LAWL, frivolity
Because knowing what Cheesecake Factory cheesecake I am is more important than the conclusion of my thesis. Tonight, at least.
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<strong><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/whatcheesecakefactorycheesecakeareyouquiz/results/?result=Raspberry”>You
Are a White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake</a></strong>
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You are honest, even if it costs you a friend. You want to
live an authentic life.<br />
When times get tough, you get philosophical. You never
forget the meaning of life.<br />
<br />
Even when you’re in a bad mood, people find you friendly.
You put on a brave face.<br />
You want to experience the world without judgment. You are
totally open to experiences.
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<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/whatcheesecakefactorycheesecakeareyouquiz/”>What
Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake Are You?</a></div>
<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com”>Work is Hard. Time for
Blogthings!</a></div>
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<strong><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourdominantpersonalitytraitquiz/results/?result=Ambition”>Your
Dominant Personality Trait is Ambition</a></strong>
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src=”http://www.blogthingsimages.com/whatsyourdominantpersonalitytraitquiz/ambition.jpg”
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You are a very confident, take charge type of person.<br
/>
You know who you want to be, and you’re going to do
everything in your power to achieve your goals.<br />
<br />
You throw caution to the wind. You know that risks are
necessary to get ahead in life.<br />
If you fail, you learn from the experience… and try harder
next time!
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<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/whatsyourdominantpersonalitytraitquiz/”>What’s
Your Dominant Personality Trait?</a></div>
<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com”>Blogthings: Quizzes and Tests and
Memes, Oh My!</a></div>
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<strong><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/whatpiercingareyouquiz/results/?result=Eyebrow”>You
Are an Eyebrow Piercing</a></strong>
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<tr><td bgcolor=”#FFFFFF”>
<center><img
src=”http://www.blogthingsimages.com/whatpiercingareyouquiz/eyebrow.jpg”
height=”100″ width=”100″></center>
<font color=”#000000″>
You are unique, quirky, and more than a little
eccentric.<br />
You cultivate the weirder sides of your personality, and you
don’t mind sharing them.<br />
<br />
Ever since you were a kid, you’ve had strong opinions.
You’ve never been like everyone else, and you’re okay with that.<br />
And you’ve always been able to tell people exactly what you
think – even when they don’t want to hear it.<br />
<br />
You love to create, dream, imagine, and communicate. You
live in your own universe.<br />
And unlike most people who live in their own little world,
you’re happy to invite anyone in!
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<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/whatpiercingareyouquiz/”>What
Piercing Are You?</a></div>
<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com”>Blogthings: Waste Time at
Work!</a></div>
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<strong><a href=”http://www.blogthings.com/whatflavorbenandjerrysicecreamareyouquiz/results/?result=2″>You
Are Fossil Fuel Ice Cream</a></strong>
</font></td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor=”#FFFFFF”>
<center><img
src=”http://www.blogthingsimages.com/whatflavorbenandjerrysicecreamareyouquiz/fossil-fuel.jpg”
height=”100″ width=”100″></center>
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What does liking “fudge dinosaurs” say about
someone?
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<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/whatflavorbenandjerrysicecreamareyouquiz/”>What
Flavor Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream Are You?</a></div>
<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com”>Blogthings: A Fine Line Between
Insight and Stupidity</a></div>
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serif” style=’color:black; font-size: 14pt;’>
<strong><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/themuppetpersonalitytest/results/?result=BunsenHoneydew”>You
Are Dr. Bunsen Honeydew</a></strong>
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<tr><td bgcolor=”#FFFFFF”>
<center><img
src=”http://www.blogthingsimages.com/themuppetpersonalitytest/bunsen.jpg”
height=”100″ width=”100″></center>
<font color=”#000000″>
You take the title “mad scientist” to the extreme
– with very scary things coming out of your lab.<br />
And you’ve invented some pretty cool things, from a banana
sharpener to a robot politician.<br />
But while you’re busy turning gold into cottage cheese, you
need to watch out for poor little Beaker!<br />
“Oh, that’s very naughty, Beaker! Now you eat these
paper clips this minute.”
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<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/themuppetpersonalitytest/”>The
Muppet Personality Test</a></div>
<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com”>The First Rule of Blogthings Is:
You Don’t Talk About Blogthings</a></div>
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cellpadding=2><tr><td bgcolor=”#EEEEEE” align=center>
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serif” style=’color:black; font-size: 14pt;’>
<strong><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/whatpartofspeechareyouquiz/results/?result=Adjective”>You
Are an Adjective</a></strong>
</font></td></tr>
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<center><img src=”http://www.blogthingsimages.com/whatpartofspeechareyouquiz/adjective.jpg”
height=”100″ width=”100″></center>
<font color=”#000000″>
You are a very expressive person. You have a way with words,
and you’re never at a loss for what to say.<br />
You can describe something perfectly. You can paint a
picture with your story and make people feel like they were there.<br />
<br />
You are fanciful and dreamy. You tend toward being a little
dramatic. Everything is a big deal for you.<br />
For you, a day is not simply nice. It’s “beautiful,”
“idyllic,” “balmy,” or “superlative.”
</font></td></tr></table>
<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com/whatpartofspeechareyouquiz/”>What
Part of Speech Are You?</a></div>
<div align=”center”><a
href=”http://www.blogthings.com”>Blogthings: We’ll Tell You The
Truth… Someone Has To!</a></div>
Colored Beats!
