uhhhhhhhhh...i dunno

Hey Friends. It's Thursday. That means a full day in the lab. A full day of frustration. Dlc and I were working up fish together. For the past thousand months I've been trying to get some stupid protocol to work.

There's lots I would like to say about this, but being a proper blogger and hoping to remain a grad student at this point in time, I can't. Let's just say it involves "your research, not my problem" and "all up in my grill".

In other news, I'm getting prepped for a big drive over to New Orleans to see ANI! My friends LJ and his girlfriend are joining me and we're going to leave Friday night and drive over night so that we can get to New Orleans very early so that we can be FIRST IN LINE!!! WOOOOOH. For anyone who is keeping track, this will be my 10th concert. I've seen Ani in 4 states and 2 countries. I'm getting to the point (I hate to admit it) that it's not as exciting as it was the first 9 times... Don't get me wrong, I'm still like #1 fan, but it's starting to be less like a New Kids on the Block concert and more like a grown-up concert or something else that boring people would go to and act politely and sit quietly. Or maybe it is just that I am getting old.

I'm getting old folks. Just tonight, I was trying to parse out "What it is about this 'music' that these kids today like so much? I mean it's not even PROPER music". Oh no! But really, have you heard this crap? I think it's because they're cutting all the music and arts programs in school so of course the kids don't know any better. Sigh. If only they could appreciate Ani and classical guitar like I do. Cut the Jazz, that's fine. I hate jazz, but push the folk and classical. There, wouldn't the world be so much better if I got to make all the rules?

But I digress: So I cleaned out my car tonight. Or, I removed the garbage from my car. There's still a fine layer of pearl-ite from a plant I spilled in the car last June and a less fine layer of sand from my trips to the beach and pennies and sludge that I think is the result of some sort of irreversible chemical reaction that is the result of mixing Gu and coffee. I think I'll TRY to get to a gas station with some quarters and then put the quarters in the vacuum machine and then use the vacuum machine to suck up some of that crap. That's unlikely though, I mean, with that many steps it's almost bound to fail--if there's a 5% failure rate for any sort of thing you try to do, the more steps you add the more likely it is to fail. Right? I paid attention in stats. I know what is up. I should just give up before I start.

Well, here's to my road trip! Hope it goes smoothly and that neither LJ nor his girlfriend are allergic to any of the crap in my car.

Confidential to Ani ( know you're reading this): See you Saturday!

Pimpin' all over the world

In honor of the birth of Einstein a tiny pony and to continue the series of Poems by Anna I present:

The story of Ludacris and the Pimping Pony

or

Bingo the Pony: A Life in Epic Limerick:
Possibly Cute, Probably Dopey

There once was a pony named Bingo,
Believed that he was the king-(o)-
Embarked on a boat,
Missing a coat,
But ready for the best ever fling (o).

Went pimpin’ all over the world (o)
With his mane beautifully ribbon’d and curl’d (o)
Picked up a young mare
(Babe, come into my lair…)
Next morning he woke up and hurled (o)

Haiku Interlude
I wish you were watch-
Ing this movie with me, we’re low
On snarky comments.

The boat trip back home was not great (o)
The pony was sitting with freight (o)
He’ll never leave home,
No more will he roam
Stud-horse was just not his fate (o)

Couplet Epilogue
How much happier Pony would be,
Shoulda stayed home with Lifetime TV.

Written in pen the first time, no mistakes, with Kat in mind.
There will be a second edition, hardbound with illustrations.

Camping

Hey! The camping trip was awesome! The kids went snorkeling in the morning. Like all of our trips, the weather wasn't exactly cooperating. The wind was really whipping and by the time we got out to the reef there were waves breaking over the bow of the catamaran and it looked like a surfboard was more suitable gear than fins and snorkels. The girls, true to form, took it in stride and got in the water just the same. The younger ones came back in after about 15 minutes and passed out on the deck for a mid-morning nap while the older ones stayed out a bit longer but all of them came back bloody in one way or another. Nosebleeds, run-ins with corals and so on. They were all afflicted with sea sickness, but only one of them actually vomited over the side before returning to her nap. I didn't hear a single complaint. Those kids are THE BEST.

After we got off the boat we headed to the campsite and set up tents, made some trail mix (which, according to them includes: fruit loops, marshmellows, m&m's and peanuts. They pooh-pooh'd the fruit bits and only put a splash of peanuts in for texture.) and hit the beach again. We had a campfire and hit the sack around hiker midnight (9pm).

They were up bright and early in the morning, made some pancakes/frisbees and were cleaned up, packed and ready to get out of dodge by 10. Again, Best kids Ever. I've taught them well, if I may say so myself.

Now I can relax and breathe a bit before we get into the end of year craziness with badges and four star troop paperwork and parties....

Right up to here:

Right up to my damn eyeballs. That's where I'm at right now. I won't be un-up-my-eyeballs until Sunday afternoon after I get home from camping with my kiddos. On the docket now

1. Get to school by 7:30 so that I can pull out microscopes and find straws (which I think all disappeared because MyTeacher doesn't keep anything safe and lets the kids just walk around and get their damn sticky fingers all over everything. No boundaries, no boundaries...). Make bromophenol blue solution and then proceed to hope that the lab actually Works.
2. Get to Lab, talk about My Future with dlc. I passed my quals (I was never worried I wouldn't so big freeeeeking deal) so now there's some idea that I need to, you know, get on with it.
3. Move a thousand fish (or 100) from one tank to the next, drain entire 1,000 gallon system.
4. Shop for camping food for 15 people. Anyone got a good chicken kabob marinade recipe?
5. Brownie meeting.
6. Get up at the CRACK of dawn tomorrow and go snorkelling follow with camping.


aaaaaaahhhhhhh! can't wait till its over. can't wait till it's over. See you all on the other side, if I make it through.

It Rhymes So It Must Be True

Anna used to write me poems....waaaaaay back in the day she would whip them out for me like nobody's business, no big deal. She doesn't write them for me anymore but they're still pretty funny. Here's an oldie but goodie, inspired by Don Quixote who says "I think it therefore it must be true" a motto by which I live my life...also partly inspired by a certain amount of resentment on Anna's part of my relentless "opinion giving" regarding her school at the time--St. Johns and my perceived superiority for going to a place like...The University of Idaho. Guess it just goes to show that you never really know anything, do you now?

It Rhymes So It Must Be True

I like St. John’s better than Idaho
Because I’m here and not there.
Since the things that I think I thus know
You can try, prove me wrong, if you dare.

So maybe we’re light on hard science!
So maybe I’ve not seen a whale!
I think we can remain in alliance
Against things like wine that’s gone stale.

We both love Ani Difranco.
We hypothetically both get straight A’s.
If I go to a baseball game, you’ll go
And we can recap the plays for ten days.

I wish you would just leave my books alone
And stop making fun of my “grades”
You’ve made your position well known
And I see just how certain you are

That the world probably moves ‘round an axis
Drawn through Genesee, and then through you
With a fish pinned beneath paper stackses
Of modern research, both factual and true.

So I think I’ll just keep enjoying
The classics (that means they’re not new)
And occasionally write you a po-em
Asserting my own certain view!

The End.