Fall 2008 Semester Results

3.5 GPA overall this semester! Yay! I'm still in Honors! I've got a 3.27 total!

Breakdown: 

AS 285 --> A- 

Pol S 198 --> A

UH 330 --> A

Biol 352 --> C+ (oops...)

UH 398 --> Pass

I wish I got GPA's for classes...

Oh well, I did okay and my other grades made up for Cell Phys.

Twitlight: the Abridged Script

Just when you thought you couldn't find more shit on how horrible and disappointing the Twilight books and movies were, I give you Twilight: the Abridged Script!

Thank you Kess, this definately made my day...

Seattle Snow and X-mas tree decorating

Its still freaking snowing...I think we have around a foot at my house in Seattle...and its almost all appeared in the last 24 hours!

Huzzah.

At least my dogs like the snow. The front yard is completely torn up from them running around. Well, Romeo did the running. Toby just kinda meandered, but he's a bit more used to the snow than Romeo.

In other news, our tree is all decked out and topped by Bumbles the abominable snowman and we already have lots of presents! Wow! I need to finish mine up for everyone...

XKCD: A Guide to Understanding Flow Charts Presented in Flow Chart Form

Click if you need to see it bigger

Hotpots are my Heroes...

How?

How is it possible to loose your car lock clicker in the car and somehow trigger the car alarm? It is possible by the way. My roommate has done so. Then promptly threw a half-hysterical, half-yelling fit while trying to find it. Sadly we can't use the key to unlock and re-lock the doors because they're frozen solid. Oh yes, did I meantion it was 3 degrees outside? And that I was wearing just a sweatshirt and jeans.

For the record, snapping at me because I'm calmly asking if its in your pockets (because its always in your pockets) and pointing out that your key is still in the ignition won't help matters at all.

Why do I always have to be the one who stays calm when shit happens and tries to do something to fix it? With two possibilities in mind, I coaxed half-hysterical roommate back to the greenhouse so we can warm up a bit, tell her to call AAA and go looking for a flashlight to try and locate the missing clicker.

What I found instead was a hotpot, so I boiled some water, walked back to the car and poured it over the locks. Voila! They work.

I'm...god, I'm just tired right now. And hungry, but nothing in the apartment sounds good, so I'll wait until later to eat. I'm done with Cell Phys though, and it probably kicked my ass... One more final and I'm done and driving home on Friday.

Praise be. Several weeks without the stress of being responsible!

Damn Pullman Winters...

Well, it is seriously winter now, and has proven, once again, that a Washingotnian doesn't know winter until they've experienced an Eastern Washington winter. We have snow on the ground and its FINALLY finished snowing. Its not the snow that bothers me though. Or the ice. Its the temperature.

It is currently 9 degrees outside. I think the absolute high we might reach today is in the mid teens. The low for tonight however, is somewhere in the negatives.

Oh Pullman, why do you hate us?

Organization of Future Veterinarians 2008-2009 Design

This is the design that is being used for the OFV here on campus. I'm really excited they're using it. It scanned in a little crooked, but it still looks cool. I'll be buying a sweatshirt from them even though I'm not a member... :)

One down...

One final down. And it was annoyingly long. Of course the essays we got were the two long irritating ones: "Is democracy possible?" which required referrences to three authors we read and "What does it mean to 'make difficulties' in reference to political science using one author we read, and how did another author make difficulties for you?"

I never want to see Thoreau, Foucoult, de Toqueville, or Weber again. EVER.

Socrates is fine. He can come back. He amuses me.

I've only got two left. I'm not counting Animal Science because that looks to be a BS final assignment I'll be finishing tonight. A paper and two exams left.

Gah...

On the upside, the SEB's Acoustic Battle of the Bands is tomorrow. It'll be cool. I love acoustic music. :)

On the downside, the paper is 6-8 pages and I haven't started. I've also got my Cell Phys exam. It makes me want to cry.

Bluebird of Happiness!

Nope. Definitely not. I just envision it having a Charlie the Unicorn voice:

"Do I look like the frickin' bluebird of happiness!"

When shinobi appear on campus

I kid you not, I saw someone that looked just like Ebisu from Naruto, in civies. It was kinda surreal. He was in a blue beanie, folded up, and had sunglasses on.

I wish my camera on my phone was working, I'd have gotten a picture.

[sigh] Oh well... I'll probably see him again...

Welcome back to winter, Pullman.

Yes, indeed, it is now officially winter again! I just got home from work and class and got to enjoy the first daytime snow of the season! If it snows tonight, it will probably stick to the grass at least. :)

I know I will be regretting saying this later, but it was very pretty.

I Want Minions...

more animals

Seriously, I want minions to call upon.

Although my roommate and I have realized that I am a god and she will take over the world. Which makes perfect sense, because every budding world dominator needs to have a god on their side.

Alright, since I can't graduate to godhood yet, I'm going to play the Sims some more and manipulate peoples' lives. And decorate very stylishly. :D

Belated NaNoWriMo Celebration!

