Guard Rail Fail

Today's Best Thing Ever

2009-07-29T21:52:00.002-04:00

Space Cheese!

yes, they really launched a wedge of cheddar into the atmosphere to commemorate the moon landing.

...and yes, that made my day almost as much as the adorable blue mouse.

no, I don't need help, why do you ask?

Good news/Bad news....ala BBC

2009-07-28T12:53:00.005-04:00

So there's this terrific article up on BBC news today (btw - hi! I'm back!). These research-types found out that a certain kind of food dye may actually be used to protect spinal cord injuries (in much higher doses than your typical drop or two to color edibles). This is good news, right? Sure.

On the down side, the mice they've tested with this chemical already.... sort of turned blue. Oops?

Hi - I'm an adorable blue-tinged mouse.
My spine is fine, why do you ask?

In other news:

Divorce is bad for your health - surprise, stress is bad!
Pirates, watch out! (news involving pirates is always crucial to report, didn't you know?)
Firefighting robots are cool (no pun intended...really.)
Jess is procrastinating - number of people surprised by this: 0.

Okay, maybe this guy.

Things not to mix

2009-05-06T21:25:00.003-04:00

I would make an actual list, but I need to get this stupid paper done for tomorrow and while I'm procrastinating, I really can't put off the work for much longer if I want to get any sleep tonight, and I have to because my last class as an undergrad is tomorrow morning and then I have to finish writing my stupid thesis for Friday and grr.

But anyway... back to things you really ought not to mix... I was...procrastinating (duh) and reading me some fanfiction (also duh. stupid addiction) and so I've got that sort of mindset on the brain as it were, when I turned back to the psych article I was supposed to be reading, and the very next section title all big and italic-y right in my face says

Effects of Experimental Condition and Sex

Guh. Thank you, fanfiction, for making me go there.

Speaking of addictions, I think it might be high time for me to make an Opus run for what might be my last Opus chai ever. Boo.

PS: before I trot downstairs for mah chai... I just had to note that this same article actually quoted Brian Boitano in their discussion section. Made of WIN.

I have found my theme song

2009-05-05T10:48:00.004-04:00

(Hi - I'm procrastinating again. Teehee?)

So to explain the title, and keep myself from going off into a rant about all of the crap I'm angsting about at the moment [enter angstyrantofawesomehere]
*cough*

um yeah.

....So to explain the title....a couple of weeks ago, mah boy and I had a fun discussion about theme songs and how to identify them and such... and I couldn't really pick one by his qualifications because most of the music I listen to at home is being played by someone else so its not like I choose to listen to one particular song over and over because I like it and I think it fits and stuff like that.

I'm in my lair (again) ... working on annoying stuff (again) and listening to Hank Green on teh Youtubes (again)... and I find myself clicking repeat on one specific song (again and again) .... and I really like it and wants to share what I think may come to be my new theme song of the moment.

So yeah - made of awesome.

6 Degrees of Separation

2009-04-24T01:58:00.005-04:00

Today has been deemed THE BEST DAY EVER.

1. I am 5 degrees from Eddie Izzard (me, my friend Chris, Eddie Izzard's niece [who Chris met in Vietnam], Eddie Izzard's sibling/sibling-in-law, Eddie himself)

2. I am 4 degrees from The Doctor (me, my friend Chris, Eddie Izzard's niece, Matt Smith [who EI's niece met in London, before he was The Doctor). -- Just in time for the DW marathon this weekend! WOOT!

In other news, I passed the 25K mark in HAREM today, which is exciting.

I also owe some people major huggage tomorrow, and some bake-age if this weekend is not a disaster.

Also, the Career Center is the stupidest thing ever. I called to ask if they could help me out with potentially finding money for grad school and the girl asked me 1. if I read the grad school's website (no, I was too busy staring at a blank wall) 2. if I read the Career Center's website, because that was all the help they could give me. I was about three seconds from flinging my phone across the room and running up the Hill to kill her. Why is it that the CC is only geared to 1. the stupidest kids at Hamilton 2. only Economics and Government students? Too bad I'm a self-sufficient student who has exhausted all of the possibilities I could find and need a little advice to find money. Too bad I'm not a friggin trust fund baby. Too bad I can't just sell my Audi. TOO FRIGGIN BAD! AHHH!!! At this point, I really hope that I'll be able to defer a year so that I can work and save money, and THEN go off to grad school. Maybe by then, I'll have published a book and written a movie and sold a comic book. Or hit the lottery. That's acceptable too. (Also, did you know that the federal government made it illegal for women to sell their eggs? I actually was looking into that as a possibility, but the government made it illegal. HOWEVER, it's still legal to sell sperm. Yet another evil strike against equal rights.)

Back to work! *little angel/demon on shoulder whips me*

Still alive

2009-04-23T21:12:00.004-04:00

She LIIIIIIIIVES!!!!

sort of.

In the lab - again, keeping myself sane and functioning through a combination of Hank Green's music (I'm so glad the playlist on the ning is there) and Opus chai (I got a large tonight. hooboy.)

And while the cake may be a lie, I have a gloriously large double chocolate muffin that currently exists, although probably will not continue its life on this plane of existence in very short order. (om nom nom...)

Anyway. procrastination break over. My goal (goat? what? spelling!fail) tonight is to be asnooze before 2 am. However, the over-riding goat (sorry. I just had to) is to beat my data into shape and then squash it into five minutes of presentation. So. We'll see if the 2 am thing happens. I do have to be alert enough to give said presentation tomorrow afternoon, so I need to get quite a bit more sleep tonight than I have been getting this week. *sigh*

Toodle-oo.

Personally I like the "buy furry pet" form of procrastination.
May I suggest this one?

Cuuuuuuute!
(Baby Procrastination!Goat takes over the world)

Point of fact

2009-04-23T05:51:00.003-04:00

PerverselyAwake!Dalek

I have been awake for 21 hours.

Holy crap.

On the plus side, the last 6 and a half of those hours were ridiculously productive.

I vote NO to 9 am class. (I also vote no to walking home at 6 am in the cold but it seems I have little choice about that if I want to sleep until noon in my own bed rather than somewhere in the science center.... not that I've done that before...or anything...)

In case you were wondering, the answer is yes. I am insane.

Job!fail

2009-04-22T09:49:00.004-04:00

So I didn't get the job at the company I've been interning at for 3 years. Somehow, it seems grossly unfair, but "we hope that you can join us in a full-time capacity in the not-too distant future."
Yeah, whatever.
So now I have to re-up my job search. I don't know what I'm going to do. I have 6 other positions out there, but haven't gotten anything back yet, so I'll have to call, which, while not bad, I can't do for another 2 weeks or so.
It really sucks when you can't even get a job at the company you have massive amounts of history with. So it's back to careerbuilder.com and website scouring for me. Bah. This is all pretty damn depressing.

Edit:
Once upon a time, there was a aphorism: "When one door closes, a window opens."
Door: Didn't get job with R&T.
Window: Got into Kingston University.
This happened within 5 hours of each other, and while I'm excited, it's also time to whip out the Pro/Con list. BAH.

Willpower for the win!

2009-04-21T10:47:00.004-04:00

Working!Dalek

This is going to be quick, but I figured I should get it out of the way since I will have no time later today. I am currently celebrating my victory over the fanfiction (I had quite the battle with myself upon finding out that I didn't actually have a homework assignment due for my class tonight...but I still have so much to do that I really can't waste time today...so I won!) ... I am also waiting for my caffeine to cool down enough to not give me second degree burns.

(Yes, instead of reading fanfiction, I traipsed downstairs for caffeine and am updating this blog. Got a problem with that?)

Traipsing down and up two flights of stairs was fun. Naturally, it being one of the busiest weeks this month, my body hates me....and has no qualms in telling me so. Loudly.

...Opus chai still too hot. (What am I going to do about my Opus addiction in a month-ish??? Yikes!)

Oh - interesting things I learned in social psych today: (we're doing the chapter on attraction. I'm intrigued.)

Obscene amounts of perfume/cologne will actually hurt your chances of someone being attracted to you (even if they like the smell.) While smell does have an impact on attraction, it actually works better if its something your brain takes note of subconsciously because then you can't attribute your liking to the smell, but rather say "Oh, hey, there's something about this person I really like....can't quite put my finger on it." and leave it at that. (If you can smell it consciously its more along the lines of, "I could perhaps like this person, but I can't tell if its just the way they smell that's making me happy or if its the person him/herself.... obviously its just the smell and I should walk away now before he/she starts hitting on me again.")
Secrecy increases attraction. It could be because people like those who are similar to themselves, and sharing a secret could be another form of extreme similarity, because its just between the two of you. It could be a variation on thought suppression - the more you try not to think about something (or to hide it from other people, I guess), the more you end up thinking about it. This is why crushes are so much fun (cause you can go all giggly over being sneaky and stuff... not that I have any personal experience in this area or anything). It also explains part of the thrill people have during affairs... or on a more positive side, when they've just entered into a relationship and haven't told anyone about it yet.
Live close to your friends, live closer to your enemies. A big part of why you're friends with who you are is how often you interact with them. (Obviously, its difficult to be friends with someone you've never seen or spoken to or anything...) I mean, you probably have stuff in common with them - shared sense of humor, taste in books, or music, or whatever... but it helps if you see them often - take classes together, are friends with the same people, that sort of thing. There's this theory called "mere exposure" wherein the more often you are exposed to something (benign), the more you like it (like the .... interesting shade of orange they picked for the psychology floor of the science center). However, the more often you're exposed to something you dislike (someone's annoying habit, etc.), the more strongly you feel about that too. As I noted before, it is said that you live close to your friends, but you live closer to your enemies (because maybe they wouldn't be your enemies if their obnoxiousness wasn't in such close proximity to you and constantly pissing you off. This does not relate in any way, shape or form to anything in my life. Nope.)

And now my caffeine has cooled enough to be palatable. Huzzah! Also, when I start a post with "this is going to be quick, but..." I really ought to start hearing alarm bells clanging away in my head or something. That was obviously a lie. Stupid social psych - why must you be interesting?!

(Non-classroom related knowledge I picked up yesterday that I wanted to note: the speed of passing time increases exponentially with the level of enjoyment you're currently having. This knowledge could perhaps be rephrased as time flies when you're having fun. Somehow or other I lost three hours last night when I was with my boyfriend. Where did they go? And where the heck can I get myself a time-turner? Also, why do my decision-making/willpower skills always disappear whenever I have the most work to do? Seriously, I think my brain has masochistic tendencies or something.)

What's This? Blogging?

2009-04-21T01:59:00.004-04:00

Nicole here. I did promise to blog more, so here I go.

