Babies and Baseball

Walking to school this morning I had a realization.
This happens to me sometimes on my walks, especially when it's nice out and I'm not busy thinking "wholy crap, this weather sucks!"

Anyways, I realized that baseball starts really soon.
I'm soo excited, I got a little giddy thinking about it.

And then, it hit me. Men's drafts are in like a week. What if Rob doesn't get picked? Would we have to double the amount of games we go to? Or would we have to boycot baseball altogether?
It just wouldn't be as much fun not being on a team with all the same guys (or more or less).
So, now I'm worried a little but then I think...

By the time baseball starts there will be two new babies. One from M&K and one from M&N. Spring has definitly sprung.
So much fun.
Jen...if you're reading this, no pressure! hahaha
I suppose the wedding should come first, so I can wait a year or two...I guess.

I have a Bone to Pick

Firstly, this is the second blog I've had to re-write in 2 days because computers suck! But that's besides the point.

My issue is with university students (and people in general).

The weather is nice in Waterloo. It has been sunny for two days running, and the temperature is reaching paramount +4 degrees. So it's nice, but it's not that nice.

This kind of weather to university kids though, justifyies the following;

1. Break out the flip-flops!
2. Wow, I'm glad I paid for that tan all winter...!
3. Does this tank top match my jean mini-skirt?
4. Wanna sit out on the porch and drink a couple beers at 10 AM?
5. That's it! I'm going back to platinum blonde, this "natural" colour just doesn't suit me anymore...

Am I the only one who's still cold when not wearing a jacket? And how do they afford that tan? I look like freakin Casper the ghoast, and I haven't produced one stich of melanin all year. I'm clear in comparison to these people...so jelous

And I don't even own a pair of sequened flip-flops...so tragic

Like a Rat in a Wheel

A few people who read my blog on a regular basis have raised the point that I blog in phases. I will not blog for a week and then all of a sudden it's like something strikes me that makes me need to blog twice a day. I'll tell you what this ingrediant for frequent blogging is...

Work.

When I get super-busy (abnormally busy) [like the weeks when I have papers due every day, or exams, or major presentations] I tend to have a lot to say. The funny thing is, I don't have too much to say about the work I'm doing, but instead I think about random things, and I feel the need to share these things.

So, this week is a busy week (as you can tell by my frequent posts). And I've thought of an analogy for my brain.

It's like a rat in a wheel.

If rats are housed in a cage alone with ad lib (all the time) access to a running wheel, they will run on the wheel for a good portion of their time. But, if the wheel is taken away and then re-introduced, the rat will be so scared of losing the wheel again that it will continue running without sleep or food until it dies. Literally.

This is like my brain when I get busy. Once it gets going, it's like I can't stop thinking or I'll lose my momentum and not be able to keep up. Instead I think and contimplate everything that pops into my head until eventually my brain stops working, and I need a long period of rest (ie. I'm brain-dead)

Unfortunatly, I have no control over when my brain stops thinking or starts, and so I find myself unable to sleep or concentrate on the task at hand. Concentration is linked to loneliness, or at least it is for me. When I am lonely I can't do anything for very long, before I start thinking about how lonely I am (at which point I stop working).

Luckily, I have this amazing ability to write papers unconciously. I did it just yesterday. I had this paper due today worth 30% of my grade. I wrote it in 3 hours (eek!). I read it this afternoon, and had no recollection of most of my ideas. For some, I thought "hmm, that's not a bad idea..." and for others...not so much

Maybe I have split personalities after all. That would explain a few things.

Side note: I think I have passed my OCD onto my roomie. He asked me this morning if I switched the direction of his bread in the fridge. I didn't, but it made me laugh because I ask him things like this all the time (Did you use my xxxxx? Cause it's turned 4 degrees since I left it last, etc.)

Aron IS wierd after all ....

Ok, so I don't know if any one of you peeks into my comments, but I got one from my old roomie that read like this:

" I do nothing abnormal, hence I cannot answer the tag, most tragic."

So, I decided to do Arons post for him.

