gadget!

so i actually got this a few weeks ago, but i just thought i'd post it because it's damn cool. it's a 4GB iPod nano, product[red] edition.

i'm not exactly sure why i decided to go for the red one, but something about the combination of the color, the vague social conscience connotations, and the fact that it was exactly the same price as the other 4GB nanos, but knowing that a whopping $10 from my purchase went to fighting aids in africa makes me feel... not good, but better, about my privleged place in the world.

if you can read that, you're overeducated*.


*ok, i'll tell you what it says. in the genetic code, in which DNA base sequence codes for amino acids (the building blocks of proteins), this sequence of bases codes for Lysine-Alanine-Threonine, or, using standard 1-letter codes, K-A-T. that's right, bitches, this is my iPod.

one more

ooh! michael kors.

seriously, what is not to love about this dress?
and what's with giving the hottest model on the catwalk the weirdest outfits? i guess just because she's the only one that can pull them off?


(from new york magazine this time)

on another note, i'm thinking about doing my hair like aygness. i've been considering going blonde again for awhile.. out of a box this time, instead of in the chair, cause i'm cheap...

**edit**
just came across this one. be still, my heart!

(from hermes, spring 2007, via style.com)

in which i continue the superficial trend from the past three days

Narciso Rodriguez and Betsey Johnson had just about the only looks that caught my eye from yesterday's shows.
from Narciso: I loved the simple lines on this one...


and i'm not quite sure what agyness has here on her front, but it's definitely... interesting.


Betsey Johnson had a few cute looks, especially when she deviated from her trademark little dresses...

but, for the LOVE of GOD, what is this???

and i've seen a variation on these pants on several different runways this year. i might have to find me some (for $20 at buffalo exchange, not $1000 at a boutique)

and, one more trend i am NOT in favor of: onesies.


that is all for today. (once again, all images are from style.com.)

spring is the new fall

...according to isaac mizrahi.


in the last 24 hours: marc jacobs, isaac, carolina herrera, and jovovitch-hawk, to name a few.

marc jacobs seemed pretty boring to me, though i did like this one:

the rest of the collection looked like something my grandma would wear... plus a few weird dresses and some godawful sequined blouses. agh! no!

carolina herrera had some cute looks, but i kept being baffled by these skirts:

is it just me, or does it look like pajama pants?

see the rest at style.com.

hauteness

february is upon us, and that can only mean one thing: new york fashion week. hell yes!

i don't exactly have time to flip through all the style.com slide shows, but i took a quick glance through Tuleh and DKNY - labels that I've loved in the past - and have to say, loving the fall 2007 looks so far. There was a lot of black and grey all around, especially in DKNY... but there were also splashes of color. And thank god fashion has gottten over the frilly victorian bent they've been off on for the past few years. (All images that follow are from DKNY.)

i love the lines on the top part of this outfit... the skirt is cute, too, but not something i'd ever wear. if i could just get the shirt, i would be happy.

love this one:

and agyness deyn is the hotness, so i had to include this one, even though it's not my favorite look of the show:

128 days.

128 days until i get to put on a goofy outfit, sit through 4 hours of speechifying, and walk across a stage and shake someone's hand, then get a piece of paper congratulating me for working my ass off for the past few years. it's hard to believe i'm getting so close, after having been in and out of college for the last 6 years. i'm hoping i can finish my Ph.D. in less time than it took me to finish my damn undergrad.

not likely, but i can hope, right?

NMDA receptors and hypoxia

(Note to my regular readers: A while back I toyed with the idea of starting a science blog, where I'd muse about the scientific questions and problems that float around in my head. I quickly realized that I do not have time to keep up a new blog, and given the infrequency with which I post to this one, I figured I could just kill two birds with one stone, and publish the occasional geekiness. If this post makes your eyes glaze over, I apologize.)

My scientific interests are pretty far-flung; I'm getting my bachelor's degree in Cellular, Molecular and Developmental biology this June, but I'm also interested in biochemistry, biophysics and physical chemistry, and neuroscience (from ion channels to systems neuro to the nature of consciousness). I read a lot for fun; today, I'm reading Hypoxia Enhances S-Nitrosylation-Mediated NMDA Receptor Inhibition via a Thiol Oxygen Sensor Motif, by Hiroto Takahashi et al down at UCSD, published in the January 4 issue of Neuron. Hypoxia is another of my random interests; any of you who have heard about my experience last summer on White Mountain know that. That said, this paper isn't exactly about high-altitude physiology, it's about the brain's mechanisms for protecting neurons in the hypoxic conditions that come about during stroke. in hypoxic conditions, it is logical that a system would want to attenuate NMDA receptor activity. Why is that, you ask?

