Zomg.
So…Toy Story 3.
I don’t know how many of you guys have seen it yet, but if you haven’t, I strongly recommend it. I really, really appreciate Pixar’s ability to keep the toys’ personalities and characters consistent across all three Toy Story movies, something that had to be difficult considering the fact that the trilogy spans 15 years.
I was expecting to be bawling my eyes out by the end of the movie. I wasn’t, surprisingly. To me, the ending was predictable, but in a totally good way. But there was one scene near the end that had me absolutely sobbing (I don’t know if this counts as a “spoiler” in any way; don’t watch if you haven’t seen the movie and want nothing revealed):
The fact that I had to pause the movie and remind myself that these are DIGITALLY ANIMATED TOYS AND ARE NOT ACTUALLY REAL LIVING BEINGS says something very strong about how well done the whole series is.
So yeah. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about Toy Story 3. It’s not as funny as the original or the sequel, but that’s a good thing, I think. A perfect ending to the story.
You Give Surveys a Bad Name
1501. What did you think of the movie Black Hawk Down?
I never saw it.
1502. What movie has the most surprising ending ever?
Don’t know. I’m not much of a movie person.
1503. What are you currently angry at?
Nothing/no one. Thesis is over, I am free.
1504. Who is harder to please, you or your lover?
Haha, I’m so easy to please it’s depressing.
1505. What is the most dramatic thing you have ever done for attention?
You know, I’m not sure. I did some pretty dramatic crap back in elementary school.
1506. What do you have issues with?
Oh god, don’t get me started.
1507. There is a nuclear war and your fallout shelter has room and supplies enough for two. No one knows about the fallout shelter but you. Who do you choose to take in (Remember, the person you choose is the only person you will know in 5-15 years when you can come above ground again)?
Well practically-speaking, I should take a dude. One with which I would feel comfortable procreating, if that became necessary. I would probably take my mom, though. ‘Cause I love her and she’s probably the only person who could tolerate me for 5+ years.
1508. Do you have any fillings?
Like, teeth fillings? No.
1509. What do you do when you are home alone that you cannot do when other people are at home?
Sing. Run around naked. Pretend to be cool. OH WAIT I DO THOSE THINGS ANYWAY.
1510. Have you ever had a near death experience?
Not really, no.
1511. Do you read on the toilet?
MY SECRET SHAME! Actually, I don’t do this much anymore.
1512. Are you afraid of a global nuclear war?
If that’s how we take ourselves out, that’s how we take ourselves out.
1513. If there was a global nuclear war would you expect to be a survivor?
I’d like to be, if only to go Fallout 3 on everybody’s asses. I need to build myself a Pip-Boy.
1514. How often do people try to talk to you while you are in the bathroom?
Hahaha. Not very often, since I live alone.
1515. Have you ever swam in the ocean?
Indeed.
1516. Have you ever built a sandcastle?
Hawaii!
1517. Do you feel comfortable in a bathing suit?
I do not have a bathing suit body.
1518. What would be the best season of the year to get married?
Summer. Summer’s always good.
What would be the best day?
Either a Tuesday or a Saturday. The two best days of the week.
1519. What are 2 things that the perfect ___ would do?
Boy/girlfriend: be themselves and treat others with respect.
Parents: trust their child and be their child’s friend
Friend: at least make an attempt to TOLERATE other friends and not talk shit behind my back.
Teacher: have a passion for teaching and not practice favoritism.
Doctor: actually make time for their patients and don’t force medications on patients who really want to explore other alternatives.
1520. If someone you loved was seriously miserable for a long period of time what would you do to help cheer him or her up?
Anything necessary. I’d ask them what they needed most and I’d do my best to provide it.
1521. What was the best year of your life so far?
2008 was pretty fantastic, despite all the drama surrounding the GRE. Screw that noise. The rest of 2008 was amazing.
1522. When people are born is it predetermined whether they will be a good or bad person?
Everything is “predetermined” in my opinion, but not in the way most people tend to view it.
1523. What is your least favorite bodily function?
Vomiting pretty much blows.
1524. Does the weather affect your mood?
The seasons do. I get way depressed when night falls at 4 PM.
1525. If you were underground for 5 years what would you miss the most?
THE BIG YELLOW ONE IS THE SUN!
1526. What do you think of the movie Blast from the Past?
Never saw it.
1527. If you were on death row (if you don’t feel evil enough to really ever get there, imagine that you have been wrongly accused and wrongly convicted) what would you want your last meal to be?
Chicken and onion rings from Cougar Country. And broccoli. And M&Ms.
