Every time my life intervenes and I take 24 hours away from the blogs, somebody else turns up pregnant!

Either I've got to read everyday, or y'all are just gonna have to quit making babies. My poor little fingers are gonna be worn down to nubs making booties and blankets!

Especially with three coming the same week

Seriously, though, congratulations to my (sort of) blogparents on their impending second parenthood and to Sadie on becoming a big sister!

Yay!!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:03 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 So that's what it is. I knew the computers in my life were taking time away from my person to person interactions. Guess I need to post more in order for it to be a more accurate reason.

Posted by: Bill at June 23, 2005 11:11 PM (Nn6GS)

2 Heh. I hear it's a freakin' pandemic. Hopefully, you'll either get some reinforcements or things will slow down! xoxo M

Posted by: Margi at June 23, 2005 11:42 PM (nwEQH)

3 Thank you!

Posted by: Deb at June 24, 2005 11:17 AM (f01cJ)

4 I wonder what posts made everyone soooo amorous?

Posted by: ArmyWifeToddlerMom at June 24, 2005 11:22 AM (CY45G)

5 You have to stay blogging. No more pregnancies for me!!

Posted by: vw bug at June 24, 2005 11:34 AM (JS05t)

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Ok, so as you well know, we're moving. Destination somewhere in the LA area. Probably Pasadena. Our stuff won't arrive until August, so we have some leeway with timing etc.

We're planning on ending up in Fresno, until the stuff arrives, but between here and there is a toss-up. We've decided to take advantage of the trip across the country and do a little sight-seeing.....

Vote for your favorite option, or suggest another:
1) The 40. Simple, straight, from here to CA via TN, AK,OK, TX, NM, and AZ. Includes stop at Grand Canyon

2) North! NC to WV, across the midwest, and up into the Dakotas, maybe Montana, and then south via Yellowstone....

3) Something in between, similar to our trip out here 5 years ago (which included Denver, Kansas, Springfield, MO and etc.)

4) South! Down to Jacksonville and across on the 10 to CA. May include Northward detour to Killeen for visit with in-laws....

5) ???

What do y'all think? Anybody along any of the routes? Any different ideas? Places to avoid?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:20 PM | Comments (17) | Add Comment
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1 COME DOWN TO MIAMI!! J/K, I know that's way out of the way. Have you been to Grand Canyon or Yellowstone? I would choose the route never traveled, to experience something new.

Posted by: Amanda at June 21, 2005 01:35 PM (ay+rD)

2 I've been to the GC, He's been to Yellowstone.... We did go to Miami 2 years ago.... There's no way I'm driving there from here again

Posted by: caltechgirl at June 21, 2005 01:54 PM (UNuTU)

3 I've been many of the routes I'm going to have to say Yellowstone, even though it'll be jammed. But it's so beautiful. I've been twice and can't wait to go back. 10 we didn't like so much 40 we've done a few times and there's New Mexico which is a favourite of mine. Last time, we took a detour to Santa Fe and loved it. And the cinder cone park and pueblos (I'll have to look up the name) near Flagstaff is great. 70 we did once. It was nice 80 was a favourite of ours. And the one we'll take next time we do the cross country thing.

Posted by: Ith at June 21, 2005 01:58 PM (/Kiii)

4 A bit of advice: Don't try this in the early, morning sickness prone, especially hormonal stages of pregnancy. I'm not sure whether I would pick Jellystone or Grand Canyon if I had to choose one. But I'd love to go a northern tier route someday.

Posted by: Jay at June 21, 2005 02:32 PM (f01cJ)

5 Oh, yeah. We had such big plans for our big adventure, and they all went down the...uh, never mind. LOL! Of course, we were also on a tight schedule between winter storms, which didn't help. Y'all picked a nice time of year to do this. I'd go whichever way is farthest from anywhere you stand a chance of going again anytime soon. For me, that would be the northern route. And Kansas is bad but Texas is worse. Heh. If you want to avoid anything really mountain-like 10 is good. When I was going out to Norfolk in January from Fresno I went (IIRC) 5-10-20-30-40 and that worked pretty well. What sort of scenery you're interested in is important, too. I am so jealous.