Things I Learned Today (b/c I do love me a good list):
1. The proper pace to perform CPR at is to the same beat as Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust." Irony, I smells it.
2. Job hunting sucks. Don't do it. I don't want the competition, and it's generally painful. More later.
3. My public presentations (nudity) for graduating are as follows:
a) Reading from my novel, TOMORROW
b) Craptastic, last minute presentation I pulled together for my fellowship, MAY 4.
I hate the vulnerability, hence the nudity.
4. I'm nearing page 80 of my novel, and that excites me like NONE OTHER. It's the longest single body of work that I have created to date.
5. Chuck is awesome, but Chevy Chase is evil.
6. Looking for Alaska is a great friggin book. Thank you John Green, I look forward to An Abundance of Katherines (in my pants).
7. My mother still thinks I'm a small child, who needs constant direction in every single aspect of my life, including, but not limited to:
a) job interviews
b) what jobs I should apply to
c) my choice in men
d) how to operate a stove
e) how I should deal with Other Human Beings
f) what my career goals should be
g) what my life plans should be
h) how much money I should demand for a job
Sometimes, my mom thinks I'm really awesome and should demand THE WORLD of people. Then, there are other times when she says things to the effect of: "Well, know your worth. You're despensible."

I think that's all I can cram into a list at the moment. Now, on to job hunting.

OMG, I friggin HATE job hunting. It's time consuming, exhausting and generally unfulfilling. No one gets back to you, no one makes it easy to find a phone number for you to get back to THEM, everyone demands that you have more 'experience' than a normal person should have, and it's just painful all around. I have currently applied to...7 jobs (? -- I might have rounded) and have sort-of-kind-of heard back from one, a full-time position at the job I already work at as an intern. And I'm jumping through all sorts of friggin hoops for it, which is just uncool. It's been about three weeks now, and I'm still waiting to hear a 'yes' or 'no' and I won't hear definitely one way or the other until Friday. FRIDAY! It makes me want to flail about and hit things while terribly drunk. And the thing is, the job is AWESOME. Yes, it's in children's music (kind of) and I'll have to learn new stuff (which I'm totally cool with), but it shouldn't be this hard. If I got the job, I'd supposedly be 'in charge' of a 25-city mall tour. Travel (+)! Malls (meh)! Pre-teens (uuuuhhhh....)! Whatever.

I also applied to some bitchin' jobs at various publishing houses which would ROCK if I got them, but I'm not holding my breath.

So yes. That has been my epic last few days/weeks (time: it's kind of melding together into one endless hallway of wakefulness briefly punctuated by restless sleep).

In other news, my ex is driving me absolutely insane. *eye roll*

Well, back to writing.

BEST WISHES!!!! - N

Please take note...

2009-04-20T13:32:00.002-04:00

This is not a real post - I would just like to mention a fact which I find...well... not exactly amusing, because it's actually rather sad and pathetic, but at least interesting.

I am back in my lair of a lab... less than 10 hours after I left it.

This is one of those days (weeks, perhaps) when I kind of hate my life... or at least my schedule... that I have forced upon myself because I procrastinated....like whoa.

Woot.

Back to work.

My bad...

2009-04-20T00:27:00.004-04:00

I'm back! Huzzah! And I'm procrastinating! Life is good.

Actually, life is pretty good - I had a very relaxing weekend. Mostly because I took Saturday off to celebrate my two year anniversary with this totally awesome guy I happen to know... (two years - holy crap! When did that happen?) Slept in, watched some movies, ate some pizza... handed over a particularly embarrassing (but complete!!!) year-long project of mine that I just barely scraped through before my self-imposed deadline for. (He likes it. Or says he does.)

A really great day. I mean, we've gone the shnazzy celebration stuff before - getting all dolled up (which I do enjoy having an excuse for time to time) and going out to eat somewhere... but I don't really feel the need to do that sort of thing often... and... let's face it.... all I really wanted to do this weekend was (finally) relax and spend some quality time with my super-significant other.

Right now, all I want to do is to not work on my thesis. Hence the jaunt down three flights of stairs for munchies (om nom nom) and a bit more procrastination as I finally update.

On the downside, my presentation is in just barely over a week. And then the final write-up is due a week and a half after that.

As of yet, I have no significant findings to present...although I haven't completely exhausted all of the possibilities for analysis yet. So I live in hope.

But still - deadlines loometh.

I have this very ambiguous love-hate relationship with deadlines. I'm still working on the whole...willpower...thing... so motivation from some sort of external source is almost essential to get me freaked out enough to work on something. So deadlines are good. Granted, it takes until they're looming ominously before I get really sufficiently freaked out...so....yeah.

Commence the freak-out. (And all of the irritating side effects that go with it. Stupid shoulder muscles. My friends the knots get positively gleeful towards the end of the semester.)

On the plus side, I just checked, and I must have lucked out with super-minions-of-awesome or something because with very little help on my part, there are only 20 more participants' sessions to transcribe! That's like... 10 hours of work or so! That's fantastic! (I was anticipating very...very long nights in the near future to get all of this stuff sorted, but dude! I could get some serious analyzing done by Wednesday! Excellent!)

On a completely random side note, apparently not only do I talk in my sleep (I knew this already) but I also talk awesome in my sleep. (Ok, granted, all I said was "DUDE!" when the lovely roomie came in after I'd gone to sleep... but people, its the tone of voice and...intent... that count, right?) Alright, fine. I was amused at least.

Anyway, as it is nearly 1 am, I'm going to finish my munchies, edit what I have of my thesis, and maybe get stuff set up for further analysis in the morning (holy cucumbers, batman, I'm even making to-do lists on this freaking thing. What gives?) and then I can walk home and still get to sleep before said lovely roommate.

Glee.

ADDENDUM: 1:04 AM

I just logged in to Northwestern's application website...for the kicks.... and guess what - as of today, the application decision link is up. I'm not in. Surprise!

What took them so long to tell me that? And after the admissions deadline for basically every other program out there. If I'd actually been waiting on them, I'd be screwed.

Those *EXPLETIVE DELETED* little *EXPLETIVE DELETED*s.

....I feel strangely better.

Real World WIN!

2009-04-15T23:34:00.005-04:00

In honor of the recent, awesome, news that Jess and Nicole will, in fact, be moving in together after graduation (yayayay!), we have decided to make a list of all the things we will need to make our house THAT MUCH MORE AWESOME. And we're posting it here so that we don't lose it. Cuz we lose things a lot.

Things to Get

Kitchen

Towels
Pots
Pans
Cleaning supplies
Mixing bowls
Mixer
Blender
Toaster
Microwave
Tea Kettle

Bathroom

Towels
Cleaning supplies
Toilet paper
Toiletries

Bedroom

Beds
Lamps
Linens
Hangers

Library (yes, we're going to have a library)

Shelves
Couch
Lamp
Coffee Table
Stereo
Books

Living Room

TV
Couch
DVD player

Dining Room

Table
Chairs
Plates
Silverware
Bowls
Glasses
Mugs

Office

Desk
Printer
Lamp
Various and Sundry Paper Goods
Stapler
Paper clips

Misc.

Vacuum

Things to Do

Paint dining room NOT seafoam green.
Paint bathroom NOT ugly color.
Paint kitchen NOT pink.
Move in furniture.
New back door (?).
Plant garden.
Get internet/phone/tv
Move couches/furniture in.

That is our (very brief) list. For now. It WILL be updated.

Oops

2009-04-15T10:35:00.002-04:00

I have no excuse.

Except that yesterday was super-duper busy....

.... and I had to stay up till 2 reading An Abundance of Katherines.

Spending the day in the lab (once I get out of the house, that is) doing analyses and studying and stuff.... so an actual post will be forthcoming.... once I have something to write about.

A Short Blurb

2009-04-13T19:09:00.003-04:00

This is going to be extremely short because I have a lot of little things to do tonight which add up to one big, time-consuming thing...and I need to stop procrastinating and get to work, pronto. Thus: list time!

It saddens me to drive for (under!!!) 5 hours to get back to school, only to remember that I have work waiting for me at the finish line.
It also saddens me that I have a ton of stuff to do this week, and that I may not be able to break my Lenten fast of fanfiction as quickly as my mother broke hers on peanut butter. (I'm invoking some superserious willpower right now because I know if I even type in a website that involves fanfiction, I shall be lost to the world, and nothing will get done.) ...I also have two and a half new books in my bag begging to be read and I refuse to even look at them for fear of destruction.
My acceptance (and check!) to NYU is in the mail as of about 11 am this morning!!! *does a happy dance.... in my mind*
Super motivation of awesome to get things done reasonably quickly tonight: housemates of awesome saved the new Who for me since I wasn't here this weekend. Squee.
Five is a nice roundish number to end on. I don't actually have anything else to say. Procrastination is fun. Oh! Data analysis commences tomorrow afternoon. And then we shall see if all of my hard work has borne any fruit.... or statistically significant findings... or something.

Edit 8:26 pm:

6. Retcon! It's REAL!

Looking for Alaska

2009-04-12T00:25:00.003-04:00

Perhaps my favorite gift to get is books. Money for books, specifically, so that I can pick out the ones I want... but I also greatly enjoy receiving books themselves (because generally that means its something someone thinks I'll enjoy)... or even just discussing books we've mutually read, or books we will have mutually read in the future because recommendations are fantastic*.

[Both my parents and my aunt and uncle gave me gift cards for my favorite place ever (also known - in the mundane world - as Barnes and Noble). Mom and I ran errands today, and took a detour to said favorite place. I have books. I may or may not have inhaled one already tonight.]

I have a recommendation for you. Read Looking for Alaska. Immediately**.

Yes, its marketed as 'young adult' - read it anyway. I don't care if you're 13, 30 or 75. Read the book. And I'm not just saying this because I think John Green is amazing (which he is). I haven't read YA lit in quite some time...if ever. (I don't really count Tamora Pierce or Diane Duane's Young Wizards series as YA even though that's where you can find them in the bookstore.) Truth be told, I stick mostly to fantasy/sci-fi and the occasional myth/historical fiction/mystery... not too much fiction fiction for me.

I don't want to give away any spoilers, but know this: Looking for Alaska is compelling, funny, well-written (seriously sucks you in - trust me, I couldn't put it down... much like Turn Coat last week. Darn you, Jim Butcher!), and will resonate deeply, no matter who you are.

Looking for Alaska. Tell your friends.

Anyway, the light behind me (on a timer) just went out, reminding me that it is nearly 1 am, and that I have to get up for church with my family tomorrow morning. Happy Easter, everyone***!

*Speaking of recommendations, I seem to recall talk of a fanfiction rec list for a certain someone who gave up a certain something for Lent... hint hint?

**Nicole, I'm bringing my copy (and An Abundance of Katherines, which I also bought today - Paper Towns is still in hard cover, and I didn't want to blow through all of my gift cards in one day...) back to school. You may have dibs. Assuming my sister doesn't steal Alaska from me before I can get away.

