Hey, all,
So those of you paying attention may want to know how the derby game went. Well, I’m here to say it went fine. We had Jessie’s sister and our two nephews there to watch and it all went pretty great. Jessie has improved a lot, I mean A LOT since her last game. She was railing people and hitting girls and made some impressive plays here and there. She also makes a great pivot, that’s where you skate in front and control the pace of the pack. Jess remains injury-free, though, and that’s what counts for me.
I, unfortunately, didn’t get to see the whole game because we had to take the boys home and put them to bed, but there were lots of people there from work, and lots of fun was had by all. Jess was even playing sick, having a stuffy head from some bug she picked up before the boys came over. But she toughed it through and did well. So yay for that. Her team lost, unfortunately, but she had a good time and skated well.
I’ll write more about the weekend with the nephews later, but for now, I’ll close out with this bio I wrote for Jesta Menace. I think I did a pretty good job.
Jesta Menace was a model student at the Sacred Heart School for Girls. Top of her class, friends of both jocks and nerds, and constantly volunteering her time to feed the homeless, often with her own lunch money. She started the “Fuzzy Kitten Rescue and Toddler Tutoring” club her sophmore year in high school and was voted “Least Likely to Ever Get in a Fight With Anyone” three years in a row. Her friends and family had high hopes for her, but all of that changed when she started expanding her horizons into sports.
Jesta Menace has wreaked havoc through more sports teams than she can remember. She tried water polo, but was kicked off the team after trying to drown the opposing coach in the kiddie pool during an away game. She was banned from the hockey team after setting new records for both time in penalty box and number of sticks broken over opponent’s heads. She refused to try any ‘traditional’ sports on the insistence that “there aren’t enough chances to make the other ***** bleed.”
Fortunately, she found roller derby. As a newly-minted member of the Holly Rollers, Jesta Menace has finally found a way to vent all her suppressed rage. Her friends say she’s much more even tempered now, though she will occasionally hip-check strangers into trash cans in the hallway. She’s quick to make friends and hardly ever gets arrested any more. Just don’t get on her bad side.
Which side is that? Her Rail Side.
-N
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
100%
Yes...that's 100% on my public speaking test.
Maybe I'm not so bad at this Communications stuff.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
I did it! And so did they!
Today was the 5k- The Race for Grace my first 5k, ever. In case it isn't clear what a non runner I am, when I was in school I ran a 12 minute mile when that was all we did in class. I've never run a second mile until just a couple weeks ago, so I was nervous about hitting mile three (5K = 3.1 miles), only to say "Just a little farther." But my pottery friend was involved in organizing this fundraiser, since she was a friend of the family that lost their daughter to cancer. She promised that there would be people walking the whole course, so we couldn't be last. So I figured, why not?
Reflections of Grace was hoping to get 300 people to come, and raise $25,000 dollars for their first fundraiser. I was told that the race numbers were given out numerically, and I saw at least 930. The fundraising goal was also met weeks before the race, not counting the money from concessions, the bake sale, the silent auction, Chinese auction, face painting or any of that. It was pretty exciting to see this nascent non-profit blow past their goals like that, and obviously it was a pretty fun day overall
For myself, my goal was to be back before the awards ceremony and hour and fifteen after the start. Not that I was worried about missing my trophy, but I had no idea how long this might take, especially if I coughed up a lung before the first mile was out. Why worry about that? Look at the topo for this race!
Who wouldn't be scared about that final climb up to the finish? I am quite happy to say that we actually finished in under 38 minutes, Matt ran with me. I guess this means I am signing up for the Race for the Cure on Mother's Day- Any one want to try to run a 5k with me?
------ UPDATE-----
Turns out you can register as a 'Team' without Racing for the Cure at the same site. That is, we could form a team with members in Juneau, Seattle, Austin, Pittsburgh and Sonoma, if you all had interest in in teaming up. Then it would be like we ran a 5K together. It's like they say, the family that runs together, cures cancer together.
Intimidated? Check out this easy training program Couch to 5K in 10 weeks.
Reflections of Grace was hoping to get 300 people to come, and raise $25,000 dollars for their first fundraiser. I was told that the race numbers were given out numerically, and I saw at least 930. The fundraising goal was also met weeks before the race, not counting the money from concessions, the bake sale, the silent auction, Chinese auction, face painting or any of that. It was pretty exciting to see this nascent non-profit blow past their goals like that, and obviously it was a pretty fun day overall
For myself, my goal was to be back before the awards ceremony and hour and fifteen after the start. Not that I was worried about missing my trophy, but I had no idea how long this might take, especially if I coughed up a lung before the first mile was out. Why worry about that? Look at the topo for this race!
Who wouldn't be scared about that final climb up to the finish? I am quite happy to say that we actually finished in under 38 minutes, Matt ran with me. I guess this means I am signing up for the Race for the Cure on Mother's Day- Any one want to try to run a 5k with me?------ UPDATE-----
Turns out you can register as a 'Team' without Racing for the Cure at the same site. That is, we could form a team with members in Juneau, Seattle, Austin, Pittsburgh and Sonoma, if you all had interest in in teaming up. Then it would be like we ran a 5K together. It's like they say, the family that runs together, cures cancer together.
