So Wrong

My econometrics professor:
"I gave you a lot of homework problems, and that should give you enough to work on to prepare for the final. I don't expect anyone to be able to finish all of them, though..."

I hate this! How am I supposed to know which problems are the ones that are too hard for me to actually complete and which ones I need to know but are just giving me trouble?

and

"I sent out an email with some hints and answers for some of them, but I don't know the answers to all of them."

Dre, can I donate my brain to science? It seems like the most reasonable option at this point.

EEEEEeeeeEEEEeeee!!!!!

It's snowing!!!! Like snowing, snowing. Here. In Corvallis. Where they said it would not. Yay! Yay! Yay!

Everyone is looking around in wonder, beaming, marvelling at the flakes dropping onto their jackets and such.

What do you do when it snows in Corvallis? Same thing you do every other day, open up your umbrella.

I think it is nearing critical need time in terms of me going snowshoeing. Cascades, ho!

Thanksgiving Songs on NPR

I just had to post again today...
So, I'm listening to NPR out of Eugene, and I hear this song, which is set to an upbeat/cute little ditty:

Uncle Dave's Grace

lyrics by Peter Berryman, music by Lou Berryman
©1999; All Rights Reserved. Used by permission.
We are Berryman groupies, and love so many of their songs it's
hard to choose just one. Peter says this is based on an actual
event ... but all their songs are. - CM

"We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing"

Thanksgiving day, Uncle Dave was our guest
He reads the Progressive which makes him depressed
We asked Uncle Dave if he'd like to say grace,
A dark desolation crept over his face
"Thanks," he began as he gazed at his knife,
"To poor Mr. Turkey for living his life
All crowded and cramped in a great metal shed
Where life was a drag then they cut off his head

"Thanks," he went on, "for the grapes in my wine
Picked by sick women of seventy-nine
Scrambling all morning for bunch after bunch
Then brushing the pesticides off of their lunch
Thanks for the stuffing all heaped on my fork
Shiny with sausage descended from pork
I think of the trucks full of full of pigs that I see
And can't help imagine what they think of me"

Continuing, "I'd like to thank if you please
Our salad bowl hacked out of tropical trees
And for this mahogany table and chair
We thank all the jungles that used to be there
For cream in our coffee and milk in our mugs,
We thank all the cows full of hormones and drugs
Whose calves are removed at a very young age
And force-fed as veal in a minuscule cage

"Oh thanks for the furnace that heats up these rooms
And thanks for the rich fossil fuel it consumes
Corrupting the atmosphere ounce after ounce
But we're warm and toasty and that is what counts
I'm grateful," he said, "for these clothes on my back
Lovely and comfy and cheap off the rack
Fashioned in warehouses noisy and cold
In China by seamstresses seven years old

"And thanks for my silverware setting that shines
In memory of miners who died in the mines
Worn down by the shoveling of tailings in piles
Whose runoff destroys all the rivers for miles
We thank the reactors for our chandelier
Although the plutonium won't disappear
For hundreds of decades it still will be there
But a few more Chernobyls and who's gonna care?"

Sighed Uncle Dave, "though there's more to be told
The wine's getting warm and the bird's getting cold"
And with that he sat down as he mumbled again
"Thank you for everything, amen"
We felt so guilty when he was all thru
It seemed there was one of two things we could do
Live without food, in the nude, in a cave,
Or next year have someone say grace besides Dave

I pulled the lyrics from:

here

Okay, I thought this song was going to be good as I listened to it. I THOUGHT it was going to have some useful message. Then the last few lines of the songe came along; I was wrong. I know it was supposed to be all cute and funny, but this is the dumb attitude that is messing up our world! "Wow, there are all these problems that we can't fix. That's a gol' darn shame. Since I can't fix everything, I think it will be best to do nothing at all." Then the person goes on to eat fois gras while driving a Hummer through a red light in the intersection on the way to Wal-Mart two blocks from his/her house.
Disgusting.

Super Salamander Sightings!

So, I saw some stunning salamanders sitting in some slime.

Okay, enough of that.

I was on my run today and I saw two salamanders, one tiny and one average sized. This is what they looked like:

Ensatina Salamander Picture... awww, how cute!

Which is really exciting because I'd only ever seen this kind of salamander before today:

Spotted Salamander... awww, also cute!

I love seeing new kinds of species! I also love it when I can figure out what they are (an ensatina salamander in this case). Seeing a salamander is special because they are very senitive to pollution, temp, etc. so who knows how long they will be around?
Plus, when I was elementary school aged, I was a big salamander and lizard fan. In Michigan, we don't have much in the way of lizards, but there are salamanders. I used to spend a fair amount of time hunting for them. Despite that, I think of all the salamanders I saw (spotted salamanders), I only found one on purpose. Most of them my mom found and pointed out to me, and the others I found while not officially on a salamander search. I guess I was not very good at looking for them. I had a very similar relationship with the praying mantis.

