Transition Metals, Finnish Chemists, and Small Swedish Villages

It makes me incredibly sad that people blame gender for learned behaviours.  People whom i know are intelligent and whom i respect greatly.

Isn't that how meme is pronounced?

:D

Stolened from
impeccablesimon
.

Cue cheesy SNL music now.



And then this morning i drove straight from there into work, again making it in 3 exactly.  I got into work about an hour later than normal, but i left a bit later than usual too so it wasn't a total wash.  And now i'm home, contemplating dinner, brown hair dye, chores, Soul Caliber III, and the Harpoon Summer Ale in the fridge :)

ETA:  And THIS is what happens when you add too much Infrared to Cobra.  In case you were curious.

It has come to my sudden attention that Manic Panic is a fickle beast.

Photos later this weekend.

I don't think dreams have "deeeeeeep meeeeeeanings" but i do enjoy looking at dream imagery dictionaries and laughing over the implications.

So last night i know my dreams were convoluted, as usual, but the only thing i remember is someone anonymously leaving me houseplants in my house. Big dracaenas and other large, impressive tropical houseplants.

According to my favourite dream dictionary (dreammods.com, if you care):

Houseplants = "fertility, spiritual development, growth or the potential for growth. Alternatively, the appearance of plants in your dreams reflects your caring and loving nature.

In particular, to see indoor plants in your dream, suggests that your growth is being hindered or slowed in some way. You are experiencing a lack of independence. Alternatively, the dream signify your desire to be closer to nature.

If you are estranged from your children, then the plants can be seen as a representative for your your children. "

Gifts = "being rewarded and recognized for your generosity and giving nature. You are held in high esteem by those around you. "

I bolded the parts i hope are relevant, italicized the parts that are probably applicable whether i want them to be or not, and underlined the parts i hope are not applicable. A side note: i have no children.

Such a beautiful little meme. Stolen from fublerette1, whom i don't know but is a member of Davis Square, so i see non friend locked posts.

The concept: 1. Go to www.flickr.com. 
2. Type your answer to each question in the “search” box.
 3. Using only the first page, pick an image. 4. Copy and paste the html into your blog.


( This was just beautiful when others did it. I hope mine is remotely as pleasing )

Second day back on the bike this year (yes, i'm lazy.  You all can yell at me later.  I was fixing up my house for a month and a half.  Between the energy i spent doing that and the requirement of going to Home Despot every 12 minutes driving to work was not particularly negotiable).

First flat.

If this continues, i'll need 2 tubes a week.  That's $8 a week.

I gas up the car, when i drive to work, about once a month, maybe once every 3 weeks.  At $40 a tank right now, that's $13 a week.

Good thing i love the environment ;)

(No i don't honestly think i'll flat every other day.  It's just a humourous observation.  You take your reality based unfunny elsewhere ;) )

The good:

scholar's dad is obviously going to live, and his mental acuity is pretty good.  (I never met him before all this started, so i don't know if he's back to normal or not).

I got carded buying beer tonight :D

The Boston Organics were rescued by a friend and put in my fridge last Friday, and look verra nice.

The bad:

I think i have an ear infection.

I'm too tired to answer my phone, though it's my parents and i haven't had a phone call from them in a few months.

I think i accidentally signed up for the 50/50 fruit/veggie Boston Organics and not the 2/3 veggies.  That's a lot of fruit that is going to go bad unless i buy a blender and make smoothies.  Or freeze it all.

scholar and his bro need to figure out what to do about their dad.

About to start chores, and perhaps a real post will percolate in my brain whilst i do them.  But for now, another meme to calm me down.

CM and ENWorld down?

Why do the gods kick me when i'm already down??

Whyyyyyyyyyyy?

;)

First off, Game Night at Yttrai's house this weekend is cancelled.  I think i emailed everybody who was actually invited. I feel awful but suddenly i won't be in town this weekend.