Intimidated? Check out this easy training program Couch to 5K in 10 weeks.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Further adventures in home ownership.
So now that we’ve gotten the inside of our house all in order, it’s time to turn our attention to the outside. We have started, of course, with a burr oak in the backyard. It’s currently got little tufts of green springing out all over, so I dare say we’ve done a good job keeping it watered during the off season. Hopefully its roots go deep, now, and it’ll spring up lots of interesting branches and acorns to let us know it’s doing well.
There is, however quite a lot of other land to be maintained around our house, and the largest percentage of that is lawn. Well good for us, we’ve managed to get a lawn care service to come around and trim our lawn every couple of weeks, and while they’ve only come once, the lawn is definitely looking more impressive by stages already. Jessie’s a bit of a lawn nut, so she’s enjoying the improvements a great deal. We’ve also been running the sprinklers as necessary, but that’s quite nice because we can program it to run at 4 in the morning, so the sun is down and the water can get down and do its job before the sun comes up to evaporate it all.
And then there’s our little garden planters. We’ve got a couple of areas around the front of the house that came pre-planted with several perennial and several annual flower types, and since it’s currently ‘plant stuff’ season, we’ve taken to dusting up our front yard with some new plants. Jess did most of the work, going off and getting some pretty annuals to clean up our landscape. There are definite vestiges of previous plants in the area, and we’re letting them grow because, quite simply, we don’t know what they are. There’s a good chance they’re just weeds, but we’ll give them a chance before uprooting them and replacing them with something much more colorful.
I’ve actually been taken by a fancy of growing my own potted trees. When the lawn care guy came around to check out our plot, he pointed out several tiny plants that had come up around our Live Oaks, and then reached down and plucked one from the earth, acorn and all. Turns out our trees have been germinating just fine, and have dotted the landscape with little babies. Well before he came around to chop everything to a uniform height, I decided to rescue a couple of saplings. I’ve currently got them in little pots, and they’re still green, though no larger, so I assume they’re at least doing okay. I’ve got a couple of larger, mostly wider, planter pots that I plan to fill up with potting soil and transferring the trees to to see if they’ll still grow. I’m also planning to drop in some random wildflowers in there to see if they’ll grow. I’m off season for that, unfortunately. I have seeds, and you’re supposed to plant those in the fall so that they germinate over the winter and bloom...well *now*, really. But that’s what these little pots are for. They’re experiments. I just want to see what happens. And if the whole thing goes belly up, I can just till my little potting plants and start over. Experiments.
And if you’re wondering why there haven’t been any pictures yet, it’s because I’m not done storytelling. So hush.
The other experiment I wanted to do was to germinate some burr oak seeds. Jessie’s mom actually sent, with her birthday pack, a quartet of what are supposed to be burr oak acorns. I thought, well, no harm in putting them in some pots and seeing if they turn into something alive. Maybe I can get some more pots for them. Well I set them outside in little pots, and when I got home from work that afternoon, I discovered that squirrels had ransacked my nuts and taken them off somewhere. They were already buried! I just imagine them trotting around, “I smell acorns! They’ve got to be around here somewhere...” and then discovering my hidden treasures. Sillier still, they continued to harry the same set of pots that had held the acorns for another few days, just in case I had decided to try again.
Yesterday, Jess and I were relaxing upstairs in our room, lying in bed, when we heard the pitter-patter of rain on our roof. We love this, let me tell you. Few things are as comforting as know that you own a structure that can keep the weather off of your head. After that, we heard a couple of distant crashes of thunder. Also very exciting. Then, as we continued to lie there, the rain got quickly much heavier. “Pap pap pap tap tap tap whiiiiiirrrrr smack smack smack pitter patter thud thud THUD.” What? Rain isn’t supposed to go thud.
We opened our windows, and we saw this:
That’s not my video. I had my camera off. It’s someone else posting the same storm, though, and I’ll definitely take some thanking now for taking the time to find one without a constant stream of surprised cursing.
Yes, that is golf-ball sized hail falling from the sky. Jess and I watched in stunned amazement as the stuff came down. It bounced pretty heavily off our windows a few times, but nothing has cracked. There are, however, a few notable sources of damage.
This is the only ‘wow’ sort of damage I’ve found. I’m pretty sure it’s just cosmetic, but it’s impressive regardless.
The most obvious victim, unfortunately, has been our fledgeling garden. Several of our small flowers were treated quite roughly by pieces of ice falling at terminal velocity. Can’t imagine why.
The thing I’m most worried about is the roof. I’m actually going to go check our attic after I post this, and maybe call up our insurance company to see that they will do. This sort of craziness is, after all, exactly what we have them for.