***I approve of the polar bear - go straight for the ears.

Decisions, FTW

2009-04-11T19:52:00.004-04:00

I just send an email to Ohio telling them that I will not be attending in the fall. I also just transferred $250 into my checking account so that I can send the deposit to NYU as soon as I finish filling out the paperwork.

My parents are being negative. Its annoying me. (Are you sure? Northwestern hasn't actually said 'no'... what if they say yes tomorrow?)

If they say yes tomorrow, I'll be ticked off, and will consider forgiving them for being obnoxious... and if I decide to do that, then I'll be out $250. Big deal.

Anyway, there seems to be a plate of Easter Macaroni Pie over here with my name on it. Sugar overload!!!! (You would not believe what goes in this thing. Its sooooo good.)

So I will leave you with that for the time being, and go enjoy my dessert.

A brief note

2009-04-10T21:53:00.001-04:00

Hail from Jersey - we had quite the adventure today in NYC, but that will have to wait for another time, because my sister brought Bedknobs and Broomsticks home and we absolutely have to watch it. : )

Actors Should Do Politics? aka Celebrity!Fail

2009-04-09T18:15:00.003-04:00

Okay, yes, I may have posted earlier this morning, but this needs some attention.

Kal Penn Leaves Cast of 'House' for Position In White House

He's taking the position of the associate director in the White House Office of Public Liaison. I'm not sure that
1. that's a good idea
2. what his position does/means exactly.
3. President Obama thought THAT one out fully.

What are other countries going to think when they're liaison contact in the White House is stoner dude Kumar????

Dear Missouri...

2009-04-09T13:03:00.005-04:00

So, thanks to Jess and my increasing frustration with having no freaking clue about what's going on in the world, I've started reading BBC news (and listening to the Global News podcasts, but that's mainly just to listen to the accent for a half hour or so). Anyway, my favorite article so far today is probably this one:

Dead Mayor Re-Elected in US Town

The article talks about how this Missouri town re-elected their beloved mayor, weeks after he had died. WEEKS! And the thing about it is as follows:
1. They HAD to have known that he had died.
2. It wasn't the FIRST time this happened in Missouri.

*facepalm*

This makes me feel really bad about people in the United States. Dear Missouri.... FAIL!... All the best, Nicole.

In other news, North Korea's evil grandmother, Kim Jong-il appeared in public for the first time in years, looking thinner in his (rather un-) stylish khaki military track suit. Everyone thinks he had a stroke last year (blast! He's still alive and kicking!), and N. Korea made changes to their constitution during Grandma Kim's Day Out. Assumption: he's going to kick it soon, and is trying to assure a successor that he approves of. The UN is still sitting around, twiddling their thumbs, wondering if N. Korea should be punished for their little 'rocket launch' escapade on Sunday. I mean, I can understand the UN's hesitation. It was only a little ROCKET. And it was only shot into the OCEAN.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME, the UN? N. Korea is BAAAD. EEEVIL. Grandma Kim Jong-il is an evil despot who has been terrorizing North Koreans, and the rest of the world, since 1994. That should really be brought to a stop. With the Evil Baby Orphanage.

That's what I have to say about news for today. I feel really bad about having not blogged in a Very Long Time, so I'll try to remedy that problem in the near and coming future. As Jess said, pictures of our freaking sweet t-shirts will be posted shortly, mostly when I upload them off of my camera.

In other news, my senior fellowship defense is Monday, I've got a novel, a comic and a movie in the works, and I need to stop going to bed at 5 in the morning. I should probably go do that work now.

The Dangers of BS

2009-04-09T10:40:00.004-04:00

So I'm writing early today because I'm stuck in the lab timing tapes and I'm out of practice for judging how long to fast forward... so I've got a little leeway time between timings while I have to listen to (and ignore) the last minute or so of each tape. gar. very irritating.)

Nicole and I made t-shirts last night - they're awesome. Pictures to follow, soon.

I just listened to a guest lecture about ambivalent sexism in my social psych class - it was interesting and thought-provoking, and I might get to show the professor around campus a bit between lunch and my last participant ever. (Woot!)

He was talking about how there are two kinds of sexism - hostile and benevolent. The difference is kind of obvious... hostile is more along the lines of actually degrading women and whatnot, while benevolent sexism is more... protective, I guess. What's weird is, women are more likely to go along with benevolent sexism, even though it can keep them from achieving the sort of high-powered jobs they might desire, that sort of thing. Second interesting point that I remember off the top of my head: benevolent sexism actually predicts violence towards women. Its a sort of contract in which the man says "I will protect you IF...." that falls to the wayside when the woman does not fulfill the traditional, subservient role.

This is going to be a terrible blog because I'm multitasking and distracted and didn't take all that wonderful notes during class today. (Most of my notes consisted of a to-do list of things I want to get done before I leave today (yikes!) and stuff I want to remember to pack so I don't have as much to cart home after graduation. (double yikes!) ... seriously - I can't believe that my thesis is due in a month. Scary!!!) Anyway, I'd wanted to write something insightful and interesting about benevolent sexism (BS!) and how its good and bad and all of that nonsense, but its blatantly not happening. Maybe I'll update this idea later... when I'm not quite so busy.

NEXT POST FROM NEW JERSEY!!!!

...Dwarves

2009-04-08T22:24:00.002-04:00

So I'm attempting to be productive - getting my homework done and stuff for next week since I'm leaving for home tomorrow afternoon and won't have as much time this weekend (nor will I have access to the school's library database at home, and I need to find 10 articles for Tuesday) ... and I'm multitasking by being productive while visiting my boyfriend, who I will not see all weekend (being a state away will put something of a damper on things, methinks)... and I'm actually getting quite a bit of work done. What's funny is, while I'm answering emails and taking notes on things and being generally productive, he's holding a one-sided conversation with his computer - rather, he's talking to the dwarves who are messing around in the game he's currently playing (Dwarven Fortress) and not doing what he wants them to.

I think its adorable, naturally. (He doesn't agree.... also naturally.)

Anyway, I don't really have anything drastically important to say.... that can't wait until sometime tomorrow (perhaps after I've gotten home) to write about. Plus I want to get some of this research out of the way in the next hour so that I can go home and make nerdy t-shirts with my roomie. : )

My post - a haiku (on time!)

2009-04-07T23:57:00.001-04:00

Reading Dresden Files
Do not want to write tonight
Now my blog is done.

Late but still here - that counts doesn't it?

2009-04-07T01:03:00.004-04:00

I have an even better reason than last night as to why I'm an entire hour late with tonight's BEDA entry - my boyfriend and I were going on a therapeutic walk after Heroes tonight during which I had fun mini-breakdowns about the scary prospects for next year and all that they entail.

Squee.

I had a pro/con list for all three (I say three although my first choice is still not actually certain because they won't freaking get back to me) but I was getting a little too excited about the pros and not all that realistic about the cons. Reality check ensued, and it was less than fun...although definately necessary. *sigh* I hadn't really considered the financial situation, or how much work it will be to make ends meet if I decide in favor of the school that is giving me not much in the way of monetary assistance.

We also discussed how each of my options would be potentially good for me - in different ways. The school that I was getting super excited about is close enough to home to not be ridiculously scary in that respect - and I wouldn't have to live by myself. (Living alone is actually a really scary prospect - I'm not entirely sure that I would take care of myself all that well.) It would be the comfortable option and wouldn't really make me expand my horizons or make new friends or deal with living in a completely foreign place. On the other hand, the school farther away wouldn't make me deal with scrambling to make ends meet, a really long commute, or going to classes at night in a (scary) big city.

This may all be a moot point if the latter school doesn't get back to me, and soon! *grumbles* Seriously - this is getting ridiculous.

On a slightly different note, let's discuss my neuroses for a moment. Allow me to tell you about the dream I had last night - I think that it will explain a great deal about me. For one, the fact that I dreamed and remembered it is interesting all by itself - I don't usually recall what I dream (unless it is a nightmare...and I have had a number of those over the years, some interestingly recurring). So in this dream, I dreamed that I had overslept (I knew what day it was and what I had to do this morning) and had completely bailed on the participants I was supposed to run today, making everyone disappointed in me. Not only did I dream that I overslept, I dreamed that I dreamed that I overslept and then woke up (still in the primary dream) to find out that I actually had overslept and that everything had turned out as I dreamed it. Needless to say, I woke up this morning (before my alarm) quite alarmed, frantically checking what time it was.

Dreaming about dreaming - I wonder what Freud would have to say about that.

BEDA almost!fail - It's totally still Sunday since I haven't gone to sleep yet

2009-04-06T00:19:00.004-04:00

My obnoxious grading took longer than I had wanted it to tonight, and although I found some scrumptious articles earlier, I was putting off actually posting the blog because I wanted them to congeal a bit more (as opposed to the frantic what-will-I-write? moment last night).

Anyway, 3 hours later, the grading is done (for the most part. I have one left, which will take me about half an hour because its all kinds of weird... so I need to finish this up super-quick if I want to be in bed before 1 am.)

And now for today's post, which should have been titled: "Pirates, Porn and (more) Pirates." Enjoy.

Pirates part 1:

Once again, while poking around BBC, I found a lovely article about a rather lovely group of modern-day pirates. No lie. Awesome quotes from this article include:

One pirate in the northern port of Bosasso, who asked not to be named, told Reuters he had been part of an aborted attack on another large commercial vessel late on Saturday.

They're even talking to the press, now! Capitano Sin Nombre just wants his 15 minutes of fame (and or lots and lots of booty), just like the rest of us, after all.

An Israeli cargo ship came under fire from pirates en route to Kenya on Saturday but was apparently saved by coils of barbed wire hung around the hull to repel boarders.

I'm going to reassess my list of things no one should ever be without (MacGuyver style!) ... it used to just include useful things like duct tape and a swiss army knife (for your beans and beer opening pleasure...and to create a makeshift tourniquet for your thumb when you nearly slice said appendage off whilst trying to get the damned can opener to work). Apparently barbed wire should also find a place on this list of awesomeness. Use in a similar fashion to the fire hose (you know - in case of fire, break glass?) .... just have a thing of barbed wire laying about somewhere with a label - In Case of Pirate.

Porn:

Once again, BBC pulls through for the win - a lovely and informative article titled, "What porn is really for." Thanks, BBC! I always wanted to know.

The majority of the article centers around a bit of controversy... UK style... involving the Home Secretary's husband, who tried to get public funding to pay for his adult movies as a business expense. (The Home Secretary herself was attempting to pass legislation to keep businessmen from counting a visit to a strip club as part of their 'expenses' - irony? or just really bad planning on her husband's part?)

