I think I've got a concussion.

I was sitting at the base of our stairs because it's a good place to watch TV and talk on the phone (to this lovely lady, my homeboy, and then my Mom last night, actually).  It's far enough away from the TV that it's not blaring into the phone, but directly across from the screen.  Plus the carpet is pretty nice.  Nicest carpet we've ever had, in fact.

So I was chatting away with Mom and the Princess decided to favor me with one of her toys.  Not thinking clearly, I leaned over to pick it up, and then sat up to toss it for her.

When I sat up, I brought the top of my head into direct contact with the bottom end of the handrail of the stairs at full speed.

You know the little birdies on the Warner Brothers' cartoons?  Yeah, I saw those.

Anyway, after about 30 minutes of ice and two Advil, I was ok, but this morning I'm sore all over and the headache?  She refuses the Advil and caffeine treatment.  I've had post concussion syndrome before (dropped on my head in college), so I know the drill.  At least it's just a regular headache, not a migraine, although even my damn teeth hurt.

Now it's just a matter of sitting here two hours and then driving home.  Yay, home.  Maybe I'll bugger off early.  I do have things I need to work on at home....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:45 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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Hubby and I were doing some shopping today, and we went into a local home and decorating store.  I was looking for a large casserole dish, so we went over to the kitchen section.

As we browsed the Clearance section, I noticed what clearly HAD to be a Wilton Armetale tray.  These things just don't hang around long enough to make it to clearance, you know?  I was intrigued to say the least.

So I asked him to pick it up:

The pattern on the edge was a bit unusual, so I looked at it more closely:

Yep, that's the Baltimore Ravens' logo.  When we turned the tray over, it indeed said Wilton Armetale, but it also said "manufactured for Smyth and Co, Official Jewelers of the Baltimore Ravens".

So if you're a Ravens fan stuck in SoCal, and you'd like to have a fancy tailgate party, let me know and I'll tell you where you can find a nice serving tray for cheap.

BTW, nice pics for a camera phone, huh?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:52 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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The Baldwin Online Children's Literature Project.

Making a virtual archive of classic children's literature in the public domain.

h/t the venomous (and sniffly) one

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Having been there from time to time, I can say that for once, The Onion reports fact:

Caltech Physicists Successfully Split The Bill

September 5, 2006

PASADENA, CA--Sequestered in a private booth at a Pasadena-area Cheesecake Factory for nearly 25 minutes, a party of eight California Institute Of Technology physicists emerged exhausted but visibly excited Friday evening after successfully splitting the bill.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:30 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 well, obviously they didn't have a TA or research assistant along with them...then they'd do like the folks in a department I used to work at as a grad student did, that is, push random amounts of money in the person's direction and tell THEM to pay the bill....and invariably it would be $5 to $10 short of what the (presumably well-paid) scientists' contribution was supposed to be. I'm smarter than the average TA though; they only got away with that once with me.

Posted by: ricki at September 05, 2006 12:02 PM (VRP1v)

2 (And yes, i realize it's an Onion story. I'm just still bitter about that whole thing...especially because it was my DAD'S department, and he was along, and he just laughed at me when I told him that I had to fork out about $10 of my own cash on top of what my meal cost)

Posted by: ricki at September 05, 2006 12:04 PM (VRP1v)

3 ha ha ha!

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at September 05, 2006 06:45 PM (0Pi1o)

4 Lol And I was just at that Cheesecake Factory in Pasadena.

Posted by: Sissy at September 05, 2006 08:06 PM (4Tqbz)

5 I was there too.

Posted by: Joe at September 07, 2006 05:19 PM (pKjWO)

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1. A book that changed my life:
Wow, that's a hard one.  I think every GOOD book makes an impression on you, makes you think, changes your world view just a little. Here are a few:
Thomas Lynch, The Undertaking and Bodies in Motion and at Rest
Beverly Donofrio, Looking for Mary
Antonio Damasio, Descartes' Error

2. A book that I've read more than once:
There are about 50 million books on this list.  I re-read almost everything that I like.  The ones I've read to replacing, though, are:
John Grisham, The Rainmaker, A Time to Kill
Stephen King, The Eyes of the Dragon, The Bachman Books, The Talisman, The Dark Tower Series
Annie Proulx, The Shipping News
Alexandre Dumas (pere), The Three Musketeers, The Count of Monte Cristo (I own 4 different editions of this one, sadly all in English)
Robert Crais, The Monkey's Raincoat

3. A book I'd take to a desert Island:
Stephen King, The Stand  1200 pages, I wouldn't get bored.

4. A book that made me laugh:
To be honest, and I'm not making fun of it, The Book of Mormon.  Every frickin' sentence starts with "And it came to pass that..."  My friend (who is Mormon) would read it aloud to us just to make us laugh.  True story.