Posted by: Deb at June 21, 2005 03:55 PM (f01cJ)

6 Well, if you follow route #2, you know the beautiful northeast corner of Iowa is only 35 miles off of Interstate 90, if you exit where I90 passes La Crosse, WI... (hint hint)

Posted by: Paul Burgess at June 21, 2005 04:24 PM (7EVyU)

7 I would say make the effort to got I-70 through Colorado once you are west of Denver it is fantastic, then take it to the I-15 and hit the great Utah Parks like Canyonlands, Arches, Bryce Canyon and Zion. (I enjoyed Bryce and Zion far more than the Grand Canyon) But all four are wll worth the Trip. I worked with a guy from Fresno once, ironically he was only there on weekends and worked in Camarillo during the week because the job prospects weren't as lucrative.

Posted by: the Pirate at June 21, 2005 05:37 PM (SksyN)

8 If you're not pushed for time, stay off the Interstates and drive the back roads. (Recondo 32 and I came all the way back from Tacoma to Savannah that way.) DEFINITELY head north and see South Dakota and Montana. DO NOT miss Glacier National Park. Just my two cents worth.

Posted by: Acidman at June 21, 2005 05:44 PM (rz1Lc)

9 WOW! Thanks for all the input. We have done the I-70 thing MANY times between CA and Denver, because darling hubby was born there and his family is still there. That's how we started the trek out here. Don't worry Deb. No morning sickness to worry about. And we got sedatives for the dog's carsickness. We did back roads between 70 and 40 in Missouri and Arkansas. That was so beautiful.

Posted by: caltechgirl at June 21, 2005 08:08 PM (eV5t9)

10 I-40 to I-35 in Arkansas was quite nice too along the Western Side.

Posted by: the Pirate at June 21, 2005 08:12 PM (zXRuj)

11 There is so much in Florida/Alabama area you can do if you make it this way: Bellingrath Gardens, caverns, Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, old Forts. If you make it further south (not Miami!), there is Universal Studios (more fun for adults), Sea World, Cypress Gardens. Depends on what you like. AAA is great for helping out. Even though I treck to Pensacola every year, I found AAA had some cool stuff I didn't know about in Florida along our route. Just make sure you give yourself enough time in each place to enjoy it. ok? Not like one trip I did where we only had 1/2 day for each thing. UGH. Never again.

Posted by: vw bug at June 21, 2005 08:46 PM (0lNzW)

12 I took 20 out here! Take a look at it!

Posted by: Sissy at June 21, 2005 08:53 PM (uXS+O)

13 OOH, something I know a decent deal about. My suggestion, and this is because I haven't done it before, drive out I-70 out to Moab Utah (Arches National Park), then down to National Bridges National Monument, around to Page AZ. Then decide if you want to hit up the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, or go to Lake Powell. ( You might also want to hit up Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and Four Corners while you're in the neighborhood) After that, hit up Zion National Park, and spend a night in Mesquite Nevada. My follow up suggestion, take my favorite route from Vegas to Mammoth Mountain. From Vegas, go up US 95 towards Reno. Wave at the aliens on the nuclear test site. Make a left at Lyda Junction and take Nevada State Route 266 west towards Fish Lake Valley. Enter California (road becomes CA16 . Stay on 168 towards Big Pine. You'll be able to do a cut off towards the Bristlecone Pine forest, the oldest trees in North America, if not the world. This will take you over Westguard Pass, where the road becomes quite narrow for a short distance. Make a right in Big Pine, and head north on US 395 Then head North up to Yosemite, and take a left towards Tioga Pass (CA 120). After Yosemite, you're home free to Fresno. Just be warned, there aren't many gas stations on this route. It's easily drivable, if you know your milage, and distance between fuel stops.

Posted by: Bill at June 21, 2005 09:01 PM (Nn6GS)

14 I have to second the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola as worth a stop if you go that way. Very cool if you have any interest in that sort of thing. I've been six or seven times. Glad to hear the dog's got meds. Carsick is awful.

Posted by: Deb at June 21, 2005 10:10 PM (f01cJ)

15 We are headed out on our road trip tomorrow. Planned stops in a whirlwind circuitous route, Grand Canyon, Monterey, Crater Lake, Yellowstone, Mount Rushmore. If fundage holds out... if not... well I hope the people at rest stops are generous.

Posted by: Jon at June 22, 2005 10:20 AM (9tzOa)

16 So... photoblogging from the road?

Posted by: Jay at June 22, 2005 09:35 PM (f01cJ)

17 We plan to add photos, these first two days have been a whirlwind... Kids have been good... Journals are on the blog. Tomorrow night, maybe photos... if not the day after fer sure. Tomorrow is the Grand Canyon. Heh... or were you asking CalTechGirl? lol!

