A question and a boast

First off, is there something about Ig/Met Pet Question that makes it particularly spam worthy? I've been getting at a Japanese spam comment about one a day for a week now.

Secondly, I went from this (geologist office chic):


to this (over dressed for blind double date):


in 46 minutes last Friday*. Well, slightly less time actually, 46 minutes is the difference between the time stamps on the photos. I was only 10 minutes late and half of that was because I had to stop at the ATM.

I had fun. He, I'm told, had a good time and wants my number (since he didn't ask for it before I left, despite having an entire Uno game's worth of warning. But then it was really late and we were all getting tired.). Also I got to see our big snow falling. (It didn't stick here but did in Birmingham, I'm told.)


*I also went from having a dog excited to have Mom home to one pouting on my bed because Mom was abandoning her for the evening. That's why she's not in the second picture. :)

Random bits, part 3.1?

This is awesome, I wish I thought local students would be so creative and motivated to tell the hate mongers off. (via Scalzi)


To accent my nerdiness, I'm trying to figure out the best way to knit circles in both circular and flat knitting with the aid of math and spreadsheets (because the maths get tedious the 20th time through). Because, really an octagon is not "close enough" to a circle. I will let you know when I get it right, the chord length calculations are tricky (and my DPNs are busy right now). In other knitting news, Mom's shawl is coming along nicely and the rows are getting to be noticeably long. It took me 30 minutes yesterday to do 2 rows (lace pattern then knit back across).


Two Sunday's ago=snow. Last Sunday= short sleeves and Irises and Bluets.



In case you were wondering, one of the things Honu-Girl is doing in St. Pete is talking about layer cake geology. Here she's creating some classic alpine thrusts.


Triple-time Swing went much better for me last night than last time I took this class. For some reason this time around the dancing in 6 to music in 4 (or 8) didn't bother me. (I had the same difficulty with the Fox Trot to start with but that one was a little easier to get over.) Although I wanted to point out to the instructor that we weren't "dancing in 8", there are 8 steps in 6 beats (For the musicians out there: 1-a-2-3-a-4-5-6 or 1-2-3-a-4-5-a-6, depending on if you start on the triple step or the rock step; the 8th notes should be slightly delayed, like "swing 8th notes" in jazz, (almost a dotted 8th-8th triplet) but can be counted as straight 8ths).

The instructor (Can not think of his name!) made a slip of the tongue last night. In Fox Trot and Waltz the man's right hand is behind the lady's left shoulder or slightly lower, in swing it is on the lady's waist. He was showing the correct position but said "your hand is on her hip". (You kind of had to be there but) Emma's (his wife, who helps him teach) quick and forceful correction and his subsequent demonstration of what was NOT her waist was funny. I think, if you grab your partner's hip, gentleman, you may very well get slapped or worse. Remember you're in close quarters.

Random bits from the weekend

A few thoughts for today, before I head off to Virginia for 3 days (that's total - driving there, being there, driving back - fun!) (the pics @ 8 may not be safe for the weak stomached):

1. I find this way too amusing.

2. I knew it! Deer knew when it was hunting season and not. I don't have photographic proof, but Friday heading home, in a field near my house there was a HERD of deer grazing. I see far fewer deer crossing the road during rifle season than at the any other time of the year.

3. I watched a show on Discovery or TLC a couple months ago about "Purity Balls". I found the whole idea a little creepy. Some of the goals are ok (like waiting for sex and making sure girls know they are loved and valued so they don't jump into the arms of the first guy who'll have them) but the execution is a bit creepy. But, for some unknown reason, the other day I started thinking about the eldest daughter of the preacher and her up coming (at time of shooting) wedding. She says that she and her fiancé had not even held hands because they didn't want the "physical" stuff to get in the way of really getting to know one another. Their first kiss would be right after her father said "You may kiss the bride." Again, I'm all for not letting physical intimacies get in the way of actually getting to know a person but...First off, holding hands isn't exactly a distracting or very intimate form of touching. Secondly, it seems to me that this policy would lead to a very awkward wedding night. If you haven't engaged in any of the normal social/dating touching (holding hands, walking arm in arm, hugging, or maybe even a stolen kiss or two) then how are you going to be comfortable doing much more than that all of a sudden? To go from not holding hands to sex in one day is a big leap no matter how much you love someone. (not that you have to have sex on your wedding night) The whole thing seemed to me like they'd taken some idealized Victorian model and gone a step further towards total sexual repression.

