Pizza for Dinner
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Destructor!
The Clinical Faculty Offices building over here on the medical campus is being torn down this week. It's right outside my window and it's pretty cool. They've vacated the building weeks ago and spent some time gutting it slowly and removing layers from the roof but today they're going to town. There's a huge hose to keep down the dust and a big dinosaur like thing that just rips parts of the building off and dumps it on the ground mostly. It really looks like a dinosaur, it's basically like a huge vice grip or something. Anyway, this led to me telling Pat about that episode of Friends when Ross is teaching his class about some newly discovered dinosaur and says "Now, of course we don't know what it really sounded like, but it my head it was a little something like this." He then stares wide eyed with his hands around his face like a velociraptor and screechs. It's really funny. I can't even imitate it. When Friends is funny it is damn funny.
Last week at Nessa and Dave's Nessa and I decided Chandler (or Ms. Chanandeler Bong to the TV Guide people) was our favorite character. This should be obvious, he's perfectly sarcastic with just enough neuroses for some fun. Joey comes in second, because he is a dumb ass and does things like eat fake fruit because he didn't realize it was plastic. For me, the next slot is tied between Rachel and Phoebe. They both have some really good comedic timing lately, especially Rachel developing her sarcasm. I'm not sure about the whole Rachel/Joey line though, it feels a little contrived sometimes. I guess that leaves the Gellars for last. They certainly carry their weight when the show is good but compared to early seasons their quirks are hella dramatized. Cleaning and always needing to win used to be Monica's weird things, not her story line. And Ross, well, Ross has problems as exhibited above. Let's not even get into the marriages and the Rachel thing. Anywho, I'm not really sure how this turned into a TV show analysis but whatever, I'm getting back to work.
Sunday, September 28, 2003
Hey, be a parent!
I'm watching a local 4 bit about ways to spy on your kids. These parents put cameras in toys, bug their own phones and track what their kids surf on the internet. One mother even said she trusts her kids but is liable for their actions (re: Columbine). Mkay, trusting people means you believe they won't do wrong, that they're responsible people. How about you raise them properly from birth so they won't be a deliquent or dress like a micro-ho. How about instilling values and making someone trustworthy by trusting them. How about talking to your children and spending time with them. Then you won't have to spy because you'll be in their life already. They'll come to you with problems and they might do things you don't agree with but they won't get into major trouble. If you spy on them you'll have to confront them with what you find out and then your cover is blown. You'll have to try harder to spy, they'll know you're trying to spy on them and they'll never trust you completely again. Buh. Be a good example and a good parent. Am I alone in this?
On a completely different note, go Detroit Tigers! You suck but at least you don't suck the most ever. Although I'm pretty sure you also blow.
She's Ba-ack
First, a thank you to everyone for helping me with my link/photo problem. Unfortunately Yahoo is charging now to have webpages so that method of linking pics is out. Thanks to Matt for helping me with changing my template code, it was fun. Cause I'm a dork.
Some of you may remember me speaking of my neighbors on the other side of the wall. It's a chick and a dude that are dating. Or were. She moved out last winter. I specifically remember waking up at 6am to hear them fighting about whether or not he would steal her PS2 before she moved it out. The problems with this logic are numerous, as I'm sure you're aware. Anyway, they're not the worst neighbors I've had but they do disrupt me sometimes when they start shaking things in my apartment when things get physical. I had several months of relative quiet here but she moved back this week. It's funny because I can practically pinpoint the moment she moved in. Their arguments are great. I feel like I should invite people over. We can sit looking at the wall and eating popcorn. Her voice carries well but his doesn't always although she's amusing enough. Past argument topics include him not knocking on their bedroom door before coming in and how the guy she was dating while not living with him (perhaps some overlap?) was better to her. I just don't understand why anyone would deliberately live with her, it's not like she's difficult once in a while, it's fairly constant.
Oh, I just remembered something funny I wanted to share. I was behind this chick in traffic last week and we were stopped at a light. I see her bent over quite a bit looking for something in her car, whatever. Except she comes up from the deep with her rearview mirror. Which she uses to check her 80s hair and make up and then tosses back on the floor. Maybe you had to see it but it's too funny for me, I have to get back to work.
Saturday, September 27, 2003
When I grow up I want to be a principal or a caterpillar
So this has been a pretty good week. There was Soul Caliber II (This is a great fighting game. It's fun plus I can beat my computer geek friends without a health advantage.), Super Monkey Ball, a new West Wing, School of Rock for free and of course, yesterday's entry. My soccer games got cancelled which means that I'll die tomorrow when I finally get a chance to work out again but that's fine. Heck, things are even going ok in the lab. I've got to get motivated to do some work this weekend but I want to spend some time reading for fun too. I was bad and ordered a t-shirt and a book from Wil Wheaton. I can't help it, I'm an impulse buyer now after years of going into debt for buying a bagel at the coffee cart outside the DCC. I'm pulling in the reins though. Anyway, I'm going to take the advice of all my dork friends and e-mail Wheaton again. I was afraid to yesterday since I'm sure there'll come a point when he won't e-mail back but I'm easily pressured. Of course all the happy hour crew was excited to hear my news, especially Ashley since she made the stein comment which he found hilarious. So for them I will stalk Wil Wheaton. It's not all that bad if you think about it, I'm fairly pretty and cool (not like my stalkers) and I'm 2000 miles away so it's not like I'd be able to do much. Well, I guess I could do some stuff over the internet but I'm not quite that savvy. As far as you know.
Speaking of which, I can't figure out how to attach photos or a side panel of links in this template on blogger. This could be because it's not possible (I couldn't find the place in the template code where I'm supposed to be able to put links and photos aren't mentioned anywhere) or because I'm so confused I'm almost retarded. Take your pick but I'm betting on a little of column A and a little of column B. So here are a few links to friends' pages and others that I frequent.
