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| Monday, November 7th, 2005 | | 9:29 am |
My mom had that surgery to remove the meningioma on oct. 27th. It went very well- they weren't trying to get it all out because it was nearby an artery and some nerves, but it happened to be a non-sticky variety and most of it came out rather "easily." She's still in the ICU, but she's recovering just fine. With time she'll be back to her old self...except she may have the double vision thing back (diplopia was the first symptom from this thing 10 years ago). Time time time. | | Monday, October 10th, 2005 | | 3:59 pm |
the silent guy
My entries are sporadic; I'm sorry. I've been watching...not writing. I have the coolest lj friends. Here's the latest...(rather random list of stuff) My mom has had a meningioma for 10 years now. It was initially treated with a good dose of radiation which stopped its growth. But it recently started growing again (with avengeance, though it's still benign) and she needs to have surgery to remove it. Ug ug. I'm by no means a Ken Follett fan, but The Pillars of the Earth is a damn good read. I should take a picture of my backyard...the theme is "piles of tree branches." Dumpster time. Sprinkler systems rock. Rhea and I installed some sprinklers for the front lawn with the help of our bestest-neighbor-ever Doug. | | Monday, August 15th, 2005 | | 10:52 am |
| | Tuesday, August 2nd, 2005 | | 9:32 am |
Well I'm jiggered
My dad was surprised to find me reading the chronicles of narnia on our camping trip- i had never read them as a wee lad. It's great to imagine kids in 1950s england saying things like "I say!" (I guess they are upper class?) and "well I'm jiggered." and "you're a real brick!" Then there's "She's a plucky gel" and "this is a rum go." It's good thing my dad was there to tell me what the last one meant. This is unrelated: Phone lines and me just don't get along, man...I mean, how many of y'all have been electrocuted by an incoming call? We use our phone line for three things and they all hate each other. The alarm system hates DSL, DSL hates the alarm system. But hey, sometimes they do get along, and when that happens they gang up on the phones and make them not work. Jiggered. It is my belief that the only thing keeping the peace is a tiny DSL filter that resides in our attic next to the alarm system box. It's hotter than blazes up there and I think it broke. I really don't wanna go up there during the summer, though...but I guess I have to! Actually, this brings up something that I've been meaning to do for awhile and that's cutting a hole in the roof and installing a cooling something or other so the steel nails in the joists don't melt. | | Thursday, December 2nd, 2004 | | 3:26 pm |
On scientific talks
I find most scientific talks relaxing (not engaging)- I get to space out and play around with self-hypnosis. There's nothing like sitting in a warm room amongst enlightened folk and just shutting down all brain function. Those who know me well are probably thinking, "wait a minute, you a grad student in molecular biology...shouldn't you like listening to these talks? Don't you get off on the brilliant science behind every piece of data?" Well, let's face it...science is BORING! Ok, it CAN BE boring. And when it is it's like sleep. | | Monday, August 2nd, 2004 | | 9:54 am |
I learned it from the Superfriends. In Transylvania... It is always night time. It is always raining. People get around town by horse-drawn carriage. People get around Europe by riding the "Trans-Europe Monorail" The two cops in the city are from London. | | Tuesday, June 29th, 2004 | | 5:08 pm |
| | 2:16 pm |
ways to write a song
The more I work on songs for the upcoming Hence the Name album, the more I realize that randomness is the foundation of my style and always has been. Most of the material I write is the result of tedious and endless tweaking of notes and samples to get the output to sound "good." Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just that I start running into problems when I want to include actual instrument playing and, God forbid, singing in the tunes. Somehow my brain just completely lacks the capacity to establish chord progressions and whatnot. I need a melody gene or something. | | Friday, June 4th, 2004 | | 9:06 pm |
ta epilogue
Ok, so I didn't give them a hard time. And another thing....how do you say "mutant"? The kids these days say "Mew-ant" (the first t is silent). It sounds really lazy. | | Thursday, June 3rd, 2004 | | 8:33 pm |
The TAing disease!!!!
