enasni

Friday, July 12, 2002 11:24 p.m. Jiggity-jig. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Thursday, July 11, 2002 04:38 p.m. I took my biochem final today - I felt as though my brain would implode (you know, because there is somewhat of a vacuum in there - where else does all of the stuff I study go?). But it's over, and unlesss I only managed the C-, I'll never have to take it again. I have emails to catch up on and packing to do tonight. But first! Dinner and birdwatching. (^_^) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Tuesday, July 9, 2002 03:25 p.m. Because I can't resist temptation, I'm adding a link to Dictionary.com's Word of the Day. Honestly, how cool is that? *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Monday, July 8, 2002 07:51 p.m. Going into hiding until this (hell) week is finished. Over and out. (^_^) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Sunday, July 7, 2002 07:49 p.m. The sun has been totally obscured now. I imagine that if there were a major volcanic eruption or a meteor crash (somewhere VERY far from here!) that this would sort of resemble that. But, you know, on a much worse level. (^_^;;) I'm thinking of adopting a new fish when I go home... I'll have to think on it some more, though, because I really hadn't expected to become so attached to Ayou when I first got him. I mean, damn. I talked to that fish more than I talked to a lot of people some days. And I think I enjoyed his company more, too. (:^P) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Sunday, July 7, 2002 07:28 p.m. I can stare at the sun because of the smoke. If you go outside, you can smell wood burning. Considering that Quebec is pretty far from here (800 miles? maybe more?), I find it all to be impressive. I definitely feel fortunate that I live no closer to the forest fires, both there and out west. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Sunday, July 7, 2002 02:49 p.m. The smoke from the forest fires in Quebec have made it here. It looks like it's foggy when it's really after midday. Very strange indeed. Still am searching for good stories; I think I've finally found some, but alas, I'm running out of time to write that proposal... *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Sunday, July 7, 2002 01:19 p.m. I'm attempting to validate the theory that if I read new, well-written fic, I will produce a well-written grant proposal which I really should have had done and sent to my professor, oh, a week and a half ago. The problem, then, is finding good fic that I haven't read before in the fandom that I am craving. The proposal, btw, is due in my prof's inbox tonight. What to do... *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Saturday, July 6, 2002 10:49 p.m. And in an effort to cheer myself up: Find your Role-Playing Stereotype at mutedfaith.com. [Angel.] Heh, shapeshifters were always my favorite. Also, I seem to have become addicted to fruit snacks. Good thing I don't drink; I always knew that I had an addictive personality when depressed. Instead, I'm tanked on vitamin C, whose only side effect, to my knowledge, is kidney stones. Hey, no pain, no gain an'at. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Friday, July 5, 2002 08:54 p.m. Here's a little essay that I wrote for my advanced writing course last semester - if you read it, maybe all you will get out of it is the fact that it's a good thing that I didn't choose English as my major. Yeah, I'll agree to that. Or maybe, you'll get a hint as to why I like to do what I'm doing, for the most part. Maybe it'll also illustrate, just a little, how it is that I can still be upset that my fish died. I mean, I guess I can understand how people would think that, "geez, it was just a fish." But you know what, ten months is a long time to get used to seeing something swim over to check out what's going on every day. And ten months just wasn't long enough when he should have had two years - the average lifespan of a betta. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Friday, July 5, 2002 12:31 p.m. Rest in peace, buddy. Here's to the great rice paddy in the sky. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Thursday, July 4, 2002 09:29 p.m. Sad, so so sad. My little buddy Ayou is dying, and there's nothing that I can do. ;_; *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Wednesday, July 3, 2002 10:01 a.m. I found this while surfing livejournals this morning and found it to be pretty amusing. Yes, a couple of things do apply to me, such as not knowing all of those bands mentioned (although, I have heard of Chicago before, I just don't know if I ever listened to them), and I was in elementary school during the Persian Gulf War (I remember baking cookies for the soldiers and watching the SCUDs on CNN in that glowing green of nightvision technology). THE CLASS OF 2005 Just in case you weren't feeling old enough today, this will certainly change things. Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the Faculty a sense of the mind set of this year's incoming freshman. Here is this year's list: The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1983. They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably did not know he had ever been shot. They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged. There has been only one Pope in their lifetime. They were 10 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold War. They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up. Tianamen Square means nothing to them. Bottle caps have always been screw off and plastic. Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums. The expression "You sound like a broken record" means nothing to them. They have never owned a record player. They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong. They may have never heard of an 8 track. The Compact Disc was introduced when they were 1 year old. They have always had an answering machine. Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black and white TV. They have always had cable. There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA was. They cannot fathom not having a remote control. They don't know what a cloth baby diaper is, or know about the "Help me, I've fallen and I can't get up" commercial. Feeling old Yet? There's more: They were born the year that Walkmen were introduced by Sony. Roller skating has always meant inline for them. Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show. They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool. Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave. They have never seen Larry Bird play. They never took a swim and thought about Jaws. The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as WWI, WWII and the Civil War. They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran. They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are. They don't know who Mork was or where he was from. (The correct answer, by the way, is Ork) They never heard: "Where's the beef?", "I'd walk a mile for a Camel," or "De plane, de plane!" They do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. was. Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not bands... There has always been MTV. They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter. Do you feel old yet? If you do, then pass this on to some other old fogies...but don't send it back to me, I feel old enough. I have lots of fond memories of playing Atari on our black and white dial-knobby television with the rabbit ears (since, you know, we didn't have cable). We also had BETA, not VHS, which became annoying when we wanted to rent videos. I think I watched Pipi Longstocking a few times because that was one of the only kids' movies in that format. And vinyl records? Please. We also had a little robot-thing called 2XL who played off of eight tracks (creepy little thing, but that's another story ^_^). Reagonomics is what caused us to move all over the place when I was younger - my father is a geologist and was in the oil business at the time. Yeah. Pennsylvania is nice, but the Ohio countryside was charming. Even the sunflowers only grew about knee-high where we lived (Claysville - fitting name). When we were little, my brother pulled the ribbon out of the typewriter and we played with it by stringing it all around the place. Uh, yeah, we got in trouble for that. ^^;; My mother still wears hard contact lenses ("It was like putting sand in my eyes for hours on end at first, but I toughened up to them."), and I'm still not quite used to how inline skates have the brake on the back (and only on one skate!) instead of those front stoppers. I wonder if these kids remember the Transformers, Punky Brewster, the Getalong Gang, or even the Pound Puppies? Or the Ewoks cartoon! Sheesh, now I feel old... (^_^;;) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Tuesday, July 2, 2002 07:58 p.m. I just went to make myself a study snack of microwaveable kettle corn, and you know what? I can't even taste it. ::cries:: I'm working on trying to understand last summer's exam 4. (>_<) There are simply too many abbreviations in biochem. PDCs, TCA, ATPs, EMP, cAMP, ETC, etc, etc. ETC = electron transport chain. You know, just to make things more confusing. And structures! I don't care what OAA looks like! Or what sort of CoEs are involved in Kreb's cycle (AKA TCA). I just...no! *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Tuesday, July 2, 2002 03:31 p.m. Ugh, I hate summer colds! ...must stay awake... finish lab report... study for tomorrow's mega-exam... ::zzzz:: *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Tuesday, July 2, 2002 02:01 p.m. I never counted calories in high school; instead, I counted the hours of sleep I would get each night. Well, here you go. So there. :^D *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Saturday, June 29, 2002 09:35 p.m. I was at the pet store today just to kill some time. It usually kind of brightens up my day, but today was different. I watched as a really frazzled-looking mother let the oldest of her three young boys pick out a new pet. The boy was enthralled by the leopard geckos at first until his mother said, "Why don't you get a frog?" So the boy picked out a little green treefrog (they're indigenous a few hundred miles south of here, and all of those which are sold in the pet trade, to the best of my knowledge, are caught in the wild). The mother then asked the sales girl what they eat as the girl was putting it in a cup (the girl also picked the frog up with her bare hands - something which a person should never