CATZ
For the past five months or so, my mom and I have made it a routine to go visit the Humane Society on Friday afternoons. So today we went and I said goodbye to all the cool kitties there. Here are some pics of my favorites.
This is Cleo. She’s freaking awesome and needs to be adopted! I think the reason she hasn’t yet is because there’s a big warning on her cage that she does NOT get along with other cats. She’s super friendly with people, though.
This is Cheshire. He’s giant. My foot is for scale purposes.
Martina! She’s been there for like 6 years now. In the pic she’s getting love from my mom.
YAY CATZ!
Swiggety swag, what’s in the ba-OH GOD BEES
In my obsession with the internet, I utilize StumbleUpon a lot. Since I started my account in 2009, I’ve Stumbled approximately 20,000 websites.
WOO!
Anyway, StumbleUpon gives you a little “DNA” that expresses which types of websites you tend to like. Here is the list of the 14 DNA categories:
Within these categories are a bunch of subcategories; for example, in the “health” category, both “aging” and “cancer” are subcategories. You can see how many people follow (that is, Stumble through) each subcategory as well (201,000 follow “architecture,” for example).
There are a BUTT TON of subcategories and I just finished going through them all and recording which major DNA category they fell under AND how many followers each has. There’s a LOT I want to do with this data, but since I should truly be spending my time packing rather than screwing around in R, I’ll just do the first very basic thing for right now.
Here is a graph of the average number of followers per subcategory for each of the 14 major DNA categories.
Like I said, I’m going to be doing more with this as soon as I’m no longer in a panic about moving/grad school/everything. Think of this as a little teaser!
In This Blog: Claudia Answers a Survey with Blatant, Outrageous Lies
You know you’ve always wanted this.
If you use public transport: What’s your biggest pet peeve while out and about?
The complimentary pooper-scoopers on the seats.
Do you know anyone who has a naturally loud voice? It sounds like are shouting but they really aren’t?
I live next to a dolphin who forgot how to echolocate and now just sits in the corner screeching.
Is there anything you are scared/awkward about talking about in life?
Donuts. And the things that go in them.
(Giggity.)
When was the last time you had to cancel plans because you were sick?
Once, a giant box of Chex cereal fell out of the sky and landed on me. I broke both arms and a toe and was covered in cereal for five days. Had to cancel a water polo tournament with Bill Clinton and Richard Simmons.
What is the weirdest compliment you have ever been given?
“You have beautiful pennies.”
Is there a certain way you have to sleep? For example, with a window open or the fan on?
I have to sleep in a hibernation vat filled with packing peanuts and protractors.
Would you still be interested in buying/renting a house if you found out it was supposed to be haunted?
I lived in a haunted U-Haul truck for seven months. There were box and packing tape ghosts everywhere.
What was the last thing you created that you were proud of?
Mars.
If you had a button that you could carry with you at all times and press at any time, but it only did one thing, what would your button do?
Instantly peel every potato within a 10-mile radius.
Are you good at puzzles or riddles?
I have to solve a crossword puzzle to get into my book of crossword puzzles.
What’s stronger – your upper or lower body?
My tail.
Have you ever been in the newspaper? What for?
Evading the cops after planting fully-grown mattresses in the church garden.
What age do you often get mistaken for?
The Bronze Age.
If you could change your surname to anything, what would you change it to?
“Surname.” Or “Suriname” to really confuse people.
Would you say that the area you live in is particularly picturesque?
I live in a turnip. It’s gorgeous.
If you have an Apple product, do you always download the software/app updates?
I downloaded the GrannySmith v3 update and now my iPod scolds me in an old lady voice.
Do you take any vitamin supplements?
I take vitamin Z.
[insert generic title here]
[insert generic blog post here]
[I’M LIKE IN PANIC MODE TODAY OKAY SORRY]
eine kleine buttmusik
YO!
I know I’ve been bitching about this year being super slow for music (which it is, especially compared to last year), but there have been several good songs thus far. And since I haven’t shared music in a while, have some ear candy!
I heard this on the radio and it was instant love. It’s got kind of an old school feel to it.
