Vroomtacular
I wonder how aware Jim Davis is of the multitude of Garfield parody sites there are in the vast expanse of the internet?
http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/
http://www.dougshaw.com/garfield.html
http://www.mezzacotta.net/garfield/
Among many others.
The Square Root of Minus Garfield (the last one listed) is particularly fantastic. It’s like xkcd meets Garfield Minus Garfield.
Woo!
Canadian Mall – Installment 5: Pacific Centre
I have only one word to describe my experience with the Pacific Centre: meh.
Pros:
– Not a pain to get to. There are like twenty buses that pass it, plus the SkyTrain. Right downtown.
– Small enough to navigate without freaking out.
– They’re open ‘til 7 PM!
Cons:
– Obscenely boring.
– Right downtown, so quite crowded.
– There just isn’t a lot of variety. Sure, there are quite a few stores packed in such a small area, but they’re pretty bland overall.
Like I said, meh. Nothing too outstanding or extraordinary. Next week’s Canadian Mall installment may or may not happen…we’ll have to see.
If my love is your drug, GET TO REHAB
YOU KNOW THE DRILL
501. If you could rename yourself what would your new name be?
I like my name.
502. What is your Glam Rock name (the name of your first pet plus your street name)?
Mindy 43rd. Haha, that sounds like a bad bar drink.
503. Have you ever created your own ‘what ___ are you’ quiz?
Way back when. I had a “Which Founding Father Are You?” quiz on Quizilla for quite some time.
504. What is your favorite song from the 70’s?
Dudes, Bohemian Rhapsody.
505. What do you feel like complaining about?
School. I’m into that lately.
506. What do you feel like celebrating?
The upcoming weekend and week following.
507. Have you lost touch with anyone you should call?
Haha, oh yes.
508. Deep in thought do you forgive everyone?
I really, really suck at holding a grudge.
509. Can a person speak out against their government and still support their country?
Hell yeah.
510. What do you have faith in?
Data.
511. Do you believe your government has a file on you somewhere?
Canada? Sure, they’ve got my student permit thingy.
512. What (not who) do you care about?
Can the earth in general count?
513. What is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you?
Realizing at some point that I’ve picked the wrong career(s).
514. Who or what is really the absolute root and source of all evil?
Intolerance.
515. What do you want to change about the world?
It’s cliché as hell, but I think we really need to reassess why we don’t have more compassion for one another. I’d like to bring to peoples’ attention the fact that things would be so much easier for everyone if we actually gave a crap about each other.
516. Why did you decide to complete this survey?
Because surveys are awesome and it’s what I do.
517. Has anyone ever led you on?
Yup. We’ll not go into that, okay?
518. What was the last thing you did against your will?
Went to campus.
519. What are your plans for the rest of today?
Not much, the day’s almost over.
520. How can you make tomorrow better than today was?
Try to freak out less. Rinse. Repeat.
521. Would you rather date someone 4 feet tall or 9 feet tall?
4 feet tall. Then we’d both be itty bitty.
522. How often do you get jealous?
I try not to get jealous, but it happens every once and awhile.
523. What is the one thing you do that your friends wish you didn’t?
I freak out at inappropriate times, but I wouldn’t be me without that.
524. Do you do any soul searching?
I do mind searching.
525. Do you believe you have a soul?
Nah.
526. Would you rather have a child that is more confident or more curious?
Curious.
527. Are you a slave to love?
I’m a slave to my love of Leibniz.
528. If you were going to write a bedtime story for someone you loved what would it be about?
I remember I wrote a parody of “Goodnight Moon” about Aneel way back when.
529. Does anyone understand you?
Meh.
530. Do you understand yourself?
I do indeed.
531. Earth, Air, Fire, and Water: Which is your element?
Air.
532. Who influences you to be the way you are?
No one.
533. What is one idea that you live by?
Analyze smartly and carry a large n.
534. How can people act to make you want to get to know them?
They can not act like jerks; I’m open apart from that.
535. Are you more delicate or tough?
I’m pretty tough.
536. Would you rather be smarter or more beautiful?
SMARTER!
537. Have you ever had a surprise party?
Nope.
538. When are you at a loss for words?
Quite rarely.
539. What is the worst time to be alone?
On the weekend. Saturday in particular.
540. What do your parents do that you will try never to do?
My parents are pretty sensible people.
541. What gets you through the night?
Knowing I now have a future.
542. Do you really want to live forever?
Hell no. That would be torture.
543. Do you often experience powerful emotions?
Yeah, actually.
544. What could make you so happy right now that you would cry and laugh and sing?
I’m not telling. It’ll make it not happen.
545. Who is your favorite visual artist?
Dunno.
546. What would you like to protest against?
Sarah Palin, haha.
547. What or who do you support?
Science! And anyone who thinks Leibniz is the greatest human being ever.
548. If you found out you were pregnant today, would you have an abortion?
I’d be very, very confused before anything else.
549. Do you like picking out greeting cards or would you rather write your own?
I’m not a fan of cards in general.
550. Do you like to be thought of as mysterious?
Not particularly.
551. What is the most magical thing that has ever happened to you?
Teehee. ;)
552. How would you tell your friend his or her fly was open in public?
I’d say “dude, your fly is down!”
553. Does a good friend tell you you’ve got something in your teeth or pretend not to notice it?
They tell you.
554. The world has many secrets. Have you learned any? Will you share it?
I have indeed, but I shall not share. Ha.
555. Are there any bands you like so much that you want to get their music video collection on DVD?
Eh.
556. What do you need advice about?
Nothing as of yet. I’ll let you know in another year.
557. Have you been half-asleep and have you heard voices?
…I refuse to answer this question.
558. Do you have a good luck charm?
Nope. I used to wear the same outfit for every test I took, but that was just me being dumb.
559. Should animals have the same right to life as people?
Durh.
560. What is your least favorite body part?
I don’t like elbows. Well, I guess I don’t really like the name, elbows themselves are quite necessary.
