Pennsylvania for the Win

Pennsylvania has the best town names.  On the way back from camping over Memorial Day weekend we drove through Virginville, PA.

For the record, Virginville is 45 miles from Intercourse.

Alternatively you can swing through Blue Ball, PA - just a few miles out of your way. :)

Easter Tradition

Some of you (imaginary readers) may be familiar with the Easter Pinata tradition that my classmates/friends and I started in grad school.  Well, the pinata has come to the east coast.  I brought a cute little blue and white cow pinata, and all the little cousins had a blast with it.

Over the past year or so, I've also gotten more into using royal icing to decorate cookies, and I made some cute chick and egg cookies.

When Boyfriend and I got back to Lancaster, we had some fun with the peeps my aunt gave us in the Easter basket she so nicely made for us. :)

She's still got it.

In an effort to post a bit more, I was looking in my drafts folder to see if there was anything still interesting or useful, and found this Facebook chat that I had with Little Sister shortly after my defense, when I posted a couple photos of me (in doctoral robes) and Boyfriend on Facebook.

Little Sister: damn
that is one sexy dress [yes, this is in reference to my cap and gown]
i really like it
lookin fly
thats a really cute pic of you two

Me: thanks...

Little Sister: those robes
the color [navy]
and the black accents
really working for you

Me: don't look too closely. it's totally obvious that i got zero sleep the night before thanks to the f***ing construction [True story, I lived next to a construction zone and woke up to construction at 4:30 or 5 am every day for the last 4 months I lived in Tucson.  They of course selected the night before commencement to shut down water and work overnight with the use of giant lights.]

Little Sister: oh
no i couldn't tell
no for real though

Me: the dreadful under eye bags are really a shame given the pictures are otherwise really nice

Little Sister: this doctor thing might work out. i decided i'm pretty proud of you and im gonna frae the pic of you in your gown and itll come to college with me. [aw]

Nice, huh?  I thought you could use some classic Little Sister since it's been a while.

• • 
    

Venn Pie-agram!

Nerd alert!  I made this awesome Venn pie-agram for my labmate's birthday a couple of weeks ago.  He uses a LOT of Venn diagrams to describe his research, so ever since I saw this idea online I've been waiting for an opportunity to make him one.

Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of the empty pie tins, because it took me a bit of thinking to figure out how to cut them.  The instructions I found online completely removed the edges of the middle section, but I wanted to keep them so I could use more pie crust, because who doesn't like pie crust?  Here's a Microsoft paint illustration of the cut I made. :)  I stacked the two pie tins, made one cut through both tins, flipped one over, and hooked them together.  In the second pie picture the top pie is apple with a lattice crust, the bottom is mixed berry with a crumb topping, and the middle is obviously both.  It was the first time I tried making a lattice top crust, and these instructions from Annie's Eats were very helpful.  The pie was a huge hit at school.  The Sri Lankan students especially liked the crust as they seem to generally not care for super sweet things.

Marathon

A couple of weeks ago, as she was in the home stretch of her dissertation, my dissertation date buddy posted the following status on Facebook:

They say getting your PhD is a marathon and not a sprint. What they don't tell you is that writing the dissertation itself is a mini-marathon!

A friend who defended his dissertation last year commented:

The best part is that your dissertation doesn't have to be amazing, or even good - it just has to be finished.  Any by finished, I mean "nothing in mid-sentence."

I think my dissertation is at least a little more complete than "nothing in mid-sentence," but it certainly is heartening to hear from somebody who's survived this already. :)

Abstracts

The abstract was the last thing I wrote for my dissertation.  Each data chapter has an abstract, and then there's one for the dissertation as a whole.  Every time I write an abstract I remember a story Dallas told our first year.

Dallas had a student in his gen chem lab who refused to put his results in the abstract of his lab report.  A scientific abstract is supposed to be a summary of the entire paper/report, including the results and conclusions.  This student knowingly lost points on his lab report every single week because as an English major he refused to "spoil the ending" by giving away his results in the abstract.

Cracks me up every single time I write an abstract.

Wanted

"Tactful assertive interpersonal skills". Best preferred qualification I've seen in a job posting yet.

