There was a rainbow in the east while I was walking home, and it made me smile.

That is all.

  Outlander, Diana Gabaldon
file under: muses Posted by Jen at 6:04 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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I'm terminally behind in my reading of Newsweek to which my mother's friend Debbie so thoughtfully subscribed me. So if you read that mag, you might recognize this quote from the Last Word essay of the Aug 18/25 issue:

If people make assumptions about you simply on the basis of your appearance all your life, assumptions ranging from criminality to sloth to unearned opportunity, it can make you bitter and hard and cynical. That none of those things is part of the Obama character means that he has turned his particular version of the race card into an ace and is using it to play with the full deck. That is not a deficit. It is an advantage.

(source: Anna Quindlen's "The Caucasian Card")

It just resonated with me. Earlier in the article she talks about how Obama's race is indivisible from his campaign. He *is* black, he can't help mentioning his experiences from that circumstance. But he isn't a stereotype, thank goodness.

I don't like getting too political in public. I think it's probably obvious that I'm a liberal. Honestly, if someone feels differently and can articulate it, then more power to them. But please, please think first before you make a decision.

  Perfect Time of Day, Howie Day
  Ysabel, Guy Gavriel Kay
file under: muses , politics Posted by Jen at 9:15 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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See what you look like as a guy or a baby or an anime character with this fun site. This is their idea of me as a Mucha painting. Too bad I'm not really that pretty!

Gotta go buy a digital converter. Silly government coupons expiring.

  Daughter of Ancients, Carol Berg
file under: art , muses Posted by Jen at 5:19 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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from here.

[Fiction] Friday Challenge for March 14, 2008:

Backstory: Tell about your characters feelings toward animals, and why she feels that way.

Aislinn is a character in my 2007 NaNo novel. She is the daughter of a king, and knew she was destined to give her life to the forest surrounding the castle since she was a young girl. She rides the forest often, loves her hunting horse, notices the little people and especially the groom in the stables. Since the world I set this novel in is your typical quasi-medieval sorta English countryside (it was supposed to be real England once, but I lost the time to do research), people know how to hunt. They use bows and spears, but I'd like to think that they do somewhat like the American Indians did: they thank their deity for the animal that gives up its life so that they might live. Aislinn has never had a pet, not unless you consider a horse a pet (and she doesn't, not when her mare derives as much joy from running as she does), but there were always dogs racing around the great hall, scrounging for bones. She tolerates them but makes sure they don't follow her to her rooms.

She has a soft spot for deer and rabbits.

  Oh My God, Jars of Clay
  Renegade's Magic, Robin Hobb
file under: muses , writings Posted by Jen at 12:34 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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When I think about him, I smile. I know he'll smile when he reads this.

First snowfall of the year, and it's a beaut. I was basically told that there was no excuse for us techs not to come in to work tomorrow unless the University shuts down (unlikely) because we have those wonderful free Metro passes. Hopefully it will stick around long enough for snow angels but not interfere too badly with Mardi Gras/Super Bowl (whose idea was that? Gonna be quite a few people calling in sick on Monday, I bet...)

stay warm.

  Faerie Tale, Raymond Feist
file under: muses Posted by Jen at 11:15 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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We are what we believe we are. C. S. Lewis

So I have to believe I am a writer. And I really have to get Bastian out of that tree.

Back to work.

file under: muses , writings Posted by Jen at 8:45 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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May 2008 bring you nothing but good things.

I had a thought today that writing is my own personal kind of magic. I can make anything I want to happen, whenever and however I want, exactly the way I see it in my head. I get to shape things to my desire, until the story takes on a life of its own and runs away to do its own thing.

If I can't have magic for real, at least I can do it by writing.

Bonne annee!

  Split Screen Sadness, John Mayer
  Dust, Elizabeth Bear
file under: celebration , muses Posted by Jen at 5:26 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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We find in life exactly what we put into it. --Ralph Waldo Emerson.

This is one of my most favorite quotes. I knew I had it laying around somewhere...

  30 Seconds to Mars, From Yesterday, off A Beautiful Lie

file under: muses Posted by Jen at 12:03 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Got an email from Friere Jesus today. mmm, spam.

Also cleaning out a smelly freezer. Joy.

But the over-priced Josh Groban CD that I got from Hallmark last night was worth it. Even if only for one song. Or two.

It makes me sad to realize that I haven't written a word of T6R since January. Nothing saved to a file, anyway. There are all sorts of notes and things written on my last hard copy. So if I lose my bag, I'm SOL. But there are other things on my mind. Soon, I hope, I'll have some time to devote to writing.

file under: muses Posted by Jen at 4:48 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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because there's a lot of things going on right now. and I'm procrastinating as usual. seemed appropriate to quote a little John Mayer.

