On time...

Cap: One of my favorite pictures from the US Botanic Gardens.
Are you interested in seeing more? Cause I've got more.

Retroactive Photo Thursday...

Cap: Library of Congress - Washington, DC
-or-
Renee would be delighted to make a living just photographing architecture.

Two Tears...

Emptiness
I can't put my finger on it.
Aching
Just out of mind's reach.
Disturbing
But how can that be?
Pulling
Can't find any peace in here.

The wildness...

Cap: What Jif was waiting for.

Word, Johannes...

Remember those ads that Americans for the Arts ran/run? "Feed your kids arts enriched Raisin Brahms!" and "Give your kids nutritious van Goghgurt, packed with culture!" I love them. I support the arts and exposing your kids to them anyway, but seriously, if my local grocery store started carrying a cereal called Raisin Brahms I would be there to buy.

Waitin' for the birds...

Inclement...

Tonight we had some bouts of near torrential rain along with driving winds. As the SoF had a show tonight I rushed home from work, scarfed down some dinner, changed clothes and headed out. In my hurry I left my sandwich plate on one of my ottomans. When I got back I noticed something strange; a sizable amount of water on the plate. As there was nothing around that could have produced a clear liquid out of the blue, I looked to the ceiling and sure enough, a couple of small patches looked off-color.
So yeah, my apartment leaked a little. Of note is the fact that my computer was about a foot away from the previously mentioned plate, and my camera about three inches from it. And all the water that dripped from the ceiling landed on the plate as if it were placed there for that purpose. Um, thanks Universe, I owe you one.

A matched set...

Last night I dreamed about my current apartment for the first time, and it was pretty spot on as a match to reality. Usually when I dream about somewhere familiar I know where I am but it is fundamentally changed in some way.
I was tooling around, straightening up when Ryan dropped by for no particular reason. We talked for a while (about classes and algebra) before I happened to look out my window. There on the balcony was a small briefcase laying on its side. It had just started to spit rain and droplets of water were beading on the brown burgundy leather.
"Dude, there's luggage out there," I said to Ryan, and then popped out to take a look. There was also a full sized briefcase that I couldn't see from the window, as well as a matching portfolio. There was even a tiny leather business card holder. I grabbed a couple of the things and handed them in to Ryan before going back out to pick up the small briefcase that I saw first. Meanwhile Ryan was inspecting the large one and marveling at how nice it was.
We figured that they had been tossed off the balcony above mine, probably due to a state of anger. The last part we figured because there was a torn piece of cardboard attached with masking tape to one of the items with "Good bye!!!" written on it in black marker.
What I'm still surprised at is how much sense it made. There was a matching card case instead of a cracker press or something.

Feels like happy...

Cap: Louisville Watertower

Happy Thanksgiving...

Habit...

Those of you familiar with the improv game Bus Stop might get a kick out of this. I was waiting for the bus this morning and a young man crossed the street to join me in waiting. Most people never meet my eye and we go about our day in mutual denial of the other's existence. I am either too shy or too lethargic relationship-wise to try to do anything about that situation. But, unlike most people, this guy did meet my eye and even nodded hello in response to my smile. He then sat down on the ledge a couple of feet to my right and I immediately had a nearly undeniable urge to annoy him enough to make him leave.

A new take...

http://xkcd.com/665/
I love you, xkcd.
Sincerly,
Renee

Shadow and Lace...

Entertainment...

Yesterday my television stayed on for a good portion of the day while I went about my business. This is what I watched:

-Cartoon Network, 1pm-9pm
--Looney Toons marathon.
--Open Season, an animated movie about woodland creatures.
-SciFi Channel, 9pm-11:35pm
--Interview With a Vampire, a movie in which a nearly unrecognizable Tom Cruise plays a blond vampire.
-History Channel, 11:35pm-wee hours
--Tail end of Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer
--Jack the Ripper in the US
--World War II in HD

I had some weird and bloody dreams.

Surprise...

I am now, as of yesterday afternoon, the proud auntie of a beautiful baby girl! And I can mark "help a woman give birth" off my TTDBID list. In all seriousness, it wasn't on the list, but did prove to be an exceptional experience.
Boo Boo doesn't have a for sure first name yet, last I heard, but I'm sure she will soon and should be coming home tomorrow. She's 5 lbs 4.5 oz, 18" long, and perfectly healthy and strong. Pretty freaking adorable as well. A nice trifecta of traits for a baby.