Oh, and you should check out this link to the rest of the pictures I took of crazy hail all over our house. Someone let me know if that link doesn't work.
Well that marked the end of that day. I was planning to head off to Wing Tsun, but, predictably, class was cancelled. I’m just glad we weren’t on the freeway when this hit.
Micro News!: Jessie’s sister and her boys come to visit today. We’re going to pick them up this afternoon and they’re going to stay and watch Jessie play Roller Derby on sunday. I got some nasty road rash when roller blading around last week. It’s healing up, but is still obnoxious and *really* ugly looking. Jess took pictures, I’m not posting them. Ew. And yes, I was wearing my protective gear. It would have been *much* worse otherwise. I was off of travel for a while, but now I’m back on. I’ll be traveling from April 2 through the 7, which is shorter at least, but I’ll be supporting a few 22 hour work days. Yum.
Enjoy your weather.
-N
There is, however quite a lot of other land to be maintained around our house, and the largest percentage of that is lawn. Well good for us, we’ve managed to get a lawn care service to come around and trim our lawn every couple of weeks, and while they’ve only come once, the lawn is definitely looking more impressive by stages already. Jessie’s a bit of a lawn nut, so she’s enjoying the improvements a great deal. We’ve also been running the sprinklers as necessary, but that’s quite nice because we can program it to run at 4 in the morning, so the sun is down and the water can get down and do its job before the sun comes up to evaporate it all.
And then there’s our little garden planters. We’ve got a couple of areas around the front of the house that came pre-planted with several perennial and several annual flower types, and since it’s currently ‘plant stuff’ season, we’ve taken to dusting up our front yard with some new plants. Jess did most of the work, going off and getting some pretty annuals to clean up our landscape. There are definite vestiges of previous plants in the area, and we’re letting them grow because, quite simply, we don’t know what they are. There’s a good chance they’re just weeds, but we’ll give them a chance before uprooting them and replacing them with something much more colorful.
I’ve actually been taken by a fancy of growing my own potted trees. When the lawn care guy came around to check out our plot, he pointed out several tiny plants that had come up around our Live Oaks, and then reached down and plucked one from the earth, acorn and all. Turns out our trees have been germinating just fine, and have dotted the landscape with little babies. Well before he came around to chop everything to a uniform height, I decided to rescue a couple of saplings. I’ve currently got them in little pots, and they’re still green, though no larger, so I assume they’re at least doing okay. I’ve got a couple of larger, mostly wider, planter pots that I plan to fill up with potting soil and transferring the trees to to see if they’ll still grow. I’m also planning to drop in some random wildflowers in there to see if they’ll grow. I’m off season for that, unfortunately. I have seeds, and you’re supposed to plant those in the fall so that they germinate over the winter and bloom...well *now*, really. But that’s what these little pots are for. They’re experiments. I just want to see what happens. And if the whole thing goes belly up, I can just till my little potting plants and start over. Experiments.
And if you’re wondering why there haven’t been any pictures yet, it’s because I’m not done storytelling. So hush.
The other experiment I wanted to do was to germinate some burr oak seeds. Jessie’s mom actually sent, with her birthday pack, a quartet of what are supposed to be burr oak acorns. I thought, well, no harm in putting them in some pots and seeing if they turn into something alive. Maybe I can get some more pots for them. Well I set them outside in little pots, and when I got home from work that afternoon, I discovered that squirrels had ransacked my nuts and taken them off somewhere. They were already buried! I just imagine them trotting around, “I smell acorns! They’ve got to be around here somewhere...” and then discovering my hidden treasures. Sillier still, they continued to harry the same set of pots that had held the acorns for another few days, just in case I had decided to try again.
Yesterday, Jess and I were relaxing upstairs in our room, lying in bed, when we heard the pitter-patter of rain on our roof. We love this, let me tell you. Few things are as comforting as know that you own a structure that can keep the weather off of your head. After that, we heard a couple of distant crashes of thunder. Also very exciting. Then, as we continued to lie there, the rain got quickly much heavier. “Pap pap pap tap tap tap whiiiiiirrrrr smack smack smack pitter patter thud thud THUD.” What? Rain isn’t supposed to go thud.
We opened our windows, and we saw this:
That’s not my video. I had my camera off. It’s someone else posting the same storm, though, and I’ll definitely take some thanking now for taking the time to find one without a constant stream of surprised cursing.
Yes, that is golf-ball sized hail falling from the sky. Jess and I watched in stunned amazement as the stuff came down. It bounced pretty heavily off our windows a few times, but nothing has cracked. There are, however, a few notable sources of damage.
 |
| From Hail Storm, March 25, 2009 |
This is the only ‘wow’ sort of damage I’ve found. I’m pretty sure it’s just cosmetic, but it’s impressive regardless.
 |
| From Hail Storm, March 25, 2009 |
The most obvious victim, unfortunately, has been our fledgeling garden. Several of our small flowers were treated quite roughly by pieces of ice falling at terminal velocity. Can’t imagine why.
 |
| From Hail Storm, March 25, 2009 |
The thing I’m most worried about is the roof. I’m actually going to go check our attic after I post this, and maybe call up our insurance company to see that they will do. This sort of craziness is, after all, exactly what we have them for.
