the letter a.

it occurs to me that all of the state I've lived in the far have ended in the letter "a."

ALL of them

Oklahom a.
Arizona.
North Carolina.

guess that means I should just look at the schools in Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Pennsylvania and Georgia.  Well, if I want to keep the trend going, that is...maybe I should look at those schools in Cali.

and this, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, is what Carrie thinks about on rainy Thursday afternoons when all she wants to do is go home, take a nap and eat Mexican food, and instead she's at work, just finished a conference call and will be finishing her homework before eating the aforementioned Mexican food.  yippe.

lessons learned from molecules

Sometimes it’s more stable to fall apart than to stay together.

Last, after the forty-minute installation of my new printer (since Hazel broke the old one--the cat's curiosity killed the printer?!? riiight. anyhoo) I began watching my lecture. Mostly high school/freshman in college chem about atomic structure, with a bit of orientation stuff thrown in for kicks. And then I learned a lesson from salt--from NaCl being cleaved or smushed. An outside stress or force acting upon it, pretty much out of its control...that sometimes the most rational thing to do is fall completely apart.

Which kind of made sense to me--it hit home. Sometimes I get reaaaallllly annoyed with people telling me to calm down, or be more reserved, or to stop thinking about it. There are times when "take a deep breath" or "sleep on it" make things even worse. I know that sometimes they're right. They ARE. But other times? Othertimes the best thing for Carrie--and probably the best thing for some of you too--is to lose it, just for a little while. Not go-off-the-deep- end lose it, but let those tears out, or rip something only-semi-important-and-definitely-replaceable, or yell, or scream, or eat that icecream or chocolate, or go kick-boxing, or whatever you have to do to make yourself feel better that isn't harmful to yourself or others.

because sometimes, once in a while, that's the smartest, best, most correct thing to do. anyone who tells you differently is selling something. and it's probably mood-altering.

pinata!

so, it's friday night...

stage one.

stage two.



stage three.

everyone should play with pinatas. you just need to hang them higher that we did. oh, and pinatas go best with margaritas. and taco salad. and burnt cinnamon sugar tortillas. i've spared you the videos, but only 'cause I can't figure out how to rotate them ninety degrees.

oh, and a special thanks to audrey for being super enthusiastic! :)

good news, bad news.

good news: I do not have any form of lupus or any disease that is causing my sun allergy.
bad news: because I don't have lupus or any disease causing my sun allergy, they do not know what is causing it.

terrific.

even better news: I'm supposed to wait until it happens again and let them get a biopsy.  i'm tickled pink, let me tell you.

but, at least it's not lupus. that's the bright side!

itsnotfunny.

i'm starting to agree with ryan. and chris. and ben.

 

and anyone else who thinks that maybe instead of insurance we should just have health savings plans.  or whatever it is that's just a chunk of money you save for medical stuff instead of screwing around with this whole in-network/out-of-network mumbo jumbo.

 

because really, it's making me scream.

 

i'm sharing this because, you should know, apparently you can go to an in-network doctor who will send stuff to out-of-network labs.  so, you pay your good old $20 copay and then get hit with a big old bill for the lab sevices. and the rude/smug (smude?) lady on the other end of the phone talks to you like you're an idiot for not thinking to ask. 

 

so, I guess now when I go to the doctor I'll need to see--is this thin piece of paper on the exam bench covered?  what about that tissue I just used?  the toilet paper in the bathroom?  this "free" sample of medicine? is the needle covered, or just the container you'll keep the blood in?

 

Or will I be charged $67 for them to have someone else evaluate my snot? Yikes.

nickname needed.

short, sweet and work-appropriate.

 

I need one to put on the back of my softball shirt.  Else I'm left with just my name. 

 

It's funny to me that I've never had a nickname that stuck for long.  At least, not one that more than a handful of people called me.  Anna calls me Twinx, and Adam calls me Strawberry-Butt.  I've been Kiki and Carrie R and Leg and Care, too.  My mom sometimes calls me Carita.  Yeah, that's it.

 

hmm.  anyhoo.  back to taking hydrogen flux measurements.  yeehaw.

 

 

and now I know why my head hurts.

so, um, yeah. don't challenge me and assume I won't do something. like, uh, put dessert in your face. 'cause I'll get some for me, and I'll get some for you, and then I'm going to get some to smear on your nose. That's just how that works.

this is me removing said dessert from Michael's face. Blogger is being weird or I'd show you the picture of him with a brown nose holding a can of Duff. Good stuff. And PS, the Duff can? Spectacular! Otto got it for me in Vegas--and it has playing cards inside with funny pictures on them. Good stuff.

anyhoo. remember...don't challenge drunk Carrie. She might just do whatever you're expecting her not to.  

a retraction: no, virginia, pluto is not a planet.

