March 2005 archive

(51 entries)

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March 31, 2005

The underlying psychological principles of my toiletries

My shampoo is specially made for brunettes, with a henna extract that is supposed to make your hair brighter, with coppery highlights. It claims that 80% de vrouwen* who use it see a difference in their hair color within something like a week.

My under-eye concealer makes similar claims about the under-eye area being Visibly Firmer within X amount of time and that X number of users could see the difference.

What I wonder is, does it actually make any difference at all? Neither of the companies make any claims about the difference that their product makes - just about the perceived difference. No one wants to believe that their shampoo or makeup isn't living up to its claims - they want to believe that they do look brighter and younger and more awake.

I think I would be more convinced by something like "In tests, it was found that 80% of people saw a difference in the hair color of the product's users." Don't make it a subjective judgment - tell me that there really is a difference that has been verified by outsiders.

The point is, does anything about me look different to you in the past few weeks? I'm not sure I see it.

–––––
* The bottle gives me this information in French, German and Dutch and I like the word "vrouwen." VROUWEN! I do find it interesting, however, that this shampoo is so vehemently for women only. Do we have such shampoo-gender-boundaries in the US? I am not aware.

March 29, 2005

Johnnie Cochran, we hardly knew thee

This is cracking me up. My mother insists that it's tasteless and refused, through her giggling, to laugh.

I am all about research, as long as it's not at my university

I recently received this e-mail:

Hi, Srah

My name is Dan Li, a second year graduate student at Marquette University. I want your help with a survey on the topic of blogs. I would like to gain a better understanding of why people blog and how their motivations affect their blogging behaviors.

Your participation is strictly voluntary. You may refuse to participate or discontinue participation at any time without penalty. You're welcome to contact me (<phone number removed>; danDOTliATmarquetteDOTedu) at any time if you have questions about the survey. You may also contact Marquette University's Office of Research Compliance at 414-288-1479 with your questions about research participants' rights. If you decide to fill out the survey, your feedback will give me invaluable information about the communication process.

No cookies will be used to collect your personal information in the survey. Any and all information I receive will be kept strictly confidential and will only be seen by authorized members of study personnel. Data gathered from the survey will be summarized in the aggregate, excluding all references to any individual responses.

The online survey will only take about 20 minutes of your time. Thank you for taking the time to help with this important project.

Click the link to access the survey:
http://www.lidan.net/blogsurvey/index.html

Yours truly,
Dan

Dan Li
Graduate Student
College of Communication
Marquette University
Milwaukee, WI
DanDOTliATmarquetteDOTedu
<phone number removed>

(I modified the phone and email contact information since this is the internet rather than an email now.)

I enjoy participating in surveys because I've had to create enough of them myself and know the pressures of recruiting subjects. If you're a blogger and want to help him out, go ahead and take the survey!

March 28, 2005

A way to spend a few hours

If, for some reason, you have three hours to fill this afternoon, I suggest: Songs in outline form

Things which I will do for love:
Anything
Things which I will not do for love:
That

[Via sp3ccylad]

March 27, 2005

Unconscious Mutterings

Free associations, chumps!

read extended entry... »

March 25, 2005

Another meme

I was tagged! What's to be done?

1. You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451 - which book do you want to be?
This is a strange question. What difference does it make, if they're all going to be burned? I guess Dante's Inferno, just for the sake of irony and because I've never read it.

2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Trillions. From books, Gilbert Blythe and Calvin O'Keefe come to mind.

3. The last book you bought is:
I bought some books as Christmas presents... but I never have time to read anymore. :( So it was probably my Psych textbook. Ugh.

4. The last book you read:
Like a real book that you read for fun? I think it was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which I reread over Christmas break.

5. What are you currently reading?
*cries* Don't rub it in, meme!

6. Five books you would take to a deserted island:

The Lord of the Rings trilogy bound into one volume, because it's cheating and that would give me a lot to read and by the time I got to the end I would have forgotten everything from the beginning so I could start over again.
Can I bind a few other series into one volume? No? Well then if I have to pick one Anne of Green Gables book, I'll take Anne of the Island.
One Fine Day In The Middle Of The Night, by Christopher Brookmyre
Some kind of guide to surviving on a deserted island
A book of crossword puzzles

7. Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Noor, because she sent me an email forward so she needs to pay. J because he's all about teh blogging these days. Nick Baker because I wish I was at his party instead of spewing snot everywhere. And anyone reading this who doesn't have a blog can answer it in the blahblahs.