Erin
Matt
Nessa
Sanjay
Penny Arcade
Think Geek
Diesel Sweeties
True Meaning of Life
The Onion
Wil Wheaton
The New York Times
Internet Movie Database
Ok, I'm going to go do stuff now.
Friday, September 26, 2003
Squeak!
Ok, that's the sound I'd be making right now if I weren't so speechless. Remember how happy I was to get my photo with Screech? (I'll have to find a way to post that here but Matt had it on his page.) Well, multiply that by a factor of a thousand. At least. I don't know, I can't really remember math right now.
Maybe some back story would help. When I was a girl my dork parents watched Star Trek Next Generation. I enjoyed it as well, as a geek-in-making. I also lusted after Wil Wheaton. Yes, I was extremely aware of my sexuality as a child, I know it's creepy. When Matt told me he had a blog I was so on board. I have been reading every post since then. (Oh my God it's so hard to type my hands are shaking.) He's really funny and cool and geeky, just like I like people. Why am I explaining that, anyone who reads this knows that already. He's also still just as pretty, but married which is great for you Wil but not so much for me. You know, cause in my fantasy world we meet and I totally win you over.
But I digress. You may notice I referred to Wil in person. Why you ask? Is this like when I get all third person and channel Costanza? Nope. I e-mailed Wil Wheaton today to tell him he rocks. I totally didn't even expect a reply. But I got one. And he read my blog. And he thinks we're all fun. Dude, I swear. I'm going to go jump up and down and clap now. Now I understand how RPI stalkers feel.
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Top Five Generic Problems with Research
In no particular order ...
1. Shoddy/No/Shared Equipment---Shared equipment is my favorite. This basically means another lab can just take your stuff and not return it. You could do the same to them but it's all yours anyway so you're essentially just reacquisitioning your stuff. I also appreciate trying to do delicate experiments with machines that are older than I am.
2. Getting your grad student/post doc/advisor to actually help you---Yeah, good fucking luck on this one pal. Even if your advisor has the best of intentions they're usually more of an apparition than a solid entity. When my mom visited this summer she heard my advisor was out of town and said "Oh, that's too bad I was hoping to talk with him for a few minutes." Yeah, me too Mom. I think Lauren and Pat wanted in on that action as well. I don't even want to get started on the PDB.
3. Astrology---So apparently a lot of research has to do with good luck and the alignment of the planets as much as it has to do with "skill" and "knowledge." I've done an experiment once perfectly (after months of troubleshooting, lost your protocols my ass [shakes fist]) and gone to do the same exact thing again to doublecheck my results and gotten nothing. Not bad/weird/contradictory results. Nothing. I thought I had done something wrong without realizing it but was later told by several people that some things basically require magic. Good to know.
4. Budget---This isn't as much of a problem here as it was at RPI (which is probably one reason why the bio people there recommended UM to me and one reason why some of said people get uptight if I talk about my research) but it is a perennial problem for many labs. I do have some trouble ordering things here in the lab. If it's not something I can get myself there's a whole rigamarole to go through including but not limited to the tech searching the lab and deciding that said product that expired 3 years ago or has aspects in common is good enough and deciding not to order my product or tell me she hasn't ordered it. There's also the products that get "lost" in delivery, although the company never received the order. Yeah, nice work.
5. The Bumper Sticker---There's this fabled bumper sticker that says something to the effect of 'Molecular Biologists Do It Again, and Again, and Again. ...' I'm pretty sure this holds true for many sciences since at least all the biomed journals require results to be published based on 2-4 repetitions of an experiment. This doesn't include the duplicates within the experiment. Or the troubleshooting (see #2). I swear if I hear one more person say "That's just research, tee hee" they're going to feel the back of my hand. There's a point at which "just research" becomes "things aren't working." I also don't understand how someone could tell me this after I've been a researcher for 3+ years and expect it to be a comforting revealation.
If you still can't relate or don't understand the plight of a researcher check out this page. It's hilarious and completely encompasses the feelings of every researcher I've talked to.
Tuesday, September 23, 2003
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Tenacious D
I recently acquired (thanks Matt) the new CD by Tenacious D, the band fronted by comedian Jack Black. It's great, I love it. If you're familiar with Jack Black you have an idea of what the songs are like. They're typical songs by comedians only above the mean of that genre. By above the mean I don't mean to say they're more like real songs you'd hear on the radio I just mean they're funnier than Adam Sandler. I especially like "Fuck Her Gently." Ok, I know this sounds like something I'd say I'd like but that doesn't change the fact that I do. Ashley liked it too when Matt played it for us once so I'm not the only girl in the world who is amused by this song. Not to get Ashley in trouble in anyway, it's a good thing to laugh at this song. I'd copy/paste the lyrics into the blog but there's probably some sort of copyright crap that I'd have to look into and that might take like 5 minutes. I'm way too lazy for that. I'm guessing if I attribute it I'd be fine but whatever, just go out and hear the song it's better that way anyway.
Sunday, September 21, 2003
Ich liebe Oktoberfest
Here are some highlights from yesterday, yes I remember them:
Planning to seduce (me) and torture (Matt and Chris) John Navarre after our loss to OREGON
Calling Tom to ask how we lost, calling Tom to ask why he keeps hanging up, watching Matt freak about his brother's 'wedding'
Polka-ing drunk
Zehnder's chicken, all you can eat chicken with a giraffe in my ice cream
Steve our waiter
Ashley: "I have a huge stein between my legs."
german sausage and Kilwin's ice cream and fudge
Calling Sanjay drunk and asking what cheese is in german
Having Sanjay chastise us for being wasted at 7pm
Winning dinosaurs and army men at the arcade (Ashley and Matt I have them and will dispense them when I see you.)
