sexy scientist with sleepy simian

Jamin C. says: “This is me with my baby baboon Majoca at our exploration camp in eastern Angola (west Africa). Her mom was killed so I adopted her!” Very sweet, Jamin.

(via cuteoverload)

(thanks to Volpo for the correction - spell check let me down!)

makes my heart melt

Must check out this photoblog of a couple and their adopted kitty.
(via cuteoverload)

Since 2008, two French hikers have chronicled their trek from Miami, FL to the tip of South America, a journey of 15,000km (about 9,320 miles) through 13 countries.

But what elevates this hike down a hemisphere straight into the Cuteosphere is the third member of the team: A stray kitten who joined them in Louisiana.

Too Cute!!!!!

clearing the air

awesome.

legos...done up olympic style 'n' stuff

The LEGO Sport City display by the Hong Kong LEGO Users Group, including "making of" photos. check them all out here on Flickr

tres chouette

I love the lines: My thumbs are not opposable. Yet I oppose everything."

Henri can be found on creator Will Braden's site.....great cat haiku, too.

Ridiculously Cool

Can't wait to see BodyWorlds at the Tech. September 27, 2007 -January 26, 2008. Saw the first exhibit in Chicago a few years ago...this one should be even better!

mental atrophy ahead

i'm going to be busy catching up on season premieres on the weekends....

• beauty & the geek - september 18
• america's next top model - september 19
• heroes - september 24
  
• house - september 25
• ugly betty - september 27
  
• nip tuck - october 30

madness

from xkcd:



this was my Sunday night, and about 4 nights last week.....

where's my 12-sided die now?

ok, I took the surveythe following survey at CNN:
What Hobby Best Suits Your Personality?

found at
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/leisure/quiz/index.html

here is the result I got (I'm sure, along with millions of other people who took the quiz)--this is supposed to be what hobbies I should be looking at/relevant to me.

TECH

You no longer buy gadgets to prove you're cool, or on the cutting edge of any new trend. Now you buy the newest gadgets because you need them to hack (modify, upgrade, or otherwise enhance) your ongoing projects. You already enjoy playing video games(ok, true), coding your own Web sites(true again), or setting up a network of Tivos (will 7 Macs do instead?). ******You might like hobbies like building homemade liquid cooling systems for your computers******, creating a customized media center, writing video games or applying your technical skills to upgrading cars.


Good god, if I'm making homemade liquid cooling systems for my computers, I NEED A *NEW* HOBBY.

fastest car doesn't always win

I've been "racing" with other cars to and from work since I bought my new car. My car is only 200 HP and a 4 cylinder engine, so in the spectrum of cars, its not *that* impressive. But its not the speed and power that counts.

I like the feeling of acceleration and speeding down the freeway--but jammed packed during rush hour on the way to work doesn't really let me play. However, coming home at 8 (or 10) pm is a different game--lots of room. I haven't been actively seeking these speed challenges, it just happens. And I should say that I am not engaging in (or endorsing) any type of risky or careless behavior--its just a game, so to say.

Speeding down the freeway just doesn't work. You need to gauge the traffic flow, the freeway on/off ramps, anticipate people' s behavior. Its almost like a 2-way Tetris, where the other pieces also can move/change orientation, affecting how you move. So the boys in their Toyotas, Acuras, etc have no finesse--its purely about speed for them. But being able to move across the lanes, holding back until a space opens up and then speeding past the "opponent" who is stuck behind AND between cars is pure elation. Knowing when to slow down, down-shift, lay back and wait--then move. It pretty much is a game of cat and mouse that requires thinking ahead, being patient and knowing when to strike (and not get pulled over!).

to have (a career) or to hold (a little squishy baby)?

1:08 am - just purchased and upgraded our seats for our honeymoon in Japan. Makes it a bit more real now--something to do AFTER the wedding.

I'm typically a huge worrier (I blame my Dad, the German influence that had me reading military time on my watch at the age of 3). But at least I'm always prepared. But this whole wedding thing has been pretty stress-free. Sure, we hired an awesome designer/planner who also happened to be a UCSB alumnae, and also shares a freakishly similar design ideas and overall aesthetic--a bit creepy but I'm sure she can use elements from her own wedding to make ours just as great.

So dress: done
bridemaids (and groomsmen on my side): done
bridesmaids; dresses: done
ceremony location: done
ceremony date : done
colors : picked
honeymoon location and date: done

we're working on the design elements for the invites, etc. we're trying to go web 2.0 but not thinking my aunt in New Jersey can handle it. So old fashioned invites with a splash of less traditional aspects coming up! and we are confined to 120 folks for the shindig, so making the list fit will be difficult--some people I would like to invite just won't be getting the invites. and conversely, some family "friends" wil be getting invites against my request. Eh, I just want to show up and have a great party.

We did block rooms at some great hotels in the city, and our planner is negotiating our after party at a really great bar in a very nice hotel after the reception ends--we're keeping that party going until 6am--or don't consider yourself a friend :-)

We do tastings next, as well as picking our photographer, which I think we actually agree on! Then comes the cake--yuck. I'll let him pick that since it really doesn't matter to me.

