Most of my chimpanzee photography is no longer publicly available online, but if you'd like access to it, please email me.
- Music:Sailing Through - Neutral Milk Hotel
According to good old Livejournal, I haven't blogged in about 1.5 months. So I'l start from there, and give you some photo accompaniment, too.
And I've been sitting on this entry for nearly a month. Sad, eh? No more excuses.
( Johnny & Azania's Wedding )
( My New Computer )
( Chagi )
( Adam Updates )
* Lauren's birthday and CU friends
* Reviews: Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Crystal Skull
* Reviews: The Incredible Hulk vs. Iron Man
* Visiting Ohio & Chilling with
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
justbeast( Hurricane Harbor )
* + 2 Cats, -1 Cat +1,000 Cat Abandonment Sympathy
* Dad's moving out
* Unpacking the apartment - potential dates for a housewarming
* Back and Forth to Maryland
* Link to MLOAD
*
It appears that I've run out of steam, but I will leave the list of things I meant to talk about with the hope of writing about them all in the future.
I will certainly mention now, though, that at the end of September/early October, I'm going back to Congo. It doesn't mean I won't finish my studies, or that I'm leaving New York for good, or anything else. It just means that I have the most incredible opportunity to do masters/senior thesis /doctoral dissertation-level research that I've been CONSUMED with preparing these last couple weeks. I'll be part of the Wasmoeth Wildlife Research team, but pretty much solo on this project. I'll also be helping to take care of and rehabilitate 2 orphaned chimpanzees.
The extra-crazy part? Adam wants to come with me. Nuts, right? We'll see if it actually happens.
Oh, and while my regular journal might stay only-sporadically updated, remember that I'm pretty rigorous about posting to the community
thegarlicbite and I started:![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
mylife_onceadaySo, if you're keen to see what I'm doing while I'm not updating here, check out:
And I do promise to update more. But for now, I'm running on low battery power and low energy!
- Location:Columbia, MD
- Music:Ne Me Quitte Pas - Nina Simone
Here's a tip: When you work with monkeys, you become a monkey. An envelope-stuffing, phone-answering TEMP MONKEY.
Why am I stuffing envelopes at Temple Israel for $12/hour?
You'll have to wait until I get home and write a proper entry to know.
Ability Scores:
Strength-10
Dexterity-11
Constitution-14
Intelligence-16
Wisdom-13
Charisma-17
( The rest of it )
I'm really amused that I'm a Human Bard. Well, and a Rogue. I'd hope I wasn't just a Human Bard -- why don't you just give me no name and make me the 4th person on a Star Trek Away party? Useless character in an adventuring party, that's for sure!
I love how high my CHA is though. And I think Gollum would be proud of my rogue-like mastery of sneak-attacks.
But, I'm on my way down to Maryland to see Cherry Blossoms and Adam and whoever is free!
We're thinking about hitting the Cherry Blossoms tomorrow, Sunday, and we're around today if
grysar or Reene are too.Anyone have any plans?
[I'll write about the reunion at some point when gnomes aren't tapdancing in my head]
I won't reveal which one I'm watching.
The weekend ended too quickly, as did my life tonight when I turned on the "Self Clean" option on my stove and nearly passed out from smoke inhalation before I realized what was going on.
Sundays always go fast because either Adam or I have the time constraint of whatever bus/train that is leaving to go back to our respective state. You realize, sometimes though, that distance doesn't always matter after the following spurred a very amusing text-message-conversation.
I was incredibly amused when Jesus Taco stuck a delivery menu under my front door.
Not that I'd ever want to order from them, but everytime I pass their storefront I sort of have to laugh. So I sent Adam a text message to let him know that < waving hands excitedly> THEY NOW DELIVERED!!
Me: Jesus Taco just slipped a menu under the door!!
Adam: Take this taco. It is my body which is given for the forgiveness of sins.
Me: This is not salsa. It is my blood. Take it in remembrance of me.
Me: These are my taco kisses. Honor my sacrifice by accepting them.
In other peculiarly funny things, has anyone else seen this Celebrex commercial that is like, 4 minutes long, seems to disparage Celebrex extensively, and then ends up being a commercial telling you to buy it? I'm not sure whether it's using reverse psychology or what.
