Susan, that was so beautiful and touching!
Don't let me die!!!




Pretty please??

What we need is an incentive for people to post. I say, free cake for the first person to make 3,000 posts! ReadySetGo.

I'm serious.

The blog has spoken! kthnxbye.

[edit]
I have chosen the prize-cake.

Exact size and appearance not guaranteed, taste subject to restrictions.

one of my professors has a more exciting life than his geeky appearance suggests

He's currently in Antarctica doing research.

Hi Everyone,

Down in McMurdo trying to complete all of my trainings and check-outsbefore heading out to the deep field camp (WAIS-D: West Antarctic IceSheet - Divide). It will have a big ice core experiment happening thereover the next three years because of the 3400 m of ice and it is right atthe continental divide so they don't have to worry about "flow" of the icewith time as much as in other places.

Spent Thanksgiving out on the iceshelf in "snowcraft school". We learned survival techniques like buildingsnow structures, how to repair stoves, find someone in a white out, useVHF and HF radios etc. I slept behind a big ice block wall that I helpedbuild. The weather is cold and has been snowy but thankfully not muchwind. It is suppose to pick up tomorrow dropping the temps below zero (F)with the wind chill. I have snowmobile school and hazardous material handling on Monday.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. My freeze dried Turkey Teryakiwas memorable since I ate it sitting in a snow kitchen I also helped digout with Mt Erabus spewing its steam 20 miles away.

p.s. What kind of suggestions, Susan? If about reminding people, I think a couple months back I sent out an email to everyone, but the response was so nonexistent I am wondering whether the email reached them.

Alas

The poor blog has been so ignored of late. I look down on the updates and it's mostly just Lucy's and mine name that showed up, with two of Anna's. In all practical senses, it seems like a few people have forgotten about this blog (some still read it, I know).
I wonder if they even remember that the blog existed.

Sad moment there. When the memories go, the stories are the only thing that reminds us of the past. The stories and the *checks* countless surveys that we've once filled out, once upon a time.

People act on the past, so why not the memories?
Suggestions, anyone?

Happy Thanksgiving!

4 photos and a slice of pie....

Mike sighs, but it's a content sigh. Or as close to content as he's likely to get for the time being. His great aunt and great uncle are out of the house, visiting, there is a good show on the TV, he has a can of soda in his fist, very little homework, and no school. It’s almost blissful, especially the no-school part, because it means that there’re no weird things going on and he gets to relax a little.

Out of the corner of his eye, Nick wanders past the living room entrance and enters the kitchen, carrying something. It occurs to him that this's the third time that has happened within the past five minutes.

He waits. A few moments later Nick leaves, then returns again, carrying a large book that looks like it ought to belong to a museum. Mike follows him into the kitchen, where he notices the various things cluttered on the counter and concludes that his friend is either about to build a fort of kitchen utensils or about to attempt to cook for an army.

“Nick,” says Mike after a moment of incredulous silence, during which he concludes that there must be a reason, however strange, behind the fort-building. “What are you doing?”

“I am going to make a pie,” Nick declares, picking up a few of the things from one side of the kitchen and transferring it to the other side for no reason that Mike can fathom.

“Please tell me you’re referring to the math constant pi in your weird French grammar.”

One of the main reasons why he invited Nick over to his house over the Thanksgiving break is that, despite of the dorms remaining open, the dining places are all going to be closed and Mike can’t bear the thought of Nick trying to cook for himself. Therefore, while watching Nick digging out a package of flour from a cabinet, he is forced to wonder if something in his well-meaning offer has gone sadly awry.



“Very funny,” says Nick, locating a rolling pin. “No, I’m talking about food. It’s Thanksgiving in America and I’m going to make pumpkin pie. You know…when in Rome…”

“You know, I think that is the most horrible cliché I know,” Mike watches as Nick carries more things across the kitchen. “And how do you know where everything is?”

“Your great aunt,” explains Nick, locating a doomed can of cooked and mashed pumpkin. He smirks. “Don’t be jealous that she likes me better than you.”

