Thursday, December 21, 2006
Temporarily under construction
I've decided to embrace the blog design editing capabilities of the new Blogger, but unfortunately that means that I will temporarily lose my customization. Don't worry, the butterflies will be back in a couple of days.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Random update
Wow. I hadn't been to Stone Road Mall in way too long. They've been doing construction work for a while now, with a couple of areas blocked off by those construction-in-the-mall wall thingies (I haven't had my caffeine yet, so please excuse my lack of vocabularly). So Aaron and I stopped by the mall to pick up a couple of things from the dollar store, and just about fell over. There was a brand new food court where there used to be a barrier! Further exploration revealed an entire new section with new stores! It was crazy. The SportChek store is now upstairs where the cinema used to be. It's just weird.
In other news, this past weekend we visited Aaron's family and went out to the tree farm to find a Christmas tree. There was no snow, a stark contrast to last year when walking was somewhat diffucult. I didn't even have a hat or gloves on. Didn't need them. Friday night we watched 'Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest', since Aaron's mom had been waiting ages to see it. I'd forgotten how absolutely hilarious and entertaining that movie is. I think what makes those movies so much fun is that they don't attempt to take themselves seriously at all, so there's no pressure to be a 'good' movies. But neither do they resort to the cheap, often disgusting, stupidity that seems to pass for comedy these days. The result is total entertainment.
Saturday evening we headed out to Chris and Emma's for a birthday/Christmas party. Someday we too will throw a party with such yummy, classy nibblies. They actually had a Christmas tree up and decorated, the first one we'd been in the same room with. Suddenly Christmas felt a lot closer. There was even personalised wrapping paper, aka newspaper that had been printed with "Chris and Emma's Christmas 2007" over and over in red, green and black. I guess working for a newspaper has its advantages.
I baked my first set of Christmas cookies. Chocolate chip. I'm pretty sure I must have added extra flour, because the dough was awfully dry, and the recipe made significantly more cookies than it was supposed to, but they turned out really well. Instead of the moist, chewy cookies I was expecting to make, we now have really yummy and light cookies. Ones that didn't spread at all, so they are fun, lumpy shapes from me squeezing the dough into lumps assuming they'd spread out and not have imprints of my fingers on them.
Despite still having some shopping to do, I am eagerly awaiting the end of the week and the beginning of my holiday. For now, I am stuck at work.
In other news, this past weekend we visited Aaron's family and went out to the tree farm to find a Christmas tree. There was no snow, a stark contrast to last year when walking was somewhat diffucult. I didn't even have a hat or gloves on. Didn't need them. Friday night we watched 'Pirates of the Carribbean: Dead Man's Chest', since Aaron's mom had been waiting ages to see it. I'd forgotten how absolutely hilarious and entertaining that movie is. I think what makes those movies so much fun is that they don't attempt to take themselves seriously at all, so there's no pressure to be a 'good' movies. But neither do they resort to the cheap, often disgusting, stupidity that seems to pass for comedy these days. The result is total entertainment.
Saturday evening we headed out to Chris and Emma's for a birthday/Christmas party. Someday we too will throw a party with such yummy, classy nibblies. They actually had a Christmas tree up and decorated, the first one we'd been in the same room with. Suddenly Christmas felt a lot closer. There was even personalised wrapping paper, aka newspaper that had been printed with "Chris and Emma's Christmas 2007" over and over in red, green and black. I guess working for a newspaper has its advantages.
I baked my first set of Christmas cookies. Chocolate chip. I'm pretty sure I must have added extra flour, because the dough was awfully dry, and the recipe made significantly more cookies than it was supposed to, but they turned out really well. Instead of the moist, chewy cookies I was expecting to make, we now have really yummy and light cookies. Ones that didn't spread at all, so they are fun, lumpy shapes from me squeezing the dough into lumps assuming they'd spread out and not have imprints of my fingers on them.
Despite still having some shopping to do, I am eagerly awaiting the end of the week and the beginning of my holiday. For now, I am stuck at work.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Freedom!
As of 9:15am, I completed my final undergrad exam. Yes, it was an 8:30am exam and I was finished at 9:15am. Actually, I was finished before then, but checked it over a couple times. Dr. Bogart said on the first day of Herpetology that he wanted us to have fun and that he wasn't looking to fail anyone. He meant what he said, and I'm finishing on a high note. I feel strangely light. Always do after my last exam of a semester, but this is different. Now I suppsose it's time to get started on the job I'm being paid to do.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
The beast
The cat is entirely fascinated and somewhat weary of the startling beast that is the printer. She seems to feel that sitting on top of it and accidentally hitting buttons with her paws is an excellent idea. I guess she thinks that she can keep an eye on it more easily that way. She can't seem to figure out why she keeps getting hit with a jet of water from the squirt bottle every time she approaches it to see what all the noise is about. Little paws swatting uncertainly at the paper as it comes out onto the tray. Last thing I need is my study notes scattered about the apartment with little claw and teeth holes in them.
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
2007 Canadian Wildife Calendars!
(yeah I know, this doesn't actually count as a post)
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Welcome
I suppose the first thing that's needed for a new blog to get off the ground is a first official post. Therefore, let this be the first official post of my new blog, Metamorphosis.