Secondly, scholar's dad is expected to live, though he's being admitted after many hours in the ER.  Hence, my sudden trip out of town.  Despite the prognosis that he'll probably recover, i feel utterly useless that scholar had to get one of the top 10 phone calls no one wants to get ("Dad isn't answering the phone. Can you go over and check on him?") and have the visit result in him finding his dad unconscious and unresponsive.  And i'm stuck here, 3 hours drive from being anything like useful.  scholar is (obviously) one of my favourite people on earth, but he is remarkably shitty at taking care of his own mental health.  I can only begin to imagine how well he's taking this.

*growl*

Sometime after i left work, but before i got home, i got myself a medium sized but very dark and impressive bruise with swelling, right in the middle of my forearm.  I do not bruise easily, and bruises normally take a day or two to develop on me.  The fact that i could see it right away implies strongly i had really bashed my arm quite hard, in order for it to form that dark and quickly.

And yet, i have no memory of whacking my arm at any point between leaving my desk and arriving in my house.

I hope i wasn't out planning Project Mayhem or splicing things into Bambi either.

I read every last friend and friend of friend LJ last night (you all have much more interesting lives than i do ;) ) and no one had a meme for me to do.  There were a few but i'd mostly already done them.

But tonight!  My favourite relaxation technique combined with my favourite relaxation technique!

(Um, okay, my favourite SOLO relaxation techniques :D )

A book meme!


I look erudite, because i've read a lot that weren't required in school, but i blame that on not taking any writing classes after Freshman year. 

I tried to bet various people that it would start to rain as soon as i left work. 

No one would take my bet.

I really really wanted to be wrong this time.

In related news, the 10 year old pair of bike gloves i found in the discard pile are in excellent shape. I have no idea why i got rid of them the first time.

I also need to re-RainEx my goggles.  Apparently i haven't ridden in such driving rain as today in a long time. I could barely see.

I broke my front flasher on the way in today, so i need a new one.  Though, if i'm working so late that i need a front flasher in the summer i should probably take the T since i'll be too tired to pedal by then.

Man, i had so many cool thoughts an hour ago before i blew a fuse and spent half an hour running from basement to third floor trying to figure out which one needed resetting.  At least i got some extra cardio at the end of the day ;)

This weekend is an impromptu gathering to mourn my  birthday.  Redbones and board games.  Oh, and beer :D  If you think you should have gotten an email with the details, and you didn't, it was a total oversight, or it bounced.  Drop me a real email (not a comment) and i'll fix that.

Next weekend i'll be going to Albany to help celebrate not only my own passage into aged-ness, but it is Genki-san's birthday on Saturday.  I pray we do NOT end up having as much fun as we did on scholar's birthday.  People should only be allowed to have that much "fun" once a year ;)

The weekend after that scholar is in town.  YAY.

The weekend after that i honestly don't have anything planned, but it is Memorial Day weekend, so i figure something or other will be going on.

And then the weekend after that is Albany Game Day.  No ponies :( but i figure there will be scholar's 70's Disco Inferno Wyrd is Bond game, or if we're really lucky maybe his Real World of Darkness game.  Hopefully we can get some of the Usual Out of Town Suspects to run or play or just show up.  Albany is not the huge mecca of culture that Boston is, but it's a damn fine Gameday, and supporting local business is important too :)  I love Pande and Your Move, but Zombie is a great shop too.  I try to split my business three ways more or less equally, but i buy so little it hardly makes a dent.  (I own less than 10 game books, about 10 sets of dice, and i buy used fiction several times a year.  Oh, and i'm trying to get into painting.  But i'm hardly a model consumer ;) )

That's all the news that's fit to print.  Now time to search for a meme to entertain my bad self.

Thank you buckeyebrain ! I needed a meme to calm me down :)

So the irony of NCGameday N (where N is some integer i can't remember) being on the first weekend that i have tons of free time in over a month means that not only do i not know what to do with myself, but that most of my usual chat buddies are at Rel's house.  How dare people 10 states away from me have fun and not pay for me to fly down there ;)

Actually, i should not complain.  Friday i did come home from Happy Hour and collapse, but after cleaning a bunch Saturday, a dear friend (we'll call her shalssa since that is one of her handles) had me and 3 other people over for dinner and Killer Bunnies.  She is one of the best cooks i know, and she made coconut rice, naan, another kind of coconut based bread she failed to name, dahl, coconut beef (she had a lot of coconut i guess ;)), a chickpea dish and a potato dish.  My GODS it was fabulous.  Her timing could not have been better, and though i had to force myself out of the house it was well worth it.  She is one of my favourite people in the entire Boston area and i hope never to lose track of her.

