nuns and (unrelatedly) tattoos

A lovely article on nuns and their support from the community (in light of recent reprimands from the Pope).

As mentioned above, an unrelated link regarding yet more literary tattoos here, and it's spin-off for song lyric tattoos here.

teal pontiacs

From Holly, this amazing Craigslist post, sort of like the hipster bike ad from NOLA a few months ago.

My favorite? "Look at you. You don't even know what to do with yourself right now."

In brief, i take pictures of everything, pretty much constantly. There's lots of reasons to do so, including that i enjoy getting what i capture to look as though it does in my head, and sending my Dad (as well as everyone else) a window into moments.

i take tons of pictures of my classmates because you (they) are dear to me, and we're not going to be here forever. This feeling is hard to explain, but i came across a quote today that encapsulates it fairly well: "It is sheer good fortune to miss someone long before they leave you" (-Tony Morrison).

Thanks, you guys.

Urban dictionary and deconstructed brussels slaw

Long story short, there have been multiple Urban Dictionary searches today.

4:20 because today is, and several of us in the lab were speculating why the hubbub. We knew it had to do with smoking, we knew it had to do with after school, but the specifics were unclear. We're a bunch of science nerds, and neither Holly nor Val were there to illuminate the issue. (Not that they participate, but they both have tons more street cred than me. That's fine.) This was one of those terms that you type directly into urban dictionary as an outright google search may be pretty dicey.

Mansplaining was another Urban Dictionary search, as it was referenced here, and i hadn't heard of it. This one WAS an outright google search, but the most creditable (ie. recognizable) hit was for Urban Dictionary. This one is a little close to home, with all of the recent hoopla over contraceptives/birth control/womens' rights and the curious lack of female representation in several instances.  Mentioning this to my labmmate Ryan yielded this clip from the Daily Show. Gosh.

Finally, we come to recombobulation. Apparently the area just past the Security checkpoint at Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee is labeled as the Recombobulation Area. Fantastic.

Oh, posting it here for whomever wants it, a recipe for deconstructed Brussles sprouts slaw. Trader Joes sells Brussels Sprouts in a bag. This is important because you can steam them directly in that bag surprising quickly - cut a small vent in the bag, and microwave 3 minutes. Let them cool a few minutes, then open the bag, trim the sprouts as necessary, halve or quarter them, and dress them with an emulsion of a 1:1 olive oil and vinegar, then season to taste. Mine last night were Cajun seasoned. i ate a good half of the bag, then put the rest in the fridge overnight. They're even better today, cold. 

stilettos

Tons happening, but just gonna tuck this article about stilettos right here.

"How much glitter..."

When you type this into Google, the second choice is '...was used in Labyrinth", which is actually what we were googling. Good job, Google.

It started like this:
jessica: i sat down to do something, what was it?
Ryan: Dance Magic Dance?
jessica: Isn't that just Magic Dance?
Ryan: Yes, but it's Dance, Magic Dance in my head

Cue the (lack of) glitter discussion and subsequent search.

The answer? Depends what you click on. Uncyclopedia (a worthy source) reports "over 2.5 million work fairies died from the lack of glitter" which i think we can all agree is a large amount. Another source states "at least half a ton", which is an actual quantifiable number; half of that number being 1000 lbs.  IMDB's Labyrinth trivia page does not weigh in (a-ha!) on the amount, so i don't know that we'll ever know for (documented) certain.

Curious note: i saw this movie only once, as a first grader at a Catholic school on a rainy afternoon. i think that entire situation is a little odd - showing this to first graders, at a Catholic school?

April Faves

Roommate, this one's for you.

My favorite things of the moment:

Humans of New York. i adore fashion/photography/street blogs, mostly because it's a chance to peoplewatch in other places, and this blog is nearly perfect; great pictures, hilarious stories, and a touch of sarcasm. i'm kinda crushing on it, i'll own up to that. If i had any sense of adventure at all, i'd be sorely tempted to run away to Chicago or Austin or some other city and start my own blog.

Literary Tattoos. A sort of counterpart to my fascination with science tattoos.

Ritter Sport Marzipan chocolate square thing. Though Homestar Runner has ruined the word 'Marzipan' for me forever - Mar-zee-paaaan!

So, George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire is a beloved series that i started reading in high school. Since then i've handed off the first book, A Game Of Thrones, to at least 5 fellow readers, and the series continues to be published (this is a point of concern among fans, actually). Lately the series has become something of a phenomenon, with HBO producing it as a show - the first book was spun into a season, and the second book into the current season. The fantastic Holly and Tyler have been kind enough to let me watch it with them.

Long story short, there's a lot more nudity in the TV series than i pay(ed) attention to in the book, probably because my mind does not trip that direction. A few of the characters look nothing like i picture them (notably, Ned Stark, Daenerys Targaryen (okay, both of the Targaryens) all of the Stark kids with the exception of Arya, Robert Baratheon, the list continues, but that's okay. About halfway through the season you get used to that fact that Jon Snow is sporting some facial fur, which is probably welcome as the Wall is a cold place (and Winter Is Coming).

Anyway, the Starks have forever been my favorites (to the point that for various short stories i've written, the protagonist's surname is usually Stark). Holly and i have both sported hairstyles similar to various Starks, (a much prettier version of Ned, in her case, and Arya by request-with-thanks-to-Jack, in my case. Both are in the pict above). i find this pretty amusing.

AND!! Looking forward to season two!