Well, boo.

Es ist kalt, y'all. Es. ist. kalt. And I just ate my last peanut butter cookie. I was going to save it for after lunch, but I was turning a corner. I still was turnin' that corner after I ate the cookie, and since the oatmeal I made for lunch wasn't ready yet, I had to grab whatever was available in the fridge, which was carrots. Carrots. Mmm.

But in other news, the thesis is almost done. Supposedly.

The Thesis

I hate it.




-

Also, Wally does not recognize the end of daylight saving's time and has begun a program of plaintive, annoying meowing for his dinner every day at 3:30...right about the time the sun disappears from his napping spot on the stairs.

Well, Hi There

Dear Reader,

Hello. I haven't been posting much lately, have I? And I will tell you why. It's that darned thesis. I'm trying to graduate this semester, and I'm not sure if it's going to happen.


Morale is low.
Grooming standards are low.



Be glad you're not around right now.

Well, That's Interesting

http://shrinkster.com/12jj




-

Why Not Pass the Time by Playing a Little Solitaire?

I'm waiting for a document to attach to an email I need to send to night so that I can finally go to bed. My word, so sleepy. In the meantime, allow me to tell you a little story about that cat. (No solitaire or jumping in lakes involved.)

That. Cat.

Y'all, I declare. That cat.

So, jlr and I were planning to make a lasagna to take to our grandparents tomorrow. I thought I'd get a head start on it before she got home from work by going ahead and browning the meat. So I got the meat cooked, and then, because I had noticed His Highness hanging around the kitchen in an interested way, transferred the meat to a bowl, which I covered in plastic wrap. I went upstairs for something and was up there for less than a minute when I heard a licking / lapping sound coming from downstairs.

I raced downstairs, and there he was on the counter, licking up fresh grease from the frying pan. I could not believe it. (Well, I say now that I could not believe it, but I seem to remember saying at the time something like "Aha! I knew it!") Some yelling on my part ensued, punctuated frequently with "Bad cat! You're a very bad cat!" and then he calmly sat in the dining room and cleaned the grease off his face for the next ten minutes. The next ten minutes he spent puking all over our town home. And then, of course, he wouldn't eat his dinner.

Of course.


-

Avast, Me Readers! It Be That Day Again!

Ahoy! Today be one of my and jlr's (and especially jlr's) favorite days o' the year, Talk Like A Pirate Day! Aye, it be a day for celebrating all things pirate (but not all things really pirate, as real pirates be bad people deserving o' walking the plank).

Enjoy, me hearties! Be aye t' talk like a pirate t' all your buckos and mateys. Indeed, talk like a pirate t'all and sundry, and smartly!

I Was Right To Be Worried

Yesterday I noticed this big black spot on my ceiling, and I told myself, "Don't be paranoid; it's not a bug. It's just a black spot on your ceiling." And today? Not there.

And there's a spider on my wall.




-

This Is What Happens When You're Lazy

See, when the Toadies broke up, I was too lazy to find out what the band members moved on to do. And thus while I've been replaying Rubberneck for thirteen years, I've been missing out on the Burden Brothers. Of course, now the Toadies have released a new album, so it's almost like I didn't need to bother with following what the individual band members have been doing in the meantime, but because I didn't bother, I missed out on this.

Yes, I know, I can still buy the album, but the point is, I could have been listening to it sooner.

But yea! New Toadies album (No Deliverance)! It drops today, y'all. Happy times.


(p.s. Thanks to John for telling jlr about the Burden Brothers.)

I See Another Cup of Coffee in My Near Future

It's only 10 AM, and I've already eaten part of my lunch.

And in other news, I recently found out that the new FOTC season isn't airing until January. Bother. And since I don't have cable, I'll have to wait even longer to see it. I'll have to wait until the second season comes out on DVD and T. buys it, then lends it to me.

And speaking of T. and FOTC, we had a good laugh about it when I gave him a lift to the train station last month. The train was running a few hours late, so we walked to a nearby bar to pass the time (him with sandwich and beer, and me with my usual glass of water). As we walked down the street on the way to the bar, T. started laughing and then moved around to walk on the outside of me.* We both had a good laugh over that one.

Guess you had to be there.




*See 6:41 through 7:03.

-

Patting Myself on the Back

Y'all, jlr made a pound cake last night and left it here with me today, and I have not touched it, despite having been in the kitchen many times to ogle it, and despite my being very aware of its presence in the next room, and despite the fact that I can see the pound cake from where I'm sitting.

But the pound cake is for jlr's work, and so it remains untouched. I haven't even lifted the cover of the cake carrier to get a whiff. So proud of myself.


Also, is my air conditioner supposed to leak orange-colored, um, water? Not brown, as in rusty, but orange?


-

Scary Google People

Y'all:

I was just signed in to gmail, sending a message, when at the top of my gmail page I saw an ad for on-sale Hello Kitty underwear.

And, looking around the room for the Scary Google People monitoring devices, I thought, ‘How did they know???’

Spooky.

Dear Pandora,

While we don't always get along, I do appreciate my Kinks radio station. I really do. But--speaking of not getting along--could you please stop playing the Who? Please. Stop it.

The Bike!

