The Double Calyx

The zydrate comes in a little glass vial...

2009-11-27T00:47:00.002-05:00

From a great movie I saw this holiday, Repo: The Genetic Opera. The actual clips on YouTube are embedding disabled, unfortunately, but this is still one of the best songs:

Another semester coming to a close

2009-11-24T00:32:00.010-05:00

Busy busy, in a good way. There have been cupcakes...

...my 15 minutes...

...more adventures with rheumatoid arthritis...

...lots of pages filled in the journal...

...hours spent blowing up aliens with the boy...

...friendly visitors just begging to become Farris kitty #3...

...and everchanging pink hair! My mom thinks I'm trying to become a Blythe doll...

I suppose I can see the resemblance...

Kunstkamera house

2009-10-23T11:23:00.005-04:00

A kunstkamera is a museum of "natural and human curiosities and rarities." I visited the Kunstkamera of Peter the Great when I visited St. Petersburg, Russia a few years ago, and I've seen examples of homes decorated in this style in my web browsings. No, my living room isn't full of mutant fetuses, but I do have a lot of biological and cultural ephemera that gives the feel of a kunstkamera.

So like any good museum, I've been working on my displays. Above is a new "exhibit" of interesting old photos that I've found at antique stores, and a cool birdcage from my parents' house (I think it did actually house a bird when my mom was a child).

This is a nook in the living room containing various artifacts.

Finally, my obsession with putting arthropods in boxes continues. I finally found a home for the giant spider that one of my coworkers gave to me a couple of months ago.

Fall has been just fine

2009-10-21T21:12:00.003-04:00

Busy all over, but I'm enjoying it.

Finished another Blythe doll, too.

In my garden, again

2009-09-11T21:48:00.002-04:00

A mantis fly, neither a mantis nor a fly, but more closely related to green lacewings. I love my crazy garden; if the weather is nice tomorrow, I'll take some pics of all of the insects that are enjoying the goldenrod right now.

Ernst Haeckel's house

2009-09-10T16:47:00.008-04:00

During my recent trip to Jena, Germany, I saw an after-dinner talk by Olaf Breidbach that was held at Ernst Haeckel's old house. Above is a portrait of old Ernst himself.

His history is pretty checkered, especially as concerns his interpretations of evolution and developmental biology, but he did some nice natural history work that he documented with beautiful (if somewhat embellished) drawings.

We now know that one of his most famous ideas about evolutionary developmental biology, that "ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny", is not generally the case. However, there are some instances where the development of a structure within an animal does seem to pass through an intermediate stage that is more reminiscent of more basal species. In paper wasps, for example, mushroom body development begins with a structure that looks like that of most other hymenopterans (the ants, bees and wasps)(panels A, D and G above), but then reorganizes in the pupa (panels B, E, H) into a morphology that is unique to the higher paper wasps (C, F, I) (Farris, Abrams and Strausfeld, 2004). So in this rather unusual instance, ontogeny (development) does recapitulate phylogeny (the evolutionary history of the insect, in which wasps with these unique mushroom bodies arose from wasps with more typical hymenopteran mushroom bodies).

The talk was given in the dining room, which had this beautiful painting of one of Haeckel's cnidarians around the chandelier...

...and ended with this nice picture of Ernst's brain. Maybe someday people will be showing pictures of my brain in their talks, too...

This made me laugh

2009-09-10T16:41:00.001-04:00

Thanks Dad :)

First day of September

2009-09-01T19:45:00.003-04:00

Today was too beautiful to spend in the office, so I left the back door open at home and worked on mushroom body/cerebellum schematics, Burnout Revenge on XBox, and a new blog header (as seen above). I worked on my latest Blythe custom just a bit, too; she still needs her new hair, obviously.

Boots

2009-08-31T23:06:00.004-04:00

The weather is getting cooler and I'm starting to think about boots. I've wanted a pair of Frye boots for years, but they're expensive as hell ($200-$500 range), so I haven't been able to justify buying a pair yet. The two pairs above are the kind I want: stompy but tall and narrow around the calf, so they fit under a pair of jeans.

I like this pair of Victorian hooker-style boots, too. Can't imagine how I would wear them though (and the heels would probably destroy my arthritic feet).

Sappy song du jour

2009-08-27T01:28:00.002-04:00

Time takes a while to break ya,
and now only fire can wake ya

Bioluminescent

2009-08-21T15:02:00.002-04:00

Let me be the only one
To keep you from the cold,
Now the floor of heav'n is laid
Its stars of brightest glow,
They shine for you
They shine for you
They burn for all to see,
Come into these arms again
And set this spirit free.
-Annie Lennox

In my garden...

2009-08-21T14:48:00.001-04:00

A Saddleback Moth caterpillar. This is why I don't mind letting the weeds grow; they attract some nice insects.

Beautiful Vieques

2009-08-19T21:37:00.003-04:00

Filmed after snorkeling at Pata Prieta on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. Narration by Davin with special guest appearance by myself at the end.

Puerto Rico so far

2009-08-12T23:46:00.003-04:00

I'm getting a lot of work done, but still having fun. I've only made it to the beach once so far, but I should have more time for that (and some snorkeling) this weekend. Yay!

Looks like a band photo

2009-08-07T13:40:00.002-04:00

Booth Street Kidz

Osmoderma sp.

2009-08-07T13:37:00.001-04:00

Captured by Jade somewhere in the back yard.

I wish I could find these at the pet store

2009-08-06T11:20:00.002-04:00

Coconut crabs. Aside from their larval stage, they're entirely land-dwelling. They can also climb trees.

Art prints

2009-08-06T00:50:00.003-04:00

I've had these prints forever and just this week bought frames for them. "Neptune" is by Steve Thomas, who does all kinds of beautiful steampunk-y retro-future art. "Neptune" is going to go in the spare bedroom. The other two will go in the main bedroom (which I am finally going to finish painting). "The Desert" was a print I got at the Saguaro National Park in Tucson, AZ right before I moved here, and "Insect Diversity" was produced as a limited edition print for a science awareness campaign by the Entomological Foundation.

Jumping spider appreciation

2009-08-02T18:58:00.003-04:00

Today I stumbled on this Flickr page by Opo Terser, who takes amazing macro photos of arthropods. He seems to like jumping spiders in particular, and I've included several of his pictures here. I think these little spiders are both fascinating and absolutely adorable, and yes, I know that's a little weird.

Beautiful!