Its done!

Ok, so... its not really. But it's over 50,000 words! So I'm taking a break for a few days before I go work on it some more and finish it up. I really like the story line. I just need to go back and edit and revamp characters because they evolved while I wrote.

I'll also be adding more stuff in.

But! I plan on getting a copy of it printed and bound once I'm satisfied.

Who knows, maybe you'll see a book by A J Smith coming out soon...

Here's the cover art I made for it because I'm cool, have photoshop, and was bored. :D


Any guesses where it's set? Cough-PikePlaceMarket-Cough.

Silly Minnisotans...

My little sister is currently filling out a questionnaire for her application to Nordstroms and one of the questions says, and I kid you not: "Do you use drugs illegally? Note: If you are applying in Minnesota please skip to the next question."

The hell do Minnesotan's get to skip that question?! It sounds pretty important to me! Are they all druggies?

Hope everyone had a happy Turkey Day and didn't let the crazy PETA people yelling about turkey slaughter get you down!

WE WON! TAKE THAT HUSKIES!

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY HAS WON THE APPLE CUP!

In double overtime, 16-13!

Of course, all the Cougar fans promptly vaulted over the railing and flooded the field.

It rocked. And all of Pullman will be drunk tonight. :D

NaNoWriMo Update

I'm so behind on my novel. I've got to get to 50,000 words in 10 days and I'm only at 31,698 right now. Its not too bad, but still. I'm two days behind and am almost ready to collapse right now.

DAMN IT! I WILL FINISH THIS!

I've put too much effort into this story, I love all the characters, and the plot...it will be compeleted by the 30th!

I'm sticking a set of counters here so you all can check up on it and yell at me to write some more!





Quick list of word-count/date goals:
35k by tonight (11/21)
40k by 11/25
45k by 11/27
and 50k by 11/30!

Poliosis

Just got back from seeing Jeff Dunham up in Spokane.

I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe!

All I have to say, is Poliosis.

Hee. :D

Cougar Football Fans are NOT Classy

Cougar Fans are not classy.

We're not, its true. We all become sadists as soon as we enter the stadium. Even when we have a HORRIBLE team. Well, ESPECIALLY then. I guess the motto has become: "If we can't beat them, we'll maul them." This does, however lead to some very amusing moments when sitting in the student section (pictured above with a part of the 20 yard crew the League of the Coug).

My favorite from this past game was "TAKE HIS FIRST BORN!" after a particularly painful looking tackle.

Just felt like sharing that, and was reminded of it by the ambulance sitting out in the parking lot with its lights flashing, which just looks eerie in the fog. I wonder what happened?

Now, I'm off to catch up writing my novel for NaNoWriMo! I'm almost 5k words behind thanks to Dad's Weekend!

Rock on, Dean!

Thank you, Supernatural. Thank you.

Heath Ledger's Legacy

So very true...

First Wave Complete

Don't you just love how all your papers, exams, and projects all seem to pile up within a week or two? Without fail it ALWAYS happens and leaves me without energy and utterly dead.

But, its all over now. Four exams, three papers, and giant step number 1 of Honors Thesis.

HUZZAH!

Now I just get to look forward to the results. So far I've got a 98% in greek lit, a 87.5% in Animal Development lab, and a true thesis adviser.

Now that my last paper is in, I'm going to sleep early.

Thanks for Being Entirely Unhelpful...

I just finished and posted my essay which is due tonight at 8 for my Animal Science Ethics class. I started writing it this morning and I'm actually quite proud of how it turned out. What's due tonight is only a rough draft of the final essay (due weds) and the whole point of the draft is to get feedback from your fellow classmates on how to improve your essay. Part of the assignment is to reply to 2 of your classmates' posted essays. You're supposed to write 2 paragraphs: one on what you like and one on what they could change (Citing specifics). I just finished my toned down Grammar Nazi routine on two papers and found that I've gotten a reply.

Upon reading it I decided that either I am rediculously more experienced in butchering papers and giving useful feedback, or I am simply expecting too much from a 200 level class...

Here's the response I got (with commentary):

"Your introduction paragraph was very well written (thank you). I also like dhow (spell check! It's available online too, you know!) you used your citations, they helped support what you were talking about (...that is generally what citations do...). I also liked that I could understand what you were talking about, seeing how some of these experiments are really hard to understand (...that would be because I was SUMMARIZING the experiment...in real life it is painfully difficult to understand...damn stats and scientific lingo). I'm not sure what you could improve upon(...wait...what? Nothing? You've got nothing?! Not my utter BS spewed heavily thoughout? Not my explanation of my position on the ethical situation?!). I liked it a lot. Great Job."

This person deserves the 15 point deduction they're going to get for being entirely unhelpful...

...You're Officially Ignorant...