Oh man oh man. A friend of mine is TA-ing a plant biology class and tomorrow he can't be there for the discussion sections. So I'm filling in for him! Ug. Doing this TA-ing crap all over again is gunna bring back memories. Memories of laying down the law for the kiddies. I'll blast questions at them and make them beg for points. Muh ha ha ha ha! When they hear words like "grade" or "points" their ears perk up like doggies. | | Wednesday, June 2nd, 2004 | | 12:09 pm |
| | Tuesday, May 18th, 2004 | | 11:37 am |
blinking light
My midstream seminar went rather well on Friday- it's nice to not be tested for knowledge on this and that by professors. This time they actually gave me some great input on my research and helped me back on track. Now all I have to do is a thesis and a defense, and heh, it's gunna be awhile before that happens. But I'm glad to get all other grad school requirements out of the way. No more classes, teaching, proposal-writing and oral exams. Ahhh. I must have the dirtiest keyboard in the world. Yech. | | Thursday, May 6th, 2004 | | 10:00 am |
GEIGER COUNTER: "Beep...........beep...beep."
I have yet to work in the corporate world, but I'm experiencing a bit of the drama that can happen in that realm...a prelude of sorts. I said to rhea "a worker is like...blaming all her current troubles and problems on a guy who just left for another job." She then told me that it's common for the recently departed to become the scapegoat. Huh. But...it's STUPID!!!! Why does there have to blame? Why do there have to be hard feelings? Just do the experiment the best you can and move on! Well, that's just rational little me. And now for a political quote...who said it? "I may not be able to single-handedly and totally cast off the repressive shackles of a corrupt government - but I can cut off your wheel-clamps for you." | | Sunday, April 18th, 2004 | | 9:34 am |
Midstream
When you talk about yourself in grad school, you usually end up saying that you are currently working on doing "My _____"...such as "my rotations", "my orals", "my midstreams"...you know, things that few people have heard of. Right now I am preparing for my midstreams, which means I am "kinda almost done." Actually, that doesn't mean anything because I totally lose track of time and constantly have to remind myself what season it is. Therefore, I'll be done when I'm done!! I lose track of time because the academic calender has little affect on me. I have no classes, no exams, no finals, no summer/spring breaks...it all just blends together right here in the lab. At least we have windows now so I can tell whether it's day or night. Ironically, whether it's day or night is actually quite related to what we study. | | Tuesday, March 16th, 2004 | | 12:56 pm |
| | 9:41 am |
if you...
found a $20 bill on the floor of a porto-potty, would you pick it up? My thinking was, "well, the reality is probably that that particular $20 bill is just as dirty as other ones." But they did put hand sanitizer in this plastic lavatory so I used it well after the fact. I then exited the bathroom and returned to my dad. ME: "Did you find anything of interest in your porto-potty?" DAD: (confused with squinting eyes) "No." ME: "Oh. Well I found 20 bucks." DAD: "Good, buy us lunch!" | | Monday, March 15th, 2004 | | 5:17 pm |
| | 3:10 pm |
Solvang century....oh dang!
My dad is quite the cyclist! This 100 mile bike ride I did on Saturday with him (and 4000+ other people) was just as I was expecting, really: very long. Oh man, 100 miles is a long way. a hem. But it's not as hard as you would expect, seeing how there is virtually no wind resistance when you are close behind others. Prior to this event, I had zero experience with road cycling with lots of people, but from what I could figure out, the whole point is just to keep up and eat a lot. That's not too bad, eh?! The fig bars and pineapple got old quick though. Although it wasn't a race, at times it seemed like it because lots of riders take it all really seriously and want to perform and go fast. Now, I generally bike by myself and I'm not used to packs of stick-like athletes with bulging leg muscles wooshing by me at 25 mph. These guys run stop signs and belt out things like "CAR UP!" and "GLASS!" which echo down the line. I almost felt out of place, but there were just as many amateurs as me on the road. Anyhow, maybe once a year would be good to do these things. There are just too many other things in life going on, but it sure was fun and worth another shot sometime. | | Friday, March 5th, 2004 | | 9:24 am |
brushes
The dentist that cleans my teeth now wields this sonicating probe thingy that is a little disturbing. Also, she now recommends that I use an electric toothbrush! It's like, the future or something. Somehow, I miss the scrape-y teeth cleaning instruments and "manual toothbrushes" as she called them. But all is not lost...they still ask you questions as they are working around in your mouth and expect you to answer in a comprehensible manner. DENTIST: "Are you flossing regularly?" ME: "Nyagh" DENTIST: "Good. Do you brush in circling motions?" ME: "Nyav eh owrkig ah agt" DENTIST: "Well, keep it up!" Now it's coffee time. | | Thursday, March 4th, 2004 | | 1:03 pm |
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