Go me.

It takes talent to slip off a table while sitting on a chair and skin your arm. Luckily, I am up to the challenge.

Political Rant

So, I was reading this article by Orson Scott Card. Sometimes I wonder if this guy has even been to the "heartland" he describes so eloquently. When my mom lived there, the alcoholism rates were terrible. Today, it is the meth lab capital of the world. This is the part of the country with the best moral values? The place where all the welfare queens live? Give me a fucking break. The lowest divorce rate in the country is in Massachusetts or "smartland" as Card oh so cleverly names it. You know, the place with no moral values. Looking at the census data, New York also has a low rate, while Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arkansas, etc. all have rates that are nearly double the MA and NY rate. Now, I doubt that a paired-t test would reveal any statistical significance to this data, but I wish the conservatives would drop the whole "family values" smoke cloud. It's just a bunch of propaganda.

Anyway, regardless of the administration in power, the Midwest is hardly the part of the country to hold up as "ideal" or embodying the "spirit of America." It seems to me like that part of the country has nothing. It is depressed, adrift and frustrated. The obesity rates are appalling, the unemployment and unskilled labor rates are depressing, people are frustrated, uneducated and need a target to focus on. Industry has left the area - when I was there a few months ago, people were protesting the closure of a local jail, because it was one of the largest employers in the area. The oil has left, the coal has left, and just about every other factory has left. Farms are everywhere, but I doubt many of them are independently owned. I could probably ask my Grandmother if I really wanted to know.

I also like this quote from Card: "So as we watch the Democratic Party flush away democratic processes..." oh, and this one: "People who are so sure they're right that they are willing to eliminate democratic processes in order to get and keep power are the enemies of freedom for everyone."

uh huh. So, who was it who passed a law for Terri Schivo? Oh, and who is trying to put a stranglehold on our judicial branch? Seems to me that the Republican party is the one saying "Screw the balance of power." Congress falls in line behind the president, so clearly the courts should too. I'm not much more impressed with the Democrats, though, to tell you the truth. The Republicans just frustrate me more, because so much of what they say doesn't agree with my experiences. I often get the feeling that many Democrats are idealists who have had to face reality, while most Republicans are just selfish scum who were never even idealists.

It seems to me that the Republican media machine has been quietly humming along, and bullshit like this is the result.

Unpoof that tail

I woke up this morning to the sound of yowling cat. At 5:43am. I am not pleased with my cat. Once again, he is having trouble adjusting. He has reconciled with Oz, never hard because Oz loves everyone, but Dankers is being met with continued aggression. Dank isn't doing anything wrong; he mostly cowers around Tam. I am getting rather fed up with my cat.

My birthday is coming. Once again, I have no idea what to ask for. It seems like, during the year, there are all of these things that I want. But, by the time my birthday rolls around, I realize I don't really need them or completely forget about them. Then, I have no idea what to say and end up annoying people. Most of the stuff I really want is too expensive anyway. Or apparently, not expensive enough. I'm never going to get a cheese grater, I just know it.

The Return

Seventeen hours is a long time to spend in the car. Even driving in shifts, it was still pretty bad. But, I am home now and mostly unpacked. There are five boxes waiting for me in the corner, but I borrowed a movie to watch while I handle those.

The last few days have been extremely busy. On Thursday, the graduation ceremonies began and carried over into Friday. I personally didn't mind them very much, they seemed to go pretty quickly to me. My sister arrived on Thursday afternoon in a foul mood though. She is home from Santa Barbara for three weeks, after which she is returning to California to take summer classes. She apparently moved half her stuff into her summer apartment and brought the rest with her. Now, this is what led to her mood and what I do not understand. She had two suitcases, two backpacks, a computer and her purse with her. She had to drag all of this, by herself, to the airport. Then between planes, she had to "race" to her gate with all of it (sans suitcases, of course). Then, to make matters worse, one of her suitcases weighted 68 pounds, which was over the weight limit, so they charged her extra. They also apparently attempted to charge her extra for all the carryon bags, but she started crying and they let her go.

This was apparently "the worst experience of her life" or something like that. But, I don't understand why she needed all that crap. I understand the computer - she has managed to accumulate so many viruses that it requires a professional fix. Why 68 pounds of clothes though? She's only home for three weeks, she has access to a washing machine. What is the point of dragging home all of that stuff? I just don't get it. And I didn't apperciate her being crabby and rude to me all weekend. She deliberately did not help us pack the car - slept on my bed, chair and then talked on her cell phone for the entire move. Because "no one helped her move out." Surprise, surprise, no one helped me move six of the eight moves I've had to make. It's the downside of living far from home. But Mom flew out to help her move in, and I am cetain we will all travel out to see her graduate and help her move out. She's just a vindictive little bitch, who apparently has issues with moving pillows for other people.