Photo Thursday: Concentric...

Colorful...

Lately I've been having dreams that are incredibly long and very complex, with an unprecedented degree of plot development. In one I was a young man staying for a little while with a family who had a house in the middle of the woods. To get to it I had to hike 6 miles out to a cave in a hillside, and then go down into it. Far in the back of the cave the limestone walls gave way to a small concrete room with a rough wooden door set into one side. On the other side of the door a long, narrow staircase led up to the kitchen of the house. How cool is that? A cellar with an escape route into/entrance from a cave. I know!

~ "No! Only girls cry! Men weep!"
Thank you, Cartoon Network. I love you.

Photo Thursday: My bubby...

Photo Thursday: Crossing lines of focus edition...

Cap: From Atop...
Madison, IN

Photo Thursday: Shady Avenue Edition...

The last one went over well...

...so here's another picture.

Cap: Louisville, KY skyline

Maybe Thursday will be Photo Day for a while?

Autumn has suddenly arrived here in West Lafayette...

Resemblance...

Tumbling dark hair
Laugh lines
Calm and reassuring
Warm and real
It hurts to think
that I'll never see you
outside of that dream
My heart aches
as if you were real
Come back to me
Please

As far as we've come...

I watched a program on the sexual revolution of the late 60's and fairly extensive interviews with Hugh Hefner were featured in one section. Now, I’ve got to say that I don’t have a lot of respect for the man. For one thing I find it really creepy that you only ever see him in pictures where his arm is around a couple of girls that are young enough to be his granddaughters. Oh wait a minute, I mean his great-great-granddaughters. Maybe I wouldn’t have so much of a problem with that if the road were not firmly labeled as one way. It is glorified for a man to score with a hot, young, nubile girl that (if she’s lucky) has just graduated from high school. Can a woman date someone who is 60 years younger than she is? No. 40, 30, 20, even 10? No. If there’s one thing that makes me angry, it’s a double standard.
Ok, back to the subject. Hugh said something that I agree with. He said that he thought that it was funny that what was (and still is) considered obscene was nudity, instead of violence. He considered sexuality to be one of the nicer sides of humanity; so why censor that? To an extent, I agree.
Here’s where I think ol’ Hugh went wrong:
Playboy did open minds in some ways, but it was not glorifying sexuality in general, it was glorifying male sexuality and a standard of female flesh, and even worse so today. It’s not a message that says “Sex is not a bad thing” it says, “Sex with this is not a bad thing. This is beauty, this is what should be valued.” The sexual revolution was about all people being beautiful, all people being able to freely experience the guilt and shame-free ecstasy of love.
In Hefner’s magazine and TV shows, there is nothing about two people being free to love and enjoy one another, it is about the entitlement of men, and the accessibility of women, whether that’s for serving you drinks, or being there whenever you want to have sex. I have a problem with that.
I certainly have a problem with sex only being viewed as useful for procreation, and all positions other than missionary being illegal (oh yes, that was the case). But I also have a problem with the fact that to this day when a man has a lot of sex he’s viewed as a virile stud, and when a woman has a lot of sex she’s a slut and a whore. I have a big problem with that.
I have a problem with the fact that in a professional situation a man has to be driven, committed, and aggressive to get to the top, and that’s a good thing; the traits of a big league player. When a woman does that, she’s a career driven bitch who clearly just needs a good lay to remind her that she’s a woman.
The Women's Liberation movement was absolutely invaluable; socially, politically, and sexually, and I believe that it made a crucial change in US culture. I owe a huge debt to the women who spoke out. The longer I'm alive the more I could be classified as a feminist. In reality all I want is equality; funny that that should still come with a stigmatized label, huh?

Meta...

Noticed a lot of referrals from here, so I checked it out: http://arnelpinedarocks.com/forum/index.php/topic?f=38&t=843&start=25
I'm glad they (you) liked my review of the Indy Journey concert. Tickled me that it got "re-blogged" if you will. Still revelling in memories of that concert. What a great night. What a great band. What fun we all had in the short time we were together.

