This dumb quiz says I'm not!
Paris here I come...
| You Are 16% American |
 You're as American as Key Lime Tofu Pie Otherwise known as un-American! You belong in Cairo or Paris... Get out fast - before you end up in Gitmo! |
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Ha, take that!
To all those people who constantly tease me about becoming American...
This dumb quiz says I'm not!
Paris here I come...
This dumb quiz says I'm not!
Paris here I come...
Friday, August 10, 2007
Yes I am a live, kinda
Wow there goes that month, but I really would like to know where it went... Why have I been quiet on the blog front this time? I am just trying to live through every day like everyone else. No apologies, but a warning. This is a bit of a Wah post.
It's all sinking in that I am leaving here at the end of the year (Jan at the latest). Work has started piling up. Some of my experiments take 3 months and I have to carefully use the time I have left. I am freaking out a bit that I just wont get things finished. I knew this was always going to be the case but reality is a different place. Just to give me more pressure, my boss has requested the paper I was going to write up before I left, be finished in October. That's two months away. I'll have to make do with what I have. I had planned to fit in another 3-month-er experiment in before then. Hope it will be okay without it. I also have a student starting in September that I'll have to supervise, and the new person who will take over my project to train. The reason the paper is now to be written by October is because my boss wants me to write another in Dec. I am also being constantly called on to look at/reanalyse/repeat experiments from the person I replaced so that paper can be written up (thankfully by my boss). Somewhere in there I have to find time to do my own experiments and wrap things up in some sort of sensible way so the work can be continued. I _really_ don't want a repeat of what happened when I left my last job. At least I am thinking about all these things now rather than at the end of November. However, I do need to learn how to say "No" a few more times!
I wont go into the stress my mum has added on top of all this with her super-helpful, super-organising mode she currently is in. Helping me to smoothly get out of Houston, "helping" with the wedding... (I know someone has to seeing I can't easily do it from here and manage all that is happening here). I am finding it all too much. I am barely keeping my head above the surface. Hence the silence. I just can't keep up with everything. I also know it is going to get worse before it gets better. Talking with people at work has helped a bit as it serves as a reminder that everyone has problems and pressures to cope with. Puts things in perspective. Venting also makes me feel better. But I am still waking up during the night and then finally giving up on pretending to sleep by 5 am and getting up to find something to do (talk to G if he is around). I usually wake up when the sun comes into my bedroom. But its definitely still dark at 5 am. I am the only cause. I just can't switch my brain off. Stupid brain. Just too much going on.
It's all sinking in that I am leaving here at the end of the year (Jan at the latest). Work has started piling up. Some of my experiments take 3 months and I have to carefully use the time I have left. I am freaking out a bit that I just wont get things finished. I knew this was always going to be the case but reality is a different place. Just to give me more pressure, my boss has requested the paper I was going to write up before I left, be finished in October. That's two months away. I'll have to make do with what I have. I had planned to fit in another 3-month-er experiment in before then. Hope it will be okay without it. I also have a student starting in September that I'll have to supervise, and the new person who will take over my project to train. The reason the paper is now to be written by October is because my boss wants me to write another in Dec. I am also being constantly called on to look at/reanalyse/repeat experiments from the person I replaced so that paper can be written up (thankfully by my boss). Somewhere in there I have to find time to do my own experiments and wrap things up in some sort of sensible way so the work can be continued. I _really_ don't want a repeat of what happened when I left my last job. At least I am thinking about all these things now rather than at the end of November. However, I do need to learn how to say "No" a few more times!
I wont go into the stress my mum has added on top of all this with her super-helpful, super-organising mode she currently is in. Helping me to smoothly get out of Houston, "helping" with the wedding... (I know someone has to seeing I can't easily do it from here and manage all that is happening here). I am finding it all too much. I am barely keeping my head above the surface. Hence the silence. I just can't keep up with everything. I also know it is going to get worse before it gets better. Talking with people at work has helped a bit as it serves as a reminder that everyone has problems and pressures to cope with. Puts things in perspective. Venting also makes me feel better. But I am still waking up during the night and then finally giving up on pretending to sleep by 5 am and getting up to find something to do (talk to G if he is around). I usually wake up when the sun comes into my bedroom. But its definitely still dark at 5 am. I am the only cause. I just can't switch my brain off. Stupid brain. Just too much going on.
Monday, July 9, 2007
The sweeter the apple...