"Celebrex! It's dangerous!! It'll keeel you! Buy it buy it buy it!!!!!
I think they should stick with Millard Fillmore Soap-On-A-Rope
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif){kind=small}
How is this possible? Aren't all books supposed to be sensitized when they come back in? If someone went to the trouble of stealing them, why bother to return them?
Another girl who came in last week was not so lucky:
As she'd left Butler, her bag set off the sensor, and, inside, there was a book from the Science library. She was told to come upstairs and see someone about desensitizing it, so she came up to me, pushed the book across the counter and told me to do just that.
Instead, I asked her for her ID, to see if the book was, in fact, charged to her. It was, but it was also a) a book that wasn't supposed to be in circulation. AND it was marked as "Lost". AND it had a recall on it.
I told the girl to wait (I still had her ID *and* the book) and I went back to consult my boss, who contacted the science library manager who affirmed that yes, he wanted his book back right away)
So, when I went back to the desk, I told the girl that we'd have to keep the book and that no, she couldn't have it back.
...She was less than pleased. Sensitization technology conquers again!
And I came to realize that a) I barely spend any time downtown these days and b) downtown is not how I remember it.
Madonna made some comments earlier this week that New York had lost its buzz and while I find her personally offensive, what she said sort of rings true.
As I sat in my super trendy cafe on Spring and Lafayette, waiting for Yenni, I noticed that the cafe had STEVIA in the sugar jar. [Pretentious check-mark number one].
But as I people-watched out the window, I noticed too that no one I saw actually looked like a New Yorker. They all seemed to be obvious tourists, maps and shopping bags in hand, or people who are clearly NOT from New York but have moved to New York and are dressing/behaving how they see New Yorkers behave on TV.
And yes, this means 800 iterations of Carrie Bradshaw et al but I feel like more importantly, the spirit of what made New York, "New York" was lost. When I was in middle school/high school, what set downtown apart was that it was different, and funky. Extremes were the norm, and there was no Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen boutique in the Meat Packing district.
It bothered me, I suppose, that none of the people I saw out the window seemed real. With their matchy-matchy outfits, and designer strollers, and enormous-insect-sunglasses, they didn't look like people who had jobs, or families, or real lives. They just looked like characters they expected to be played by on Television.
I guess all New Yorkers have had this complaint, but it does feel like what characterizes New York nowadays is not its uniqueness, but it's expense. Numerous people have pointed out that no one could live the Carrie Bradshaw lifestyle now even if they wanted to.
I think it was funnily characterized by Yenni too who said "Not even Chinese people want to go to Chinatown now."
Anyway, I still enjoy my sojourn to Montien on Thursday nights, and at least some parts of the East Village still feel like real New York. But overall, I'm coming to appreciate "upper manhattan" more and more. It may be a little rough around the edges, but no one can deny that it's real.
And, while it's still not warm enough to go sans jacket or leave my hands out of my pockets, Spring is definitely sprunging.
I think the biggest impulse that the change in weather has brought about in me is the increased desire to socialize. As little as six months ago (I think), we had semi-weekly plans! What happened!?
On another side note, it's time for crafting again. I sent an email out to the Stitch & Bitch girls to see if we can plan our next meetup. I guess I was also prompted by
yuki_onna's thirst for crafting.Which leads me to the perfect segue - happy birthday to
justbeast!!****************
I take great pride in cracking walnuts; that is, getting people who are trapped in their shells to come out. So I'm feeling wildly successful that my (notoriously) surly coworker smiled TWICE in front of me today, and sang along to not one, but TWO different songs on my Energy playlist while we checked in books!
For the curious, the two songs were "September" by Earth, Wind and Fire and "Cecilia" by Simon and Garfunkel
But I am back at work today, and, for all intents and purposes, things seem exactly as I left them. But I've been so far since I was last here!
I went snorkeling for the first time ever. Traveling abroad seems to me to be a lot like snorkeling. At first, breathing through this tube is foreign and difficult. You can't believe that you'll actually get air to breathe and you resist. But once you stop resisting, and breathe, and look down below you through the clear crystal water and watch the color fish weaving in and out of the reefs below, it's just incredible.