Random Funny

I saw this poster taped to a utility box on my way to school a couple of weeks ago.  Apparently it was an actual event.  Too funny.

A post in which I brag about how funny my "kids" are

Ok, not my kids.  I don't have kids.  In this case I mean a couple of my cousins.

I spent almost an entire week in Connecticut before/during/after Gramma's funeral, and it was great.  All my aunts and uncles are awesome, and holidays are always so busy and mean lots of people around, so it was really nice to have an extended chance to hang out with them (even if instigated by a shitty occasion).  I haven't spent that much time there since I was a kid.  I had lots of time to just hang out and chat and catch up with my youngest aunt (who's really more like an older sister than an aunt), play with my young cousins (youngest aunt's children), go running with my uncle, and play cards with Grandpa (who keeps referring to Boyfriend as my "young man" haha).

My aunt's three girls are 12 (C), 10 (G), and almost 7 (M).  The oldest has a thing for cupcakes, but with three kids and a full time job, my aunt doesn't exactly have much time to bake with her, so I helped her make cupcakes from scratch (with three kids, mix is the standard!) using some of the goodies I got her for her birthday.

[Side story - I'll try not to make this a habit... At Christmas, all the nieces' and nephews' names are thrown into a pool, and each aunt or uncle draws two and gets a gift for just those two kids.  Well, there are 5 aunts/uncles, and currently 13 grandchildren.  The baby isn't in the pool yet...and to make the numbers work out, I got booted from the pool a few years ago, and told that I was going to buy for one of my "nieces or nephews" - i.e. cousins.  Nice deal, huh?  Anyways, when I discovered C's cupcake thing last fall, I claimed her for Christmas.  No worries, the  drawing is totally fixed every year. :P  Anyways, I had a blast assembling a cupcake/cooking/baking themed gift for her - a ton of fun cupcake liners and sprinkles, her own set of piping tips, I made her an apron (she was just on the border between being too big for the kids' sizes and growing into the adult aprons), and gave her a plastic index card box and a set of index cards to have her own recipe file.  Hilarious, but the recipe file has been by far the most popular item in that collection.  She even took it to school to show her friends.  Well the niece/nephew exchange never got set up for Christmas, with my uncle dying in early December (yeah, it's been a shitty several months), so we decided to just hold on to the gift for C to open for her birthday in February.]

We made s'mores cupcakes, adapted from recipes from Ming Makes Cupcakes.  We used the chocolate cupcake and marshmallow frosting from Recipe #8, and adapted the frosting to be vanilla marshmallow instead of mint.  The frosted cupcakes were then dipped in crushed graham cracker and topped with chocolate chips.  They weren't the fanciest cupcake I've ever made, but they were certainly tasty, and everybody enjoyed them.  Cake and frosting made from scratch are always better than from store-bought mixes.  It was fun teaching C how to measure flour (spoon into the measuring cup, then level with a knife - DON'T scoop!), and having her essentially make them herself.  She was suuuuper excited about it all.

The next day, my aunt and cousins drove me down to the train station so I could head back to PA to spend a week with Boyfriend, and I had the following conversation with the youngest girl, M, who's not quite 7.  All three girls have been getting ready for the international fair at school the next night, and M is talking about her part in this.

M: My class has Mexico.

Me: M, do you know where I live?

M: Ummmmmm.  No.

Me: I live in Arizona.  Like you live in Connecticut, I live in Arizona.  Do you know what's next door to Arizona?

C: Mexico!

Me: Yep, Mexico is next to Arizona.  I live only an hour and a half from Mexico.

M: We've been learning about all the animals that live in Mexico.  Lizards, and this weird rabbit kinda thing.

Me: Did you learn about javelinas?

M: What?

Me: Javelinas.  They're like pigs, but hairy.  But they're not actually related to pigs. 

M: Oh, weird. 

M: I have to draw a picture of something Mexican [for the international fair].  I'm going to draw a taco.

Me: [hysterical laughter] 

M: I'm even going to draw it with cheese.  Lettuce, tomato, and cheese.

