T-MINUS 5 HOURS

And we are off to the airport. I am getting a bit antsy to get out of the rain. I can't wait for sun and ocean water warm enough to swim in. We'll get to test if the amount of french I learned in high school has actually remained...let's just put it this way, it could be really interesting.

I am about to go pick up muffin head as we must return one of my christmas gifts as it is a bit too small for my thick neck....who knew one could have a thick neck...well except for those professional athletes who have larger necks than heads....hmmm...maybe I should give up sociology to become an athlete...although anyone who has seen me try to do anything coordinated will know this is a horrid idea.....hmmmm...what to do.....

Post-Christmas Update

All went very well with dinner. Somehow we fit all 13 people in the apartment. The food was excellent, and everyone seemed to have a great time. The Brits did manage to keep me awake until 3am, much to my dismay...Those boys they sure like their red wine and beer.

It was a grand time, it is nice to get a group of my friends who don't necessarily know each other together and see what happens....in this case all went well.

I am just finishing off some work, and then off to pick up a few things for our trip...yay we leave tomorrow night.....hopefully....all will go smoothly and I won't get attacked by too many jellyfish...but at least this time I have the right tools to deal with the situation.

Muffinhead and I will try to blog from Guadeloupe...but I have no idea how much internet access we'll have.

I hope everyone had as delightful of a holiday as MH and I did.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

A break from Grant Land

So while trying to get a grant off to the NSF my laptop has decided to die....well it has some sort of battery issue...so it is taking a vacation to visit dell, which means I am spending many a long hour in the lab working on the grant. In one way it is good and I can't eat too many treats, or procrastinate by cooking or something fun like that...

Which leads to my next task....I have managed to somehow end up with somewhere between 11 and 13 people coming to my apartment for christmas dinner....how are the going to fit...hmmm...that is an excellent question...but somehow I will make it happen....

This is one of those rare situations when my kindness (for some reason everyone laughs when I say I am being kind or nice...hmmmm) gets me into some trouble...I just don't think people should be alone on holidays...People were so nice to me last year when I could have been alone, I had to repay some sort of karmic debt.

in other news...i have learned how to do cables while knitting...so those of you who tend to receive my knitted projects can be afraid....there is a new pattern out there that I am mastering. I am working on a scarf for muffin head...he won't wear a hat, his is grey, and I am making a scarf for myself (I oddly enough never make thngs for myself) and mine is ice blue....

I will try to post again after the christmas dinner, and before muffin head and I go off to Guadeloupe.....and we'll see if we can post from there....

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

While I face the wrath of some by using the phrase happy holidays, I am tough enough to risk it.

For y0ur holiday pleasure....A christmas story re enacted by bunnies http://www.starz.com/features/christmasstory/

Enjoy and don't shoot your eye out this holiday season....

ps photos from my trip to boston will be up shortly....

Headed to Beantown

So Andrew and I are headed to Boston tomorrow for a little holiday cheer with my family and to meet my new niece, Jocelyn. I have procured some nice pomade to recreate that sweet mohawk she had at the hospital.

Andrew is meeting most of the family for the first time...so hopefully he isn't too scared....hehehehehe.......

So...I'll be without blog for a few days...but photos will be forthcoming upon my return.....

Have a happy weekend!

picture of my nieces

so...my two nieces met....apparently daisy...the dog, likes jocelyn, the human. I am sure their mom was quite happy about that. I'll be meeting them for the first time on friday. No news on who else Jocelyn has spit up on...although rumour is Zach was the first victim......

Let's hope I am ready for the cold....i make no promises.....

Run in with Steve Young

I swear the man only eats Asian food. I have run into him twice. Both times in Asian places....
Last night he was at a thai place that I was having dinner at. He doesn't look the same as on tv...but still a damn good looking man....Andrew wasn't impressed....well...to each his/her own.

First Pictures are In!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So here is Jocelyn....

I totally dig the Mohawk.......very hip....

OFFICIALLY AN AUNTIE

Today I am officially an auntie....while many of you out there thought I would be having a nephew, in fact I have a niece. She was born in the wee hours of this morning, and her name is Jocelyn Faye. The mother, aka my sister, and the baby are doing just fine...the dad seems to be fine too....

When I get photos...I'll put those up too!

I'll be seeing this little muffin next week, so I'll get some of my own photos too!

Instead of Pandas....

Today we have bunnies....ok...a bunny.....

http://www.bklynbunny.com/

i really dig their logo.....see the little bunny ears and eyes in the bridge....

yeah i am procrastinating.....

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.....

Life in the Lab......

So as the quarter draws to an end....life is hectic down here.....

Data coding is almost done....which means data analysis begins....that should start on monday...so don't expect to see me without my laptop for awhile.

Once data is analyzed, paper can be finished......and sent off....very exciting

In the mean time..........NSF proposal must get done.....I know you are all wondering....hmmm....I thought she got one of those last year...well I did, but that was for my dissertation....this is for the next few years of my work with KC and CC. We are planning a big new project....once it gets funded I'll let you know.....

Oh...yeah...and there are the holidays....two holiday parties this week and a birthday party.....and it only gets more hectic from there....

I can't wait until I get to Guadeloupe......I need that vacation....

I hope all of you are having more fun than me....and good luck to those of you who aren't....I know there are oral exams, dissertations, chapters and articles to be completed for all of you academics out there....and all sorts of other real world tasks for the rest of my readers, I just have lost touch with what those are......

Enjoy the beginning of the holiday season.....


oh and to my niece/nephew....be nice to my sister and just be born.....

New Panda Friend

So....my little buddy Su Lin at the San Diego Zoo has some competition....there is a new panda cub, Tai Shan (peaceful mountain) in the US, at the National Zoo in DC.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051130/od_nm/life_panda_dc

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/default.cfm

This little dude is pretty darn adorable...he is a little older than Su Lin, but I think they would be friends....

I've been away far too long

so....to give my faithful readers an update...

data collection on my dissertation experiment is complete, the behavioral data is now in spss, and in another week the questionnaire data should be there too!!!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Niece/Nephew aka butterball is refusing to come out and play, perhaps the child is a little tempermental....well we all know what side of the family that comes from.....

My herbs de provance turkey was fabulous as was the cranberry chutney....I highly recommend that everyone makes their own cranberries....I can't abide by the pre-bought nonsense......

holiday shopping is done....will soon begin holiday cards....trust me, this year's version are super duper cool...even if Andrew thinks they are inappropriate for English audiences....they are just puppy haters....what can I say.

I hope everyone had a lovely turkey day....i was doing just fine until i got hit with a sinus infection....damn my sinsuses

Experiment=done

so...we have reached 150....Now let the remaining coding begin.....i know...fun and games...but I do have the lovely Julie/Julia team to help....so it should be done by break.....

I think it might be time to celebrate....except that I have too much to do....poop.....

new gym character

so....over the past week or so there has been this guy who looks remarkably familiar....then it came to me on tuesday as he was in a tank top---he looks like the ever popular A.C. Slater from Saved by the Bell....now if only the rest of the crew would arrive....i have bets that screetch will be next....stanford is the type of place that would attract someone like him....although it could be the illustrious jesse spano...

and the answer is no...i don't tivo old episodes of saved by the bell....

A Funny Thing Happened at the Death Cab Concert

So...I went with the muffins, and our men to see Death Cab for Cutie last night. Stars opened for them....unfortunately the sound was just off for them.... But Death Cab was awesome. I was fascinated by the bassist...Nick Harmer....it was funny...he was the only person without a microphone....I just guess he couldn't sing...but everyone else in the bad seemed to be able to multitask...so I was befuddled....only to discover Nick Harmer's secret skill...he also serves as a bouncer/security guard. Some dude tried to jump on the stage during the encore. Nick, grabbed him with one hand, threw him down to the ground, and only missed two measures, until a roadie came out and made sure the guy was taken away. It was totally badass...and now Nick Harmer is my favorite bassist ever!

too much cuteness

so....in addition to monkeys....i like bears....and if you want a super overload of cuteness, check out the panda cam at the san diego zoo....especially when it is looking at su lin (which apparently means a little bit of something cute---and she is very, very cute).
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/ex_panda_station.html

Why I hate Kodak Gallery

So I order something from them for Andrew's birthday approximately 3 weeks ago, and I was starting to get a bit antsy about its delivery, as Andrew's birthday is tomorrow. So I looked a little closer at my order....they had changed my address to the Geology Department....um...I don't know anything about rocks, except sometimes I trip over them. This is odd, b/c I had received something from them in late september and the address was correct....Somehow they had manage to change my address in their system. I have now sent them a very nasty email, asking them to correct the situation. I will let you know how that goes, as they may soon reach the boycott list....which is not a nice place to be.

Return of the Phantom

So some of you may know that I am convinced my office and its entire hallway is haunted by a ghost named Harry. He is not a phantom menace rather, more like a friendly ghost. He bangs around the lab, and occassionally finds things I have lost. Well this week he fixed my watch. Last week, the lovely Andrew had kindly set my watch back an hour for daylight savings time, but somehow he had managed to put it on Euro time, so I was constantly subtracting 12 from the time on my watch after noon. But yesterday the watch was back to normal. Thanks Harry!