NMDA receptors are one of the brain's types of glutamate receptors; glutamate, though it's less well-known than some other neurotransmitters, like dopamine or serotonin, is actually the central nervous system's major excitatory transmitter. The NMDA receptor has been extensively studied as a model for other neurotransmitter receptors; it's one of the best-characterized of the ligand-gated ion channels. It's also expressed in almost every region of the brain, indicating global importance in CNS function.

So why would the brain want to shut down NMDA receptors during hypoxic conditions? Consider that molecular O2 is absolutely necessary for brain function, but it also creates an oxidizing environment, leading to free radicals that can damage proteins and cause brain damage. The brain thus keeps its oxygen levels carefully rationed and controlled. PO2 in ambient air is around 140 mmHg; pO2 in the brain is closer to 10 mmHg. So there's very little room for error; O2 use must be controlled. In stroke, regions of the brain are cut off from the blood supply and thus have limited O2 resources. Oxygen is critical for ATP formation; ATP is consumed by the Na/K ATPase, or sodium/potassium pump, the membrane ion transporter responsible for establishing the transmembrane potential that is required for all ion flux and thus any neural activity whatsoever. NMDA receptors are ligand-gated ion channels; they create a path for ions to move down the concentration gradient established by the pump, thus requiring more ATP to re-establish the gradient and allow for further neural activity. If oxygen supplies are low, ATP cannot be produced in excess, and so the ion concentration gradient must be preserved in order for neurons to survive. It's a bit like how when the power is out, you keep the refrigerator door shut, unless you want all your food to spoil. It takes energy to establish the gradient (in this case, electricity establishes a temperature gradient across the door of the refrigerator), and by creating a path for the transfer from one side to the other, you destroy the gradient.

So what did Takahashi et al discover? They knew from previous work that there was a pair of cysteine residues in the NMDA receptor structure that formed a disulfide bridge under oxidizing conditions, but existed in a dithiol form under reducing conditions. So they solved the crystal structure of this part of the protein, and studied it under nitrosylating conditions, and discovered that the dithiol can be nitrosylated, but that in and of itself does not inhibit the enzyme. However, nitrosylating these two cysteine residues does make another cysteine residue more prone to nitrosylation as well, and it is this third site that actually inhibits the enzyme.

Interesting paper - I love to see structural biology tied in with ion channel physiology. It's also interesting to learn more about the importance of nitric oxide (NO) in short-range, short-term neural signalling. Considering that 20 years ago, we thought that NO was just a component of pollution, we have come to discover that it is critically important for everything from regulating blood pressure to neurotransmission.

osashiburi ne.

insert standard been-a-long-time apology, swear to blog more from now on, blah blah. i know, i know, heard it all before. what can i say? i have more important things to do, it seems, than blog. and i've been keeping a paper journal for the majority of the last year, one that's actually consumed one notebook and is doing serious damage to another. i find it cathartic; the fact that none of you out there on the Internets can read it means that i can write whatever the fuck i want without judgement. which is nice. but it doesn't do you, Dear Reader, any good, if you've just thought, "gee, i wonder how kat is doing" and surf over to my blog and i haven't written anything in months.

it's been a wacky year, that's for sure. 2007 has some great stuff in store, though, i am sure. one thing that's weird: i have a crush on someone. like, a giddy, goofy, secret crush that no one knows about but i've had for months. (okay, a few people know, but it's a closely guarded secret.) and i dare not say more than this, but... man! it feels good to actually *feel* something for someone..... even if it's someone i see less than once a week.

graduation: it's finally within my grasp. only 135 days left... until i will no longer be a damn undergrad. fuck! i need to figure out what i'm going to do after that. i have ideas, plans; as of yet, nothing concrete. need to start kissing professor ass.

been reading: lots of biochem. yesterday in lecture, i was the only one who knew the answer to a question the professor asked; i don't think he could see who it was who answered, but i nailed it and no one else was speaking up. that's my M.O. - i know the answer immediately, but i always wait at least a moment or two before i speak up, to let anyone else who knows have a chance. but today, the prof asked the question (what cofactor do amino acid decarboxylases use) and no one answered, he went on to the next slide, then asked if anyone had come up with an answer. so i said fuck it, and in a confident voice, "pyridoxal phosphate." ding! score one for me. yes i am a super lame dorkface, and everyone in all my classes secretly wants me dead.