No, I'm not colorblind
I know the world is black and white
I try to keep an open mind
But I just can't sleep on this tonight

Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

Don't know how else to say it
I don't want to see my parents go
One generation's length away
From finding life out on my own

Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that life has just begun

Had a talk with my old man
Said "help me understand"
He said "turn sixty-eight
You renegotiate"

"Don't stop this train
Don't for a minute change the place you're in
Don't think I couldn't ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly we'll never stop this train"

Once in awhile, when it's good
It'll feel like it should
And they're all still around
And you're still safe and sound
And you don't miss a thing
Till you cry when you're driving away in the dark
Singing

Stop this train
I want to get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
Cause now I see I will never stop this train

I really need to finish writing a novel. I should have bought the Writer's Market with my gift card.

  John Mayer, Stop this Train

file under: muses , music Posted by Jen at 11:48 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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It doesn't seem quite fair that I should be sore after doing something altruistic, but that doesn't mean it isn't so. Last Saturday I helped lay laminate flooring in a bedroom of one of the Habitat for Humanity houses, and I bet you can guess how happy my knees were with that...but I know how to do it, at least a full-floating floor type, and I can use a jigsaw and a miter saw and I watched as someone else used a table saw...oh, and I can still hammer with the best of them. But my knees, and my back, and my inner thighs are saying, why didn't you have kneepads?

At least I feel accomplished. If creaky.

And I am absurdly excited that NaNo starts in a month. Why can't I get excited about other things the way I do about writing?

And I'm still waiting on the med school app. I've delivered forms to all my recommenders, so here's hoping they have something nice to say. Keep those fingers crossed.

Anyone with ideas on how to write a journal review paper?

  , Cecilia Dart-Thorton
file under: muses Posted by Jen at 10:19 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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I think I finally have another roommate I like. Thank goodness. Hopefully I won't have jinxed it by committing it to paper, er, blog. She's very nice, a grad student at WU, and has two cats. She's not too much younger than me, and we seem to have quite a bit in common (we even have the same laptop--go Apple!). Since I have someone to share the bill, we got hi-speed internet too, joy of all joys. Here's hoping we can actually *do* the self-install.

So, welcome to September. I can't believe school's back in session again. Seasons just keep marching on. I've had two Biochemistry classes so far, and luckily it's been stuff I've seen before, though I'll certainly have to break out my old Orgo book and take a look at things. Is it silly to be mad that we have to write a journal-review paper (at least I think that's what it will be) that's due on Dec 1? Recall that I've done NaNoWriMo for the last two years, and I already have an idea for it...I don't know if I'll be able to do classwork, a class paper, AND write 50k words worth of fluff all in November. Guess we'll see...

Tomorrow is my first Habitat for Humanity build. I've got to figure out what clothes I have I don't mind getting dirty. I wonder how many times I'll get to do it; Saturdays seem to be precious commodities these days, what with HfH and my mom's shows and finishing up the anthology (which I finally turned in, after much procrastination on everyone's part).

On a side note, I saw my cousin Trevor today. He just graduated from school and was interviewing for a job at the med school. I had decided to walk to work today instead of taking the shuttle, and I'm glad I did, or else I wouldn't have seen him. Good luck, cuz!

Hopefully I can get my med school app in this weekend. And cross your fingers on that one.

  A Million Years, Teddy Geiger
  Forest Mage, Robin Hobb
file under: muses Posted by Jen at 10:26 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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It's almost time for a birthday

There's been rather a lot going on here, but it's kept me busy. Beware my loquaciousness.

Last night was my last regular softball game, because I'm signed up for Biochemistry on thursday nights. Hopefully I'll be able to play some make-up games, as long as they're on another night than thurs...why is everything on thurs. nights? Anyway, after we won (and I didn't make a single hit--I struck out, how fair is that, in my last game?) we headed over to this pub called Harry's. Normally it has good, if simple, food and relatively fast servers. But last night we were there for at least 15 minutes before the waitress even looked at us, then another 15 or so before she brought beer, for those of us who drank it (not I). Some more time goes by, and variously the members of our party either went to find the server/manager, or went to the bathroom It took about an hour for the server to tell us there was only one cook in the kitchen and they were swamped, but we should get food soon. Another quarter hour later the manager comes out with a free pitcher of beer and says our order ticket had been lost, hence the no food. Perhaps 20 minutes after that it finally came. By that time one guy had left, since he had to be up early. We got to the place about 8:20 pm and got our food a little after 10 pm. And yes, after all that, everything was free.