T. fixed my bike for me this weekend (you know, the one I acquired this day). He spent the weekend at his mom's house babysitting her cat, and he needed something to do. I myself have never felt so great a need for something to do that I would volunteer to fix someone's bike, but I guess T.'s handy like that.

Also, I think he wants someone to bike with. I have told him that I'm not getting up at 5:45 A.M. (as he does) to go for a ride. I am also not going biking when it's 100+ degrees outside. T. says it's cooler in the morning, and I reiterate that I'm not getting up at 5:45. T. also is mapping out a 14-mile ride for us. I have also repeatedly told him that I can't go 14 miles, that I am sadly out of shape. I don't think my comments are making much of a dent, though, even when I told him the story about my last bike ride. But at least his other friend G., who is similarly reluctant to take long bike rides, will probably go with us, so I won't be the only one griping about how far it is.

So, anyway, when T. called Friday afternoon to say that he was free to come over and pick up my bike, I thought, what? Company? But...but that means I have to brush my teeth. And put on deodorant. And pants. But at least my bike is getting fixed. Poor T. had to see me in my usual working-on-thesis attire (and accompanying coiffure). Not pretty.

Incident Report, July 25, 2008

1. Banged knee on desk.
2. Modem died. Again.
3. Cut finger while moving the food processor blade.
4. Mystery bruise on left knee.
5. Mystery cut on right elbow.
6. Mystery cut on right ankle.
7. Mystery cut on left knee. [When did I do all this to myself? What, did I serve as Ponyboy's backup in last night's rumble?]
8. Apparently, I acquired a tank top tan just by sitting at my window all day this summer. Sigh. I guess I need to vary my wardrobe just a little bit.

And in other news, the tramp stamp sunburn is beginning to peel.

And it itches.

Dear jlr,

Thank you for posting again. I appreciate it.


Yours,
rr

Unidentified Fruit

At dinner last night, my meal came with a lovely side of mixed fruit. Ingredients: grapes, watermelon, orange, melon, cantaloupe, pineapple, strawberries, and...? Couldn't figure out what the last one was. I didn't eat it, just in case it was grapefruit, although D. says it wasn't. And she would know.

So what was it?

-

In case you were worried I'd abandoned that annoying habit of talking about my thesis all the time

So, how’s the thesis going, rr?

I’ll tell you, gentle reader. It’s going like the following description of a recent visit to Municode.com.

Me: Wait a minute, this isn’t a list of states! This is a list of cities.
Municode: Yes, that's correct. It's a list of cities. You're brilliant.
Me: What–Abilene? Is this Texas? I didn’t click on Texas.
Municode: Yes, you did. Else I wouldn't have pulled up a list of cities in Texas.
Me: No, I clicked on Calif–oh, wait, yes I did. Oops.

[backspace]
[click on California]






-

Greeeeeeeeeen Roof ! Planted.

Remember back in April when I said I got a ridiculous-looking sunburn? Remember I said I would post a picture of it later? Well, I'm finally getting around to posting it. That awful-looking sunburn has now faded to an awful-looking tan (tan by my standards).

The reason I remembered to post the picture is because I helped with some upkeep on the green roof today. We had a lot of new plants to add, so I spent an hour and a half planting on the roof of one of the science buildings. In my effort to avoid getting burned like last time, I carefully applied sunscreen to every exposed part of my body before heading up to campus. I even put sunscreen on my shoulders in case my sleeves rode up as I was planting.

So guess where I forgot to put sunscreen? My lower back. Where my t-shirt rode up as I was planting. I was so concerned about people being able to see my unmentionables that I forgot to be worried about sunburn. And I now have a huge sunburn tramp stamp. Bother.

Is it a mistake to listen to "Beethoven at Bedtime" when I'm this sleepy?

And supposed to be getting work done?


Also, does anyone else often feel compelled to pronounce it "Beethe-Oven"**?

**(And you know where I get that from, right? Right? Tell me you know where I get that from.)

Two of Wally's Favorite Activities

True to typical feline form, two of Wally's favorite activities involve bothering me.

Here, I will show you.

Staring at me (usually followed by my demanding "What? What?!" and his giving no indication as to what he actually wants but continuing to stare):


Stealing my chair:


Staring at me:

















Stealing my chair:













Staring at me while stealing my chair:

Dear Doc-uh-ments

Ye shall be copied from my hard drive and pasted onto my flash drive, and ye shall not give me any trouble about this. And ye shall not fill up my flash drive.

I mean it.

-

Ich habe sleepy

Stupid brokeness, won't allow me to buy k-cups.


-

Incident Report, lunch with my family last Thursday

1. My grandmother wants to set me up with her doctor. Um, no. "I know how to say it," she says, thinking, I guess, that she'll manage to convince the both of us that this is a good idea. I may have offended my grandmother by my reaction. And also by my comment that I don't want to have children.

2. Asked the waitress if the french fries were made from potato. Unable to explain that what I meant was did they make the french fries fresh, in-house, or did they have a bag of pre-cut french fries that they throw in the fryer. Laughter and eye-rolling from Dad. I'm just glad my uncle wasn't there; he already has a french fry story about me.