been listening: the arcade fire. both funeral and the ep. how had i not really heard this band before, despite having heard them tons of times? also, the new shins album. just got it off of itunes, and am on my third or fourth listen... and it's good. it's really good. i really like the track "sea legs" - it's got a killer breakbeat (what?) and makes me wanna dance. and the rest of the album is great as well. obviously the shins are a band we can trust. i need to get my hands on a copy of oh, inverted world... it's the only one i don't have.

been watching: buffy. hardcore. (when i'm not studying.) (god, i'm a doublenerd!) i'm on season 6, and buffy is not so thrilled about being alive. but this is the season where buffy and spike get together, and let's face it: spike is the best damn character on the show. also just started angel - i've watched the first 3 episodes so far. it's pretty good, but my tolerance for david boreanaz angel is low. (i have nothing against the actor per se, just the broody character grates on me after too long.) but i am digging the comic-book-action-hero vibe... it's a different world than buffy's world, and angel has some sweet tricks up his sleeve (literally). and, spike. i love spike.

at risk of sounding even geekier (is that humanly possible?), and while i'm on the subject of television shows, if you're reading this and (BSG SPOILER ALERT) you are NOT on the edge of your seat wondering if a certain* fighter jock is actually one of the final five cylon models, (END SPOILER) you should be watching Battlestar Galactica. i've said it over and over again, but BSG is THE best show on TV right now. start with the miniseries from 2003, then watch the first season and you'll be hooked. it is smart, sexy, action-packed, full of intrigue, and just an all-around awesome show. give in, geeky is sexy anyway.

right-o. back to... microbiology prelab. (lab classes are pain-in-the-ass-y, but they're a necessary component of my education... or something.) leave me comments; it makes me more inclined to blog.

*extremely sexy

new pictures

new pictures up on my flickr site - i know, it's been forever. i've been taking mad pics, but not having internet at home* cripples my ability to upload them.


me and my little bear-kitty. :)

oh, also: just wanted to send out a teeny bit of condolence towards jared and tessa for the loss of their kitties. not TOO much condolence, mind you, since i still Officially Dislike both of them**, but maxwell and edward used to be my kitties too, so i'm sorry they're gone.

*do i mention this in every post? i think i do. i should shut up and order the intarweb, shouldn't i?

**though this might expire in a few weeks - i find it hard to hold a grudge for more than a year, especially when i am So Over it all. whatev.

suddenly it's 2007.

so it's been awhile... and it's a new year, and i completely missed a whole month of blog-posting. ah well. today marks the start of winter quarter, and i'm taking a full(er) load (than last quarter) - 3 real classes (2 lectures, 1 lab) plus research. whee.

maybe i'll start posting more once i break down and buy the internet. i think i might be able to squeeze a clearwire subscription into my monthly budget... but i'm delaying so i can think about it some more. especially since i want to upgrade to a more expensive phone plan (and give cingular the big fuck-you).

blergh.

peril!

so it snowed last night, and then it got really cold. so the sidewalks and streets are perilous this morning... but it's really pretty! the forecast is for it to get up to a whopping 33 degrees today, and down to 19 tonight. brrr! 6 people showed up to my first class (usually, there are more like 20 or 30) and seattle schools, uw tacoma, and uw bothell all had classes cancelled today. but not us. grr.

pictures later today, or tomorrow, once i get them uploaded. it's icy!

FINALLY.

someone in my building put in an unsecured wireless network. hallelujah! now i can spend all hours of the night watching a four-year-old play the drums. my life is now complete.

ah! but i could also see the new harry potter trailer. tasty.

i could probably even ramble in my good old trusty blog about stuff that's going on in my life, you know, like a blogger might do. like all the projects i have for school, or how the research is going, or how stoked i am to hit the slopes on friday.

instead, i am going to do the sensible thing and go to bed. with any luck, this internet will be here in the morning. (woohoo! i mean, don't steal internet!)

but first, here's one never before seen on the internets...

blyaaargh.

so, another week down. i'm confused; the weeks keep flying by, without my permission. this was the 5th week of the quarter, meaning that autumn quarter, which seems to have just begun, is actually half over. according to my countdown widget, i have 218 days until graduation. that's not so far at all.

le sigh. how does time keep going so quickly?

things i am happy about today

1) it's thursday. this means friday is tomorrow.

2) LICK tonight.

3) cute girls at LICK tonight.

4) kate bornstein before LICK tonight.

5) the rain. i know, i've changed my tune since yesterday, but i was prepared for it - i'm wearing my galoshes (galosh, galosh) today.

things i am annoyed about today

1. rain. not so much that it's raining, but more that i was stupid and decided to wear my pumas instead of my rain boots today, and now my feet are soggy and will undoubtedly smell like shit when i finally get home and take off my shoes. this is unhelpful in the battle against fungus-feet.

