3.14  Enjoy some pi(e)!



And Happy Birthday Albert Einstein!  Today would be # 130!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:18 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Shamelessly ripped off from Jimbo of the Great Farookin' Hair™

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:28 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Well, so it didn't turn out terrible. We were taken seriously by some of the lions referenced below.

We'll see where things go from here.

And seriously, I have the awesomest husband in the universe.  I came home to delivery chinese food ordered and an expensive bottle of sparkling pink wine in the fridge.

Egg rolls and pink bubbles really make all the bullshit fade away.  Going to spend this weekend chilling and enjoying my time away from stress-world.  See you on the flip side.  Or at least on Twitter and Facebook.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:34 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Tomorrow we attempt to beard the lion in its den.  I could use any prayers or good wishes you can put forward.  Not for me, though.  For our students.  If things continue as they are, my students will be the ones who will suffer the most.

I just want so much to be a part of effecting a change that will make things WORK.

Thanks in advance.  I'll keep you posted.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:16 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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caltechgirl it's not about IDEOLOGY, you fucking turd it's about breaking poor people's backs. Gas goes up $0.14/ gallon INSTANTLY

caltechgirl Sales tax OVER 10%, and then increases in income tax and car fees. Do you want people to MOVE OUT FASTER?

caltechgirl I wish I hated my house and I could afford to sell it. I'd leave CA tomorrow.

caltechgirl I can't afford to stay.

caltechgirl FTR, the fucking turd in question was some stupid ass liberal state senator who evidently only represents RICH PEOPLE

caltechgirl I
think if you find yourself in a hole this deep, the first question you
should be asking is not how do we fill the hole, but rather...

caltechgirl ... how did we get here? What are the bad decisions that led us here. And then don't repeat them.

caltechgirl Because you can only blame "the economy" so much.

caltechgirl I
thought the democrats were the champions of poor people. I guess that's
true only until they need them to bear the brunt of their mistakes.

The above was in response to some opportunist idiot on the TV taking advantage of the camera in his face to make the budget mess all about Democrats vs. Republicans.

That's just ignorant.  What it's about is how much are we going to take and who's listening.  Have you heard the man-on-the street interviews in the media?  NO ONE wants you to solve the problem by choking us to death with taxes.  NO ONE.  Yes, some tax increases are necessary, but how are we spending the money?  Isn't there something that can be done without shoving it, quite literally, on to the backs of your constituents?

I've heard both sides point out that this economy is based on spending.  Great.  Explain to me, then, how people can get the economy going by spending when it costs them more NOT ONLY to buy items, but also TO GET TO THE STORE. And more of their income goes back to the state to begin with.  These people are barely spending, and you're threatening to put a BIGGER hurt on their wallet?

You don't improve this state by taking money from people. You encourage them to give the state more than you would take by giving them incentives to buy.

As much as I hate the sheer size of the "porkulus" package that the President will sign tomorrow, I have to point out that it is based on INCENTIVES.  And maybe that's why people were willing to pass it.  Because the help is obvious.  It's money going to people.  Not coming out of their pockets.  At least not today.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:34 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Valentine's Day together #1: bought each other the SAME valentine stuffed animal.  Entirely without consultation.  Giggles and kisses ensued.

Valentine's Day together #15: walk into Costco, notice motion-detector fixture on good sale, toss it into cart. Look at roses and strawberries on display across from motion detectors and go, "Oh yeah, Valentine's Day."

Somehow, #15 was a hell of a lot better.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 03:48 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 LOL! I know what you mean! Happy VD to both of you!

Posted by: Pam at February 14, 2009 04:24 PM (l6NIn)

2  货架、 货架

Posted by: 货架、 at March 26, 2009 06:03 AM (8j21L)

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I was hoping to post a video of Sunny Came Home for today's Zen.  So I went looking on YouTube.  Where I found this.  I love how the music fits with the video, and well, the song definitely applies to Hermione.  Don't fuck with her.

Pretty unexpectedly awesome, except the whole Hermione needs to get with Harry ending.  I always knew she'd end up with Ron....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:24 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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There Will Be Rest
by Sara Teasdale

There will be rest, and sure stars shining
Over the roof-tops crowned with snow,
A reign of rest, serene forgetting,
The music of stillness holy and low.

