An Amusing Easter Tale/Tail

Many moons ago....when I was a little gerbil....we spent Easter with my paternal grandparents....if I recall correctly, I wanted to get up and get my basket and find eggs, etc....as small children do....well my parents said I had to wait for my grandparents to wake up....well we all knew they slept a lot later than we do....so I decided to wake up my grandmother by singing that classic easter song.....here comes peter cottontail.....well....I was about 3 maybe 4 and this didn't come out quite right....in fact....i jumped on her bed and sang "here comes peter cock and tail"....needless to say this woke up grandmother and I think got my dad in trouble....oops...

and to this day it is a classic holiday song in my family.....

remembering this made me chuckle...not many things have lately...so I thought I would share it with you my faithful readers...

Update on the Gerbil

I want to thank all of my family and friends that have been so excellent lately...Those who have called, emailed or stopped by to check on me...or have helped me get up and down my stairs....crutches aren't easy. My foot is getting better, although it has turned purple....see the photos....I'll try to get a better one, but it is hard taking pictures of my feet.....

I am doing ok....

Bad things happen in Threes

So I have had a pretty shitty past 24 hours....so I am hoping bad things only happen in 3s.

I am newly single, have sprained my foot falling down a flight of stairs at school, and my grandfather is dead. That is the short version.....the long version, I don't want to go into it....so if you actually know me, don't call...It is too hard to get up and reach the phone....I have to get the crutches, etc....so it is likely you will get the answering machine anyway.....and I don't really want to talk about anything...I am OK.....I am just having a shitty day.

Just thought I would update you, my faithful readers.

day two at sse

so.....what you missed from last night....is that...aromas is the best bar in athens georgia...if you go, ask for taylor or scott....and please discuss punk and/or indie rock/philosophy or anything else random...

they are total sweeties.....and will serve you a nice glass of wine and perhaps a bela bartok....and if you have to ask who that is....well....you are shit out of luck...

well...other observations from the conference....there is a certain awardee of the cooley meade award that resembles a yellow gummi bear..... please investigate and submit answers...a knitted gift will be awarded to the first correct comment....Kristen, you are not eligible....

yesterday...what i forgot to mention was that we were on lock down......George W. Bush was at the UGA campus and we were not allowed to leave our building between 9 am and 2pm....it was lame....it rocked...i saw a police steve dog stevenson...and it was cute...but they wouldn't let me play with it...b/c they are lame.....

so...tonight we headed back to aromas....where we were named the favorite regulars...except we won't be back next weekend...so sad...if you are in athens...see those boys...

WE GOT A MUG

So we came to the social structure and emotions conference and all we got was a stupid mug....


actually kristen and i are having fun.....but we did get mugs....i'll take a picture when i get home on sunday!

we have found jesus, god, success it is gwynnet, the mammoth chicos of doom...and of course the home depot....

oh and we found steve snap snap stevenson...who is a girl.

Hungarian Version

So several years ago I wrote a chapter with my lovely advisor for the following book:

Creating Social Trust in Post-Socialist Transition


I had an english version of the book...but today I received the Hungarian Version.....

Clearly this will be of much use in the future....well at least I can put it on the bookshelf....

The McRoberts

So...apparently I have been a bit confused....in watching the duke games....I have been impressed with the freshman bigman #2 McRoberts....I kept talking about him as Omar McRoberts, which I thought was a slightly odd name for a very large white man....well...then I discovered the source of my confusion.....
Omar McRoberts is a professor of sociology at U of Chicago, he wrote this cool book, streets of glory....

The basketball player is Josh McRoberts....but I will not remember that and continue to call him Omar....so there you go....

Also I hate Lee Malchionni.....the man missed a wide open dunk in the most embarassing way....then.....airballed a 3 pointer....please coach K don't let him play!

Lil' Devil

Oh the cutest niece ever is sporting some sweet duke apparel

She clearly knows who to cheer for (can't use the word root.....it is naughty in the antipodes)

This year's rochambeaureGuard

You may remember last year Truth and I invented the RochambeaureGuard, an elite nut punching group.....

the origins
the first round
round two

Well I have found this year's first installment Tony Skinn

Here is to many more Guards being inducted this NCAA tournament!

ps we adopted a llama online today....

The Wrong Chaney Retired Today

The man the epitomized coaches looking like the mascot has retired.....

Who doesn't love Joh Chaney, well maybe John Calapari, but that is just because Chaney threatened to kill him in the best press conference ever!

Here's to one of my favorite coaches...

What a week....