do unless they have first washed their hands thoroughly because the secretions on our skin can be toxic to frogs). When the mother heard that they eat crickets, she rolled her eyes and went, "Oh, gawd." And that's when I really confirmed that they hadn't done a lick of research before picking out a new pet. Do they know that a green treefrog should have no less than a ten gallon aquarium which is turned on its end so that it's vertical because the animals are arboreal? The woman asked the sales girl what else they needed, and she told her that they just need a dish with some water in it. That's it. Hello? Plants? Vitamin powder for the crickets? Dechlorinating drops for the water because chlorine will kill the little guys faster than you can say "ribbit"? Do they know that if it's male, it will chirp at night when it's humid out (and really loudly, too)? Do they even know that treefrogs are nocturnal? I did butt in to tell the woman not to give it water with chlorine in it - I mean, I couldn't just stand there. I told the little boy to make sure it has plenty of water, too. I give that frog a week before it croaks, no pun intended, which makes me really, really, really sad. I've been holding out for years now before buying a frog until I know that I have the time, space, and money to take care of one properly and give it a happy, stress-free life. What also makes me sad is the ignorance of the staff members at that place. On other occasions, I've seen them keep Oriental fire-bellied toads in with their treefrogs where they share the same water bowl. And if anyone were to even do a hint of research on the web (where the information is free!), they would know that fire-bellied toads are toxic enough to kill other frog species, and even themselves, if their toxins are allowed to build up in their water and living space. I just got...so depressed because of that. I can't help but think about that poor, little frog. After his appeal wears off and the kid doesn't feel like taking care of it anymore, it'll be neglected. I'd think that the mother would take care of it then, but to be honest, it looked as though she could hardly take care of herself (I just hope that I caught her on a bad day), let alone muster up enough curiosity and compassion for an amphibian. I just...damn. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Monday, June 24, 2002 03:16 p.m. My lab partner in biochem will be graduating right after she finishes this class. She's already gotten the second call back for a teaching position in a school district that she's dying to work for. I'm really happy for her - she'd be teaching seventh grade life science and eleventh grade anatomy. It's gotten me to thinking (more) about what I want to do when I finally get out of here. Or rather, where I want to go in order to do what I want to do. When I was a child, people would ask me where I wanted to live when I "grew up." Usually, the answer was something like "Alaska!" or ... well, even then I wasn't imaginative, so "Alaska!". But let's be realistic here. After graduation, I have to get a job first thing so as to pay off all of these pesky school loans (::gulp::). I guess what I should be asking is "where in Pennsylvania do I want to teach?". Holy smokes. I couldn't even begin to imagine where. I guess I'm a little lucky that I still need 42 credits to graduate (I'll have a whopping total of 143 credits - curse my indecisiveness!), if you can call that lucky. On another note, I just wasted a half hour changing the colors a bit on the entomology club webpage and adding a couple of links to this one (Nokoru's Daily Paperwork and Lint from Kat's Brain - journals of two of my favorite authors from different fandoms). Sometimes, I wish I could be a writer, but I really can't hack it - my attention span isn't long enough. That, and the fine nuances of proper plot development totally escapes me. Instead, I'd rather read and wallow in the genius of others. (^_^) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Sunday, June 23, 2002 11:00 p.m. I love my Comrade very, very much - more than the world. That's all. Good night. (^__^) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Tuesday, June 18, 2002 02:15 p.m. Biochemistry. I have no words. Want to see a sample exam? I go home and do this stuff all night and STILL don't get all of it. If only the questions weren't worth so many darn points! Funny how exam two is the day after tomorrow, too... (>_<) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Sunday, June 16, 2002 07:07 p.m. I just got back from Intercourse, PA a little bit ago where a friend of mine lives (gotta love the names of some of these towns in Lancaster; there's a saying that in order to get from Blue Ball to Paradise, you have to go through Intercourse. I guess you also bypass Virginville and Fertility along the way... :^D). I spent entirely too much money on handicrafts and the like while I was there. One of the neatest things was how on Saturday morning I woke up to the sound of a horse and buggy clip-clopping down the road. It woke me right up because, I imagine, that's really not something I've ever heard before - traffic, sirens, and trains, sure, but not the sound of horses and buggies. There were Amish children all around, too, and they were simply adorable. All in