"...actually, Virginia, we're really sorry. We know that we gave your dream hope, telling you that this Pluto you believed in so strongly was really a planet. We understand why you questioned it, and we thought we were telling the truth. Turns out we lied. Oops. Also, we'd like to take this opportunity to tell you that we are in no way responsible for distress, emotional or otherwise, caused by this event, nor will we pay for any ramifications of potential distress, now or ever, including but not limited to: therapy, counseling, a degree in astonomy or drug use. But, uh, keep asking those questions, kid. Really, it's important that you know the, uh, truth. Or, uh, whatever is true at the time."

Sincerely,

the guy whose fault it wasn't.

Huh. So we go from nine...to twelve...to eight.

There are now only eight planets. Seriously. At least they came up with a better definition for a planet. “a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit.” (PS, I don’t know what’s left out in the …, but rest assured, I’ll tell you if I discover it. No need to lose sleep!)

So, now how do we remember them? I’m sure they’ll come up with something.

Oh, and the best part? The dwarf planets. It’s a big huge umbrella designation for those we’re choosing not to call planets, but are still big. Uh-huh. Riiiight. That’s called sitting comfortably on the fence, boys and girls.

…still shaking my head…

(source)

be a part of the solution.

I heart toothpastefordinner. You should check it out. Adrienne sent me this one a loooong time ago, and I like it!

And I am such a nerd, I know, I know.

Anyhoo, one of my little life-dictums is that if I’m going to point out a problem then I need to try to be part of the solution.

Apparently this mindset is uncommon at best.

Yesterday we’re playing softball, and I’m up to bat. I tip the ball of the top of my bat, and it’s weak/wobbly pop fly a few steps right of the pitcher. I see the pitcher catch it, and I start running myself—and my bat—to our benches.

EVERYONE is yelling my name. Though, I must point out here that a guy named Ricky (which sounds a lot like Carrie when it’s being yelled) was on first when I batted, and has likely made it to second or perhaps beyond. This is what goes through my head in that split second.

Turns out the pitcher made an error and dropped the ball. I wasn’t out after all. And coach starts yelling at me from behind the backstop!

I turn to him and say, “Don’t yell at me. I would have known to keep running if we’d had a first base coach. I thought he caught the ball. Sorry.”

I was pissed.

Sooooo, for most of the rest of the game I was first base coach when everyone else was sitting around yammering or whatever. And more times than not I let them know we needed a third base coach, and someone would go out to do it. But only if I asked. So weird! I definitely got some funny looks/smiles/winks. But hell if I was going to bitch about not having something we needed and then sit idly by while we were still deficient.

Maybe if others thought like this too more things/issues/changes/ideas wouldn’t go by the wayside??? I don’t know. But it sure couldn’t hurt.

this doesn't suck.

(insert groan here)

so, I'm totally excited because yesterday Otto and I got a new vacuum. This may seem to contradict this, but it doesn't.

This vacuum cleaner is AWESOME. It absolutely picked up lots of stuff our old one didn't. And hopefully, hopefully it will mean that when Ariel comes over she won't feel quite as bad :) Poor girl is allergic to cats. I’m very excited about using it! And there’s a stair attachment!

Otto got TWO toys this weekend. One from icky McDonalds and one from Cracker Barrel. Both are trucks. One—the Hummer from Mickey D’s—is technically mine. He got the bigger Jeep-like one, but I don’t have a picture of it. I hadn’t eat at McDonald’s since watching Super Size Me, and I protested about getting a snack there, but Otto had a point—it’s not like fries are better anywhere else!

We went to VA to celebrate Otto’s Maggie’s birthday. She’s in her eighties, and I gave her a picture I’d take last thanksgiving, and she LOVED it. (the middle one) We had lots of fun. And I also took some pretty pictures--here's a taste. I'll put more on my photog blog.

And class starts this week. I'm both excited and nervous! Last year’s fall class brought on an onslaught of migraines and send me to a neurologist. Hopefully I will fare better this time around.

snakes on a mother-effing plane.

it's more than a movie: it's a phrase. and it makes me giggle. and apparently the movie is pretty good, and funny when it should be, and best to see with an audience. it's a good thing to say, I think. and likely less offensive if you don't use the naughty twelve letter word.

Very useful, dontchaknow?

Stuck in traffic? snakes on a plane.

Thirsty in the airport but only have fifteen minutes before your plane boards therefore meaning you'll have to chug that bottle of water you just paid three dollars for? snakes on a plane.

Scratched the paint on your car?snakes on a plane.

Your boyfriend is traveling for the umpteenth week out of umpteen plus one weeks? snakes on a plane.

Digital camera batteries outta juice? snakes on a plane.

Ha!

aaaaannnnnnnddddd.....

why. won't. the. clock. move. faster. ???

I am t-double-i-triple-r-e-d. tiirrred.

mary alise and I stayed up waaaay past our respective bedtimes. we had a lot of fun, but we're sure paying for it now. I cannot wait to nap and then hopefully have dinner with my durham friends! (crosses fingers)

quid est nomen tibi?

