Enjablog

It only took a year, but it’s finally finished!

Covers the better part of a queen sized bed. Same width, but goes from the foot to just below the pillows. I’d estimate it around 75″x65″.

I know my sister already blogged this, but I feel a need to reiterate. Back in my day, kids only got out of school when there was snow on the ground. Yeah, I know… back in your day, you had to walk two miles to get to school in a foot and a half of snow, uphill both ways. But really, we had to get up in the morning and check to see if there was snow outside. And even then it was questionable as to whether we would get the day off. The roads weren’t even wet when I left for work this morning and school had already been canceled. And for what? A forecast of 6-10 inches, sure. Right now, there’s still nothing on the roads. Where’s my snow?

LOTD: And the latest… Time to boycott Taco Bell: Fla. Tomato Pickers Still Reap ‘Harvest of Shame’:

“In 2001, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an advocacy group housed in the squat building where the workers get their pre-dawn coffee, launched a boycott of Taco Bell, an important buyer of Immokalee tomatoes. Taco Bell’s corporate parent, Yum! Brands Inc., is the world’s largest restaurant company with five restaurant chains. (KFC, Pizza Hut, A&W and Long John Silver’s are the other four.)”

Not that I ate there that often anyway, but now I know.

QOTD: “see? this is a good sign… i haven’t made a new screenname in almost 2 years!”

Friday — Errand day: Went to see the doctor, ruptured my eardrum (it’s ok… it heals), bought some groceries, went to the chiropractor, went to World Market in search for more Fair Trade chocolate (unsuccessful :( ), went to Target to fill prescriptions, went to the bank, met up with Ian for lunch and to buy supplies for TLD’s party, got lunch, watched extra features for GG season 2, baked cookies, cut Ian’s hair, delivered cookies, went to TLD’s party. Party was fun. Lots of food and lots to drink. You know you hang out with a bunch of nerds when people are getting drunk and all they want to do is play Trivial Pursuit. Hehe…

Saturday — Loafed around all day and watched movies with Ian: Better Off Dead, The Sting, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger. I thought I hadn’t seen Better Off Dead before, but it turned out I had seen bits and pieces of it when it was on tv. Don’t think I ever caught the end of it though, so that worked out well. The Sting was cool. Kind of like Ocean’s Eleven… con artists stealing from the rich. Anyway, cool movie. Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger I haven’t seen in so long that I didn’t remember most of it. Just a few of the more memorable scenes. It was good to see those again.

Sunday — Got up. Woo! Went over to my parents’ house and ended up hanging out all by myself. Good thing my mom kept calling me yesterday. :) -J.

LOTD: Va. Proposal Would Make Prayer a Right:

“I think the American people and the courts have been saying that the wall in the separation of church and state has gone too far, and it’s suppressed — I’d even say oppressed — the Christian faith and silenced it…”

Because, really. When I think Christianity, I think: Oppression.

REESE’S Double Peanut Butter Cookies (a.k.a. Crack Cookies)
Ingredients:

* 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine, softened
* 1/4 cup shortening
* 1/2 cup REESE’S Creamy or Crunchy Peanut Butter
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup brown sugar
* 1 egg
* 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1 10-oz bag REESE’S Peanut Butter Chips

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Beat butter, shortening, peanut butter, sugars, and egg in large bowl until creamy.

3. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until well blended.

4. Stir in peanut butter chips.

5. Form 1-inch balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet, dip fork in sugar and then flatten dough.

6. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned around edges. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. About 4 dozen cookies.

Snow!! So exciting! It’s actually starting to stick finally, so I’m very pleased. I am skeptical about the 3-5 inches, but I hope they’re right. I already shoveled once. Hoping there will be more snow in the morning to shovel. Woo! :) -j.

LOTD: Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments:

“Across 4 studies, the authors found that participants scoring in the bottom quartile on tests of humor, grammar, and logic grossly overestimated their test performance and ability. Although their test scores put them in the 12th percentile, they estimated themselves to be in the 62nd. Several analyses linked this miscalibration to deficits in metacognitive skill, or the capacity to distinguish accuracy from error.”