It's the later part of this story that actually interested me. The author attempts to explain (as the title suggests) what porn is really for. Here is my favorite quote, for your reading pleasure:

From the erotic angle, adult entertainment movies are made for men whose idea of the adult barely gets beyond the babyish. For anyone with a brain, there is not only no question of being aroused, there is a detectable shrivelling effect on the libido. In time, a connoisseur of the form learns to trust it as a sure-fire means of getting the mind off sex.

Interesting. Very interesting. I still have no desire to watch porn, so this is one scientific analysis I shall have to pass on to someone else.

and lastly...

Pirates part 2:

Seriously, who couldn't love these guys? One of my favorite songs from that crazy summer camp I went to as a child:

Oh snap! I'm so impressed with myself that I figured out how to get that in here!

Argh - this took a lot longer than I had wanted to spend on it. Time for some serious speed-grading for me!

Its II pm - do you know where your children are?

2009-04-04T23:11:00.003-04:00

Scrambling to find something to write about before midnight because grading these annoying homeworks took me way longer than it really ought to have... (very irritating)... I was scouring BBC news for anything at all cheerful, without much luck. It was such a grey and miserable day here (it rained all night and then as soon as I was going to set out from home this morning, it turned into this windy, snowy/sleety gunk that physically hurt to walk through. boo. hiss.) and so I really wanted to post something uplifting/quirky/funny/all around awesome and BBC has never failed me before.

I thought tonight might actually be the first time. The front page was full of links to stories about police officers being shot, immigrants to Rome living in the sewers, torture, bodies, the works. I may go back and read those eventually, but what I really need is something a little lighter.

The story I found that was share-worthy is not exactly lighter, per se, but it's definitely more hopeful. Facebook, FTW!

The most important thing that I got out of this particular article is a reaffirmation of one of my most dearly-held beliefs that everyone can make a difference, even if they don't think that they can because they're just one insignificant little person. Facebook may be addictive, it may be an excellent form of procrastination, and all of that, but in the end it provided what really matters - a connection with another human being, however distanced or superficial - for one particular individual in need.

I've often considered running off to the woods to become a hermit and live in communion with all the little forest creatures. (Naturally, I'd drag all of my books with me.) I love the peace and seclusion of the woods - there's nothing better, in my opinion. I used to consider this a lot more seriously in the past (particularly elementary school and middle school - which sucked just a tad...) but I always came to the same conclusion: I could never actually go through with my plan, because no matter how tranquil such a lifestyle would be, I would not really be able to enjoy conversing with the squirrels and fuzzy bunnies. However annoying my human companions may be at times (some more than others) I don't think that I could survive without some form of contact with them.

Having come out of my shell quite a bit in the past few years (those of you who know me now but did not know me in high school probably do not realize quite how much, actually), I've realized, too, that while the internet is an awesome, awesome thing, its a pale substitute for real interactions. (For one, the internet cannot give backrubs. And to be without backrubs should be a serious crime, in my opinion.) But there's just something about facing a living, breathing human being and connecting with him or her that's absolutely essential.

I'll let you know when I figure out what that is.

Today's Word Brought To You By Scrabble...

2009-04-03T21:11:00.003-04:00

Dear Kyla, e-twat is not a word. Kthanksbye... Facebook Scrabble.

... that wasn't actually what I was going to say. But Nicole just said it and I couldn't resist. And hey - it relates!

So I was amused by everyone else's amusement of my play of the word "twat" in our communal facebook scrabble game... and so I was curious... what happens if you type "twat" into BBC news as the search term?

Amuse thyself.

Coming soon to a blog near you - (hopefully) ... a review of the absolutely fantastic book I picked up in Boston - Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert. You might think that after a day spent working on my thesis in psychology ... figuring out how we're going to analyze the data next week, fiddling with the data files themselves, and setting up syntax files so that we can analyze things faster... that maybe when I get home I wouldn't want to read more about psychology.... but that would be untrue. (Normally, I'm all about getting away from it for a while.) But this book is great. Its a mix of equal parts social psychology, philosophy, and pure awesomeness. It may help that I have a grasp on most of what he talks about, but even if I didn't, I think that his writing style would keep me engaged anyway.

Apparently I have to wrap this up so that we can finish our scrabble game... and then drabble for the first time since we went home for spring break! Huzzah! Check out the fic journal or DrabbbleQuest itself for our insanity to follow.

Facebook Scrabble... Fail

2009-04-03T20:56:00.002-04:00

Clit-Tuner
--(probably NOT a) noun
a) ....What you need when your clit is out of whack.
b).....helps pick up vaginal radio stations (?)

Also, points for Jess for using "Twat" in the scrabble game. That alone makes me feel better about losing.

Facebook Scrabble... Win?

2009-04-03T20:54:00.000-04:00

Peen:

–noun

1.	a wedgelike, spherical, or other striking end of a hammer head opposite the face.

–verb (used with object)

2.	to enlarge, straighten, or smooth with a peen.

3.	to strengthen (a metal surface) by light hammering or by bombardment with steel balls or shot.

*not just short for 'penis'. Huh.

The trials and tribulations of those applying to grad school

2009-04-02T14:58:00.003-04:00

Pissed-off!Dalek

I'm taking a break from grading statistics homeworks to rant for a little while about the stupidity of graduate programs. So here's the setting, for those of you who do not know: the deadline for accepting admission to a program is (generally speaking) April 15. Today is April 2. I have heard positively from two programs (the PhD program at Ohio University and the Masters program at New York University, both for psychology). I am still waiting for Northwestern (another PhD program) to get back to me. I interviewed there in the middle of February and was told at that time that I would likely hear back from them about their decision by mid March or so.

Mid-March came...and went... with no word from Northwestern.

I emailed the professor I would be working with somewhere in the vicinity of the 20th, wondering when I might hear back. She never replied.

I called the secretary on Tuesday, asking if a decision had been made and I just hadn't been informed yet. She couldn't find my file, and on the list, my name had no decision next to it. She said she'd email me when she tracked down the program director.

It is now Thursday. I called back this afternoon because I have received no email, and the program's website still shows no decision. She told me that the professor I'd emailed still had my file and they were still deciding... and that she would email me when she knew, but that they might update the decision on the website before telling her, so I would have more luck checking that compulsively.

Oh-em-gee.

I heard from NYU as a complete surprise - I had forgotten that I checked the box that said I would apply to their Masters program at the same time as the PhD. Lucky for me, I got into the MA but not the PhD program. On the plus side for them, its only 2 years, I could live with Nicole for cheaper than renting a place for myself in either Athens, OH or Evanston, IL. On the minus side, its only an MA, I wouldn't get all the nifty financial aid that goes with a PhD program, and I had been slightly off-put by the gates and the locking and all the hassle that goes with commuting into NYC every day. I have until 4 weeks from the date on my letter (putting it slightly after April 15) to let them know.

Ohio demands an answer by the 15th. They have not yet mailed me anything offical, I just got a letter via email. So, being slightly worried, even though they are currently my 3rd (maybe) choice, I emailed their secretary today, asking when I might get the stuff in the mail so that I can affirm or deny that I want to go to school there...officially. She says, "Oh, that... they're just signing it and sending it to the Graduate Studies Office today... the people there have to do stuff to it and then we'll send it to you. But you don't have to wait to tell us if you're coming...just...email us or something.

Me: Oh yeah, that's real official. Mhm. PS - I don't like you anyway!

...I just took a break and asked my thesis adviser about this because she came in and was fiddling with the immense stacks of paperwork in our lab. She thinks its weird that Northwestern is being poky about this too (according to the little red dots, it is spelled 'poky' and not 'pokey' ...which just looks weird to me). Perhaps it is a funding thing...and that's why they're taking longer to figure stuff out. Gar.

On the plus side of life, I now have minions. I. Love. Minions. (Maybe I'll put that on one of the new t-shirts this weekend instead of a Nerdfighter reference...it looks nice. and dorky.) For my thesis (for which we're starting to analyze the data tomorrow afternoon. Expect jubilation or extreme sadness when next I post), I have to listen to all these audio tapes, record how long it takes people to start talking, and then transcribe everything they say so that I can count the number of times they refer to themselves (words like I, me, my, myself) or mention the study they're taking, or use obnoxious filler words (um, uh, yeah, you know) .... speaking of, do you know how difficult it is to transcribe filler words? Sometimes I have to rewind to make sure I noted everything down correctly and I find that I have to go back and fill in all of the filler words I missed because they're so innocuous that my brain just skips over them when I hear them.

But yeah. Minions. They're going to transcribe some of these for me. Oh joy and happiness! The first girl sat down for an hour or two and basically doubled my productivity from this morning. And there's another one coming in at 4 so I can show her the basics of the nifty machine we get to use (it has a foot pedal for play and rewind, essentially. so cool!) ... point out where we keep the tapes, and where we hide the files on the network server...and all that jazz. My work for this (which is extremely time consuming and deadly dull) has now been thirded. (That's totally the word...right? I mean cut in half is "halved" isn't it?) I can actually, you know, work on my actual thesis write-up (the one I meant to finish editing over spring break, but didn't) or not stay up till 4 am finishing grading these obnoxious stats homeworks (I have come to the realization recently that I truly dislike grading) or ... well... I can't say spend time with the boy tonight... or most of tomorrow... or probably most of Saturday as well, actually, since that's when his next evil paper is due... but I could hypothetically spend time with the boy were he free as well. *sigh*

Anyway, I should probably wrap up day 2 of BEDA so that I can get a few more homeworks graded before Minion No. 2 shows up / the boy calls to tell me that he's done with his meeting with his adviser and I can actually spend a whole hour with him before he has to leave for the swanky senior dinner (I'm avoiding mine - next week - like the plague... but he actually has friends in his major)... and then I get to go cheer Nicole and Kyla on when they present their film pitches tonight with the three other finalists. (Huzzah! We have captured a majority of the brainpower and creativity on campus, and it lives in our house!! Woot!)

PS: I'm going to go back and put in author tags like we have on the fic site so we don't have to actually say which one of us is posting... in the post... anymore. I thought that was a rather brilliant idea of Nicole's, and so I am stealing it. (Bwahahahah.)

PPS: New Who coming soon! *fan-girl screams are heard echoing across the nation... nay! the world!*

PPPS: No... I'm not avoiding going back to work! What makes you think that?

Terrible News on the Tea Front

2009-04-01T01:08:00.008-04:00

Jess here, reporting the latest buzz in the world of tea... according to my highly reputable sources... at BBC News.

The first article that caught my eye described the recent price increases in tea - due to a lower production level in drought-ridden countries. (One reason I love BBC so much is because they have such catchy article titles. This one is called "Tea prices are surging. Is your mug next?") The article itself is interesting, and I recommend that you read it yourself... but my main concern is, naturally (selfishly) how much will this turn of events impact my tea-guzzling ways? (The next worse thing that I can think of would be a sugar shortage.)