I will make this world of my devising
Out of a dream in my lonely mind,
I shall find the crystal of peace, -above me

Stars I shall find.
(right click and save)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Dark, strangely calming zen.

Metallica, Wherever I May Roam.

Thanks, honey, for leaving the Black Album in the CD player.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:02 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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And it's not my fault.

Gross $$ mismanagement means we are losing both faculty and programs. And no, they won't tell us who yet. 10 days to sweat it out.

Anybody know anyone looking for science PhDs?

Maybe I will get to take advantage of that mortgage bailout after all.

Now, if you'll excuse me I need to clean up my face and go teach while I still have a class TO teach.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:30 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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Ted Nugent is hunting a new animal these days, The Porkasaurus!

I'm on the track of one, a bigger more dangerous critter than I've ever hunted before: the Obama-Pelosi Porkosaurus.

The Porkosaurus is plenty dangerous by itself. It subsidizes unemployment by increasing unemployment benefits. And, as the man said, when you subsidize something you get more of it. It doesn't spend anything -- not one thin dime -- on the one thing that economists say is guaranteed to stimulate the economy, defense spending. And its whole purpose is to feed Fedzilla and make it grow even bigger, swallowing our economy whole.

If you've never read Ted before, you're in for a treat.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:24 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Evidently you find both in a 7-11 in Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs police are looking for a man who hit two 7-Eleven convenience stores early Wednesday, armed with a Klingon sword.

The first robbery was reported at 1:50 a.m., at 145 N Spruce St. The clerk told police a white man in his 20s, wearing a black jacket, blue jeans and wearing a black mask, entered the store with a weapon the clerk recognized from the Star Trek TV series.

Now that's some serious Bij!

I'm not sure which is worse, using the bat'leth to rob the 7-11 or knowing its name, as both clerks evidently did.

Or maybe that I knew how to spell it and the reporter clearly doesn't.

Scroll down and check out the comments on the news article.  Pretty funny stuff, especially if you know some Klingon....

h/t Stacy (via twitter)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:09 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Unless you've been living under a rock, you've likely already seen the story of the Southern California who woman who gave birth to the world's first known surviving set of octuplets.

What you may not know, is that (no surprise) despite the family's plea for privacy, the vultures have been hard at work and have discovered that she already has (gasp!) six children, these babies were conceived (gasp!) via IVF, and that she's (wait for it........) a single mother living with her bankrupt parents.

"Where are the ethics??" scream the journos and the academics.  "How could you justify fertility treatment for a woman who already has a pack of kids?  Don't you have a MORAL OBLIGATION to keep a poor (reputedly on Medicaid), single woman from populating the planet with her bastards that the rest of us are going to have to support?"

There oughta be a law!  A law I tell ya! (read the comments here)

Well, there is a law.  Just not here.  I'm sure you've heard of China.

The selfsame "voices of the people" who decry this woman's choice to have a large family are the same folks who cry out bitterly about China's One Child policy.

Either fertility is regulated or it is not.  How many children is too many?  Is it a sliding scale based on your ability to pay for them?  If so, I'd wager most of us would have disappeared up the abortionist's vacuum tube.

Somehow they also fail to mention that if it's my choice to have a child or not, that includes BOTH outcomes: having the baby or not having the baby. The faceless critics lamenting this woman's "irresponsible choice" (a phrase uttered by a so-called Bio-Ethics expert during a news report this morning) are also the same crew lobbying so hard to keep abortion legal.

I'm sorry, but I thought "Keep your laws off my body" was an absolute.  Or does that just apply to the popular choices?

I haven't even touched the infertility aspect of this case.  Many of my dear friends struggle with infertility, some have pursued multiple courses of treatment.  Some, ultimately, decided that the pursuit was futile despite the deepest longings of their heart for a biological child.  Having seen the struggle that so many endure, it seems to me that any successful procedure resulting in a healthy baby is a win.  Perhaps those of you who have been down this road would like to chime in.

