade is 82, the Test 2 grade is further adjusted to be 78+2 = 80
You can thus increase your Test 2 grade step by step until it no longer hurts your average
Ms *.

Lyon's Pride, McCaffrey. 2/5.

2011-02-20T05:40:00.001-08:00

Lyon's Pride (Rowan 4) - Anne McCaffrey. 2/5...
I'm pretty sure I finished this book only because I started it AND I'd read the previous three AND I think it's the last book in the series. It's just all over the place... Maybe it's too many characters, maybe it's the long lulls that slam into one page of action and then drop off into another long lull. I didn't WANT to finish it or know what happens. It was a good skeleton, but someone forgot to flesh it out with interestingness.

110213 The Spark: Ch01. MY Story.

2011-02-16T18:33:00.000-08:00

So I finally found a copy of The Spark, the book that goes with the site I use SparkPeople.com. I've used the site for years, off and on. They're also about goals and self-image, not just weight. Since I could use a little kick in the pants for all of the above, I'm going to do as the book says. Which includes journal entries. So, I'll break the pages down so you don't have to scroll through the wall of txt :)

I was (am?) Kind of a train wreck. Being the oldest of three I was the Big Sister, the one In Charge. "Yer not the boss, Miss Piggy!" I'm not even sure why my brother called me that, I wasn't heavy. It just irritated me. It's hard to be 'in charge' of a boy only 18 months younger than you. My sister was young enough to be loveable but old enough to be annoying. Still, _I_ was in charge. I got good grades (though my assignments were constantly late). I read like a fiend, for a seven year old. I climbed trees, talked to rocks, and didn't understand why people stayed mad at eachother.

Then I got older. My grades were expected, while my baby sister's accomplishments were all the rave. I don't blame my parents: I took psychology, I know it was programmed in. Still, I worked really hard to try to get attention, and when I was older and saw that not working, I was turning into that angsty, late-blooming teen who hated her parents. I placed an advanced Advanced (no really, SAGE was the advanced version of advanced English, History, and a bunch of other madness rolled into one.) My hard work for grades had evaporated into bare-minimum-for-an-A-work, and that didn't cut it in SAGE. I got a C. On award night, it felt like everyone got something but me. My only award was for being in the same group as Cathleen (who later was co-validictorian of our high school.) I became deeply depressed. That was eighth grade.

My first year of high school I was expelled for ditching. They'd tried everything: stripped me of my advanced bio class, stuck me in regular bio, forced me into Aerobics in the morning to 'lighten my load'. I just came later and less. So they did it. We appealed, and I was allowed back in. I missed the bus my first day back, and was expelled a second time. I still managed a C in Spanish; I'd done really well before the semester ended. My SECOND year I failed math, and still managed to miss almost a quarter of the year. My parents didn't catch on often, since all you had to do was pick up the automated phone call at 5pm as a wrong number.

My junior year I got a boyfriend, started going to church, realized I was tearing my life up. I DEP'd into the Marine Corps and started running. Me, the chick who hated running so much that she barely made time in the required mile in gym. I never threw up on these runs, and I was proud of that since some of the boys did. I stalked the marching band til the band director gave me something useful to do; I was the Pinball in Tommy. Not quite a flagget, but still on field. I passed my classes, dumped the boyfriend when he started rumors that I had when I wouldn't, and took Geometry over the summer to make up credits.

My senior year I took a correspondence course which counted for credit, took School to Work which gave me credit for having a job; and got a new boyfriend. I marched a 28" bass drum; performed with the Symphonic Band; played 'extra percussion' in the theatre's 'Into the Woods'; concurrently took Freshman and Senior English; had the DVSAP tell me I could recite Shakespeare but not count the pages; and kept running. I graduated on time, with a 2.8GPA and a letter in Band.

Boot Camp was short, and my military career short. I was RE3P'd out of the Marine Corps with four stress fractures and a time in grade promotion. I let it depress me something awful. I left the boy I'd dated in high school, and moved to California. While there I roller coastered through happy, sad, in love, lonely, and finally had to come home with a broken heart. I was more depressed than ever.

I tried to learn to run again. Fell into the SCA, a group of crazy people who live like it's the middle ages. I love those guys. I attached myself to a charismatic user who plowed 13k onto credit cards I didn't know I had, cut me off from everyone who'd just gotten me back, left me some pretty purple bruises, and ultimately kidnapped me in the car he made me buy. He drove me to a hole in the ground he claimed he'd spent all night digging, and I spent hours begging for my life while he threatened unspeakable things. With the insane promise that I would pack up everything and run away with him, he drove me back to the city, got in his own car to follow me, and I booked it to my dad's house where HE heard the tale only as I recited it to an officer on the phone. No one could deliver the order of protection I'd gotten when court opened that next morning: he'd fled.