All kidding aside, though, the real impact of this news story is to really drive home in ways that hadn't quite clicked before exactly how much things that happen elsewhere in the world can affect each and every one of us. It really is a small world, after all. Its easy to ignore the problems other people are facing - they aren't really real to us most of the time. We can't identify with them or with their various crises... and so we feel less of a need to do something about it.

Its 1:30 in the morning so I'm not going to find any kind of cool numbers or interesting facts to bombard you with - because I wanted to be asleep an hour ago. I will say this, though: its not just current weather patterns or countries not getting enough rain to grow tea. One in six people worldwide does not have access to clean drinking water. That's just ridiculous. If you are at all interested in this topic and want more information, I'll probably be going into it more in the future (when its not so late at night, perhaps). But for now, I shall direct you to one of the more compelling sites I have found. (Seriously - watch their PSA. It's only 30 seconds long, and it really gets the message across.) If after reading the information they provide, you feel the need to do something productive about it, their site can help you to accomplish that as well.

The other blurb I wanted to discuss (briefly, as I am rather sleepy now... and my computer is apparently done updating whatever it was trying to update an hour ago when I wanted to go to sleep) was a second article that BBC led me to when I finished with the first tea-related piece. It read, "Steaming hot tea linked to cancer."

Ok. I'm intrigued. I'll bite. Tell me more.

Apparently its not the tea itself, but the temperature that raises the risk of oesophageal cancer
(I really just had to write that for the British spelling - it cracks me up).

[For the record, this is an absolutely awesome super-easy conversion site for those of us who don't understand anything metric. Especially temperature.]

Alright - so the main point of this article is that drinking really hot tea (over 70 degrees Celsius - that's 158 degrees Fahrenheit) is bad for your esophagus. Surprise! Those of us who like to wait until the tea is bearable (or put milk in it to get just the right flavor as well as temperature) should be ok, since that brings it down from super-duper-owie hot to merely lukewarm (65-69 degrees Celsius/149-156 degrees Fahrenheit). Just for reference, water boils at 100 degrees Celsius/212 degrees Fahrenheit - not that you would want to pour actually-boiling water down your throat or anything.

Additionally, it matters how fast you drink your tea.

Drinking a cup of tea in under two minutes straight after it was poured was associated with a five-fold higher risk of cancer compared with drinking tea four or more minutes after being poured.

Doesn't it take that long to steep properly.... and for all of your sugar/tasty tasty bee barf (yes, I relabeled our jar of honey just this evening....why do you ask?) to mix in for that perfect cup of tea? Plus, for the first few minutes, the mug of tea is really just serving as a nice-smelling hand warmer, is it not? (Maybe that's just me. I have no idea.)

Geez, BBC - way to get me all worried that my tea habit was going to cause all sorts of serious problems down the road.

That's a terrible ending to all of this fun and thought-provoking stuff.... but in my defense, its now almost 2 am and I have been super sleepy since before I had to go to class (at 6 pm!) tonight. (Incidentlly, we were discussing sleep disorders tonight. Coincidence?)

On the plus side, I'm all sorts of excited about the challenge to blog every day in April (BEDA) ... thanks Nerdfighters for clueing me in to such a great procrastination idea! (Plus it'll probably be good for divesting myself of brain crack. Always a good thing.) I'm hoping that even if I can't manage a blog a day myself, perhaps the ever-lovely Nicole will be amenable to sharing so at least the GuardRailFail blog itself will have a daily update.

Gar - 2 am exactly. Bedtime!

A Brief Update

2009-03-26T16:24:00.004-04:00

I am currently (actually) working on my Legendary pitch. I may or may not be taking momentary breaks to read some fanfiction, but that's alright. I won't have an internet connection until late Saturday (most likely) because I'm visiting Georgetown with my brother.

I got rejected from the New School, so I won't be attending there in the fall. I applied to Kingston University in London... I'd really like to get in there, but I really can't afford it, so it looks like I'll be going to Adelphi, which isn't a bad thing because I can get my MFA really cheap, save lots of money, work really hard, get a great GPA and then apply to Oxford and Cambridge for my PhD.

Any suggestions on how to make money? I've got the following options:
1. get published.
2. get awesome job (not in NYC, however, because metro costs just increased by heinous amounts)
3. prostitution.

I really am not fond of the prostitution idea.

In other, better news... the next Doctor Who special should be around Easter (yayayay!).
FURTHERMORE, guess who the actress who plays the 'companion' in the next special is played by? Michelle Ryan. Don't recognize the name? Well, she's Nimueh on Merlin. Yeah, my mind is blown. Thanks BBC for the incest. Because writing that massive fic of AWESOME wasn't going to be easy enough, you have to go and make it EASIER!

Dear BBC,
I love you, let me have your babies, or at least write serialized books based on your television series, all of which I think are AWESOME.
Hugs, Kisses and Naughty Thoughts,
Nicole

A brief hello

2009-03-26T11:36:00.003-04:00

tis Jess.... and I'm in New Hampshire at the moment (wee!) .... very long drive yesterday, although not as bad as I had feared it would be (Jersey traffic is usually awful, and I was afraid of the GW bridge - but that wasn't bad at all either. silly bridge.)

So we're making fun plans to be geeky in Boston and stuff in the next few days and then its back to school on Sunday....when I get to see (at last!!!) if there is anything waiting for me in my mailbox... besides the letter from Ohio that they told me they'd be sending.... silly grad schools.

I don't really have much more to say - its been a pretty relaxing break (once I got home from Ohio, that is) ...although I haven't been getting as much work done as I could have, so the first week back may be... interesting. Maybe I'll get some of the reading done in the next few days since the boy tends to sleep in a lot longer than I do. (He got up first today, but that was just a weird quirk of fate.... and also possibly because I was absolutely exhausted... and my bed was much warmer than anywhere else this morning. *grin*)

Anyway...there's tea downstairs with my name on it, apparently. (Quite the civilized household.) So I'll be back later... possibly not until we're back on campus on Sunday, though.

Miss you too, Nicole!

MERLIN!WIN!!!!

2009-03-25T13:00:00.004-04:00

I appear to be taking over this blog like whoah (Jess! I miss you!!), but I couldn't resist posting this AWESOME BIT OF NEWS.

NBC picked up Merlin in America and is going to be airing it starting June 21st.!!!!!!!!!(!!!!!)

Thank you NBC for fulfilling my Colin Morgan crush and my Merlin/Arthur love!

*HAPPY DANCES LIKE THE GREEN BROTHERS!*

Grad School!fail

2009-03-24T20:50:00.002-04:00

I visited Adelphi today. They're the only grad school I've heard back from so far, and they're not TERRIBLE, but they're very clearly a step or two below Hamilton. I could get my MFA for like... $5,000... but I dunno if I really want to go there.

So, I decided to apply to Kingston University. In London. I just need to double check with my references that they're okay with the whole referencing me thing and then hit 'submit' and I'm ready to go (well, that and mailing transcripts and what not). I don't think I could afford Kingston, but whatever. I think I need a new start. On multiple levels.

I'm still drowning in work, but I am feeling more motivated to actually do it. Terrible anxiety attacks about Legendary pitches are no fun, let me tell you. And it doesn't help that certain people are being clingy and really, really just turning me off. As I said, it's time for a new start, methinks.

So, we'll see. I'd love to study in London for two years, but I really have no idea how I'd afford it, or if I'm actually going to get in (I don't know if the deadline has passed or not), or if it's even a particularly good school. I just want to get my MFA and then swan off to the UK for my PhD. I developed a life plan, and now I'm going to attempt to complete it.

I really need to make me some money first. Being broke really sucks.

Oh, Bugger

2009-03-23T17:55:00.002-04:00

So, in an attempt to be productive and apply for writing contests, I started writing some short stories. Mostly, this is to avoid doing the Legendary Pitch write-up I need to do, which is absolutely terrifying me because I'm shy and I don't like speaking, especially not in public (in an attempt to make myself feel better, I plan on channeling Morgana during my pitch).

Anyway... short stories. Wanna know what I came up with? A story about Ophelia. From Hamlet. Essentially Hamlet fanfiction. There is something seriously wrong with me. This is absurd. *headdesk* And the sad thing is, I was inspired by just seeing my old Shakespeare textbook. And I guess it's not too bad, because Hamlet is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays (because everyone dies), but really self? REALLY!?! HAMLET FANFICTION?!!?

So, yes. I'm a pretty sad excuse for a human person at the moment. I also have to write a chapter of my novel, do that damn Legendary thing (*throws Uther!tantrum* DON'T WANNA!), read the English Patient (boo, depressing), write magazine articles for the frikkin Continental and do a myriad of other things, which isn't too bad, I guess, but I'm kind of drowning a bit. Worst of all, the only thing I've been doing lately is reading fanfiction. Dammit, Merlin! You have taken over my miiiiind!!!!

I'll go read the new Dresden Files instead.

Confusion!

2009-03-18T21:57:00.002-04:00

Jess here... with some good news...and some confusion (hence the title).

So I'm back from Ohio... the interviews went well (apparently - I got my acceptance letter today - in .docx format that I had to forward to my sister (who has the new version of word) to open, save and send back. *rolls eyes and shakes fist in Microsoft's general direction*). So yeah - I can stop freaking out about not having a school to go to next year.... I guess.

Here's the problem. I got a weird vibe from Ohio. I mean, it was a great place, and a good program and all very nice people... but I'm not sure how much I would enjoy living and working there. They all tried very hard to make me feel welcome, but I didn't feel like it was quite as good a fit as Northwestern was, for all that Athens, OH was a lot more of my kind of town than Evanston, IL. *shrug*

So my conundrum is thus: if Northwestern doesn't offer me admission, do I want to take the sure option and just go to Ohio for the next five or so years... or do I want to do something else? I'm doubting all of my plans at this point - do I really want to go to grad school? Am I just using it to put off being in the real world for a few more years? Would that actually work? (I'll have to essentially be an adult at that point anyway - live on my own, and all that that entails... just without the superawfulscary job search for a little while.

*sigh* I may need to whip out the old pro/con list in the near future... if only so that I can get some actual sleep. (I feel your pain, Nicole...and my to-do list is nowhere near as hairy as yours.)

gar.

Sleep? What Sleep?

2009-03-17T09:53:00.007-04:00

I thought this was Spring Break. There is no 'break' involved. I've been slightly (read: VERY!) overwhelmed with the amount of stuff I have to do.