Certainly, it is a pertinent question, how will this mom support 14 children?  But how does a 14 year old support one baby?  How do two parents with two careers handle two or three small ones?  Raising kids is not easy for anyone at anytime.  14 children, including (reportedly) 2 with special needs and 8 infants presents a huge challenge, but that doesn't mean necessarily that the children will be neglected or hungry.  In fact, it's entirely possible that these 14 kids will be MUCH better off than some kids with only one or two siblings.

You can't have it both ways, either people get to choose the family they want, or they don't.  And if they don't, who makes the rules?  Based on what?

It works so well elsewhere, after all....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:47 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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Lots of new pics on the Flickr page.  Including Flea performing with the Caltech Jazz bands (and our own Kjerstin, too!) and lots of glorious jam/marmalade food pRon.

Like this:

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:38 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Most of the time, the news just disgusts me and makes me sad....

But every once in a while it also gives me hope....

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Scots-Irish.  But I digress.  Seems O'bama is too.  In fact, according to the Corrigans, there's no one as Irish as Barack O'bama. I thought this was hilarious.

h/t the always awesome Helen who is getting pretty tired of hearing this in the UK

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:47 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Republican rhetoric coming from The One, that is:

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:30 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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While most of the rest of you either watched or avoided the evening festivities surrounding the adulation of The One, I was busy in the kitchen.

Ooey-Gooey Mac N Cheese with bacon for dinner.  I needed comfort.  That's the very definition of comfort food.  Plus, I had to use up the last of the fancy cheeses from our New Year's Eve party, which were remarkably still mold-free.  I didn't want to press my luck further.  This was real white sauce Mac N Cheese, too.  A first for me.

After dinner it was back to the stove.  I'm like a kid after Christmas with my new toy.  Some of you may recall I got a small-batch canning cookbook for Christmas and I have been waiting for the stars to align to use it ( and by stars I mean time, inclination, and pectin). 

Last night I broke open the book for the first time and made a batch of Blood Orange Red Wine Marmalade.  Sadly, because our blood oranges are tiny, it made only a cup and a half.  Tonight I broke rule #1 and made a double batch.  Which made just over 4 cups.  YAY!

Then I decided to try and use up some of the apricots in the freezer that we got from our tree in the spring.  Batch #2 was a Winter Pear Apricot Jam.  That was tasty cleanup!  That recipe made 5 cups after skimming.  Not bad.

I was ably assisted by my awesome husband who is quickly learning the difference between tongs and jar lifters, and who has always been a dab ahnd at cutting, measuring, and heavy, hot lifting of pots and plates.

Net: 5.5 jars (+ a bowl in the fridge of leftover) Blood Orange Marmalade (two days), 5 jars Pear/ Apricot Jam, and half a casserole dish of leftover MacCheese.

Yum.

Pictures as soon as I get a chance to download.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:06 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Just a few reflections on the Inauguration...

Funniest moment? Heard on C-Span open mike, Joe Biden arriving at the top of the stairs to walk down to the main platform: "Well, I made it."

Least expected moment? Rick Warren's prayer.  I am not a fan of public prayer.  For two reasons. One, prayer is (according to scripture) to be a personal, secret act.  Two, public praying tends to become a sideshow: quoting, telling God all kinds of shit he already knows, showboating by the pray-er.  You know what I mean.  Warren's prayer followed a more humble structure: he praised God's greatness, he humbled himself, he asked for intercesion, and ended with the Lord's Prayer.  Nice, actually.

Best moment? The Williams Quartet with YoYo Ma and Itzak Perlman.  Amazing.  And yes, I am a sucker for both Ma and Perlman.  Especially Perlman, whose playing regularly moves me to tears.

Most surreal moment: Again, captured by the C-Span open mike: At the end of Obama's oath, the crowd began chanting "CHANGE!" a la Randy Marsh.

By the time The One spoke, I was getting sleepy.  I noted that the first half of the speech sounded like a Republican (personal responsibility, huh?).  And then I crashed.

I could have done without Aretha.  Hang it up sister.  Your voice is going away, as it does to all divas at your age.  Let us remember you at your finest.  She did have a killer hat on, though.

Finally, poor Chief Justice.  His nerves got the best of him and he flubbed the Oath.  Here's hoping he gets it right in four years.

