All work and no play makes Claudia OH WAIT I’M OFF WORK TODAY
Surprise four-day weekend!
Not-so-surprise survey!
PUT YOUR MUSIC PLAYER ON SHUFFLE AND ANSWER
Song #1
Artist: Rick James
Title: Super Freak
What is the very first lyric in the song? “She’s a very kinky girl”
Is that lyric significant to you in any way? Not particularly, no.
What is the 4th line of the song? “Once you get her off the street, girl”
Does that line make you think of a certain person? Nope.
What is your favorite lyric in this song? “Three’s not a crowd to her, she says / ‘Room 714, I’ll be waiting’”
Song #2
Artist: Rilo Kiley
Title: Silver Lining
What is the last lyric of the song? “But now I’m gold”
Replace the 2nd word of that lyric with the word “potato”: “But potato I’m gold”
What is the 9th line of the song? “And I was your silver lining”
What if that lyric was the new theme song to Sesame Street? It’d make sense, I think. Friendship/love and all.
What lyric in this song do you relate to the most or find to be the truest? “I never felt so wicked / as when I willed our love to die”
Song #3
Artist: Imogen Heap
Title: Hide and Seek
What is the chorus of this song? “hide and seek / trains and sewing machines / all those years / they were here first”
If someone you like sang the chorus to you would it be romantic? Yeah, I think so.
What movie soundtrack would this song be perfect for? Something with a lot of tragedy.
Pick one word in the title of this song that you could name a pet: Seek.
Song #4
Artist: Boston
Title: Peace of Mind
What is the first lyric in this song? “Now if you’re feeling kind of low ‘bout the dues you’ve been payin’”
What if your opinion of the entire song was based on that one lyric? I don’t think it would change much, actually.
What if your #2 on MySpace quoted the last lyric of the song to you? I don’t even remember who my #2 on MySpace is. The last lyric anyway is “all I want is to have some peace of mind”
If this song title was a movie title, what would the movie be about? It would probably be some sort of psychological thriller with a criminal mastermind/murderer or something.
Song # 5
Artist: The Avalanches
Title: Frontier Psychiatrist
What is the most offensive/vulgar lyric in this song? None of the lyrics are offensive/vulgar. “Buttocks” is mentioned once, though. Racy!
What if the 1st word in the song title was replaced with the word “hooker”: I would SO totally listen to “Hooker Psychiatrist”
What is the 10th line of the song? “That, that, that, that, that boy.. boy needs therapy”
Does that lyric remind you of a situation you’ve been in? Ha. Yes.
Does this song have a deep meaning, or is it just straightforward? It’s either got some super deep psychological meaning or The Avalanches were just on major drugs when they wrote it.
Song #6
Artist: OK Go
Title: End Love
What if your last name was included in the song title? OK Mahler Go would be…interesting.
What is the 5th line in the song? “No one’s gonna find you when you’re hiding in the dark, no one’s gonna find you”
Would that line be a good catch phrase for a commercial? Hahaha, for a lighting company.
Song #7
Artist: Fleet Foxes
Title: Helplessness Blues
What if the 1st word in the Artist name was replaced with the word “poop”: Poop Foxes! HAHAHAHA. Feces Foxes sounds better.
What is the funniest lyric in this song? “Someday I’ll be like the man on the screen.” It’s funny in an odd way ‘cause it’s the last lyric in the song.
What is the 8th lyric in this song? “I don’t need to be kind to the armies of night that would do such injustice to you”
What if there was a restaurant named from the 1st and 5th word of that lyric: “I Be.” Sounds like some sort of existential diner.
Is the word “heart” anywhere in the entire song? Nope.
Song #8
Artist: Katie Miller-Heidke
Title: The Last Day on Earth
What if Marilyn Manson did a cover of this song? That would be interesting/hilarious
What is the chorus of this song? “It’s the last day on earth / In my dreams, in my dreams / It’s the end of the world / And you’ve come back to me in my dreams”
What if your #5 MySpace friend called you and sang the chorus to you? No idea who my #5 is, but this is such a sad song that I’d probably start to cry.
What is the last lyric in the song? “I ache, I ache, I ache inside”
Is that the best lyric in the song? It’s the most impactful, in my opinion.
Song #9
Artist: Gotye
Title: Somebody That I Used To Know
Would the title of this song make a good title for a Stephen King book? Sure. It’d be an interesting book.
What is the 12th line in this song? “But you didn’t have to cut me off”
Do you even like that lyric at all? I like the way it’s sung.
Do you know all the words to this song? Yes.
What kind of mood does this song put you in? Vengeful.