Going home

2009-07-27T15:42:00.004-04:00

I'm off to Iowa for the week. This last two weeks has been quite an emotional rollercoaster, and I'm desperately needing some time to get my head straight, work a little, and spend time with the family. I'm especially looking forward to doing some antiquing- like my house isn't already filled with eclectic little baubles and trinkets. I can always find a spot for something new.

Nighttime visitor

2009-07-22T13:55:00.004-04:00

A huge, beautiful parasitic wasp was flying around my kitchen light last night. She was very cooperative in posing for pictures, and I let her go afterwards. I already know these wasps have huge mushroom bodies, so I didn't need to take her into the lab...

The long ovipositor is only used to lay eggs in a host, so I wasn't worried about getting stung.

Sigh

2009-07-21T16:05:00.001-04:00

That's the name of the band, Sigh. This song has a very bittersweet feel to it, and I'm in kind of a bittersweet mood today so I've been listening to it a lot.

Photo day

2009-07-18T13:19:00.006-04:00

Kind of a gloomy day here, but I decided to get the camera out and take some pics. Jade accompanied me as I walked around the yard, followed by an angry catbird (above).

The lilies are in bloom, I've got several varieties that seem to thrive under my ultra-low maintenance gardening style.

Must take pictures of the insects, of course.

I finally finished my custom Blythe, she now has beautiful new hair. I've named her Asenath after a character in the H.P. Lovecraft story "The Thing on the Doorstep."

Fun with Flickr

2009-07-14T02:29:00.003-04:00

Some pictures I like on Flickr, reflecting my various obsessions. I used the mosaic tool at Big Huge Labs to put them together.

1. Three Houses Close, 2. The grass in never greener., 3. Custom Blythe Ninia Veneno pic 2, 4. ATC - Wishes Granted ~Unavail.~, 5. Fable, 6. Saffron, 7. Lady Alpinist, 8. Steampunk Ring with blue Crackle bead, 9. Steampunk Jewelry - Clock part inlay, 10. Steampunk Gear Bracelet with Purple Crackle Beads, 11. "GENTILS COQUELICOTS MESDAMES", 12. The Giver, 13. Dreaming Mona, 14. *KiTTyLaND THeaTRe* PuLL ToY, 15. something to crow about, 16. Their Love Was a Forbidden Love, 17. The Queen of the Sea Circus Cart, 18. Altered Tin "Home" - inside, 19. No Joke, 20. Spider sculpture Paris., 21. A Spectacular Image to Celebrate the International Year of Astronomy: A face-on spiral galaxy about 22 million light years from Earth., 22. o rly?, 23. Skipper Face, 24. Black Wasp

A mystery

2009-07-10T17:49:00.002-04:00

What is that amazing crumby-stuff that gives crumbcake it's name? It's magically delicious. I think it's the same stuff that is wrapped around the raisins in Raisin Nut Bran (aka Crack-Wrapped Raisins).

Art projects

2009-06-28T00:58:00.004-04:00

I've been feeling extra creative lately. A couple more reliquaries, and a weird little creepy picture thing (above).

And more pictures of my custom Blythe. I loves her!

Back to Blythes

2009-06-27T13:01:00.004-04:00

I finally started working on my custom Blythe doll again, after having problems with the eyes and getting frustrated. They still don't work perfectly, but it's my first custom job so overall I'm fairly happy with the result. She's wearing a wig right now which looks pretty cool, but my next project is to make some permanent hair for her. It doesn't seem to be a trivial task so we'll see how that turns out.

The doll to the far right in the top pic will be my next custom job. The others are too pretty as they are to cut up.

Two sides of a predator

2009-06-27T12:36:00.001-04:00

This cat:

Can also be this cat:

This spider is far less charismatic

2009-06-24T21:09:00.004-04:00

Obviously I have an unhealthy affinity for invertebrates, but even I get creeped out by some of them. Giant spiders like this give me the heebeejeebies, I just can't help it. One of the office staff at work brought this in to me, already dead, so I'm going to try to make something cool out of it.

Jasper has moved on to slightly easier prey this evening, snatching this still-steaming french fry from my dinner plate and quickly beheading it. I thought it looked like a good Lolcats opportunity.

Cryptic jumping spider

2009-06-24T13:11:00.001-04:00

Not so cryptic on the screen door, unfortunately.

Home to Morgantown

2009-06-23T17:12:00.006-04:00

Summer is here, everything's in bloom and the bugs are out.

I came home from France just in time to catch a water lily blooming in my neglected koi pond. Now that there are no more fish to knock them around and uproot them, the lilies are doing much better. I think this is the first time that one has bloomed.

My butterfly weed is also in full bloom, attracting honey bees and monarch butterflies.

Jasper is happy to be back outside killing small helpless mammals. Here she's toying with a mouse (that I ended up having to finish off, ugh), and this afternoon I found a dead chipmunk in the basement. Ah, the joys of cat ownership.

Twenty-four-odd hours in Paris

2009-06-23T13:31:00.008-04:00

I stayed at a hotel in the northern part of Paris, close to the Montmarte, which is the highest point in Paris. As you walk up to the top of the Montmarte, you can look back down the street for some beautiful views of the city.

View from the top of the Montmarte.

Sacre Coeur cathedral at the top of the Montmarte.

There was a little square by the cathedral where several artists had set up their easels, painting and selling their wares.

A cheese store on the way back down from the Montmarte.

My hotel was also close to the Moulin Rouge.

For my last stop I took the Metro down to see Notre Dame cathedral. The last time I was in Paris the front face of the building was being restored, so this time I was able to get some better pictures.

Close up of the spire at Notre Dame, bristling with gargoyles.

All in all a nice trip, but still kind of nice to be back home. I'll post some pictures of that later on.

Travelin'

2009-06-23T13:20:00.007-04:00

The trip to France was great, work-wise and personal-wise. The only unenjoyable part of the trip was the air travel, and I'll just get that out of the way here:

Maybe I'm just getting old and curmudgeonly, but goddamn the seats seemed particularly small on this flight. It was hard to arrange my limbs and get comfortable in this tiny cramped space, and when I dropped my iPod case I just had to wait until the flight was over, there was no way I was going to be able the reach down to the floor and find it. And don't even get me started with the security theater I had to participate in to get back in the US at the Pittsburgh airport...

Anyway, once in France I took a train to Roscoff on the northern coast. Roscoff is a beautiful little seashore town with a biological institute, which is where the meeting was held. I was mostly busy going to talks and doing other meeting stuff while I was there, but I took a few pictures.

