Dream Propulsion Engineer

When it is after midnight and you see a lady you do not know walking down the street with a six-pack, it is never appropriate to holler after her. It is especially never appropriate to follow her and call out about buying one of her beers. It is least appropriate to attempt to open the door to her apartment building if you do not catch up to her in time to, what? Tap her on the shoulder? Grab her arm? Wave your hand in front of her face? Engage her in unwanted conversation?

You and I, sir, we are not interacting. If you force an interaction, you will not like what you get. We are not even going to talk about how much you shouldn't be doing what you are doing. I am ignoring you ON PURPOSE.

Also, my beer is too good for you.

the hedge abides.

Friday was for dealing with the little stuff at work that had been neglected as we tried to gather as much supporting information as possible for the newest NSF grant. The grant is out. We'll hear back no earlier than October. Please don't ask before then.

Then mairi2 and I braved the HighlandFest for Harry Potter, which was absolutely worth seeing. Rupert Grint and Tom Felton have turned into pretty good actors. Too bad it's not "Ronald Weasley and the Half Blood Prince." But I will also admit to a significant Weasley Bias.

Mary and I stopped at Merlin's Rest for night at the pub, wherefrom I was transferred to the capable paws of Mya for an adventure in Microcinema: the second screening of Sherlock Jr with The Electric House at the Trylon microcinema at 32nd and Minnehaha. Those are two of my favorite Buster Keaton movies, there was live music (musical saw! does it get any better?), the seats were comfy, the snacks were reasonable, and I don't think I've ever been that happy to be in a sold-out movie theatre before! Keep an eye out for future screenings at http://take-up.org/.

Saturday was my daycare sister's wedding reception. Katie was my closest cohort, and we had some pretty good times growing up. Even if she is bossy. It is weird to see someone you used to see daily and haven't seen for more than a couple hours at a time in years. I think this must be what most peoples' family gatherings are like, but I am unaccustomed.

It was cool and cloudy and I meant to do some grooming of my car, some rustbusting and washing and waxing, but Mya didn't have to go to Ely after all, so we got a head start on Jesse Stone mysteries. Enough of a head start that we got to watch The Italian Job after, but not such a head start that Brixton didn't fall asleep. I should really be watching more heist movies.

Brixton dropped me off at Mary and Dan's, where I holed up in the attic for a day of fishing. I caught a sunburn and some sunfish, discovered that my shoulder is not in as good of shape as it could be, and just now caught a case of deja vu. Which probably just means that I've had to remember and retype bits of this entry too many times, trying to catch all the places where my pissy keyboard has refused to type the "i" that I told it to type. How does all this cat hair get in here, anyway?

Probably the same way my issue of Monica's "Abandon Everything, Save Yourself" propaganda got crumpled. And the same way there are tiny bits of cardboard on my kitchen floor. And holes in my couch. Ruiners.

the hedge abides.

Many of you may be interested in this article about trans students at women's colleges:
When She Graduates as He.

Mya and I went to see "The Last King of Scotland" at the Riverview this weekend. It was... graphic.

I also have new jeans and a raincoat which is exciting.

Medical school is frustrating. I need to take another semester of college classes before I'll be able to get in, which is both a logistical nightmare and another delay. Aargh.

Now I should read this exciting review paper. And analyze my RIA data.

I study neural control and circadian regulation of the adrenal stress response. What exactly do you guys think I do over the course of a day? What is your understanding of scientific research in general? Science policy? Scientists?

the hedge abides.

Ok, I think I'm caught up with everybody in regards to fivequestions and seventhings. *doublechecks* Yeah, done.

Now, I want to encourage people who got fivequestions from me to post the questions and answers on their journals, in the interest of perpetuating this pyramid scheme meme.

Also, I would like any fivequestionses from all y'all. crowgoddess is exempt, on account of her being a gimp. Who is moving to Texas. However, if she would be so kind as to back me up on the correct pluralization of "y'all" at some point when she is less broken, it would be greatly appreciated.

As for regular life, I spent a fantastic weekend in Northampton with Kacie- we took kayaks out on Paradise and admired her crazy apple seedlings growing inside her apple and mothered the seniors getting ready for senior ball and walked a bit and loved. It is shaky but good, and I got to exclaim over everyone and eat lots of food that I didn't have to buy or prepare or clean-up-after, and help Laura with her thesis presentation (talking science is fun!)

Now I've just paid my 6-month car insurance premium in full (first time that's happened). zillapook cut my hair last night, as it took literally actually I-timed-it fifteen minutes to comb my hair after my last shower. It's something like 4 inches shorter... I regret the loss of length, but it feels a darn sight better. Earlier this evening, I planned and did some research for our Girl Scout meeting, where we will be learning some camping skills (bandana tricks, trail signs, cloud types, orienteering, and setting up a tent).

This weekend I'll be spending Cinco de Mayo ('cos I'm sooo Mexican) locked into the NY State Museum with my Girl Sprouts, learning about local AmIndian tribes (mostly Iraquois, I believe). They let the survivors out around 10am, to stagger home. Hopefully you will hear from me then, as I am supposed to drive to Smith again that day, so that Laura and I can drive to Boston on Sunday. It's rather a graduation present that I'm chaffeuring her to Boston for some job interviews and apartment hunting, but we'll also get time to met up with Alex and maybe starcatsinging (and maybe pants_of_doom?) while there. Then back to Smith and then on to Albany, where I will arrive late on Monday evening, a tank of gas and some insanity later...

As for the amorphous future, there was an article in the Metroland about the Woman's Club of Albany, an institution that is almost a century old but nearly petered out a few years back. They're enjoying a revival of sorts lately, and I got the idea to see if they'd be interested in a Bead for Life beadwear party. This is the project on which Kacie worked while in Kampala, and a great group in general. I've been wanting to host a party, but the trouble is that most of the people that I know are poor and/or students, and it just wouldn't be successful. This would be a great group to host a party for, though. This won't be until after Sprouts is over for the summer, though.

As for free time, I'm enjoying the mass of Texas Ranch House this week. Good fun. Would be more fun if paddle2paddle was on it, though... Better than that Ian fool, that's for sure. I started but then put down a J. Robert Oppenheimer (see? he went by his middle name!) biography, just finished Libba Bray's new book, Rebel Angels (OMG YAF. piratehearts, have you read these? starcatsinging? crowgoddess?), tore through Chris Baldwin's first Little Dee collection, and I'm now reading Heinlein's Beyond this Horizon.

That was a lot of damn html. Phooey.

Oh, and I had weird dreams about The Boy last night, which were kind of haunting. I hope for a more normal day tomorrow.

the hedge abides.