Many other great moments. I can't wait until next year.
Friday, September 19, 2003
I love you Johnny Depp
I really, truly do. You are a pretty, pretty man who is amazing in both Pirates of the Caribbean and Once Upon a Time in Mexico. I saw Once last night with Matt and Nessa, it was great. There were some scenes that actually had me squeamish but overall it was great. I love action movies. Unfortunately for him, Antonio did not exactly shine in this movie. Johnny totally stole the show. He was extremely witty and funny; pay close attention to his T-shirts. He was also pretty bad ass. He's joining Christian Bale on my list of totally hot bad ass guys. It's a shame he's also married. And living in France, of all places. Seriously, Johnny, why France? I know your wife if French but move to America where people shower more often and a quarter pounder is called such.
Oh, and Salma Hayek was good in the movie too. She looked really hot. Yeah, I said it. I admit when a woman looks good. I also want to see Intolerable Cruelty with George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones. They both look good in that movie too. Other movies on the list are Anything Else and Matchstick Men so give me a call if you are also interested. Hmm, maybe I should get back to work. Oh wait, no, lunch!
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Hi, my name is Amy and this guy here on my shoulder is Chip
A note left near the waste basket in my part of the lab yesterday from a custodial supervisor:
"It is very disturbing to me that even after you were contacted by OSEH on the 12th day of this month the same pipettes are still in the same trash containers. The Custodial Staff (sic) have repeatedly discussed this issue with various Lab (sic) personnel regarding this policy. You were informed that we (and the next five words are in red) can not, and will not pick up trash if there are pipettes mixed with the trash. Rather than to comply, there have been several attempts by lab personnel to try to disguise, and cover up the pipettes, with total disregard to the safety of the employee's that are removing the trash. Furthermore the trash is piling up as each day goes by, and it will continue for as long as there are pipettes inside the trash. I am forwarding this memo to OSEH, as well as everyone else concerned."
Before I comment further, I'd like to make it clear that no one using that waste basket deliberately put pipettes in it, the pipettes were not contaminated with anything and are plastic so they won't poke through the bag, and of course no one wants to hurt the janitors. I've worked crappy jobs too and certainly wouldn't want to make your job more crappy than it already is.
First of all, go back to elementary school and brush up on grammar. Second, no one who works near said waste basket was contacted by anyone and you can not assume the individuals you did contact spread the word. Especially if they didn't seem to understand english when you spoke to them. Third, there is no cover up. There isn't a conspiracy to kill off janitors and infect the working class with some horrible disease. We are not evil middle class people trying to assert our dominance over you in all ways. I'm sorry if this is disappointing. Finally, the pipettes were removed as soon as it was apparent they were in there and they were a problem. The trash, however, was not removed and the trash in the other waste basket was emptied rather sloppily.
Yeah our lab messed up, but you certainly can't claim we were deliberately going out of our way to harm others. Not only is this not true but there is no evidence to support it. I've watched Law and Order for years and you've just got no case. Why she got so hostile is beyond me. Perhaps other labs have a history of this but our lab does not, at least not our part of the lab. Anyway, I thought this was amusing. I hope they find the weak link soon and start emptying our trash again.
My Cat's Breath Smells like Cat Food
Ok, I don't have a cat, but if I did it would.
Here's something from driving around yesterday to do one errand. It's funny how one accident can almost cause a handful of others. Not with me but others, it was a traffic jam I had time to look around.
Top Five Traffic Violations that You would Think were Straightforward
In no particular order
1. When taking a left turn it is customary to wait for all cars in the lanes you must cross to not be in the lanes you must cross.
2. When changing lanes you must use the correct signal.
3. No, signaling halfway between lanes does not count.
4. That red sign with the white letters means you stop. If there isn't #-WAY below STOP then other people might not have to stop so don't assume they will. (Ok, for this one I think there should be more conformity because some intersections are 4-way stops but don't say so, for example. Still, don't hit my car because you'd assume I'd stop when I really had the right of way.)
5. The street is not your personal parking lot. I don't care if you'll "be back in a sec" don't leave your car idling in the street, parking lot, etc. And if you live in Troy, NY you do not have the unchallengable right to park in front of your home. Sorry, it's a bummer.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Continued
I had to stop to do "research" so this is basically a continuance of below. I also have more to do before class so I'll try to be quick. I just don't really feel like schleping down to the enzyme store or figuring out how to use the lightcycler again.
This is what happens when Pat and I get bored. We went down to the coffee cart to get some soda and I was hoping to give Vanilla Pepsi a whirl. They didn't have any so I wondered out loud if they would add a shot of the vanilla coffee flavoring to my pepsi. Pat pressured me so I asked the ladies if they would do it. They were completely up for it and want to know how it tastes. It tastes great. It's a lot better than Vanilla Coke and much like the fountain stuff you can get at Johnny Rocket's or other such places. She totally eyeballed the shot but it's perfect, just a hint of vanilla. Plus I get a bendy straw and a lid with my OCP buttons. Now Pat wants to try other flavors with his Mountain Dew. I'm not exactly sure an "Almond Dew" would taste that great but if he's up for it I'll watch.
Maybe this if TMI but it really shouldn't be. The underwire on my bra is poking out of the fabric in one spot. I'm a little surprised it took like 3 years to do this since it's POINTED METAL. Seriously, aren't these things supposed to be blunted a little bit? I'll take contributions to the "Buy Meg a Leatherman Wave" Fund so I can nip future transgressions of my lingerie in the bud.
I completely forgot to put a few things in my 100 Things list that mean a lot to me. I guess I can think of another 100 things, including "Thoughts often leave my head only to return at an undetermined point in the future." So here's two of my favorite things.
