And my holiday, whatever you celebrate, present to you, dear reader, is a delicious recipe for brownies. Adapted from a recipe I found at Craving Chronicles which was in turn adapted from OvenHaven, I give you my spin on Peanut Butter and Nutella Brownies.
These brownies have a delicious chocolate flavor along with just a hint of peanut butter and hazelnut flavors. The ratios I finally came up with make a chewy, fudgy brownie that stays together well when cutting.
Mmm...these were consumed soon after this photo was taken.
Ingredients: ½ cup butter, melted 1 cup sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 eggs ½ cup all-purpose flour ½ cup cocoa powder ¼ teaspoon baking powder Pinch of salt 2 tbsp peanut butter (chunky, smooth, whatever you have on hand) 4 tbsp Nutella
Ed. Note: You can also double this recipe and bake it in a 9×13 inch pan.
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 8×8 inch or 7×11 inch pan with baking parchment paper/tin foil or butter the pan.
2. Measure the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt into a small bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Stir the sugar into the melted butter. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and mix until combined.
4. Put the Nutella and peanut butter in a small bowl and microwave until runny (about 30 seconds). Fold into brownie mix. Barely mixing creates streaks of peanut butter/Nutella flavor, but you can completely mix for a more uniform taste.
5. Pour batter into pan and bake for 20-25 minutes, until top forms a crust. A toothpick should come out mostly clean, with maybe a few crumbs hanging on.
I know I said no posts till finals were over, but this was too good to not share. For study breaks, I treat myself to a little Cracked humor. I watched several episodes of Michael Swaim's Cracked TV and had to watch some of his sketch troupe's work. Here's one of my favorites so far by Those Aren't Muskets!
I just feel like Hollywood will take notice and take this as the basis for the next tech thriller.
So, it's finals season. And that means no possibility for posts for the next few weeks. If I never post again, you will know that it's because I was slain by the mighty Analytical Chemistry monster. This is the class where the average for the weekly quiz was around a 70 or so until we hit solubility. Then the average plummeted to a 55 for the online quiz and 3 out of 10 for the in-class quiz. And for some reason, the professor sees nothing wrong with this. May the deity of each person's choice help us all. Peace and love (and video games if we're lucky...)
I'm very sorry that I haven't been posting more often. To give you an idea why, here's a typical day in the life of an Engineering Chemistry student.
7:30 AM (or really, 1 hour before my first class, no matter what time): Alarm sounds. Wake up! 7:35 AM: Mute alarm. Snooze for another 10 minutes 7:45 AM: Shower, grab a quick 5 minute breakfast 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM: Lectures/Labs. If not in either one of those, eating Lunch/reading for class 5:30PM-6:30PM: Post-school doldrums. Completely unproductive while snacking/watching TV 6:30PM-7:30PM: Theoretically: Homework-first wave Actually: Procrastination while thinking "I should be doing homework." 7:30PM-8:30PM: Dinner! A perfectly good excuse to not be working on schoolwork. 8:30PM-???: Doing homework/labs. Start off with things due next week and get a decent beginning. When nearing the ??? mark, realize "OH CRAP THIS IS DUE TOMORROW" and quickly hammer something out (usually finishing something you started last week or studying for a quiz that you completely forgot about) ???-7:30 AM(or one hour before first class)
And the cycle repeats. As you can see my day consists of eating, sleeping, and schoolwork/procrastination. I am feeling pretty tired since ??? fluctuates between from before midnight to 2 in the morningf. But then, I get into science-mode and sciencey stuff appears in my labs (and I end up getting good grades). My friend put it this way:
"You are a computer. Usually functionally retarded, but feed enough crap into you and stuff happens"
Yeah. In the meantime, enjoy this xkcd comic about scientists.
I recently found two webcomics that I really enjoy. What separates them from my regular list of comics is that they are not drawn, they are comprised of photographs. The first, Surviving the World is a daily dose of common and uncommon wisdom. Straight from the Fred Paulson Institute in Wincheck City, Pennsylvania, Dante Shepard shares his musings on life and answers questions from readers.
Lesson #482 - The Walk of Shame
The other one I found is a German photocomic called Union of Heroes which follows the adventures of Marc, who was just a regular guy in our world. Now, he has been pulled to an alternate universe to replace his double, the superhero Erzengel (archangel). Plus, there's a girl who is always dying for someone else and a madman who thinks he's Ares, the God of War. With some nifty special effects, Union of Heroes does a fine job of creating an alternate universe where superheroes exist.
