2006: Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
Went on a cruise, road tripped to a football game, partied a lot, travelled with the cycling team

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I can't find this year's resolutions anywhere, although I'm certain that riding more and losing weight were included, and if that's the case then I was mostly successful!

This year: stress less, lose the last 10-12 pounds, put myself first, do all those things I've always wanted to

3. Did someone close to you give birth?
Nope!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Does my kitty Ringo count?

5. What countries did you visit?
Bahamas

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2006?
Better friends.

7. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
hmmm... none really stand out right now

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
2 semesters of straight As? Got my first car all on my own!

9. What was your biggest failure?
Letting it all get to me again. Not being happier.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I sprained my ankle on the cruise and had surgery on my sinuses.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
2 new bikes, a bike rack for my car, a new digital camera, miscellaneous other bike stuff (to total an exorbitant amount of money)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Will, as usual. He is the best person I know.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Princess Yak and my dear roommate Alex Kennedy the girl

14. Where did most of your money go?
cycling, drinking, going out

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
meeting all the newbies, going out a lot, New Years (ok, hasn't happened yet, but I'm excited!)

16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
Luda's Money Maker, Lostprophets' We Still Kill the Old Way

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or hardened? happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? 15 pounds thinner!!
iii. richer or poorer? richer!

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
sleep, ride my bike, party, enjoy life

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
stress out, work

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
family and friends

22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
No.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Top Gear, Colbert Report, Daily Show, Ugly Betty

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
hate is a strong word, and I don't know if anyone affected me enough to merit that

26. What was the best book you read?
The Devil Wears Prada. I didn't read that much this year. Currently in the middle of Life of Pi

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Lostprophets, more hip hop

28. What did you want and get?
new bicycle, new earrings, a racquetball racquet

29. What did you want and not get?
One of those ipod alarm clock things, extension cord thing for the ibook... I was very fortunate this year

30. Favorite film of this year?
V for Vendetta

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 23on March 13. Went out to Cheesecake factory with various people. Jocelyn surprised me at the Tech race with brownies. Hoping to have something not as low key this year.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Reaching the point I'm at now much earlier in the year

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
More effort!

34. What kept you sane?
Will. Coffee.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
George Hincapie (ok, so no one knows who he is), Barack Obama

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Argh... again, there are too many to list. I'd say voting, the war in Iraq, the current state of the system here.

37. Who do you miss?
My soulmate Melissa, my friend Sarah

38. Who was the best new person you met?
I adore all the newbies who break the tech mold, especially the one from TN

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
To put myself first... I can't take care of anyone else if I'm not taking care of myself

So it continues...

Now that my hair is back to a normal-ish color (still a little dark, but the soft permanent will begin to wash out), I have a terrible hair cut.

I went the other day to Hair Cuttery, because I was trying to save money. I asked for shoulder length hair with long layers, and instead I got something somewhat resembling the whole Friends hair craze thing. I've had this haircut before... it's equally bad the second time around.

Conclusion: there are some things you shouldn't try to save money on... hair is one of them

We'll see whether going to a real salon and begging them to fix it will work, although I doubt they'll be able to do much since it's already so short.

Hair Fiasco

I was attempting to dye my hair close to its natural color (so that I could quit messing with dye) but the dye I used was bad and I ended up with almost black hair... and not uniformly so. Although, it wasn't too noticeable, but I didn't like it.

I am currently mid-second attempt at making myself a brunette again. The first time I tried to lighten it with permanent dye, that didn't work. Now I'm trying to "strip" the dark color, then use a soft permanent to give me a normal brown until my natural color grows back in.

Here's hoping it works and I can quit spending my hard earned money on hair products.

Time flies...

...when you're busy. And when you're having fun! So, the semester ended, not a moment too soon, and ended very well. I was able to pull off straight A's among all that contract work. Not an easy task, and I'm glad it's over with.

After my final Wednesday we went to Sweetwater to celebrate. And again Thursday. Even the Sweetwater people commented about us being alcoholics. Oh well. Friday I threw an end of semester party that was a lot of fun. Since then, it's been out and about basically every night to catch up on the fun until the end of this week, with a little work thrown in during the day.

Now I'm glad to be sitting still for the first time in a long time and to have a moment to myself with my thoughts. Although it's bittersweet, because I already miss people who are gone. I still have a lot on my to-do list for this break, although I doubt I'll accomplish much of it. Among other things, I need to clean out my car, upload a ton of pictures, get a haircut, finally get my spa sydell massage, organize a ton of paperwork, and do some fun and not-for-fun reading. I also want to do something active every day, whether it's cycling, running or playing racquetball. We'll see how it goes.

I can't wait for everyone to come back!

YAY!

Excellent game, even though the refs were crappy.

Finals Week

Hours at the Lab
Sunday: 10am-930pm
Monday : 730am -830pm

Coming up
Wednesday: ADM Final (must get extemely high grade), some contract meeting, Sweetwater!
Thursday: 6:30am meeting at Lockheed Marietta (that's going to be a fun one), but done!

Friday: end of boot camp celebration!

Lush

We hit up Buckhead Friday night.

Saturday morning I woke up and found my shoes in the kitchen sink.

I love my life.

Not Enough Hours in the Day

Too much going on, not enough time!!

1. FWD test Friday
2. Navy meeting stuff due Friday
3. ADM Report due Monday
4. Navy meeting Monday
5. IPPD Presentation Tuesday
6. Lockheed Thursday
7. IPPD Report Friday
   

Then done! Except for the fact that I have to work until Dec 21st. Joy.

Happy, though. :-)

Weekend

Awesome weekend. Despite the football team's suckage.

Flying (I miss it!), extremely shady hotel, and lots of alcohol... very memorable.

pictures. :-)

HOLY CRAP

I dropped the ball tonight, got in over my head and we got pulled over after moondogs. Thank god for Danny! He is my hero! He passed all the sobriety tests, including breathalyzer, with flying colors! Without him, we'd would have been screwed.

Not really sure how I'm going to make it up to him yet. Suggestions?

Definitely oa fun night, though!

Stress

Stress from everywhere. I am amazed by how one simple little thing can make me smile for so long, but turn everything upside down at the same time. I'm used to the emotional rollercoaster, but being high and low at the same time is weird.

I bought sleeping pills.

Thanksgiving in Review

I should be studying, so I suppose this is as good of a time as ever to update/outline Thanksgiving "break."

• Watched Tech bball
• Hosted 12 people at my parent's house for Thanksgiving (Mom is out of town)
• Watched lots of football
• Went to Circuit City to get a new camera at 5:30 am
• Was successful but I swear I'll never do that again
• Missed my entire first week of training (whoops )
• Went to my 5 year high school reunion
• which went better than I expected and
• was at C.J.'s Landing, which Kristy always wanted me to go to (but, sorry, Kristy... it was too smoky and not that great!)
• all the girls look awesome while
• all the guys look gross
• and high school would've been better if alcohol had been involved (well, at least on my part since I know most of those people were already involving alcohol, among other illegal activities)
• Watched the Georgia game at Melissa's house with her family (YAY!)
• Have another reason to detest Reggie Ball
• Went out afterwards, which was fun despite the fact that I was hoping for some more fun ;-)
• Got to see Alden and Kaya for the first time in a while

As far as my quarter life crisis is concerned, I actually was becoming more comfortable with some decisions earlier in the break until some people/circumstances made me once again second guess myself. I'm being purposefully vague, some because a lot of it isn't appropriate for here, and some because I have no idea what's going on in my mind. And that's the scary part.

Now it's back to the real world... two tests this week, with basketball before and Jax trip after. Hopefully Wednesday and Thursday will pass quickly! Now, if only I could motivate myself to study.

Opposite Land

I suddenly find myself in opposite land. I am second-guessing my second-guesses.

Things are so crazy I think I actually mentioned "my thesis" today. Weird, right?

