News

Happy birth day Delaney! 11-20-05
I drank too much caffeine last night (... which is why I'm posting at 6am)
Blogger ate the rest of my "101 things" list, so now I have to rewrite it. Grrrr!
The DC area had its first snow a couple nights ago. It was pretty enough. Plus, it was all gone by the next morning, which was the best part about it.
I'm in the middle of two books, and about to begin a third - none of which are listed in my "Books I'm Reading" sidebar.
I had tremendous good fortune in locating and purchasing a meat thermometer yesterday at the height of the "dammit, I forgot the ___" Thanksgiving grocery store rush. I guess sometimes good things do happen to bad people!
My new favorite product is Bare Minerals face powder.

Happy Black Friday!

101 Things, Part I

The first installment of 101 insights into myself. (So divided because I'm afraid no one can really handle all that Marisa all at once...)

** I work with sperm cells.

** My high school graduation ceremony was held in front of the Giza Pyramids in Egypt.

** I love that I was raised moving all around overseas.

** I danced in a hula show.

** I've had to be rescued from a pool twice - once by a lifeguard and once by my fully-clothed mother.

** I worked as a lifeguard and a swim coach. The only kid I ever "saved" was a boy who got smacked in the face with a water polo ball. He got a bloody nose and freaked out. He was even in the shallow end.

** I came 13th in backstroke at the ISST Swim Championships in Brussels, Belgium.

** I met Dan Quayle when I was young and impressionable. Instead of just shaking his hand, I gave him a hug. He picked me up and put my on his shoulder.

** I played "I'll show you mine if you'll show my yours" with Dexter. He went first and I thought it was ugly so I ran away without fulfilling my end of the bargain. (Turns out it was just uncircumcised.)

** I have the perfect grandma. Her house smells like cookies and good food. She keeps a blanket on the back of the couch and back issues of Reader's Digest on the coffee table.

** I am a candle nazi.

** In my opinion, reality TV has never never surpassed the initial drama of Temptation Island.

** I had surgery in March. The resident anesthesiologist was really, really, really hot. Really. I hope I didn't say anything to that effect when I was drugged up.

** The hottest guy I have ever seen was a firefighter responding to an alarm in my lab in full SCBA gear.

** I jumped into the Red Sea at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve 1993 and again in 1994.

** I am most at peace when I am by or in a body of water.

** Whenever I hear the word "spelunking", I think about the time at the beach that I was jumping up and down excitedly and I knocked my Dad's contact out of his eye.

** I had a crush on Nick P. in 9th grade, and I actually felt a little bad when I beat him in one of the tournaments at the Guatemala Arts Festival that year. I knew he wanted to win, and I'd have settled for second place.

** I'm a giver.

** I developed a crush on almost all of my middle and high school science teachers.

** ...Except for Mr. Cundiff. I hated that bastard!

** I have a chronic and weird condition, Erythema nodosum, in which I develop red nodes of inflammation on the fronts of my calves. My first outbreak was in middle school, and ever since then, a few will spontaneously appear and disappear every now and then.

** I wore braces for three years. I think I still have my retainers in a box in the attic.

** When I babysat for Genny, her mother dropped me off at my dorm and said "I'm sorry, I forgot your money on the table." When I said, "that's OK," (thinking I could just swing by and pick it up later) she thought I meant that's OK, you don't have to pay me. I didn't correct her.

** The first cassette tape I bought myself was Sinead O'Connor - I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. The first VHS was Undercover Blues.

To the Shores of Tripoli

Happy 230th, US Marine Corps!
Thank you, Devil Dogs, for the sacrifice of your service.

Work Haiku

Person may be smart
But in boardroom, all are fools
Meetings suck!

Why I Don't Trust Walruses

It occurred to me that perhaps I should create a post giving credit to my blog's namesake. So without further ado, I post:

The Walrus and The Carpenter
-Lewis Carroll

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

The sea was wet as wet could be,
The sands were dry as dry.
You could not see a cloud, because
No cloud was in the sky:
No birds were flying overhead--
There were no birds to fly.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Were walking close at hand;
They wept like anything to see
Such quantities of sand:
"If this were only cleared away,"
They said, "it would be grand!"

"If seven maids with seven mops
Swept it for half a year.
Do you suppose," the Walrus said,
"That they could get it clear?"
"I doubt it," said the Carpenter,
And shed a bitter tear.

"O Oysters, come and walk with us!"
The Walrus did beseech.
"A pleasant walk, a pleasant talk,
Along the briny beach:
We cannot do with more than four,
To give a hand to each."

The eldest Oyster looked at him,
But never a word he said:
The eldest Oyster winked his eye,
And shook his heavy head--
Meaning to say he did not choose
To leave the oyster-bed.

But four young Oysters hurried up,
All eager for the treat:
Their coats were brushed, their faces washed,
Their shoes were clean and neat--
And this was odd, because, you know,
They hadn't any feet.

Four other Oysters followed them,
And yet another four;
And thick and fast they came at last,
And more, and more, and more--
All hopping through the frothy waves,
And scrambling to the shore.

The Walrus and the Carpenter
Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.

"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."

"But wait a bit," the Oysters cried,
"Before we have our chat;
For some of us are out of breath,
And all of us are fat!"
"No hurry!" said the Carpenter.
They thanked him much for that.

"A loaf of bread," the Walrus said,
"Is what we chiefly need:
Pepper and vinegar besides
Are very good indeed--
Now if you're ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed."

"But not on us!" the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
"After such kindness, that would be
A dismal thing to do!"
"The night is fine," the Walrus said.
"Do you admire the view?

"It was so kind of you to come!
And you are very nice!"
The Carpenter said nothing but
"Cut us another slice:
I wish you were not quite so deaf--
I've had to ask you twice!"

"It seems a shame," the Walrus said,
"To play them such a trick,
After we've brought them out so far,
And made them trot so quick!
"The Carpenter said nothing but
"The butter's spread too thick!"

"I weep for you," the Walrus said:
"I deeply sympathize."
With sobs and tears he sorted out
Those of the largest size,
Holding his pocket-handkerchief
Before his streaming eyes.

"O Oysters," said the Carpenter,
"You've had a pleasant run!
Shall we be trotting home again?"
But answer came there none--
And this was scarcely odd, because
They'd eaten every one.