Adam and I started off for Colombia last Saturday morning, excessively early, to catch our 6 am flight to Panama City and then to Cartagena, Colombia. We took Copa Airlines up on their offer to give us vouchers for later travel if we agreed to take a later flight, though we regretted it after they barely made us to our next flight and lost Adam's reservation. Oh, and flagged us for "random search". Hi insult, meet injury. Have a free pat-down too!
But even upon arriving in Panama, I was already glad that we had come. Warm, muggy and yet still breezy, an airport full of palm trees and sun, I felt like I was back in Uganda again. It was also really nice to take off the multitude layers of sweaters, coats and rain gear that we had donned for the freezing rain that waved us goodbye in New York.
Our later flight offered us a quicker layover in Panama, and who did we run into but the Frenches (another family that is an Epworth tradition). I caught up with Mrs. French and Adam and I tried to stay awake before our next flight. I had slept the entire way to Panama but he hadn't slept at all yet.
We got to Cartagena at last, and managed to navigate our way to our secondary hotel. They were supposed to send a taxi to come and collect us to take us to the hotel we were staying at the first night, but no taxi, and we didn't even have an address! Upon arriving at the second hotel (where everyone else was staying throughout the week) we had an additional stutter start when we discovered that we had no reservations, and even worse, the hotel manager called us liars!
It was, by no means, the way I wanted to start out my vacation. But my Aunt Martha handled it wonderfully, putting us up in her rented house next door. The room, consequently, was much nicer as were the accommodations. We had a private room and a woman who fed us and washed our clothes. AND a pool! I discovered as well that I had a depth of Spanish hiding inside. Encantado!
We started off with a bang! Well, a bang and a snooze. The rehearsal dinner was held at a charming ocean-side restaurant, with live music, a cool breeze and delicious food! I even managed to say "I am a vegetarian, I don't eat meat" and they made me, specially, some grilled eggplant with Stuff. Poor Adam, exhausted from the day, fell asleep, upright, at the table, in his suit.
Had there only been some soup for him to fall into!
Sunday was another early day, when we woke up at the crack of it to go out to an island off the coast of Colombia. We arrived at our own little private beach, complete with AYCD beer, lounge chairs, sunny beaches, coconuts to drink out of and music filtering through the air from a stereo at the top end of the beach.
Oh, and a bunch of haggard-looking locals, very keen to sell us coral and pearl necklaces.
And I did, I bought some! Some as gifts, some for me. People know that I'm usually more keen on earrings than necklaces, but maybe I'll just change it up! For a little while, at least.
We also swam, and snorkeled, and the water was so salty! I was glad to have the snorkel masks to protect my eyes. It was like the beach at Fire Island, but much prettier, mostly because the water was so radiant.
I was the only light-skinned person I think NOT to get horribly sunburned, but I know by now from Gingers 101 what to do.
We literally spent ALL DAY at the beach. We went out with the other "youngins" in the posse to see other locations in the islands. We (foolishly) decided to jump off the boat and swim around. I didn't count on 1) Adam's trouble swimming in choppy water and 2) My inability to heave my ass back up into the boat without benefit of a ladder or anything else.
All loss of dignity aside, we still had an awesome time, and I'll admit that I was sad to have to go back to the mainland. Additionally, I hadn't gotten the camera to work yet so I had to contend with a day of no picture taking either!
We got back, pooped, and had more people over for more DINNER!
Dinners in Colombia are so late. It felt really strange to us that, while we were only an hour off of our regular time GMT-wise, things all seemed to start at a much later hour every day. Dinner reservations at 10:30pm shouldn't seem strange, I guess, coming from New York, but they did!
The company was nice too, seeing people I hadn't seen in years and years, though I've discovered that I'm pretty much set in my ways of Conservation Conversations. I've transitioned into a phase where, when I talk about my time in Uganda/Congo and the chimps and their outlook, it's difficult to not be depressing. And really, when you're depressing, no one wants to talk to you about it any more.
I was most glad to have Adam there. He brought a sense of levity even when I was feeling heavy with family drama. He was always eager to go with the flow, and I think, for the first time, I actually had free time that wasn't parameterized. It was not "have fun for 3 hours and then go and do X."
It was "have fun..."
