31 July 2006

29 July 2006

Some Pictures









Top: Me at last job wondering why I studied biology.
Middle: Me doing biology stuff that made me have thoughts in top pic.
Bottom: Family at Grandfather's house at Christmas time with Hound of the Baskervilles.

27 July 2006

Aliens and Fur

The bulk of this entry was created on exactly one hour and fifteen minutes of sleep and, if it's not coherent totally not, you why know.

Close encounters of the 4th kind: This is where you think you're the alien. Has anybody else experienced this? This 4th kind? They say it happens alot with geniuses and madmen. So. . .if you're smart, witty, linguistically-gifted, and speak in complete paragraphs that can stand unedited in the New Yorker,you might know.

Some people's affection for large dogs has me thinking. Suppose that all animals (at least mammals) were rational sentient creatures as ourselves. Would we have any need for pets? I would think not. After spending 3 hours with Harry and the Hendersons, our need for cute, fuzzy, cuddly creatures with slobbery dispositions would ebb. What do you think?

I think Malacandra is a good name for a castle.


Will blog more later. The mother ship calls.

26 July 2006

Le post du jour

Je m'ennuie officiellement avec l'anglais. C'est probablement juste une crise du milieu la semaine et je reviendrai à ma langue natale dans l'avenir.

Sincerely,

Puddle E. Glum

Return of the Shadow

In a few minutes, I will, for the 10th time, at least, re-read the Lord of the Rings. I've been reading alot of books edited by his oldest son on how Tolkien wrote LOTR.

What I find interesting is how Tolkien thought Gandalf was originally a lower order angel that, when he went to Middle-Earth, shed his extra-dimensional capabilities and had to re-learn everything once getting there.

There is a family of raccoons that visits the lab parking lot pretty much on a regular basis. A big one and 5-6 little ones. I think it's part of their territory. They make it a point to inspect all the dumpsters and should any doors be left open, well, naturally they inspect those as well.

In exactly one month, my sister will be moving in with me. Is it temporary? We shall see. I've not had a room-mate in 5 years. This should be interesting.

24 July 2006

Get along l'il dogie, before I brand yore hide. . .

Tattoos.

Branding Humans.

A relative of mine is obsessed with tattoos, body piercings, and the people who make it all possible. I don't share her devotion to stained epidermis. Something about the process just irks me. . .sort of like Big Macs and dead worms on the sidewalk after a rainstorm irritates me.

I'm not saying its wrong-just a trivial foolish,child-like, and somewhat de-humanizing. I picture in my mind's eye a plot hatched by higher order beings to mock and dehumanize humans by branding them with ink. . .like a herd of cows. It's as if these higher order entities have some sort of vendetta against us because we remind them of somebody who they will never be like. Like apes defacing a statue of Michaelangelo's David.

I've noticed alot of people trying to fit in with the dominant culture by tattooing barbed-wire and other ring-like designs around their upper arms. Like it's a necessity to be accepted into a universal society of clowns. Are clones really happy? Are clowns really happy? Once upon a time I was cussed out by a clown-so apparently not.)

Many tattooed guys like to shave off all their body hair, get tanned, and mutilate themselves. What blows me away is that some women find this attractive. What they look like is a lizard. A gecko. They've fallen in love with a G-E-C-K-O.

"But he's sooo maaannllyyyy. . .He looks like He-man."

"No, he's not. He's a Gila monster. He's got no hair, dark skin, and blue splotches all over his body. He sits in the sun all day sweating and drinking beer. Yep. Lizard comes to mind."

22 July 2006

Floyd

Floyd.

Floyd won.

Floyd won the Tour de France.

Unless he falls off the bike in Paris, Floyd just won the Tour.

You know that an American winning in France for the 8th year in a row does not make France happy. I like what Jay Leno said about the French soccer player in the World Cup. The one who head-butted the guy in the final. It was the closest a man in a French uniform has come to armed combat in nearly 60 years.