Anyway, tonight is gaming with Qualidar/Mr Nacho, legolasgimli24 , SirOsisofLiver, Dareoon Daladrove, a dude with no username (can you believe it!  He doesn't post on ENworld or CircvsMaximvs or RPGnet or LJ or ANYTHING.  How does he LIVE?? ;)) and his GF.  M&M, promises to be unruly fun.

Anyway, the meme you've all been waiting for ;)

Is there some sort of special hell for drinking 3 Philosopher's from a Chimay glass?

Do i care?

:D

Anyway, house has been on the market for SEVEN WHOLE DAYS and no one has bought it yet.  Am i being a touch impatient?

It feels insanely weird to not have 500 chores to do every night.  I'm actually....bored.

Finished "The Stolen Child" by Keith Donohue last night, and it affected me pretty deeply.  I'm starting The Furies of Calderon, (Jim Butcher) which i was hesitant to start due to the lame title, but is turning out pretty good so far. Nowhere near as moving as Stolen Child, but well written and entertaining so far.

Given my mentally wiped out state, i only have 4 random thoughts at the moment ;)

Grad school interview seems to have gone well.  The admissions director/advisor for the program i applied to has a very (eerily) similar background to mine, and was excited to talk about how the transition would work for me, and how effective i might be after finishing the program.

Needless to say, it is a huge weight off my mind to have the interview over, and to have it have gone well.

Yes, i'm being deliberately vague about the nature of the program.  For reasons i don't quite get, i'm loathe to discuss my plans until after it is clear they will in fact happen.  I don't know where i learned this behaviour but there it is.

And to celebrate i shall post a meme i borrowed from dollraves sometime last week :)

Found on the corner of Winchester and Newbern (strictly speaking, Ball Square but i see no Ball Square group.  Cross posted to West Medford mailing list, somervillemass , davis_square, and tomorrow i'll get Somerville Alleycat Advocats notified):

6-8 month old young calico female cat.  Quite friendly and in good health, scared but otherwise fine.  May have been shut in our basement by accident for 2-3 days, so since Thursday or so.

We have no time to post flyers tonight, but will do so tomorrow (Sunday 20 April).  If you think you know whose cat this is, post a comment here and notify them that she's fine.  We aren't home tonight, hence the inability to post flyers just yet.   If anyone has a lead on whose cat this is we will be in touch tomorrow during the day.

This one deals with differences between when the author was a child, and children now, and probably touches on differences between city kids, town kids, and country kids.

 
Interesting food for thought.  Things i've contemplated but never really pondered at length.

It only took 2 weeks, and i'm afraid i don't have a true "before" photo.  But this all started a few years ago when some foster cats dumped their water dish repeatedly, and i didn't notice. I thought they were thirsty :|

So the damaged plaster (PLASTER, not drywall.  Damn you charismatic 100 year old New England house! ;)) had to be excavated, leaving me with this:



And that's what i did on my not-vacation ;)

Stolen from....someone on the Pande or Davis Sq friends lists.  I closed the window and can't find it again right now :(

I'm still going chores, and they are going well, but part of the ritual is to do a meme in the morning before i start working.  I feel productive while i have my alkaloidic water soluble stimulants :D


Every one of those regional dialect things pegs me as "Upper Midwest" or something fancy.  It's just another name for Canada Lite :D

LJ posts are supposed to be all about the emo, yes?

I'm having a minor meltdown regarding the amount of work i have to do this weekend and coming week.  I know i can do it all, but my mental state is not so hot.  Honestly, when i'm here and scholar is home for the weekend and we have maybe one phone call and several emails, and maybe an IM chat or two, i miss him but it doesn't kill me.  This weekend he's at Eyptian Campaign in Carbondale, IL, with his good friend (and quickly becoming one of my favourite people in the world) whom i have dubbed Genki-san since he doesn't have a username and studies the martial arts pretty hard.  ANYWAY having scholar off having fun with mutual friends during one of the most stressful weekends of my adult life is much more demoralizing than i anticipated.