So I'm currently stalling and wasting time until class starts at 11:10 and went to one of the side "sun rooms" that have couches, tables, and most importantly outlets (my laptop battery is finally dying). Now, most people follow standard "I have no clue who you are so I will be quiet and not snoop" rules. There are, however, 3 freshmen sitting in here talking rediculously loudly and informing everyone here and in the nearby classrooms of just how ignorant they are.

"What's a mortgage?"
"Its got something to do with real estate."

Wow. That's all you got?

Was I ever this ignorant? I hope not. Its especially irritating because I can't turn up my headphones and computer volume any higher without blowing out my eardrums. I CAN STILL HEAR THEM.

The other girl in here on her computer keeps swapping irritated looks with me. I think her volume's as maxed as can be too.

I'm very tempted to tell them to shut up because I'm trying to study/write a paper (total BS).

Origmai: A Way to Amuse a Bored Artist

I sat down at my computer and decided, completely randomly, to pull out a piece of paper and make an origami crane.

I then decided to find a new animal to create with paper and made a fox.

Just when I thought I was done: a dollar bill is chilling on my desk. So I create a peacock.

I'm done now. I swear...

The Adventure of Frank the Frog

My Friday was nothing but a tedious strain on my sanity. I went to class. I went to work at both jobs. After I finished washing the day's allotment of trays I was opening the drain to swap the pot-soaking water when something small and brown hopped down into the drain catch.
It was Frank the Frog, and his appearance caused me to stop, blink, tilt my head, blink again and then take a picture with my phone before going and getting my boss. He was just as confused as me as to why a tree frog was in our greenhouse drain when its been bone dry outside.

We fished him out and decided a more appropriate release point should be found so we stuck him in Tupperware and I took him with me when I left.
He was later released by my roommate in a woody, cooler area by the stream next to her barn.

Supernatural: My Life is Once More Complete!

Season premere of Supernatural just finished. All I have to say is: "OH MY GOD!"

Can't wait for next thursday, despite all the exams and papers! Gah! Happiness!

There was actually a chorus of squeals and clapping when it started...it was awesome. :)

I'll be a good girl and not post spoilers on here for the sake of my friends who have not finished season 3 yet... Cough*Kess*Cough.

Here's a pretty Dean pic to go with...

Life Lessons in Cell Physicology

"Its easier to argue with someone when you're both naked."

Real biology professors argue with one another about the numbers of ATP formed using one molecule of glucose in the showers at the rec center...

Epic Fetch

Was amused and had a total "awww" response and felt like sharing.

Mostly because I absolutly adore tigers...

Now, I'm sitting in Animal Development and lecture's starting and I must go!

Onwards to fertilization in sea urchins!

And She Saw That They Were Good and Went in Search of Caffeine

Well, I am officially the biggest overreacting looser in all of Pullman. Screw what everyone else thinks though, I have them. I have my Flogging Molly tickets for the show in the CUB this October. And you know what else? I get to brag that I was the first one in the f-ing line.

Probably because I'm so used to Seattle rabid music fans and concerts in Pullman selling out in one class period (cough*EltonJohn*cough). I got up at frickin' 5 A.M. left my apartment at 6, and was in the basement of the CUB at 6:20. Guess what? NOBODY WAS THERE.

In fact, nobody started to show up until 7. At that point I brought my cafe chair over to the Cougar Card Center window and officially claimed the head of the line as my own. I ended up talking with the two people right behind me until the window opened at 8:00, finding comradary in fellow theater fans, music lovers, and advocates of killing those irritating, loud, drunks that always seem to appear at concerts.

Too bad it was all general admission...the only proof I've got is this photo with the transaction time on the receipt: 8:01.

(GASP! My name's on the receipt! Too bad its such a common duo of names... :D )

After I got my tickets (for myself and my roomate) I then proceeded to shuffle off to the B&N cafe for some much needed caffeine before dragging myself to Cell Physiology.

I'd Honestly KILL For a Bit of Responsability

I'm a bit fed up with people not being responsible adults (if they legally are so) or teenagers. So, without naming names I'm here to rant. I love every person alluded to here to death, but right now I'm irritated with being the seemingly only responsible person in my life right now.

Its not too hard to accept 'no' as my final answer and do something else instead. Something like, I dunno...saving up your money and not buying rediculously overpriced 'fashion label' clothing and bags and shoes instead of, oh the little thing called STARTING YOUR OWN BANK ACCOUNT! I mean, its not that hard and look at the big pluses that come with that: money for when you really need it, a debit card so you don't have to carry around wads-o-cash, and you can thus open your own Kami-damned iTunes account and stop pestering me.

It also shouldn't be too hard to keep a job in a college town for more than a few months. I realize it involves getting up early, but most jobs do. I also realize your boss is a strict ass, but that doesn't make up for the fact that you screwed up.

Taking care of your car should also be way up on your 'important things to do' list. Yes talking with insurance companies and filing claims, etc. is irritating and whatnot (I've done it too) but that doesn't mean you should take your dear sweet time with it! Its like a band-aid, get it done quick and be done with it! If your car has had a problem for a year and your parents are paying for repairs and everything, GET IT F-ING FIXED!