So, I guess I shouldn’t blame people for being dumb. They really don’t know any better.

QOTD: “I would be more effective in my underwear.”

Edit: For some reason, that link isn’t working for me anymore, but google has it cached: Unskilled and Unaware of It: How Difficulties in Recognizing One’s Own Incompetence Lead to Inflated Self-Assessments

LOTD for Lenny: Baby Got Bible

Take a look at this article and see if you notice anything interesting about Summers’s supporters:
Harvard Chief Again to Face Angry Faculty Over Remarks

When you’re done, come back and see if you saw what I saw or if maybe I overlooked something.

Up until the last two paragraphs all of the people quoted as supporting him are men:
economics professor David Laibson
psychology professor Stephen Pinker
conservative pundits, such as writer Andrew Sullivan and radio host Rush Limbaugh
Gene Sperling, the chairman of President Bill Clinton’s Council of Economic Advisers
Stuart E. Eizenstat, who served as the former Treasury secretary’s deputy

Then, there’s the fact that, “Last year, only four of 32 slots filled in the faculty of arts and sciences went to women.”

And, finally, “…some who were troubled by Summers’s remarks say they now see the opportunity to effect change.

“He was very responsive to the concerns we raised,” [Mariangela Lisanti] said. “This has opened up a really exciting opportunity, and it’s a matter of seizing the moment. We are moving beyond the comments.”

So, it’s not even that a group of women necessarily support him. They believe that by moving past these comments, they can promote change.

QOTD: “Female tigers… the sluts of the jungle.”

Watched Lost in Translation Friday night with the boy. It was pretty good. Some parts were slow, but the funny parts were excellent. So, overall, pretty good.

Spent a good part of yesterday with Ian and a bunch of TLD’s friends helping TLD move. For some reason, the ceilings in the stairwells and the downstairs bathroom of the new place were extra low. The doorway was pretty narrow and the dining room light was hanging pretty low. I’ve never had to duck under a light fixture before. Ever. There were a number of minor casualties, but all in all, it didn’t turn out too bad.

Spent the evening over at the HOY, watched Garden State again, and then we all sat around surfing the internet together on Squidgey’s new shiney hooked up to the plasma. And fun was had by all.

Today was mostly napping and working on my blanket. Went with my sis for our weekly visit to the parents’ house. Tried to convince my parents to try a poly-phasic sleep cycle. I think I may have sold my mom on it. I’m very excited. Think I’m going to get some reading in for once. I’m off! :) -j.

Just got up from my afternoon nap and saw my brother’s latest update. He’s proposing 30-hour days to his superiors. I’m skeptical, but I also agree with him that this is a good idea. The problem being that humans are set to have their internal clocks reset every day by the sun to live by a 24-hour day. Without external cues, from my readings, have resulted in 27-28-hour days. Which is closer to what he wants.

I read that and was very interested, so I proceeded to do some research on Circadian rhythms, shift work, and poly-phasic sleep. I tried a brief experiment one summer when I was down at school with a 6-hour-wake, 2-hour-sleep cycle, which worked out pretty well for me. It only worked for my summer schedule though, so I had to ditch when I got new classes the next semester. I don’t know if that’d be any good for them though… You know, soldiers passing out for their 2-hour-nap whenever their internal clock was scheduled to.

Anyway, I think some of that may have stuck with me. Or maybe it’s just that the only times I actually get around to taking naps is when I’m REM-deprived, but every time I take a nap, I wake from some vivid dream. Like just now, I was going around a school looking for water and the only thing people would offer me were heart-shaped, red Mentos(TM). I’ve never even seen Mentos like that. There was this long line for the water fountain. Think: Women’s bathroom after a movie. So, I didn’t want to wait. I finally got so thirsty, I pulled myself out of my slumber to find that I had rolled over in my sleep and had started drooling. Yes, a gorgeous mental image of me, I know. I had drooled so much that one side of my tongue was dry.