The other big story is that my most recent roommate moved out. She decided that she needed to be closer to school (and to be fair, she doesn't have a car and has an 8 am class, so it would suck a little to have to take public transportation every day). I probably would have tried it for a while, but she was only here two months or so. She also wasn't satisfied with our relationship, but then neither was I. I feel a bit of a failure, though, like I didn't try hard enough to make it work. Regardless of why it happened, I'm back in the roommate hunt. I've had more offers than I expected, esp. with school starting next week, but this weekend will be sort of crazy, with the aforementioned birthday...

I spent so much money at the grocery store. I hope people come by and eat things. Though I guess it would be amazing if I actually ran out of food, because that would mean I have enough friends to do so. Oy. I get paid next week, which is very good. However, next week is the last week of August, and I have not yet submitted my med school app. Hopefully once this weekend is over, I can get it all ready to go. Keep those fingers and toes crossed, folks.

One of these days I've got to go through all my stuff and figure out what I can sell. You'd think with all the people needing to get rich quick that there would be an easy way to do so. Eh. And genies really do live in lamps.

  Freedom, George Michael
  The Darkest Hours, a Spider-man novel by Jim Butcher
file under: muses , serious Posted by Jen at 11:50 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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One day, I will have a music room, filled with instruments. A piano, of course, but perhaps a digital one in addition to the classic baby grand, so I can transcribe the notes directly onto computer. A hammered dulcimer, certainly. Wind chimes, near a window. A drum set, perhaps, but not just the snares and bass; hand drums (what are they called in Gaelic?) shakers...a brass instrument here or there...

and I will know how to play them all.

But I especially want the hammered dulcimer.

(Still working on the med school essay. Just signed up for biochemistry this fall. Decided to not worry about it kicking my ass, even though it probably will, because Bernard, a coworker, told me not to. And as the song says:
Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as
effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.)

  Magnatune's Hammered Dulcimer podcast

file under: muses Posted by Jen at 11:05 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Cleaned most of the apartment today. I can't tell you how happy that makes me. It's even nicer that my roommate helped out. I had to ask her to do so (I hope I managed to do so nicely) but she did a good job. Definitely seems like she's a little unused to cleaning up after herself, but hopefully that is something we can work on. Ah, to be young and without responsibility.

It's times like these when I realize how much of a Virgo I am. I'm not normally anal about cleaning, but when I get into it, I really do. And it bugs me when things aren't in their place. Don't get me wrong, my room is as messy as a teenager's, but I know where things are. There is a pathway to my bed and by golly it's going to stay open. I like the spaces that I occupy to be, if not clean, at least inhabitable, and it makes me angry when they're not. My mother pointed out to me that having a roommate is a great preparation for being married, as the future Mr. Whoever will certainly have his quirks that I can't stand, but will have to, because it's the right thing to do. I hope that I have learned patience; I certainly have learned that if I want something a certain way, I usually have to do it myself. Which is okay.

  The Curse of Chalion, Lois McMaster Bujold
file under: muses Posted by Jen at 2:38 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend. Somewhere along in the bitterness. And I would have stayed up with you all night. Had I known how to save a life.

It's Bastille Day, or at least it was. I had a croissant in commemoration. Joie.

Unfortunately it just means this is another Friday that I spend alone. It's odd, sometimes, to think of just how many of these I've gone through. Each one seems difficult. You'd think that after a while I'd find something to do to get me through, something that works each time. Obviously I haven't died of loneliness yet, but damn if I hate being bored.

I wish I was one of those confident people who could go out alone and still find a party. I wouldn't know the first place to look. I want to take a road trip. but the practical side of me says, Hey, what about that money you don't have? I feel infinitely old at those times.

Today on the CBS Morning Show they gave away a vacation to a woman, a mother, who had never been on a trip, never went to a fancy restaurant, who raised her kid alone after her husband died, never having the means to travel. I don't want to be that woman, unless someone is planning on sending me a on a free vaca.

I can't stand the waiting, but I don't know how to start.

  One More Girl, The Wreckers
  The Bourne Supremacy, Robert Ludlum
file under: muses Posted by Jen at 9:20 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Because I've never posted it before, and it's inspirational. Also, it's a Monday before a holiday, and I'm a bit bored here at work.

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what
peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without
surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth
quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the
ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive
persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or
bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than
yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep
interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real
possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of
trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many
persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of
heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither
be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and
disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the
counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But
do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are
born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less
than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And
whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is
unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to
be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy
confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham,
drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world. Be
cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

--- Max Ehrmann, 1927

  KT Tunstall, Under the Weather

file under: muses Posted by Jen at 10:21 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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MCAT scores came out today. No, I won't tell you what I got, except to say that I did better than last time.

But.

I don't feel great about them. I had hoped for a little more elevation in score. It's nice to see that what I studied the hardest did indeed show the greatest improvement. But I actually went down in something that I thought would have been easier due to the classes I was taking. At least my writing is better. Given my luck, the median score will go up with mine, and I'll be exactly mediocre...again.