Well, most of the planets are named after gods and goddesses, and most of ' em are Roman. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto.

Earth is not named after any god or goddess, and for some reason they chose Uranus instead of Caelus (or Coelus). Uranus is a Greek god, and Caelus is the Roman equivalent.

So, I think Earth's name should be changed, formally, to Terra Mater. It means Mother Earth, so it's basically the same idea. But it won't happen, so guess it has to be scrapped.

And I like Ceres, actually. But they could change it to Demeter, if they keep Uranus, so that both Greek and Roman gods are represented.

So that leaves two others--UB313 (Xena) and Charon. Charon should SO not be a planet name. 1) because it's the Greek name of ferryman across the river Styx (not a god/goddess) and 2)because small children everywhere will have constant exposure to yet another "exception" in the English language--in mythology it's pronounced with a "k" for the "ch," and the scientist who discovered it said it with a "sh" like in his wife's name Charlene. SO, ix-nay on the aron-Chay.

And calling UB313 "Xena" is sooooo letting pop culture into science. Which is bad news bears. Next thing you know we'll have the Gilmore belt, or comet McDreamy. No, no, no. And one source says Lila is a contender--and while I do love the name (though I prefer it with an "h"--Lilah), I don't love it for a planet.

So far we've got Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres/Demeter, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus/Caelus, Neptune, Pluto, _____ and _____.

Personally, I vote for....

Naming UB313 and its moon Castor and Pollux, the twins, or naming it Portunus, after the God of doors, since its discovery "opened the door" for re-defining planets and planetary science as we known it. Yeah, let's go with Portunus.

And then Charon? I think it should be Diana, the goddess of the moon, fertility and hunting. As it IS a moon of Pluto, and the discovery of Charon led to two other planetary discoveries--the other two moons of Pluto, Hydra and Nix.

and let's keep Ceres and Uranus how they are, just for kicks.

So, in Carrie land the names will be:

~drumroll please~

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Diana and Portunus.

come up with a mnemonic for that, I tell ya!

and is it better than: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Charon and Xena? I think so!

and thanks, Jackie, for the fun idea!

i'm feeling very rory gilmore right now.

Looked at some grad schools last night--Cornell, Harvard and MIT.

Cornell is out. No research I want to do, I don't think, and no Ithaca, NY, please.

MIT needs more investigation. I didn't find anything I liked, but the site was a little difficult to navigate. They seemed quite decentralized--borderline disorganized--in their admissions.

Harvard looked good, and I found two profs I might want to work for. Lots of environmental stuff. AND, you can take classes at MIT through Harvard, sometimes. Interesting.

I still have others to look at--NC State, Virginia Tech, Clemson, U of Florida, Penn State, Georgia Tech and who knows where else. And once I pick 'em, then there's applying and references and essays, oh my!

So, since I like Harvard best right now, does that mean I'll end up going to Yale? That's what Sterling thinks.

(though, of course, Yale would require me to leave the Materials Science and Engineering idea and do Environmental Engineering instead, which I'm not totally opposed to. anyhoo.)

my mom spent sunday wondering why she didn't name me alice.

so I told her that maybe, some day, when I have kids, I'll name one of them alice, or make it her middle name. (side note:she may have been wondering this WHILE I was buying my alice in wonderland tshirt. weird.) I told her I'd have to have two girls though. I already have another name in mind. she started talking to me about NOT having only one kid--that at least two are necessary. i totally agree.

but then I started wondering about who would have kids when. I, unlike my good friend Audrey, have no pregnant friends, no friend with babies--at least not really close ones. There's some high school friends--Whitney, Amber and Randi, to name a few, and I know my Big has a little boy, but I don't keep in touch with any of them, and haven't for a while. other than that there's some kaydees with little ones, but that's it!

so, I wonder, when will the baby parade hit for me? my durham friends (I group y'all as that, if you didn't know) are all smug marrieds without the kids (though they aren't smug, I just love that term). Soon (if they aren't already) they'll be DINKS--double income no kids, as my prof Dr. Manning would say. I imagine that I will be the last of them to have kids, but still probably be the first of my family.

and it's SO WEIRD thinking--I'm 25. Almost 26. And I don't want to have kids for years and years. Which seems to fit...

Sterling was telling me about our being the delayed generation. Or the lost generation. Or Gen X. Or maybe Gen Y.

I'm not sure if I'm a young Gen X or an old Gen Y. Dates differ, and apparently I can be considered an XY, as I was born in 1980. There's a seven-to-ten year period of flux, and there's no clear delineation because, well, that's just how it should be if you're an XY. Check it out though--read their list of what has happened in the life of an XYer/MTV Gen-er. It's weird to realize it and see it all in one place.

so, what's with this group of people, Gen X, Gen Y or Gen XY, that are delaying everying? Clearly I'm doing it. And a lot of others are too. Fifty years ago most of the females reading this blog would have had at least one child by now. What has changed so much? Is it all because of women being more liberal? I, as a liberal woman, have to wonder.