In conclusion, sleep is good.

QOTD: “Aren’t you going to help me inspect my phlegm?”

LOTD: Cola across America

Hey guy in the green sedan,
I’m glad you love America. And it’s nice that you support our troops. And thanks for having God Bless this country. It’s a shame with all those stickers on the butt of your car, I couldn’t tell what kind of car you were actually driving. In any case, it’s great to know that you’re not a terrorist and all, but you still drive like a jerk. Exit lanes are not for cutting ahead of the mile-long parking lot on 66. I hope you understood that I was only “Honk[ing] for our troops.” Jerk.

-j.

QOTD: “‘Cookies are the ultimate comfort food,’ spokeswoman Liz Rayo said. ‘We don’t want anyone sued over cookies. Cookies are good. This is an emotional issue for us.’”– DenverPost.com

LOTD from Squidgey: Puzzle Bobble

I went with Ian to Boston again, and, as usual, I had no idea where we were half the time. This was unfortunate because this time was not like the others. This time he got shot. Twice. In the chest. Why? I’m not quite sure. It was the middle of the day and there were people everywhere, but no one seemed to notice the small mob of guys come up to us, shoot him, and then run off.

I don’t know how, but Ian continued walking next to me as we tried to find a phone to call for help. For some reason, neither of us had signal. Not really unusual for me (Sprint), but he usually has pretty good coverage. In any case, we went into the nearest establishment, which was a pizza place. Someone was using one of the phones, but they said we could try the other. No luck. The line wasn’t functional.

Continued down the road and no one would help us. Finally got to a produce shop toward the end of the block. There was a woman inside looking at a list. Possibly a shopping list, possibly checking inventory. I asked her if she worked there or if she was just shopping. “A little of both,” she replied. I asked if she had a phone we could use. She looked hesitant, but seeing the state that Ian was in, she handed me her phone.

I dial 911.

Operator: Hey, this is Ricky. What’s up?
Me (confused): Is this 911? I have an emergency.
Operator: Yeah, what do you need?
Me: An ambulance. My boyfriend was shot twice in the chest.
Operator: Where are you?
Me: Uh… I don’t know.

I name the street we’re on. Can’t see the cross street. Don’t know how to get there from anywhere. We’re right at the edge of where the businesses and restaurants hit a residential area. Does that help?

They’ll have somewhere there soon. Stay on the line as Ian and I go outside to wait. While we’re out there, the guys who shot Ian show up again. We try to walk away from them, but they catch up to us pretty quickly.

They bully me into going back to work and kidnap Ian. Where’s the ambulance?

Somehow, I show up back at work, still with this woman’s phone with Ricky on the other end. This ambulance still hasn’t shown up. I don’t know where the people took Ian. I don’t know what happened to the woman or how to get her phone back to her. I don’t know how I got to work. Suddenly, everything clicks.

It was a setup.

I need to call 911 from a different phone without letting Ricky find out what I’m doing. They must have wanted me to go to work so they could keep an eye on me. My phone must be bugged. Try my cell phone. Finally, it works. I call and explain what happened and they say they’ll send an ambulance right away. Minutes later, I hear sirens. But I don’t need the ambulance. Ian got shot. I don’t know where he is. I don’t know where they need to send the ambulance.

*hit snooze*

Ambulance drives away with sirens turned off. I call 911 again. Explain to them the situation. I don’t need the ambulance, but I don’t know where they need to send it. I just need them to find Ian and see if he’s still alive. Ok, now they understand. Minutes later, more sirens.

*hit snooze*

I explain again. It’s like these people can’t understand me. How many times do I need to explain this?

