pandemic leodensian with an australopithecus

BLOG HAS MIGRATED

2007-09-30T01:13:00.000-07:00

I have now moved the contents of this blog (and others that I have long abandoned) to wordpress. You will now find it HERE.
All posts from now on will be on the wordpress blog.

Thanks for reading!

bikey bike and first week of classes

2007-09-29T13:14:00.000-07:00

This past Thursday was the first day of classes. All I had was a physics lab at 10:30am which was only in session for 10 minutes (instead of the usual 2.5 hours). Dammit! I could have slept in! Then yesterday was Bio 102 (Structure and Function of Biomolecules) at 10am and Bio 101 Discussion (Genes and Gene expression) at 11am which everyone left at ten past because the prof/TA didn't show up. All in all, it was a good first "week" since I only had one lecture.

But I have homework. From Biomolecules class. Memorize all 20 amino acids (structure of and corresponding letter). Flashcards, here I come! (Actually, I'm pretty excited about doing this, should be cake.)

A bit of good news:
So my UWP 104F (Writing in the Health Sciences) prof emailed us on Wednesday about those on the waitlist. He told us that if we were 3rd/4th then we might have a chance to be in his class (since this is a computer lab class there are a limited number of seats), but there is a definite chance we won't get in if higher than 4th on the list. I was 4th at the time. Where am I today? Fucking 2nd!!! Yes, I am pretty damn excited. First class meets Monday and I'm hoping I'll get in; I'm very adamant about this.

Fun stuff:
Wednesday night at midnight my roommate, her boyfriend, and I biked to campus with a mission: with chalk in our hands we drew arrows in the major bike circles... pointing the wrong way. We were trying to help the little freshmen out on their first day of classes, I swear! I don't think the campus police even cared because they drove by us numerous times that night. It all only took us an hour to do. Great fun. "Free Beer!", "Free Condoms!", "Free Pizza". All lies. :D

First frisbee practice for the returners (crusties) was Thursday evening. Understandably enough, I was not excited about this. Why? Because I finished last season stressing out with 3 practices a week, 4 classes and 4 labs. Whoop. And because of the fact that I was not very good last season. How is it going so far? Pretty damn well, considering I didn't throw very much this summer nor have I been working out. Grr. Our first "official" practice with the rookies are this coming Thursday, and I'm really excited about seeing new faces on the field! Plus, it will be nice to feel like I know how to do something in regards to frisbee when they ask me questions. :D

Ahhh!!! So I got a new road bike on Tuesday:

I pretty much have the hottest bike EVER. It's a 1982 (I think) Schwinn "Traveler" 10-speed. Cro-moly steel (better than that other bunk steel they used around this time for other road bikes) and drop-down handle bars. Came with front and back fenders and a rack. All this for $175 off of craigslist. Pretty sweet. I go SO much faster on this than I did on my Trek mountain bike, although that one is still a great bike... just not for my kind of commuting.

Yesterday was Tim's birthday! Funstuff. I failed at making him a cake... I'm quite terrible at baking, I believe. [Oh crap, I forgot to give him his present. Ah well, I see him often enough he'll eventually get it. Sorry, Tim.] We went out to eat in Woodland and he tried to pay $60 of the tab before I caught him. Lame! Sara and I eventually got it back and we paid for it (well, Sara paid with her card and I'll pay her back/split it/whatever). Then we came back to our place and watched Stephen Lynch

Henry Cho, and Demetri Martin on youtube for a couple of hours. It was all good and fun and awesome.
I didn't get to go to the Buzz, though, which is not really too much of a disappointment except that I didn't get to see Suburban Legends. Ah, well. Maybe next time.

I should get out of bed soon and be productive.

Nah.

home!

2007-09-17T16:41:00.000-07:00

Back from New Zealand and Fiji. Both were absolutely awesome. I kept a journal while on my trip so perhaps sometime when I have the free time to I will post a quickie summary of what I did. But some things that I've missed out on when I was out of the country:

Happy Video Game Nerd
For yous fans of the Angry Video Game Nerd, I present to you two parodic videos for your enjoyment:

Happy Video Game Nerd - Metal Storm

Happy Video Game Nerd - Journey to Silius

Good, eh?

-----

Recent proud purchase: Set of all 3 seasons of The Office (US) plus Limited Edition Dunder Mifflin Cooler (like the ones we used in elementary school). All for $63.09. I'm pretty happy.

Also finally got all (5 x 60 = 300) the good photos from my trip up on Facebook. Soon enough I'll put up the ones that weren't included in those albums up on my Picasa page. Soon.

Beach camping this weekend! Excitement ensues.

Jimmy Eat World concert at Freeborn Hall (on campus) Oct 3 and I've got tickets! Truly ecstatic since I've been a fan for too long to not have seen them. Also a surprise to find out about the show this late in ticket sales; I had also been searching to see if they were playing any where for the last 4 months. Finally.

I am also selling some textbooks on Amazon.com for those of yous who are still going to uni. Check out my items under the seller name of "nandolvvlln".

Dilemma: I can go home for Christmas break. Awesome, yes? The problem is, I don't want to stay with my parents. I don't. I really don't. I don't hang around the house that much when I'm home anyway because they never want to do anything, or if they do, they tell me last minute when I already have plans. SO. If I'm going to go "home" this Christmas break, I'll need a place to stay that's not my parents'. I will also have to deal with feeling guilty about not staying at home. I'll eventually succumb to the guilt and at least go visit them, at that time which they will freak out and ask where I'm staying (yadda yadda yadda) and why, OH WHY?, did I even bother visiting them because I'm such a terrible daughter for not wanting to stay with her own parents. Oh, and they will even ask why I would waste such money just so I can see my friends if not them. I love guilt. Yes. Truly, truly a dilemma.

I'm going to go watch more of The Office now. Cheers.

associations

2007-08-08T01:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning I arrived in Cali expecting it to be sunny and sweltering hot. Nope. If anything I felt like I hadn't left Alaska at all. It was dreary and a bit cold (for a Cali summer) when I arrived and it stayed like that til about late afternoon, when the sun came out. It was strange to feel like I was still in Alaska yet at the same time I felt like I hadn't left Cali at all. In my mind both places were the same, it was just that I wasn't living with my parents any more. Sometimes I wish I could somehow bring the pros of each place together into one.

There's a bit of an association I have of the singleton life to this place.

11yrold crustaches, hot-bodied lifeguarding and stalker-of-the-day

2007-07-31T19:28:00.000-07:00

I'm considering moving this blog to wordpress.com permanently. Only thing stopping me is lack of last.fm app showing. :(

[this is me smiling]

vacation

2007-07-19T14:02:00.000-07:00

Winter vacation 2007:
3 weeks
(2006 was barely even 2 weeks long)

Spring Break 2008:
1 week
(2007 was just 5 days)

Last day of the academic year:
June 12
(although I probably won't be going home for the summer until after both summer sessions, which will give me ~2 weeks in mid/late September for an actual summer break)

MCAT last testing:
April 5th
(right after Spring Break, which will give me lots of time to study)

First day of Med School applications will be accepted:
June 1
(or June 2 since June 1 is a Sunday?)

I hate this man.

2007-07-19T13:01:00.000-07:00

I despise this man with a passion. Firey, angry passion.

I think I've been watching too many infomercials.

He says there's an instant cure for herpes. HERPES! Herpes is a virus! Unless there is some magical or amazing, natural way for something to find the incorporated viral DNA that are in the infected body cells, cut them out (without altering our original human DNA) and destroy them, then I say he is bullshit.

And blah blah blah.... he talks too much and doesn't know enough.

2007-07-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

Males who write "With best regards" instantly win points.
I hate Tool. But that's old news.
Me me lifeguard and allergic to chlorine again.
Only a little more than 2 weeks home and I'm not ready. It's scary.

stupid stupid dumbface

2007-07-12T00:40:00.000-07:00

Showbread's "Age of Reptiles":
(1) I lost it during the rebootment of compy in March. Somehow I (me, being brilliant me) deleted the tracks from the files I was saving;
(2) Ruckus is being stupid and is not able to acquire the licenses for each track, so now I have no album. Boo.

[matt pond pa]

ha! yes!

2007-07-11T03:44:00.000-07:00

I've finally figured out how to convert those damned Ruckus songs to unDRM files to that I can transfer them to iTunes/my iPod. God Jesus, I have to use two programs to do it because I couldn't rollback my Windows Media Player back to the 9 Series (because of my compy fix in March). Sigh. I wonder how much more space I'm taking up now....

Music!
Although it makes me sad that Ruckus doesn't have the new Voxtrot album (and only one EP! WTF!).
BUT they do have the new matt pond pa EP (sweeetness).
I'm also re-downloading ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead because I accidentally deleted all those files during the compy transfer.
Ruckus is still only OK in general considering it doesn't have a lot of the less know stuff. Boo.

...and a coupla spoofs:

2007-07-04T16:42:00.000-07:00

mac vs pc x7mins

2007-07-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Although I'm not a huuuge fan of Macs, here's 7 minutes' worth of those brilliant ads (and the 2nd one's cute):

DOA

2007-07-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

Because my brother and I have been doing a lot of button-mashing lately on the demo...

I just might eventually see this (prolly rent or borrow) because of the horrible factor. Oh god, this is hilarious.

Wait... why didn't I get any of this action this year?

2007-07-03T11:08:00.001-07:00

This time of year, cities around the country gear up for summer Ultimate Frisbee Leagues. Several thousand people play on the elite and college circuits; tens of thousands more play for fun, fitness and the "spirit of the game." At least that's what the brochure says. For those who play Ultimate, sex and their favorite sport are often entwined.

On a typical day at the fields, tanned bodies dive left and right. Men and women make field-length hucks to teammates in the end zone, then pump their fists in celebration. The best players hustle and throw their bodies around with abandon. Players yell "Hot catch!" when someone makes an eye-pleasing grab. "Up!" they shout when the disc is in the air, to alert teammates that action is about to begin. As one of my female friends pointed out: "It's like a dick is hard, and we're waiting to see what will happen."

This year will mark my twentieth year playing competitive Ultimate Frisbee, and many of my greatest sexcapades occured in connection with the sport.