Y’all remember Colorware, the company I featured on here a long while ago that either recolors products you send in or offers pre-colored new versions of products? THEY RULE.
Anyway.
If I could afford it, I’d totally send in my Beats and have them colored this way:
Cool, huh?
Though I like the white Beats. They look very chill.
Villains Get the Best Songs
I remember Fern Gully as being one of my favorite movies when I was a child. My friend George and I would sit and watch the video over and over and, each time, vehemently criticize the loggers responsible for destroying the forest of Mount Warning (which, FYI, is an actual place…didn’t know that until today. Thanks, Wikipedia).
Anyway.
I would watch this movie a lot on my own, too. And when I did, there was always one part that I had to rewind and watch again at least twice: the song Hexxus sings when he is freed and is feeding on the oil of The Leveler.
This worried my mom. “You know that’s the villain, right?” She’d asked me that at least once, I remember. I think she thought I really liked Hexxus when in truth I was just in love with his song.
To quote one of the commenters on YouTube, “somehow, a big patch of oil singing about destroying the environment is one of the sexiest songs ever written. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!?!?! >.<”
As I continued to grow older, I noticed this common theme throughout almost every animated movie I watched: the villains get the best damn songs.
Governor Ratcliffe, for example, sings a wonderful little ditty about digging up Virginia cleverly entitled Mine, Mine Mine! This was a song on a mixed Disney CD my dad had when I was a kid and I always used to listen to it before going to bed at night. Not Colors of the Wind, not Be Our Guest, not A Whole New World, but Mine, Mine Mine! Odd child.
The rat version (excuse me, the mouse version) of Governor Ratcliffe (at least in my opinion–seriously they’re similar!), Ratigan, amuses us with a song about how awesome he is.
Not to be outdone in the egomaniac category, Gaston from Beauty and the Beast has, in my opinion, the most hilarious villain song ever created.
As a specimen, yes, he IS intiiiiiimidating. I’d marry him just for the chance that these guys would break into songs like this when we’re at home.
Me: How’d you sleep last night, dear?
Lefou (singing): nooooooo oooooooooooone SLEEPS like Gaston, COUNTS HIS SHEEP like Gaston, no one suppresses Freudian urges as DEEP as Gaston!
Gaston: when in REM sleep my PGO waaaaaaaaaves are greatest!
Lefou: which helps YOU remember you’re Gaston!
Me: …that’s nice, dear.
Also, you know, he’s roughly the size of a barge.
And let’s not forget Scar from The Lion King. Creepiness is exasperated when you listen to the German version.
For some reason, German-speaking hyenas are inherently funny to me.
Finally, for the best villain song EVER, we’ve got the good old Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Tony Jay’s voice is fantastic in this. I just really like The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
TWSB: Well, it certainly would make the cartographer’s job easier…
My favorite TWSBs involve hypothetical situations. Today, the hypothetical situation in question is as follows: what would earth be like if it were a cube instead of spherical?
Quick summary of coolest points:
– oceans and atmosphere would “puddle” into the centers of the six sides of the cube.
– life would be isolated to the perimeters of these ocean puddles, and it is very likely that each of the six regions would be completely isolated and each region would pretty much be its own biosphere.
– huge seasonal temperature fluctuations due to—again—the isolation of the atmospheres.
– sunrise and sunset would be sudden, not the gradual niceness we see on regular earth.
How cool, eh?
DNA? Please!
Check this out: https://www.23andme.com/
I’m totally considering getting this done as my graduation present to myself.
Assuming, you know, I pass my thesis defense.
Reasons:
– Because it would be awesome
– Because they test odor detection
– And tardive dyskinesia
– AND gout, which my father has
It looks pretty legit, and things like this have always interested me.
$99 seems reasonable enough, too, especially as a reward for two years of hell.
The Brave Dr. Freeman Goes to Xen
List of things that don’t mix:
Oil + water
Water + potassium
Bleach + ammonia
Wine + emotions
Scientology + common sense
And finally…
Half-Life + The Brave Little Toaster
Seriously, guys…weirdest dream I’ve ever had. There were headcrabs, there were talking blankets. At some point a vacuum consumed a bullsquid.
Life and the unconscious realm are weird.
Edit: holy Jesus:
Most accurate representation of that movie EVER.
Yup, another one
1301. Can “what you don’t know” actually hurt you?
Anything can hurt us. WE ARE VULNERABLE SOULS!
1302. Are you pondering what I’m pondering?
Perhaps. Are you thinking about statistics?
1303. What people or objects would you describe as “pure”?
Nothing’s “pure.” We’re all composed of molecules that have been in all sorts of things.
1304. Are you into bookcrossing (If you aren’t sure, check out http://www.bookcrossing.com)?
It sounds pretty cool.
1305. Have you ever had a pen pal?
Nope. Unless you count the “pen pals” we had in elementary school. Us sixth graders had to have first grade pen pals.
1306. Have you ever had a package pal (same as a pen pal but you send each other surprise gifts instead of letters)?
That would be awesome.
1307. Is there a particular word or phrase that annoys you?
“Irregardless.”
1308. Is there an online game you like to play?
Deathmatch Classic. WoW. Mostly Deathmatch Classic, though.