Upcoming:
11/22: FWD Project due (I am almost done, I swear!)
11/29: ADM Test
11/30: IPPD Test
12/2: ACC CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!
12/4: ADM Presentation
12/8: FWD Final
12/11: IPPD Presentation
12/11: ADM Project due
12/12: IPPD Report due

Not only that, but I'm the point (wo)man on our Lockheed project and we have several deliverables coming up. And the bazillion other contract projects going on.

Looking forward to GT-UGA and seeing my soulmate Melissa!!! I'm hoping that our souls being in close proximity will help soothe mine.

???

Awesome night. Serves to confuse me even more.

Road Trip!

I got a ticket for the ACC Championship game in Jacksonville on Dec 2. I am so excited! I probably shouldn't go, since the week after all of my major projects for the semester are due, but I've decided to anyway. It's part of my quest to have normal college experiences, even though I'm technically not in college, at least according to Facebook.

I'm a little hesitant cause they don't usually win the big games that I go to. Or is it that I go to the big games that they don't win? Either way, most of my favorites are going, which means it should be a good time.

And it'll be my ray of light amidst the darkness that is the remainder of this semster.

The Dooce

Put better than I ever could myself.

Missing My Camera

I have misplaced my camera. I've never lost such an expensive item, so I'm a little distraught. I was in the market for a new one soon anyway, but I still would like to have that one back.

I last remember using it at the Malloy's house. I was taking pictures of Colin while he was doing his Science "Expo" experiment (alka-seltzer rockets) that I was helping him with.

But, mostly I miss it because I wish I could've take a picture of the tv screen last night. While flipping through Comshitstic's guide, I noticied showtime was playing The Passion of the Christ.

Immediately followed by what I'm sure is an oscar winning movie entitled Amy's Orgasm.

My Mom and I enjoyed a long laugh.

Results

The wonderful wonderful Mark Taylor will not be the next governor of Georgia. Instead, the citizens of Georgia have elected to keep as governor a man who has passed laws to make himself richer (quintessientially republican) while reducing Hope scholarship. I've said it once, I'll say it again. Don't mess with me and education, particularly paying for it. Without Hope me and a college education might not have happened. It would benefit Georgia to continue to attempt to educate the many young people of this state.

Fortunately, it seems like Georgia is an anomaly and most other places in the country are flipping. It begs the question, why is Georgia bucking the trend? Lucas believes it was rigged, and that is certainly a possibility. It probably is more likely due to the closed-mindedness, backwards, antiquated notions of many Georgians that I know (my father included). Can we say that this surprises us, from the state with a hunting and fishing amendment (which passed at 90%)? Seems like the little flag to get conservatives out to vote worked. Way to go, politics.

The only state in the nation. Wish I could say I am surprised. Way to go, Georgians.

I am so sad. But not nearly as sad as I was when Bush was re-elected.
Here's to the Senate going the same direction the House did (woohoo!)

Voting in my Household

I'm Satchel, my Dad is Bucky.

Suffrage for Livia

Today was a big day (see also: upcoming post on surgery post-op).

I voted for the first time ever. I became a citizen last year, and sure I could've voted in the primary (but I didn't/still haven't got my voter info and thought I wasn't registered!)

I was very emotional and excited. This was surprising, because even as recently as the beginning of college I was very apathetic about politics. I was apathetic because I disagreed with everything. Now everything I disagree with makes me so upset that I have no option but to get up and try to do something about it, be it trying to get people to vote, getting those who don't usually read up on news and politics to do so, or just getting out and voting myself.

I went to a church up the street (from my parent's house in Dunwoody, where I am registered, ) which is kinda funny because my neighbor across the street votes at the high school and my dad votes at another church because he never changed his address to our new one (even though we've lived here for almost 6 years.)

My dad has been bugging me about this election for a few weeks now. A Bill O'Reilly watching, Rush Limbaugh listening conservative republican, he and I don't generally see eye to eye when it comes to politics. This morning as I was leavning, he told me that if I voted Democrat then he would leave me out of his will. I did anyway. I think it's funny that he's thinks the way he does, because he's not a rich old white man and we came to America for all the "freedom" that you get here, which includes making up my own mind and voting for whoever I want. Plus, there's not much in his will anyway (it would probably be a little better if the whole republican thing were working out for him.)

I went in, there were no lines, it was relatively easy. I was a little bothered by the whole thing, though. The Diebold logo everywhere made me feel a little sick to my stomach, especially since there was no option to print out my result. I checked my answers over and over. Looked ok, but who knows what happens in those machines.

I put a lot of time reading into the candidates and issues and even printed up my cheat sheet including reasons why to take with me. I recommend the AJC's voters guide. In general I am no fan of the AJC, but I must say they did a great job presenting the necessary info in an easy to browse manner. Much better than opening each single candidate's webpage. At one point Firefox was tired of have 30 tabs open, so thanks AJC.

The offices I spent the most time on were secretary of state and school superintendent. I wanted someone who would guarantee a paper trail. The democrat did but the republican wouldn't come out and say it, although she championed herself for being the only one with a "plan" (that was incredibly vague and didn't have many action items) for voting procedures in Georgia. For school superintendent I went with the liberterian. I know, of course, that this splits the vote from the democrat and that the republican incumbent will most likely be re-elected, but he was the only one who had clear action items that I agreed with and also wanted to make the position appointed so that it could be bipartisan in the future. To run for an office and want to get rid of it? That takes balls. The governor was a no-duh for me. Not only does it seem that good ol' Sonny is a little dirty, he never really made points in debates versus Mark Taylor. Not only that, but he's always been reducing Hope scholarship. Funding for education is a big one with me. Reduce it and you're on my bad side (hear that, Dubya?) I actually did vote for one republican, for the office of labor commissioner. He had it way more together than the other guy, plus he was a Tech grad.

I also considered the constitutional amendments and referendums carefully. Except for the whole amend the constitution "to protect the traditions of fishing and hunting." Seriously? You know you live in Georgia when...

Jen Lee spoke of the election on her blog and mentioned that California recommends voting absentee so that you get a paper ballot. I've been told by others that while this is true, sometimes the absentee ballots don't get counted (although illegal) unless it's a close election. This wouldn't surprise me in this state. So, what does one do? Go the day of and leave the fates to Diebold, or, vote absentee and risk not being counted at all?

All in all, I suppose I'm excited to participate in the government of this country (that sentence was really hard for me to construct without being negative about the government or the direction of the country, by the way). I look forward to doing it in '08.

Except then my vote really won't count, thanks electoral college and red state.

Halloween

This year I got more into it. Thanks to a wig on loan from Will's mom, I went as Hillary Clinton . Will went as a NASA nerd from the 60s. It was a good costume, I stood next to a friend for about an hour before she realized it was me. And many people thought I should cut my hair short or go blonde... yeah, right.

One thing, though. Based on commentary I received, Hillary's got an uphill battle if she wants to be the next president. Many people weren't exactly fans... As one of my buttons stated, I like to think of it this way: Bill for First Lady '08!

Other costumes that I really enjoyed: our friends Kevin and Chris as K Fed and Britney Spears, Peter Barros as Muhammed (he has a big beard, wore a courduroy robe thing, had bottle rockets all over including in his beard and carried a rocket that he kept firing at people), some random people as Bob the Builder and Bob's female friend (I think her name is Wendy... not many people understood this one, I did because I watch kids a lot), Ryan as Indiana Jones, Chet as Richard Simmons, Reuben as Hulk Hogan, J.T. as Jesus (always a classic), Mario, David as the guy who stole his car, Hernando as a Colombian drug lord (who would've guessed?) and many, many others. Good times!