Tide going out, all of the boats anchored in the harbor would just be left dry until the tide came in again.

An artichoke field amidst stone buildings.

Next post: Paris!

Happy birthday to me, part II

2009-06-11T10:47:00.001-04:00

Jasper's first kill of the year. Thank you, sweetie!

Happy birthday to me

2009-06-10T21:29:00.003-04:00

My birthday presents for myself- bug catching stuff.

A rare sighting of the Morgantown jungle cat.

NSF grant funded

2009-06-09T22:07:00.001-04:00

Glitter Graphics

reliquaries

2009-06-04T11:10:00.004-04:00

I collect little bits and pieces of things that I guess you could call bioephemera, to borrow the name of one of the blogs that I read. Bones, bugs, plants, anything that happens to catch my eye while I'm walking along outside. For awhile I've had the idea of making little soldered boxes to keep them in, called reliquaries (it's not exactly an original idea; Jane Wynn, for example, makes beautiful biology-themed reliquaries). The only rules for the objects I collect are that I don't kill anything (they have to be already dead, or well on their way out in the case of some of the insects), and I don't buy anything at the store (which would likely mean that someone else had to kill something in order for it to be there). It's not because I'm some kind of pacifist, I just think it's more challenging to leave what I find up to chance.

Anyway, here are the three I've made so far:

Jawbones:

Bug:

Colony:

Jade, my bughunting protegé

2009-05-27T16:07:00.004-04:00

This kitty is amazing. Not only can she catch houseflies on the wing, today she outmaneuvered an enormous aeshnid dragonfly, one of the strongest and most agile fliers among the insects. I wish I had seen it, but at least she brought her catch into the house for me to admire:

The photos turned out well, but still don't do justice to the beautiful colors.

Since Jade seems to have inflicted soon-to-be-fatal damage on the poor critter, I'm taking it down to the lab to do some optic lobe tract tracing.

Vacation

2009-05-25T22:59:00.009-04:00

Wow, did I need to get away. Stayed in a cabin near the Canaan Valley Wildlife Refuge for three nights, did some hiking, sat in the hot tub and just relaxed. I followed this up with a couple of days of easy yard and house work at home, reading, and getting mentally prepared for my summer research. Ideally, I need a week like this about once a month, I think.

Took some pictures while hiking; what a beautiful place, with a lot of wildlife of course. Deer everywhere, evidence of bear and coyote on the trails, and all kinds of small critters in the puddles and streams.

Hatched frog eggs and tadpoles in a puddle on the trail:

Strange little fungi:

Water snake (not poisonous)!:

Boy in the wilderness:

The best snus

2009-05-05T00:15:00.003-04:00

General Onyx. The taste is very good- salty/peppery/citrusy, the nicotine kick is strong and fast, and the packaging is very metal. I would actually recommend that even non-former smokers try this at least once, it's that good.

Long hiatus

2009-05-04T11:42:00.002-04:00

I haven't been feeling well and haven't had much to say, so no posts. I've finally started to feel better over the last couple of days, though; hopefully it sticks.

Looked out the window at the dreary rainy day this morning and saw yet another new bird in the back yard- a yellow breasted chat (the pic above is just one I found online). I really like the diversity of wildlife here in my little Morgantown enclave. It would be nice if the sun, and the bugs, would start coming out, though.

No.

2009-04-08T23:34:00.002-04:00

Two exams and four different excuses for missing them and the makeups. I'll give you credit though: only one of your excuses invoked a dead relative.

I think you will save us both a lot of trouble if you just drop my class now. KThxBye!

Putting things into perspective

2009-04-08T11:32:00.002-04:00

The news is a little old, but I'm listening to the University of Iowa NPR station this morning and just found out that the sole survivor of the 1991 University of Iowa shooting died of breast cancer in December. She was 40 years old.

Miya Rodolfo-Sioson became was shot in the neck during the attack, severing her spinal cord at C4-C5 and rendering her quadriplegic.

This reminds me a lot of Caroline Knapp, the author of "Drinking: A Love Story." The book describes her struggle with alcoholism and anorexia and needless to say is a pretty tough read. She died of complications from lung cancer at the age of 42.

My first thought when reading about the lives, and untimely deaths, of these women is that some people just can't seem to cut a break. It puts my own trials of recent years, which pale in comparison to the events in the lives I just described, in much-needed perspective.

So today the sun is out and my sweet kitty Jade is purring on the chair back behind me. Today I get to go into the lab and be a scientist. This weekend I get to see my Boy in Pittsburgh and then on Sunday my Mom is coming to visit for two weeks. I've got a lot going on that's good, despite the underlying daily stresses of job, health and finances. Life's pretty good, on the balance, and I need to remind myself of that more often.

Wanda Jackson

2009-04-06T11:08:00.002-04:00

I don't like very much country music, but once in awhile I do hear something in that genre that fits my general appreciation of music with a rough edge. This weekend I read an article about Wanda Jackson being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and followed a link to some YouTube vids of her older songs. Very early rockabilly style with a great dirty kitten-ish voice. Apparently she found Jesus later in her career but I was still able to get a couple of her early albums from iTunes. It's good to start the week with new tunes, especially when the week is beginning with YET ANOTHER gloomy, rainy Monday. Poop.

This is a live video of Wanda Jackson with an unfortunately crappy piano solo in the middle:

This is just a photo montage, but the song is one of my favorites:

Happy birthday Jasper

2009-04-04T15:04:00.001-04:00

Jasper turns 12 this week. I loves you my little Murderface!

Parody

2009-04-02T00:10:00.001-04:00

I think that parody is my favorite form of humor, the more absurd, the better. That said, I can't stop watching the above video. It's almost too brilliant for words.

Haircut

2009-03-31T22:36:00.004-04:00

It's not much, but I feel a lot better now.

Here's one from when I was at the beach in Puerto Rico. I could use another week on the beach, right about now.

Celebrity lookalikes

2009-03-25T22:30:00.003-04:00

From MyHeritage.com. Interesting, a few Asian women came up and as far as I know, I don't have any Asian heritage whatsoever.

How about when I'm not smiling?

More Asian women, and Roseanne Barr. Awesome!

Interestingly, the one celebrity who I have been compared with, Bebe Neuwirth (Lilith on Cheers and Frasier), did not come up.

Last day in Puerto Rico

2009-03-22T13:41:00.007-04:00

So my last day in PR was all fun- first, visited the El Yunque rain forest, and then the beach. The water was warm and the temperature was around 80 degrees, just perfect.