1309. What group of people is the most discriminated against in your opinion or
experience?
People who are labeled with “mental illness.”
1310. What do you like best about bras and underwear?
Bras keep my boobies in place. Even though I don’t really have boobies.
1311. Are you afraid of living in oblivion?
It’s probably better than living in Vancouver.
1312. Before you were born you got to pick your life from one of these. Which do you pick?
– You are successful from the start, a musical genius, good looking, wealthy. You become a rock star, get super famous, make your mark on the world and die at 27.
– You are caring and compassionate. You love animals and adopt more and more as you grow older. You foster and nurture and care for them all of your life.
– You sit home playing video games for 70 years.
Option A. Mainly because it doesn’t specify what my “mark on the world” would be. Also, I already have training to become a rock star: Rock Band.
1313. What is broken in your:
Car?
I don’t have a car.
School?
Who knows? UBC is big…odds are something
is broken.
House?
My voice recorder.
Life?
Haha, my ENTIRE life is broken.
Soul?
I have no soul. Grad school stole it.
Brain?
See above.
1314. Which one will you fix first?
Preferably brain.
1315. Tell me all your thoughts on god:
There aren’t any.
1316. What is the strangest note you’ve ever received?
Once on Valentine’s Day somebody chucked a box of those nasty chalky conversation hearts at my head. I didn’t see who they were, but they signed the box “To Claudia, from Nekko Nikky.” I still have no clue who it was.
1317. Of the following how many can be used to get in touch with you?
Phone
Beeper
Voice mail
Email
Cell phone
Snail mail
Email, cell phone, snail mail. I miss voice mail.
1318. Are you always available/easy to reach, or do you give people a chance to miss you?
I’m extremely good at reading emails from people and then completely forgetting to respond to them. Same goes for Facebook messages, blog comments (I DO read them, Matt, I swear!), and (back when I had voicemail) voicemails. Fail.
1319. If you got pregnant or impregnated the person you are with now (hypothetical if there is no one in your life just now) would you lean more towards keeping, adopting out, or aborting the baby?
I’m not with anyone right now. But if this little scenario occurred with the last “person I was with,” I would ask their opinion first, of course. But given my current situation, I’d probably go for adoption.
1320. If your partner in the pregnancy did not agree with how you felt and pressured you to change your mind or just went ahead with what he or she wanted to do against your wishes, would that affect your ability to continue your relationship with this person?
Durh.
1321. Who should have the final say in the decision to have a baby, the woman or the man?
The baby!
1322. If your boyfriend or girlfriend cheats on you for the first time, do you forgive him or her and take him or her back?
I wouldn’t deny them the opportunity to explain themselves, but it would depend on why they did it whether or not I would forgive them.
1323. What if it is your husband or wife that cheats on you?
Same as above.
1324. Who is more responsible for educating children, parents or schools?
Parents.
1325. Are you into new age things?
Like Enya? Enya is cool.
1326. Are you very:
Nervous?
Yes.
Anxious?
Always.
High strung?
You have no idea.
Organized?
Organization rules!
Tense?
This is like my biography.
Rigid?
About some things.
Skeptical?
About people, yes.
1327. Do you perceive reality differently from others?
Doesn’t everybody?
1328. If you asked someone, “Do you masturbate?” and he or she says, “No,” would you assume he or she was lying?
No, ‘cause I don’t masturbate either.
1329. What do you blame things on?
The pop (RANDOM SONG REFERENCE)
1330. Do you want to be naked and famous?
Can I be sticky and naked instead? (RANDOM FUTURAMA REFERENCE)
1331. Ice Cube or LL Cool J?
Am “cool” an alphabet letter? (RANDOM RAB REFERENCE)
1332. What are your feelings about rap music?
Meh. I’m not a fan of most of it.
1333. Cypress Hill or Roxy Music?
What?
BSB or N’sync or NKOTB?
N’sync.
Debbie Gibson or Paula Abdul?
Who?
Eminem or Kid Rock?
Eminem, just ‘cause I don’t know any of Kid Rock’s songs.
Weezer or the Get Up Kids?
Weezer.
1334. If you could solve just one of the world’s problems what would you choose to solve?
Precisely how much wood a woodchuck would chuck if he could, in fact, chuck wood.
1335. Would you make a good:
Counselor?
No.
Visual artist?
Possibly.
Teacher?
I’d enjoy it, at least.
Pilot?
Ooh, I’d love to be a pilot!
Secretary?
Sure, why not?
Cashier?
I ALWAYS wanted to be a cashier when I was a kid.
Waiter or waitress?
Eh, probably not.
Veterinary assistant?
Sure.
Office manager?
BLAH, no.
Stage manager?
Sure.
Actor or actress?
Definitely.
Sales girl or guy?
I would suck so bad at this.
Pizza delivery girl or guy?
Not after Aaron’s experience, no, haha.
Film director?
That would be snazzy.
Business man or woman?
Blah.
CEO?
BLAH.
Surgeon?
Neurosurgeon!
Fire man or woman?
Sure.
Cop?
Sure.
1336. Do you check condoms to see if they are expired before using them?
Never had to use one.
1337. Imagine you are in school and a person of the opposite sex you barely know asks you really nicely for a ride home from class (yes, you have a car). It’s out of your way. Do you say yes?
Of course. Haha, that was pretty much my role in high school anyway.