I might be the crabbiest person I know, or at least the most easily aggravated...so while everything under the sun pisses me off, I am having a really productive week......
I sent off a paper to a journal
I sent a paper to a paper competition
I finished a draft of chapter 7 of my dissertation
I got a paper accepted at ASA (written with my partners in crime, or exchange theory Karen and Coye).....
You don't even want to know what is drving me nuts these days....but all I am saying is don't mess with my coffee or my grant money...it will make me really, really mad.

But for everyone's enjoyment, here is a photo of pigasso....he paints with his snout...it is cool....

Back from Mendocino

It was a great weekend, away from email, work and all sorts of annoying things.....

We drove along rt1 along the coast on the way up, it was gorgeous, but about half way up it started to rain, and it rained the entire time we were there......but that was ok....

we stayed at a super cute B&B the mendocino village inn, they had a wine and cheese every night and excellent breakfast!!!!!! The food was great and it was such a cute and friendly place.

On sunday, when it rained and rained and rained, we ended up driving through the redwoods, and then going wine tasting...yum, yum....then I had a massage at the spa next door....all very lovely....

We came back today, we would have been back earlier but some of the roads up there were flooded due to several days of intense rain....ooops....

by the way...muffin head has asked to be referred to as sir grizzlie bear....I guess I'll let it go.....

I've been hiding

OH the stress of being a grad student.

I have been in hiding lately....so much stuff going on....I am trying to get an article ready for submission. Karen is supposed to give me feedback. I am trying to write chapters for my dissertation....Only two more chapter drafts to go....then I have an entire draft....talk about crazy....Karen and I are trying to write a paper about emotions...I don't know anything about emotions....Of the 5 primary emotions, I am only good at anger...so...you know, that paper is going very slowly...it is due on wednesday, but that isn't happening...oh wait that is tomorrow...it definitely isn't happening...

Oh and my part time job is a major time suck, I have just had to say, oh i don't think so to a bunch of stuff, but that is good, it gives me practice of saying no....which is very important....

but luckily on saturday morning muffin head and I are out of here....we are going somewhere....muffin head is keeping the location secret...we'll be gone until monday with no laptops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah I know....that qualifies as big excitement around here.....

You know you have insomnia when

It is 4am, you have already been up for over 2 hours, and you decide it is fabulous that curling is on tv.....so you decide to watch, hoping it will put you to sleep.....

But no....you stay wide awake through the entire damn thing......

Congrats team USA.....

I must admit, I have kind of followed curling through the olympics....oddly enough it has been the only thing I followed through the olympics..... c'est la vie

I've had my breakfast, I might as well get my ass to the gym....

I've added Frappr

So if you want me to know where you live....you can mark yourself....if not...well then don't....

But the link is on the sidebar...I just thought this was a bit of a fun project....I like maps.....

or you can click here

OK...I am a BAD FRIEND

So, as I am sitting here on my couch being sick, I look over and what to I see....Dana D's (I guess she is now C, but whatever, her name is Dana D) birthday present. OOOOOOOOOOOPS....Sorry darling.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, a day early.....


I will call tomorrow, and send the pressie off tomorrow am....

Love you

Goldbug!

plus....a little happy birthday pic.... courtesy of cuteoverload.com

Joss' Valentine's Picture

Oh yes, she is a cutie!

I have developed a cold. I feel like crap....I think I got it from muffin head. Bad muffin head.....

But I thought this little cutie would cheer some of you up!

Some recent knitting creations

So yup, I knit....it happens....

but I wanted to show off a few of my latest creations....

First Tez's new hat

Second, Muffin head's valentines day scarf (my first attempt at cables)

Charles Barkely king of NBA comedy

As many of you may know, I love Sir Charles. He is completely ridiculous. He had many great comments from last night's All-star extravaganza....

Hey Kevin, let me tell you somethin’. There are subliminal messages, and there are real messages. Like if I hit somebody in the head with a hammer, that’s a real message. When I offer you Altoids…” ***

Kevin Harlan: “Here is Hakim Warrick, playing with the Grizzlies, from Syracuse University.”
Charles: “I gotta call Jim Boeheim, they gotta get a weight room up there.”

***

“I told you, when I saw (Dirk Nowitzki) in Germany before he got to the NBA, I told him, I’ll give you any amount of money you want to go to Auburn.”

***

Reggie Miller: “Gonzaga. That’s my dark horse. Gonzaga.”
Charles: “They ain’t that dark.”

***

“When you play for the Wizards, (Gilbert Arenas) is like Michael Jackson… he’s playin’ with a lot of Tito Jacksons.”

***

Kevin Harlan: “(Andre Iguodala) had 9 dunks, and 4 threes. He was on fire.”
Charles: “He wasn’t on fire, he was just excited he got to shoot in a game.”