1528. How would you want to die (electric chair, gas, lethal injection, hanging)?
Let’s do electric chair, why not?
1529. Who would you want with you when you died?
I’d want my mom, but if I were to be electrocuted, I wouldn’t want her to have to watch that.
1530. What would your last words be?
Something involving butt-touching. Or stats.
1531. What is your favorite summer song?
Uh…what counts as a summer song?
1532. Has anyone ever broken a promise to you?
Yup.
1533. Have you broken a promise to anyone else?
Hasn’t everyone?
1534. Do you eat red meat?
Yes, but not very often at all, maybe once a month.
1535. Have you ever broken someone’s heart?
I don’t think so.
1536. What would you consider a blessed event?
Pantsless basement parties are sanctioned by the Pope as holy rituals.
1537. What would you consider a miracle?
The fact that I can get A’s in calculus classes by acing everything and then magnificently bombing the final. It’s what I do.
1538. Here’s a list of dead rock stars. How big of a loss to the music industry was each one?
Dave Williams: Don’t know this person.
Ian Curtis: This person, either.
Aaliah: I remember when she died!
Rozz Williams: Who?
Elvis: Elvis LIIIIIIIIIIIIVES!
Tupac: I thought he was still alive…?
Michael Hutchence: Who?
Sid Vicious: I know the name, but I don’t know the dude.
Jimi Hendrix: Highly influential in the music industry, probably a big loss.
1539. What are the most cruel words someone could say to you?
I’m not a fan of being called stupid. Bu then again, who is?
1540. Would you rather catch your parents in bed or have them catch you?
Both would be equally disturbing—my parents are divorced and I have absolutely no one with whom I would sleep with.
1541. If someone offered you $1,000 to cheat on your boy/girlfriend, would you do it?
Hell no.
1542. Would you rather date someone 3 years younger than you, or 15 years older?
I don’t mind older gentlemen, but those 15+ years older than me and who are attracted to me tend to be creepers.
1543. Would you rather like your guy/girl more than s/he likes you, or have him or her like you more?
I’d rather like them more than they like me. It’s been a pretty consistent pattern thus far, anyway.
1544. Which is better, the rush of kissing a new person for the first time, or the comfort of kissing the same person a hundred times?
Hm…I like the rush of the first kiss.
1544. If you could read your boy/girlfriends mind, but only by letting him or her read yours, would you do it?
Nah. Can anyone say major privacy violations?
1545. Would you rather lose your bathing suit to a huge wave right in front of a cute lifeguard, or your whole family?
My family wouldn’t care, and the lifeguard would probably die from ugliness exposure.
1546. Is truth sometimes stranger than fiction?
Absolutely. You can’t make some of this stuff up.
1547. Do you look back and laugh at things that hurt or were embarrassing at the time?
Depends on the thing and if it still hurts/is embarrassing.
1548. Would you like to live in the Playboy Mansion?
Ew.
1549. Have you ever looked in anyone’s wallet that wasn’t yours?
Hahaha, I’ve had someone’s Visa card in my mouth.
1550. What time and date is it?
July 5, 2011. 10:26 PM.
1551. What song would you (or have you) sung karaoke?
Anything on Rock Band. Those count, eh?
1552. Do you run through the sprinkler on a hot day?
I used to.
1553. Could you survive without:
Electricity: Yes, but it would suck.
Heat: Blankets!
Air conditioning: Indeed. Moscow’s mild enough.
TV: Yup.
Radio: As long as I’ve got my tunes!
A car: Been doing fine so far.
1554. Would you ever consider shaving your head?
I’ve thought about it, actually. I have obnoxious hair.
1555. What is one thing that will happen to you less than 24 hours from now?
I’ll listen to music.
1556. What age would you want to stay forever?
I liked being 19. I’d be 19 again. TUCK EVERLASTING.
1557. What is the softest part of your body?
My fat butt.
1558. What would make your day if it happened right now?
Leibniz coming back and declaring his love for me. The Census Bureau calling me up and saying “we love you, come work with us forever!” The McMurdo station calling me up and saying “we love you, come work with us forever!”
1559. What are you thinking about?
Statistics.
1560. Are you on:
Drugs: I’m slowly getting off a prescription.
The road to nowhere: Such is my life.
The crazy train: Dude, I’m the freaking conductor.
1561. Do you say everything to people’s faces or do you talk behind their backs?
I don’t really have much to say to/about anyone.
1562. What is gone that will never come back?
My sanity.
1563. What’s your biggest turn on?
Physical: fat dudes.
Mental: a “go with the flow” kind of nature.