PS. my dad (aka dr tom) kindly reminded me that Euro time as I like to call it is also known as military time

My halloween highlights

So...just so you don't think I am an evil person, I began the day by finding and turning in someone's lost inhaler....so then I felt I could be a little snotty the rest of the day.

My first costume oopsies of the day... I was walking around campus and saw this woman in a very small skirt, and very little top and very tall heels, and I said outloud, oh look a hooker. Since it was halloween and all, I thought it was reasonable. Well, I was given a look of death....apparently it was not a costume.

So I kept out of trouble for awhile, until I was at dinner at Nola with Christine, when I was impressed by this woman's devil costume with stuffed monkey....then the monkey started to move...this is when i realized the monkey was in fact a child in a monkey outfit....needless to say that was a little disappointing...but I would recover.....

Finally we are walking to Christine's car, when waiting at the stop light was a convertable bmw, which is not so odd, but the backseat passengers were a giant rabbit and bear (with the large head pieces and all), to whom I waved and said hello easter bunny. He did wave us over to the car, but our parents taught us well, one should never get into cars with strange mammals.

New Gym Character

I have been calling him chesty bob little pants. He actually looks like a cartoon character. His hips are so tiny and he wears little spandex shorts, which only accentuates their slimness. He is clearly a man that works out his upper body quite a bit....Think the cartoon character Johnny Bravo, not the Greg Brady Johnny Bravo. And on the top he wears skin tight tank tops with a slit cut in the front so we can all admire his pectoral muscles. I noticed him the other day while taking a sip of water on the eliptical and I almost choked to death.

move over metrosexuals.....

now there are ubersexuals.....

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1598631,00.html

although we have decided that donald trump's name should never be associated with the anything that has to do with sex

New Feature---Gym Adventures

So I have discovered after going to the gym for slightly over a week at about the same time, that many similar characters are there at the same time. I discovered this same phenomena at the library when I was an undergrad.... So I have undertaken naming them so they can develop imaginary personalities....yes, I clearly need to occupy my mind while at the gym....

So you may ask who are these new characters....well most of them are named for their physical appearance....so...i'll just keep posting them as they get names and as they do crazy stuff.

Powder, this man is stick thin, deathly pale and bald. He runs 15 miles everyday on the treadmill and then lifts weights...oh i lie, he isn't completely bald...he has some random ugly chin fuzz....he always looks distressed....i keep thinking he will keel over on the treadmill

Gramps, this guy is definitely old enough to be my grandfather. But he is so happy every day at the gym, he gets to know all of the regulars, and is one of the most pleasant people....

on the other hand, there is a collective group of women I refer to as the storks....they all need to eat a few cheeseburgers....they each spend about 1.5 hours on the elliptical and look like they haven't consumed more than 100 cal/day in many years....I am contemplating bringing them a cake....

Of course there are the trainers, who actually have real name Andre and Terry. They are both really cool, but Andre is the best.....but it is nice to have some friendly faces there....

As more ridiculousness emerges, I will keep you posted.

And yes, I am insane....going for at least 2 hours a day....but dissertations can make you fat, and I don't want to be a fatty....not cool....must look good in swim suit in guadeloupe in december

Strange things happen in Arkansas....

which according to kyra is the no shit statement of the day....

I am scared of the Duggar family....that woman's uterus must be wrecked.....and why are they so crazy.....do the children actually know all of the other children's names....these are questions, i ponder as they scare the crap out of me.....

I find myself agreeing with the SF Chronicle editorial about this family.....

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/10/19/notes101905.DTL

thanks christine.....

It is these sorts of people that make us blue state people fear the red states and the odd characters that live in them....

So you might wonder why I have been missing lately....

Unfortunately I haven't been on any trips, well since the wedding....but I have been trying to get my advisor's lab up and running...it is now, but it is slow going....freshman apparently don't want to do experiments....I am mad at them right now....they need to show up....I only need 19 more subjects.....

But I am almost done with the first article from my dissertation which is on the effects of both giver and reciever behavior in reciprocal exchange on affect, cohesion and committment....yeah I know....some things never change....

Although today I had a fabulous idea for a paper, KC and I are going to present in the spring at a conference on social structure and emotions....but b/c I am paranoid, I won't tell you quite yet....and if KC doesn't want to go with that idea...I think I might run some experiments on it all by myself, it will be super cool...yes I know, I am very professional.....

What else has been going on.....Andrew and I are going to Boston in December to meet my new niece/nephew....gender unknown, and the rest of the clan....which should as we say, be interesting....

I have found a new and exciting show, it isn't actually new, but it is relatively new for me, and if you like the British mystery drama, you are in luck....you should check out Jonathan Creek, if you don't get BBC America (it is on at 1pm every weekday....thank goodness for Tivo), check out the dvds...but here is the link to the show on BBCAmerica http://www.bbcamerica.com/genre/drama_mysteries/jonathan_creek/jonathan_creek.jsp

Oh...with the opening of the new gym, I have taken to spending my mornings there. It isn't crowded at all, and if you go in the morning (especially Tuesdays and Thursdays), you can meet some of the guys who are actually trainers that Stanford employs....I work with Andre, who also has a boot camp on Mondays and Wednesdays, which I refuse to go to because I don't do anything with boots unless it involves leather and heels....But Andre has put me on an exercise routine...and I must admit I am hurting a bit, but I am feeling good....it is nice to spend the mornings there.....I get alot of stress worked out before heading into the office....I recommend it....But don't try to steal Andre from me...I might have to kick your butt.....

Need Art?

If so....please check out my friend Tezza's website....not only is he talented, but a super cool guy as well....plus...he has good taste...he is married to Tahu....

So check it out....

www.terriwilson.artspan.com.

I have seen many of these pieces live, and they are excellent

muffin spa day

Fabulous time was had by all....we went to Bliss San Francisco. Which is now my favorite spa...none of this new age phooey, just high quality treatments, which excellent staff.

Then we went to the official muffin sushi place in Berkeley, kirala...oh my god, if you haven't been, you need to go...the don't take reservations, but you can always eat at the bar...which is what we did...there is almost always a wait, but damn it is worth it...it is soooooo good....

Also there was full integration of the girl muffins....murdock muffin, stud muffin, blueberry muffin and I (muffin slut) all had an excellent time....the perfect amount of muffins for one car!

for a full account, check out the mad, mad muffin world.

Funny things overheard at a wedding

So while at DD's wedding, I overheard this conversation between two women....

w1..."you look familiar, do I know you?'
w2..."so do you, did you go to duke?"
w1..."yes....my name is x"

I look at andrew and say, "dude, they made out 6 years ago"...at which point all the people surrounding me started laughing hysterically.

oh the joys of going to weddings with your formerly drunken friends....

Latest Creation

So those of you who don't know, I am a knitter/crocheter....yup, I do crazy stuff....Since I am about to be an auntie, I made the little one (gender still unknown...but I am rooting for a boy) a blankie....check it out....It is being modeled by a monkey friend as usual....

More pictures of projects should be coming soon.....expect Andrew's first knitted gift this weekend....poor boy....little does he know what he is getting into with me.

Sorry, life is hectic

But we are back from the wedding safe and sound. It was a beautiful affair, but involved much comedy. My speach at the rehearsal dinner went over really well. Several people told me I should be a comedian....I think I'll stick with being a sociologist. I have posted a few pics.... The wedding went well, of course the flower girl didn't make it up the aisle, which hell, all of the bridesmaids thought was pretty damn funny. The food at the reception was excellent, and as soon as I got to put on flip flops I was much happier (see I have lived in CA for too long). Several middle aged couples wanted to adopt me, apparently I am a dream child, and have several standing offers to move in down in Southern California. But the reception was great, a lot of fun.....as we had a great table of bridesmaids, and their signficant others. It was hysterical, I thought our table was going to have a fit when some people started dancing before the bride and groom's first dance....the groom politely dealt with it, preventing the somewhat anxious bridesmaids from dealing with it, but in retrospect, pretty damn funny. So in case you are wondering....the first picture is me, with my man, Andrew (we do clean up very nice) and the second is the bride with her family.

I know you miss me

Sorry, I have been Missing in action lately....well, I have been getting the lab ready for the upcoming academic year, and all sorts of other boring stuff. But right now, I am in rainy north carolina accompanied by my faithful companion, Andrew...Actually at the moment we are dorking out and both working on laptops and being lame....but I thought I would take a few minutes to update all of my virtual friends with my comings and goings. So we are here at Duke University for my best friend from college, Dana's wedding....Yesterday was a day of high comedy. I spent most of it with the mother of the bride, betty. She is a total riot....for some reason, while dana and betty don't always get along, I always get along with both of them fabulous. So yesterday Betty and I did the rehearsal dinner seating chart, and name plates, and table indicators....but had a fantastic time doing it....all about the company. But my favorite part was when Betty threw the father of the bride, paul out of the house for just being damn annoying...Pure comedy....So today we have a bridal luncheon, the rehearsal, the rehearsal dinner and a cocktail party....but I am free until noon, and loving it....oh but i have to write a speech for tonight....ooops. So off to take care of that....

back from huntington beach

so....we had a lovely time at both the shower and the bachelorette party.....things seem to be all ready for Dana D's wedding....

