back on schedule...

well before i turn in, i just want to say that i HATE community ecology essays. this theoretical garbage has really started to annoy me over the past several weeks, and the assignments for the class are becoming more and more infested with BS. complex systems in ecology, or the 'real world' in general, CANNOT be explained with (even complex) equations!
i still believe in hardcore empirical observations, and hope i can stick to those guns for the duration of my career. formulas work in some aspects of academia, science, and life in general, but it's more often not the case...and believe it, even someone who is all about structure/planning/all things OCD & AR (like me) can admit and accept this. too bad the profs show no sign of doing so before the end of the semester. ah well, at least james was up just as late with me working on the same 10-page exploration of pseudo-scientific BS and mutilation of common sense.
ok so back on schedule...i must say it was quite the experience joining all you 'normal' (at least sleep-wise...most of the people i know are definitely not normal) people and your sleep patterns, but i must say i think i'll stick to my usual schedule of activity during the nether regions of the night. i'll reserve normal sleeping patterns for when i'm wiped out and need to recharge like luke in a bacta-tank after an ice-wampa attack (if you didn't get the reference don't bother, you have to be pretty good). tomorrow i'm definitely taking a nap...maybe even during discussion in the aforementioned class.
tomorrow is also the party/outing for Beth's bday, which should definitely be a good time...and since i'm probably the only person still up at this point i'll be one of the first to say Happy Birthday Beth!!!
we're also having what is (supposedly) the last of the biofishlab (former students) reunions in the evening, although rakhi (archnemesis) informed me today that she already has plans for the next one. i didn't know how to respond to that given the logic involved, but i guess we'll see. rest assured i think our plan to get out of the diamondback saloon (and instead get everyone to watch the michigan basketball game) will be successful....mmmmhahahahaha!

peace out <:><

music: "Such Great Heights" The Postal Service

random pic:

me, damon, the armbands, and the clock tower

piled higher (and definitely deeper) at michigan...

here's some more info about the upcoming Piled Higher and Deeper (PhD) talk at the Rackham Graduate school at UofM (4.3, 7pm). this looks to be a very entertaining talk, so we're definitely getting a group together to check it out:

====

About The Talk:
"The Power of Procrastination"

A recent survey by U.C. Berkeley found that 95% of all graduate students feel overwhelmed, and over 67% have felt seriously depressed at some point in their careers. In this talk, Jorge Cham recounts his experiences bringing humor into the lives of stressed out academics, examines the source of their anxieties and explores the guilt, the myth, and the power of procrastination.

Testimonials

“Jorge Cham's talk was humorous and helpful. His cartoon strip has been a giant plus in helping graduate students acknowledge and cope with the stress they experience."
- Isaac Colbert, Dean of Graduate Students, M.I.T.

“An excellent talk, people thoroughly enjoyed it. The Q&A session was lots of fun.”
- Sidharth Jaggi, The Caltech Y

"The message of the presentation really resonated with our students. The graduate school journey can be extremely isolating, and Jorge Cham's presentation and comics normalize the experience and provide solace and humor.“
-John Nonnamaker, Graduate Student Career Development, M.I.T.

more info available on the site

====

speaking of 'the power of procrastination' i need to get back to work! have a good (and hopefully productive) day <:><

music: Inside Man Soundtrack by Terence Blanchard

random pic:

ralphie and his former catfish roommate look like a couple of dopey cartoon characters.

let the records show...

...well it finally caught up with me, maybe i AM getting old...well that may be part of it, but i'm thinking it has to do more with the fact that red bull is not in fact a sleep substitute. that and staying up (actually) doing work til 3am and 4am on consecutive nights with no naps (except for the one i inadvertently took in lab today while the kids were watching a video) will eventually wear down on you.

so there you have it, i'm surrendering to sleep...and it's currently 10:30pm. i honestly cannot remember the last time this happened, i seriously think it's been years. ah well...the goal is to get up around 6-7am and continue getting work done (guess i'll get to see how 'normal' people in the 'real' world start their day).

and just to clarify from my last post, in case people didn't get the joke, sarah did not make me hot pockets for dinner, but instead we had some good thai food that she cooked and convinced me that i could make too. we'll see how that all works out, especially since i don't plan on doing any cooking soon due to the indian food my mom sent up. sweet.

congrats to the michigan basketball team for advancing to the NIT finals (they defeated old dominion tonight). it's not the big dance, but at least they are playing well. i made it clear tonight that i'm tired of basketball and ready for football to start up again...unfortunately we have several weeks before the open spring training at the Big House, but rest assured damon and i will be there.

on another note, and i think i have mentioned this a long time ago in this blog, ever since i started reading sarah's live journal (and later started up my blog on eblogger) i have been envious of one feature they have that we do not...the 'current music' section. of course i believe we have the technology to add the same feature here on eblogger, so i intend on doing so whenever i remember (starting with this entry, unless i did it sometime before...yeah, i'm getting old AND i'm losing it)!

and lastly, notre dame fans may want to check out our (usually absent) roommate's comment on a recent evite...i found it quite amusing.

ok i'm seriously wiped out, and plan on passing out. have a (very early) good night! <:><

music: "Dirty Water" by The Standells

random pics:

james and i in front of a jellyfish tank at the GA Aquarium

the last time i felt this tired...

...and the westin peachtree plaza (GA Aquarium trip) definitely has the best bed i have ever slept on...

bonus, double score!

title comes from quoting Aun (again) from back in the day at ONU. wouldn't it be entertaining to get the old school (ohio northern) taboo people and the new group (michigan) together? now that would be interesting.

anyway, i'm heading out to ypsi since not only is sarah making me dinner, but my mom also sent up a supply of food for me with her...i should be set for quite some time (which will be nice given this week's schedule). i offered to help sarah cook and she said "no, i don't trust you" so the courtesy offer was not picked up, and my only responsibilities will be to eat and transport food.

in other news my new running watch, complete with cybernetic implant for speed/distance calculations, came in today. guess it will be time to start running again. scary.
on a somewhat entertaining note, the fact that i tripped up on the fish categorical series in 'kings' at our party has quickly traveled across the fish people at SNRE. i don't think i'll be digging my way out of that one anytime soon, but that's all another story. i gotta eat, peace out <:><

ps - for now, yes, the links are back.

animal variety pack & the battle of burritos...

just finishing up the second can of red bull (thanks again double D, i'm sure my liver will appreciate this in the near future) and getting ready to continue my non-parametric analysis of variance experience. good times.

tonight (although probably today for you) we're going to talk about some animals as well as an interesting ad from the michigan daily:

- Parasitology made the front page of the New York Times! nice to see an important field continue to get more and more exposure to a wider audience. Prof OConnor pointed out today in lecture that there was an extensive article on Dracunculus medinensis, the Guinea worm, in the sunday issue of the well-respected paper. i HIGHLY suggest checking out the article, and although you may have to join up (it's free, so shut up and spend the 30 seconds) it's worth it even for this single story.

