Friday, May 19, 2006

   We hate slutty flies!
Listening to: "Rapture" - Blondie

Lab turned out to be pretty interesting. We're still setting up stuff and waiting for the flies to make babies, but I'm learning a lot about lab procedures. As exhausting as it may be, I think I can enjoy life as a biochemistry research minion. A summary of what I've done so far:

-Isolated virgin female flies (yes, you can tell them apart...we need virgins b/c non-virgins can store eggs) and crossed them w/ males
-Purified plasmids
-Isolated DNA
-Loaded a gel for electrophoresis
-Inventoried the stocks (in what's basically a walk-in fridge)

As for the cooking, I haven't done much. Yesterday the movie room crew went out to Chinatown for dinner. I'm bummed that I didn't get to really say good-bye to Jared. :( He may be coming back, however, before he goes off to China. Tonight, Becky and I made chicken pot pie. Actually Becky did the cooking. I read from the recipe, but it looked easy. I'll have to try it out when I get home. Later tonight, before we finish watching the Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice, we'll have to decide what to make next week.

Hunter quote of the day (I figured that since I have a Shakespeare theme, I'd create one for Sherrilyn Kenyon's Hunter Legends series.):
"I really hate Oracles. If I wanted to play mind games, I'd buy a Rubik's Cube." - Acheron (the ultimate badass) in Night Pleasures
Comments (3) | Permalink

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

   1st day of work
Listening to: "Repeater" - echostream

I'm so tired right now. I don't know how people work from 9-5 PM (I only worked from 9:30-4:30 PM w/ a hour lunch break). Everyone is really nice in lab, and it's gonna be interesting. However, today was a bore b/c I had to get all the paperwork done and we had to make fly food. Usually a guy comes and does it for us, but we've run out. I've worked w/ fruit flies before, but I've forgotten pretty much everything I learned. ^^;;

Right now I'm trying to figure out what I'm gonna eat the rest of this week. I don't want to suffer from malnutrition. Becky thinks we should team up and alternate cooking. Problem is that I can't cook. :( Better start learning.

Becky finally got around to watching Howl's Moving Castle w/ me. She thinks it's so cute although she agrees w/ me about the book being better. Despite that, it's still my favorite Miyazki film

Quote of the day:
"Too bad Howl's just a cartoon character." - Becky
Comments (3) | Permalink

Monday, May 15, 2006

   the people you meet
Listening to: "Aozora no Namida" - Takahashi Hitomi

For a relatively shameless person like me, it was kinda embarrassing reading my romance novel on the flight. On my flight back to Houston, I was sitting next to a college-aged guy who was reading Farenheit 451. He also noticed what I was reading (Night Pleasures) and remarked that it must have been interesting since he caught a couple paragraphs. Now I'm wondering if he read the torture or the sex scene. *^_^* I'm surprised that he was interested in the series, but then again, when you've got Greek gods who screw up and vampire hunters who communicate through their website, you can't help but be interested. Anyway, the guy (who was named Eric) and I talked for the rest of the flight. Even though I'm usually silent on flights, every now and then I meet some cool people. It sucks to know, however, that I'll probably never see them again.

Jen has moved in now. We went to the Rice Village to get some food at Walgreens, and I went to sell my books at Half-Priced Books. What a rip-off! I got a hella better deal at the campus store; too bad they don't take all the old books I have for English. Basically don't sell your stuff to Half-Priced unless you just wanna get rid of it and are only looking to get a couple bucks back. However, I've heard of some people making a better amount, but I guess that's if you've got rare collector's books.

Quote of the day (another one from Night Pleasures since y'all liked the last one:
"You're the only man I know who can have sex w/ a woman who looks that good and be in this bad a mood 10 minutes later. Damn, didn't you know sex is supposed to make you feel better?" - Nick Gaultier to his "boss" Kyrian (after he walked in on him 10 minutes ago)
Comments (1) | Permalink

Sunday, May 14, 2006

   already?
Listening to: "Crawling" - Linkin Park

I can't believe I'm going back to Rice tomorrow and start up work the next day. I would almost rather be there though. Home isn't bad, but I get really lazy whenever I go back. At least this time around I'm doing some reading. I finally got another Sherrilyn Kenyon Dark-Hunter novel, Night Pleasures. The book involves the (more normal) twin of the vampire slaying heroine in Seize the Night. The explicit scenes get kind of tiring (it IS a romance series), but Kenyon manages to keep things interesting and funny. You gotta love a person who can come up w/ a Greek mythological origin for vampires.