And have you seen that preview for the movie where the world is dying and no one is having babies anymore and the oldest person is eighteen? I wonder if this is how it starts. Though, clearly, this part cannot be blamed on liberal women. The conservative men play a part, too. :)

“yes, virginia, pluto is a planet.”

That’s what Richard Binzel of MIT has to say.

So, before, it was like this.

And I believe the Earth must be the stupidest planet, as it is the most dense. ~bah-dum-ching!~

But now they’re recounting, and they’re coming up with more planets than I have fingers.

Twelve planets.
TWELVE planets.

That’s how many planets we may have. TWELVE. They’re debating, don’t you know?

And, did you know there used to be another planet, Ceres? It was demoted, but now they might include it again. And this UB313 may be called Xena, and there’s another called Charon. Interesting that two of the planets up for debate have girl names. And since right now all we have is Venus representing women... But whatev.

It made me think of the mnemonic I learned so long ago—perhaps from Roxi Vincent. I learned “Mother Very Excitedly Made Jelly Sandwiches Under No Protest.”

I couldn’t find that one online, but I did find some others, including a dirty one!

oMooing very eagerly, Mary jogged south under nine planets.
My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas.
Mary Vincent Eats Many Jelly Sandwiches Under Ned's Porch.
Miss Nancy's Elephant Mastered Oilgebra, Not Integral Calculus.
My Very Erotic Mother Just Sucked Uncle Ned's Penis.
Mexican Vultures Enjoy Making Jam Sandwiches Using New Plums.
My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nine Planets.

Are there any I’m missing? And how does being ably to show someone nine planets make someone “very educated?” I mean, hullo, they taught me that in grade school. Now, the elephant one, I like it!

And now it’s going to maybe be…

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Charon, UB313 (Xena?)

And they have a new definition of a planet: any round object larger than 800 kilometers (nearly 500 miles) in diameter that orbits the sun and has a mass roughly one-12,000th that of Earth. Moons and asteroids will make the grade if they meet those basic tests.

So, um, by their definition the Earth isn’t a planet, as its mass is not roughly one-12,000^th of, um, its mass. Uh-huh. Brilliant, Spacenerds, friggin brilliant.

~shakes head and sighs...~

Anyhoo, I wonder what they will come up with for the new mnemonic.

Matt’s Vegan Egghead Mindset Causes Jill Stress, Ulcers Necessitating Painful, Costly X-rays? Many Very Excellent Minions Can Justify Singing Uppity Notes Playing Colorful Xylophones?

Riiight.

Aw, science. I heart it.

top ten reasons this was a good weekend.

1. brooke apker knight rules. Thanks for telling me how to re-stretch this bad boy. I also now know how to frame my paintings. I’ve never done that before, and now this one looks awesome, too (didn’t take a new pic though). I didn’t like the amount of sky at the top, and now there’s less. :) See her pretty art here, by the way.

2. Gilmore Girls season 3. Need I say more? I also watched the rest of Big Lebowski and some good eps of Sex and the City. Now that I’ve finished Six Feet Under (man, that last one made me cry!) I need a new tv show addiction.

3. My friend Frances had her baby—Abbey Nicole. She’s so little and already photogenic. Yay for new KD legacies!

4. Mary Alise and I had sushi and went shopping. I now have a pretty rose quartz ring and two super cute tees from delia's on sale! The Alice in Wonderland one is really cool, and the on the dino one the tails wrap around the back. I like it.We had an excellent time, per usual. And I can't wait for beefmasters with her, Michael and Otto.

5. I talked to Sterling and Renee (not at the same time, though). I like it when I get to talk to Sterling. Time differences can make it hard to talk (he’s on the left coast, I’m on the right). So it’s nice when we get to, even if sometimes we have to talk about un-fun stuff. And Renee? I miss her a lot! She’s moved back to Texas and is about to embark on her next big adventure in life. Yay, Renee!

6. I bought two new phones and returned one of 'em. Don’t buy the Pantech 300 one. It sucks. It's cute and little, but it's bad news bears. But the Razr? It’s cool stuff. And now there’s no more weird delays when I place calls OR when they’re answered. I like it. The pink razr is so not cute though. Which was mildly disappointing. It says a lot that all three of the guys working in the store had razrs. And it was cheaper there than online! Yippee!

7. I got hit on when I didn’t feel like I was having a “cute” day. This is always nice. Even if the Target guy was creepy and old. The other was not creepy or old, so that’s good.

8. I saw Otto. It was brief, but I got to see him in-between trips. He is traveling SO MUCH. Double boo. But it was nice to see him even though it was not for very long. He'd been in Canada since Wednesday, and now he's in Connecticut. At least I can call him there.