4. What the hell is up with the little sister? Not mine, but that's all I can say without giving away spoilers. And with Sarah away I can't ask her about it. Really I just want to know how long I'm going to have to wait until that question gets resolved. Please, Joss, don't make it all season.

5. Is present tense appropriate when speaking of a first time viewing of a show that went off the air years ago? Should I have said "Please don't let Joss have made it all season"?

6. I hate that I have to have caffeine. About half the time, all I have is my large mug of tea in the morning and yet if I don't have anything caffeinated Saturday or Sunday morning I have a horrible headache Sunday afternoon. Like yesterday. Three ibuprofen and a Coke finally cleared it up.

7. I think I bought lace weight yarn to make socks with. I will now attempt worsted weight socks and probably make a lacy something else. Size 1 needles are tiny.

8. Somewhat related to #2, yum venison:

Random thoughts from the Interweebs

I'm not sure how tall Chad is but he looks freakishly* tall in photos. I have a brother who is about 6'5" tall so I'm not easily impressed with tallness either. I don't think Pat looks weird in pictures. Is this because I remember when he was only 4 feet tall and got used to it over time? Because I haven't seen him hold a baby (a nephew) since he was only 5-foot something? Or is it something about how he's built that makes the difference?

And completely unrelated:
John** has a post about family entertainment for less than $100 a year. His suggestions sound all well and good but only if you can get internet for a good price. And have a decent computer. Mine's about 5 years old now and is I'm in serious need of an upgrade - either whole new one or big upgrades in memory/RAM/... And I'm not really good with the insides of the computer.

As for high speed internet goes where I live one's a little limited (not that other parts of town don't have limited options, too). Cable's never been run down to the house although I'm pretty sure it does run past the driveway; this, I think, significantly raises installation costs.*** And the intro price (cable and internet) is $69.99 for six months, they never say on the postcards and mailing what the regular price is. I'm wary of getting cable because of problems my folks had with thier line getting pulled down (3 times in 3 weeks). And I have no complaints with DishNetwork (except for one about their website). DSL is no where near my house. Satellite is a possiblility but I can't figure out if I'd have to buy the dish (and how much that is) and it costs almost 5 times what I pay now. I do OK with my dial-up and not spending much time on line at home.

Other points in John's post are good - libraries rock! Although I like to get new books every now and then (usually paperbacks, becuase they're cheaper, sorry) Cheap/free music is good if you have the bandwidth.:) I like the radio for newish stuff; most of the CDs I buy are stuff you can't hear on the radio. While I have varied music tastes most isn't all THAT odd - I'm okay with the classic rock, country, 90s and today hits stations when I'm in the mood for those, although I do own some CDs from those categories. I don't have a game system, just a couple of puzzle programs for my PC so not much spent on that front.

So my total is pretty low - I spend $59/month DishNetwork (150 channels, local broadcasters, and Starz), $11/month dial-up ISP; my telephone service is $24/month+taxes and part of that should be counted for internet, I guess. I don't have an idea about how my book, music, or video buying would work out per month, them being random and all. I rarely rent movies from the video store (maybe 6/year @ $5/movie); I borrow from the library more often and return on time! ($1/day fines add up fast.) There are a few other expenses that aren't quite the what John was talking about but should probably count, too; since I started knitting recently, I guess yarn and such (plus any other hobby related expenses) would count as entertainment as should the gas to drive to the park. Maybe, when I get a newer computer I'll revisit the internet options.


*no offense meant, please don't take any
**Don't'cha love how you can refer to people you've never met in real life by first name, gotta love the internet.
*** When I moved in to the house I called Charter and the girl said that installation was still $24.95 (or whatever) even though cable hadn't ever been run. But then they neither showed up nor ever called me to explain or reschedule.