Compare and Contrast: RPI hockey and Michigan Football
RPI Hockey
I've been a hockey fan since my early adolescence when my family would go with friends to the Springfield (MA) Falcon's hockey games. They were great, they're not an NHL team so there was a lot of fighting and the players actually signed autographs afterwards. One player named McBain was amused when I told him there was a Simpsons character with his name. He was apparentely also 12 years old because this led to a conversation about the upcoming Beavis and Butthead movie. The PR chickie was pretending to know what was up the whole time, it was great.
But I digress. I had RPI season hockey tickets my last two years and frequented the games my freshman year. They're great, we had some very talented players and some big schools as competition. Some players have been drafted but I don't think they really made it well in the pros except for a handful (ex. Oates). The Field House held 5000-6000 spectators and the student sections were always a lot of fun. Well, except for Section 8. The Pep Band was fun for like the first game but after that their lack of skill and frequenting of songs was more annoying than enjoyable. Except when the score became 5-0 in our favor, then they played "Hawaii 5-0." Most times. They faked us out a few times, fuckers. Anyway, the tickets were relatively cheap (although I was in debt just for paying rent on my crapartment and buying food from Chopper) and actually Matt paid for my season tickets as we were dating at the time. Ah, the benefits of being a lady. All in all it was a highlighting experience of my time there and I will watch the broadcast RPI-Clarkson game every year if I can. I'd like to get back to watch a few games live if I can but that depends on where and what I'm doing with my life. I'd also watch pro hockey games in the hopes they're just as fun.
Michigan Football
Michigan football is legendary. The Big Ten is something everyone has heard of and many people have a personal stake in. And for good reason, the games are fantastic. Yeah we've won so far this season and that has a lot to do with it but I'd have fun anyway unless we played like crap. I don't like to see people off their game, it hurts me. There's also something about being one of 107,501 people cheering on your team. Ok so the attendance at games has been a good 2000-4000 over that lately but there are a few fans for the opposing team so I'm rounding. These games are televised or reported nationally so I can talk about it with other people and they have some idea of what's going on already. The tickets are a bit expensive but are totally worth it. I paid around $135 for 8 games, which isn't bad considering the team I'm watching. And games like Saturday's against ND. The only thing I'd recommend to people thinking of going is to eat beforehand and bring a sealed water bottle with you since food and beverages are outrageously priced. Seriously, $3 for a pint and a half of water. It better make my electrolytes do a jig for that much.
Unlike RPI's pep band the Michigan marching band is phenomenal. The man up front rocks and is an engineer (bonus). They play well, they march well, it's just great. The cheerleaders are great too, they make me want to learn how to do backflips and stuff. On the whole the experience is great and I can't really think of anything bad about it. Unless we lose but that's not happening this year, we're going all the way, baby!
I'm not sure if I'd see pro football games live but I might if they're good (ie not Detroit). Detroit baseball and football teams have new stadiums which is ridiculous because they suck. They should play on a sandlot until they earn their fields. I do watch the Superbowl every year though and lately have been throwing parties. Keep that Sunday open if you want to go to Meg's for some football, a lot of meat and a lot of pie.
A day in the life
So I stretched for a good half hour after the game last night (fuck you Rec B sexist rule, fuck you right in the ass) and when I woke up this morning my first thought was "Yay, I'm not sore." Then I got out of bed. Yeah, praise Jesus for Bayer back and body pain. I have been working out a lot the past year so I'm a little surprised it's putting me in this much pain. I might have to break out the ginormous ibuprofen from my wisdom teeth removal.
I found out this morning that our competitors have beat me to cloning our gene's promoter. This sucks because my thesis work is going to have a lot to do with manipulating and defining the promoter and therefore the expression of our gene. RKIP, my gene, suppresses prostate cancer metastasis so keeping it around in the cells is good. I'm not really surprised though since the lab that did this is headed by the dude that identified the gene. I also wasn't aware we were in competition until about 2 weeks ago, but this didn't change a whole lot since I was working hard anyway. I just would have liked someone to effectively help me troubleshoot a little sooner since following the Red Book of Molecular Biology Dogma didn't help that much. Anyway, they're sending us the cloned promoter to do stuff with since they're not publishing yet. This sounds a little weird to me but I guess we're collaborating now or something. Either that or my advisor is just uber sketchy. Well, he's a little sketchy anyway since I saw a 8" Beaker (the Muppet) doll in his office with little finger sized handcuffs on his wrists. He's pretty cool in other ways though, he has a flat screen widescreen computer monitor and got Jian drunk at his surprise 40th birthday party.
Oh, and it's Tuesday which means Pat and I have our immunology class lecture. Discussions are Thursdays. This class is a total waste of my time and luckily will only last a month, so it's half over. The class is required for pathology but is basically tailored to immunologists. Except the lectures, they're too basic for immunologists and don't give enough info to help us pathologists. If we do research on our own to understand the papers we'll find this information anyway so really my only incentive for attending the lecture is that the prof would totally notice if 25% of the class is missing. The path parts of the lectures are interesting but we never do anything with our new found knowledge of these diseases and it's again really basic. Pat and I are getting ready to write course evaluations since we didn't really learn anything in lecture and our critical discussions are useless. I originally looked at each experiment for proper controls, etc, but he wants us to look at the whole paper in a "they did this, then this, then this" manner. That's fine but I'll never do any of the experiments in any of the papers and don't really know what's going on nearly as well as the immuno people who do this every day. Even they're confused all the time.
But enough of that. You'll notice you may now comment on my entries. I wanted to do this all along but couldn't figure it out in 5 seconds or less so gave up. That is until Nessa said she loved my blog but wanted to be able to harass/mock my entries and I should allow her to do so. So there you go. I had to use an outside service since Blogger doesn't have commenting capabilities so let me know if this is a problem as I have several choices and just picked one at random.