On the Brink: Guinea Worm | A Long Crusade

Dose of Tenacity Wears Down a Horrific Disease

the story of this nematode will literally make your skin crawl (no really, that's what it does...and it burns too...the latin name for the disease, drancunculiasis, translates to 'affliction with little dragons'). what's interesting is that this disease is poised to become only the second to be completely erradicated (after smallpox). behind this big push is former president carter and a host of volunteers and combined efforts from various health/drug-related organizations. i won't get into it much further since you should check out the article, but this disease ranges throughout ancient history and is even believed to be the origin of several medical symbols we use today (primarily the two 'snakes' around the staff).

yes, i'm a nerd, but i've been teaching lab about this stuff for years (we just did this species last week) so it's cool to see the system prominently displayed for the general public.

- speaking of parasitology lab, today we got to my favorite lab of the semester...the generically named 'other parasitic groups' lab, or what i like to call 'the lab that has something for everyone'. included are the leeches (we have live ones again this year, but i didn't do the demo since that bite didn't go away for months last time!!!), some highly morphologically regressive crustaceans, sea lamprey (very important in MI), vampire bats, and of course the infamous candiru catfish (Vandellia cirrhosa). for those of you who don't know what that last one is, i invite you to look it up. let's just say it's traditionally been the most memorable species we cover over the semester, and all the students now know not to pee in large south american rivers...

- we made it through the most recent social gathering at The Tank without any ichthyological casualties, and yet i seem to be asking for it. i went into the basement this evening to check on the fishes (all the coolest ones are downstairs, i don't care what a lot of you think!) and found that i had left the top open on one of the bigger tanks (120 gallon) for the ENTIRE NIGHT and most of the day. one of my favorite species in there, Polypterus endlicheri congicus, has had a bad track record with me. how did i lose the previous two specimens? you guessed it, they jumped out! somehow i got lucky and all the fishes knew to behave and stay in the tank...perhaps they are wising (is that really even a word?) up to the fact that there really isn't water outside their enclosures. in a related story, ralphie is still the slowest (and possibly the least intelligent) fish in the biggest tank, but we still love him.

Polypterus endlicheri congicus (aka Congo bichir)

Ralphie the Australian lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri)

- damon put his beloved blue-faced angelfish into the big tank yesterday night (it was in the sump prior to this, and has been growing up in there). upon addition to the bigger tank it was immediately picked on by his favorite angelfish from that tank, and as of today we have not seen any sign of it. we tend to fear the worst... see? his 'pretty' fishes aren't so nice afterall!

- and finally (for the animal segment) sarah sent me some updated pics of devil-dog, aka Jeevan from back home. he appears to have (believe it or not) gotten a little bigger - he was 85 lbs last time i saw him, but is apparently learning how to calm down (this is quite relative, and you'll realize that if you ever meet him/have met him). here's sarah's updated pic:

Jeevan (sanskrit-derived word for 'life') may appear peaceful, but rest assured that is a human gastrocnemius he has been chewing on...

- and lastly, i was waiting at nogginz today and reading the michigan daily when i saw a curiously large ad for Big Ten Burrito (aka our burritos are made with real bits of garbage) at the back. it read something to the effect of: "everyone loves our name...except the big ten conference"...once this all set in and i finished reading the ad i nearly burst into laughter (but settled for a quiet smirk). the big ten conference is actually MAKING big ten burrito (aka our tortillas taste like paper towels) change their name!!! so there is now a contest to come up with the new name for this refuse hub...i'm actually eager to see what people come up with. you had a good run guys, but you're apparently just not good enough to be affiliated with Big Ten Sports!!! more on this story as things progress.

and now it's time to get back to work. have a good night; and in the words of carlos mencia, "if you aren't laughing, you ain't living!" <:><

addendum: PhD comics is coming to the University of Michigan! see info below as this should be very entertaining and well worth attending (it's FREE, and the topic title fits perfectly...) -

Do you know that Ph.D. actually stands for "Piled Higher and Deeper?"

Piled Higher and Deeper is a popular comic strip
about life (or the lack thereof) in graduate school.
The creator, Jorge Cham, is coming to Rackham to
recount his experiences in graduate school at Stanford
and bring humor into your lives. He "feels your pain,
your panic, your coffee addiction .... and your departmental politics."
So come, laugh, and destress. You deserve it!

Lecture Title: The Power of Procrastination
Date: Monday, April 3
Time: 7- 8 PM --- followed by a book signing
Place: Rackham Auditorium (Main Floor)
** FREE**

For further information about Piled Higher and Deeper go to
www.phdcomics.com

This event is cosponsored by Rackham and the
Program in Biomedical Sciences. It is part of
Graduate Student Appreciation Week. More event
announcements to follow.

seems like mortal kombat at The Tank...

for those of you who aren't familiar with the classic video game mortal kombat...well you're just going to have to look up the details yourself, because you really should know at this point in life. in a nutshell it's based on a graphically violent tournament with a diverse group of crazy characters...a favorite game of me and sarah back in the day, i taught her most of what she knows, and she's gone on to take out all of her friends foolish enough to play her at that game. thus far she hasn't beaten me, but who knows what the future may hold...

so how does this relate back to The Tank? well in case you're way behind, i will let you catch up with the past several entries of this blog.

***

ok good, you should be up to speed now. this past saturday was the Euchre Tournament at The Tank. now the name of this event is somewhat misleading, because although euchre was the originally the singular plan for this get together, it quickly grew and diversified into a number of games/activities and was pretty much a miniature Party at The Tank. we were not calling it a party ever since it's inception, because of the curse issues with the fishes. towards the latter days before the event, damon and i would just spell out p-a-r-t-y...because obviously, the fishes at The Tank can understand the english language, they just can't spell. right.

damon mixing up some of the trademark 'Tank Water'

anyway, we made it through with no casualties (all fishes accounted for), a few surprise cameos (the 86'ers, roldenfolden), some tragic losses (you can probably guess) and entertaining victories (apparently taboo proficiency increases with tank water consumption). here's the synopsis of those events:

- we easily had over 30 people at The Tank over the course of the evening, but were able to accommodate everyone who wanted to play euchre as well as keep things moving. 30 people is actually closing in on the first official tank party, although we're still not considering this one "Tank V"...rest assured it will happen, just not for a while. think of this 'small get together' as a 'bonus' party...kind of like those miniature bonus seasons of Sex & the City (can't believe i used that as an example) or the upcoming bonus season of The Sopranos.

signature point & shoot...with sunglasses.