“Ugh, you can have her.” He mutters, watching Nick carry a knife by holding it points first. He considers his current situation for a moment, then grabs the hood of his sweater and pulls it over his head, as far as it will go, in an attempt to forget what he is seeing. “I can’t bear to watch this…”

“I haven’t even done anything yet,” says Nick, indignantly.

“Exactly,” says Mike’s voice from the sanctuary of his hood.



captions:
["I can't bear to watch this.]
[Attempt at pie crust #1]
[Attempt at pie crust #2]
[Attempt at pie crust # Nick-you're-so-bad-it's-apalling-here-let-me-you-idiot]
[Happy Thanksgiving; <- eventual product (we hope)]

How Christmas is made..

Literally. Sort of.

Dude, this tree is going to be freaking huge when it's finished. They're using freaking cranes.
Saw this before going to the movie and immediately noticed the Gryffindor colors of the decorations *geek*

Yay holidays :)

As promised

One photo and a bump in the dark



Practice apparently can make the drawing process slightly faster, thought I'm not sure how much better it is. I don't think I'm getting the expressions quite right (but then, that might be because I don't have enough aggravated people around to study anymore). Same as before, will formalize if someone will de-linear-ize. (3 weeks of NaNo, I'm entitled to make up words now, yes.)

Actually, this would make an interesting desktop background...you know...black save the the area of flashlight.

Binky. Death's horse. Where did the 'e' go?

BINKY!

Apparently it is an "official" word for the happiest state a bunny can be in and is also used as a verb. As in "it binkied".


The happiest rabbit expression is commonly called a "binky." It's impossible to mistake for anything else, and the first time you see one you will probably wonder if the poor thing is having a convulsion. When a rabbit binkies, it jumps into the air and twists its head and body in opposite directions (sometimes twice) before falling back to the ground. This can be done while standing in one place, or while running, which is really weird looking, and is sometimes

You can do a head flick too, by quickly dropping your head sideways and then back up, with a bit of a twist. If you have long hair that gets flung, your rabbit is even more sure to get the message. Some happy rabbits will head flick back at you to show that they share your happiness. It's always nice to answer a head flick in kind. If you want to go for the full binky, your rabbit will understand if you jump up a little in one place while doing a head flick. I recommend you don't try to twist your body in mid-air like a rabbit will, especially if there is any furniture around, you have a history of back problems, or are over 45 years old. Trust me on this one.

Yipee! 245K movie

The full text (and much more) is here . Site shown by Kate.

SPEAKING OF KATE: we have decided to, from now on, greet each other by binkying :D So I thought we might as well incorporate that into the general Lunatics lifestyle.

p.s. AIM convo:

Silly Rain Girl (20:57:57): The happiest rabbit expression is commonly called a "binky."
Silly Rain Girl (20:58:02): Binky!!!!
armenianluna (20:58:10): hahaha nice
Silly Rain Girl (20:58:22): sheppard
Silly Rain Girl (20:58:24): 's hair
Silly Rain Girl (20:58:27): is a happy bunny
Silly Rain Girl (20:58:30): *squee*
armenianluna (20:58:43): and sheppard gets to groom it
armenianluna (20:58:47): *falls over laughing*
Silly Rain Girl (20:58:50): lol
Silly Rain Girl (20:58:56): the licking would be hard though
armenianluna (20:59:09): and getting your hair to groom you in return
armenianluna (20:59:22): lol can you just imagine hair requesting to be licked?
armenianluna (20:59:27): someone should draw that

ok this made me snort

"Anything scientists say about the superstring theory begins to sound worryingly like the sort of thoughts that would make you edge away if conveyed to you by a stranger on a park bench."

And then, later, this made me snort again:

"But even when all these [WIMPs and MACHOs] are added in, 2/3 of the universe is still missing from the balance sheet. For the moment we might very well call them DUNNOS (for Dark Unknown Nonreflective Nondetectable Objects Somewhere)."