Re: David Duchovny
That's just a thing I do.


To be honest Renee is kind of hoping for a re-re-re-blog...

EDIT: Yes!!

Am I missing something?...

I passed a U-Haul trailer that said "Washington DC" on the side with a picture of the Capitol dome. And below that I'm pretty sure that I saw "Capital of the North". So I'm wondering, was this trailer painted in 1864?

It's not the final destination...

This past Sunday I spent a day at the state fair that culminated in a concert by Journey! With me was friend and fellow Journey aficionado, Jamie. On our way into the Indiana Fair Grounds we saw a big, light-up road sign that we felt started the day off on the right leg. "Enjoe Tethe Fair".
We strolled through most of the livestock barns, midway, and a couple of the exhibit buildings, with various breaks to eat some fried foods (what state fairs are all about!) and drink claustrophobic root beer. Things we did not eat include: Pork or Chicken On-A-Stick, fried Oreos, fried pizza, fried Pepsi, Fiddle Sticks, Dippin' Dots, Hot Wisconsin Cheese, chocolate covered bacon, Ribbon Fries with or without barbecued pork, sausage, sour cream, cheese, or bacon. Things we did eat include: funnel cake, corn dogs, and honey ice cream (delicious by the way.)
We got to see several classes of Draft Horse Competition and part of a goat show before hitting the grandstand 40 minutes before the concert was set to begin and after laughing at the fact that Jamie's seat was actually right behind a pillar (which I may or may not have predicted when he called dibs on Seat 37 back in March), we noticed that the sign on the pillar actually said "Section 5" and we were supposed to be in 6, so sadly no blocked view for Jamie.
Heart opened and even though I don't count myself among the throngs of hardened Heart fans, it was still enjoyable. Also very, very loud. They need to talk to their soundman though; there was a bit of distortion. But that's none of my business.
Right after Heart left the stage and while most of the audience was cheering for more, someone caught a glimpse of Ross Valory walking between the trailers and started cheering for him instead, so he stopped to give a bow and some funny poses, which really made the audience's day. I'm not saying that Heart doesn't have a good following, I'm sure that they do, but I do find it incredibly amusing that the bassist for Journey alone got louder cheers. To be perfectly honest the calls for a Heart encore had already died down a bit before Valory was spotted, but still.
Heart came back on for a 2 song encore and then there was a brief intermission while the stage set-up was changed.
And incidentally, again no offense to Heart, but Journey knows how to do a stage. We're talking banks of lights, rows of amps, stepped drum riser, Revelation album art floor covering, projectors, and a Fortress o' Keyboards flanked by a grand piano. Journey is not worried about conserving electricity. The downside of all those flashy lights is that they did confuse my camera quite a lot, so I ended up with a slew of very blurry and quite psychedelic photos (a few of which that can be made sense of, plus others from that day, can be found on Phasebook.)
Arnel Pineda (whom Jamie and I have affectionately nicknamed Zippy; 'cause he loves to jump around and dance so much) was great. He does love one move that comes close to a pelvic thrust, but he's got the blood of a showman, that's for sure. I think that he fits in very well with the rest of the band and the style of music. Fantastic voice. But I've covered that before.
Now, anybody who listens can tell from his music that Neal Schon (second biggest music crush!) does some amazing fingerwork to get the ridiculously fast note sequences in some of the songs that Journey does, but to watch that in action on the big screens was fantastic. Neal Schon's hands are magic, that's all I have to say. He's amazing. He's also a lot of fun to watch and obviously loves what he's doing, as do all of them.
Bit disappointed that Castronovo didn't sing lead on anything. On the concert DVD that I have he does the lead vocals for "Mother, Father" on top of playing drums and he's really fantastic. Of course he was fantastic just playing drums for this concert too. You know who else was fantastic? Jon Cain, that's who. He did a couple of short piano solos that were truly, truly great and also played backup guitar on a lot of songs. I had no idea that he played guitar as well. He's got some mad skillz. There were in fact several pleasantly surprising instrumentals in this concert that I'm not sure have been recorded. At least, I haven't heard them on an album. Anyway, they were great.
After a good hour and 45 minute set they left the stage and we all clapped and yelled and stomped our feet until they came back out for an encore. They did a long instrumental number and then "Any Way You Want It" with extended guitar and drum solos. After their encore all five band members lined up at the front edge of the stage to wave and bow and clap back at us before exiting, stage right, single file. Trailing the others by a couple of yards and sporting a funny, bustling sort of walk was of course, Ross Valory. "Oh Ross! He's such a kidder!"
As it was already getting on past 11pm when the concert let out we left pretty quickly, though we did pause to consider the possibility of riding the ferris wheel now that it was dark out, but decided against it and got out of the fairgrounds faster than I thought we would. About 10 or 15 miles out of Indy we passed a nondescript bus and then another one, so I mention to Jamie the fact those those buses look an awful lot like the nondescript tour buses that had been parked behind Journey's stage area. And that the band had in fact left with the quickness. And oh hey, I think that Journey is supposed to play in Illinois or Iowa or something in the next day or two. You don't think...?
Then we passed a third bus. Yeah, that has to be them is what I'm thinking. Quite a coincidence if it isn't. But naturally without substantiated evidence the sighting wouldn't be peer-review worthy. And then we come up on a fourth bus that happens to have a window on our side. A window with a light in it. As we begin to draw up to pass this bus I go ahead and make a generic joke about maybe being able to see Neal Schon inside and then I get a look in the window and who do you think is sitting there? No, not David Duchovny. Arnel Pineda! So I yell something along the lines of: "OH MY GOSH IT IS HIM!" At that moment I remembered my joke from only a second before so I amended (in a slightly more reasonable tone o' voice) "Oh, not Neal Schon, I mean it's Zippy! I saw Zippy!"
By this point we were actually already past the bus so I say to Jamie, "Do you think we should slow down and wave?" and he says, "Kinda, definitely yes." So we did, but only briefly so as not to be a danger to ourselves or others, so I can't say as he saw us, but we tried.
The concert was totally and completely awesome, but knowing for a fact that we were within a meager three yards of Journey, well that was the amazingly creamy, soft, enticing icing on the otherwise delicious cupcake that was the day. The whole thing could totally be a Mastercard commercial.
So thank you Indiana: We did enjoe tethe fair. We enjoed it very much.