561. Do you enjoy British comedy?
Blah. Not really.
562. Are there ever happy endings or does nothing end?
Depends on how you define “ending.”
563. What is your worst trait?
Me.
564. Is the world more beautiful because of love?
Sure.
565. What is the essence of you?
Stupid puns.
566. What really inspires you?
Certain songs. Certain books. Data. Statistics in general.
567. Have you met your soul mate?
I don’t really know if we have soul mates.
568. Is everyday a special occasion?
Sure, for someone somewhere.
569. What sound would you rather hear than any sound in the world?
Sleepyhead. Yes, I’m obsessed.
570. Of the following which word best describes you: natural, outgoing, polite, quick thinking?
Probably quick thinking, just ‘cause none of the others do.
571. Do any commercials make you want to break your TV?
I haven’t seen a commercial in forever. I used to HATE the Florida’s natural commercials, though.
572. Have you ever lost your religion?
Like R.E.M.? I never really had a religion, though I went to Catholic school.
573. Do you want to share your life with someone?
It would certainly be nice, but that doesn’t look like it’ll ever happen.
574. Where ARE the wild things?
Narnia.
575. Would you rather have a child genetically related to you or an adopted child?
I would rather not have a child at all.
576. If I had a birthday party would you come?
Who are you?!
577. What seemingly impossible thing is POSSIBLE?
AAAAAAAAAH MIND BLOWN (sorry, I’m very distracted today).
578. What song do you love to sing out loud?
Anything by Boston, anything by Journey. Bad Romance.
579. Have you ever run through the woods naked and played in a stream (you should)?
I wish I have!
580. Have you ever taken long solitary night walks?
I walked through the cemetery here a few times.
581. Is there more to you than anyone knows?
Indeed there is.
582. Can you make tonight the night that you do the things you always wanted to do?
Not tonight. Got an appointment early tomorrow morning.
583. Would you rather watch life on TV or LIVE it?
TV in general sucks. So does life, but at least I can control the level of suckiness.
584. What keeps you chained down?
Chains.
585. What is the nagging feeling in the back of your head?
“Write your thesis, fool!”
586. Do you celebrate yourself?
What is there to celebrate?
587. Does everyone get the same opportunities in life?
Unfortunately not.
588. What would you consider to be better than sex?
Pretty much anything.
589. What evil is necessary?
Enough to balance out the good.
590. What’s your favorite one hit wonder?
The Macarena is fantastic.
591. What would you do anything for?
Being able to analyze stuff. I don’t think I could live without that anymore.
592. Do you celebrate the full moon?
Nope.
593. Have you ever gone in the water at the beach at night?
Indeed I have.
594. Are you ordinary?
Meh.
595. What makes people want to hang out with you?
I’m a weirdo. Some people dig that.
596. Have you ever felt like you’ve been a little bit too good to someone?
I don’t think you can ever be too good to anyone.
597. What book did you like that you had to read for school?
We read Great Expectations in 10th grade; that was pretty great.
598. What book should everyone have to read in school?
Everyone should read The Great Gatsby. I’m sure most everyone has to already, but it wasn’t required for us and I thought it definitely should have been.
599. Do you like the store Old Navy?
They have good shirts once and awhile.
600. What movie sequels do you like?
Pretty much any sequel Pixar makes.
This Week’s Science Blog: Good (and Smelly) Vibrations
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/02/do-vibrating-molecules-give-us-o.html
Smell has long been explained by the “lock and key” hypothesis, which holds that we smell when odor molecules—each with a particular shape—“lock” into matching smell receptors in the nose. What’s the problem with this hypothesis? The fact that there are only a few hundred of these receptors in the human nose, yet humans are able to detect thousands and thousands of different odors.
So how exactly do we smell, then?
Researchers at MIT are looking now at the role vibration plays in our ability to sniff stuff out. They believe that the reason certain odor molecules can have similar structures (like vodka and rotten egg odors, apparently), they have radically different vibration properties, which may be the key to our being able to differentiate between so many different odors with so few receptors.
The MIT scientists performed experiments with fruit flies in which the flies were placed into a maze into which two nearly identical odor molecules were pumped. Despite the molecular similarities, the flies showed preference to one odor over the other, indicating that they could tell a difference between the odors—a difference the scientists say is due to different vibration patterns.
While this study doesn’t apply to humans necessarily (obviously), the scientists are looking to extend its results to tests with mammals.
Because I’m me, I wonder how figuring out how smell really works would play into treatment for anosmia and parosmia. If at all. You never know, biology is weird.
Recur, recur, recur!
HEY FOOLS.
I am 23 today.
That is all.
Unadulterated blather
Fasting + blood draw = bruised up arm and desire to om-nom the ever living hell out of some noodles at 9 AM.
Weird morning.
So you get a totally pointless survey I lifted from DA.
1) Name: Claudia.
2) Name Backwards: Aidualc.
3) Were you named after anyone: Nope.
4) Does your name mean anything?: It means “lame.” Appropriate, eh?
5) Nick Name(s): Don’t really have any.
6) Screen Name(s): LadyLeibniz, Antarcticafreak.
7) Date of Birth: February 2.
8 ) Place of Birth: Moscow, ID.
10) Current Location: Vancouver.
11) Sign: Aquarius.
12) Religion: Does hylozoism count?
13) Height: 5’2.5”
14) Weight: Not sure on that one.
15) Shoe Size: Anywhere from a 4 to a 7.
16) Hair color: Black.
17) Eye color: Hazel.
18) What you look like: A weirdo.
19) Innie or Outie: Innie.
20) Righty, Lefty, ambidextrous: Righty.
21) Gay, Straight, Bi, or Other: Straight, but who knows anymore.
22) Best friends: Don’t have any.
23) Best friend you trust the most: See above.
24) Best friends {your sex}: And again.
25) Best friends of the opposite sex: WHY THESE INCESSANT REMINDERS OF MY LONELINESS WHY
26) Best Bud(s): Flowers.