So, I just discovered a new website to procrastinate with. It's Lamebook , pulling all of the insanity of Facebook into one wonderful time-wasting site. If you click, you will not be able to resist looking at more pages. I'm treating it as a study into the slowly degenerating ability for people to type properly and have a bit of self control about what they share with the world. On the issue of people losing the ability to type properly, I understand text-talk. When you are typing a message with your number pad, it's perfectly acceptable to abbreviate to make messages easier and faster to send. But when you are in front of a computer with a full keyboard? Take the time and effort to type full coherent words. In fact, l33t 5p3@k probably takes more brain to type in than regular english. Here's a shining example.
My brain hurts just from looking at it.
Yeesh. Anyway, go ahead and check out Lamebook, just be sure to do it when you have some time to spare!
Whenever I need internet and am not at home, I take out my laptop and it scans for wifi networks. Most names are pretty mundane like "BELL645" or the always present "linksys." Sometimes people get slightly creative and name their network "____family network" or "Ladybug." Sometimes people insult other people like "u suck balls kyle." Then, there are the ones so awesome/bizarre that they required real inspiration. Near my house I have "Your mom's a transformer" and "Raptors." I have also seen "Spaceship." On the internet, people have told of networks called "Gryffindor Tower" (password? Check your HP books!) or "Your_Mom" (that's what she said!). Kind of makes me want to change my network to something equally awesome.
In other news, I really wish mother nature would make up her mind. I was all ready for the cold weather to come with new boots and gloves. It was near freezing outside. Then suddenly the weather turned around and turned into balmy 60 degree Fahrenheit with a light breeze and sunshine. I didn't even need a jacket. MAKE UP YOUR MIND PLEASE! Ok, time to stop procrastinating on my mountain of work and actually do it.
And because I cannot resist another David Caruso-esque one-liner, I bring to you from XKCD...
is fashion. Though you wouldn't guess from the way I dress (jeans, sweatshirt, t-shirt, running shoes, etc.). My guilty pleasures are watching What Not to Wear on TLC and looking at the photo spreads on Yahoo!'s OMG! (so! many! exclamation marks!!!!!!) That said, I just like looking, I'm not really planning on incorporating any of the fashion do's and don'ts into my everyday wardrobe. I simply like passing judgement. Oh, and What Not to Wear has governed some of my work clothes choices. The reason I bring this up is that I feel the need to put my $0.02 out into the internet. There are a few fashions that I cannot stand seeing on otherwise pretty women. 1. Booties They cut off your leg. They make your feet look like hooves. You are not a horse. You are a proud member of homo sapiens, thank you very much.
Ms. Sharapova is very pretty in her dress until her feet transform into hooves.
2. Jumpsuits It's very easy. Instant coordination, no? JUST PUT THE EFFORT INTO FINDING PANTS AND A SHIRT. It creates weird lines.
Amber Rose, please leave something to the imagination.
Now, admittedly, there can be classy jumpsuits, like Jessica Simpson's.
But, still.
Aaah why did I post it again?!?
3. Crocs I don't mind crocs. If you find them comfortable, by all means, wear them around the house or in the garden. If you're on your feet at work and are behind a counter, then go for it. And if you must wear them out in town, please, just get them in non-neon colors. I really want to see your face, not have my eyes dragged to the neon monstrosities on your feet.
None of these colors are allowed. MY EYES! THEY BURN!
Lately, I have been obsessed with CSI:Miami. More specifically, with David Caruso's one-liner right before the opening credits and The Who's rock scream. I found this gem linked to on a Ctl-Alt-Del newspost.
It's amazing, I know. You should also check out the CAD comic inspired by Mr. Caruso's awesomeness. Finally, I stumbled onto this object of hilarity. Click on the links. You know you want to.
Ok, so tomorrow is actually my first day of classes. My schedule's pretty killer with 4 lab courses within a total of 7 courses. I'm in class/lab for over 30 hours every week. Oddly enough, I'm pretty excited to be back in school. I think summer was wonderful, but school has its place in my heart as well. These past few days were frosh week here at uni and I played a special role in them. I was a "plant" in a frosh group, an upper year pretending to be a frosh in order to make sure the frosh were comfortable and having fun. It was a blast to pretend to be a froshie, but it made me realize how much I have changed since I was a frosh last year. I feel much older and wiser and am glad to pass on my little tidbits of knowledge to my frosh group. All the frosh I met were nervous but happy to be at university, and I tried to add just a little more enthusiasm to all the frosh I met. It was a great time. Here's hoping everything starts well.
