Monthly Archives: September, 2012

TWSB: Nosy Mice

OH, WHAT NONSENSE IS THIS?!

Researchers at the University of Michigan have come up with a way to restore the sense of smell in anosmic mice!

Experimenting on mice that had lost their sense of smells due to a type of cilia dysfunction, researchers at the University of Michigan infected the mice with a modified strain of the common cold virus. The virus, containing the desired DNA sequences, rewrote the mice’s cells as the infection worked through their bodies. Once the mice had recovered, they were once again able to smell.

Dr. Jeffrey Martens explains that the virus was used to reintroduce neurons that transmit the sense of smell to regrow the cilia that the mice had lost. Unfortunately, though, the lack of cilia in the mice was due to a specific birth defect that affected a specific protein. A similar birth defect occurs in humans, but is usually fatal. So for now, there are no immediate applicable cures for human anosmics from these researchers’ findings, but hopefully the techniques and approach they’ve employed will lead them down the road that will one day allow those of us who lack olfaction to finally smell.

Five more of these, you guys!

FIVE MORE!

4401. Do online relationships actually work?
I don’t know.

4402. Did you know who Nora Jones was before the grammys?
I did indeed.

4403. In Maine school teachers are being told by the board of education that cannot criticize the possible upcomming war in front of students because those kids with military parents were getting upset by it in a few cases. What do you think of this?
“Upcoming war?” Wow, this survey is old. Or clairvoyant. I don’t know where educators would even get the opportunity to criticize something like that if they’re sticking to the regular curriculum, unless they’re drawing analogies or something.

4405. Should a convicted murderer have the same right to be on the organ donor waiting list as anyone else?
I don’t know.

4406. Is there a difference between american rights and human rights? If so what is the difference?
There shouldn’t be, no.

4407. What is the only completely instrumental album ever to be labeled as having explicit lyrics?
I have no idea.

4408. Who would you rather put in a box and mail to abu dabbi, Tipper Gore or Hilary Clinton?
Haha. I don’t know anything at all about Tipper.

4409. What are your top three favorite comic strips?
Get Fuzzy, Piled Higher and Deeper, and xkcd (webcomics totally count)

4410. Can you name anything that sucks more than Creed?
Yes.

4411. Is eminem a genius?
Eh.

4414. Is there a difference between crisps and crackers?
It probably depends on the region of the US. Or world.

4415. If you were going to download three movies that you wouldn’t have paid for but you’ll watch since they’re free what would you download?
Anything Pixar, yo.

4416. If you had a ferret what would you name it?
Parrot. Parrot the Ferret. Confuse the hell out of people.

4417. What do you think of peta?
I agree with what they’re trying to do, but I think they really suck at trying to do it.

4419. Is there a difference between a musical artist and an entertainer?
Entertainers don’t necessarily have to have anything to do with music, so yes.

4420. How would you rank the following people, artist or entertainer?
(1 = best)
Wierd Al: 1
Britney Spears: 4
David Bowie: 3
Eminem: 6
Moby: 2
Marilyn Manson: 9
Tiny Tim: 5
The Monkeys: 7
The Sex Pistols: 8

4421. Why does Polly Pocket no longer fit into your pocket?
That sounds crazy dirty.

4422. Would you eat a cereal called Mud & Bugs?
That sounds awesome.
Yes, there is such a cereal.
MUST OBTAIN!

4423. If you were a mythical creature which one would you be?
Well, my Chinese zodiac sign is a dragon, so I’ll just say dragon.

4424. What do you think of the new pregnant barbie (called happy family barbie)?
I had no idea there was a new pregnant Barbie.

4425. What is one thing you know is a lie?
That I’m funny.

4426. How is your soul today?
I HAVE NO SOUL

4427. Are you into sci fi?
Only GOOD sci fi. Like Verne and Wells.

4428. What’s a ‘poppet’?
Isn’t it just an alternate word/spelling for “puppet”?

4429. How’s the name Shane?
Meh.

4430. What is expected of your gender that you don’t quite live up to?
Makin’ babies.

4431. Koolaid. ifr it’ll dye your heair, try to imagine what it does to your stomach:
Gotta love those food dyes!
Do people still dye their hair with koolaid?
Maggie did!