I fell in love with a soldier. Strong, gorgeous, intelligent. Also a total cynic. He was me, but with confidence and blue green eyes tinted by the gulf he grew up next to. I moved to North Carolina, we got married, and life became a rhythm. At 27 I've been through counselors, a few self-help books I couldn't finish, a PTSD workbook that helped me work through nightmares that ended in my husband soothing me like a child, and uncounted flow charts with unset goals and programs I'd give up on in a week.

I was never heavy, but my yo-yo isn't diet or food based. I'm ten pounds over where I want to be, putting me back in mind of Weight Recruit Trays in boot camp. I joined Spark years ago for the MyPoints the sign up gave me. I never finish anything. I feel I never have. My goals are always HUGE, with little hurdles like they teach you. When I can't make the first hurdle I give up. I don’t want to do that anymore. I turn 28 this year, and though surviving should be an accomplishment along with graduating high school at all, the lows make everything seem... impossible.

It's in there, in The Spark. My false starts, my giving up before I begin, all the times I've said I WOULD...when I had more time. I found my first grey hair, I'm proud of it, but I want more to show for it than surviving a nightmare. No more roller coaster. No more ANTS taking over everything. Just.. a slow... steady... purposed crawl back up out of that hole in the desert at the unfinished corned or 163rd and Madison. Out of the back of the auditorium where I won no awards. Out of the belief that because I let things get so bad that they can't get better.

They can. I'm in love. I'm debt free. I'm in college (still!) I'm alive.
Now I want to get healthy again. Be happy. Show my husband the smiling girl he married isn't an on-again-off-again. I want to be me.

I think I can be... for the first time in a long time. I think I CAN.

Badges? We don't need no steenkin BADGES!

2011-02-12T05:38:00.001-08:00

So, I've come to the realization that I am a badge hound.
No really, I JUST came to it. I would joke about it, but seriously...

I think it started with Bolt, or that's earlier incarnation of it on a mass scale that I can recall. It reminds me of collecting stickers, but they're pixels and you did odd free things to achieve them. There were tons of people on it, guides on how to get em, and people willing to cheat and pay real world money for them. I had a lot, and when it seemed to be a failing empire I tried to save each pixelated badge to host up at my webpage, so I wouldn't lose them.

I've done it a variety of other places on smaller scales, and usually given up.

I collect patches from places we hike, camp, visit... Pins when they don't have patches (how does DisneyWorld not have a patch?) I even wanted to make a digital map so I could 'pin' the places I visited, and mark cool graveyards etc.

I was tempted to become the oldest gd girl scout in order to earn those badges. I was a girl scout for three weeks. We ate cookies, hung out in a daycare, and swung on the swings. We moved, and it just didn't interest me to seek out another troop. Day care is boring, I wanted to tie knots and climb trees.

I got Gowalla for my phone so I could easily check in along my route to see my grandparents one looong lonely drive. It's kinda neat, but doesn't have a lot of locations near me that aren't fast food. Each little check in awarded me a badge and a prize. I found FourSquare... badges. More badges. I caught myself 'checking in' at college in BOTH applications! Here's a kicker... I don't particularly like being tracked, or bad people knowing where I am all the time. Dad taught me to value anonymity and invisiblity. (Well, much as I can when I like to wear cat-ears.) Yet I'm posting WHERE I AM to anyone and everyone. Squidgy.....

How to reconcile some strange need for badges, patches, 'achievements', pins, stickers, etc, without being (any more) foolish? I dream of living simply... how do you do that and 'collect'? Is there a cure? Can I complete a 12 Step Program? ...Will they issue me a pin or coin or certificate? >.>

110207 LowIQ + Chemistry Class = DANGER!

2011-02-12T05:21:00.001-08:00

In ChemLab we did our first real experiment: Determine as unknown, by determining its boiling point and density. Pretty okay, but there weren't enough hotplates so some had to be shared. Our neighbors are mentally deficient for science students and bothered us and the others around almost constantly, with questions, asking to see the figures of groups with the same Unknown, and so on. They asked us how much of this to add; where do we get the tap water; we have to use clamps?; where do we get clamps?; and... so.. on... case in point: at the end of the class they held up the pipeter and asked what it was for.

110208 Spark PT and so much homework.

2011-02-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

I took the day off.
Off of homework, the gym, pretty much everything.

I started my day trying to pack in EVERYTHING I feel I don't get to complete: I ran a load of laundry, put away the previous load, hung the load once it was washed. I finished our taxes (my old W2 finally arrived!) and had to print it (e-file not avail to us.) I prepared the Faerie Kougra to be shipped to Alaska, as someone bought it. I honestly hoped no one would... I filled out the affidavit to claim the elliptical machine I won. I did this all before breakfast or a shower.