9. I painted a whole whole lot. I like doing that. I’ll get to do it more this week, I think. I don’t always know what to do with these bad boys. I love painting ‘em, though. And I may have sold my first piece to one of my co-workers. He requested and I painted, and once I finish it we’ll see if he likes it or not. And then I have to figure out how much to charge. Not an easy task, for me at least.

10. I slept and slept. Mmmmm mmmm mmm I love sleep. And tonight I take step one in learning how to quilt! I'm excited!

what does god look like?

this morning I woke up early, and though I'd only slept six hours I couldn't get back to sleep. so I went to the early service for what may be the first time in my adult life.

the minister talked about the many names of God--Stronghold, Lord, Adonai, Yahweh, Father, King, Master, Creator, Mother, Peace, Shepherd, Peace, etc. and then he talked about what God looks like.

and of course we don't know for sure, and there's many times in the Bible where we're told that we aren't able to see Him. But maybe we all have a picture in our heads...and apparently that's something that tells a lot about each of us. Pop culture has given us George Burns, Morgan Freeman and Alanis Morissette as representations of God. When I picture God I only see his hands. just a pair of really, really big hands.

guess I think God is a giant? ;)

seriously, though. how do you picture God?

word of the day

wasband.

saw this in Marie Claire, though apparently it's been around for a while. Totally going to use this.

speaking of vegetables...

this is a growing cuke, and I have a sneaking suspicion this will turn into a pumpkin.


and would anyone like a mother - of - thousands plant or eleven? 'cause see all those little things on the ends of the leaves? yeah, those are babies. seriously, I'll wait til they get a little bigger and mail you one. they're extra super easy to grow. just hardly water 'em and give 'em lots of sunlight. cory gave me one of them with three plants in a pot, and I'm going to have eleventy-billion of 'em soon. so, interested?

i like mine with fish eggs and tomatoes?

ah, jimmy buffet. Well, sorta.  song's stuck in my head. anyhoo.

So, before I begin, let's suspend physics/reality for a moment, shall we?

Wednesday night I had a dream where I was carrying something in my mouth. I knew it was quite large and important, and larger than the size of mouth, for that matter, and I got somewhere—a certain point on the beach of an ocean—and I spit it out.  I had two halves of a very large tomato in my hands, and they were filled with water, like they were bowls.  And inside of them were fish—little tiny ones.  Or maybe fish egss.  Or both. I was carefully setting the tomato-bowls somewhere specific when I woke up.

Alright, get ready to plunk back down in your chairs now, 'cause gravity is about to kick back in as we're no longer suspending physics/reality.

So I looked up everything here.  And wow-o.

Tomatoes. Water. Fish/Fish eggs . Mouth. Two. Sand. Ocean.

And know what?  Dead freaking on. I talked to Sterling that night for like 2 hours, and during our convo came to a realization.  (yes, I know what it is and no I'm not going to tell you, at least not on this blog. sorry...) And the dream coincides with it a lot a lot a lot.  And I don't know much about dreams.  Well, other than sometimes they mean something, and sometimes they don't, and that people have dreams about whales and  their teeth falling out, though usually not at the same time. 

It was borderline creepy, really...but maybe shed a little more light on why I feel like I feel.  Hmm.

Next time you have a dream, check it out.  It's pretty cool what your mind can tell you while you're sleeping. 

goodness gracious!

fortune cookie say:

gold and blue alumni office not good at taking hint.

Like, um, forever ago I called TU to let them know that my last name had returned to my maiden name, and that I had a new address. I’m pretty sure I even used the “d” word. And on Monday a lovely magazine arrived at my mailbox proclaiming the lovely and exciting details of Homecoming for 2006. I was eager to check it out, and then I noticed—IT. The address. It was to Mr. Justin M. K and Ms. Carrie R. R. See, technically this was the second such piece of mail I’d gotten—I just figured the first was a fluke! But, alas, no.

Le sigh.

So, I called yesterday and the lady I spoke to was very nice. I offered to give her Justin’s addy too, and did, and she was even very polite about accepting that. And was very apologetic. So that woman gets a gold star.

But whoever set this stuff up before gets a blue sad face, ‘cause they weren’t on their game. Seriously, people.

Oh, and the fortune cookie thing? Yeah, at lunch at Pei Wei yesterday my fortune said, and I quote “fortune cookie say: your sensitivity is an asset.”

We laughed out loud at the “fortune cookie say” part of that. Zowee!

so classy? seminary? anty?

I’m enrolled! Yippee !

Now I’ll just sit patiently and wait for the $$$ to pay for this class to come in. Ooh, and I need to buy my book. Doesn’t it look riveting?

So, yeah, just sat through a seminar that was completely, totally, absolutely over my head. It was about polymeric membranes, and their fractional excess free volume or something, and man, oh, man. Might as well have been speaking gibberish. It’s crazy how each sub-set of knowledge has its own language!

