Old Fashion Aerosol Cheese

So, back in 2004 UCC began a diploma programme in archaeology that, had I known about it before beginning culinary, I probably would have been game to try. The cost was about 5000 Euro and in that time it has gone up a smidge. The rates for the 08-09 academic year aren't up yet, but assuming even a large increase wouldn't bring us to more than 7000 Euro. Back in the good ol' days that would have been roughly $7000 and I could have merely wired that sort of cash straight from my savings. Voila.

Of course between blowing a bit to go to Japan and the economy (and dollar) taking a nosedive, that tuition is more like $10,000+ now. I should have just taken the course back in 05.

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Do I look like an electrician? Lock-smith? Picture-framer? (Is that a real career?)

Holy hell. No wonder I'm at a loss for what to do with myself. And what's a boilermaker? I thought that was a drink? Seriously, I'd only consider about 5, maybe 10 on a desperate day, of those 40 options!

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Ok, although everyone on the Internets has probably already seen these guys (my brother played their audio recordings for me a couple of years ago) for those who don't have HBO or access to friends with HBO, here are Flight of the Conchords. (Cuz I mentioned this last night...) The only question is, who's cuter; Bret or Jemaine? How can a girl choose?

Very Prince-esque, "The Most Beautiful Girl in the Room":


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"Mount Washington is a monolith of stone..."

Um, how come even documentaries are stupid these days? I'm watching a show about penguins on PBS and this is the sort of narration I'm getting.

Also, it's blurry and dark, but here's Jenno and me over the weekend:

about how you have no direction in life and taking a vacation is just a delay of making any substantive change in your life, you see something awesome like this:

Stuff I want to do on vacation... thankfully, some are pretty cheap because the subway fares and rail passes add up quickly. (The four-day, non-consecutive JR East rail pass is $170! At least the subway system seems cheaper than the train, but less simple than the Underground was.)

A bird's eye view of Tokyo

The Ghibli Museum! (Cyrus will have to help me buy tickets, they don't print anything in English and you have to buy them in advance.)

The massive fish market

The National Museum

Meguro Parasite Museum - 30 foot long tapeworm? I'm so there! Even The Economist has heard of it.

The East Garden of the Imperial Palace

The Ramen Noodle Museum in Yokohama

Kaigan National Park if I can navigate the train system north. (I think getting a JR rail pass before I leave for the Eastern half of the country should be sufficient.)

And this is where I'll be staying... I still haven't figured out where that is in relation to what I want to see. I'm so ordering an atlas of the city. I think if I take the Keisei line to Ueno Station from the airport that I'll be able to meet up with Cyrus fairly close to where he lives, or at least have some museums and parks to visit while waiting to catch up with him.

I've been debating bringing my laptop, but I think I'd rather bring a few extra memory cards for my camera and save the space. I remember hauling one modest suitcase on the London Underground, and will hopefully be able to streamline what I'm taking to Japan so I don't need a second bag for souvenirs on the return.

Now, what I really should be doing is studying for the GRE and actually thinking about grad school, but everytime I think about it I realize that I don't actually have any desire to go to grad school, there's nothing I care that much about that I want to study, I just don't want to work as a receptionist forever. The thing is, I figure I'll get into grad school and get out and just end up as a receptionist again and wondering what I should go back to school for again. It's a vicious cycle.

$1000 later I have a plane ticket. (Not the most expensive plane ticket I've ever purchased, but close.) Sept 30 I leave. :)

Yokohama Ramen Museum, here I come!

Oct 1-12. I have to get plane tickets still, but them's the dates. Wee!!! Going to visit Cyrus before he moves to a new flat. The current one is in Kita-ku Tokyo. (Not sure where he'll be moving to, but that'll be at hte end of October.)

I'm excited already!

(And I just got my WI State Tax Refund, and it took them 14 weeks, but they gave me back even more money, so I guess it's ok.)

Your Inner Retro Girl Is

1950s Domestic Diva

You Are 59% Indie

You're pretty indie, but you don't make a fuss letting everyone know. You just do what you like. You enjoy many types of things - from trendy to bizarre.

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

1. Have you ever changed your clothes while in a vehicle?
Yes.

2. Who was your last received call?
Elijah

3. Who was your last text from?
Jeff

4. What's one thing you will not eat?
Animal products, er... but that's a new thing... I won't eat fois gras because it tastes gross. Never mind the animal-ness or the cruelty or the price: it's nasty tasting.

5. What color is your underwear?
It's striped and polka-dotted, and green/red/pink/blue... what color is it not?

6. When is the last time you went out of town?
Crud. It's been a while. Probably since we had to go pick Jesse up at the Milwaukee Airport. Boy. That's sad.