Song #10
Artist: Merril Bainbridge
Title: State of Mind
Replace the 3rd word in the Title with the word “beaver”: State of Beaver.
What is the 7th line in this song? “I feel it driving me to something I’ll regret”
Does that lyric bring up any memories? Yes. Bad ones from last summer.
Would this song be good in a fight scene in movie? Not particularly.
What is your favorite lyric in this song? “I feel it pounding like a drum inside my brain / I feel it, if it doesn’t stop I’ll go insane”
Done! I’mma go ride my bike.
Internettin’
I’m not going to deny it: I’m in love with the internet. All of it. Every informative page of Wikipedia, every dark, seedy corner of 4chan, every increasingly strange playlist on YouTube, and yes—even the frighteningly powerful overlord of Google.
It totally rules my life, haha.
I also just discovered Tumblr. Trouble now.
Stuff.
Also, I just found this on YouTube. We had this on VHS way back in the age of the Cassettosaurus.
I remember this like I just watched it yesterday, man.
Explain, please
I’ve been running about 20-25 miles per week since the beginning of the year. Within the past week or so, however, I’ve started to get blisters. On the TOPS of my toes.
Any ideas why this is happening?
Edit: I’m not a beginner runner. I ran a LOT last year. I also walk quite a bit.
Edit 2: No, I didn’t just get new shoes, nor are my old ones too worn out to continue running in them.
I’m a colorless green idea, and I’m SLEEPING FURIOUSLY!!!!
My very awesome friend over at Mathematically Confused nominated me for a Versatile Blog Award. Check out her blog!
RULES!
Nominate 10 other blogs. Inform them about their nominations. Share 7 random things about yourself. Thank the blogger who nominated you. Put the Versatile Blogger Award picture in your post.
Fact time:
1. I’m very in-tune with who I am. I’ve never felt like I’ve had to “find myself.”
2. It really, really bothers me—irrationally so—when people screw up a quote from a book or TV show or movie or the like. Even if they just leave out one little word.
3. I had a professional aptitude testing done when I was in high school. Apparently my aptitudes are perfect for architecture. Too bad I have no interest in it, haha.
4. (Related to fact #2?) I am a definite auditory learner. The things that stick in my memory longest are things that I acquired via some sort of auditory medium, like a show or a song or a video lecture. Back in undergrad I always assigned a specific song to each class and recited the class material to the tune of the song in order to study for tests.
5. I see a type of beauty in urban sprawl. Last summer when I was flying into LA to see my grandma we passed over these insanely intricate looping highways and overpasses…I remember thinking how beautiful it was.
6. I berate myself 24/7. It motivates me.
7. I don’t know if this is unique to me or is just the way children perceive speech, but up until I was about 10 years old I really had a hard time understanding what people were saying in movies and on TV (and in songs). To my ears, they weren’t saying words, they were just creating music and rhythms with their voices. Like I remember watching Talespin a lot as a kid. Rewatching some of the episodes as an adult, I could still remember the exact inflections and cadences of the characters’ voices, but felt like the actual words were something I’d never heard before. If that makes any sense.
Believe it or not, in my nearly six years of blogging, I don’t actually formally follow any other blogs (bad Claudia, bad!). So I’ll use this post to pledge to actually follow some of the people I regularly stalk and nominate several of them sometime soon.
WOO!
Weekly Wiki: Linguistic Examples
Way back at the dawn of time I linked to Wiki’s Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo article, but I figured I’d go all out and link to a bunch of Wiki’s “English is so screwy” pages.
List:
List of Linguistic Example Sentences, sentences that “illustrate various linguistic phenomena.”
I had a really, really good article the other day that I was going to use for this post, but now I can’t remember what it was.
Schwing!
I Ran in Van
I want to participate in the Vancouver Sun Run again this year. Here are the pros and cons of such a desire.
PROs
1. I can run a lot faster (for a lot longer) than I could last year. Even by the end of July last year I had trouble running for three miles straight at a speed of 6.0 mph; now I can run 10k (6.2 miles) at a speed of 7.0 mph.
2. I totally have the money to go back up there now. Yay for having a job!
3. The date of the race is April 16th, a Sunday, meaning that I could fly up on Saturday, stay the night, run the race early Sunday morning, and fly back in time for work on Monday.
4. I want to prove that I can do the race in under an hour. None of this “I need to pee” business slowing me up.
5. As crappy as my time was up there, I’d like to see Van again if for no other reason than to see if my memory of it is anywhere close to the way everything in the city is actually laid out.