6 months and a few days from now. strange. I'll have a different last name, and a different salutation, and start thinking about having a family. If there was only a way to have your career, a baby, and just have it ALL. As sad as it has become, I am beginning to listen and trust these wise soothsayers, (or career minded women who had kids at the height of their career). Pick one or the other! But why can't I have both? I'm stubborn, assertive, tenacious....oh wait, those traits don't really make me sound like a good mom, do they--just a work-o-holic.

Return iPhone - Be Shunned

I've been a gadget girl for some time, but I feel I've reached a breaking point: I bought an iPhone last week and returned it today. Much to the chagrin of my friends, colleagues and behold--Apple employees.

In the interest of full disclosure, I must state I did not wait in line for the iPhone, but I did drive down to the Apple store when they called and said the one I asked to be put "on the list incase you get any iPhones at that store, remember to write down my name on said list, and then actually have some left by the time you get to the bottom of the list" was waiting for me...for another hour.

That was last Friday. The next day we went to a party and a dinner and a woman asked if she could take a picture of me with the phone--you know, cause no one else would believe that she met someone that actually owned an iPhone. Uncomfortable.

I had a pit in my stomach at that point. I wasn't showing off my phone or telling people I had it. I was almost embarrassed. I felt like maybe I shouldn't have bought the thing. But wait, it's cool, right? And the nifty map feature got us to the party on time when all my fiance brought with him was the address (that's another entry later). Fingers together, then stretch them out. Scroll, scroll, scroll. There it is. But where the hell are we and how do we get there?

I usually call my best friend, Mark, and dish all the dirt/news once or twice a week. Suspiciously, I kept "forgetting" my iPhone at home, missing calls. Rather than calling him and bragging about the phone, I called him today--to tell him I returned it. It was almost cathartic and forgiving. But not before retelling about my walk in the valley of embarrassment--ultimately ending at the Apple store today.

Before I walked down there, I told my co-workers (3 of whom have one) I was returning it. I think they thought I was crazy--why was I returning it? Eh, I'm just going to go return it. I didn't use the iTunes feature at all. I figured a 5th iPod was excessive. Or I was exhibiting a lack of commitment.

I walked in to Apple store..everything seemed to move in slow motion (no kidding). 4 Apple employees behind the counter, and a few others milling. I said "Hi, I'd like to return my iPhone" and began to take it out of the bag. All employees behind the counter turned to me and one of them said "What's wrong with you?" I KID YOU NOT. Not what's wrong with the phone, but what's wrong with ME.

I told them I tried, I really did. Even in my quasi-embarrassed state, I did send emails and surf the web while I was at Frys Sunday. But it wasn't compelling enough for me. The keyboard, sure it gets easier to use (slide and release) as you use it, but there is just something so familiar about a tactile keyboard. Call me old fashioned, but I like my keys clickable. The Apple folks didn't seem to understand. Their retort "Well, the keyboard isn't going to change." AS IF I needed to change to accommodate the iPhone. Oh geesh.

I then lamented about a lack of GPS feature (which I was reminded was not offered on the model--thanks, guys). The map feature is cool, yes, but take it a step further with GPS and tell me where I am so I can get where I need to be. Knowing where you need to go is only half the problem--the other half is knowing where you are when you start. somewhere between 85 and 280, but closer to the surface streets, so I won't know how to get where I'm going unless I know where I am. Simple enough.

So I continued to tell them I just wasn't that in to the phone and I could see the exchange of looks like "boy, I can't believe she's doing this." and "don't you think she'd try to sell it on eBay since we keep running out?" Alas, to keep my dignity, I just said I guess I'm really not a first gen buyer, and look forward to the next rev.

As I walked out of the store, I felt like I was in a bad, teen movie where the cool kids make fun of the lonely geek walking away. I could almost hear the giggles. Made me feel like I don't belong with those Apple folks. Hope that's not the case, since I own more apple products than I do have fingers. They need me! Maybe I'll go back again one day, but for now, I'll stick to my 60GB iPod for my daily Apple (iTunes) a day.

What Would You Do?

On the plane ride home from LA tonight, I was on one of those commuter (2x2, 15 rows) flights. I had the window seat and a guy sat next to me. I hate/fear flying, so I take a little xanax before the flight and I'm usually fine (even asleep) before takeoff. Well, we had a mechanical issue at caused a delay, and after sleeping the whole time we waited on the tarmac, I woke up as we were just about to take off.

I noticed the jackass next to me abused his personal space and had his right leg all up in my space. He was trying to sleep, and had the typical "I need to sit with my legs far apart cause I got junk" wide sit. I was pretty tired, and this guy just rubbed me the wrong way, so I decided I needed to reclaim some of my space. What to do, what to do.... should I :

• gently nudge his knee and hope he gets the picture?
• pass gas and hope he wakes up and shifts position?
• turn on the light to annoy the crap out of him because he's trying to sleep?

Well, I did all three. He was so passive aggressive, he was taking up the space cause he could, and out of spite. The minute I turned on the light (keep in mind its a small plane, its dark outside and in the cabin, and he's leaning in my general direction) he woke up and moved further into my space.

What a jackass.

"What's that?"
"A dress."
"According to who?"
"Calvin Klein."

Decline of the Television Empire

Actual television shows currently available on cable:

Craft Corner Deathmatch
Showdog Moms and Dads
Carpocalypse

Scary.

"Reality is the best fantasy."