I didn’t like this one at first, but it’s a four-star now.
Beautiful song; Ed Sheeran is awesome.
This was an iTunes freebie!
Okay, that’s all.
Billie Jean is not my bottle
DUDE this is cool. It’s actually quite soothing. Check out their channel!
L’eggo my…Legos?
I’m like 99% sure I haven’t posted a link to this on my blog, but WHO KNOWS, RIGHT?
I found The Brick Testament like 10 years ago…can’t remember how…but it’s still online and still awesome! I wish I had this many Legos, man.
The story of Caine and Abel is particularly well done, haha.
Short Blog is Short
I’m scared of what’s to come.
Moving and Packing! SO MUCH FUN! *extreme sarcasm*
GETTIN’ READY!
I’m actually about 90% packed now.
Home, Home on the Interquartile Range
The 2014 ranking for the most livable cities is out!
By some voodoo magic, Vancouver is #3 (after Melbourne and Vienna). I like Vancouver, as you all know, but I wouldn’t exactly call it a livable city. It’s super expensive and the weather will destroy your soul. Also, its close proximity to Surrey should automatically disqualify it.
Toronto is #4; Calgary is tied with Adelaide for #5. No U.S. cities made the top 10.
Hole-Heartedly
Not bad I suppose. Better than that last piece of crap I made.
Stats from the Past
While digging through the book bin at the recycling center, I came across this awesome find:
It’s a stats book from 1951!
It was really interesting looking through this, ‘cause this book was published way before SPSS, SAS, R, or any other software (at least, any other stats-centric software) was readily available.
Thus, we get examples in which all the calculations are done using the formulas rather than being read from an output table. Here’s some regression:
And t-scores:
And of course the t-table (in graphical format):
I didn’t even teach how to read a t-table in STAT 251. It was mainly because we just didn’t have time to do so, but considering we have ALL THE SOFTWARE today and, for all practical purposes, that’s what people use in “real life” nowadays, I focused instead on how to read output (and how to appropriately interpret it, of course!). I did have a separate sheet on how to understand a t-table that students could check out on their own if they wanted.
I’d show you pics of the ANOVA calculations, but there are a lot of them, haha.
DONE!
Saturday Solipsism
Ha.
So today I worked a one-day only 10 hour job checking people into The Grove.
It was supposedly supposed to be their busiest day of the year, but I think I literally checked in 12 people over the whole 10-hour period.
Luckily, though, my station happened to be in the bar/lounge thingy, so I spent most of the day watching the Little League World Series. Canada was playing Venezuela. Canada…did not do well.
Interesting game, though.
(YES, I kind of like baseball. Blame my mom, haha.)
I wish they’d had these when I was a kid
This would have helped me so much in elementary school, you have no idea. I definitely think best when I’m moving (especially if it’s “light” activity like shaking my foot or even walking); I remember having trouble sitting still in elementary school just because I knew my thought process was a lot “fuzzier” if I had to stay motionless. Luckily my second grade teacher was super chill and liked me a lot; I remember swinging my legs and kicking the legs of my chair so much that I’d actually move my desk all the way across the tile floor.
Anyway, it’s not surprising to me that this would be beneficial to a LOT of students. And hell, if we’re starting to take away their recess time, at least let them freaking bounce their feet in class.
I’m tempted to buy one for my office in Calgary.
YES IT’S ANOTHER SURVEY AREN’T YOU OVERJOYED I AM OMFG!!!1!1!!ONE
Five details about you…
- I don’t like people touching my back…as in getting backrubs and stuff. I don’t know why.
- I often wonder how different our world would be without the internet.
- My mood has been fluctuating between panic, excitement, and dread for the past few months or so due to the changes that are happening at the end of August.
- I LIKE BIG DATASETS AND I CANNOT LIE
- I might be getting an iPhone once I’m in Canada.
Five details about your appearance right now…
- I’ve got my Tower of Pimps shirt on!
- I showered a bit ago, so my hair is still wet.
- I painted my toenails like half a century ago, and the polish is finally almost totally gone.
- I’m short!
- My glasses are dirty.