Posted by: Jon at June 25, 2005 12:51 AM (UCbT2)

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Will magically appear in this space later today... Did I mention work sucks?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:25 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I have really been out of it.

First, Katie Mango comes back for like a week and I miss it.

Margi takes digital photography to a new level, and I'm 2 days behind,

and now this, again, 2 days late...
GayPatriot is Back!! Yay! Even the Patriot Pooches are happy. If you haven't dropped by in a while, go say hello and get caught up. Oh yeah, and welcome to the BFL, too, Bruce. It's nice to have you back!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:25 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Class seems to be going well. I like my students, for the most part, and they seem interested. I try to keep the class going with lots of clinically relevant tidbits, so they understand that it's not just colored lines on a diagram, and they make the connection between brain on paper and brain in head.

Would y'all like me to post some of those interesting bits from time to time?

Anyway, copier notwithstanding, the test went pretty well. If it was my own class (alone and long-term) I would be really happy with the way it came out. Because I'm only teaching it this semester, I need to fit it in with how the other tests given by the other TA came out. My spread skewed a little lower: 10 A's, 14 B's, 10 C's, 2 D's. Hers had more A's and B's, fewer C's. So I think I'm going to give them the opportunity to get some of those points back by making corrections. Probably 1/3 of the points they missed.... That could be a whole letter grade for the lowest folks.

Today's lecture is on neurodevelopment (Yay!) and this week's paper is about the famous case of patient HM, as I will discuss memory tomorrow.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:44 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 I'd love interesting bits.

Posted by: Deb at June 13, 2005 10:31 AM (8n5zS)

2 I'd love to hear the tidbits. I enjoy collecting odd trivia

Posted by: vw bug at June 13, 2005 10:39 AM (n+JjT)

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WhyTF would anyone want to live in LODI???? I mean COME ON. What a hole.

I suppose it doesn't surprise me that terrorists would pick an out of the way sh*thole for laying low while they plot to kill the rest of us.

As you can imagine, several Bear Flaggers are all over this one...

CA Mafia picked up the story first

Not Dale Gribble has a pretty good round up of reactions including this from California Conservatives

Well, I guess these two guys aren't stuck there, although they sure as hell weren't walking out of town....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 05:36 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Junebugg, Pammy, and Deb are on to something.

It's not what's on the outside that makes a woman sexy. It's what's on the inside.

I'm no model. Hell, I could probably be two of them given the current size for models, but that doesn't mean I can't look and feel sexy.

My husband seems to agree.

So why do we do this to ourselves? Current research suggests that thin isn't all it's cracked up to be, and that what we call "moderately overweight" is more healthy. Doesn't that mean we should rethink what we call fat? Until the advent of TV our idea of "fat" was radically different than it is today....

What do you think?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:48 PM | Comments (15) | Add Comment
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1 I'm with you there As long as we can agree on no thin bashing. I can't help it that I'm thin, but my father's sisters sure made my life hell for being so. We had to live with them and my grandmother when I was in my late teens and they hated my mum, and they despised me, and they made sure I knew it. That's the short, non-TMI version I rarely talk about it because it still can make me all queasy inside.

Posted by: Ith at June 07, 2005 01:02 AM (DCF12)

2 Definitely no thin bashing. My mom has always been skinny as a rail. On the otherhand... I'm what most people would consider 'pleasantly plump'. I like it. I'm comfortable with it. I have never been nor will ever be a model. Then again, I do think you can be too overweight. Particularly as you get older.

Posted by: vw bug at June 07, 2005 07:44 AM (5b1PM)

3 I agree. There's a difference between healthy and unhealthy, and frankly, that's different for every person. My body is healthy at a weight that would be associated with heart disease and limited mobility for a lot of people, but before my RA, I played sports and hiked.

Posted by: caltechgirl at June 07, 2005 08:52 AM (5VQpT)

4 Honey, you know what I say... As long as the Dr. says that you are ok, and that YOU feel ok, I love you all the same. I love you very much, that is all I have to say.

Posted by: Grand Mott Trojan at June 07, 2005 09:48 AM (eV5t9)

5 I'd say it shows the level of one's thinking, deep vs. shallow. The more you spend time considering what are the best attributes in a mate (I, being male) it becomes more and more clear that physical attraction, while necessary, ranks far below all the character attributes. (Geez, after reading that it sounds so clinical. Do I always sound like that? Argh.)