On the way back home from dropping me off at the train station, they all had this funny conversation that my aunt emailed to me when she got home.  Yes, they all call me Annie.  So does J.

M: Can we go visit Annie?  If we did, then we could go to Mexico.  That would be great to go to Mexico.

Aunt: Well, Annie hasn't even been to Mexico.  It's not very safe near her.  Plus, Annie won't be there too much longer.  Soon she is going to be finished with school and she is going to get a job.

M: Oh, probably in a bakery.

Aunt: [in her head...wow...5 years for a phd and a bakery position...at least all that chemistry would help with the proper rising knowledge!]

C: I hope she gets a job closer to us.

Aunt: She is hoping to get one in PA or NJ so she can be closer to us and Boyfriend.

C: But I thought you said NJ is awful! 

Aunt: Oops!! ;-)

Yesssss!  Little M has me getting a job in a bakery based on ONE cupcake whose making I merely supervised!  Because I live so far away, I really don't get to cook for them very often at all.  But score!  I totally laughed out loud when I read that conversation on my train ride back to PA (Amtrak has free wifi!!). :)

I didn't take any photos of the cupcakes, but here are some javelina photos to make up for it.

Vicious Cycle

For those of you in grad school of some sort, when did you know you wanted to go?  Sometime in college? When you found yourself in a dead-end job you hated?  As the eldest daughter of a PhD and an MD, I'm the weirdo who grew up thinking it was normal to go to grad school.  Seriously.  I was maybe 6 or 7 when I learned that my parents had both been in school until they were 27 (coincidentally, the age I am now, and also the age I'll be when I FINALLY graduate).  I was horrified, and told my mom that there was NO WAY I was going to stay in school that long.  She laughed, and said, "we'll see..."  Sadly she was right.  Apparently going to grad school is a vicious cycle...

A conversation I had recently with one of my college roommates (CR):

CR: I am only on page 20 of editing a 140 page publication.  It's so slow...
Me: Ick.  Fortunately I can edit a chapter at a time up to the very end.
CR: Yeah, but you're writing a dissertation.  That's scary and difficult in so many other ways.
Me: I'll just be thankful that I don't have to edit 120 pages at a shot for right now. :)
CR: Haha, small wins
Me: Pretty much.  At this point I'm mainly motivated by being able to make other people call me Dr. [Last Name] after I defend.  Although that will be weird, because in my mind Dr. [Last Name] is my mom
CR: Haha, true.  And your dad too technically.
Me: Yes, technically.  He's got at least as much claim to it as I'll have.  And technically grandpa, too.
CR: So many drs
Me: Haha yeah.  It is a bit funny.  Easy to see why I grew up thinking it was normal to go to grad school. :P
CR: True that.  It's like a drug.
Me: Or teen pregnancy.  A vicious cycle.
CR: Best example yet!

So glad it's over...

Recruiting is over.  And I think it went ok overall despite one ridiculous thing after another.  My definition of "ok" is managing to mask all the ridiculous stuff well enough that the recruits go home thinking the weekend was well organized and ran smoothly.

All the drivers (about a dozen people currently) are student volunteers, and are there to take the group of recruits where they need to go as well as out for some fun social things.  They do not exist to serve as individual chauffeurs for whatever an individual student wants.  Here's just a sampling of some of the hiccups  - some out of our control, some recruit-related, and some related to that incompetent new assistant grad coordinator (let's call her Marge for convenience sake - not her real name).

• Thursday morning (the day the recruits all arrived) the hotel tells us that nobody can check in before 3 pm because they were booked full the previous night.  The recruits started arriving at 10:30 am.  At least a dozen were here before 3 pm.   There's no way a bunch of people didn't check out first thing in the morning.  You really mean to tell me you can't have even 2-3 rooms clean by noon?  To stall, we wound up taking the earliest arrivals out to lunch, and made several recruits wait around at the airport much longer than normal.