all, it was a very relaxing little vacation. Now I really have to get back to working on biochem before tomorrow's class. (^_^) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Thursday, June 13, 2002 12:40 a.m. Just for future reference: Reptiles and Amphibians Info Service. Philadelphia Herpetological Society Radical Reptiles Geckos Unlimited turtlesource.com *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Monday, June 10, 2002 03:59 p.m. And, you know, since I'm here and all: What is your favorite fruit? Why do you like it? How far do you carry your obession? I like apples. I'd hardly call it an obsession. ::G:: name one thing that if you don't do in the morning in your "routine", if you have one, screws up your day royally. It used to be checking my email, but since it doesn't look as if I'll be doing that on a regular basis anyway... (>_>) Name a bad habit you have that you are trying to break. Procrastination Name a bad habit that you will keep no matter what. Procrastination - as in, no matter what I'll do, I'll always procrastinate. (^_^;;) ...such as right now. I really don't want to go back and start my lab reports. It's like throwing in the towel and accepting fate - and since I think that fate is a load of bunk, I'm just going to sit here and waste some more time. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Monday, June 10, 2002 03:47 p.m. I made it back to school yesterday. Unfortunately, my room isn't outfitted for internet hook-up; it looks like I'll be frequenting the computer labs. Yay. I've got loads of work to do tonight for biochem, but it doesn't seem as though it'll be too bad considering that it is my only class. Now all I need is a decent night's sleep so that I can continue getting up at six in the morning. I must also somehow convince my new roommate that it's okay to run the air conditioning a little - or else there's going to be a situation among us up there on the seventh floor. ^_~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Monday, June 3, 2002 12:35 p.m. Time for a short and totally unsolicited grammar lesson, kids. While I'm not an English major, I think that proper grammar is simply a must for everyone, regardless of their chosen profession. Here are some common problems I've run across while reading essays and fiction on the Internet: The difference between effect and affect is really easy to remember. Effect is a noun, and affect is a verb. Ta-da! Hopefully, I've effectively affected your knowledge of the usage of these words, and soon the effects of this endeavor will be seen. (^__^) Really, it's a very common mistake. Fortunately for me (or maybe not so fortunately ^_^;;), it was drilled into us biology majors due to the nature of our writing laboratory reports all the freaking time. We often look at how, say, a drug affects an organism and whether or not the effects have a negative impact. I've also seen the words accept and except interchanged. Except, a qualifier, means that something is excluded, and accept, a verb, means to receive or approve something. This isn't exactly a common mistake, but I have seen it before and felt that it wouldn't hurt to include it here. The word definitely is often misspelled. I've seen it spelled as difinitely, definitly, and most commonly of all, definately. There is definitely no 'a' in the word. *G* Okay, now it's time to look at the proper use of the comma! Yay! As I learned in my most recently required English course, comma 'splicing' is also a pretty common grammar uh-oh and goes something like this: "I went to the store today, I bought some groceries." What's wrong with the above sentence? Well, it's actually two complete sentences stuck together with only a comma. This is wrong. Two correct ways to write this sentence are shown below. "I went to the store today, and I bought some groceries." "I went to the store today; I bought some groceries." Yep, that second sentence shows the dreaded semicolon. But please, don't be afraid; the semicolon is your friend. (^_^) Remember, you can use it to separate two complete sentences. That's enough grammar for one day. I'm sure there's lots more to be explored sometime in the future. ::grins:: *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Thursday, May 30, 2002 10:38 p.m. Went bird watching the other morning with my mom who actually took a day off from work for once - which is cause for celebration alone. Anyway, being that we live in a fairly urban-suburban area, we don't get much variety in our birds usually, community park included. We did see some cool things though: green herons northern orioles red-winged black birds yellow warblers catbirds (common at the park but cool nonetheless) goldfinches your common American robins, cardinals, house sparrows, mourning doves, black-capped chickadees, Canada geese, grackles, crows, starlings, and sea gulls AND! Cedar Waxwings!! The cedar waxwings were the highlight of the walk, I think. I remember seeing them once when I was really young at my grandfather's house. They're neat little birds, as in they're very tidy-looking as well as interesting. So, anyway, that's what I do for excitement around here. (^_^) Um, Topics Blog? are you hot? Why, yes, I am. It's nearly 11 pm and it's 70+ F! That's why I don't like summer. Pennsylvania shouldn't be this warm. (Oh, come on, you didn't really think that I would answer that, did you? (^_~)) Which is your favourite season? Why? Spring! It warms up, the birds and frogs sing, the butterflies come out - what's not to love? Everything's twitterpated. (^_~) Second to spring is fall, of course. I generally don't like summer because I don't like the humidity. I would do very poorly in the tropics ::grins::. As cool as it would be to do studies in, say, Central or South America, I don't think that it would work out. The mosquitoes alone would drive me crazy, and besides, we've already got West Nile up here - I could do without malaria. List five things that you haven't done in a while but would like to do again. See my best friend who is currently in CA ::cries:: Actually finish a novel instead of reading half then starting something else Go hiking Go camping Visit the aquarium! (^_^) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Monday, May 20, 2002 11:40 p.m. More Topics why do we, us crazy internet junkies, read each other's web logs? what is the point? Curiosity, I think. Why do people watch soap operas? Besides, it's interesting reading other people's perspectives on things. I know that I've enjoyed learning about what makes other people tick, what rattles them, makes them happy, etc. What do you wish you were good at? Word problems such as those found in physics and chemistry books because, you know, that would make my life easier. do you like public speaking? can you get up in front of a classroom or group and give a speech comfortably? Public speaking used to bother me a lot more than it does now. So long as I'm speaking with kids - high school or middle school - it doesn't bother me at all, and I enjoy it. I dislike speaking in front of my "betters" - professors and the like. I guess that's an insecurity thing, huh? Even people whom I perceive as being way more intelligent than I am or those who choose to act condescendingly towards me, I have a problem speaking in front of. Do you often get headaches? What so you do when you get one? Yes, I do. Once in a while I get a migraine, too. (>_<) Generally all I can do is pop some pills and hope that they go away so that I can get back to work. are you able to go out to the mall, movies, etc., on your own - or does someone else *always* have to come with you? I enjoy going by myself. It's probably selfish, but this way I get to go to the places I want to and not be bothered with others. However, there are a few people that I like to go shopping with, etc., including select family members. My mother and I, for instance will, nine times out of ten, find things to laugh hysterically over, even in the grocery store. Because, you know, it's funny. (^_^) is it important for you to stick to a tight schedule or can you color out of the lines? Depends on the day and situation. If I make plans with people, I stick to them. If someone else changes the plans, I usually can follow suit. These are kind of silly questions, aren't they... Which type of penguin would you be? And why would you want to be a penguin? On second thought, that's a silly question! But fun, too. (^_^) Dunno, have to give it some thought. ::grins:: *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Archives: 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14 Miscellaneous Factoids Name: Jess dob: February 10th, 1981. That'd make me an Aquarian. ::This is the dawning of the age of:: -- erk. Occupation: college student. Institution: MU, PA, USA. Educational goal: Get a BSE in biology. Save me from: Biochem 326 Career Goal: Teach high school biology Adores: After You, my wonderful betta fish! - rest in peace Hobbies: reading, collecting art supplies I never seem to use anymore, maintaining this journal thing, participating in wild bug adventures with MU's entomology club, birdwatching, and spending time in the garden with my mother. Learn Something New: Word of the Day Contact?: Email: here Guestbook: Read::Sign::Dreambook AIM: story4247 reading for enjoyment: The Last of the Mohicans - James Fenimore Cooper nose prints on glass: Corvidary deceptively packaged epiphany erinblog LEGAL ALIEN lime rain Lint from Kat's Brain Mission Statement Mooncalf Noises Nokoru's Daily Paperwork null&void Petronia Ramdomosities Sainan no Kekka seraphtrevs Signifying Nothing technomancy environment/science pages: Care2 Discover Magazine EPA of New Jersey Hawk Mountain Sanctuary The Hunger Site MU Biology Department Home MU Chemistry ...Department Home MU Entomology ...Club Homepage National Geographic Online National Wildlife Federation US EPA give me a hit: Brutal Honesty Dreamscape Studios the flambeau factory Furor Scribendi The Gossamer Project Gundam Wing Addiction Gundam Wing @ ...fanworkrecs.com GWYaoi.org Izumi 2001 Last Impression MitsuGallery Moments of Rapture Ponderosa's Corner Sainan no Kekka shinigami & wing Vanity Press web comics: Angel Moxie Annie the Hardcore Gamer Bite Me Little Gamers MegaTokyo Return to Sender Saturnalia Small Stories Strings of Fate Winter microcosms of interest: The Bishounen Diaries Dizzy Cafe Früvous Dot Com Google Herzeleid.com The Internet Movie Database Japanese <--> ...English Dictionary Server Kitty Arcade Laughing Jackal LEO English/German ...Dictionary Registered! The Topics Blog Yahoo! Groups Thank you, Pitas!