Five things you did today…
- Cleaned.
- Packed.
- Went grocery shopping.
- Pet the cats at the Humane Society.
- Hung out with my mom!
Five things you will do tomorrow…
- Clean.
- Pack.
- Panic.
- Panic some more.
- Hang out with my mom!
Five memorable things you did in the last year…
- Met a bunch of super awesome/nerdy/dorky math people.
- Taught stats (I know I did that last year, but it’s still memorable to me!).
- Got a math degree.
- Got into grad school.
- Wrote a (fictional) story focused on Anosmia. Memorable because I’ve been struggling to write something regarding Anosmia for like 5 years; it was only once I fictionalized a story that all my feelings about it were able to be written out.
Five favorite bands/groups…
- Coldplay.
- Daft Punk.
- Lady Gaga.
- Owl City.
- Deep Forest.
Five favorite movies novels (since I don’t watch many movies)…
- The Caine Mutiny.
- The Great Gatsby.
- 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
- Lolita.
- Candide .
Five things that make you happy…
- Statistics.
- Anything math history-related.
- Color!
- A song with a good beat/bass line.
- Cats!
Five things that impress you…
- Genius in any form.
- Math.
- People who have an EXTREMELY passionate interest in something.
- People who have charisma. I don’t know if I’m more impressed or bewildered by that, though.
- Good writing
SHOE PARTY
So remember way back when I got my new shoes? I promised I’d take a picture of the bottoms and tops of them every 50 miles to get a progressive representation of how they wear. I was hoping to do this until the new shoes were as worn as my old Kinvaras. However, I’m going to stop at 600 miles for a few reasons:
- I think these shoes are wearing considerably faster than the previous pair. They’re probably 80% as worn as the old ones and have only been worn for 600 miles, not 1,300-ish.
- I’ve been trying to keep the background of the photos consistent across all of them. Since I had to move out of my office (where I’d been taking the photos), I can’t do that anymore. And that jump in consistency would bother the hell out of me.
BUT ANYWAY. Here are gifs of the top and bottom, a picture for each 50 miles between 0 and 600 miles.
Here’s slower, too.
Yeah, I was bored today.
I think I’m getting worse at drawing
I’m not even uploading this one to DeviantArt. It’s terrible. But since I have nothing to say today, you unfortunate buggers get to see it.
YAY.
RIP Robin Williams
The world lost a funny, awesome man today. Super sadness. In tribute, have this clip from Aladdin:
Typists, Get Ready!
I just found a SUPER ADDICTIVE typing game!
It’s a little like Space Invaders. If you play the normal mode, it doesn’t really start getting rough until, say, the 23rd level. I think expert mode starts you at level 20, or at least something similar. And shooting the ships doesn’t retard their falling.
The highest I’ve gotten on normal is level 32; the highest on expert is level 12.
Zip-a-dee-don’t-da
It’s a survey. I BET YOU WEREN’T EXPECTING THAT, HUH?
When you wash your hands, do you use the cold or hot tap?
Depends on the ambient temperature. If it’s like 10000 degrees outside, I’ll use cold. If it’s freezing outside, I’ll wait until the water gets hot.
If you had to be straight/gay for a day (whichever you’re currently not!), what celebrity would you most like to take on a date?
Freaking crap, I don’t know. I don’t know any celebrities’ personalities, really, so I’d have to go by looks. Therefore, I pick Michelle Trachtenberg.
What is the biggest injury you’ve ever sustained and how did you do it?
Probably concussion #1. I was pretty young (younger than first grade I think) and I was climbing on the outside of a tall slide. My mom kept telling me not to, but I was a defiant little bugger and did it anyway. Then I fell off into the sand and got a pretty bad concussion.
What is the most unusual food you’ve ever eaten?
Escargot? I’m not very adventurous when it comes to trying different foods.
What is the most unique animal you’ve ever touched?
A squid? It was dead, but I touched it. And dissected it.
What’s the most expensive gift you’ve ever bought for someone? How much did it cost and who was it for?
I have absolutely no idea.
Which 3 countries would you like to live in and why?
Germany. One word: Hanover.