1564. Have you ever made love in an elevator?
Livin’ it up while I’m goin’ down.
1565. Are you spiritually dead?
PFFT spirituality.
1566. What’s your favorite care bear?
I don’t have one. I don’t think I’ve ever watched Care Bears.
1567. Do you like the music of Warren Zevon?
Who?
1568. Have you ever wanted a picture painted onto your car?
Not particularly…
1569. Are you an alien in a red striped jumpsuit who plays guitar in a band?
HOW DID YOU KNOW?
1570. If you aren’t an alien in a red striped jumpsuit who plays guitar in a band then who is?
What?
1571. How many private entries do you have?
Two or three, I think.
1572. Are you clumsy?
I’m not too bad.
1573. As you get older will you let your looks go or have plastic surgery?
Hopefully I won’t live that long.
1574. If you wear contacts or glasses would you ever consider laser eye surgery?
Probably not. I dig my glasses.
1575. What is the most expensive thing you own?
Probably my guitar. $600 something.
1576. What do you think of when you hear the word ‘cell’?
Cytoplasm!
1577. Have you ever had goat’s milk?
Nope, not even when I was a kid. HA, get it?
1578. Do you care how Jennifer Anniston lives her life?
Nope.
1579. If there was a ‘penny per page’ internet tax would you pay it?
I would owe SO. MUCH.
1580. Do you treat your pets like family members?
I do indeed, because they are.
1581. Have you ever eaten tofu?
Tofu rules.
1582. Do you believe that the ‘war on drugs’ is effective?
Haha, it hasn’t really proven to be.
1583. What would you like to have 435 of (anything but money)?
M&Ms!
1584. How many people know the password to your diary besides you?
No one.
1585. Do you like Calvin and Hobbes?
The comic = awesome. The two individuals = awesome as well.
1586. Have you ever thought of deleting your diary?
Deleting my blog? BLASPHEMY! Though I have thought of ceasing my daily posts.
1587. Have you ever thought of moving to OD+?
I’m assuming that stands for Open Diary +. And no.
1588. Do 48 hours need 48 thrills?
I’d be okay with that.
1589. Who do you know that acts phony?
A few people.
1590. Do you like American Pie?
The movie, song, or food? They’re all pretty good, I suppose.
1591. What is the last law you broke?
I probably accidentally littered when I had all my crap sitting outside while I was loading it into the moving van. It was windy. I had papers.
1592. Have you ever run away from home?
Never felt the need to.
1593. Have you had a good feeling today?
No.
1594. What was it?
Irrelevant!
1595. Did your parents pretend there was a tooth fairy and slip money under your pillow?
Yeah.
1596. If yes, how much per tooth?
$5? I can’t really remember.
1597. Is there a difference between arts and crafts?
Arts = freeform creation, crafts = application of tools towards a (generally) predetermined goal.
1598. Have you ever tried out for something?
State drama, state band, probably some other stuff.
1599. Did you make it?
I made state drama. I had a panic attack during my audition for state band ‘cause that’s what I do.
1600. What’s your favorite lullaby?
Baa Baa Black Sheep is pretty awesome.
United Staaaaaates!
Canada Day in Canada.
Fourth of July in the US.
Fitting.
Well. If you have any interest at all in typography and/or the serif/sans serif debate, I strongly urge you to read this. It’s an article discussing whether serif fonts or san serif fonts are more legible. It’s fascinating and awesome. The fact that researchers have apparently fabricated results in order to support their preferred side of the argument is hilarious. Academic integrity meets its match when Times New Roman is thrown against Arial in a battle of which is more readable.
Actually, I read this article last night and subsequently had a dream about a Supreme Court case (Times v. Arial, of course) on which hinged the unity of the whole United States. Apparently sometime in the future, according to this dream, the US splits along the line of people who use serif fonts and people who use sans serif fonts. It was like the most historically significant Supreme Court case EVER, apparently. Possible NaNo idea. Hmm…
Anyway, happy birthday, United States! Love you, missed you!
GETTIN’ OUTTA DODGE
And by “Dodge” I mean “Vancouver.” This morning my father and I packed the last remnants of my life in Vancouver into a white cargo van and drove away from Vancouver for the last time.
I have absolutely no reason to go back.
Ever.
Good feeling, my friends. Good feeling.
LEIBNIZ DAY
It’s Leibniz Day, it’s Leibniz Day!
I suggest we all mass-email Google until they make a Google logo for display on Leibniz’ birthday (at least for every country except Canada). The guy did SO MUCH! He created the freaking binary system.
Seriously.