After that was done we lazed around a tad, hit the UPS to drop off all the above to be mailed, then took Rook to the Dog Park. She's been kind of stiffed lately, between rainy or overcast days and the business of her humans. We ran her, let her run off the other dogs, and in the end had to protect her poor pretty tail from a big Husky Wolf mix who felt the need to dominate the only dog near his size. Don't worry, she's never been mounted and I plan to keep it that way.

We planned on the gym, but never went. After we brought Rook home we sat around a bit, I dropped myself into internet oblivion. I actually logged onto WoW! Shane did the same, getting his PVP fix, and I did my SW dailies and actually ventured out of the city! I Arche'd enough to finish my Raptor Mount and Dwarven Gnome Bot! I did it around some web 'dailies' I do when I remember: a few contest pages and free sample site I poke into. Hell why not, it won me an Elliptical machine :P

Someone invited me to a Spark Group of theirs, 'Quickfire'. I'm in one like it, encouraging a person to do a ten minute cardio video 5 days a week. I like it because it's a small amount of time, which seems very doable. (This is the same as the FlyLady theme... "15 minute declutters..." I wonder if there's something to that. Hehe maybe it just shows I cannot commit to anything longer!) Anyway, the Quickfire team will post an exercise each day that can be done anywhere, though you may look silly Shadow Boxing in the grocery store. Do 3/10, and they challenge you do to 100 total by the end of the day. So, every 2 hours or so, take a breather break and do the leg lifts, or whatever. I dig it. I'm at 3x3/10 on the Boxer so far today. :) I like it, so I joined up. It made me realize I still haven't read the book... so I checked my local library now that I have a card and they have it! Placed it on hold.

I knew I'd have to pay for the laziness of the day, but I'm happy with it.

I won an elliptical machine, for drinking beer!!

2011-02-08T17:04:00.000-08:00

So... Michelob ULTRA sent me a letter today saying I won the LiveSTRONG Elliptical Machine (linked), after entering their 'Resolutions Revolution' sweepstakes! I signed my affidavit, mailed it, and now just wait for them to help me get unfat closer to home. *Or... burn off calories so I can drink more Mich Ultra! GLEE!! Have you tried their HoneyWheat? You really need to :D

The LS10.0e.

110205 ''I'm not on the list?', it's my mom!'

2011-02-07T13:19:00.001-08:00

'What do you mean 'I'm not on the list', it's my mom!'
'I apologize, but since it's your mom you don't want us to just let anybody in.'
'It's my mom!'
'I'm sorry; I have no way to prove that and you have a different last name.' *Please note being related does NOT get you through the gate.
'You're the only one who gives me this problem (*OH I love that line.) Everybody knows me! (*If it's the first time I've seen you, why would I?) It's my MOM! I came out of her vagina!'

That last line's unique so I had to share. I wonder what past of 'vagina' she thought was going to get her access? Mouthy black girl tryin to intimidate the little white rent-a-cop maybe? Takes waaay more than that to shock me. Or maybe just ignorant indignation at someone trying to do their job and protect her mother? The silliest part is the parting shot was given AFTER her mother finally called and asked she be put on the list (for 3months). Sigh.

I don't like the new guy. Showed up 10min late without his workshirt on. Mosied his stuff into the booth. 'Your'e late' 'I was right on time, just went to the wrong gate.' 'On time is still late, specially when you have to come all the way here. Oh and the SOP says to come Ready for work. Be dressed next time.'

Rawr.

Rape... no longer always forcible!

2011-02-01T21:01:00.000-08:00

No really. Here's the link to the bill, with the line in question anchored.

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3/text?version=ih&nid=t0:ih:42

"‘SEC. 309. TREATMENT OF ABORTIONS RELATED TO RAPE, INCEST, OR PRESERVING THE LIFE OF THE MOTHER.‘The limitations established in sections 301, 302, 303, and 304 shall not apply to an abortion--

‘(1) if the pregnancy occurred because the pregnant female was the subject of an act of forcible rape or, if a minor, an act of incest; or

‘(2) in the case where the pregnant female suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness that would, as certified by a physician, place the pregnant female in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself."

Some very dangerous semantics (1) there...

Some are interpreting this bit of wordplay as to exclude: drugged rape, coerced or date rape, statutory rape, or pretty much anything else that isn't 'violent' or leaves self-defense wounds. And if joe-shmo can, some god-damned lawyer will attempt to, and somehow win (blaming it on a failure of the law, not that he's a bloodletting defense attorney.)

So before I lose you in a rant of definitions and seething, go sign this petition that says this is akin to wandering around asking stupid women to sign a petition banning Women's Suffrage.

CLICK HERE TO PETITION AGAINST LIMITING THE DEFINITION OF RAPE

BTW, 'self-defense wounds' is an actual clinical and law-enforcement term to define a TYPE of wound, because there are varying types of wounds. Unlike RAPE, where 'force' is inherent in the definition and word. NON-consensual. Compelled.