Posted by: Paladin at June 07, 2005 10:00 AM (Rfqkp)

6 A lot of my struggle is loving myself even though I have a medical problem that everyone assumes is caused by my weight (I'm not so certain that it is). So I go straight up a wall when I get "it's ok to be fat if you're healthy." :-( Overly touchy, I know, but hey, that's me this morning. Ith, never thin bashing. Never. Paladin, my husband *is* physically attracted to me, it's not something he compromised on because he likes my personality, though being attracted to a whole person and not just a physical attribute or two is no doubt part of it. Good Lord, I sound cranky today. Yikes. Sorry about that.

Posted by: Deb at June 07, 2005 10:51 AM (8n5zS)

7 And there's a difference between overweight and morbidly obese. People who can't even really walk because they weigh so much and they have to use a scooter. And when you have a dear friend nearing that point, a friend you want to be around when you're little old ladies together, it puts weight into a great deal of perspective.

Posted by: Ith at June 07, 2005 11:34 AM (8CL1r)

8 A slippery slope no doubt. It seems to me though that given the state of obesity in America, the last thing we need to is give Americans a reason to be "moderately overweight".

Posted by: ap at June 07, 2005 01:47 PM (u5Cu4)

9 Well, that's why any generic metric of weight=health is going to go wrong. Better measures are pulse, BP, cholestrol, blood sugar, etc. which actually measure whether someone has healthy heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, etc. If we reset the metric to what it was 40 or 50 years ago, far fewer people would be considered obese.

Posted by: caltechgirl at June 07, 2005 02:28 PM (5VQpT)

10 My mother has always been one of those types of women who couldn't gain an ounce of weight no matter what she ate. I, on the other hand, can LOOK at a Twinkie™ and I may as well have rubbed it on my hips. Not really. . .I was always relatively thin -- until I hit 35-40. Now, I have what I prefer to refer to as a "Rubenesque" figure. When I was depressed and miserable -- I was thin. (Depression for me = no eating.) When I'm happy, I don't miss too many meals. And I'm ecstatically happy with my life, my darling husband, and my boys. Hence, I have probably about 20-30 too many pounds on my frame. My husband doesn't seem to be turned off by it (thank GAWD) so. . .I will exercise it off or I won't. I talk a lot about feeling uncomfortable at how I look but the truth is: I've NEVER liked how I look. It's just recently that I've ceased to give a shit about what other people think about me. If those that are near and dear to me think I'm okay -- then I'm okay. xoxo

Posted by: Margi at June 07, 2005 03:26 PM (nwEQH)

11 Right. These things don't necessarily correspond with weight, nor are they necessarily caused by weight even if they exist in an overweight person. Sometimes losing weight can help. Sometimes it doesn't. *shrug*

Posted by: Deb at June 07, 2005 03:28 PM (8n5zS)

12 Margi, I also don't eat when I'm depressed or stressed. Everyone thinks I'm odd. Well, yeah, but you know what I mean!

Posted by: Ith at June 07, 2005 03:43 PM (8CL1r)

13 Ith, if that makes me odd, then I say I'm in good company, eh? ;o)

Posted by: Margi at June 07, 2005 07:24 PM (nwEQH)

14 Ever since I saw the photo of the "Cosmo" cover girl from the back during a photo shoot, with a cheap piece of cardboard, cut all crooked with scotch tape on some of the edges, stuck into her poofy over-styled hair, holding the hair WAY out to the sides so it looked all full and lush and thick FROM THE FRONT ANGLE where the photo was being taken from, I've disabused myself of the notion that anything the media serves me about how women out there look is "real." Instead, I now believe what I see at the mall: and I just see regular sort of women there. Some a little chunky or plumpish, some kinda skinny, some obese, and everything in between. Nobody, and I mean nobody, has friggin' cardboard taped to their hair.

Posted by: dogette at June 07, 2005 09:03 PM (W05E+)

15 no kiddin'

Posted by: caltechgirl at June 07, 2005 10:29 PM (UNuTU)

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Swear word?

I usually use asterisks around here to deter pRon spambots, but to hell with it for this post.