Ohmywordiftheneighbor'sdogdoesn'tstopbarking

Look, I love dogs, and as someone who grew up with shelties, I understand that sometimes they have days when they're a little bit barky. Or a lot barky. But on those days, if you own a barky dog, maybe you should close your windows. That's all I'm saying. Just close the windows.




On a side note, this quote from the Wikipedia article on shelties is spot-on:
"Care should be taken when using gasoline powered yard care equipment in the presence of Shelties...The strong herding instinct quickly comes into play, but subsides just as quickly as the Sheltie finds that his/her job has been done."

My parents' current sheltie tries to herd the lawn-mower when Dad is pushing it while it's not on (when it is on, she just barks at it. A lot. See earlier note about understanding that sometimes a dog gets a bit barky). She runs and runs around it in typical herding movements while Dad pushes it across the yard, but as soon as he gets it to the storage shed, the efforts to herd stop. And then she looks at us as if to say that she's very proud of herself for a job well done. I don't know, maybe you have to be there to see it, but it's hilarious. It's a lot like this, only with a lawn mower instead of sheep.

Incident Report, May 18-19, 2008

1. Banged hand on doorway

2. Mystery bruise on knee

3. Got whipped in the face by Wally’s rapidly-thwacking ears. It hurt, y’all.

4. Spilled soapy water on myself while washing dishes

5. Picked at bump on my arm until it got all red and irritated. Typical.

6. Behind on my thesis (yes, again).

7. Got whupped at Wii Tennis by my dad, and then again by my sister.

On my afternoon so far

Ich habe hunger, aber ich kann nicht essen. Or rather, I can eat, but I'm not going to eat because I’m saving my calories for dinner. *Sigh*. Dieting is even less fun than working on my thesis.

By the way, I haven’t had a German class in 12 years, so I don't guarantee that the above sentence is correct. Also, I think my thesis has become like Amy Archer’s Pulitzer. You could start making bets on whether I’ll mention it.

Pitiful

My daily food intake, per dailyplate.com.

Holy Pet Peeve Blog, Batman!

Today, I "visited" the "website" for The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar and "found" a "link" to a "blog" about one of my biggest "pet peeves."

Hurray! Oh, pardon me. I meant, "Hurray!"



-

If/Then Statements

If I sleep with my window open, then the lawn care guys will show up in the morning (with their obnoxiously-loud, wasteful, gas-guzzling lawn care equipment) and will use their ridiculous air blower thingy to blow leaves off my front porch, never mind the fact that I have a broom standing right there, as if to tell them “I sweep leaves off my porch on a regular basis, so there's no need to use your ridiculous air blower thingy.”

Else if I sleep with my window open, then it will rain.

-

Bad Wally

We do not chew on my foot, Wally. We do not.





-

Incident Report, Week of April 11 - April 18

1. Got a ridiculous-looking sunburn (photo to be provided at a later date)

2. When pulling up covers in bed, punched self in face. It hurt, y'all.

3. Spilled milk on shirt.

4. Attended faculty meeting as student representative on the dean search committee. Faculty asked my opinion on a matter to which I hadn't yet given much thought (but ought to have done). Looked like unprepared idiot in front of entire faculty.


Update, 4-29-08: Ridiculous-looking sunburn has faded to a ridiculous-looking tan. Boo.

Speck of Dust, Dust, Dust

This one's for you, Hils!






-

Plants, Day 6

It's been six days since jlr and I added plants to our patio, and, y'all, they are still alive. That's right. Still alive. I've even watered them twice.

I don't want to be too optimistic, but we're off to a good start this year.

Also, I made some truly terrible coffee this morning, but that's another story.

Incident report, since this past weekend

1. Knocked sticky notes off of desk.
2. Dropped cell phone.
3. Knocked over bottle of saline solution.
4. Hit head on lamp post.
5. Literally ran into friend while shopping. Twice.
6. Accidentally punched fellow shopper in the arm.
7. Spilled baby food all over pants leg while giving medicine to Wally (not my fault! He did it!)
8. Spilled unknown substance (probably frosting) on jeans.

New Language Setting

I'm just trying it for a short while, 'tay-'tay? Then we'll be back to French as usual. Pomise.





-

I'm remembering now that my advisor said she spent a lot of time baking during this same point in her life

I'm for real going to work on my paper now, y'all. For real.




And by "my paper," I mean "my thesis."



(Don't panic! Don't panic!)

More on Being Ill; and Also, Some Incidents

If you’ve read Impatientchicken lately, you know that I’ve been ill. I’m blessed with a hearty constitution—isn’t that how they used to put it—and don’t get sick very often. This means, of course, that when I do get sick, I become rather mopey and sad and, basically, unable to cope with doing anything more than feeling sorry for myself. I have therefore been avoiding posting to my blog.

See how I always have an excuse for not posting more often?