Right, rant done.

Again I love these people to absolute death but even those closest to you can grate on your nerves sometimes. If you read this and think its about you and wish to bitch me out, go right on ahead, I just need to get this off my chest because I've got the bad habit of internalizing my thoughts on people close to me. Yes, I know I'm being a two-faced b--ch by writing this and not saying anything, but I'd rather not. I am after-all, still a woman, and that's how we are despite how much we try not to be.

A Rant on Concert Etiquite

I love going to concerts, but when the people around you are being completely disrespectful of me and the other people around them, it makes me want to kill them and dump them in a wheat field.

For example, I went to the SickPuppies, Hinder, Staind, and 3 Doors Down concert last night in Seattle. Yes, you heard right. I got in the car with friends, drove five hours to Seattle, attended a concert, and drove straight back. I may have only gotten 3 hours of sleep and had to go to class at 9 and work today, but it was worth it.

There was, however, a small bit of my concert expereince I would like to address in the form of a few simple guidelines that would make me, and many other concert goers very happy.

1. Please don't get completely drunk in attendance. If you want to have a beer or two, whatever, fine. Getting completely and totally hammered, however, leads to some very irritating moments. Last night at the concert there was a woman behind me who was completely drunk and was still drinking as the concert was going on. She was a very loud drunk and also seemed to lack the ability to not hit people in the head with elbows when scampering off to get more booze.

2. Please keep PDA's to a PG rating, seriously. Snogging eachother in the middle of the crowd on the floor at a concert is really awkward.

3. SHUT THE HELL UP! I came to the concert to hear the band sing, not you screaming your drunk ass off, lady! You do not need to profess your love to every musician on stage in front of your husband and a thousand of other strangers. I'm a patient person, but having you scream in my ear, hit me in the head with elbows and constantly yammering makes me want to turn around and ask why a 50+ year old woman is at a SickPuppies/Hinder/Staind/3 Doors Down concert and than either slit your throat with my new CD or find a pencil and offer to show you a magic trick.

The Shining Example For Tomorrow's Writers... May All Gods Have Pity On Them

Are you in a bad mood? Could you use some sarcasm? Are you amazed at the atrocities that are becoming the examples for future writers? Do you think the Twilight series took a tail-dive, burst through hell, located a worm-hole, and did the whole thing over again for the next three books? Are you disgusted with Mary-Sue protagonists? Do you wish to see the mocking of Mary-Sue protagonists? Do you want to see what just made my day?

Then go forth and read. Read and laugh and pray the quality of literature improves before we loose an entire generation of potential writers to anti-plots, unbelievable protagonists, helpless female leads, uber-heroes, thesaurus abuse, and more cliches than you can shake a stick at.

"'Twilight' Sucks... And Not in a Good Way" by Kellen Rice
"Twilight: A Follow-up, and a Promise" by Kellen Rice

Back to School: A Quick Rant On Classes And Proffs

Washington State University is officially two days into its Fall 2008 semester and even after the standard first class syllabus/class intro I've already formed some strong opinions on each of them.

Bio 352- Cell Physiology: Class content is about what I expected, as I've taken...I dunno how many classes that cover the basics of this. Now I'll get to go into the super fine details of all of this! The biggest up point is that the Proff has been teaching it for years and I've heard nothing but good things about his classes.

AS 285- Rights and Welfare of Animals: This'll count towards nothing in either my major or minor but I decided to take it anyways because it sounded interesting. I forgot that I'm a ZOOLOGY major in my junior year. No offence to Animal Science majors, I love you all, but I'm used to the hard science aspects of biology. Plus this is being "taught like a 200 level class" which means I end up craving deep/difficult discussions by the end of it. Its an ethics class as well, so there is no right or wrong so long as you can give accurate, well worded justification. This is my "To drop if I get overwhelmed" class.

Bio 321- Animal Development: the lecture left me a bit apprehensive because the instructor seemed a bit too nervous and unorganized to have taught the course before. The TA, whom I met today, however makes up for that in spades. She's experiences, knowledgeable, and very interested in talking with us and making sure we understand everything. However, with class and lab combined I have 6 exams for that class alone to worry about. X_x

UH 330- Intro to Ancient Greek Literature and Culture: Very interesting topic and a very experienced teacher. I'm REALLY looking forward to this class despite the massive amounts of reading required. The one drawback is the presence of one of "Those People" in the class. By "Those People" I mean the ones who feel the need to argue with the professor about everything and think that they're more knowledgeable/smarter etc. All I have to say to him is this: If you already know so much about Greek Literature and Culture, why are you taking a class on it? Go expand your knowledge banks and leave my class to learn in peace.