Here's a fun little entry that should give you a peak into my childhood.
Top Five Things my Babysitter did that would be Considered Child Abuse Today
In no particular order
1. Dragged me and my brother across the carpet giving us rug burn
2. Sprayed a can of fart spray in our rooms and locked the door
3. Taught us the wrestling move "The Boston Crab," taught as in 'learning by doing' or having done to you
4. Introduced us to potato chips and ketchup, which is cruel solely for it's association with Canada
5. Polished his bartending skills by making us mimosas and other drinks (although I'm fairly certain they were nonalcoholic)
Monday, September 15, 2003
I am so smart! I am so smart! S-M-R-T! I mean S-M-A-R-T!
So one of my prof's seems to think I'm brilliant, we'll see how long this lasts. It has me a bit worried, not because I disagree, on the contrary that is the correct assessment. I just don't think he has enough interaction with me to make that assessment and I'm wondering on what he is basing this. Anyway, it's cool for now. :-)
So I had a good soccer practice yesterday but apparently didn't stretch out enough. I woke up and rolled out of bed only to be cognizant of my entire body aching. I need to seriously warm up before the game tonight. I also need to get going on my dinner so that's not a problem.
Oh, and if you're reading this you should totally sign up for Friendster. I only have like 6 friends so far. None of my loser high school classmates have signed up, except for Erin but she's cool and not a loser. I'm not really lacking in friends but you can never have too many and I might find someone I haven't spoken to in a while.
Oh, Erin linked to Tucker Max the other day and I totally recommend it. He's really funny and a horrid person. Go to his new page and read the worst conversation ever entry, it'll give you something to think about. He warns guys not to go on but don't be a pansy, read the whole thing. Also read about Miss Vermont. I might know her cousin but I can't be sure. If you apply for the date with him (I did for fun, I don't really want to) I totally got the bonus question and you should too. In fact my free form answer included another quote by said person.
Yeah so this entry is rather random and scattered but that's me most days. I multitask a lot and therefore sacrifice quality a bit. I'm working on a new feature and another C&C though.
Sunday, September 14, 2003
100 Things
So I read Matt's plan to do this on his blog, and subsequently his and Nessa's 100 Things. It's a good idea and I'm not afraid to follow a trend I like. So there, I'm a copy cat.