27) Boyfriend / Girlfriend: Oh wow, shocker, no one.
28) Crush: My crush is dead and has been for quite some time.
29) Parent(s): Mine rule.
30) Worst Enemy: Don’t have one.
31) Favorite on-line Guy(s): Seriously?
32) Favorite on-line Girl(s): All the people I talk to online are people I know in real life.
33) Funniest friend: Sean and Nick are hilarious.
34) Craziest friend: Nick.
35) Advice Friend: I don’t really like to get advice from people. I just blather.
36) Loudest Friend: Hahaha, most of them.
37) Person you cry with: My band friends and I have shared some bad nights.
Do You Have…
38) Any sisters: Nope.
39) Any brothers: Nope.
40) Any pets: KITTY
41) A Disease: Nah.
42) A Pager: Haha, that would be rad.
43) A Personal phone line: Nope.
44) A Cell phone: Indeed.
45) A Lava lamp: I used to.
46) A Pool or hot tub: Neither.
47) A Car: I might be getting one next year.
Describe Your…
48) Personality: Um…“colorful.”
49) Driving: Not too shabby.
50) Car or one you want: Plastic back Jeep! Holy crap, I love those.
51) Room: Clean.
52) Mmh: What?
53) School: HELLHOLE OF DEATH AND RAIN
54) Bed: Foam on the floor.
55) Relationship with your parent(s): Rockin’.
Do You…
56) Believe in yourself: PFFT.
57) Believe in love at first sight? Nah.
58) Consider yourself a good listener: Sure.
60) Get Along with your parents: Indeed.
61) Save your e-mail/chat conversations: Hahaha, the archives are hilarious.
62) Pray: Nopers.
63) Believe in reincarnation: Bah.
64) Like to make fun of people: Only in jest, and rarely.
65) Like to talk on the phone: Phones suck.
66) Like to eat: Depends on what it is.
67) Like to drive: Indeed.
68) Get motion sickness: I used to get it much worse. Then I was forced to be on the bus ~2 hours a day.
69) Eat the stems of broccoli: Broccoli is Jesus.
70) Eat Chicken fingers with a fork: Ew.
71) Dream in color: Technicolor dreamin’!
72) Type with your fingers on home row?: Yup.
73) Sleep with a stuffed animal: When I’m lonely I sleep with Missy Witch-Witch.
What Is…?
74) Right next to you: Salt and water.
75) On the walls of your room: Posters of Antarctica, some art, lots of clocks.
76) On your mouse pad: No such thing!
77) Your dream car: I reiterate: plastic back Jeep!
78) Your dream date: LEIBNIZ
79) Your dream honeymoon spot: Antarctica.
80) Your dream husband: See #78. I don’t kid around here.
81) Your bedtime: 2 AM on weeknights, whenever the hell I want on Friday and Saturday.
82) Under your bed: Floor.
83) The single most important question: “Can I analyze that?”
84) Your bad time of the day: Mornings.
85) Your worst fear(s): Failure. Dragonflies.
86) The weather like: Cold. Probably raining, though I can’t hear it.
87) The time: 11:21 PM.
88) The date: February 1.
89) The best trick you ever played on someone: The tampons in Aneel’s backpack thing was pretty great.
90) The weirdest food or drink that you like: Escargot.
91) Theme Song: Passion Pit’s Sleepyhead. I wouldn’t say it’s my theme song, but I listen to it enough such that if you were to dissect my brain, you’d probably find that it has physically altered my brain structure in some way.
92) The hardest thing about growing up: Realizing how much you suck at everything. Or maybe that’s just me.
93) Your funniest experience: Oh man, I could go on for hours.
94) Your scariest moment: The time in the church basement when we played Bloody Mary.
95) The silliest thing you’ve ever said: Who knows? I’m weird.
96) The funniest or most desperate thing you’ve done to get the attention of the preferred sex: I did some pretty dumb things in high school to impress a certain someone.
97) The scariest thing that’s ever happened while with your friend(s): See #94. The lipstick, man, the lipstick.
98) The best feeling in the world: Leibniz in my pants! Uh, I mean…joy. Yeah. Joy.
Music! Music! Music!
So…just because I’m the way I am, I kind of accidentally downloaded a new song every day for this month, so I guess that whole thing’s happening again. But let it be! Because the only thing better than having a huge data set? TWO HUGE DATA SETS.
Data make life complete.
Anyway.
It’s graph time.
Genres. Let’s do orange this year.
Mean song length: 3:56
No five-stars this month.
The Use of Color in “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”
You know what’s a fantastic movie?
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
Not just because it’s a ridiculously awesome musical, but because of the COLORS.
Near the middle of the movie the seven brothers (well, the six that aren’t married yet), now tamed by Millie, go to a barn raisin’ in town. Ladies and gentlemen, Team Rainbow:
I think I first saw this movie when I was eight or something, and I always remembered the barn raisin’ and the dancin’ that happened before it. I remembered it because of the colors.
If six backwoodsmen dressed as the visible spectrum wasn’t enough, you’ve got the ladies as well, seen here dancing with their boring monochromatic boyfriends.
By the way, pardon my crappy screencaps; the easiest way I could get these pics was by renting the movie on iTunes and using ScreenHunter to somewhat haphazardly get these shots.
Anyway.
The dancing sequence (perhaps one of the coolest of all time) has some pretty hot color-on-color action.
Three primaries with two primaries and a secondary.
Primary, secondary, and pink with two primaries and a secondary.
And again, but with a different male primary.
The Roy G. Biv brothers battle for the women!
I love this ending shot. None of the color pairs match. The next time you’ll see them all this happy is months after they’ve kidnapped all the women and have forced an avalanche between the lady-folk and themselves and the rest of the town.
Go watch this movie, seriously. It rocks.
Canadian Mall – Installment 4: Richmond Centre
Most. Miserable. Walk. Ever.
