vote early, vote often!

When I was home for Christmas one of my friends asked me if Texas voted on Super-Tuesday, and I was embarrassed to say "I have no idea". I knew I wouldn't miss it when the election happened, but I was unsure if we were a Super-Tuesday state or not. Turns out, no. A few weeks after I was home I remember insinuating that Texas was strange for having some crazy "primary-caucus hybrid" and being pissy that we voted a full month after Super-Tuesday. At that time, it was suspected, that perhaps the candidates would be chosen by then - some wondered whether the race would still be competitive in Texas at that point.

Well, it is.

A few weeks ago UT hosted a debate between Obama and Clinton, it was amusing for the most part - particularly when they began to fight. (My personal favorite was when Hill burst out with a "But, Baaahh-Raaahhck!!".) In my opinion she looked foolish during much of that debate, except for the very end. Bill Clinton was at UT on Wednesday, and I was there to hear him speak. He truly is a great public speaker. He was there to tell us that Hillary is the best "agent of change" he knows. That while Obama touts himself as the change, Hillary is better able to make the change. On Thursday, Obama held a town-hall meeting in Austin. This is the first time that I've had this much personal attention from candidates, other than when we were electing our senior class officers in high school.

And while there can be much debate into how to choose which candidate to back: do you support women, or african americans? Are you more impressed by experience than promise? Does youth prevail? Education? Environment? Health care? International policy? IRAQ? There are many reasons why this democratic primary will be memorable. For me, the biggest reason may not be who I vote for, but how I vote.

Texas has an early voting system, which begins 17 days before an election and ends 4 days before an election. There are specific early voting polls, and anyone can vote at any location. It seems odd, and yet so simple. Why not open the polls early, give people more chances to be able to make it out to vote. I'm not sure how Texas is able to handle this and other states aren't, but they do it and it seems to work. To further confuse things, for the primaries we have what is referred to as the Texas Two-Step, a phrase so beloved by the state it is actually used to describe any number of things.

Two-thirds of the delegates are decided by the vote of the primary. The remaining one-third are decided by the caucus held 15 minutes after the polls close. In order to participate in the caucus, you must vote in the primary. You must be present at the caucus at precisely 7:15 for your participation to count. As it has been described to me, everyone gathers in one room and "signs-in" according to the candidate they choose. It sounds strange to me, but I'll be there to caucus for the first time.

What disturbs me the most about this whole system is, no one knows about it. I thought that I was the one who had caught on late - but truly, no one that I've spoken to knows anything about this. So I've been making it my personal mission to inform everyone I know. Vote early, vote often, long live Texas!

compliments

I was happy to be on the receiving end of this compliment during my stats class today...

"What was that thing that you brought to Brian's on Saturday?"
"Stuffed grape leaves?"
"Oh, you made those - they were great!"
"It was my first try, they were ok but they'll be better then next time. What did you think I made?"
"That Texas-shaped cake. I just assume whenever there is a baked good that you've made it. But I guess it's not just the baked goods it's whatever I can't stop eating - that's how I know what you've brought!"

i shouldn't touch things...

this looks like poo, but better than it did 10 minutes ago. I messed something up and don't have the time or patience to make it look nicer. Although, I'll work on it. Taking applications for personal assistants!

dear jack-holes

Dear jack-holes who don't know how to park properly,

There is limited street space nearby campus that doesn't require a neighborhood parking sticker, we all know this. I understand that those of you who arrive early want to park at the end of the street - closest to campus. But, as you pull in, please back-up completely, leaving minimal space between you and the car behind you. We could easily fit 10 more cars on this street. The 17 three-quarter parking spots I pass each morning really piss me off. And my car is small.

Thank you,
Disgruntled Commuter.

DISCLAIMER: It may be hard to see the actual size of these spots, but they are all about half a car length, and I took them all this morning. There were 3 I did not snap, since a car was coming and I was risking getting hit.

Please, prepare for take-off!

Lately there has been lots of flight searching going on. Flights for a trip I hope to make in the future, flights for a trip I tried to make in the past. Flights for people to come here, flights for people to go elsewhere. Every time it's flight-scheduling-time I get incredibly overwhelmed. There are so many options, its so expensive, and comparison shopping is nearly impossible. And somehow I'm always in the dark about where to look. So I thought I'd ask - how do y'all find flights?