So, this upcoming week is Frosh week at University, then it's back to school. My schedule is pretty killer (4 labs, ugh) but I am still pretty pumped. All the froshies are moving in and I'm all moved into my new place, so things are pretty awesome. One thing that's not as awesome is the fact that I lack internet in my new place and will lack it until the 14th of this month. The void in my life is surprising. I didn't realize that the internet was such an integral part of my day. However, this has had a nice side effect, being that I have been spending more time with my friends and going out to experience the world. I went rock climbing, saw a movie (The Final Destination IN 3-D!) and just had fun. Oh, and the movie was fun, but silly. My friend wanted to see me scared and he just got "mildly disgusted." Just stealing internets from campus for now. Plus, now I have a valid excuse for not posting more often. This comic pretty much sums it up. Peace and love.
So, my family went on a wonderful trip to Las Vegas. I did not gamble, nor did I have any desire to. But, I saw many wonderful things, especially in nature. We did trips out to Red Rock Canyon and the Grand Canyon. Both were beautiful. You know intellectually that the Grand Canyon is really big, but don't really appreciate it until you stand near the edge and see it for yourself. However, on the whole, I enjoyed Red Rock much more. The Grand Canyon is now much to commercialized. Red Rock had a nice quiet scenic loop with spots for picnicking and looking out over the red rocks. I saw an intrepid bicyclist and someone hiking in the desert. I salute them.
Eagle Point. See the eagle?
I really liked the desert. Where I live has such humid summers, it was great to be in the dry heat. 105+ degrees? No problem, as long as there is a breeze. I also got to see LOVE, the Cirque du Soleil show featuring the Beatle's music. I love the Beatles and their music, and owned the music before seeing the show. The performance was spectacular, showcasing both the performers' talents as well as the music. I highly recommend both the show and the album. You will love how they have taken the old music and transformed it while keeping true to the original spirit.
Stumbleupon. A wonderful invention, a horrific one. It can suck you in and hold you captive at your keyboard for hours on end. Or, it can show you new wonders. This is one of those wonders.
This is from A Bit of Fry and Laurie, a sketch comedy show from the BBC which aired from 1989 to 1995, starring two of my favorite actors Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry. I was cracking up while watching it. And yes, Michael Jackson was the butt of many jokes and will be for years to come. Just imagining Jackson in a tweed suit is enough to make me smile.
So, today was pretty awesome. One of the first news stories I read was that the Massachusetts Historical Society will be making John Quincy Adams' diary a twitter account. Apparently, the late president made very concise diary entries. For example, from August 15, 1809, "Weather fine-- wind scanty. Lat: 44-13. Long: 53-40. This afternoon I found the Caboose on fire."
HE FOUND THE CABOOSE ON FIRE
This is a man who has mastered the art of the understatement. Follow his tweets at http://twitter.com/JQAdams_MHS
And in other news, I have rediscovered that I really love the Beatles' Yellow Submarine Movie. I watched it with subtitles on for the benefit of my friend who speaks English as her second language so that she could get the puns. And, I discovered a few puns that I had missed before I watched it this time around. It was awesome.
And, I discovered BACON BANDAGES. Not actual bacon acting as a bandage (that would be silly) but bacon-printed bandages. I MUST AQUIRE THESE!
baconbaconbaconbacon
You can get them yourself at http://fredflare.com. This site has many amazing discoveries for you to peruse.
So...another month without a post. I'm lame, I know. But, this past week has given me more things about whom I thought, "Hm, that would make a good blog post." Item 1: White noise White noise is the background noise that comes from your environment. Birds singing or a radio that's constantly on are examples. My family was eating dinner outside, and our constant gripe is our neighbor's air conditioning unit. It is REALLY noisy and is ALWAYS on. We suspect he either doesn't know that it's noisy and on all the time or knows, but is not in a position to do anything about it. But, after eating for a while, we realized that we had tuned it out. Its noise had become white noise. Everyone adapts. Item 2: I'm finishing up work this week and have loved every minute of it. However, a few weeks ago, the project I was working just stopped working. It was going...and then it stopped. We were just like *shrug* let's try again. And then it got worse and worse..."AAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!" just about sums up everyone's feelings. But, hopefully we have eliminated all possible variables but one. And, looking back, this process was more educational than just blindly accepting that it works. I had to look up how the process worked and understand it in order to figure out where it went wrong. Sometimes a setback is a lesson in disguise. Item 3: I am a regular peruser of Cracked.com. I think it's very funny and put up with all the boob and dick jokes because beneath it all...well actually it's just funny. With boob and dick jokes. Anyway, they have a regular video feature called Hate By Numbers by columnist Gladstone. Normally, I only read the articles and avoid the videos. But, this particular HBN caught my eyes and I have to say made me laugh.
