penn

My best friend's little brother is getting married

I'm still in shock.

Matchstick Men

I don't think I get much hip-hop savvy readers on my site . . . but still. I've got a coupla friends in a hip-hop group, and they've been doing some (apparently) cool things. I'm pretty uneducated about hip-hop . . . but I'm sure they're doing well. Their other musical efforts are all good. So, if you're a hip-hop fan, feel free to check out The Matchstick Men. I don't think any music is posted yet, but maybe I can snag an mp3 one of these days for distribution.

Great Article

What if the US were like Iraq?

via Pharyngula

J'deteste

being caught in an argument that my roommate is having with her boyfriend. Today, my one of the girls in my apartment tried to drag me into their fight.

Her boyfriend's kind of a nerd, but so is she. He's got this (admittedly pretty cool) belt made out of an old Nintendo controller, and he was wearing it today. She chastisted him for it, and I was in the kitchen, so I tried to stick up for it (my mistake, really). She then jumped on him for wearing the same pair of jeans for the past three weeks. Kinda gross, but, hey, I've done it before, as I'm sure everyone except my mom has (sorry, mom!). She actually started yelling at him about it, complete with expletives. Woah.

I, the casual bystander filling up ice-cube trays, was caught in the middle. Icky yuck. She tried to pull me in, and she didn't understand when I told her I refused to be a pawn in her little game. In fact, she said "Oh, but I want you to be a pawn," and then her boyfriend said "at least you're a cute pawn." Cute I may be, but I am no pawn. Freakin' annoying roommate.

Best Comic Strip Ever

Calvin and Hobbes. Hands down. If you take strips as a whole, over the history of comics, Calvin and Hobbes is amazing, wonderful, poignant, funny, insightful, and all those other good adjectives. Sure, I love other comic strips too, like Frazz, Boondocks, and Non-Sequitur.

But Calvin and Hobbes? Man, roxor my soxor.

And I just found a great site via Mikey that lists the top 25 Calvin and Hobbes strips of all time. I just spent the last half hour laughing my ass off and loving this comic strip all over again.

Vote

I registered for an absentee ballot like a good Washington resident currently living out of state. Ahh, I'll be back there again before I know it, and I'm glad to know that I can still vote in my "home" state, even tho I spend more time in Oregon.

As I called in for my absentee ballot, I was reminded of a great blog post (at Alas, a blog) I read about students registering to vote. To me, the most interesting part of the argument is in the comments. Why is it that students are allowed to maintain residency in other states, while for anything else I'd be required to get Oregon state residency? Is it because I go home so much during the year? One summer, I stayed in Oregon; effectively, I lived here for 10.5 out of the 12 months that year. But I'm still a Washington state resident. An interesting debate indeed, and I'm not sure quite what's proper. I like the fact that I'm allowed to stay a Washington resident . . . but is it fair?

One last thought tho: my uncle is in the foreign service, and he's lived abroad for years. However, I know that he remained a Wisconsin state resident for a long time. How does that work?

An Update

I'm back at school again after a weekend home. It's been a tumultuous last week, and I really needed a break to relax and see some old friends. Also, one of my best friends was home on leave this weekend, and I haven't seen him since he joined the Navy a year and a half ago.

Anyway, I'm still here and kickin'. School is busy, which is why there are so few updates. I'll try and think of some good things to share with y'all soon.

I adore

* mac G5s. They are sexy and fun. Plus, they start up in no time! I love using brand new, school computers. No crap, they work well, and I don't have to pay to print because I'm working in the math lab. This is almost worth taking statistics next semester . . . hmmm . . .

* finishing homework. I'm wrapping up a bunch of projects right now. The weekend will be spent studying for a test. Hopefully, by the first weekend in October, everything will be wrapped up, and I will be able to breathe easy.

* sleeping. Yay for sleep. I hope I get to sleep before midnight tonight.

* fall. The weather is getting crisp. Mmmmm. Maybe on my more-easy-going first weekend of October, I can go hiking with my camera. That would make me deliciously happy.

I'm going home this weekend

Seattle people, consider yourself warned. This is notification that I will be in the area. Call me if you want to do anything.

Finally . . .

I just emailed out the draft of my takings permit application. For my thesis, since I'll be handling amphibians, I'm required to have a "scientific takings permit" to prove that my work is of some consequence.

It wasn't so hard to finish my draft, once I sat down and did it. The hard part is finding motivation . . . a continual challenge for this year.