The Epic List of Epic (aka: Things I Need to Do Instead of Reading FanFiction)*red means done
1. Babbitt Fellowship Application (pink for almost done)
2. Legendary Pitch
3. Writing Prize Short Story (purple for getting there)
4. Chapter Four of Harem of Droids
5. Job Applications
6. Lifeless Script (re-prioritized to end of April)
7. MFA Blog Contest Application (re-prioritized to May)
8. Random Schoolwork that needs tending to
9. Razor and Tie work that ALSO needs tending to
10.Cleaning my neighbor's yard for money
11.Epic Merlin/Doctor Who/NCIS/Dresden Files fic that I need to write because it won't leave me alone (and I kind of want to be your Easter present, Jess ;) [<-xkcd addressed this emoticon-in-parentheses issue, and I agree, it is a HUGE problem.])
12. Class Presentation (re-prioritized to when I actually care *read: the night before it's due)
13. Senior Fellowship Presentation (re-prioritized to after the Legendary pitch)
14. Sleep.
It's alarming where sleep has fallen on this list, especially considering that this list is for the next month. In fact, it's so alarming that I have a headache and really need to find caffeine. Immediately. On Saturday, I got the sketches for the five-page promo of Lifeless. They look great, and I'm really looking forward to the finished pages. I have to work on finding more money to fund an actual fun of the series, but I really should write the rest of the series first.

I thought that my Epic List of Epic was bad enough, but it's really difficult to concentrate when my life feels so upheaval-y. I don't think I'm going to be able to actually move out when I graduate, which is bumming me out to no end, I don't know how I feel exactly about my personal life (gah!), and I am not really enjoying being at home. Not to mention, I should go to the GYN to find out why my period has become elusive and mysterious, but I got a letter yesterday saying my health insurance is terminated. (*edit: apparently, I have health insurance, the company's just REAL DUMB.) FML.

Ugh, back to work. *goes to make tea*

Hope your trip to Ohio is AWESOME Jess!

Travelling = less than fun.

2009-03-15T22:57:00.003-04:00

Jess here - from Athens, OH.... and I'm quite sleepy so this will be short and probably in list form.

I flew in from Philadelphia International Airport this afternoon. (so far, 6/6 for worst airport I've dealt with in the last three months. I'll let you know where it ranks in relation to Detroit on Tuesday, as I'll be there for about 40 minutes for a connecting flight home.)
I've got interviews and tours tomorrow at Ohio University - yay!
So far, Ohio is alright, in my opinion. The hour and a half drive here from the airport was really quite nice. It will be really pretty once things are greener.
I rented a car from the people at the airport (got a discount because my cousin is awesome and works for them. woot!) .... downside: the gave me a bright yellow two-door sports car-esque....thing. gah?!?! I don't do yellow! .... or fast cars. Fortunately, I had my mellow music with me, so I managed not to speed (I have no idea which of the multitude of buttons might be cruise control. I touched as little as possible.)
The girl who let me use her spare room for my visit is awesome. (and not just because she is letting me use her spare room....)
I'm all... cool and capable and travelling by myself and stuff.... but I don't really enjoy it.

Anyway - big day tomorrow. Bed time soon. I'll probably be bored to tears on Tuesday when I'm stuck in multiple airports for who knows how long. Expect something cracktastic from me then.

Acha ddygwyl.

2009-03-14T13:54:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, I went into Manhattan for various reasons, including, but not limited to, the fact that my brother was on a high-school-aged Jeopardy-like local game show, and to go to Forbidden Planet and The Strand with the boy (who, upon reading this deemed that he is 'the man' as opposed to 'the boy'... and then, on second thought, said 'the man' makes him sound like a cop, and wants to be 'the legend' instead...).

1. The game show was shot on a set that vaguely looked like a porno.
2. Forbidden Planet was awesome in the fact that they had a) Doctor Who books b) Doctor Who action figures c) Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde action figures and d) lots of other really awesome geeky stuff. I love that place, and if I get into the New School, I will try to get a job there.
3. The Strand is always fun. Lots and lots of books. I got a book on how to speak Welsh so that I can get a job at the BBC. Clearly, it's a great plan.

So, today, me, two Mikes and two Alexs are heading out for adventures in the city. It should be amusing. I think we may go wiffle-ball it up in Van Cortlandt park in the Bronx. Woot.

In other news, my artist got sketches for my pages back, and I'm super super super excited, because they look awesome and pretty and slightly gorey. All I could ever want in one five-page book. I have to get back to him tomorrow with things I want done. Also, Jess, thank you for lending me Sunshine. It's soooo awesome. I got about halfway through on the train the other day and was particularly upset that the ride wasn't longer so I could finish reading it. :)

Also, someone needs to keep DrabbleQuest running. I am sad that I don't have any prompts :(.

5 Weird Things You Really Should Read

2009-03-12T22:28:00.002-04:00

....and five more you should really just look at the titles of and think about reading if you're super interested.

...because I'm bored and procrastinating... again.... and wanted to make a list of all the weird things I've been finding on BBC news tonight. (Obviously, I need a new hobby, stat.)

The Healing Power of Sunlight
My Thoughts...to Your Thoughts...
Sausage-pony (you think I'm kidding, but I'm not)
Chilly Dog (this was a link from the above article - you really only have to see the title and the pictures...)
Solar Boxes Save Sticken Bats (the EcoGeek contribution)

Runners up... but winners in the awesome title contest:

"Sex smell lures 'vampire' to doom"
"Mircrowaves 'cook ballast aliens'"
"'Zombie worms' found off Sweden"
"'Dracula' fish shows baby teeth"
"Killer ladybird seen in Scotland" (ladybird is Brit-speak for ladybug, fyi)

Scotland!Fail

2009-03-12T14:35:00.002-04:00

Greetings from Queens.
I just found out that I didn't get into the Scotland program thingy. Boo. Um. Yeah. That's my news at the moment. Apparently, part of the reason they didn't choose me was because I had 'a lot of other opportunities for my future.' Still, that doesn't mean I didn't want to go to Scotland for a year. *pout*

Definitely not as interesting as albinos in Tanzania being hunted down.

Heading out to go see Watchmen now.

Yesterday in the news...

2009-03-12T10:38:00.010-04:00

Exhausted!Dalek

Since I tried to be noble and give up reading fanfiction for Lent, I decided to try to do something a bit more personally helpful - namely, I wanted to get my head out of the sand and stop being an ostrich in regards to what the heck is going on in the world. My ever-accommodating boyfriend pointed me in the direction of BBC news, which he said might give a less biased picture, and cover more world news faithfully and broadly ... which is what I desperately need because basically I don't know anything (much less where anything is. geography!fail.)

I saved the links to a few of the more interesting articles I browsed yesterday whilst procrastinating, and will now share them with you (yep...still procrastinating... why do you ask?).

The first article, Indian meal starter lasts 50 years, just impressed me. Seven semi-illiterate Indian women started a cooperative business ("Lijjat papads") making poppadoms (a traditional meal starter in India). Their business flourished, and expanded amazingly, and this month they are celebrating their 50th year in business.

I have not often considered just how much the American (middle-class) culture differs from other countries'/classes'. Simply being able to read and write gives me access to so many opportunities I would not otherwise have. These women are doubly impressive to me for their strength and determination to be financially independent. They discuss in the article how much their situation gives them a sense of empowerment - they can make their own decisions (and have the money to back them up), and don't need to depend on the men in their lives to support them and their children.

Indeed the Lijjat women seem to have proved that success does not necessarily need money and infrastructure, as long as there is determination.

To relocate over to Africa for a while, the second article of note that I found discussed what can only be called a present-day witch-hunt in Tanzania. You may or may not know that people have been murdering albinos in that country over the past few years (BBC news tells me that 45 people have been killed since late 2007) - apparently so that witchdoctors can use their body parts in potions. Now, the government is asking people to fill out anonymous surveys in which they note who they suspect to be involved.

Having taken a witch-hunting course in history last semester, I can immediately think of a few things that could go very badly wrong with this plan. Some of them, the government of Tanzania has already thought of - and dismissed. For example, people could use this opportunity to rat out the neighbors they dislike or are currently feuding with. They don't actually offer a solution to this conundrum in the article. I'm not actually sure how one could weed out that kind of corruption of the system without going into each village and doing some serious investigating... which sort of defeats the purpose of having individuals name names in the first place.

But correspondents say it is not clear how effective the exercise will be in a society which believes in witchcraft and where confidence in the legal system is wearing thin.

That's an even scarier prospect. Because now we have all these people riled up and suspecting each other, believing that some of them can do awful things with magic if provoked, and not trusting that their government will solve the problem for them. Bad combination. I foresee truly awful results if people try to take matters into their own hands and disregard the legal system entirely. In Europe, during the height of the witch trials, the worst massacres happened in obscure locations where there was no oversight, no chance for appeal, and where all of the carefully formulated rules about how to find someone guilty just flew out the window (possibly on an imaginary broomstick).

It's a chilling prospect to think that we may revisit those events in this day and age in Tanzania.

The government issued a ban on all traditional healers in January in an effort to stop the killings and several have been arrested since then on suspicion of flouting the order.

Honestly, I'm not really sure that that is going to solve anything. If people are forced to practice in hiding (if they decide to continue working despite the ban), won't it just make everyone more suspicious, thus breeding more problems than it fixes?

The last is something a bit more close to home. I'm highly amused because apparently the point of the article is to discuss the public's reaction to the First Lady's muscles. (oh my!) Well, that's how they lead into the meat of the article anyway. Maybe at some point I'll find out what all the debate is about concerning her choice of dress.

The actual point of the article is the speculation that maybe our new president is doing too much - specifically, too much of the wrong thing. Yes, it is important (says the author) to deal with healthcare, education, our infrastructure, but is it worth it to fix all of these things if our country succumbs to the banking crisis while we've been changing everything else?

Now, I've just recently risen from approximately the intelligence of pond scum to maybe that of a newt about all of these issues. So I can't really comment on what's going on more than I already have. Hopefully in the next few weeks I'll have read enough to give me a better idea of the situation so that I can actually talk about it in an intelligent manner.

- Jess

Current events

2009-03-10T11:35:00.003-04:00

Jess here. I have to find a psychopathology-related current event for class tonight, and the article that I found (from February 10, 2009) is an interesting one and I thought I could kill two birds with one stone by sharing my thoughts on the matter with you as well.

The article, "Pressure to be a supergirl is causing teen mental health crisis" talks about the "triple bind" that teenage girls are in today - pressures from adult expectations, consumerism and a "highly sexualized pop/cyber culture that celebrates physical perfection and stratospheric success." (had to quote that one - it had alliteration in it!) Apparently, according to this author, teenage girls in this generation are experiencing depression and other mental health problems earlier than ever before because of all the contracting messages they receive, and their inability to cope with failure to meet these standards.