Rain + wind + cold + having to walk on a highway for five miles + crappy directions + the mall being a lot further away than was anticipated* = SUCKY.
Ahem. Anyway.
Today was the epic battle through the elements walk to Richmond Centre, appropriately located in Richmond and, as I found, very difficult to get to from my house without using the SkyTrain. The whole time I was getting there (~4 freaking hours) I had this feeling of impending doom that somehow involved some sort of mega earthquake. I guess it was the fact that the whole province apparently had an earthquake drill on Wednesday at 10 AM and I had just become aware of this fact (I was on the bus at the time).
SO! Richmond Centre.
Pros:
– Right next to the SkyTrain. You have no idea how nice that was today.
– They’re actually open past the incredibly Amish hour of 6 PM on both weekdays and Saturday.
– Apple store. I don’t care how much of a consumer whore it makes me, I like to fondle the iPads.
– Quite a wide variety of stores here.
Cons:
– Grocery store. It needs one.
– Maybe a block from another somewhat large mall (future destination, perhaps?), which really isn’t a con for me per say, but I would think it’d drain their business a bit.
– The place is built like a tetradecagon or something. I don’t know what it is about British Columbians and their inability to just build a rectangle and throw a mall in it.
Yeah. Despite the fact that my pants were literally wet from the hems to my butt and I was freezing cold the entire time I was there, the Richmond Centre’s pretty rad. Oh, and they have a Quiznos. Which is rad.
Join me next Saturday for more mall fun!
*Dear Google Earth,
Screw you. “12.5 km,” my ass.
Hugs and kisses,
Claudia
CH-CH-CH-CHANGES
Today was fiiiiine.
Kinda stressed, but more excited. Details at 11.
Such states of optimum balance between bliss and the desire to actually work on my research are rare; I will leave you with some internet debris to chew on instead.
There’s a tunnel! And there’s a light at the end of it!
GOD what a weird week.
You know that “waiting on news, possibly good, possibly bad” statement I made about a week ago?”
Yeah. Got some of that today. It was good.
Very good.
How good? Let’s just say I don’t have any reason to stay in Vancouver once my thesis is taken care of.
That’s all I’m going to say about it right now. Ultra happies, though.
I also scalded about 40% of my tongue with ultra-hot tea this morning. ‘Cause I’m a genius like that.
Damn you, Futurama
This had me laughing for literally half an hour.
In fact, the whole “That Darn Katz!” episode had me practically on the floor.
“The horse says, ‘DOCTORATE DENIED!’”
RIP
My grandpa down in California died suddenly last night.
We weren’t close (he was pretty reclusive, he wasn’t really close to anyone), but still, it was a pretty big shock.
He had Alzheimer’s really bad and spent a lot of time just mumbling incoherently. He died of kidney failure. Yhe center that was taking care of him figures that he had been having issues regarding his kidneys for quite some time but wasn’t really able to express it.
I may be going down to California for the funeral, but we’re not sure if I can get a ticket.
Yeah.
RIP grandpa, you will be missed.
Part V
401. Some say that high school is the best time of your life. Was that true for you?
It was quite an entertaining four years, but certainly not the best four years of my life.
402. What do you find yourself encouraging others to try?
R. Statistics. Vaios.
403. Which is better: Mel Brooks or Woody Allen?
Woody Allen.
404. When was the last time you were up all night?
Last time I was with my Moscow friends, I think.
405. _________ is life. The rest is just details. Fill in the blank.
Passion.
406. Are people too complex and different to be categorized?
You can categorize ANYTHING!!
407. Is it good to have pride in your own race or does that separate people from each other because it makes them think of everyone else as ‘outsiders’?
There’s a difference between pride and arrogance, and I think a lot of problems stem from people not knowing the difference, especially with race.
We also tend to take ourselves way too seriously.
408. What fictional story would you like to live through?
OOOH The Caine Mutiny! LOVE that story.
409. Are cats or dogs smarter?
Cats!
410. Have you ever guessed someone’s password and broken into their diary?
Nope. I never would want to, either.
411. What teacher, if any, has affected you the most in your life?
Dr. O’Rourke! He got me into philosophy.
And Dr. Cannon, ‘cause he introduced me to Leibniz.
412. Are you more easily bored or excited?
Haha, excited. Oh my.
413. What’s the bravest or most daring thing you have ever done?
I’d say taking 25 credits is pretty brave.
414. “What’s the point of robbery when nothing is worth taking?” (- Adam Ant)
Boredom? Desire to become a member of Ocean’s 11?
415. If your man or woman served you breakfast in bed as a treat what would you want?
Pancakes rule! But only if my man or woman would be able to join me in bed to share them.
416. What do you do only when you are upset?
Uh, have panic attacks?
417. What’s the oddest CD in your collection?
I think I only have about 4 CDs now.
418. What’s the best diary name you ever saw?
No idea.
419. What would your friends be surprised to learn about you?
Something I’m not ready to disclose as of yet.
420. Who owes you an apology?
No one.
421. Who deserves an apology from you?
I still feel the need to keep apologizing to Rob.
422. How would you like to treat your kids differently from the way your parents treated you?
No kids! Get them away!
423. Which do you like best: 60’s, 70’s or 80’s fashion?
70’s, bitches!
424. What is the worst pick up line ever used on you?
No one has ever used a pick up line on me.
425. Of the following, which word best describes you: inventive, kinetic (energetic), light-hearted, mature
Inventive.
426. Do you own a record player?
Nope.
427. How easily do you make friends?
It depends, really.
428. What is the difference between having character and being a character?
I think people generally apply the phrase “he/she’s a character” to someone loud and charismatic. Having character, in my opinion, just means you have some sort of redeemable quality (or qualities) that get noticed by some people.
429. Are there any animals you flat out refuse to touch?
I. Hate. Dragonflies.
430. Do you care about your weight?
Sure.
431. Did you/will you go to the prom?
I went. I danced in front of a giant light for like five hours. I got glitter in places no human should ever get glitter.