Since I don't have anything else to say and y'all had a couple questions, I'll respond to the comments. First off, the Shakespearean phrase from the last quote now means any sort of acceptable offering. Brutus was saying that even though they're supposed to assassinate Caesar, they shouldn't mutilate his body ("Let us be sacrificers, not butchers"). Now I'm suddenly reminded of last night's episode of FMA w/ Barry the Chopper. XD Secondly, on the subject of FMA, Vic is definitely one of my favorite voice actors. He plays very diverse roles; I found out that he's in a lot of the anime I own (Saiyuki, Generator Gawl, Yu Yu Hakusho). What makes him stand out though is that he sees himself as an FMA fan like the rest of us. He's also just up for anything. I mean, who calls up Steve Blum in the middle of an FMA panel? ^_^ Finally, the fly lab (in the biochemistry side of things) is a genetics research lab. I'm going to be altering the DNA of fruit flies and seeing how that affects their ability to sense gravity. I'll actually be running them through a maze like mice, LOL. The fly lab means a different thing for the ecology majors b/c in that lab, they have go and catch house flies to analyze factors on population genetics (like inbreeding).

Quote of the day:
"Here I am trying to kiss my girl, and you have to interrupt us. What, were you raised in a barn? . . . By the way, touch the woman-- or the Lambourghini-- and you're a dead man." - Kyrian in Night Pleasures by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Comments (3) | Permalink

Thursday, May 11, 2006

   back with the family
I've returned home but only for a few days. Then I go back to Rice and start working in the fly lab. My grandparents from my mom's side are also here.

Why it that after I spent about 36 non-consecutive hours typing a paper, I finish my 2-part Fullmetal Alchemist fanfic? Maybe it's b/c once I'm on a writing spree, I can't stop. Plus, writing fanfics is a good way to wind down. Anyway, here's it is: Brothers.

On the subject of FMA, y'all should visit Vic Mignogna's website, and drop him a line. Before I started working on my story, I wrote an email to him, and when I checked my email after I finished, he sent a reply! I was so excited b/c he remembered me!

Bill's quote of the day:
"a dish fit for the gods" - Brutus, Julius Caesar (He's actually not talking about food. He's referring to how after they kill Caesar that they should leave his body in a condition the gods accept.)
Comments (4) | Permalink

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

   My summer is an anime?
Listening to: "Alice" - Nana Kitade

I'm finished! While I was waiting in line for my last dinner of the semester, I met a guy (forgot his name >_<). He was really friendly, and I don't know if he was joking but he called me the "beautiful girl from Baker" (he was from Hanszen). I always like friendly, outgoing people even if I'm suspicious about it at first. They give off a good vibe, and it brightens my day to know that someone has actually made the effort to meet me.

I just realized something kinda cool about my rooming situation this summer. I'll be living in my current room w/ my friend who's also named Jen. Remind you something? It does for me: NANA! ^_^ For those of y'all who don't know about that series, NANA is about 2 girls w/ very different personalities named Nana who wind up living together in room 707. Now Jen and I have a lot in common so there isn't a Nana Osaki or Hachi (although I kinda dress like Nana O. and act like Hachi). Hopefully we won't get into the drama the Nanas experience although I'd like for us to have some fun adventures.

Bill's quote of the day:
"Play fast and loose" - King Philip, King John (The phrase means to behave irresponsibily and I think I'm going to use it more often.)
Comments (1) | Permalink

Friday, May 5, 2006

   power of words
Watching: Cowboy Bebop

I just got back from the movie room. We were watching V for Vendetta, which was an awesome movie. I know Alan Moore got all pissy about it, but it's still a good movie. I'm curious about the graphic novel now although I wasn't a big fan of Moore's other work, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Btw, the stuff you see in the trailers really doesn't give a good indication of what the movie is like.