To quote one paragraph, which I find most interesting (short of the other people's comments after the article, which I shall definitely touch on later):

"It's [this 'triple bind' idea, that is] why girls who once had a bit of breathing room to figure out their futures now feel under the gun before they finish sixth grade, already anxious about getting perfect SATs and a roster of impressive extracurriculars," the book goes on to say. "And it's why girls who once might have identified with alternative female figures - a rock star, an athlete, a female author - now have trouble finding any role models other than those who are beautiful, hot, thin, and thoroughly focused on conventional notions of success."

Now, I don't know about you, but I know quite a few kick-ass female authors who are ready and willing to show up these other 'role models'. Tamora Pierce comes to mind as one of my all-time favorite quasi-young adult writers who specializes in powerful and quirky feminine figures. Also up there are Patricia Wrede (the "Dealing with Dragons" quartet of hers is fantastic - also decidedly young adult-esque). Anne McCaffrey is a little older target audience-wise, but she is equally fantastic. Then there is my current favorite female author - Robin McKinley - writer of Sunshine, Spindle's End, Rose Daughter, Deerskin, and others. McKinley does a fantastic job retelling stereotypical fairytales with a decidedly un-stereotypical cast of characters. My favorite part: the princesses aren't ditzy and powerless. (I'll side-step my usual rant about lack of agency in women in fairytales for the moment...I daresay you'll hear it from me eventually.) McKinley's women don't need to depend on some handsome prince to ride to their rescue - they take matters into their own hands. Best of all, they don't come across as these unattainable figures, either. Unlike the super-thin, glamorous stars and models our culture apparently is pummeling us with, McKinley's (like most authors I read, actually) characters are down-to-earth, witty and practical.

I would take these authors, or the characters they write so well, as role models over some starlet or uber-poweful CEO any day, thank you very much.

That's not to say that I don't feel stressed out or unable to achieve the standards I set for myself, though. I understand what the author is trying to say about our culture and its demands - although I agree with one of the commenters who noted that it isn't just teenage girls who feel these pressures. Maybe guys are culturally conditioned to hide it better. Or maybe researchers are overwhelmed with all the hype about the new opportunities for women in the workforce (women power! and all that jazz) and would rather investigate a "new" phenomenon rather than finding out more about something that's been going on all along.

Additionally, Hinshaw (the author of this book on the triple bind idea) notes that while genes and biological factors, naturally, have a role to play in which person develops a psychological disorder and which does not, the changing trends in girls' mental health cannot be explained by changes in genes - he says that would take generations to show up. Obviously, it must be our culture's fault. We must not be raising our girls right if they succumb to these cultural expectations and believe that they must achieve the perfect body and the perfect job and the perfect life to be perfectly happy.

Wait a minute - this sounds familiar. Oh wait - my mom fought against these sorts of ideas when she was 16. In the 1970s. Maybe the end goals have changed with the years, but the stress of achieving the ideal lifestyle - I think - is very much the same.

Okay, so if the cultural expectations haven't changed all that drastically, can we blame the prevalence of those messages in the media for the increase in mental health problems? Or is it just that our world moves so much faster with cellphones and blackberries and the internet allowing a more constant stream of information, communication, (indoctrination?), and flusteration? (Yes, I just made that word up.)

Hinshaw suggests volunteer work. Obviously that will help young girls to get a different perspective on what is important, and will give them goals that they can achieve.

I agree with one commenter who laughed and pointed out that this is just adding another time commitment to an already hectic lifestyle. Even if these young girls give up something else in order to participate in volunteer programs (as another commenter suggested), I'm still laughing. Get a 13 year old to volunteer rather than spending time with her friends or watching TV? The idea is ludicrous. It will never work.

So "suck it up" says another commenter. The world is the way it is and to get ahead, this is the lifestyle you have to lead. Men and women alike deal with the increased pressures of the world today - basically by becoming emotionless automatons with no free time and no social life (says the commenter). Deal with it, or don't become the CEO of your company (because that's the end result of not having enough extracurriculars to pad your resume with, obviously.)

So what if "dealing with it" means that our young girls have more and more mental health problems? Is that the end of it? Isn't there something that we can do that both fits with the current speed of the world, but also keeps down the depression rate?

We've all see the Dove commercials, trying to get girls and women to feel better about their own bodies. Shouldn't there be something similar telling them that getting into the top school and aiming for the best job maybe isn't the ultimate goal in life?

Read more books, watch less tv. Eat dinner with your family. Parents, spend more time with your kids and less at the office (haven't you heard Cats in the cradle by Harry Chapin?).

Will that help? I don't know.

Just some food for thought.

2009-03-10T00:06:00.003-04:00

Nerdy!Dalek

Jess here... just wanted to note that while sitting on the futon with N and K, watching Merlin fanvids is fun, its less fun when I try to hide behind a bag of carrots so that I can't see N's computer screen because she's tempting me with fanfiction that I can't read yet.

Also, the carrots then tempted me to eat one, and it was decidedly un-tasty. Boo.

Expect a post with our collective favorite fanvids in the somewhat near future. Certain of us have been watching them near incessantly. Apparently they're addictive.

Also, K is a terrible enabler. and N's devil!conscience. Apparently I am the "good" one? (quaaa??? - when did this happen?)

Anyway, the psychopathology take-home midterm calleth. Apparently I need to write essays about things like bulimia. and stress. One of these things I am very familiar with. The other I am not. Any guesses as to which?

I'll give you a hint. Apparently Type A's run in my family. This comes as a surprise to no one.

On a completely unrelated side note, N is adorable when tired (and needs to get something resembling sleep tonight!!!) .... totally just pushed her off the futon, after which she toddled off (I know this because she was chanting "toddle, toddle, toddle" as she went).

....and she's back. (guess how I can tell. ... yup.)

toodles, all!

Work!Fail Revisited (because, it is, after all, Monday)

2009-03-09T17:31:00.002-04:00

BAAAH! I have gotten relatively NOTHING done today. *headdesk* I just don't care much at all to do work right now. I need a mental holiday. Also, I feel terrible because I couldn't sleep last night, and I have no motivation to do much of anything except stare out into space.

Space is pretty.

Chapter three is coming along slowly. Very slowly.

The most productive thing I did today was watch the unicorn episode of Merlin again and contemplate why British telly is made of WIN. Oh, and also read fanfiction and came up with a kick-ass idea for a Parker/Hardison (Leverage) fic. It involves jumping off of buildings. I may or may not turn it into a short story. That would make me happy, if I could actually get something out of my strange fanfiction addiction.

But alas, I will go sort of kind of actually do work from now until dinner, and then I have a stupid meeting and yet another re-watch of the unicorn episode and then Drabble Quest and then sleep. Maybe. I'd really like to be able to sleep.

GRRRR.

Of course its Monday... (aka Common Courtesy!Fail revisited)

2009-03-09T11:36:00.006-04:00

Gloomy!Dalek

Jess here, again. In the lab, again. Being stood up, again. What gives?

Once again, I could have slept in, if not for this study. Significant difference from Friday - this time its raining. *rolls eyes*

I don't even have the energy to rant about this any more. Its sad, but I'm at the point where I simply do not care anymore. So what if we don't get enough participants to get significant findings for my senior thesis... its not like I really wanted to get the study published or anything. No, of course not. No, I don't need this to graduate, what makes you think that?

I'm not even in the mood to use my excess of time stuck in the lab to catch up on the drabbles I missed last night because I was (futilely) trying to get work done. I have a sneaking suspicion that my crack!fic tendencies would fall quite flat in light of my current mood.

I'll give it a try, in the hopes that it will get me out of my funk, but the results may not be submitted to Drabble!Quest if they're really depressing.

Devious!Dalek

EDIT: 5:50 pm

Both people who stood me up this morning have rescheduled. Even better, the other experimenters are running both of them. Bwahahahaha.

So even though I wasted two hours this morning (and by "wasted" I mean I got paid to grade stats homework corrections during that time) it all evens out in the end, because now I'm running closer to half of the participants this week, rather than two thirds of them. (10/17 rather than 12/17 - makes me feel better about myself.)

Resistance!Fail

2009-03-08T15:52:00.002-04:00

It is unfortunate, but true. I, Nicole, just like Bradley James, have become completely smitten by Colin Morgan's cheekbones. Honestly, I don't know if Bradley James is truly smitten by Colin's cheekbones, but I certainly am. Insomuch as I have rewarded myself for writing three sentences of my novel by reading a Merlin fanfiction. It's an addiction, I swear.

Anyway, the character in my novel has somehow gone from being equal parts Chuck, the Doctor, and Marshall from Alias to having a little Merlin tossed in. *facepalm*

In other news, I have been completely cracked out for the past... three days or so. Cracked out to the degree where it appears as if I've been receiving IV caffeine. I think it may have something to do with the ridiculous hours I've been keeping. There's really no reason for me to go to bed at 4 am, but I am anyway. Well, yesterday also had Daylight Savings time to blame, but I would have most likely been up anyway.

Being a real person: FAIL!

Now I have to go attempt to do something productive... after one more Merlin fic.

Drabble!Quest

2009-03-07T00:33:00.004-05:00

Test run of Drabble!Quest One was entirely successful tonight - not to mention ridiculously fun. And now we're watching more Merlin which is awesome. We've finally gotten to the episodes I hadn't seen yet (like the unicorn one, which we're currently on...)

Merlin - good at sneaking. not good at lying.

oh BBC, we love you so.

So yeah, Nicole is finishing putting her drabbles up on our LJ (see the link in the previous post) ... and hopefully we'll get Kyla to guestpost because hers are fantastic ... seriously. (Jess is jealous.)

Best of all, since we read our drabbles outloud (or attempted to - I was crying during my first one, I was laughing so hard...) ... I can get around my vow to not read fanfiction during Lent.

Nicole: there are ways you can get around the Jesus.
*both of us start making stealth!poses and break into song*
Dah-nah-nah-nah.... nah nah... nah nah: can't touch this!

....aaaand I'm done.

night all!

Fandom Drabble Rules

2009-03-06T21:00:00.006-05:00

Nicole and Jess have come up with a new game/competition because we lack the motivation to do anything else actually productive (go us) - and will be posting the results of our madness here at some point. Here are the rules (for us later) and so that you can play, too, if you so desire:

Materials:

two 6-sided dice (and/or 1 that you roll twice)
collection of random sayings, quotes, plot devices, etc. (we have a pumpkin! he is cute!)
list of 5 (or 6 - we like having an 'other' category) fandoms you know well enough to write in, and list of 6 genres (we'll list ours for an example)
timing implement

The Rules:

roll dice to discover fandom and genre, pull however many of your plot-device slips you desire
set timer (we've discovered that 10 minutes is a little tricky; we're trying 15 this time... its really your choice)
go.