432. Have you ever wanted to date twins?
DUDE that would be pretty rockin’.
433. What one thing would you change about high school if you could?
Hahaha, I wouldn’t have wasted my time obsessing over Lead. Anyone who knows me knows who Lead is and the whole saga surrounding them.
434. If you came with a warning label, what would it say?
“Highly chromatic. May be dangerous to sensitive eyes.”
435. Are you artistic and creative?
I pretend to be.
436. What were you (probably) doing on this date last year?
January 24th? Was that a Sunday?
Probably playing Fallout and ignoring the nagging voice in the back of my head telling me to do research.
437. What are you obsessed with?
Hahahaha. Statistics, philosophy, Leibniz, color, blogging.
438. What was the last compliment you received?
I was told I look about 16 by an overly concerned gentlemen who thought I was too young to be out on Hastings-Sunrise alone (though I think *anyone* is too young to be out on Hastings-Sunrise alone).
439. Do you have any brothers or sisters?
Nope.
440. Who would you like to be alone with right now?
I AM alone. I’ve been alone for quite some time now.
441. Do you push people away when you really want them to come closer?
Depends on who it is.
442. Is a prenuptial agreement necessary or does it take the romance and trust out of marriage?
If both parties agree to it, then I don’t think it’s a problem.
443. Do you lie your way out of things?
Haha, when I’m desperate.
444. Are you better at talking or listening?
Depends on the subject.
445. What will only happen to you once in this lifetime?
Haha, death.
446. Know of any conspiracy theories you think might be credible?
Does “Google is a superpower waiting to strike” count as one?
447. What are the most beautiful words that have ever been spoken to you?
Not sure about this one.
448. If it were legal would you own a human slave (race unimportant)?
Hell no.
449. Have you ever read your own writing at a poetry reading?
Yup. Twice.
450. What is one simple thing that gives you the happy shivers?
Three words: principal components analysis.
451. What do you do for exercise?
Elliptical machine, walking, sprinting to the bus, weights.
452. Would you rather have a strict teacher with a sense of humor or a lenient teacher that doesn’t teach?
Strict + humor.
453. If you ever have a baby what might you want to name it?
Babies suck. But I like the name Adam.
454. If you won free tickets to a concert from a radio show and had to choose between Inxs, Poison, Blondie and Moby, which would you choose?
Moby.
455. Are you a good cook?
I’m not too shabby for someone without a sense of smell.
456. Do you prefer when things come with no assembly required, even if they are a bit more expensive?
Generally. It’s easier that way.
457. Start a sentence with the words: what if
What if we all got what we wanted?
458. Are you more spontaneous and unpredictable or loyal and routine?
So, so totally routine.
459. What is the highest number you can count to in your head?
Haha, I’ve never really paid attention to what number’s been the highest.
460. How do you go about losing weight?
Never really consciously tried.
461. Do you have street smarts?
Hahahaha, no.
462. Do you have a lot of common sense?
In general, yes.
463. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Oreo!
464. What’s your favorite movie that involves dancing?
There’s like 50 seconds of dancing in Mystery Men, can I pick that?
465. Would you ever want to become a guest on a talk show? If yes what would the show’s theme be?
I would suck as a guest on a talk show. I don’t think I’d want to do it.
466. Do you like the way you look naked?
Ewwwwwwwwwwwww no.
467. Have you ever dissected an animal?
A frog, a rat, a cow’s heart/lungs.
468. Who do you know who is brilliant?
Sean’s pretty freaking smart. Nick, too. And Lead…
469. Who do you know who is dull?
I don’t think I’d qualify anyone I know as “dull.”
470. Do you ever think about time travel?
Indeed. I almost wrote my NaNo on it before I realized that science fiction is not really my thing.
471. What is one interesting fact you know?
The sun makes a full rotation about once every 25 earth days.
472. Do you talk to yourself?
Oh yes.
473. Do you believe that humankind has a future in space (will we live there someday)?
I think we’re going to try and do something with Mars at some point, but aside from that, I’m not sure.
474. Would you rather wear clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty or more delicate outfits?
As long as they’re colorful as hell, it doesn’t matter.
475. How do you ‘live life to the fullest’?
I analyze stuff to try and find the connections in the universe.
I also eat M&Ms.
476. Are you sloppy or a neat freak?
Neat freak.
477. Would you rather have a trunk full of nickels or half a trunk full of dimes?
Dimes are superior to nickels.
478. What is the worst mistake you’ve ever made?
Ohhhh, we’re not going to go into that little saga.
479. Are you in good health?
Physical? Yes. Mental? Noooo.
480. Are you patriotic?
Mildly.
Let’s play fact or crap. Is it a fact? Or is it crap?
481. The greenhouse effect is bad for your health.
Crap. The greenhouse effect is necessary for life.
482. There are about as many molecules of air in one breath as there are hairs on your head.
Crap. There are probably way more.
483. The Miss America pageant started out as a contest in which people decorated wheel chairs and one chair was judged the prettiest.
Hahahahaha. Can’t even answer this one.
484. To remove a tattoo a physician can place a small balloon under the skin, which is inflated so that the tattooed skin gradually stretches. Then they cut the stretched skin away.
Ouch. That seems like an overly complicated way of getting rid of a tattoo. I hope this one is crap.
485. Cock fighting is a sexual sport.
How I wish this weren’t crap.
486. It is the warmest time of the day during the hour that the sun is the highest in the sky.
Crap. At least in Moscow.
487. Certain scientists specialize in studying cow farts.
Probably true. And they probably all work at the U of I.
488. The brilliant colors (reds, oranges, yellows) across the sky that we get from sunsets are caused mainly by pollution.
Crap. It’s the atmosphere!
489. In Grimm’s original fairy tale, Rapunzel is pregnant.
Fact? The original fairy tales were brutal.
490. Dracula was the first movie about a vampire.
Doubtful.
491. The inventors of Corn Flakes, the Kellogg brothers, ran a school for delinquent youth.
Not sure on this one.