Andrew headed off to England today for 10 days......then he comes back, and then we head to NC for the wedding....which I will be blogging from.

This friday I'll be having a birthday party.....which should be fun....but i need to do some cooking before then.....I am providing the mango salsa, and the canolli....yum!!!!!

oh enjoy some cute pics from the shower....

Falling apart

so....i think my body has decided it needs another vacation....yesterday, it decided to fall up the stairs to my apartment, ripping up my right hand, left upper arm and left shin. Then I managed to give myself a massive paper cut while trying to open my mail...clearly it did not want to be opened....

then the cherry on top, while walking to meet Linda for lunch, my shoe just busted open, no, the heel didn't break, i was wearing driving mocs....the toe casing just broke upen...now the shoes are being held together by some masking tape, thanks to Linda....Note to self and others....STEVEN by Steve Madden Shoes suck ass....I have only had these since april, and they fell apart...cheap ass crap....I will not buy another pair of shoes by that felon.....

So hopefully i can't fall apart any more while in huntington beach.....

Also...look forward to a picture of the sweet Furla bag Andrew bought me for my birthday....it is very pretty....he is a very, very good boyfriend...he already won best gift ever from a boyfriend...and he has only been around for 11 weeks....

I wish I was going to England

Alas, I am staying here, while Andrew heads off to Jolly Olde England.....If I was to go, I would have to go see Ducktastic....
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/shows/display?contentId=84782

I mean...how can you not want to see a take off of sigfried and roy, but with ducks....I hope it comes to the US.

In other news, I am headed to Huntington Beach this weekend for a shower for dana and her bachelorette party....should be entertaining.

so i know you missed me

ok....so here are some pictures.....in case you need some help....there is a picture of one of my jellyfish scars, the beach at our hotel in the corridor, the sunset in la paz, and one of me and andrew in front of the arch on the pirate cruise....if you can't figure out which is which...well then i have so item identification webpages that perhaps you should view
but i didn't really have internet access for the past week or so...but i am back, and awake...so i thought i would update you on some of my adventures....

things i have learned....jellyfish are not nice....in a total of a week, i was stung 6 times...ok, five of those were in one day. it was really quite impressive, and andrew laughed at me when i bough rubbing alcohol...i highly reccomend carrying some if you are going anywhere near jellyfish, b/c if they find out you know me they might attack....

we have also learned that i have very little ability to discern the gender of animals...all of the animals in cabo pulmo were incorrectly identified by me...and all given male names, despite upon further inspection they all proved to be female.

so let me tell you a little bit about our snorkeling adventure in cabo pulmo...aside from my absolute hatred of jellyfish....well on thursday we took a boat out with our captain juan (but not juan carlos...don't be silly, cats can't drive boats). The first two places we went were so cool, we were snorekeling with thousands of fish called jacks. We took some underwater pictures of it, those should be up later this week. This was really fabulous, but we were really more amazed by this bitchy woman and her man friend also on our boat. I have named them chesty macboob, and whitebob palepants....she had ridiculous fake boobs, and he, well, he was the palest person ever, and andrew is from the north of england, and he isn't that pale.....so chesty managed to complain the entire time, and nothing whitebob could do would appease her...so eventually he just let her wander off with juan, while we were on mermaid beach...i can't say that i blame him....but when we got back to the main land....she made all the fishermen, scuba and snorkel guides happy when she proceeded to sunbathe topless about 100ft from their repair shop and about 40 ft from the beach-side restuarant we were having lunch at.

i highly recommend going on a pirate cruise....i have to say pirates know some very interesting things....like how to make a mean margarita...or at least how to give you lots of them....i like margaritas.....

some more recs for the los cabos area....when you are sick of mexican cusine go to the tulip tree in san jose del cabo....it was fantastic...i had blackened tuna with mango and pineapple salsa....oh it was delicious....

upon a few hours to think about it....if you are going to los cabos, and you want to basically be in the US, spend your time primarily in Cabo San Lucas, if you would actually like to think you are in a different country go to San Jose Del Cabo...it is amazing what 30km can do.....

sur la playa

so....we went to lovers beach yesterday....we were taken by our handy captain, edmundo....so to get to the beach you have to jump off the boat into the pounding surf....which of course caused me hours of amusement later as others managed to do it with much less style than myself. but...in other parts of the story.....it is a really cool beach, b/c on one side is the sea of cortez and the other is the pacific ocean....all absolutely gorgeous......

well, we decided we would go do a little snorkeling....which is all fine and dandy....until we tried to get out of the water....i was floating along trying to take off my flippers when one hell of a wave comes by and takes one of my flippers away.....well...just when i regain my flipper, another big ass wave comes by and totally almost takes off my bathing suit bottoms....well....this caused me to freak, and as i went to grab my bottoms, i lose my flipper.....flipper was eventually regained....but somehow in all of this mess, i lost my mask...which was eventually recovered....but pretty much the only thing i didn't almost lose at the beach was my top.....which would have been interesting.

one of the other great highlights from the beach was this small boy who was screaming he wanted his mommy, so i turned around to see what was going on....well some woman, the relationship to the child unclear was attending to him...well apparently he was having problems with his penis, and was screaming in much pain. it seems that while playing in the surf he had gotten a ton of sand in is suit (this happened to almost everyone there, but most of us did not scream for our mommies), so this woman figure helps him remove his suit....so he is totally buck naked, hiding behind a rock....when another woman in this group decides that clearly the solution is to attempt to cool this child's penis by putting her bottle of beer on it....let me tell you, this is not the solution, as the little guy cried out in pain. the beer was promptly put down, and his little brother mistook it for his juice and promptly had a few swigs....frankly if that was my family i would have been drinking too.....

well after this long day at the beach, i was really dehydrated and tired, so the pirate cruise got post-poned until friday when we'll be back in the cabo area.....but we did manage to get our butts to a fabulous french pastry shop, called french reviara, which was awesome...if you find yourself in the cabo region....get there...it is in san jose del cabo....and was just fabulous.....oh my god, it is wonderful....i will be eating there friday, saturday and sunday morning before we head home..

birthday report

so....a lovely day was had by all.....andrew decided he wanted to learn how to snorkel, so as part of my birthday present, he got us both snorkeling gear, which is super cool, since we can use it for the rest of the week, and then when we go on our next adventure to guadeloupe in december/january...so that was cool. We went to this beach called playa santa maria, and snorkeled for a couple of hours...we saw awesome striped fish, and blue fish with yellow fins, little baby fish, and big bad mo fo fish....

then we came back to the hotel, had a couple drinks for happy hour, and then cleaned up and went to a fabulous place for dinner, where we had an awesome view of cabo and the arch during sunset. Add to this the food was simply spectacular....and they had awesome mojitos...and we all know i love mojitos...so if you are in cabo go to puento veija restuarant...

so today....the big plan is......breakfast...ok...i am hungry, then off to lover's beach for some more snorkeling (someone is hooked) and then a pirate sunset cruise...yes, I tracked one down....and we are bringing mojo, so i will have my own monkey for the trek...... here is the link for the cruise http://www.loscabosguide.com/buccaneerqueen/index.html

again, thank you all for your birthday wishes....