[via Cybervassals]

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiickly

I drank 25 ounces of water in an hour this morning and then blew it all right back out my nose. My body now exists for the sole purpose of generating snot. My evil sinus overlords have allowed me the use of my fingers and part of my brain in order to notify you all that THIS BODY IS NOW UNDER THEIR CONTROL and that once they have used up all of the resources here, they will jump out of their current host and scurry up your leg and glom onto your face like something out of some movie - maybe Alien, but I haven't seen it.

Oh my god. Naptime.

March 24, 2005

Self-obsessed travel plans! W00t!

Upon the discovery of yet another blogging srah, I did some Googling and came up with a new fantasy destination.

Alright, here is my new Ultimate Travel Goal: A trip that encompasses both this place and this one.

As long as I'm trapped at Bubble Island for hours on end...

Lychee fusion tea
With lychee jellies. It tastes
like perfumed fruit juice.

Lychee fusion tea
has lychee jellies that look
like diseased maggots.

Lychee fusion tea
has lychee jellies that feel
like diseased maggots.

And yet, overall
I find lychee tea to be
quite enjoyable.

dances

I am doing this assignment where I have to spend 7 hours in one place, observing people's behavior and taking notes. I still have four hours to go, and I have to do it before tomorrow morning. Somehow I didn't expect it to be this hard to sit in one place for hours at a time. It is hard. Awfully hard. Especially because I have Isidore and all of my other stuff here and I can't leave it alone and I don't really want to pack it all up... So, um, if you're in the area, please come to Bubble Island and watch my stuff so that I CAN GO TO THE FREAKING BATHROOM!

Problem solved: I broke the wall between the nonparticipant observer and her surroundings and asked the people next to me to watch my stuff. Ho hum.

Hey, why don't we go?

I heard Keane's "Somewhere Only We Know" five times today, none of them of my own choosing. I like the song, but I have to point out that I did not skew the results in any way by playing it myself. I heard it five times in public.

I heard it in my head all the rest of the day.

March 23, 2005

Mystery Sinus Theatre 2005

One of my most popular posts is the one from about a year ago, wondering about the smell after you sneeze. People are always commenting and emailing me to say that they've smelled it too and to ask if I found the source. Now, after having seen informative videos on how your sinuses work, I'm wondering if what I'm smelling is a buildup of trapped mucus in my sinuses. This still doesn't explain why I only smell it when I sneeze rather than the whole time I'm sick.

The mystery continues...

Dream

I only remember snippets from last night's dreams:

I was at the UN and it kept jumping back and forth through time so one minute it would be the present and the next, I was being teased by Dag Hammarskjold. Ah, Dag. We were the best of friends.
I was on Mackinac Island with some friends who had never been there and was determined to take them to the Grand Hotel even though they weren't really that interested in it. Mackinac Island was a lot bigger in my dream and I couldn't figure out how we were going to get there. I asked a fisherman if he could take us around the island in his boat, but I had to ask him in French and I couldn't remember how to say "Grand Hotel" in French (it's "Grand Hotel"). I think we decided we were going to have to take a helicopter.
A bunch of men had taken this herbal sexual stimulant (obviously influenced by last night's episode of House) and were humping every inanimate object in sight.

srah | 2:43 PM | TrackBack | Tags: dream |

March 22, 2005

Hire me, ye downtrodden NCAA losers!

Have increased my Number Of Jobs Applied For by 67% today. By 67%? Is that right? Aw, forget this fancy math. I applied to two, bringing the total to five.

I finally got around to applying for two jobs at schools that are still in the tournament, keeping my pathetic basketball hopes alive! Gonzaga, you have shamed me. But I ain't proud. Got any openings in your study abroad office?

March 21, 2005

'I think you dropped an ice cube...'

I think it's probably my duty to provide my readers with vital information about how to deal with women. Because, you know, I have a lot of experience with that sort of thing, dealing with myself all the time as I do.

Luckily, I have a sadistic streak, so what I'll be passing on to you is everything I've learned from Defective Yeti and Brawny man (watch all of the others, too!).

That's no cold... it's a space station

Or a death plague of some sort.

Kill me now.

Must sleep till Thursday.

Poetry corner

Ode to my dinner tonight

Oh muttar paneer
You are made with peas and cheese
I have leftovers.