"The sweeter the apple, the blacker the core"
Dorothy Parker (American short-story Writer and Poet, 1893-1967)
What is it about villains and bad boys eating apples? Green apples at that?
Dorothy Parker (American short-story Writer and Poet, 1893-1967)
What is it about villains and bad boys eating apples? Green apples at that?
Sunday, July 8, 2007
Can't think of a title
After Friday and Saturday's concert fest I really had had my fill so today I went shopping instead. I have been desperate for new jeans for work. The holes in my current pair have become too raunchy for the workplace. I hate shopping for jeans, hence why I have continued to wear the old ones until they fell apart. After trying on twelve different pairs I found two that I liked. I also scored two pairs of shoes, a skirt, two pairs of shorts and a new handbag. Not bad really. Mostly all from BT's favourite shop with designer names for bargain prices. I think I was in desperate need of clothes shopping. The last time I did some serious clothes shopping was when JD was here.
It was such a nice day. Today was the first day in a long time where it hasn't rained at all. I forgot what the sun looked like. I quickly remembered what it felt like, hot. Then again while it was bright and sweaty outside, it wasn't that bad. I know it can and will get a lot worse.
Ms Jimmy hear the news about Toni? Glad you guys had fun on Saturday. I was impressed with how smooth the streaming of the concerts went seeing how popular it all was (SMH).
I was searching for images of Captain Barbossa and I came across this site. It isn't in english but the pics are too cute! Not sure how they relate to Captain Barbossa. I was going to post some here, but I couldn't choose which one.
Just for you G no random pic today.
It was such a nice day. Today was the first day in a long time where it hasn't rained at all. I forgot what the sun looked like. I quickly remembered what it felt like, hot. Then again while it was bright and sweaty outside, it wasn't that bad. I know it can and will get a lot worse.
Ms Jimmy hear the news about Toni? Glad you guys had fun on Saturday. I was impressed with how smooth the streaming of the concerts went seeing how popular it all was (SMH).
I was searching for images of Captain Barbossa and I came across this site. It isn't in english but the pics are too cute! Not sure how they relate to Captain Barbossa. I was going to post some here, but I couldn't choose which one.
Just for you G no random pic today.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Music
7/7/07. Today was my Eldest cousin's Birthday.
Today was a productive day which is surprising seeing how little sleep I had last night. I hadn't originally planed on watching the entire Earth Live Sydney concert, but I did and therefore was up until almost 6am. Little did I realise that the online streaming of the concerts is on continuous cycle, so I could have gone to bed at a reasonable hour and then watched the rest in the morning. Oh well. As it was I napped in the boring bits and then when the Sydney concert finished I went to bed for 2.5 hrs as I wanted to watch the London concert starting at 8am Houston time. Yes I am mad. The London concert had the best line up by far. Not surprisingly I feel asleep on the couch and missed a slab of the London concert, but I have had it running in the background all day while I cleaned the house (that was the major productive aspect of the day), cooked dinner (masaman curry) for N and P who came over and stayed around to watch the concert. I now only have it running in the background to catch the slab I slept through. It is not too different to having music going but I can't help but think it goes against everything the concerts were promoting. Instead of conserving energy, I have been running my laptop and tv (laptop hooked up to tv) all day and night. But I have been very conservative with my air-conditioning for someone who lives in Houston! I also catch the bus to work everyday and hardly ever drive my car so maybe it balances out.
Seeing the previous post had a pic from my trip to Dallas, here are pics of one of the very few interesting things to do/see in Dallas.
The site of the JFK assassination.
This one is the old Texas School Book Depository (It’s now the Dallas County Administration Building). The sixth floor is a museum of the JFK assassination and conspiracies. The actual window is set up as it would have been at the time and is permanently half open (the six floor square end window).
People really do mill around and discuss the theories. You can see people pointing to the window and the cross in the middle of the road. They dodge the traffic to run out and take their photos. The markings on the road and curb are remainders of the many investigations that have taken place.