In the medical dictionary, rape is simply defined as:

3 rape definition
Function: n
: unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent compare sexual assault statutory rape
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2007 Merriam-Webster, Inc.

That's all the damned clarification you need. Don't tack "forcibly" onto the thing, to imply that a woman, drunk to the point of unconsciousness by her own volition, who is then used like a warm blow-up doll, is NOT raped because it was not 'forced'.

Rape has had such a disgustingly mobile definition already that the Legal dictionary's definition has an entire disclaimer about how a married woman CAN be raped!

Main Entry: rape
Function: noun
: unlawful sexual activity and usually sexual intercourse carried out forcibly or under threat of injury against the will usually of a female or with a person who is beneath a certain age or incapable of valid consent because of mental illness, mental deficiency, intoxication, unconsciousness, or deception —see also STATUTORY RAPE
NOTE: The common-law crime of rape involved a man having carnal knowledge of a woman not his wife through force and against her will, and required at least slight penetration of the penis into the vagina. While some states maintain essentially this definition of rape, most have broadened its scope esp. in terms of the sex of the persons and the nature of the acts involved. Marital status is usually irrelevant. Moreover, the crime is codified under various names, including first degree sexual assault sexual battery unlawful sexual intercourse , and first degree sexual abuse .
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law, © 1996 Merriam-Webster, Inc.

Women (and men, where brave enough to come forward) have a hard enough time CONVINCING their peers and a judge that what was done to them was rape, yet some jackass wants to take an extra qualifier on to make it even harder? "Well, see Sir, when told 'bend over, or I'll gut you' you made the choice to bend over and be anally penetrated, you weren't forced if you made the choice." Sound ridiculous? Somewhere, someone who believes that statement, believes a prostitute can't be raped, due to her profession.

'Rape' as a word has five definitions in the first entry of Dictionary.com (where it is a noun).

–noun
1. an act of sexual intercourse that is forced upon a person.
2. the unlawful compelling of a person through physical force orduress to have sexual intercourse.
3. statutory rape.
4. an act of plunder, violent seizure, or abuse; despoliation;violation: the rape of the countryside.
5. Archaic . the act of seizing and carrying off by force.

It's also a verb:

verb (used with object)
6. to force to have sexual intercourse.
7. to plunder (a place); despoil.
8. to seize, take, or carry off by force.
–verb (used without object)
9. to commit rape.

It's one of the oldest acts known to man, though it's Middle English terminology came so late...

Word Origin & History
rape
late 14c., "seize prey, take by force," from Anglo-Fr. raper, O.Fr. raper "to seize, abduct," a legal term, from L. rapere "seize, carry off by force, abduct" (see rapid). L. rapere was used for "sexual violation," but only very rarely; the usual L. word being stuprum, lit. "disgrace." Sense of "sexual violation or ravishing of a woman" first recorded in Eng. as a noun, 1481 (the noun sense of "taking anything -- including a woman -- away by force" is from c.1400). The verb in this sense is from 1577. Rapist is from 1883.

My letter to 'my representative' read thus:

Um... Limiting the definition of rape is a very dangerous thing. It opens up whole avenues where lawyers can deny a woman the succor of seeing her attacker punished, based on a line in an anti-abortion act. They'll be able to dredge the semantic pool to say that a woman, drugged with GHB, didn't fight back and therefore wasn't forced. A woman, terrified her boyfriend will beat her, submits to sex she doesn't want, crying the whole time, but not fighting back, and that will not be 'rape'. Even a minor, statutorily-raped by a STEPfather in her own bed, does not constitute rape in the lines of this anti-abortion law.

Think beyond this anti-abortion law, to the repercussions of the language used. This cannot be allowed to pass.

You've been faithful 'til the end. Good job. Your reward is the video of ignorant young women, willingly signing away "Women's Suffrage." Course, in my opinion, if they sign it away, I don't think I want them voting anyway O_o

Another good one.

Poll: I believe I deserve an apology.

2011-02-01T12:44:00.001-08:00

So, yesterday my husband was sick. I cleaned up the house a bit, and did some laundry, and was working on homework til he arrived. When he came home, laid down for a nap. When I woke him an hour later, as requested, I heated him a bowl of soup, set out for him his cough drops, Chloroseptic spray, crystal light, and offered to put a show on for him. I set his blanket and pillow on the couch so he could fall back asleep if he wanted. I gave him skritches while he ate and lounged. When he said he was still hungry I went to the kitchen and named off all the things I could make for him. He settled on Rice with tuna and alfredo sauce. So I made him some. Delivered it to him at his computer desk. I offered to make him buttercotch pudding, he declined. I offered him tapioca pudding, and he agreed. I made in in the microwave, instead of the stove, but it still took 12 minutes of babysitting. I was happy to, for my poor sick husband. Shortly after devouring it he wanted to go back to bed. Being 2300, I went ahead and joined him. After he fell asleep, I slipped out, set a "Get Well Soon" card on his keyboard, and went back to bed. We both slept 13 hours (I haven't been feeling that great either).