Poli S 198- Intro Poli Sci Honors: I instantly fell in love. The instructor is very relaxed with us and keeps us interested. He knows his stuff and has changed the purpose of the class from "Intro to American Govt." to "Intro to Democracy" and is allowing us to create our own opinions. VERY excited about this class.

UH 398-Thesis Proposal: What have I signed myself up for? The instructor reminds me of a crazy creative writing teacher I had. This frightens me. We has someone from the Libraries come to show us how to search on the library system. He couldn't type without looking at his fingers for the letters and I had to suggest using the "back" button to get back to the library front page. Seriously. What have I signed up for? But I need to pressure to get working on my thesis. Not that this really counts as pressure. I'm thinking of it as incentive to get my adviser ASAP to get out of the class before the semester ends.

All in all, I'm in for an interesting semester...gods all help me.

And the day is good...

Yes, the day is officially good. The Old Navy Denim sale was today, three pairs of jeans for $36--only 6 more than one pair at normal price. I enjoyed some Starbucks chai afterwards and talked plots and characters and weapons (and weirded out anybody who was eavesdropping in the middle of the mall) with Leah. I donated Plasma which is somehow helping me not get headaches as often. I got an Iced Starbucks drink for $2.16 (Praise be for treat receipts) on my way home and deposited a check. I just heard someone from my apartments yell out "Why am I on fire?!" And I finished another photoshop project, at bottom of post: a character profile for one of my new characters in the new RPG I just started with my friends (TECHNICALLY happened yesterday). On top of this, payday and the first day of classes is monday.

All of this puts me in a very good mood. :DAnd now for my art critique: I honestly had very little idea what I was doing here. I don't draw people very much. I know his eyes are a bit...off and his ear is fugly, and the shadows are off too, but this is more for my amusement than anything else. Yes, I do realize Isamu here looks a bit like a lion. I realized that when I started coloring, but I'd already designed him and didn't want to change it. Please excuse his ugly excuse for clothes. It made more sense and looked better in my head. I don't draw clothes on people very well...

Welcome to Pullman, Be Prepaired to Evacuate

So Pullman was hit with a HUGE storm last night. With thunder that made my apartment vibrate like a tuning fork. That was very cool, not to meantion it got rid of all the nasty heat and pressure and whatnot that had been building. Lights were flickering, cell phone reception was going crazy, and the people in the apartment across the way from us were out on their balcony cheering and rating the blasts of lightning. The whole time this is happening I'm catching up on In Plain Sight and Paranormal State like the nerd I am.

What I didn't know was that apparently Pullman was on a tornado watch.

Huh.

We're also expected to have more storms moving through tonight and tomorrow.

I seem to recall this happening last year around now too. August must be "Crazy-ass weather" month this side of the mountains.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Trailer

Well, Its official. Young Tom Riddle=Damien from the Omen. Voldemort is officially the son of the devil and scares the CRAP out of me. Its little kids like this who make me HATE all children.

Gah...

Vacation corodes brain-mouth filter

Seriously, just a few new quotes from me, my sisters, Chelsea and Hannah, Selena, and her sister, Madelyn, in the past few days include:

Dad: "Here are some chips to snack on!"
Me: (harshly) "We're not hungry!"

Me: (to Chelsea) "Are you communing with the fire?"

Me:"I don't really like marshmallows."
Selena: "Me neither."
Madelyn: "You two are sinful."

Hannah: "I think my feet are turning purple, should I get out of the water?"
Selena: "You're a big girl, you can keep track of your own hypothermia."

Me: (to waves while body surfing) "Your Kung-fu is weak!"

There are more but I'm rather distracted by my sunburns and can't think of them now.

This little piggy...

I finished a photoshop project! HUZZAH! Here it is, a random pig doodle rendered in photoshop CS3. I think its cute. :3
Yeah, and the background was just so I could use a bunch of flourish brushes I downloaded... ^_^

Art dump! Huzzah!

Been sketching and doodling on computer paper while sitting and watching TV. Here are just a few of the things that randomly appeared...

An ANBU with really screwed up feet...I should bully my roommate into posing for a picture so I can at least get human anatomy and positioning right...

My sword which is just chilling in the living room next to our DVD collection. I actually did half-assed shading too! Go me!Ok, so this one's been sitting around a while, but whatever. Its Moriko! Just kinda sitting somewhere... I've got no clue...
A Pig! Its cute and I'm going to re-do this on Photoshop sometime...
And a hand which was mostly an up close study for the ANBU I did earlier, but the wrong hand. Again with some partial shading. Woot.

And yes, I do realize I'm a dork, but I can't help what I start to doodle. These are only like 1/3 of the total doodles I've done recently, but these are the clearest ones, sooo... :)

Off to pack for my weekend in Seattle!

Dark Knight = an ABSOLUTE must see (on pain of death by lack of awsomeness and adrenaline)

Yes it is 2:55 in the morning. Yes I realize I'm insane, but

OH

MY

GOD

and I'm not religious!

The Dark Knight is the best movie I've seen in forever.

See it or suffer.

