I had a dream last night that total atonement for every sin and wrongdoing on my behalf was available and attainable.

Then I woke up.

But I'd still like to universally apologize to anyone/everyone that I've ever hurt or wronged.  Even if you don't know it happened.

PFEDS (Acronym: Post Final Examination Disorientation Syndrome)

  A condition that may immediately follow the end of final examinations that may include any or all of the following symptoms: extreme disorientation, insomnia, confusion, slight depression, inability to focus, reduction in attention span, erratic eating habits, aversion to sunlight, apathy, lack of emotion, sexual frustration, low self esteem.

 Generally theorized to be a mild form of separation anxiety or reaction to a sudden lack of obligations.

Competition? Where are you?

So, I had what appeared to be an infected sore or blister on my finger.  I don't know where it came from, but it hurt and was full of disgusting gunk that I can only hope was only pus and not something else entirely horrible.

So, I decided to try an old folk remedy: honey. I didn't initially have high expectations for it, since I tend to take folk medicine with a grain of salt (not literally, in this case, that would hurt kind of a lot :P).




Anyway, the science behind this is that honey's low pH (~3.5) prevents most pathogenic bacteria from growing.  Additionally, when honey is diluted by body fluids, hydrogen peroxide is released slowly, acting as an antiseptic.

That little bit of theory aside, time for my results:

Almost immediately after dressing the sore on my hand with honey and wrapping it , the pain went away.  It's also ceased oozing nasty yellow goop, which is definitely what I had intended to happen. I'm definitely going to have to chime in with my support for this ancient, natural wound care tactic.  Especially since it should be effective even on antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria.

P.S. Appropriate Song is Appropriate

Some of you may have noticed I've gone missing these past few days.  Well, sorry, but I'm not revealing my location because I need my space, just know that where I am  I am safe and comfortable and taking care of myself (and being well taken care of by friends)  and I'll be back before classes on Monday.  We all come to a point where we need to get away, and I reached it, so I did.

So last night I went to some hippie thing.  It was some day without shoes event, I don't know, something about kids in Uganda walking barefoot on poisonous volcanic ash?  I initially had the intention of keeping my shoes on the entire time, but I felt guilty and took them off, even though it was really cold in the basement in which the event was held.  There were so many hippie types there it was almost like a gallery of bad stereotypes.

Then one of the hippies got up and played this song (original) called "Bailout Blues" with lines like (in reference to Uncle Sam) "Don't point your finger and say that you want me/I refuse to be a pawn/In your corporate strategy" and all I could think about were the hippies on South Park going "The corporations are bad!  They lie to us!" etc.  But the sheer living stereotype of a hippie singing about corporations being bad wasn't what got me about the song.  For three quarters of the song, he sings about how he's got the "bailout blues" and that all the government wants to rescue is bancers and real estate tycoons.....then in the last verse...he's all like...

"At least the new president.....Is tellin me some good news" (insert lines of mindless Obama praise here and you've got the song, just remember to rhyme it with "blues")

That's right...the entire last verse was dedicated to praising Obama and how he promises an end to the "bailout blues."  Please, give me a break.  You can't write a song about hating bailouts and corporate rescues and then praise Obama.  Obama was in support of the bailouts.  Obama rushed that bloated stimulus bill that no one read (and than I doubt anyone has bothered to read yet in full), the main purpose of which was bailing out the financial sector.

Before you go Obambie on me, I voted for Obama, and I don't really give a shit about how amazing you think he is.  I just want people to get their goddamn facts straight.  Don't sing about the "bailout blues" and then praise Obama: he's behind the bailouts 100%.

Moral of the story:  vegan muffins are actually tasty.

I lost my ATM card a month ago and had to cancel in and order a new one.  Unfortunately that one got lost in the mail, so I had to re-order and wait another 7-10 business days for it to arrive.  It finally got here yesterday, but I didn'tremove it from the envelope because I didn't have time to activate it.

Also, I had a bunch of people over yesterday to help clean my apartment up.  And sometime between then and this morning, that envelope went missing.  It wasn't anywhere normal, so I began to expect that it might have gotten thrown away on accident.