Tree ferns.

Snail sex.

A tiny orchid.

A termite nest, and it's inhabitants.

On the beach. Hell yes!

More Puerto Rico goodness

2009-03-18T20:29:00.000-04:00

Chocolate covered marzipan. Oh my god...yum!

I heart Puerto Rico

2009-03-18T14:33:00.004-04:00

I'm here for the week giving talks, catching bugs, and, yes, hanging out on the beach. Yesterday, though, I got to trek around in the forest catching butterflies and generally being a nerdy, over-excited little kid. As I always, I took pictures of the various critters I saw. More later when I get to the visit the El Yunque rainforest preserve.

Not above resorting to retail therapy

2009-03-11T23:38:00.004-04:00

I love Etsy. All kinds of cool stuff. Today I received a hand-screened hoodie from Ahpeele and a necklace and print from Mary Louise's Treacle. I feel better already.

Perspective

2009-03-11T22:02:00.002-04:00

I wish it was summer, because right now all I want to do is lay in the grass, as flat as I can against the ground, and look at the stars. It's the best way to remind myself of how utterly tiny my little world and all of the perceived problems within it actually are.

Meh

2009-03-11T15:56:00.003-04:00

So...burned...out...must...take...break...

Due to an extreme lack of motivation and inspiration I'm currently reduced to typing things like "kickass bug" into Google images to see what comes up. One result was the picture above. I agree.

Hurry up, spring break

2009-03-10T16:08:00.005-04:00

It's nice a warm day and the sun is shining, but I still feel like I'm running on empty at work today. But come Sunday, this is where I'll be...

San Juan, Puerto Rico, for a meeting and hopefully some time on the beach. And if I'm lucky, maybe I'll be able to catch a few of these...

...for a new little research project I have planned.

Return of the tongue piercing

2009-03-10T00:28:00.004-04:00

Way back in grad school, I think around '94 or '95, I got my tongue pierced. It hurt like hell and got completely infected, probably because I didn't know anything about piercings at the time and got it done in a head shop instead of an actual tattoo/piercing place. Luckily I got a better piece of jewelry from my usual tattoo place in Illinois, and some antibiotic samples from a friend whose mom was a doctor, and it finally healed up.

In 2004 I had my cervical spine bolted together, and took out the piercing for a couple of weeks since everything in that area was swollen and I was having trouble breathing. When I tried to put the jewelry back in, I couldn't. Figuring the piercing had grown closed, I gave up and forgot about it. Until this weekend.

Both sides of the hole were still visible on my tongue, so I got the jewelry out, wiggled it around, popped it through a couple of thin layers of tissue and...it's back! Now I just have to get used to having a big piece of metal in my mouth again.

More Metallica cover song awesomeness

2009-02-27T15:35:00.004-05:00

Apocalyptica have been around for awhile and they just keep getting better. I can't embed this video either, but again, follow the link and you won't be disappointed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epSMyGjVsmE

Like so many scandinavian men, the guys in Apocalyptica are also pretty easy on the eyes, especially the blonde god on the left in the pic below (his name is Eicca Toppinen):

My snus is here!

2009-02-26T18:56:00.002-05:00

Wow, the Swedish postal system rocks! I placed my order at BuySnus.com on Sunday and it arrived today.

So, that means it's time to wean myself off of the cigarettes. I think this is going to be remarkably easy, given my initial experience with Snus. I'm doing one of the General Portions right now and it is amazing how fast the nicotine hits the bloodstream after you put the little packet in your lip. I was craving a cigarette and within 10 seconds, wham, nic fix achieved.

This stuff tastes pretty good, too. Kind of toasty and savory. Awesome!

Pure, undistilled awesomeness

2009-02-26T11:39:00.003-05:00

That is how I would describe this a capella cover of the Metallica song "Battery" by Van Canto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9LaB9dq4Rw

Embedding is disabled so you'll just have to follow the link, and I encourage you to do so because this video will blow you away. I promise.

I found this video and all kinds of other cool stuff in a thread on the Something Awful forums. The topic of the thread is "Define Metal," so everyone is posting the most awesomely metal videos and pics that they can find (both seriously and tongue in cheek).

The best thing about being an old metalhead like myself is that you realize how ridiculous the imagery is, and revel in it. As a result, an Immortal video set to the Benny Hill theme music is about the most hilarious thing ever.

OK, enough goofing off. Back to work...

Research styles and strengths

2009-02-25T10:32:00.004-05:00

This post over at Quantum Pontiff attempts to break down some of the different approaches that scientists bring to the table in their research. We can't all be super genius polymaths, after all.

Looking over the descriptions of research styles, I definitely fit into the category of "The Connector (aka the Encyclopedia Connectica)." Here is the definition:
"These are the renaissance scientists who have a vast encyclopedic knowledge of who did what when and, even better, when you talk to them about your problem can (a) understand your problem and (b) point you to the person or research that might best help you solve your problem."

I've been an obsessive reader all my life, and I have a very good memory for what I have read. This has helped me a lot in my comparative studies of the insect brain; I can read a million papers and look at a million slides of sectioned brains, and somehow manage to pull some general principles about brain organization and evolution out of that. And I can draw some parallels to vertebrate brains while I'm at it, because I read all of that stuff too.

I think the entire process is a blast. Remember how in "The A-Team," just when everyone started kicking ass, Hannibal would say "I love it when a plan comes together!"? That's how I feel when all of the little threads of information fall into place. It's what makes this job worthwhile.

Also the primary ideology that fuels my career

2009-02-24T01:56:00.001-05:00

I'm kidding, OK? Grading is making me loopy.

Dream, dream, dream

2009-02-23T18:50:00.002-05:00

I'm broke, but that doesn't stop me from wanting a Cadillac CTS.

Aaaaagghhh!!!

2009-02-23T18:04:00.004-05:00

Ever have one of those days when some BS comes up that you have to deal with, and you scramble all over trying to get it taken care of, and then realize that while you were running around like a chicken with your head cut off you totally forgot about another obligation that you were supposed to deal with, and so now tomorrow you have TWO crazy BS things to iron out (because you still didn't manage to get the first BS thing sorted out), on top of your regular day-to-day work schedule?

Usually I'm pretty good at just knuckling down and getting through this stuff, but man, it's been hard lately.

Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit smoking, doesn't it? Well, maybe so, but I am sort of cheating by switching to snus. I'll still be getting my nicotine fix, but without the coughing and lung cookies I've been enjoying lately. Baby steps, baby steps...

Industrial strength eye candy

2009-02-18T10:58:00.004-05:00

I found this video on the Coilhouse blog, which regularly serves up interesting subcultural tidbits.

I am fascinated/obsessed with the supernaturally beautiful man in this video. He is Blixa Bargeld, founder of the industrial band Einstürzende Neubauten and also of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. I'm not a big fan of the music of these two groups, personally, but the above video that he did with Gudrun Gut is pretty catchy as well as being beautiful.

Overall, a nice find for a week in which I'm otherwise crushed with work obligations...

More nuggets of wisdom

2009-02-10T17:36:00.009-05:00

OK, the last post was kind of whiny, I admit. I swear, this gloomy, wet weather just turns me into a cranky goth girl writing bad poetry on the back of her Trapper Keeper.

So today I was thinking of other strongly-held beliefs of my youth, that I have since become wise enough to reject (or at least temper a little bit).

1. Umbrellas are for pussies.

I used to go boldly forth into all manner of rain storm, stomping through the puddles in my leather jacket and cheap combat boots purchased at the military surplus store. I guess I thought it was pretty metal to burst into my undergrad classes with a headful of wet hair. Now, I use the damned umbrella, because wet clothes are cold clothes, and that is definitely not metal.

2. Keyboards do not belong in metal bands.

OK, Type O Negative disabused me of this notion in a big way. Because as anyone who knows me understands, Type O Negative is the Greatest. Band. Ever.

3. Light cigarettes: also for pussies.

I used to smoke a pack or more of Camel Filters a day. Now, I enjoy receiving my nicotine fix without having to fight off bronchitis every three months.

4. Cars with less than a V8 engine, say it with me :"FOR PUSSIES"

OK, I still like big American cars (Cadillacs come to mind), and also believe that the two best cars I've owned were Caprice Classics. But I've since had a couple of smaller cars and they're not that bad, really. They might not be as fun for doing donuts in a wet parking lot, but they're a hell of a lot cheaper to gas up.

5. Pussies: for pussies.

I used to be an unrepentant dog person. I had many a run-in with cranky stray cats as a kid, and didn't much appreciate their attitudes. But then a family of cats showed up at my parents', and I decided to adopt one of the kittens. This was Jasper, and she (and later Jade) have shown me the error of my ways. I still like dogs, but in my mind these days, cats rule.

Older and wiser, that's me.

Hold on to this memory as tight as you can

2009-02-09T15:18:00.009-05:00

That's the title of a vignette I wrote in my little black book this morning, while I was being held hostage by my infusion of rheumatiz drugs. I'm not going to post anymore of what I wrote, as it's a little too raw to expose to open air right now. Instead, here are some more general ramblings...

I spent years of my early adult life feeling deeply alienated. I didn't relate to other peoples' needs, desires, or values, and I viewed the world with bitterness and anger. I reveled in setting myself apart from the people and things that I hated so much, but at the same time was violently devoted to what I did care about. I was young, and there was no middle ground in my world.

Eventually though, I broke through and began to grow beyond the petty passions and grudges that had seemed so important before. There were still highs and lows of course, and some of them were pretty earth-shattering, but I began to shed the alienation. I'm still shaking off the last remnants of that old skin and finding that underneath it all there's actually something resembling a good and full life.

With every episode of my life opened and closed, every goal achieved and new goal set, I 'm left with another lesson well-learned. There will still be tears and those days when I have to curl up and sob and let a loss wash over me. But eventually I'll be back with myself and the life I've built, and realizing that I'm OK with that.

"Friends, they come and they go," or so says that Shooter Jennings song. I used to think that I could be happy if I never spoke to another human being again, but I've come to realize that there will always be a handful of people with whom I want to share part of my life. But people have a way of fading in and out, sometimes reappearing, sometimes drifting away forever. That doesn't mean that I treasure the time that I do have with them any less.

So I collect memories now. And if it's something that I really want to hold onto, I might even write it down in my little black book or here on my blog. Then as the sun goes down and the insects skitter under the leaves and the blooms burst and fade and fall as they inevitably do, I can lay back and reminisce. The next morning when I open my eyes again, I'll be ready for the next adventure.

F#ck winter

2009-01-30T12:07:00.003-05:00

Cold, snowy and windy today. Jade and I are going to stay home and read papers.

Hey, the sun is out today!

2009-01-22T08:45:00.003-05:00

And it's early and I have to teach in an hour, so I'll just post some silly posters I made on the Obamicon Me website. This site lets you upload pics and color them like the famous Obama Hope poster, above. Turns out that the artist that made this poster also made the Andre the Giant "Obey" posters and stickers from a few years back. I learn something new every day, isn't that grand?

Gloomy weather sinks in

2009-01-21T22:31:00.004-05:00

Eventually too many sunless, cold days start to affect my mood, no matter how much I try to distract myself with every task and hobby I can think of. On these days it seems that all of my concerns are expanding and overlapping into one tangled mat of roots and branches that I will never be able to tease apart and solve. Pulling one thread free just reveals another matted ball of hassles at the other end. I have to resist the urge to just curl up in bed with warm blankets and purring cats, sinking into my dreams sometimes for 24, even 48 hours before I finally stand up and look around as my mind slowly comes back online. It's a surreal feeling, having slept that long, to return to waking life again.

But in the end, that's the coward's way out. Things aren't all that bad, just in turmoil right now.

So, here's to not letting things get complicated. Right now, I prefer to think about bugs. Today I learned that a species of dung beetle has been discovered that no longer eats poop, but has instead become a specialist predator on giant millipedes. The beetles hack off the heads of the millipedes and then drag the bodies to a safe place to eat, just like they would a ball of dung. I'm guessing that since these guys are specialist feeders, they're still going to have small mushroom bodies. Maybe even smaller than their dung-feeding ancestors, if they are truly restricted to just one species of prey. When your options are that slim, it's easier to evolve innate mechanisms for quickly detecting and handling prey; behavioral flexibility and the requisite large brains are less important when you have few potential choices to make.

But hey, someone send me the brains and I'll put my money where my mouth is on that particular hypothesis.

Something new

2009-01-11T21:53:00.002-05:00

I haven't colored my hair in years, but recently I've been thinking about it again. Today I decided to just go ahead and do it, with blonde streaks around the face. I've had this particular 'do several times in my life, and I've always thought it looked pretty good.