Surgery

Tuesday was my surgery. After a quick meeting that I was useless at at school (can't function when I haven't eaten... in this case, my last meal was the night before at 9pm), I met my mom at my house in Dunwoody. She drove me to the office (it was an office building within St. Joseph's). We did more paperwork, after which they took me back and got me started. It was a room with a leather reclining chair. I put on the gown (open to the back, of course... why do they do that?!?!), the booties, and the hair thing. Wish I had gotten a picture. They started my IV. The woman admitted she hadn't seen my vein. Everyone was extremely friendly. They kept asking me to repeat everything, including what procedure I was having. The let my mom in to get my stuff, then they led me (butt hanging out, IV trailing behind) to the surgery room.

They introduced me to everyone in the room. They made me get on the table, which was challenging since I was trying to not have all the clothing fall off. The anesthisiologist (sp?) was nice, he was talking to me about Tech football. He said he was a Tech fan, and I asked why, and he said because he's always lived in Atlanta. I thought about Melissa and commented how most Georgians root for Georgia, and he confirmed that he was a Tech fan and a Florida fan which makes him anti-Georgia. He said he was going to give me drugs that would feel good and tucked my Iv arm in next to me.

And that's the last thing I remember. Next I was waking up in another room with a window looking out on all of metro Atlanta from up above. Except my eyes were really blurry, not only from the lacking of glasses/contacts but from some stuff they had put in there. The nurse said the doctor had explained it to me, didn't I remember? Nope, after lack of food and a bad night's sleep the night before, I slept like a baby. Best nap ever.

They waited for me to be more or less coherent. I could feel pressure in my face and noticed that I couldn't breathe out of my nose. I drank a gatorade, changed, they put me in the wheel chair and sent me on my way (not my first time in a wheel chair, though.)

It hasn't been too painful. Mostly it just feels like bad sinus days, where I get awful headaches and have huge pain in my face. I've been able to eat semi-normally, although nothing hot. Lots of chapstick and saline have helped to make it all more comfortable. I think everyone, including myself, is surprised by how normal I look considering my face is full of stuffing. I can function semi-normally, except I become exhausted and light-headed after about 45 minutes of being upright. Might be something to do with the lack of oxygen.

Tomorrow I return to the doctor to get the packing removed. This won't be a happy time. I'll be on a double dose of pain killers, but awake for it all. Yummy yummy.

I've enjoyed the time to slow down and rest, but know that I will pay for it for the rest of the week. My friends have been great about checking in and making me feel loved, and I can't say that I'm surprised about who has contacted me or left well-wishes in some way and who hasn't.

Mostly I'm looking forward to re-joining the land of the living. See you all on Wednesday!

Vote!

And don't only vote... vote not Republican!
New Rule for Democrats..Bill Maher 11/03/06

Here goes nothing.

Tomorrow is my sinus surgery.

I guess the condition just crept up on me. First it was allergies, then sinus infections, then chronic sinus infections. I never really related the always being tired and just general crappy feeling to it, but evidently that's all caused by it.

Here's hoping that I'll be able to wake up in the morning and not feel tired, I'll be able to study longer, I won't get that dull pain between my eyes that makes me feel sleepy, I won't get debilitating headaches every day, I'll actually be able to get enough air when I'm exercising, and many many more related things. Like taking fewer drugs on a regular basis.

Update when I'm coherent enough.

Screwed Over and Pissed Off!

So, this year I joined the ASDL block for football tickets. Yes, a different experience from Delta Chi, but still a fun time.

They camped out for Notre Dame, we got a great section. Everything was going swimmingly. Until Homecoming, that is.

They camped out again. 15th in line. Turned the vouchers in just like all the other times. Except this time we got a call Wednesday saying they had "given out too many student tickets" and that our block wouldn't be honored.

Exucse me?!?! You're saying you ran out by the 15th person in line? Yeah, right... only if the other 14 were all 100+ people blocks. Oh wait, that's possible. I suppose the more likely possibility is the frats and sororities got priority and we got screwed over. Yep, that seems more likely.

So, we decided to take up a section where we had the most tickets. The season ticket holders in that section were none too pleases, but I wasn't in any mood to care. One guy was boozing it up with his kids (I told him it's a great idea to teach them while they're young.) I'm a firm believer that children don't belong at college football games. This other woman started explaining to me how her season tickets cost a lot.

Oh yeah, lady? I bet your season tickets don't even cost as much as my activity fee, let alone TUITION. So shut up. I understand that the alumni and season ticket holders are important because they bring money in. It still pisses me off that I get kicked out of my $500 parking spot and on top of that got screwed over for Homecoming. Doesn't attempting to create generous and giving alumni include NOT pissing off CURRENT students, who are in fact the future alumni?

We finally ended up in "row 23," a special row made up but actually on some of the tickets. It was just behind the guard rail. The Thugs kept bitching, but the ticket guy came over and told them to shut up cause we were legitimate. Aside from not actually having a seat (which would've been nice during the commercial breaks), it was actually a great spot because I could actually see!

Oh, and just because they won doesn't mean that I have changed my mind about Reggie Ball or Chan Gailey sucking. Cause they do. Immensely.

Goodbye October

I know pronounce the crazy month of October over (well, almost...) Let the celebrations begin!

The last of the tons of work finished today with a 3 hour test. Yeah, right, who am I kidding, Monday I'll be right back at it, beginning with a 5 hour meeting at Lockheed that starts at 730 am. Joy.

But, at least this weekend doesn't have to be spent doing work. The itinerary: party tonight, tailgate tomorrow, game, party, recover/get ready for surgery on Sunday.

I know I'll be swamped with stuff when I'm back at work/school from surgery, but I'm hoping just having it will help me feel better all the time and I'll be more productive since I won't feel like crap all the time. I hope.

15 days after the surgery I'm travelling with my research team to D.C. for a workshop/conference thing. It's at the national convention center, we're staying in Tyson's Square (I think). The good news is that I'll get a chance to attempt to visit my soulmate!! I don't care if it's the middle of the night. Melissa, you've been warned! Oh, and maybe my good friend Cameron too, but I forsee myself swamped with work.

What's even better is that not only do I get to share a room with my most favoritest co-worker, I now have discovered that we are expected to share a bed. According to my boss, this will work because "she's big and you're little." Yeah right, I don't understand how anyone else is expected to be able to fit on the bed. Two kind souls have already offered air mattresses... I'm going to take them up on it.

I wish this sore throat/earache thing would go away so I can party to the fullest of my abilities! I'm going as Hillary. Bill Clinton for First Lady '08!

Headline

This was the leading headline in the AJC today. Not that I subscribe to the AJC. I heard about it on the radio. They were commenting about how amazing it was that with all that's happening in the world, this is the most important. Maybe they were forgetting that a good chunk of the AJC is written by former UGA journalism majors.

I find it all amusing. What's the point if it's not a drunkfest? That's what these schools, and particularly this event, are known for. I know it wasn't the students or alumni pushing for that reputation. But, I guess that's what makes it news. Because it's so shocking!

One of those days...

I had my surgery pre-op this morning at the ENT. It's in Dunwoody. My appointment was at 9:20, same time as all my other appointments. I was usually back at work by 10:15.

Not today. First I sat there for forever, then at 10am they moved me to a room, then at 10:15 the doctor finally saw me (and really scared me about my condition following... ew.), and I was on my way by 10:30. Yep, that was great.

Then, since I was in the area, I decided to stop by Wal-mart. Bad idea when half of Ashford Dunwoody is closed. Then, just after 11 I headed back to campus for my 12pm class.

Except they decided to close 3 lanes of the highway right after 400 merges... for a good reason? Yeah, right. Because there was debris, specifically a wooden board, in the right-hand lane. What the crap?!?!!

I got back just in time for my class. I feel like the whole day was wasted. Well, except for my signing my life away in case something goes wrong in the surgery. :-p

Lostprophets

Sitting here in the lab on a Saturday morning, supposed to be working on my report but instead and going through the gazillion emails I haven't had a chance to get through in the past few days/weeks.

One is from ticketmaster for upcoming events, and there they are listed, Lostprophets, one of my favorites! Tickets are only $15.50... I'm getting excited.

