Let's see if you can guess what phrase brought tears to my eyes.
So a spice girl is smarter than he is, he made it through the first semester of first grade, right? Billy Madison anyone?
- posted by meg @ 4:10 PM

 
Because I'm worth it
A couple weeks ago I was listening to a conversation between a couple other people in my group about one girl's weekend with a long distance boyfriend. It was a short relationship so I'm guessing they met through friends or on the internet.

Regardless, she said that the only bump in the weekend was that he said he felt uncomfortable with her friends because they didn't ignore him but didn't make him feel welcome in the conversation. Another person said that as the new person it was up to him to initiate the friendship process. The other two people in the conversation agreed.

I disagree. To me a friendship is a two-way street that both people should participate in actively. Now, they weren't actively ignoring him so maybe they thought they did their parts but there are many ways to make someone feel left out of a group. I'm not saying someone should moderate the conversation to make sure everyone has a chance to say something but if a few people are talking over each other already or their body language shows that they aren't interested in more than a specific one or two people, it shows.

Maybe it's just me but I don't think it's easy walking into a group of friends as the outsider. Both parties should be trying to get to know each other, not just one trying and one not not trying, you know?
- posted by meg @ 6:05 PM

 
$2 NY-style pizza and a coke?!
The hell you say. That was cheap even when I was making under $5000 a year and paying for school.

I went back to RPI this weekend with Matt and Sam to catch the annual Freakout hockey game. Since hockey is the only DI sport at RPI it is much more popular than sports like football or basketball that captivate other schools. Thus, although homecoming is technically in the fall like those of normal institutions of higher education I ignore that and refer to Freakout as homecoming. As it turns out I'm not alone.

I'm hoping to get some photos from Sam as I forgot about a camera but really we only took photos of the campus. The nice old buildings. The shiny new buildings. There was a definite lack of the student ghetto in the photos from this trip. Not that we didn't hit all the old ghetto unfabulous apartments (all still standing, amazingly) they were just drivebys and therefore not worthy of picture-taking. Rest assured it is still far worse than anything I've ever seen in Ann Arbor. The home town of Uncle Sam has seen better days, although they were all before 1910.

Anyway, it was a whirlwind trip and I jumped right back into my super busy days in the lab so I haven't had much time for reflection. Here, however, are some highlights:

We hit most of the food spots we wanted to, including mini hot dogs from Famous Lunch, pizza from Gino's and fried chicken and The Best Mashed Potatoes Ever from Popeye's.

We won our game proving that Brown should indeed be flushed down. Clarkson was found to still be sucking in the final minute of each period.

You really need to go to a game to understand that. Our cheers are so much better than UofM hockey. I'm seriously.

Brief visits with friends that live in Troy that we don't get to see enough. The subject of grad student progress was happily avoided by all. Well, almost all.

West Hall, a former civil war hospital/insane asylum back when they were called such/Troy high school and current building for something or other on campus is not only still standing but also being renovated. It was undetermined whether the renovations would include attempts to stop the building from sliding down hill.

The in-progress Electronic Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) looks like a space ship and totally towers over all of downtown.

The new biotech building has an interesting-in-a-good-way architectural style.

Pep Band is still a creepy cult, although at least they didn't do the Hawaii 5-0 fake-out. Mostly because they left us Hawaii 5-0-less.

We witnessed a crazy minivan woman driver just pull out into traffic after stopping at the light and total some girl's car. Some Pissed Off Girl's Car. Thus confirming my theory that minivan drivers are the worst. Ever.

Some people do not appreciate a well-situated coffee shop with decent prices.

The Rathskellar was better when it had castle-style wooden booths instead of trendy, bright-colored upholstered tables, chairs and booths.

There were a lot more pink-wearing sorostitutes, frat boys and other mainstream college campus people than I remember. I'm concerned that the RPI geek culture is being washed out and that the only hold-outs will be the geeks that don't wash.

The microhos in the mall are not out at 10:30am.

Yellow plastic bucket seats will never go out of style.

All campus security can be compromised by a comprehensive tunnel network.

Overall it was an excellent trip and I was really glad that we went. We all agreed that we're all set on RPI for another 4 years. At that time we'll spend another few hours checking up on everything again and seeing how many townies still put orange cones in the street to block off a parking spot for themselves.
- posted by meg @ 5:20 PM

 
Super, thanks for asking
Your results:
You are Supergirl

Supergirl 90% Superman 75% Wonder Woman 75% Spider-Man 70% Green Lantern 70% Robin 67% Hulk 65% Batman 60% Iron Man 55% The Flash 50% Catwoman 40%

Lean, muscular and feminine. Honest and a defender of the innocent.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

- posted by meg @ 2:43 PM

 
Now you know
Four jobs I've had:
1. Supermarket deli girl
2. Librarian (stacks)
3. Cashier in a pharmacy
4. Bio researcher

Four movies I can watch over and over:
1. PCU
2. Real Genius
3. Raiders of the Lost Ark
4. Napoleon Dynamite
(So many others really.)

Four places I have lived:
1. Manchester, CT
2. Stafford, CT
3. Troy, NY
4. Ann Arbor, MI

Four TV shows I love:
1. The West Wing
2. The Office
3. Stargate: SG-1
4. Family Guy

Four places I've vacationed:
1. France (Paris, Nice, Cannes, etc)
2. Bar Harbor, ME
3. Cape Cod, MA
4. San Francisco, CA

Four of my favorite dishes:
1. homemade lasagna
2. steak with gorgonzola
3. pork loin marinated in cider
4. homemade egg rolls

Four sites I visit daily:
1. Fresh Pepper?
2. Questionable Content
3. Google News
4. MGoBlog

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. hanging out with friends
2. someplace tropical, no experience to choose from, let's say Fiji
3. touring Italy
4. reading on my couch

Five people I am tagging:
1. Erin
2. Joe
3. Joe
4. Lisa
5. Vishal




- posted by meg @ 5:58 PM