I guess it's possible that I might get in with those scores. But then it's equally possible that I would do much better in physical therapy. Course, I would have to take the GRE again. Sigh.

On the upside, I'm definitely joining the Browncoats. (Watch out, long one.)

A friend (I guess he's still a friend, just a friend) finally got me to watch the tv show Firefly, which was created by Joss Whedon, of Buffy and Angel fame. I remember when it came out, and recall being a little turned off by the "space western" theme. Westerns aren't my thing. It also wasn't on air very long; Fox, being the strange entity that it is, cancelled it after 11 episodes. But it gained a cult following, and now I can see why.

It's a lot of fun, very clever and funny in a lot of parts. Unfortunately my first exposure to a lot of the actors in the show was when they made guest spots on Buffy or Angel, and I didn't like their characters, so I didn't particularly want to see them in anything else. But they won me over. It's pretty amazing, the story they were able to tell in so short a time. I do wish there was more.

But wait! There is more! There's a movie, Serenity, for which, serendipitously enough, I just had a Border's coupon. It was only $10. Whee! So back on the 10th, after some rather disappointing news, I took myself to Best Buy and bought the entire series of Firefly , the tv soundtrack...and a digital piano.

We now interrupt your journaling for a rather odd story.

I was pretty upset by the disappointing news, so I decided to pick up Firefly to make myself feel better. Best Buy had the cheapest retail price, so I went there. On a whim, I took at look at their digital pianos. I'd seen good reviews for one of them, and since I was not feeling so hot, decided to buy it too. *bank account cringes*

I figured I should check out Circuit City, just across the way, which sometimes has better prices, or Border's to see if they had Firefly for less. I trekked to those places, fruitlessly, and so headed back to Best Buy. By this time the weather, previously hot and sunny, turned grey and prepared to rain. If I hadn't taken the price check trip, this wouldn't have bothered me, but...

Back at the store, I asked someone to help me get the box up to the register (88-key pianos are quite large, you know?) and was waiting for an associate when the power went out. Now, it's odd enough when the power goes out in your home or whatnot, but in a big store like that it's so weird to go from bright glaring light to the little illumination of emergency lights. Apparently whenever the power's out at a store like this, all the computers reboot and upload things, which takes a pretty long time, and we had to wait until they finished. Slowly appliances came back on, tvs started showing their loops, and one by one, the lights came on. I would guess it was less than 10 minutes until power was restored, but it's quite eerie to be in a place that's normally so bright when it's just half-lit.

Of course I had to ask for help again, and when I finally got checked out and ready to head to the car, it decided to start pouring. Big fat drops, too. I managed to get the sturdy box into the car (not without trouble and much wet) and home, and no damage to either. However...

My car has a sunroof, installed by the previous owner. DO NOT get a sunroof installed in your car unless it comes factory-installed! They leak anyway, but third-party sunroofs are awful for it. Admittedly it might have gotten a little off kilter when that silly person rear-ended me three years ago, but this is insane. I think the rain has to be in a certain direction and coming down for a long enough time, but for two days after that torrential storm the front seats were soaked. Not a pleasant feeling to sit down on one of those! I can't figure out where the drain tubes are, either, so I can't check to see if they're clogged. Eventually the car dried out. All good, until the next storm.

Anyway, back to the story. I finished the last few episodes of Firefly on Saturday and watched Serenity later in the afternoon. I wish I hadn't had to watch it alone. It would have been better with the friend. Sigh. The day was good, overall, having brunch with Ross and picking up a MIDI interface and an Apple Jam Pack so my piano can connect to my computer and make symphonic melodies. Then it was home for Father's day. Good times. My finances don't like me, but I'm pretty content, considering the middling MCAT scores and being tired today from an early study.

Guess it's back to it. Thank goodness for heading to Champaign this weekend.

Oh, I have a new roommate. She's nice, but v. young. I might have to teach her a few things about living in an apartment, once I've gotten over paying the newly-raised rent. I'll try to be better about writing here. Sometimes it's just not something you can put into words.

I'm rather amazed you went this far. Leave me a comment to show you care, eh?

  California Baylor, Elizabethtown soundtrack
  rereading Prophesy, Elizabeth Haydon
file under: education , muses , music Posted by Jen at 10:42 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Ever have those times when you just don't know what to do with yourself? Work has been utterly unfulfilling, and even though I'm in the middle of a good book, this is certainly a time when I wish I had someone to go out with on a saturday night.

I seem to have quite a few people saying 'we need to talk' lately. Never a good thing.

And though hope springs eternal, sometimes it gets pretty squashed. le sigh

  Kushiel's Scion, Jaqueline Carey
file under: muses Posted by Jen at 6:15 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Do you ever have the feeling where you're pretty certain good things are coming but you're unwilling to let yourself hope for them too much on the chance that things might fall through? Yeah.