2. other people. from the annoying girl who always sits next to me in one of my classes and proceeds to talk through the whole class, asking me questions about stupid shit and not getting that my silence means that she annoys me, to the people who flood into the classroom for the next class at 20 after, when we're still packing up our tons of stuff and trying to get the fuck out. this is especially annoying in classrooms that have just one entrance. people, just fucking wait two fucking minutes.

3. the fact that i'm going to be here until at least 7 if not 8 trying to get my fish counted, lysed, and into a water bath.

4. a stupid fucking study abroad fair in mary gates commons. if i can't study in MGH between classes, where the fuck am i supposed to go? that's what i do... i go there for an hour and get work done. so i'm sitting on a motherfucking bench in johnson hall, instead of at a nice table in MGH.

5. my mary gates scholarship essay. it doesn't seem to want to finish itself.

6. a certain other undergrad who may or may not be in my lab. his very existence annoys me sometimes. what will annoy me even more is if his bullshit proposal gets funded and my real research does not.

7. the fucking plug on my stupid computer. it's getting more and more difficult to get it to stay in. i hope i'm not killing my power cord by looping it under the computer like this; if i have to buy a new power supply i'll be out $80 (thanks, apple!)

8. i'm sure there's more. i just need to get back to that fucking scholarship essay, as it's due on friday at 5PM...

ablablabla

yeah, yeah, so i never blog anymore. i think it's mostly because i don't have internet at home, and most of my rambling writing comes after 10pm. so i've been filling up paper journals at an unprecedented rate, but my blog is being neglected.

things are going... this quarter is shaping up to be fucking nuts. only 3 real classes, but that's misleading, because i'm also taking a seminar (for credit/no credit, but still an assload of reading) and 5 units of research. found out today that i can only take 1 more unit of research to count toward graduation... oops! i think i can still take units to count toward being a full-time student for the next 2 quarters, but they just can't count to the 180 credits i need for graduation. not that i need any more credits.

only taking 3 classes was most definitely a life-saver... but most of my work this quarter is not for classes, it's for research. but the next 2 weeks are deadline-packed, for classes and non-class stuff. let's take a look:
next monday, oct 16: physiology midterm
friday, oct 20: mary gates scholarship essay due
monday, oct 23: not one but TWO midterms: development and biochem

at least my first set of midterms aren't all on the same day this quarter. in fact, neither are my second set: those are m-w-f of the same week. not terrible; not ideal.

i'm feeling pretty good about biochem. it's interesting material, and it's much more intellectually stimulating than the last quarter of o-chem was. man, that instructor was shitty. but the prof we have for biochem is at least interesting and knowledgeable about the subject... almost makes up for it being at 8AM. yuck. that's going to be rough come december.

development is another story. the professor is literally crazy. and he's swiss, so his english isn't 100%, and so you're left wondering what he is trying to get at every time he says something. yargh. at least i know and like the TA in the class, and trust her to not grade unfairly. anyway, that's the big wild-card in my schedule this quarter. it's an interesting class, i just feel behind since i don't have the "recommended" prereq and the testing seems to be largely based on hypothetical experimental methods. bleh... i'm sure i'll survive.

anyway... just a quick update from the life of kat. no, i haven't died; i'm just internets-deprived.

r.i.p. democracy

I'd say it myself, but Lindsey over at Venus Envy said it better than I could:

i was gonna go to class...

this is the elevation i slept at last night: 14,242 feet. 4341 meters. REAL fucking high.

we left shortly after lunch yesterday, packs loaded up, and headed up the mountain.

from left to right: cait, jenny, charlie, amy, me, and steve g. we're standing in front of barcroft lab, our home away from home, at 12,470 feet. note the address above the door: 5150 is the police code for someone who is criminally insane or a danger to themselves or others. we're all a bit nuts up here.

so we set out around 1:50, and arrived at the summit hut at 4:30. (well, that whole group in the previous photo didn't make it up at the same time, we split up along the way, but steve and i arrived at 4:30, making it a 2:40 summit. not bad time.)

here's a view of white mountain, from near the observatory just above barcroft. the hike is approximately 4 3/4 miles, start to finish... with a nearly 2,000 foot elevation rise. i think this may have been the hardest thing i have physically ever done. but it was SO worth it.

here's me, about 3/4 of the way up, with the summit in the background.