So i come to LJ looking for a meme to fill out to calm me down, and lo!  bramblekite was able to help me out!  Top post in the list and everything.  Thank you bramblekite :)



Phew. 

It worked!  I'm a lot less stressed! I believe i can get through today!

Thank you bramblekite, and LJ.  I feel much better now.

Just to prove i'm not totally lazy, and that i have been accomplishing stuff, here is a summary of the past month or so.

During the week of scholar's spring break (15-22 March approximately) he visited.  That first Saturday was the ENWorld Boston Gameday, and it rocked :)  Can not say enough good things about that crowd, but for details just go to ENworld and find the thread.  I might summarize it later but that is not the point of this post.  This post is all about the work we did Sunday - Thursday of that week, as well as what i'm up to now.


Tired cat is tired.

It's been MONTHS since i did one of these!  Just like a real post, but with 99 % less content!

:D

1. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (Mother and Father's middle name)
Eileen Leonard

2. NASCAR NAME: (first name of your mother's dad, father's dad)
Male: Eino Leonard
Female (using Grandmothers): Mary Lou Dorothy

3. STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of
your first name)
Kirmc.

4. DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Violet Liger.  Man, that rocks :D

5. SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)
Elizabeth Ann Arbor.  Wow.  Another serendipetious winner :)

6. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd fav color, fav drink, add "THE" to the beginning)
The Black Dirty Martini.  That does NOT work.

7. FLY NAME: (first 2 letters of 1st name, last 3 letters of your last name)
Kinty.  That's awful

8. GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, fav cookie)
Green Tea Oatmeal Chocolate Chip.  I can't even comment.

9. ROCK STAR NAME: (current pets name, current street name).
Bear Winchester, or Aelf Winchester

10. STRIPPER NAME: (name of your fav perfume/cologne, fav candy)
Patchouli Sour Patch Kids :|

11. PORN NAME: (1st pets name, street you grew up on)
Snowy Wisconsin.  Ooooh baby.

...were completely accurate.

Not dead, just busy.  And it's a self-fulfilling cycle:  being stressed means less posting, which leads to guilt about not posting, which leads to less posting.

But for now i need to vent a little about some drama on a messageboard i adore.  I'm trying to let this go, and i'm hoping that writing everything down in the usual LJ emo angst fashion will allow me to move on.  I could be wrong, i'm willing to admit the possibility.  We'll just have to see how it goes.

:D

Okay, someone asked a specific question on this messageboard of mine, which could be summarized as "why are women more into fortunetelling than men?"  Well, it bothers me greatly when people make vast generalizations based on gender, and most of you know that about me.  My response wasn't rude, i don't think, but i refuse to buy into the whole "men and woman are so biologically different that our behaviours are easily explained away with a wave of the hand and a mention of gender".  Every person is a free willed individual and we can behave however the hell we damn well feel like.  Using your gender to excuse bad behaviour isn't cool, in my book - women can't be irrational and get away with it, men can't be explosive and violent and get away with it.  You are accountable for your behaviour, and you alone.  If you need the assistance of a mental health professional, go get it.  But don't use your gender as a crutch to allow you to act uncontrollably.

[/soapbox]

Anyway, my answer was basically "Women are more marginalized by society and therefore turn to less mainstream methods of finding meaning and importance."  I wasn't blaming men, women, myself, the poster, or anyone in the thread.  I'm merely pointing out that learned behaviour is what's creating this perceived gender difference.

And i was told that because i'm successful, me having the opinion that women are marginalized by society makes me whiny.  I pointed out that just because i personally am successful, whether it is despite or because of my gender, doesn't make me blind to the fact that other women are treated poorly, and doesn't negate that i have seen myself be treated poorly because of my gender.  But according to my rival on this subject, having this opinion and stating it makes me whiny.  He called me whiny twice, once in response to my original posit, and then in response to me stating that i have compassion and empathy for women who are still treated poorly.