In even more exciting news, I'll also be starting the semester with a new jump drive. It just so happens to be the coolest jump drive ever, a designer drive from Mimoco. And it even comes with this cute little hoodie to keep it cozy while I'm wearing it around my neck like a big nerd.

Back home to the kittehs

2009-01-05T17:18:00.002-05:00

I guess they missed me- they are much more clingy and cuddly than normal. They both slept with me last night, Jasper curled up by my left hip and Jade laying along my right leg. And above is me trying to eat a bagel with cream cheese while the vulture kitties watch.

In other news, I am going to go swimming tonight. Yay me!

Xmas stuff

2008-12-30T18:21:00.003-05:00

Well, my little brother G- finally made it here, after 11 days of travel from Afghanistan. And then, of course, his luggage got lost. Gotta love flying during the holidays.

The next day we finally did our whole family Xmas thing- we figured that this was the first time in at least 5 years that all three of us kids have been together for Xmas. My brothers J- and G- spent some quality time playing Madden on XBox- that really brought back memories, as they used to spend hours playing that game when we were younger. J-'s wife T-, in the background, looks totally thrilled, but I guess I just enjoyed seeing my brothers hanging out together again.

And Santa was good to me, present-wise, as well: check out this awesome coffee table book on Norwegian Black Metal (and thanks to S- who several months ago told me about this book so I could put it on my Amazon wish list).

Driving

2008-12-23T20:51:00.002-05:00

Made it just over the border into Indiana today, before the black ice conditions forced me to stop for the night. Listened to all kinds of tunes on the way- Tricky, Gorgoroth and Bloodhound Gang, how's that for variety?

Tonight I'm staying at a Hampton Inn. I pay more than I should because they have an awesome breakfast spread.

For dinner I had McDonald's and a couple of beers. Now I'm watching a TV show about morbidly obese people. I'm going to get a gym membership next spring, I swear.

Here's a silly-ass Bloodhound Gang video that inspired me to buy a couple of their albums last night. Be sure to listen carefully to the lyrics. And, I think the singer is pretty cute, go figure. Over and out.

New glasses

2008-12-19T15:12:00.003-05:00

Having broken my old glasses in an unfortunate incident (note to self: do not set glasses on bed prior to a roll in the hay), I bought some new ones this week. They're basically the same as the old ones but with a heavier, more purplish frame. They probably cost more than my car is worth, but what the hell, I like them.

The heart wants what it wants

2008-12-19T14:57:00.004-05:00

It's a phrase that has been going through my head a lot lately, especially as I consider some of the choices (mistakes?) I've made in my past.

See how thoughtful I look in the photo above? That's because I'm considering this awesomely deep topic while I suck down a smoke in the bizarrely spring-like weather we're having today. And what does my heart want right now? It wants a big bowl of Eby's Butterfinger ice cream. Especially if it has a little statue of a viking on top.

Availability of quality music videos

2008-12-12T20:36:00.003-05:00

When I was in high school, the only place to see metal videos was on MTV's Headbanger's Ball, which was on Saturdays from 10pm- 1am, as I recall. Even then, you pretty much had to sit through two hours and forty-five minutes of shit and maybe you would get a Sacred Reich or Coroner video at the end (above is my fave Coroner video from those days). As a result, Headbanger's Ball was more of an excuse for me to invite guys over so we could make out on the couch, than a way to find out about new bands (sorry Mom and Dad!). Word of mouth was the primary way to find new tunes, and bootlegged concert videos were about the only visual accompaniments.

Now, thanks to YouTube, I can watch all kinds of super hardcore black metal stuff and about anything else I could possibly want to listen to. And I do like to watch big Norwegian guys shake their manes around while screaming about Satan, too. Take these two videos, for instance: you would never find Gorgoroth or Cradle of Filth looking all awesome like this on stupid MTV.

And believe me, there are hundreds more videos like this to peruse. I'm glad I finally figured this out, as I'm finally kind of getting bored with playing Rock Band 2, and I need another evening unwinding activity to replace it.

Musings on a horror flick

2008-12-01T18:22:00.002-05:00

Over break, my brother J- continued a long tradition of playing awesome horror movies for me; this time around we saw the Quentin Tarantino/ Robert Rodriguez flick "Death Proof." There was a lot of your typical Tarantino back-and-forth witty dialog, punctuated by some of the most well-done gore I have seen in ages. For example, the above clip is the big car accident scene, and I must have watched it 20 times by now. It's awesome.

I was thinking though, that there is a very appropriate and excellent song that is missing from Tarantino's otherwise great soundtrack choices: "Highway Star" by Deep Purple. I mean, the lyrics are perfect for describing the "Death Proof" car:

Nobody gonna take my car
Im gonna race it to the ground
Nobody gonna beat my car
Its gonna break the speed of sound
Oooh its a killing machine
Its got everything
Like a driving power big
Fat tyres and everything

Better yet would be the Type O Negative cover (I know, I'm a rock heathen). Click above and savor the greatness, would you please?

Goodbye noon whistle

2008-11-28T18:28:00.006-05:00

The town I grew up in had a huge fire/tornado siren in the parking lot of the city hall, which also happened to be just a few hundred feet from my family's house. The whistle also went off every day, except Sunday, at noon; it was absolutely deafening, and our poor little dog Skipper would howl and bark whenever it went off.

When I came back to visit for T-Day, it was lying in pieces on the ground; dismantled and ready to be disposed of. Apparently my little hometown has grown so much that the whistle is no longer loud enough to alert firefighters who live at the outskirts of town- I suppose pagers are a more efficient solution to that problem.

Above is a picture of the whistle in all of it's former glory, taken from a website that apparently catalogs emergency whistles from all around the country. Funny thing is, I think the credited photographer is my first boyfriend, forever nicknamed "The Antichrist." Not because he was a particularly bad guy but because, well, at the time I dated him he thought he was the antichrist. I knows how to pick 'em.

Good thing this usually isn't the case for me

2008-11-24T22:10:00.002-05:00

Given my recent blogposts on music and exes, it's obvious that the sentiment on this t-shirt typically doesn't happen for me. The worst that happens is that sometimes I can't listen to a band for a few months after a particularly bad breakup. The memories always fade, however, and I can start enjoying the tunes again without invoking too much negativity.

OK, last thing ever, I swear, on music I was introduced to by men. My good friend in Tucson, J- "I want it ALL" got me into Ween, yet another one of my all time greats. The above video is for one of my fave songs and is typical of their crazy.