492. “Kemo Sabe” means “soggy shrub” in Navajo.
Probably crap.
493. Sir Thomas Crapper invented the toilet.
Crap. He invented the ballcock, though. I know a lot about the toilet thanks to a junior high project.
494. The Earl of Sandwich invented the Sandwich.
Weren’t there like five Earls of Sandwich?
495. Some Chinese alchemists were trying to invent an immortality medicine and accidentally invented gunpowder instead.
Hahaha, oops.
496. The human body is made of about 99% water.
Crap?
497. Bubble gum contains rubber.
Crap. It probably contains a lot worse, though.
498 This survey to the zero power = 0.
CRAP!
499. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
I think this is fact.
500. There are 86401 seconds in day
Crap, at least technically.
TWSB: Comic Sans—Coming to a Classroom Near You
Yes, I’m counting this as a science blog. You can’t stop me.
I also think the authors came up with these studies so that they could put bold and italic type in their title.
Putting Comic Sans to its first good use since…well…since it was invented, the authors of this study took it upon themselves to examine disfluency—the subjective experience of difficulty associated with cognitive operations—and its relation to the retention of learned material. Basing their hypotheses on previous research, they surmised that disfluency leads to deeper processing of information, thus leading to better retention.
They decided to test this hypothesis by altering fonts used in teaching settings. In their first experiment, the researchers developed scenarios in which participants were to learn facts about fictional aliens by reading and memorizing the facts as they were presented to them. In the disfluent condition, the material was presented in Comic Sans or in Bodoni, both at a smaller point than the Arial font used in the fluent condition. Participants were given 90 seconds to memorize the list of facts, distracted for 15 minutes with an unrelated task, then asked questions based on the facts they were told to memorize.
Participants in the disfluent condition successfully answered 86.5% of the time, a statistically higher percentage than those in the fluent condition, who only answered correctly 72.8% of the time. The authors point to the results as evidence for their theory and point out that the discrepancy between the conditions could be due to several issues, including higher frustration levels in those who had to read the more disfluent fonts (I know if I had to read something school-related in Comic Sans I would probably stab myself in the eyes).
The second study was done with actual high school students in real learning environments. Sections of classes with varying levels of difficulty were randomly assigned to a disfluent or control category. Similar to the first study, the disfluent category required the fonts of all the learning materials to be either Haettenschweiler (which is about as difficult to read as it is to spell…and it’s partially difficult to spell because you can’t read its name to spell it), Monotype Corsiva, or Comic Sans Italicized. The font in the fluent category was unaltered. No other changes were made to the learning environments, and teachers were blind as to what condition they were in.
The effects of the disfluency were analyzed via the results of the assessment tests for the classes—particularly, a short survey was administered to test the effects of disfluency on motivation and motivation factors. Students in the disfluent condition scored statistically significantly higher on the classroom assessments than those in the control condition, indicating that retention of material—regardless of the subject and actual difficulty level of the class—could be heightened by use of disfluent reading material.
So basically, both of the studies done by these guys indicate that even something so seemingly simple as the font by which material is presented can have an effect on how well individuals learn and retain the material.
Which is pretty insane, but pretty awesome nonetheless.
New goal: type my MA thesis using Wingdings.
Canadian Mall – Installment 3: Coquitlam Centre
Things I’m good at:
– Missing the bus
– Tripping over my own feet
– Doing both simultaneously
– Cursing profusely
Anyway.
Getting to this mall involved taking the bus downtown, walking east to Burnaby, walking halfway across Burnaby, missing the bus by about 30 seconds, freezing my butt off on a bench waiting for half an hour for the next bus, then taking said bus on an hour long ride to the center.
Long day.
Pros:
– H&M!
– The best layout of any mall I’ve seen
– There are more restaurants/stands in the food court than there are restaurants in Moscow. I’m not kidding.
– I finally found a store that had a copy of Mass Effect
Cons:
– SO freaking far away
– If you’re going to close at 6 PM, don’t be so freaking far away (yes, this is a legitimate con—everything closes so early up here on the weekend)
– The parking lot is a deathtrap for pedestrians
Wee!
I’m not dead
Like anyone would care either way, but there it is.
Still want to curl up in a hole for the rest of eternity, but what’re you gonna do?
Deactivated Facebook account because Facebook is dumb.
Not on Messenger because…well, because.
Desire to chug about 50 Red Bulls is high. Too bad I’ve only got two left.
Waiting for news, possibly good, possibly bad.
Yay for Futurama.
Well.
See you all tomorrow.
These will stop sucking when I stop feeling like I’ve got fireworks going off in my brain.
Every time you fail to staple your homework, God kills a TA.
Dear undergraduates of the world:
So there’s this cool little invention I’d like to tell you all about, ‘cause I think it could really improve your life and the lives of those around you. It’s called a staple and it’s here to reinvent the idea of a cohesive set of homework pages belonging to a single individual.
Let me lead you now through the thought process of an overworked TA as they truck through the grading of 100+ intro stats assignments.
1:23 AM: Only ten more assignments to go, this shouldn’t take much longer!
1:24 AM: Oh look, this group of papers is held together by a folded corner. What genius thought that type of binding would hold up being shoved around in a box with 200 other assignments?
1:24 AM: Surprise surprise, there’s only a name on the first sheet.
1:24 AM: And the sheets are all done in different colors of pen (seriously, this really happens).
1:27 AM: Now that I’ve wasted precious minutes making sure the handwriting looks similar enough across the pages to assume that they came from the same individual, let’s get down to grading.
1:31 AM: Handling grading this with the key would be much more streamlined if these pages were all somehow cohesively bound.
1:36 AM: I HATE THIS STUDENT SO MUCH RIGHT NOW.
1:38 AM: THEY CAN’T SPELL OR ATTACH PIECES OF PAPER TO ONE ANOTHER.
1:38 AM: F-!