I'll try to post tomorrow, but then we are off to cabo pulmo, where there will be no internet...so...you will have to live with out updates for a few days...i hope all is well....

happy birthday to me!

so...it is my birthday....and we are headed to the beach shortly, for a bit of a swim, a little snorkeling, lunch and a cocktail or two.....then home and then for a sunset dinner....not a bad day....

but yesterday we had a great adventure....we went on a glass bottom boat tour of the sights around cabo....we saw many pelicans (those of you who have seen my pictures of new zealand, these are my current bird of choice), the arch, which is amazing, and many other cool fish, and rock formations....i have awesome pictures....but in addition we also had our second sigthing of the mark granovetter clone....he even wears black socks...just like mark....so fascinating.....

i had an entire conversation with a salesman in spanish yesterday....very impressive....whereas andrew tried to order chicken and fries (chips for you commonwealthers) by ordering polio and chips, instead of pollo....oh the comedy never ends.....

in our hotel there is the most amusing group of people....known to us as the ladies and their dudes....all of them appear to be over 75 and having the time of their lives....they are highly entertaining...we like to make up stories abou them going surfing, night clubing, etc....all i can say is one of the ladies has some serious moves as she got one of the buff young hotel workers to carry her up the stairs....damn she is smooth.....

so...i am off to call my parentals...HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!! I hope you enjoyed your present.....

i'll give you more updates later.....

ps thanks to all of those who sent birthday wishes

so i lied...

we actually went to cabo today...someone....aka andrew was confused....so yesterday we just went to todos santos and had lunch at this really good place the los adobes..so if you are in todos santos...go there....

we have discovered a driving norm...if you see an animal on the side of the road...say a cow, horse, donkey, sheep or goat, you are supposed to flash your hazard lights....andrew has taken to this social norm....so i am the animal spotter....

so...we are at our hotel in cabo, which is pretty cool...i got some great photos of the waves crashing on the beach already....another new theme to the trip has developed...alex waiting for andrew...and in these moments of boredom....i have taken to photographing my feet...so be prepared for those to be posted....maybe just one.....

one really cool thing about our hotel in cabo is that we get free phone calls to the US...so...mom and dad...i'll call on sunday...and happy anniversary...oh and birthday to me!

in disappointing news...andrew was going to take me on a pirate cruise before my birthday dinner...i was really excited, and then he read the fine print and discovered the priate cruises only run from oct to may. damn....i wanted to see some stupid pirates.....i guess i will have to settle for the cap'n morgan in our bar...

so...1 minute to happy hour....i need a cocktail....have a lovely weekend all...and i'll try to keep you posted..

ps if you need a guide book to baja...get the moon handbook...it is awesome...thanks brownmouse

no boats....but jellyfish

so....we decided to skip sailing for the day, so we spent teh morning in town, at museums and what not...and then we went to the beach, where we had a fabulous lunch, and just paddled around in the sea for awhile...until....the jellyfish struck....with the exception of breaking a bone, i don't know if i have ever been in more extreme pain in my life.....I was taken home immediately by the ever doting andrew, who promptly took care of me. The stinging is gone....i have a few bumps and all should be good.....

tomorrow we head to cabo san lucas, with a brief stop in todos santos...probably for lunch and some shopping....

commenting update

so...given that i have been recently spammed on my blog i have increased security....which should be no problem if you are human...just follow the directions and you will be ok...if you are a fellow blogger and have the same problem....let me know and i'll tell you how to fix it.

off to find an adventure in la paz...tomorrow todos santos and cabo

return of the blue dolphin

why can't i escape this!!!! so we were having dinner last night at the kiwi cafe....by the way...there were no kiwis there...but many pelicans...which were super cool....but more to the point....after dinner, we were given mints that had blue dolphins on the packaging which had an english translation of pleasure your visit....what could be more perfect!!!!!!

ok...i am still working on uploading the pictures...there have been more interesting things to do....like find pelicans, etc....

i think we are going on a boat today....not sure though....it is andrew's day to choose....

Good morning from La Paz

So it is another 90something degree day...we are headed to the beach in a little while....but there are a few anecdotes I would like to share....

1) a pigeon entered the cafe where we were having dinner last night and was promptly flew into a fan....what is the lesson here....pigeons are really, really stupid.

2) two people with the equivalent spanish knowledge of say koko the gorilla if she spoke spanish can in fact get by in La Paz....and let us say...one of us (the fabulous alex) is definitely the more skilled spanish speaker...and anyone who knows my spanish ability knows just how damn scary this is....although I am particularly good with road signs....

ok....andrew has work to do and i need coffee...maybe i'll have some time to post pictures in a bit....before we head to the beach....

adios

greetings from la paz

so andrew and i made it to mexico....i have only had a few temper tantrums...and none of them were directly related to him...so he is still alive....

we have seen....a mark granovetter clone..on the airplane...black jeans and all....many, many , many, cows...that are all very skinny...and a donkey i thought was a cow......all by the side of the road at cattle crossing signs....so how was i to know it was a donkey not a cow...there wasn't a donkey crossing sign....hmmm....what else...in our ethnically diverse plane safety guide we learned that latinos had mustaches...and this was verified upon landing in mexico....so now we know if someone has a mustache they must me a latino....hahahahahahahahhahaha......

saw fantastic sunset today....will post pictures later...tomorrow we head to a posh beach in the afternoon...hopefully it won't be too hot...as i already have color....and andrew has a tan from hawaii...somehow that didn't happen to me in philly.....

hugs to all....

random musings

So I am back in CA...well for a short while...I head off to Baja on sunday with Andrew. He is finally coming back from Hawaii this evening...Which will be nice, since I haven't seen him in two weeks.

I will try to blog while in Baja....this is all based on the assumption that I will have access to the internet....if not....I will post when i come back...we will also try to post pictures as well.....

But if you need a laugh while your gone...check out this halloween song...done by a bunch of indie rockers....

http://www.vice-recordings.com/halloween/index.php

adios amigos

Sunday in Philly

So....nothing too exciting...but I will note I did see a three card monte game...something new for me...

Simon and I had a fabulous dinner at this italian place....so delicious....

On our way back from dinner we saw these two men, in their late 40s...dressed in all leather, and one with a cat of nine tails...and they were headed to a sex club....we thought about following them...but decided it was in our best interests not to.

Today....it is overcast and icky...so...i don't know what i am going to do...at the moment...hang out in my robe and contemplate the day. I have dinner plans with Gili....so i'll contemplate that...

Oh...I did venture out and see independence hall...i thought about the liberty bell, but damn i didn't want to wait in that line in the oppressive heat.....so here are a couple of pictures of independence hall....the first photos with the new digital...

Adventures in Philly

So the first two days have been filled with presentations and catching up with old friends....

Both presentations went well...so that is good.....

As usual, I had way too much fun with the Cornell group processes grad students, and I met the ones from South Carolina, who are also great.....but way too many drinks...

Plus I get to hang out with my old roommate Simon, which is very cool....

I am now exhausted, and I am going to climb into bed...and tomorrow, I will explore the city....YAY!!!!

plus try out my new digital camera....so if you are lucky...there will be pictures tomorrow.

weekend update

so i spent most of the weekend on the couch with allergies and a horrid headache. how fun! but since andrew is in hawaii, i don't have to feel bad about being a lazy bum all weekend. other than that...i worked on my presentations for philadelphia....i have on on friday and one on saturday and then I can just enjoy the rest of my time. Thankfully I am getting my temporary crown on wednesday morning, so i won't be obsessed with my tooth the entire time.

in other news, my charming mother and father (Drs K and T) bought me a digital camera for my birthday, so i'll be able to take and upload photos on all of my upcoming adventures.....Philly, Baja, LA, and Durham....I think that is it until December, but I could be very wrong.....needless to say I am a very busy gerbil......

what a busy month

so....august has turned into quite a crazy month....first i chipped a tooth, so I had to find a dentist, blah, blah, blah...but thanks to truth, I found a good one, who is seeing me on thursday, so hopefully we can get this taken care of. Then Andrew takes off friday for two weeks in Hawaii, apparently there is a conference there...that is what they all say...
Then I take off for Philly next week, where I am presenting two papers....Then back for 5 days and then we take off for Baja....clearly a vacation is necessary.....clearly.....

Adventures in Marin

So, we took off to Marin yesterday....I was hoping we would be avoiding the heat that had taken over Menlo Park. Alas I was wrong....Now those of you who know me, know how much I hate hot weather....I know it seems impossible, but it makes me even crabbier than usual. The heat was fine at the English pub for lunch, and Muir Beach...but Mt Tam was a bit much for me...not that it was a strenuous hike, but it was damn hot, and I was incredibly pissed....But Andrew did learn an important lesson, do not take me to do events with physical exertion when it is over 85 degrees outside...it invariably leads to a temper tantrum....We ended the day in Muir Woods. Which was absolutely fantastic...first it was shaded, so it was not nearly as hot, and there were tons of gorgeous redwoods, and....FERNS!!!! And I love to take pictures of FERNS!!! Don't ask...it is a long story that started in NZ.....

harry potter update

so....i just finished the 6th book....and while it is much better written than the last two....I am completely distroyed by the death of my favorite character....I won't give away any details...but I must admit I shed a few tears.....

A day in carmel and monterrey

So, I spent yesterday in those two lovely locales with my current manfriend, Andrew. It was absolutely gorgeous. We did the 17 mile drive between monterrey and carmel, saw pebble beach, etc....totally fantastic....

There will be some fabulous photos posted later this week, once I get them developed...oops, I forgot the film today.....

pics from the wedding

so...first we have LL getting harassed by the mariachi band the we have dd, the bride, and me....ignore my stupid face, but note my super cute dress....
Then we have LL getting harassed by the mariachi band

adventures in dallas

so....I went to my college roommate's wedding in dallas this weekend. it was a lovely affair....much fun was had....but I must give you some of the more ridiculous highlights.....

1) the sermon at the ceremony....the groom's father gave the sermon and had an entire analogy about cooking and the marriage....all i can say it just got a bit much when he started talking about one being the salt to the other's pepper

2) so in our break between the reception and the bbq, some of us slept (me) and others went to the bar (DD) and so when i woke up I called her and she announces she was at the bar with our friend LL, and they were accompanied by a mariachi band....i thought she was making shit up....as one does....so I go down to the bar where I am greeted by the mariachi band...one of them is introduced to me, i put out my hand to shake his and he gives me a hug, and I reply say to him what the hell are you doing....so he left me alone and hit on LL.