As It Seems

~ Jeffrey Adams crawled out of the crater that he’d been using as a foxhole and peered around at the desolation; surprisingly even more nightmarish in the stark light of day. Not a thing stirred and as he let the ruined shards of his armor fall away from his body they clattered to the stony, decimated earth like gunshots. It was the only sound to be heard and Jeffrey winced.

He started to step away, but paused to look back. In his shocked state Jeffrey found in himself an almost crippling reticence to leave the bits of armor and the burrow that had shielded and protected his life through the long and terrible night. He dragged his gaze away from the ground and scanned the horizon for movement.

Nothing.

Scorched blisters marred the vast expanse of earth everywhere between the few mutilated skeletons of ancient trees that had somehow remained standing. They were gone now. It was all gone now.

“War ruins everything,” Jeffrey thought with surreal clarity. He finally pulled himself together as best he could, and moved off in a westerly direction. He had no reason for choosing to go west. He had no reason not to go west.

Deep within his body a handful of miniscule bots worked hard to control and repair organ and tissue damage, but it was a battle that was being slowly and inevitably lost. His armor had successfully shielded him from the first dozen hits before breaches began to occur. Tiny fissures and cracks grew with every subsequent blast, leaving his vulnerable body bare to the insidious waves of radiation. Particles too small and too fast to at first be noticed by the bots ripped through Jeffrey’s body, leaving paths of torn and shredded cells in their wake. This is what the bots noticed, and by extrapolation came to the conclusion that the body was under attack. They rushed to secure the function of the brain and other critical organs, but even as they did, heavily damaged cells were dying or mutating everywhere.

Mercifully, Jeffrey couldn’t feel any pain yet, and he continued to walk, staggering through the erstwhile battlefield, vacantly looking for other survivors on the way. The bots continually triggered the systems in his body to release enormous amounts of endorphins, attempting to keep his stress levels down. The hormones coursing through his body, added to the traumatic shock and lack of food, water, and sleep combined to leave Jeffrey disconnected and slightly giddy. He stumbled over an arm lying at the edge of a blast site and he inexplicably giggled.