Today was a productive day which is surprising seeing how little sleep I had last night. I hadn't originally planed on watching the entire Earth Live Sydney concert, but I did and therefore was up until almost 6am. Little did I realise that the online streaming of the concerts is on continuous cycle, so I could have gone to bed at a reasonable hour and then watched the rest in the morning. Oh well. As it was I napped in the boring bits and then when the Sydney concert finished I went to bed for 2.5 hrs as I wanted to watch the London concert starting at 8am Houston time. Yes I am mad. The London concert had the best line up by far. Not surprisingly I feel asleep on the couch and missed a slab of the London concert, but I have had it running in the background all day while I cleaned the house (that was the major productive aspect of the day), cooked dinner (masaman curry) for N and P who came over and stayed around to watch the concert. I now only have it running in the background to catch the slab I slept through. It is not too different to having music going but I can't help but think it goes against everything the concerts were promoting. Instead of conserving energy, I have been running my laptop and tv (laptop hooked up to tv) all day and night. But I have been very conservative with my air-conditioning for someone who lives in Houston! I also catch the bus to work everyday and hardly ever drive my car so maybe it balances out.
Seeing the previous post had a pic from my trip to Dallas, here are pics of one of the very few interesting things to do/see in Dallas.
The site of the JFK assassination.
This one is the old Texas School Book Depository (It’s now the Dallas County Administration Building). The sixth floor is a museum of the JFK assassination and conspiracies. The actual window is set up as it would have been at the time and is permanently half open (the six floor square end window).
People really do mill around and discuss the theories. You can see people pointing to the window and the cross in the middle of the road. They dodge the traffic to run out and take their photos. The markings on the road and curb are remainders of the many investigations that have taken place.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Ah, technology
I don't know about this every day posting thing... Is it too much for people to read?!
There was me thinking posting everyday would mean I would have shorter entries but it just goes to show that I can write about anything. Also, that I am simply incapable of writing a short thing...
People often say to me after I do certain things "how unusual...". I catch myself saying it too. I am a little tired of it. I know I am predictable. I hate that too. Things I am predictable for that I am sick of:
- Inability to say things in a few words
- Always having a story for everything (and people have heard most of them so I am often repeating myself)
- Running late
After getting a bit caught up in the iphone hype. I have quickly overcome my excitement. I mean it is a $600US gadget that then requires a $60US monthly plan to use. I like my $40 prepaid mobile where $100US lasts me 8-12 months, I already have an ipod (old and outdated now, it was pre-colour menus and video, but it works fine and I love it's simplicity) and I have high speed internet at work and home -do I really need it in between as well?! My boss has tried to convince me how great BlackBerry's are. She can't live without hers. She takes it with her on holidays so she can keep reading her emails. I think it is rather sad. On holidays you should be avoiding work! That's the point of going away, to give yourself a break. There are times I like being out of contact. Everyone went crazy over iphones. It is a little amusing to see what the crazy people do. Reading SMH the other day I saw this article which includes a video of someone smashing an iphone. YouTube has a few videos of people carefully dismantling their iphones with the skills of a surgeon to see how they work, but the method used in the video in the above link is special.
Talking with G the other day, we ended the conversation with him agreeing to email me with news that we were waiting on. I get up in the morning excited to read the results only to find an empty inbox. It made me think. I realise that I am also slack with emailing people. I use gtalk or messenger daily but that's it. It is a sad day when email is too hard to do.. and we don't communicate if the other person isn't online. We really are a society of instant gratification/response. Digital cameras, instant messaging. So much for the old telephone, and even worse, hand written letters. Very rare. It is amazing to think back to the time when that's how people communicated and the letters could take weeks to get to their destination. They still do in America because US Postal Service is so bad (even internally let alone a letter from here to Australia). In the end, G didn't send me the email because he wanted to wait until he could tell me in person. I was hurt that he didn't write the email but now that I think about it, I was being unreasonably impatient (sorry G), wanting some of that instantaneousness we have become accustom to. It really was nothing to wait 24hrs until I could talk to him again, but I not a patient person and like to know things as soon as possible. My life is full of uncertainty and waiting and I hate it. Yes I am a control freak. Now, I want everything now!
I am doing a lot of literature searches at the moment for work, trawling journal articles. I often reflect how incredibly easy it is with the internet and electronic journal articles - now you can get a copy of papers before they are even published without leaving your desk. No more hours in the library flipping through dusty volumes. I try to think back to how it use to be done without internet.. Literature searching would have been harder and far more time consuming. Ah the days where you looked up books in the library using the card catalogue.
While writing this entry I was watching the Sydney component of the Live Earth concert. Ah magic of the internet. There were even photos up on the SMH website within an hour of the concert starting. It looked like a lovely day in Sydney. The sunset was amazing. Hope you guys at the concert had a blast (did you sway like a boat to Eskimo Joe? Feel the love).