I got up, plunked down at the computer, and started poking through my emails. When he woke up, he poked his head in the fridge, used the spare bathroom, and while in there called out "Do you remember when we made those chicken sandwiches?"
I tried to recall, but wasn't sure I'd heard him right. "What?" I called back.
He ceased urinating, and asked again "Do you remember when we made those chicken sandwiches?" I wondered if there were some left, and tried to think when we'd made them, to calculate if they'd still be good. He called out "It's a rhetorical question, Janna." Now, the only time I ever heard that term was when I DIDN'T answer a question, and my mother would say "That's not a rhetorical question, Janna", so, rhetorical means I DON'T answer, but, he obviously wanted an answer. I pulled Dictionary.com up on my screen. He came to the living room. "Do you, remember when, we made the chicken sandwiches?" He was obviously frustrated, as I was now too.
"I don't know, a week ago?"
"You're supposed to answer yes," so it's a lead in? How the hell am I supposed to know that? "so I can ask where the chicken breasts are! I thought you had a basic grasp on English."
WHOA.. Hold the fuck on now, I'm angry now. YOU can't get the answer you want, so now I'M stupid? "You know what, how about you go back to bed, and we start this over again." So he stomped off to bed. I'm freaking fuming. "And they're on the top shelf of the fridge! You could have just asked where they were!"
Disinterested in my computer I go to take a shower. Knowing I shouldn't, but angry, I stick my head out and ask his cuddled-in-bed form "Remember all the times you tell me you're not a mind reader?"
He smartly answers "Yep."
I draw out a sarcastic "Yea...." and shower.

A short while after I got out I had to call work for something, and discovered I needed to go in to drop something off. I got ready, and Shane (coming out of the room after hearing where I was going) asked if I'd pick up his paycheck for him. I shrugged compliance. I asked "Why don't you put in a Direct Deposit, so you don't have to go pick it up." Didn't get a reply. Funny, so what that rhetorical, or not.

I printed him the company's DD form while I printed the forms I needed to drop off, and dropped the DD form on his desk. "I don't want them to have DD."
"Then pick up your own paychecks." Nasty, but why do something nice for someone who was unprovokingly nasty to ME? He made a mildly angry noise.

I fumed all the way there. Yet, when I got there, picked up the jerk's check anyway.

I got home, dropped it on his desk, and waited. He mumbled a thanks, but I stood there. He finally looked away from his video game to ask "What?", his brows knitted with impatience.
"I picked up your paycheck, in spite of the attitude and insult you gave me this morning."
He sputtered, almost laughing, "MY attitude?"
"I didn't deserve it. I DO deserve an apology."
"No," still almost laughing, "you don't."
"And I picked up your paycheck too. Maybe I am as stupid as you implied I am."

He really thinks he didn't do anything wrong, and that I am in the wrong.
I think I didn't deserve to be pummeled for not knowing what he was asking, and definitely didn't deserve the insult to my intelligence.

(My intelligence insulted for not knowing the entire or propert definition of the word 'rhetorical' (not /basic/ English, mind you) by the guy who didn't see the chicken breasts, in the store package, on the top shelf, proximal to the door, with HIS head of lettuce on top of it. The same guy, who in three seconds, could have gotten the answer he sought with "Do we have any chicken breasts left?" or "Where are the leftover chicken breasts?")

110129 Neat news

2011-01-30T12:29:00.001-08:00

American students do poorly in science, report says Wed Jan 26, 2011 12:04pm EST

http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE70O6DL20110126?ca=moto

When I'm a Science Teacher, I'll help to fix this. Kids should love science.

Also:
My mom has a blurry photo, sneakily taken, of this bust when she was in Berlin around 1983. :) I hope someday to back and see it myself!

German foundation refuses to return Nefertiti bust Mon Jan 24, 2011 4:41pm EST

http://us.mobile.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSTRE70N6N220110124?ca=moto

—
'It was around that time that God struck me as being curiously similar to the Mafia, offering us "protection" and promising not to hurt us (or kill us) as long as we pay up in moral currency.'

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=god-may-work-in-mysterious-waysbut-2011-01-27

—

Damia's Children. -Anne McCaffrey 3/5

2011-01-30T06:38:00.001-08:00

http://springpadit.com/jannakepley/product/damiaschildrenannemccaffrey
Not bad. Very much like an uneventful episode in a mini-series. Felt more like it was written as an in-between, something to link two other books. Eh.
Can't NOT read them at least once, since I paid for them (though solo long ago. Wow almost 9years now? Eek!)

Too bored to be lazy.

2011-01-28T17:56:00.000-08:00

So Hubby went to drill today, and I told him I'd try to have the house clean when we got back. He forbade it! Told me to relax and do nothing. I took my first Algebra exam today, think I did really well. Didn't make it to the gym yesterday due to homework and studying.