They could spell “Google” in binary!
Okay, it’s a little long, but they’re Google, they rule the world. They could maybe make the binary into little blocks.
Anyway.
Choco Leibniz and calculus for all! Find an ostentatious wig, put it on, and be awesome. Channel the amazingness that is Gottfried.
DO IT!
B-L-O-G-G-I-N-G
June’s almost over, thank GOD. Tomorrow is a new day, a new month, a new beginning.
My road out of here.
Well. In the meantime, SONGS!
Graph of genres:
Mean song length: 3:37
No Five-Stars this month, though today’s song is pretty close.
I’m also starting a statistics blog. I would have started it today, but, you know…I’m one of those people who has to start stuff like this either on the first of the month or not at all.
So tomorrow!
Oh hey look, I forgot I had a future
I can’t freaking wait for Western Ontario, dudes. The fact that there’s a whole class on the philosophy of probability is amaaaaaaazing.
Other things I’m excited about:
– getting back into a music class/program/band/something.
– moving back into a dorm. I know that sounds dorky, but I’ll have wireless back and not have an hour-long commute to campus.
– not being in Vancouver.
– not having a soul-crushing depression hanging over every second of my existence. Hopefully.
– getting away from the West Coast.
– cheaper EVERYTHING.
– getting paid to talk about/think about/write about/dink around with the philosophy of science.
– reading through the Philosophy of Science Comprehensive Exam study guide, which includes Kuhn, Popper, Curd & Cover’s anthology, and like 50 other sexy texts.
– possibly owning a car.
YAY.
“I find the most erotic part of a woman is the boobies”
I’m thinking of starting a separate blog solely for statistics-related stuff, particularly R and making pretty visualizations using R. Apart from actual analyses, one of my main interests in statistics is the actual presentation of data. I think the importance of how people are able to view data is entirely underrated. I’m still a major R novice, but the language allows for such detailed, gorgeous visualizations that I think I’d like to further explore stuff relating to that. Here is a fantastic website regarding this very thing.
I also want to redo my “Introduction to R” thingy I wrote last year and try to focus it for people in the social sciences who are weaning themselves off of the evil SPSS.
So huzzah for plans! The fact that I can think of things other than my thesis is a good, good feeling, my friends.
I love how Windows gets overly defensive when you try and move the location of the calculator
If you ever get the chance to watch Food, Inc., do it. Though it’ll probably make you not want to eat anything ever again. I watched it this afternoon and was subsequently terrified of my pasta. I’m assuming Canadian farming and food industry policies aren’t much different than the ones in the US.
Also, as I was searching related YouTube clips, I came across this one:
Interesting content, eh?
That’s not what caught my attention, though. It was the particular quote at 1:20—“…so Keys did what any dedicated researcher would do: he threw out the data that didn’t fit and published his results.”
Yes, I know the narrator of the documentary says that with a kind of tongue-in-cheek intention, but it bothers me that atrocious “data cleaning” techniques like the one utilized by Keys have become so exposed in the media that this type of behavior is what is now expected when dealing with obtaining and reporting results in scientific literature. “Don’t trust that statistic, it’s probably made up.”
Lies, damn lies, and statistics, right?
Wrong! Statistics isn’t a deceitful, evil field. People who misuse stats give the profession its horrible reputation, not the methods themselves.
Maybe that’s what I’ll study for my philosophy MA…ethics in statistical research and reporting.
How awesome would that be?
More Pictures
I found some more pics while I was packing this afternoon. Therefore I shall share them.
This is me with my cat Wooder.
This is an older me with an older Wooder. Note the drawing on the wall. My mom let me draw and write all over the walls in my room when we lived in Troy. How awesome is that?
This is my dad with Wooder. I don’t know if I was alive yet.
Me with Brutus (the black one) and Lena, siblings from a litter from my mom’s older cat, Gracie. Haha, I have so much paint on my pants. And the cats are like let me go, weirdo.
I was a cat lady from birth.
Digital underclass
HOLY CRAP, Camp NaNoWriMo!
For those unaware, it’s like regular NaNo, but less formal and in July.
I’m so doing it. I need to work on something that’s NOT a thesis. Not sure what, exactly, but NOT a thesis.
Those of you who don’t do NaNo because you’re too busy in November, DO IT NOW IN JULY. It’s totally worth it.
Blog 1880: Random Blog Survey
How long have you been blogging?
1,880 days. 5 years and a few extra weeks.
What made you start?
Peer pressure from my high school friends to get a MySpace. Haha, DO YOU SEE WHAT YOU’VE DONE?
Who inspired you?