And I learned a valuable lesson. Which I already knew, but it was pleasant to have it reinforced. If you’re presenting your research to people who might a)hire you and b)want to make money somehow, I highly recommend knowing how your research is practical/applicable. Like, what can you do with it? Does it extend to something else? Where’s the value, basically.

This little seminar thing also made me know even more that I want to work with Materials Science and Engineering. Seems a lot more concrete to me. It seems to make sense. Though it’s probably full of obscure equations too, it just seems like you have a physical representation of it. We’ll see if I think this while I’m taking classes…but I’m a lot more interested in the research.

Also, a joke—
What did the Pink Panther say when he stepped on, um, the Aardvark’s friend?
Dead ant…dead ANT…dead…

I said that last night to the ants in my living room. They’d even crawled UNDER my cover on my loveseat. Yeesh. I need to call the apt complex. I think I'll do that now...

oh and...

it's one year at this company as of today. go, me!

It's naturally delightful and refreshingly different!

have you ever had izze?

Because if not, my friends, you’re in for a treat. So far I’ve enjoyed EVERY flavor I’ve had. I drink them at lunch instead of soda. And they are DELISH!

Sometimes, when I’m at home, I’ll make the fake version—I’ve been making it since I was about twelve—but now I use Perrier water instead of Sprite (and it’s cheap at BJs!). My comfort food used to be my grape/sprite drink and a butter-fried on the inside plain bagel with cream cheese. And now it’s the same, but with Perrier instead. And sometimes, when I really want a treat, I have Izze.

It’s a tad pricey, but I’ll happily pay a little more for something that’s actually good for me. Plus, they help others, see?

Try it. You’ll like it. And if, like me, you hardly ever finish a whole can of soda, then you’ll like it even more. I get it from Target, but it's at all sorts of places--but I highly doubt you'll find it at Food Lion, Reasor's, Lowes Foods or the like.

i know how the white rabbit feels.

I'm late, I'm late
For a very important date
No time to say "Hello", "Goodbye"
I'm late, I'm late, I'm late

I run and then I hop hop hop.
I wish that I could fly.
There’s danger if I dare to stop,
and here’s the reason why

You see, I’m overdue,
I’m in a rabbit stew.
Can’t even say goodbye, hello
I’m late, I’m late, I’m late

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
by Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)

It’s a fact. I am late. All. The. Time. I can't help it. I try. It's not like I do it on purpose. But about 87% of the time or more I'm not on time. It happens. Expect it to.

The other day Jess pointed out that sometimes she wants to say "yes, I am late. Always. You know this. Deal." And I'm not talking about important things, like being late to a wedding, or being 30 minutes late to a one-hour lunch date, or missing planes dues to lateness. We're talking about 5-10 minutes late here. Traffic late. I couldn't decide on shoes late. I needed to feed the cats late. Yeah. Do I get annoyed at you because you have an annoying laugh, or a poor sense of the proper length of pants, or a dry sense of humor, or because you tend to complain or get stressed or your shoes are always coming untied? Nope. I notice it. I realize it. But it's just a thing about you--it's a part of you--and maybe it's one that you only kind of have control over and really isn't worth fixing. And maybe, maybe, it’s part of what makes you you.

Now, I’ve recently realized this annoys me more than I though. Probably 'cause I'm sensitive after things like beach week Sunday morning packing when everyone else was ready at 850 even though we didn't have to check out until 1000, and Otto and I were being hurried for twenty minutes--we were out at 915--a full forty-five minutes early. Their hurrying maybe made our departure time a full five minutes earlier, but worsened my "i'd rather be sleeping" attitude by at least 50%). Things like this are the extreme, mind you. But once I actually had someone order lunch without me because I was seven whole minutes late—SEVEN—and I’d called them twice to let them know I was almost there. This person wasn’t on a schedule, either. I think they had three hours before they had something else to do. THREE HOURS. And they couldn’t wait seven minutes. It was quite a long time ago, but it annoyed me then.

I would also like to point out that it would be a severe case of the pot calling the kettle black if I weren’t at least a little apologetic about being late. And I am. It’s not like I like being late. As a matter of fact, the only thing I prefer to be late to is big parties where I won’t know many people—and even then it’s not like I’m that late or I’m inconveniencing someone.

And actually, I hate it that I’m late. It’s not fun to annoy other people unless you’re doing it on purpose—and I’m not. I wish people could realize that instead of pestering me--or anyone else for that matter.

i heart wary alise and dee dee.

we swam like fish, and drank like fish too!

And had this yum-tastic seven layer dip—coming soon to a party near you! (well, if you live near me.) Dee Dee—I mean Michael—made it. And Mary Alise makes excellent fajitas and margaritas. Also, please tell me that y’all have had puppy chow. Some of you may know it by the less cool name muddy buddies. But still, please tell me you have. PLEASE. So. Good.