In my handy dandy Audubon Pocket Guide to familiar North American Reptiles and Amphibians, it shows that the ensatina is the only salamander in the west! This is surprising to me, because it is very wet here in Oregon, so I would think that salamanders would do quite well in these parts. Perhaps there are other, less common varieties that are not listed in my guide. I would not be at all surprised to learn that it is not comprehensive. It is the very same guide that I used to study as a kid, after all.

In closing, I also saw a slug today.

I don't think I'm in Colorado anymore

The ski season has started and no one seems to care. Except me! I want to go skiing. I know I wasn't in a "normal" environment at this time last year, but opening day of ski season was more exciting than Christmas. This year, I haven't heard a thing about it.

Yesterday, I made my first real trip into Portland. By real, I mean that I wasn't just going to the airport. I liked the downtown area; I barely even got lost! And, even though our Wolverines didn't pull out the win, I had fun watching the game at a bar with a bunch (standing room only) of other UM alums. **crying on the inside**

Overall, I had an excellent time, well worth the drive. I got distracted, and didn't get to do any Christmas shopping, but that's okay by me. I guess I will have to go back and do some more exploration...

My Lucky Day?

I think today might be my lucky day... not in the amazing, life-changing sense, but just in the little sense.
Evidence:
1) I missed having to wait for the train to pass through my intersection by about 15 seconds.
2) In the sunshine of the morning, I remembered to go back to my car and grab my umbrella. It is now raining right along.
3) I got a two-pack of Starbursts from the candy dish, and when I opened it up, it had one of each of my favorite flavors (orange and lemon).

Wow. Even though I admit that #2 isn't really luck - you know what they say, "Two outta three ain't bad." I can't wait to see what else might come my way. I hope it is something to improve my wealth. (perhaps finally realizing the key to either my anti-gravity pack or my teleportation device...)

First Project!

Yay! I've completed my first work of knitting!




Not much else exciting has been going on... I have been exploring Corvallis a bit more and came across a really cool art/craft gallery. I also found a chocolate shop, at which I bought a chocolate covered carmel with brazil nut bits in it. Yummmm.

Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head

I think the rainy season/winter has started here. It's been coming down for four or five days straight now and is predicted to continue through Sunday at least. The weather report only looks that far into the future... I'm not sure if this is normal or not; I have heard it called a storm on NPR, so maybe not. I have learned that my umbrella is too small. What would be awesome is a golf sized umbrella that's clear with pictures of tropical fish on it. You know the kind I mean. Maybe a good place to look for that would be the aquarium?

I have one more midterm left for this cycle. I took calc yesterday, and I think it went well. Econometrics is on Thursday, and I am hoping for good luck.

I am officially learning to knit as of last night! So far so good.

With regard to my last post: I found out the problem with my stroke that was making my elbow hurt.

Five Kilometers

I ran a 5k this morning! It was hosted by the dept of health and human services as a part of the homecoming festivities today. It was fun, one of those really laid back run/walk deals, which is good since I am not in shape. Anything more intense would have been intimidating. The weather was perfect, 60 degrees and overcast with only a slight breeze, they had bananas to eat and the t-shirt is pretty nice. All in all, it was right on.

After the race I went to the market. It is really dwindling down as we get into fall a bit more, however I still got some good stuff. Lettuce, spinach, goat cheese, apples, walnuts and the very last of this year's concord grapes. Mmmm. I also went to the seafood place (fishmonger's... hehe) and got scallops, smoked Oregon chinook (a little treat), and a free piece of fresh Oregon chinook! The fishmonger was so nice that she gave me a free piece to try since this is the last week for fresh. (The season just closed.) Yay! for small local businesses and their nice curators! Yay! for salmon! The trip was topped off by stops at Great Harvest for the week's bread and the co-op for cat food ingredients.

project: learning The Weight by The Band on the guitar
question: Is there such a thing as swimmer's elbow?
statement: I wish I was at Kind Coffee in Estes right now...

Success

Halloween was a success! I saw cute kids, and only one of them cried. He was a very little, quiet pumpkin, and his mom thought he forgot to say, "thank you." He had said it, just quietly, and when his mom asked him, "What do we SAY?" He immediately broke out into tears and choked out a, "thank you!!" while running off the porch. Kids are funny.

So I took a Meyers-Briggs personality test. I guess I answered honestly becuase here are the results:

personality test results

I have also taken a small number of pictures and have a woking draft of my Christmas Wish list. Both can be seen here:

New Stuff!