My favorite words in the extended for those of you who can't get swear words at work.....

more...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:40 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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1 I am all over this. Mother Fucker Fuck What The Fuck Shitass Jackass Jerkoff

Posted by: ArmyWifeToddlerMom at June 03, 2005 11:48 PM (rmbUc)

2 Ah, but can you sing while swearing: Fuck, fuck, fuck, / Mother, mother fuck, / Mother, mother fuck, fuck / Mother fuck, mother fuck, / Noich noich noich, / 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4, / Ok, not the greatest bit of writing of all time, but it is highly amusing.

Posted by: Bill at June 03, 2005 11:59 PM (mM+iA)

3 Mine is "my, aren't we a ray of fucking sunshine?" n OK, that's not a word, I know.

Posted by: Xrlq at June 04, 2005 12:23 AM (4/bIn)

4 My currrent swear word of choice can't even be mentioned here. Suffice it to say that a) it's infinitely worse than "bitch", and b) my bosses' construction potty-mouths have formed my ever-malleable and impressionable construction engineer mind. But for general NERS consumption, I submit the following fuck-variations: Fuckwad, Fuckrod, Fuckstick, Fucklord, Fucktard, Fucknut, Fuckhole. See? aren't those better variations than the trite and tired Fuckhead and Fuckface?

Posted by: Jihad Jimmy, Minister of War Crimes and Chief Defender of the Faith at June 04, 2005 09:08 AM (YGaCS)

5 Yeah, what you said; and see previous post.

Posted by: Mr. Kurtz at June 04, 2005 11:28 AM (LkOEz)

6 I tend to say "Son of a bitch" a lot. Fuck is a good general purpose word, but so is shit. I don't really have a favorite, I tend to pepper my language with all of them.

Posted by: Contagion at June 06, 2005 12:33 PM (Q5WxB)

7 I just can't fuckin' believe you couldn't fucking leave a fucking comment on my site. I mean, fuck. Heheh.

Posted by: zombyboy at June 06, 2005 07:16 PM (1yNBe)

8 Hey CTG Most excellent elaboration...Heheh.

Posted by: Rae at June 07, 2005 09:10 AM (4YdLE)

9 Alas, I also admit to having a certain affinity for the use of the word fuck. It's just such a pliable little word. Fucking motherfukers. Fucking assholes. Fucking pricks. Fuckheads. Fucks. Of course, nothing beats the deliciousness of the cursing in Spanglish: Fucking comemierdas. (Koh-meh-mee-ir-dahs) Fucking shiteaters. Or Comefuckingmierdas Shitfuckingeaters.

Posted by: Val Prieto at June 07, 2005 12:22 PM (k8zC3)

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Yes, I too have succumbed to the demon that is Catblogging. But these two aren't mine. They belong to the friends we're staying with.

Here's Franklin:

And Arthur:

Bonus Lizardblogging:
Meet Norman:

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:29 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I need to work on my presentation for tomorrow, cut brownies, pack for CA, and clean up the house so the damn dog doesn't get into anything while we're gone (a friend is watching her and staying at the house, but still...)

I also need to go pick up my dissertation paperwork so they can sign it tomorrow so I can graduate......

Soooo.....OPEN THREAD..... I may pop in and add my two cents if I get a down minute.....otherwise, it's all you.

We'll be in CA from tomorrow night to Tuesday, but I'll have sporadic computer time, and I will definitely be checking email.....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 05:21 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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1 Have a safe trip, and good luck on the apartment hunt. Have a piece of toast for me at the brunch

Posted by: Ith at May 25, 2005 06:39 PM (nt+rp)

2 come on people! Talk!

Posted by: caltechgirl at May 25, 2005 09:58 PM (Yf8BQ)

3 No

Posted by: Jay at May 25, 2005 10:08 PM (8n5zS)

4 you just did!

Posted by: caltechgirl at May 25, 2005 10:13 PM (Yf8BQ)

5 Points to the top comment NYHA!

Posted by: Ith at May 25, 2005 10:14 PM (DCF12)

6 I'm jealous of the trip. There's something about it being all of like 45 degrees today and rainy that's making me fiercely homesick right about now... There's something so disorienting about it not being 95 degrees and dry as a bone at the end of May...

Posted by: Deb at May 25, 2005 10:38 PM (8n5zS)

7 Good luck, be safe and have fun!

Posted by: Sissy at May 25, 2005 11:06 PM (uXS+O)

8 Hey, I'll be thinking of you tomorrow morning! :-)

Posted by: Paul Burgess at May 25, 2005 11:08 PM (7EVyU)

9 Welcome back (for a while at least). Only 92º today, so it shouldn't be too much of a change. I hope you have as much fun today as this man: "Mr. Feynman; why is the sky blue?"