I find myself smiling, just thinking about it. Then I try not to think about it, because it's distracting (yes, I do in fact have a story for the St. Louis Writer's Meetup Anthology, and no, it's not finished, and yes, it's due Wednesday). And I hope it's true. But things like this don't happen to me, at least not for a long time.

It's scary and exciting all at once.

file under: muses Posted by Jen at 12:47 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Today being 3/14, it's National Pi Day. You know, everyone's favorite irrational number π. If you can actually recite any other numerals in said irrational number other than the classic 3.14, kudos to you. Now if I could only remember how to solve a cube root. And don't tell me it's whatever goes into the number 3 times. I know that. But when you have 5.2^-7 and you need to cube root that, I am FUBAR'd.

It's also Einstein's birthday. Here's to everyone's favorite wild-haired professor. Thank you for making advanced science much more complicated, but I suppose that's relative...

Getting evaluations is nerve-wracking, even if you know that you're doing ok. And yay for getting a day off, though isn't the purpose of taking a vacation day when you have oodles of them to not have to make them up? oh well. I will, and that's all.

So I have two weeks to figure out if I'm staying or going with this apartment. I love how I have to give nearly three months notice. Why oh why do they have to raise the rent? Things were going so well...what are your thoughts?

  MCAT Physical Sciences Notes, which my daddy procured for me even though I'm not taking a class. Joy.
file under: muses Posted by Jen at 1:18 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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So in a half hour it will be officially winter, though it's been making a pretty strenuous case for moving the date earlier, as cold as it's been. I hope you are all staying warm and have gotten all your Christmas shopping done. I think I made it...think I have all my cards sent out...now all I have to do is save, save, save until I go to Vegas in January. Strange how we made plans for this so long ago and now it's here. I wish I could feel secure in the knowledge that I'll win some money down there, but as I'm not going there to gamble, it's a pretty foolish desire. Yeah, yeah, I know, Vegas=gambling, but I want to see the sights, not give up my money in some venture where it's highly unlikely that I will get it back.

I wonder if I will get a raise. Silly to not know, I suppose, but I'm not exactly in a job where I can say, yeah, I deserve more. It's just a stupid cost-of-living concern, really. Darn gas going up.

Random thought: There's going to be a Dresden Files series on SciFi (darn not having basic cable! Couldn't pay for it anyway) that I just heard about today, and I wanted to find the books at home. I found all that I have minus the first book in the series...it's disappeared and I can't think where to. I did, however, find the rebate receipt for Star Wars Episode III that I forgot to mail off. Alas.

One of these days I'll talk about how I liked the Chronicles of Narnia so much that I saw it twice (once with Ross, yay!) and would see it again, possibly with the 'rents during my upcoming time off (thank the Lord!), my thoughts on Harry Potter 4 (which I saw opening day, in costume, natch) and the various fun things (insert sarcasm here) going on at work. But not tonight. You'll have to deal with my random drivel for a little while longer until I think of something pertinent to say.

At least my room smells pretty: thank Heaven for Pier 1's O'Tannenbaum candle. It's green and piney. Whee.

  Mystic Warrior: The Bronze Canticles, vol 1
file under: muses Posted by Jen at 11:27 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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Monday was a good day. Tuesday was a slightly weird day. Wednesday was a tiring day, and Thursday it snowed. A lot. Today, I'm just tired, though quite happy that Narnia comes out today. Too bad I won't be able to see it until at least tomorrow...

First, to whomever appropriated my blue and green knit hat, affectionately known as the 'fungus' hat by some of my friends, may it keep you warm. I cannot believe that I've managed to lose both the hats that I've knitted for myself over two winters. Sigh. I had actually started crocheting a new one the day before I lost the previous, but it won't be done for a while, even if I figure out how to go faster. Sigh. I hope this doesn't turn out to be a yearly trend. Luckily I have more yarn, so maybe I'll be able to make replicas. Sheesh.

Monday was a pretty good day. I had to study for my final A&P test of the semester (not a comprehensive final, thank goodness) but work was not too demanding so that was good. On top of that, I received the Medal of Honor soundtrack (selected cues were used in the Seabiscuit trailer) and Mystery, Alaska on DVD (which has a great soundtrack by the same person who scored A Knight's Tale, though it's not available commercially) which, for some reason, has its opening titles in French. The rest of the movie is in English, so I'm not complaining. Then came the test, and because of the fantastic professor, I know that I only missed one, which is better that last test's two wrong answers. Yahoo. At least the lecture part of the class is going well.

Which sort of leads me to Tuesday. Tuesday was a study day (read: early), which didn't go horribly, other than the fact that the subject's veins kept moving when the IV was being placed (ew). The weird part was that two emails had been sent out to the WUMS community asking for volunteers for ongoing or future studies. The one on Monday asked for obese men, and has lots of time requirements, so we didn't get an overwhelming response. The one on Tuesday, however, was for lean women, and apparently a whole lot of them want to be part of a research study. My phone literally rang the second I walked in the door. I hung up on a few people before I realized how to switch lines, as there were several times when potential volunteers called at the same time I was on with another subject. Oops. Did I ever tell you how I don't like talking on the phone? I always feel a bit discombobulated, especially so with this because *so many* people called in such a short time, and we only needed one (ain't it always the way). With the large amounts of volunteers, we filled that spot quickly, but we'll have a new study early next year, so yay built-in subjects...

All those subjects meant that even though it was a study day and I could leave earlier than I normally do, I couldn't. And of course, I had somewhere to be...at the lab for the continuing dissection of the cat. Oh joy. What is it about the preservative solution that makes everything smell like it for the rest of the day? Ugh. Thank goodness it's almost over. My lab partner and I have one more meeting to label the thing, then our lab practical on Thursday, and that's the end of the semester. Whee. Until next year, unless I can't come up with the extra $250 lab fee. Stupid cat, costing me money...Maybe I'll win it in Vegas

Mustn't forget about the fact that there was a water main break near the apartment tuesday night. When I got home from lab and HAD to go to the bathroom, there was no water, and thus nothing but red sludge in the toliet. Luckily I could go home and get dinner from my parents AND use their water. What a deal. Thank you, thank you to the wonderful folks who had fixed the main by the time I got home.

Wednesday, I was reading YASRN (yet another stupid romance novel) since I have none in my life, and lo and behold, it not only has reference to Harry Potter (Voldemort) but to LotR (Legolas). Huh. Strange little coincidences. Anyway, the hump day was tiring because I got up early for a study that had been scheduled the previous day, and then it turned out that the guy decided he wouldn't be able to come, nor would he be able to participate in the study. Sigh. And the people were still calling, so that made the day interesting. I was getting really excited for Narnia, watching the supertrailer several times The soundtrack is by Harry Gregson-Williams, the same guy who did Kingdom of Heaven's soundtrack, and there are definite similarities, but this one is exciting and different I found out today that one of the stores in the area will get the special edition in store, but ONLY ONE. So I'll try to go by this weekend and reserve it if I can.

Thursday...thursday it snowed. SO COLD! It was a pretty snow but damn was it a bitch to drive in. And come on, people, just because you have an SUV does not mean that you can drive like the roads aren't covered in snow. Turn your lights on and drive like a responsible person! Sigh. St. Louis drivers really aren't very good with bad weather. Still people calling.

Today...would you believe that it took me about a week to get this entry written? I kept not being able to finish it, so I tacked on another day Today wasn't so bad, but for the early morning. Another study day, but even earlier than usual. DAMN it was cold this morning. I had a really hard time convincing myself to get out of my warm bed. But I made it, eventually.

Tonight the 'rents and the aunt (who just signed the papers for her house! Yay!) will head over to the Art Museum to see the 'Treasures of Ur' or whatever it's called, and then tomorrow hopefully we'll catch Narnia. Maybe with a friend It's very cold, with negative windchill temperatures, but tomorrow it's supposed to be in the forties. Gotta love St. Louis weather.

Stay warm, all of you, and think happy Christmas-tree thoughts! (Hopefully I'll get one this weekend )

  My very battered copy of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
file under: muses Posted by Jen at 2:12 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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They started the demolition of Busch Stadium today. Apparently it was a bit anticlimatic since not much of the actual wrecking could be seen. It was decided that the stadium couldn't be imploded for safety reasons. It would have been spectacular. Ah well. Better safe than sorry.

I'll miss the old beast, even if I didn't really spend much time there. It was just such a quintessential part of St. Louis, and soon it will be gone. But out with the old, in with the new, etc, etc.

I wore my "I write books" pin (courtesy of the folks at NaNo) and no one noticed...until I was walking down the hall to deliver the tracers for the study tomorrow, and who did I encounter but one of the fellow StL NaNo'ers. Small world, innit?

did you ever get the feeling
that we started in the middle
or have you ever have the sense
that we were lying just a little
i mean come on
its not like we knew ourselves that long

  Tracing, John Mayer

file under: muses Posted by Jen at 10:00 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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It's weird to be without a computer. There are days when I don't touch it at all, it just sits there resting quietly on my desk, the white light of sleep pulsing slowly...then there are days when I spend hours on it. But when you don't have it, you think of all the things you do with it, that you'd really like to do rightnow and can't. Like I would have told my story to some friends on AIM. Or wrote down a few ideas for the story. Man my hand is going to be cramped for a few days.

Sounds like I'll be lucky to get the comp back on Wednesday, since I got to the store too late yesterday to have it shipped off to the repair depot that day, and it will probably take them about a week. Wednesday is not too bad, it's only the 2nd of November, but it's still two days where I can't write at night. Cece has volunteered her laptop, but I can't monopolize it for the 1st week of NaNo if I don't have a comp. Sigh. Anyone have a spare comp they'd let me borrow for a week?

Also have to cross your fingers and pray that the hard drive doesn't get wiped. Apparently the repair place is like an assembly line, they run some diagnostic tests and then send the comp to wherever the repair for the crucked part is. And if the diagnostic test finds that something in the hard drive is corrupt, it might get replaced or wiped, even if that's not what was originally wrong, and that's not cool. The genius at the store (that's what they call themselves. Not joking. They certainly know more than I do about Macs) said it was probably a logic board problem, something with the video output, which has nothing to do with the hd, so I'm to understand, and only 1% of computers come back with a wiped drive, but still. *sniff* I still have the old computer with all the OS 9 stuff on it, hard as it is to read, but I really don't want to have to transfer it.

Just to make me feel better, I got a notice today from Yahoo! that my account (which I've had for years) was deactivated due to violation of terms of service. You know me, I don't send out spam, I don't post lewd pictures. I don't use my Yahoo Mail account anyway, so I couldn't do that through email.If that's happening, it's because someone else is using my account fraudulently. I listen to LAUNCH, I use Yahoo Groups and am on a few mailing lists through Yahoo. I play games there and look for movie information. If that's an inactive account, I'd hate to see an active. So hopefully that will get taken care of, but I'm still waiting for an answer to the email I sent back in reply.

It's never easy. But then again, if it were easy, everyone would do it. It's the hard that makes it great.

file under: muses Posted by Jen at 10:07 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum. --Frances Willard

Kingdom of Heaven, the Etown score, and Lifefrom Ricky Martin (yes, that Ricky Martin) all come out today. I'm excited. I'll have time tonight to head to the store (there's even rebates at FYE! Score!) after I talk to one of the deans from WU Arts & Sciences about med school. I feel like such a n00b about it. I don't even really know the proper progression of what happens once you're in it. That and I have to write essays. And find science teachers for evaluation purposes. Natch. But anyway, once I've spent they very little money I can this week, I'll be a happy camper since I will have Orlando goodness to watch. Whee! Maybe I can remember to pick up a new notebook at the campus bookstore, as it seems I've lost mine. *tear* all those ideas. Hopefully I'll find it, but it's not looking good.

Happier note, I found out that I did in fact get 100 on my A&P test, which just rocks my socks. I hope that the next one can be so high. I have a lab practical exam this week, which I suppose I should prepare for...I've probably mentioned it before, but usually I do better in labs than I do in the lecture. Here it's the opposite. Oh well. Study harder. Why oh why didn't I do that when I was actually in college? Ah, hindsight.

Still waiting on those MCAT scores. Oh, and the contents pages (linked above) have been migrated to MT. So there's nothing new, just makes it easier on me to put something new there when I finally do get a chance. Best be off to work.

file under: movies , muses , music , orlando Posted by Jen at 12:11 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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So, I went to my last game at Busch Stadium (well, the original Busch Stadium, anyway) last night. I think it was my first game at Busch in about seven years. I'm sure I've told you how every time I actually attended a game in the past, the Cardinals (bless their souls) lost. Even when I went with my dad on Father's Day and got to sit in the Post-Dispatch box, they lost. It was sad. And then when I stopped going to the games (because they stopped giving me free tickets for getting straight A's...ah, the days of high school when I actually got straight A's...) and just occasionally watched the games on tv, they lost. It got to be that I just didn't want to pay attention. It was like if I ignored the games, then they'd wiin. Sometimes it would work, sometimes not. Though of course last year when they went to the World Series and majorly flopped against the Red Sox (wonder how that movie Fever Pitch is selling in our town, since it's got the ignoble loss of our Cards to said Sox in it) and I was paying attention...see, they lost.

So, last night I went with my parents, they'd gotten some free tickets for the terrace (read: highest level) along the left field line. Good seats, as it turned out, because it rained a little last night during the game but since we were so high up, we were underneath the distinctive arches so we didn't get rained on at all. Yay! I got to see two home runs (Edmonds in the 1st and Molina [Yadier? His first name is really Yadier?] in the 2nd), which was glorious, but unfortunately there were no fireworks, since I think they're trying to save money. Oh well. The Cards were winning until the 7th inning even though they had only gotten 5 hits (vs the Pirates' 17 or something like that) when the Pirates tied up the game. Boo! The Cards went through three pitchers that inning, and alas that Chris Carpenter didn't get his 22nd win. He pitched well until that inning though, so go him. Finally the Cards got some hits in the 8th but no runs...so onto the 9th with a tie. We held 'em til it was our turn, then Hector Luna gets on base and steals 2nd, to be in scoring position...and then Eckstein made a nice base hit that ESPN termed a 'bloop' but allowed Luna to score, so yay! We won! And I was there! Yahoo! I just hope they can keep winning.

The magic number is down to two. If the Cards win today they'll have a tie on the division championship...if Houston loses they'll be the champs! Go Cards! I would really love to see you be able to play the World Series at Busch one more time (and make a better showing than last year!)...

So, softball stuff and biking stuff now.

The softball tournament was last weekend, but it was rather shorter than last year's marathon. We won one, we lost one. I don't even know what the scores were other than we won the first by at least 10 and we lost the second by at least that much, since both games ended in the 5th inning because one team was ahead by at least 10. Let's hear it for odd little league rules. The first game we figured was a lock, since we'd played the Thursday night version of the team, and they weren't very good, and yes, we won. Nothing spectacular, I did get to cross homeplate a few times, and the lady ump was almost hit by a couple of bats (by someone on the other team) and she wasn't too happy about that. I can't remember if it was a shut-out or not. Bad Jen, not keeping track of scoring. [Side note: I looked at the scorecard for that game and was utterly bewildered. It's been a long time since I've scored a ball game, and I don't remember any of the little conventions.]

The second game was against a team that we've never beat (except, my teammates told me, last year in the tournament when we barely won and royally pissed them off. So I guess this was payback). They really shouldn't be in this league. They're way too competitive for the rest of the teams that they play against, and they've obviously got people who play softball for actual teams (or at least more than just one night a week during the summer). They win a lot of games because of that 10-run rule, and it just seems like they should find another league that actually tests their skills instead of letting them beat up on other teams. Not bitter I am, no. Anyway, we weren't getting any breaks against them...neither of the fields had been dragged (or mowed) so there was grass all over the infield. Two grounders came my way and they hit a patch of grass and bounced clear over my head. It didn't help that it had been pretty dry and hot so the ground was hard as a rock. Stupid field. I really don't like SB7. If you're ever at Tower Grove Park and you want to play a ball game, use BB1 instead. Usually. Unfortunately both fields were in dire need of dragging and mowing, but since I don't even know if we actually scored a run at SB7 I suppose I can't lay it all on the field. Oh well. We figured we would lose that one. Luckily we had already had our end-of-season bbq (with yellow jackets and mosquitos, natch) and we were prepared for a long one, so it was nice to be able to go home and sleep, which I did.

On Sunday, I helped Kate relearn how to ride a bike, since she wants to have the proper experience for her practicum. Go Kate! I'm proud of you! She's a little bit shorter than I am, though, so we had to adjust several things so she could ride. But ride she did, all along the nice flat parts of the Forest Park trail, and I rollerbladed with her. So yay for working out. Then later that night we watched Hello, Dolly! (well hello, Dolly!) and saw the Anheiser Busch clydesdales (which never meant much to California-girl Kate before, lol) and I saw Almost Famous for the first time. Good stuff! I'm hopeful for Elizabethtown, since it's the same director and in a similar style. I've read some bad reviews on it, but of course I'll still see it, because Orlando rocks my socks and I don't care what you think about that The week ETown comes out will be a good one, Orli-wise, since Kingdom of Heaven comes out on DVD the tuesday before the movie opens.

Wish me luck on the Anatomy & Physiology class. Looks like it will be interesting to take but not easy to learn.

Go Cards!

  Elizabethtown Soundtrack & Switchfoot's new one: Nothing is Sound

file under: celebration , getmoving , muses Posted by Jen at 9:32 AM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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From Elizabethtown Official Movie Site - Directed by Cameron Crowe, recently updated with a cute little journal mockup courtesy of everyone's favorite flight attendant, Claire. You really should read it. I want someone to make a cool map for me like she does for Drew...

Lala Salama Safari Njema-Inshallah. Tutazumguza Kesho. Ndege Yako. A Swahili benediction meaning, "Sleep well. Travel Safely - God Willing. We'll speak tomorrow." I just thought it was cute.

I really hope they release the score to this movie. The site was just updated to include short samples of the songs picked for the soundtrack, but the score is sweet and simple and beautiful, and I want it.

Another good quote from the journal: "Our brightest blazes are often kindled by unexpected sparks." Samuel Johnson. Also learned that gin is useful for repelling mosquitos. Who knew? It disinfects and drives the nasties away!

Guess it's time for lunch.

  Drew's Theme, ETown sdtk

file under: muses Posted by Jen at 12:56 PM | Permalink MTIfCommentsActive>|

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