No one.
About how many hours a week would you estimate you spend on your blog?
Depends on the week. I blog daily, but some weeks I actually make the effort to POST my blogs. Pathetic, I know, but what’re you going to do?
What kind of experience or background do you have with writing?
I’ve won a few writing awards and have had some poetry published, but other than that my experience has been just, well, writing. Plus some creative writing classes, ‘cause I find them extremely fun.
OH and fan fiction. Lots of it.
Talk about how you come up with blog topics; where do you get your ideas?
The crappy blogs originate from the mundane existence that is my life. The exciting blogs come from my hyperness, experiences with dorky band friends, or rants.
What or who inspires you and your blog?
PFFT, inspiration. Wing it, bitches.
Where and/or how do you do your brainstorming for your blog?
I’ve conditioned myself to think “would this make a good topic for a blog?” about nearly everything. Sad, isn’t it?
Do you have any blogging rules or guidelines you follow?
Just one: post daily. Unlike in almost every other situation, I believe in quantity over quality for the blog. Keeps things interesting and makes me consistently think about stuff to write about.
Is there anything you will not blog about?
Not really, no. If I have some intensely personal experience, I’ll post it either as “friends only” or “private.”
Do you have any sort of a publishing schedule in terms of day of week or topic?
Daily blogging. I need to be more consistent with actually posting my blogs, though. Preferably I should do this daily as well.
How many drafts of potential blog posts do you have right now?
Drafts? Silly blogger, drafts are for kids.
In what medium do you draft your posts?
I type them up in Microsoft Word before I actually post them, but that’s more of a security thing rather than a draft thing.
How often do you completely scratch or delete drafts or blog post ideas?
Maybe once a month or so.
If you had to leave your blog in your will to another blogger, who would you choose?
When I die, Le Seul Mot Juste dies.
Are there other blogs that you feel are similar to yours in content, style, or voice?
Oh, probably. I know there are a lot of daily bloggers out there, at least.
Has anything surprised you since you started blogging?
The fact that I’ve continued blogging. The fact that at least one person reads what I write. Thanks, Matt!
What are your goals or plans for your blog going forward?
I’m going to continue blogging daily at least until I finish my educational career. That’s set to occur in 2016 with the philosophy degrees, which makes the blog round out to a nice 10 years total.
Do you make any money from your blog, and, if so, about how much a month?
That would be nice, wouldn’t it?
What blogging system do you use?
WordPress. Recent convert from MySpace.
How did you come up with your blog name?
I don’t remember, actually. For whatever reason I stumbled across Flaubert’s le seul mot juste, or the idea of the “unique, right word” for writing and adopted the phrase for my blog.
How many blogs do you have, and what was your peak?
The old MySpace one is still up, so that and my WordPress one.
Are you having as much fun as when you started?
Hell yes. Blogging rules.
Where do you find other bloggers like you?
Probably in insane asylums.
What’s your one wish when it comes to blogging?
I’d like more readers, but we’d all like that, wouldn’t we?
TA-DA!
Morality
So now that this thesis nonsense is 95% over*, I can finally screw around on the internet again. Today, I found this site containing a bunch of different morality (and other miscellaneous) surveys.
What’s super cool about this site is that it gives you your results in comparison to self-identified conservatives and liberals (and, for some, libertarians and moderates). For example, here are my “moral foundation” results (in green) compared to self-identified liberals (blue) and self-identified conservatives (red). The higher the score, the more you endorse that particular moral foundation.
*Still have to actually turn it in for publishing, but that comes at the beginning of August. And it’s electronic submission, so it’s all good.
OH THANK YOU COSMOS
HOLY SHIT IT’S OVER.
I successfully defended my thesis this afternoon. Received a nice high grade and was told it was PhD-level work.
Relief level: beyond belief.
Sanity level: depleted, but recharging slowly.
To-do list for the next few days: absolutely nothing, except incessant Fallout playing.
My revisions are limited to typos and a few additional references to check out, then I’m set to turn it in to Grad Studies and get it out there.
I’m going to go do something mindless for awhile. Because I finally can.
Longer entry on thesis conclusion to come later, promise.
Jitters vs. Insanity
Kill me now. I honestly don’t know if I’ll make it through tomorrow.
Yeah, another one
1401. Do you like your movies and books to be more lighthearted or serious?
Movies = lighthearted, books = serious.
1402. What’s more important, first impressions or lasting impact?
Lasting impact.
1403. Order these areas of psychological health from what you need the least improvement in to what you need the most improvement in: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, environmental, spiritual
Spiritual, environmental, physical, intellectual, social, emotional.