Anyhow, since jlr and I have both been ill, I’ve been amused at our mutual attempts to boss the other one around. When one of us is ill, the other one shifts into Bossy Nurse mode, becoming rather like the person Anne Cattrell described when she said, “I saw her on The World at War, and she wasn’t fighting for the Allies.” When jlr and I are both ill, then, it becomes a contest about who does a better job of insisting that the other one is more ill and therefore in need of more care (and thus more bossing around). I’ll admit that jlr had the upper hand at first because she didn’t get sick as soon as I did. I’ll also admit to standing in my closet with the door closed to take my temperature because I suspected that my fever had not gone away (it hadn’t), and I didn’t want jlr to know about it—and if she had heard the thermometer beeping, she would have demanded to know what my temperature was. Soon, however, the tables turned. As I got better, jlr’s cold grew worse. I think she might have had a bit of an infection. Might still have, in fact. So now I’m waiting for her to get home so I can boss her around some more. She didn’t go to bed early enough last night. I’ll have to do a better job of monitoring her tonight. I’ve kind of slacked off lately. Bad, rr, bad.

And for those of you who miss the incident reports, I’ll tell you that I hit myself in the head with the phone the other day. It hurt...and it made me mad at the phone. I did have an incident report list going, but I can’t find it. Here are two things, though, that I remember from the list:

1. Tripped over Wally. Did not spill tea!

2. Tripped on phone cord. Spilled tea.

Tell Jocelyn, Got Me, Too

I might have finally caught that winter-time cold I've been dodging for months. Boo! Boo, I say!

Of course, I might just be tired and will wake up tomorrow feeling much better. Let us hope.


-

As If I Didn't Already Have Enough Ways to Waste My Time

Lately, I've been watching a lot of programs on the Internet. For example, I've been watching Full House. No, not that Full House. This Full House. And also, jlr and I have been enjoying Overboard. No, not that Overboard. This Overboard.

And also, as if they've tapped into my brain and figured out what I think has been missing from Internet-available television, there's now this (Book 'em, Dano!).


-

I Need to Vacuum

Wally just ate something off the floor.

"What are you eating?" I asked him. "Drop it! Drop it right now!"

He just chewed faster.

"WHAT ARE YOU EATING?" I asked again.

He swallowed.

"What?" he meowed, all attiduninally.


-

Word Games

The word verification for a comment I posted to someone's blog today was "misjue." I was uber pleased, y'all; it's so very Mad Gabs.

As in, "Oh, Tanya, we misjue at the picnic last week. I wish you could have been there."


Eggs sell lent.

-

Dear Fruit,

You're wonderful, and I love you.

Faithfully yours,
RR

Incident Report, Week of 1-13-08

1. Dropped jar of eye cream, which spilled out all over the counter.
2. Dropped container of cranberries, spilling cranberries all over the stove.
3. Tripping going upstairs.
4. Punched self in neck.
5. Spilled coffee in purse.

Wally is Snoring

Wally, who is taking up two-thirds of my chair (the most comfortable two-thirds, at that), is snoring.

It's a good thing he's so cute.



The new semester starts tonight! I'm not excited about it, but going to class is on my to-do list for today, and when I come home, I'll get to cross it off. It's the little things, right, folks?

The Latest Round of Complaints

So, I had made the decision to be a more positive person. This was not a New Year’s Resolution but rather stemmed from two things: (1) I’m tired of being stressed all the time, and if I were more positive, maybe things wouldn’t bother me so much, and (2) believe it or not, some tapes my grandmother gave me that point out how easy it is not to stress about little things. I had been making remarkable progress (for me). But then.

Oh, but then.

Our project for my environmental planning class needed some revisions over Christmas break before we turned the final report in to the group on behalf of which it was written, and the changes need to be made by a certain date (today). I spend a very large chunk of my break making changes to the thing because the majority of my teammates couldn't be bothered. Never mind the fact that they PLAGIARIZED (as it turns out, it was more than one person using that particular style of writing). They couldn’t be bothered with the revisions. And as I don’t want to turn in bad work that could get us kicked out of school, I made the changes myself. Two other students on the team (the ones who didn’t plagiarize) said they would help but were in reality only a tiny bit of help.

I’m having some unkind, very unpositive thoughts about two certain Ph.D. students right now.

Why Am I Still at Work?

I'm going to miss Perry Mason.


Boo.





-

Digital camera

JLR and I bought a digital camera (finally), so expect to see a lot more of this:



And by "a lot more," you know I don't mean that I'll be posting more frequently, right? Right. 'Cause you've noticed the infrequent posting. All three of you.

Dear Lia,

As I take an afternoon blog tour, I see from the trail of your comments that you are doing the same. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one procrastinating.

Yours,
RR
P.S. You'll notice that, unlike you, I'm too lazy to post any comments.

Wally knows how to negotiate.

Wally and I had a stand off the other day.

He wanted me to share my tuna with him. I set it down on top of my printer for a moment while getting my study things together. He jumped on my desk and headed straight for my bowl. When I told him "no," he dutifully turned around from my bowl...and then sat down.

On my book. The one that I needed to study.




Here's a close-up of his game face.



As you can see, the desk is a mess. There was no way to extricate the book with Wally causing everything else on my desk to go tumbling down.

He is a skilled negotiator, that cat.

Tij = AiBjOiDjdij-b

And also, Sij = ΣiCiAjFj^aDij-b = ΣiSij.

I miss my theory classes.

Can't I just write another paper?

Sigh.

Back to the flashcards.