- how did the tournament work out? well we ended up being happy that people were playing euchre, since things started to pack up fast, and so we had to get people to cards quickly. we had approx 5 games going at once, which was entertaining to see. some people played the best 2 out of 3, others just played one game and moved on. the teams/match-ups were interesting and entertaining to say the least:

Team Bowfin - me and double D, touting ourselves as the inevitable winners of the event over the course of the week. this ended up pretty much how i thought it would, but we'll get to that later.

Team Ralphie - named after the team mascot, Ralphie, the Australian lungfish residing at The Tank; this team was made up of beth and seema, the latter being a relative newcomer to the game, and somewhat of a student of beth & myself.

Team Capybara*** - named after the strange S.American rodent creature and made up of Julia and Andrea, this team was pretty hardcore in that they had official t-shirts and everything. i think they did pretty well too, but i was not around to see it. someday we'll have a 'real' tournament when all these teams get to mix it up!

The Gunderlings - hal and leah, the gunder siblings made up a good team which moved on to eventually win 2/3 against -

Biofish Girls - i just now made up that name, but this team was carrie and christine, former students of mine that had also been doing a bit of talking in terms of who was going to win this thing.

Newbies - Janine, Parul, Rashmi, Amica, Johanna and Brenda weren't necessarily on the same team, but were all 'newbies' who picked up the game to some extent over the course of the party. nice job!

Team "other combination of a person named 'damon' and an indian" - i just made up that name too, but as you can guess this team was made up of damon and gwen. they actually made for a pretty good team...well compared to the other team of similar composition.

ron, AJ, schultz, tim, jeremy, andrea D, jeff, and mike all played as well, but i'm not sure what all occured with those teams...either way, it was a lot of people playing Euchre.

me and james at the revolving restaurant at the top of the westin peachtree plaza (our hotel on the GA aquarium road trip). this shot somewhat reminds me of the poster for the movie 'made'.

how did it end up? well i don't know the full story for all the games, but double D and i had hoped to just play the team that beat out everyone else, sort of like the boss character in a video game scenario. well we didn't do it that way and decided to take on Team Ralphie.

Team Bowfin vs Team Ralphie

and yeah, 17 hands (it was taken out to 9-9 before the last hand) and one frosting-stripped cupcake later Team Bowfin succumbed to the ancient lungfish powers (and maybe beginner's luck?) of Team Ralphie. yup, we lost. it was a heated and entertaining game to say the least, but we definitely bit it. double D and i had several of our mock shouting matches over the course of the game, which apparently didn't scare the competition enough to forfeit the game. seema even referenced the classic (in a star wars sort of way) student-defeats-teacher scenario. crap, i have always wanted to be darth vader, but instead have to settle for alec guinness.

you get the idea.

it should be noted that the references to this match-up did not end at that point; over the course of the evening gwen, christine, beth, andrea, and a chorus of several others had fun bringing it up. i should have known that with all the hype and trash talking leading up to the face/off that we would inevitably lose.

not sure when this was taken, but i was probably thinking about our euchre loss...

believe it or not though(and those of you who are familiar with how competitive i am probably don't believe it), i was ok with this loss. it gave plenty of fodder for eventual jokes, and we were able to move on to some other games...including taboo...

yeah, taboo was even crazier...

BUT i will have to end this entry on a to be continued...it's freaking 3am again and i need to get A LOT of work done this week as well as make it to several meetings, presentations, and a couple social events (one involves linedancing...rest assured there will be no photos taken there). for now, good night & good luck <:><

pics : in case you haven't noticed, some of the pics are from the euchre tourney, others from the spring break road trip to the aquariums.

bollywood joint inside...

2:14am...it's the calm before the tournament...i'm sitting here contemplating whether or not to clean up the pile of random papers & journals in my room (which has quickly developed into it's own creature & personality) or just go to sleep. we'll see what happens. tomorrow will consist of more cleaning/preparing for the 'small euchre get-together' which i'm sure will end up developing into something completely different.

earlier this evening beth, damon, and i went to see the movie 'inside man' starring denzel washington and directed by spike lee (and also featuring an ensemble cast of christopher plummer, jodie foster, willem dafoe, and clive owen). i must say that i was quite impressed with the movie; it was very well done and the suspense & twists worked very well. although the movie was great (i would rate it a high **** out of five) one of the big things that caught my attention was the opening and closing song...it took me several seconds to figure it out, but it's actually Indian music! it was a really cool song, and at the end of the movie the first thing damon said to me was "you're going to go and download this song aren't you?" well of course he was right, and it didn't take me long to track it down. the song is called: "Chaiyya Chaiyya Bollywood Joint" (featuring Panjabi MC) by Sapna Awasthi & Sukwinder Singh. even if you're not into Indian music (which i have only recently started to get into depending on what you truly consider to be Indian music) i highly recommend it.
i was able to find the original track on limewire, but the exact track from the movie could only be downloaded along with the entire soundtrack from iTunes...of course given about 2/3 of my music collection is soundtracks, i had no problems justifying getting the whole thing although it was primarily for this track. i'll probably add it to the playlist for the 'small get together'.

on to the bullets:

- speaking of Indian stuff; what could be better than having indian food on a given day??? how about having it TWICE in the same day! i don't think this has happened since i have last been home, which was (sadly quite a while ago) back during Christmas break. anyway, i was able to hit up both of my favorite Indian places in A2 in the same day, Raja Rani's and Madras Masala. for lunch, andrea, brenda, and i were successful in loading up on chai as well, but that is another story (we're planning on eventually leaving with large containers of it for individual resale). at madras masala i was able to try a new variation on my favorite food of all time, idli and sambar, by trying 'chilly idli' which was basically my favorite food, only MUCH hotter (the spicier the better for me)! anyway, good times. even have left overs which should last me for a bit. i haven't had any indian food since my mom brought up some in january; sheila told me she would cook for me, but unfortunately she's at washington state and it doesn't seem like she'll be visiting any time soon. punk.

may as well take this opportunity to include a pic of Amrita Rao (from Main Hoon Na, probably my favorite hindi movie, or at least a close tie with Hum Tum)


- my parents are learning how to play euchre; at least this is the news i received earlier this evening. i told my dad if he could make it up to our place by tomorrow evening they could get in on the tournament. right. but it's still an entertaining idea, and this essentially leaves sarah as the only person left in our family who doesn't know how to play. seema suggested this would make for an entertaining activity on the upcoming family vacation (yeah, seriously) to Florida this summer. we'll see how all of that pans out.