There was the shower I took with two girls in a hotel room at a tournament in Ontario, while my horny, jealous teammates tried to break down the bathroom door. There was my fling with a tall blond college Frisbee captain, ten years my junior, whom I met at the annual Ultimate reunion game at Wesleyan University. And there was the momentous night I lured the woman who would become my wife — and three of her attractive teammates — into a hotel hot tub (only to be thwarted by hotel security just before getting naked).

For a famously non-contact sport, Ultimate Frisbee can be very hands-on — or clothes-off. Players aren't afraid to give massages or strip at the drop of a disc. "Ultimate players don't mind getting naked and playing Ultimate," said Kelley, who plays on a Connecticut mixed-gender team with her boyfriend. "Or getting naked and shoving a disc in between their butt cheeks. Or getting naked and wrestling in pudding."

A quick primer: Ultimate frisbee was invented in the late 1960s, and codified by a group of students at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. One of those students was Joel Silver, who would go on to become the Hollywood mogul behind Die Hard, Lethal Weapon and the Matrix movies. When he was still at Columbia, Silver predicted both that Ultimate would one day be played all over the world, and that he would become a Hollywood producer. Forty years later, Ultimate is now played in more than forty countries worldwide and is showcased in annual College and Club National Championships; World Championships every other year; and the World Games every four. ESPN and CSTV have both featured the sport. (Silver hasn't really had much to do with Ultimate since his college years, other

Most Ultimate players have, at one time, dated another.

than serving as an advisor to the book I co-authored on the sport's history, but he has made more than $5 billion in Hollywood.)

Originally played primarily by rebellious geeks and pot-smoking hippies, Ultimate now features many crossover athletes from soccer, tennis and other sports. At the highest levels, the game is played by elite athletes. Tennis legend Boris Becker and members of the U.S. women's national soccer team have reportedly used Ultimate as a cross-training sport. Top club teams cross-train year around and devise intricate offensive and defensive strategies, with specialized players for each side of the "flatball."

My young adulthood was nomadic, taking me to Vermont, Connecticut, Seattle and Manhattan. Wherever I was, I quickly fell in with the local Ultimate players and learned that one could find friends, dates and sexual adventure, all through Ultimate. Watching a men's game at the World Championships in Wisconsin in 1993, I noticed two women's teams playing behind me. One team was completely naked except for their cleats, and the other team went topless. A young boy who was

A simple game of catch was foreplay.

passing through the park looked on, mouth agape, until his mother dragged him away. Another season took me to a college Ultimate spring-training event in Florida. My teammates and I had rented a house; one night, even after a long day of grueling play, it wasn't long before clothing came off, and the hottest girl on the women's team and one of the top men's players began rolling around the floor rubbing moisturizer all over one another while everyone cheered them on.

Ambush, the New York women's team, has hosted popular fundraisers at Manhattan bars to offset the costs of tournament travel. For a $2 donation, the players give lapdances and flashes and make out with strangers. One year, an Ambush player gave a male counterpart a spanking while onlookers threw dollar bills and cheered. The next year, another Ambush player wore pasties and but on a burlesque show. Ambush is a well-known and popular presence at the annual Beach Ultimate event in Paganello, Italy, a massive weeklong beach party featuring Ultimate players from around the world living out their own bacchanalia.

Why all the hedonism? Ultimate players are generally smart, athletic and free-spirited, which makes them inherently hot. Many teams are young and co-ed. But the answer may lie in the rules: unlike all other sports, Ultimate has no referees and is guided by the "Spirit of the Game," which dictates that players must settle all disputes over fouls and among themselves. It's very interpersonal.

Thus, most Ultimate players have, at one time, dated another. "I'm attracted to a lot of Ultimate players because of their personalities," says Mia, a twenty-something member of a Connecticut team. "They have the ability to be both laid-back and intense."

If you're really into Ultimate, there's nothing better than finding someone who's attractive and skilled at the sport you love. I once dated a woman who could throw the hammer — an upside throw that goes high into the air before coming down to the receiver — forty or fifty yards downfield. I loved the throw. She loved the throw. It was a sign of strength and power. A simple game of catch was foreplay.

It could be the Spirit of the Game, but even if a relationship goes sour, players tend to retain a bond. My wife, who says she "has always scored well with Ultimate players," introduced a teammate to an ex-boyfriend at Philadelphia's Summer League; within six months they married. Their son turns three this June. (Even my hammer-throwing ex babysits our daughter.) One of the most dominant women's teams ever, Boston's Lady Godiva, featured a couple, the team's two best players, who were together for years. Even after they broke up, they played together for a year, winning yet another National Championship. A San Francisco-based women's team known as Felix featured four or five couples and went on to have an undefeated season en route to a National title in 1994. But the team splintered apart after one season because there was too much sexual tension. Once a few couples started breaking up, the team went with it.

"The team dynamics were a little screwy," said one player, "But I don't remember ever losing a game."

http://www.nerve.com/dispatches/zagoria/catchandrelease/

mac or pc?

2007-07-01T01:34:00.000-07:00

je suis... le tired.

2007-06-30T22:01:00.000-07:00

nataliedee.com

outta my wits

2007-06-30T01:22:00.000-07:00

thoughts:
1) the thought of being married to someone right now scares the shit out of me; I need to breeeeathe.
2) I absolutely HATE moving.
3) I don't have a room to live in comfortably.
4) they slashed me 3 hours of work today; I "got to" go home early.
5) twice. in 3 days. (as much as the last 6 months... yip.ee.)

The last time.

2007-06-27T12:08:00.000-07:00

The last time was Valentine's Day from the rush of emotions.
The last time was when I sprained my toe from pain and embarrassment.
The last time was when I re-sprained my toe from pain and frustration.

Today. Today was the first time since, from the frustration she likes ensue.

It has to be at least once every time I'm home to visit.

Honestly.

2007-06-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

Honestly.

I woke up this morning not feeling so well. Honestly, I feel like I'm done being home, HERE. Too much to do and I don't want to do most of it. Honestly, I miss Davis. I wish I were back in California. I'm too restricted here: Mom's projects, curfew, limited days I can go out. If only I could somehow bring the good things from here to California and somehow it would be... home... without the idioticies.

I only have a limited amount of time here, people! And my mother insists that I spend most of it with her, at home, doing the things SHE wants to do at the times she wants to do them. I can be employed, of course, but the times that I'm not working I have to do all these things for her. It's maddening. I can't handle having to do these things. I can't handle having a curfew. I can't handle being restricted in so many ways that I can barely breathe.

Then the restrictions give me this sense of failure. I feel like a failure sometimes. Why? Because the times that I finally DO get to go out and away for a little while... I need them to be successful. (I'm actually crazy.) And if things don't happen the way that I want them to, I get frustrated and feel like I've wasted my time. Honestly, I feel like I can't do anything right anymore.

Maybe I'm better off without these worries. I probably ignore current matters to make myself feel better... (ignorance is bliss). I don't want to have all these worries. In Davis, I felt free and unbound. Here, I feel so frustrated it's annoying.

Alaska goods + Davis = would be heavenly.

California, I miss you.

what ever happened to all your summer plans?

2007-06-26T12:35:00.000-07:00

I fucking HATE seagulls. Really, I do. Because I got shat on twice today while jogging. I'm never going that route again.

Courtesy of Tim [NSFW]:

From Mange: eggs in clare's womb
Our old website from back in... 2001? I've forgotten about it until just recently. Even google-able through the keywords "anatomicallydeformed".

First day of work yesterday... LITTLE KIDS! They are just so darn cute! Makes me sad that I have such a dilemma over the thought of. Plus I received a compliment from a father yesterday about being a ride-operator: "You're one of the only lifeguards that I've seen that smiles all the time. I really appreciate that! Thank you." He rode the Master Blaster (the super-slide) with his son (who was the cutest thing at 4 or 5 years old) multiple times. Pretty awesome considering: (1) I'm not a life guard, and (2) it was my first day on the job.

So I was cleaning and packing up old things from my room yesterday and found the journal I had kept in high school (up until January 2005). Wow, I know a lot more things now than I did back then. Like, my first relationship was already falling apart even before our 1-year anniv and somehow I stuck with it for another 9 months?! And then some more?! So yeah, I was crazy... and quite depressed back then. I'm so glad I'm not as angsty and stupid as I was when I was a teenager. I can't believe I ditched my friends for a year for him! And all those excuses I made!
Talk about being stupid.
Hey! I learned from my mistakes.

Now I need to go clean my old room up and pack stuff so I can help Mom move to Dad's old place. I really hate moving. I've moved 5 times in the last 5 years.

chee chaw chee chaw

2007-06-23T15:26:00.000-07:00

1) Grades were posted and I'm not happy. My fault.
2) This week has been slightly crazy.
- We're doing a weird apartment switcheroo
- I can't settle down
- I have to pack stuff into boxes
- I'm inhabiting two rooms
- I hate how my mother has projects for us when I'm home
3) I hope I get the job at H2Oasis.
- It's cool that they're laid back
- It seems as if I may have the job
- But I don't know yet since they haven't called me back
- Me: frustrated because I want money
4) Seriously.

me casa

2007-06-18T14:26:00.000-07:00

I'm home.
And I can't do anything!
Except be chauffeur.
:D

---

2007-06-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

I think I just failed my physics final.

Ooops.

Definition: "Nympho"

2007-06-12T10:13:00.000-07:00

1. nympho
Someone, normally female, that eats, breathes, & lives for sex. She dreams about it, often playing it over so much in her mind that something she has never tried can be exceptional the first time done with another person. She is insatiable & always ready to play but that does not always make her a slut or whore, for she can be picky in her selection.

I am a nympho but very selective in my lovers.

2. nympho
1. A girl who loves to talk about, read about, listen to, anything about sex.
2. The girl is not always a whore! (Ex: I've only had one partner EVER)
3. She can get turned on by just talking about her experiences or things she would like to experience

Wow, how many times have I been I called that this year? (Especially by Chris. Thanks, Chris.) Tcha.

ranty ranty rant poop rant

2007-06-12T09:12:00.001-07:00

Guess who found out how they did for their last and final quarter of Organic Chemistry?