Sij = ΣiCiAjFjaDij-b = ΣiSij

Thinking + Tired = Not Really Thinking After All

It's 1 A.M., and I still have a lot of work to do before I can go to bed so I can get up (later) in the morning and study some more. My lips are chapped, and I'm staring at a tube of chapstick that jlr left on my desk, wondering if she'd mind if I used it. And then I realize that it's my chapstick; it's the chapstick that Hils sent me as part of my finals care package. And I think, "Oh."

It's still wrapped. Too much effort to unwrap. Bummer.

Does anyone remember what I was going to look up online?




-

Dear Deals, Tell Me If This Sounds Familiar

We had to do a group project in one of my planning classes. There's a woman in my group who, while she seemed really nice at first, managed to be remarkably unhelpful to the project. We had to ask her repeatedly for the information she was supposed to supply to the group. When she missed the scheduled "exchange information so we can compile one report" date by a week, and when we asked her for the information for what was, I don't know, the third or fourth time (AND THE LAST TIME WAS ON THE DAY BEFORE OUR PAPER WAS DUE), she acted like she didn't know what we were talking about. And then when she did get it to us, it was unusable. And then when we didn't use much of her work in the final project, she got mad at us and scheduled a meeting with our professor to lodge a complaint. Not so nice after all.

Sound like anyone you have to work with, Deals?

Stood Up

A classmate and I have to interview people who provide cultural programming at places that might not be thought of as cultural resources (ex., churches that have dance groups). We had an interview with a senior community that has a choir. It had taken a bit of finangling to get this interview, as the interviewee didn't seem particularly interested in our project, but we needed this interview, by golly, so I persisted. We set an interview date and time. On the correct day, at the correct time, my classmate and I drove the 30 minutes to the interview site, walked in, and said that we were there to see [interviewee's name]. The person who greeted us said, "I'm sorry she's on vacation this week."

Picture me flabbergasted.

Finals Time. Yea.

In case you were wondering why I've been posting even less than usual, it's because finals are right around the corner. I have a project due Monday. The next week, I have an exam on Monday, a project due on Tuesday, an assignment due Thursday, and an exam due on Thursday. Somewhere in that time frame, I need to squeeze in about 6 interviews for one of my projects. The only one I've really started working on is the project due on Monday. The other project has me a little bit nervous because (a) it should be around 30 pages, which would be no big deal except we've only got about, oh, two pages done so far and (b) it's a group project, and two of my teammates are slackers. They're slackers, people. It's been like pulling teeth just to get them to do the work they've done so far, and I don't have time to hold their hands. Only I have to hold their hands because group project = group grade. If they do a bad job, I get a bad grade. Sigh.
And if you think I've complained a lot so far, wait 'til it gets a bit closer to the due date. There will be much more complaining. It's my finals coping mechanism (which reminds me, I need more coffee).

Also, on Thanksgiving, I helped make the gravy, and I dropped the whisk. It splattered gravy on my left shoe and pants leg. Mom laughed. A lot. Also, I ate half an apple pie. And two bags of peanut butter cups.

My Favorite Quote from Today

" Moving too slow to be measured by the eye of man, the Great Meat Glacier pushed inexorably south."

(featured in the Meat! Meat! Meat! Part 2 section on one of my favorite websites)




-

Oh, Yuck

No time to wash my hair. Must meet with professor. Hope meeting is short enough that I can sneak away and do the reading assignment for his class this afternoon. Plus, must make flyers for GIS day. Also, not panicking about trying to squeeze in 9 interviews with arts people before the end of the semester. Not panicking about the amount of work I have left to do before finals.

Okay, that's not true. I am panicking.

And my hair stinks.




-

Apparently, I Can't Do Very, Very Simple Math

And in other news, my planning techniques & administrative analysis mid-term exam is now over.




-

So Good

Misarang Hatsal Rice Crackers....mmmm.......



And these are the ones I overate yesterday:

Bleh

Tongue dry. Ate too many rice cookies. Talking difficult. Tongue very, very dry. Bleh.




-

All Right. Who Was It?

Now, I'm not saying that someone--some invisible someone--drank my coffee. I'm just saying that there isn't as much coffee in my mug as I think there ought to be, and I didn't drink it.


So who was it?


-

Incident Report, the past few days

1. Failed to clear doorway
2. Punched self in jaw with box from Target
3. Knocked glasses askew with car door
4. Bumped head on door
5. Dropped roll of paper towels on floor
6. This one I can't remember, but that may have something to do with the fact that I keep hitting my head.

Dear Conference Organizers,

Tonight, classmate Sue told me about the silvery-inked pen she found in the bag you gave her at the conference yesterday. I attended the conference today. When I returned home from class this evening, I checked my bag, and there was no silvery-inked pen. Classmate Sue spoke highly of the silvery-inked pen. She told me how nice the writing looked when the pen was used with the blue sticky notes you handed out (which I do have). I would like to have a silvery-inked pen, please.

(What's that you say? That I cleaned out my pen collection this weekend and said I didn't need any more pens? Shhhh.......)

-

Snapshot of my day so far

Oversleep. Get up in time to get dressed, have breakfast, and turn on the computer before my professor calls to discuss a project. Tell him I will have the changes he recommended made in a couple of hours. Seven hours later, I’m still working on it. I was going to finish writing a paper today, but I might as well put that off. My professor thinks my classmates and I will be up all night working on it before it’s due on Tuesday; we might as well live up to his prediction.