3) when S announces to B's boyfriend on a message that she needed the cock and that is why she had to hook up with some dude last week.....

All said a bit out of control, but fun....but I am happy to be back in CA where I can catch up on work....

Happy fourth of July to all of you that celebrate it.

Me and DD

Yeah so we really like the pool toys...what can we say....but you can find her blog on my links about the adventures of brown mouse....

The Moogster, Me and CLC in the hammock

I am posing as Bug Girl, Moogster stole the Duck from Duck Dude and CLC is in his usual spot....

My parents and their crazy dogs....oh and zach

They do so enjoy the beach!

back home safe and sound

so......i am back in CA...overall the trip was excellent.

of course my family was on very good behavior so CLC will think I just make things up...

We did have an exciting adventure in Durham....CLC really wanted to go to a cracker barrel...I don't ask questions...so we took him saturday morning....well first thing he finds is a john deere t-shirt that says country boy...so of course he needs it...right...but they don't have his size. So he finds this salesperson and she is trying to convince him the medium will fit...so she is holding it up to his back, and of course he can't see it...so she then decides to make him go try it on....so he comes back with the t-shirt on, and the woman asks his "wife" what she thinks....signaling to DD...and we all starting cackling....it was just comedy....then we managed to have a conversation completely in code....about how gay the t-shirt makes him look.....

Then CLC managed to order more food than I thought was possible from the menu in his quest to eat traditional southern food....all i can say, is that I seriously need to detox...after a week of fried foods, and lots of alcohol....it is all about fruit for me....exept that i am totally craving pizza....but I should prepare as I am headed to Dallas on Friday for a friend from college wedding....

pictures will be posted shortly

Mini Golf and Jewlery Draft

So...yesterday...primarily b/c I am a burnt muffin...I took ClC to play mini golf....I am amazed at how consistently people congregate in too large of groups and it ends up taking forever....but we did make friends with Wyatt the 5 year old behind us and his PeePaw as he referred to him....Unclear if it was dad or grandfather....

After dinner we had the great Jewlery draft...my grandmother had sent this stuff down and it is ridiculous crap...needless to say...I took things primarily to dress up in costumes...I do think the highlight is the indian goddess necklace that I am thinking of making into a belt buckle...when Dr K sends me the photos I'll will post a few....

Today we head off to Durham for a night with DD and CLC gets to meet the durham crowd...this should be interesting....

It will be good to get back to cali....I need some rest.

Adventures of the Blue Dolphin

Somehow that phrase always gets me in trouble....the original story goes back a few years ago when my friend Ann and I were obsessed with this item in the Adam and Eve catalog called the blue dolphin...if you care to find out what this is, you can look it up yourself....well we were playing taboo several years ago and we used some clues from the Blue Dolphin to get Dolphin. So then the idea is put to rest....UNTIL.....My parents inform me in their renovations to their house, they have created a bar (which is odd, Dr K doesn't drink) and they have named it the Blue Dolphin...OK...that is funny enough....but then Dr K informs me that Dr T (my dad) has procured her this lovely light up dolphin....to go with the bar and there are lots of mirrors...etc....needless to say the tackiness quotient on this product is high....So remember when I was telling you about our adventures in the walmart...well clc and I saw the so named light up blue dolphin. So at dinner at a really bad mexican restaurant (don't eat mexican food in the outer banks), we told Drs, K and T that we saw the blue dolphin at Walmart...and Dr K was crushed....she thought it was really classy...yeah really KLASSY....Which of course led to massive laughing as my mom started to describe how classy she thought this thing was...but all anyone else could remember was the original blue dolphin story....which Drs K and T still don't really understand what it is.....someone might have to just get them one of those original oh so tasteful blue dolphins...

random happenings

so we went on a mission to buy the lil' muffins a game cube....and we ended up at k-mart to find them a game. But we were given raffle tickets upon entry...which turned out to be essentially a qvc like sale....but curtiss did win the raffle and is now the owner of delightful silver bracelet...it is so fugly...it is amazing.

last night we decided to go for a walk....well, clc and dd and me...which resulted in clc daring us to go into the ocean....which of course we did...b/c dd andI are tough. well we were completely sopping wet and had to trudge back from the beach and promptly hopped into the hot tub....only to be told we are retarded by the littlest muffin..

we became experts at the spongebob game....after a long day at the beach...i am now thoroughly sunburned....we returned home to spend some quality pool time....aka frolicking about playing spongebob and drinking fruity cocktails.....well somehow littlest muffin got very intoxicated and became a WWE wrestler and was throwing down challanges...needless to say almost littlest muffin and I kicked her butt...Then we had a parade of pool floats...I rode the bug, dd on the tiger and littlest muffin on the brand new oh so exciting duck....if you are lucky you might get to see the vide of my parents jousting on the duck and bug....pure comedy.....

Delightment

So over the course of the first few days we have invented a new word--Delightment. Which is based loosely on Dr Tom's frequently use of the word delightful. I decided since he frequently is delighted by things, it is clearly important to quantify this concept. I feel that is a composition of several individual scale items. Clearly exploratory factor analysis is necessary to figure out the factor loadings necessary for a correct index. But an argument did develop between the sociologists and the psychologists here....is delightment a trait or a state....as a sociologist....I am opposed to traits...so I am going with a trait....as some things clearly add to ones fleeting sense of delightment.

Batman Begins

So...we saw it last night....fairlyamusing...but the question I am pondering is why the hell does christian bale's voice change when he is batman....it is bizarro....

i just don't know....

Day 2 and no one is dead...

So...we have gotten this far and no one is dead...although i think curtiss and i may have broken a land speed record getting to the obx in less than 4 hours....we speed and we love it.

other than that...nothing exciting...although curtiss did go to the church shaped like noah's ark...i was not convinced to join him...in case you were wondering. or aware that he might try to convince me.

The dogs are insane as usual, but not as allergy inducing....which is definitely key....

but everyone got here safely....much fun is being had....we are going to see batman tonight...especially since i haven't seen a movie since literally last year...it will be good to see something on the big screen.

A

off we fly into the wild blue yonder

so...clc and i take off today....hopefully we will not kill each other....nor will i kill any member of my family....but if they fight with each other...I certainly won't get in the middle of it....hahahahahahaa....

so we are taking off for 8 hours of flying and then 5 hours of driving through rural nc....oh boy!!!!

so keep your eyes open for more posts!

Getting Ready for Vacation

So on friday clc and i leave for vacation....we are headed to the outer banks with my family...the entire gerbil clan...hopefully no one will die....i guess i'll title this trip when gerbils collide....it can be scary... but keep your eyes open for posts....

Update from the basement

So, actually I have been hiding at home instead of the basement.....but here is the good news....all of the data entry is done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All of the questionnaire recoding is done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The binding negotiated exchange recoding is done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Only 4 more conditions to do.....I am hoping to have that all done by Monday.

Nothing else really exciting to report....although you might want to check the MAD, MAD, MUFFIN WORLD....i'll post about our adventure in the city last night....

updates from the basement

so...i have spent the past few weeks coding my behavioral data....i know my life is fascinating....

but today while finishing up the reciprocal cooperation condition I realized something really cool (ok it is actually only cool if you are a sociology dork).....I had assumed that subjects would reciprocate only to the partner from the trial immediately preceeding....well it turns out, they actually have a longer memory than that....they will look like they actually defect to the preceeding trial and are reciprocating from multiple gifts from a trial 2 earlier...so you may ask why this is fascinating....well actually it is cool, because it supports work by Malinowski from the Kula ring, that once you receive a gift you must discharge that debt, it doesn't matter if it is immediate, but you must do it in a timely fashion. In addition, it is super cool, because it supports my more complicated view of the norm of reciprocity (and Gouldner's) that receiving a gift obligates you to return it, even if it is not immediate and that actors actually try to reduce this feeling of obligation....once I combine the behavioral and the attitudinal data, I will see how this will impact ideas of trustworthiness....which will be cool....but what it does in fact do, is really change how I think about commitment...which will have to be another entry....b/c i am way too pooped....

kittenwars

so....in my never-ending attempts to procrastinate I discovered kittenwars....which is like hot or not for kittens...except they aren't all kittens, many of them are grown-up cats. Which I think puts the adult cats at a disadvantage, as baby things are always cuter than adult things....but trust me if you go to this link you will be sucked into kitten rating....

www.kittenwars.com

my adventures with bridesmaid dresses

so...I got my dress for Brown Mouse's wedding...which is cute....so I go to try it on to figure out how much it needs to get altered....well the answer is a lot...it is strapless and I put it on and the top fell down to my tummy....some how I don't think she would like it if I stole the thunder by showing everyone my boobies....hehehehehehehehehehe

Sangria........