5. A book that made me cry:
Adriana Trigiani, Big Cherry Holler

6. A book I wish had been written:
"Cleaning in Your Sleep" and the companion volume "Grant-Writing in Your Sleep"

7. A book that should never have been written:
I can't think of any.  Censorship is BAAAAD.

8. A book I'm currently reading:
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, Freakonomics

9. A book I'm planning to read:
Lemony Snicket, The End

10. Five people I'll send these questions to:
Y'all feel free to chime in.  I'm not tagging anyone in particular.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:01 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I got tagged twice this week. So here's one, hopefully I'll get to the other tomorrow.... Or maybe just later. I gots ta work, ya' know?

From Ken:

Four songs that you could listen to over and over:
"Sunny Came Home"-- Shawn Colvin. Burning down the house AND a mandolin solo, what's not to like?
"Call and Answer" The Barenaked Ladies. F*ck it, almost anything by BNL. Except the Chimpanzees song (see below)
"Somebody" Depeche Mode. That was sung at my wedding.
"Santeria" - Sublime "...I won't think twice to stick that barrel straight down Sancho's throat.  Believe me when I say that I got somethin' for your PunkAss.."

Four songs that drive you up the friggin' wall:
"Live and Let Die"- I don't care if it is just McCartney's accent. It sounds like he's saying "in this world in which we live in".  Uh-uh.  No way.
"Chimpanzees" by the Barenaked Ladies. Self-explanatory from the title, no?
Anything by the Rolling Stones except "Brown Sugar" and "Sympathy for the Devil". I know, I know, heresy, but I HATE Mick Jagger's voice.
"Dixie Chicken" -Little Feat, Garth Brooks, etc. Stupid. And I like punnery.

Four songs that you're embarrassed (or should be) to admit you like:
N*Sync "Bye Bye Bye". N*Sync. N*uff said.
"Fantastic Voyage" -Coolio
"Say My Name" - Destiny's Child
"All Out of Love" - Air Supply

Four best driving songs:
"FreeFallin" Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Always a classic. Or "American Girl". But that always makes me think of Silence of the Lambs....
"Take Me Out" Franz Ferdinand. Try it on the 110 freeway.
"Sharp Dressed Man" -- ZZ Top. Tush is also good.
Anything by the Beach Boys. Except maybe "God Only Knows". (see below)

Four songs that make you cry:
Amazing Grace on the bagpipe
"Lightning Crashes" - Live
"Sunrise, Sunset" -Tevye and Golde in Fiddler on the Roof
"God Only Knows" -The Beach Boys

Four best risque' songs:
"SqueezeBox" -The Who "Mamma's got a squeezebox...Daddy never sleeps at night."
"Baby Driver" -Simon and Garfunkel.... "We can go up to my room and play.... I'm not talking about your pigtails, I was talking about your sex appeal..."
"I Touch Myself" -The DiVinyls
"Strokin'" - Clarence Carter.  Strokin to the east... strokin to the west...

Four best kid songs:
Puff the Magic Dragon
Eensy Weensy Spider
Ten Elephants
Do Re Mi (from the Sound of Music)
... it's all about the old skool here.

Four Other Songs: Four 80's Movie songs:
"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" -Tears For Fears, Real Genius
"Danger Zone" -Kenny Loggins, Top Gun
"In Your Eyes" -Peter Gabriel, Say Anything
"If You Leave" - OMD, Pretty in Pink

Consider yourself tagged if you want to participate. Otherwise? Meh, not so much.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:37 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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From the Jawas:

Muslims Protest Freddy Mercury's Birthday

(Zanzibar, Tanzania) Muslims are outraged at the planned 60th birthday celebration for deceased rock star and Zanzibar native Freddy Mercury, born Farrokh Bulsara, because his sexual preferences and flamboyant lifestyle insulted Islam.

The full story is here.
Here's the kicker line:

"Allowing such a function for a person known outside Zanzibar as a homosexual tarnishes the name of Zanzibar," he said in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. "Let us protect our good culture."