Oh, and you should check out this link to the rest of the pictures I took of crazy hail all over our house. Someone let me know if that link doesn't work.
Well that marked the end of that day. I was planning to head off to Wing Tsun, but, predictably, class was cancelled. I’m just glad we weren’t on the freeway when this hit.
Micro News!: Jessie’s sister and her boys come to visit today. We’re going to pick them up this afternoon and they’re going to stay and watch Jessie play Roller Derby on sunday. I got some nasty road rash when roller blading around last week. It’s healing up, but is still obnoxious and *really* ugly looking. Jess took pictures, I’m not posting them. Ew. And yes, I was wearing my protective gear. It would have been *much* worse otherwise. I was off of travel for a while, but now I’m back on. I’ll be traveling from April 2 through the 7, which is shorter at least, but I’ll be supporting a few 22 hour work days. Yum.
Enjoy your weather.
-N
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Raoul is grounded, again
I finally won the stare down with the cat. He was sitting, lazing even, on the dining room table until I (shouting and flailing like a not very effective, but still superior, predator) rushed him on the table and dropped him on the floor. And then we had a stare down. Now El Gato keeps following me around trying to make nice- fat chance, buddy. Not if you keep sneaking back onto the table under the cover of Matt's clean shirts.
While I am on the topic of how absurd my cat is, you have to hear about the 'snack' he made himself the other night. You may know that Raoul drinks out of a kitty fountain- this is mostly because he is spoiled, but partly because we thought his showers might be a sign of mortal dehydration. Sometimes Raoul drags his toys and treasures through it, before dredging them in cat food. I suspect this is to make them more disgusting when you go to fish your hair ties back out of his food, but perhaps not always. On this other morning, when we got up we found his fountain pouring something tea colored onto his little catnip pillow. He was preparing catnip sun-tea!
Micro-news: Friday is the homebrew bash- there isn't really enough beer to make it a Homebrew-only bash, but the entire department will turn out to socialize regardless. I am abysmally unprepared for this 5K Saturday, but I did walk to work this morning. I signed up for another semester of Ceramics, to start in April. If you are hoping for an upgrade- start breaking the old stuff now. Our soldier friend will remain in the states for at least a month before he is sent off to combat- hooray! My undergrad was awarded a summer fellowship to continue his research with me, which makes us both feel good. Matt and I are both dreading changes to our workspace- me to a smaller lab, him to a non-cubicle 'workspace.' No date set yet for either.
That, and I have the most ridiculous cat ever. Stay tuned!
While I am on the topic of how absurd my cat is, you have to hear about the 'snack' he made himself the other night. You may know that Raoul drinks out of a kitty fountain- this is mostly because he is spoiled, but partly because we thought his showers might be a sign of mortal dehydration. Sometimes Raoul drags his toys and treasures through it, before dredging them in cat food. I suspect this is to make them more disgusting when you go to fish your hair ties back out of his food, but perhaps not always. On this other morning, when we got up we found his fountain pouring something tea colored onto his little catnip pillow. He was preparing catnip sun-tea!
Micro-news: Friday is the homebrew bash- there isn't really enough beer to make it a Homebrew-only bash, but the entire department will turn out to socialize regardless. I am abysmally unprepared for this 5K Saturday, but I did walk to work this morning. I signed up for another semester of Ceramics, to start in April. If you are hoping for an upgrade- start breaking the old stuff now. Our soldier friend will remain in the states for at least a month before he is sent off to combat- hooray! My undergrad was awarded a summer fellowship to continue his research with me, which makes us both feel good. Matt and I are both dreading changes to our workspace- me to a smaller lab, him to a non-cubicle 'workspace.' No date set yet for either.
That, and I have the most ridiculous cat ever. Stay tuned!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
My Life
Yes....I know I'm very bad at posting on this, but in my defense I'm not that interesting.
SoOoOoO...here's some stuff I've been up to:
A couple weeks ago I went to Santa Cruz to visit a friend of a friend (who is my friend, I just know her through my friend at sonoma) to celebrate her 21st birthday. It was the weekend after Mardi Gras so it was also themed that. We had a good time, and it turns out bars in Santa Cruz are a lot like the ones in Sonoma. We also spent some time exploring the city and playing on the beach, so it was a really fun trip.
I went camping last weekend, which was fun until the last night when it started raining and we found out the hard way that our tent wasn't waterproof. Needless to say we were ready to leave in the morning. Other than that though, we had a great time. We went hiking, played some card games, stayed up late, built epic fires: successful trip if you ask me.
I got my ears pierced this week. I had to get it done with a needle, because there's scar tissue from the last night I had the pierced. It was actually a lot better than a gun, and my ears don't hurt very much at all. The only annoying part is having to soak my ear in water and sea salt of 10 minutes twice a day. I usually end up spilling water on myself. Not suave.