6. Running RULES!
CONs
1. It’s Vancouver.
2. I’m pretty sure I’d have a panic attack if I were to go back there.
3. Running solitary is peaceful, but running a race alone is lonely. If that makes any sense (though I ran it solo last year, so I shouldn’t complain about that).
4. I’m actually quite sick of travelling.
5. It’s Vancouver.
So we’ll see. It’d be awesome if I could convince my dad to fly up there with me and race as well, but I don’t know if he’s in running condition anymore thanks to his gout.
Vroom!
When I grow up, I’m going to be a toaster
3401. How well can you read between the lines when others are talking?
Meh.
3402. Would you ever speak in front of your peers about peace and social injustice?
Sure, though I’m not really sure what I’d say.
3403. Where does peace begin?
With one individual.
3404. Does America practice the ideals it preaches?
Depends on the ideal.
3405. In conversations do you assume that you know what will be said?
Why would I assume that?
3406. In what ways are you closed minded?
Probably in more ways than I want to acknowledge.
3407. do you prefer beans or rice?
Beans.
3408. who’s a better tv dad?–dr. huxtable (bill cosby) or danny tanner?
I’ve never seen The Cosby Show, but Danny is creepy.
3409. detroit or new york?
New York.
3410. What’s your favourite Star Wars movie?
The Sixth One (the third of the original trilogy).
3411. What’s your favourite Star Trek movie?
I’ve never seen Star Trek, believe it or not.
3412. How about Batman?
See above.
Indiana Jones?
The one with the snakes.
Lord of the rings?
Blah.
harry potter?
I think I only saw one of them all the way through. Can’t remember which one, though.
3413. If you could ask one question and one question only to the following people, what would that question be:
Saddam Hussain?
“Was my uncle a body double for you at some point?”
George W Bush?
“WTF, mate?”
John Lennon?
“HELLO!”
an alien?
“What do you think of the life on Earth?”
God?
“Why?”
Someone you knew who has died?
“Did she treat you the way she’s treated us?”
Steven Speilberg?
“Any upcoming movies?”
JD Salinger?
“Did Catcher in the Rye make you both laugh hysterically and feel obscenely depressed?”
3414. Have you seen AI (artificial intelligence)?
Nope.
3415. If a-l-k-a-s-e-l-t-z-e-r spells ‘relief’ how do you spell:
love?
S-T-A-T-I-S-T-I-C-S
happiness?
S-T-A-T-I-S-T-I-C-S
evil?
W-I-L-L-F-U-L I-G-N-O-R-A-N-C-E
sexyness?
L-E-I-B-N-I-Z
yummy?
B-R-O-C-C-O-L-I
3416. Have you ever been to a Braodway show?
No, unfortunately.
3417. Nighttime shows or matines (sp?)?
Bah, movies.
3418. How are your family get-togethers, loud and rambunctios or quiet and formal?
Ulcer-inducing and frightening.
3419. Would you be able to survive shipwrecked alone on a desert island?
Possibly. I think I’d be able to.
3420. Speaking of islands, does Gilligan EVER get off his?
Not sure.
3421. What movie has the BEST soundtrack?
Apollo 13!
3422. Do you ever go into chat rooms?
I used to. A lot.
If yes, what ones?
I always trolled the hell out of Yahoo!’s teen chatroom. Oh my god. Every day after junior high. Biggest troll ever.
3423. Is english your first language?
Jawohl!
3424. Make up a religion. What would it believe?
Pretty much everything Leibniz said about the universe/monads, except without the “god” part.
3426. How would you celebrate these holidays? Dogs in Politics day: Create some sort of Pet Olympics, pitting all the living Presidential pets against one another.
Magic circles day: draw circles large enough to stand in on the sidewalk. Stand in them and perform magic tricks.
Be bald and free day: Watch all the Colin Mochrie-centered Whose Line Is It Anyway? episodes.
Syliva plath day: Take a bunch of antidepressants and brood in a dark corner.
Increase your psychic powers day: Spend all day trying to reach each others’ minds.
Waiting for the barbarians day: Um…go sit at the Great Wall and wait for Huns? LET’S get DOWN to BUSINESS…to defeat…THE HUNS!
Air day: Breathe for a WHOLE 24 HOURS STRAIGHT.
3427. -Why do you think Steve got kicked off Blue’s Clues:
Who did the what now?
3428. Hooked on heroin or hooked on phonics?
Hooked on doing phonics workbooks while on heroin.
3429. -Have you ever taken an insanity quiz?
Do I need to?
3430. – Have you ever covered yourself in blood and layed down on the side of the road to make it look like you were in an accident?
Can’t say that I have.
You don’t know what you’re missing.