And, watching the entire video all the way through, I must agree with all the criticism. Additionally, I cannot believe this was included on the same album as "Boom Boom Pow," a song which is completely different from "I Gotta Feeling." Item 4: Post-it notes are AWESOME.
Okay, so over a month without posts is unusual, but I really only post when I have something interesting to say. I don't want this to devolve into a twitter-like blog where everything that happens to me makes it to the interwebs. That being said, something awesome occurred last night. I went to a rock concert with a friend last night. It was the first time I had seen her since winter break, so it was nice to catch up on stuff. However, that is not the awesome thing I was speaking of. That rock concert I mentioned - not just a rock concert, but a WIZARD rock concert. I had never heard of any of the bands, but went just because of this simple formula. Wizards = cool Rock music = cool Wizards + Rock music = insanely awesomely cool Yes, that is scientific. The music was not great in a musical sense. I wouldn't listen to it for any other reason other than that I can go, "Heh, they're singing about the Whomping Willow..." But, the experience was amazing. People were dressed up, the crowd was excited, and I just got swept away by the enthusiasm. I even got to yell somewhat musically into the microphone! After the show, I got to take photos with Harry and the Potters, one of the founding bands of Wizard Rock. Overall, the entire experience was a complete and total WIN. Woot.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
A few weeks ago, I was in the car with my father listening to public radio. It's just the default radio station in my family. Anyway, it was this program called "Radio Lab" or something like that. They were examining a human being's innate sense of morality. What we instinctively feel towards moral dilemmas. In order to illustrate how the instinct overrides logical reasoning, they put forth what I call the Men on a Rail Problem. Scenario 1: You are watching five men work on a railroad track that diverges into a y-shape. Four are working on one section, the other is working on another section. Next to you is a switch. A train is approaching at high speed and will hit the four men working on the section it is aimed at. However, you can pull the switch, diverting the train to the other section and only hitting one man. Do you pull the lever? Scenario 2: Again, you are watching men working on a railroad track. This time, you are overhead on a bridge a good distance above them. Next to you is a large man. The train is again approaching. If you do nothing, the train will kill all the men on the track. If you push the large man over the edge, it will stop the train and save the workers, only killing the man you pushed. Do you push the man? Ok, so if you answered yes to Scenario 1 and no to Scenario 2, congratulations, you are like most people. It just feels wrong to push a man, yet okay to pull a lever. Logically, both are the same, ending in the death of one man versus many, but one feels okay, one feels very wrong. Seemingly proving instinct overrides logic. BUT I propose that both scenarios are invalid. There is no such thing as a no-win situation (as any answer is in these scenarios). I propose that no matter what you do, no one will die. If these men are able enough to work on the tracks, they are able enough to realize a train is coming and that they should move. Thus averting catastrophe. This experiment is INVALID. In my humble opinion. Reminds me of the Kobayashi Maru scenario in Star Trek. A seemingly no-win situation turned into a win-win situation by a cheat. But, it wasn't really a cheat since the entire scenario was a cheat. Dearie me, I am a nerd. Please forgive my outburst of geek-dom. To be fair, I had seen the new Star Trek movie less than a day before I heard this broadcast. Quoting one of my favorite web-comicers: Rock on and geek out.
This train will kill everyone you love if you don't flip that switch!