I've given up junk food for lent, which is going pretty well so far, but it does get difficult on Fridays when I can't eat meat either. I've come up with creative ways to eat hummus and salads. Needless to say I'm really looking forward to Easter, not only 'cause I can eat FOOD again, but I get to see my Nana and Papa AND my siblings. Wahoo!
I just got done with a bunch of midterms and have yet to find out my grades on them. I'm still doing volunteer work at the animal shelter. That's really fun, except for when I take the dogs out on walks and the slip away from me. That's happened to me twice now, which is just kinda embarrassing. Luckily I've been able to catch them each time. On Mondays I do dog walking and cat cuddling because the shelter is closed to the public, and on Thursdays I do client services, so I help people at the front desk. It's fun, keeps me busy, and makes me feel pretty good about myself.
Saturday the Newman Center volunteered at the Peteluma Food Bank, so we met up at 6 am and carpooled over there to make up over 300 boxes of food for needy families. It was really fun, kiind of exhausting, and really early in the morning. We're going to try and make it a monthly thing, maybe starting next semester, since this one is getting close to being done. 
Redeployment Party
Recently, one of our friends got notice that he was being called off inactive duty and would be redeployed for the remainder of his Army service. We have very few details about where he will go, except that "people with his training" were being called back up. He is trained as infantry.
I am very sad about this- I really feel for his large, close-knit extended network of Pittsburgh family and friends, and I feel particularly bad for his girlfriend of 2 years, my co-worker. I can't really imagine having to face such a challenge and being as brave about it as they both are. I feel very powerless to help, but my coworkers and I are trying to be as present and supportive as possible. I've also given up trying to find the "right thing" to say, I am struggling to find anything to say.
We went to the going away party last night, which was remarkably upbeat, for a party that in some sense felt like a preemptive wake. All night long I kept waking up and thinking, "What is Matt were being send away? How do you cope with that?" I suppose I should be grateful that we've never had a draft in my lifetime, I can't imagine how we could cope with a generation of anguish.
I am very sad about this- I really feel for his large, close-knit extended network of Pittsburgh family and friends, and I feel particularly bad for his girlfriend of 2 years, my co-worker. I can't really imagine having to face such a challenge and being as brave about it as they both are. I feel very powerless to help, but my coworkers and I are trying to be as present and supportive as possible. I've also given up trying to find the "right thing" to say, I am struggling to find anything to say.
We went to the going away party last night, which was remarkably upbeat, for a party that in some sense felt like a preemptive wake. All night long I kept waking up and thinking, "What is Matt were being send away? How do you cope with that?" I suppose I should be grateful that we've never had a draft in my lifetime, I can't imagine how we could cope with a generation of anguish.
Friday, March 20, 2009
England, sorta
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| From England! |
So yes, I’m back from England, hale and hearty. The trip was, overall, not a whole lot of fun. We flew out on sunday afternoon, and arrived monday morning, and you know no one sleeps well on a airplane. Our work was in Harrogate, up in Yorkshire. Sheep country. We spent a few hours on monday getting forms filled out and accounts set up, but jet lag set in pretty quickly and we went back to the hotel to sleep.
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| From England! |
Our Inn deserves special mention, though. We stayed at the Queens Head in Kensington. A very british experience. They’ve got a pub downstairs with beer and other preservatives, and they sell lots of delicious, huge, bad-for-you food. We spent most of our off-time there, eating and drinking Old Peculier. Yes, that’s the way it’s spelled. Peculierly. It is a favorite beer of Jim, one of the guys I went with, and I have to admit, it’s really good beer. Smooth and sweet. Reminds me vaguely of apple juice.
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| From England! |
Oh, and you know how I've been buying cups to represent all the countries I've traveled to? Well, maybe you don't, but I got a bamboo cup from Japan and a hardwood bowl from Costa Rica? Well I got a couple of Theakston pint cups from England, one from the very pub I spent all my time drinking in. The owner gave us each one. I also got another from the brewery, you can read about that below. Nice souvenir.
Well, that was most of the week, right there. We went out a couple of times to different places, and I got to try fish and chips and blood pudding (both pretty good) and stuff myself with beer and food. Say what you will about the american health food movement, at least it means you can get a salad every once in a while.
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| From England! |
Well that was most of our week, right there. Wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, come back, eat, sleep. Saturday, though, we did get to check out some breweries. We went up to Masham to check out the Theakson’s brewery and the Black Sheep brewery. Theakston makes the Ol Peculier we had been drinking all week. That place especially was interesting because they have been brewing for roughly 175 years, and all in the same, gravity-fed, ancient process. They added some electric motors and the occasional pump, but other than that, the process was unchanged.
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| From England! |
Black sheep was far more modern, and started by one of the Theakston sons when their company was bought out by a national chain. They also turned out a series of very tasty brews. We got to see their huge vats, brewing away. Smelled like bread. We also got to try a whole bunch of different types of beer. My favorites were generally called ‘Best Bitter.’ I dunno, maybe bitter means something else in beer parlance. I just thought they were quite smooth.