Hence, I searched through all the trash inside my apartment, and all the trash cans outside to look for it.  No luck.  Just a bunch of bacteria, probably flesh-eating :/

Then, I found the envelope in my car.  Just sitting on the seat.  WTF :(

It was my second FWA, fifth furry convention, and first time DJing at a convention, so I figured I should make a con report of some sort.


( It's a rather long con report, and it's behind this cut! )

•  

Anyway, I had a great time and I hope everyone enjoyed my sets on the dancefloor despite the lack of the Cha Cha Slide or Sandstorm or Progressive House or Britney Spears!

Yours truly,


<3 Mxali

Mary and I have systematically determined that the most historically significant thing to happen to(in?) Minnesota was the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

According to my Medical/Veterinary Entomology professor, the rate of vector-borne (insect transmitted) disease in an area is inversely proportional to the number of televisions per person and the average number of television channels available.

I can see the headline now.

Cartoon Network Protects Children From West Nile, Parents Advised to Buy Digital Cable.


The same relationship is true for computers and video game consoles.  Just another reason to buy that kid a PS3, yeah?

Title unrelated. 

I haven't really been sleeping well lately, but that's pretty normal.  Part of my sleeping issue has been general soreness, the rest is general restlessness.  I have this weird talent to be insecure about things which I shouldn't be, but oh well. I need to fix this sleeping problem, soon, though.  It makes me end up being tired all the time, and I can't afford to be tired all the time.  I'm considering dropping a class to give myself more time/sanity.


An Atrocity Strikes.

I'm going to be starring in the Tolls of Madness spring production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  I'm starring, as Frank n' Furter.  The theme for the show is "Internets Night" and I'm going to have at least 2 costumes.  One costume will be Kelly, from the Shoes video (OMG, shoes).  Another costume will probably be Raptor Jesus.  If you're not up on internet memes, a quick google search for either will give you insight into what's going on with either costume.  My glasses are nearly identical to Kelly's, anyway.

 

As for a third costume, I'm kind of considering dressing up as GLaDOS from Portal.  I'm not sure how I can make the costume work, though.  I can have the blue/red cores as like, removable breast pieces, or something.  I think that would be appropriate.  And I could get some old brake cables and use plastic/cardboard to make panels for arms or something.  Anyone have any ideas for an anthorpomorphic GLaDOS costume I could make?  The trick is, that I have to be able to put it on in about 6 minutes.  If I did this, we could do an interpretive dance of "STILL ALIVE" after the credits, and have some sort of stunt with a cake.  I think it could be fun.  If I make this costume, expect it to show up at FWA.  I may bring the Kelly costume, too!  If I bring a GLaDOS costume, I will also make Rae dress in an orange jumpsuit and carry a gun.



Raevynne is going to be a Mudkip in the show, and then when she goes out for the floorshow, she's going to be the evolved form of Mudkip (Swampert).  I think it could be funny if she somehow updated her costume to be a Marshstomp in the middle of the show, too, however, it might be a joke lost on the audience. 



Her Mudkip costume gives me the opportunity to make a lot of stupid Pokemon jokes on the show, though. ("Look! Mudkip is evolving!" when she's dancing with Eddie, "Mudkip! Return!" as I throw a pokeball at her when Frank zaps her with the Medusa, "It's super effective!" when she gets killed at the end.)

Tie the Knot.

I'll be spinning a set Saturday night at FWA.  Rocky horror is Friday night, so I actually won't be arriving in ATL until Saturday early afternoon/morning (leaving Blacksburg around 6am, no exceptions).  I'll be making the transition from mainstream to house/trance.  I expect to see everyone on the dance floor, or else I'm going to like, cut someone.  It's going to be a ridiculous weekend!

Quo vadis?


Well, that's about all for this update.  I have class in half an hour.  Then who knows!  Today, something.  Tomorrow, bowling!  It truly is exciting.