- washington lost to UConn today...i don't even know why i watch basketball anymore, but i suppose at least michigan is doing well in the NIT. freaking A i actually got into the game and wanted UW to win. ah well. speaking of washington, i'm thinking a trip to seattle may be in order in the near future...my aunts up there base entire day's worth of food planning on my hunger levels, so it works out quite well. oh, and i can visit the river that basically got me started into aquatic ecology back when i was 3...

- i'm using technology to force me to run...thanks to the same site that constantly taunts my sunglasses addiction, i will soon have a new running watch (mine just died on me last week) which not only keeps the time (i hate to run without knowing at least a general pace in order to gauge my distance, etc) but also has a built in speedometer AND odometer! yeah, so no more wondering about how fast or how far...that and since it has some sort of tiny device that goes on one's shoe to measure this, i feel like i'm slowly turning into some sort of robot (i'd choose to be grimlock of the dinobots). anyway, soon i will have no choice but to run and get good use out of the watch...either that or i'll just be able to better measure how fast i walk to class and how far it is from the SNRE building to the parking structure. oh well.

- less than one month until SEINFELD!!! my gosh i need to get a heck of a lot of work done!

ok that's all for now, hope you all had a good week...the insanity is just about to get started here at The Tank! <:><

random pic:

me and some friends at the tennessee aquarium

RIP Addwaita...

one of the world's oldest creatures died wednesday (just saw this on CNN)...i can't even begin to fathom being alive for 250 years! here's the article...ok i'm going to go take a nap <:><

Long Live Addwaita: Tortoise Dies at 250

The Aldabra Giant Tortoise. — Photo: Sushanta Patronobish

a goofy movie & conspiracy theories...

for those of you who have not seen it, disney's 'A Goofy Movie' is truly a classic and worth checking out. it's been a tradition for me and sarah to watch it every year during the holidays, although we've slacked off as of late since she stole the video and took it to school. at least we were able to track down the soundtrack after years of searching. anyway check it out...it's hilarious and there are even some fish in it.

as many of you know, i have very few qualms about embarrassing myself these days. i just don't care...half my jokes are about me and my roommates being fish nerds anyway, and this sort of thing has been elevated to a status where ANYTHING that is said in our presence about fish gets us pigeon-holed back into that role. don't know if that last sentence made sense, but then again i'm half asleep right now.
anyway, embarrassing myself:
i decided this morning that it would be a good idea to burn a new copy of the dane cook CD (easily one of the funniest comedians on the planet, if you haven't heard his stuff, check that out too) since i had recently passed on my original copies to some friends. for the record this album and his second one are the CD's that damon and i quote incessantly, since we listened to them about 6 times on our miami road trip and probably 3 times on the atlanta trip. james was recently 'educated' on that last trip, and double D and gwen should be following shortly.

anyway, im cracking up all the way to the parking structure; im thinking this is a great idea for the morning drive since i'm usually really annoyed with the driving/traffic/bikers/penguins by the time i get to the structure...this time around i couldn't stop laughing. so i don't want the experience to stop so i select the albums on the iPod and pick up where the car left off and start my walk to class. of course the funniest parts come up and although i made a valiant effort to keep my normally semi-pseudo-serious composure, i broke out into this ridiculous goofy grin for most of the way to class. i had to sit in the computer lab and read/print off some stuff and could barely keep my mouth shut there. then on the walk back to the parking structure i figured what the heck and just started laughing randomly (or at least that's how it would appear to strangers). i couldnt help it, and yes, i looked/sounded like a nutcase...or at least those people i think are crazy since they walk around (student or otherwise) just mumbling to themselves. ah well, at least I was smiling and having a good time. so if you see me walking down the street with a goofy grin on my face, you will know what's up...however, if i don't have earphones on, you may want to stop and check on me since that will be a good indication that i probably forgot to take my meds.

and finally, just to clear up any confusion/suspicion about the upcoming euchre tournament (which has kind of snowballed into a mini-get together[i refuse to call it a party in order to fool my fishes into NOT dying - see curse entries] since the addition of taboo and my chronic inability to host anything 'small-scale' anymore) -

you know what? i forgot what i was going to say, so i'm just going to post the comments from the evite thus far (there's a funny story behind the chronology of this, which andrea's investigative skills -and to a lesser extent brenda's- were able to reveal, but i'll save that for another entry. her comment about 'taboo' below is NOT true)!

original message composed by beth (and to a lesser extent me) :

Hello All-
Since Solomon is the most competitive person I know, he of course wants to see who is the master champion of Euchre. And to make things interesting, and to swing the vote toward him, he is planning on getting everyone intoxicated with the famous fish tank water before the events begin. So warm up your euchre skills and come with or without a partner for a fun euchre tournament. If you aren't a fan of tank water BYOB and snacks.

YES

15

Beth & Solomon(The Organizers) adriscoz (+ 1 guest) (03/22) gwen(03/18) Sol and DD are goin' down - D and I are gonna win or get crunk tryin'! detrow(03/18) double D(03/17) damon (03/16) I'm going to try and break the lock on James' door. janine (03/15) Um, I don't know how to play Euchre, but I can definitely serve as cheerleader for my peeps ;-) anandhi (03/15) Seema and I will DOMINATE! beth (03/15) I'm part of the planning, so I guess I better show! troy (03/15) hal (+ 1 guest) (03/15) The Gunder siblings will be there. Watch out!!!~! seema (03/15) AJ and I are going to be the cinderella team of your silly little card party. BRING IT!!!! julia (03/15) The Capyba captain will be there and will be prepared to kick Bowfin butt!

MAYBE 3 andrea (03/23) Hmmm...something clever. I've got nothing. Not only that, but I simply cannot commit to a euchre party. WARNING: Anyone who first receives this evite after my response is posted is only wanted for his/her Taboo game. brenda (03/23) okay, solomon. now that you mentioned taboo, we may come. and to try your tank punch of course. erin (03/15) I have to work till 9 pm. How is this thing working, and can my team mate and I start later?

2

N0

3

• kara(03/20)
  Which one is the left bauer again? I'll either be in Ohio or Royal Oak, but I'll be wishing I had some tank water. Mmmm fishy.
• sarah(03/19)
  sorry kids, i'm heading home this weekend. however i'm still trying to convince solo to make me a to-go cup of tank water...then i too can partake in some sort of festivities.
• james(03/15)
  Yet another party scheduled at MY HOUSE knowing i will not be able to attend, should i take a hint and just defriend SOL? have fun and good luck breaking the lock i put on my bedroom next week

that's all for now, i'm sure this evening should be eventfully insane <:><

a departure from recent history...

...well, nothing terribly profound...i'm actually going to sleep...in about 2 minutes. yeah, its not even 1am. journal articles are being pushed to tomorrow morning, i think that sushi (grilled salmon, no raw fish yet) was laced with tryptophan or something.

congrats to the Michigan basketball team on taking out Miami and advancing to the semifinals. i also learned today that i know virtually nothing about the green bay packers, the boston red sox, or notre dame football...ah well...i still know a thing or two about movies and fishes. good night! <:><

random pic:

Hinchinbrook Island National Park, Queensland, Australia; oh how i want to go back!!!

the whole (foods) story...

