twice in a lifetime

I know, I know, two posts in one day--next thing you know I'll be blogging regularly again or something. In all seriousness, though, this is one of the coolest things I've seen lately:

Send your name to the moon with NASA.

If you input your name, NASA will put it on a microchip that they are sending up with the Lunar Reconnaisance Orbiter later this year. You even get a swell certificate to showcase your support of the mission.

link via Bonnie

Hogwarts Time Again

If you are a knitterly type, or a Harry Potterly type, you may well be interested to know that sign ups for the Hogwarts Sock Kit Swap are going on now over at the HSKS5 blog. It was a cracking good time last time, and if you'd like more information, you can always check out the main HSKS5 site or find us on Ravelry. Don't worry if you're a new knitter--one of the nice things about this swap is that it works to provide you with some of the fundamentals you need to tackle projects, and you also wind up meeting a lot of very nice, very supportive people who can help you to learn new skills.

history repeats, etc.

Since the end of the school term, I've been puttering around a bit aimlessly. I'm contemplating dyeing my own yarn; buying out Wal-Mart's remaining stock of Sean Sheep; working on that screenplay idea I have been thinking about for the last six months; cleaning my apartment; and, of course, that novel that I want to write.

Today, I actually had a purpose, though--the university played host to the regional Historica fair, and I had volunteered to be a judge. I was only responsible for five projects, so I had plenty of time to walk around and look at the other projects. I was very impressed by the depth and dedication the students showed to their projects--one of the ones I was responsible for was, I think, one of the best there. It's tremendous to see eleven year olds that are so devoted to history.

tightrope walker

It occured to me just now that I haven't blogged in a bit. There are a variety of reasons for that. The biggest one, of course, is the j-o-b; I've been marking for what seems like the last month solid, and that's been consuming all of my time, and a good portion of my will to live. Thankfully, I have finally finished, and submitted my marks, and gone out for my celebratory margarita (it was a strawberry kiwi and delicious, just so you know).

I have also been knitting up a storm, mostly for the various babies that seem to keep being born. My friends are a ridiculously fertile lot this year. I'm working on a pair of socks for myself, but I forgot them at my parents' the last time I was visiting so work has temporarily stalled in that area.

Speaking of work temporarily stalling, the school has decided to build a new wing beside the wing in which my office resides. (No word yet on when we'll finally start having actual separate buildings instead of just wings.) First, there was shaking. They broke the ground, still sort of frozen from the winter, and rattled my office around. Then, they took out my window. Don't get me wrong--I'm not actually cool enough to have my own window in my office, but there was a really cool window down at the end of the hall:

Now, alas, that window is no more. The construction crew took it out and drywalled over the hole of where it used to be. I am considering printing an 8x10 of that picture and putting it on the wall where the window was, but I can't decide if people would find that jerky. Oh well...even if it is jerky, I think I'll do it. I miss my window, after all. Now I'll never know what the weather's like outside.

I'm being evaluated in approximately 3 hours. Let's hope I can come back next year.

momku

quiet,white,fresh snow
cats stretched full in the warm rays
spring's around the bend

I could really do to lose my Catholic conscience...

I'm not, as most of you know, Catholic, but I sure know how to feel guilty like one.

It's been a stressful couple of days 'round these parts. It's that time of year, I guess, and I also kind of suspect that this must be a full moon week. The silver lining in this weekend has been that the Bay area really caught only the edges of that massive snowstorm that's messed up the rest of the province, meaning that we got 5 cm compared to the 30-40+ experience by other areas of the province.

International Women's Week happened this week, and it was nice to be able to participate in that sort of thing again. Dr. Monia Mazigh was the keynote speaker this year, and she was very interesting, if a little brief. I also got to see the Vagina Monologues, and have come to the conclusion that I really don't like the play at all. I actually have a prolonged and extended critique to write someday, but I'll save it for then, because I would hate for anyone in this particular production to feel that my criticisms were of them rather than with the play itself.

The youngest sister is up for the weekend, and is currently sleeping peacefully on my bed. She's had a long couple of days, too. She's in town with her boyfriend and his parents, and I had to pick her up from their hotel last night around 11:30. When we got back here, a guy had managed to run out of gas AND kill his battery in the intersection nearest my house, and he asked us to give him a boost.

The whole situation was a bit weird, and I really didn't know what to do--there was definitely a creepy vibe. (I've also never boosted a car before, and my own battery is low, since it's almost six years old now.) We gave him the initial boost after he got back from the gas station, and then hightailed it back to the house, and turned all the lights off, etc. I'm pretty sure he came knocking at the door again, but I really had no desire to go back out there.

I feel really guilty about not going back to help him. But at the same time, as two young females, what other choice did we have, especially given the creepy vibes we both had from him? (Also, if his battery managed to die at the same time as his car ran out of gas, doesn't that imply that there's something perhaps more seriously wrong with his vehicle?) I hate that I have to choose between helping someone and my safety...but what other choice do I have?

shave and a haircut...

Before:




After:

Lego MMO and a good laugh

From those guys at Red vs. Blue:

An MMO based on the Lego universe was just announced.
Burnie -- Some things seem like a great idea for kids, but in reality are actually harmful. Like aspirins that have a tasty orange flavor. Or those scented markers that teach kids to huff. Why do they make those?
Geoff -- This does not bode well for the Lincoln Log MMO I've been trying to get off the ground.
Jack -- Finally, an MMO that mixes my favorite solitary activity as a kid with my favorite solitary activity as an adult!
Nathan -- It takes you 8 hours to build your LEGO castle, and 8 seconds for me to break it down with my LEGO lightsaber. Sounds awesome.

*sigh*

Sad but true, folks, sad but true.