"So, I'm DJing at FWA."
"Uh-oh, don't tell me."
"I should play the techno version of 'Never Gonna Give You Up.'"
"You should play it backwards and see if a portal to hell opens on the dancefloor."
"Nah. it'd probably just be a portal to the 80s."
"Same difference?"

verschrankung
1:54 AM
i almost did one of those provocative

1:54 AM
"i'll ____ your _____"s

1:54 AM
but

1:54 AM
"i'll metabolize your fail" is either way kinky or way fail

1:54 AM
which in a way i guess makes it meta

As I get older, I notice that there seems to be a decay in the size of my web of close relationships.  My intimate (read: nonprofessional) interpersonal time seems to be dominated by a smaller and smaller pool of people.  And yet, everyone seems to think I know everyone?  I'm actually always surprised when people say that I know everyone because I feel isolated or out of place often, lately.  It's also incredibly strange to me when people tell me they've heard of me when I first meet them.  Sometimes I feel like I'm not getting the kind of social interaction I need to thrive, but I'm never sure what to do about it.  Other times I think that I'm just not fully happy if I'm not forging relationships with new people, which I haven't been doing a lot of lately.  I've been interacting a lot with new people, but not developing meaningful relationships.  I also feel sometimes like I put stress on the close relationships I do maintain because of the large amount of social interaction I generally require.  I feel like if were more successful at maintaining a diverse body of relationships this would not happen.  Sometimes I wonder if some people I know are purposely excluding me from activities or if they're just forgetting I exist because I seem busy so much.  I can't really tell, but I tend to lean toward the former just because it makes more sense to me and everyone is entitled to be self-defeating.

The worst feeling I have lately is that of being busy but having nothing to do simultaneously.  It's kinda miserable :(
Maybe I'm just going crazy?

MATLAB responds with various simulations if I type "toilet" or "penny" as a command. But, it gives me an "Undefined" error if I type "sex."

I believe this summarizes the life of a computer programmer better than it has ever been summarized before.

Becca Pn.
Friend of the drunk freshman girl at any college party.  Usually has her purse.  Unexplicably missing.


"WHERE'S BECCA!?  BECCA!?  BECCA HAS MY PURSE!  I NEED MY PURSE!   MY CELL PHONE IS IN THERE!  BECCA!  BECCA!  WHERE 'S BECCA!?  MICHAEL MIGHT TEXT ME!  BECCCAAAAA!!!!?  NO!  SHUT UP!  WHERE'S BECCA!?"

Instructions: List the five people you see the most often/spend the most time with and something random about them.  Then, add a random quote you've said to them recently.

1. Mary (xconfuzzledonex ) - I'm Intrigued that the strength of her vortex of fail was able to cause the progress bars on my computer to move both forwards AND backwards.  I've never seen progress on a computer oscillate before.

• "I love compuer programmers....when I don't have to talk to them."

2. Brandon - lol en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_fly

• "It looks like you have Leichmaniasis!"

3. Raevynne( luciddaydream )-  Defiler of my living room floor and green blanket #1

• "We're like cheap pirates."

•  

4. Charles - Defiler of my living room floor and green blanket #2.  I guess this doesn't really count as a random thing since I used it for Rae too.

• "I'm not sure I'd use that as my excuse even if that's what I HAD been doing."

5. Charlotte -  I always pause before I say your name because I never know whether I should call you Charlotte or Charlie.

• (8:02:42 PM) verschrankung: "?.,mnbhgvcfxc vbnm,./"
  \';kljnhbkloihygtfrt5eswasdrgthyuipl[]\][-p0o9-0=0980-9t6i9=[-pi9u=[-p\
• (8:02:45 PM) verschrankung: sorry
  (8:02:48 PM) verschrankung: was cleaning keyboard

www.planetblacksburg.com/2009/01/murder-on-campus.php

I miss the good old days when the worst things we had to worry about on campus were drunk people and pop quizzes. :(

Sigh.