Oh wait... it's on November 1st. I'll be bedridden. Wonderful.

Hopefully they'll make it back to the U.S. again soon...

Busy

No time, too busy! Grad school is kicking my butt lately... so much so that I'm keeping Melissa hours!

For real update sometime after I sleep, and get some down time... in November.

Surgery: Oct 31

Twisted Taco

Man, it was awesome to be at a bar full of Georgia people when Georgia lost so badly to Tennessee!!! And, then, to celebrate with lots of dancing!

Ok, I need to quit staying out so late. Especially on nights that I need to study or when I need to get up early the next day.

Oh well. Said I stayed in grad school for the fun, right? Can't remember the last time I went out, stayed out late, both nights of two weekends in a row (including Thursday... when I have an enormous test on Monday!)

Let's make it 3 in a row!

Melissa... how's that for your plan of remembering Sunday that I have a test the next day!

Oh, and way to go Jackets. You definitely are better this year. Last year you wouldn't have been able to come back. But, just for the heck of it, let's actually make the spread from now on and not leave things until the next minute.

Love,
Livia

P.S. I love Will Evans and Melissa Scholz

Observation

The other day I heard a story on All Things Considered about Donald Rumsfeld and how he refuses to resign. As of this December, his tenure as secretary of defense will be longer than Robert McNamara's. Is it just me, or is it a bad thing when people compare you with the "prime architect of the Vietnam War?"

Hmm... I've heard of several figures refusing to step down... Chavez comes to mind.

Just a thought.

Amusing Moment of the Day

One of my projects (both research and classes, they somewhat overlap) has to do with the FAA and planning/predicting future environmental impacts of aviation as well as what policy regulation will do to the aviation industry. Very with the times as far as environmental concerns go. Pretty neat stuff.

So today I'm in a class group meeting and my team leader informs that he doesn't believe in global warming. Not only that, but he recommended a (fictional) Michael Crichton book (State of Fear) as his evidence. Not so sure, but I'm not going to use fiction as my evidence. Perhaps instead of engineering my team leader should've looked into punditry.

Then, we're in a review with our Professor, who starts going on and on about the environment, how it will become increasingly more important in the future, and how not believing in global warming is, well... not smart.

Ah, the irony. The team leader of the environmental group doesn't "believe" in it. Doc lectures him on the evidence as to why he's wrong.

That's the only thing that made the impromptu-until-7pm-meetings today bearable.

Now it's time to go out and celebrate Marni's 4th anniversary of her 21st birthday!

Panic! At the Lab...

I guess there's a reason they call this semester boot camp. Most days lately I have this panicked feeling in my chest, the one where there's so much to do that you can't even remember it all and you're so worried you keep forgetting the little things and making stupid errors. Seems like it's a common ailment around the lab lately, but particularly for those of us in boot camp.

On top of boot camp, my RE is double dipping me so I am spread between 2 research areas, one of which has 6-7 different projects/deliverables going on. While the second one is what I like, it's just too much. My brain is full.

I'm in meetings all day, usually for research. While I'm in research meetings, I'm missing meetings for my 2 different group projects. And sometimes classes. 4 of them.

Coming up:
Oct 9: Advanced Design Methods test
Thank goodness I have the 2 fall break days and this week to catch up on everything!
Oct 19: AE Systems presentations (I have yet to make a meeting for this group... I bet they like me already)
Oct 20: Fixed Wing Design project due (haven't started)
Oct 20: Computers/Fortran code due
Oct 24: AE Systems Test
Oct 27: Fixed Wing Design Test

Not to mention the ongoing ADM project that I am behind on. And ONR workshops coming up, Lockheed meetings, a proposal to write and 2 people waiting on me for direction for my EDS work. Oh, yeah, and the trying to get my sinuses fixed which includes repetitive visits to the ENT, ct scans, and most likely surgery.

And I absolutely refuse to give up my life, which includes Will, fun, friends and exercising.

Is October over yet? I'm scheduling the massage that Kristy bought me almost a year ago for Nov 1.

Go Jackets!

Yesterday was a good day to be a Yellow Jacket. I'm bad luck, so I only watched the 4th quarter of the game against Va Tech (and interestingly enough things didn't go as well after I turned on the tv). Regardless, we upset. Which we do well... away. It'll be a challenge to upset Miami at home, but possible.

Go Jackets, keep up the good work!

Girl's Night Out: Success!

So, I was the orchestrator of Girl's Night Out, it took place last night. It was somewhat tough to plan... it's not exactly simple to coordinate 15 people's schedules. I was also getting irritated with some of them towards the end. I guess no matter how much you try to accomodate some people, at the end of the day they don't care and won't think twice about taking advantage of it. Or maybe I was just irritated because of PMS.

Ultimately, 9 of us ended up going (and, fitting in Melissa Young's blazer) and it was a blast! We started off (after I dropped by Heather's place to say happy birthday to my big brother) with dinner at The Spotted Dog. It was pretty good food and any place that has Newcastle on tap is a good place in my opinon. We then moved the fun (via the blazer) over to loca luna for drinks and dancing.

And we did drink. And dance. It was fun times. Except for a horrid Laura A (ghost from the past) sighting, but fortunately it was only once and then she disappeared. We wrapped it up at around 2 am.

It seemed to me like the other girls come from girl-rich environments, so I suppose they don't have to go out of there way to get an estrogen fix. And some of them don't like as much estrogen time. We explained how they more than doubled the amount of girls that I knew, both in undergrad and grad. But we agreed that our next outing would be to a "booty-shaking club" (as if we didn't do that at loca luna) and we'd bring the boys, too.

I think everyone had fun though, except that we lazy americans close up shop too early.

Verdict: success

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Disappointment

Tonight I went over to Yak's place to watch Gilmore Girls. I gotta say, I was more than a little disappointed. I only remembered that the show's original writers had left after a few minutes into it... something just didn't feel right. The pace wasn't there and the wit and humor were watered down at best. Last season I thought the characters were behaving very un-character like, and it seems as though this trend will continue. Makes me wish they had ended it on a high note.

Nevertheless, it's awesome to have fans/friends to watch it with! Perhaps eventually (not on a Wednesday) we will play the drinking game... drink once for a pop culture reference, drink twice if you don't understand it.

Past episodes would've put me under the table by the first or second commercial break. I guess with this one we'll all last longer.

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Done

Among the many things that I have had enough of/with lately, my living situation is one of them. Don't get me wrong, I love the apartment and may consider selling my soul to live here alone. If that could happen one hour from now it wouldn't be soon enough.

Is there a statute of limitations on how long you can tolerate a roommate, or is it just cause I attract the mentally/emotionally/responsibility challenged ones?

Yeah, I'm picky, and so I thought living with one who is "neat" (note that neat doesn't imply cleanliness or that there is a lack of smelliness) would make life easier, but as it turns out in this case it doesn't. Melissa, I'd take your messiness (all over, not just in your room!) and mental/emotional stability and the fact that you come with logic over neatness anyday.

I miss the Melissa days.

Due to my oh-so-considerate roommate's actions/mental problems, I'm out of a place to live in February. Yep, a whole 2.5 months before I'm done with grad school. Wonderful timing, isn't it?

Who wants a visitor?

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Thursday!!!

Melissa's coming to town!!!

Yay! Couldn't ask for a better pick me up!

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Ringo

I woke up to my phone ringing (vibrating) this morning, it was my dad. He asked what I was doing today, and I told him. I thought maybe he was calling like he does when my mom is out of town. A few minutes later my mom called. She said my kitty Ringo was dead, something bit him (most likely a dog).

I got Ringo on my 16th birthday. He was a tiny, fluffy, fuzz ball little kitty. He was abandoned, so he though me and my mom were his mommies. He was so small he couldn't jump up on the bed. He learned to give hugs and kisses. I would carry a string and he would follow me for hours. When I went out of town, he would get mad at me and hold a grudge. He had a little snake that he would carry around by the neck. Later on he found a big stuffed Hobbes and would make biscuits on it.