Posted by: Mr. Kurtz at May 26, 2005 04:13 AM (KHPaj)

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a pet peeve....

Rob-Amber's wedding is on CBS, and as is super predictable they wrote their own vows.

But aren't vows promises? I mean 3/4 of what Rob said was extolling Amber's virtues, and the family and friends made more of a promise than Rob or Amber in their vows.

No wonder people get divorced so often. They can't even make promises to each other at their wedding.
[/pet peeve]

On a more positive note, the minister was great. He made a nice blessing at the end.

And the bridesmaids' dresses were the same color as they were at my wedding. We should have gotten married at the beach. Then we wouldn't have had to worry about not being able to match dye-able shoes.....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:50 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I've been feeling like @ss all afternoon. Now I know why.
3pm: Sunny 72 degrees F
4pm: Raining 58 degrees F

I love rain, but this is crazy. It's freakin' May. Last year this week was in the 90s!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:00 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Check this out:
Michele tells us the story of Canada's private war against innumeracy: Give 'em an incentive, eh?

I'm sorry ma'am, no free shoes. You couldn't tell me what [(22+16)-18]*8/2 is.

Give me a freakin' break.

Evidently to win a prize in Canada you have to be smart enough to do strange math problems.... I hadn't seen this before, but according to this, it's been around a while.

Heh. It's like Jim Crow literacy tests for voting in the US in past days. Just as stupid, and frankly, in this case, silly. Wonder when all the liberals are going to rise up against this flagrant discrimination against the math impaired.....

Can you imagine what lottery sales would be like in this country if you had to answer math problems to collect your jackpot? Funding education would be a moot argument since the lotteries wouldn't make any money. Not that all Americans are stupid, mind you, it's just that I think most would resent such a test.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:29 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Just saw an ad on VH1 for Alanis Morrissette's new album/tour...I mean old album and tour. Heck, I guess what ever works, right?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, I guess. Or maybe just go with what works......

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:09 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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I'm using FoxyTunes to listen to my musica while I check out the net, and I've got winamp on random, and it keeps spewing out great songs for singing loud (DH isn't home yet)

right now: The B-52s "Love Shack"

Earlier:
Shawn Colvin "Sunny Came Home"
Beach Boys "Kokomo"
U2 "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
New Order "Blue Monday"

Interestingly, 3 of these latter songs are among my favorite songs of all time...

Heh. It just switched to Like A Prayer, which is hella good for singing loud and alone.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 05:24 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Chapel Hill is devastated after learning this weekend of the deaths of James and Alison Sapikowski, who were long-time local business owners and the "parents" of the UNC club hockey team. The couple were shot to death in their home, probably two weeks ago, by their 16 year old son, Adam, a student at posh local private school The Durham Academy.

Adam Sapikowski shot his father 3 times, and his mother twice, with a .410 shotgun.

Somehow, the crime managed to remain hidden for two weeks. Police were only called after an out-of-town relative became alarmed. They began looking for the "missing" family, but a routine search of their home turned out to be anything but. The family had never left town. Adam Sapikowski was staying in a local hotel while his parents bodies decomposed on the floor of their bedroom.

It's not only the parents that are sickos, sometimes. Let's all be thankful he didn't take that shotgun to school, too.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:27 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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You may have already noticed the lovely little countdown clock in the sidebar on the left which tells you how long I have until my frontal lobotomy PhD thesis defense, which will take place May 26, 2005 at 10 am.

If you want your own happy fun PHP clock, go here.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:23 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Ah, May 26! I'll be keeping you in my thoughts. I remember well the day of my own defense, up the road at Duke: December 5, 1991. There I was, striding in to campus early in the morning, unaccustomedly wearing a suit and tie. It was the 200th or 300th anniversary of the birth of some famous musician, I can't remember who now; it was also the day that Gorbachev announced that, in just a few weeks, the Soviet Union would be going out of business. But my mind was on other things. I remember the departmental secretary trying to reassure me. I remember going over to the library to make a last-minute acid-free photocopy of the page my committee members would have to sign. I remember my life flashing before my eyes. May 26. Like I say, I'll be keeping you in my thoughts.