Category	Weight	Your Grade pts	Max Score	High Score	Low Score



Tests	80	199	N/A
Exam 1	25	38	100	69	18
Exam 2	25	39	100	79	20
Final	50	122	200	185	86
Labs	20	90.5	N/A
Exp. I	10	9.5	10	10	7
Exp. II	10	8	10	10	8
Exp. III	10	10	10	10	9
Exp. IV	10	9	10	10	9
Exp. V	10	9	10	10	8
Exp. VI	10	9	10	10	8
Exp. VII	10	9	10	10	9
Exp. VIII	10	9	10	10	9
Exp. IX	10	8	10	10	8
Exp. X	10	10	10	10	8



Final Grade	100	= C+	N/A

WHY?
Because:
199 + 90.5 = 289.5
Out of a possible 500
So: 289.5/500 = 57.9%

And:
A = 75-100
B = 60-74
C = 35-59
D = whatever

So that means I just missed the B- curve.... fuck. FUCK. I say, Not Bad, for how poorly I did on the two midterms (C minuses!) and a B- on the final (yeah, I studied hardcore and happen to like carbohydrates and amino acids). Sigh-age.

This quarter has been so terrible despite lack of frisbee practice/tournaments for two-thirds of it.

I just can't wait to be done.

My fear:

2007-06-11T16:20:00.000-07:00

My fear, at this very moment in time, ...right at this instant is:
being fat for an Asian.
(and don't tell me that I'm not, blahblahblah...
I know I'm not, I'm just having one of those moments.)
(And also procrastinating studying.)

I KNOW for a fact that when I arrive home the first thing that my mother and aunts will say is:
"Aiya, Nimchee! You are so fat!" [oh yes, and imagine this in an Asian accent.]

I can't wait for that lil boost of ego when I get home.

This came up just now because I just saw some pictures (courtesy of Facebook stalkage, thank you) of some old acquaintances and HOLY SHIT I hope I don't look like that in a few years.

...Faster, nando metabolism, FASTER!!!

*plop, bloop, smoosh*

telemarketers

2007-06-11T15:17:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd share.
[courtesy of ze frank: http://www.zefrank.com/donotcall/]

Please use the following if contacted by a telemarketer.
love,
ze

1. Use a husky, dirty phone sex voice but ask normal questions about the proposed offer. "Is it a low interest rate? mmmmm…I like low interest rates…really low…"

2. In an outrageously excited tone: "Thank god you called!!!" Explain that an online psychic told you that your future lover would randomly call disguised as an asshole.

3. Say you are hard of hearing and see how loud they will shout into the phone.

4. Allow the telemarketer to fully explain his offer. When he is finished explain that his company hired you to randomly spot check telemarketers on their performance. Tell him that he did a good job overall, but that he is a bit monotone and needs to fluctuate his tone of voice more to sound convincing. He also should pause longer between sentences, and more clearly pronounce the letter "s". Tell him you won't report him if he repeats his speech to you with the appropriate corrections. Repeat.

5. Be incredibly polite as they explain their offer, but make farting noises once in a while and ask whether there is something wrong with the connection.

6. In an annoyed tone cut the telemarketer off mid sentence : "Dan, stop screwing around…we have to get rid of this body fast, did you find a chainsaw or not?"

7. "Congratulations! You're the 100th caller on the (insert local radio station) Sweet Vacation Giveaway Blast Marathon. You've just won a pair of tickets to Negril, Jamaica and the use of Sean Paul's celebrity vacation house." Take down her address and send her all of your L.L.Bean catalogues for the rest of your life...after you use them as liner for your cat's litter box.

8. Flirt.

9. Keep repeating, "I knew you were going to say that…"

10. Stutter on a syllable of an obvious word in a sentence… see how long it takes before he completes the phrase. When he does, get upset, and say "That really hurts my fee…fee… fee… fee…feel…fee… fee… fee…" ad infinitum.

11. Pee on the phone while he's talking.

12. Mid pitch, stop him and complement him on his wonderful voice. Explain that you are a voiceover scout and might have a breakthrough commercial job for him. Ask if he wouldn't mind doing a quick test. Ask him to say in a deep husky voice "May cause dizziness, diarrhea, vomiting and shortness of breath. A small number of participants in a recent clinical trial experienced weight loss, irregular clotting, abnormally frequent and/or painful urination and hair loss. Results may vary"

13. Ask how much it would take to get him to stop working as a telemarketer. Start at $1000. Say you are dead serious.

14. Ask if he will be your friend if you sign up.

15. Tie obscure facts about Barbara Streisand to everything thing he says, "2.3% interest rate? oh my…did you know Barbara was 23 when she filmed Funny Girl…"

16. Every few minutes repeat, "You're going to have to bear with me, I have a slight short term memory loss problem…who is this again?"

17. "Oh my god, I used to have your job…does Bob still work there (repeat names until you find a match)…which building are you in?" Escalate coincidence until you both realize that you sat in the same chair. Explain that you had to quit work when your genitals mysteriously vanished.

18. Regardless of the offer tell him you'll take 7. If he asks what you mean say he drives a hard bargain and you'll take 9, but that's as far as you'll go.

19. Every half-minute ask him to hold and pretend to scream at your invalid mother. "You want to use the bathroom??? Well stop whining and get up out of the wheelchair for a change. You just sit there and think about that for a while, mother. Can't you see I'm on the damn phone?"

20. Forgive him. Tell him you did. Over and over again, until he hangs up. Then secretly take it back.

rockabilly, yo

2007-06-09T14:46:00.001-07:00

I love STDs (Conclusion)

2007-06-09T14:25:00.000-07:00

Mmmm because I love bacteria, viruses and lil creepy crawlies all over me... that's how I like it, baby.
EXCEPT NOT.

STDs scare the fuck out of me. I shall be careful careful yes yes, and hopefully that'll keep them away, those bastards. Ew.

I'm clean and plan to stay that way.

I love STDs (Part 3 of 3: Everything Else)

2007-06-09T14:21:00.000-07:00

Crabs:

Scabies:

I love STDs (Part 2 of 3: Viral)

2007-06-06T12:32:00.000-07:00

Herpes:

Molluscum contagiosum:

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus:

I love STDs (Part 1 of 3: Bacterial)

2007-06-05T02:25:00.000-07:00

Chlamydia:

"The Syph":

Donovanosis (a Donovan I wouldn't want to meet):

inklings

2007-05-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

I have an inkling. They have an inkling. Hopefully we'll both still have the same inkling when I get back. Well, I think we have the same inkling.

Incompatibility is a sin.

triplets.

2007-05-29T01:37:00.000-07:00

Death comes in threes, they say. This is one of those times I wish it were absolutely not true. Superstition, yes, but still... the thought is haunting and you can't help but worry.

amines. I hate them.

2007-05-25T17:04:00.001-07:00

39 out of 100.

SF seeking a SM

2007-05-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

SF seeking a SM (of any race) for good times, warm body to sleep next to, and intellectual conversation. Non-smoker, mj OK, college student (preferably of a biology, chemistry, psychology, economics, mathematics, physics, multiple-language major(s)). Between 20-24. OR just be super-smart, have well-paying job, and dress well.

WHAT?!

God, I'm tired.
I fucking hate stupid people.

Exciting, BETTER news:

2007-05-22T01:20:00.000-07:00

Having relatives is great:
I've rounded up ~$4200 for my NZ from just aunties on my mother's side alone. Pretty sweet.

My father:
1) Does not approve of this trip, therefore
2) Did/is not contributing funds for this.
[Effin' poo!]

I'm now only a few hundred dollars short... and then I need to find spending money. (Summer job, yesh?)
I seriously thought I would have to pull a load from my savings, but I guess not.
Not bad... Not bad at all.

annoyed

2007-05-22T00:50:00.000-07:00

1) Annoyed with people who judge my taste in music. I try not to do that myself. I am a good music-sharer... I play music that I think others will enjoy, not just stuff I will enjoy. I claim that some of my music is a little hardcore (especially for them) and they think not. Why? Because I DON'T PLAY THAT STUFF FOR THEM because I know they can't handle it (therefore they don't hear any of it), and in turn they claim that my music is um, "sorry, not very hardcore at all." OK, I guess that's permission to start playing My Bitter End when I'm at home! Yes!

2) People who think they can do things better than I can when really, I'm pretty damn sure they can't. Like biking. Yeah, they may have a road bike and may be faster (speed wise) than me because I ride a mountain bike, but claiming that they can STILL be faster than me if I had a road bike also? Bullshit. Also take into consideration that I: (1) have been playing frisbee since the middle of fall quarter, and (2) have biked nearly every single day that school has been in session (with the exception of the VERY FEW times I rode the bus because it was too windy/cold during the winter).
Theory: riding a mtn bike makes me work harder = better endurance/ relatively greater muscle overall ... vs. just riding a road bike (and not that often).

Man, I've been getting annoyed with a lot of things lately.

Thought: I think I lack in sense of humor (like, I don't joke around at all) when I'm really annoyed. I noticed that today.

[blindside, fiery furnaces]

Also...

2007-05-21T01:38:00.000-07:00

I'M SO EXCITED!!1!!one!!eleven!!!
I just realized today that I have only 4 more weeks of ORGANIC CHEMISTRY left! Truly, truly exciting. I bet many of you don't even realize just HOW EXHILARATING this is! Yes!

I just figured out my schedule for fall quarter (my pass time is tomorrow at half-noon) and it consists of:
2 bio classes - gene expression and biomolecules
physics
and writing for health sciences.

Only one lab (or two, because it's physics)!!!
Wow, what a big change from having 3 this quarter (actually 4, because physics is twice a week for 2.5 hrs each).

This leaves me room to have an internship at the medical center for either Tuesday morn or Friday afternoons. YES.

Plus, frisbee practice Tues and Thurs evenings. :D

Out & About

2007-05-21T01:34:00.001-07:00

I feel like
I take too many things for granted
&
I don't tell the people I love that I love them.

||

1) Stop taking things for granted and start appreciating the everything: the bigger AND the smaller things in life.
2) Tell the people I love that I love them.

[loney, dear]

while intoxicated...

2007-05-18T02:42:00.000-07:00

Enjoy!