Good to know.
3431. Can you flare your nostrils?
Yup.
3432. -do you want to swim in a vast lake of gatorade? or, any other beverage for that matter?
I know it’s not a beverage, obviously, but I’ve always wanted to swim in a swimming pool of Jell-o. Solidified, of course.
3433. -have you ever sneezed at the same time everyday, consecutively, for over 3 months?
Nope, can’t say that I have.
3434. -how did the first person discover that pigs feet would be so good that we call them a delicacy?
I guess they taste that good?
3435. -why did the first person to ever eat pigs feet eat them?
Why did the first person to ever eat PIG eat it?
3436. -do you like the idea of ‘like father, like son’?
I don’t know. It depends on the father/son duo.
3438. Would you rather be an evil dictator or a sitcom family member?
Can’t I be both? “Suburb Stalin!” I’d watch that.
3439. What is the wave of the future?
Ultra-violet.
3440. What’s your favorite old movie (before 1990)?
The Brave Little Toaster!
3441. When someone tells you that their signifigant other lives REally Far Away..do you ever suspect that they are single and making someone up?
Why would I suspect that?
3442. Alaska or Hawaaii?
AK!
3443. Why did Kentucky Fried Chicken change their name to KFC?
It’s faster to say “KFC,” which is important when your sole goal is to inhale a bucket of chicken.
3444. What is there no place to hide from?
Myself.
3445. Which makes you happier, giving presents or getting them?
Giving! Though getting them rocks too, haha.
3446. What can you never have just one of?
M&Ms.
3447. What comes to mind when you think of Hulk Hogan?/
Politics, believe it or not.
3448. What would you be the patron saint of?
Color.
3449. Do you still look at the world with wonder like you did when you were a kid?
Parts of it.
3450. For 5 seconds clear your mind. Good. Now write the first thing that you can think of!:
River rafting (WTF, brain?)
3451. When was the last time you ate too much?
I have no idea.
3452. Describe the sexiest person you can imagine:
I don’t need to imagine. HE EXISTED:
3453. What have you seen that’s…bizzare?
My family.
3454. Are there any stores or brands or products that yoou boycott?
I won’t buy Florida’s Natural orange juice ‘cause their commercials PISS ME OFF.
3455. Do you want things to REALLY get out of control?
I’m a pretty major control freak, so no.
3456. Are you too tense?
I’m one fifth.
3457. Where would you be without love and bubblegum?
Lonely and un-sticky. Haha.
3458. Why aren’t comic books popular anymore?
I think they’re still popular in the right circles.
3459. Think of one friend (who?): Sean!
When is the last time you saw each other?
End of July last year.
Do they smoke?
I don’t believe so, no.
Do they believe in God?
I don’t think so.
When you first saw this friend what was your impression?
This dude seems pretty cool.
Their age?
24.
3460. Do you say what you mean?
Haha, not all of the time.
Do you mean what you say?
I try.
3461. Could you eat meat if you had to hunt it yourself?
Yes, but I would probably never get to ‘cause I don’t think I could catch anything.
3462. Order from greatest to least importance: spirituality, creativity, intellect, great body, open-mindedness, magicalness, great dancer, interesting dresser, wit and cleverness, niceness, stability
niceness, creativity, intellect, open-mindedness, wit and cleverness, stability, interesting dresser, magicalness, great dancer, great body, spirituality.
3463. Complete the sentence.
When a problem comes along You must:
Fix it fix it fix it!
3464. Pick the two most important attributes for food– fast, cheap, tasty, healthy
Healthy, tasty.
3465. What do you think is the best metaphor for romantic relationships? (e.g. a car wreck, a cruise)
A time-bomb. Or a literal bomb.
3466. Kittens or no kittens, that is the question.
KITTENS ALWAYS! ‘Tis noble.
3467. Is gaining 15 lbs in a night possible?
If you consume a 15 lb. weight, sure.
3468. Do you get emotional watching movies?
Pfft, movies.
3469. What makes you feel nostalgic?
Thinking about Moscow.
3470. Do you feel like you’ve been misplaced?
I feel like I don’t HAVE a place.
3471. Have you ever fought someone, just for fun?
Not physically. Mentally, though, yeah.
3472. What gives you an adrenaline rush?
Planning stuff. Yeah, I know, I’m lame.
3473. What would you do if you loved someone more than anything else, and you could never have them?
Ugh. Love is…not for me. Not now.