Antarctica. Because I still really, really, really, really, really want to go down there. Though this gets rated lower than Germany ‘cause I have hesitations about causing environmental damage down there, especially considering the most feasible mode of transportation would be some sort of cruise ship.
Sweden. Because I’ve already been to Stockholm once and I really, really liked it.
If you could wake up tomorrow and be fluent in 3 additional languages, which would you choose?
French, German, Latin. Then I could read ALL THE LEIBNIZ!
(But does Latin count? If not, then Basque. )
Which would you rather out of these 3 options?
A: Be good looking and extremely intelligent but so poor you live on the streets.
B: Be extremely intelligent and a millionaire but what society classes as ugly.
C: Be good looking and a millionaire but extremely academically challenged? Why?
Definitely B. I’ve already got the ugly part going for me, so I’d be happy to take some smarts and some money.
What’s the scariest nightmare you’ve ever had? Describe it in detail.
Right here.
Would you rather raise 25 children or have the chance of ever having children taken away? Why?
I think I’d lose my mind if I even had to raise one child, so…
Would you rather go on a relaxing beach type holiday to the Caribbean, a cultural holiday to Japan or an adventure packed holiday to South Africa?
I chose Hanover, dammit!
Put these in order of your favourite movie genre to least: Horror, action, thriller, adventure, superhero, romance, drama, comedy, musical and dance?
Drama
Comedy
Action
Thriller
Superhero
Adventure
Musical
Dance
Romance
Horror
If you had to lose one of the 5 senses, which would you choose and why?
Considering I’m already missing one, I think I get a free pass!
(I’d probably choose my sense of taste if I had to lose another one.)
What have been the top 3 most brilliant days of this year? Describe them in as much or as little detail as you like.
This year has SUCKED, bro. Suckity Suck Suckerson McGee.
How many concerts have you been to in your life and which was your favourite? If you’ve not been to one, who would you most like to see?
I have never been to a concert, how sad is that? However, some of the performers I’d like to see include Lady Gaga, Muse, Coldplay, and Dethklok.
OOH WAIT, I’ve seen Capitol Steps in concert, do they count?
NEW KITTEN!
My mom adopted a kitten from the Humane Society! Observe the cuteness:
(New and better pic inserted, ‘cause the old one was grainy and blurry.)
His name is Raymond Cat and he’s probably the most chill cat I’ve ever seen. I’ve heard him meow like twice and he just kind of goes with the flow.
SO MUCH LOVE!
Monay
So since the last time I’ve been to Canada (not counting Vancouver in May), they’ve upgraded their currency to not only get rid of the penny, but to produce polymer bills that are super freaking durable, colorful, and awesome. Check it out!
Also, they have unique quarters for each province, like we did for our states, but I can’t find any good pics of the whole set, so you get NOTHING!
Do Narcissistic Bookshelves post Shelfies?
I FINALLY have an apartment in Calgary now! I shall post piccys when I move in at the beginning of September.
UGH this process has been obnoxious.
Here are more Canada pics.
(Only in Canada, man.)
The Frank Slide
I forgot to blog about this because I was so freaking pissed off about the last few days, but I’ll blog about it now: when we were driving up here, we drove through the aftermath of a disaster called the Frank Slide.
Back in 1903, when Alberta was still part of the Northwest Territories, there was a little mining town called Frank. It sat next to Turtle Mountain where—as you might guess—a lot of mining occurred.
On the morning of April 29 1903, a huge section of the mountain slid down onto Frank, burying its east side under 90 million tons of limestone within 100 seconds. A whole bunch of townspeople and non-town miners were killed.
And when I say we drove through the aftermath of the slide, we literally drove right through it on the highway. Piccy from the Frank Slide Wiki page:
In addition to the mining, the mountain’s anticline formation was unstable to begin with. Also, for several weeks before the incident, there had been very warm days and vary cold nights, causing water in the cracks of the mountain to freeze, melt, freeze, melt, repeat. ALSO, there were tremors near the base of the mountain that miners had felt for a few days.
So yeah. Cool but freaky.
Eigenblogger 