Apparently 2 more snoozes. Oops…

So, the setup– I don’t know who the shooters were. The woman was part of that setup. They staged her location so she would be available to offer her phone. When I dialed on her phone, I got one of their guys, who obviously didn’t know how to answer for EMS, but I guess that didn’t register with me anyway. They kept me on the line to make sure I went to work, though I’m not sure why. Again, I think so they could keep an eye on me after they kidnapped Ian. And… I have no idea why they kidnapped him. So, a very elaborate scheme. To what end? I don’t have the faintest idea.

QOTD: “Because the–all which is on the table begins to address the big cost drivers. For example, how benefits are calculate, for example, is on the table; whether or not benefits rise based upon wage increases or price increases. There’s a series of parts of the formula that are being considered. And when you couple that, those different cost drivers, affecting those–changing those with personal accounts, the idea is to get what has been promised more likely to be–or closer delivered to what has been promised. Does that make any sense to you? It’s kind of muddled. Look, there’s a series of things that cause the–like, for example, benefits are calculated based upon the increase of wages, as opposed to the increase of prices. Some have suggested that we calculate–the benefits will rise based upon inflation, as opposed to wage increases. There is a reform that would help solve the red if that were put into effect. In other words, how fast benefits grow, how fast the promised benefits grow, if those–if that growth is affected, it will help on the red.” –President Bush explaining his plan to save Social Security, Tampa, Fla., Feb. 4, 2005

And I thought my parents were incomprehensible some days… at least they have an excuse. What other language does this guy know? Texan?

LOTD (If you’re my parents or don’t like vulgar language, take a pass on today’s link please. Thanks!): How to stay in my pants — Some tips for boys… and while, a lot of the things on this list have to do with being considerate, thoughtful, and respectful, this chick does not sound like any of those things. She’s full of herself and thinks she’s charitable for sleeping with nerds. Hey, try dating people you like instead of liking people who want you for sex and acting surprised when they don’t appreciate your other wonderful qualities. Still kept me entertained for a while though, so that’s something.

JOTD: A Polar Bear walks into a bar and says, “I’ll have a Gin and…………………………..tonic, please.”
The Barkeep says, “Why the big pause?”
The polar bear replies, “I don’t know. My Dad had ‘em too.”

LOTD: Brainpower as easy as X and Y — Men and women are different… Go figure.

First it was diamonds, then it was chocolate… Now, flowers?

The dirty truth behind America’s traditional valentines:

“In the weeks and months preceding Valentine’s Day, life as a rose worker is often unfair and difficult. Workers are required to labor from 7 a.m. to 3 a.m. in extreme heat and receive little overtime pay. During one hour, they cut as many as 600 stems just to stay out of trouble. Due to the rushed production, workers feel hurried and are often prone to injury.”

Friday — Cookie day! Baked Valentine cookies for distribution. Might bake more this weekend. We’ll see…

Spent the day with Ian and the evening with him, his brother, and his brother’s gf. Met some Mormons from Texas and California. Hung out and loafed.

Saturday — Went over to watch Princess Diaries 2 with Ian and my sis. Then, grabbed some food at Chipotle before heading out to the Brickskeller to meet up with Roy and some of his fencing friends. Tried to drink as much as I could drink, but still no luck. Met a bunch of cool people though, so that was cool. Overall, a pretty fun night.

Sunday — Attempted to attend the grand opening for Wegman’s, but saw the lines and just did a drive-by. There were so many people and there was additional parking over toward the government center, but it seemed too stressful to get in. Decided to just get lunch with Ian and head over to pack up boxes with my sis. Spent the evening over at the parents’ house collecting gossip. Now, time to read and get to sleep. :) -J.

LOTD: Things I hate about my Flatmate

Happy Birthday to Roy! Happy New Year! Happy Ash Wednesday!

QOTD: This your idea of humor? “You know, somebody asked me, ‘Do you think the war on poverty is over?’ I said, ‘Yes, the poor lost.’

LOTD: Thai elephants get potty training

Apparently, you can’t buy alcohol (closed container) after midnight in Virginia. I did not know this. I am less than thrilled.