3474. Rank these events in order of best/most exciting to boring (1 = most exciting):
drinking and dancing to your favorite music at a club: 6
taking a walk in the woods and a bath in a stream: 7
having great sex: 9
winning the lottery (one mil): 1
getting followed home by a stray animal: 2
meeting someone interesting to talk to: 8
seeing your favorite band in concert: 3
seeeing aa broadway show: 4
halloween: 5
3475. Can you keep a secret?
Yup.
3476. Where is the tenderness?
IN MY BUTT
3478. Would you rather have a video phone, an electric scooter, or a digital camera?
Dude, an electric scooter! I’d motor all OVER the damn place.
3479. If a ban on all violent video games was put into effect, would you be outraged by this decision?
Yes, but not because all violent games were banned…because whoever was in charge was ALLOWED to ban all violent games.
3480. In your opinion, is violence in society inescapable?
Yeah.
Why or why not?
We’re animals. It’s the way of nature sometimes.
3481. Have you ever mimicked a violent “action” from a video game you’ve played towards another person, whether it was to harm or just for play?
Oh, probably.
3482. Do you believe the violent content in video games influences aggressive and/or violent behavior in younger children?
I really think it depends on the child. I obsessively played Doom and Quake when I was six/seven years old, and I’m probably the least aggressive person ever.
3483. What makes life a bitter sweet symphony?
Trying to make ends meet, trying to find some money, then dying.
3484. Name four things that aare AWESOME:
Statistics, Existentialism, Leibniz, writing.
3486. Can you imagine this world going on without you?
Of course. I’m no solipsist.
3487. Are you the only person who really exists?
Hahaha. See above.
3488. Is everyone else a figment of your imagination?
I’d have one twisted imagination then.
3489. Or are YOU a figment of my imagination?
OH GOD
3490. Can you prove you exist?
I don’t know.
3491. What do you Have to get off your chest?
My shirt. NAKED TIME!
3492. If you cheated on someone would you confess to them?
Yes.
3493. Is it true that at least 5 people in this world love you so much they would die for you?
No.
Who?
Maybe like two people.
3494. Are you in therapy?
I should be.
3495. Do you go shopping on black friday?
Nope.
3496. What is the bane of your existance?
Ignorance.
3497. Better movie: Weird Science or Caddy Shack?
I’ve never seen Weird Science and I haven’t seen Caddy Shack all the way through.
3498. Who’s the big winner?
Not me.
3500. Guess what?
Orgy time?
Dream Factory
So last night I had a dream about Coos.
Coos are these:
Coos were a Coos were beings my friend G.E. and I came up with in kindergarten and developed over the course of a couple years in elementary school. When we became these different beings, we entered into this entire kingdom/social structure we had developed along with them. He was king, I was queen. At the height of the Coo’s popularity, we had practically our entire first grade class (22/23 kids) plus a lot of kids from 2nd and 3rd grade.
My and G.E.’s popularity paralleled that of our game (though it certainly wasn’t a game to us; it was life).
And then came the inevitable decline. I remember the exact moment things went wrong and I could recite it minute-for-minute to you as if it happened yesterday, but I’m not going to. It’s a very depressing memory and I don’t feel like going into my little pit of despair today, so let’s just skip over it.
In the end, the popularity of Coos began to decline after its height in first grade. By the time fourth grade was over, I was the only true Coo left. But regardless of their relatively short-lived existence (though I guess four grades is a LONG time to a little kid), Coos were an impactful part of my life. I’d written over 10 journals’ worth of stories about them, three or so 70-page “novels” about them, and had a myriad million art projects surrounding them (I even made a big 3D one out of clay once).
I don’t think about them often, mainly because I’m rarely (if ever) in contact with anyone who WAS a Coo way back in the ‘90s (holy freaking crap, I sound old now). So it was strange to dream about them.
Strange indeed.
Pythagoras, NOOOO!
This is the worst cartoon ever made.
Fail me not, WordPress, and let me post!
This was always one of my favorite theories of personality for some reason.
Hahaha, I’m so pathetically not assertive.
Also this:
Short blog is short.
Weekly Wiki: Heavy Water
So this Weekly Wiki might not be a new concept to a lot of you guys ‘cause you all seem smart and all seem to know random facts and such, but it’s still a cool topic so it’s happening. I randomly stumbled upon the article for heavy water.
11% denser than “regular” water, heavy water is physically and chemically similar to water except for the fact that it is enriched in the hydrogen isotope deuterium. The deuterium isotope is twice as heavy as the lightest stable isotope, increasing the strength of the water’s hydrogen-oxygen bond. This increased bond is enough to cause enough of a change in how organisms can process water…to the point where higher organisms whose regular water content is replaced with enough heavy water (more than 50%), cell death and ultimately organism death results.