1404. Do you react appropriately to things and control your feelings?
Haha, I certainly try. Given the latest developments in loss of sanity, however, I can’t really say.
1405. Do you have stable relationships?
I wish I had ANY relationships right now.
1406. Do you need to be in a relationship to feel good about yourself?
BAH. I’m self-sufficient. Though I do miss doting over someone.
1407. Which is the most clear and concise, your thoughts, your speech or your
writing? Which is the least clear and concise?
Most clear: writing
Least clear: speech
1408. Are you always trying to learn new things?
Hell yeah.
1409. Do you feel at peace?
Not right now, no. Freakin’ thesis.
1410. Do you have strong morals and ethics that you believe in and adhere to?
Indeed I do.
1411. Are you over or under weight?
Haha, I’m not sure, actually. Not sure how much I weigh.
1412. Do you think of the needs of all humanity or just the needs of yourself
and those you know?
I try to expand my conscientiousness beyond my immediate surroundings, but sometimes that just doesn’t happen.
1413. Do you recycle?
I do indeed.
1414. Are you active in your community?
Haha, no.
1415. Are you sensitive to the needs of others?
I try to be.
1416. Do you dress up to go to the mall?
I haven’t been to a mall without making a 10+ mile trek to get there, so no. Unless walking garb counts.
1417. Have you ever been on anti depressants?
Unfortunately.
1418. Name a part of your body.
My right ear.
Give that part of your body a name.
“Michael.”
1419. Is fourteen your lucky number?
Nope, eleven is.
1420. What could make you lose respect for someone?
I really, really have a hard time with people who make snide remarks about others or who are overly judgmental. We’re all human beings just trying to get through life, why criticize others?
1421. Is ignorance really bliss?
Never!
1422. What can be described as ‘even better than the real thing’?
Hmm…not sure.
1423. Are you jealous that dog can lick their own genitals?
Hahahahahaha.
If you could do that would you ever leave the house?
I think I would get sick of licking my genitals pretty quickly.
And that is probably one of the strangest sentences I’ve ever written.
1424. What’s in your wallet right now?
$10, my UBC card, my driver’s license, Costco and Safeway cards, a bus map, debit and Visa cards, my bus pass, and possibly some coins.
1425. Do you write letters that you never send?
I used to. But I also used to be a stalker, so…
1426. Do you ever get the feeling people are laughing at you?
I’m sure they are. I’m amusing (not in a good way).
1427. Who’s the one person you’d like to drop a house on?
No one.
1428. Have you ever been swept off your feet?
Not literally, no.
1429. Tell me why you don’t like Mondays:
Because school sucks ass, and I usually have to go to campus on Mondays.
1430. In the Harry potter series the books seem to be getting darker and more serious with each new release. Do you like this change or do you prefer the story to be light?
I read the first 20 pages of the first Harry Potter book. I have yet to read any more of Rowling’s works.
1431. How often do you update your diary?
You mean my blog? I BLOG every day, I update like once a month. BAD BLOGGER, BAD.
1432. What do you mostly write about in your diary?
What DON’T I write about? It’s hard to categorize what my blog is all about.
1433. How many quizzes and/or surveys do you have in your diary as entries?
Oh good lord, like a fourth of my blogs are surveys or quizzes.
1433. How many forwards does your diary contain?
Maybe two or three.
1434. What is your writing style like?
Not sure, really. I try to inject humor in pretty much everything, and my style is pretty casual.
1435. How honest are you in your diary?
Pretty honest.
1436. Why do you write in your diary?
Because I started this way back in May of 2006, and I said I’d do this daily. Therefore, daily blogs!
1437. Do you have a comet cursor on your diary description?
A what?
1438. Do you ever chat online?
Yup.
1439. Have you ever met someone from online?
Nope.
1440. What’s your favorite horror:
Movie?
Does Outbreak count?
Book?
I’m not sure, actually. Not much of a horror person.
1441. Have you ever caught a mistake in a movie?
Yes.
1442. Have you ever seen that munchkin who supposedly hangs himself in the Wizard of Oz?
Nope.
If yes, how/when should someone look for it?
I wouldn’t know.
1443. If you had to give yourself a letter grade (A, A-, B, B-, C, C-, D, D-, F) for things how would you grade yourself on:
Happiness: D
Being a decent human being: A-
Being serene (calm, peaceful): D-
Kindness: A
Anger management: F
Creative thinking: B
Modesty: Haha, how do you answer this one?