[malajube]

the way I want my ring made & soy bean dreams

2007-05-17T18:15:00.001-07:00

*Courtesy of xkcd and nataliedee.

a collection:

2007-05-17T17:38:00.001-07:00

I really don't like Boys Like Girls. Like, I really, absolutely don't like them at all; they are the epiphany of god-awful poppy-ness that sounds like every other poppy "punk-rock" boy band on the radio. I tried. I totally tried. I endured the most recent album 3 times... but it just didn't happen. It was not so great at first listen, but then again I don't usually trust my first-listen instincts so I tried it again. Nope. If anything, it just got worse. A lot worse. Like "I want to kill myself it's so bad" worse. This dislike is to the point where I even deleted the album from my iTunes library... it's THAT bad! (Yeah, usually if a band is *meh*, I just leave them in my comp... waste of space, I know).
_____

How do you tell your best friend that they're dating one of most boring people on the planet? How do you even start to try and fathom how you are your best friend's best friend... both of you are outgoing, funny, etc etc... but then he starts dating this girl that does not even know how to greet people? Especially if she doesn't acknowledge your existence when she sees you even though she knows she's dating your best friend? If I were her, I'd try to get along with you as much as possible... be best friends, even. Well, she's kinda funny-looking and too quiet to be fun. And no, it's not the "this is the first time we've met" kind of shy/quiet... it's more like... aloof. It's pretty disgusting, I must say.
_____

I went to bed at 5am this morning, slept for 2.5/3 hours and then woke up to make coffee, eat half a bagel and went to class... the class I stayed up to write a 6-page paper for. I like this class, don't get me wrong, I just despise writing papers. I was on page 3 at 11pm but then somehow it took another 3 hours to write just 2.5 more pages. Oh, my procrastination skills are so good that it's horrendously bad. BAD.
_____

This quarter in going to be the worst quarter so far in terms of academics. Plant bio is sucky (because I don't study enough and am determined to hate it, I admit... yes, my roommate's right), physics I actually have to start reading the text, english (yes, no capitalization) is interesting except for the whole "paper-writing" thing, and well, organic chem is just kick my ass as usual. My GPA is definitely dying this quarter.

[senses fail, quantic]

Google Maps assumes I'm just that fit

2007-05-16T14:51:00.000-07:00

*Notice direction number 24:

Start: New York, NY
End: Paris,France
Travel: 3,800 mi (about 29 days 7 hours)

Drive:
3,800 mi (about 29 days 7 hours)

1. Head southeast on Chambers St toward Broadway
0.2 mi
1 min
2. Turn right at Centre St
0.1 mi
3. Slight left at Park Row
210 ft
4. Sharp left at Frankfort St
0.3 mi
1 min
5. Turn left at Pearl St
56 ft
6. Turn right onto the F.D.R. Dr N ramp
0.4 mi
1 min
7. Merge onto FDR Dr N
7.7 mi
12 mins
8. Take exit 17 on the left for Triboro Bridge/Grand Central Pkwy toward I-278/Bruckner Expy
0.4 mi
2 mins
9. Merge onto Triborough Bridge
Partial toll road
0.4 mi
1 min
10. Merge onto I-278 E via the ramp to I-87 N/Bronx/Upstate N Y/New England
0.6 mi
1 min
11. Take exit 47 to merge onto Bruckner Expy/I-278 E toward New Haven
1.9 mi
2 mins
12. Take the I-278 E exit toward New Haven
0.3 mi
13. Merge onto Bruckner Expy
5.0 mi
6 mins
14. Continue on I-95 N
Partial toll road
Entering Connecticut
62.1 mi
1 hour 12 mins
15. Take exit 48 on the left to merge onto I-91 N toward Hartford
36.8 mi
37 mins
16. Take exit 29 for US-5 N/CT-15 toward I-84/E Hartford/Boston
0.4 mi
17. Merge onto CT-15 N
1.7 mi
2 mins
18. Merge onto I-84 E
Partial toll road
Entering Massachusetts
40.7 mi
38 mins
19. Take the exit onto I-90 E/Mass Pike/Massachusetts Turnpike toward N.H.-Maine/Boston
Partial toll road
56.0 mi
56 mins
20. Take exit 24 A-B-C on the left toward I-93 N/Concord NH/S Station/I-93 S/Quincy
0.4 mi
1 min
21. Merge onto Atlantic Ave
0.8 mi
3 mins
22. Turn right at Central St
0.1 mi
23. Turn right at Long Wharf
0.1 mi

24. Swim across the Atlantic Ocean
3,462 mi
29 days 0 hours

25. Slight right at E05
0.5 mi
2 mins
26. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto E05/Pont Vauban
0.1 mi
27. Turn right at E05
Partial toll road
17.3 mi
22 mins
28. At the traffic circle, take the 2nd exit onto A131/E05 heading to A131/Rouen/Paris/Evreux
Partial toll road
9.1 mi
8 mins
29. Take the exit onto A13/E05/L'Autoroute de Normandie
Partial toll road
20.3 mi
17 mins
30. Take the exit onto A13/E05/L'Autoroute de Normandie
Partial toll road
56.5 mi
47 mins
31. Take the exit on the left onto A14 toward Nanterre/La Défense
Partial toll road
12.5 mi
16 mins
32. Slight right at N13
1.4 mi
3 mins
33. Turn right at Avenue de Neuilly/N13
269 ft
34. At the traffic circle, take the 4th exit onto Avenue de la Grande Armée
0.7 mi
3 mins
35. At Place Charles de Gaulle, take the 5th exit onto Avenue des Champs-Elysées
1.3 mi
3 mins
36. Slight right at Voie Georges Pompidou
1.4 mi
3 mins
37. Slight left to stay on Voie Georges Pompidou
440 ft
38. Slight right at Quai de la Mégisserie
377 ft
39. Continue on Quai de Gesvres
0.2 mi
1 min
40. Turn left at Place de l'Hôtel de Ville
194 ft
To:
ParisFrance

And that's just assuming I'm swimming at a continuous speed for 29 days.

kids sing the darnest things!

2007-05-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

Oh god, she's so cute:

fuckdurr

2007-05-15T02:42:00.000-07:00

I'm going to regret staying up late tomorrow morning when I wake up to go to my 9am class, where I sit for 1.5 hrs listening to my prof blahblahblah about the Contemporary Asian Diaspora. Oh joy.

I think I've mostly ditched Myspace for Facebook. It's not really a good change either way because I'm still wasting time on the 'net. Oh boy.

I should sleep now.

[disney - mulan soundtrack]

forehead kisses.

2007-05-13T23:43:00.000-07:00

I miss those.

too good to not share [nsfw]

2007-05-13T11:45:00.001-07:00

I definitely want to try this product now.

[alkaline trio]

bob loblaw

2007-05-06T08:41:00.000-07:00

Wow, this weekend was comprised of good friends, good times, guitar hero, computer-fixing, and music-organization. Whew. I is tired.

I'm at work and now am going to home to take an early nap considering I didn't get home til 2:30am. Eeeeehee.

[lagwagon]

Over... for now.

2007-05-03T01:54:00.000-07:00

Fourth! We finished 4th! One slot from going to Nationals! Gah! We're now also 15th in the nation.

So now the season's over for us; it's weird not having practice. I'm feeling the effects of lack of frisbee: frisbee withdrawal.

Weird.

I gotta stop eating the way I was when the season was still in session... meaning less consumption of fatty and high caloric foods... sadness.

bagel, 5 shots of espresso, & an apple: all that I've consumed today

2007-04-27T00:07:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the first weekend in more than 6 weeks that I was home not playing a frisbee tourney, out of town, and/or studying for finals. I was also not very productive last weekend.

I have also not slept-in in nearly 3 weeks (probably more). I'm oh-so-very tired. I can't wait until next weekend... and this weekend isn't even here yet.

I got an A- on a short English paper (a close-reading of a passage from a novel); I'm still very much bewildered that I got such a grade considering the facts that I haven't written an English paper in 2 years and I utterly despise the way I write [huh, yet I keep a blog...].

Will be in Oregon this weekend for frisbee Regionals. I probably won't get much playing time (if any at all), but at least now I will be able to say I've been to Oregon.

[greg johnson]

what a week

2007-04-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

Self Against City played at the quad today. I helped give away some EC shirts. I hung out with the band and crew for a bit til I had to work at one. Jon and I did not get into another eating competition, although I would totally have done it if I didn't have to go randomize beetles.

Messaged Zach from PTM and he told me to see them in Sac on May 2nd and we'd hang. We'll see how that works out because that's a Wednesday and I lab til 7pm on those days (and 4 classes on Thurs + practice).

-----------

I'm sick with the flu. My friends are falling apart. I feel like I'm slowly drawing myself away. I'm not as strong as I seem; I have my weak spots.

[self against city, quantic]

STUPID WEATHER

2007-04-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

Weather for Santa Cruz, CA:

Tonight: mostly cloudy
Tomorrow: few showers/ wind, high of 60
Sunday: sunny/ windy, high of 63

WTF?! It's going to be like Santa Barbara all over again by the looks of it. I wish it were sunny and warm again like it was 2 weeks ago. Boo. I hope I play well enough this weekend.

It also doesn't look so great in the Davis area. Tomorrow is Picnic Day and weather.com says it's going to be rainy tomorrow and Sunday's going to be sunny but hella windy. Oh fun.

[robbers on high street]

For the non-Geek (Tim's blog) audience:

2007-04-13T15:08:00.000-07:00

Long, but highly entertaining.

stinky stinky poo

2007-04-13T10:13:00.000-07:00

Wow. Last night, this morning = yowza. I do remember getting up in the middle of the night and without pants on, go to the bathroom. Which is downstairs. Meaning I had a ways to walk without pants on. Hmmm.

Fucking AFI. That one song, good.

Sectionals this weekend! I'm excited! Except that I have a bio midterm on Monday I need to study for. Crap.

Here's what went on when I tried to leave the team:

Hi Coaches and Captains,
I have been debating with myself over this decision for the last week and half and have decided that I will not be attending any more practices or tournaments for the rest of this season. I realized last week that this quarter is going to be a lot of work for me academically (I have three labs plus a job), and considering my future, I need more of the time between classes and work to focus on my studies. This has been a very hard decision for me to make and I will miss both the team and finishing the rest of the season, but I think this is best for me at the moment. I definitely plan to be back for the fall.

Nancy
---

Nancy,

That sucks. I can't say what next year will be like, but Spring quarter is all that matters, every year, and that important season starts right now for us. Having Julia drop was a blow, but at least there was a little warning, and having Carolyn leave we knew about...now having so many injuries is really hurting the team.