In one of the chemistry books I was e-texting (totally a verb) the other day actually had a picture of a glass of water with regular H2O ice floating on top and “heavy water” ice at the bottom of the glass, too heavy to float. It was pretty sweet.
Edit: found it!
(courtesy PopSci)
Claudia’s Big Blog o’ Books
So I’ve seen about seven of my Facebook friends post something along the lines of “what book should I read next?” as their little status update thingy. Even though maybe two people from Facebook check out this blog on a semi-regular basis, I’m posting here my top 10 favorite/most highly recommended books with little itty bitty one-sentence synopses. I know I’ve done this a couple times before, but the list keeps changing ever-so-slightly and hell, it’s always good to have book recommendations close at hand, right?
Right.
ONWARDS!
10. Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
One-sentence synopsis: Vladimir and Estragon wait…and wait…and wait…
9. Watership Down by Richard Adams
One-sentence synopsis: a colony of rabbits set out in search of a new warren and face many perils on their journey.
8. On The Beach by Nevil Shute
One-sentence synopsis: In a post-WWIII world, we get a glimpse into the slow suffering of those living in Australia as they wait for the atmospheric winds to bring the nuclear fallout down from the north.
7. The Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Clark
One-sentence synopsis: A group of justice-seeking townspeople (and two drifters) set out to find and punish three men presumed to be cattle rustlers and murderers.
6. Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
One-sentence synopsis: Wealthy (and badass) Londoner Phileas Fogg wagers that he can travel around the world in 80 days.
5. Watchmen by Alan Moore, illustrated by Dave Gibbons
One-sentence synopsis: In this graphic novel, an ex-super hero is murdered, his fellow ex-super heroes speculate about his death, and we are privy to an intricate tale of their past and present lives in an alternate 1980s time.
4. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
One-sentence synopsis: through a confessional outpouring, we learn of lit professor Humbert Humbert’s romantic obsession with 12-year-old Lolita.
3. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
One-sentence synopsis: Nick Carraway becomes a neighbor to the wealthy, party-happy, mysterious Jay Gatsby and learns more about him and those he associates with through a series of social and private encounters.
2. Candide by Voltaire
One-sentence synopsis: A sheltered young man, influenced by his teacher, is convinced he lives in the best of all possible worlds (LEINBIZ REFERENCE ZOMG), even as he experiences all sorts of exciting disasters.
1. The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk
One-sentence synopsis: US Navy Ensign Willie Keith finds himself on a WWII US minesweeper ship that has happened to fall under the command of an insane captain.
Now, don’t those sound good? Pick one, dear blog-follower, and read!
I’ve had amnesia for as long as I can remember
1. Where are you from and where do you live now?
From Moscow (Idaho), living in Tucson.
2. Favorite childhood story/book/film?
Dr. Seuss’s A Fly Went By. Freaking LOVED that book. I had it memorized and could
3. If you could change gender for a day what would you do?
I’d run around without my shirt on. I’d be awesome. I wouldn’t want to change back at the end of the day.
4. Do you feel you family is complete or would you like more/some children?
Kids are scary.
5. What do you do/Where do you work and do you enjoy it?
Right now I’m doing e-text (making PDF copies of textbooks readable by text-to-speech programs for students who need books in audio format). It’s…um…tedious.
6. Which three words do you think sum you up?
Obsessive, odd, knowledge-seeking (that counts as one word!).
7. If you were a fairy what magical powers would you possess?
I’d like to be able to fly (with wings or without). And move stuff without picking it up. Telekinesis. Do fairies get that?
8. If you were invisible, where would you go and what would you do? Why?
I’d stalk the crap out of a few people, not gonna lie. I wouldn’t do anything malicious, though, and I’d give them their space.
9. What song can’t you listen to without crying?
10. Which book changed your life – or at least made you think a lot?
Voltaire’s Candide. I think it was such an impactful book in part because it was the first book I read in a class that put it into context—historically, artistically, politically, and culturally. It just made it that much more interesting. Plus it’s Voltaire, man, seriously.
11. Why do you blog?
It keeps me sane, believe it or not.
12. What is your top ‘me-time’ tip?
Schedule it after you’ve accomplished all your other goals for the day. It’ll be that much more special.
13. What can’t you live without?
A way to get the ideas out of my head and out into the world (even if I keep most of them to myself).
14. Which of all your blog posts are you most proud of and why?
This one. I wrote it all in one go one night long ago and it makes me happy.
15. Have you ever met a famous person? Who and where?
Nope, never have.
16. When did you last have a full nights sleep?
Like, the 8 hours thing? It’s been awhile.