***

“One thing (Nate Robinson)’s got goin’ in his favor, he can’t get depressed. He plays for the Knicks. Trust me, nothing’s going to shock him now. His emotions are as low as they can go.”

Courtesy of Deadspin
An excellent place for random sports info and humour....

When the Olympics attack.......

It is my day off from the gym, and I find myself sucked into....catch this...curling....yes....

ok...this isn't that surprising...i watch a lot of random stuff on the tv, but, i found myself intrigued by it....and being actually amazed by some of their stills....yes, I need to get out more.....

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

Just a little monkey love on V Day....

New Pics of the Niece

She is getting fatter, which means she is getting cuter!!!!!!!!!!! Because babies, like puppies should be a little pudgy....

She is a cutie

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!!!!!!!

So I realized I missed many friends' birthdays....sorry about that...my head is firmly in the basement, where I spend most of my days.

A happy belated/early birthday ---we know I won't remember in a few days....this is coming from a woman who at the moment can't match her shoes.....

Brandy
Marisa
Sonya
Michelle
Laura

Marx, Darwin, DuBois, Stanford (the monkey) and I wish you all the best! Sometimes I get bored in the lab....oops.

Scrubs....

So....I was watching scrubs and the mandy moore character does the same thing this super annoying girl in my department does.....when ever I say something funny...she doesn't laugh, she just says ..."you're so funny". It drives me fucking nuts! I mean who doesn't laugh at the crazy stuff I say....that is just strange.

A funny thing happened while writing my dissertation

So I was headed to get a latte with Tahu, when I realized half-way to the coffee shop, that I was wearing two different flip flops....the worst part was, they were totally different types of flip flops, one was a thong type, and the other one just has a band across the foot.

yes...these are the things that happen when you spend most of your day in a windowless office writing about exoteric forms of exchange. oh what a life...but it was pretty funny!

pictures from guadeloupe

So...if you want to see my photos....you can check them out here.....

guadeloupe

it rocks! I highly recommend it,

a word of warning, if you don't like random flora and fauna pictures....don't go to the link!

JACK BAUER ROCKS

So I know this is a total rip off of Chuck Norris, but it is much better when it is written about my TV boyfriend Jack (Sorry MuffinHead, but you know I love him)

jack bauer rocks!

If you watch 24 this will make you giggle

It is way past my bedtime

and i can't sleep, so I am watching touching evil on tivo, definitely a show to give you nightmares....

Today I finished the first sketch of my first results chapter from my dissertation....so far, not so bad....it wasn't due until tuesday.

I am so sore due to the new exercise regime led by the lovely and charming terri, who I am pretty convinced is trying to kill me so he can have my tivo and tahu can have all of my shoes and handbags.....but it is good for me, b/c dissertations can make you get very out of shape....so I head back to the gym tomorrow after a day off.

Although Wednesday I had a run in at the gym with a fellow duke alumnus. He was class of '97, I knew his brother who was my year. Let's just say this guy is a big improvement. Odd I never knew there was an older fusco brother when I was there.....oh the funny things that happen.....

In other news...I am hosting a West Indian dinner (meaning the Caribbean not a part of India) on Saturday night. It should be a good crowd. I think it should be a lot of fun.....or I hope so...thank goodness I finished up this very first draft so I can cook on saturday....

The laptop is finally back

I am now back with my old friend my laptop. It was so strange without it. But I am all productive again. Soon I'll be posting pictures from my vacation and some interesting tales of my adventures.

Like two minutes ago, some stranger walked into my lab, and was just looking around for something. I was like um, this is an experimental laboratory, what do you think you are doing? He was looking for an extention cord....so totally bizarre.

Well look forward to more random postings from me.

Baby Joss Pics....

So my mom went to Wellesley to see the baby this weekend....and here is a link to her photos.

I think she is pretty cute....I like it when her hair sticks up......

http://drralphie.blogspot.com/2006/01/baby-jocelyn-collage.html

Updates soon to come

So my laptop's motherboard was fried, so I am in the midst of getting it repaired, plus getting a bunch of papers sent off. One should be almost done, and the other is due wednesday at noon, so then nothing to do with those until we get feedback. I am just busy catching up. The trip was fantastic, and I am kind of sad to be back, but the daily grind is what makes vacations so fabulous.

So hopefully next week I'll have a bit more time......

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I'm back

I am home safe and sound and returned to a bunch of emails and a lot of work....if you are expecting a post card from me...well...it might be on its way tomorrow....

Guadeloupe is great...Muffinhead and I had a fabulous time....but now back to the grind...if only my laptop wasn't still in the shop....i hate it right now.....

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....