the building you can barely see is the summit hut, our tiny little home away from home away from home. it has 4 bunks and a stove, and a workroom, and little else. there were 12 of us spending the night up there, so we were 2 to a bunk, with some people in tents outside (boy, i'm glad I got a bunk! it was freezing!) but it worked out just fine. unfortunately, my lame camera batteries died shortly after arrival (should have taken fewer pictures on the way up, but whatever) so it'll be a while before i can get pictures of the rest of the day. needless to say, the sunset was spectacular, the stars were even better, and we had a blast.

i'm stealing this picture from sciencecenter.net, because it's the closest approximation i can give you to the view we had from the roof of the summit hut last night after the sun set and before the moon came up. i honestly don't think i've ever seen as many stars as i saw last night - and the milky way stretched across the entire sky. several of us climbed up onto the roof, where there is pretty much no man-made light, and snuggled under a few blankets, huddled close together because it was SO DAMN COLD, but it was 100% worth the cold to see the stars.

this picture is a composite stiched together from probably 100 pictures taken by Axel Mellinger, partly here at Barcroft. widely regarded as the best picture of the milky way ever taken. ok, so our view wasn't quite this spectacular, but we could definitely get the feeling of being extremely tiny in the galaxy as we lay there, 7 of us snuggling as close as possible, watching the stars, the satellites, and the shooting stars (we counted 23 in our time on the roof). definitely one of the best, if not the best, night of my life.

anyway, more pictures will follow, once i get them from other people. in particular there's a group shot of the 12 of us at sunset on the summit. for now, it's time to get back to work on my paper (oh yeah, this is a class and we have to do "work")... barcroft out!

more pics

ok, just a few more pictures before i log off.

an old bristlecone pine at sunrise

said sunrise

september eleventh

it's hard to believe it's been five years. and that means i missed my five-year bloggiversary not too long ago. anyway, a moment of silence in memory of those who died, and another in memory of those civil rights and liberties we are continuing to lose as a reactionary result of that tragic day.

.

anyway, back to happy stuff. i'm here at barcroft lab, near the summit of white mountain, and i feel like i'm getting acclimated to the altitude here (12,470 feet; 3800 meters). it's been interesting: getting into and out of bed, climbing a flight of stairs, just walking 50 meters up the road can really knock the breath out of you. but i'm making some great new friends and having a fucking blast, and i really wish i didn't have to leave this place on thursday.

tonight a bunch of us are walking up to the summit (14,247 feet; 4324 meters) and spending the night up there. (theoretically. i am still reserving the right to turn around and come back down before bed, but i figure if i don't at least try to sleep up there i'm going to regret it.) there's a hut at the summit with a few bunks, and even if i don't get a bunk (or a bunk to myself) it's still out of the wind and cozier than sleeping in a tent.

anyway, without further ado: some of my pictures. (more here.)


here's me in front of a bristlecone pine; unfortunately, not the largest one in the world, which is right behind this one. these trees are fucking amazing: they live to be 5000 years old and are the oldest known living organisms. they're pretty cool too because they can die off parts of the tree while the rest keeps on living. pretty amazing adaptation to the harsh conditions up here.


here's a taste of the scenery. like being on the moon.

anyway, more pictures from the summit hike to follow... barcroft out!

hello from owens valley!

bumbershoot!

so brian and i went to bumbershoot yesterday, and a good time was had.

rogue wave was pretty boring, so we went to find food, and then got ourselves a good spot for Of Montreal.


let's pretend we don't exist... let's pretend we're in antarctica!


they were pretty good... they sure know how to rock out, and i just love their music.

but the highlight of the day was by far and away LADY SOVEREIGN.


this girl knows how to throw down the rhymes. mad skillz. and shit.


all in all, it was a good day. i'm thinking next year it's all about the 3-day pass and spending all day each day there. since there are some killer acts today and monday and i'm mad that i couldn't afford to go more than just one day. but it was definitely mad fun.

There's been stuff going on that I haven't been talking about in this blog, just because of the sheer lack of anonymity that it provides and the potential embarassment that could result. This isn't a permanent condition; it's a process. That and a terse, obliquely-worded e-mail from my mom regarding some information found on my myspace profile. Evidently, it isn't okay to share the innermost thoughts of your mind with the world via the internet. Except me, I think that's exactly what the internet is for.

There was an interesting article in this past month's Discover magazine on the paradox that is our neverending demand for personal privacy at the governmental level and our seemingly universal desire to share the most mundane experiences of our lives with the world at large. The author, Douglas Rushkoff, argues that there are larger forces at work. The phrase "incipient group meta-being" from his article sticks in my mind, even though I read it several days ago and haven't gone back to it. Anyway, it's an interesting read, and I think he's onto something.