Last weekend, I went with my family to see Star Trek for Mother's day (yes, we're that kind of family). It. Was. AWESOME. As previously established, I love Star Trek. Not on the rabid "I'm going to dress up as a Klingon and learn the language" level, but more of a chill "I like watching the show and reading the books" level. Recently on CSI, there was an episode that paid homage to both Star Trek: TOS and the Battlestar Galactica reimagining. One of the main characters scoffed at the fanboys and fangirls until a bartender (one of a wise and empathetic race) opined that if you want to believe in a future where everyone has put aside their differences, is that such a bad thing? I agree, and work to try to make that future a reality. Or, at least the social aspect since warp travel is not in my field of expertise. Anyways, I loved the movie. I loved the casting of the characters, the mannerisms adopted, the new interpretation. And, in true Star Trek form, they side-stepped having to adhere to canon by saying...(Spoilers)...Hey guys! We're in an alternate universe!...(End Spoilers)...That still cracks me up. I must say that I especially liked Karl Urban as Dr. McCoy. He really channeled DeForest Kelley in his mannerisms but still made McCoy his own. Also, Simon Pegg was hilarious as Scotty. One of my favorite moments was after a pregnant pause and Scotty says "I like this ship! It's exciting!" Well, that's mostly the end of my Star Trek rant for now, but one other thing I noticed this week is that when a character is seen typing on a keyboard (and this was on a Hallmark Channel movie from a while ago) and you watch the characters appear on the screen, they typing sounds are sometimes just random clacking noises. No actual correlation between a character appearing and an individual clack. Hm. Live long and prosper.
Recently, I was taken to a dinner party by my grandmother. Conducted entirely in a foreign language. So, I smiled and nodded and clapped when it felt appropriate. But, then came the karaoke. So, a few observations on that. 1. Karaoke should not be done by sober, non-musical people. If you can sing, go ahead and show off. If you cannot, but are drunk, then you are forgiven due to decreased faculties. If you cannot sing and are not drunk, you are willfully subjecting those around you to audio agony. 2. If you must talk across a person at a dining table, do not gesture with utensils near his or her face. This makes the person nervous and could result in an eye injury. 3. When clapping to a song, don't do it halfway. Lazy clapping makes you look like you don't care. If this is so, don't clap, silly. On the other hand, don't be too enthusiastic. It makes you look creepy. Find the balance. 4. I apparently have a sensitivity to a certain volume. When the singer sang a little too loudly into the microphone, my entire body felt the vibration. They must have reached my resonant frequency. Thought: If one finds the resonant frequency of a person, will a sustained sound at that frequency injure them? My thoughts go to odd places. For example, I watched the film version of The Watchmen, which I found to be a most excellent attempt to film something that has long been regarded as unfilmable. However, there is one thing that continues to bother me to this day. WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
OK. So, assuming you have read the graphic novel (recommended) you know that at the end, Silk Spectre II, Nite Owl II, and Rorschach go to confront Ozymandias about his seemingly diabolical plan. At one point in the movie, Silk Spectre gets her hands on a gun and shoots Ozy from about two feet away and aimed directly at his head. He spins around and falls to the ground, clutching his head. The three heroes peer over his body. He then springs up, revealing that he had caught the bullet. His seemingly invincible hands aside, I just cannot stand the utter stupidity of our heroes. When he fell THERE WAS NO BLOOD. I am relatively sure that when you shoot someone, they generally bleed, especially from the head. When you want to kill someone, they should bleed. If not, shoot again. Simple. But apparently too complicated for our "brilliant" heroes who figured out the whole conspiracy anyway.
END OF SPOILERS
Well, that's the end of my rant. And I apologize for the delay in posting, since this was finished and actually published in May. Those initial observations came at 3 in the morning on the listed date, and any thoughts at 3 in the morning should be reviewed when more awake, lest something silly be spread on the interwebs. Because everyone knows that that never happens. And on a side note, I am home for the summer! I did a happy dance and am now in relaxation mode before my job starts. Which hopefully means more idle time to post. Everyone wins!
And while you're here, check out this cool time lapse of some Watchmen murals. Cool stuff.
YAY! I survived my first year at university. And, I'm pretty sure that I passed all of my exams. This is an excellent feeling and makes up for the anxiety and nail-biting that accompanied exams. Now, my only concerns are packing up my room to move out and using up my meal plan. The first must happen, the second is never going to happen. I have over 50 meals left and only three days to use them in. Unless I ate myself sick (highly undesirable) I wouldn't finish off my meal plan. Oh well. Packing is kind of depressing. My walls are bare, my cupboards are empty. I recycled a ridiculous amount of paper. The fact that this year is over is finally hitting me. At the same time, though, I am totally stoked to move into a new house. I'm living with some good friends not too far from campus. I'll actually be on my own, as opposed to the semi-autonomous living I've been experiencing in residence. I'll have to cook, clean, and take care of my room. In rez, meals were cooked for me, cleaning involved vacuuming every once in a while, and anything that broke would be fixed with a quick chat with the janitor. The odd thing is, I'm looking forward to the increased responsibility. It will mean that I can survive on my own, that I'll be able to take care of myself in the future. This is a profound realization. One thing that I hope never happens occurs in this hilarious webcomic, Johnny Wander. Written by Ananth Panagariya (also of Applegeeks) and illustrated by Yuko Ota, it is a comic about life after college, being a kid, growing up and all the people you meet and all the things that happen in that brave new world.