Sample fandoms (ours!):

Doctor Who/Torchwood
NCIS
Merlin
Dresden files
Dr. Horrible
Other/of your choice

Sample genres:

Romance
Angst
Mystery
Crack-fic
Sci-fi
Action/adventure

All drabbles and fics and the like will be posted here, at the ugly link: http://guardrailfail.livejournal.com/

Enjoy!

Work!Fail

2009-03-06T15:35:00.003-05:00

Nicole here. So far, all I have to say about today is Ugh. I found out yesterday that I was accepted to 1 of 3 grad schools so far. Except it's not the one I really want to go to. It is in fact the school that thought I was an undergraduate. So much, in fact that they sent my acceptance email to the email address I used to apply to them four years ago. Ah, well. They do have a really cool program where I could teach an intro to creative writing to undergraduates. And they would pay me for it. I enjoy that part a lot.

Other things. I have a LOT to write for class. Except for the last few days, I've been doing nothing but reading fanfiction and watching Merlin. Major, epic work fail. I need to write chapters for class, AND just so that I can you know, actually publish the damn thing, but I just kind of feel like mucking about, watching British television and reading fanfiction.

Anyway, now I'm watching Narnia: Prince Caspian and confusing all the characters with characters from Merlin. *facepalm* I mean, really, Prince Caspian looks sort of like Lancelot. The thing I'm looking forward to most is when Eddie Izzard shows up as Reepacheep. Woot.

I do have a really amusing plan for a crack!fic for Merlin in which Uther throws a temper tantrum, Merlin and Arthur make out already, and Morgana needs to slap a bitch. I will most likely end up writing this before the things I actually need to write, but maybe it will get me back into a work mood.

But alas, back to the Britishness.

Scheduling!Fail ... and Merlin

2009-03-06T10:22:00.006-05:00

Jess is - Aggravated!Dalek

Some important things you should know to understand my irritation and strange/unhealthy desire to EXTERMINATE things:

I love lists. This is not relevant, but you should know that I'll be using them often.
Its Friday, specifically Friday morning.
I used to have a 9 am class, but have recently dropped said class in favor of my sanity.
I'm running participants for my senior thesis in psychology. We're aiming for 70-80.
Number 49 was supposed to come in Monday, originally, and rescheduled for 10 am today.
I wanted to sleep in. (Silly Merlin was distracting me from finishing my grading in a timely manner last night...)
Number 50 (1 pm today) was supposed to come in Tuesday, and then yesterday, and missed both of them without any prior notice.
I thoroughly dislike it when people waste my time. The only person who can waste my time is me, darn it!
I slept through my phone alarm (thank goodness for Nicole's, or I really would have been late!) but as such slept through when I could have eaten breakfast.
Number 49 is currently more than half an hour late and counting.
I can't go get vending-machine!poptarts until I know 49 is definitely not showing.
I could be asleep right now.

So, folks, what do you think - is common courtesy too much to ask these days? Its not like we're asking all that much of our participants - come into the lab at your assigned time, do ridiculously boring tasks for half an hour, and tell us if you were suspicious of anything before you leave. For this, they get all kinds of extra credit and chances to win money and good karma!

Did I not do enough studies as an underclassman? Maybe this is just karma laughing in my face because we kept joking about it while writing up the proposal for this study last semester. Please, karma - don't be mad at me!!!

I'm actually mostly just using this post to vent my wrath before I email 49 and tell said participant that 1) they will have no further chances to reschedule because technically we're supposed to do part 2 (lab portion) within 5-7 days of beginning part 1 (email survey thing) .... so we won't be able to use their data if we wait past today, and 2) I now have to dock extra credit from their account for not showing up (they know about this already - I just experience unholy glee in reminding them... because they're wasting my time). I don't want to be too snarky in this email, just in case they have a legitimate reason for not attending which would make me feel like a terrible person. But damnit, I just want to snark!

Maybe a change of topic would be good.

Watched some more Merlin last night while conspicuously not grading the homeworks I was supposed to... and there was an awesome moment with the sneaky evil!sorcerer character (played by Pippin from Keen Eddie) who does his while diabolical rant to paralyzed!Uther about why he's going to kill him (....like you do), sounding very much like Inigo from Princess Bride. (look at all the references I'm making! glee.)

Evil!Sorcerer: Hello, my name is... actually, my name is kind of wimpy and unimposing so we're going to forget that one.
Paralyzed!Uther: *blink*
Evil!Sorcerer: You killed my mom! .... and my dad! ... actually you basically killed everybody, you psychopath!
Paralyzed!Uther: -__- (I would be throwing a tantrum right now.... if I could move!!!)
Evil!Sorcerer: Prepare to die! .... slowly, and painfully. I'll watch.
Paralyzed!Uther: *blink!!*
Evil!Sorcerer: ....beetle?

Ah... I feel strangely better. And its after 11 so 49 is out of luck. Polite, snark-less email time. *grumble*

- Jess

** Awesome Dalek icons credited to Alden from tetrap.com. **

EDIT: 1 pm (waiting for the new #49 to show up *crosses fingers*) ... apparently it was Lancelot (*giggles* .... he lances.... a lot) that we were originally comparing to Inigo Montoya last night. but I think Edwin the evil sorcerer works just fine too... and is possibly funnier. I mean, seriously - we can't use the beetle line with Lancelot!

EDIT: 1:20 pm - still waiting. R yelled at the 10 am and apparently she's coming in at 2. We shall see. Attempting to use my time productively...while sitting in plain view of the door in case 49 does show, trying to catch up on a project of mine that I am very, very far behind on. I would much rather be on the computer, but I'm afraid this room can only be seen by half of the door *rolls eyes* and if someone is not seriously committed to this study, they'll just keep walking. grmph.

EDIT: 2 pm - the original 49 is here! I guess R is very scary when threatening people with bodily harm. Bwahahahaha.

Procrastination!fail

2009-03-05T19:54:00.002-05:00

Nicole!

I was poking around on teh interwebs (while supposedly finishing the grading for stats that I'm supposed to have done by tomorrow - TA!fail...) looking for a good icon for my profile at the nerdfighters site so that I don't have to resort to using my own silly looking pictures...and I found these! Holy nerdy wonders of awesome, batman!

So as the less technologically savvy of the us, my question for you, fair roomie, is ... is there any way we can use these somewhere awesome? P-p-p-please? I am all aflutter. (At the very least, we could show them to other Who!fanatics who could use them on their LJs...)

Alas, the homeworks plead for grades. I'll be back later - Merlin tonight, yes?

/procrastination.

- Jess

Food!Fail (or things that do not constitute a meal) also.... about us.

2009-03-05T17:03:00.000-05:00

Geek-girl no. 2 present and accounted for! ... even though it appears that my cookies did not want to be acceptable... or something. cookie!fail. (like guardrail!fail but more tasty, doncha know.)

and so, for our semi-inaugural post, Jess and Nicole would like to bring you....

Things That Probably Should Not Be Considered A Meal (i.e. meal!fail):

Thing 1: Baked potatoes. by themselves. alone. and lonely. nutritional value - zip.
Thing 2: spagetti/rice and corn. fiber - check. everything else - nil.
Thing 3: jambalaya (depending on the recipe). especially when its too spicy to actually be edible. (boo and hiss) (also - spice!fail)
Thing 4: mac'n'cheese. (especially when its the only thing you eat alllllll day. .... its alright for snacks.... although Jess is of the opinion that the cheese half of mac'n'cheese is quite nasty. ... Nicole doesn't eat cheese.)
Thing 5: tater-tots and corn. (Jess is amused by the number of things we could potentially write on this list that follow the format "____ and corn" ... and/or "potato and ____"). Not that tater-tots are not AWESOME... but as the main course, they are not acceptable (except in extremely large quantities. maybe.)

This does not have to be you! Even factoring in all of the strange edibles-quirks of the people we live with (vegitarian, vegan, nothing-orange-or-otherwise-random-ian, and omnivore!Jess who will eat just about anything you put in front of her) ... it is still possible to have well-balanced meals every night.

That's right vegan!skeptics (we know you're out there) ... you don't have to eat meat and strange dairy-esque products in order to be healthy... you just have to be a little more careful about how you get your protein, etc. (and vegan!corndogs are delicious.... thank you...Hank?)

FYI: we're planning on posting tasty tasty recipes for all food lovers, no matter what creed... at some point..... soon.... hopefully. it will happen. and it will be awesome.

.... we suppose we ought to explain ourselves at some point.... about what this blog will be about in the future. and who we are... maybe.

thus - List!notfail. (bwahaha?)

potential posts:
1. ramblings
2. fics (there may or may not be an epic!cross-over of awesome between all of the fandoms we enjoy... be on the look out!)
3. recipes (see above)
4. rants about things that fail
5. interesting/geeky things that amaze or amuse us (the strange banging noise coming from the apartment downstairs should probably be included in this category. Jess is afraid to investigate..and Nicole has deserted us for the phone. It actually sounds remarkably like the drumming sounds the goblins made in the mines of Moria in FotR. If they start making other goblin-y sounds, Jess is out of here. You're on your own folks.)

... drums.... drums... drums in the deep....

....here come the drums, here come the drums! baby, baby baby! ... you are my voodoo child... my voodoo child...

/geek.

surprise!news:
Nicole just got into grad school! YAYYYYY! *Jess does happy!dance for Nicole.... in her mind*

6. music. (Nicole just made a creepy noise. occasionally her obsession scares Jess...) (Jess likes talking about herself in the third person.) we'll make recommendations about good music and youtube videos and things.
7. guest!blogs by Julia, third in the triumvirate of people who have lived with Nicole.
8. books. Jess is a book!nerd to the nth degree and loves to infect others with her many (many many) loves. she hopes that maybe having something to write about will make her keep reserving time to read things that she wants to (as opposed to classwork) ... yay! We suppose that fanfiction recs would also be included in this category... as we also love to spread the insanity in that area. Also, Nicole writes books. and graphic novels. and other awesome things. Perhaps we could persuade her to let us read parts of them?? *Jess looks significantly at her roommate*

we may have to return to the list of us at some point (Jess really wanted to include a list of "things we are not" ... like guys. and walruses. ... because negatively defining things is always so much more interesting.) but Jess needs to get ready to trek up the hill so as to have food!time with her boyfriend... and thus will be signing off...saying "meow, meow meow meow meow." (points to anyone who actually gets that reference.)

TTFN!

- Jess and Nicole, geek!girls extraordinaire.
(*Nicole waves good-bye*)

Welcome to Guard Rail Fail

2009-03-05T15:48:00.000-05:00

For all those times in your life when you're watching a geeky, sci fi or fantasy show/movie and BAM! Anachronistic railing. Was there a temporal shift? We can help you out.

Comments and thoughts on life as a female geek.