• That girl who lives on campus without a car?  Yeah, not that bright, NO idea what she's getting herself into, completely overwhelmed.  I'm pretty sure her undergrad research advisor (who is a nut job) twisted her arm into applying.  Oh, and this girl isn't responsible/mature enough to make a damn decision and tell anybody if or when she needs a ride.  When I drove her to dinner, there was no mention of the fact that she needed a ride back to campus.  Nor did she say anything about the rest of the weekend's events.  When I pointedly asked if she was going on the Friday afternoon outing or to class, trying to get at whether she could wait at the hotel between said outing and dinner, or if she needed a ride from campus to dinner, she couldn't make a damn decision.  Soon enough it's Friday afternoon at 5 pm and I have no idea where she is or if she needs a ride.  At that point we all decided that if she needed a ride that was just too damn bad.  Funny side note - Saturday afternoon she decided to go with the group that was going on a tour of Tucson.  She's lived here for 4 years.

• A few weeks before recruiting weekend there's an online signup form for students to volunteer for various events.  In past years, shortly before recruiting, everybody who signed up gets a name tag, schedule, and the necessary maps in their mailbox.  Professors also get schedules and maps.  The only thing anybody got was a name tag.  Guess who's job that was.

• There was one student who requested to fly into Phoenix a day early, and planned to rent a car to drive down to Tucson, and then fly out of Tucson like everybody else.  For some reason, somebody decided this was ok.  When Marge emails this kid to remind him that he needs to be at the hotel by 6 pm, he asks for a ride from the rental car drop off point.  On the total opposite side of town from the airport.  Apparently it would cost him twice as much to return the car to the airport.  After a series of emails, it is decided that Cliff (the other 5th year grad student who organizes the drivers with me) will drive pick this guy up.  Thursday afternoon Cliff gets all the way across town to the rental car place and can't find this kid, so he calls him.  Turns out earlier in the day he called Marge to tell her he decided to keep the rental car, and wouldn't need a ride.  Did Marge answer her phone or ever check her messages?  Nope.  Awesome.  A waste of time and we look disorganized.  This gets more ridiculous.  We assumed that once he decided to keep the car (no idea why, but I found out later he drove back up to Phoenix Friday night for who knows what reason) that he was no longer our problem.  Wrong.  Saturday night, during dinner, he asks another driver if somebody will follow him to the rental car place after dinner.  No notice, no consideration that the drivers are supposed to be driving the other 39 recruits to the party.  I know I'll be gone, but I hope this kid doesn't come here.

• Saturday morning the recruits come to campus and have a series of one-on-one meetings with professors.  Marge was meant to be there before the recruits arrived to meet the caterer who delivered snacks and beverages.  Guess who was an hour late.  Guess who then sat there all morning not interacting with or helping any students find their meetings.  Yep.

There were other examples too, but I'll leave you with two funny recruit stories:

• At lunch on Thursday (the early arrivals we had to entertain before hotel check in), one guy mentions that he's going to have to relearn how to iron his clothes.  I guess he'd packed everything ironed, but well, it had all been crammed into a suitcase...so... The girl at lunch then offered to help him.  For real.  We then suggested that she teach him rather than doing it for him.  I found out later that she totally did.  His pants weren't in too bad of shape, so she just supervised that.  Then coached him through ironing his shirts.  Too funny.

• Friday night student drivers generally take the recruits out to the bars.  On the way down to the hotel lobby to head out, something like 13 of them piled into one elevator.  Somebody said hey, let's all jump.  A couple of them jumped, and the elevator totally got stuck.  For 45 minutes.  Ridiculous, but super, super funny.  If either of the jumpers actually come here, they will never be allowed to live it down. :)

This morning I gave my feedback to the graduate program coordinator (who is more than competent and absolutely wonderful), emailed all the planning documents I had to the grad student who's taking over coordinating the drivers, and cleaned out the folder where I had various old documents stored.  SO excited that none of this is my problem any more!

Attention Getter

I made these cranberry-orange muffins for my committee meeting the other day.  It was a short meeting, but a fed and caffeinated committee is usually a happier committee.  After the meeting, my advisor took one with her, mentioning that she really loves cranberries.

Later that day I saw my advisor again at subgroup, and I swear she spent the first 15 minutes raving about some bakery on Broadway.  Seriously.  She went on, and on, and on about this thing they make and that thing they make, and they usually go this day because then they have these cinnamon rolls, and there's this giant case of little cookies, and a giant case of big cookies... It was a bit strange, but actually pretty funny to listen to The Queen go on like this.