“You’re a horrible person,” he told himself.

“I’m sorry, but I was ‘disarmed’ for a moment!” he responded in his mind. He snorted again and moved on, stepping over the body that corresponded to the arm, some eight feet away. There wasn’t much left of it. Jeffrey suddenly doubled over and began retching violently, his entire abdomen heaving. The bots had finally lost their hold on subduing his stomach and wave after wave of nausea and dizziness washed over him. Thick stomach acid, tinged red with blood, seared his throat as it was forced up from his otherwise empty belly.

After several minutes the nausea subsided just enough for Jeffrey to stand back up. It was integral that he find water, food, and medical help immediately but none of those things entered his delusional mind, so he simply continued to walk. All around him was vast, desolate emptiness and hours later, when he finally could walk no more, Jeffrey collapsed with his back against the still smoldering side of an unearthed boulder. His arms and legs trembled with false chills while his core temperature soared far beyond dangerously high. His hands were clammy and numb and bloody lesions had begun opening up on his skin.

Beyond his consciousness the bots prepared for their last stand. His body was fading fast. No one must capture the secrets of the state. Each bot, mindlessly triggered by the dying processes in Jeffrey’s body, prepared a tiny, but incredibly powerful detonating reaction within themselves. In perfect synchronization the microscopic bombs ignited. For a moment, just the briefest of moments, Jeffrey did feel pain. Inexplicable pain. But that subsided into nothingness soon enough. The bots were gone, taking with them every last thread of hope and leaving a surprisingly large amount of damage in the delicate body they had been charged with.

Jeffrey’s body slumped to the side, a single chilling groan escaping through parted lips as the weight of his dead mass forced the air in his lungs past his larynx. The secrets of the state were safe. There was no one left to try to capture them anyway. ~

Ode to the choice...

Having reached the place where I have almost completed my psychology and philosophy degrees, I have begun looking to the future, and right now I'm not incredibly happy with what I see as my current options. (Curse my high expectations for life!) So where can I go from here? 'Here' being next May when I am slated for graduation of course.
Well, I could take some time off from school and look for a full time job. Not too hip with that plan. I've always intended on grad school and with the current economy looking for a new job and allowing loans to come due doesn't sound like the smartest choice I could make.
I could push down any misgivings I have and go ahead and apply to psych grad schools, cross my fingers and hope for the best. But hoping for the best isn't really a strategy that I like to rely on that heavily.
And thirdly, I could stay at Purdue and go for yet another undergrad degree! If I did that then I would probably get either just a BS in physics or a BS in applied physics with a specialty in astrophysics. If I were to go with that second option it would open another door because after you get that degree you can apply to Purdue's one year master's program in ApplPhys if you want to.
I think, having looked over the numbers, I could get a physics degree in about 2 years. Maybe a bit less. The applied physics would take longer because of the extra "applied electives" (astronomy in my case.) That would probably take 3 years. Am I willing to do that? More importantly, am I able to do that? I don't know. And there's the problem. I'm a little lost. Well more than a little.
Can anyone sell me a map?

An introduction...

...to Jiff.

On Tuesday I saw Jiff in the little adoption center that they have at Petsmart when I was picking up parakeet food, and on Thursday I went back and brought him home.
I'll like just about any animal that I meet and will get attached to most of them very quickly given the chance, but there have been a few that I've loved almost immediately and Jiffy is one of them. He's a total sweetheart and a very good boy. He's also absolutely adorable. According to his paperwork he got the name of Jiff because when he was brought into the clinic he had a peanut butter jar stuck on his head.

I've noticed that he is very careful with his claws. He hasn't scratched me yet, even when I've played with him with my hand. He'll bat at it, but keep his claws in. I appreciate that in cats. And people.

Kitty isn't quite happy with him yet, but she's getting there. Once she's used to him I know she'll like having someone to play with again, and he definitely likes to play. The vet thinks that he's about a year old, and he still very much acts like a kitten in a lot ways. He loves to play in between the chair legs underneath the kitchen table. Jiff is a tubkitty; he thinks the (dry) bath is a great place to take a nap.

I'm absolutely sure I made the right choice when I decided to go back for him. I love my Jiffy so much, and I'm pretty sure that he's very happy too.

Hoorah for freeviewing...

