Boys are dumb

*Disclaimer: The below was written after I finished the final glass of pre-bed wine.*

K. So, two posts in one day. (You get to read them in the morning after I wrote them.) What a treat with my online absence and all, right? You all just wait until I set up internet, start reading everything you have written in the past month and comment on it all. I owe you…

So, the boy from my friends’ wedding? Did not work out. I think there must be something wrong with him (obviously), because, even though he “had fun hanging out, [he] did not want to pursue anything further.” Ummm…okay. I will blame his younger and stupid age, as well as the loss of momentum when I went on my trip in August. KHC’s boyfriend, the Captain, had named this stupid groomsman Captain #2 (not because their real-life names are the Captain, but rather their real-life names are real names, like Jack, for example, and the Captain came up with the numbering system, so he gets to be #1.) Now I refer to the stupid groomsman/Captain #2 as #2, like poop.

Poop prevented me from taking advantage of certain things when I traveled in August, like a Dude at the course in MT, for example. And by Poop, I mean the stupid groomsman/Captain #2/# 2/Poop; not like I had an intestinal problem while I was traveling. Certain things = fellow grad student, who I have apparently nicknamed Dude, participating in the course with whom I am currently obsessed because I decided it is not good to be obsessed with a friend with whom I have been obsessed all month (got it?). He, the Dude, and I flirt INCESSANTLY on Facebook chat now. Seriously. I need to give the dude my phone number so we can flirt on the phone. My friend who also went to MT mentioned that this Dude and I should have, you know…yeah…And she is right. Now I am stuck with someone with whom I can only flirt incessantly while in different time zones and invite to visit for the next beerfest here (which he then LOOKED UP, I might add), because what other excuse could I come up with to suggest he visit??? It is a plane flight away, people, and we are in grad school. And he is an international student (I do not know why that is important, but I am a few glasses of wine into the night). And we are not in the same city. Did I mention we are not in the same city? Because am I doing this to torture myself because it is easy to say, “Oh, it did not work out because we are in different cities,” or am I willing to live in a land-locked state (well, they have a ginormous lake at least) to date someone?? And why am I even thinking about dating the Dude when we did not even, you know…, in MT and we merely flirt incessantly ONLINE. Ummm…I just like him because he is a smart farmer. Seriously. How sexy is a really smart farmer with an accent???

*Second Disclaimer* I feel silly for posting this now that it is the morning after I wrote it, but I will anyway. If I had internet at home, I totally would have posted it last night, what with the wine and all.*

Flitting around

Gosh. What am I doing without internet at home???

Well, certainly not keeping up with any of the other fantastic blogs out there, for which I am deeply sorry!!!

I will stop over-using punctuation now…maybe. 

Since I moved into my own place, I have not been just home to sit much. Most of this is due to the lack of internet. I am less productive than I may otherwise be, but oh, well. I just drive back to campus when I NEED internet.

I have been productive at work, relatively speaking. Trying to complete experiments so I can write papers and get the heck out of this place. My advisor just told me I have until mid-November to get a paper written for a special edition of a journal if I am interested – can I do it? I registered for another big meeting and am worried I may end up giving a talk – SCARY!! (Anyone out there go to SICB???) I have been relatively good about keeping up with the online part of my Montana course – partly to procrastinate on more pressing issues, partly my latent competitiveness because a particular boy is posting a lot on the wiki we are working on.

I pulled off a house warming and only had to hide away one box – I do not have a place for my socks and workout clothes?! I got lots of compliments on my apartment, and even if I did not enjoy having people over, that would have made it worth it. I FINALLY invested in a laptop and should get it in less than 2 weeks – I went with a Lenovo and do not want to hear about how I should have gone with a Mac, thank you very much. I finally made it to the gym this morning – it has been rough with a cough I have had for over a month. The inhaler seems to have done the trick with the cough though. And now I am sitting at home enjoying a glass of wine before I go to bed typing a post in Word so I can post it from work because I do not have internet…

Living alone

Last night, I decided the hardest part of living alone is when you have a party and the door bell and your phone ring at the same time. What do you answer???

I guess there are worse problems to have...

Nostalgia

Now that I have my own place, everything in my apartment is mine. (Go figure the logic there!) One morning I decided to go through all my photo albums from high school and college (that I have with me at least), and I started remember how happy I was in college and how much fun we would have. I tried to pick out some of my favorites and then posted them on Facebook. I had a mixed response from those who were tagged in the photos and won't post any here, but they were fun!

Last night I drove almost two hours to hear a talk by a scientist who is really well known and works on a compound with which I also work. I have been dying to see this man talk. I gave myself plenty of time to get there because I had to drive through two cities around rush hour. I got to the college campus almost an hour early, called a couple of people (who did not answer) and wandered around the campus. This made me miss college even more than the pictures I had been looking through last week. Campus was pretty quiet, there were some people around, and it is fall, which I love. I noisily walked through my first pile of dry leaves for the season(!), because really why would you try to walk through dry leaves quietly? You have to scuff your feet right through and make that dry leaves noise! I loved the campus, but I don't know if it's for nostalgic reasons or because I could really see myself there when I start looking for jobs.