FINALLY a case against whole foods! i don't know why exactly this chain bothers me so much...probably a combination of several factors, some more logical/reasonable than others:

- everyone talks about this place as some sort of mecca of grocery stores. i'm sure it looks fabulous on the inside, but i don't ever plan on entering. too much hype over this has been enough to drive me away. that and i don't really like grocery shopping anyway...which is probably why my space in The Tank fridge consists of orange juice (tropicana no pulp of course), fruit yogurt, and a bottle of pickles that has crossed the border from damon's side. i fully plan on eating those pickles.

- the organic factor. there are so many holes in this 'positive' aspect of the story and entire concept that i just can't wrap up in one entry. that and it will detract from the article i am about to link to. oh yeah, i also make it a point to only talk about 'serious' issues in this beast only once in a blue moon (the astronomical phenomenon, not the ice cream from meijer).

- back in the day when they were constructing this monstrosity, i (and jeremy too) really wanted this to be a movie theater. i don't know why, because as some have pointed out to me, ann arbor is FULL of movie theaters and it doesn't really make sense. i think i was just thrown off by the tall doors and windows and figured it would be perfect for a cineplex. maybe one that shows spider-man, jurassic park, and harrison ford or kristen dunst movies all the time...

- anyway, before i get too far off track (which i think this blog has been since entry #1...but that's the point) we'll get to the point.

as many of you know, i use hotmail for all my many email addictions. the umich system has improved over the past many years but i still think our U's cutting edge technology sucks in terms of spam filtering and options, so i use the good old hotmail account i've had for the past 6 years. every day they have links to a variety of articles in the 'today' section, and the latest section definitely caught my eye...the caption was: "Whole Foods and the dark side of the organic trade." finally something that may both interest me and give purpose to my somewhat misplaced (or irrationalized) dislike for the store. that and the 'today' section is usually about dating tips for people who live in new york or madagascar or exercise tips for people with poodles.
so without further fanfare, i give you the article (linked of course) which really made me feel good about not liking whole foods. i'm not a huge fan of wal-mart, don't get me wrong, but having toed the line between health sciences and environmental sciences and time-wasting sciences for many years, this brought up some very interesting points. oh yeah, and i didn't realize it until i finished reading the entire article, but it was taken from The New Yorker...but more on that sort of thing later.

Is Whole Foods Wholesome? - The dark secrets of the organic-food movement

enjoy.


on related note, i had always wondered about the first track on the Grey's soundtrack and recently (a few minutes ago) finally decided to get to the bottom of the mini-conundrum. the track is 'Such Great Heights' by The Postal Service. its one of my favorite tracks, and the lead singer sounded strikingly (pretty much exactly) like the lead singer for Death Cab (you can see where i'm going with this, because auditorily i am sane, but in some ways i just ignore occam's razor). And yeah, you guessed it, it's because they ARE the same person. the style of music is somewhat different than classic Death Cab, but very cool nevertheless. i'll also credit all initial interest and introduction to death cab to my "Relatively Obscure Music Advisor" (aka Kara). i like a wide variety of music, but there aren't many of which i jumped on board with so soon after introduction. so go download Plans by Death Cab (maybe pirate some of their older stuff too) and Postal Service for some extra tracks as well. If you don't like it sue me, i also like ACDC, The Who, and 50 Cent.

now its time to run some non-parametric ANOVAs <:><

random pics:

the 'curtain fig' tree in Australia. not bad for a parasitic plant...definitely an impressive site in person.

boat ride through an estuarine crocodile infested lagoon...yes, i was right on the other side of the glass. every aspect of this trip was phenomenal...i hope to go back soon :)

The Administration vs Science...

...all i can say is t-minus 1 year, 9 months. ok it's late and i need to get to bed. good night & good luck <:><

cameo entry...

i will definitely be writing my own entry around 3-4am this morning, don't worry, but once again i found my sister's latest entry to be quite amusing, and since i feel the same way about a lot of these casual bikers (not those that do it for exercise, but the nutjobs that ride around campus thinking they are cars on the street and pedestrians on the sidewalks...not to mention their multi-tasking 'abilities' which will get them or someone else killed someday).

so here is another guest blog (more specifically live journal) appearance from sarah's 'random ramblings' :
====

12:05pm: hotwire....dot com!
throughout this year i have seen bikers on campus doing various things while riding their bikes. i have reacted with amazement as well as annoyance at the same time.
some of these memorable bikers include:

*the boy riding while eating a hamburger
*the girl riding while smoking a cigarette
*the boy riding while texting on his cell phone

but i think yesterdays definitely takes the cake.
*the boy riding while smoking a cigarette AND talking on his cell phone.

now people who multi task annoy me enough as it is...but this combo just does not seem possible to me. on one side i was really amazed and entertained, but on the other side i had this feeling deep down inside where i wanted to see him run into a tree. simply for being stupid.
ahh well...crazy bikers.

Current Mood: busy

Current Music: Ne-yo: so sick of love songs

====

sunglasses, sneakers, and Ophiophagus hannah...

so i'm sitting here at 3am grading parasitology outlines (amazing how much i have become desensitized to the somehwhat disturbing material we cover in this class...tapeworm several meters long, blood sucking bats, malaria, Lyme disease, blood flukes, and catfish that swim up one's urethra) and listening to (believe it or not) the curious george soundtrack. now i really don't like monkeys, and i will probably never see the movie, but i got the soundtrack from a friend about a month or so ago and it's actually really good. it's taken me quite some time to come around regarding jack johnson, but i like this album...even if it does put me to sleep a lot of the time.

now for the bullets, as i have to get back to work shortly:

- it's officially a pathological problem...i am addicted to sunglasses. if it were socially acceptable (and it weren't so dangerous in really dark conditions) i would probably wear sunglasses all the time. yup, that ray-ban vampire commercial hit me and my sister pretty hard back in the day and therefore we believe we need to wear them all the time in order to avoid bursting into flames. it's either that or i really do just have a low tolerance for light. in fact, direct sunlight inevitably makes me sneeze.

so yeah, the obssession with wearing sunglasses has been seriously further complicated by the introduction to steepandcheap.com (thanks damon & james) since they have wholesale prices on all kinds of outdoors stuff (including sunlight protection gear) and i've already bought two pairs from them. tonight makes a third. hey, i needed a good pair of polarized lenses to throw away into the river this summer, so i figured, why stick with the safe $8 meijer polarized lenses when i can just throw away something more valuable for a carp or gar to pick up and more effectively hunt crap or fishes (respectively)? i haven't bought a good pair of polarized lenses since i lost my first good pair off a bridge in undergrad during a biophotography field trip. i was going to shoot (photograph, not the projectile) a bird or some other creature and set my glasses on the bridge...a gust of wind comes by and WHOOSH! the sunglasses go over and into the water...there is now a catfish somewhere down there with really good daylight vision. ever since then i have purchased the cheap pairs for field work since i tend to lose them in similar circumstances...sometimes even with the safety band in use. oh yeah, and i think it would be really cool to get those shark eye contact lenses like the former bass player from limp bizkit...that should seriously freak people out.