More once I don't feel ready to pass out...

Again, OH MY GOD.

Praise be movie junkies at BioMedics

It never fails to amuse me that no matter how boring work is in the morning (although this is getting better as I'm getting further into The Lord of The Rings on my iPod--I'm to Bree finally! Tom Bombadil scares me, and hearing his rhymes aloud makes me want to whimper) I can always count on a good movie to be playing down at the BioMedics plasma center I donate at. Every Monday and Saturday I get to stretch out and have a ginormous needle shoved into my arm and enjoy many a good comedy or 'I-haven't-seen-this-in-ages!' movie (extra points for Nightmare Before Christmas being played last time I went in). I know that doesn't sound too relaxing, but I'm really weird and somehow chatting with the guy sticking me with a needle and watching movies makes me relax. It could be something to do with some side affect of the anti-coagulant they use but...whatever.

Back on topic. Today I caught the last 1/3 of Joe Dirt, which is amusing but not that good of a movie, although I'm fond of the whole "I'll stab you in the face with a soldering iron" bit at the end. After that, they all proved to be the most awsome movie fans and put Empire Records in, which I hold as one of the essential movies for any teenager to see along with Ferris Buler's Day Off and Princess Bride.

All that needs to be said is... "Attention Rex Manning fans! To your left you'll see a shoplifter being chased by night-manager, Lucas. This young man will be caught, deep-fried in a vat of hot oil, and served to our first 100 customers. Just another tasty treat from the gang at Empire Records."

New Media

So I've FINALLY got my hands on a working copy of Photoshop and started to teach myself how to use it. This will take a while. As a project to work on while I'm learning I took one of my doodles for my still in progress painting and scanned it. This is what I've got so far:

Does any car I drive have a neon target on it?

Seriously! Not two years ago I'm in a hit-and-run, which leaves my car disabled in the middle of the road. No injuries or anything, just my car battery jumping out of its spot. And just today a freekin' Semi truck backs into me and pushes me into another car, which is then pushed into one more car.

Its not like I wasn't initially a good distance back from the car at the stop sign, I was a full car length back. I don't like semis.

Its not like I, and the other cars behind me, and the pedestrians on the sidewalk weren't yelling and blaring our horns. Oh, believe me, we were.

Luckily the only damage done to Edna are some paint scratches and a busted headlight wiper (which i don't know if it worked anyways).

It did however leave me in a bad mood.

Police report is being filed, insurance was exchanged, and I seriously just want my bad day to end.

Parting Gifts

We extracted our DNA today in lab. It was really easy. We also got to take our DNA with us, in little plastic necklaces. We also got little temporary tattoos that say: "I love your DNA" I haven't used mine yet.

In other news, I finished my lab report. Its just barely under the 15 page limit (by 3 lines). Spell-check is the tool of the devil when you need to write a biology paper though. For example, my two unknown organisms were Enterococcus faecalis and Enterobacter aerogenes. Those are spelled right, despite what my computer says.

I'm off to watch TV and relax now (Finally!).

Two days left.

A Procrastinator's Rant on the Mechanisms Behind Population Blood Type Distribution

Trying to avoid working on my 'Unknown Report' for Micro. I've got my flow chart done. It took me 3 hours and is crazy. This is one of my many things to do when avoiding writing a 10-15 page paper on lab procedures that's not due till Thursday... On with procrastination!

Classes are almost done. I just need to get through fridays' finals and I'm in the clear. YES! ONE MORE LECTURE, ONE DAY OFF, AND....damnit...2 finals...and the damn paper. I've sworn to myself I won't play the Sims2 tonight because I'll get sucked into it so easily, especially with the new skins I found that prove I am the biggest nerd ever...

Did you know that the best way to get through a day at your monotonous work is to put audiobooks on your iPod? It's working great for me, especially because my normally very pissy iPod is cooperating. I've got Michael Crichton, JRR Tolkien, and CS Lewis keeping me entertained while I find more books to distract myself with. :D

Nori, my TA confused me in class today. We're talking about blood typing and will get to type ourselves on Thursday (even though I already know mine). She was talking about population distributions of blood types and said O type was the most common. What she forgot to say was that O+ is the most common, then A+, then...I'm not sure...but I do know that what I was thinking about, my blood type O-, is pretty rare. The whole Rh + or - thing kinda makes a big difference... 38% of the population...versus 7%...hmmmm.... that's, what, almost 1/3 of the national population?

Do you know why O+ blood types are so common and AB- is the least common? Its because, O+ blood types have the most circulating antibodies in their blood. They have antibodies against A and B type blood cells (or more specifically the markers on it) and have circulating Rh antibodies. All three of these will not only kill any A, B, or AB marked cells, but any antigens that resemble A, B, or AB marked cells. The same is true in reverse for AB-. They have the least circulating antibodies in their blood and are more at risk of getting an antigen infection. The reason O+ blood types aren't even more numerous is that O blood type is a recessive trait, while A and B types are both dominant.