1. He is up for any challange, no matter how ridiculous
- One time, we challanged him to break an egg by pushing on both ends. If you know the structure of an egg, you'll know that you cant break it by applying pressure to both ends unless you have an incredible amount of pressure. The egg eventually slipped to it's side and it cracked all over him. It was funny

2. He doesn't like the smell of perfume or cologne
- In fact, he hates it soo much he wont even use deoderant on a regular basis. Only on special occasions. He doesn't have much smell anyways though, so it might be to keep his nose fresh

3. He is really scared of dying
- so scared that he came to university to study biology and chemistry in order to "cure" or slow aging. And as far as I know, this is still his carreer goal.

4. He will build tolerance to silly things
- He will stand in the snow to increase his tolerance to cold, or eat raw pork to make his stomach stonger. It's ridiculous really, and just leaves him with cold feet and a sore stomach

5. He will go to ridiculous lengths to look good and/or feel good (and try to force everyone else to do the same)
- he jogs in the wintertime, and goes to the gym at silly hours in the morning. And when he does something unhealthy (like eating sweets, which he loves) he will repent by drinking a whole jug of orange juice. At times, he yells at others to be more healthy too. It's only because of him that I know that cooked peppers have more vitamins somehow than raw ones

6. He has the incredible ability to eat the same food in mass quantities for extended periods of time
- the first time he lived with me, he ate bananas and blueberry muffins for like a month straight. He eventually switched to "oateos" (non-brand-name cheerios). God only knows what he's eating these days...

That's all...well there's lots more but I will stop

**Discliamer - Aron I like you and everything but you are wierd. I hope I didn't insult you by anything I said. You're strong, you can take it :)

If anyone else decides not to do the tag because you're just soo normal, then I'll "out" you too. Good luck!

Quote & Tag

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not Eureka! (I found it!) but rather, "hmm.... that's funny...."
- Isaac Asimov

I thought that quote was rather amusing, and true but anyways,

I was tagged a while ago, but I never did it (bad me!).
I think I was instructed to tell 6 (?) weird things about myself
So here goes nothing...

1. I am antisocial
- I'm not antisocial because I don't like people (well I generally don't, but that's not the point). I'm more antisocial because I am socially anxious. I'm socially anxious
- not because I think I'm fat, or because I am worried people will think I am BUT I am constantly judging myself through other people's eyes. I'm not sure where I got this habit (mom?) but I can't seem to kick it, no matter how hard I try. You see people? It's not you, it's me.

Stemming from #1...

2. I have never ordered a pizza, or more than 3 items on a sub
- The first part's a bit of a lie, cause I once ordered pizza online, but I've been told that doesn't count. As for subs, I have a 3 item limit (not counting cheese, lettuce, and tomato, cause they ask that all at once, and I can just nod). After three items the person is surely cursing you inside his/her own head, thus preventing me from enjoying pickles on my sub

3. I like things to be in their place
- as disorganized as I might seem at times, everything in my like tends to have a place. For example, I keep certain books on certain shelves, and I like my piggy bank on a certain spot on my bookshelf etc. So, when things get moved around I freak out. The weirdest part is, I don't get angry or annoyed that someone moved my stuff. But rather, I get scared because I convince myself that I have another personality that is just trying to fool around with me.

4. I am paranoid
- I think this stems from a combination of events. I watch too many scary movies, leading to an intense fear of looking in mirrors. And one time when I was little, and shampooing my hair, my sis decided to stick her face right in front of mine. So when I opened my eyes I was scared out of my skin. I don't close my eyes in the shower anymore (ever since) except to wash my face, during which time my heart beats like I'm about to jump off a building, and as soon as the soap is out I open my eyes and whip my head around behind me, always expecting someone to be standing there.

5. I don't like maple syrup
- I know this is a weird one, but I just don't like it. And it's not that I don't like the taste of it, but I just can't eat it on food. One exception - vanilla icecream

6. I love to cook, and I love to eat: but I hate to eat the food I cook
- confused? yeah, me too, but it's true. I enjoy cooking, and I enjoy eating. But something about cooking food makes me not want to eat it. And, the longer it takes to make the food, the worse this feeling is. So, if I make myself a fabulous stir fry for instance, I will sometimes leave it on the counter untouched, and have crackers and cheese for dinner.