You leaving will also really hurt the team. As you know, we're low on players, and it's been so fun to watch all the rookies step it up to help out the team and show off everything you've learned. Also, I again have no control over or inkling of what the team will look like next year, and I certainly don't want to discourage you from playing, but leaving your team at the most important part of the season when there are so few tourneys remaining, and they're the ONLY ones that actually matter for you really, really sucks.

There are only 2 guaranteed tournaments remaining for us, and both will help set the stage for next year's team, and be really fun, and be the culmination of everything you've worked for and trained for and been part of the team for all year!! This means that there are a total of only FOUR remaining practices, and actually only 2 for you since you have lab on Thursdays.

Can you please consider sticking it out for TWO weekday practices (plus maybe an hour on Thursdays before lab, if you can) and TWO weekends? It would mean a lot to your team...I can't imagine dropping out at this point when we're so close and you've spent all year working toward a goal with all these girls. Please give yourself a day or two to consider this and get back to us.

Thanks,

Eppie (and Sarah and captains)
---

I've given it some thought and decided that I'll stick with the team until
Regionals, but after that I really can't do more than one practice a week
(Tuesdays). I won't be at practice tonight because I have lab from 4-7 (I
also don't have my shorts or cleats with me and am on campus all day) but
I'll be there tomorrow until I have lab at 7pm.

Nancy
---

Great! We'll see you tomorrow. If you can make time to work out on your own since you're missing days that would definitely be helpful, and probably will make the practices you can make more fun and less painful! We also encourage you to throw on your own if you have a chance, even if it's just for a few minutes. Glad to hear you're going to stick it out! Good luck with all the labs, etc.

Ep
---

I'm actually kind of glad I'm still playing. Although it's going to be hard, tough, and stressful for the next two weeks, I'm absolutely in love with the team and believe I can stick it out for just two more weeks. That's just two midterms to live through.

I can't wait until next year! If I practice enough this summer I plan to be a handler for next season (!!!).

After the season ends I plan to continue working out: running at least a mile (I know I'm a wimp, I hate running, but I gotta keep the endurance of the legs up somehow), swim and/or use the rowing machine. I'm also thinking about doing more weights and strength workouts to build up my upper body again... I miss my upper body being toned. YES!

I love working out. I need to figure out a schedule to continue this during the summer...

[sum 41, jim noir, senses fail]

Entertaining AND Infomative!

2007-04-10T21:49:00.001-07:00

trying to shed this messy skin

2007-04-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

Wow. I haven't posted in a while.

I got a new phone, for one. New phone number too. Explanation: I was sick of not really being able to receive calls during hurricane season (Aug-Nov), so I switched in to a better coverage area in CA. The new phone was just to make myself feel better; I was getting sick of my old one (which I've had for about 1.5 years) and it was also falling apart, therefore New Phone Time! I now also have a new phone plan... letting me talk to people I talk to most (which is not even 5, how sad) for unlimited minutes with unlimited nights and weekends. Truly convenient.

Tomorrow is DUI and I'm excited. I'll be even more excited tomorrow when I start playing and my shins won't hurt. We'll see. For now I'm just getting by and hoping my shins and ankle won't act up. Wonderful news: I get to be up at 6:45am Sunday morning (yes!) to help set up fields for the day's games. I'm also looking forward to this because it's here in town so we don't have to drive around and around in some other city that's not home.

I've been having a debate with myself: to quit frisbee or not quit frisbee. "Quit" has such a negative connotation. I really just want a break. I am taking 3 labs (4, if you count physics that I have twice a week for 2.5 hrs each) this quarter, after all. Work, too. I just feel like I have less and less time each week to do homework and I'm deathly afraid that I'll fall behind. Perhaps taking 3 hardcore science classes in one sit wasn't a good idea; what else am I supposed to take? I need to get my pre-med courses out of the way so that I can start studying this summer and take it at least twice before next April. Oh god, not enough time!

Work has been good except for one special someone. They work slow. Oh so fucking slow. Like I want to smack them upside the head to see if they'll go faster. They also left early during their shift (randomization of landscapes) on Wednesday to go to class because they were scheduled during the hour in which they had class. And they didn't tell Brett (boss) so no one finished the job. (This is an important step in the process and they fucked it up.) So they left early. So beetles were sitting out in the lab NOT BEING INCUBATED. Fuckin'... Then they jokingly blamed me the next day for not getting it done. Bullshit.

Anyway. I'm tired and need to read 250 pages before Tuesday, do an FNT, and read my ochem text.
// out.

"complicated things seem to be freakin' everywhere"

2007-03-28T00:33:00.000-07:00

"Why?"
That is what I seem to be asking myself a lot of the time lately. I'm thinking. Thoughts. Ideas. I'm nervous. I'm anticipating. I'm trying to tell the future but it's foggier than I once thought it was. OK, I lied. It never was foggy until I let it be so. It's not fun, unfortunately, to trapped in this haze; it's almost overwhelming how much I keep getting wrapped back into the clouds. Much of it I blame myself for; the estrogen, the testosterone, the progesterone. I would very much like to lack a hypothalamus at this moment in time and just ebb along with my other instincts, but that's not how it works. Hopes and dreams, dashed away like I can afford more salt and pepper. It's not cheap, what I have, and I wish I had less. Less would feel so much better; I'd have more freedom to express myself. Alas, no. A heartless romantic I am but then I would soon regret my decision of being so because the G-force of the roller coaster of emotions is fun... only when you want it to be. I wish to step back and watch life go by until standing in line doesn't take as long. I feel like I'm falling.

Sometimes what we need is a new plan.

[plain white t's - hey there delilah]

red/yellow cat

2007-03-21T23:04:00.000-07:00

Yes! I am done for the quarter! Although it doesn't feel like the end of the quarter, perhaps because classes start up again next Wednesday. Boo that.

So yesterday wasn't too bad of a day. I had my hum sex final at 1:30pm and finished 40 mins in. Then I went to the bookstore to look at some SkullCandy earphones (didn't get them, though) and ended up buying two books: 1) a book on death, dying, and decay; 2) a book about sex. I'm also pretty sure that the cashier boy thought I was flirting with him while he was ringing these up for me. I SWEAR I WASN'T but I HAD to comment on his scrap-paper-made name tag that was stuck on his jacket with scotch tape. It's totally something I had to do. So yeah, whatever... he thought I was flirting with him; maybe I made his day more interesting.

I get home and I don't know what to do with myself. I read a few pages of the sex book with my roommate and then put my new blinds up. I also had a Super Burrito from Guad's (oh yum) and only ate half (I saved the other half for lunch today) and fell asleep on the couch.

Basically, yesterday was a very relaxing day after my last final. I went to bed all funky-feeling though; wasn't good. Hm.

Today. Oh boy. A few highlights:
Work. I worked 9 hours today; I usually work that amount of hours in a week. It was all easy stuff: just lots of sifting the adults out of the landscapes and control patches, doing prep work for replacement patches for next week, and making different medium. Thank god Brett (my awesome boss) did all the randomization because at this point, I'm SO SICK of randomizing; it takes up a lot of time and isn't very fun. I also got to listen to a few hours' worth of Australian radio; I digg, yo.
Sex. Unfortunately not me, but my neighbors. Two units down, windows on the second floor open... loud, heterosexual sexual intercourse. It was quite surprising to hear it walking back from the greenbelt. It sounded like it was hott sex, too (yes, I'm kinda jealous) and I'm not sure they realized that the window was open or that they were loud enough for the complex to hear. Ah well, it didn't last too long, unfortunately.
Le Garcon Citron. The 3 of us were walking back from the greenbelt and we saw these beautiful lemons that looked absolutely delicious. Not wanted to be bitches, we decide to ask the lemon tree's owners if we could take some. Steph rings the bell and wait for door to be answered. Who answers the door? Absolute hottness. Seriously. He was very pretty. Hott. Cute. Omg we're going back again to ask for more lemons, then make something lemon-y and give it to him to say "Thanks." OK, so we don't know if he's taken or not or whatever, but he looks pretty and not that much older than us (I say graduate student at UCD). He was definitely the highlight of the day; made the iffy-ness of last night better. :D

So now I'm testing the battery of my iPod and listening to Anchorage radio. I'm quite alright. I've felt better, but what is helping me by is knowing the fact that tomorrow I'll be driving to LA (driving! Omg, I've missed driving!) and get to see Jonh. Woo!

// sleep.

[krua]

this is me trying to ... decide... understand... um, spewing. yeah, spewing.

2007-03-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

If I were to to use one word to describe, it would be this:
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHHHMMMMMPPPH...UGH. dammit."
And it would trail off at the end because I would be so tired of this.

[the dog & everything]

Some things I've learned in Human Sexuality class this quarter:

2007-03-19T23:21:00.000-07:00

Males tend to experience orgasm more in the overall body muscles than females. These feelings are more intense when the muscles are in good tone.
100 calories - average amount burned during sexual intercourse.
Sperm lasts 48-72 hours on average (Super sperm can last up to 5 days)
Average ejaculate contains 200-500 million sperm

400 live to reach fallopian tubes
fewer than 50 reach the egg

Conditions for good sex
Feeling intimate with your partner
Feeling sexually capable
Feeling trust
Feeling aroused
Feeling physically and mentally alert
Feeling positive about the environment or the situation
Psychological Causes of Dysfunctions
Fatigue and stress
Ineffective sexual behavior
Sexual anxieties
Excessive need to please a partner
Conflict within self
Relationship problems
Men & Women on mates-

Men:

Prefer younger women

More likely to delay marriage
Less tolerant of adulterous partner
Less selective about potential mates
More sexually aggressive

Women:

Prefer older men
Marry at a younger age
More tolerant of adulterous partner
Have fewer partners
More selective about partners
Sexually more coy and submissive

Men & Women on communication-

Men:

"I'll fix it fore you. Here's a solution."
Don't ask for help; creates a hierarchy.
Publicly talkative; informs with knowledge. Impersonal, factual, task-focused.
Men tend to use “I” more.
Men tend to cuss more.
Men tend to use more imperatives.

Women:

"I understand. I've had the same experience."
Asks for help or info; reinforces bonds.
Privately talkative. Small talk increases intimacy.
Women tend to deflect compliments.
Women tend to use more terms of endearment.
Women tend to add tags like “isn’t it?” to end of statements.
Women tend to provide more details.