Then I heard the man talk and got all excited about my work, which is good to keep me motivated. I got excited about looking for and getting a post-doc. I got all nervous, but introduced myself and he knew of my publication!! (Mostly because the company that makes the compound we work with, does a really good job down-playing any publications about the compound AS SOON AS they are published, and he keeps track of that. Whatever.) This story was so much better in my head, but my question is - is there a word like "nostalgia" but for the present? Like fondly thinking about the present? Like "fondly thinking about the present"? Because while I was walking around being nostalgic on a campus I had never visited, I started being nostalgic for the present and going to the great talk and being outside in the fall air walking through the crunchy leaves...

It's rainin'

And this is what I'm singin'...

I'm singin' in the rain
just singin' in the rain
What a glorious feeling I'm happy again.

I'm only happy when it rains...

The great thing, is that it's raining and these lyrics are all about being happy.

Public service announcements

I have two things in the past week that have really bothered me.

If you are a man and are hairy, please tuck in or trim that chest hair that usually peaks out the top of your shirt.

If you like to wear perfume, and I mean nice perfume, please do not BATHE in your perfume. Just spritz it on a little so you smell nice and I, I mean, people do not have to crank the air conditioning to air out a room with no windows.

And one more that I keep noticing.

If you are talking about a person, it is "who". If you are talking about a thing, it is "that". Do not say, "The person that I was speaking to." If you want to get all grammar police, I would recommend saying, "The person to whom I was speaking," in that situation. I would settle for "The person who I was speaking to," though.

What a pleasant surprise

I tend to pick out my clothes the night before, particularly when I go to the gym in the morning. I figure the less I have to think first thing in the morning, the better! I have also started the habit of trying on the outfit to make sure things go together. Sometimes you just can not tell unless it is on, right?

So last night I was thinking I would wear my dark jeans and my black boots and this button down shirt that hes 3/4 length sleeves. [It is that in between summer and fall weather right now where a t-shirt doesn't seem like enough and a long-sleeved shirt feels like overkill!] I put the jeans on and am half way to my "closet" (I'll write more about my apartment when I have internet there and can post in the comfort of my own home)...where was I? Oh, so I am half way to the closet and I think, "These aren't the dark long jeans with stretch that I meant to put on. Which jeans are these? NO. It can't be???" I take them off right there in the hall (I live alone now, I can do that!) and they are my skinny jeans.

These are the jeans I could wear when I first started grad school four years ago! These are the jeans I could not pull past my knees just a couple of years ago! I guess it is worth making time to go to the gym.

Lots of music

I still have not set up internet at home.

The old TV I have has a built in VCR...and therefore no video input I can use to hook up my DVD player.

Therefore I have been listening to a lot of music while I have been home. I always have done this, but now living on my own I turn on my radio/CDs as soon as I get home because I am not worried about bothering anyone. My parents ALWAYS have music on at home. [This also means I do not listen to NPR or talk radio as many people do because you are supposed to be able to sing to the radio as far as I am concerned.]

I rediscovered some CDs too!

My senior year in college, there were six of us sharing an apartment. Carolyn, KHC, and Molly, all of who comment here, being three of the six. I think it was Carolyn's idea that we all put together a playlist of college songs, and she took it upon herself to make the CDs. I have been listening to KHC's the past few days. I lost my version of the JRL CD (my playlist), in case anyone wants to email me that song list. Hint, hint. I remember liking the songs I put on it. :-)

A few notes on KHC's: Old school Destiny's Child and Christina Aguilera are great. Christine Lavin's Shopping Cart of Love: The play is really fun to listen to. And I was reminded of what a stark difference of feeling the two versions (that I know of) of Romeo and Juliet are - Dire Straits and Indigo Girls. I would put in links, but then you would not have anything to do if you wanted to look these things up! :-)

On other music...the song on random mix CDs in lab that I love right now:

'Cause lately you make me weaker in the knees
And race through my veins baby every time you're close to me
Take me away to places I ain't seen
They say you've got a hold on me'
And I won't disagree

I have also begun listening to country occasionally. I mostly blame this on my brother. I have learned of a lot of great music from him (like Dispatch and Howie Day before he was all famous and stuff) and he listens to country, so it can't be all that bad, right? [I have written about this and my aversion to NPR before.] Country lyrics are so catchy and cute. I think it is mostly some of the artists' voices I do not really like. If a voice is too twangy, I probably will not leave it on the country station long enough to hear the cute lyrics. These are the songs I know of that have caught my attention though (in addition the the ones in the link above).