Let’s say you said yes. S/he hugs you. What is your reaction?
Aw, that’s nice.
As you drop him or her off s/he hugs you again and thanks you for being such a nice person. What do you make of all this?
I would be quite intrigued. And happy.
1338. Are you interested in post-apocalyptic (post-nuclear war) movies?
I’m not much of a movie person in general.
1339. What is the saddest movie you ever saw?
The Butterfly Effect made me bawl my eyes out.
1340. What is the saddest thought you can think of?
My mother dying.
1341. Who is the most horrible driver you know?
Rob.
1342. Are you a sexist in any way?
Yes, but we’ll not talk about that.
1343. How often do you check your email?
About 15 times per day.
1344. How often do you check your diary for notes?
My blog, you mean? For comments? Maybe four or five times a day.
1345. If you had to read a biography about someone, who would you pick?
Leibniz.
1346. Which of your friends or relatives has the most interesting life story?
Probably my Grandma Mahler. She’s seen quite a bit.
1347. What’s the matter with kids today?
Generation Z, man, too much social networking business.
1348. How do you feel about censorship?
I think it’s ****ing g******n stupid!
1349. What was on the last CD you burned?
I haven’t burned a CD in FOREVER. I think the last CD I burned was last summer…it was a bunch of songs for my mom.
1350. What movie should be released on DVD but hasn’t been released yet?
I don’t know about movies, but the TV show CHICAGO HOPE needs to come out on DVD ASAP. That was the most fantastic show ever.
1351. Have you ever wished for wings that work?
That was a phenomenal book.
1352. Have you ever imagined that you are not really of this world?
Who hasn’t?
1353. Did you have an imaginary friend as a child?
No. I made sure to construct mine out of paper and tape.
1354. Do you still have imaginary friends?
Possibly. My life is odd.
1355. Do you enjoy reading children’s books?
Dude, Golden Books rock.
1356. Are you decadent?
Maybe somewhat.
1357. What would make you happy that money cannot buy?
Getting out of this program.
1358. What would make you happy that money can buy?
More education. I’d like to return to undergrad and get every major possible.
1359. Where do you hang out in your spare time?
My apartment.
1360. Do you delight in minor euphoria?
You need to, don’t you, to get through life?
1361. It’s (what time is it?) ______.
12: 25 AM
Do you know where your:
Mom is?
Sleeping down in Arizona.
Dad is?
I THINK he’s back in Moscow…
First boyfriend or girlfriend is?
Probably sleeping in Moscow.
Boy or girlfriend is?
N/A.
Best friend is?
Moscow, but probably not sleeping yet.
Soul mate is?
Who knows?
Wallet is?
In my purse on my desk.
1362. Who do you feel sorry for?
Nobody.
1363. What will you never say in front of your parents?
I don’t cuss in front of my parents. I doubt that I’ll NEVER cuss in front of them, but I just don’t. It would seem weird to.
1364. Do you change your personality and behavior depending on who you are with?
Yup.
1365. Are you waiting for marriage to lose your virginity?
I have no current interest in losing my virginity.
1366. What year were you born?
1988.
1367. What is your sign?
Aquarius/dragon.
1368. What year did you/will you graduate from high school?
2006.
1369. Do you use moisturizer?
Nope.
1370. On what parts of your body?
No moisturizer.
1371. Are the 70’s back in style?
That would ROCK.
1372. Do you read any magazines?
I used to read Scientific American and Mental Floss, but my subscriptions ran out.
1373. Do you read before going to sleep at night?
I listen to music.
1374. Are you a music maker?
Indeed.
1375. Are you a dreamer of the dreams?
INCEPTION ZOMG
1376. How do you feel about large corporations?
They aren’t inherently bad, but most of them become so.
1377. How do you feel about people who are, “just doing their job”?
Depends on what that entails.
1378. Which would you watch of these choices:
Pitch black, The mummy, Pretty woman?
The Mummy.
1380. About what percent of the time do you feel good about yourself?
5.5%.
1381. Do you feel comfortable with other people (in social situations)?
Hahaha, no.
1382. Do you have good friends/family relationships?
Indeed. Though I’m pretty damn lonely up here.
1383. How do you control your tension and anxiety?
I don’t.
1384. Are you able to meet the demands of life and function in society?
80% of the time, yes.
1385. Do you curb your feelings of hatred and guilt?
I do indeed.
1386. Do you maintain a positive outlook?
I’m a proton!
1387. Does knowing you enrich the lives of others?
I seriously doubt it.
1388. What things do you cherish?
Knowledge. Humor. Dorky friends. My parents.
1389. To what extent do you value diversity?
Diversity = always good.
1390. What fascinates you?
Statistics. There are few things on this planet more fascinating to me than statistics. Oh, and the internet. The internet is astonishingly fascinating.
1391. Do you appreciate nature?
Sure.
1392. If you could be someone else for a day who would you be?
That’s a good question. Do they have to be living?
1393. Would you ever consider ‘psychic surgery’ if you were ill?
Nah.
How about voodoo?
Nope.
Herbal remedies?
Possibly.
1394. How effective do you feel meditation is?
Bah. I don’t understand meditation.
1395. How effective do you feel prayer is?
I say again, “bah.”
1396. How do you think that you (or anyone, for that matter) could pray without ceasing?
If I (or they) knew that something would come of it.