FiPod

2007-03-19T23:13:00.000-07:00

I bought a new iPod yesterday (because my previous one got stolen...fpeople) and I'm getting all paranoid about the battery not lasting as long as it should because I didn't charge it for at least 4 hours before its first use. Dammit.

FiPod.

Happy Pi Day!

2007-03-14T23:16:00.000-07:00

La la la la la...

The Early November on Hiatus

2007-03-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

We would like to announce that at end of our current headlining tour, The Early November will be taking a indefinite hiatus.

Through out the past six years we have released two LP's, two EP's, played over one thousand shows, seen six wonderful countries, have met thousands of great people, made life-long friends, and have broken countless amounts of instruments. We have done more than we have ever thought possible for a small rock band out of southern New Jersey. We are very proud and very grateful of every moment we have spent as The Early November.

Incase any of you are wondering, this is not a result of anything one can consider negative. No fighting, no one hates each other, no one has a substance abuse problem...none of the typical baggage that is usually carried along with rock bands taking a hiatus. The situation is actually much the opposite. We all love and care for one another tremendously. We're as close of friends as we have ever been and, as long as the five of us exist, we will continue to be so. This "hiatus" or "break" is just a result of time and life. As we grow older, priorities change. We've decided we need to take some time and see that life isn't all dirty rock clubs, rest stops at 2 am, and long distance phone calls. We have to be where we haven't been in the past six years; with our friends, family, and loved ones.

We hope this isn't completely somber news to anyone of you. We want to view it almost in the same way many cultures view the passing of a friend or loved one. Not to mourn but to celebrate their life and memory. In our small way, we'd like to do the same. We invite you to come and send off something that has meant so much to the five of us for so long. We may or may not being coming back. Who knows. But for now, all we can say is "Thank You." "Thank You," to everyone who was or has been a part of making our dreams a reality. Most importantly, "Thank You" to every single TEN fan. We hope you guys understand.

We truly love all of you.

- Ace, Joe, Jeff, Serg, Bill
The Early November

**The tour with The Rocket Summer & Melee is NOT cancelled. All dates will continue as planned.**

those spartans knew how to rock out

2007-03-11T04:33:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a night(/morning). Just got home from hanging out with Tim; good times, good times. We saw 300 and spent the last few hours at IHOP just chatting it up about life and such. I haven't been out this late in a really long time; it feels great. Although I have to be up fairly early tomorrow morning, staying up this late was well worth it.

But this evening has made me miss home, too.

I miss being up this late and just chilling with people at a diner, having coffee, greasy diner food and discussing life. There is no VINL here, just Denny's or IHOP (ew). Nor is there a Leroy's. Ah, I miss home. When we left it also smelled of an Alaskan summer's evening; that fresh, crisp smell of trees and grass, where it's not too cold but just enough to wear a light jacket.

What I heard twice tonight: Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars". I know, it's a radio song, but it was a meaningful song to me before it was a radio song. It was around beginning of last summer to fall that this song had meaning; I didn't realize that until I heard it again months later, in the middle of winter. Why? Blame Grey's Anatomy. This song makes me want to cry and feel all girly inside every time I hear it. I have my reasons, and most of it lies during September.

Oh Life, why must you be so complicated right now?

300: I've never appreciated 6-packs more in my life. Like, wow, 6-packs everywhere in that movie; it was kinda overwhelming. Good I guess... maybe I needed a fix. Also, how did I miss the silhouette??? HOW? Guess I'll just have to watch the movie again to catch that. Heh.

But yeah. Life. Ugh.

wow. wow wow wow. [nsfw]

2007-03-10T17:48:00.000-08:00

I love my friends. Why? Because they show me stuff like this (and the hilarity ensues). Too bad I'm not into this stuff (what can I say, I'm a girl)... HAHAHAomgHAHAHAHAHA. This is such a funky concept because all the animation I've seen (and quite enjoy, thank you very much) is Pixar/Disney stuff and Shrek I/II. Ah, this is just so incredibly mind-boggling; you gotta watch the trailer!

[apples in stereo]

relatedness and all that jazz

2007-03-09T01:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry, no important updates in a while. Been busy with frisbee tournament, studying for practicals and midterms, AFI, and general life things. I've been downloading so much music that I don't think I can go any longer without an iPod... but I'm so poor! Bah. Perhaps I'll actually cave and borrow Tim's...

Recent Music Downloads
(but I've not necessarily listened):

Maritime
Demetri Martin
My Bitter End
We Ragazzi
Fall of Troy (old)
Self Against City
From Bubblegum to Sky
String Tributes to: Beatles, Coheed, Fall Out Boy
Postal Service EPs
Boy Kill Boy
Saturday Looks Good to Me
Unicorns
Lewis Black
Boys Like Girls
Malajube
Jim Noir

... and others that I don't care to list right now.

Moneen's The Theory Of Harmonial Value sounds a bit like Jimmy Eat World's first album with a touch of 7/10 Split (Lucas Paine -- teehee).

I'm so overwhelmed by every sight and sound; just the other day it was sunny and 75 degrees... it felt like an Alaskan summer and for a few moments I felt like I was home and free.

[moneen]

.

2007-03-06T23:03:00.000-08:00

I guess the white chocolate will tide me over for now.
I wish I were a sex robot.
Women are crazy because they think too much; women could do without brains once in a while.
I am my own psychiatrist and I do it for free; that's a plus.
"Once in a While" -- Lucas Paine.
It's like lending a nice shirt to a person you don't really like.

omg. hahahahaha frightened turtle. it's trying to hide!

2007-02-28T23:30:00.000-08:00

courtesy of the hen and mange.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA EW EW EW AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

rainy rainy wetness

2007-02-26T15:49:00.000-08:00

Know what's second best to cold & snow?
Cold & rain.
I just hate it when it's just COLD. There should always be something to accompany the chill.

Know what's second best to driving in the rain?
Biking in the rain.
Something about getting wet all over is relaxing and soothing to me. If only I had my iPod give the ride a soundtrack.

My love for rain is renewed each time it falls.
Oh yes, I'm in love with rain.

uugggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

2007-02-26T02:08:00.000-08:00

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

I'm seriously having multiple orgasms over this...
Strings + awesome original rockabilly compositions = HOTNESS

Plus, FREE(for me) and converted into iTunes.
Fucking sweeeeeetness.

The String Quartet Tribute to Coheed and Cambria's In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3

[strings and coheed at the same time!]

this week = boo

2007-02-25T00:37:00.000-08:00

What a terrible week. Whatev. I'll live through it. Hopefully I can get through my 3 midterms Monday and frisbee practice.

Oh god, practice. I really hope I don't do as crappy as I did Wednesday.

A plus for today: played some video games with Chris on our DS's after our bio study session. I haven't played like this since the last time with my brother... on my PS2??? Ah. I miss that lil emo boy.

Tired.

Tomorrow's plate: human sexuality and 6 math assignments (I haven't done any math outside of class since our last midterm... a month ago). And a little more bio.

harry potter

2007-02-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

because this is hilarious. AND butt dimples! ew.
--------------------------------------------------------

One of my frisbee coaches emailed me again today about missing practice and not going to San Diego. Urg. This is starting to really irk me; I work, and frisbee and premed it! Ok, so not exactly a valid excuse (according to her), but I find schoolwork more important than anything right now. I'd like to go to Med School, THANK YOU. Last night's practice was horrible too; it just wasn't my day to do well during practice... I was not happy with my performance last night. It was things I should know how to do also, like marking and Trap... but for some reason I just forgot everything! Gah. Frustrating. Probably because I missed practice last Wed and Thurs. Dammit! Sports used to me easy for me, too.
After that first email, last night's practice, and this email I'm getting closer and closer to quitting and just focusing on school. But I don't want to because I enjoy frisbee when it's not stressful, which it isn't ... lately.

[midtown]

Salonpas on my leg, angry angry poo

2007-02-22T00:04:00.000-08:00

A few words:
FUCK FUCK FUCK SHIT!!!

Ahem.

I've so much to study for and I am not in the mood. The stupid emotions will be the death of me... starting NOW. Wait, it's been forever and I still can't breathe. Who will save me from the drowning of my lifetime? I don't perceive a Derek Shepherd swimming along any time soon, so I will just have to wade. Can you hear me sing? Of course not; my voice is tiny and hoarse, no wonder they can't hear me make those bubbles. I'm terrible for not touching down on others and when they find out they're gonna kill me. Just like they killed me 4 years ago by not doing anything to help. Well, okay, not kill, but passive understanding I shouldn't let them do. Help me, help me, I'm drowning in thoughts of being a robot.

Again, Salonpas on my leg.

A little fun for everyone:

2007-02-21T00:42:00.000-08:00

Bot flies are very interesting. They lay their eggs on a vector host, such as a mosquito. When a mosquito lands on a mammal and inserts its proboscis into the skin to start feeding, the host's body heat activates the eggs, and they detach from the mosquito and slide into the mammal host's skin, usually underneath. Then the eggs incubate, hatch, and the larvae/maggots live just right under the skin of the mammal. Most of the time it looks like a whitehead (zit) because the maggots need a hole in order to obtain oxygen. One can remove the maggot by placing Vaseline or duct tape over the hole to cause the maggot to surface (because it wants to breathe), then quickly removing it with tweezers. Another way is to put a piece of meat over the maggot-hole and allow it to crawl its way into the piece of beef/pork/chicken/other meat and out of the original host's skin.

FUN!

Here's an awesome video of removal (warning: not for the squeamish!):

And a nice picture of an eye (Lop, this one's for you):

[explosions in the sky]

hahaha... WHAT?!

2007-02-18T23:20:00.000-08:00

Since WHEN is there a "season" for getting/having a boyfriend??? (Besides maybe, Vday of course.)
Apparently True.com thinks there's one; they put up an ad on myspace that says:

Boyfriend season is right around the corner!
[then a button that says:] Find him now!

Wow. Aha. Awesome.
The whole "boyfriend season" thing just cracks me up.

Happy New Year of the Pig!

2007-02-18T22:53:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, everyone!!!

I'm now 22 years old.

I'm currently in LA with my aunt and step-uncle and step-cousin (my cousin Vinny, haha). I've been gorging on lots of good food, red envelopes, and family. Ah, I wish I was home with my mother right now.