- "it's about the information!!!" or so ben kingsley says in the movie sneakers (which came out in the mid 90s. does anyone else remember this movie? i loved it! what a great ensemble cast with robert redford, sidney poitier, dan aykroyd, james earl jones, river phoenix, mary mcdonnell and several others. in my opinion it was ahead of its time with its plot about information being the new true wealth and commodity. it's definitely true today, and i thought of it earlier since i'm usually OCD when it comes to finding out as much info as possible on subjects/topics that i am truly interested in. and to think i don't even own this movie...i'm going to have to get it. i do know how to play the main theme (by james horner) on the piano & saxophone though.

- i was watching CNN this evening and it turns out that some guy in malaysia broke the 'cobra kissing record' today. the previous record for literally kissing a cobra was 11 times. apparently this guy was going for 15, but found himself on a roll, and after 3 minutes had kissed the cobra FIFTY-ONE TIMES!!! and this was no micro-sized venomous snake either, it was a 15-foot long King Cobra...which also happens to be my favorite snake. nerd-time: i was probably about 5 when i learned of the existence of this snake from both the books i had been reading and from my grandpa who used to tell me about all the snakes he encountered in India. the king cobra easily became my favorite, and i had the latin name forever ingrained into my brain in about two seconds, Ophiophagus hannah...the largest venomous snake in the world. this apparently goes with the trend i had established as T-rex is my favorite dinosaur and the alligator gar (one of the largest freshwater fishes in the world, and quite menacing looking) favorite fish (i guess bigger, meaner, and just plain evil-looking were always my preference...which is why i always wanted Sauron, Darth Vader, Cobra Commander, Megatron and Hamburglar to win). funny thing (as a herp-nerd) is that the king cobra is phylogenetically not even a true cobra...oh well, it EATS other cobras as part of its main diet.
anyway, let's get back to the degree of insanity this guy must have been facing to want to kiss the cobra 51 times...OR even one time for that matter. if i could pull it off once, i would be happy...why go for a second, or 49 more times? major props to Shahimi Abdul Hamid though.

ok that's all for now, i need to get back to work. i hope you are all having a good week, my quest for accomplishing work is quickly becoming red bull-dependent...someone please stop me if half that 24-pack is gone by the end of the week.
oh, and a very belated shout out to sunny, sarah, seema, janine, and ricky for participating in the blog survey i posted a while back. way to go the extra mile in wasting time kids; it makes me proud. good night and good luck <:><

32/7...

well i'm taking a break from reading my students' outlines for parasitology to update the blog...i have seriously been slacking in this area, but hopefully this week will be more consistent. as we all know, consistent updating means either i have absolutely NOTHING to do, or i have SO MUCH to do that i need the constant updates to remain sane (or at least what i pass off to most of you as sane...or normal for me). well this week, and it looks like just about every week from this point on until the end of the semester, will come under the latter reason for blog-updating. yeah, going to get pretty crazy. luckily double D picked me up a 24-pack of red bull from sam's club (thanks man) today and so i'll have some extra help on making it through what are sure to be late nights...even for me. on a side note i think it would be very cool if i could somehow get double D to do ALL my shopping for me, but i don't think it's going to happen.

so 32/7...it's been recently established (and somewhat secondarily verified - parties including my roommates, siblings, etc) that i don't partake in the normal person's 24-hour day, but in fact have a 32-hour day. how is this possible? quite easily actually, i just don't sleep like the rest of you do, and when the world turns in around 10-11pm, my night is just beginning, and often lasts to at least 3am, but often times past that.
i will note here that james often times puts up a good fight for who can stay up the latest here at the tank, but i am so far ahead in the competition that i don't even consider him a contender anymore. sheila (on the west coast) may be the main competitor at this point.
don't ask me where i make up for the sleep, but it somehow works out. i don't know if all that math adds up (i vowed to divest myself from mathematics after finishing up the AP Calc exam in high school...surprisingly i have not NEEDED calc since...but i was really good at drawing those anti-derivative symbols), but you get the idea. i think the early evening naps help me out during the week, especially after teaching (which has been quite the interesting experience this year, but i will get into that another time).

for better or worse, i have those extra hours at night...call it the cure for possible extreme ADD, since no one else is up and there really isnt anything on television, i can actually concentrate on getting work done. even the FISH are asleep...except for maybe ralphie, but that's not important right now. - i will note that he recently became the official mascot for a (albeit doomed) euchre team in our upcoming tournament (the mortal kombat of euchre tournaments mind you...and yes, i'll be scorpion or noob saibot...and there may be fatalities).

as most of you can guess by now, the more consistent blog updating will lead to even more incoherent entries, most of which will contain asinine stories and details about random occurances; but if you were seriously looking for meaningful reading, you'd be on cnn.com, npr, or just about anyone else's blog...so thanks for showing up thus far.

on to the bullets:

- this past friday we were able to see Jim Gaffigan live at the Michigan theater... i must say this was absolutely HILARIOUS...even without humor-enhancing 'drugs'. we were able to meet him after the show as well. if you haven't seen his act i highly suggest going to check him out, or at the very least go to his website and check out some of his clips. never have bits on hot pockets, manatees, and cake been so gut-wrenchingly funny.

getting the autograph of the hot pocket comedian

- two movies definitely worth seeing that i was able to check out this weekend: V for Vendetta (remember remember the 5th of november...) and Walk the line (story of johnny cash). both were of course quite different, but as you know since i hardly exercise any discretion in movies i watch, i can equally back both films for both entertainment value as well as some sort of statement/insight into human nature...and of course, excuses to see a movie. i will add that phoenix and witherspoon do phenomenal jobs in their singing roles, and the movie is worth watching just for that (although there is much more to the film). i will also add that Fever Pitch also proved to be a surprisingly entertaining movie...i can't get 'sweet caroline' out of my head and i am wavering on turning into a pseudo-boston red sox fan. that being said, i trust that someone will shoot me before i become more of a baseball fan than a college football fan.