Thoughts on my schedule:

• ENT/BIOL3254 (MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY, Dr. Sally Paulson) -  I really like Dr. Paulson, and the material that this class prospectively involves, but for some reason the lecture for this class is kind of painful.  I think it has something to do with the class size and the cramped room, because I have another class with Dr. Paulson and she's so much more energetic and a great lecturer in that class. There's a lot of material to cover in this class, but since I'm familiar with a lot of it and it overlaps wiSoth the other class that I have with Dr. Paulson, it shouldn't be too bad. 2 lectures per week.
• ENT/BIOL3264 (MEDICAL AND VETERINARY ENTOMOLOGY LAB) - I have this lab tomorrow, so I don't really know much about it, but seeing as I've had graduate level entomology labs and used to teach the insect biology lab, I don't forsee this being a huge issue.  The class requires a collection, but I've done that too.  1 lab per week.
• ENT4984 / 5984 (URBAN AND PUBLIC HEALTH ENTOMOLOGY, Dr. Dini Miller and Dr. Sally Paulson) - I have to wonder if Dr. Paulson knows I'm in her Med/Vet class too, because she did the same exact lecture in this class today as she did in Med/Vet  yesterday. It was amusing; however, it was strange because I felt 100% more engaged than I did in the Med/Vet class, even though I had already taken detailed notes on all the material.  It felt new and interesting, which was really strange.  It could also be due to the smaller, more familiar and intimate room, and the intense class size of 4 students (3 of them are grad students).  This class is going to involve some interesting things, including a field trip to a zoo to learn about pest management in that sort of environment, and crawling under houses to look for termite infestations.  I also have to find some public place with a pest problem, convince the owners that there is a pest problem, and convince them to allow me to poke around and design a pest management program for them.  It will be interesting, that's for sure.  I really, really like the professors, though.  They both seem really nice and knowledgeable.  2 lectures and one (extremely long) lab section per week,
• BIOL4984 / 5984 (INTRODUCTION TO BIONFORMATICS AND COMPUTATIONAL GENOMICS, Dr. Roderick Jensen) - "I've taught intro courses like this at other colleges, and I usually end up hiring the people who do well."  If that isn't motivation to do well in this class, I don't know what is.  The intimidating thing is that this course involves a 10-20 page research project, in depth to the point where he says with his help, our research projects will be nearly ready to submit for publication.  This subject is absolutely fascinating, and I'm hoping that I can find a Bioinformatics project relating to Entomology.   2 hands-on oriented lectures per week.
• BIOL4134 (EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS, Dr. Bruce Turner) - This course is going to be difficult, but the information is kind of right up my alley.  It's basically mathematical biology, so I'm kind of excited to learn this material. 2 lectures per week.
• ENT4254 (INSECT PEST MANAGEMENT, Dr. Douglas Pfeiffer) - The more entomology courses I take, the more I want to make it my carreer.  In previous years, the agricultural side of entomology didn't really interest me, but more and more I see that it's a very important part of the field and if I'm going to make something of it, I should become very familiar with the subject.  Hence, I'm taking this course (and the one that follows).  I took my grad-level Insect Morphology (ENT5114 Insect Structure/Function) with Dr. Pfeiffer, and enjoyed it, so I'm enthusiastic about this class too.  It's interesting because most of the students in the class seem to be very agriculturally-oriented, and I almost look out of place there.  This class includes 2 lectures and one lab section per week.
• ENT/ PPWS4264 (PESTICIDE USAGE, Dr. Donald Mullins) - I haven't met the professor yet, since he's in Mali til next week.  The course doesn't look too bad, and it's a class I once brushed off as being uninteresting, but as I've matured I see the necessity of taking such a course.  The seeming "out of place" is moreso apparent in this class, possibly because it's crosslisted as  a Plant Pathology and Weed Science course.  Some of the other students look like they just dropped in from the farm, heh.  Overall, it should be interesting and I'll have the opportunity to become certified as a pesticide applicator (lol?). 2 lectures, 1 lab per week.

After writing all this down, it has become apparent that I have my work cut out for me, eek!

I love beet chips.



So deliciously amazing.

Flowers, everywhere.  Soft petals raking through my skin... tendrilly little leaf things wrapping around my fingers...but...the smell...the smell...is absolutely awful....flowers....sickeningly sweet...

Fucking flowers.  I hate flowers.