Attn: US Airports

2008-11-23T14:53:00.003-05:00

Would it be possible to have just ONE smoking lounge, so I don't have to go outside to smoke and then go through security again? I'm wearing big stompy boots today and taking them off is a big pain in my ass.

Meanwhile, watch this Flintstones'-sponsored cigarette advertisement, from back when we were FREE!

Follow-up to men and music

2008-11-19T18:25:00.003-05:00

I can't believe I forgot two of my friends from my undergrad years, J- and "Heavy Metal" T-. T- introduced me to many bands that I probably never would have heard otherwise; Death, Prong and the Melvins, for example. T- is also responsible for introducing me to the R Crumb-edited magazine Weirdo, and thus scarring my brain forever through cartoons with titles like "Nuts On a Plank".

J- however, deserves the ultimate kudos for playing Type O Negative for me for the first time, on a cold, clear winter night when we were both under the influence of mind-altering substances. "Slow, Deep and Hard," Type O's first album, absolutely blew me away on that night, and remains one of my favorite albums of all time. I believe J- also introduced me to Mike Patton's band Mr. Bungle, another all-time favorite.

OK, just remembered there was one more ex during my grad school days, D- "No Nickname Could Possibly Capture the Lameness." He didn't get me into any new music, but he was really into comics and it was through him that I first read "Preacher." I now have the entire series in graphic novel form and it remains one of my favorite comics of all time, right up there with "Watchmen," "Tank Girl" and "Sam and Max."

That's it, finally, I think...

Musical legacies of the men in my life

2008-11-19T14:01:00.003-05:00

I've been thinking over the past week how my various exes have introduced me to at least a new band or two. To me, that's a pretty good reward for putting up with all of the other bullshit. So here's a list of some of the contributions to my music library, by boyfriend:

C- "The Antichrist"
C- was big into glam rock which when I was in high school was pretty much anathema (I was into TRUE METAL, and none of that poser crap.) He did increase my appreciation for Mötley Crüe though, and to this day I still crank "Shout at the Devil" when I'm feeling particularly silly. And OMG, is the above video awesome, makes me want to throw up the horns and dance down the hallway!

G- "My First True Love"
G- and I were in a thrash band together, and he turned me on to the amazing one-album band Blind Illusion. This is the band where Les Claypool and Larry Lalonde first met, after which they went on to form Primus. Check out the live video above- holy shit, I love the internet!

"Psycho" J-
This particular Sir Stalks-A-Lot ex introduced me to Frank Zappa. Everything else about him totally sucked. The above video is for the song "Bobby Brown." I don't think that Bobby Brown of New Addition and Married-To-Whitney-Houston fame was aware of this song when he chose his stage name.

C- "The Bastard"
C- liked a lot of stoner doom metal, probably due to the fact that he was a hardcore stoner himself. I first heard of Kyuss through his CD collection; Josh Homme was in this band before joining Queens of the Stone Age.

"Mr." T-
T- actually didn't listen to music much, which is a rarity in my exes. I tend to date guys who are at least as crazy about tunes as I am.

R- "Too Nice for a Snarky Nickname"
R- introduced me to the great Tom Waits. I have some wonderful memories of sitting on his front porch in Tucson, drinking scotch and listening to "Small Change." As our relationship progressed Tom Waits was about the only music that we could both get into, as R- hated metal and I hated jazz and adult contemporary, which made up the remainder of our music collections. Oh wait, one more great band that R- introduced me to is the Mark Lanegan Band (Mark Lanegan has also been in Screaming Trees and Queens of the Stone Age.)

S- "The Bastard in Love"
S- and I shared tons of tunes in common, particularly in the metal genre. Still, I can count Belphegor, Hansel und Gretyl and My Bloody Valentine as excellent new additions to my tunes collection that were introduced to me by S-. Regarding the video above, I still think the singer for Hansel und Gretyl is one of the coolest chicks EVER. The scary thing is that I've been smoking so many cigarettes lately that I can do a pretty passable imitation of her singing voice.

D- "Nickname Not Suitable for Publication on a Blog That is Read by My Mom"
OK, I've never particularly liked techno, but I do have a predilection for pretty much anything super-heavy. So Android Lust has been rocking my world lately, thanks to D- throwing tunes at me until he finally found one that stuck.

It turns out, though that the biggest contributor to my music collection has not been an ex-boyfriend, but rather my little brothers G- and J-. G- actually convinced me that not all country music sucks (Hank III and Shooter Jennings, woot!), and the bands introduced to me by J- over the past 20 years are way to numerous for me to recall.

So take a bow, men in my life past and present. You're not all bad.

News flash: Swedes not always hot

2008-11-14T23:48:00.003-05:00

Between the many Swedish metal bands, cartoon Swede Skwisgaar Skwigelf, and my own personal hot Swede encounter in the distant past, I had formed the impression that Swedish guys are a pretty good looking bunch. But then I stumbled upon this website of Swedish dance bands from the 70's and oh my...what a trainwreck. It's more than just the loud-ass outfits with lapels suitable for taking flight; the overall fug is just out of control. Ah, shattered dreams, agains...

All I want are Sun Chips, and all I see are the black skies of R'lyeh!

2008-11-06T21:51:00.003-05:00

Just watched "The Call of Cthulu" by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society; wow, what a beautiful movie. You might have to be a Lovecraft nut to really appreciate it, which I certainly am; I've been reading Lovecraft since high school, and about once a year I re-read some of my favorite stories, "The Call of Cthulu" included. The movie is done in black and white, silent film style, with Great Cthulu filmed in stop-motion animation. I think this has just become one of my favorite movies...

By the way, the title of this post is from one of the extra scenes included on the DVD. The actors mostly ad libbed their lines, and sometimes some pretty funny things came out- this was from a scene where young Henry Wilcox is describing his dreams of the sunken city of R'lyeh, where Cthulu lies dead, but dreaming!

Oh, and behold the nerd t-shirts on the HPLHS website- do I need this, do I? Yes, I think I do!

Rock Band 2

2008-11-02T00:34:00.000-04:00

I am unstoppable!

Undead Sarah Palin

2008-11-01T18:30:00.002-04:00

All ready for the Halloween party, you betcha!

Ain't it the truth

2008-10-31T15:36:00.001-04:00

Election-inspired rudeness

2008-10-30T14:10:00.001-04:00

I apologize in advance for this...

Check out the entire cornucopia of juvenile humor in animated GIF format here.