100 Things
1. I can sew
2. I love to bake
3. My name has an H after the G
4. I am the only person in my family without corrective lenses
5. I like porn, especially Jenna
6. I have a navel ring
7. I'd get other things pierced, maybe ...
8. I will stop working while my children are too young for school, if I can
9. I drink at least 2Ls of water a day
10. I'm a scientist but appreciate true art
11. I love my PS2 but I'm not very good at the games, for a geek
12. I had a great golden retriever, but she died the day after my 21st birthday
13. I'm actually sweet and thoughtful, see #68
14. I played soccer in high school
15. I'd pose for Playboy
16. I read the articles too
17. They're good, really
18. I am an obsessive compulsive personality
19. I love to travel but haven't had many opportunities
20. I love to read but I'm a slow reader
21. I want to have a house with gardens
22. I love coffee
23. I can speak 4 languages, with varying degrees of ease
24. My eyes are hazel
25. I refer to my breasts as "my rack"
26. I have built wooden furniture
27. I am a grammar fiend, this is due to my stint on The Poly
28. I enjoy photography and have a great digital camera
29. I love outdoor activities of all kinds but have yet to go camping
30. My research is on preventing prostate cancer metastasis
31. I love crossword puzzles
32. I am very afraid of spiders
33. I like doing laundry
34. My left arm does not have full rotation due to a curved radius
35. I sometimes think about 3 steps ahead of other people
36. They're not always steps other people would take
37. I end up explaining and apologizing a lot
38. The obscenely pink bean bag is the most popular chair in my apartment
39. I got my license at age 21
40. It was two weeks before I got my BS
41. I went to RPI, it's 75% men and a great engineering/science/architecture school
42. Some of the guys are "stalkers" but I managed to enjoy my time there
43. Nevertheless, this has made me suspect of every new guy that's nice to me
44. I'm O neg, the Red Cross has stalked me but I've evaded them since moving here, huh hah!
45. I LOVE blue eyes
46. I prefer to buy classic clothing that won't embarrass me in the future
47. NYC street vendor hot dogs are my favorite hot dogs
48. I'm a great swimmer
49. I'm comfortable in my geekiness
50. I was in musicals in high school but didn't actually sing
51. I like action movies better than romantic comedies, in general
52. I have an allergy to gold
53. Cherry coke is my favorite cola
54. Pasta is my default dinner
55. I bake bread from scratch
56. I keep Quaker in business by eating their peanut butter and chocolate chip granola bars
57. I'm easily pressured if it's something I really want to do, otherwise I'm stubborn
58. I jump up and down and clap when I'm really excited
59. I like to dance
60. I constantly sing in my car even though I'm probably tone deaf, but I paid for it, so there
61. I'm quite romantic, if it's real love, this does not conflict with #51, see #35-37 and #77
62. I was a bridesmaid once and love my dress
63. I regularly visit more than a dozen websites
64. Monet has been my favorite artist since I went to his Giverny house
65. I have a photo of me on the bridge over the waterlilies
66. I'm quiet at first but then I talk a lot once I get to know someone
67. I was born 5 ½ weeks premature and had jaundice
68. I use sarcasm and/or "bitchiness" as a defense/safety mechanism
69. So do all my friends
70. I have low self-esteem
71. I'm working on that, and my other problems, I've made substantial progress
72. Only the most unexpected friends notice this
73. I'm God's gift to men
74. I realize that this conflicts with #70
75. I prefer to hear the truth straight, even if it hurts
76. I play sports but don't consider myself athletic
77. I sometimes have trouble explaining what I mean
78. I don't like to be interrupted
79. I know people that don't always make me feel good about myself
80. I've had less than or equal to 5 friends in my life that I've felt completely comfortable with during our friendship
81. Most of these friends are men
82. I have an excellent memory for some things without really trying
83. This freaks people out when I bring up a long-gone conversation
84. I appreciate honesty in all forms
85. I don't know exactly what I'm going to do with my PhD, options include acacemia, industry, patent law, and consultation
86. I like almost all music, just not country
87. I am selective when buying DVDs
88. If I drink I either don't get a buzz or get drunk
89. I like to party but have bouts of antisocialness
90. I was in 4H but always thought Boys Scouts looked like more fun than that or Girl Scouts
91. I'm unexpectedly feminine
92. Smoking will cut you off "the list" as will non-boxers
93. I am extremely picky about my men and get more so with each dating experience
94. My guy friends don't like it when I'm right/better than they are
95. I am very hard on myself and others to a lesser degree
96. I've been told by many people that I'm their most reliable friend
97. As Sanjay says, I have "humane ticks"
98. I do not assume I will be married with children but I do assume I will get a PhD and do well in my career
99. I can keep a friend's secret better than my own
100. I can probably think of another 100 things
Compare and Contrast
Through high school I was forced to compare and contrast. This wasn't just in English class either, I also had to compare and contrast in my science classes (ex. meiosis v. mitosis). I've decided to do my own take on this, only with cool things. So, this C&C is inspired by movies I've seen recently.
Christian Bale/John Preston (Equilibrium)
Christian Bale is extremely hot. His body in this is quite impressive and he shows it off in the many gun kata scenes. He's also a bad ass to an extreme. The coat with the guns up the sleeves is the best thing I've seen in an action movie in a while. (Well, maybe Bulletproof Monk had something just as cool.) His performance is perfect and often involves subtle emotional changes. And best of all, he saves a puppy. Ok, I suppose overthrowing the government and freeing the world to be human again is the best of all, being the plot and what not.
Christian picks great movie roles and doesn't do every big budget flick that rolls his way. Although he's signed to be the next Batman, but despite the decidedly high budget this film will have it's sure to be good. Sadly, he's married. But if he's like Antonio he'll be divorced soon and looking to marry me. He's probably not aware of this since we haven't met.
The most glaring anti-typical hero feature of this movie is that John Preston doesn't get the girl, at least not in body. And he has kids, so he's a little tied down. But the most unlikely heros can sometimes be the best and in this movie that is certainly true. I highly recommend this film and Christian in general.
Antonio Banderas/El Mariachi (Desperado, Once Upon a Time in Mexico)
Antonio also has that classic latin sexiness the ladies seem to love. I'm off and on with him, he's attractive in a sense but I don't necessarily feel anything. He does choose an interesting mix of fabulous roles and movies and entirely big budget blockbusters. I mean, Philadelphia and Spy Kids? Yeah, yeah I hear Spy Kids is actually good but it's not like his decision to voice a character in Shrek 2. At any rate, Antonio is capable of some brilliant action and dramatic roles, it just doesn't always show it in his choice of work. (Or his personal life. I mean, his second wife is Melanie Griffith. She's the kind of actress that doesn't have anything explicitly wrong with her, she's just kinda ... off.) His performance in Desperado was good though and I'm really looking forward to seeing the sequel. He's about 15 years older than Christian but still seems to handle the physical stuff well. I mean, there's no gun kata but jumping from exploding buildings has its own inherent risks. I wouldn't recommend any film he does, but if Antonio's in an action film that doesn't star children that's a good sign. You'll also probably enjoy his performance in any film that looks to be critically good anyway (or despite).
Saturday, September 13, 2003
Hail to the Victors
So we played Notre Dame today. Well, one of the teams was playing. I was hoping we would win, I was not expecting a shutout. A 38-0 shutout. How terribly, terribly sad for the Irish. Boo hoo. It was a great game. I had some roast pig and beer beforehand and was totally fired up for the game. The Irish being one of our rivals, a record 111,726 people were screaming for someone's head on a plate. I had so much fun, I cannot even tell you. I'm honestly surprised I still have a voice left.
I'm also starting IM soccer this week, our first practice is tomorrow. I haven't played in 5 years but I'm excited. Soccer is a lot of fun. It's an aggressive sport so it's a good venue for working out frustrations. I'm probably horrible, which is unfortunate because as a ref I understand the game well. I just can't get the body to execute all the time. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be better than someone in the league and that's all I'm asking for.
I almost forgot, Thede had a party last night. Thede lives on Hiscock. Hiscock is near Felch and Cherry. Since we went to said party after happy hour you can imagine we were all in the mood to laugh and make jokes. Ashley can let you in on things she accidentally said, I'm in no position to tell on her since there but for the grace of God. ...
(HISCOCK!)
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Free Food!
So a prof at RPI once said that if a student didn't want free food they were getting paid too much.
With that in mind, I had two free meals in the last 24 hours. Last night there was the Geriatrics Center picnic at Gallup Park. The park was great, really big and it seemed like there were a lot of bike trails and stuff. I could try them out now that I have a new bike (Specialized HardRock Crmo). Anyway, I knew like four people there, but luckily one was Lauren and I got to meet her man Dave. Unfortunately, the bees were out in full force and since they're both allergic and I'm scared to death there was a lot of shrieking and freezing in terror in between bites. The food was good though, the potato salad excellent. There was sushi too, which was rather odd, especially without soy sauce, but whatever, I didn't pay. The geese were also amusing. The ducks and geese were roaming around aplenty. The kids got to feed them bread crumbs but I was frankly surprised no one got their fingers nipped, they were pretty aggressive. It was nice to see a lot of ducks and geese up close for a while but turning around to see a 40lb goose staring at you with a pack of ducks behind him is a little unnerving.