This makes my head explode.  I have been trying to leave it behind me, but i have never been specifically trolled on a topic like this.  I can't imagine how he gets from "I have nothing but sympathy and empathy for women who haven't achieved as much as i have, and being successful doesn't blind me to their plight" to "you are whiny".  He's not an unintelligent person, but i just can't imagine why he can't see that being successful doesn't mean a person was never discriminated against.    In addition, he's trying to tell me that my experiences don't matter, because the end result (MS in Chemistry, job in research) somehow negates any bad experiences i might have had along the way.

Anyway, as it turns out, i'm a little more riled up from writing this than i hoped i'd be, but in general it feels good to get it in black and white.  I think i'm entitled to my opinion on the matter, he thinks he's right, and there really is no middle ground on this one.

Despite evidence to the contrary, i am not dead.  Nor was i abducted by aliens, nor did gravity cease to work and i was flung from the planet by the force of rotation and hurled into space.  Though that last one would be cool until my supplemental oxygen ran out.

No, i just have a major deadline at work which has required me to work a bunch of 10-13 hour days, and a few weekends as well.  I know there are plenty of professions where 10-13 hour days and no weekends off are normal, and i have total sympathy for them.  But even an 8 hour day is often too long and i need to rest before i have the energy to get home.  Much more than 8 and i worry about falling asleep.  On the 15 minute drive :o

Anyway.

Stolen from tfbretz.

Bolded careers are ones considered strongly.
Italicised once relate to the current career.

(My own addition: Red ones are WTF-worthy!)

My own job is #26.

1.Lineworker
2.Gardener
3.Horticulturist
4.Fruit and Vegetable Grower
5.Zookeeper
6.Agronomist
7.Nursery / Greenhouse Grower
8.Pharmacologist
9.Animal Trainer
10.Aquaculturist
11.Arborist
12.Horse Trainer
13.Chemical Engineer
14.Conservator
15.Forestry Technician
16.Landscaper
17.Fisher
18.Animal Caretaker
19.Chimney Sweep
20.Pharmacy Technician
21.Medical Lab Tech
22.Professional Athlete
23.Kinesiologist
24.Forensics Specialist
25.Mail Carrier
26.Chemist
27.Chemical Engineering Tech
28.Housekeeper
29.Insulator
30.Painter
31.Microbiologist
32.Flooring Installer
33.Commercial Diver
34.Pharmacist
35.Conservation Officer
36.Coast Guard
37.Stock Clerk
38.Hydrologist / Hydrogeologist
39.Oceanographer
40.Veterinarian

When Frank was sick, after the first roommate moved out, someone at work sent a mass email to the entire company, desperate for foster homes for cats. A house in Everett had been found with at least 40 cats abandoned, unfed, unwatered, unheated, in one of the coldest snaps in January we've had for a long time.
Well, i had a room suddenly available, so i emailed the woman and agreed to take two fosters. That was how i met Dmitri and Mini. 

Science and math??

Who would have guessed??

[Public even though this was a fairly personal reaction and post, because the event in question was very public.  I feel like i failed as a human being and i hope others around me can learn from me.]

Today i took the T with Mantisking to Pandemonium and back home, to pick up our pre-ordered tshirts in kewl colours.  Well worth the $20 plus the price of the T ride there and back.

SO TOTALLY not worth the trauma of what i saw, and can't let go of.  I think i empathise too strongly with other people.  I've known that for a long time. 

What i didn't know until today is that i am a total fucking chicken, a coward, and am not half the person i hope to be or try to be.



Gods, i hope so.  I just don't know.  I'm home on my comfy couch with my fluffy cats and my soft blanket.  Little Dude is home with her and her grommeted belt.

Been sick since Tuesday night, when my stomach just went into convoluted flips. Definitely had a fever Wednesday and Thursday, and probably Friday as well though i never checked. Almost certainly viral, based on my lingering back pain today.

Yesterday was another RPGnet BosTan meet, which went spendidly. We grilled from noon until about 1.30, when A) ReallyBored took the last steak tip off the grill and B) i suddenly freak from the sun, my weakness and lingering illness, and basically demanded we move inside. The 7 or so guys assembled were gentlemen and acquiesced to my demands. Probably because it was 98 and bright sunshine with high humidity outside, and probably 75 in Mantisking's air conditioned cave :D

So then we played games for hours and hours. Some i don't even recall the names of, including Tehana and Arist's goblin machine game, and largosama's wresting card dice game. Plus 3 Dragon Ante, which went over well and i managed to suck in a few more addicts :D I also got a chance to actually talk to Tehana which i rarely get to do, also largosama and Arist.