Or it might be about something else entirely.
Check out the ant related horror at:
http://www.johnnywander.com/comics/59
This crow has nothing to do with the ant horror. I'm not sure why it's the mascot of Johnny Wander. In fact, there is no Johnny Wander in the comic. Unless John's last name is Wander...meh.
Aargh, finals season is in full swing. On the one hand, I am lucky since my exams are all spaced out, so I can study for them individually. On the other, I AM CONSTANTLY STUDYING. Unless I'm not. Like now. It's one of those hyperbolic phrases. A friend of mine and I were making hyperboles to de-stress from the exams. Example? Er, I can't rightly recall. But, it was funny. We were in kind of a post-exam stupor. In order to break up the monotony and disprove the above CAPS LOCKED statement, my roommate and I have taken to going to the gym for an hour. It's a lovely, mindless break from redox reactions, proving something is linearly independent, and trying to find the freaking parse error that won't let my program go. I was curious about my weight and hopped on the scale when I went a few days ago. Turns out I've lost weight, defying the freshman 15. Yay! I also ran around and played frisbee with some friends yesterday. The weather has finally turned gorgeous and I'm usually stuck in my room doing practice exams. It felt fantastic just to run around and enjoy the beautiful weather. It's hard to believe that this time next week I'll be packing up my room and preparing to head home. Meh, 'tis the future. My more immediate problem is figuring out electric fields. Why must I integrate in physics?!?!
When seen outside of calculus, this fellow is the harbinger of pure evil.
So, I'm finished all of my classes in my first year of university. Holy crap, I'm nearly 1/4 done my entire university career. O.O Anyway, I was in my last couple of classes for the day and the profs all finish early. That said, I must let you, dear reader, know that I doodle constantly. Nearly every page of notes has at least one doodle on it. Once the profs finished, the doodles began to flow. I drew everything my imagination could think of and a few things that compensated for some of my lack in artistic talent. My doodles grew and mutated. Looking over my notes for exams will be a trip down memory lane, since most of my best ones have funny memories associated with them. One fellow who popped up recently but became a recurring figure in my doodles is the Walrus of Skepticism. First drawn in Calculus, he has become my response to anything bewildering or silly. Other times in Calculus, I have drawn a random person and my friends insist it resembles our prof in various situations. A young man with a jewfro? Jonker in the 80's. A salty sea captain? If Jonker hadn't followed his career counselor's advice. Doodles are a wonderful way to break up the monotony of class. Even if you don't have too much artistic talent, draw anyway! For a while, I was drawing stick figures and trying to give them personalities with as few accessories as possible. So, go draw! Now!
Really, who needs power series? Not the Walrus of Skepticism!
My oh my, I'm updating a lot. Recently, a friend of mine issued a one-page prose challenge. I don't usually write, but I figured this would be a nice study break. I banged this out in 20 minutes or so. Perhaps not quality, but this was fun!
The Plumber A one page prose piece that is simply meant as a piece of fanfic and is very sorry if it infringes upon anyone's rights so stop reading the subtitle and start reading the story!
The plumber raced on. Which was a bit odd, since a normal day involved lying still underneath sinks and the like. But, normal had gone out the window many years ago. Nowadays, it seemed like all he did was race around fields, pipes, dungeons, castles … constantly harassed by mushrooms and turtles. He knew those years of experimentation in college would come back to haunt him. Up ahead were some floating boxes. The plumber had learned long ago to stop questioning why the boxes were floating. They just did. He jumped, banged his head on the box, and a coin appeared in his pocket. Years ago, he had wondered how this worked, but simply ended up with a worse headache. He was simply driven by the need to collect theses coins and reach the end. Days were just so similar. Life was getting terribly boring. Run, stomp on mushrooms, kick turtle shells, eat mushrooms of questionable origin (since if this was a bad trip, one of these may snap him out of it). That was life, along with collecting coins. He fingered a few in his pocket contemplatively, wondering what his ultimate goal was. The plumber had been running for so long, he was beginning to forget why. Just then, he saw what had long symbolized the end! A flagpole loomed on the horizon. He put on an extra spurt of energy, seeing if he could leap over the pole, though he had failed many times before. Airborne, he reached for the flag, knowing if he missed, his hands would throb for days on end. Catching the flag, he fell, landing gently in a perfected move. He marched on to the castle, hoping this one would be the correct one. Wait. What was he looking for? He had defeated that mutant turtle thing for a reason…maybe that friendly mushroom-hatted guy will mention it? “Thank you, Mario! But our princess is in another castle!” Dammit.