Anyway, irritable little sister aside (she actually commented to my mother that this was "all about me" and that no one was paying any attention to her, go figure), it was a nice graduation. Dinner was wonderful, which almost all of the family in attendance. I got a lot of money, hopefully enough for me to live on for the next four years. Mom thinks it'll only last eighteen months, but I bet I can make do for longer.

I will probably be putting up graduation pictures shortly. The pictures I took won't be available for several weeks, because I have to have them developed, but my Dad and Jim took digital pictures that I can post.

Tomorrow will be mostly mundane things. I have to call the bank, schedule a dentist appointment, schedule a hair appointment, etc. etc. I need to sit down and figure out a summer racing schedule so that I can start the appropriate training. I also need to arrange to visit my future home and make sure transcripts and my MPN gets sent to Temple.

John is mocking me for not unpacking, so I had better get going.

Slow, please.

How in the world did I get so much stuff? I pulled everything out of my closet this morning and sorted/packed/tossed everything. But it was amazing. I have so much crap. It is going to take 2-3 boxes to pack up all my kitchen stuff alone.

I was at my Uncle's, doing laundry, and reflecting on how much I will miss St. Louis. It is so beautiful right now, everything is green and it hasn't gotten too hot yet (it's only in the seventies to mid-eighties). Then, I got in my car to drive home. After encountering construction on two of three possible routes home (the third route wasn't an option because it is extremely congested), I felt less wistful about leaving the city.

Construction in St. Louis has gotten out of control. I was thinking about it as I slowly navigated my way home and I came up with the following construction sites:

+Forest Parkway - two + miles completely shut down. Crosses three major intersections, including two of the corners that border Wash U. The intersections are often bottlenecks for various construction-related reasons.
+Brentwood - they have removed an overpass and appear to be preparing to replace it with something
+Forsyth - again, overpass-related construction. I'm not even sure what they are doing anymore, except that the traffic patterns are all screwy.

Between all these constructions sites, it virtually impossible to get from point A to point B without hitting some rough road. Of course, Delmar is still a pothole ridden menance in places, so I suppose we can look forward to construction there one day. Hopefully they'll wait until next week to do it though.

Update: On Friday, as we were getting packed, I noticed that giant signs have been placed around Delmar, advertising that the road will be shut down on Sunday. I am unspeakably glad we left on Saturday.

Those Paintball thingys hurt!

That line from Daria was running through my head the entire afternoon. And they aren't wrong either, those paintball pellets are shot out at 300 ft/sec and they leave welts. I only got hit three times, on the leg, armpit and hand, but some of the guys were covered in donut shaped marks. Tomorrow is visit Grandma/senior night out, which I'm hoping will go well, because I love to dance.

It is a bit odd to think that in less than a week, I will never return to St. Louis or campus. Well, actually, I may return once or twice to visit family, but then I'll just pass through. I have spent so much time here over the past four years, and I am having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea. Campus was absolutely silent this morning. It was gorgeous, of course, because our campus is beautiful, particularly in the spring when everything is green and blooming. At 8:00am in spring, everything is covered with dew (or sprinkler water) and it just glistens. I ran down to campus to return a book to Doug, who had kindly lent me his Q Phys textbook, and do some massive recycling/illegal dumpster use. The dumpsters are conveniently accessible by car, for which I was extremely grateful. My original plan had been to risk parking at the Lopata dock and take the elevator up to the CEC, where I knew there were recycling bins. It would have taken a couple of trips, though.

Anyway, I think I will go bake cookies and then pack for a bit. I didn't really feel like going out tonight, though, so I think this is for the best.

Odds and Ends

Well, the guy who bought my desk and bookshelves was supposed to be here thirty minutes ago. Hmph. Time to play with the blog while I wait.

I love those squirrel pictures I got from Jim. Thank you Jim!

Today was nice and uneventful. I rollerbladed 12 miles, cooked and read more of my book. I found out I got an A- in Q Phys, which was a nice surprise. I am fairly certain I did well in Cell Bio, so hopefully the semester will end well. It doesn't really matter for anything, but it would make me feel good.

I have been reading Reefer Madness lately. I plan on finishing it this evening so that I can return it to the library tomorrow. It is a fascinating book and has made me think about things I don't normally think about (ie. business and law). It discusses the economics of the black market, but in a readable way. I'm not a big fan of econ, but it is staying away from statistics/theory and focusing more on the size of the money being moved and how it is moved. Very, very interesting. It also has a lot of historical context for these black markets, which is also intriguing. They don't really teach this stuff in history class.

I have been compiling a reading list for the summer, and I might have another job. One of the people in the GI department needs some help with a research project. It doesn't pay anything, but I might get my name on the paper. I also have a lead on a house in Philly, the same person I'm helping with research is moving to Rhode Island for her PhD (hence the rush to finish the research), and she wants me to rent her house. She is being incredibly nice about it, so I will probably take her up on it.

Senior week starts tomorrow. Yay!

Up

Up 

and

Away!

The End

Wow.