7. What's something you MUST do before you die?
Find something I'm good at that's useful.

8. Have you ever drank milk straight out of the carton?
Yes.

10. Can you hula hoop?
Two hulas and then it's around my ankles. (That's a "like your mom" joke waiting to be taken.)

11. Have you ever crawled through a window?
Yep.

14. Was today better than yesterday?
I think so.

15. Is anybody getting on your nerves?
Oh, I suppose. Mostly me though.

16. Do you talk to yourself?
Yes. Even worse, I mouth along to what I say in my head and make facial expressions unconsciously, so people think I'm nuts when they catch me doing it.

18. Do you collect anything?
Texas-ware and other old/retro/antique dishes.

19. Ever waxed your eyebrows?
No. Didn't you hear about the Brazilian wax gone awry in Austrailia? At least you can put on pants to cover that shit up, what if that happened to your face??

20. Earrings or necklaces?
Both, and a bracelet or two.

21. Are you mad at anybody?
Nope.

23. What are you doing?
Trying to get up the oopf to take a shower before going out to the movies tonight.

24. Do you use smiley faces on the computer a lot?
;) You know it, baby.

25. What are you doing tonight?
Going to see 28 Weeks Later at the cheapie theatres.

26. What time is it?
7:45PM

27. Are you loud?
Sometimes.

28. What are you looking forward to?
Japan! Figuring out what I'm doing in life. And my massage tomorrow.

29. Do you watch Family Guy regularly?
Yup.

30. Have you ever watched a little kids show?
I <3 Teletubbies, and lots of cartoons.

31. What does your last outbox text say?
"Bunny's so sexy!" (Don't ask.)

32. What's your zodiac sign?
Gemini.

33. Are you wearing socks?
Yes.

37. What's your favorite smell?
Pumpkin bread, basil

38. Have you ever been on a rollercoaster?
Yes.

39. Do you care what others think about you?
Yes, sadly.

40. What do you do all the time in a car.
Listen to AirAmerica and yell to noone in particular about the state of the world and the sucky drivers on the road with me.

41. Do you trust people easily?
What are you implying?

So unscientific. I like the idea though, that the less mature you are, the less capable you are of taking care of your pitiful self, the younger you should/will be when you get married. Cause lord knows being able to take care of yourself is a total turn-off for a mate and a sure sign of spinsterdom. *sigh*

How old are you going to be when you get married?
Put an X in every box that applies to you

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Ok, I usually find this sort of thing a crock of shit. The stereotype that women suck at reading maps and guys suck at landmarks seems like a lot of nonsense. The difference in skill level between men and women seems small enough to not be statistically significant, and the fact that men may perform a smidge better at one task is mitigated by women's performance in another.

That said, I got a score of neither male or female-brained in this test on the BBC's website because I apparently rock on both counts. Well, except for that test about empathy. I'm so not a girl there.

(BTW, if you take it, try not to get distracted by the "eyes" portion like I did. I was having trouble registering emotions because I recognized all of the eyes used as examples because rather than use computer-generated images or strangers like in their other tests, they use images of famous people. Keanu does have some sexy eyes.)

Here is an article from a men's magazine (showcasing far superior writing to Maxim and Playboy, BTW) about another environmental crisis; plastic. What they have to say about what plastics actually get recycled is frightening.

And if you'd like a craft project to make yourself feel a little better, you can make your own bags to use when buying fruits and veggies in the grocery store. I intend to do this. What else are 3-day weekends for?

(Thanks to folks on the VFF for the links.)

Sex Accidents

Everything you never thought of sticking in your urethra.

You know that scene, with the still beating heart being ripped from the man? Scared the shit out of me when I saw it (peering around the corner into the family room, way past my bedtime at about age 5) and now I know why: because some of that crazy shit is real.

Ok, it's not a cult, but one lone nut-job, but still...

2 days in a row now, co-workers have gone into labor.

We're down to only 2 confirmed pregnant ladies at work, down from a high of 6 2 months ago. Who's going to get knocked up next and keep it going?

"If the woman is infected with gonorrhea, AS SHE MOST CERTAINLY IS..."

I should really be doing something better with my day than watching old sex ed videos on The Smoking Gun. Oh well, Sex Hygeine for Army personnel (which I'm sure my grandfather saw in 1941) was slightly less offensive than the 1970s Sex Ed for Trainables video.

Via Bob Torres an interesting article on our Culture of Fear.

Also, on the idea of protecting our "children" on college campuses in the wake of VT, would any of you have put up with being tracked via cellphone, tracked via card swipes to get into your dorm (and tracked down by campus police if you didn't return to your dorm periodically), via what you ate at the cafeteria or how long you were in the gym?

At Mac they knew when we ate or when we went to the gym as those two places were the only ones using cards for access back then, but if you were in school now, would you trade your independence to go where you please and stay out all night for being electronically babysat for your own safety?

From the south 200 block of Paterson in Madison: