which is fitting, I suppose, because it rained during his funeral. Today, I cried. Hot tears that hurt as the forced their way past my lashes. Too many people were hurting to not be empathetic. My mom was shaking so hard I was scared something would happen to her. And Nick...he just stands there like a talk dark shape and just looks heartsick. I can't even imagine how Aunt Roberta feels, with her empty bed.

But I know he was loved. The visitation last night lasted four hours and it had to. There were people there the whole time. Nick's friends from school came. Old teachers came. Friends from his work. From his older work. He touched so many lives.

I believe...that my life's gonna see...the love I give...returned to me...

and you know how strong emotion can lead to excessive creativity?

What's the weather like in heaven?
I bet it's always perfect.
Down here it's raining.
But you loved the rain, so maybe that's perfect too.

I think I'll go play in the rain.

I miss you, Uncle Johnnie. We all do.

{Ed. Note: this is last friday's entry. x-posted from my LJ because my server was down last week. Deal.}

Posted by Jen at 9:30 AM | Permalink |

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Today is my uncle's memorial. It'll also be a rather busy day, which sucks. Hopefully I'll be able to leave in time to make it to the funeral parlor. I don't even like to think about that. But I noticed that I was annoyed at little things on the way to work. And someone nearly rear-ended me during the drive. Wouldn't that have been a great way to start the morning.

Does it make me a bad person that one of the first things I thought about after I was told that he died was, who's going to do the website? It's terrible. At least I feel a little better because I wasn't the only one thinking of that. Luckily we were able to figure out who hosted my mom's site (and the gallery site that my mom, aunt and uncle were going to set up) and hopefully there is some way we can get them to give us the information so we can keep them going.

sigh. I guess I should get on that busy work day...I'm already late as it is.

Posted by Jen at 9:25 AM | Permalink

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Rest in peace.

My uncle is dead. I've repeated that to myself so many times today you'd think that I could believe it. But I don't. People in our family don't die. He was the youngest of my grandparents' children, only 48. Always the one with a joke filled with dry humor or a funny face during thanksgiving dinner.

Forgive me if I take a quote from the Two Towers, after seeing my grandparents:

No parent should have to bury their child.

He was there and then he wasn't. He was never fine, after the pancreatic islet cell cancer was diagnosed, but he wasn't gone. He was still joking about how horrible the food was at the hospital and as soon as he got off the clear liquid diet he wanted some strawberries and cream Edy's ice cream with some Famous Amos cookies. I asked him which kind and he said, oh, get 'em all.

Into the West made me cry.

Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
The night is falling
You have come to journey's end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore

And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the West

I'm so silly, aren't I? And yet again, I don't seem to have tears. Why don't I believe it? I felt for sure that he would wake up and say, ha, it's all a joke. He had the equivalent of nearly three people's blood in him sunday/monday night alone.

They're going to donate his corneas. Someone else will be able to see because of him.

*bawl*

Thank you for the hugs and well wishes. It means more than you know.

Say a prayer for Aunt Roberta and Nick for me. And Grandma and Grandpa, and Mom and Aunt Carol...he affected so many lives. Keep watch over us, ok? we love you, we miss you.

Posted by Jen at 3:29 PM | Permalink

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Or at least my literature-reading betterment. I just finished Ned Kelly (aka Our Sunshine, the book that the eponymous movie is based on) and I'm starting the Iliad today. Yes, I am reading an ancient classic for fun. I'll try to, anyway. Alex says I'll like it. And you know the reason I read or will read these books is because there's a hot guy called Orlando Bloom in the movies...so now I have a glorious face to put with the characters Yes, I know, it's a silly reason to read lit books but hey. I've got to get excited about something.

Btw: Ned Kelly is a really good book. It took me half a day to finish only because I spent three hours and twenty minutes yesterday seeing Return of the King for the fourth time. Yes folks, it's true, I have now been in a theater for thirteen hours and twenty minutes because I love that movie so much. I reserved my copy of RotK on dvd this weekend (along with spending lots and lots of money at the mall--bad jen!) and I'll get an exclusive Aragorn figurine on may 25 when I go pick it up. That date can't come too soon. Unlike Leo I can watch movies over and over and over again And in case you're wondering...yes, it's still good. Even if Legolas is Captain Obvious. I've heard he'll have more (meaningful) lines in the extended edition (which is still (!) scheduled for a Christmas release ;-P).

And on a much different note. My uncle as you may or may not know has been battling pancreatic cancer for a goodly while now, and my mom just told me that it's gotten worse. So if you're the praying type I'd really appreciate your help. And go out and give blood because he's used up about ten people's so far.

You can tell it took me a while to get this whole entry down. I called my mom in the middle of it. Funny how you can go from rather content to pretty depressed so quickly.

Posted by Jen at 1:25 PM | Permalink

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(by Eric Vesper, taken from a girl on the track team's im profile)
The simplest of acids has got to be Glycine
And if it's a long one, it's probably Lysine
Alanine's simple, its has just one methyl
Valine is bigger; it's one methylethyl
And Aspartic Acid has one CH2 there
But if it's Glutamic, why then there are two there
Tryptophan, Tyrosine both have their rings
And, too, Phenylalanine, one of those things
If you like hydroxyls then Serine's your chain
And, if that one's taken, Threonine remains
Arginine has an abundance of N's
Just like Asparagine (Glutamine's friend)
Cysteine has sulfur, pK eight-point-three
Methionine's sulfur binds with CH3
Histidine flip-flops when mildly acid
Leucine is bulky and also quite placid
Then there's Isoleusine, which branches quite early
And finally Proline, whose structure's quite squirrelly.
So if it's an acid whose name is one we know
Chances are good the acid's amino

Posted by Jen at 3:41 PM | Permalink |

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"One leaf for HOPE;
the second for FAITH;
the third for LOVE;
and the fourth for LUCK!"

Because Lord knows we all need a little luck.
Four-leaf Clover

Posted by Jen at 10:04 AM | Permalink

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This is one of my favorite holidays because a) you're supposed to wear green, and that's my favorite color (in case you didn't notice ) and b) it's on the 17th, which happens to be one of my favorite numbers. So it's a good thing. But this day is going to suck, really. I'm about to start on two isolations...and I have to pick up two bloods...can't mix up the plasmas this time...and I have to try to finish early enough to head over to the DMV because some jerk stole my tabs...and I have to call my dad and tell him that the car needs to be worked on (smoke from the hood is generally a bad thing) and that means that I should probably fix the airbag and the windshield wipers...

but then I get to go out tonight. That should be good. As long as I remember to tape Survivor

So happy St. Pat's ... I hope yours is less busy than mine!

Posted by Jen at 9:56 AM | Permalink

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So the other night after my mom's art show we were watching one of Ellen's HBO comedy specials, and just about all of it was frickin' hilarious. But there was one meandering thought that just made me bust out laughing, and I had to write it down because I knew I would forget it, and I knew I wanted to share it with you fine folks

"Sometimes I think fashion designers are just seeing what they can make us wear. I'm talking about, you know, the sarong and the sari--I think they're the same thing, but if they're not, I'm 'sarong' and 'sari' ...

Get it? 'So wrong' and 'sorry'?

Yeah. I thought it was funny.

I wonder if she has dvds? Or maybe it's only funny the first time around. Who knows.

x-posted at my LJ.

oy. too bad I don't have st. patrick's day off. it's going to be busy. But possibly I'll go have fun with the gals at a pub somewhere later that night. And isn't it great when I have a VLDL and 2 OGTTs in one day? I don't care if you know what those mean...it just means a heckuva lot of work for me.

Posted by Jen at 5:59 PM | Permalink |

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I finished Fool's Fate last night. What an amazing story. It was the last book in a trilogy which was itself the last set in a nine-book arc...so it was sort of sad, reading to the end. You know, end of the line and all that. But still, I couldn't put it down. I suppose there was a pretty good sense of completion. Everything just seemed to fit together well. I guess Ms. Hobb has a wonderful editor It's definitely inspiring to my writing. And guitar playing, oddly enough... The story of FitzChivalry Farseer and his adventures have come to an end. Or so she says....There's a lot of darkness in these books, but there's always some levity somewhere, a bright spot to show you that yes, good will triumph, though not without suffering. I just wish I could write as well as she does. Maybe someday...I highly recommend this series to anyone the slightest bit interested in fantasy, magic, medieval-seeming settings...it's beautifully done. I picked up this 600+ pager on Saturday afternoon and I finished it last night before I slept. A good way to finish any book, in my opinion

I get to see Hidalgo with Molly on Sunday. That makes me happy. More Viggo on a horse!

Posted by Jen at 6:03 PM | Permalink

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This scares me. But it's funny in a twisted sort of way.
Reason: unknown

Posted by Jen at 5:54 PM | Permalink

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Heh. Did I get your attention? Actually those are two totally unrelated items, but you know me, I love alliteration and a catchy subject line.
Anyway, both items pertaining to the title happened Wednesday night, so I guess they are somewhat connected.