Today I had free subs, ice cream and soda at the annual biosciences picnic. The subs were from DiBella's down by the mall, I highly recommend them. They're bigger and better than subway and cost the same. I don't think they're a chain though so if you're not in A2 tough luck. You'll just have to visit me. :-) Last year at this picnic Pat ate a sub and commented on how much kick it had. It took a moment for him to realize he ate a bee and that the mustard wasn't spicy. I love Pat, he cracks me up. He and Amy are so great. Anyway, this picnic upped my blood sugar before Immunology, which was nice. I finally got a word in the discussion too, so it was a great day. I swear grad school has made me hypoglycemic.
And I've decided to buy Dangerous Beauty from Amazon, it's only $13 and I love that movie. It's really well made and the acting is great. The love story isn't too saccharine and the love scenes are actually well done. They're not icky and awkward like in The Matrix Reloaded. Anyway, I need to read like a demon.
I am a Trendsetter
My friend Erin has started a blog on my advice. If you don't believe my stories about Stafford, read her entry on the boulders. I swear that town is full of dildos. I won't spoil it because she tells the Stafford stories better. Let me just say this place is in the beautiful northeastern CT forest. This is in stark contrast to the NASCAR speedway and white supremacy hicks that abound. Maybe it's just me, but if you rob a convenience store with a stick and steal the cash register you are not superior to anyone. And let's not forget the teen pregnancy rate of "one of the top CT schools (yeah, no one bought that Principal Kennedy, go back down the hierarchy to librarian)." I believe that of a graduating class of 100 students, about 60 girls, 5 had children or were visibly pregnant. There's something in the town water, it's the only explanation. At least it gives me a diverse background. We'll get to the deli stories later since most of you have heard them anyway.
So I was in a baking mood yesterday and decided to make some cookies. If you don't know, when Meg makes cookies she goes to town. This time I made my standard Ghirardelli double chocolate and peanut butter chip cookies. Matt came over for some tacos just as they were getting out of the oven so we had a bit of an "appetizer." (Yes, that's Poly style.) There's nothing like stuffing a warm homemade cookie in your mouth as it's falling apart in your hand.
I long ago realized that this compulsion to bake and clean was a result of my upbringing but I think I've surpassed my Mom in this manner. She visited this summer and my OCP kicked in everytime she left a chair crooked after pulling it out from the table to put her shoes on. At any rate, the baking part has caused me to think about what I will do with my kids when I have them. I wouldn't want to turn them into little butterballs. I've decided to take the tactics of underplaying the specialness of a dessert, making them snobs that only eat homemade or high quality sweets (thus eliminating many brands of potato chips and cookies), and equating foods like yogurt and fruit with snacking as much as cookies or ice cream. This should be about as effective as I could hope for, they will be kids afterall.
Oh, I highly recommend watching "Newlyweds" on MTV. If you ever thought your lady was high maintenance you could be proven wrong in about 45 seconds. It's a horrible reality show starring two pop singers tettering on the edge of fame but what is most amusing is that it's all true. I believe the reviews say that Jessica Simpson is much prettier to look at than Ozzy but just as amusing and not as awkward and disturbing as Anna Nicole. Anyway, I don't really like any of these shows but they have the attraction of a car accident at times. Plus Nick Lachey is rather attractive so I can always mute it for a few minutes.
Yeah, so I've had a lot of work to do for clizass and research and can't think of anything funny. I want to see Once Upon a Time in Mexico this weekend as the prequels were great. I'll do a review of some movies I've seen lately too. I have made up a few sayings I want to spread around though and see if they ever come back to me through a stranger. There's "Michigan Junior," which aptly describes Ohio, and "I was sweating like Bush at a spelling bee." Ok, it's time to set up my coffeemaker for tomorrow and get some sleep.
Tuesday, September 09, 2003
You're So Vain
I bet you think this blog is about you.
Well, if you're Miles then it is.
I saw Miles today for the first time since Christmas. It's nice to be reminded why you like your friends so much.
Miles once had that Carly Simon song stuck in his head. But not like you or I have a song stuck in our heads. Miles had heard Carly maybe 3 times total. Somehow, Carly penetrated his brain and refused to leave. For months Miles heard the same notes again and again. And just when he thought he was ok, he realized what he was humming. Da da da. D-da d-da da da da da daa da.
As I was working in the lab at the time that this was happening (he was the tech) this was extremely amusing to me. The antics he went into upon realizing what was going on were great. I also sincerely felt bad for him. It's bad enough having a song stuck in your head, now extend that for months. Six Carly Simon months are long months. And just when he thought she was gone, that's right, Carly came back.
When Miles became my roommate I threatened to pipe Carly into his room while he was sleeping if he performed any of the acts previous roommates had. I don't think I'm that hard to live with but apparently asking that your roommates do not set things on fire, steal your belongings, leave trash all over the place, or just leave one day is too much. What can I say, I have high standards. I guess I should say that I never actually asked the first 3 years of roommates not to do any of those things. I guess I thought they went unsaid. My bad.
But I digress. Miles has been Carly Simon free for a few years now and I hope he stays that way. Not just for his own sanity but for my life. I have been warned that should she return, Carly will die first and then I will. I guess reminding him of this with much glee creates what we call a "sore spot."
On another note, I heard that my alma mater's student newspaper has fallen on hard times. The Poly was always a source of pride for me, a group of scientists and engineers managed to put together a fine publication. However, I understand that the grammar and style is not corrected to the degree it was in the past and that several stories so far this short semester have had untruths in them. The Poly has never had much of a staff, but we had managed to put out a reasonably well put together publication every week. Hopefully the staff that remains from my days are working out these problems.