1:39 AM: MUST TRY TO LOWER BLOOD PRESSURE TO SURVIVABLE LEVEL.
1:48 AM: Sigh. Okay. That one’s done. Let’s move on.
1:49 AM: Oh look, this group of papers is held together by a folded corner.
Repeat.
Seriously. Not a tough concept. Staples are not an endangered species, nor are they protected under any sort of natural resource safeguard law.
Use them. PLEASE.
I’m adding a new post!
WOAH I think I just figured out why this SEM fit index is acting so weird.
Rock on.
That’s like the first good thing that’s happened this year, how pathetically sad is that?
Touch sexy angles here.
Read an interesting expose on suicide here.
Please don’t hate me, sometimes it’s hard to come up with a blog.
I’ve been doing this for 1,724 days, people.
Why I Like Shooters
I’m unsure as to whether or not I classify myself as a gamer. Sure, I obsess over the five or so games I adore, but apart from them I’m certainly not a hardcore Xbox-hugging control-gripping game freak.
I do, however, love a good shooter.
Give me an FPS and I can go for hours (Unreal, anyone?). I’ve caught a lot of flak for this when I happen to mention it to people who are gamers but generally stay away from this violent genre. I usually get the “I hate shooters, they’re so mindless and boring,” or something along those lines, usually followed up by a defense for fantasy, RPG, or pretty much any other genre. In a sense, I agree. Take Quake, for example. There’s a “plot,” but it is grossly overshadowed by levels and levels of straight killing for killing’s sake.
Boring? Yeah, okay, maybe, but only if you take it at that value. Back in my “I’m seven years old and my fingers can barely reach the arrow keys on the keyboard” days, I didn’t really see Quake above that level because I really couldn’t. Physically, it was a challenge to finish the game. Once I got older, though, I continued to obsessively play Quake. Why? Two words: speed runs.
I’ve posted The Rabbit Run on here before, and I think it’s an excellent example of how shooters can be fun past the “MUST DESTROY EVERYTHING LIVING” mode of gameplay. Basically, if you can find another element to tweak while you’re playing, there’s far less focus on the mere shooting aspect and more focus on whatever other element you’re trying to maximize/minimize/perfect.
Another example of this for me is Gears of War 2 (thanks mainly to Aaron). Apart from the incessant stream of possible Cole Train jokes arising from the campaign mode, the main pull of this game for me is the Horde. In Horde (both single- and multiplayer) there are 50 levels, each with an increasing number and/or difficulty level of enemies that you must kill without being killed yourself. It’s not so difficult when you’re going through it with a partner, but by yourself it’s freaking tedious as hell. And that’s what’s so great about it, at least for me. Between rounds of freaking out about Multivariate Analysis and Linear Algebra back in spring semester 2009, I spent my time trying to work my way through all 50 levels of Horde in easy mode. It literally took me months to complete.
Of course, anyone who knows me in the slightest knows I love tedious, and that’s exactly what this game provided. Shooters, in my opinion, when played correctly, are horribly tedious. And that’s the fun part (it’s another reason I adore Fallout 3 as much as I do, too, now that I think about it). It’s why I get a bit upset when people bash shooters as these mindless violence trips. Sure they are, most likely, for some people. But for some of the gaming population like myself, we approach them and work through them like ten pages of matrix algebra.
And that rocks the socks off of a fox.
kkkkkkkkkkjafljaerpogojsoirja;osdflkdf;d
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFGO AWAY
Oh yes.
Yes, yes, yes.
http://plus.maths.org/issue50/risk/index.html
I think everyone who ever has been or will be exposed to a statistical claim needs to read this (so like the entire population).
That is all. It’s been a crappy day.
Canadian Mall – Installment 2: Metropolis at Metrotown
Holy crap, what a big mall.
It doesn’t have a University attached to it, but it’s pretty impressive nonetheless. Three floors, lots of escalators, and a Chapters.
Not the easiest place to get to, though, especially if you’re walking. I kept seeing these signs for “Metrotown” but I couldn’t see the mall at all until I was right on top of it. Low profile little bugger. The only thing that really guided me there was the Skytrain tracks.
Anyway.
Pros:
– The Real Canadian Superstore. I guess if you’re really Canadian, you take superstores very seriously. It’s Walmart on crack up here.
– There was an HMV, which prompted the purchase of the fifth season of Futurama. I’m watching it now; it’s excellent so far.
– Horrible layout, but copious amounts of “YOU ARE HERE” maps, which people like me appreciate greatly.
Cons:
– Mike Rowe needs to come up here for a Dirty Jobs episode to just clean the Zellers bathrooms.
– Actually, the whole Zellers was gross. It was like nobody had cleaned or restocked anything in months.
– So. Many. People.
So yeah. Pretty good overall, and right next to the Skytrain. And Burnaby > Surrey.
FAILURE TASTES LIKE DIAMONDS
So this was technically a “30 questions in 30 days” thing I found while stalking checking out blogs by other NaNo participants, but I said screw that noise and decided to treat it like a survey.
‘Cause I’m like that and today was boring.
15 interesting facts about yourself.
1. I freak if there’s not a schedule to be followed.
2. Outbreak scared me more than any other movie I’ve ever seen.
3. I’ve had more sexual dreams involving Lady Gaga than I feel comfortable admitting.
4. I count everything.
5. In second grade I spent half the school year with a refrigerator box around my desk with a little window cut out of it so I could see what was going on during class. I have no idea why they let me get away with that.
6. I think memes are fantastic.
7. I feel naked without a watch on.
8. NaNoWriMo 2009 prevented me from stabbing people (in other words, it kept me relatively sane).
9. I could subsist on broccoli and M&Ms. In fact, I kind of do.
10. Nabokov’s Lolita consists of some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read and has changed the way I think about writing.
11. Red Bull has no effect on me. Those 5-hour energy shots, on the other hand…
12. My body’s response to super stressful situations is to fall into near-coma sleep.
13. I still have the Bible they gave us in elementary school once we got to 3rd grade. I have the entire “Sanctity of Sex” part marked with like seven different colors of highlighter, because seeing the word “sex” in the Bible was like the greatest thing ever when you’re a 9-year old in a Catholic school.