I actually did do some studying, but I managed to write a fanfic as well. The idea had been brewing in my head ever since Shiokazecon, and here's the end result (or part 1 of it): Brothers

Bill's quote of the day (not colloquialism today, but V enjoys quoting the Bard):
"And thus I clothe my naked villany/ With old odd ends stolen forth from holy writ/ And seem a saint when most I play the devil." - Duke of Gloucester, Richard III
Comments (4) | Permalink

Wednesday, May 3, 2006

   summer plans
Listening to: "My Pace" - SunSet Swish

There's not much to report. I can't seem to get my mind out of con mode. It's really bad since I gotta study for orgo and write my English paper. We had a party for Mac, our RA who's leaving. I'm gonna miss his banana bread and study breaks. I helped him bake today. It was a lot of fun mashing all those bananas (we made like 50 small loaves).

This summer is going to be interesting. Jen is gonna be my roommate. At first I didn't have one, but I was afraid that they were gonna put me w/ someone I don't know. Amanda, Becky, and I are gonna have a Miyazaki-fest some time after finals. Amanda has Spirited Away, and I just got Howl's Moving Castle. I wish we could find someone who had My Neighbor Totoro or Kiki's Delivery Service to borrow. As for guy stuff, my mom said that I could date them, as long as it's not serious. For her, dating is the same as having a relationship so in her eyes, I'm just going out w/ friends. As far as I know, only #3 will be here over the summer. He's going to grad school in the fall so it's not gonna be serious. I wonder what working in lab will be like. Hopefully I won't be a klutz and screw things up. After that, it's off to Japan! Then I'm home for a month and back to school.

Bill's quote of the day (I've returned to Shakespearean phrases):
"I must be cruel only to be kind." - Hamlet, Hamlet
Comments (2) | Permalink

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

   a quick study break
Listening to: "Let's Party" - Koda Kumi (although my response to the song is "let's not.")

I've about just had it w/ orgo. Unfortunately for the most part of these 2 weeks, it'll be dominating my life. I've been frustrated w/ my studies since I'm not doing well in any of my classes except Middle Eastern dance. Of course, my standards are high, as in I expect A's in my English classes and B's in biology and orgo lab (I just wanna pass my honors orgo class). It's basically my fault though for not keeping up w/ my reading although organic chemistry is just the bane of my existence.

On the bright side of things, I've managed to take care of my non-academic responsibilities. I don't know how I'm going to juggle things next year since I'm taking over the anime AND karaoke-DDR clubs. Hopefully I can work things out. I've also got a big lab project up ahead for the summer. That'll really test my skills. Finally, there's Shiokaze Con to look forward too.

Quote of the day:
"Phosgene is a most effective poison...What happens when phosgene is absorbed by moist lung tissue?" - Organic Chemistry by Maitland Jones, Jr.

The solution manual's response to the question:
"One product is hydrochloric acid, and this acid is a most unpleasant molecule to have in one's lungs."
Comments (0) | Permalink

Sunday, April 23, 2006

   Flashback!
Listening to: "Spidewebs" - No Doubt

90s Prom Party was fun, and I actually enjoyed being a Spice Girl again (except for the obscenly short skirt aspect). Rob did a killer job w/ the lights, making the dance floor change colors. Things were kind of slow in the beginning w/ me, Katy, and Daniel reminiscing of days gone by. Then Alice and her friends came, and you gotta dance when Alice is around. Rob, Amanda, and Jason showed up too. We had last year's prom queen, Dennis (yes a guy was queen), present this year's prom king and queen, Mac and Sam. I liked this party a lot b/c it wasn't all bad rap music and I knew the words to a lot of the songs.

Quote of the day:
"Two beeps or not two beeps." - Captain Tempest, Return to the Forbidden Planet
Comments (2) | Permalink