I glanced at the side of my Facebook page today. You know, the place where there are ads targeted towards you. Facebook is very specific since you can input all sorts of demographic information that the ad companies love. I enjoy trying to figure out why I'm being targeted by specific ads. It's what I do.
Here's today's:
Queen's Student Storage
Duh. Term's ending soon and we need to put our stuff somewhere.
Two Sketchy dating sites
Okay. So I'm single. Big whoop. It's not like I'm desperate enough to click on these links.
Furnished 5 bedroom homes. In Edmonton.
I live nowhere near Edmonton. WHY DO YOU WANT ME TO LIVE IN EDMONTON?
Classical Masterclasses
I played the violin once upon a time. I think it's still listed in interests.
Meh. According to my ads, I'm a Queen's student, desperately single, looking to move to Edmonton, and needing to improve my violin skills. Not terribly accurate.
You don't know me! And I intend to keep it that way.
I pride myself on being a particularly articulate person. Apparently, I even enunciate when I swear. However, I must admit a certain seduction that lolspeak and l33t speak have with me. The ability to compress an emotion or action into a few simple characters is amazing. Some have even begun to pervade spoken language. I like lulz quite a bit. It conveys a somewhat sarcastic yet sincere emotion. Using Stumbleupon, I came across a gem of a story told without words. I now retell it.
Samurai on the toilet A Film by Takeshi Kitano
(>_<) (o_o) (0_0) (^_^) The End Copyright 1970
Just the thing to brighten my day. That and this cute picture of a hedgehog lolling.
Reflecting on the past week, for every up there was nearly always a down. I had two midterms in two days. However, I think I did fairly well on both. I did not get the position I was seeking. However, some of my friends did and I can always try for another position for that same time period. I lost my ipod in physics class. Perhaps some cosmic karma since I procrastinate with it so much. However, I can always replace the ipod and didn't lose any music. AND I am going to MONTREAL this weekend to see a dear friend of mine. Awesome. I think Montreal outweighs all of this week's bummers. And there was al Plus, I have finally resolved my housing situation for next year. Life is good.
Sorry for the lack of updates. Midterms snuck up on me and then my Grandmother had to go to the hospital. One interesting thing I saw while visiting her was how international it felt compared to my school's campus. There was a Russian man across from her, a British woman diagonally, and probably a Chinese patient next to her. I'm lucky if I meet one non-Canadian a month (myself notwithstanding) on campus. And it was amusing listening to the British woman berate the nurses. She complained and complained...then fell asleep. Then woke up to complain some more. And the nurses (neither of which spoke English as a first language) just took it calmly. I suppose that just makes it even funnier. Currently, I'm on break for reading week, so I'm just having some lazy days. Maybe I'll bake a bit. Yesterday, I had my first ever job interview, which was pretty exciting. It seemed to go pretty well. The lab I met were all pretty cool and working on neat projects. Here's hoping. Oh, and I was ridiculously excited when I saw that Quantum Leap is finally airing on TV again as reruns! I absolutely love that show. Time travel and Scott Bakula with a witty Dean Stockwell thrown in? Awesome. Plus, the ridiculous "future clothes" Stockwell is dressed in as well as his jello block handset just amuse me even further. Check it out on DVD. It hasn't made its way onto the internets as of yet, to my sadness.
I am a trekkie. I love Star Trek in all of its various forms. While I have yet to attend a convention, it is one of my life's goals. I've watched nearly every single episode of all of the series. I have yet to watch all of the movies, but a friend who has the opposite situation has kindly offered to remedy this. I read the books and even own an Original Series technical manual. I haven't read that, but it has a pattern for Original Series uniforms. I think I see a halloween costume in that. Recently, I have been on a kick of watching fanfilms. High quality stuff, too. I started out watching Star Trek: New Voyages. Then, not satisfied with having to wait for the next episode to come onto the internets, I moved on to the cast-made Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. Upon finishing that, I am now watching Star Trek: Hidden Frontier. Excellent stuff and the perfect procrastination tool. Star Trek is one of my few obsessions and I love it. Now that I have made my fandom clear, I suppose it's time to say farewell to the blog and on to actual work... Nah. I think I'll just watch some Star Trek. Live long and prosper.