14. I think I’m the only person in Canada who doesn’t see what the big deal is about Nutella.
15. Jules Verne is the only science fiction I need (or tolerate).
The meaning behind your WordPress name.
“Eigen” is a prefix from the German “eigen” which means “own” or “idiosyncratic.” I figure “eigenblogger” is quite an appropriate term for what I’ve been doing here for the past 1 ½ years.
A picture of you and your friends.
Old pic from high school:
A habit that you wish you didn’t have.
Can self-destructing be considered a habit? If so, that one.
A picture of somewhere you’ve been to.
Favorite super hero and why?
Can Ozymandias count? I’m saying yes.
Favorite because I actually happen to agree with his way of handling things at the end of Watchmen, unlike pretty much everyone else. Plus he’s the smartest man in the world, I mean, come on.
A picture of someone/something that has a big impact on you.
Short term goals for this month and why.
Well, since I’ve so far unintentionally downloaded a new song every so far this month (old habit, haha), I guess I shall continue doing so – because I like the thought of doing something each day of a year and because it’s hard to stop looking for new music.
Get out of this pit of despair – for obvious reasons.
Get some more thesis writing done – because I have to.
Draw – I want my creative muse to get back from vacation.
Kick some ass in SEM – because I should.
Something you’re proud of in the past few days.
Eh. Not much. The past few days have blown heavy metal chunks.
Songs you listen to when you are Happy, Sad, Bored, Hyped, Mad.
Happy: Sleepyhead (or one of the remixes) – Passion Pit
Sad: The Last Day On Earth by Kate Miller-Heidke is my standby as of late.
Bored: Hit the shuffle on my Top 50 playlist!
Hyped: Pretty much any Lady Gaga song
Mad: Metal. Lots and lots of metal.
How you found out about WordPress and why you made a blog.
I found blogs using WordPress via StumbleUpon. I started a blog here because MySpace is a fickle bitch and WordPress allowed me to import all my old ramblings.
A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Nobody’s really hurt me recently. I just take things too personally.
A picture of you and your family.
Don’t have one saved on Vaio II.
Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play.
Send Me On My Way – Rusted Root
Satellites (US Mix) – September
The Anthem – Good Charlotte
April Rain – Delain
Blue – Eiffel 65
Reasons – Thermostatic
Do The Panic – Phantom Planet
Jimmy Olsen’s Blues – Spin doctors
Call On Me – Eric Prydz
Resistance – Muse
Someone you would want to switch lives with for one day and why?
DUDE can I pick Gordon Freeman? YES YES! I would switch lives with Gordon Freeman. I cannot think of a single reason why NOT.
Plans/dreams/goals you have.
SAVE THE WORLD, ONE TEST STATISTIC AT A TIME.
Sorry, I’m in a caps lock mood tonight.
I’d like to change the way we think about statistics, because I think a lot of us think about them the wrong way. I’d also like to help people. And teach, I’d like to teach. And write.
Yeah.
Nicknames you have; why do you have them?
I don’t really have any actual nicknames. I have my actual name chopped up a few different ways, but no real nicknames.
Someone you see yourself marrying/being with in the future.
PFFT YEAH RIGHT
A picture of something that makes you happy.
What makes you different from everyone else?
I hyperventilate over principal component analysis. Not sure a lot of other people do that.
Something you crave for a lot.
Data.
A letter to your parents.
HI PARENTS!
It’s your weird-ass daughter here. Chugging away at her MA degree, slowly losing her sanity, quickly losing her ability to care about whether or not she loses her sanity.
I miss you both. Hopefully we can all meet up again now that our lives are all going in seemingly opposite directions. It’s strange how life works like that.
Anyway.
I hope things are going well in Moscow/Tucson!
What I would find in your bag?
Notebooks, whatever book I happen to be reading at the time, way too many pens, a stapler, highlighters, pencil/pencil sharpener/eraser, gum.
What you think about your friends?
They’re a bunch of weirdos and dorks. Hence the love.
Why are you doing this 30 day challenge?
It’s my party and I’ll blog if I want to.
In this past month, what have you learned?
How much it blows to be alone nearly 24/7.
And that I’ll never be a good dancer.
Who are you?
I’m Claudia. I’m an odd duck. I like statistics. That’s pretty much all you need to know.
TWSB: Get a Muon, Nothing to See Here
More stuff related to the sun!
So it turns out, in a rare twist of events that doesn’t involve lasers, that scientists have determined that the weak nuclear force isn’t as weak as was previously thought. How did they figure this out? By determining to a more precise degree the lifespan of the muon, a subatomic particle similar to the electron.
[insert twenty minutes of me dinking around on Wikipedia reading about subatomic particles]
Apparently the muon lives for only 2 millionths of a second—or, more exactly, about 2.1969803 microseconds. This precise number was determined by scientists using a proton beam and graphite to create muons and by subsequently measuring the muons’ deaths with some sort of special detector thingy (technical, eh?). Over 2 trillion muons provided the data that led to the average lifespan of a little less than 2.2 microseconds.
So why do this? Because a more precise estimation of muon lifespan can be used to determine the intrinsic strength of the weak nuclear force. And why worry about the strength of the weak nuclear force? Because it is at least in part responsible for protons turning into neutrons inside the sun, which is pretty much a step before these particles are turned into heavier elements (like helium!) and…well, you know the rest.
The Fermi constant, a number used to capture the strength of the weak nuclear force, has been upgraded by about 0.00075 percent due to the muon experiment. Professor Michael Ramsey-Musolf, an expert on the weak nuclear force at the University of Wisconsin, says that “this implies that the sun does indeed burn more brightly and that the decay of nuclei is somewhat faster.”
And that’s pretty cool.
Or hot.
Ha. Puns.
Eigenblogger 