[short history of nearly everything]

*goes back to hw*

Ditto

Three photos, one confiscated item, and a cookie [as promised]



Captions: [I'm sorry, it's pencil, it smears, and this all occured between cognitive psychology and fatalism in modern America so handwriting wasn't really my greatest concern.]

I. Mike's hair is stagin a protest while he sleeps.
II. It's discovered, much to the digust of his friends, that Nick not so much eats fries with ketchup as ketchup with fries. [Thought you'd enjoy this, Lucy.]
III. Mike learning to be mistrustful of his friend, Mssr. Lucille's backpack.

Bottom left with added/changed caption: Side picture: Exhibit A as extracted from the bottom of the said backpack. Despite of Mike's assertions, the gum had, in fact, only fossilized and not developed its own class of metabolising organisms.

Bottom right: arrow with the label "Lucy's cookie"; it's chocolate chip, not raisin.

[I've decided that cramming all the drawings on one page is a good idea for something that I'll inevitably *cough* scan. Am willing to cleaned up draft if someone else is willing to dedicate their time to de-line this one. Happy Saturday.]

*UPDATES*

Yaaay, I got

and .

The first one, ironically, was the only required science text I had managed to find in a library. But it was so nice I got the illustrated version (=.

November- Mike's

Mike’s great aunt’s house was very, very big and very, very empty and at the moment Zach reasoned that that was most definitely good because he didn’t think Mike’d have a way to explain their current state, much less the unconscious girl bleeding in Nick’s arms, to a very inquisitive and overly friendly relative.

There was a physical check up much like the first one with results similar to the first one. There was Zach calmly analyzing the contents of his stomach as he extracted a piece of wire from the girl’s shoulder. There was Mike’s sweater which was carefully discarded outside of the second story window that was Very High Up. There was Mike who diligently bandaged away and who, possibly out of concern for the girl’s health, kept Nick away from attempting to help with a combination of snide remarks, insults, and little orders such as “stop-hovering-over-my-shoulder-you-idiot-I’m-trying-to-work-here.”

There was Nick, offering to make everyone feel better by rummaging through the fridge and eventually pouring everyone generous amounts of soda and offering cookies. There was Zach, sitting on the bathroom floor feeling nauseated and Mike finally badgering out of him that the reason he was not a pre-med was because he couldn’t stand the sight of blood. There was Mike, sitting through the first shift until well past mid-night and Zach sitting through the second shift until dawn, because they really would like some answers about an event that felt like a bad sci-fi episode.

Finally, there was the girl, who woke up and started crying because she was SOLID, causing the thermometer in Zach’s hand to explode and Nick significant amounts of panic until Zach managed to convince him that he was bleeding a lot less than it looked like he was bleeding by invoking a lot of words such as “capillaries” and “epidermal cells” until Nick got sick of the lecture.

After that the problems escalated somewhat when they found out that the girl refused to tell them anything at all and had, to all appearances and assumptions, no relatives or guardians or place to live.

Zach reminded Mike that neither blinding anger nor torture was the way to go, especially since the first was hardly ever constructive, being blinding, and the second was ruled out by the eighth amendment. Nick reminded them that it was very early and they should both get a break and that was the stage when the girl fell back asleep.

The trio retreated into a guest room to contemplate the infinite mysteries of the world. Mike suggested that they start with aleph-null and continue upward.

[I was going to make a joke about the classes of infinity except I remembered that I don't remember anything about it. This week involved too much writing. I swear, it can't be healthy.]

Amen

...and which lesser Harry Potter character are you?

If I change three choices I get Dean Thomas. *grin*

[lets keep the blog alive :]

Look! An HP quiz! OMG how exciting, we've never seen something like this before!!11!!eleven!!

But this one is sort of different ;P. It only uses minor characters.

Well, go. *pushes towards the link*

...and which lesser Harry Potter character are you?

Aww I'm artsy and nice. This quiz is like MAGIC.