I went through my email, trolled facebook, checked my email again, and after being SO bored for about an hour I gave up being lazy. I went to make dinner but the pot I needed for ravioli was in the sink, filled with dirty dishes. So... I had to wash them... to get the pot... ya know? Did the dishes, counters, swept the tile, put away the laundry, then finished up dinner and chowed down. Ran another load of laundry, did my SW dailies (woo! Grand Master Cooking!)

Soooo.... I suppose I'll watch an epi of bones (missed it!), hang the laundry I ran, and shower. Plan on tucking into a niiiiiice warm extra long sleep.

Death du Jour - Kathy Reichs 4/5

2011-01-27T23:47:00.001-08:00

http://springpadit.com/jannakepley/book/deathdujourtemperancebrennannovels

A wee dry, tre predictable, and a woman's intuition indicative of being unable to play Connect The Dots, yet a fairly enjoyable read! I will find the next installment.

110122- feed

2011-01-23T07:43:00.001-08:00

... something a 5th grader knows: A* (B+C) = A*B + A*C... confused me for HOURS because it looked like (7x-6)^2 +x*5(7x-6)*7. -.-

Shane got a 102pt word (glazed, on both a double and triple!) in scrabble and I still beat him :)

Also, the new buyer of our duplex told our neighbor that she would like to move in immediately. Problem is we both have six and seven months (respectively) on our leases. She can't kick us out without provocation, and we're really hoping she doesn't try to fine-tooth us out. It's bad enough we have to plan on home shopping around Finals time. Zoo not looking forward to this. Once we hear for sure that she owns it we're going to start packing nonessentials, just in case.

A headache before 1300...

2011-01-21T09:17:00.001-08:00

I'm a week and a half into the semester and already so tired of having college algebra shoved down my throat at a ridiculous rate. I sit in my car on the fourth floor of the parking garage, an overly sensitive car alarm blares with no one go turn it off, as the loudspeaker bell tolls noon. The cacophony, on top of fighting back tears of frustration and exhaustion, are almost too much.

I just had a week's worth of high school algebra breezed through in 45 minutes by a Russian monikered Korean lady with a strong accent, with 5minutes left at the end for a quiz in manipulation of additive inverses ("addTItive...") Panicky, I'd done what I could and hurriedly selected someone that looked like it MIGHT be right... Today's exam was moved back a week (yay!) So she could put more on it (awww.) Even that seems like an anti-blessing.

The car alarm ceases for a moment, respite? And starts back up again, in case everyone dared forget about it.

I left class wanting to cry. I exited the wrong door and had to walk all the way around. Then discovered that my lunch plans completely fell through; cause I needed /another/ damn change today. So I waded through the inattentive masses on bikes and skateboards and standing RIGHT in the middle of everything, trying to get around those annoying people with HOURS to get wherever the hades they're going.

The car alarm ceases, but the temperature in over-warm, adding to my infant headache.

Tomorrow I'll go to work for 16 hrs, and 8 hours later go back for another 16. I pray my mind, and my grades, survive this. If today is any indication, I might start looking for a major that doesn't require theoretical mathematical garbage having no bearing on my chosen field. Tell me Head Nurse, when will I need to factor a trinomial of the second degree, and divide it by the additive inverse of the denominator of another factored binomial I will multiply it by?

I didn't freaking think so.

110119 Smoosh 'n I need naps...

2011-01-21T09:02:00.001-08:00

While yesterday I had a headache and therefore felt my day off and its minor chores were a burden, today I feel much better and even rather optimistic. It's pretty outside, I'm still congested but no headache, and poor Shmoosh is taking his neutering well. Be did manage to turn his soft collar into a tutu, but he seems to be sleeping most of it off. I skipped the gym yesterday, due to headache and malaise. I plan to try my hand (foot?) at running club tonight.

Skip next paragraph if you don't want to read me whine about my weight.

I never really worried too much about it; as long as I was under my Marine Corps Max I was happy. At 63" that gives me a max of 135. I was 125 in high school, can out of Boot 135, and it gradually worked back to 125. Before Christmas I was 132, then shortly after

Ramblings

2011-01-16T11:30:00.000-08:00

Trying to read Damia (McCaffrey) YEARS after reading Rowan, only to find it runs concurrently in this first part and is a little hard to follow without remembering the details. I may have to hold off until rereading Rowan, though that means it'll be a while before I get back where I am now!