In my newfound freedom from academic life, I spent today on entirely cerebral pursuits. I went down to the U bookstore and picked up two books: the first, a seemingly thick tome containing the abbreviated biographies of the women who have won Nobel prizes in science. As a woman who aspires to the sciences, I figure it's essential reading to find out what my predecessors, my fore-mothers, have accomplished. There are some fascinating stories, and some over-reaching themes. "She was different. She seemed more like a boy than a girl at times." I'm not approaching that book in a linear fashion, I'm more flipping to a story and reading about a particular woman who changed the world. So far I've read about Irene Curie, Barbara McClintock, and Christiane Nusslein-Volhard. As I read more, these women become my heros. I will need to update my myspace profile accordingly.

The other book I picked up is a bit more radical... it's called Genderqueer, and it's basically about postgender theory. I wholeheartedly subscribe to this theory, and you'll probably be reading more about this as the ideas ferment in my brain. The overarching theme is that gender is an outdated concept, created to subjugate one sex and exalt the other, and that it is at its heart nothing more than an illusion, a construct to allow other people to be able to fit us into one category or the other. A truly enlightened person sees no gender, while still acknowledging that yes, we are a sexually reproducing species and any new life requires both egg and sperm, and while the vast majority of people have "plumbing" to fit into one of two categories, the reality of the fact is much more complex.

Anyway, that's just a random dump of the information floating around in my cerebral cortex today. And by publishing it to this blog, I give it to you, my friends, family, and random people who don't know me. These are my thoughts, and they are now projected into the digital realm, which may well outlive me.

So now there's just one question left: what is my place in all this, what will my biography in a future version of that book say, and what will my Nobel prize be for? (Hi, my name is megalomaniac.)

when smart people do stupid, stupid things

have you ever done something so incredibly stupid, i mean unbelievably, insanely beyond belief retarded, and then watched how the events unfolded to an irrevocable end replay themselves over and over in your head?

browsing craigslist -> "ooh, inline skates. fun." -> purchasing said skates -> "i'll use them as transportation!" -> "i'll use them to get to the lab!"

this train of thought led to putting most sensitive, delicate, important piece of expensive machinery i own in my bag, strapping it to my back, and lacing up the brand-new skates. off i start, down the sidewalk.

um, i don't know how to *stop*. oops. the little foot-brake doesn't seem to do shit. fuck! fuck fuck! i'll go out into the street, get a little sideways action, maybe then i can stop. no, then i go careening out into the street, arms and legs akimbo, only to land on my ass - surprisingly not-hard.

duh. that's 'cause my computer cushioned the blow.

D'OH

in retrospect, it all seems so unbelievably clear how bad an idea that was, and i suppose it could have been much, much worse. it's just a little out of kilter now - one corner is pretty dinged in - the corner with the power plug. at least the screen isn't broken, and the dvd drive appears to work, and the DVD that was inside didn't shatter, sending little plastic knives into the innards of the laptop. but now, the power cord won't stay in the port - it'll still *plug* in, but it pushes itself back out because of the odd new angle of the case.

jesus fucking christ. can you believe that i could possibly be THAT STUPID? (maybe if I bang on it with my head it'll fix itself.)

houston knows the score

well, now august is in full swing, and all i can think is "fuck! where did the time go?" summer quarter ends next week. woohoo! bout damn time i'm done with this fucking organic chemistry bullshit. a plethora of swirling emotions. i just noticed tonight, as i was packing my bag to come out to the chai lounge to get me some internets, that i am exceedingly OCD about the things i bring with me when i leave the house. i mean, this must be in that pocket, that right there, everything in the perfect spot. i'm incurable. i'm also really set in my morning routine. alarm goes off, hit the snooze button once or twice (but not more than that), get up, put on the kettle and scoop the coffee into the french press. stare at the wall until the kettle whistles. make the coffee. stick the bagel into the toaster. when it pops, grease the bagel. Consume both bagel and coffee, with soy milk. get in the shower. get out. dress. pack bag, leave house. tomorrow, this routine will be disrupted.

i'm doing a treadmill test tomorrow, for the seminar i'm taking this month. the leader of the seminar tells me to prepare to feel like an astronaut. i'm all about that. i'm hoping for electrodes and a breathing machine... something tells me i'm in for an experience. except evidently you can't have breakfast or coffee before a treadmill test (don't wanna think about why) so i have no idea how i'm going to get to and stay awake in o-chem before... bleh. oh well. life goes on!

the crew compartment's breaking up.....