Cooking fail

2008-10-29T19:47:00.003-04:00

Tonight I burnt a pizza. You might be thinking, "Sarah, I know you are a crappy cook, but how the hell do you burn a pizza? THE INSTRUCTIONS ARE RIGHT ON THE BOX."

Well, this is how: forget to turn on the timer because you were on the phone when you put the pizza in the oven. Also, be functionally anosmic and incapable of detecting the burning smell. I sometimes joke that the only things I can smell well are citrus, gasoline and cat piss. There are actually some other smells that I'm pretty sensitive to but I won't go into details in this nice, family-oriented blog.

Anyway, back to the pizza. Obviously from the picture, I still ate it. My sense of taste isn't so great, either.

Onset of winter demands a new hermit hobby

2008-10-29T19:06:00.004-04:00

And I have selected it: Xbox 360 and Rock Band 2. I got the microphone so I can sing to Megadeth and Duran Duran and scare the bejeezus out of the cats. Above, Jasper cautiously approaches and wonders whether the horrendous noises I am making are a result of my being ill, insane or both.

Here's my character, dressed exactly as I would in real life if I could get away with it.

In other news, it's sleeting here in Morgantown. Along with the visual confirmation, my bum shoulder is also notifying me of the drop in temperature by making some interesting new crackling noises. Holy shit I love winter!

Monday morning sunbeam

2008-10-27T18:45:00.003-04:00

Grr...I'm tough!

2008-10-26T14:38:00.005-04:00

Just got this great new belt buckle: one of the best ways to show you're a badass is to wear a belt with your name (or your initial) on it, right?

Well, it's not quite as cool as Jennifer Tilly's belt buckle, I admit. Maybe someday I will have one that says "S- Fucking F- Will Kick Your Ass" and then some pictures of mushroom bodies and Blythe dolls.

This means war

2008-10-25T20:38:00.002-04:00

Sarah Palin, moron, mocks government funding of fruit fly research. As it turns out, the molecular basis of a vast array of developmental processes, including those that go awry in some human diseases, have benefited enormously from studies in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Not to mention the genetic basis of learning and memory, my own field of study. Christ, what an ignorant twit. If she and McCain are somehow elected we're all in big trouble.

Another migrant, this time not as lucky

2008-10-24T09:09:00.003-04:00

This morning I was sitting out on the deck smoking and drinking a cup of tea (ran out of coffee, grr) when a bird flew into the bay window not ten feet in front of me. As the bird lay quivering on the deck I raced to get to it before Jade could, but alas, it was already dead.

So I photographed it and looked it up in the Peterson's guide: she's a female Cape May warbler, formerly on her way from Canada to the Caribbean.

This big-ass wheel bug was also hanging out on the deck this morning. Look at him trying to be scary with his front legs and antennae all stretched out; spider mimicry, maybe?

Just passing through...

2008-10-23T10:46:00.003-04:00

This morning Jade was chattering out the window at this little guy, perched on the railing of the deck. At first I thought it was a baby robin, but with it's flight feathers all grown out, it's clearly an adult. Turns out this is most likely a hermit thrush, which spends its summers north of here and in the more mountainous parts of West Virginia, and winters in the southeast US. So, happy trails, little thrush, and may you reach your destination without attracting the attention of too many more housecats.

Being a big science nerd as a kid, there was a period of time when I was really into birds and birdwatching. So it still gets me excited to see a new species (and I'm pretty proud that my first attempt to ID this bird at least had me in the right taxonomic family!).

I want to invade your airspase!

2008-10-21T22:30:00.000-04:00

Hilarious!

Sometimes a girl just feels like dancing...

2008-10-21T21:21:00.002-04:00

...to Volbeat, "Caroline Leaving." Rock on!

Hahahahaa!!

2008-10-21T11:25:00.004-04:00

From Pharyngula, this made me feel pretty awesome. And by the way, if you think I'm anywhere near the median salary for untenured female professors as depicted here, you can just keep on dreaming.

And from Pandagon, this clever little animated GIF.

OK, the hymenopteran mushroom body paper is open on the other screen and ready to be worked on. Must...stop...goofing...off...

A taste of the Awesome iPod Playlist

2008-10-21T10:22:00.005-04:00

"An Ode to Locksmiths"- Type O Negative. The best. No other explanation needed.

"More Than a Woman"- Aaliyah. Bummer that she died so young, she was amazing. The video for this song is great, too.

"Let Me Put My Love Into You"- AC/DC. I once got tattooed with this song in the background, and it made me feel like a total badass. And just what IS Brain Johnson alluding to with this cake-cutting business?

"New"- No Doubt. No Doubt was mostly ho-hum to me, but this song does such a good job of describing the hormone-whipped anxiety of the early stages of a relationship that I have to rock out to it once in awhile. The video is entertaining, too.

"Fukken Über Death Party"- Hansel und Gretyl. The singer for this band is my new role model; if I had my way, I would dress this way when I teach. She and Angela Gossow should go bowling together.

"Go Into the Water"- Dethklok. Of course, it's all about Dethklok these days. This video is actually for "Thunderhorse," and it's brilliant. Is it possible to fall in love with cartoon characters?

"The Insight and the Catharsis"- Dimmu Borgir. Possible one of the greatest songs ever recorded. I've probably listened to it 800 times and it still makes me want to give my life to Satan by the end.

That's it on the tunes front for now. In other news, I have been having some crazy armageddon/disaster dreams. Last night's installment included a huge crane, the Olympic gymnasts' team and security camera footage of the destruction. While violent as hell, I admit I kind of like these dreams because they're so unbelievably vivid. Go crazy lady, go!

Putter, putter, putter

2008-10-18T15:50:00.006-04:00

Not a bad day, today. Went for a walk down by the river and listened to The Most Excellent Playlist Ever on my iPod, which I put together last night. The songs are all over the place, but they still flow along pretty well. The best thing about this modern day of iPods is that when you decide that a song is out of place, or there's a bad transition, you can just go back and pull that song out. Not so with the mix tapes of old.

Got home and did some painting, inspired by this blog post. I'm pretty happy with it, even though I kind of look like a jaundiced Carrot Top. I'm an entomologist, OK, I just pretend to be an artist in my spare time.

Cats are busy: Jasper at killing, Jade at impersonating an ouroboros.

And the day would not be complete without a new t-shirt. This was supposed to be a size large, but it's a bit, ah, tight. You know what though, I will not complain about having big boobs. I just refuse.