This is Killer....

Or how about some Flash?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:53 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The blogosphere is as small a world as real life.  Especially when you find out  that people read blogs you never expected them to know about.

Jes' sayin.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:05 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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This year's Beloit College "Mindset List." 

75 things that the Class of 2010 doesn't know:
(before you bitch at me, remember this is what the average 18 year old thinks, according to Beloit)

1. The Soviet Union has never existed and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
2. They have known only two presidents.
3. For most of their lives, major U.S. airlines have been bankrupt.
4. Manuel Noriega has always been in jail in the U.S.
5. They have grown up getting lost in "big boxes".
6. There has always been only one Germany.
7. They have never heard anyone actually "ring it up" on a cash register.
8. They are wireless, yet always connected.
9. A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents'.
10. Thanks to pervasive head phones in the back seat, parents have always been able to speak freely in the front.
11. A coffee has always taken longer to make than a milkshake.
12. Smoking has never been permitted on U.S. airlines.
13. Faux fur has always been a necessary element of style.
14. The Moral Majority has never needed an organization.
15. They have never had to distinguish between the St. Louis Cardinals baseball and football teams.
16. DNA fingerprinting has always been admissible evidence in court.
17. They grew up pushing their own miniature shopping carts in the supermarket.
18. They grew up with and have outgrown faxing as a means of communication.
19. "Google" has always been a verb.
20. Text messaging is their e-mail.
21. Milli Vanilli has never had anything to say.
22. Mr. Rogers, not Walter Cronkite, has always been the most trusted man in America.
23. Bar codes have always been on everything, from library cards and snail mail to retail items.
24. Madden has always been a game, not a Super Bowl-winning coach.
25. Phantom of the Opera has always been on Broadway.
26. “Boogersâ€� candy has always been a favorite for grossing out parents.
27. There has never been a "skyhook" in the NBA.
28. Carbon copies are oddities found in their grandparents' attics.
29. Computerized player pianos have always been tinkling in the lobby.
30. Non-denominational mega-churches have always been the fastest growing. religious organizations in the U.S.
31. They grew up in minivans.
32. Reality shows have always been on television.
33. They have no idea why we needed to ask "...can't we all just get along?"
34. They have always known that "In the criminal justice system the people have been represented by two separate yet equally important groups."
35. Young women's fashions have never been concerned with where the waist is.
36. They have rarely mailed anything using a stamp.
37. Brides have always worn white for a first, second, or third wedding.
38. Being techno-savvy has always been inversely proportional to age.
39. "So" as in "Sooooo New York", has always been a drawn-out adjective modifying a proper noun, which in turn modifies something else.
40. Affluent troubled teens in Southern California have always been the subjects of television series.
41. They have always been able to watch wars and revolutions live on television.
42. Ken Burns has always been producing very long documentaries on PBS.
43. They are not aware that "flock of seagulls hair" has nothing to do with birds flying into it.
44. Retin-A has always made America look less wrinkled.
45. Green tea has always been marketed for health purposes.
46. Public school officials have always had the right to censor school newspapers.
47. Small white holiday lights have always been in style.
48. Most of them have never had the chance to eat bad airline food.
49. They have always been searching for "Waldo".
50. The really rich have regularly expressed exuberance with outlandish birthday parties.
51. Michael Moore has always been showing up uninvited.
52. They never played the game of state license plates in the car.
53. They have always preferred going out in groups as opposed to dating.
54. There have always been live organ donors.
55. They have always had access to their own credit cards.
56. They have never put their money in a "Savings & Loan"
57. Sara Lee has always made underwear.
58. Bad behavior has always been getting captured on amateur videos.
59. Disneyland has always been in Europe and Asia.
60. They never saw Bernard Shaw on CNN.
61. Beach volleyball has always been a recognized sport.
62. Acura, Lexus, and Infiniti have always been luxury cars of choice.
63. Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.
64. LoJack transmitters have always been finding lost cars.
65. Diane Sawyer has always been live in Prime Time.
66. Dolphin-free canned tuna has always been on sale.
67. Disposable contact lenses have always been available.
68. "Outing" has always been a threat.
69. Oh, The Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss has always been the perfect graduation gift.
70. They have always "dissed" what they don't like.
71. The U.S. has always been studying global warming to confirm its existence.
72. Richard M. Daley has always been the mayor of Chicago.
73. They grew up with virtual pets to feed, water, and play games with, lest they die.
74. Ringo Starr has always been clean and sober.
75. Professional athletes have always competed in the Olympics.

h/t Prof. Taylor

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:17 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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Today's story is inspired by my favorite book, and my husband's:

The candle guttered.  A sharp wind blew through the tower, waking the abbe.  The once orderly pile of scrolls was now scattered on the floor.  Getting up quickly, l'abbe shut the window before the beating rain could erase the answers he was searching for.  Grumbling to himself, he gathered the scrolls back to his table and settled down in the chair again.