Spanish Sangria courtesy of Linda

INGREDIENTS:
1 lemon
1 lime
1 orange
3/4 cups rum
1/4 cup white sugar
1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry red wine
1 cup orange juice


If you didn't have some you should have....

dinner party

so I did a little island theme last night.....it was pretty darn sweet...the food was good....the company exellent....

in the hopes of sharing the recipes with people who had asked....I am posting links to them on my blog instead of trying to remember who asked for what.....

So here we go....

Jamaican Jerk Chicken
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_19578,00.html

Mango salsa (I also added papaya)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_27365,00.html

Black Beans and Rice with Cilantro Pesto
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_28545,00.html

Spicy Pineapple Slices
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_19719,00.html

Stuffed Peppers--I substituted Portabello mushrooms for the octopus
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_27366,00.html

Jamaican Hot Pepper Shrimp
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/232029

So everyone enjoy....

I'll be posted Linda's Sangria recipe, and Betty's pineapple and prawn recipes shortly

trash can

sinatras that is.....

went to their show at slim's laast night with Kiki and L. Luckily, sketchy glory wasn't there....but instead we had creepy guy that stared at L all night (which is a long story, which I'll let L tell sometime on her blog).

The show was pretty good.....but at times they seemed to be a wee bit too affected....but c'est la vie.

While sitting in the balcony, we made friends with the guys who were recording the show live....they were pretty funny....especially when the one josh informed us, that you know he works in the industry, so he is jaded....

Although the important thing of the night....I learned how to eat kumkwats....who knew you just ate them and didn't peel them....I mean they look like little oranges.....but we also learned kumkwats are funnier when you talk about them with a french accent.....

mr potato head does the seven deadly sin

if you enjoy vegetables having adventures, well here you go....mr potato head goes a little nuts and violates the seven deadly sins.

http://www.kimberlyyau.com/misc.html

check it out and have a good laugh.....

So I am going to be an auntie

So I was surprised today when I opened a card from my sister J, that said do not open until mother's day....Which is odd, b/c I am not a mother....unless you count the plants....but it was actually an auntie card, signed by Daisy (the dog) and baby K....Which pretty much stunned me...I just kind of threw the card as I had no idea what to do with it.

But let's hope for the best, and that it will be a happy, healthy addition to the gerbil clan this novemeber....

WWCD

otherwise known as what would cheerleaders do....

The state of texas is considering a bill to ban booty shaking and suggestive cheers by cheerleaders....

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=583&e=1&u=/nm/20050505/od_nm/cheerleaders_dc

I don't know what will these poor cheerleaders do....

the adventures of sunburned girl....

So I got burned to a crisp on friday watching the ncaa women's rugby semi-finals. One of my students was playing, and I had no desire to do any work...so why not....
It was an excellent game, and I enjoyed myself quite thoroughly until I realized I was all red.

Then I headed up Oakland to see New Order, which was absolutely fantastic.....although I must say that arena needs to be updated....no atms, the vendors only took cash or tickets....and the options were worse than at the rugby match, and that is a bad indication of venue quality.

Well saturday I trekked back to the rugby fields...but this time armed with sun-screen. Great games...The stanford women destroyed penn-state, the univ. of northern colorado won a squeaker against humboldt state, and then berkely destroyed utah...but great games...

then T and I went to E's house for dinner, to meet her new dog Phillip, who is prety cool...a little hyper but a sweet dog.....

today...brunch, a nap and soon to head off to san jose...assuming L will buzz me back.....

I'll keep you posted.....

One less source of uncertainty!!!

So I have been officially funded for next year....So all I have to do is finish my dissertation. While I must admit I am not a fan of this administration, I have to give a shout out to certain federal agencies and departments that do tend to fund my life right now. So the NSF is funding my research so I don't go broke....and whoever the hell pays for federal work study is paying for my last year of grad school....since stanford refuses to do it. But the benefits of this are that I don't have to teach. While, I don't mind teaching...I would rather be publishing papers....or playing with Karl, Charles, WEB and Stan the monkey....I mean who wouldn't.....

In other news....we are over 100....actually 104, with only 46 remaining...So hopefully we can finish off 46 in the last four weeks or so of the quarter....It would be sweet. I promised Danny a party if we did....

mid week update

So the paper for Amsterdam, not Germany...so I get confused...but I don't get to go, so who cares, is almost done...the first presentation of some of my dissertation results!!!!!!

Baseball game tomorrow...which is all very exciting....

New Order is on Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait....I got their new cd today, along with the Caesars....they are playing on June 8th in the city...and I'll be there...I already have tickets....I'll be there with the AGIRLS....

Other than that....oh important update....JS my poor research assistant who had the stroke is out of the ICU, so that is good...and she is headed back to Louisanna this weekend....

Oh also headed to the NCAA rugby championships this weekend....they are at Stanford, so not really headed anywhere...but should be fun!!!!

Also...check out my friends' blog about will...he is a character....you should be obsessed with will too....boy can he dance.....

what a fabulous weekend

spent today at the nob hill spa with the A Girls and some of Linda's friends. Had a fantastic massage....oh my god...i feel relaxed. Overall one of the best weekends ever...so a big debt of gratitude goes to Linda and Betty for being my social cooridinators....excellent job...I really appreciate it...

Best Sushi Ever....

So last night we went out for Betty/Kiki's birthday to this sushi place in Berkeley....from Palo Alto it is kind of a trek, but totally worth it. It was the best sushi I have ever had. So it gets my thumbs up....here is the link.

http://www.themenupage.com/kirala.html

and it you like saki...they have over 20....

but much fun was had....i was working on my symbolic asian identity by taking lots of photos which i'll post later....but I have to say...that the scallop sushi looked a lot like a penis...which apparently caused much amusement among the posse....

Then we went to a total dive bar...hotsy totsy....which well...is a dive....but drinks were cheap and the people were chill...so i can't complain about much....

now I am in the midst of making a maple walnut espresso torte...it smells damn good....so hopefully that will go over well at tahu's tonight.....

we've reached 100

So....worse case scenario...we are done running for the quarter....but I hope to get to 150....we have 6 more weeks. I figure if we could run over 80 in four...we can do 50....or at least make a dent in it....

It is fantastic...I am so excited...cause for celebration this evening...in addition to betty's birthday....

popscene

So quite an adventure last night....Kiki was almost on time...which is news enough to note.....We brought Danny my RA, who had never been to a straight club before...so that was an experience.
and in addition to the regulars, louis and rich joined us. but the big event was that we finally got the answer to the will question....i won't post it here, because that would be rude...but we are all in shock...and will continue to talk about it for weeks to come.

But fun was had by all, even Danny who was impressed by how much fun straight, old people can have....and most importantly HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIKI!!!!!

We are continuing the birthday party by going to berkeley for sushi tonight....continuing a week of parties for me...which is all good, because I am caught up on my work.

Hopefully we'll find Kiki's id, which she lost....but hey since she is old now, it is ok.....

popscene

So quite an adventure last night....Kiki was almost on time...which is news enough to note.....We brought Danny my RA, who had never been to a straight club before...so that was an experience.
and in addition to the regulars, louis and rich joined us. but the big event was that we finally got the answer to the will question....i won't post it here, because that would be rude...but we are all in shock...and will continue to talk about it for weeks to come.

But fun was had by all, even Danny who was impressed by how much fun straight, old people can have....and most importantly HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIKI!!!!!

We are continuing the birthday party by going to berkeley for sushi tonight....continuing a week of parties for me...which is all good, because I am caught up on my work.

Hopefully we'll find Kiki's id, which she lost....but hey since she is old now, it is ok.....

yet another crazy weekend in the mix

so...on friday we should reach 100 subjects!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait. Then I'll be 2/3 of the way done with subjects. And hopefully I'll be able to finish off the subjects this quarter.

But...in the mean time...I have another crazy weekend planned...as one does...well one does when one spends most of one's time in a subterranian laboratory....

thursday night we head up to pop scene for a bit of pre-party for betty's birthday....Danny the RA is accompanying us.....we are hoping Danny can help us answer some questions about will...but we'll see...

friday...after hopfully finishing off subjects 99 and 100, I head up to Berkeley for Betty's birthday dinner

saturday...dinner at Tahu's place....

And on sunday, I rest. and perhaps finish CLC3's birthday present.....it will only be a few weeks late....c'est la vie...I am a busy woman.

Other than that...nothing much to report...aside from learning how to do repeated measure anovas today....i know my life is sooooo exciting....

hopefully this weekend i'll get a chance to update my thoughts on the new pope....needless to say i am a little sad they picked so quickly.....but then again they didn't ask me......damn them....

some good news

So my RA is apparently recovering....Well...what I heard is that she is improving, but is still on a breathing tube. So that isn't good, but the doctors appear to be optimistic.

But...in dissertation news...we are up to 94 subjects, and I am getting some significant results, which are going to be presented at a conference in Germany in May...which is super cool.