- a bowl of cocoa puffs, glass of orange juice, and a centrum vitamin are NOT enough to get me through half the day. complete miscalculation on my part. when it comes to eating schedules, sometimes i seriously don't know what the heck my problem is.

- ohio state lost in the tournament today...the last shot for the big ten was with the freaking buckeyes...i suppose it's sad for our conference, but deep down i feel kind of good that those infernal buckeyes didn't pull it off. we are now officially moving on to football...why? because we were able to create out seating group and purchase season tickets for the upcoming season this past week! i'm already excited and it's still about 6 months away!!! GO BLUE!!!

- does anyone know how to go about shopping for/purchasing a new mattress? i'm thinking about a water bed that i can fill with my favorite fishes...yeah. but seriously, i have no idea what i'm doing, and if anyone brings up those retarded sleep-number beds i will kill them. those have got to be the longest freaking commercials on television!!! and i already checked a year or so ago...those tempurpedic beds cost $1500!!! seriously, my sleep isn't worth that much to me...especially since i don't really sleep anyway (see 32-hour exposition in this entry, and various vampire references throughout the blog). perhaps i'll just use the living room couch from now on and put an aquarium in my room where the bed was.

- i'm seriously turning into my dad in some ways. as most of you know im quite anal-retentive about pretty much everything...especially organization, neatness, etc. well the pile of random papers, thesis materials, books, bills, and ticket stubs on my bedroom floor has not receded naturally as i had hoped, but instead has grown into an almost uncontrollable monster with a personality of its own. my dad used to do this all over the house back in Ashland...i'm going to go ahead and blame genetics on this, but hope that by the end of the week i can secure and clean up this conglomerative beast...by putting it under my bed and/or in my closet. sounds like a plan to me.

- well, its about time i got back to grading those outlines...always nice to read about blood-sucking nematodes and nutrient stealing tapeworms right before going to bed...or eating sushi. i will add that although productivity for the weekend was VERY low until right now, it was definitely a fantastic time all the way around. now if i can just survive the week, and those to come. to quote V (from the aforementioned movie) regarding the future - "there is not certainty, only opportunity"

let's hope that among the various and sundry opportunities, most of them have to do with eating panchero's burritos. <:><

random pics:

darter from the Tennessee Aquarium

American alligator from the Tennessee Aquarium

preemptive...

ok so i have never been corrected regarding a Star Wars quote...until last night. there, i said it. rest assured i will not be wrong again about anything. star wars. that is all.

i hope you all enjoy Green Tortilla Day (aka St. Patrick's Day)! i believe big ten is doing nothing of the sort in terms of being festive, and the only thing green coming out of there are the faces of the customers after eating their crappy food.

tonight should be an entertaining evening to say the least; until next time <:><

Darth Maul, easily one of the coolest characters in the series...wish he would have been around longer.

productivity...

well today i went to the school of social work computer lab/library (by the end of my time there i forgot it was a library and was talking at just below normal volume...which is loud enough, and i probably should have been kicked out). anyway, i met up with seema and beth and everyone was working on research/thesis stuff. this computer lab is quite impressive and has a nice open space feeling to it, unlike most of the other comp labs on campus.

needless to say, i got work done at about 5% efficiency. at least i got SOME work done. along with this i managed to check email a few times, discuss friendster and facebook with the two SPH'ers i was caught in between, and beth and i were able to put together the evite (first time using this method) for the 'Euchre Extravaganza at The Tank.' it was definitely an entertaining time overall, and i was even able to work in a panchero's run by the end. all that being said, it was a positive work experience as i normally only operate at 2% efficiency at home!

ok now for some journal article reading for tomorrow's discussion...which is sure to be THRILLING. peace out <:><

group shot from AJ's bday:

waiting in line at rick's; me, james, christy, alyse, sidney

the conundrum...

i'm definitely tired from apparently not getting enough sleep last night...but its unusually nice outside and i feel the better choice (than a nap) right now would be to go for a run...so yeah, instead i'm sitting here in front of the comp typing about it. ok, time to get off my butt and get out there. where's my iPod shuffle...dangit. i have to make a playlist first. enjoy the weather while it lasts! later <:><

from the Pistons game a group of us attended a couple weeks back...and yes, i definitely kept all those cups!

"woke up this morning..."

yeah, surprisingly i did 'wake up this morning' when i really wanted to sleep in to the afternoon...ah well, what can you do.
the quote is actually from the theme song to The Sopranos, which are officially back in full mafia swing after a nearly 2-year hiatus. it looks like there may end up being a relatively consistent Sopranos-watching get-together every week, so stay tuned for info on that in the near future (special thanks to double D and gwen on that).
ok well there is a lot more to tell about the past weekend, but just not enough time to do it now; so you'll have to wait.
The Sopranos is back, the weather is 60F (until it plunges to 29F tomorrow night), george is still ticked at meredith, spider-man has a black costume for the 3rd movie, and i am on very little sleep...good night until next time <:><

random pics:

can't wait until summer 2007...

from AJ's bday celebration this past saturday (more pics to come...)
(L-R) gwen, sarah, hal, AJ, andrea - james is staring off into space in the background

...and then i saw the penguin...

so sarah AND beth have called me out on not updating this beast...i don't know why i haven't gotten around to it, i usually update it more when i have a lot of work to do (because of the distraction factor) but this week was apparently just too hectic! either that or i ended up opting for sleep over updating. either way, the long-term record will indicate that i'm still way ahead of sarah (for as long as we have both had blogs/LJ running).

that being said, it's been an exciting week...so exciting and relatively disjoint that i'm going to have to do most of the rest of this in bullets...and probably completely out of order (you chronology fans will just have to deal with it).

- first off, Happy 23rd Birthday Anandhi!!! hard to believe it has been three years since she was my student in parasitology...she and her rowdy cronies caused all kinds of trouble...i'm surprised i became/am still friends with any of them! either way, tonight we're heading out to dinner and then other festivities for this event, so it should definitely be an entertaining time. i can't say i'll take 500 pics, but you know i'll have the events well-documented for those of you who can't join us.


- Team BOWFIN has their own official facebook group now! if you have not joined up then please feel free to do so...if you aren't on facebook (and are still in school) at this point then there is little hope for you, but i'll do what i can to help you out (it's like a bonus time-waster in case no one you know has updated blogs, and if you've already checked email 40x during the day and there's nothing on tv).

- speaking of fish, i had the opportunity to try a NEW SPECIES yesterday at The Quarter Bistro (near by the evil entity known as kroger) on Maple Road. i was all set to get the white fish (which i've had several times) when the server (who i believe was definitely on crack...or high, or perhaps a cocktail of various drugs) said that they had 'opah' as one of their specials.
well, because i am a big fish nerd and it's somewhat of a quest for me to try as many different kinds as possible, i jumped at the opportunity and didnt even pay attention to what else came with it. anyway, i got it and i must say it was exquisite. spicy and mild at the same time. i wish i would have taken a picture of the dish because it was probably the most colorful i have had in ages (a panchero's tortilla is rather plain looking). either way, i highly recommend the restaurant...there's a bit more story to all that, but i'll have to get into that later...