17. What would you think is harder: Going to work or staying at home with children?
Depends on the work. Depends on how obnoxious your kids are.
18. What are you doing for Easter?
Probably nothing special.
19. What is your favorite drink?
Apart from water? RED BULL!
20. Do you play any sports?
HA. I’d like to play baseball/softball though, that’d be fun.
21. What is your most embarrassing moment?
My life.
22. How clever are you?
Depends on my mood. And how much sugar I’ve had.
23. Name a new favorite TV show?
A new one? I haven’t really discovered any new TV shows that I consider favorites. I’ll just say Metalocalypse.
24. Any guilty pleasures?
Too many. One of them is Leibniz.
25. If you could have chosen your own name, what would it be?
I like my name.
26. Who do you most admire in life, and why?
I admire my mom. She’s put up with a lot of crap in her life and she’s still chugging along fantastically. Yay mom!
27. What is your most treasured possession?
My USB drive with all my stuff on it (drawings, writing, music, blogs, pictures, etc.).
28. What’s been your worst injury?
I don’t know if appendicitis counts as an injury…so I’ll say the time I fell off the slide and got a concussion. OR the time I sledded into a frozen clod of dirt and got a concussion.
29. What is your biggest fear in life?
Regretting my decisions, especially those I’ve made in the past couple of months (whether I wanted to or not).
30. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? What does it remind you of?
Oreo. It reminds me of when I lived back in Moscow. Every Thursday night my mom, dad, and I would go out to dinner somewhere and then my mom and I would go to Baskin Robbins and eat ice cream while sitting in the car in the parking lot.
Hahahaha
Internet, I love you.
http://gawker.com/5888658/angelina-jolies-right-leg-poised-to-supplant-all-creative-arts-forever
http://angelinajolieing.tumblr.com/
In other news, this has pretty much been my life for the past few months. It blows.
Last night I dreamt I was a hippo.
It was FANTASTIC.
Random shenanigans, musings, and blah-blah:
- Once I finish my book list, I’ll go back through and read them all again, this time with the goal of reviewing them here.
- I think I’ll make March the month of responding to writing prompts. My creativity is finally starting to heal after the thesis-pounding.
- No, really. I’m not exaggerating. Grad school really was that bad for me.
- My eyes hurt.
- I think I’m having some sort of reaction to the water down here.
- We duct-taped our bumper back together today. It’s pretty awesome-looking. I should take pictures.
- I hate how people completely underestimate my physical strength just because I’m a) female, and b) shorter than hell. I’m stronger than a lot of big dudes I know. Do you know how many times I’ve moved my crap from house to house? I have mega-strength, yo. CLAUDIA SMASH!
- I had approximately nine Tamagotchi eggs when they were so popular way back when. I think I lost them on the plane coming back from my grandma’s in California. I miss them every once and awhile.
People Suck (Part II)
So we got rear-ended this evening by some jackass who decided to flee the scene before we were even able to look up and see the car that did it.
The guy hit us on my side, shattering the back light and bending the right-side frame of the car so that both the trunk and back door no longer open. We think he was trying to change lanes ‘cause he didn’t want to stop in line and nailed us as he peeled out from behind us.
So now we think the car will be totaled, so who knows what’ll happen after that. The worst part is that my mom and I were planning on driving about 30 minutes outside of Tucson tomorrow for a 5k charity race. Obviously that’s not going to happen, which freaking sucks.
Karmic backlash for something, probably. At least neither of us got hurt.
Anosmia Awareness Day
I belong to the group “Anosmics of the World, Unite!” on Facebook. We’re a group of 711 people who were either born without a sense of smell or lost it due to head injury/nasal viral infection/nasal polyps/etc. It was decided that today, February 23rd, would be our Facebook-driven Anosmia Awareness Day.
I know I’ve linked to the Wiki Anosmia page multiple times in this blog, so instead I’ll link you all to this fantastic little article. Please give it a read, especially those rare individuals out there who stumble upon this blog who haven’t already heard me blah-blah-blah about anosmia.
Enjoy! Stop and smell the roses for me. :)
I need to start drawing again
I was going to re-draw this, but then I realized I didn’t like it enough to do so. This was an idea originally from junior high art class. This particular rendition of it, though, is from high school.
Also, YAY, four-day weekend. Thank you, Arizona, for your obsession with rodeos.
Oh, Canadians…
When I was a kid and still going over to my dad’s place on the weekends, we’d often watch his old VHS tapes of the Rocky & Bullwinkle show. One component of the show that (for whatever reason) was brought to the forefront of my memory today was the old Dudley Do-Right segments.