Sunday, we flew back, and I was so homesick for Jessie that we stood and hugged for a good long time before heading home. I missed home very much. It was really nice to be able to sleep next to my wife again.
England, overall, was pretty fun, even though I didn’t get to see that much of it. There’s a good chance I’ll end up going back again, which is sort of a pain, but at least It’s another stamp in the passport. I’ve got a lot of traveling to do to catch up with Jessie.
Oh, and here's the Picasa album where I posted all the pictures. Enjoy!
-N
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Turns out, it's a fundraiser
I mentioned earlier that I am planning to 'participate' in a 5k. This is the Race for Grace, supporting a new Charity intending to support research for a rare type of brain cancer that took the namesake of the charity, Grace. In order to more fully participate in this event, I will share with you my fundraising page.
I'll warn you though- if I don't die doing this, there is a fair chance I'll participate in the Race for the Cure, which will be another time for you to support a good cause and motivate me to go for a run.
I'll warn you though- if I don't die doing this, there is a fair chance I'll participate in the Race for the Cure, which will be another time for you to support a good cause and motivate me to go for a run.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Happy Pi Day!!
Thought the numerically inclined among us would enjoy getting this ditty stuck in their heads for a while on this day of days...
lifted from a CNN column:
In honor of Pi Day, March 14 (because it’s 3/14, like 3.14), I came up with the basis for this song, inspired by Don McClean’s 1971 song “American Pie,” when I was in high school. Feel free sing along with that tune.
American Pi by Elizabeth Landau
A long, long time ago, it was one December when I thought I’d found the end of pi.
And if I’d had some batteries, my efforts would have surely pleased
That math fair judge, and that’s no lie.
But tests and papers made me shiver with every paper they’d deliver.
More bad news in chemistry,
Just needed that time to study.
I can’t remember if I cried when I realized that I hadn’t tried
Before something clicked off deep inside
And then, my calculator died.
CHORUS:So why, why can’t I calculate pi
I just want to see the numbers 3.1415
And if that’s all, then let’s keep it alive
‘Cause my calculator seems to have died.
My calculator seems to have died.
Did you write the law of sines, or draw two perfect parallel lines
Without a ruler helping you?
Can you still use a protractor, or find just one imaginary factor
Of a polynomial of order 2?
Well I had a TI-83 when a great misfortune came to me
The screen began to blur — I couldn’t even find my curve!
I was a lonely teenage computer freak,
My pencils were chewed but my glasses were sleek,
And the future was looking pretty bleak
The day my calculator died.
[CHORUS]
Books, eraser, graphing paper,
I was just a young number chaser
Searching for the holy grail.
Like Archimedes, Ramanujan, and Gregory, Leibniz, van Ceulen,
I could approximate, but then I’d fail!
My calculator was in a daze,
It just wouldn’t run on new AAAs.
The math fair was in an hour
And I was still out of power.
I knew that I was running out of time
A new formula would have been sublime
But all that I could do was rhyme
The day my calculator died.
[CHORUS]
“We know it’s not the pi you eat, this pie’s a far more delicate treat
And it can be so much fun.
Well, Pi is a movie, Pi’s a perfume,
The digits of pi could fill a room,
But could ever find the very last one?”
And although this poem was nice and sweet
In my heart I knew it couldn’t compete.
The other kids had proof.
I felt like such a goof!
And, as I sat down I felt disgraced,
Like I had just gotten a pie in the face.
I knew that I had really lost the race
The day my calculator died.
[CHORUS]
I met a guy in Period 3 who seemed like he could help me
At least he didn’t turn away.
My calculator looked so sad, but I know this kid of course was glad
To make me feel worse on Pi Day.
He said, “I can’t believe you were so dumb.
All you need is a new lithium.”
I asked, “What do you mean?”
He wouldn’t even come clean
And tell me there’s another set of batteries besides the quartet.
So until I get some, and it resets
I think I’ll eat some pie.
So why, why can’t I calculate pi
I just want to see the numbers 3.1415
And if that’s all, then let’s keep it alive
But my calculator didn’t really die!
–p.s. It’s also the birthday of Albert Einstein! And, check out the Science Channel’s salute to pi for more information about one of the most important mathematical constants.
Posted by: Elizabeth Landau -- CNN.com Writer/ProducerFiled under: Mathematics
lifted from a CNN column:
In honor of Pi Day, March 14 (because it’s 3/14, like 3.14), I came up with the basis for this song, inspired by Don McClean’s 1971 song “American Pie,” when I was in high school. Feel free sing along with that tune.
American Pi by Elizabeth Landau
A long, long time ago, it was one December when I thought I’d found the end of pi.
And if I’d had some batteries, my efforts would have surely pleased
That math fair judge, and that’s no lie.
But tests and papers made me shiver with every paper they’d deliver.