The answer was so close.  He knew it had to be written in these scrolls.  But the ancient runes were written in a cryptic hand and the going was slow.  To complicate matters, the abbe wasn't sure whether he really wanted to know the answers hidden in the ancient parchments at all.  But he resumed his task.  Sometime later he found a blank parchment.  Something told him this was the key.  But what was it?  And what did it mean?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:34 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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So here's the rules: read the story, add the next two paragraphs, and take the story where you think it should go! Wait for a couple of others before posting another pair of paragraphs! That's it.

Let's try a first-person story this week:

I walked along the road for miles it seemed.  Hours and hours in the white sunlight, sparkling diamonds in the road.  Fields of trees and crops alongside me.  But I took no notice.  Just to walk, that was my aim.  To walk, and never stop.

Of course, some part of my mind knew that the walking would have to stop.  That teeny, rational voice in the back of my head.  The one we all grow to hate as we grow up.  At some point, my feet would give out, or my back, and I would have to stop and find a place to rest.  And so, I did.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:18 AM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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Serenity is playing on Cinemax On Demand (free if you have Cinemax) until 8/16, and I assume on Cinemax all month.

We will be watching it tonight.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 06:27 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Kevin Smith has a blog.

Holy Shit.  I love it.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:12 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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The video below, not this post.

Kevin Smith tells the story of why he didn't write the new Superman flick.  NSFW, except with headphones.  After all, this IS Kevin Smith.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:10 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Depeche Mode and the World Trade Center in all its glory, what could be better?

h/t Agent Bedhead

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:08 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Why God never received a PhD:

1. He had only one major publication.
2. It was in Hebrew.
3. It had no references.
4. It wasn't published in a refereed journal.
5. Some even doubt he wrote it by himself.
6. It may be true that he created the world, but what has he done since then?
7. His cooperative efforts have been quite limited.
8. The scientific community has had a hard time replicating his results.
9. He never applied to the ethics board for permission to use human subjects.
10. When one experiment went awry he tried to cover it by drowning his subjects.
11. When subjects didn't behave as predicted, he deleted them from the sample.
12. He rarely came to class, just told students to read the book.
13. Some say he had his son teach the class.
14. He expelled his first two students for learning.
15. Although there were only 10 requirements, most of his students failed his tests.
16. His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountain top.
17. No record of working well with colleagues.

h/t Lisa

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Way too many links to Klingon Language Sites from Harvey.

* Bij is the Klingon word for pain

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Did you miss us?  MuNuvia was the target of at least 3 different DDOS attacks this weekend, but Pixy seems to have everything under control again for the moment, so we return you to your regularly scheduled programming, already in progress...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:43 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Here's what the haircut did.
From this:

More than 12 inches off.  I donated it.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:20 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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1 Wow!! That's a lot of hair! I love the color and I have no doubt the cut looks greats on you! ; )

Posted by: Chrissy at June 04, 2006 03:01 PM (zJsUT)

2 I'm glad you donated it. I donated mine when I chopped it off two years ago. It was traumatic for hubby. It's finally a length he can be happy with again, in that it's almost to the middle of my back again. I imagine when it gets long enough, I'll chop it off and donate it again. He doesn't understand. But my high school best friend had alapecia (sp?), which is that condition that prevents her from being able to grow hair. Nice for the not shaving legs thing, but bald with no eyebrows made school very hard on her.

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at June 04, 2006 04:21 PM (0Pi1o)

3 Wow! Very cool! I bet it's a lot easier to care for now.

Posted by: Marie at June 04, 2006 05:06 PM (dswo0)

4 I'm assuming it's donated to a cancer-related charity...way cool!

Posted by: Mrs_Who at June 04, 2006 08:50 PM (nPR3h)

5 You are so awesome!! So, how do you like the shorter do?

Posted by: Dana at June 05, 2006 06:52 AM (mY0KN)

6 I heart Locks for Love. Bravo!

Posted by: Helen at June 05, 2006 08:37 AM (La1Mk)

7 Wonderful thing you've done, there. And I'll bet it's much cooler, too.

Posted by: Margi at June 05, 2006 10:00 AM (BRtaN)

8 What beautiful hair you donated! Very cool. Very very cool.

Posted by: Bou at June 05, 2006 12:50 PM (iHxT3)

9 wow. just wow. (Your hair was about 3-4 inches longer than mine is currently.)