I know of travelocity, orbitz, and expedia. And priceline, and hotwire. I've had the most luck with Orbitz (out of those). Sometime in the last year and a half, my mom introduced me to kayak.com, which has been my stand-by since then. Just last week I was introduced to onetravel.com - and actually found a cheaper flight than I did on kayak! (One caveat, kayak shows the prices with all the fees, onetravel does not. Same with orbitz, no fees...except in teeny tiny print!) And today, travelzoo.com - which, btw, has announced that many airlines have dropped their winter/spring rates and discounts are being seen out of Boston.

So, my question is this - how do you find flights? what's your favorite? where should I look? Please, comment away!!

listening

This song never fails to pump me up, for anything. I feel like a superhero after I've listened to it.

Face Up and Sing - Ani Difranco

some guy tried to rub up against me
in a crowded subway car
some guy tried to feed me some stupid line
in some stupid bar
I see the same shit everyday
the landscape looks so bleak
I think I'll take the first one of you's home
that does something unique

some chick says
thank you for saying all the things I never do
I say
the thanks I get is to take all the shit for you
it's nice that you listen
it'd be nicer if you joined in
as long as you play their game girl
you're never going to win

today I just want someone to entertain me
I'm tired of being so fierce
I'm tired of being so friendly
you don't have to be a supermodel
to do the animal thing
you don't have to be a supergenius
to open your face up and sing

somebody do something
anything soon
I know I can't be the only
whatever I am in the room
so why am I so lonely?
why am I so tired?
I need company
I need backup
I need to be inspired

my professionalism will astound you

On Thursday afternoon I was in my office and received a phone call from a potential subject. My research is directly dependent on people wanting to participate, and the fact that I want to use elderly subjects - well, recruitment is tricky. So, when someone calls to volunteer, basically I will agree to give them whatever in the world they want. My advisor was in the lab area outside of my office, but I decided it was ok to carry on with the phone conversation with my door open. A few minutes into the conversation, however, a classmate walked in to use the lab area. I decided it would be better to shut my door, so she could not hear my conversation. I had to slide my phone from the back of my desk to the front edge so I could get up to shut the door.

And there it was - a giant bug. HUGE. with antennae. You know how well I deal with these things. But, I was on the phone. So, I grabbed the paper I was writing notes on and stood up on my chair. I had my eyes locked on that sucker, while I spoke to the subject from atop my chair and tried to make an appointment for our first meeting. Finally I decided I could not wait any longer, and I found a post-it note pad to try and crush the bug. BUT - he began to run. I LOST THE BUG. So, now I'm back up on the chair scribbling notes.

Finally, I made the appointment, hung up the phone, and opened my office door. At which point I burst into high-pitched squeals "omigawd, a bug. A BUG, omigod!! There was a bug. I lost the bug. omigawd!!" Both my advisor and classmate turned to look at me, slightly unphased. The classmate asked, "was it big?" I wanted to scream - DOES IT MATTER?! But, I calmed down a bit.

I removed everything from my desk, and used some lysol wipes. Then I got down on my hands and knees, armed with wipes and a heavy tape dispenser, and began the search. My classmate looked in and laughed, "What are you doing? Oh my god, are you looking for it?" From beneath my desk I shrieked "Of course I am! It's here somewhere. I lost it. Where did it go?!"

Defeated, I stood up and packed my bag. As I headed out of my office my advisor said, "heading home? Have a nice night!" and I responded, "yes, I'm itchy. There's a bug in my office!" I wonder if he regrets working with me? Thanks to my dad, I know the bug isn't there anymore. He assured me it has crawled out, under the door, and made its way down the hall by now!

'till Gabriel blows his horn

I've never been to a big "sports" school. I'm currently enrolled at my 4th institution of higher learning, but this is the only one I've been to that actually has a football team. I'm not talking about a "decent" football team, just any team, in general. On top of that, I've never really felt much sporting school spirit. Most recently I was at Boston University, and most of y'all have heard the story about how I learned what the mascot was there. To fill you in, it goes something like this:

I was at my grandmother's house with my parents, we had arrived in separate cars, along with other family members. We were all standing in the street outside her driveway talking, and a neighbor I did not know said to the crowd "Who's the terrier?" I ignored him, as I didn't know what he was saying, it couldn't be directed at me. Again he starts speaking of some terrier. I go on ignoring him, walking closer to my car. At this point he comes up to me and asks directly "are you a terrier?" Um, ok - NO, I'm not. I starred back blankly, unsure of how to answer him. So he continued "Do you go to BU?" Ah, yes, I say proudly, yes I do. And he blinks and says, "So you're a terrier?" Hm, still unsure. So he points to the parking sticker on my car (with a picture of a dog on it) and says "BU, terriers, you go there?" I do, and now I understand why this dog is on my parking sticker. Supposedly it's the mascot. I recently told this story to a BU alum who lives in Austin and she laughed and said "You didn't know Rhett?" And I felt like I was back at square one, "excuse me, Rhett? I'm talking terrier's here!" Supposedly that dog is named Rhett.

Prior to that, I was at American University - we were the eagles. I know this because I have a pair of light blue shorts with the word Eagles written across the bum. And there was a statue somewhere of an Eagle. And, really, if you are going to call a school The American University, what else could the mascot possibly be? Before that I was a Clarkie. Through and through. But, was I a Cougar? I guess by default. We were the red and white blooded Cougars. The women's field hockey team (which I was not on) played in the outfield of the shitty baseball field that the men's baseball team (which I was not on) used. The men's lacrosse team (which I was not on) had the newest coach so they got the last pick for gym time and held practice at 1am. The gym floor was redone my freshman year, and thus we were no longer allowed to play sports on it. The basketball games had more band members than fans in attendance. You get the picture.

So last night, when I went to my first ever college sporting event, can you imagine how blown away I was at the basketball game I saw? I mean, forget the fact that HOARDS of people were heading there and scalpers were outside, and that ESPN was broadcasting the game. Forget the fact that there were 3 dance teams, cheerleaders, a mascot, a band, a pep squad. Forget the fact that standing ovations were given to two former football players as they walked in with their entourages. Forget that this was currently one of the biggest college basketball games this season. Well, no, don't forget those - those are all the reasons I was blown away.

If I thought that the longhorns around the city of Austin were plentiful, this was a whole new level. Burnt orange everywhere. Hell, Blue everywhere too. The fanfare was a bit ridiculous. I mean, chants and cheers and stomping and whooping. I sat quietly for about ten minutes, before I was yelling with the rest of them. Unclear what we were yelling "give 'em hell, give 'em hell, make 'em eat shit" seemed to be the local consensus. But there was also "FIGHT, TEXAS!" and of course, the eyes of Texas, sung after the star spangled banner, with a Texas State flag stretched across the court. As a friend pointed out, it didn't take me long to get into it (um, hello, do you not know me? were we concerned I'd NOT get into it?!) I was already decked out in my new t-shirt, and had the horns up for all the foul shots!

Beyond the shear amazement at the crowd and fans, it was a really good basketball game to watch as well. Not the ass-whoopin' some had hoped for (I'm going to be a longhorn for a while, please don't stop talking to me every time they win!), but a great ending for longhorn fans everywhere!

And today, I'm left suppressing the urge to make the Eyes of Texas my new ringtone. I've also already begun to look into getting student season tickets for football. Oh, and most importantly - The Sox are in DESPERATE need of a hand signal, it's really the only thing Red Sox Nation is missing. So, I'm on it!

my rings

I've always worn rings. In high school. In college. After. One of the rings I wear my mom gave me, it's silver (all my rings are silver) and it makes a circle, with an opening, on top of my finger. In the summer I'll get a tan line around it, and when I take it off there is a tanned circle inside the white outline of the ring. Not sure why, but I always sort of love that tan line. In high school I never took my rings off, maybe only during field hockey and lacrosse games because I was forced. In college I took them off even less. I'd sleep in them, I'd shower with them. Really, they were always there. I've worn the circle ring for upwards of twelve years - whenever I get together with my friend Jenn from high school she muses over that fact, remembering it from high school. A second ring I've worn for about eleven years, it's my high school class ring. I went to a small private all-girls school and just about every girl got one. I think I'm the only one who still wears hers. It's simple, a silver ring with a black stone in the middle. On the right side it says "LS" for Lincoln School, on the left side it says "98" and stone itself is engraved with the helmet of Athena, the greek goddess of wisdom. Underneath it is engraved with my name. For our school the rings were symbolic, you received them in your junior year and wore them with the helmet facing in. On graduation you flipped your ring around, with the helmet facing out - letting all your wisdom lose into the world. Or something like that. The third ring is the newest, only about 5 years old or so, and is my college ring. It's daintier than the high school ring, it's white gold and has a small ruby stone in it. Our school colors were red and white, and a ruby also happens to be my birthstone. Around the stone it says Clark University. On the right side it says "02" and on the left side it says "BA". Underneath it is engraved with only my initials, it is too small to fit the entire name. I've worn these rings everyday for a long time. Until just under a year ago.

As I said, in college I never took them off. I slept in them, I showered in them, everything. Some years later I decided I couldn't sleep in them, and I started taking them off at night. And also to shower. Like a normal person. Just under a year ago, I woke up in the morning, got ready for work and made a conscious decision to not put my rings on. I don't even know why, but I remember thinking I wasn't going to wear them. And I didn't the next day either. Or the next. You get the picture. I've brought them places with me, they still get packed in bags for overnight trips. But I've not worn them. I forgot to pack them when I went home for Christmas, and I felt a little worried when I realized I didn't have them - but I'm not sure I would have put them on.

Yesterday, as I was doing my normal Sunday thing - errands and such - I put them on. This morning, when I got ready for school, I put them on. Again, I'm not sure why, but I did. And now, my hands look like my own again!

OCD

My OCD has reached a new low (high?). I was out of the office yesterday (on my death bed with the mutant flu, but thats a story for another time) and while I was out one of the IT guys had to come in and set my office computer up to be on an outside server, so I can access even more RAIDs and files and good stuff. I didn't know he was going to come while I was gone. He very nicely left me a note explaining what he had done. It says:

"I also moved the folder icons down to the bottom left corner of your desktop so they don't get lost in all your other folders...

...I had to move a few things around with the open folders and applications on your desktop, it is awfully crowded."

And my reaction, shear embarrassment that he had to see my messy desktop. And, of course, it is now all spic-n-span and organized. There must be a drug for this, and I want it!

in dreams

I've not been shy about sharing my experiences with odd-ball dreams. They happen. A. Lot. The last two nights have been no different.

I'm prone to the "teeth dream", y'all know that one? Mine generally go something like this. I'm having a typically normal day and I eat something, and my teeth crumble. They are all loose in my gums and then as I talk I'm spitting out splinters of crumbled teeth. This goes on for what seems like an eternity, clearly I've spit out more pieces of teeth than I ever could have had in my mouth. Many, many mouthfuls of teeth have been spit out. And while this happens I am mostly panicked, anxious, and embarrassed (diagnosis right there!) I've had this dream often, in various forms. But, last night. Well. The dream began to get smart.

In my dream last night it was a typically normal day, and then my teeth were loose in my gums, and they were falling out. This time, though, they were not crumbles. They were whole teeth. And my dream-self was perplexed. I never have tried to salvage the crumbles...but, whole teeth?! Maybe they can be fixed. So I began to try and discretely save the teeth, through the anxiety and embarrassment so I could go to the dentist. (as a side note, I put them in a glass of milk because I remembered this commercial from when I was a kid, with a bear who fell off a skateboard, telling you to put the lost tooth in milk and get to the dentist quickly!) My dream-self was under the impression that far too many teeth had fallen out, and I actually said to someone in my dream that "this can't be real, too many teeth have fallen out for this to be real!" So I took the saved teeth and counted, sure to reach something like 55 (and, mind you, I still had about 12 left in my mouth). But, I only counted ten that had fallen out. And ten holes in my gums. And, dream-me started to panic more. Dream-me decided, "This must be real! In dreams they are crumbles, these are real teeth. I've lost my real teeth...and I don't even have a dentist here!" And levels of panic and anxiety were reached that I can't say I've felt in a dream before.

When I woke up this morning, no teeth were missing, and they look just fine. But, maybe I should finally find a dentist!

well said

I started a post after last weekend, but I was unhappy with the way it was turning out. So, as with many, it was left untouched. There are many such posts - typically about important events - where I feel my lackluster writing does it injustice. Posts about the Red Sox World Series win, hosting my first Thanksgiving, and even the day I had to give back my laptop, they go unfinished or unfollowed-up on. Last weekend was really one of the best weekends I've had in a while. I had my first visitor to Texas; not only was I excited to share things about my life here with someone from home, but it was really great to spend so much time with AY. She's so thoughtful and has already sent me a wonderful thank you note that sums up, much better, what I was trying to say. So - I'll steal it from her!

"So much fun packed in 4 days! Where to begin - tacos, longhorns, bbq, coffee in a soda cup, xxl cowhides for sale, dismembered doll butts, camera-shy killing knives, discontinued football purses, exes from Texas, chicken with herbes de Provence, line dancing, "everything's fiiiiiiine", tips on using a feather vs. a chicken, brownies with ice cream, buffalo chili."

I noticed only one thing missing from her description....but, she closes the letter with:

And remember -- W.W.J.R.D.?

In the end, it's all there. And was a great weekend in Austin (and surrounding areas). In addition to the fun, I learned some valuable lessons:

1. The pull out couch in my apartment is not only easy to pull out (if my 90 year old grandmother could do it I shouldn't have been worried...but I was) it's also not terribly uncomfortable.

2. The ghetto bathroom set-up in my apartment was not as horrible as I expected it to be.

3. A cowboy hat, western shirt, big belt buckle and boots make just about anyone incredibly attractive. And, two-steppin' around a dance floor can't hurt either.

4. A small diner in Johnson City claims to have "splits, phosphates, and iced tea" and the Fredericksburg Trade Days claim to sell primitives. Really, all I learned was that these things exist. I was at the diner and the Trade Days, but I have no idea what phosphates and primitives are.

5. Rain in Texas halts air-traffic as bad as a blizzard in Boston.

good idea, bad idea: part II - adventures in babysitting

I was babysitting tonight and had a small instance of déjà vu. Although, this time, instead of styrofoam popcorns it was small plastic tiddly-winks. And, instead of carefully dumping them onto the ground they were violently thrown from their tub by a 5 year-old. And, instead of a long-haired cat there was a small dog (smaller than Mia). Also involved in this "game" were two different colors of putty and some magnets. I was never quite clear what the rules were, other than make a huge gigantic mess sending your babysitter into OCD hysterics. But in the end, I got the little rugrat. He began to throw a tantrum about picking up the mess, as he did this I picked up one of the wand-magnets and started collecting the magnetic tiddly-winks. I cleverly bragged to him that I could pick up more than he could. Wouldn't you know it, I lost. Boys and their competitive edges.

We then decided to play "rock band" which involved real microphones and real instruments. Which were banged around in a way that I am sure was not their intent. I put a stop to this when he began ripping these down off the wall (mind you, these line the walls of his play room...but still, are they toys?! who knows!) I played an electric guitar and the keyboard while he screamed into a microphone. I think we were pretty good. Although, the lyrics - "ya baby, all night long, you are soooo cooool, all night long, ya baby" - they have me a little creeped out.

Cancer wife lives on!

good idea, bad idea

I won't lie, this seemed like a perfectly fine idea at the get go. Dump the styrofoam on the floor, put items in box, refill with styrofoam. I overlooked a few very key elements, like the static attraction between sytrofoam and long-haired cat. Also, the territorial behavior of long-haired cat over styrofoam. Finally, the teeny tiny small styrofoam pieces that were littered all over the floor as I finished up. In the end, the box is packed, Mia is styrofoam-free, and the mess has been cleaned. Next time, maybe I'll use a bag!

impressive

One of my classes this semester, that I think will be pretty fun and immensely useful is called Do-it-yourself Stats. I can hold my own as a small-time script writer; I spent many years pouring through other peoples code, figuring out how stuff works, finding bugs, making things happen the way I wanted. But Matlab has always been the one thing I was afraid to touch. DIY-stats happens all in matlab! It also will teach me the fine art of making up my data boot-strapping.

Our first assignment is an easy one, generate random data, calculate the mean, and get a histogram that should look Gaussian. To do this I wrote a simple script. Then we were asked to find the sample variance and sample size for each run and to plot those. I got fancy, I wrote a script around my script to gather all these numbers and plot it. I think I expected a straight line, showing the constant relationship.



I got this blimp. I think there is a problem somewhere.

UPDATE (2:55pm): After figuring out that all the variables I created needed to be cleared before I rerun the script - and after realizing that I was starting my graph with an unnecessary (0,0) coord, I think I've done it!

noontime revelations

Instead of remembering to buy more spoons to bring to my office, I've gotten very talented at eating my yogurt with a fork. Sadly, I feel I am already one step away from GoGurt, which haunted me as a camp counselor and I swore I would never buy or eat. Maybe it's time for a new lunch idea!

sending out an s.o.s.

could someone please tell the cat to get out of the damn bathtub and eat something, she stopped listening to me weeks ago!

UPDATE: While you are at it, can you also tell her I'm sick of playing "how many places can I hide a hairball", and that I know it was her that turned off my alarm clock three days ago!

reading material

I went to the library today, and I got a library card. I also checked out a book - because I plan to have oh so much time to read once classes start on Monday.

I was disappointed by the public library near my house. It was small, and smelled musty. And had a limited selection. If, by limited I mean, lots of books on Texas, Jesus, and how to speak English. And also, quite the Danielle Steele selection. I was unable to find the book I wanted, and really shocked to find the one I ended up with.

with too many cats

You know that old lady, the one who lives alone, up the street,with too many cats. She's crazy - or at least that's what you and the rest of your 13-year-old friends call her. In reality, she likely knows what is going on, but maybe she doesn't agree with it, or chooses to ignore it. She's not crazy, she's just in a different time. In a different place. But, you call her crazy, because she lives alone, with too many cats. You know her. In 50 years, I hope not to be her!

But, in the last two months, I had a glimpse. I was the crazy-cat-lady.

Mia and I went on a plane, twice. And she was great. It was me - I was the disaster. I was the spectacle. I was the crazy-cat-lady. When we left Austin, I put her in her carrier and she complained minimally. She tried to push her way out - this picture was her actually putting her small paw up against the mesh of the bag, and whining. Whimpering. Pulling at my heart strings. Whispering - "You're a bad mom". She stopped relatively quickly, because I'm a bad mom and I ignored her. In the car on the way to the airport, not a peep. I pulled her out through security - silent. The security guard even commented on her well-manneredness.

While waiting in the airport I tried to sit in quiet areas, and I tried to talk to her a lot. As Stace pointed out - most people probably didn't know there was a cat in that fashionable bag of mine, and I was the crazy-lady-talking-to-a-bag to most. I ensured that I could pre-board the flight (you know along with people who have legitimate mobility problems and small screaming children). When pre-board was announced, there I was, the crazy-cat-lady, the only one pre-boarding. Families with children were sitting and waiting, while I was rushing down the jetway to the plane. I crawled around the floor of the plane situating her comfortably under the seat, talking to her all the while.

On the flight up, we shared a row with no one. So after take off Mia got her own seat, and I opened the carrier enough to fit my hand in and pet her - while I tried to sleep. She didn't like take off, or landing - who can blame her. But she suffered in silence. As is a cats way, she drooled a lot. I had to ask for copious amounts of paper towels, and I kept talking to the bag, so eventually the flight attendant said to me "What's in here anyway?" I told her it was my cat and she said "Ohhhh! Kitty!" but had this look of relief, figuring out I wasn't insane - maybe.

I think the low-point occurred while I was waiting at Logan for my flight home. My parents were waiting with me, all of us sitting to eat a little and drink coffee (them, not me) and I needed to use the restroom. I left Mia in her bag with my parents and took my purse and went to the restroom. On the way....I talked to my purse. I did. I forgot it wasn't Mia. And I actually spoke to my pocketbook. Crazy-lady-talking-to-a-bag, with too many cats.

thanks for looking out for me

One of the nicest things to come home to, is all the wonderful shows that my DVR has been taping for me. We've got episodes of The Hills, Gossip Girl, SVU, Everyday Italian, Ace of Cakes, and so much more. So, I've given up on the food shopping for now - must catch up with LC first!

UPDATE: DAMN YOU DVR! the episode of The Hills that was there yesterday has been deleted. Damn you setting that was set to only save for 14 days. I'll just have to settle for Gossip Girl.