Wow, it's kind of hard to believe that I'm 1/4 finished my second term. I don't feel like I've learned very much, yet I feel that I have so much to do! Group projects are a new thing this term. One of my projects is to design an anode for electrolytic reduction in order to stabilize a condenser retrieved from the USS Monitor. Kind of epic, eh? We're basically de-crapifying it using the gas bubbles generated plus removing ions that could react and make the metal disintegrate.
The condenser. With all of its glorious crap.
A pretty cool project, if I may say so myself. It could actually affect something in the real world! It's not just theory! But, I now stand at the brink of making a decision that will affect the rest of my schooling. What to specialize in? It's confession time. I'm a lab rat. A consummate lab rat. You know how analysis happens instantly on TV, like on CSI? Well, it takes hours of analysis and much down time. And I actually like that. I know. I'm a freak. So, I'm leaning towards Engineering Chemistry. Instead of figuring out how to make old goo faster, I make new and exciting goo! Everyone says it is extremely hard, but I think I'm up to the challenge. Well, fingers crossed that I make the right decision. Now, I'm making another good one. I'll stop blogging and do some research and actual work. Go me. On a side note, happy year of the Ox!
So, it's my first week of REAL class. The classes I was most worried about are snoozefests (linear algebra, I'm looking at YOU) and given my average last term, I am in a decidedly relaxed mood. Can't be too relaxed though and just give up breathing (watch Serenity, an awesome fan-propelled movie to get that). So, I thus procrastinate by blogging (who reads this, anyway?) and using the stumbleupon toolbar. Stumbleupon. Whoever invented it is a mad genius. I have spent way too much time clicking on the innocent little button when I should have been doing real work. But, (vaguely) constructive things have come from it, such as this duct tape rose!
Neat, huh? Yes, a wonderful procrastination tool. Maybe I'll eventually make enough for a bouquet. Downside is that they smell like, well, duct tape. Shocking. I also re-established my outright nerdity this past week. I'm already a real nerd for reading so many webcomics, but I correctly identified several things that a casual nerd would not catch. Number one: I correctly identified the fact that "'I love you.' 'I know.'" is said twice in the Star Wars movies by Han and Leia, once in ESB and, with roles reversed, in ROJ. Number two: Though I didn't identify the quote, I recognized the training exercise discussed in a ST:Wrath of Khan quote: the Kobayashi Maru, unwinnable unless you mess with the coding. Earned bonus nerd points for both. Sweet.
"He's dead, Jim."- Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy. Also a favorite quote of my friend Daniel.
Ok, so not sure if this is serious, but just in case, save this bunny! Though, if he isn't saved, he will become a delicious stew. Hmm. Never tasted rabbit... Anyways, my vote is to save this pet. If you want to vote either way, head over to http://savehoppy.com/
But so rewarding if you like it. Daisy Owl chronicles the adventures of the eponymous Daisy, her father Mr. Owl, her little brother Cooper, and their friend Steve the Bear. A little non sequitur and a lot of fun, Daisy Owl is not for everyone. It's sometimes absurdist, sometimes satiric. Just give it a try and see if you like it. For more, head on over to http://www.daisyowl.com/
Now throw some of that New Year cheer Dr. McNinja's way! He's a doctor. And a ninja. And stars in a really cool webcomic. Dr. McNinja is pretty much your average ninja that happens to be a doctor. And a pretty normal guy, if normal includes a gorilla receptionist, velociraptor riding paleontologists, and your mom trying to kill you every time you come home for a visit (just to keep you on your toes). He runs a medical clinic and his door is always open if you need his services as a doctor or a ninja. I'd totally check in with the good doctor now at: http://www.drmcninja.com/ In other news, classes are kind of back in full swing, except that the first week of winter term for engineers is our "Professional engineering skills" course aka ethics. The gist is: Don't be jerks. To anyone and anything. Somehow this message is stretched into a week of mostly boring lectures and mostly interesting discussion groups. Don't get me wrong; some lectures are quite interesting. But, most people just sleep through it all. Well, that's currently the news of the new year. "Here's to the new year...may she be a damn sight better than the old one..." - Col. Sherman T. Potter, M*A*S*H
Mmm...these were consumed soon after this photo was taken.