Let's see...what else is going on...aside from massive data coding, had a great time at Linda's dinner party on Saturday, met some new and interesting people....as you can imagine, hanging with sociologists all the time can be a bit draining.

Sunday I went to Ness' baby shower...which was fun. I won the word scramble. And my utmost respect goes to Claudia who refused to have the babyfood tasting game....I don't know what would make anyone think that was a good idea...apparently sadists...but I met two really cool dogs...Tilly the maltese (who I am a big fan of) and Lucy the Pug, who was pretty darn cute too. I will add their photos when I get some free time....maybe this weekend.

lab update

well today karl, charles, web and I have been having a dance party. I figure if you can't party with old school theorists...I mean who else can you party with....More realistically I was coding all of my questionnaire data....well over half of it is now done. Which is good because I have to write part of a paper using it. OOOPS!!! But it isn't really my fault, I didn't know about it until yesterday and I have until next thursday to have a rough draft. Some of it will be easy, b/c I have a lot of test written about it already. But...other parts....well thank goodness my ridiculously expensive ANOVA book is due to arrive today....so then I might be able to figure out how to do the analysis....

I must get the lab dance party pictures up on line. I'll work on that next week....if everything else calms down.

think good thoughts

So I know that anyone reading this doesn't actually know my research assistants, but they are both lovely people. But I had horrible news today. One of them, who I will refer to as JS had a stroke. She is a lovely 19 year old woman who has her entire life ahead of her. So please hope for the best, as right now it doesn't sound so good. Life support and ICU scare me. I don't pray, nor do I believe in a god, but all of my positive energy is going towards this charming young woman who is greatly in need of some divine intervention...So send your positive thoughts...and they will be greatly appreciated. I will keep her status updated as soon as I hear more info.

Officially more than half way there

So.....today we passed the half-way point. Which is 75. Considering two weeks ago, I was at 19 subjects...it is pretty impressive. But I am really tired, this is even with the help of my two handy assistants DT and JS. But a lot of that is due to spending all of last week fixing crashing computers and trying to finish up papers. But the Homans chapter which was 4 months over due is done...and we are almost done with our chapter for Contemporary Social Psychological Theory....YIPPEEEE!!!! Then it is on to data coding, and learning ANOVAs for me....well until we have to write our new grant....so...c'est la vie....

but I thought I would just announce the total on the internet for everyone...well at least everyone who reads my blog to know!!!!

apparently i have the sense of humour of a 13 year old boy

So not only was there the cooter incident...but also as of 2pm today we have reached 69 subjects.....which I thought was hysterical and spent a good half an hour laughing about it.

Well, at least tomorrow, I will bring in the digital camera and we'll get some more action shots of the theorists and their animal friends......

ok....this cracked our shit up in the lab

So, I am checking my email...and who do a get a message from....none other than Robert Cooter http://www.law.berkeley.edu/faculty/cooterr/welcome.html

I don't know if it is just a southern thing, but the name cooter cracks me up....if it was my name, i would definitely change it....b/c it is just wrong...it is kind of like being named Bob Snatch or something along those lines....

oh the things that happen in the lab.....

i've hit 60

So, that is 2/5 of the way done!!!! I have another four scheduled today, and 13 more already for next week. So I should hit halfway next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!This is just fantastic...
Now if the old computers would just stop crashing that would be awesome!!!!!!

Karl is so excited he doesn't even hate the capitalists for a few minutes....that Marx...he is so silly....but we love him down here in the lab....doesn't he look cute in his party gear!

fun and games in the lab while darwin, dubois, marx and stan the monkey get ready for spring, while I try to do some work...we had pizza for lunch...see the box

fun and games in the lab with darwin, dubois, marx and stan the monkey....they are getting ready for spring....while distracting me from my work

news from the lab....

for those of you who have never been in my lab....let's just say you are missing a lot...I'll post pictures later this week, so you can see where I spend 60-70 hours of my week.

but....the good news is that the freshmen subjects are starting to show up...I should be at almost 70 subjects by the end of this week...which is almost half of those needed to complete my dissertation...if you consider that at the beginning of the quarter I only had 19...I am kicking some serious ass.

Now the credit does not belong completely to me...as much as i hate this....there are two others to thank....first...my new and completely ridiculous lab RA, DT. God he cracks me up....and just way too full of energy...but at least there is someone to entertain me.

Now the second is a little creepier...I am pretty sure my lab is haunted. I asked Buzz if anyone had died down here, and he told me to stop being crazy....as he does....but it is just a little strange, there are lots of strange noises and things move around mysteriously. Not in a bad way, but they just do....Of course the rational thing would to just say, well Vengeance you are completely sleep deprived and just forgetful, but no, I have decided there is a ghost, and I have named it Harry. He hasn't informed me if he likes that name or not, but we'll see. CLC has offered to pray in the lab to make Harry go away...but I think it is nice having him around....Plus what if Harry got all pissed and threw stuff at CLC...that would be bad.....

In other news...My friend Truth came in 3rd in our NCAA tournament pool...which is awesome b/c she normally finishes last....whereas I didn't fair as well....

OH...another announcement...I am officially going to ASA's in Philly...so Truth...you are finally getting me there....I have a big presentation on my dissertation....which hopefully will be almost done at that point...I hope...sweet jesus....Truth and I are going to work this summer...so there is a chance....

ok..over and out for now from the lab

i figured it out....

I know why Illinois lost....it was Bruce Weber's sports coat. No one who is not a clown should ever, I repeat ever wear an orange sports coat....it is of vital importance....

Congrats Roy

Well, I wish Roy was still at Kansas....they at least wear the right color of blue...

But Roy finally got that championship he deserves....despite those wusses at Carolina....

topcats

so I have a habit of looking at university athletics webpages while watching basketball. so while watching the illinois game, i discovered that deron williams is from some place called the colony, texas. so i decided that i needed to find the colony....could it possibly be some group of pod people in texas....hmmmmmmm.....so i googled it...as all intelligent individuals would...so the colony is kind of near dallas...but more importantly i found his high school, the home of the fighting cougars...the colony high....but the most amusing part is their drill squad, the top cats....
http://www.tctopcats.org/
actually I am terrified of these people...they are a lawsuit waiting to happen. I actually sent them an email telling them their thanksgiving party photos were offensive. Somehow teenage girls dressed up in paper bag indian outfits are just not cool....but somehow these people think this is okay....but if you really want to see how there is a lawsuit coming....go to the constitution....well maybe a lawsuit won't happen in texas, but if this was in a more liberal state....oh hell yeah...these topcats are in some deep shit....

why i need a camera phone

so lately as I amble around campus i have discovered some truly ugly outfits....why are pants rising so high...

but mostly i need this camera phone so i can start posting images of what not to wear on my blog...this would provide all individuals with hours of entertainment....seriously this needs to happen.....

While hating on Ashley Judd, someone else pops up

While watching the Michigan St, UK game yesterday....I was confronted with constant shots of Ashley....but sitting in front of her....can you believe it...was Prince himself....oh shit...no it was actually Saul Smith (it is easy to confuse them). I hated Saul when his daddy let him play at UK, and somehow this hatred has not disappeared over the years....so I was elated by the UK loss so that I would not have to worry about being scarred by the sight of Saul....thank god...it turned my tummy yesterday....

One good thing about the duke loss

I completely missed it. that is what was good about it. I was at the beach, because I thought it was the late game...what can I say I am a spaz. But I did have a good time at the beach.

On the bright side, Coach K will have more free time to make commercials. Which is clearly very important.

I did have a lovely time at the beach with CLC3....very excellent people watching....

Oh by the way....I hate Ashley Judd.....

thursday update

So, what a good day of basketball....I thoroughly enjoyed myself....except for when I had to go to those stupid meetings. I was so not amused....

But kudos to the 16 and 15 seeds for giving the 1s and 2s a run for their money. I think this should scare anyone who picked Illinois to win it all. But since I don't think anyone picked Washington, they don't need to worry. In any of my picking strategies neither one of those teams could ever win.....

Teams I liked today...UW-M, wow...talk about an ass kicking, also UAB...they might be ugly, but damn can they ball.

And a big congrats to WVU, who managed to pull it out again, even against some dude named Funk, who is oddly enough white. I don't know why I didn't think he was white, but neither did Bill Simmons...sports guy.

Tomorrow should be interesting. I'll be online, and hopefully posting more often as I don't have to go to stupid ass meetings.

My heart goes out to Brown Mouse who is stuck at a lame conference where some dude was talking about gay mice...Babe, I wish you were here with me....but I suppose IM will suffice.

For random sports chat go to my other blog smiddgenoftruth, Truth and I will be sure to amuse.

Time for some sleep...must recover from a long day before another sets in.

tourney blogs

so I highly recommend checking out the sports guy's blog
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/050317_archive1

and if you would like to catch my random thoughts with my friend known only as truth....check out our blog....

http://smidgenoftruth.blogspot.com/

our creation of hockey heads is already posted....and soon to be appearing the origins of rochambeaux and the rochambeaureguards.....high comedy....needless to say, there was some choking and laughs that only dogs could hear....