He was special. He drooled when he was really, really happy. He rang the doorbell when he wanted to come in. He preferred fresh running water from the sink and would sit in the bathroom every morning while I got ready. He didn't care for meat, so my dad gave him fresh vegetables to eat, usually in the morning. When he was younger he would sit on the sit of the bathtub while I took a shower. Once he got in the bubble bath. When we got Einstein, they became buddies and would always snuggle together. He liked to sit on top of my mom's car.



Ringo's hair would get matted so we would have him shaved. They would leave his head and the end of his tail so that he looked like a little lion. When Alden was a baby it would make him giggle. This winter he needed to wear a sweater, but he kept hiding them from my mom. He got so big and fat and he was moody. He liked to climb trees. One morning my dad asked me to come see something from the 2nd story landing. There was Ringo, eye level, in the trees.



I just got back from burying him with my dad and I don't much feel likegoing to the football game. We buried him next to Einstein, since theyalways used to be together when they were both alive. I buried him with his snake. That's one of the only times I've ever seen my Dad cry.

I'm going to miss him.

Balancing Act

There have been so many things (as usual) that I have wanted to write about, I just haven't had the time. And I've been running around like a crazy person. It's been difficult to settle back into this semester and my very precarious balancing act of school, work, cycling, boyfriend, and now friends (yay), not to mention the occasional babysitting job. These past few weeks have been very social and I've been making exceptions to many usual rules so that I oculd get to know my new classmates and it's been going well. The boyfriend thing is easy to deal with since he's not around very much, and the cycling thing wasn't a big factor lately because of bad weather for mountain biking and my inability to get back into the swing of things. I've been riding about half as much as the summer. It's hard to motivate myself to train hard again because riding without aching and tired legs is so much more fun than with them. I have been watching what I eat but not as closely. That has just happened because I liteally haven't had the time to fill out my food journal. Much less input it all online.

The weekends have been packed with fun. Last Friday I enjoyed an evening of dinner and movie watching with my new friends. Saturday was Tailgating and the game. Sunday some time with my favorite kids then some time with my favorite show (4 Gilmore Girls episodes) and my new girl friends. Monday was shopping and bbq time.

This weekend will be another crazy one. Friday I have tickets with 7 of the new girls to watch Beauty and the Beast at the Fox. We have class til 6pm on Fridays (sometimes 630) so it'll be a challenge to get dinner and get there on time (and we will, because tickets weren't cheap!) Saturday I have to be in 3 places at once: the GT Cycling hosted mountain bike race, the ASDL picnic and the GT-Samford football game. Right now I've committed to the mtn race, which will eat up 6am-6pm of both days, but I'm considering bailing due to extenuating circumstances. Ideally I'd like to be at all places... why is cloning a bad thing?

Hopefully I will get to sit at some point and share my thoughts on:

• Hillary's book ( I finally finished!!)
• The GT-Notre Dame Game/Stupid Tech boys
• Summer of Speed: Mission Accomplished?
• To PhD or not to PhD... that was the question (or perhaps still is)
• Renewed motivation and the high quality higher education I'm getting... NOT

Stay tuned.

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Ready

Thanks to my Mom's "Straight A" gift (it only took me 15 semesters!) I am now ready for football season.

Let the Tailgating commence!

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Money Makes the World Go Around

This past Friday I finally got around to watching Fahrenheit 9/11. It came in from Netflix about 3 weeks ago (after putting it off for 2 years... I guess I'm a bad liberal) and sat on the coffee table. I guess I knew it would be difficult to watch.

Sure, it's meant to sway you emotionally, and with that in thought everything that is presented must be taken with a grain of salt. Even so, the movie is incredibly moving. While mostly tastefully done and subtle, there were scenes from both 9/11 and the war that had me in tears.

I'm certainly not a fan of this administration and have done a lot of reading on the mistakes and corruption surrounding this administration, but some of the information in the movie shocked even me. Sure, Michael Moore spun some of it. But you can't spin numbers or the reactions of Congress people when asked if they would send their kids to war. It's easy to see the blundering military mistakes and how the U.S. is handling itself in an extremely insensitive manner, which only fuels the fire of hatred in the area of the world.

The take away story from the movie is that money is still what makes the world go 'round... and, absolute power corrupts absolutely. It's hard to stop those at the top, or even get a word in edgewise. The amount of corruption in politics now is astronomical and there are very few things unaltered by the current administration. Dishonesty abounds, from wiretapping to following bank accounts to altering Nasa's mission statement to not allowing the coffins of soldiers to be shown to ignoring the geneva convention to blocking investigations to accusing people of being unpatriotic for exercising their right to free speech, I wonder if anything will remain unscathed. Add to that a domestic agenda that cuts funding for educational programs while cutting estate taxes and a deficit that is out of control. In my opinion, 2008 won't get here soon enough.

It seems that "Dubya" has been surrounded by all of that so long he may actually believe the bs he promotes. I'd love to sit down with him and ask him how he sleeps at night, with the blood of thousands on his hands and the lives of many more ruined and altered, for the worse, permanently. But, I would congratulate him on his success in the war on the middle class.

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Joy!

There are a couple of "normal" girls in the new class. And by normal I really mean abnormal because they don't fit your typical aerospace engineering (ASDL) mold. Don't get me wrong, there are some that do, but some that don't. You know, those ones who can match and won't look the other way when you address them. And who like to be sociable.

We've been passing notes during class and girl-talking (ok, so it's gossip) outside of class. I can't begin to explain how starved I've been for some quality girl time. And in the past few weeks, I've been blessed enough to meet several women who I'm very excited to get to know better.

I've had some trouble with the female engineering types (what is it with them/us, anyway?) and my few good girl friends have since moved on to the next phases of their lives. While we still communicate by email (one in Hartford, one in D.C.), there's nothing like talking about shampoo and how to deal with the frizz and the crazy humidity. I'm hoping that I will have better luck with these girls, since they seem to be girlier (is that a word?) than the usual. In a good way.

I am overjoyed!

And so is Will. He's tired of hearing about my shampoo.

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New Additions to the Family

Ok, I'll be honest: I definitely covet when it comes to bikes. Probably every cyclist does. When I purchased my first bike, I wasn't sure what my commitment to the sport would be so I bought from a generic company to get a better deal on the components I wanted (I wasn't about to have any of this sore-thumb Sora stuff). It was a great first bike, even though I had some bad luck with the mechanicals. The components were awesome, and Will assured me that upgrading would only involve the frame and wheels.

So I did. Meet The Stig. Some say he can smell corners.

The Stig was purchased used for about half of what it goes for new. It features all of my old components, wheels, pedals, even handlebars. The Mercier got all the stuff that the Stig came with (mostly comparable quality) and was sold this past Saturday morning to a nice rich old lady. I thought I'd be sad to see my first baby go, but then again it's like the cars. The Stig is such a huge step up that I didn't think twice. Actually, that's not true. I spent about an hour deliberating about whether I should get it or not. I always intended to upgrade, but not before I was actually fast. After my Summer of Speed (recap to come), I've gained speed but am not exactly fast. But what better inspiration and motivation to train is there than an awesome bike. The frame is so much stiffer and stronger that I've effectively gained 2 gears, which is especially useful for a poor climber such as myself and have turned into a not so bad descender. I've gained a lot of confidence in my handling, which will certainly pay off in the future. So far it's just helped me have frequent "oh shit" moments and my first "real" crash.

I had to sell my first bike to make up the loses accumulated from buying two bikes in less than three months. Mid-May I bought a mountain bike.

Meet Jocelyn DaKontents.