Ode to a conversation we had over dinner about Mongolian delicacies

I like peas and cheese.
I like the two together.
I like both of them.

I like butter, tea.
I like them separate, but
Not butter in tea!

Ode to yuckiness in a bottle

I've just taken some
Robitussin to fight off
A cold I'm getting.

It tastes rather crap.
Medicine men, please work hard
To make it tasty.

It has maken me
Jittery - and nauseous too
Not really sleepy.

I might as well have
Poured salt water into my
Sinus cavities.

March 20, 2005

Unconscious Mutterings

There are a lot of bits of blog posts being generated but nothing being finished and published. I am completely exhausted now, so this will have to make do. Associations! And they're free!

read extended entry... »

March 17, 2005

I am the one who will bring balance to the Force

When I was in 5th grade, my best friend and I used to read the dictionary for fun. Well, it was partially for fun and partially in order to learn words that no one around us knew. The one triumph that has really stuck with me was being able to call a yucky boy in our class a "contumacious ignoramus."

God, I'm a nerd.

Lately I've been noticing a particular character trait in myself and I couldn't find a good word to describe it. All of a sudden it came to me: I am contumacious. I am the devil's advocate. If you say black, I'll say white - not because I necessarily believe in white, but because I so enjoy balance and moderation and thinking about things from different sides. If you're depressed, I'll cheer you up. If you're happy, I'll bring you down. If you have low self-esteem, I'll build you up. If you think you're hot stuff, I'll smirk at you derisively. Soon, we will all be the same. And then won't we be happy?

No.

I don't know - this is who I am. I like being the voice of Other Sides To Consider and the force for moderation but I know that we also need people with extreme views and ideas and passions or nothing would ever get done. Sometimes you even need moderation in moderation.

Thirsty like the wolf

I made a brief appearance last night at my first Meetup™ blog meetup, which happened to be in the same place as SOCHI's happy hour. There were quite a few familiar ~~faces~~ ~~names~~ ~~blogs~~ um... there were quite a few people there who have blogs that I've seen: Suds & Soliloquies (post about the meetup), Mark Maynard, 90% Crud, Vacuum, etc.

I'm not sure that I belong to the Ann Arbor School of weblogs. I'm not sure I belong to any school at all. Belonging to a school seems like such a commitment and like you have to share values and interests with people. I'm all about non-affiliation.

Ze srah, she is ze lone wolf. She will stop by your table in ze smoky bar of life and be humbled by your knowledge of techie bloggie stuff and Ann Arbor-area politics, but zen she will go and blog about her socks.

Uneducated guessing

Here is the extent of my knowledge/made-up facts about basketball: Tall people play it. James Naismith invented it. He was Canadian. Converse used to have contracts to shoe the NBA. Now they just shoe ninjas.

Here is the extent of my knowledge about the current state of college basketball: Division I college athletes are spoiled. Oh, and, um, I think Duke might be good. You always hear about them, don't you?

So, of course, it follows that I am not (if the NCAA asks) entering a NCAA basketball pool. Yes, that's it. Not entering. Go away, nice NCAA.

But I will share with you who I would pick if I were to be entering an NCAA basketball pool, which of course I am not. If you do not want to hear about college basketball or my expert justifications for the teams I picked (based on no information other than their names and current rankings), then read no further.

read extended entry... »