21 July 2006

Le Tour

July. Tour de France time. No Lance. Lance is gone. Along with half the best riders left. Except Floyd. Floyd's in France. Floyd. The Great White Hope. Floyd from PA. The Mennonite. A Mennonite just won a stage on the Tour de France. An Alpine stage. A mountain stage with one unclassified climb its so steep. Floyd. This must be another sign of the Apocalypse. Floyd can win the Tour tomorrow if he beats the two Spaniards in the time trial. Think of it. Floyd the Mennonite winning the worlds most prestigious bicycle race. Raised on goat cheese and corn and going to school in the shadows of steel mills.

I'm looking for a castle in the Alps. Ideally one that is near L'Ape d'Huez so I can watch it from my front porch.

http://www.chateaux-world.com/DisplayHPG/LI/P_DetailsForSale.asp?P_ID=791-12&Viewer=Viewer

18 July 2006

Time Out

My life was on hold for the past two days because I have been suffering from a migraine. A painful condition that feels like two ice-picks jammed into your skull. I thought that after bowing down to a certain local deity and lying curled up in the fetal position for hours at a time would make it go away. Instead I ended up vomited so hard, I gave myself two black eyes.

Then my air conditioner ceased worked properly. Wait. . .it works but not that well. Maybe I'm just delerious. Hard to say. They say that when you die, or are very close to it, your life passes through your very eyes. Yesterday, I clearly remember reciting every teacher's name I ever had from middle school. Remembered their faces and everything. I was in more pain than I realized

14 July 2006

0-Possoms

West Virginia people call opossums. . .or is it opossum?. . .Possoms. And when we run over one, we call them o-possoms. I ran over an o-possum very early this morning. Like 5 AM this morning, and felt really bad doing so as it was a youngish-looking marsupial with a full life ahead of it. Apparently, they don't have 9 lives.

The local Barnes and Noble does not have the middle book of Ted Dekker's Circle trilogy. This fact, coupled with a thunderstorm, made it a dark day here in Christendom. Hence, I will buy it on amazon.com.

Some random thoughts in my mind today:

-"Yeah though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil. Because I've got these two massive sticks to beat dark creatures to a pulp with. "

-"Why didn't MacPhee and Grace Ironwood get married at the end of 'That Hideous Strength.'???

-Why is my apartment 92 degrees inside when the outside temperature is also 92 degrees, when the air conditioner has been on 24/7 for the past week and the thermostat set on. . .oh, about 60?

10 July 2006

Dead Chicken's Society

Right now, as I type, I am cooking a dead chicken in my oven. There is a prodigious quantity of smoke in the air from the burning olive oil that I am not quite 100% sure on how to eliminate. I ate strawberries, cole slaw, cheddar cheese, Mediterranean salad, coffee, and part of an energy drink for breakfast. . .at 100 PM. This morning I read the first three chapters of a Ted Dekker novel at a laundromat while enduring the furtive gazes of emotionally-dependent, somewhat overweight, and most likely single women. And my fingers are wrinkly from washing dishes.

"It is not good for man to be alone."

God said this, not me. Since he made humans, I am inclined to think he knows what he is talking about.

Other news: Saturday morning at precisely 7:07 AM, in Starbucks, I got a free venti-sized vanilla bean frapacchino.

God likes me. I'm happy.

05 July 2006

The Great Dismal Swamp

Being somewhat Marshwiggle-inclined, I decided to explore the Great Dismal Swamp yesterday. At the center of this swamp, one of the largest in the country, there is a perfectly spherical lake. If you're ever here, it's definately worth hiking 9 miles to see. I wouldn't recommend doing it when the temperature is 91 degrees, but if you do, bring your DEET. Some of the mosquitos are so big they look like little cherry tomatoes with wings.

01 July 2006

Toothbrush bending



OK. So maybe boiling my toothbrush in water wasn't the greatest idea I've ever had.

But hey. . . it's sterile.