Context?

Because my brain is currently on strike, I thought I'd provide some context to my Gtalk tag today.

Zales has an add running (a lot) right now that says "Love Rocks" this holiday season...It took me three or four viewings before I realized that they mean it as a noun-verb exclamation I kept, and keep, hearing it as a verb-noun imperative (i.e. love is awesome not you must like rocks now!) because really, everyone should love rocks this holiday season and every season.

Random Comments

I was on a business trip the first half of the week. The following are a series of comments I wrote down while trying not to completely zone out during the incredibly repetitive talks.
..but politics reign supreme

Arizona DEQ defines an aquifer as a geologic unit capable of producing 5 gal/day water regardless of TDS?!?!?! (If TDS high enough you won't need 5 gallons the next day.)

It can't 'outcrop' at 8000 feet BELOW sea level.

Walla Walla has a huge feed lot/slaughter house and a paper mill but they don't want a power plant because it might make the air worse???? Trust me after those two a power plant smells like a rose.

But I thought ethanol was suppose to save us? (Ethanol plants are large CO₂ sources.)

Who planned this? (in reference to the breaks being after 2 hours of talks and only one hour before lunch and the end of the day respectively)

Why don't people bother to subscript the '2'?

Stuff moves in the high perm direction??!?!?! REALLY?

These are all from the work group meeting Wednesday (I was just there to listen):
We are talking in circles.

Why are we discussing the wording of the hypotheses?

Gas is a fluid, it is displacing a liquid.

Does Sue always talk that much?

Can you say chick magnet?

A guy surfing with a cat - that has to be even better than a dog at getting girls. It'd work on me*. I'm guessing 'surfing cat' is probably just below 'cute baby/little kid in the stroller at the mall' on the guaranteed-to-get-girls to stop and chat list.



*assuming the cat seemed to like the water, as this one does, and didn't act like it was being tortured, like mine would.

Not 'til Nettie's older

You probably shouldn't grow this pepper if you have small children around.



Thanks Chili Pepper Varieties Database for a smile this afternoon. (Found via wikipedia external links of all things!)


In other news, the little "ornamental" purple peppers I have are Pretty in Purple, or possibly Pretty Purple (but mine are closer to 2cm than 1 inch), and I should wait until they turn red to pick. They are, as I suspected, very hot. No explanation as to why they are considered ornamental other than the plant (purpley leaves, lavender flowers, and deep purple fruit) is pretty and smallish.

Darwin's Point?

VNO? Tail? What vestigial organs do you have?

Honu-Girl sent me this article and said she had a Darwin's point, but you can't really see it.This lead to some wondering about how big would the bump be before one would want it removed for cosmetic reasons. I have a hard time picturing a bump on an ear that would make me want surgery.

But then I have a hard time imaging really wanting plastic surgery. On the one hand I can think of all kinds of thing to 'fix'; on the other this is what I look like, what I've always looked like (well, sort of...) and it'd be weird not to look like myself. I have a set of scars on my chest that are the result of my breathing and feeding tubes when I was born. My mom once asked me if I wanted the scars removed and I asked her how that would be done. When Mom said they'd be sanded off I had the image of a power sander just like Dad had down in his shop and said "no thanks". I think this was after he'd tried to pierce my ears. (He did my mom's.) At the time I was almost old enough that no random kid was just going to ask me what the scars were and old enough to be really embarrassed that someone noticed.

What would you get 'fixed' if someone said "you can have one plastic surgery, what will it be?" (Other than lipo.)

Tag lines

This morning I had too many possible "available messages" to pick from. I went with "I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues." It's from the Lorax by Dr. Suess, yesterday was his birthday.

The losing lines were:
Are there ANY vowels in the new Russian President's name? (From the news, a bit long.)
Anarchists have textbooks? (also from the news)
Little snoozing opportunity. (reason I was on time to work this morning)

Some day's I really can't think of anything to put there, making "Time to go home?" a common message. But today I have too many choices.

So...is it going home time yet?

Update: I could add "Blue is my least favorite color" to the list of possiblities, since I just got BOD AGAIN! (but the first time this week:))