1397. Is religion a live option for you (that is, a possibility, something you are drawn to even if you have no belief)?
Nope.
1398. What part of your body do you lavish the least attention and love on?
My toes.
1399. How many clocks are in your house?
Nine. Yes, I have issues.
1400. What topics would you like to see more of on this survey?
Dude, I think everything will be pretty much covered.
HEY
(EDIT: So I realized when I was doing my big stats analysis that I’d totally forgotten to post this old June blog. I’d written it, but I guess I’d just totally skipped over it during one of my posting sprees. So here it is. Online archive now complete!)
I’d blog today but I’m not going to.
OMG A PARADOX OMGWTFBBQROFLMAO
Haha, sorry. I had Red Bull.
Seven Small Points
You know your research is fun when part of it involves multiplying infinity by zero.
I got free groceries today ’cause they couldn’t get the card reader to work. I don’t think I should feel guilty about that, but I do.
Lady Gaga’s “Bloody Mary” has one sick bass line.
I’m homesick. I miss the familiarity of Moscow.
My housing came through for Western this afternoon.
3 more weeks.
Short blog.
Octagon Penn
Aaaaaasldfjlgjeoaicjsd stressed.
And that’s all I’ll say about that.
Anyway, on to music!
Graph of genres:
Mean song length: 3:57
The Five-Star: Check It Out by will.i.am & Nicki Minaj. I honestly don’t know what it is about this song, but I dig it.
Tonight, I bring you…THE INTERNET!
One of the worst songs to have stuck in your head when you’re trying to figure out the reasons behind the graph I showed you yesterday.
The Sun Run! I was totally there…somewhere, haha.
Did anyone else ever watch this cartoon when they were kids? My dad recorded the episodes onto blank tapes so I could watch them over and
over again.
This is pretty much everything that’s wrong with Facebook. Well, not everything, but a big portion of it.
Woosh!
In This Blog: My Data Look like a Napkin Swan
Seriously, standardized root mean square residual? Seriously?
This pattern makes absolutely no sense. It’s pretty, but it makes absolutely no sense.
I feel like this plot should be on Maury or something. “When Bad Patterns Happen to Good Data.”
I’d totally watch that.
WOOSH
So it occurred to me as I was wandering around downtown Vancouver this afternoon that I’ve walked to all the major malls in the city, but I never gave you guys a ranking.
Like you care, but you know I dig the rankings.
From least favorite to favorite, I bring you Canadian Malls: Vancouver Style!
14. Brentwood Town Centre
Most pointless mall ever. Seriously. It’s like taking the Palouse Mall and removing all the interesting stores, leaving you with Zales, Hallmark, the information center, and that area that turns into the Hickory Farms store during Christmas.
13. Central City
This one’s in Surrey. Do you value your life? Don’t go to
Surrey. The fact that this has a freaking college attached to it perplexes me enough so that this isn’t in last place.
12. Lynn Valley Centre
I don’t really know how this qualifies as a mall, but it is in North Vancouver, which explains the creepy aura about it. Totally not worth the trip up there, unless you’ve got a car. Even then, though, it’s iffy.
11. Lansdowne Centre
There really wasn’t much to this mall, and it’s all the way in Richmond. But it did have a clean Zeller’s, which is like witnessing a miracle, and the Bed Bath and Beyond clone store I walked through seemed pretty freaking awesome.
10. Granville Island
If you can get past the throngs of people that are there pretty much 24/7, the Island is pretty funky. I dig the massive fresh market, but the throngs get to me pretty quickly.
9. Kingsgate Mall
Ah, good old Kingsgate Mall. My grocery depot. Another really small mall, but it’s in a good location, has a grocery store, and has alcohol. What more is necessary when it’s on the bus route home?
8. Capilano Mall
Another pretty “meh” mall apart from the giant Walmart with the McDonald’s as its heart. It’s also all the way in North Vancouver, so it’s really not worth the walk and/or bus ride unless you are morally against the mall on Grandview Highway.
7. Pacific Centre
Apple store + H&M makes for a good mall in general, but there really isn’t anything else in the Pacific Centre worth noting. It’s location is nice, though, and is surrounded by more entertaining things in downtown Vancouver.
6. Oakridge Centre
Poor little Oakridge Centre, being only a mile away…totaly gets overlooked as a place I’ve walked to, haha. It’s a decent mall. Apple store, Safeway, and cinemas for those who enjoy such frivolity. Its proximity to the SkyTrain is both good (“hey! I can get on the SkyTrain right from the mall!”) and bad (“all the SkyTrain traffic has taken over the seats on the bus! How do I get home?!”).
5. Richmond Centre
Apple Store! Late hours! Quiznos! You’re livin’ wild if you go to the Richmond Centre. I still don’t see the logic of having a mall within
literally 300 steps of another mall. At least it’s close to the Skytrain so you can hightail it out of the party zone when all the other malls have closed and you’re still shopping at 6 PM.
4. Real Canadian Superstore
Ah, the love child of Walmart and Costco. I really dig this place, and am glad London seems to think its smaller city needs double the number of RCSSs that Vancouver has. This place gets super extra bonus points because everything’s so cheap. Example: box of awesome granola bars = $4.99 at Safeway. Same box of awesome granola bars = $2.15 at Real Canadian. Yayzorz.