This is new to me: LA has a Metro now. Vinny and I rode it from Chinatown all the way to Universal Studios/Citywalk. We were also planning to visit Santa Monica on the way back, but by the time we were done with Citywalk the rainclouds were already rolling in and it was getting a lil chilly for me because it was getting REALLY windy (and I was wearing just a t-shirt).

All in all, very fun day.

one of the many reasons why I heart OK Go

2007-02-16T17:50:00.001-08:00

DWYW - wallpaper version

OK Go is my lover.

More fun things from Twong

2007-02-15T20:10:00.000-08:00

1)

2) NOT a hint for those I know; totally AWESOME ad/flash/thingy otherwise. |nsfw|
[clicking on "groin" is FUN!]

[stephane grappelli]

Derek. Translate?

2007-02-15T16:48:00.001-08:00

|Thanks to Tim|
(Oh, and Tim, I still hate you.)

Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

2007-02-14T00:21:00.000-08:00

It's officially Wednesday, February 14th and Valentine's Day. Happy happy joy joy.

I went to Singles Awareness Night at The Grad. Sad that I didn't have a ride to get there early to help the EC setup for the party. REALLY GOOD TURNOUT!!! Which makes me very excited; seems like every since we had that bad article in the Aggie we've been getting better and better turnouts for our events. Yay!

Lots and lots of girls at The Grad. Waaay too much estrogen going' on. I had a great time dancing; there were a few worthwhile guys to dance with, but they were like 1st/2nd years. :(

What was awesome was when Julia and I left there was a long line waiting at the entrance... people were waiting to get in!!! Wow. I can' t wait to help with Part III of our Dance Party series.

On another note...
Signed up for my spring quarter classes today; I could only get 2 of the 4 I needed. BAH. Looks like it'll be a total of 17 units next quarter!!! I blame this on the upper div english I have to take for med school.

Organic Chemistry 118C - looks like I'll have a lab right after frisbee practice. Time: 7-10pm. Oh GOD.
Ethinic Literature [Asian studies of some sort] - this looks interesting and well, I guess I'll have class before 10am for the first time this year.
Physics 7A - couldn't register for this one this pass time. I'm SO not looking forward to physics. Also another before 10am class. Boo.
Plant Biology 1C - couldn't register for this one either. Plants are so borrrring. It's going to be lecture 4 days a week PLUS a 3hr lab. Oh joy.

So it looks like I'll have a full sched next quarter; Mon and Fri will be my good days with 1 or 2 classes a day, but then Tues, Wed and Thurs is 3+ each. Yikes. Plus frisbee, my research work, and perhaps volunteering at the Asian student-run clinic. I'm going to be a busy, busy bee.

Again, Happy Valentine's Day. This is my first single-status one in ... 5 years. Oh jeez.

[gnarls barkley]

knockers

2007-02-12T22:59:00.000-08:00

1.You and Jesus go out to dinner - who pays?
Dine and Dash
2. You suddenly have to flee the country and adopt a new name.
Nando, Love Villain
3. Pick one state in the U.S. to get rid of permanently?
Um, I'd say Wisconsin but I heart cheese, so probably Kentucky. Or Texas.
4. You wake up as the opposite gender. What's the one thing you wanna do?
Masturbate.
5. Luke Skywalker or Han Solo?
Han Solo, hands down.
6. Toy you always wanted but never got as a child?
Everything I didn't have.
9. What is the last movie you saw that actually scared you?
High Tension?
10. Stupidest thing you've ever said out loud?
A good portion of the jokes I make.
11. You're sentenced to death and its the morning of your execution: what do you want to eat?
Mashed potatoes, fried rice, chocolate ice cream and apple juice.
12. What's something that you do that most people have never done?
Have gone to Disneyland 7 times.
13. Before you die you want to go to...?
At least half of the countries in this world.
14. What's the last thing you ate?
Raspberry yogurt with granola.
15. A wild animal you'd like to have as a pet?
Lemur
16. A drug you'll never try?
Pretty much all of them.
17. If you were an animal, what would you be?
Naked mole rat
18. If you had to marry someone you knew at the age of 12, who would it be?
Probably Patrick Shannon, that is, if he still knew who I was.
19. What's something a lot of people don't know about you?
Many things.
20. First celebrity crush?
Freddie Prinze Jr.?
21. What's a weapon to suit your personality, habits and abilities?
Machete
22. Best flavor of runts? (the candy)
I hate runts.
23. Favorite breakfast bread style (pancakes, waffles, toast etc...)?
Pannnnnnncakes, yo.
24. Favorite parody movie?
Shrek 1&2
25. Worst way to die?
Not doing anything exciting or worthwhile.
26. Grossest injury you've ever seen?
When my brother was 4, fell of the exercise bike and hit his head so there was a giant hole in his temple.
27. The worst injury you've ever had?
Sprained ankle and left thumb.
28. Favorite thing about Thanksgiving?
Christmas movies.
29. Sport you hate the most?
Poker.
30. What state in the US do you want to visit?
Hawaii again. Alaska.
31. What's something you think would be sweet to know everything about?
Surgery
32. Favorite Actor/Actress?
Sandra Oh, for the time being.
33. What's one phrase you absolutely hate?
"Dude, i am/was so fucking wasted."
34. What makes an awesome party?
Good people and fun times. And awesome music.
35. What's your material obsession?
Shooooooes
36. What's something that most consider an insult but you enjoy having said about you?
I dunno.
37. Favorite kind of dog(s)?
All of them.
38. Favorite carnival food (everyone has one)?
Funnel cake... mmmmm
39. Morning or night person?
Night
41. Weirdest ebay purchase?
Textbooks
43. Its Saturday at 3am. Where are you?
Prolly at home and prolly talking on the phone again.
44. Who's your favorite friend to go out with?
All of my good ones.
45.Worst job you've ever had?
Working at Am Eagle. Except for the discount; that was the best.
46. What's something your friends make fun of you for?
Making jokes that don't make sense.
47. Favorite cereal?
Special K with strawberries
48. Book you could read repeatedly?
Gray's Anatomy
49. What's the meanest thing you've ever done?
Told someone to "shut the fuck up" to their face.
50. If you were drafted into a war, would you survive?
Yes, because I'd run off to Canada.

[moneen, throw the fight, electrelane, apples in stereo]

peppermint tea

2007-02-12T01:54:00.001-08:00

There are some songs that make me want to cry because of happy and/or sad memories.
I happen to be listening to one right now.

Yes, another one of my crafty ways of procrastinating.

peppermint tea

2007-02-12T01:54:00.000-08:00

There are some songs that make me want to cry because of happy and/or sad memories.
I happen to be listening to one right now.

Yes, another one of my crafty ways of procrastinating.

I miss my

2007-02-11T22:49:00.000-08:00

... arms and stomach being more defined. I need to work-out more, that's what I've concluded.

The Apples In Stereo - I downloaded a crap, scratched copy, so now I have to find another for the middle tracks.
Electrelane - pretty cool. Very indie.
Daphne Loves Derby - their acoustic EP is making me very DashboardConfess-like. Boo that.
Throw the Fight - very interesting.

I've replaced males of the human race

2007-02-11T04:04:00.000-08:00

I've unconsciously substituted Atticus for men. Men of the human race, men. There's nothing like hearing a motor running -like sound at 4 in the morning with a wet nose on one's lips. And a furry ass. On one's face. He's very tiny though, and well, quite warm and cozy when he sleeps with me. Ah, the wonders of having a kitty.

Just got back from a night of Unitrans nerd funtime. It was great. Got all dressed up and went to the Uni-ball with CD, had a fancy dinner and danced til the clock hit midnight. Got back to CD's place and his roommies (C&L) with Alex (a fellow bus driver) and I all went hot tubbing, which was quite fun. Afterwards we watched Confederate States of America (which I had already seen), and I fell asleep in the same chair has CD and Alex. (!!!... they got quite cozy with each other...!!! hahaha) So now I'm home and ready to get out of my dress and sleep.

Oh jeez, I haven't gone to bed before 1am in sooooooo long. I don't anticipate it happening in the next week either.

it's gone 6 months dormant before

2007-02-09T00:35:00.000-08:00

I realized today that my new job is the first job that I've really enjoyed; I'm pretty sure it's not just the excitement of having a job. I found myself thinking "Man, I wish I had work today." This is a first, considering I've had 6 jobs before this one. The other times it would be the first week or so and yes, I'd be excited about having a job but I wouldn't be happy about having to go to work. I would always be thinking, "I guess I'll go to work because it's a job and it pays money that I need." But this current job gets me so excited! I look forward to getting to the lab and working on our research! It's insane! I'm happy I've found something I like doing AND getting paid to do it.

...We'll see how I feel in about a month or so. Hahaha.

[apples in stereo]

news.

2007-02-08T17:42:00.002-08:00

Friend JDSwan informed me of this awesome site, www.netvibes.com. It's pretty much an "everything you have on the internet in one place" site where you can have all your emails, RSS feeds, weather, calendar, to do's, etc on one page. I've made mine my homepage, and well, it's swell.

Also, I now have Google Reader (where I'm sharing all of my interesting RSS feeds); I dig it. You can also see what stories I'm sharing on the right-side bar ---->.

Today I biked home in the rain from ochem lab (which was a breeze to do and will be a bitch to complete the report) and now my pants are wet. Soaked, actually. There's something about biking in the rain and listening to Explosions in the Sky that makes life so much better.

I have frisbee practice tonight and I'm not happy. At least it's not outdoors in the rain... but we'll be doing hardfloor running, therefore not fun for my shins.

[madeleine peyroux, exp in the sky, ...trail of dead]

I hope to be a surgeon one day:

2007-02-08T01:59:00.001-08:00

west grads = hot enough to wear diapers for

2007-02-08T01:41:00.000-08:00

So that one astronaut, Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, who was stalked by *COUGHpsychoCOUGH* astronaut, Lisa Nowak (that one that's now charged with attempted murder), had graduated from my high school. Like, (!!!).

[explosions in the sky]

firsty

2007-02-07T01:48:00.000-08:00

Kenny Eng
Local. Next few shows at Cafe Roma, Freeborn, or CoHo.
I like the mixture of easy, blues, pop.
Did I mention Nice Voice?
(I know only one song up so far, but it's not exactly a bad song.)