What say you?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:36 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 I didn't watch. I am a head-burying ostrich Also, I'm at work.

Posted by: Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life at January 20, 2009 01:21 PM (PvqFn)

2 I had to work and didn't watch. Then again I wouldn't have watched even I wasn't working. I've never watched one in the past and really, I had no desire to start now.

Posted by: Contagion at January 20, 2009 04:06 PM (Jfxjt)

3 I hadn't planned to watch, but my new bosses had the tv on the entire day, and invited me to come watch the inauguration. So, despite what I said about it, apparently you COULD pay me to watch. I'm pissed to now know the names of both daughters. My goal for the next 4 was to never know their names. Thanks to Warren praying their names, I know them. Grrrr. I loved Aretha's hat, not her song. Loved Yo Yo Ma and Itzak Pearlman! My bosses had no clue who they were as I gushed. We're from very different backgrounds.

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at January 20, 2009 07:12 PM (0Pi1o)

4 Just tell me what's NOT racist about "when white will embrace what is right." Seriously.

Posted by: caltechgirl at January 20, 2009 11:30 PM (IfXtw)

5 Ah, I see. I thought originally you were talking about the color referencing -- I didn't realize you took offense only about the comment about white people. Yeah, that wasn't very PC, but I think you're personalizing it. It was said in hyperbole, referencing a long history of one ethnic group having power and control and not always having moral justification. It would be absurd if he meant that all white people today are bigoted racists. In fact, the text of that part of the benediction was about exercising racial caution. I didn't feel it was racist, but I guess I can see how some people would be sensitive to it -- my white husband didn't get offended and neither did most of my other white friends, as they focused on the spirit of what he said. But I am surprised that you would take offense to it, as then it would make a lot of things that you, your DH, and I have said into non-PC/racist stuff and certainly on our blogs.

Posted by: SBC at January 21, 2009 11:39 AM (L2+uQ)

6 i hated it all. the street fair mentality; what the moonbats did to president bush when he came in; michelle's clothes; lowery and his hateful self; even aretha's voice was disappointing. (i did like her hat somewhat though... very spiffy) rick warren i didn't mind too much. i know michelle's feet were positively bleeding after walking in the parade --- those heels looked like they were pinching bigtime. mostly, i hated the idea that W wasn't in the white house anymore. damn.

Posted by: kate at January 21, 2009 11:05 PM (8rwgl)

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Yes, I am going to watch the festivities tomorrow.

I am going to watch the O-bots cheer as their messiah of the new raises his right hand and takes the same oath George Washington did, using the bible of Abraham Lincoln.

Folks, like it or not this is our new President.  Hail the peaceful transition of power so rare elsewhere, and common enough here that we take it for granted, don't ignore it like it will go away.

It's not going away for four more years.   I for one can't hold my breath that long under the sand.

I am going to watch and rant and yell obscenities at the TV, at the idiots who don't remember the past as they bow down and worship The One.  I am also going to cheer the new President and enjoy the presentations of the Inaugural Parade.

Because really folks, this is it.  It's our history, like it or not, and we can be there for it, or we can pretend it didn't happen.  I'm of the opinion that the revolution WILL be televised.  And YouTubed.  And I'd prefer to be able to talk about it firsthand anyway.

I don't blame those of you on media blackout.  I get it.  I feel you.  But I just can't help but think it's another form of denial.  And I can't be in denial for 4 more years.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:22 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 I'm one of those on blackout. And yes, I'm embracing my denial... but it won't last long, trust me.

Posted by: pam at January 20, 2009 09:34 AM (l6NIn)

2 Your pictures are amazing! I also fell in love with Morocco and now live in Marrakech. Please feel free to visit my website: Morocco Property Wishing you all the best Salim

Posted by: Salim Arkadan at January 21, 2009 05:08 PM (ddgTx)

3 I was with you - watched it all... Good grief. I think I said - "holy crap we're fucked!" 3 times... Yeesh...

Posted by: Richmond at January 21, 2009 05:59 PM (77JrH)

4 I am all about fairness. I didn't watch Bush or any other president's inauguration. Plus, I have to work to pay my taxes!

Posted by: Amy at January 22, 2009 03:32 AM (R8Y8+)

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