With Jocelyn I again aimed for racing level components and my price range (which wasn't a lot, because I didn't think I would like moutain biking... I was right). Beyond that I didn't know what to get so Will recommend her. So far Jocelyn and I haven't gotten along so well, mostly because I feel like throwing up from all the jostling and I like to wreck her pretty frequently. Most recently I ended up in a tree. It wasn't her fault though, it's more operator error. But, the objective of learning to mountain bike was to become a better bike handler, and I can already feel some differences (coupled with the best frame ever) out on the road. As far as the mountain season goes, we'll see if I'm capable of not being a slow poke.

Those are my new kids. You're supposed to love your kids equally, but let's face it, everyone has a favorite. I'll give you one guess about which one I prefer.

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Newly Oriented (orientated?)

Yesterday I attended ASDL's new student/1st year orientation. Why would I do such a thing, since I'm not a new student? Well, being different than most and having started in January, I'm partly a member of last year's class since I've taken the 2nd and 3rd semester classes, and partly a member of this year's class since I'll be in the 1st semester classes with them this Fall. And, I didn't attend it last year.

I was excited. Pretty much as excited as I was at FASET or maybe even the first day of Kindergarten. The new class has 40-50 new people, and from the looks of it about half of them break the normal engineering student mold and actually have personalities and social skills. Imagine! I can hardly contain myself. People who actually have stuff to talk about besides how many binders they have at their desk or how they know powerpoint way better than you? Or, during the introductions, when having to provide an interesting tidbit, actually provide an interesting tidbit besides stating (asininely... is that an adjective?) that they are "one of the few people in the ASDL capable of getting an insurance waiver." I'm sorry... if that's your interesting life tidbit, you're pathetic. All the others talked about sports, hobbies, travels (several served in the Military), jumping out of planes, living in other countries, studying other subjects. Although Will did point out that the longer the person had been at ASDL, the less interesting their tidbit was. Which means I have to get out. ASAP.

I'm hoping this new crop of potential friends, along with the previous first years that I've been hanging out with, make my remaining semesters more bearable and help me to keep my negativity in check. After all, I did choose it, so according to my own theory I can either change my situation or shut up about it.

Being that I am 6 classes away from another degree, 4 of which I'm taking this fall, I'll shut up about it.

But my RE has another thing coming if she thinks I'm going to put becoming one of her little coding monkeys above my health, fitness and grades.

And guess what? There's no way I'm staying for a Ph.D.

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The Tie that Binds

One week ago today I tried my second group ride. We left early because will overestimated my slowness. We arrived at the parking lot of Atlanta cycling about 15 minutes early and just tried to stay tucked away in the corner until it was time to get started. After a few minutes, a guy asked us (because of our jerseys) if we went to Tech or if we were alums. We told him that we were grad students but did undergrad there also, in AE and he told us he was an architecture major, bs in 82 masters in 88. He mentioned that at one point he had to take a materials class from an AE professor... did we by chance ever have a professor named Virgil Smith?

Virgil Smith... aka the Devil Himself. Brought out of retirement to teach AE Dynamics in the Summer of 2003 because there was no one else to do it. The one who failed 23 of 26 people. The one where my 46 on a test was actually one of the highest grades in the class. The one that told us that the homeless people out on North Avenue would make better engineers.

The Devil, apparently, is timeless.

But, I do credit that class with introducing me to Will.

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Sign on my forehead?

I attract stupid people. Or, rather, people with lazy brains who can't think or figure things out for themselves. So much so, that it even happens on the street.

The other day I was on my way home from a bike ride (same day as the crash, slightly before). I am pulling up to the intersection of Ptree Battle and Howell Mill to get in the line of cars making a left when a woman in an SUV (didn't notice which kind it was) rolls her window down and flags me down.

Me, I'm thinking she needs directions. I couldn't have been more wrong. What she needed was the ability to figure stuff out for herself.

She seemed very distressed, so I became concerned. Then she started talking. She said there was a "poor little dog" running down Howell Mill "looking tired and lost" and she wanted to know what to do.

Seriously? And me... about to get caught in a bad storm out on my bike, I'm supposed to 1) know and 2) care? Actually, I do. When I'm not out on my bike in the evening trying to hurry home.

I asked her if the dog had collars. She said yes.

Hm. If it were me, I'd look to see if the collar had a phone number, and if it did I would call it and tell them I had their dog. If it didn't, I'd take it to an animal shelter or something. If I could, I'd keep it for a few days and put up signs. But, then again, that's me. The one who tries to use their brain and logic on a daily basis and who has some initiative. I guess that's abnormal, these days.

I told her that, after which she said she thought I might live around here and know something.

I apologized and said that I didn't (an apartment complex a few miles up the street doesn't count, does it?) and also said that I would help if I could but at the moment I was just trying to get home. After which the light turned, thankfully.

Just one of the many (almost daily) occurrences in which I think "WTF?!?!" I must give out some signal or have some sign on my forehead that says "hey, you know what? I don't feel like I think enough for myself day-in and day-out, let me do some thinking for you, too!"

And then I go home and complain to Will about it.

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Helmets are good

All cyclists crash... that is inevitable. Which is why I believe in always wearing a helmet. Myself, I was waiting for it to happen. I didn't count the two times I ended up horizontal before. The first time was the first day I rode my new road bike, back in October of 2004. I was learning to use "clipless" pedals. Clipless is a funny name since you actually clip in and out. Anyway, I came to a stop, unclipped my right foot, and fell over to the left. No biggie. The second time was at the Silver Comet, after I switched from one pedal and cleat system to another. Once again, came up to an intersection, slowed, unclipped my right, fell over to the left. Not "real" crashes. I think my c.g. may be a little off to the lleft.

Well, now I can no longer say that I am dreading the day that I will crash. That day was today. I was following Will out to one of his rides. The weather was bad, my left hip flexor was bothering me, and I was having trouble shifting. About 1/2 mile away from the apartment it started storming and pouring rain, the kind that hurts when it hits you. I was happy to be turning into the apartment complex, then the next thing I am horizontal and right in the way of incoming traffic.

I always thought my first "real" crash would involve other people. This one can be attributed to the extremely slick pavement at the complex and the torrential downpour. And the fact that my new bike makes me more prone to "oh shit" moments than the previous one. I guess there is a downside to the handling and confidence I get with my "new" wheels.

At least it didn't hurt... that badly. The slick pavements means I only got a few scrapes instead of a lots of road rash. And a few bruises.

Now I'll reset my counter... Will says he crashes every 4000 miles, the last one being a few weeks ago, but through no fault of his own. Me, this one happened after 2200 miles... let's hope the next doesn't come sooner.

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The Little Things

I made "the switch" and purchased my first Apple computer last October. To this day I am discovering things about the os that makes me one of those fanatical "mac people." Which is hilarious when you consider how much I ragged on my friend Lucas for being one... although he can be credited (along with the god-awful Windows XP Tablet PC edition I was using) for inspiring me to take the plunge.

The other day I wanted to zip up a folder of music to send to Will's sister via Bluetooth (which is awesome in itself). So I'm googling to figure out what program I need when I stumble across the answer: just hit right click (yes, it exists!) and select archive. I was overjoyed. Nothing extra needed? Just like the fact that macs have the ability to convert to PDF embedded... simple, easy to use.

When Google Calendar came out I switched from iCal since I could share my calendar with Will, so that he could attempt to keep up with my usually-running-around-like-a-chicken-with-its-head-cut-off schedule. This past weekend I switched back to iCal after learning that there are ways to publish my calendars via WebDav without having a .mac account. Google Calendar is great, but really it's almost exactly like iCal with the exception that I can't change the window sizes/view options as easily, which is why I switched. Well, that, and you need an internet connection.