The relief of that was immeasurably good. Even now, despite everyone else being the same cranky people, I feel like this weight has been lifted, and I've floated through the day. One of my coworkers said I seemed "spring-y". And I feel it too.
The wedding itself was beautiful, and we danced until past 1 am. Even though we went home early, I didn't feel like we missed anything. After the wedding was over, we had three whole days to decompress. And do more nothing. We went shopping, had lunches, tasted wines and generally relaxed as though we had no cares in the world.
Manicures and pedicures are huge in Cartagena, and roaming ladies who'll come to your house, or come to the beach, or come wherever you and your hands and feet are to pamper and paint them.
It didn't feel much like I was that far away from the US, funnily. Sure, everything was in Spanish, but isn't it like that in parts of California?
Everything was clean, and pretty, and brightly colored and full of flowers and relaxation.
Getting back to New York, Adam and I were both deluged with bullshit. Fred had done a terrible, irresponsible job taking care of the cats. My mother decided to yell at me, and Adam's mother immediately tried to guilt him into visiting. I don't know how long it'll last, but for now, even when the shit hits, (like it seems to be doing right now at work) I can just imagine being in the pool in Cartagena, or lying in the hammock with the breeze gusting through, playing sudoku on my DS.
Classes tonight, work tomorrow. You can't expect the world to pause forever.
Photos are here: Flickr Set
astralina and I had a discussion today, commiserating because we're both having shitty days at work. And I thought to myself, when you're having a shitty day, you take it out on your coworkers, and then they have a shitty day, and they take it out on other people, and it's really just a vicious cycle. I guess my co-worker was having a bad day, because he pulled rank on me and made me do one of the things HE's supposed to do that sucks while he sat at the desk and chatted on meebo. And when I'd done 90% of it and the hour was done and I changed stations, he told me to go back and finish it, all the while leisurely chatting online.
Seriously? He complains bitterly when another department foists off the worst job - outdoor bin pickup - on us and says that it's lame to have to do something that sucks when someone else is too lazy to do his/her job. Too bad that whinging eye can't be turned inward.
But, in my bad mood, I checked up on my laptop, which, as you may remember, was brought in for the THIRD time in 6 weeks last Wednesday. Last Wednesday, I was told the repairs would take 1-2 days, that I was on the top of the queue, and that they were so sorry that the time before that I'd come in they hadn't just replaced my logic board THEN and saved me all the trouble.
When I called today, EIGHT DAYS LATER, they told me I was at the top of the queue. Which somehow implies that the queue hasn't moved for eight days, which I find hard to believe.
So, in my bad mood, I yelled at the girl for hijacking my laptop and not giving me any options and I berated her for probably 10 minutes.
And I bet now that she's having a bad day.
What do you do when you're having a bad day?
Amazingly, someone who came to the circulation desk 12 minutes ago said that it was so nice to be "serviced" by someone so friendly/perky. I think in subsequent interactions my mood has been less concealed, mostly when people ask me consistently stupid questions.
"I'm going into the stacks to find this book. Do you think I can find it in five minutes?"
Is there really any other response other than "Can you?"
Anyway, tell me something happy, or something that makes YOU happy, or something that you do to make yourself feel better on shitty days.
And I guess the fear that runs across my mind is, how can I possibly stand among such giants? It's a beautiful thing to see, these elaborate weavings of people who are so well-versed in their crafts, and well-versed in verse itself! I could never quote a poet on the fly, a fact that has only partially caused me to review my own knowledge.
Maybe now that I have more free time, I should get back to reading? I guess I've lost focus with this post
Merrrow.
lights_out's video post that I never made any mention of my time in Ohio with my Stepfather's Granddaughter's Daughter. What does that make her to me? I'm not sure, other than adorable.Anyway, she was given to me to entertain for a few hours, and I decided that we should watch Return of the Jedi since it was on television. I'm always in support of fostering little nerds.
Funnily, she didn't ask as many questions as the caregivers on the island in Uganda. They seemed to be thrown off by the idea of humanoid-looking robots, and began to think that everything (and everyone) was a robot as a result.
Is he a robot?
Yes, that's C3PO.
What about him?
No, that's Darth Vader. He just has a robotic body because he was badly burned.
What about him?
No, no, that's Alec Guiness.