Random pic time:
Here's a pic of the Sam Houston statue north of Houston. It is the world’s tallest statue of an American Hero. I am standing at the base to give it perspective. N and I stopped by the statue on the way to Dallas last year.
There was me thinking posting everyday would mean I would have shorter entries but it just goes to show that I can write about anything. Also, that I am simply incapable of writing a short thing...
People often say to me after I do certain things "how unusual...". I catch myself saying it too. I am a little tired of it. I know I am predictable. I hate that too. Things I am predictable for that I am sick of:
- Inability to say things in a few words
- Always having a story for everything (and people have heard most of them so I am often repeating myself)
- Running late
After getting a bit caught up in the iphone hype. I have quickly overcome my excitement. I mean it is a $600US gadget that then requires a $60US monthly plan to use. I like my $40 prepaid mobile where $100US lasts me 8-12 months, I already have an ipod (old and outdated now, it was pre-colour menus and video, but it works fine and I love it's simplicity) and I have high speed internet at work and home -do I really need it in between as well?! My boss has tried to convince me how great BlackBerry's are. She can't live without hers. She takes it with her on holidays so she can keep reading her emails. I think it is rather sad. On holidays you should be avoiding work! That's the point of going away, to give yourself a break. There are times I like being out of contact. Everyone went crazy over iphones. It is a little amusing to see what the crazy people do. Reading SMH the other day I saw this article which includes a video of someone smashing an iphone. YouTube has a few videos of people carefully dismantling their iphones with the skills of a surgeon to see how they work, but the method used in the video in the above link is special.
Talking with G the other day, we ended the conversation with him agreeing to email me with news that we were waiting on. I get up in the morning excited to read the results only to find an empty inbox. It made me think. I realise that I am also slack with emailing people. I use gtalk or messenger daily but that's it. It is a sad day when email is too hard to do.. and we don't communicate if the other person isn't online. We really are a society of instant gratification/response. Digital cameras, instant messaging. So much for the old telephone, and even worse, hand written letters. Very rare. It is amazing to think back to the time when that's how people communicated and the letters could take weeks to get to their destination. They still do in America because US Postal Service is so bad (even internally let alone a letter from here to Australia). In the end, G didn't send me the email because he wanted to wait until he could tell me in person. I was hurt that he didn't write the email but now that I think about it, I was being unreasonably impatient (sorry G), wanting some of that instantaneousness we have become accustom to. It really was nothing to wait 24hrs until I could talk to him again, but I not a patient person and like to know things as soon as possible. My life is full of uncertainty and waiting and I hate it. Yes I am a control freak. Now, I want everything now!
I am doing a lot of literature searches at the moment for work, trawling journal articles. I often reflect how incredibly easy it is with the internet and electronic journal articles - now you can get a copy of papers before they are even published without leaving your desk. No more hours in the library flipping through dusty volumes. I try to think back to how it use to be done without internet.. Literature searching would have been harder and far more time consuming. Ah the days where you looked up books in the library using the card catalogue.
While writing this entry I was watching the Sydney component of the Live Earth concert. Ah magic of the internet. There were even photos up on the SMH website within an hour of the concert starting. It looked like a lovely day in Sydney. The sunset was amazing. Hope you guys at the concert had a blast (did you sway like a boat to Eskimo Joe? Feel the love).
Random pic time:
Here's a pic of the Sam Houston statue north of Houston. It is the world’s tallest statue of an American Hero. I am standing at the base to give it perspective. N and I stopped by the statue on the way to Dallas last year.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Random observations
So with this daily posting challenge I was worried I wouldn't have anything to write about. I warned BT that it may be rather boring but she wants to hear about my day to day stuff. Things I see on the bus to and from work and such. So the following are some of my wandering thoughts while at the supermarket today.
Germs
The people who inhabit this country are incredibly germaphobic or whatever term you would like to use:
Mysophobia - An abnormal fear of dirt or contamination
Microbiophobia -An abnormal fear of microbes
Bacillophobia - An abnormal fear of bacilli
Bacteriophobia - An abnormal fear of bacteria and other microorganisms
This obsession is made obvious by the number of antibacterial products you can get. Even G thought the antibacterial wipes that are available free from a dispenser to wipe down the handle of your trolley at the supermarket was rather over the top. N was telling me today how a woman she works with is quite germaphobic and after returning home from travelling on a plane she wont hug her son until she has had a shower because of the germs.