Another fun thing is that Plasma donor-recipient patterns are reversed from blood donor-recipient patterns. AB type is the universal plasma donor and O is the universal plasma recipient. Probably because of circulating antibodies in plasma (which isn't a big deal in blood transfusions because the concentration of antibodies from the donor to recipient blood type is so low). This still doesn't give me enough reason to not get some extra cash by donating plasma instead of blood. I'm a college student. I don't even own a car. I need money.

Yes, I do realize that was a total nerd rant right there...I'm sorry. I'm a science geek... [sigh]. Maybe I'll go write the introduction to my paper...

It is a good day...

Its a friday. It was sunny. I finished lab early. I finished work early. I went to Old Navy. I got an iced chai. Otter pops and lemonade when I got home and an awesome dinner of steak. :D Am now enjoying fresh cantaloupe and watching the Labyrinth. Sara's a whiny bitch and the goblins are awesome and cute.

LABYRINTH - Envy by *Pika-la-Cynique on deviantART

One of us...

I need to go watch Labyrinth now, seriously...

Curse you guilt tripping e-mails! CURSE YOU!

I just got back from donating plasma, which has become a 3rd source of income for me, and there in my inbox is an e-mail from the Inland Northwest Blood Center, where I donated blood during the school year, asking specifically for O negative donors to come in ASAP because blood banks are low O negative blood.

I feel horrible, because I kinda need the extra cash I get for donating plasma, but I feel so much better giving whole blood. If i do go donate blood, i'll have to drive to Moscow and then not donate plasma for 8 weeks, which would cost me over $400.

Curse my recessive blood type... and curse my stupid conscience which just reared its head. Why can't more than 7% of the human population be O- ? Seriously...

Sorry INBC, but I need money, and I don't have a car. If you had a center in Pullman, maybe I'd help you out.

Now I feel like a horrible human being...

Damn...

Not Amused

This is me:

I am not amused.

'Why is that?' you ask.

This was yesterday's weather.

60 and alternating between rain and sun.

I can live with that, I'm from Seattle.

this was the weather today from 5 something in the morning 'til noon:

Yes, that is indeed snow. Somewhere between 1 and 2 inches fell today.

This is what it did to our tomatoes:

It killed them... or at the very least wounded them. :(

This is what happened to some of the other plants in Pullman:

And the next person to ask "Where's that Global Warming?" is going to get mauled. Please, for the love of whatever deity you prefer, think before you ask that question to a science major. They'll just tell you that Global Warming is a part of a massive world-wide climate change, and Pullman's horrible weather is just a small piece of that. Only, other science majors may give you the long-winded version that'll make you want to shove a pencil in your ear, but still.

Oh, and if anyone even DARES whining about the rainy weather in Seattle to me, I will kill them. It didn't snow there, you've no right to bitch.

Pictorial Rant: Done

Gooood Morning Pullman! And now for your weather....

If you want to prove that the weather of the world is f-ed up, look to Pullman this morning where it is currently SNOWING. Need I remind you that it is June 10th? At the very least, said snow isn't sticking [knocks on wood].

Now, I get to walk to work this morning so I need to pull out warm clothing, and damn it all! What are all the sirens about?!

Rawr...

Thank you Nori, for awsome Micro quotes...

"E. coli is kind of a beast."

Which it is. I honestly think its the hardiest bacteria we've used. It grows in almost ANY condition.

"Shigella flexneri causes Montezuma's Revenge type dysentery. If you're playing Oregon Trail and someone dies of dysentary... its probably Shigella! So, lets not splatter it around people."

Hearing a TA reference Oregon Trail in a 300 level science class made my day. Thank you so much Nori, you are the most kick ass TA ever.

The Sun Has Retreated!

It was summer...what happened?

To quote my roommate: "while it is going to be rainy and cold for the foreseeable future, at least it is neither a) snowing, or, b)incinerating us."

She has a very good point...but being stuck in limbo sucks, especially when the weather is determined by Murphy's Law: the one day you decide not to wear your raincoat, it pours.

Oh, and we can probably count on lots of wheat crop death over here in the Palouse thanks to fungi getting an opportunity to grow in the cold and damp, which won't help our economic dilemma one bit.

Thank you Pullman. And thank you human race for screwing up the planet.

Houston, I think we have a problem.

Snakes are stupid

I'm bored and watching History Channel, some Indiana Jones ish show about real life archeology. A very fun quote: "Snakes are stupid, scorpions run away, tarantulas are cute, and mosquitoes are killers."

:D

fun.

I'm off to study micro. x_x

Random Manga Rant...

So, yeah. I'm getting pretty pissed off at Kishimoto and his ridiculously complicated plot. I'm getting so sick with the Uchiha clan and their stupid Sharingan. SERIOUSLY. Plus the whole "You are stronger than I originally thought, but it is no use. I shall now unleash my true Powah!" God damn it all. Shut up, and act like real ninjas! Kill each other quickly and sneakily. I am also waiting for Naruto to get fed up with his stuck-up, traitorous, jack-ass of a "best friend" who, lets see, shoved his HAND through his CHEST to try and gain power, and kick his ass to the moon for being an sulky idiot.