bum on the beach

been awhile. i guess there's not too much to report... it's been a lazy summer, unremarkable thus far. i've been spending as much time as possible at the beach and swimming, while the weather is so nice... lake washington has reached a VERY pleasant temperature and is far, far too tempting to resist. the temperature has mellowed out after a few days of unpleasantness (tempered, of course, by long, frequent trips to the lake), but it's still warm and sunny. got to savor this while it lasts.

i think i'm going to go feed my fish, take some pictures of them, and then go... study on the beach. i'm working on "bum" status.

pictures!

sanity

well, the moving thing is over with and i am well on my way to getting settled in my new apartment. woohoo! it's so nice having my own space... my own kitchen... my own bathroom. i'll post pics when i get a chance, but since i have no internet at home it might be a while.

in the meantime, i'm uploading some pics from my trip and the last few weeks on flickr. might take awhile to upload though, since i'm trying to upload 25 images... yikes.

the 2004 election was stolen.

i've said it before, i'll say it again, but here, ladies and gentlemen, we have what may indeed be the last word in an ongoing debate on salon. i haven't read the primary literature, but based on what this guy says and what i've heard elsewhere, the election was fucking jacked.

duh.

how can we export democracy to other continents when it's so badly broken here at home?

omgwtflol

ok, i almost NEVER honestly laugh out loud while i'm on the computer. i feel stupid laughing with no one around. but this one made me srsly lol omg. wtf.

Jessica Simpson to Pamela Anderson: "How did you guys run so slowly in the show's opening scene. You know, where you're running down the beach?"

june? what the fuck...

so suddenly it's june, and the year is almost half over. it's been 4 months and a day since the breakup... already it feels like more than that, except for the fact that i haven't yet found another meaningful relationship. i think this is the longest i've been single since before karl, in 12th grade. but on the plus side, it's given me plenty of time to think about who i am and what i really want in a relationship. more on this later; i've come to some conclusions that may surprise (some of) you.

on the academic side of things, spring quarter is coming to a close disturbingly fast. tomorrow i have an exam and the last lecture of the quarter. the days really are flying by... i feel like they're about 20 hours long. kind of ridiculous the way the weeks have been melting away. i'll be graduating in about 9 months, which feels like a long time, but really isn't, especially when i consider that 9 months ago was september. fall quarter. bio 200 in the auditorium in smith hall, standing around in the rain. rain, rain rain. that's what the past 9 months have been... and it's what today is. it's been a soggy winter.

revisiting a lot of old favorites as mellow study music... lamb, faithless, the nip/tuck soundtrack. good stuff. i think i might listen to baxter tomorrow... there's good rainy-day music.

in 3 months i will have my 5th bloggiversary. i think that makes me one of the longest-running bloggers on the internet... though there are several months in 2003 and 2004 that have very little activity, the blog has never died. and i plan on keeping it alive for the forseeable future... no sense killing something that's got such a streak going.

frida says:

stop studying and LOVE ME, mommy!

i cannot believe i am up at almost 5:00. what. the. fuck. i thought i had outgrown this shit long ago.

i am jack's shit-eating grin.

how have i survived 23 years without ever tasting the crunchy deliciousness that is skippy crunchy peanut butter? ok, i'm definitely feeling the guilt over the partially hydrogenatedness, but mmmm! yum!

i came to the realization yesterday that almost all of my protein comes from soybeans and nuts. actually probably all of my protein for the last few days. i haven't had chicken in weeks, fish in about a week, and beef in i don't even know how long. instead i'm eating tofu, edamame, cashews, peanuts, and the like. weird. i seem to have unknowingly become a vegetarian, but while i'm at it, why the fuck not? it's cheaper, plus i get to be all morally high and mighty and stuff. though i'm not going to stop eating fish or other seafood, because really, i can't convince myself that wild-caught salmon shouldn't be eaten every once in a while. (aside from ecological/over-fishing concerns that is.) on the other hand, it's easy to argue that imprisoning cows in a factory and slurping their juices out with mechanical suckers is cruel and shouldn't be condoned.

i wonder what the limiting amino acid in soy protein is.

don't let your homies join the army

i've been thinking a lot these past few days about our duties as citizens, and just how fucked up our current political situation is. we've got a president here who doesn't believe in the ideas of checks and balances, and is stepping over laws left and right, keeping us thinking we're fighting some real enemy that's a threat to us, feeding us bread and circuses, while he and his cronies send our friends and families off to die for some ridiculous lack of a cause. it is seriously vietnam all over again. the only difference is, this isn't 1970, it's 2006, and it's been more than 60 years since we dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, so not that many people are still alive that remember what a truly horrific thing nuclear weapons truly are, and we're not screaming "NO!" loud enough. i am fucking dead serious here when i say that we, the left, the youth, the future of this country need to have a plan for if it looks like bush is going to drop the bomb on Iran. because we will not stand for that. nuclear weapons are an abomination on this planet, and if we can't vote this bastard out of office (it'll be interesting to see what happens next election... how many counties will have touch-screen voting machines with no paper trail?) we have to shut down his administration. with riots and rocks and serious civil disobediance.