Milk inflation
Frustrations. I have been avoiding dairy food for the last two weeks due to an upset tum and so I have decided to try milk again and see if I still have a bad reaction. In the two weeks in which I haven't bought any milk, the price has risen $0.70US. Fortunately today milk was on special but it was still more than I use to pay.
Wrapped shopping bags
I miss the green grocery shopping bags we have at home. I noticed today my supermarket has started to sell the same thing in black for just over a dollar. It comes wrapped in a plastic bag... But don't get me started on the issue of over-packaging that happens here.
Segway not segue
Yes that very bizzare form of transport, that of course is popular here because why would I want to use the legs I was born with when there is an easier way, the Segway. I saw a guy on one this afternoon travelling on the footpath up my street. In the past I have seen people who are information contacts using them because they stand out in a crowd. G and I saw a group of people in Austin mucking around on these. It was a tour group. Definitely a unique way to see the sites of the city -beats the Wally bus as my family call it (because you look like a Wally sitting up there). It would be kinda fun to hire one to play with for a bit however I would still prefer using my legs for the walking. Here's a pic of the group we saw in Austin:
Crazy backward, stubborn, wanna be different country
Spelling - it's the Queen's English I tell you. Making it simple, poor widdle 'mericans can't cope with a few extra vowels.
Measurements - Metric just makes more sense!!! Why are Americans so stubborn?! "Oh it's too hard to change now..." -crappy excuse if you ask me. I am thankful everyday that I work in a scientific field that uses the metric system.
Paper size - why is Letter the US standard? A4 and the other series are all lovely ratios. Maths is wonderful. I remember first looking at Letter sized paper and thought it was weird, all short and fat. I am sad to say that I have become used to it so that when I see A4 it looks so strange and skinny!
Driving - on the WRONG side of the road (it's fun actually because I know it's wrong!) just to assert their independence from England.
Germs
The people who inhabit this country are incredibly germaphobic or whatever term you would like to use:
Mysophobia - An abnormal fear of dirt or contamination
Microbiophobia -An abnormal fear of microbes
Bacillophobia - An abnormal fear of bacilli
Bacteriophobia - An abnormal fear of bacteria and other microorganisms
This obsession is made obvious by the number of antibacterial products you can get. Even G thought the antibacterial wipes that are available free from a dispenser to wipe down the handle of your trolley at the supermarket was rather over the top. N was telling me today how a woman she works with is quite germaphobic and after returning home from travelling on a plane she wont hug her son until she has had a shower because of the germs.
Milk inflation
Frustrations. I have been avoiding dairy food for the last two weeks due to an upset tum and so I have decided to try milk again and see if I still have a bad reaction. In the two weeks in which I haven't bought any milk, the price has risen $0.70US. Fortunately today milk was on special but it was still more than I use to pay.
Wrapped shopping bags
I miss the green grocery shopping bags we have at home. I noticed today my supermarket has started to sell the same thing in black for just over a dollar. It comes wrapped in a plastic bag... But don't get me started on the issue of over-packaging that happens here.
Segway not segue
Yes that very bizzare form of transport, that of course is popular here because why would I want to use the legs I was born with when there is an easier way, the Segway. I saw a guy on one this afternoon travelling on the footpath up my street. In the past I have seen people who are information contacts using them because they stand out in a crowd. G and I saw a group of people in Austin mucking around on these. It was a tour group. Definitely a unique way to see the sites of the city -beats the Wally bus as my family call it (because you look like a Wally sitting up there). It would be kinda fun to hire one to play with for a bit however I would still prefer using my legs for the walking. Here's a pic of the group we saw in Austin:
Crazy backward, stubborn, wanna be different country
Spelling - it's the Queen's English I tell you. Making it simple, poor widdle 'mericans can't cope with a few extra vowels.
Measurements - Metric just makes more sense!!! Why are Americans so stubborn?! "Oh it's too hard to change now..." -crappy excuse if you ask me. I am thankful everyday that I work in a scientific field that uses the metric system.
Paper size - why is Letter the US standard? A4 and the other series are all lovely ratios. Maths is wonderful. I remember first looking at Letter sized paper and thought it was weird, all short and fat. I am sad to say that I have become used to it so that when I see A4 it looks so strange and skinny!
Driving - on the WRONG side of the road (it's fun actually because I know it's wrong!) just to assert their independence from England.
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