First Round

Illinois vs Fairleigh Dickinson. Yes, I just picked the #16 to beat the #1. Do you want to make something of it? How could you not pick a school called Fairleigh Dickinson? I bet they have a chip on their shoulder that will give them the advantage in this game.
Texas vs Nevada. Nevada sounds like a good basketball place.
Alabama vs Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I like the word Milwaukee. Milwaukee Milwaukee Milwaukee!
Boston College vs Pennsylvania. This is the first time I've picked the higher-ranked team! Good thing I'm NOT REALLY IN A POOL, NCAA! GOOD THING THERE'S NO MONEY INVOLVED! *WINK!* Pennsylvania, you lose.
LSU vs UAB. I don't know what UAB stands for, but it's not in Louisiana.
Arizona vs Utah State. This is a tough choice because I don't care at all. So I picked the #3 over #14.
Southern Illinois vs St Mary's. Ha ha! Your school's named Mary!
Oklahoma State vs. Southeastern Louisiana. Again, not Louisiana.
Washington vs Montana. Yes, #16 over #1 again. Here is my expert decision-making process: I know one person from Montana and he's pretty tall. Yes. That is the extent of the information that went into this decision.
Pacific vs Pittsburgh. I like the name Pacific.
Georgia Tech vs George Washington. Hmmm. Tough call. I have a friend who goes to GWU, but Georgia Tech has an HCI program. So I went with #5 over #12.
Louisville vs LA-Lafayette. Why are there so many schools from Louisiana in this? What is in the water down there?
Texas Tech vs UCLA. UCLA sounds like a basketbally school.
Gonzaga vs Winthrop. Why do I have to make this decision in the first round? Both are great names. In the end, I say, "No thank you, Amaryllith!"
West Virginia vs Creighton. Where's Creighton? WHO CARES?
Wake Forest vs Chattanooga. Chattanooga? I think they're trying just a little too hard. You're no Gonzaga!
North Carolina vs Oakland University. This is really hard. I want to be all locally supportive and rah rah rah, but I've already picked two #16 over #1 upsets and... come on. Seriously.
Minnesota vs Iowa State. I originally picked them because I like the gold and black better than maroon and gold, but then I realized that's the University of Iowa. But it was too late because I already had songs from The Music Man in my head.
Villanova vs New Mexico. When I hear "Villanova" I think of villains. I like to think there's a school for villains! They'll win, just by cheating!
Florida vs Ohio. Meh. Go Midwest.
Wisconsin vs Northern Iowa. If I get my rear in gear, I'm applying for a job there. It's my duty to support them!
Kansas vs Bucknell. I don't know where Bucknell is, but I don't like the sound of it. This game's in Oklahoma City, which doesn't seem that far from Kansas. Maybe their fans will come.
Charlotte vs North Carolina State. This game is being played in Worcester, while North Carolina, Oakland, Minnesota and Iowa State face off in Charlotte. Not a good decision, NC$$-wise. I don't care, so I picked the one with a tougher name.
Connecticut vs Central Florida. Central Florida sounds humid.
Duke vs Delaware State. God, I love underdogs. I wanted to pick Delaware State, but this is getting ridiculous. So, alas, here's another #1 actually beating #16. :'(
Stanford vs Mississippi State. Meh. I like writing Mississippi.
Michigan State vs Old Dominion. Old Dominion is a cool name, but I guess since U-M isn't in the tournament and I already rejected Oakland, I have to make some sort of gesture of Michiganderdom.
Syracuse vs Vermont. Katie, this one's for you.
Utah vs UTEP. I don't know what UTEP stands for, but I like the acronym because it sounds like it would be some scholarly institute in Europe. I think I shall pronounce it "Oot-pee."
Oklahoma vs Niagara. I read this as Nigeria at first. Go Nigeria!
Cincinnati vs Iowa. I think I need more practice spelling Cincinnati - if you look at my bracket, I think I've spelled it wrong every time I wrote it. And I wrote it a lot.
Kentucky vs Eastern Kentucky. Ah! One of those great rivalries, I'm sure, but one that I couldn't care less about. I picked the one that was simplest.

Second Round

Fairleigh Dickinson vs Nevada. Reality comes into play. Fairleigh Dickinson gets cocky after their huge upset and Nevada stomps on them.
Wisconsin-Milwaukee vs Boston College. Boston's #4 and Milwaukee's #12. A cool name will only take you so far.
UAB vs Arizona. I took UAB out because I didn't want to bother to find out what it stands for.
Southern Illinois vs Oklahoma State. Meh. The fewer modifiers, the stronger the name sounds. Somehow State sounds better than Southern.
Montana vs Pacific. Go Montana! I don't know why I have such faith in you, but Pacific sounds pretty placid. You can do it!
Georgia Tech vs Louisville. I hav no idea why I picked this. Maybe it's because Louisville is ranked #4 and Georgia Tech is #5.
UCLA vs Gonzaga. No contest. I predict the score will be a hillion jillion to twelve.
Creighton vs Wake Forest. I still don't know anything about where Creighton is and that's handicapped them.
North Carolina vs Iowa State. North Carolina has a lot of teams in this. I'm tired of seeing that state's name.
Villanova vs Ohio. They're going to get Acme™ jet-packs and shrink rays and things! Poor Ohio.
Wisconsin vs Kansas. Yawn. Continue supporting Wisconsin, both for the job-thing and the Midwest-thing.
North Carolina State vs Connecticut. Enough North Carolina already!
Duke vs Mississippi State. See the list of things I know about basketball. Add to this the fact that they're ranked #1.
Michigan State vs. Vermont. Michigan against Vermont? Come on!
UTEP vs Niagara. UTEP was fascinating for a while, but I'm still cheering for Nigeria/Niagara.
Cincinnati vs Kentucky. I am getting so good at spelling this! But I think I need more practice...