if we don't bring the troops home now, what's going to happen in the next 3 years?

pigfucker

karl rove has been indicted

wednesday, may 10, 2006. probably one of the most stressful days of my life thus far. two midterms. not one, but two. and my grandpa had fucking open heart surgery. needless to say i didn't sleep much last night, which probably has something to do with my complete lack of energy today. but, i made it through the 2 midterms (though i spontaneously started crying during the first one, when i got to a question that i didn't have a goddamn clue about), and grandpa made it through the surgery too. phew. doesn't mean it's all better though, since i'm pretty sure i fucked up the invertebrate zoology midterm, which means i'm going to have to dedicate myself more fully to the final project, whee. i hope i did okay on o-chem though. sigh. we'll see. sigh.

sigh.

when it all goes pear-shaped

happy hour gone wrong. (ok, so i'm just posing, and it was a fabulous happy hour. how could it not be, with christopher working?)

ileocecal sphincter

today in physiology we talked about corn as a "marker" to discover just how long it takes for things to traverse your digestive tract. and i learned that no matter how old i get, i'm still not mature enough to not giggle when the teacher starts talking about rectums and sphincters. especially sphincters, in fact. the word is inherently hilarious. asphinctersayswhat? SPHINCTER! did you know that we actually have two anal sphincters? one is smooth muscle and is controlled by the autonomic nervous system. the other is skeletal muscle, and is, thank god, controlled voluntarily.

let me be (surely not) the first to say it: this class is a load of crap.

just in case you were wondering...

everything you ever wanted to know about... humans!

all i need is time

this was about 8:15 this morning, on my walk to class. almost enough to make it worth being out of bed.

it seems to be spring

how the fuck did i live 23 years on this planet without having heard of tegan and sara? i feel like i've been deprived of something important my whole life. i literally can't stop listening. most new music you listen to once or twice, and then you put it down for awhile lest you get sick of it. but i've had the albums "if it was you" and "so jealous" on repeat for the last FIVE DAYS and i'm still not sick of it.

in other music news, fiona is coming through on july 3rd... fuck if i'm going to miss that!

oh, and the yeah yeah yeahs show on tuesday was a fucking blast. it was a little out of hand for awhile there, but it seems like no one got hurt (ok, i got a little bruise on one arm) and everyone had fun. i left my camera in the car unfortunately (or fortunately, because with that crowd it might have "disappeared") so i don't have any pics. let it be said, though, that karen o is one of the best performers on the planet, and i have to know how she can scream for so long without losing her voice. maybe it's just a lot of practice. or maybe she's an alien. yes, that must be it.

wagh. i keep writing posts and then deleting them, for some unknown reason. the words just don't want to form right now. not much is going on, anyway, in the tangible universe. just a lot of cerebral activity this weekend. i think i need some zazen.

i AM the coolest.

i should be going to bed, but instead i'm blogging and having another handful of white chocolate chips ohhh man these are good. plus i don't have to get to class until 9:00 tomorrow. today my invert zoology class took a field trip to edmonds, where we hung out on the public docks in between all the rich people's boats, and laid down on the dock and stuck our heads over the edge so we could see the critters living underneath.

my favorite invertebrate phylum is echinodermata.

it was awesome to see all the little spineless critters hanging around... this starfish was one of the biggest we saw, but the tiny ones didn't photograph quite so well.

it's really hard to take an in-focus photo of things that are underwater.

other than field trips and such, things are going awesomely well right now. i think i'm going to boston in june, which i'm totally stoked about. after much deliberation, this afternoon i bought one of these (in silver) - it should be here at the end of the week - and a helmet to match. it comes "some assembly required" but after reading through the directions on the website it looked more like an hour's worth of work than a job for a licensed mechanic, so i decided to just go for it. i'm pretty excited - i've been wanting a scooter for a long time, and the price was reasonable.

anyway, now it is bedtime.

via broadsheet.

news flash.

tom delay is basically fucked. dick cheney is up to his elbows in this plame game. bush authorized the leak of classified information to judy miller. massachussetts passed legislation requiring (and providing for) all citizens to have health insurance. they're building a brand new abortion clinic on tribal lands in south dakota.