The cats do not like their new food and have been bugging me all day to give them the old stuff. I tell them that the old stuff made them sick, but (a) they don’t speak English and (b) they don’t care. They want the old stuff.

I’m in the home stretch on the project when I hear a tell-tale cry from Gabby. I run downstairs, and, sure enough, she’s licking her lips in the way she does right before she throws up. I run into the kitchen to grab a roll of paper towels. She follows, sits down, and stares out the window. A sneaking suspicion creeps over me that her “about to throw up” symptoms were just a ploy to get me near the food bowls.

"Don’t act like you weren’t about to be sick, because you totally were,” I say to her. She casually inspects the rug. I look around the corner, and there’s Wally, big eyes staring at me, and both food bowls untouched.

I’ll admit it. They wore me down. It’s tuna tonight.

But at least it’s a Robert Cray day, so I’m happy.

Oh, Lovely Day

I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but here, it's a Robert-Cray-and-open-windows kind of day.




If you follow the link, try song 3. Fabu.



-

Dear Deals,

I saw this, and I thought of you.

Yours sincerely,
RR

P.S. D.C. Donut--I thought of you, too. I have first-hand knowledge of what Deals is going through; I reeeeaaaaally hope your situation isn't quite as bad. If it is...oh, man. That's bad.

Incident Report, Lately

1. Knocked over moisturizer bottle while reaching for hair clip
2. A bug flew into my mouth while I was talking to a classmate in the parking lot after class
3. Hit grocery store employee's foot with my grocery cart
4. I came home from class tonight with a plastic cup from the boba tea place I go to every Thursday; the intention was to recycle the plastic cup. As I came into the house, JLR gave me a look.
"[RR]," she said reprovingly, pointing to the plastic cup I brought home last week and still haven't put in the recycle bin.
5. Had the following conservation with professor:
Me: I really enjoyed Loukaitou-Sideris's article on sidewalks.
Him: Oh, really? When did you read that?
Me: Last fall in Professor Smith's class.
Him: I'm Professor Smith.
Me: [pause due to confusion followed by embarrassment] I mean, in Professor Stone's class.

Le Sigh.



-

Aye, Me Hearties, It's That Day Again!!

Happy TALK LIKE A PIRATE day, everyone!

(And thanks to Jes for being the first to comment on this before I had even posted it. You rock, Jes.)


Now, go out there and celebrate! You can start by spreading around a joke sure to amuse your co-workers (if they haven't already heard it); it's near and dear to jlr's heart because it (a) involves a pun and (b) involves one of her favorite things.

"What kind o' socks does a pirate wear? - Arrrrgyle!" [from talklikeapirate.com]












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Studyblock

Apparently, while I was downloading Leechblock onto the computer, my brain was downloading Studyblock. No studying after 3 P.M. Nope, not going to do it. Now my brain and my computer are working at cross purposes.

Brain: I will not study. I will look at cuteoverload and icanhascheezburger.
Computer: Um, no. I've blocked those, and you can't remember your password to bypass me.
Brain: Bother! But you won't fool me! I'll think of some other way to pass the time!
Computer: No, you won't. You're not really working right now, now that it's late afternoon. You've already put yourself on standby. Here, I'll give you something to do. How about working on that art inventory your professor has been waiting for? That doesn't require much brain power.
Brain: Sigh, oh, all right...Oh, look, a website for the Visionary Arts Museum! It's not going on the inventory, but I'll spend ten minutes reading about it anyway.
Computer: Sigh. I'm going to have to shut down the Internet again, aren't I?


-

How to Remove Honey from Hands While in GRA Office

1. Wipe hands on napkin. Note that hands are still sticky.

2. Use hand sanitizer. Note that hands still have honey on them.

3. Look around office to make sure no one is watching.

4. Wipe hands on pants.

Can I Add Leechblock to Leechblock?

Well, folks, only two weeks in to the new semester, and already my academic output would rate about a 7 out of 10 on the ol' Crumm-E scale.

To help increase my productivity (both quantity and quality), I've installed Leechblock. The problem is that I spend much longer than I should have just trying to find Leechblock. Moreover, I can picture myself spending a good deal of time in the next week wasting time trying to think of more sites to block myself from accessing (in other words, procrastinating...again). Grrr, RR. Grrr.

Oh, well, it's installed now, and here's hoping it will actually work.

Happy Monday, y'all!


-

I'm supposed to do something on Friday, but I don't remember what it is.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Anyone? I believe it is a mid-day appointment.









-

Dude, I Smell Like Outside

I have a meeting with a professor (of whom I am very much in awe) in 20 minutes, and I smell like outside. Le sigh.






-

On the plus side, the Runt finally posted again! She says she's going to post pictures of her new puppy, but we shall see...

Woe to you, Fiskars!

Woe to you for cutting my finger! We were friends, but no longer. I do not trust you.

But I am impressed with how sharp you are.

-

Do You Ever Feel Like This?

http://shrinkster.com/sbn

(slightly longer version at http://shrinkster.com/sbo)

I, for one, feel this way all the time (though on a more modest scale).