Being a pretty big fan of stereo photographs, I've been thinking for a while about trying to take some myself. Last night I took a few snap shots of things on our coffee table to try and get a feel for what would be the correct angle and distance between the two shots in order to make a stereo. Another trick is to size and level the two shots beside one another just right. To my surprise and delight, after one or two tries I got a couple of good ones!
Today I was looking at some of the pictures I took while on a garden tour with my grandfather, and I came across three pictures of a purple iris that I took, two of which were very similar, with just a tiny bit of angle difference, so I tried aligning them, and voila, three dimensions! I am pretty delighted with the way this turned out.




If you'd like some pointers on freeviewing a stereo or how to take a stereo picture, I suggest reading: http://www.brianmay.com/brian/brianssb/stereo_freeview.html (where I got my information for trying this.) I also find it a little easier to freeview when the photo is a bit larger, so clicking on the picture to blow it up might help. If you'd like to see more stereo pictures, I would suggest going to http://www.brianmay.com/ and browsing back through his Soapbox archives to see some of the ones he's posted. They're pretty awesome.

Reviewin' stuff is painless...

I just recently purchased Journey's newly released album and finally put it on today to give it a good listen while I was straightening up. I was definitely fully prepared to be obnoxiously critical and overtly dissatisfied with the entire project, either because I felt the band was ruined by some strange new sound, or that Arnel Pineda was at best a rough imitator of Steve Perry. So what's the verdict on 'Revelation'?
I love it. I have not been so completely pleased with an album for a very long time. I'm blown away with the songwriting, instrumental work, and not least of all, Mr. Pineda's singing. Yes, you could probably convince someone who didn't know any better that it is Steve Perry singing; his timber and range are extremely similar, but I think that there is enough subtle difference there that he definitely has his own voice. Regardless, he his a very strong vocalist.
Being a person that has not heard any of Schon's guitar work that is younger than a couple of decades, I was pleased no end with the caliber of sound that he brings to this album. Really great, complex solos and backing, not to mention that he is at least a contributor, if not the primary writer on just about all of the new material. I feel like he brought new talent and technique to these songs without completely changing his old playing style. Just excellent all around. Fantastic work as well from Cain, Castronova, and Valory on keyboard, drums, and bass respectively.
In short, this album is pure gold. And that's just the first disk. Also included is a concert DVD and a second CD with the current band playing some of the old Journey classics. If I had to choose favorites I might say that "Never Walk Away", "Wildest Dream", and "Where Did I Lose Your Love" are at the top of the list, but that's a hard call to make.
To sum up: Yes, yes, yes.
This makes me that much more excited to be seeing them in concert in August. And I was already set to rock.
Again, delighted with this album. Way to go Journey.

Saturday

A gasp in the night
Never claustrophobic before
Pressing darkness
Try to hold it back
Mind against an army of feeling
Thought to distract
Not very good at it
Replay the day
Analyze the moment
Make it stop
Will sleep never come

Things of note...

As some of you may be aware, I flew to Washington, DC for part of my spring break. A trip that was facilitated mightily by the generosity of my friend Paul. Thanks Paul. How did the bird spikes work out? (On the Monday or Tuesday of my trip there may or may not have been a "fire" in one of the "bunkers" in the "complex" where "Paul" works. It was all very exciting.)
One of the high points for me was giving a lady directions in the subway. She wanted to know how to get to the Red Line, and by gosh, I could tell her. Even though I like fitting in almost as much as the next guy, I still think that I couldn't have looked more like a tourist if I'd worn an Hawaiian shirt and a fanny pack that said "I Heart New York" on it. But maybe I'm wrong.
I went to all kinds of places, learned interesting things, and silently observed several instances of misinformation. It was great. My favorite places, if I had to put them in some sort of order, would probably be: Arlington Cemetery, US Botanic Garden, Smithsonian Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Castle, Smithsonian Air ampersand Space Museum, and the National Mall, to name a few. Favorite monument: Most likely a tie between the Vietnam and WWII memorials.
Near as I can figure, the only problem with DC is the high ratio of 7th and 8th graders that harried teacher chaperones are valiantly and vainly trying to mind bash a sense of significance into. "This is historic, damn it!"
Thanks to Paul I experienced bonafide Maryland crab cake. But they're just plain crab cakes there. I didn't see the President, but I did see the door to the Speaker o' the House's office. I didn't expect to enjoy my tour of the Capitol as much as I did, and the "water feature" outside of the Native American Museum was amazing. I was just wondering to myself the other night why I didn't take pictures of it, and I think perhaps my camera was dead by then. Either that or I forgot I had a camera strapped to my side.
I like the movie 'O Brother, Where Art Thou'.
The semester is over now and I guess that I am satisfied with my grades overall. They were pretty much what I expected I suppose. No big surprises, which is good. Right now I am faced with some huge academic decisions, but I'll save that for another post, as this one is already edging towards the cliffs of Quite Long Enough.
Shiloh and I went to see 'Monsters vs. Aliens' and we thought it was pretty dang good. We laughed and ate nachos. I'm expecting great things out of 'Up'; I can't wait until that comes out. If it's as good as the previews I'll be delighted. If it's not as good as the previews then what the deuce Pixar?