4433. What would you never do to get attention?
Anything sexual.

4434. Should we try to control nature?
No.

4435. Who is the most powerful villain in the universe?
DR. APATHY!

4436. Invent a superhero to deal with that villain?
CAPTAIN GIVE-A-CRAP!

4437. Who are you desperately missing?
My mom. Sean.

4438. What gives you a feeling of perfection and peace?
Organization.

4439. Are you already whole and complete or does something make you whole and complete?
My passions make me whole and complete.

4440. Do you prefer the word mankind or humankind?
Humankind.

4441. Do you look good in yellow?
I have no idea. I like yellow, though.

4442. What do you want to win?
The lottery?

4444. What question do you really want to know the answer to:
in general?
Of course, the meaning of life.
about yourself?
How much I’m capable of knowing.

4445. The lamest Disney movie ever was:
I haven’t watched much of “new” Disney, but of the old movies I never really liked Sleeping Beauty. I thought it was boring.

4446. One thing you thought you would never miss but do is:
Vancouver. Not grad school, but Vancouver.

4447. In what ways are you a role model?
I’m a hard worker. I seek knowledge. I’m nice.
In what ways are you a bad example?
I have anger issues. I’m not very good at hiding them sometimes.

4448. How is your blood pressure?
On the low side, but not nearly as bad as it was for awhile.

4449. What was your last horrble nightmare about?
That dream in which I had to set off the nuclear bomb to destroy the western half of North America.

4450. Hey you. What do you say?
Yo!

4451. What is your favorite waste of time (BESIDES this survey)?
My life. HA!

4452. How would you like to die?
Early. I have no desire to grow old.

4453. What are three words or phrases used in your area/dialect that many other areas/dialects wouldn’t be familiar with?
“Palouse”, “Coeur d’Alene”, “Spokane.” I’ve heard “Spokane” pronounced spo-CAIN and SPO-kuh-nee in my many travels across North America this past year.

4454. What are the ages of the oldest and youngest person you’ve ever had sex with?
These values do not exist.

4455. What is the wierdest place you have ever woken up?
On the Orgy Couch.
Did you remember how you got there?
;)

4456. How do you feel when your partner is talking to an ex?
I don’t have a “partner.”

4457. Is there an unrequited (unreturned) love in your life?
Always.

4458. What is the most expensive gift you have ever given?
I bought Sean a new laptop, if that counts. He paid me back over time, though, so maybe it doesn’t.
received?
Oh man. Probably Vaio. Maybe Vaio II?

4459. List three traits that might help you to fall madly in love:
1) a kind, nonjudgmental nature
2) an enjoyment for philosophical discussion/debate
3) the ability to turn on and off their maturity switch at a moment’s notice.

4460. Do children like you?
I try to avoid them, so I’m not sure.

4461. If you found your child’s diary would you read it?
Yes, ‘cause I’d want to know if they knew how I ended up with a child.
What if you found the diary of one of your parents?
I’d leave it alone. I’ve had bad experiences reading the journals of my family members.

4462. Have you ever stalked or killed a wild animal?
No. Unless flies count.

4463. True or Fales.
You are moody in the morning:
False.
woman first:
False.
baby corn freaks you out:
Hahahahahaha. False.
Life is fair:
False.

4464. Name something you are now prepared to reveal about yourself that you weren’t ready to talk about in the past?
I’m pretty open about myself. I can’t think of anything new.

4465. Name a talent someone has of which you are jealous:
Not psyching themselves out before a test. I’ve been in school about 300 years now and I still get major test anxiety.

4466. What would you think if you met yourself at a aprty?
“Who’s this loserpalooza?”

4467. What would you most likely complain about in a Hotel?
Temperature control. Hotels always feel either way too hot or way too cold for me.

4468. Agree or disagree.
men need to be treated like children:
Disagree.
it is possible to be in love with more than one person at the same time:
Agree.
you often feel pressured by others:
Agree.
couples should live together before marriage:
Disagree.

4469. If you owned a restraunt what kind of cuisine would you serve?
I’d like to serve really plain, simple food. For people like me who don’t season their food or anything. I know nobody’d come, but that’s what I’d serve.

4470. Three words that describe your ideal day in bed are:
“Not in bed.”

4471. If you had a ticket for a month in paradise where would you go?
Where do you think? Antarctica!

4472. All men like to hear:
“You’re awesome!”
All woman like to hear:
“You’re awesome!”

4473. If you are a woman what is your most masculine or macho trait or ability?
I have MENERGY!

4474. How would you feel attending the wedding of an ex?
Fine.

4475. Fiction or nonfiction.
You can lie with a straight face:
Nonfiction.
You pee in the shower:
Fiction.
you prefer honesty even when it hurts:
Nonfiction.
uncapped toothpaste causes problems:
Nonfiction.