Being an original: B
Knowing yourself: A
Being true to yourself: A
Getting along with others: B
Liking yourself: F
Admitting your flaws: A
Self improvement: C
1444. Are you kinky?
Hell yeah.
1445. How would you feel if twice a week you could wake up next to the person you love?
Life would be awesome. That would probably be ideal, actually, ‘cause then we’d be apart enough to make the time we spent together even more important.
1446. Out of all the people you know who is most likely to be one of the great minds of our time?
Sean.
1447. Have you ever been to:
Church? Yes.
Temple? Nope.
A bar? Nope.
A house party? Sorta.
A rave? Nope.
A goth club? Nope.
A punk show? Nope.
A hip hop club? Nope.
1448. So far, have you changed around any of the questions on this survey?
Nope.
1449. Are you crying on the inside?
Welcome to my life for the past two years (hahaha, wow, can you say “emo?”)
1450. Are you afraid of the future?
I don’t really have a future right now. Ask me in a week or so.
1451. What will you dress up as this year for Halloween (if you celebrate it)?
Probably nothing.
1452. Do you think of some people as not worthy of being your friend?
Nope.
1453. If you won $1,000 every week until you die, would you still go to school?
Dude, I’d make school my LIFE.
Would you still get a job?
Possibly.
1454. What’s the most difficult job you can think of?
Putting up with obnoxious people. That incorporates a lot of jobs, haha.
1455. If you could decorate your room with any theme you wanted what would you pick?
Rainbow!
1456. Of the following bands which would you be most likely to check out: roxy music (70’s glam), the magnetic fields (current indie rock), kraftwerk (experimental electronic rock)?
Kraftwerk!
1457. You and your boy/girlfriend have been together 6 months or longer…. One day s/he wants to go to a strip club with his/her friends to hang out. It’s guys/girls night out and you aren’t invited. Would you be upset by this?
Nah.
1458. Can a person avoid dying if he or she does not believe in death?
That would be convenient.
1459. If someone sings songs that they don’t write and they don’t play any instruments or mix the songs or have any creative input at all..Are they a musician?
If you define a “singer” as a musician, yes.
1460. What do the following stand for:
html? “Hyper text markup language”
faq? “Frequently asked questions”
fao? Not sure about this one.
imho? “In my humble opinion”
hiv? “Human immunodeficiency virus”
aids? “Auto immune deficiency syndrome”
r&b? I think it’s “rhythm and blues”
1461. What does the world owe you?
Nothing.
1462. Do you read plays and books or just get the cliff notes?
I read the actual plays and books. I don’t think I’ve ever used Cliff Notes.
1463. What do you want to get out of life?
Knowledge.
1464. Do you know what is really important to you?
See above.
1465. What trend has been getting on your nerves lately?
Popular songs on the radio advocating crazy partying and getting drunk/wasted to the point of not remembering things the next morning. We get it, partying and irresponsible alcohol use is fun. Do we need 96 new songs about it?
1466. Do you forgive yourself when you make a mistake?
Nope.
1467. What tiny little very small thing has made you hugely happy?
Happiness has eluded me for a few months now.
1468. Can you read body language well?
Somewhat.
1469. Do you look people in the eye when you talk?
Somewhat.
1470. Do you notice if they aren’t looking you in the eye?
Nah.
1471. Are you alert to opportunities?
Depends on the type of opportunity. Depends on if I care.
1472. Puppet Yoda or digital Yoda?
THERE IS A PUPPET YODA??
1473. Do you look like the person you want to be?
Nope.
1474. Do you behave like the person you want to be?
Maybe 70% of the time.
1475. Some children were asked ‘how would you make your marriage work?’ One child, Ricky, age ten, said: ‘Tell your wife she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck.’ Is this good advice?
Why aren’t trucks pretty? CHEVYS HAVE FEELINGS TOO!
1476. Do you visualize your goals and dreams?
Constantly.
1477. 4x + 3 = 15
What is the value of x?
x = 3
1478. Do you keep yourself organized?
Very.
1479. Does anyone really win an argument?
Sure.
1480. Have you ever had champagne?
Nnnno? I don’t think so.
1481. Do you strive for perfection?
Yup.
1482. Name one thing you understand.
That I understand nothing.
1483. Whatever it is are you afraid of it?
I fear ignorance, yes.
1484. Do you dislike being told what to do?
Not usually. I like being given direction.
1485. If you had a cat would you have it declawed?
Hell no.
1486. Do you prefer lobster, clams, or crab meat?
Crab rules.
1487. What do you think about guys who don’t wear underwear?
I have no problem with them.
1488. What do you think about girls who don’t wear bras?
See above.