It's already been observed (see comments on the previous post) that the theme "Metamorphosis" suggests a lot with just a simple word. This is, of course, the intent, and I'm not going to spoil how much the theme holds by explaining what would inevitably be only a small fraction. Use your imagination to understand it - it's the only limiting factor here.
One thing I will explain though is "all the pretty butterflies". Yes indeed, they are more than simply "pretty butterflies". They are monarch butterflies; Danaus plexippus to use bionomial nomenclature. And yes that is, not coincidentally, the main part of the address here! I had a monarch butterfly Halloween costume when I was little and I think it may have made a small part of me believe that I'm actually part monarch. I'm not, as far as I know, but I still have warm fuzzy feelings towards monarchs and they happen to be one of the prettier, showier native species so I thought they'd be appropriate decoration for "Metamorphosis".
I'm writing this entry at the beginning of my lunch break and before heading out to help with the CBS Luncheon. It's the middle of Orientation Week and I'm an OV (Oriention Volunteer) with OCUS (Off Campus University Students) and the College of Biological Sciences (CBS). There are a lot of acronyms at Guelph. OV Training was last Friday and Saturday. Sunday was move-in day. OCUS obviously doesn't have anyone to move into residence but we did help with the backlog at the South residences for a while. Then there was the Pep Rally, with the infamous OV Boogie. Basically, about 600 volunteers in matching shirts spelling and making patterns on the football field while doing choreographed moves to about 15 mins of song clips. It's WAY more impressive when you're actually watching it from the stands. I managed not to lose my voice cheering. Since the Pep Rally, I've also served breakfast to first year off-campus students, been part of attempts to break the world records for the largest Locomotion dance and the most simultaneous high fives, passed out on the couch in the Ontarion office for 3 hours, served Chinese food to hungry first years, attended the President's Welcome to New Students & Luncheon (free food - it's what O-Week is all about), and been one of two Wildlife Club representatives on a tour of the research area of the Arboretum. That's actually not a whole lot compared to my previous experiences as an OV. I decided to be more low key this year, and I'm also working part time. Today, as I mentioned, is the CBS luncheon. That will the end of my official involvement with O-Week, although I'll still wear my shirt around campus so people know they can ask me stuff and so I can get the OV discount at the Bookstore.
This afternoon I will have to get back to work. I'm doing DNA barcoding with a professor here on campus. My funding for the next eight months is coming from the Smithsonian Institute. There will inevitably be posts with further details in the future, but that's the Cliff Notes version. Check out the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) link on the right for more info.
It's already been observed (see comments on the previous post) that the theme "Metamorphosis" suggests a lot with just a simple word. This is, of course, the intent, and I'm not going to spoil how much the theme holds by explaining what would inevitably be only a small fraction. Use your imagination to understand it - it's the only limiting factor here.
One thing I will explain though is "all the pretty butterflies". Yes indeed, they are more than simply "pretty butterflies". They are monarch butterflies; Danaus plexippus to use bionomial nomenclature. And yes that is, not coincidentally, the main part of the address here! I had a monarch butterfly Halloween costume when I was little and I think it may have made a small part of me believe that I'm actually part monarch. I'm not, as far as I know, but I still have warm fuzzy feelings towards monarchs and they happen to be one of the prettier, showier native species so I thought they'd be appropriate decoration for "Metamorphosis".
I'm writing this entry at the beginning of my lunch break and before heading out to help with the CBS Luncheon. It's the middle of Orientation Week and I'm an OV (Oriention Volunteer) with OCUS (Off Campus University Students) and the College of Biological Sciences (CBS). There are a lot of acronyms at Guelph. OV Training was last Friday and Saturday. Sunday was move-in day. OCUS obviously doesn't have anyone to move into residence but we did help with the backlog at the South residences for a while. Then there was the Pep Rally, with the infamous OV Boogie. Basically, about 600 volunteers in matching shirts spelling and making patterns on the football field while doing choreographed moves to about 15 mins of song clips. It's WAY more impressive when you're actually watching it from the stands. I managed not to lose my voice cheering. Since the Pep Rally, I've also served breakfast to first year off-campus students, been part of attempts to break the world records for the largest Locomotion dance and the most simultaneous high fives, passed out on the couch in the Ontarion office for 3 hours, served Chinese food to hungry first years, attended the President's Welcome to New Students & Luncheon (free food - it's what O-Week is all about), and been one of two Wildlife Club representatives on a tour of the research area of the Arboretum. That's actually not a whole lot compared to my previous experiences as an OV. I decided to be more low key this year, and I'm also working part time. Today, as I mentioned, is the CBS luncheon. That will the end of my official involvement with O-Week, although I'll still wear my shirt around campus so people know they can ask me stuff and so I can get the OV discount at the Bookstore.
This afternoon I will have to get back to work. I'm doing DNA barcoding with a professor here on campus. My funding for the next eight months is coming from the Smithsonian Institute. There will inevitably be posts with further details in the future, but that's the Cliff Notes version. Check out the Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL) link on the right for more info.
Monday, August 21, 2006
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