It was nice to hang out in the heavily-chlorinated pool, have some yummy beer IN the pool, and then go eat. It was almost disappointing that we had to get out and get ready to go watch Walk the Line with the KDs at the NC Art Museum. We had fun doing that, don’t get me wrong—but it would have been nice to just keep on partying and sleep there on the fold-out couch.

After Walk The Line (which is so so so good by the way) we went to Mitch’s. Now, if you live in the Triangle area and haven’t been there, you should go. And if you haven’t seen the movie Bull Durham, you should watch that before you go, since part of the movie was filmed in that bar. The four of us sat at the same table where Otto and I sat our first night together. (aaaawwwwww….)

PS-DeeDee and Wary Alise matched. Tres cute. Also tres not-on-purpose.

And then off to CharGrill. The Place for late night food. It was entertaining. We had to park on the “cool” side, and I decided that taking a picture of it was a swell idea. See?

I was TIRED the next day. But we did buy some pesticide, the new G-Love cd and go see Miami Vice, which was so-so and kind of long, but a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon. And we downloaded Season 2 of Lost. We just couldn’t wait another month. I almost bought a camera a BJ’s yesterday, but I’m glad I didn’t ‘cause I found it for $50 cheaper online. I’ve been looking for a new one with more megapixels, and this one’s got ‘em. 7.1! Zowee!

And now it’s a rainy Monday afternoon. :( At least it’s the afternoon…

shells.

what is it, exactly, that makes shells so lovely? so intriguing? what is it that makes us want to pick them up and look at them and take them home?

I know that for me, some of it is the math. Like the nautilus, for example. Or the amazing concept of the thousands and thousands of different types of shells, how each nook and cranny serves a purpose. Why do some have two parts to the shell? Why do some leave their shell? Why is their shell that shape?

Sometimes I find that things in nature provide me with assurance that God does exist. (I'm of the belief that perhaps we're all worshipping the same God in different ways, and perhaps the message got muddied in the process, by the by. So a higher power, if you will. I happen to believe it's God, and the rest is an admission of the possibility, not the certainty. But I digress. Anyhoo.) So, these tiny features of the creatures, much like the patterns of our fingers or the colors of our eyes, are so fascinating. What other than a Creator could have put such love and attention into the details. I find it hard to believe that amino acids all by themselves would have come up with the unique aspects of each person. I think they need a shove in the right direction, personally. Anyhoo.

But I realized something else that drew me to the shells. You could see their history right there--as plain as day--or at least the results of it. They wear their hearts on their sleeves, as it were. So maybe you can tell what's happened to it, and how strong it might be, and where it's fragile, and where it's been, too.

I know there was a time in my life where I got upset almost any time someone talked about their father. I even made my chapter change a tshirt--it was going to say "we'll always be our daddy's little girl," but I insisted it say something else, and it became "we'll always be your little girl" or something. Anyway, that's a time it would have been nice to be able to have a shell--to some how show that this was a fragile topic.

I also wish I could explain to others that I'm late. All. The. Time. But I started writing about this, and it turned into a tirade. Perhaps this will get a post all its own.

And now, sometimes I find myself wishing that I could show others that I am strong, not weak. I'm tired of people doubting. But I get frustrated by people who don't realize that I'm sensitive, too. That, and I friggin want people to realize I'm intelligent without expecting me to be able to tell the future and/or figure out their last five years of work in thirty seconds. It's an odd combo. If Misha were reading this I could tell her that I was a "purple," and she'd get it. But maybe a shell would show people that too.

I'm sure that at some point every person has wished for some type of a shell, even if they don't realize it--telling others you're funny or brilliant or talented or even that you're lazy and you don't care so leave you the eff alone. :) Made me envy those shells a little. They were a testament of a trait or something, proclaiming its truth, in a way. Of course, it's important to realize that they're just the outside, not the inside, and that on the beach there weren't any living creatures inside. But at some point an animal did wear/use/live in that shell, and its experiences manifested themselves on the exterior.

I guess it isn't always wrong to read a book by its cover. It just depends on how descriptive the cover is.

might as well face it, you're addicted to...

you thought I was going to say "love." admit it. you did.

and so did robert palmer.

but no, currently, not addicted to love. like love, love love, in fact, but not addicted. got another addiction working its way through.

this.

(there'd be a picture here, but blogger is being uncooperative. it would have a lorelai, a rory, a sookie, a jess, a luke, a dean, a lane, an emily, a richard, a paris, a mrs. kim, etc. you get the idea, right?)

might as well face it (carrie), you're addicted to gilmore girls.