3. Coquitlam Centre
Despite this being 4 billion miles away, it’s huge and has a lot of awesome stores. Assuming you survive the parking lot, this is a super enjoyable mall.
2. Metropolis at Metrotown
This mall? It has a Real Canadian Superstore INSIDE OF IT. It also has a soft pretzel shop, which made my mom super happy when she came up and we hung out at Metropolis. It’s another massive mall, but it’s a lot closer and easily accessible via SkyTrain.
1. Park Royal Centre
GIANT MALL. I really like Park Royal. It’s got an H&M, and HMV (which is like a Hastings), and a Whole Foods. It’s also about 12 miles away and you have to walk through Stanley Park to get there, so it’s a good destination for walking on Saturdays. Completely unrelated side note: Vancouver
has the biggest slugs I’ve ever seen.
Also this: here is a map of my knowledge of Vancouver before I started walking (aka, back when I was on Dunbar):
And here is now:
Snazzy, eh?
And today I walked 19 miles.
This Week’s Science Blog: The Fast and the Fourier
http://www.sixtysymbols.com/index.html
Why I haven’t featured this as a TWSB yet, I don’t know.
But it’s happening now, so be happy!
Those frequenters of YouTube out in my readership (all two of you!) have probably come across one of the videos from the Sixty Symbols gang.
Run out of the University of Nottingham, the scientists behind Sixty Symbols seek to explain some of the coolest symbols used in physics and astronomy. They’ve got more than sixty symbols total right now because they’re working on a second set, so that’s even cooler.
Some of my favorites include:
– Planck Length
– Summation
– Star Classification
– Large Numbers
– Lambda (eigenvalues!!)
– Brazil Nut Effect
– Imaginary Numbers
– Kelvin (Kelvin needs more love in the temperature world)
Woo, science!
Things that are Entirely Underrated
- Chicago Hope
- Half Life
- Pink Energy
- Pipsoh
- Capitol Steps
- Statistics done well
- Ring Pops
Also, the last year of my life as summarized by the first sentences of the first blogs of each month:
May 2010: Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the fifth year of Claudia’s blogs
June 2010: I need to make a remix. Or a mashup. Something. I have the urge.
July 2010: GUESS WHOSE BIRTHDAY IT IS? (hint: it requires caps lock)
August 2010: Hahahaha, so my dad has gout in his foot.
September 2010: Well hi there ladies and gents, and welcome to my first blog on WordPress.
October 2010: So I impulse-bought an iPod Touch off of eBay this afternoon for no other reason than “hey look, this auction has 31 seconds left and I have money in my bank account!”
November 2010: What “F” word, you ask? Fat.
December 2010: So as I said yesterday, NaNoWriMo is over!
January 2011: Dear 2011, let’s be kind to each other, shall we?
February 2011: Fasting + blood draw = bruised up arm and desire to om-nom the ever living hell out of some noodles at 9 AM.
March 2011: Ha, cool, I’ve been on WordPress for 6 months now.
April 2011: What in the hell happened to March?
May 2011: Well, it’s that time of the year.
I miss my life. Hopefully I’ll be getting it back within a month or so.
Things I blab about
If there’s one thing I love to do, it’s categorize stuff.
I freaking love categorizing stuff.
From back in my days on MySpace (haha, it seems so long ago, but it was only last September when I switched to WordPress), I used the pre specified blog categories that were listed there. I’m not sure how many categories were listed, but I utilized 25 of them with such frequencies:
The main reason the “blogging” category has so many entries is because none of the other categories could reasonably be said to apply to my content.
And then we’ve got categories like “Sports” and “Automotive” that get a cursory mention as a viable category due to a few posts revolving around the Vandal football games or random bus rants.
Obviously, my categorization needs a makeover (and, just as obviously, I really need to get a life one of these days).
So because ABSOLUTELY NO ONE CARES, here are the changes I’m making/categories I’m keeping. Old ones no longer needed are crossed out.
Commence!
Art and Photography
Art
Automotive
Blogging
Ranting
Rambling
Humor
Random
Statistics
Health
Dreams and the Supernatural
Dreams
Fashion, Style, Shopping
Shopping
Food and Restaurants
Food
Friends
Family
Games
Goals, Plans, Hopes
Plans
Jobs, Work, Careers
Work
Life
Movies, TV, Celebrities
Entertainment
Music
MySpace
News and Politics
News
Parties and Nightlife
Social
Pets and Animals
Animals
Quiz/Survey
Quizzes
Surveys
Philosophy
Religion and Philosophy
School, College, Greek
School
Sports
Travel and Places
Travel
Web, HTML, Tech
Technology
Science
Internet
Writing and Poetry
Writing
Books
Am I missing anything big that I usually talk about?
Rock, Paper, Hammer
So I finally finished the practice AP stats exam that I told you all about a week or so ago. I was going to do the whole thing, but the long answer section is, well, long (it would take a couple hours). So I just did the multiple choice section.
Because I only did the multiple choice, I can’t actually calculate what my final score would be. However, based on my multiple choice score, my probability of getting a 5 is about .80, while my probability of getting a 4 is about .19.
So it’s reassuring to know that the last four or so years I’ve spent studying statistics hasn’t left me in the mar of numerical ignorance.
Now I want to do factor analyses.
Much Ado About Blogging
HEY LADIES AND GENTS!