Regionals First Round

Nevada vs Boston College. They're always winning things in Boston. I think I'll get their hopes up and then crush them later.
Arizona vs Oklahoma State. I don't know why.
Montana vs Louisville. Geez, once Montana got this far, they're good to go. There isn't a lot of tough cool-name competition in this bracket so far.
Gonzaga vs Wake Forest. The Great Gonzaga! Bow down!
Iowa State vs Villanova. Hmmm. I wonder why I did this. Villanova are higher ranked! And possibly evil! Oh well, too late to change now.
Wisconsin vs Connecticut. Yay Wisconsin. You should hire me. Look how supportive I am.
Duke vs Michigan State. End of the line, Sparty. I may not know a lot about basketball, but I know that Duke must be better than you. Right?
Niagara vs Cincinnati. One-n, two-n's, one-t. This is how you spell it. I don't know why I'm so fond of Cincinnati, but it's calling to me!

Regionals Second Round

Boston College vs Oklahoma State. Take that, Beantown!
Montana vs Gonzaga. No one can beat Gonzaga!
Iowa State vs Wisconsin. Please pay me lots of monies.
Duke vs Cincinnati. Duke is good and - WHAT? - Oh my, it's an upset!

National Semi-Finals

Oklahoma State vs Gonzaga. I'm not sure how Oklahoma State made it this far - I don't have any real attachment to the state or to the name. Nevertheless, now they are out. Like Seacrest.
Wisconsin vs Cincinnati. *avoids eye contact with Wisconsin*

National Championship

Gonzaga vs Cincinnati. There is no stopping them.

« ... hide extended entry

Raise your glass of green (red?) pisco!

Just a reminder that next Wednesday is St Turibius of Mogroveio's Day! Everyone's Peruvian on St Turibius of Mogroveio's Day!

March 16, 2005

I'm head of the class in user tests!

... or perhaps just Arvid. Ha!

Last year, I took several classes that required user testing. I never had time to help out my classmates and I felt bad about that. They needed users! So this year I've been trying to volunteer for every user test I'm eligible for. It's my duty to give back to the SI community in this way. I am helpful! My voice will be heard! And... I will get free stuff!

I did one user test for the new, improved SI website that is to come. I vented a lot about my own frustrations about SI and how they're reflected in the site... but maybe these are themes they'll hear a lot and maybe it will make a difference. We'll see.

The other test I did was on iTunes. I had fewer annoyances to vent, but the cool thing was that my Free Gift For Participating was an iTunes gift certificate.

Take that, Pepsi! I don't need you! I'll get my free mp3s and then I'll take that bright shiny new $20 bill I got for the other user test and I'll blow it all on coke!

I... mean... Coke.

Dream

I dreamt last night that both of my college roommates hated me and were being passive-aggressive to me at Meijer. Next I had to catch a plane to leave France but we were at some kind of bad party with no one we knew, out in the middle of nowhere in the countryside. I had left my suitcases at the hotel (which was owned by my evil boss from this summer) and had to get back there before I could go to the airport.

I should email my roommates. I don't know what happened with the plans I made with Roommate - we just never got in touch with each other and nothing happened. Sigh... stupid interpretable dreams!

It's like sock hop, but it's not!

I love The Internet. I love that I can just shout things out into the void that people can read or not read and care about or not care about. And so, dear Internet, on that note I would like to share with you the fact that I bought the coolest pair of socks evar for ONE DOLLAR last week but they really have to be worn with a skirt and am hoping to have the opportunity to do so tomorrow, as the weather is supposed to be a) a few degrees above freezing and b) only partly cloudy. It's almost like freaking summer all up in this joint! Let us bask in the sun's warm glow!

(I really need spring to come already. Winter's grey, unending chill is making me crazy* AND severely limiting my wardrobe choices. I'm tiiiiiiiiired of trousers and sweaters!)

Oh Internet! Care or care not about the situation of my hosiery! It makes no difference to me! This is my space for inanities and drivel!