The humor of these must have just gone completely over my head as a kid, but as I’m typing this now I’ve got this one playing in the background and I’m laughing like crazy.
Here are two others:
“We’ve destroyed more bridges than a near-sighted dentist!” Hahahaha.
Weekly Wiki: Cosmic Latte
Caffeine from the moon? Starbucks from the stars?
Nope! It’s the color of the universe, according to astronomers from Johns Hopkins University.
Described by Wiki as “a slightly beigeish white,” cosmic latte is the average color of the universe across the spectral range of light sampled from a large section of the universe. The average color was actually originally purported to be a light teal, but that was due to an error with the software the scientists were using. Hahaha.
The article also has a list of a bunch of different names that were proposed for the color…I personally like Big Bang Beige and Skyvory.
NEW STEPS NEW STEPS NEW STEPS!
Haha, the blog’s gettin’ revamped all over the place. Today’s upgrade: my own domain!
I can now be found at www.eigenblogger.com (the old eigenblogger.wordpress.com will redirect). Yay!
I also added a “Best Of” tab at the top which contains my ten favorite blogs. Just in case people who are passing through would like a taste of some of the better posts of mine (because 95% of them suck).
Further upgrades will occur throughout the week. I also only have to work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday because Arizona is apparently obsessed with rodeos enough to shut down the community college.
OOH and I got a new bike! Pics soon.
Fisher’s LSD: My Anti-Drug
As much as I blather on about loving statistics, I realized that I’ve never really explained what I like about it. So I figured I’d give it a shot.
Surprisingly (considering how obsessively in love I am with stats now), I was hesitant to take the University of Idaho’s intro statistics course that was required for my psych major. But I had to, so I did, and though I had no issues with the class or concepts and did well, I still wasn’t all that enthusiastic about the material in the end. Mean, median, mode, z-tests, and chi-squares. Who cares, right?
I wanted to go to grad school for psychology at that time, and I’d heard from my advisor and several other people that psychology graduate programs really liked students who knew their statistics. So grudgingly I made up my mind to complete at minimum a statistics certificate (like 15 credits of stats courses), or at best get a full minor (which was only two or three more stats/math courses, I can’t remember now).
To help facilitate my weak stats understanding (and to have the class on my transcript), I took PSYC 456: Tests and Measurements in my third semester.
And that’s when things changed.
This class introduced me to the useful aspects of statistics in an applied setting—inter-item correlations and their ability to reveal good and poor test items, predicting student’s final exam grades by their previous assignment and test scores, assessing personality and determining correlations between proposed traits…holy freaking crap.
And it went from there. The next semester I took STAT 401 and STAT 422, the latter full of grad students whose mental asses I kicked on every exam. You all know me and know how insane I get about things once I decide I like them. I had gotten that way about statistics.
Every stats class after this made me love the subject more. Why? I guess because I love how statistical procedures are able to extract meaning from gallons of data that, at first glance, may just appear to be a jumble of meaningless numbers without any pattern. Human beings love to measure things. Statistics allow us to measure with meaning. Take factor analysis. This procedure allows you to take a set of multivariate data (data in which each subject has measurements on multiple components) and “reduce” it down to a smaller number of “factors,” or components responsible for the most variation amongst the subject’s measurements.
Despite the negative reputation statisticians and their methods have gotten thanks to crappy researchers and phrases like “there are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics,” statistics are incredibly useful, incredibly revealing, and interesting as hell. To me, it’s really exciting to be able to describe data in totally new ways by bringing the meaning of huge datasets to the surface for everyone to see and understand what the data are actually saying. Not to mention the power of statistical visualizations—when done appropriately, graphs and figures can speak volumes. Hundreds or even thousands of subjects and numbers can be meaningfully reduced to a couple lines and colors and yet make an incredible statement. THAT’s powerful.
It’s also fun, especially if you don’t quite know what the data will reveal. And regression’s like the psychic component of the math world. How cool?
I love stats. Love, love, love.
Brassica Booms
Today blew heavy metal chunks. But these are fantastic.
What are they? They’re explosions. DONE WITH CAULIFLOWER. Badass, huh? Check out the creator’s other stuff on Flickr. Pretty cool.
Okay, that’s all.
Eigenblogger 
Spambots! Why u no shut up about Viagra?
Point of interest: Word 2010 automatically capitalizes Viagra.
Point of interest II: The spambots of WordPress really seem to think I have a penis.
Point of interest III: I don’t quite know what I did to provoke them; all of a sudden I’m getting like 30 spam comments per day. Odd.
That’s all. Sorry my life isn’t exciting at all.