Posted by: Paul Burgess at May 02, 2005 08:53 AM (7EVyU)

2 You're going to do a brilliant job. (How soon before you go to med school?) :^)

Posted by: shrinkette at May 02, 2005 10:54 AM (RG2Xa)

3 Wow, I can't even imagine. Good luck and hopefully the next few weeks will go fast for you. Or would you like it to go slow for more time? Well, whatever it is that you want, I wish that for you :-)

Posted by: Sissy at May 02, 2005 11:02 AM (PjGEe)

4 Thanks, everyone! I need the encouragement. I'm not worried about the meeting, but the writing sucks

Posted by: caltechgirl at May 02, 2005 11:08 AM (5VQpT)

5 Heh, this is kind of insider joke stuff, but in talking to my mom tonight, I found out the family court date for the Caruthers mess is also May 26. The end of a couple eras, eh?

Posted by: Ben at May 03, 2005 01:14 AM (0ypJF)

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Again, not a surprise....

Halberd You preferred a weapon with 38% power over speed and 49% range over melee.

You use a Halberd. Possibly the most versatile polearm ever made, the Halberd is an elegant mix of spear and staff, remaining relatively light while having an effective cutting edge and stabbing point. Your enemies will never get near you; your personal space will be as unreachable as a faraway land.

(h/t: Jay)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 07:54 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Ok, we all know that people comment on the DU boards for one of two reasons (mostly):
1. They have no where else to spew their hateful ignorant shite.
2. They're right-wing gluttons for punishment and trolling.

Elizabeth Edwards has been a commenter at DU for quite a while including some notable comments about the "reign of witches" etc. Today, however, she serves as a voice of reason on the hate-board. In a discussion of Laura Ingraham's recently discovered (and just yesterday removed) breast cancer, Mrs. Edwards takes the high road. A breast cancer patient herself, she says, in part:

"I have been a Democrat for a long time, and part of the Democratic principles that attracted me as a young person and kept me a Democrat all these years is our compassion. Democrats are simply good and decent people. And good and decent people want everyone to do well -- those who agree with them and those who do not. We fight for the right of voices with which we disagree to speak out, for the right of people to say things we don't believe to be true, even for the right to be malicious and mean-spirited. If we fight for the right for LI to say what she says, how in the world can we use our disagreement with those words as an excuse not to be compassionate in her fight with cancer. Being willing to have her voice muted by illness is the same thing as not wanting her voice to be heard. It is not Democratic or democratic."

AKA You've really lost it this time you unbelievably ignorant fools.

She speaks of Democrats as good and decent people, which most, in fact, are, being concerned with social justice and peace, after all. But she's preaching to the wrong crowd. The DU boards are filled with the kind of crazy doctrinal hate speech that lefties are so wont to accuse righties of spewing.

Like Mrs. Edwards, I can even understand some of these retards being happy that Ms. Ingraham is off the air while she convalesces from her surgery, but to wish her death because you disagree with her politics? Come on. I thought you all were the compassionate party of peace and love and free speech.

Oh that's right. Only for the people who agree with you.

I can't tell you how appalled I am that these people have left simple human decency and compassion behind just because the object of their discussion happens to be a conservative. I hate to say it, but isn't that what happened in Germany? In Turkey? In the USSR? When the people you don't like/disagree with/blame politically become less than deserving of your compassion, less than human, perhaps, it's time to start rethinking your strategy. Otherwise you become no better than Hitler, Attaturk, or Stalin.

BTW, it's not like the voice of reason had any effect, even from someone like Mrs. Edwards. While there are a few posts agreeing with her, check out some of the posts AFTER Mrs. Edwards had her say:

She probably gave it to herself...

I don't pray for Nazis or other Totalitarian Scum (there are a lot of entries of people declining to pray for Ms. Ingraham based on her politics)

I hope she goes into remission and fucking chokes to death. (This tard has an upside down US flag as his avatar)

There are more. Including this little gem hoping she goes bankrupt paying for her medical bills and loses her house and faces ridicule.

Unbelievable. Here's a hint, Howie: the more we hear about this kind of thing, the more you lose touch with the center. No matter how any biblical references you pull out.

(h/t Michelle Malkin)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:37 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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I am a Giant Mecha-Blob. Did I mention I kicked Ith's butt?

Mwahahahahahaha.
Get your own here. Or do battle against another web monster.

(h/t Princess Jami subbing for Ith)

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:29 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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