–––––
* Suuuure, blame winter!

The cloying taste of failure

I would just like to rant here (because it's the only place I haven't ranted about it yet) that NO, I have not yet won the iTunes/Pepsi contest. Not that I'm bitter or anything.

You are supposed to have a 1 in 3 chance of winning a free song download and I have now suffered through three 20-oz. Pepsis with no results. People have tried to tell me that, in fact, I was no more likely to win on the third bottle than on the other two - that each bottle has a 33.3% chance of winning.

And to them I say: This sort of thinking is for the rational. And I ain't it.

I hate you, Pepsi-Cola!

March 15, 2005

Required reading... and viewing

I realized today that there are certain things that should be a prerequisite for anyone hoping to be "in" with srahfamily*. Srahfamily is, of course, the coolest family on earth and everyone wants to be "in" with them. But first you must understand the organizational culture by way of its cultural artifacts!**. This is an attempt to chronicle some of the things that are most often quoted or referred to around here (in some cases I have included a favorite quote because I just can't help myself!):

Books

The Stupids Die ("This isn't heaven - this is Cleveland!")
Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Three By the Sea ("Cheese! I love cheese!")

Movies

That one episode of Just Shoot Me with Elliot's supposedly-retarded younger brother, Donnie ("Chicken pot chicken pot chicken pot PIE!")
The Simpsons
Blackadder (especially Blackadder III, I think)
Jeeves & Wooster ("How do you feel when you marry your ideal? Every so goosey goosey goosey goooooseeeeey...")

I would welcome other suggestions from members of the family or those who think that they are "in!"

----
* Some of these may be more often quoted by srah than the rest of srahfamily. Sorry - I'm biased.
** Business School/Organizational Behavior, anyone?

srah | 5:28 PM | Comments (13) | TrackBack | Tags: 1776, blackadder, books, dave barry, gilbert and sullivan, jeeves and wooster, just shoot me, monty python, movies, sideways stories from wayside school, srahfam, star wars, the pirates of penzance, the stupids, three by the sea |

Reader Poll Monday Tuesday

I'm not a regular reader of Lasadh, but I liked the questions...

read extended entry... »

1. What's your favorite dessert? Who wants crème brulée?!

2. Have you ever had a professional massage? No. I wouldn't pay money - massages make me tense and uncomfortable. See #3.

3. Turtlenecks: love 'em or help, I'm being strangled? Very strong feelings of the latter. It's too bad, because I like the look of the things. Wearing them is simply out of the question.

4. How many pillows are on your bed? I believe there are five, unless the fifth one has been kicked off. This is very likely.

5. What word best describes your smile? Infectious! No, wait, infected.

Ew!

Har har har. Um... mischievous.

6. Do you see yourself moving to another city or state within the next 5 years? I hope so, and so do my parents. Someone recently likened raising children to a box of kittens - you're constantly trying to keep them from escaping or something. My dad said they were going to turn the box upside down and shake it.

7. What kind of calendar do you use most? Firefox's calendar extension. It don't always work like it ought to, but I can never find a paper-based one that I like.

8. Do you look at the keyboard when you type? Only numbers.

9. What's your favorite joke? When commanded to tell a joke, this is the only one that ever pops into mind. I stole it from Reader's Digest:

It's an old man's 90th birthday and as a present, his friends send a call girl up to his room in the nursing home. He answers the door and she says, "I'm here to give you super sex." He replies, "Thanks, I'll take the soup."

10. What would be your ideal 2-week vacation? I figured as long as it was ideal, I would spend one week in Iceland and one week in Peru, but then I realized that I hate the in-transit part of travelling and I would be putting myself through a lot of plane travel. I'm not sure I'd really need two weeks in either place (I really only need to see Macchu Picchu and I think I'd be able to see every square inch of Iceland twice if I stayed for two weeks) so perhaps I'll go to Japan or Belgium. Or just dink around parts of France I haven't seen. Or see penguins in Chile!

I'm rather disappointed in myself that I've already been to three of the countries I chose. I ought to be branching out and visiting dozens of new countries.

[from Lasadh via swirlspice]

« ... hide extended entry

March 14, 2005

On thought and language... I guess

In French, herbal tea is a tisane, whereas real tea is thé. I like that they have two different words for it, because herbal tea is for suckahs and when you're really desperate. It seems like by having two words, there would be less confusion and you could more easily express the idea that you want REAL TEA as opposed to herbal. Unfortunately, in my experience it doesn't make things any easier because a tisane is usually still considered a kind of thé.