So even though I’ve got (at most) two regular* readers, I’ve been thinking as of late of leaving WordPress and getting my own blog with my own domain name.
Why?
Because I think five years of continuous blogging deserves its own special place on the web, even though nobody else really cares about it. I’ve been looking into TypePad for the next move ‘cause I’ve been following a few blogs based off of TypePad, and they all look nice and run smoothly.
TypePad is also pretty customizable, so it seems, and affordable and secure.
However, I’m a lazy butt and just got done moving all my MySpace archives to WordPress, and I’m not sure how difficult moving the archives again would be. I suppose I could do a bit of research into that, but, you know…lazy butt.
Anyway. Just thought that would be my post for today, since everything’s been pretty uneventful apart from thesis writing for the past few days.
*“regular” as defined as those who keep up with my erratic posting habits. Sorry about that.
June 22nd
A month from now, I will be defending my thesis.
Scared all to hell.
Yeah.
It’s 6 PM. Do you know where your rapture is?
No?
A survey, then!
- ONE OF YOUR SCARS, HOW DID YOU GET IT? I had my appendix yanked out while the rest of my 6th grade peers were graduating.
- WHAT IS ON THE WALLS IN YOUR BEDROOM? Map of Vancouver, map of Antarctica, Dali reprints, clocks.
- WHAT DOES YOUR MOBILE PHONE LOOK LIKE? It’s green. It’s a slide phone. It’s got Leibniz on it.
- WHAT MUSIC DO YOU LISTEN TO? I really dig electronica, but my top 50 span the genres quite well. Also, lots of Sleepyhead.
- DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME YOU WERE BORN? 6:13 AM? Something like that.
- WHAT DO YOU WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING RIGHT NOW? To fast forward a month or so in time. I would give ten years off my life for this.
- WHO DO YOU MISS? My old roomies. Best year of my life.
- IS ANYONE IN LOVE WITH YOU OR HAS A CRUSH ON YOU? PFFT, doubt it.
- WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU KISSED? A very dear soul.
- WHAT’SYOUR MIDDLE NAME? Marie.
- THE BEST TV SHOW EVER CREATED? Chicago Hope. Or Metalocalypse. Both are the best for very different reasons.
- THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO? My mom.
- DO YOU GET SCARED IN THE DARK? Nope.
- THE LAST PERSON TO MAKE YOU CRY? She Who Shall Not Be Named.
- WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE COLOGNE / PERFUME? This question does not apply to me!
- WHAT KIND OF HAIR/EYE COLOUR DO YOU LIKE ON THE OPPOSITE SEX? Blonde hair, blue eyes. Freaking Scandinavians.
- WOULD YOU RATHER BE SMART OR FUNNY? Smart.
- COFFEE OR ENERGY DRINKS? PINK ENERGY!
- WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PIZZA TOPPING? Black olives and mushrooms.
- IF YOU CAN EAT ANYTHING RIGHT NOW, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Totally not hungry at all right now.
- WHO IS THE LAST PERSON WHO MADE YOU MAD? Myself.
- DO YOU SPEAK ANOTHER LANGUAGE? Canadian.
- WHAT WAS THE FIRST GIFT SOMEONE EVER GAVE YOU? I remember Jansen giving me a ring in 1st grade. Height of my popularity right there.
- DO YOU LIKE SOMEONE? More than you could know.
- ARE YOU DOUBLE JOINTED? Hahahaha, no.
- FAVOURITE CLOTHING BRAND? Um..stuff that actually fits me? Any brand whose “small” is ACTUALLY FREAKING SMALL.
- WHAT’S YOUR DREAM CAR? One of those Jeeps with the plastic backs.
- WHAT COLOUR IS IT? Orange.
- WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE KIND OF EXERCISE? Running.
- WOULD YOU FALL IN LOVE KNOWING THAT THE PERSON IS LEAVING? Sure.
- WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO TELL SOMEONE HOW MUCH THEY MEAN TO YOU? Do something creative for them.
- WRITE A NUMBER FROM ONE TO A HUNDRED? 11.
- BLONDES OR BRUNETTES? Blondes.
- WHAT IS THE ONE NUMBER YOU CALL OFTEN? I haven’t made a phone call since April.
- WHAT ANNOYS YOU MOST? Intolerance.
- HAVE YOU BEEN OUT OF YOUR COUNTRY? WHERE DID YOU GO? WHAT PLACE DID YOU LIKE BEST? I am currently out of the country, assuming this question means my home country.
- YOUR WEAKNESSES? Sleepyhead. M&Ms.
- FRIES/CHIPS, RICE, OR BEANS? Fries.
- FIRST JOB? Wendy’s. Still one of the better jobs I’ve had.
- EVER PRANK CALLED SOMEONE? Nope.
- WHAT WERE YOU DOING BEFORE YOU FILLED OUT THIS? Research.
- IF YOU COULD GET PLASTIC SURGERY WHAT WOULD IT BE? I hate my jawline. I’d fix that.
- WHY DID YOU FILL OUT THIS MEME? It’s what I do.
- WHAT DO YOU GET COMPLIMENTED ABOUT MOST? My writing?
- WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF ALCOHOL BECAME ILLEGAL? I wouldn’t really care.
- WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY? My sanity back.
- HOW MANY KIDS DO YOU WANT? Ewww, zero.
- WHERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Nope.
- DO YOU WISH ON STARS? Stars do not exist over Vancouver.
- WHICH FINGER[S] IS YOUR FAVOURITE? I like my middle fingers. They’re shaped weird.
- WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Salad.
- DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Sure.
- WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE LUNCH MEAT? Tuna.
- ANY BAD HABITS? Countless.
- WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING CD ON THE SHELF? One should not be embarrassed by their music preferences.
- IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Doubtful.
- HAVE YOU EVER TOLD A SECRET YOU SWORE NOT TO TELL? Possibly. I can’t remember.
- DO LOOKS MATTER? To an extent, but it’s certainly not a presiding force in life. It shouldn’t be, at least.
- HOW DO YOU RELEASE YOUR ANGER? Yell. Throw stuff.
- WHERE IS YOUR SECOND HOME? My dad’s basement.
- DO YOU TRUST OTHERS EASILY? Not really, no.
- WHAT WAS YOUR FAVOURITE TOY AS A CHILD? A green plastic dog toy shaped like a wrench. Named Wrenchie.
- HOW MANY NUMBERS ARE IN YOUR MOBILE PHONE? Maybe seven.
- DO YOU USE SARCASM? NEVER!
- DO YOU KNOW ANYONE FAMOUS? Nope.
- HAVE YOU EVER BEEN IN A MOSH PIT? Nope.
- WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A PLACE TO LIVE? Internet access. A place for my chair.
- WHAT ARE YOUR NICKNAMES? I don’t really have any.
- HOW MANY HATS DO YOU OWN? WHAT’S YOUR HAT SIZE? No hats, no idea what my had size is.
- DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? Yup,
- WERE YOU UPSET ABOUT STEVE IRWIN DYING? It was shocking, yes.
- WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Oreo.
- ARE YOU LAZY? I try not to be, but yes.
- WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE SONGS AT THE MOMENT? Sleepyhead. Its various remixes. Hey There Mr.
- WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE BAND? Muse.
- HOW MANY WISDOM TEETH DO YOU HAVE? None.
- DO YOU WANT TO GO ANYWHERE SPECIAL THIS YEAR? Antarctica, but I want to go there every year.
- WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Nothing, surprisingly.
- LAST THING YOU ATE? Salad.
- LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My dad?
- WHATS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT YOURSELF IN THE MORNING? That somehow, 30% of the time, I manage to gyrate in my sleep enough such that my shirt is on backwards in the morning.
- FAVOURITE THOUGHT PROVOKING SONG? Philosophia by the Guggenheim Grotto.
- FAVOURITE TWO THINGS TO HATE? People who can’t walk down a sidewalk without being dumb, and websites making unnecessary “upgrades” to look “hip.”
- FAVOURITE DRINK? Water.
- FAVOURITE ZODIAC SIGN? Aquarius
- SPORTS YOU LIKE TO WATCH? Figure skating.
- WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOUR? Black.
- EYE COLOUR? Hazel/green.
- DO YOU WEAR GLASSES? Indeed.
- SIBLINGS? Zero.
- FAVOURITE MONTH(s)? February, July.
- DO YOU LIKE SUSHI? I do indeed.
- LAST THING YOU WATCHED? Frasier.
- FAVOURITE DAY OF THE YEAR? February 1st, ‘cause I like the first days of the month and my birthday is on the day following.
- ARE YOU TOO SHY TO ASK SOMEONE OUT? Nobody up here worth going out with.
- SUMMER OR WINTER? Summer!
- KISSES OR HUGS? Kisses, why not?
- RELATIONSHIPS OR ONE-NIGHT STANDS? Relationships.
- WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE CELEBRITY? Leibniz counts ‘cause I say so.
- WHO IS THE LEAST LIKELY TO ASK YOU ON A DATE? Hahahaha, Leibniz.
- BOOKS YOU’D LIKE TO SEE TURNED INTO A FILM? No book I like deserves to be butchered by Hollywood.
This Week’s Science Blog: Kiss My Asterism!
An asteroid first observed on January 16, 2009 is set to pass within about 0.9 lunar distances (less than 384,000 km) of earth next Thursday.
The asteroid, Asteroid 2009 BD, is what astronomers believe to be a “co-orbital asteroid,” or one that follows the orbit of a major planet (in this case, the Earth, duh), not receding more than 0.1 AU away.
Scientists and astronomers assert that this little parasite the Earth has taken on will not be a threat to life, as if it were in fact on course to impact the planet rather than narrowly pass by, it would not directly impact but rather kind of skid through the atmosphere and cause a huge atmospheric explosion. This explosion would be damaging (or lethal) within a 10-20 km radius of the initial explosion, but would not cause us all to fall into a dinosaur-esque mass extinction.
So don’t worry, be happy, and have Bruce Willis on speed dial just in case things get messy.
ZOMG
Five little words: Brave Little Toaster fan fiction.
Internet, I love you.
I was a weird child.
Proof:
Parking lot attack by mullet girl! Be afraid.
Here’s another picture of me apparently being a raptor. My grandma’s got that “what is wrong with this child?” look on her face.
And here’s a picture of me on a rock on Kamiak Butte, just being silly. I loved that shirt more than life itself.
Haha, sorry, I just randomly found these pics this afternoon.
Eigenblogger 