Found an app for Android that's a bit more sophisticated than the method I was using before to track beer and wine and have that information portable when thinking about trying something. I'm terrible about remembering how I felt about a certain drink and used to have a wee html that listed them. I took it down when one of my episodes prompted me to believe it was heralding alcoholism. I still have the info somewhere... Anyway this app is Springpad. I like that it has a barcode scanner and can contain various types of products in I one app, as opposed to having 'Beer Free', 'Wine Free, etc. What it finds can be limited and I AM using the Wine option to categorize the beer (probably the first time anyone ever called Anheuser-Busch a vineyard) but it has more appropriate options than the 'product' category. Allowing myself to drink a few beers again, so it'll come in handy for my 'collecting'. I can't import to spreadsheet though (which would be super cool) or re-save photos I submit, so I'll keep copies stored til it all works out. Has a sync-to-web function, so I can keep stuff there to in case the phone fails or is lost.

A few of the things I've tossed in it,

-Legend of the Guardians: Owls of Ga'hoole... omg loved it. Shane had to remind me to breathe!

-Several beers I'll go through later.

110109 Pizza and Movies

2011-01-16T07:40:00.003-08:00

I love days when I'm cute. Pizza guy loved it too!

While yesterday's double had me in tears and cursing the guests for hours, I did realize you can get a lot done in 16 hrs on your butt.

A. Finished Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs (audiobook). A wee dry but enjoyed it. Will 'dig up' the next installment.

B. Watched 'Tristan and Isolde' finally. Want for my collection. Historical errors made in trying to patch together a locale and time, but it's hard to dislike men with swords in studded leather.

C. Got halfway through 'The Last Templar' by Raymond Koury. Very good read I think.

Got home, threw a tantrum, hubby fed me a popsicle after my shower and I slept a little.

TODAY:

A. Finished 'Last Templar'. Do your neighborhood library a favor. Take the book out, tear out the last 25 pages, enjoy the rest of the book, return. Anyone who bothers to dig up those last pages and read them will understand why you tore them out. I swear... stupidest archaeologist ever.

B. Wrote my brother.
C. Wrote official letter on how unfit a father my brother'n'law is.

So far, so good.

Christmas eve RESET DATE

2011-01-16T07:40:00.001-08:00

My husband woke me up this morning with my christmas present: the little black cat I've been feeding at work! Shmoosh Underfoot spent most of the morning hiding from the dog but he's very comfortable with both of us. This week we'll work on getting him neutered and giving him his vaccinations.

My husband also spent all morning making christmas dinner! He pick up a prime rib roast and made that alongside a sweet potato casserole. I ate it for brunch, packed it for dinner, and look forward to leftovers.

Work felt like it went on forever.

So this lady use to live with one of the residents. She was on the permanent list, the whole deal, excepting that the resident refused to let management give her a decal which would allow her to come to the gate unchecked. Last month the resident had her taken off the permanent list. She then had to be called in every time she showed up. When she asked why she suddenly had to be called in every time she didn't seem to understand that a person doesn't just fall off the permanent list, that they have to requested off by the resident. This week a memo appeared on the wall stating she wasn't allowed in at all. I was doing a routine check when I saw her walking to the apartment. I circled back, called the gate, and we contacted the resident about the mistake and her presence. I was all primed for a crazy ex knock down drag out with police and everything. Unfortunately the resident okayed her to stay. He must have been breaking up with her via the guest system and she just hasn't grasped it. And he's got "Noo Baaalls!"

The rest of the night went pretty slow But you can endure anything when you're making double time. I work 13 hours on christmas, and another 13 on new years all at double time. This will definitely help with school. Shane works at the mirror gate 8 hours both days also at double time. I'm still not sure what his hourly rate is now. Hopefully very nice.

When I eat tuna sandwiches, I think of my dad

2011-01-10T20:26:00.001-08:00

When I eat tuna sandwiches, I think of my dad.

I don't think anyone else in my family ate tuna sandwiches, just us. When the can was opened, then drained, Mom would steal a tiny chunk before we put the mayo and mustard in it. Two spoons of mayo to make it creamy and a spoon of mustard to make it yellow and tangy. Then spread it nice and thick over white bread. There was only ever enough for two sandwiches: one for Dad, and one for me. Sometimes I put relish in it, sometimes extra pepper; nowadays I sprinkle sesame seeds in it. No matter how I make it, I always think of sharing a can with my dad.

It always makes me smile.

The Last Templar. Halfway. SPOILERS

2011-01-09T07:52:00.000-08:00

I'm reading this very interesting book _The Last Templar_ by Raymond Khoury. I really enjoy it, wth its Indiana Jones meets the Crusades feel, seasoned with 13thC flashbacks. But... a spoiler...

Claiming ANYTHING could unify the three religions of Abraham: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, preposterous. Assuming proof was found that the Christ Myth was truly a myth, and assuming you could disseminate this proof to the masses, it would be dismissed quickly by Christians as false work by non-believers or the lies of Satan. The Jews would ho-hum twiddle their thumbs and be in the same position they are now. The Muslims probably wouldn't care less, having a new prophet, book, temple, everything. People have this thing called 'Faith', aka blind acceptence of whichever myth tickled their heartstrings and adamant ignorence of anything that might threaten that myth. You could never make Christian believe Jesus wasn't the Christ, even if you somehow god God to come down out of the sky and say it wasn't so.