This is new...

Well this morning I showed up for my PSY 484 final, but as it got close to 10:20 there was no professor, so we waited. And then the TA came along and told us to hang in there and she'd see what was going on. After another ten minutes she came back.
"The good news is," she said. "You don't have to take a 484 final. You're grade will be caculated using your papers, presentation, and other exams."
So yeah, first time that's happened to me.

Music thingies...

Art Garfunkel's voice has what I'd call, at the risk of sounding far too poetic, a kind of luminosity. A capacity to draw a person in and encompass them completely. Combine that with the fact that even on the high notes he can maintain an impressive vocal strength and you've got a winner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv0gU197IKk&feature=related

I also have to say that he has what may be some of the kindest looking eyes in the business (I really do believe that he is on my side when times get rough and friends just can't be found.) And that's saying something because I have a gigantic music-crush on Brian May, and he has beautiful eyes. For serious.

In other news, Journey is going to be playing at both the Indiana and Kentucky State Fairs in August. Might have to see if I can be there for one or both of those concerts. I'm sure it wouldn't be quite the same as the Journey I know, aka with Steve Perry, but as I understand it the new kid sounds freakishly similar to him and Neal Schon is still there. I think we all know by now that I tend to favor the guitar players anyway. What can I say? Music is sexy.



"What up, my home slices!?"
~ Rabon

I has a camera...

Series A: The Opiate of the Masses

Above the influence? Not me! That's right, 25 friggin' random things...

One of the latest things going around The Phasebook. Figured I'd at least get double duty out of it.

*Sigh*

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose at least 25 people to be tagged. When you've done that, make me a sandwich. Do what The Facebook orders. Resistance is futile. You will be Face-imilated.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1. I love water. The look, the sound, the feel, the smell. Lakes and ponds and streams and rivers and pools and fountains and bathtubs and showers and rain. Combine any of those things and the fondness just increases.

2. I can smell that milk is going bad days before the expiration date.

3. I've had a horse *jump* on my foot. Twice.

4. A blue ribbon was always a letdown to me in 4-H.

5. I never got anything better than a blue ribbon in 4-H.

6. I own enough seasons of Stargate SG-1 to classify me as a pretty hardcore fan. I draw the line at fan fiction.

7. I buy things for my little brother's dog. There are few things as rewarding as the look on her face when I tell her that I have something for her.

8. Of the sciences, physics and astronomy are my great loves. Sometimes I miss being in physics so much that it hurts a little. That's when I go "What the deuce am I doing with my life?"

9. I've worked four jobs in my life, and only been interviewed twice.

10. I've rarely met an animal that I didn't like. I've met a fair number of people that I didn't like.

11. I cannot stand the smell of alcohol.

12. I'm not the World's Greatest Speller, but it irks me when people abuse one word multiple times. Makes me think that they believe that they have it right or they just don't care. I've had A Person Who Shall Remain Nameless tell me that I am "versitul" several times in one IM session.

13. I would stab someone to fly in a really fast jet. I'm not sure how or when it's going to happen, but it is going to happen. Flying a jet that is, not stabbing someone. But you know, if need be...