Anyways, so the combination of comments made me think of this cranberry "pie" from the Pioneer Woman that I made last year, so I emailed her a link to the recipe.  Literally three (3!) minutes later I had a reply.  Seriously.  She doesn't reply that fast to emails about science or other lab stuff.  Heck, sometimes she doesn't ever reply.  Man.  Maybe I should send a recipe at the beginning of every email when I really need a reply?

Conversations with Little Sister

Yesterday, via text message:

Little Sister (out of nowhere): I think we should match at xmas again this year...lets work on that
Me: Hahaha but it was funnier bc it was totally accidental last year.  i bought a gray dress the other day, but i have no idea if i'll wear it for christmas or not
Little Sister: It feels like xmas break right now...minus snow on the ground which is ironic bc a snow storm is the reason i'm out of school for a week
Me: Haha well what are you wearing for christmas?
Little Sister: Idk i'll let you know christmas eve eve bc thats usually when i decide
Me: Uh, yeah, matching is only gonna happen again by totally coincidence then
Little Sister: That's the best way to match!

Sooo...I'm supposed to read her mind when I'm packing to go home for Christmas...when she hasn't even made up her mind yet?


Later yesterday, again via text message:

Little Sister: Today i asked mom to get my phone out of my purse bc i was driving...she proceeded to take my wallet out and open it. is it too late to trade her in?
Me: On purpose or bc she's an idiot?
Little Sister: Hahahaha who would do that on purpose?
Me: A snoop?  Some parents would
Little Sister: Ohh haha well theres nothing important in my wallet...just my current school id in which i look like a cancer patient
Me: Uh, why do you look like a cancer patient? btw my bday package from [Boyfriend] weighs 2.1 lbs.  SO curiousssss
Little Sister: He weighed it? weell bc i was like i dont care its not in the yearbook so i had a messy [high school she attends] bun with a bandana tied on top...those pics r displayed on the bulletin board for student of the month, distinguished senior etc so hopefully i dont get recognized for those
Little Sister: When is his bday?
Me: I bet you will. [Really, she probably will.]  I have a tracking number and it says it weighs 2.1 lbs. his bday is sept 24. we were in the grand canyon.
Little Sister: Oh ok so he gets you a nice 2.1 lb mystery present and you get him a throwing up girlfriend whose feet he has to rub. i know whose present i'd pick.
Me: Well i also got him 3 space prints and framed them for his apt
Little Sister: Whats a space print? sounds nerdy
Me: Photos from apollo missions
Little Sister: Ohh thats cool. is he into that space stuff? thats a pretty classy apt decor
Me: Yeah, he really likes space stuff and his apt walls were super bare
Little Sister: Soo he likes space...and he works for john deere [not quite true]...id be willing to bet he has experimented with crop circles
Me (after a few minutes, during which I asked Boyfriend about this accusation): So apparently he sorta has.  he and his dad wrote [LAST NAME] into a rice field one year. [Boyfriend's dad farms rice & soybeans.]
Little Sister: Knew it!

Today, via Facebook chat:

Little Sister: Hey, you wanna know something?
Me (hesitantly): Sure
Little Sister: [Friend's] fish died Sunday
and came back to life Wednesday
right as they were about to flush it.
Me: Hahahahahahaha why'd they wait 3 days to flush it?
Little Sister: Well they had to wait til the power came back on bc they have well water
and also
it was just really hard for them
i mean it was their fish
garfunkel was family
Me: Is this the fish she got at the same time as you?
Little Sister: yesss
Me: whose name i can't remember...
Little Sister: Leopold
Me: Right. I was going to say leonard, but that's big bang theory.
how is leopold?
Little Sister: Still kickin
bc we put him in front of the fire
during the power outage
so he'd stay warm
Me: Hahaha that would be bad if his water froze
Little Sister: Yeah
dad was smarttt thinkin there
i gotta go i'm meeting [Friend] at the 99
bc mom and dad are out partying tonight
and we have no food bc of the storm
Me: out partying?
Little Sister: at a dinner for church's 50th
at a golf club
or something
idk
something like that

Like in a Movie

Last night I'm happily chilling on the couch watching the season premier of Project Runway, when I get a Gchat message from Sugar Pants.

Sugar Pants: anne

you there?

me: yes

what's up?

Sugar Pants: I did a boo boo [At this point I'm thinking he's in lab and messed up an instrument somehow.]

i locked myself in my garage

me: hahahahahahhaha

Sugar Pants: i know i know

can you come save me?

the front door is unlocked

me: haha ok

i'll be there in a few minutes

Sugar Pants: thanks

He recently bought a house, and has been doing some work on it in the evenings before he actually moves in. Apparently last night was the night to disassemble the built in cabinets in the garage (you know, so you could actually put a car in it) and install a lock on the door between the garage and the house.

About 10 minutes later I pull up to Sugar Pants' house just as his neighbor is pulling into her garage, which is immediately adjacent. I go through the house and open the door to the garage. He's sitting on the floor out of view, so I step into the garage. Before I know it, the door has swung shut behind me.

Yes. Yes, that's exactly what happened. I went over to free Sugar Pants from his garage and got locked in there with him. Go ahead and laugh. I know it's funny.

I told him his neighbor pulled in when I did. So he pounded the wall and yelled, but she'd already gone inside. He asks if I have my phone to call Dallas. My phone is in the car... (Next time I'll take my phone with me before freeing somebody from a locked room.) He doesn't have his phone either, the key to the newly installed lock is on the other side of the door, and the garage door is padlocked from the outside.

Sugar Pants has his laptop, but the battery is quickly dying. E is on Gchat still, but not answering. He asks if I know her number - I don't (Actually, since my parents phone number changed when they moved, the ONLY numbers I have memorized are my cell phone, my office, and my grandparents'.). He knows his girlfriend's number, but she lives in Pheonix. He uses Google's call feature, and calls twice before she picks up. After explaining our predicament, and some totally justified laughing on her part, she agrees to call Dallas.

After another uncomfortably hot and humid 15 minutes in the garage (seriously, why won't it just monsoon already!), Dallas arrived with his girlfriend to laugh at us. Before actually letting us out, he tried to convince us that the front door was locked, so he couldn't get in to open the door. After we called BS about 8 times he let us out.

There's a key to that lock hidden in the garage now.

Introducing Leopold

Me: hi

Little Sister: HI

i'm legit

about to go to bed

BUT

i'll fill you in

i got a new fish!

Me: hahahahahaha

congratulations

did [friend] get one too?

Little Sister: yes

betas

hers is garfunkel

mine is leopold

Me: hahaha

nice

my fish was gustavo [I'll have to tell you all about Gustavo another time.]

Little Sister: but dad hasn't met him yet

i left him on the counter

with a sticky note

that says meet the newest addition to the family - leopold! hes the most handsome beta around

mom came home like 20 min ago

and i was sitting in a chair next to the counter talking to him

i love him

my little fishy

Me: oh my goodness

Little Sister: mom thinks im gonna give him a complex

bc [other friend] told me its a girl

but i dont want a girl fish

so im gonna pretend its a boy

but i told her i want to laminate a prince harry and put him in his fish bowl so he can have company and bc its prince harry

and hes beautiful

and mom reminded me its a boy

she really thinks im gonna give him a complex

and the stones at the bottom of his fish bowl are bright pink

like breast cancer pink

Me: actually i think they generally sell boy beta fish because the girl beta fish aren't pretty colors

Little Sister: oh ok good

i think its a boy too

bc it made a bubble nest

and only the boys make those

Me: what the heck is bubble nest?

Little Sister: its what they do

when they prepare to mate

it means they're really happy!

my fish is happy!

because he loves me

OK WEELL

going to bed

byee

Me: goodnight

Quote of the Day

A friend/labmate, upon tasting his beer:

It tastes like they poured church wine into PBR.

Tales of the Road

Yesterday evening I flew back to Tucson after a trip to the northeast to see the boyfriend and family over the 4th of July holiday. Both flights were pretty bumpy, but on time, so no complaints. A couple funny incidents and thoughts to share...