More bad news in chemistry,
Just needed that time to study.
I can’t remember if I cried when I realized that I hadn’t tried
Before something clicked off deep inside
And then, my calculator died.
CHORUS:So why, why can’t I calculate pi
I just want to see the numbers 3.1415
And if that’s all, then let’s keep it alive
‘Cause my calculator seems to have died.
My calculator seems to have died.
Did you write the law of sines, or draw two perfect parallel lines
Without a ruler helping you?
Can you still use a protractor, or find just one imaginary factor
Of a polynomial of order 2?
Well I had a TI-83 when a great misfortune came to me
The screen began to blur — I couldn’t even find my curve!
I was a lonely teenage computer freak,
My pencils were chewed but my glasses were sleek,
And the future was looking pretty bleak
The day my calculator died.
[CHORUS]
Books, eraser, graphing paper,
I was just a young number chaser
Searching for the holy grail.
Like Archimedes, Ramanujan, and Gregory, Leibniz, van Ceulen,
I could approximate, but then I’d fail!
My calculator was in a daze,
It just wouldn’t run on new AAAs.
The math fair was in an hour
And I was still out of power.
I knew that I was running out of time
A new formula would have been sublime
But all that I could do was rhyme
The day my calculator died.
[CHORUS]
“We know it’s not the pi you eat, this pie’s a far more delicate treat
And it can be so much fun.
Well, Pi is a movie, Pi’s a perfume,
The digits of pi could fill a room,
But could ever find the very last one?”
And although this poem was nice and sweet
In my heart I knew it couldn’t compete.
The other kids had proof.
I felt like such a goof!
And, as I sat down I felt disgraced,
Like I had just gotten a pie in the face.
I knew that I had really lost the race
The day my calculator died.
[CHORUS]
I met a guy in Period 3 who seemed like he could help me
At least he didn’t turn away.
My calculator looked so sad, but I know this kid of course was glad
To make me feel worse on Pi Day.
He said, “I can’t believe you were so dumb.
All you need is a new lithium.”
I asked, “What do you mean?”
He wouldn’t even come clean
And tell me there’s another set of batteries besides the quartet.
So until I get some, and it resets
I think I’ll eat some pie.
So why, why can’t I calculate pi
I just want to see the numbers 3.1415
And if that’s all, then let’s keep it alive
But my calculator didn’t really die!
–p.s. It’s also the birthday of Albert Einstein! And, check out the Science Channel’s salute to pi for more information about one of the most important mathematical constants.
Posted by: Elizabeth Landau -- CNN.com Writer/ProducerFiled under: Mathematics
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Happy Birthday, Jessie!!
We do not think the day should pass without noting the mixed circumstances of our favorite mathematicians Birthday. That is, we are all blessed and delighted that she is in the family but sad and wistful that her newly beloved is wandering around in England while being paid no less. We remain rather unclear on the contents of her birthday gift list but hope to make amends as soon as intercontinental communication is re-established with our informant.
So, Happy Birthday, Jessie!! Many returns of the day!!
MomanDad Preecs
So, Happy Birthday, Jessie!! Many returns of the day!!
MomanDad Preecs
Note From Papa
From Nana and Papa
After savoring the pix of the recent Pittsburgh visit, papa asked me to post this on the blog:
To all you cat lovers out there: (I assume that includes about everybody in the clan)
Do any of you know how the term "Let the cat out of the bag" originated and what it means now?
Answer: No, Papa. I don't know. Except that my boss used it once to tell me that he told my undergrad (and thereby simultaneously, ME) that we would be working together now. Surprise!
After savoring the pix of the recent Pittsburgh visit, papa asked me to post this on the blog:
To all you cat lovers out there: (I assume that includes about everybody in the clan)
Do any of you know how the term "Let the cat out of the bag" originated and what it means now?
Answer: No, Papa. I don't know. Except that my boss used it once to tell me that he told my undergrad (and thereby simultaneously, ME) that we would be working together now. Surprise!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
All that Stuff
Boy, a lot has happened since I last posted. Mom and Dad came to visit, which was a really vitalizing break in what was otherwise a month of Nose -> Grindstone. I wish I'd had more time to enjoy their company- sometimes it feels like eons between visits- but we did manage to have fun while they were here. I also got to participate in the ordination, which was by far the most Massive Mass I have ever seen. By participate, I mean stand up every time the "entire" Diocese of Juneau was thanked for their support and effort for making the trip. Some one had to stand up.
