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....