Even though I share my calendars with him, Will likes to get my agenda via email at the beginning of the week. I was doing this by hand with Google Calendar open. Switching back to iCal gave me the opportunity to use my mac in ta manner for which it was intended. I started by setting up my gmail account for pop access in Apple's Mail (I don't use Mail, I use Thunderbird and like to use GMail in the browser, but that's another story). Then I opened up Automator and created a workflow to grab my next week's calendar events, compose an email to Will, and mail them off. Now this will automatically occur at the beginning of every week. Show me a PC that can do that...

Lastly, I have a bunch of videos of Alden and Kaya that Kaya loves to watch. Instead of searching through and clicking on them, I decided to stich them all together in iMovie. Great! Now Will used his Macbook (he converted after playing with mine and listening to me gush about how much I loved it) to burn a DVD (my ibook doesn't have the combo drive), including gorgeous looking title menu feature scrolling pictures of the kids. Sure you can do that on a windows machine... but how much does that software cost?

Now I will stop blabbing about my nerdiness. I just was so delighted I couldn't help it!

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Talk Nerdy to Me

I am completely geeking out right now...

My first day off happens to coincide with the WWDC, where Steve Jobs makes his famous Keynote speech every year covering what's new with Apple. I'm sitting here (when I should be cleaning my apartment) refreshing the feed like I do with the Tour.

Mac love... it's contagious.

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Me

How to make a livia

Ingredients: 5 parts competetiveness 5 parts ambition 1 part empathy

Method: Layer ingredientes in a shot glass. Serve with a slice of curiosity and a pinch of salt. Yum!

Username:

Personality cocktail
From Go-Quiz.com

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Notice: Temporary Suspension

Due to my just having finished this horrendous semester/past two semesters and that this afternoon marks the beginning of my first significant number of days off since I can't-remember-when, all training and dieting activities will be temporarily suspended until Friday, August 4, at 12pm to allow for celebration activities.

The end.

Upcoming

T-minus 24 hours until I am free of this semester and free of classes and work for a wonderful but not nearly long enough well overdue 12 day vacation. That will leave me with time to pretend like I'm going to catch up on everything I've been meaning to do but really I'm just going to run around like a crazy person as usual. And here is a list of upcoming posts that I've been collecting notes on mentally and on paper for the past few weeks:

Benefit of a Doubt - Floyd Landis' Drug Test
Summer of Speed update
Year 3 Review
Movie Review: The Devil Wears Prada
ASDL Women/Big Red Carpet Heart
Movie Review: The Motorcycle Diaries

and probably more, if I get around to clearing the cob-webs out of brain.

Uncanny

It's uncanny (and would be slightly amusing if it weren't extremely disturbing) how Scientologists and this Admininstration use the same reasons and logic to keep people who disagree away from them and out of sight.

To me it just seems like they've got something to hide.

Both via Digg

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Zidane (FR) = Moron (EN)

Remember replying "sticks and stone may break my bones but words will never hurt me" to the taunts on the playground as a kid? Well, we all know that words hurt but, since we're grown ups now, have had to learn to handle them in a mature, non-violent manner. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's not ok for people to go around picking fights because of stuff people say. Particularly in sports. Half the fun in sports is trash talking. The better atheletes respond by outperforming... like in the 2005 Tour de Georgia where Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis shared words (or maybe just a look)... then Armstrong turned on the afterburners and left Landis, causing him to lose the Yellow Jersey to Tom Danielson of Discovery, who won the whole race the next day.

But France's (mediocre) soccer star, Zinedine Zidane? Watch out for him, he's got a temper.

So I'm sitting here wondering why, after Zidane head butted an Italian player in the World Cup final, FIFA is investigating the Italian player.

BBC SPORT | Football | World Cup 2006 | Teams | Italy | Materazzi gives evidence to Fifa

Is that logical? Sure, the guy should've kept his mouth shut. But who can resist at that level of competition? Zidane loses his cool and gets sent off, yet again, for despicable behavior on the pitch.

Makes me think something is going on at FIFA. It's known that there is corruption in the Italian league, but what about at the world's governing body of football? Could this corruption be the reason that the head World Cup official killed himself immediately after the final?

Why else would they coddle such a low player? Surely it can't be because he's French.

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Yellow Looking Not Nearly As Good

Dammit!

Cycling - Menchov wins, Landis in yellow - Eurosport

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The Pot or the Kettle?

Shell says biofuels from food crops "morally inappropriate" - Yahoo! News

Oh yeah? Well I find putting making money ahead of human rights and environmental concerns "morally inappropriate."

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Yellow Has Never Looked Better

BBC SPORT | Other Sport... | Cycling | Photo Galleries | Tour de France stage two photos

technorati tags:tour, cycling, hincapie

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Disgraceful

Brazil's World Cup Futebol team's performance against France yesterday. They are undoubtedly consistently one of the best teams in the world, if not the best, quite possibly the best team EVER. Especially as the only team to qualify for every single world cup ever and win 5. Yes, they are that good. That is, when they show up with their jogo bonito.

Yesterday? They forgot to bring it. The last time I saw them play that was was vs France in the world cup final in 1998 (also, incidently, the last world cup match that they lost and their only loss in the World cup in quite some time since they won it in 1994). In '98 and again yesterday they played like they don't care to repeat their title. They may be one of the best, but not even the best can win just by showing up. If they're going to be playing that way, then they certainly don't deserve to win.

But France? Give me a break! At least lose to a decent team! I mean, we're talking about the team that is made up of Zinedine Zidane, who is kinda talented but doesn't even touch the likes of Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos and Ronaldo, and the rest of the team who backs him up by faking horrible fouls, getting the refs to agree with them and giving them free kicks that allow them to score. Their world cup history? Sometimes they qualify, sometimes they make it out of group play. '90? Didn't qualify. '94? Didn't qualify. '98? The home team is the only team who doesn't have to go through qualification... fortunately for them, the competition was in France this year. Incidently they won the final... in France... with what I believe was a French referree. Those who haven't seen this game should watch. In '02? Played worse than the Americans (my 2nd least favorite team, behind the French that is) with not a single goal and not making it out of group play. Was '98 a fluke? I think so.

But seriously. Those who don't know the records and the statistics are going to think that the French are the only ones capable of beating Brazil in World Cup play. Is this true? Sure... when Brazil doesn't show up.

One of the commentators said the Brazilian coach was not looking for revenge. Why not? It's good to hold on to a sports grudge... fuels the fire to win. If I were out there, I would've played my heart out just to kick some French ass and show them what a fluke '98 truly was. Not only that, but to show the world that the team can be consistent, good, and repeat the win.

Now? The two favorites (Brazil and Argentina) are out and the semi-finals are completely composed of European teams. Which means no jogo bonito to watch. Perhaps the Italians and especially the Portuguese can dig down deep inside and show us some of that sort of play. Me? I'm rooting for Portugal on Wednesday. With their new "golden generation," I'd love nothing more than for them to show Zinedine Zidane his last game ever and walk all over the rest of his team. And let the jogo bonito prevail.

Interestingly enough, the two favorites are also out of the Tour, which started yesterday. I don't mind, that gives one of my favorites ever, George Hincapie of Discovery, a solid chance to win. And a chance for Americans to sweep the Tour.

Don't get me wrong, I don't usually root for USA in international competition. But an American sweep of the Tour? As Will says, it would cause the French to declare war on America.

After which they would promptly surrender, because, they are French, after all.

technorati tags:soccer, worldcup, brazil, sports

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Swamped

Not only have I been swamped with class work and research work, I've been swamped and stressed by life in general. I'm not sure how much of it is caused by my too-much-school-for-the past-6-years funk, but I definitely experienced a major dip in my "estado de animo" (as Ray once said) this week.

I'm not overwhelmed by the amount of homework or the material. I'm still sticking to my grad-school-is-easier-than-undergrad-and-funner-too hypothesis, at least for the time being. Despite this, I'm afflicted by a complete lack of motivation. Even more so than than this past Spring semester... or so many more before that. And even though I wasn't struggling with the course load, I dropped one of my classes. Not hard, not entirely a lot of work... just a lot of work that I didn't feel like doing. Why spend 5 hours a week working on a project that I am uninterested in when I could be outside?