RAWR!

I also want to know why we had the big-ol' revelation on who Naruto's parents are some, oh ten or twenty chapters ago besides the fact that it needed to be mentioned before Jiraiya kicked it [ :'( ]. Although, anyone with half a brain could make the connection between Naruto and Yondaime (Seriously, how many blonde haired people are in the series?), but I hold that this fact alone gives Naruto SO much more potential than Sasuke (Oh, so your father tried to perform a coup in Konoha and failed? Yeah, mine stopped a 100-foot-tall rampaging Biju by using his own life.) and that's without a bored demon lord being sealed in his stomach.

[sigh]

So, yeah, I'm waiting for some serious Uchiha ass-kickage and can't wait until we FINALLY return to the MAIN CHARACTER.

Rant done.

The Trees Have Eyes

So, there I was, walking to work and minding my own business when I look up and find that the trees are staring at me. My first thought--which wasn't at all rational--is "Holy FRICK! Evil demon trees with eyes!" Second thought--slightly more rational--"did the art students get bored?" Third though--completely rational--"Oh, I think that's how they always are..."

Yeah, the only excuse I have is that it was a long day...

As an added bonus for reading this moment of randomness...prettyful pictures from the drive back across Washington to the MoFN AKA Pullman. all taken through car window in the rain with camera phone, so sorry for bad resolution etc.

I love Seattle

Seriously.

Driving by a gas station and seeing: "Sarcasm is your bodies natural defense against stupidity" on the sign made my day.

Praise be Seattle.

Yondaime Gaiden--because I'm cool

So, yeah, this is one of my favorite online comics/fancomics ever: Yondaime Gaiden. Kunoichi-san's style is exactly that of the real Naruto Manga, of which I am a huge fan, I'll admit (although chapters lately are making me irritated). So, yeah, give it a read here! By the way, the icon, its there because I felt like it. No other reason.

:3

Huzzah Science Nerds!

I'm not sure if I've gushed over my Micro class enough, because I love it, and all the random shit I'm learning. Once you get over the fact that in 3 weeks of class we're still working on basic anatomy of Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic cells , learning about all the bacteria and viruses that cause disease is fun. Although, I can see how this class would make anyone misophobic, I mean yeah, we all know that "germs" are everywhere, (and they are) and mostly thanks to our BRILLIANT plan to keep everything squeaky clean and the overuse of antibiotics we are in fact creating more and more antibiotic resistant bacteria.

But, before you go and scrub down the counters and flip out, remember, we've survived how long without the use of antibiotics? Seriously.

You do have to marvel at how good at surviving prokaryotes are though, they're everywhere and in everything and have managed to adapt and evolve and even pass their antibiotic resistance between species. Thats really cool!

Yes, I really am a science geek.

And my roommates insane giggling over fanfiction is starting to frighten me... time to go hide in my room and pack for a weekend at home in Seattle.

:)

Allison? Why do you own a sword?

Well, my random purchase of an unsharpened full sized katana has turned out to be a good investment. Not for combat or anything like that, but for retrieving scissors from behind refrigerators. I'm sure I'll be yelled at for improper use of a sword, but it worked. :D

In other news, my Mirco exam sucked, or at least the essay/FIB portion. I'm also once again out of things to read and will be stopping by a bookstore ASAP to try and remedy that.

A Smith away!

Seasonal bipass

Well, its summer, and we've completely missed spring. Its in high 80's to low 90's for the past few days which makes walking to class HELL. The only good thing is that the tomatoes we have planted and our basil is sprouting. Huzzah!

My microbiology class is fun but i've got an exam tomorrow, which i don't want to take. Blargh. I just want to sleep.

I also haven't worked on my painting at all. Which makes me a bit sad, but it will, eventually get done.

worst way to wake up...

it has happened before. Its never pretty. There were some interesting noises, swear words, and the throwing of heavy objects. Looming isn't appreciated.

One down...

Calculus Final is over and done with. No more finals until Friday, but i need to start studying ASAP. HATE finals. Didn't work much on my painting this weekend, was too lazy. Its also WARM outside, which is strange and should only last another day or so. Blargh. I need to sleep.

Huzzah for ART!

This is the idea I had, you can't see too much of the details, but scale patternings are like the moon. Painting is in the "current project" sidebar!

Oh Supernatural...how I've missed you...

Seriously, my thursdays haven't been complete without loud parties across the way and Sam and Dean Winchester kicking supernatural ass. As well as the glorious crack lines that always seem to appear.

"You've got to be gay for that poor, dead, intern."

Tis glorious. Hee... Ghostfacers...oh the nerds... And as an added bonus! The Winchester boys to drool over!