I guess I can see how it would get a little confusing.
Anyway, this little girl didn't have any questions, but she seemed to have all the answers.
Me: Okay, so that's Emperor Palpatine, a SITH LORD, and he's very very very evil!
Her: I knew that already.
Me: (skeptical) Oh yea? How did you know he was evil?
Her: Because he doesn't brush his teeth.
Knowing this crucial piece of information, I've been able to discern evil far better since!
In that light, I will share
lights_out's link:Also, as a funny sidenote, how telling is it that when I tried to add the tag "children" to this entry, the autocomplete was certain that I meant "chimpanzee"
woofaIt's been a crappy couple of weeks and I've been loathe to post because I really didn't want to chronicle my failures. "Hey, it's Laura! Taking time out of her schedule of already being behind to post some self-deprecating drivel! OMG, here's a meme!"
The cycle of shame consumed me, as I was perpetually behind and constantly owing somebody something.
This past weekend, I saw my dad for birthday bridge celebrations and he and I had a long talk about what my obligations were. We agreed that having enough time for this fantastic internship was important... I mean, they're putting me and the other intern on the website, and we might even get credit when the paper is written. That is -thrilling-.
But after going through the hours it takes me to do each class' assigment(s), class time, work time and internship time, I was clocking about 85 hours a week. I mean, no wonder I'm behind. Dammit.
Here I was at the boiling point, though. Why am I so prone to overcommit myself? And so quick to punish myself when I can't deliver? I really don't own enough spandex to be a superhero...
Anyway, everyone was breathing down my neck for late things, and I talked to my dean yesterday and he authorized me to drop two classes. Maybe three, but I need to talk to the third professor. I'm not sure yet.
Knowing that I was going to reduce my incredibly stressing workload was SUCH a relief. Last night, I stayed up just for fun. It's been ages since I did that.
Spring break starts next week, Adam and I are going away, and I just can't wait.
Now, it's classtime. Things feel better.
regyt's prompting, we went out to see Patrick Stewart as Macbeth at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. It's been so popular that they're actually moving it to Broadway. Who could resist? Jean-Luc Piccard playing Macbeth!? Anyway,
infd, Hiuyan, Adam and I went to see it this past Saturday. Thoughts under the cut for people who don't want to be spoiled.( Weird Sisters != Twisted Sister )
I'll be curious to see what/if they change for the Broadway move. Or to hear other people's thoughts who've seen it!
Also, I don't post less than you do,
blackiestark! We all know that that's not even possible!- I've been going to the gym very, very regularly. Even when it means going three days in a row. Instead of sitting at the computer, I'll drag my ample tush down to 92nd street and work out. I usually do cardio ~3 days a week and then on Wednesdays I do this incredibly difficult, upside-down, pretzel-twisting Vinyasha yoga class before chemistry class. I'm still not sure which one is more challenging.
I guess part of my motivation is that I'm going to that wedding in 2 weeks, but really, there's something very satisfying about it anyway. I'm sore today, and I love it. Besides, I can check my email on my phone! And Facebook!!
Oh, and funnily, last night a girl came in on her cell and was like "Yea, and I'm going to the gym instead of doing that paper that I have to write so I don't fail out of school!!" and I laughed, and somehow felt better. I may be a big booch failure, but I'm not alone. - I finally bit the bullet and got someone into my apartment to clean it and noranac is coming on Friday to help me unpack. Yay! Unpacking will be so nice, and not having to pull my clothes from inside a box will be such a change. When people go on a treasure hunt, they're usually not looking for clean underwear.
They're sometimes looking for dirty!But it does definitely put an adventure-spin on things.
Seriously, though, when I came home last night to find my kitchen and bathroom and living room all shiny and clean, it rocked. - I'm going to a concert tonight! Schoolwork be damned! Pink Martini, at the Tilles Center. Yes, I could have seen them at Avery Fisher Hall but I prefer smaller venues. So we're going to Long Island, Adam, Micah, Alex and I. Woo! It should be fun.
- I got this supercompetitive internship at the Museum of Natural History. I officially have a staff badge again, and secret elevator access, and employee cafeteria munchability, and more importantly, lovely science-type things to put on my CV. It's a fantastic opportunity, doing DNA analysis on polar mammals to test their changing fitness in a climate of global warming, and I just can't wait to dig in!