I don't know what my point was... probably something about Sapir/Whorf and cultural understanding across languages. But my brain is not really up to that right now, so here's my new point: I like real tea.

Thank you for milling around at Meijer

Meijer has this stupid mop-giveaway thing going on where every time I go to the store, they have a big Free Gift Giveaway Event as though it were something special for everyone who's in the store right then. I suspect they do it every hour. Anyway, I'm warning you. Don't even walk over to where the orange light is flashing because the Exciting Free Gift is mops. Unless you like that sort of thing.

The annoying thing is that they start announcing the giveaway two minutes before they're going to do it, then do it again 30 seconds later, then again 30 seconds later, then...

"This is the last and final call before we give away and distribute this fantastic free gift. Thank you for standing - and shopping - at Meijer."

This is an exact quote, emphasis theirs. The terrible thing is, on two different occasions, I have heard the announcement given by two different people. It's not just one ineloquent person in love with synonyms - this is written down on a script somewhere.

Thank you for standing at Meijer?

March 12, 2005

Unconscious Mutterings

Very musically themed this week. My head hurts a little. EAT FREE ASSOCIATIONS. Also, FREE ASSOCIATIONS ARE PEOPLE! Like Soylent Green. Does anyone actually read what I write in this space? Or Unconscious Mutterings posts at all? Let's see if this gets a reaction: You smell.

read extended entry... »

For the record

That was not a wine-tasting. That was a wine-drinking. Foods were tasty though, thanks.

March 11, 2005

In case you wondered why I look so chipper this week...

I'd like to think that I'm immune to the stuff. It's closer to the truth to say I can't get enough. I think I might as well face it, I'm addicted to under-eye concealer.

srah | 6:22 PM | TrackBack | Tags: makeup |

March 10, 2005

'You are on this council, but we do not grant you the title of Master.' 'What? Hells no, biatch!'

Srahfamily sat around the TV this evening and sacrificed our souls and our eyes through fifteen minutes of The O.C. in order to catch the Star Wars: Episode III (I've forgotten the title of this piece of garbage) trailer.

From what I can tell, this episode in the series is going to be a tale of disappointment. Obi-Wan's disappointment that Anakin is not The Chosen One Who Will Bring Balance To The Force. Anakin's disappointment that he's not made a Jedi Master. Samuel L. Jackson's disappointment that he's gonna die. And, of course, last but not least, your disappointment and mine. That this movie blows.

I started laughing after the first clip of dialogue. It's like Ian McDiarmid is doing an impression of The Emperor rather than playing him. I understand that Darth Vader looked so different because of the terrible burns he suffered, but WHAT CAUSES SOMEONE TO WRINKLE THAT QUICKLY? At some point in the movie, he's just about the same wrinkle-level as in Episode II and then all of a sudden he's a human shar-pei. Did someone do a Jedi Dehydration-Suck on him? Heh heh, I said Jedi Dehydration-Suck.

And speaking of sucking...

You know how Darth Vader kind of breathes funny? I don't know if you've ever noticed, but he sort of breathes, you know, louder than normal people do. In the past, I've always thought of this as sort of a "HHHHHOOOOOOOO-PPPPPERRRRR" noise. And this trailer ended with a much shorter version of the breathing noise, so it just sounded sort of like "PPPPOOOOOOOOOOPPPP."

How appropriate.

srah blah blah: Killing Spaniards with sugar shock since 2005

A package of enough American goodies to make any European sick for a month is now winging its way off to Spain as I pray that nothing breaks, spills or melts on the trip. This package has the potential to be absolutely disgusting if something goes wrong in transit.

Now that my Great International Secret Blog Exchange package is sent, I am at liberty to open the one I received! I wouldn't allow myself to open it until I had sent mine off, in order to keep myself from procrastinating any more than was absolutely necessary to keep me from flunking out of school.

But now I am freeeeeee! So I opened my package tonight. The ultracool Yannick - who has not included a blog address (?) - knows just what I like and has sent me a cornucopia of French haircare products and things-spreadable-on-bread! Thank goodness there was nothing perishable in there...

Thanks, Yannick!

You can't always get what you want

We have no Internet in my house. I don't know why. Now, all of a sudden, since I can't, I have this overwhelming desire to blog. ARRRRRGH!

'And then after the smoke is cleared/ and the rubble has been swept away/ me and KG will peek out our heads'

I spent half an hour sitting at a computer in the Undergrad Library this afternoon and trying to manage my piles of email. Committee-organized events may just kill me.

I was sidetracked from what was supposed to be a quick blogging session about being short and ended up staying in the library for about half an hour, meaning that I was out longer than I'd paid for parking and I had a parking ticket.

Parking tickets in Ann Arbor are $10 but they're $6 if you pay it within one business day. So I drove off to City Hall, parked in their lot, put money in the meter (getting a parking ticket in City Hall would be pretty convenient but I didn't really need more than one in a day) and went up to the door.

The door had a sign on it saying that for the time being, parking tickets should be paid across the street in the Ann Arbor Customer Services office. I crossed the street and entered the office. I made small talk with the cashier/desk attendant while I paid, saying that it was pretty strange that if I didn't pay in person, I would have to mail my payment off to White Plains, NY.

She replied, with a touch of bitterness in her voice, that it was pretty strange that I didn't have to pay parking tickets at City Hall anymore. "This is only the beginning." she added, ominously.

Actually, she didn't add it ominously, nor in such a fashion that it really deserved italics. But my brain likes to add these features to that phrase. It seems to me that whenever someone says, "This is only the beginning," it should be accompanied by a clap of thunder and a lightning strike, or perhaps some particularly sinister organ music. I liked to picture this particular event as being in the trailer for the Movie That Is My Life.

This is only the beginning. The beginning of a terrible existence in which people have to cross the street to pay their parking tickets. Are you yet chilled to YOUR VERY SOUL? You will be, my friend. You will be.

Sometimes I forget that I'm short!

Sometimes in my school, near the mailboxes, people will have conversations where one person stands against one wall of the hallway and the other person stands against the other wall. This is a high-traffic area and so it is quite frequent that you have to walk between two people having a conversation.

I did that just now and realized that my head completely cleared the line of vision between the two people. I passed below their radar and did not interrupt their eye contact, much less their conversation.

Wee.

srah | 1:27 PM | Comments (7) | Tags: srah |

Too popular for my own good

Wow, Rock, guess I don't know my own strength!

When I got home today, I had about 52 emails. Some were spam and most were mailing lists, but DAMN, that's a lot of mail.

*wades through*

March 8, 2005

Post-phone interview, or I put on a suit for this?

I hate talking on the phone anyway, so why should I think a phone interview's going to be any better? Why can't I say anything good? Why do I have sentences that trail off at the end or end with "and things like that"? Why do I sound like such a feeb?

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!

March 7, 2005

Klezmer et al...

Are you reading Manolo yet? I think it is necessary for all those who want to be the super fantastic, as well as those who like to make fun of the celebrities. I just keep thinking about his latest entry and giggling...

Attention: Brain out of order until further notice

They installed a new sprinkler system here at work over Spring Break. Everything was covered in plastic but there was still a good amount of dust left over. So between the dust and the sound of the vacuum hoovering it up, I have a monster, killer headache and just sort of want to curl up and sleep.

I am also supposed to be getting a call at some point today regarding a job I applied for. I don't know if they're thinking phone interview or if they're thinking phone-call-to-set-up-interview but I'm hoping, for the sake of my future employability, that they are not expecting anything too mentally taxing.

March 6, 2005

You put a spell on me...

The O.C.? Gah!

I know this stupid movie is going to be crap and it's going to make me angry that it's so crap!

... but I'm still going to want to see the trailer. And I'm probably going to put up with watching The O.C. in order to do it.

Sigh. George Lucas, you jerk!

Unconscious Mutterings

Two weeksful, you lucky ducklings, you. That's twenty free associations for the price of ten!

read extended entry... »

We'll collect the moments one by one/ I guess that's how the future's done - Feist, 'Mushaboom'

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March 2005 archive

March 31, 2005

March 29, 2005

March 28, 2005

March 27, 2005

March 25, 2005

March 24, 2005

March 23, 2005

March 22, 2005

March 21, 2005

March 20, 2005

March 17, 2005

March 16, 2005

March 15, 2005

March 14, 2005

March 12, 2005

March 11, 2005

March 10, 2005

March 8, 2005

March 7, 2005

March 6, 2005

We'll collect the moments one by one/ I guess that's how the future's done
- Feist, 'Mushaboom'