1489. Do you ask for what you want?
Not of others, no.
1490. What are you against?
Close-mindedness.
1491. How many notes does your diary have?
Comments? I’m not sure, about 100-something since I’ve been on WordPress.
1492. Ace of Base or Enya?
Enya.
1493. What makes you feel awkward?
Hahaha, myself.
1494. Have you ever been to teenopendiary.com, and if yes, how does it compare
to opendiary.com?
Never been there.
1495. If you were going to switch to another diary website, which one would you
go to?
I like WordPress. But possibly TypePad.
1496. Do you believe that certain books should be removed from high school
libraries?
Hell no.
1497. How do you feel about gay and lesbian marriages?
No issue with them whatsoever.
1498. Can you rearrange the letters in your name to form any other words (check here if you aren’t sure http://www.wordsmith.org/anagram/)?
I can spell “I” and “caudal” from my first name, among other things.
1499. What is the sexiest moment in a movie?
I don’t think all movies have the same sexy moment…
1500. Do you have a favorite standup comedian?
Brian Regan! He rules.
Party at Claudia’s
Anybody want to come to a party at my house tonight? We’ll be talking about structural equation modeling. Model fit, in particular.
My poor mother will have to undergo three semesters’ worth of math and stats in about half an hour so she can be caught up on my research
to follow my defense presentation enough to be able to ask questions.
The fact that she agreed to do this is one of like five billion reasons why I love her.
Anyway, you all should come. There will be a huge whiteboard and a lot of lambdas.
Be there or be square.
Banana, Peel Thyself
Question 1
How weird would our world be if the majority of random variables did NOT follow the Gaussian (or normal or bell-curve) distribution? Think
about it. Take human height, for example. It follows a curve like the one shown in this post. Normal, right? What if that curve were of an exponential
distribution or a gamma distribution? How weird we’d all look.
Question 2
Now let’s disregard distribution shapes for a minute and think about percentiles instead. Specifically, would you rather always be in
the 5th percentile for everything or the 95th percentile for everything? By everything, I mean everything: height, weight, intelligence, blood pressure,
running speed, test scores, etc.
There are obviously upsides and downsides to both extremes, but that’s what makes it so interesting, eh?
Sorry for the weird blog. Been busy with thesis stuff and if I see the acronym “CFI” one more time today I’m going to start stabbing people.
TWSB: Portals, Portals, Everywhere and Not a Cake to Eat
Matt, This Week’s Science Blog is for you, ‘cause I know you really dig Portal.
Here on the Steam forums is a list of Portal physics answers (warning: not devoid of childish internet arguing and name-calling).
I like the crushing one (the second scenario). This stuff makes me want to play around with Garry’s Mod.
Speaking of Garry’s Mod…
Just a little tidbit of the internet to lighten your day. My day’s pretty much sucked, at least, so I hope yours is going better.
This is what happens when technology-addicted people lose power
So for no other reason than the fact that my life in Vancouver is cursed, I lost power to all the outlets in my living room.
Solution?
We (my mom and I) went out and bought a super-long extension cord, hooked it into the single working outlet in the main room, and from it constructed a fun tangle of extreme fire-hazard proportions.
And we bought a router, so now everything that is able to access the internet is ABLE to access the internet.
Fun times.
Sticks and Stones
Good lord, Vancouver, it’s just hockey. Smashing up Seymour St. and Robson St. will not get you the Stanley Cup back from the Bruins.
Because of several issues (not going into these at this time), my mom’s up here with me for a week or so. Tonight (around 10 PM) I took DA SKY TRAIN to the airport to pick her up. They had the rioting on the news at the airport, and we were all standing around watching the chaos unfold, shocked at what was going on just downtown. The majority of the people in the airport were disgusted with it all. One guy even commented, “I’m pretty embarrassed to be from Vancouver right now.”
By the time my mom’s plane got in, they’d shut down bus services to and from downtown, and SkyTrain service was limited to the southernmost stops (those not downtown). My mom and I were going to go to Denny’s, but that didn’t happen for such obvious reasons.
Edit: A gallery of pictures. The fact that I walk down these streets and past these stores quite frequently is scary.
A Wild Thesis Appears!
Thesis = done.
It shall be turned in tomorrow.
Right now I’m going to not do anything productive (read: play Fallout and not work on my defense slides) and maybe clean.
Due to yesterday’s events, my mom shall be coming up here tomorrow.
Thank god.
Hm.
Huh.
Well.
That was an interesting night/morning/afternoon.
I, uh…don’t feel much like talking about it.
Sorry.
Eigenblogger 