While boarding the flight in Boston, a middle aged woman comes down the aisle with a fairly heavy-looking carry-on that needs to go in the overhead. Her seat is in front of a man holding a baby.
Woman, to man: Can you help me with this?
Man: Sure! Where should I put my baby?
Fortunately a baby-less man from across the aisle stepped in to help.

While the plane is taxing towards the runway, a flight attendant comes over the PA system.
Flight Attendant: Is there a passenger with an iPhone? I need a passenger with an iPhone. (A half dozen hands in my section go up.) I have a passenger in first class who doesn't know how to turn his off. (Entire plane laughing.)
Pilot: Throwing it on the ground and stomping on it usually gets the job done.

There was a family a few rows ahead of me with 4 kids under the age of about 8, and when the plane took off, they all yelled like they were on a roller coaster.

While riding the tram between terminals in Atlanta, they made announcements as we arrived at each terminal. Terminal A as in alpha, B as in bravo, etc. It occurred to me, isn't it a bit strange that we use C as in Charlie...when Charlie starts with a "ch" sound rather than a hard "c" sound?

My flight to Tucson left Atlanta from the international terminal. Now, I know Tucson is kind of a strange place, and it's not at all far from Mexico, but really? The international terminal?

There were TONS and TONS of uniformed military personnel around my gate. I'm used to having a handful of military people on my flights to and from Tucson because there's an air force base in town, and an army base about an hour away. But I'm talking easily a couple hundred people here. The flight across from mine was going to Kuwait. Which then got me wondering, were there any civilians on that flight? Who voluntarily goes to Kuwait??

Some of you know that I frequently buy Cosmo magazine when I fly. Now I know it's trash, but much of it is entertaining trash. I find it funny that every month they have another version of "99 ways to please your man," because clearly the 99 ways they offered last month won't work anymore. Anyways, this trip was no exception, and I had a Cosmo with me for my in-flight entertainment. Except on my way to Tucson I found myself seated next to a very nice little Muslim family. I've felt a little awkward reading Cosmo when I find myself seated next to a man like my dad's age, or an old woman like my grandmother's age...but this was different... I twiddled my thumbs until they went to sleep so I could read my Cosmo without feeling like I'm going to hell.

A Father Problem

Do any of you listen to Car Talk on NPR? Did any of you hear this weekend's show, specifically the last segment? My college roommate brought it to my attention. And the father mentioned in this segment, could very, very nearly be my father. It's episode #1122, segment 10 - "Book this, Dad!"

You can find the segment here:

http://www.cartalk.com/Radio/WeeklyShow/online.html

My favorite line is when the daughter says, "I have part a car problem, but mostly a father problem..."

Quote of the Day

"A gypsy told me I was gonna marry a guy at least 8 years older than me." ~ Little Sister (duh), in justifying her admiration of Prince Harry

Mini Me

Apparently Facebook thinks my sister and I are the same person. Facebook has this relatively new tool that tries to identify faces automatically when you upload pictures. When I upload photos, it'll usually pick out almost all of the faces as faces, and correctly identify maybe half of them. For me at least, it's never misidentified somebody, but rather didn't propose any ID at all.

When my sister uploaded pictures from prom this morning, Facebook went through it's little face-recognition program, and tagged the people in the photos. However, it did not recognize my sister as my sister, but as me!

Little Sister: guess what the computer just did

that makes us

officially related

and alike in appearance

Me: facebook just tagged you as me!!

Little Sister: yeah

when you like

upload pics

and its like who is this

it was like anne
already decided

Considering my sister is way cooler and way less awkward than I was in high school, I'm sort of jealous of how awesome she looks in her prom pictures. Maybe I could convince her to go along with Facebook's identification. I mean, it wouldn't be weird to be showing up in prom pictures at age 26 right?

Anyways, apparently we look alike. I mean, Facebook thinks we're indistinguishable. It's like I have a twin - one who's ten years younger, skinny with blue eyes, and hates chemistry.


Nah, Facebook is on crack, there's no resemblance at all.