So, re: sushi...never had it before wednesday. Leo loves it, and other people I've talked to really like it, so putting my childhood bias about eating raw fish aside, I decided to let myself try it. Kenichi (the funny Japanese guy who isn't in our lab but does a lot of experiments with us anyway) was taking Mark (the now part-time guy tech in the lab) out to dinner. Not sure why, and they're the type of guys who can't say two words without insulting each other, but neither seems to mind. Anyway, going out to dinner, and I got invited. We were thinking about the Cheesecake factory, which would have been great, but then Mark mentioned how he liked japanese food so we decided to go to Sekisui, a relatively new place on Grand. When I told them I'd never had it before that pretty much sealed it. And I must admit, it was pretty good. We had a LOT of food! Eel, flat fish fin muscle (eep, but good), california rolls, dragon rolls, spider rolls...st louis rolls! I am not quite sure what was in all of these things, but they were good regardless. Now, I'm not a big fan of fish in the first place, so I probably won't be going again soon...also it's expensive! I caught a glimpse of the check and it was over $100...thank goodness Kenichi is a nice guy and paid for it We managed to finish off everything we got, and Mark said something along the lines of 'I didn't think you'd be able to eat all that.' eh. From him, who eats all the time, I guess it was sort of a compliment...didn't quite know how to take it. Whatever. We were all hungry by the time the food finally got there! So final verdict: good, but will probably never be my first choice.

And re: seduction, I finally got the new Laurell K Hamilton book from the library: Seduced by Moonlight. Kate will be happy to know that I read it in two days, including working hours. It's a pretty quick read. A good story, this is the third book in the Merry Gentry series. This series is the 'other' series LKH writes, and I still like the Anita Blake books better, but she does have a way of grabbing onto your interest and not letting go. I'm glad I didn't buy this one, however. It was just a little too short and didn't really...end, I guess. I will say that LKH is very good at making you want to know what's going to happen in the next book and makes you want to know now! sigh.

I'm a little peeved at this moment because I just found out that the last book I have on request arrived at the library today. Unfortunately the library is only open til 5 on fridays so even if I left now it would be a stretch to make it on time. And since Mom's art show is tomorrow it's doubtful that I'll be able to make it then either...ah well. I WILL pick up Fool's Fate and learn what happens to FitzChivalry. It just might be monday before I can launch into that one...which is probably a good thing, considering I still have four other books to read that I've kept out for nearly three weeks now. Newton's Cannon is suprisingly good for an alternate scientific universe yarn.

One of these days I'll figure out the amazon plugin so I can *ahem* plug those books.

Posted by Jen at 4:56 PM | Permalink

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I laughed. You will too.

Nutcases cheer during the Oscars, no matter what...

Posted by Jen at 12:02 PM | Permalink |

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Well color me happy. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King won all 11 awards it was nominated for, tying it with Titanic and Ben-Hur as the most decorated Oscar winner. Everyone in New Zealand got thanked at least twice, and most probably three times...it's not that big of a country We even got thanked...and by we I mean the fans, the extremely happy fans, the obsessive ones...ok, maybe that's just me.

RETURN OF THE KING: BEST PICTURE!
Peter Jackson for Best Director
Grant Major and Dan Hennah won the Oscar for Best Art Direction.
Ngila Dickson and Richard Taylor won for Best Costume.
Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook and Alex Funke for Best Visual Effects.
Richard Taylor and Peter King for Best Makeup.
Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges and Hammond Peek for Best Sound Mixing.
Howard Shore won for Best Original Score.
James Selkirk won for Best Film Editing.
Annie Lennox, Fran Walsh and Howard Shore won for Best Music (Song).
Fran Walsh, Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens won for Best Adapted Screenplay.
(from TORn.)

Still appalled that there was no nom for Cinematography, but I guess since a LotR movie has won before and it already had 11 noms they decided against it. Whatever. Still happy. All the songs were performed wonderfully tonight...makes me want to see A Mighty Wind even more now, and almost makes me want to see Cold Mountain to see how the two (!) songs that were nominated fit into the movie. No terribly strange outfits this time...oh, I could be nitpicky but it's late and I won't. I really liked Nicole Kidman's hair. And the top of her dress. Ditto for Sandra Bullock. You already read about Angelina Jolie if you read the previous entry. All four hobbits were there...it was so cute! And PJ wore shoes

Jen's a happy fan.

Posted by Jen at 12:48 AM | Permalink

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