So far my super secret picks are kicking butt!!!! yeah....at the end of the tourney I will reveal my secret.

steriods and congress

why do i think nothing is going to come from this? Every player there is going to take the 5th, since they are refusing to offer immunity...I fear this is going to turn into baseball macarthism...we have already got jose canseco ratting people out. Congress' "reasons" for getting involved....interstate commerce....hmmm...some how i find this questionable...since there still is a canadian team i think the UN should jump on the band wagon too. But why are they only questioning baseball players....there are plenty of sports where steriods run rampant....cycling, track and field, football, weightlifting, the list could go on and on...alas congress seems to only be concerned with baseball...this just strikes me as od. So what will come of tomorrow's hearings...my bet, not much....just a distraction from what march is about March Madness. I totally agree with Mike Wilbon on this, I'll be watching basketball....if anything really exciting happens I am sure CBS will let me know. And it will be all the better because Rozzie will tell me all about it. A news is always easier when it is from Rozzie...Why couldn't he have replaced Dan Rather....hmmmm....maybe i'll write a letter.

my new theory...and oddly enough it doesn't have anything to do with basketball

i am pretty convinced that no one actually has a firm grasp on reality b/c they are all trying to protect their little happyland in their head.
when one stops trying to protect the happy land, that is when things start to get crazy....or when other people try to actively mess with one's happy land, that my friend is when you need to tell them to fuck off

this is a snippet of a conversation with a friend in which I discuss my views on mental health...b/c basically I think I everyone is nuts.

all-name teams for the tourney

so...every year espn does this...and it always cracks me up

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=shanoff/jackson/050315

so far my favorite is pops...i mean he doesn't have to worry about getting a new nickname when he gets old...he is just pops....and that is cool....

Mascot picking update....

So while doing some research today....not on the dissertation, but mascots.....i discovered out of 65 teams, i only needed to look up about 8 to see what their mascot was....which i have to say I think is pretty good....I mean do you know what Chattanooga's mascot is....and no it isn't named choo-choo, although that is what I think it it should be....no in fact it is Mocs, but the mascot does appear to be train related.....otherwise I would have been sorely disappointed.

I must say, although I new all but 8 without checking, I have to admit I couldn't remember if I had made up that UL-Lafayette was nicknamed the ragin' cajuns or that was their real name...I mean it would go with my byu nickname (stormin' mormons) and the fighting quakers of penn....but it is in fact their name....I wonder why the cajuns have not protested.....hmmmm....i think this is a great question....clearly more work needs to be done on this topic...or am I the only person obsessed with mascots and what I think they reflect about a school....it is probably me......

the legend of rozzie

so...after many years of watching the ncaa tournament on cbs, and wondering who is it that greg gumbel reminds me of....no not his brother bryan....about 4 years ago it finally hit me...greg is the bastard child of fozzie the bear and rolf the dog....just think about it when you tune in on thursday....it is true....one of the great secrets of our time....greg is a muppet love child....and i love it!!!

the hangover/cooler...

which is one of my favorite columns on espn.com page 2....i look forward to it every monday....

and boy is brian murphy psyched about thursday...perhaps the only person more excited than me....so i'll let you read his thoughts...always good for a laugh....

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=murphy/050314&num=0

thank you truth

for informing me on the history of quakers....hmmm...fighting quakers...is that like storming mormons.....i wonder.....

mascot picking problems....

so...when you pick a bracket based on mascots you face several difficult decisions...my recommendations...pick some rules and then you have to stick with them...they become your decision rules...you must disregard your heart and go with the rules, otherwise the internal validity and beauty of your brackets is for naught....

some basic decisions you must make....
is the mascot winner decided by
1) who would win in a fight (this puts any team with weapon at an advantage)
2) who is cuddliest (benefits cuddliness, but diminishes the importance of fighting skills...notable exception...Sparty of Michigan State...what a cutie...you know he does weddings...but remember a couple of years ago when the oregon duke...who is related to Donald..and hence cool, b/c he doesn't wear pants...and the utah bird...i don't know what kind of bird it is, but it was on stilts, got into a fight...mascot heads were flying...it was awesome....

Another thing to consider.....
what to do with imaginary creatures....case in point...UAB blazers, I mean I love them they have a minority coach, amusing players, and a dragon for a mascot....how sweet is that...and it is a cool dragon...based on what we know from legends, this suggests that perhaps only a team known as the knights, or perhaps someone like sparty could be them in a fight.....since a UAB/ Michigan St match up is unlikely...what are you to do?
Other imaginary creatures out there...the Blue Devils....always difficult to deal with....

Another issue...what about birds?
If you take the winning a fight mentality....I mean a bird could just fly away and drop poop on its opponents head...I have problems with this...

Insects are easier....
If they are hornets, yellow jackets, etc...at least they have stingers....

Now what do you do if you have tigers vs tigers, or wildcats or something along those lines without a clear advantage....You need a secondary rule...sometimes I go with cuddliest, but more often I go with color....Usually I pick the blue team. But you could go with red, or whatever, but a word of caution...it is rare that a non blue or red team wins in college ball....never pick purple....sometimes orange and green work for wins too....(see syracuse/michigan state)...

So we have already talked about imaginary creatures like blue devils and blazers, but what about teams like Stanford (they are the cardinal, but their mascot is a tree) or Syracuse (they are the orangemen and their mascot is a giant orange)....I commonly have this dilemma....I always go against Stanford... everyone can kick the tree's butt and the cardinal is lame...Now Syracuse is a bit more confusing...I figure since the orangeman is fat, he might be able to crush a few people......

What other considerations are there.....Oh yeah...the worst mascot ever.....well as far as I am concerned...The Penn Quaker. A) He is a pacifist. He isn't even going to fight...so he will get his ass kicked. B)he is fugly, so no one would even want to cuddle him....so don't pick Penn...if you had one of the other Ivy teams like Princeton, fine pick a tiger on either level...but no stinking quakers....lame, lame, lame...All I can think of is Wilford Brimley telling me to eat my oatmeal....lame...

OK..I have to work on my picks....

early afternoon action

Congrats Blue Devils...you pulled it out and didn't even score a field goal in the last 11 minutes of the game....

And congrats go to the Gators....schooling the shit out of the damn wildcats...i really hate tubby and the wildcats....fuckers....

But in analysis...the blue devils need to work on their free throw shooting, they aren't going to survive the tourney playing like they did today.....

And I must note...Digger Phelps has been styling this season. I love the ties and matching highlighters. I was a big fan of his pink combo the other day, and today's bright, light green (my favorite color)....

Go BADGERS!!!!!

identification problems

for some reason i can't tell apart shavlik randolp and lee melchionni...unless i can see their numbers.....apparently tall white men all look the same.

who had ronald mcdonald's mutant love child to produce Luke Schenscher? these are the morning's pressing issues....clearly very important.

and congrats to syracuse last night winning the big east....

afternoon update

Good job tech...georgia tech that is...

My heart goes out to LSU and Iowa...last second losers...

#1 seed hopes....crashing...Oklahoma, Kansas and I don't think anyone from the pac10 deserves a 1 seed...also Wake crashing...we shall see....

Kentucky should be afraid, very afraid...and tubby is such a punk...with his little celebration...i hate him...poop

early action

congrats to vermont...you've done it again...
although my heart goes out to that guy from memphis...you could have won it, or tied it...i am sorry i fell really bad for you....it is too bad...i was rooting for you guys...i hate rick pitino...he is f**king punk...

Right now...GO TECH!!!!!

tourney update

today's great wins...meaning bubble teams that had to win to get in
Iowa...taking out MSU...and that boy with the free throws at the end...he looked like he was going to pee his pants...
West Virginia...they do it again...this time taking out Nova...incredible
My favorite win of the day NC State...they took revenge for Chris Paul's rochambeaux on Julius Hodge last sunday...damn they bitch slapped Wake....

As more things amuse me...I'll continue to post....

favorite basketball name of today

Olu Babalola

that is just awesome...it just rolls off the tongue....

long time no post

so...i am emerging from a long couple of months spent in the lab....only 130 subjects left to go.....yipppeeeee!!!!!!!

but i am currently taking a break from the lab, while the advisor is in Germany, I think....so in that free time I am completely enthralled with basketball tournaments....

my thoughts on the day....
bad losses=ruin NCAA chances
Maryland (I hate them anyway...so it was ok)
UCLA (not a big fan)
DePaul
Miami

bad losses part 2=dropped several seeds
BC
Cinncinati

GREAT WINS
West Virginia
NC State
Mississippi=just b/c it was a great game
Missouri, i just like quinn

And as we speak Stanford looks like it is in a bit of trouble....not that it should shock anyone familiar with cardinal....march is not the best time of the year in palo alto...well as far as men's basketball goes...now the weather that is a totally different issue...it was in the high 70s today and beautiful!!!!!!

I'll keep you posted on the basketball