Opah, Lampris guttatus

here's a picture of an opah, which can get close to 4.5' long! very bizarre looking creature, but as with so many strange organisms...they taste great! one more fish down, about 55,000 left to go.

- in preparation for seinfeld around my bday in april, i dug out the dvd of his HBO special, 'i'm telling you for the last time' the other night...if you have not seen this i highly recommend it. the whole dvd is from a live performance when he was retiring his old material (all the stuff the show was based on). good stuff. i cant wait until April 21!!!

- on a similarly comedic note, james, christy, damon, and i are going to see Jim Gaffigan on march 17 at the michigan theater. this guy is hilarious and has had several movie/tv appearances as well as comedy central specials, etc. he also has an elaborate bit on hot pockets...my former food staple from when lived by myself, good times. that and he actually responded to a myspace message that i sent him (which was a reply to a mass message he had sent to ann arbor area people about his upcoming appearance). there should still be tickets, so if you're interested in going let me know. ...and yes, it's on st. patrick's day, which is also on a friday...what a day to come to a university town -- gonna be crazy!

male wood duck, pic taken over spring break at the Tennessee Aquarium

- speaking of Team BOWFIN, there was something of an 'away match' yesterday, although the entire team didn't travel...in fact, it was just me from the original group. needless to say i think i represented the team well in a foreign arena AND we managed to win the majority of the matches. i think we're ready for some more competition in the near future. oh and i don't know the euchre tourney will affect the team, but that should be interesting as well. for the record rachel is not allowed to be on my team because i remember how she sucked at euchre in undergrad. yeah, i said it.

- what's the deal with 'fever pitch'??? well, i'm going to find out at some point. and yes, i know its a baseball movie.

Indian Starred Tortoise, Geochelone elegans; pic from TN Aquarium. i had one of these over the course of most of my last trip to India (summer before 8th grade). i wasn't able to bring the little guy back with me...and now i kinda want one again (too bad they are impossible to get around here, and really expensive).

- damon is on a ski trip/bachelor party this weekend in montreal...i seriously think this is one of the only weekends the dynamic socially overzealous duo has been separated for a major event (see AJ's bday). we have james in as a sub, and sarah agreed to come out too, so we'll see if we can compensate from the entertainment/excitement side of things. i don't think it should be a problem, especially given the crowd that is scheduled to attend.

- The Fugees "Take It Easy"...download it. and yes, i got the idea from that verizon V-cast commercial with the guy in the bowling alley...but thats besides the point.


- it's seriously time for me to stop buying sunglasses. i wanted to get another pair so i didn't have to wear my blade II pair out all the time (and risk damaging them since they're now irreplaceable...sheila almost threw them off a bridge in seattle 4 years ago...i was going to throw her over to find them if said event took place). well it didn't stop there (especially since james and damon told me about www.steepandcheap.com which has discounted oakley's rather frequently), now i have a rotation and don't know if i can resist the next time another model comes around. sigh. the rough life of being one of those vampires from the old ray-ban commercial.

- in the song 'beverly hills' by weezer, does anyone know what the girls are saying in the chorus? is it "can you hear me" or "gimme gimme" or "artichokes are the devil"? either way, james and i were wondering, so we could probably use some help with that.

- from this week onward...waaaaay too much work to do in waaaay too little time; go figure. count on a lot of updates.

that's all for now, hope this seriously wasted a lot of your time...i have no idea what i was talking about for most of it. i need a nap <:><

the time-wasting monster...

what is the time-wasting monster? well the beast takes many different forms; sometimes it's facebook, email, reading/writing blogs, the balrog from lord of the rings, talking on the phone, feeding fishes, contemplating the choice between carrots or broccoli in a death by vegetable scenario...

for many of you it takes the form of this particular blog (like it is for you right now), but for me it took yet another form, and i blame kara for this: the blog 'chain' survey. these have been around for ages in the email arena, but i wasn't aware of how easily they can be carried over to blogs. since i was listed as one of the people to respond to kara's in her survey i found it my duty to carry on the curse and complete my own right here. that and it's like automatic blog material, and i know most of you can use a break from the usual drivel that's just an urban sombrero away from the J. Peterman catalog. so here goes, enjoy the relatively basic (and often times predictable) answers, but i challenge you to leave some responses of your own too. peace out, i gotta get some 'real, actual work' done <:><

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Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. grocery carry-out at Hawkins Market, Ashland, OH
2. warehouse ‘manager’ at Sherwin-williams
3. assistant at ophthalmologist’s office, automated perimetry testing
4. TA or graduate student instructor for Embryology, Parasitology, Ichthyology


Four movies you could watch over and over:
1. Can’t Hardly Wait
2. Super Troopers
3. Spider-man
4. Office Space


Four places you have lived:
1. Arlington, WA
2. Bismarck, ND
3. Ashland, OH
4. Ann Arbor, MI


Five TV shows you love to watch
1. Seinfeld
2. The Family Guy
3. Rescue Me
4. The Office
5. The Sopranos


Five places you have been on vacation:
1. Orlando, FL (woo hoo Disney & Universal)
2. Seattle, WA (gotta love visiting the West Coast IP)
3. various locations in South India over several trips
4. SoCal for the Rose Bowl 2004
5. Queensland, Australia (with an extra day in Sydney)


Four web sites you visit daily
1. Hotmail.com
2. Facebook.com
3. all the blogs I normally check out
4. Google.com


Four of my favorite foods:
1. Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked Brownie & Cookie Dough Ice Cream
2. Swordfish from The Chop House
3. Idli & Sambar (probably favorite overall)
4. Panchero’s Burritos!!!


Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Hinchinbrook Island, Queensland, Australia
2. South Beach/Miami, Florida
3. The Solomon (aka My) Islands
4. Ann Arbor in the Summer/Fall


Four friends I am tagging that I think will respond.....

1. Sarah (you know you want to waste the time)
2. Janine (easy target since she still hasn’t done it)
3. Seema (perhaps a more elaborate edition of the Wednesday 5?)
4. You, the readers…feel free to waste some time and answer all or some of the questions and put them in the comment section. I KNOW some of you are dying for a distraction (that means you – double D, gwen, Rachel, beth, Julia, AJ, andrea, aun…)

random pics:

to quote myself (in somewhat of a will ferrell voice) when i took these pics:

"i looked to the heavens and they were filled with gars...and it was glorious..."
~ yes, i am a really really big dork.