Does this mean I have less free time? Yea. But I'll parse through it all somehow. - Did I mention I'm going to Colombia (the country) in 10 days? Do you want a postcard? Comment here! (comments are screened)
- Tell me something that makes you happy! Or a secret! It's Thursday, the week is almost over, and I'm trying to stave off my peaking anxiety.
astralina and Evan couldn't make it up from Florida to go to the Pink Martini concert, so I'm inquiring to see if 1 or 2 people are interested in coming.And, while I've asked a few people, I haven't gotten any definitive answers.
I have two pretty good tickets, row L, for this Thursday night. You'd get a ride up with me and Adam.
Let me know ASAP.
I wanted to specifically thank everyone who commented on my last entry. Not only was it nice to know that I still had friends that care, but that other people who've made the reverse culture shock transition have gone through the same thing was somehow comforting.
Things have felt like drudgery, but since airing them out, I've at least felt more at peace. I got a LOT of work done over the weekend (though nowhere near what I wanted to/needed to get done) and arrived at class this morning, bright and early for the 8am-ness, only to discover that it was cancelled.
But I took it well, and since I aired out my strife, I've been handling the bumps a little better.
Some of my funny/previously stress-inducing vignettes:
On the train ride down to Maryland, in the packed train I sat down next to a lonely bag. I figured its owner was in the toilet, or on line at the cafe car. I didn't become alarmed until the train had already made its first stop in New Jersey, but when the Jerseyans entered the train, I let them know that the seat was, to my knowledge, taken.
This guy in the seat in front of me turned around and said "Stop lying you cunt! Just move your fucking bag and let him sit down"
Oooch! Seriously? I explained to him that it really wasn't my bag, and that I presumed someone to be sitting there, but the jock-face who was standing in the aisle moved the bag into the overhead and sat down. He was cranky too, complaining loudly to his (?) girlfriend on the phone that he was sitting "next to some bitch whose stuff was everywhere."
I tapped him on the shoulder and explained that No, really, it wasn't my bag, but he just got all huffy that I was "eavesdropping"
Finally, the conductor came by and I let him know about the bomb bag that had been in the seat next to me. He checked it, and saw that it was a crewmember's bag. The crewmember, a "sassy" woman came over and started to sass me when she thought I'd moved her bag.
But of course, I sold out the jerks sitting in front of me and next to me. And did she let them HAVE it! The other conductor started yelling at the guy next to me, saying that had the bag been a bomb, he would have endangered us all!
I felt very vindicated.
Also, I did not lose my wallet again.
On Saturday, I tried to boot up the newly-hard-drived laptop that I'd picked up at the Apple Store on Friday. The machine seemed to be working sort of okay on the train ride down. But on Saturday, it seemed to have forgotten that it HAD a hard drive.
Calls to Apple Technical Support were fruitless. (Remember when Apple had really great customer service and people in tech support who weren't just reading from a manual in an indiscernable accent?)
I called the store directly, looking for the guy who'd helped me before and who told me to call him if anything else went wrong. After having to pseudo-fight with the girl on the phone that insisted that Geniuses Were Not Allowed to Use the Phone, she put the guy on the phone, and he asked me nicely to come back to the Apple Store, and that this time they were going to replace my motherboard.
Why didn't they do that the last time, instead of just band-aiding it with another hard drive? Who really knows, but I made a point of saying that I have enough shit to do without having to pitch a tent in the Apple Store and live there indefinitely while they try every option that is not d) Replacing my Computer with one that actually works.
But I still laughed about it. My art was appreciated, too, but I didn't get to make any more:
Fat Brown Bear
Yes, they're both fat. And it makes them cuter.
I'm talking with the Chem Lab techs tonight. And, despite class being cancelled, I showed up at Swahili this morning ontime and with all of the work prepared and finished.
I also had an interview for an AWESOME internship that reinvigorated my faith in myself on Friday, as a genetics tech at the Museum of Natural History, studying changing genetic fitness in arctic mammals as a result of global warming. I think I nailed the interview, so we'll hope that that pans out.
Never can have too many good things on your resume.
Gotta go up front.
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