The surge in work ethic was brought on by my First Annual Thesis Committee Meeting. This is a group of 5 faculty members, including Dr. Boss and Dr. Rockstar, who read the Committee Report, listen to the Annual Departmental Seminar, and then give a completely biased prognosis of your work so far. In this case, it behooves one to use all their professional tricks of the trade to get the nod from the committee- I polished the report for a week. I pulled out all the stops to have really pretty data to talk about. I finessed the seminar so that it was sharp, witty- but not comical, and mostly very promising. In the meeting, the faculty sort of banter about ideas of things I should work on, I make placating sounds and they sign off my Meeting Form which says:
"The committee agrees that Sandlin is making sufficient progress towards her PhD"
Yeah! This goes into a file that will be revisited in a couple years when we talk about Defending, and then they'll say "You've been making progress lo, these many years. I suppose it is time you Defend." I celebrated with a trip to the Zoo (I love the Zoo!) in unseasonably warm weather. And then a couple naps. I was so high-strung it is hard to remember how not to be.
My turn at micro-news: I am training to finish my first 5K at the end of the month (notice finish, not win or even come in sight of such a person). I am also coordinating the department's HomeBrew Bash at the end of the month, although I have not brewed an entry. Matt got a blue-tooth headset so now trash talk can go two ways between Pittsburgh and Austin. The final version of our paper is finally being published- I am famous!
The surge in work ethic was brought on by my First Annual Thesis Committee Meeting. This is a group of 5 faculty members, including Dr. Boss and Dr. Rockstar, who read the Committee Report, listen to the Annual Departmental Seminar, and then give a completely biased prognosis of your work so far. In this case, it behooves one to use all their professional tricks of the trade to get the nod from the committee- I polished the report for a week. I pulled out all the stops to have really pretty data to talk about. I finessed the seminar so that it was sharp, witty- but not comical, and mostly very promising. In the meeting, the faculty sort of banter about ideas of things I should work on, I make placating sounds and they sign off my Meeting Form which says:
"The committee agrees that Sandlin is making sufficient progress towards her PhD"
Yeah! This goes into a file that will be revisited in a couple years when we talk about Defending, and then they'll say "You've been making progress lo, these many years. I suppose it is time you Defend." I celebrated with a trip to the Zoo (I love the Zoo!) in unseasonably warm weather. And then a couple naps. I was so high-strung it is hard to remember how not to be.
My turn at micro-news: I am training to finish my first 5K at the end of the month (notice finish, not win or even come in sight of such a person). I am also coordinating the department's HomeBrew Bash at the end of the month, although I have not brewed an entry. Matt got a blue-tooth headset so now trash talk can go two ways between Pittsburgh and Austin. The final version of our paper is finally being published- I am famous!
Monday, March 9, 2009
I'm in the Queens Head
Well, we've landed in England, short and sleep and long on jetlag. We're staying in a proper pub near where we're going to be working called the 'Queens Head'. I'm in the Victoria room. It's quite lovely. Pretty soon now we're going to be trotting of to see if we can get some work done before our bodies tell us it's dinnertime and time to catch Zs.
So far, it reminds me a bit of Seattle, but with MUCH OLDER BUILDINGS. Green and a little overgrown everywhere, but there are some buildings here that truly qualify as ancient. And then I feel asleep in the car, so further impressions will have to wait.
Cheers and pip-pip.
-N
So far, it reminds me a bit of Seattle, but with MUCH OLDER BUILDINGS. Green and a little overgrown everywhere, but there are some buildings here that truly qualify as ancient. And then I feel asleep in the car, so further impressions will have to wait.
Cheers and pip-pip.
-N
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Pittsburgh Ordination
So last weekend Connie and I went to the ordination of our new Bishop who just happens to be from Pittsburgh where he is beloved. They clearly wanted to give him a big she-bang promotion ceremony which we locals couldn't hope to replicate. We get to do our modest best for his "installation" here in Juneau, but this was something to behold in the great ceremonial traditions of the church. We also got a nice visit with the sweetie-face and her family, to include our introduction to Raoul.
We also got to experience the sophistication of big-city dining at assorted French, Ethiopian, and converted church brewhouse establishments with some old friends as well. The Brewhouse set the standard for sophistication with rattlesnake dumpling appetizers that we all agree tastes like chicken, just like they say in the old westerns.
The main event was just as pomped and circumstantial as one can get this side of the Vatican: 150 preists, 20 bishops, archbishops and papal nuncio's, 10,000 piped organs, brass and tympanies in the choir loft, professional cantors, etc., etc. To be honest, we're rather intimidated. We know this fellow has seen us and understands what he is getting into. Its just a little embarrassing to feel like we need to measure up.
Will keep you abreast of our various efforts and remodel stages but for now this posting process is defeating me. Dad
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
My Excuse
I know it has been a while since I posted- but face it, it's been a while since you posted to. I've been spending a lot of time preparing for my first annual thesis committee meeting and my departmental seminar. BOTH this Friday. Wish me luck. If you have a lot of free time on your hands, I can share my powerpoint slides and you can see the GROSS pictures of diseases caused by my viruses that Dad helped me find, and appreciate the consistency of capitalization in my titles- since I know Dr. Boss does.
Head's up- I have major plans to SLEEP before I get to update on MomanDad's Most Excellent Adventure in Steel City.
Head's up- I have major plans to SLEEP before I get to update on MomanDad's Most Excellent Adventure in Steel City.
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