I am supposed to take it easy (I am working on sinus issue eleventy million and twelve) and so I watch THREE episodes tonight. THREE.

damn you, sterling, damn you. maybe I can make you your own special level of hell where if you complete a drawing you can move, but you're working with paper on which ink slooooooowly disappears, so everything you write and draw eventually has to be re-drawn. well, either that or I can say thanks for making me watch it. :)

also, six feet under? good stuff. I just watched the second to last episode of the series this week. netflix is sending me the last episode as I type. it should get here tomorrow! it looks like it's gonna be a doozie.

off to go read more of The Golden Compass and go to bed. It's so good!!! And Nicole Kidman is going to be Mrs. Coulter in the movie! Zowee!

this is just buggy.

good news first--my plants are fruiting! I've already harvest zucchini, a few cherry tomatoes and my spinach is ready, too. plus, my cukes are starting to grow and my pumpkins are flowering! no yellow squash yet though. and, my watermelons are growing! They're little baby watermelons now (egg size or so), but they're getting there! I sure hope watermelon is good in september...i bet it is good any time if you put vodka in it. ;)

initially, I had those damn tomato/tobacco hornworms all over my cherry and bush goliath tomatoes. The one in this picture was larger around than my thumb!!! I'd noticed the foliage on the end was disappearing, but figured that was 'cause the plant kept falling over or something--it grew to one side despite my best efforts to encourage it otherwise.

so, though it meant harming another, Otto and I took care of it, pulling off the worms and cutting the poor little buggers in half! (gasp!) Since then I've only seen one, and I just threw it far away.

But now? Now??? It stinks!

Because we have stink bugs/ leaf-footed bugs all over the cherry tomato plant! :( I'm trying to find a way to get rid of them without using Sevin. There's a safe something or other that you can use up to the day of harvest, and I'm going to see if Lowe's has that. We shall see. Anyone know what to do?

Also, I need an opinion. My best friend Jessica has convinced me that these are the bomb diggity, and now I want one. Plus, after reading this, (it's long but worth it!) I'm absolutely motivated to no longer use the plastic grocery bags if at all possible. Amongst other things. So, I'm going to use this for groceries, too.

but which color? Blue Iris or Lime? I'm getting the medium with long handles, with my initials, hopefully in lowercase.

if we always got fired for our mistakes we'd all be penniless.

seriously.

so, my day yesterday was a bit better, and that was nice. and mondayI was going to tell you about the whole breakfast thing... so, we got this coupon, right? these people left 'cause they didn't want to wait, so they gave us their $10 off. Dan and Cory used the coupon, and gave everyone else $2.50. This all sounds simple, right?

not so much.

we're in line to pay, and the cashier lady takes the coupon off of the wrong ticket--rachel's $5ish ticket instead of d&c's $16ish ticket. so now rachel owes a negative amount of money and the woman can't get the coupon to come off of d&c's instead. It turns into a whole thing--the cashier keeps saying "16.09-10 is 11.09." Which is clearly isn't.

Hung-over Dan explains this to her calmly and politely, but she's insistent. It's difficult. And no fun. She asks for help from THREE different people, all of whom are quite rude to this woman. She isn't the brightest crayon in the box, to be sure, but at least she knows when to ask for help. (maybe she's a nice green or something.) And besides, how inconsiderate for a manager to say "deal with it." I've been a cashier before, it isn't as easy as it seems. Especially when it gets busy in there--and I bet it's even worse if you're dealing with people paying for food, since they've already gotten their product, you know? Like, if you want those shirts you'll wait in line for three minutes more. So anyway...

Eventually the cashier accepts $6.09 from Dan and moves on to the other tickets. With each of the three remaining tickets in our group she keeps explaining how she's worried she got screwed with that coupon. And when Rachel comes to pay her -$5.43ish tab the woman is flabbergasted. She just has Rachel pay what her ticket owed initially, and hopefully everything is hunky dory.

We are all annoyed by this cashier sitch, sure. But it gets recounted THREE times in the next 24 hours, with some people saying how they should not hire retarded people to work registers (ps, she did not appear to be retarded) and how this woman should be fired! I say, "now, hold on, how do we know it wasn't her first or second week there? I mean, she asked for help. What does it say that the manager wouldn't help her?"

"That she should have known how to do it" someone snapped back

"You have a point," I said, "but you really think she should be fired for making a mistake? It's not like it's easy to undo things on a register."

"She should absolutely be fired. They shouldn't hire stupid people. They shouldn't hire retards." I was told.

And then I did something I hardly ever do. I said, "Well, okay then." And then I shut up. Because I knew it wasn't worth trying to point out to them inhumane their attitute was. It was friggin' breakfast, people. Yikes.

I'm really, really glad this was on Saturday. Had it been any earlier, I might have been inclined to be rude later in the week due to the attitude about this cashier woman.

And on a funnier note. This place, Bob's Grill, had a slogan: "Eat and get the hell out!" And they sold bottle and can koozies, tshirts, cups, hats, sunglasses and thongs. Yes, thongs. With their slogan on them.

ba-dum-ching.