Hell, you could disprove the whole damn thing, both testaments AND the existence of a God, and people who just don't want to hear... won't. I don't think any scholar would believe he could affect such change as that. So, the Vance character is a wee unbelievable. History is truth via memory and evidence and exposure. How many people still cling to the belief that man didn't walk on the moon? How many believe we did based on a television broadcast? How many people are Scientologists? And you think no one ever told them they were wrong?

Still, enjoyable read if you ignore these few points. We'll see where it goes.

Sarcasm is how I problem solve!

2011-01-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

This this page Kansas vs. Darwin Has a link about "How does creationism stay alive and kicking?" The link (provided) is a neat little blog about a Sidebar (link #2) scrubbed from a Florida science textbook, and a link to a scan of said textbook. The sidebar itself, subtly bashing science and scientists, end with "several important points". Since I love the phrase "The best lies are laced with little truths" I'm going to play with it.

1. Unbiased science is never afraid to question a theory, even a popular one. A valid theory will stand up to scrutiny. Questioning a theory in light of the evidence, is in fact, how science progresses. //Kinda, we'll take that. Now, let's put my evidence for evolution against your evidence for Creationism. What? You don't have any?//

2. Burden of proof lies with those who support it. It is not up to others to disprove it. Holy Halos are you retarded? Good science goes both ways, as the outcome of observation and experiments go both ways, yielding supporting AND disproving results. It's like saying that Francesco Redi didn't 'PROVE' that Rotten Meat DOESN'T spontaneously generate flies, that he 'DISPROVED' that it does. Confused yet? I guess we could say that it isn't up to the general populace to DISPROVE that rotten meat generates maggots... and if the general populace is okay with having the education of the a kindergartener than sure!

3. Widespread acceptance of the theory does not make it infallible. At one time, everyone 'knew' that a Flat Earth was the center of the solar system. New evidence, or a better explanation of existing evidence, brings old theories into question. This is a perfectly valid point, as long as the Creationists who wrote the sidebar remember to turn it on their own 2,000 year old, patchwork-quilt-of-stolen-bits-of-other-peoples'-religions, theory of Christianity.

4. Science requires critical thinking. As a scientist, it's up to you to consider the available evidence objectively, and then examine a theory against it. (...Or for it.. Mincing words here.) You must decide whether a theory adequately explains the evidence. If alternative theories exist, you must objectively evaluate which theory most reasonably fits the evidence. Your conclusion may differ from someone else's. You may even conclude that no theory adequately explains the evidence. Reason.. funny word for a Creationist to throw around. I know, I know, this point is pretty good. Only tainted by the fact that we know the person writing it thinks that if we can't find a reason for the salt shaker falling off the sideboard every Tuesday morning at 0200, it must be a ghost. Least, til he finds out that's the time the neighbors like to knock boots on date night, and their headboard is right up against their kitchenette.

5. Science is dynamic. As new evidence arises, theories may need to change or be replaced. (OMG You finally admitted you're outdated!) An unbiased scientist doesn't get attached to theories, but changes and discards them as necessary. But let's not forget kiddies, that Blasphemy is the only unforgivable sin, and if you propose a theory that leaves God out of the equation, you're going straight to Hell, do not pass Go, do not collect $200. OK, that was just snarky, but really....

"If you tell a lie that's big enough, and you tell it often enough, people will believe you are telling the truth, even when what you are saying is total crap. - Richard Belzer"

Link1: http://www.kansasvdarwin.com/film/content/creationist-sidebar-scrubbed-florida-science-textbook

Link2: http://ncse.com/files/images/LOP_3-14-15.jpg

New Work Schedule

2011-01-02T11:55:00.001-08:00

So this new schedule will be hard on the REM but seems like it'll be great when school starts. As ye can see I've had time to plan this week's meals, go through some old magazines, sort email, and work on an old cross-stitch I stuck in my bag. Quiet enough, so I think this will be great for homework. Not quite Golf2, but nothing ever will be. :)

Retard Rising

2011-01-01T20:02:00.001-08:00

SO. I dated this guy for almost a year. I broke up with him after boot camp (I had time to grow up and realize I was dating a guy who whined about how life was sooooo unfair and wore black velvet ankle length skirts...) I battled to get my ferrets from him til he 'sold' the male to me for $50 bucks 'to buy an amp'. The ferret had to be detox'd, btw, too much pot smoke too often. Then I ran into him months later, when he told me he was dying of AIDS and hadn't been with anyone since me, so I should probably get checked. (Apparently he didn't know I get tested every year AND was blood tested by the Marine Corps at MEPS.) NOW 10 years later tries to friend me through facebook.

...

Are you REALLY that retarded?? Thank god I left you when I did!