-

Corn-I-cannot-copia

Or, no longer “corn-o-plenty”

I love corn. Straight off the cob or from a can, sweet kernel or cream, I do not care. I love corn products, such as popcorn, corn chips, and wonderful, wonderful corn bread. More than these, I love things made from corn products such as corn syrup. And I can no longer have these things.

You see, I am allergic to corn. Or rather, according to my newly-acquired allergist, I have a sensitivity to corn. This means that, while consuming corn will not cause anaphylaxis for me, it will cause stomach acid to enter my esophagus, which, over time, will irritate it to the point that my esophagus will begin to close…which is what happened in all these years before I discovered I had corn “sensitivity” and why I had to have my esophagus widened a couple of months back.

Now, the good news is that if I cut out all corn products from my diet for the next, say, two years, my body may forget that it has this particular allergy, and I can go back to eating corn. Maybe. The bad news is that it’s hard to find products that don’t have corn, corn syrup, or corn starch (shoot, even most baking powder is made with corn starch). I will now be spending most of my grocery money at Whole Foods, where I’ve managed to find a number of things that I can eat and that don’t also require me to spend much time in the kitchen.

I guess I should pick up with yoga again; then I can really be one of those Whole Foods people.

There are only so many places it could be.

And yet I cannot find the cord to my "fauxpod" knock-off MP3 player. Where is it?

I mean, seriously, y'all.

There are only so many places it could be.


-

Dear JLR,

I saw this, and I thought of you.




Sincerely,
impatientbee





-
Dear coffee,

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...or at least the number of times I've mentioned you on my blog (with apologies for any repeats).

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

Adoringly, affectionately, and forever,
jlr

-

Picture me waving my fist at the computer

Are you picturing it? 'Cause I am definitely shaking my fist at the computer.

Can't. write. paper.

It's just a measly three-page paper. Three pages, folks. Three.

And yet.

Oh, sure, I have four pages typed already, but they don't say anything. And don't tell me it's because pages can't talk. You know what I mean.

What is it about this particular topic that makes it so hard to write? Developers and planners working together to reach a goal, specifically the building of low-income housing. I picked the topic. You'd think I'd be able to write about it. But no. I have, essentially, eight really long paragraphs that repeat themselves. They go something like this:

Planners and developers should work together. Planners can help developers, and developers can help planners. They each have resources the other needs. They should really work together. Maybe planners could, like, be a part of the development team or something. They could, you know, identify needs. And sites. And provide funding. Maybe? And developers can provide ideas and the rest of the funding and actually build the thing. It could work, you know? Planners and developers should really work together. Oh, but there might be some obstacles. Look out for those. And work together. Go Team!

Le sigh.

Hoping your evening is going better than mine is,
The Management
(tee hee...saying that made me think of Amstaff)



-

Incident report, 7-7-07

1. While at Deals' house this weekend, I very carefully poured out a glass of Dr. Pepper for myself, sipping it down to keep it from spilling over...and then proceeded to miss my glass entirely while trying to pour out the rest of the can into my glass.

2. Dropped a bit of queso on the floor (but I cleaned it up Deals, I promise).

3. Overhead highly-medicated Deals say something about "wearing her face" (as in, she explained something to me with, "Maybe it's because I'm wearing my face.")

Incident Report, 7-5-07

1. Spilled water bottle in book bag on my way to the first day of summer class.
2. Found four mystery bruises on my left knee.
3. Butter stain on my right jeans leg.
4. Gabby threw up on JLR's bed. Although this didn't happen to me, it's certainly worth reporting.
5. Was running late for first day of class; didn't have time to wash the long-time-in-traffic sweat off of me, so applied perfume in what I know is always a futile attempt to cover up sweat smell; couldn't smell the perfume on me while driving to class so applied more; several minutes later remembered that, due to my poor sense of smell, I probably wouldn't have been able to smell the perfume unless I'd bathed in it; felt sorry for the classmate who had to sit next to me. This classmate has since dropped the class. I wonder if it's because of me.


-

Because the cough continues...

Today, Deals said to me while we were at Jamba Juice:

"I'm getting an immunity boost because I've been spending time with you."

She said this with a look on her face that was a lovely combination of sneering, suspicion, and disgust. It was a work of art. I couldn't help but be amused.

I was reminded of the sick people at work who used to be insulted when I used alcohol wipes to clean handrails and doorknobs they'd touched. Hey, I was just looking out for my health. And Deals was clearly doing the same today. Way to go, Deals. Way to be like one of the family. Hee hee. Hee hee hee hee.

Coughing, Day 6

This is the 6th day of my coughing all day due to what the doctor attributed to allergies when I went to see her last Friday.

Tomorrow, I get to go the doctor again, if the coughing has not miraculously subsided. Because the medicine bottle says I should.
"Stop use and ask a doctor if: cough lasts more than 7 days, comes back, or is accompanied by fever, rash, or persistent headache. These could be signs of a serious infection." Tomorrow will technically only be after 6 days, but I say "close enough." Also, what if it isn't accompanied by fever, rash, or persistent headache but is accompanied by a couple of hives or vomiting? The hives were on Sunday. The vomiting is today. Yea.