Cause I'd like to see you out in the moonlight
I'd like to kiss you way back in the sticks
I'd like to walk you through a field of wildflowers
And I'd like to check you for ticks

Come on in boy sit on down
And tell me about yourself
So you like my daughter do you now?
Yeah we think she's something else
She's her daddy's girl
Her momma's world
She deserves respect
That’s what she'll get
Ain’t it son?
Hey y'all run along and have some fun
I'll see you when you get back
Bet I’ll be up all night
Still cleanin' this gun

And shes ridin in the middle of his pickup truck
Blarin Charlie Daniels yellin, “Turn it up!”
They raised her up a lady
but there’s one thing they couldn’t avoid
Ladies love country boys

I mean, how can you not love the sentiments in those lyrics?

The 500 mark

In my four years of grad school, I have now put more than 500 reference papers into my reference manager program. I have read over 500 papers (mostly, with a couple of books in there) about research that is relevant to my research. I have a rule that I have to read them before I put them into the program, so I really have read them all. I also have a pile of paper about a foot tall sitting on my desk to read.

I also have more references that I have to put in manually because I can not find them to import the information.

It really does not end up sounding like so much if you figure that is about 125 per year of grad school. It feels like a lot though. I also have at least one year of grad school left and a dissertation to finish writing.

How many of these papers could I voluntarily recall? 10? Maybe 20? :-)

You heard it correctly!

I never knew the words to this song.

I just looked them up and wish I had not.

You strut your rasta wear
and your suicide poem

"Rasta wear"? Really? Weird.

Saving the best part

When I started packing to move, I decided to reread some of the books that I find so important to keep. In general I do NOT like rereading books I like. I am afraid I will not like them the second time around. This happened with Ahab's Wife: or, the Star-Gazer by by Sena Jeter Naslund. The first time around, I loved that there were so many words I learned. The second time around, I thought it was really slow. Maybe third time is a charm?

Anyway, that is not the book I started reading. I am SOOOOO close to finishing Persuasion by Jane Austen. And really, can you read a Jane Austen novel too many times? I would argue you could not.

Even though the following line is not about the heroine, it is right at the beginning and made me glad I had started reading it when I did, because really it is about me.

It sometimes happens that a woman is handsomer at twenty-nine than she was ten years before.

I am in the middle of the penultimate chapter. (I just wanted to use a big word after thinking about Ahab's Wife.) It is against my reading habits to stop in the middle of a chapter unless there is a break in paragraphs, and there is not where I stopped last night. Every night when I go to read more, I do not want to finish it because I know the ending is good and I want to save it.

This is not the case with a book I have never read that has my attention. I have definitely stayed up "just a little longer" to read more and then looked at the clock at 3:30 a.m. when I finished the book.

I might finish Persuasion tonight and hope that I can keep that happy-ending feeling for a couple of days. (Taken out of context, that statement is highly inappropriate, but you know what I mean.)

Seeing the world

I am not sure I like the greedy and selfish part at the end, but otherwise this seems pretty true. Admittedly, I do sometimes feel selfish though. I do love money...I would love to have more of it (stupid graduate school).

You See the World Through Green Colored Glasses

You live your life with generosity. You feel like your life is abundant, and you are very giving toward those around you. You judge all your interactions through the lens of harmony. You figure you have something to learn from everyone, and you listen well. You face challenges with a persistent attitude. You can see the prize at the end of the road, and you have the strength to get there. You see love as the utmost expression of self-esteem. You have to love yourself before you can truly love someone else. At your worst, you are greedy and selfish. You love money more than you'd like to admit. You are happiest when you are in nature. You appreciate the feeling of balance that being outdoors brings you.

What Color Glasses Do You See the World Through?

Moving is*...

…a time to call on your friends…and feed them pizza and beer (and water) in return for them carrying all your crap.

…a good time to carry a camera around…otherwise you miss great photo ops like the guys sliding your sleeper couch down a ladder off the back porch when it is too difficult to maneuver down the stairs. :-(

…bad for your nails…or maybe it is just real life that is bad for your nails after having more than two weeks of travel during which you were not in lab.

…a good time to throw crap away…but you can always throw away more.

…a good excuse to eat a TON…or maybe it is all that carrying and walking and shopping and climbing up to the third floor I have been doing that is making me so hungry.

…a good test for your organizational skills…although when you can not find more space to put your things away in, it is time to buy more furniture. (I have only bought one small shelving unit and a cart for the kitchen. I still need a TV stand and at least another dresser, or two more things to put what I would put in the dresser in…)

…"good" for your health…if you consider getting sweaty a lot and having sore arm and back muscles "good".

…[as a corollary] a good reason NOT to go to the gym…Why work out when your muscles are all sore? Yoga, though. Yoga is a great way to stretch all that stuff out.

…a test for the thrifty shopper…who else can say they have paid twelve dollars for a 60 dollar rug?

*Hypothetically speaking of course.

All moved!

And as unpacked as I can be without buying more furniture! I had a bunch of friends help with the move and it was fast and painless (at least for me).

No one in my area has wireless I can mooch off until I get my own. :-( I keep thinking of these funny things to post but do not have internet to do so. Maybe I'll start writing drafts so when I get internet I can post a gazillion times in one night. This also means my plan to catch up on others' blogs has gone right out the window.

K...off to get ready for the beach. :-)