A few more things:

2007-02-07T01:35:00.000-08:00

1) I might have a thing for a frisbee player: hella insane.
2) I spend too much time on the internet.
3) I'm still excited about my new job.
4) Lots of Trail of Dead and Blindside lately.
5) Didn't fail bio midterm (yay!).
6) Hot boys, hot boys, hot boys!!! (Only a few of you know what I'm talking about.)
7) Acquirement of sexy, black dress. I'll feel pretty again.
8) Hen? Davis? This weekend? Hm.
9) EC party Fri, Unitrans Ball Sat... catchup on hmwk Sun. I still need to hang out with Cholly.
10) I still need to get new glasses with JL at Costco.
11) Going to LA to see family for New Year's!!! Oh, I'm so excited.

// sleep now.

[aywkubtod, blindside]

1,531 minutes

2007-02-06T00:19:00.000-08:00

I'm very much stuck on
... And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead's
"To Russia My Homeland"
because the violin playing is orgasmic and listening to it makes me feel like a gypsy.

Despite a long and treacherous day, I'm still excited about working with beetles.

CT asked for KE's number today because he said he wanted to talk to her about something. The possibilities:
1) He digs her (but he assures me that he isn't).
2) He's trying to find out about what to do about Vday (which I entirely dread because as much as it may be flattering, I'm not interested).
Uh oh. We'll see.

I'm exhausted and will be for the rest of the week. Ugh.

I miss you.

[...and you will know us by the trail of dead (aywkubtod, hahaha)]

Urinating on a Jellyfish Sting is an Effective Treatment

2007-02-03T21:30:00.000-08:00

Fact or Fiction?: Urinating on a Jellyfish Sting is an Effective Treatment
It worked for Monica on Friends, but how does the alleged remedy hold up under scientific scrutiny?
By Ciara Curtin

Back in 1997 all the friends from that eponymous television show trekked to the beach, only to witness a jellyfish sting Monica. In this episode, Joey remembered seeing a documentary that advised urinating on the sting to ease the pain. Monica agreed to try the treatment and it worked. Unfortunately, in the real world treating a jellyfish sting by urinating on it may actually cause someone in Monica's situation even more pain, rather than relief. Urine can actually aggravate the jellyfish's stingers into releasing more venom. This cure is, indeed, fiction.

Jellyfish, those bulbous Medusa-like creatures, float near many of the world's beaches. Some of the jellyfish's skin cells are stinging cells, or cnidocytes. These specialized cells have organelles called nematocysts that contain venom. Cnidocytes are spread along the entire length of the jellyfish's tentacles.

These tentacles can be so long that swimmers might not see the jellyfish that stings them, but they will certainly feel it. "The pain is instant," says Joseph Burnett, a dermatologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center, who is part of the school's Consortium of Jellyfish Stings, which tracks jellyfish injuries worldwide. Once stung, angry, red, whiplike lash marks mar the skin. The pain radiates from the sting site and starts to itch, burn and throb as it blisters. Scratching it, though, can make the pain worse, because rubbing activates the nematocysts, which release more venom.

Jellyfish stings are painful, but they are rarely life-threatening. For most such injuries, in North America at least, the pain will not last longer than 24 hours, typically peaking five minutes after the sting occurs then dissipating over the next few hours. "[But] it depends on what jellyfish gets you," notes Christopher Holstege, a toxicologist and professor of emergency medicine at the University of Virginia.

Those 24 hours, though, could be uncomfortable without any treatment, which can be administered on the beach. Both Burnett and Holstege recommend washing the area with saltwater. Such rinsing will deactivate those pesky nematocysts that are still hanging on.

A freshwater rinse will have the opposite effect. Any change to the balance of solutes, such as the concentration of salts inside and outside of the cnidocyte, sets off stinging. Adding freshwater to the sting site dilutes the salts outside the cell, unbalancing the solutes. In reaction to this change, the nematocysts in the cells release more venom--and cause more pain.

But what about urine? It contains salts and electrolytes. "I can think of many other things I'd rather have on me," Holstege notes. The concentration of salts and other compounds people have in their urine changes, he explains. If it is too dilute it will be similar to freshwater and cause those stingers to fire.

Other liquids and compounds, however, can help. Most stings in North American waters can be assuaged by vinegar, or 5 percent acetic acid. For stings from a few species, Cyanea capillata and Chysaora quinquecirrha, a baking soda and seawater paste is even better.

Once rinsing deactivates all the nasty nematocysts, the attached bits of tentacle can be removed by coating them with shaving cream or a slurry of seawater and sand followed by shaving with a razor or even a credit card.

For pain, an oral analgesic should do the trick for North American jellyfish stings. Australia, though, has nastier jellyfish (such as the deadly Box Jellyfish) and most Australian lifeguard teams are equipped with morphine and antivenoms to treat unlucky swimmers Down Under.

Ultimately, time, not urine, is the best treatment for a jellyfish sting. "Urine is worthless," Burnett says.

Scientific American

huh.

2007-02-03T03:22:00.000-08:00

1. I think I got my roommate upset because I said that the egg smell was no big deal and she was complaining that she didn't like it. All I said was that you could wash it down the drain and it'd eventually go away, and she didn't like that idea.

2. Wow, girls who flaunt their dark, dark side (with a plus of maryjane, ciggs, and pistols) scare the shit out of me. I hope that the males I know never end up with one of them. Oh I hope, I hope, I hope.

OK, so not really a gift finder, but I found this quite accurate:

2007-02-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

Your VisualDNA™

Here's what your choices might mean about you

Starting with your style, you like to keep things low-key, opting for comfort over fashion. You like a warm and approachable look, cluttered not minimal. You go for softer textures and a warm palette.

You get your kicks from living life fast, with plenty of laughs. You've got a great attitude, a mischievous side and infectious giggle... life for you is never dull.

You love the great outdoors. So for Valentine's day, you'd pack some wine and take a long stroll... and make sure you'd arrive at your destination in time to pop the cork and watch the sun set.

Lazing in the warm sun and the glamor of being waited on hand and foot is your idea of a good time. Sun loungers and fruit cocktails by the pool - just heaven.

Never one to let life skip you by, you like to make sure you are one step ahead of the crowd - leading the way.

So... you like to indulge yourself now and again. Life is a bore when you stick by the rules the whole time!

When extra time appears you will always take others by surprise. Willing to try anything once, this no fear attitude means life with you is never predictable.

To impress - a ticket to a far flung destination would really melt your heart. You've got the travel bug bad.

Imagini Valentine Gift Finder

imagini.net

Update 02.02

2007-02-02T16:35:00.000-08:00

I now have as many friends at UCD as I do at UAA (according to Facebook), and it excites me because when I first got here I was afraid of not being able to meet people. I'm pretty rad, I have to say.

I am now employed! Yay for money! I am a Research Assistant for an experiment being conducted at school (and funded by the National Science Foundation). The experiment is on the stochasticity of species invasions and the variations of it, and our model organism is the Flour Beetle (Tribolium castaneum). I'm really excited about this job because research is something I've always wanted to do! Although now that I think about it, I'll just be counting beetles a good portion of the time. Oh well, the job overall is still cool.

I now have a Shit List. Only one person is on this list and it only took her a weekend to get on it! Woo hoo! She's a graduate student on the frisbee team but she acts like she's still in high school: always talking about her boyfriend and telling people what to do ALL THE TIME and not knowing when to just SHUT UP. Unfortunately, I got to be in the same van as her on our team's trip down to Santa Barbara this weekend; a full 14 hours with Miss Yappy in the back. In addition to the 14 hours is the time spent on the field when we were playing our games and shower time. Oh god, Sunday I almost snapped at her. I did. AND I USUALLY DON'T GO CRAZY AND SNAP AT PEOPLE. I was sooooooooo close to the edge. She is definitely on my my Shit List. My roommate is also slowly edging herself onto my list, but we won't talk about her.

I must clean my room, the living room and the kitchen before our party tonight. Ugh. Now I'm hungry, too.

[and you will know us by the trail of dead, saosin]

Hokay. So...

2007-02-02T00:09:00.000-08:00

I've forgotten how awesome this is:

Good Sex Is Not a Rat Race

2007-02-01T20:44:00.000-08:00

By David Dobbs

For years the story on rat sex has been this: the male seeks above all else to ejaculate quickly, and once he has done it with one female, he is eager to move on to new partners. The female, meanwhile, seeks to extend the sex encounter through "pacing." A new study finds that if pacing is slow enough, the male will prefer that familiar partner to someone new. The wait, it seems, makes the female more attractive.

"It's an awful lot like what we were taught in high school," says Concordia University psychologist James Pfaus, who co-authored the study with Nafissa Ismail, the graduate student who conceived it.

The experiment made innovative use of standard research devices called pacing chambers, which are cages with dividers having either one or four holes big enough to let a female rat through but too small for the larger male. Thus, the female can join or leave the male, allowing her to significantly lengthen her arousal and, studies have shown, her chance of pregnancy. But the mating rituals last longer in the one-hole chambers, because the male, eager to get at the female, often sticks his big head in the hole, blocking her only passage back to his side and delaying her return.

The researchers let 20 couples mate in one-hole chambers and 20 in four-hole chambers. Then they placed each couple, along with a novel female, in a larger, open area. Among males from four-hole chambers, about half preferred their familiar mates. Among males who mated more slowly in the one-hole chambers, 80 percent preferred the familiar partner.

Driving this behavioral dynamic is, as always with rat sex, some neurochemical reward. Boston University biologist Mary Erskine notes that "sexual preferences come from chemical rewards, and we can be sure there are some here." Sexual climax, in fact, unleashes a flood of pleasure-producing hormones and neurotransmitters, such as testosterone and dopamine. Pfaus speculates that the higher level of arousal created by the longer wait generates a stronger release, and a more substantial reward, thereby enforcing the preference.

"Whether it's simply a stronger dose of the usual chemical rewards or some in addition, we don't know," Pfaus says. "But something is making this sort of mating more rewarding to the male or rewarding in a different way."

Scientific American; Jan 30, 2007

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Quite advantageous.

Phantom Planet - New Album Summer '07

2007-02-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

Hopefully their new album will be better than their last one (Phantom Planet) and just as good or even better than their sophomore(?) one (The Guest). I'm quite excited.