So that's it, brutal honesty. I could think up a thousand more, but the world thinks I'm strange enough as it is. I think most of these are the strangest things I could think of about me, but I'm sure my family or my roomates could think of worse.

PS. I'm tagging everyone who reads this. I know who you are...

My "Other" Baby

Oh, how excited am I?

I just officially purchased the laptop of my dreams :)

Luckily my uncle is a computer guy, and with mock 3-way telephone (ie. me on the phone with mom who is on the phone with uncle) they talked me through purchasing a sweet laptop.

Here's the deal. Dell is tricky and likes to fluctuate the "stuff" you get in the computer while keeping the price the same. So, when I went to look at "my" computer on the weekend it was $xxxx and I checked it out today and guess what?

For $xxxx (ie. the same dollar amount) they doubled the memory, doubled the hard drive, added a sweet video card, increased the processing power ($370 upgrade), and were offering a 20% discount on warrenty.

Sneaky buggers still had the old "deal" available too, so if you acessed the site through a different link you got the old version of computer for the same price.

So, I jumped on it. I called mom via her 1-800 number at work, had her conference with her computer techy guy, and had her call my computer guy uncle.

I had to increase my credit limit (from the measly $500 I've kept it at all these years) to pay for it online. This task was particularily easy suprisingly. I never even had to talk to a real person.

And Bata-bing-batta-boom I've bought it. It will be shipped to me within 3 weeks. How exciting.

Back to work.

And PS. I'm never visiting the Dell website again, because though both my computer connections assure me I wont see a better deal, I am scared that while surfing the web I'll see my computer offered for half the price. And then I might snap it in half. **I wonder if that's covered in the complete care warrenty?**

I wouldn't mind driving one of me...

I'm a Porsche 911!

You have a classic style, but you're up-to-date with the latest technology. You're ambitious, competitive, and you love to win. Performance, precision, and prestige - you're one of the elite,and you know it.

Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

Ughh...

I hate being a Teachers Assistant

Something about emails every week that always sound something like this...

"I forgot to submit the quiz cause my dog died and my boyfriend dumped me and my internet is down and my roomates were loud last night and I can't remember how to spell my own name half the time and, and, and...."

But, I always give a nice response that goes aomething like this.
"Please see the proffesor in class and ask him to re-open your quiz for you. I am unable to do this after the due date has passed. You could otherwise email him personally at statsprof@wlu.ca because he does not check his personal mail on this site. Hope that helps! Aimee (TA)"

And every once in a while, I get a nasty email reply.
Like just now...

"Thanks. But I clearly sent you that email before the due date. " from some shithead who thinks their God's gift to university.

And on days like today, when I'm cranky and lonely and sick, and not feeling very nice in general, I'll send an oh-so-proffessional reply that goes like this,

"I'm sorry, but I "clearly" didn't get your email until after the quiz was due. Stats Proff will be happy to re-set it for you if you ask him in class. No need to be rude. " - Aimee (TA)

I just can't help it. I wasn't cut out to be a TA.
Maybe I should look into changing my career goal? haha

I'm IN!! I'm IN!!

It finally came!!

I got an email saying I'm super-fabulous and I got accepted to University of Toronto!!

I'm soooo excited right now I can't really express it in a blog but
I'm not going to think too much about it right now, but basically it means I'm one step closer to my career in academia, I have a summer job!, and I'm finally getting that laptop I always wanted. Life is good.

Thanks for your support everyone.

Too smart for your own good

I never even thought about skin and hair, but those are really good answers. I was looking for an organ (although the skin is technically an organ, you know what I mean) And, the top layer of your skin is all dead cells and are constantly being shed. In fact, if I'm correct, your skin can be replaced entirely in 28-30 days (longer for older adults).

But the answer I was looking for was the liver.

The liver actually has a crazy capacity to regenerate such that I could donate half (to two thirds) of my liver to someone else up to 12 times! and each of us (donor and the donee, hehe) would completely regenerate an entire functioning liver.

Also, they have done studies that involve transplanting a large liver into a small animal, and the liver will degenerate to fit the body of its new host. I thought that was wicked-cool.