It is all finished. I have unofficially ended my undergraduate education. It was such a great feeling last night to fly through that test (relatively speaking, I only left 5 minutes early because I'm a perfectionist like that) and walk out into the beautiful weather, knowing I was finished.

Today, I have grand plans of cleaning and laundry. I just ran 10 miles - it is eighty degrees and I am soaked in sweat. Tomorrow, I will begin the packing process. That guy is coming to take my desk and one of my bookshelves, so it seems like a good time to get started.

Oops. I forgot I started writing this...An hour and a half later, I am happy to report that my cleaning plans have been carried out. My cleaning tends to build momentum. I'm not as bad as my Mom, who is openly OCD about her need to clean, but when I start cleaning, everything must be cleaned. Including the sides of the toilet, the bottom part of the toaster oven and the trash can lid. In the course of the cleaning, I found both of Tam's favorite pipecleaner toys - one was behind the fridge, the other was underneath my teddy bear.

I feel much better now. There is something very satisfying with having a clean apartment.

My best Kitten Cannon Score ever! 

Unbelievable

There are days when I swear I am the luckiest person ever.

I got home from visiting my Grandmother and immediately went to take out my contacts, because my eyes were itching. I am a little tired, and in a clumsy move, I dropped my right contact. Right into a sinkfull of water that was in the process of draining.

I panicked and immediately closed the valve, which isn't very effective. The rest of the water slowly drained out, but I couldn't find my contact anywhere. I safely removed and cleaned the left contact and looked for my backup.

Unfortunately, my backup has become a lovely shade of orange. I have no idea how this has happened, but there is no way I am going to put an orange contact into my eye. I like my vision, flawed as it may be.

I found my perscription and went to look into ordering another contact. This is harder than it sounds, because my vision is so bad, I have to specially order contacts. 1-800-contact.com didn't list my brand in the proper power.

I was a little pissed off at myself, but mostly in shock that I could do something so stupid. I mean, I haven't had that long of a day. I went back into the bathroom to just the sink just in case. I reopened the valve and there was my contact!.

It was just unbelievable. It must have gotten stuck in the valve when I closed it. I soaped it up and rinsed it off very throughly and put it in the disinfectant solution with the left one.

I am so, so relieved. I think I'll go ahead and order another set of contacts, though. Maybe I can switch brands back to the last ones, which were much more comfortable. I just feel so incredibly lucky right now.

Days Left: 2

One down

Q Phys is over! The final was okay...I only didn't finished one 35 point problem, so for Q Phys, it was pretty decent. Now I just have Cell Bio left, and I actually enjoy preparing for that class.

So, Ani is coming to Wilmington. The date has been listed for a while, but I haven't bought tickets yet. But then I noticed, Erin Mckeown is opening! An opening act I am actually familiar with and enjoy! I would actually like to hear more of Drums and Tuba one day - I keep on meaning to buy their cd - but Erin Mckeown is actually someone I have considered seeing as the main act. This is too cool. I am 2 cds behind on my Ani bootlegs, but I was getting a little tired of them. I would like to find someone to go with me, but Ani doesn't appeal to most of my friends. Alas.

So, now I am going to go run. I was going to get groceries, but I think I can put it off for another day. True, I am down to food elements, but I have untapped pasta resevoirs. I can make it to Friday, and maybe even to Saturday.

Days Left: 5

Things Not to do

So, I stopped by the BME building to copy down homework answers for the final on Thursday. There was a small crowd of people with the same idea - the prof has emphasized the importance of the homeworks as final prep repeatedly - and we started chatting as we scribbled down equations.

We were, of course, mildly bitching about the course and the grading scheme. Somehow this inspired this one guy to go off on his grades. I'll tell you, you should never boast about your 4.08 GPA in front of a bunch of BMEs frazzled for the final. I don't know what thoughts when through that guy's head - if it was some attempt to impress the girls it failed pretty badly.

Some people are just a mystery. Don't they realize that spelling out the steps to find the exact answer to the ODE isn't particularly endearing? especially when we weren't taught how to do so (or expected to be able to do so). Poor little pretentious nerd...I like nerds, a lot, but no one likes a show-off.

Nutso birds

There are a pair of insane birds outside my window. Neither the cat nor I know what to make of them. This sparrow is trying to break through my window, I think. She is hopping along my air conditioner, peaking and beating at the window with her wings. Now she is hovering and beating at the window with her wings and beak. Her mate is hopping around behind her and they are bothing chittering and chirping like mad.

Okay, I just put my face up against the window at tapped on it at her. She chirped at me, flew away, came back, flew away, came back, flew away...and she's back. What is wrong with these birds?

It's driving Tam nuts. I heard him hit the kitchen window a couple times already (he can't get into the window with the air conditioning unit, so the kitchen window is the next window over). He desperately wants those birds. Poor guy.

I hope they don't start cheeping at 5:30 in the morning again.