14. Sometimes I am much more competitive than I should be.

15. I have seen three total lunar eclipses and each one was a completely unique experience.

16. I am infinitely more willing to clean a barn than my own room. I'd clean a barn for funzies.

17. When I worked in a learning and memory research lab I got a little attached to one rat. Seventeen was always sweet and curious and maybe I should have tried to smuggle him out...

18. I don't see myself as a woman. I see myself as a person.

19. I have been afraid of the dark (more appropriately, what might be *in* the dark) inside. Not outside. I *love* the darkness outside.

20. Since I was a tiny, tiny child I wanted a horse more than anything. After having had my horse(s) for over 7 years now, to this day I still occasionally go "Oh my gosh. I have a horse!!"

21. When confronted by large, angry people, my immediate response is not to run, but to get angry back and take an offensive strategy. Oh, I get all up in their grillz with The Righteous Indignation.

22. I get so excited about new phones, automatic carwashes, mail, pretty rocks, and holidays.

23. I love fire. Playing with it. Nurturing it. Just watching it. Fire and me, we're pretty cool with each other in general.

24. This year we did not celebrate my birthday until several days after the actual date. I did not feel that I was any older until I had had my presents and cake.

25. I rode an elephant when I was a kid one time and he threw his ball over a fence. Then he had to lean over the fence to get it back.

******

You know what annoys me? The fact that when any woman is involved with horses, for some reason people like to equate that somehow with sexuality. It's ridiculous. If you say that you like dogs or salt water fish or stamp collecting nothing at all is made of it. There is no reason that it should be any different with horses.
For instance, just the other day a friend (and I won't say who) was saying something to the group over dinner about a girlfriend that he had. To quote: "She did a lot of horseback riding. And she liked to "gallop". It could be very painful for me."
My response to this type of thing is usually overdone feigned naivete and continued innocent questioning until the sexually repressed and misguided person finally gives up their ridiculous attempt at a metaphor and is forced to use language that actually applies.
Sometimes the person involved is dense enough to not even get that. In which case I give up the act and tell them coldly that they should try to search around and see if they can't come up with the balls to just admit that their former girlfriend enjoyed rougher sex than they did, and to quit trying to somehow connect that with a totally unrelated hobby. If you're too embarrassed to say it in plain language then maybe you shouldn't be saying it.
Grow a backbone and quit throwing my passion to your Freudian jackals.

*Sigh*

I loves me some water...

Whilst in Hammond this past weekend for our annual awesomeness show(s), we went up to see Lake Michigan, just for funzies. And boy, was it fun! ...zies...
Being winter and all there was incredible shelf ice off of the shores and it was downright magical. Slick as well. Angel hair found three "ice thrones" and also a Pride (Ice) Rock. After poking around on the beach near Hammond some we traveled back East and through Gary (Murder Capitol of Indiana!!) to visit the Indiana Dunes, which I for one had never seen before. Again, awesome. There were several inches of snow on the ground, and that had drifted along with the sand, so you never really could tell when you took a step if you were going to sink an inch or a couple of feet. Some sand had blown across the surface of the snow, forming waves and patterns.
At the Dunes the shelf ice extended out many, many yards and when you climbed one of the dunes off of the beach you could just see the water as an indigo strip on the horizon. Pretty amazing.
I do so love me some water.

Confusion and amusement...

So I am at work right now, and oh my gosh I still have two hours to go. I'm training a young man on the intricacies of working nights and closing. I'm working on my laptop Schloozy, and he is using the student assistants' work computer to edit some code. All well and good except for occasionally he mutters something not quite under is breath such as:
"Dang..."
"Gosh dang it..."
"What the fu..."
And most recently:
"Oh my gosh, you are so stupid..."
Not sure if he was talking to himself or the computer on that one. I say things like that to Schloozypoo all the time, but I've also been known to say things like that to myself as well. Regardless it could be uncomfortable for me to continue listening to this. Or it could be highly amusing.

Today I took apart a fish tank pump and observed with my own two eyes exactly how it worked. It was all part of a class that I'm in called How Stuff Works. My friend Stu is teaching it. Can you think of a better class? Maybe Cookies, Puppies, and Yahtzee Night With David Duchovny 101. Anyway, it was a lot of fun. And then I had lunch with Jaime. The End.

PS The Fools are going to Hammond this weekend. Stoked.