I'm still trying to make progress in my Summer of Speed (and general fitness/get in shape time). I am speedier than before. I finished my first four weeks, the last of which was rough. I was upset, emotional and unmotivated. Cutting calories (being hungry all the time) and upping hours is rough.  I thought it was my third week, but midway through the week we checked my logs and realized I was in fact in the middle of a "rest" week that had not started restfully. That week helped me a lot more than I realized and it finished with me ready to hit the road again. Which I did. Week 5 was awesome, one of my top mileage/hours weeks ever. I wanted to up it another notch for week 6... but then work happened.

I was trying this new thing where I would spend more time doing things I like, including being outside and riding, and quit putting that stuff off for work. I realized how closely my estado de animo is tied with the amount of sunlight I get on a regular basis. It was going well, until the workshop. Another workshop. In early, out late, this past Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So much for another high mileage/hours week, so far I've gotten in 50 minutes. Not only that, but the stress and politics of the workshop have really gotten to me.

The good news is, I'm not going back until next Wednesday. 5 whole days without class or work. I hardly know what to do with myself... except I could clean the apartment, sit by the pool, finally finish Hillary's book (I'm almost to the Lewinsky thing), watch the world cup, watch the tour (man, my tivo is going to be busy!) and ride a lot, naturally. I'll be doing all that in Columbus with yet another visit to Will's parent's house, making it the 4th visit this summer and doubling the number of times I've been there ever in just a few weeks. Fortunately, it's become one of my favorite places to get away and the timing of this visit seems flawless. Not to mention we're kicking off the weekend at Sweetwater with many of our friends. I couldn't think of a better way to start my longest block of days off since... I can't remember when.

They're going to have to drag me back Wednesday morning. At least Wednesdays start with David's spinning class... my favorite spinning class.

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The Hand That Feeds

Last week Will, my sister and I went to the Nine Inch Nails concert. I have been a fan of NIN since I was about 13, which is the same age that I was when I started my "i love live music" kick. Who knows how many hundreds (possibly thousands?) of dollars were spent on me going to concerts all through middle and high school You name it, I was there... several Music Midtowns and 99x Big Day Outs (where I saw many more people than I could possibly name), Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Bush, No Doubt, Smashing Pumpkins, Willie Nelson, BB King, Marc Anthony, even NSync (most expensive tickets to date - 75 each for the last row of Phillips arena - but not because I wanted to.)

It kinda stopped when I got to Tech, for many reasons I guess. The prices kept going up and I was always so busy that I didn't hear about concerts, much less make such an effort to keep tabs on music. The few that I did go to (Live, Fuel, Ludacris) were all free. There were several that I wanted to see, but the cost was ridiculous (and prohibitive?) so I just skipped those.

At one point a few months ago, though, I decided that I wasn't going to continue missing concerts of my favorites because of money. Just a short while after I said that, NIN announced another show (they played one last year that I skipped) so Will and I bought tickets almost immediately. I love that they cost just as much as they did the last time I went to a show (some 6 years ago), but these were the best seats I'd ever gotten.

So we headed to HiFi Buys. I was tempted to wear my pink shirt and floral skirt, but I didn't . We were pretty early and sat through the Bauhaus set. I remember why I am the exception, not the rule, to your general NIN fans. It really was as if all of these people had been frozen in time. We were hugely entertained by what some people think is appropriate to wear to a concert. Perhaps I should've asked to borrow Kristy's corset... although I'd probably be pushed to find fishnets and tacky boots on such short notice.

The music was, as always, amazing. Trent Reznor (whom I was infatuated with when I was younger) has aged more gracefully than his fans. He was sporting a new Will cut (buzz cut) as opposed to the JT cut (shaggy, but short). And he obviously had been to the gun show. They played a good range of all their songs. The show seemed a little short though (just under 2 hours) and they gave no encore. Weird... first concert I've ever been to without the whole encore thing.

One very noticeable change from 6 years ago was the integration of new technology into the show. It was more visual than ever before. The last time featured the band up against a backdrop that played visualizations. This time that same background was there, but had a noticeably higher resolution. In addition to that they dropped a screen of little led lights in front of the band from time to time and used that as well. At one point it was very matrix like, at another it looked like floating blood cells but then morphed into carbonation bubbles. Very cool. The show ended (somewhat abruptly, in my opinion) with this on the led screen:

I thought I heard a new song somewhere in the middle, or at least one that I'm not familiar with (the only one, possibly, although I admit I'm not up to date on my obsession). I distinctly remember him singing lines having to do with being rejected by the whole world, etc (as usual... definitely a recurring theme in his work). That kind of rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, isn't thousands of people paying $50 each to see you proof of just the opposite? But then again, it is the formula that worked for him for so long, and the majority of his audience is still extremely angry (just asked the guy in the row in front of us... screaming his head off and gesturing... and all of his feelings multiplied by the astounding amount of pot he consumed in such a short amount of time). But, what about growing, maturing, trying something new? NIN spans several decades and generations now, the creator is in his 40s. I'd like to see some evolution. What about taking all that anger and making it productive? Or political? He is from New Orleans, and I know he hates "the man." I'd love to see him take it in that direction.

This desire of mine made me feel like I'd outgrown the whole experience. Will and I certainly stood out like sore thumbs, and while I enjoyed hearing all those songs that I know so well and that brought back so many memories, somewhere in the past few years I grew past identifying with them. And with sitting in between chain smokers just to catch an in-person glimpse of the person who creates the music that I admire so much.

But I don't know that I can ever outgrow enjoying live music, of any kind.

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Not Exactly Wedding Crashers

Last weekend two friends from the lab, Sara and Ian, got married in Huntsville so Will and I headed out there for the wedding. And since we're nerds, we decided to continue with our visits to aerospace museums by arriving early and checking out the U.S. Space and Rocket Museum that is located there.

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Originally uploaded by gatechcycling.

We left at about 730 on a rainy Friday afternoon. Will surprised me with earrings to match my pearl necklace, which was awesome because they matched perfectly with the dress I got to wear. We decided to take the shorter more scenic route, which first went up I-75 north.
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Originally uploaded by gatechcycling.

What's up I-75 north? My favorite place ever, Texas Roadhouse. But, since we had eaten there more than several times the past few weeks (just luck, I guess) we stopped at Provino's instead. The drive was nice took us through the southern part of the mountains in Georgia and Alabama, including Lookout Mountain parkway. We arrived at the hotel in Huntsville at midnight, which we then realized was 11pm Alabama time (yay!) but not before witnessing a really bad car wreck that somehow left my car mostly unscathed except for all the shattered glass all over it.

We woke up early and after asking for a later check out time, we headed to the museum. It was a pretty neat experience, and we got some neat pictures. The museum had some neat exhibits chronicling the history of space exploration, which I don't know as much about since I'm an aviation snob. Inside they had many historical documents, space suits, wind tunnel models, engines. They also had a neat exhibit that made me very disoriented and we rode the simulator which took us on a Martian roller coaster (ok, that was disappointing, we were hoping for something more realistic). Outside, they have many different rockets and spacecraft just sitting around, including 2 saturn 5s, one standing up so you can see how tall, and one lying on it's side. They also had a g force accelerator, which we went on (I didn't not enjoy that) and another ride similar to acrophobia, which neither of us wanted to ride.

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Originally uploaded by gatechcycling.

We headed back, changed, grabbed lunch at Chili's and headed to the church. We sat with other ASDLers and watched the nice (and short) ceremony, then headed to the reception (located in the church, as well). Sara and Ian looked awesome, and after a relatively calm (read: no alcohol and not much dancing) reception we piled back into the car and reversed the beautiful drive home.

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Originally uploaded by gatechcycling.

All in all, a pretty decent (but expensive... who would've guessed?) weekend.