Posted by: rave at June 05, 2006 01:47 PM (Fir0Z)

10 I'm still trying to convince myself to get my hair cut. It drives me nuts, but it's a big step to get it chopped! Looks great by the way.

Posted by: amanda at June 05, 2006 05:47 PM (cqrWD)

11 Wow. That is just wonderful.

Posted by: vw bug at June 06, 2006 03:59 AM (YS9om)

12 I have been contemplating doing the same thing. Locks of love is such a great organization and if I'm going to cut it all off, it might as well be for a good cause...

Posted by: Richmond at June 09, 2006 09:54 AM (e8QFP)

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So yesterday was our school's graduation ceremony.  We're a small university, but it's still fun to get dressed up and see all of my colleagues in their academic regalia, too. 

The color and style of the robe, hood, and cap denote the wearer's academic degree, field of study, and alma mater, so in a full faculty group, you get a pretty wide variety, although most are some variation of black robe, mortarboard cap, and royal blue or green velvet on the hood.

Mine aren't!

and here's the back:

Posted by: caltechgirl at 08:42 AM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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1 You look so happy! Congrats!

Posted by: Jane at June 04, 2006 08:57 AM (Ffvoi)

2 Love the lipstick Actually, the colors are absolutely gorgeous!

Posted by: Beth Donovan at June 04, 2006 10:30 AM (9FPYz)

3 How do you get your skin so clear?

Posted by: Greta (Hooah Wife) at June 04, 2006 10:47 AM (Cbtbf)

4 Ancient Chinese secret....

Posted by: caltechgirl at June 04, 2006 11:10 AM (1mfa4)

5 You have such an open, friendly face. No wonder everyone likes you and you probably stand out more for that than your outfit!!

Posted by: beth at June 04, 2006 11:53 AM (X6tm3)

6 yay! how exciting!

Posted by: wRitErsbLock at June 04, 2006 04:18 PM (0Pi1o)

7 I see you have the ultimate solution to sinus problems.

Posted by: Jay at June 04, 2006 05:15 PM (q9El8)

8 Oh, I like it!!! My robe is a boring black. Fortunately, in my line of work, I get to wear it on a weekly basis. :-)

Posted by: Paul Burgess at June 05, 2006 04:35 AM (7EVyU)

9 Nice threads!

Posted by: Attila Girl at June 05, 2006 06:03 AM (4IuF2)

10 If I did my research, not having known you, and just by looking at your cap and gown, I would have known you were a "Doctor of something." It was hard to see certain details of your gown to determine more, but that's what I gathered. Thanks for sending me on a quest.

Posted by: Dana at June 05, 2006 07:00 AM (mY0KN)

11 Well, yes, Dana: if you're wearing a tam rather than a mortarboard, you know it's doctoral regalia. Of course, that doesn't work in reverse: my JD is a doctorate of sorts, but I wore a mortarboard, as a tam is reserved for a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD, the legal equivalent of a Ph.D.) or for the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws. The three stripes on the sleeves, matching the facing on the hood, are the clearest marker of doctoral regalia, more so than the headgear. And, of course, everything I'm saying only applies in the US, and POSSIBLY parts of Anglophone Canada. Oy, I know way too much about this stuff. And I do still cherish my luscious black-and-purple JD robes: who knows, maybe someday I'll have a use for them if I go back to law school, this time as a professor. Stranger things have happened (or so I'm told). ;-)

Posted by: Dave J at June 05, 2006 12:50 PM (SKqxt)

12 Looks great!!

Posted by: oddybobo at June 06, 2006 05:56 AM (6Gm0j)

13 That is one of the coolest academic robes I have ever seen. You look awesome!!

Posted by: sagacitas lerin at June 06, 2006 12:43 PM (1m8/N)

14 I can't believe I missed seeing this until today!!! You look wonderful!

Posted by: Richmond at June 09, 2006 09:52 AM (e8QFP)

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