To be fair to my body or ailment or whatever, I do believe the vomiting is totally unrelated to the coughing. I am taking this moment of feeling better to post something. Sorry it isn't more cheerful.

Let's see. Something cheerful. Hmm. Well, it could be worse. I could be Deals and be part of a jury for a criminal case right now.

I had some incidents to report, but I've forgotten them now. I believe they mainly involved the usual dropping of things and running into doorways.



-

Incident Report, Week of June...whatever week this is, 2007

1. Spilled black beans on pants
2. Mystery stains (foreign deposits) on shirt and neck (of all places)
3. Due to lack of caffeine to keep me alert on Tuesday, asked co-worker if that day "[was] a day of the week"
4. Scared Gypsy and Haskell by sharpening a pencil in my automatic pencil sharpener
5. Accidentally set off Deals' home alarm system when I left her house. Police came.

Why I Love Dogs

Picked up Deals' dogs from the Pet Hotel today. Nothing like getting a hero's welcome from two adorable, lovable dogs to make one feel like a very special person. I'm just sorry JLR had to ride with Gypsy in her lap. But, hey, JLR, at least you got a free bath out of it, right?

:)


-

On the topic of "When is RR going to take the time to update her blog?"...

Yes, that's right; long time, no blog.

I don't have access to a computer at my internship, so no opportunity to update during my lunch break. At night, JLR has been working on a project for the local bar association (at least, I think that's who it's for), and, yes, I'm just lazy. That's probably the main reason for keeping y'all in the dark.

But, on the other hand (most people have five more fingers), impatientchicken has been a-bloggin' away. So if you need something to read, go to her page. It is so choice. If you have the time, I highly recommend reading it.

As to incident reports, nothing major lately, although I did have a run of days in which I spilled coffee on myself every single day. Also, at work there's a huge column right behind my desk. It's between me and the coffee maker. Odds are good that I won't make it through the summer without running into it at least once (I've already had several near misses).



-

Happy Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday, Yuko Maekawa (who I haven't seen in so long that I forgot how to spell your last name)!

Happy Birthday, Amy Park!

Happy Birthday, Gypsy Kitty!

Help?

Folks, if any of you are handy with VBA, especially as (but not limited to) it pertains to GIS, could you help me out with my program?

(And, Deals, don't feel bad. It's not your fault that I centered my project around you. I could have done something easier.)

It's the End of the Semester, and I'll Cry If I Want To...

...but not because I'm sorry it's almost over.

Folks, do you remember--no, of course, you don't; I didn't post about it. Well, then, then let me tell you. At the start of the semester, I was excited about learning VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). I no longer am. That should tell you how my semester is going.

The Finals, They Are Approaching

The Finals, they are a-kickin' my behind.

If you don't hear from me for a while, that's why.





-

Incident Report, 4-13-07

A collection of incidents from 4-7 through 4-12

1. Banged leg on hair dryer, which was protruding from shelf
2. Tripped on rug
3. Banged leg on hair dryer
4. Scraped hand on wooden tp dispenser
5. Noticed scratch on right thigh from unknown source
6. Banged leg on hair dryer (finally moved said hair dryer)
7. Hit self in face with hanger
8. When opening yogurt container, spewed yogurt on face, neck, and hair
[note that items 2, 4, 5, 6, 6 and 7 occurred in one hour's time]

-

A Reminder to Myself on Easter

(From TobyMac)

Whatever happened to a passion I could live for
What became of the flame that made me feel more
And when did I forget that...

I was made to love you
I was made to find you
I was made just for you
Made to adore you
I was made to love
And be loved by you

You were here before me

You were waiting on me

And you said you'd keep me

Never would you leave me

I was made to love
and be loved by you

Yahoo Messenger Pet Peeve

Dear Acquaintance Who Shall Remain Nameless,

Okay, look. If you didn't want me to be on your messenger list, why did you ask me if I wanted to be on it? I considered it, thought "Sure, why not?" and have been waiting to be added to your list ever since.

I'm removing you from my list.
So there.




-

Note to Self

When one vacuums without wearing one's glasses, one is apt to miss things. Ick.





-

Lunch today

Oh, zee pasta, eet was good.
Oh, zee breath, eet ees bad.

A Bit More about Wally

Given name: Walis Olivia
Nicknames: Wally; Wally Olly; Wally Oliphant; Mr. Bun; Mr. Pitman; the Purring Mantis; Mr. Whiskers; Mr. Mooster; Woogie; Muffin; Pumpkin; Moo shu.

They Make Me Happy

Hee hee. Hee hee hee hee.

Dear Blogger,

I do not like you. I do not like being forced to switch to the new, "improved" blogger. I'd break up with you, but then you might not let me have all my posts.

Signed,
RR

I need a new word because "Crackjass" isn't strong enough

Amy is a small person. I don't what she may have said, and I don't care, because no matter what she may (or may not) have said, she did not deserve this.

For Hils and JLR: a Challenge

See if you can make the following poorly-written sentence even worse:

"The equity planning paradigm is an off-shoot, or 'spin-off,' if you will, of the advocacy planning paradigm that began in the 1960s after Paul Davidoff wrote an article about the paradigm (advocacy planning, that is)."




Good luck, ladies.