Anyways, I am eating relatively good grandma :)
Too many stir frys, but it wont kill me.
But I was looking at my pale skin in the mirror today and thinking that I might be lacking in vitamin D, seeing as my skin hasn't seen the sun in like a year. I'm thinking about artificially tanning to get into the cool croud anyways. Orange = healthy ;)

I forgot to mention yesterday that I went to go meet another prof, but this time at Waterloo University. It went well, but I couldn't help but think "maybe I should sabatouge my own interview to avoid staying in waterloo for another two years" but it was just a passing thought, I swear! It actually went pretty good, and I think he liked me well enough. we'll see.

But I still want my letter from U of T.
I'm harrassing the mailman next time I see him. That outta speed up delivery.

The Never-Ending Headache

I have this headache that wont go away. It persists through endless rounds of advil, planty of water, and my daily dose of caffeine. I'm not sure what it's from, but I'm ready for it to be gone.

Here are some reasons I can think of for why my head hurts:

1. I am allergic to school
2. my thesis poster is due in two weeks
3. my developmental lab exam is in two weeks
4. my biopsych paper is due in two weeks
5. my paper on pornography is due in two weeks
6. my review paper on congenital heart defects is due in two weeks
7. my roommate wont stop peeing on the floor. Today I made it very clear to him that he is required to sit down to pee from this day forward or I will have his head on a stick.

Speaking of heads...I just wanted to share with you all that I cut up worms in lab which are regenerating as we speak. I will raise them and take them home to show you if you like. I'll even bring my dissection kit so you can cut one up yourself :)

This is what they look like in one peice (much smaller; like 2mm)...
And this is what they look like after about a week or so of regeneration after you slice them up the middle. They form two heads or tails or whatever depending on how you cut them. I also have a jar with a few cut in cross section so that the head is separate from the tail peice, and my prof claims that both peices will form a whole organism. neat eh?

Anyone know what the most easily regenerating part of a human body is?

and PS...if your child is 11 years old or younger and somehow cuts the tip of their finger off, tell the hospital to leave it unbandaged (after the initial bleed of course) and it will partially if not fully regenerate...but that's not the answer I was looking for :)

How does this happen?

1. After blogging about someone turning off my computer in the public computer lab at school, I watched 4 people do this (to other people this time, thank goodness) in one hour in lab today AND that doesn't count the girl that I stopped just in time.

2. After sitting in class today learning about defects of the face, I saw 4 people with no chin...weird.

3. Walking home from class (after night class) I hear this (picture it...)
The Spice Girls..."if you wanna be my lova' ...you gotta get with my friends...I wanna, I wanna I wanna...zig a zig ah..."
Coming from a little black sports car carrying two young males...
And one of them is screaming "obscenities" from the window
For example..."I'm naked under my clothes"
Um, how does it happen? When did you think of that? And why are you screaming it out the window while listening to old-school teenage girl pop?

4. My prof...ok...the one from Louisiana remember...came to class wearing her infamous touque, hospital pants (ie. scrubs) and a huge t-shirt with a basketball team logo on it. Even I wouldn't wear this to class...and I'd wear pretty much anything. I think she gets away with it, cause people think she's a grad student. Luckily she's brilliant, and they can't fire her cause she's already got her tenure (at 32 yrs old). Um, and she's kinda fun :)

And finally...how do I not have my grad school letter yet!?
Give it to me!!
I want it! I want it! I want it! (screaming and banging fists, while laying belly-down on the floor)

Oh! I forgot one...
5 1/2. How is it that someone can drop a Huge chunk of cheese on the floor and not notice? If anyone can do it...my roomie can :P

Come on!!

So, the days are getting longer, but WAYY too slowly.

I miss the times when you can get out of class at 6:30 pm and walk home feeling safe.
I miss walking in jeans and a sweatshirt, and not having a bulky coat to worry about.
I want spring dammit.
I love spring.

But, on the bright side, I used to go to class at 5:15PM and it was already dark. Now, it's pushed until almost 6PM. I can feel myself cheering up already.

My friend at school got her acceptance today to University of Ottawa to do her Masters. I was soo excited for her, but then I got very jelous and started whining like a little kid that I wanted mine too.

I'm sending good thoughts out into the universe. Hopefully karma is on my side.