Eventually everybody left by 9, after hearing 800 stories about last week (This one time.....at Gencon....). I felt bad for them but it was my first and i hope i'm allowed to be a little excited. It is nice to feel exciting for something and not my usual cynical jaded depression :)

Then we watched the UFC which was quite solid. All the fights were good, Huerta is a god among men, GSP continues to amaze me with his focus and athleticism, and i fell asleep before the title fight. Oops. I just watched it this morning (after reviewing some of the Huerta fight due to some SICK blows that landed after Crane had lost his momentum) and it was another good fight. My respect for Couture is pretty high as well, due to him showing great sportmanship for Gonzaga after the defeat. Same with GSP and Huerta as well. AND Stephenson. It was nice to see a lack of bad blood and whiny pissiness like sometimes happens.

And now i'm home and binging on teh intarnets and hoping work this coming week isn't too tough for my delicate flower (according to diat) constitution.

:D

Gained a few points recently, but still i'm only a medium RPG geek.

Your Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Score
Category	Your Score	Average
Hacklust	47.17% Will kill for XP	53.5%
Sensitive Roleplaying	51.9% "But what's my motivation for this scene?"	54.7%
GM Experience	100% The power of the GM's screen compels you!	69.4%
Systems Knowledge	92.66% Played in a couple of campaigns	90.4%
Livin' La Vida Dorka	55.17% Has interesting conversations in public	63.3%
You are 74.32% pure Average Score: 68.8%
Take The Ultimate Roleplaying Purity Test and see how you match up! (By The Ferrett)

So much to discuss, but i need a day to decompress before i discuss it.

Suffice it to say, it was a life changing experience.

Leaving for Gencon tomorrow.

I hope to have NO time to post.

(Not that i post that often anyway, but here's to hoping....)

:D

yttrai is poisonous! Induce vomitting if ingested.

N POISON

Username:

From Go-Quiz.com

In order to make our lab run more smoothly, and not enjoy the cluster that can be broken instrumentation with no one directly responsible for it, after we moved to the new building last May we assigned each instrument an "owner".  The purpose of these "owners" is that if the machine breaks or runs out of supplies, one person is responsible for getting things back to normal.  It prevents the buck-passing behvaiour that ensues when that invisible dude named Somebody Else might have taken care of it.  You know who exactly is supposed do to it, and between you and that person, it gets done.

And to be honest, our lab is one of the least messed up since the move - common areas are the cleanest, instruments are kept spanking clean, columns and tubes are in labelled racks, samples are not left out, messes are cleaned up.  Basically, despite having two of the least cooperative coworkers in the building, our lab is the best kept up, though we might be tied for 1st with one other lab.

So when i find my HPLC is leaking, and i go to fix the leak, and i find that a piece of tubing is COMPLETELY GONE, i tend to lose not only my mind, but my faith in humanity.

That tube was there 3 weeks ago when Facilities Dude and i re-plumbed the machine.  It has been working just fine in the intevening 3 weeks.  Suddenly, today, it's gone.  GONE.

Who does that?

Real post pending completion of Home Repair Project FROM HELL.

Also, i can't recall who i stole this from :(  I do apologise.

It's time to play, "Top 5"!

Top 5 'Hottest' TV characters
-Sayid, Lost
-Warwick, CSI
-Starbuck, BSG
-Lady Heather, CSI
-Bialar Crais, Farscape
(Honorable Mention: Zoe, Firefly)

Top 5 CDs that you own
-How it Ends, Devotcha
-Yes Virginia, Dresden Dolls
-10,000 Days, Tool
-Passion, Peter Gabriel
-Black Holes and Revelations, MUSE

Top 5 'Hottest' Celebrities
-Naveen Andrews
-Clive Owen
-BJ Penn
-Oded Fehr
-Katee Sackhoff
(Honorable Mention: Eliza Dushku)

Feel free to comment with Top 5 lists of your own!