I realized today that my two most irritable fellow classmate types are actually the same person, but in different class styles. After talking with a few friends I realized I was not the only person that disliked "Chatty Cathy." Chatty Cathy is a name I apply without regard to sex to a person who, upon gaining the attention of the prof or control of the conversation, does everything in their power to maintain it. Chatty Cathy type I actually has things to say, but when you're discussing one figure in a paper there aren't a whole lot of things to say. This leaves others without contributions to the discussion. Since I tend to do things like not interrupt and pause slightly before changing the subject entirely I don't always get a word in. Chatty Cathy type II is similar to Chatty Cathy type I in that she will not shut up, but dissimilar in that she offers nothing to the conversation. My favorite example is the girl in my history class at RPI that would routinely say the same thing that someone else just said, but angrier. I hope this doesn't escape the attention of the prof but you can never tell with the femnazis. I'm not sure which annoys me more. I suppose type I affects my grade, which is unfortunate, but it's not like I'll get lower than a B anyway. Type II just wastes my time, which I do not like. I am the only one allowed to waste my time.
The other personality type is the one person in your lecture that nods at every point the prof makes. Look, you're in grad school at UofM, we know you're smart. You don't need to tell the whole room that you know what's going on or that you just connected some stellar dots. The link between these people was made clear to me today when the Nodder in my new class was identified as the previous semester's Chatty Cathy. Unfortunately, she's type II. She thinks she has something important to say but either asks basic questions or pointless ones. This is fine if you don't understand, but don't make it sound like you're correcting the prof in the progress of asking your question.
Anyway, those are my thoughts for the day. It was a pretty good day overall. Movie night showed Dangerous Beauty, which I highly recommend. I actually feel like buying it now. That doesn't always happen with me, I tend to be cheap so something has to be great for me to spend money on it. Even then I usually find it on sale. What can I say, I do my mother proud.
Monday, September 08, 2003
Hypothesis
So, I've decided that this blog is going to be more of a "insight into Meg's mind" than a "rehash of what I did today" type blog. The idea being that I can show who I really am better by sharing personal information. Not too personal, just thoughts and such. Plus, I'm not that exciting. Well, it's more like I don't have the time to be exciting. Anyway, I'm not sure what my next real entry will be. A conversation last night has given me an idea but we'll see how it pans out.
Sunday, September 07, 2003
Top Five Childhood Movies
In no particular order ...
Better Off Dead
"Well honk my hooter" is a quote from the movie that was basically my first reaction to the film. A John Cusack classic, Better of Dead has the kind of random hilarity I expect from comedies. The visual jokes and self deprecating humor of Lane Myer are the cream of the 80s crop. The one liners are great too. Look for "Booger" from the Revenge of the Nerds series.
The Princess Bride
Still my favorite romantic comedy, although it is hardly representative of that genre. Taken from the book by William Goldman, director Rob Reiner manages to adapt the story to the big screen well, although some of the humor is lost. This film manages to combine action, comedy, drama, and romance believably and without causing men and some of us more jaded women to gag at the true love references. I highly recommend buying both the DVD and book.
Weird Science
This is a totally forgettable typical 80s flick starring Kelly LeBrock, or Mrs. Seagal as I'm sure she would not want to be known, Bill Paxton, Robert Downey, Jr. and Anthony Michael Hall. Despite this I still love watching it when it's shown on TBS at 10 on a Saturday morning. There's just something about a couple of geeks putting bras on their heads and dialing up the local power company to get the juice to turn the computer program of the perfect woman into reality that I connected to even as a kid. This entry will be crosslisted with "Top Five Reasons Meg is a Geek."
Real Genius
This film really is fantastic. It's based on life at CalTech in the 80s when the Cold War was still driving science research. In short, a 15-year-old prodigy is recruited to work with his predecessor in genius, Val Kilmer, to build a kick-ass laser. Val Kilmer is fantastic in this role and the life of a geek/researcher is captured well. I really can't say a whole lot more without ruining the plot. Just rent it, no buy it, and make yourself a big bowl of popcorn.
The Goonies
Another 80s classic, this makes the list because everyone knows the Goonies and loves the Goonies. Well, almost everyone. The film is still a favorite of mine not so much for any qualities it retains or contributions made to film but because of the nostalgia factor. If you haven't seen it you should, it's still pretty funny. But I think watching it at age 7 is a prerequisite for totally enjoying the film.
Saturday, September 06, 2003
These are a few of my favorite things
Ham and cheese bagels and tater tots---the only palatable lunch to grace the hallowed halls of SHS
Michigan football games
RPI hockey games
Baking and cooking
Reading with a hot chocolate on a rainy day
Pizza and PS2
Crossword puzzles
Parties with great food, great music and all my friends :-)
Friday, September 05, 2003
First Day Bugs
So I joined the blog bandwagon. I'm not really sure what theme I'd like this page to take but it'll most likely be a preponderance of random thoughts. Hopefully some of them will be funny to more than just me. So here's the requisite boring intro post possibly to be followed by post-happy-hour-drunk post.
Oh, and if the boobtacula has you confused, it's in reference to Dammit, Bitch! If you're not familiar with said organization, well, I guess you're just not cool enough. Not yet at least, but we all have hope for you. I'm just kidding, you're cool.
And I'm not sure what is going to happen with this entry as the first one I made showed this text twice. I then added a post to explain (since deleting the reentry wasn't an option) which effectively eliminated the previous post.
Grr
So yeah. I decided to put a title on my entries after writing the text. I then had to reenter the text in order to have a title. Or so I thought. Apparently that means they publish the same entry twice and won't let me edit it.