4476. What is the longest lust can last?
FOREVER!

4477. What would you like to experience while blindfolded?
It’s not actually being blindfolded, but I’d really like to experience one of those restaurants where the food is served to you in complete darkness, usually by a blind wait staff. The idea is that losing a sense will help enhance the other four (or three in some of our cases, haha) and make the experience of the food different, if not more intense.

4479. Name three things you have experianced that would shock your parents:
Haha. I don’t know of much I’ve experienced that I haven’t told at least my mom.

4480. The oddest thing you have ever put in your mouth is:
Aneel’s credit card?

4481. Lie or truth.
love is a battlefield:
True.
you watch too much tv:
False.
woman enjoy sex as much as men do:
True?
you are often tired:
False.

4482. What is the craziest thing you’ve done for attention?
Can I just insert my entire senior year of high school here? I used to “entertain” people during lunch by doing crazy ass stuff. Like finding old cardboard tubes and fashioning them into stilts and walking through the men’s bathroom. Or shoving my clarinet case down my pants and running up and down the hall pretending I had gangrene.
Yeah.

4483. Do you believe in using the silent treatment?
I think it’s pretty immature.

4484. Your most embarrassing thought:
We’re not going to talk about that.

4485. Your most prejudiced thought:
I have no idea.

4486. A shameful moment for you:
We’re not going to talk about that either.

4487. The biggest gamble of your life:
Grad school.
(I lost.)

4488. What is your greatest weakness as a friend?
I really suck at getting back to people when they contact me. And answering the phone. Communicating in general.

4489. Yes or No.
complaining is a release:
Yes.
James Bond movies are sexy:
No.
You feel better when you have a tan:
No.

4490. Do you sometimes enjoy being mean?
Not really. It’s draining.

4491. Are you high maintenance?
I try not to be.

4492. Would you rather assume the role of sexual student or teacher?
Haha. Neither.

4493. How many lovers do you consider to be too many?
That calculation’s up to the lovers, not me.

4494. What fortune would you want to find in a fortune cookie?
“Your tenacity and hard work will get you what you want.”
4495. Nothing says lovin’ like:
A little Leibniz in your pants. If it’s not painfully obvious to those just passing by, I love that man.
4496. Have you seen Bowling for Columbine?
No.

4497. Do you overuse the word genius?
No.

4498. Are you proud of the history of your people?
I think “my people” are band geeks.
So yes.

4499. Do you think about world destruction?
Sometimes. I like to think about what will take out the human population.

4500. What object could completely symbolize maleness?
XY chromosomes? (In terms of sex, not gender, of course)
How about famaleness?
XX!

Friends! Followers! Random passers-by! Lend me your eyes!

So I had this idea and I think it would be fun.

This year sucks ‘cause Halloween is in the freaking middle of the week. But I was thinking that the old gang could get together either the weekend before or the weekend after, get all Halloween dressed up, crash Shari’s, then come back to the basement for a good old fashioned basement party. Preferably still in costume. Or OUT of costume, if you know what I mean.

Heh.

I have no idea why I’m randomly thinking about Halloween.

 

Thoughts?

 

P.S. Happy birthday, Matt!

This is perhaps the most hilarious thing I’ve read in awhile

Oh man. This is fantastic.

“The Swedish Chef does not speak any known language, and the fact that his nonsense words are so widely interpreted as Swedish-sounding is bewildering and annoying to Swedes.”

“Riad, one of 18 members of the prestigious Swedish Academy, which determines who wins the Nobel Prize in literature, wrote an article in the Swedish language magazine Spraktidningen titled “Börk Börk Börk. Ehula Hule de Chokolad Muus.””

““There are three things that people talk to Swedes about pretty uniformly: the Swedish Chef, Abba, and Ikea.””

Hahahaha. Gotta love the Swedes.

Brain Spaz

GOD these last two weeks have been like one long nostalgia trip. My brain is very, very confused.

As a somewhat related component, this SMBC comic speaks to me in particular, ‘cause this is kind of how I see things. And it’s kind of what I’m doing with going back to school.

Another life.