if only i had taken...

AHHH!!! sometimes being a grad student in an interdisciplinary field is so frustrating... I consistently think something like, "if I only had studied engineering then I would have a wide range of exposure to mathematics in an application mindset.. that would be so handy," or "if only I had studied physics, I would have had plenty of math classes, and stats classes, and any number of other classes that I could easily utilize", and today I've thought, "if only I had taken more computer science classes... I could write code so much easier and not spend all day doing a 'simple' automated calculation!" I know this is a very pessimistic outlook.. I should instead say, "well at least I have taken so many computer science, biology, physics classes, math classes, stats classes so that I could catch on to the material that I have to learn," or, "I'm glad that I took lots of humanities classes to fill my time because it really was interesting to learn about history and religion and all those other things.. it helps me have something besides science to think and talk about," or, "even though I took a lot of math classes where proving theorems was the dominant subject matter, and I don't use that much anymore, I did learn how to break up problems logically, make an argument, and think critically with creativity." However, I tend to have a pessmistic outlook when it comes to me and a positive outlook when it comes to everyone else. I guess I'll need to try and change that... in the meantime... I hope my little computer code works and does what I want to soon...

whoooohooo... time to decorate!

So my title was a lame attempt at sounding like a ghost haunting my apartment. But let's talk about how much fun it is to buy decorations and decorate the apartment! People are always so surprised that I decorate when I live by myself and have no kids... but I am going to enjoy my life in whatever stage I'm in... and I enjoy decorations. So this year I bought some new decorations - the tree, the 3 tombstones (they say beware, spells, and rest in pieces). I also bought a 'wooden sticks wound into a pumpkin decoration', but its the centerpiece of my table - so at a different part of the room and not in the picture. I think my little bit of halloween looks pretty good though. I think that it is funny how my decorations have become 'scarier' now that my garland of skeletons have lost some legs and feet and arms - can you see the skeleton lacking legs? It's like some horrific attack occurred in my closet where my decorations live - maybe I shouldn't keep the door closed all the time ;). Anyways, I'm excited for Halloween... maybe i'll let you in on my future celebratory plans!

Artwork excitement!

So when I was in New Mexico I went to the Georgia O'Keefe museum in Santa Fe. I was very impressed with her artwork. A few paintings really struck me. Luckily they had a print of one of my favorites, and for only $10!! and it was an 11x14 print, I was quite impressed with that cost. So I've been looking to find some matte and frame to complement the artwork. I just got back my custom matte the other day and I am so impressed with my choice. It looks super great! I am so excited to get it framed and hung on my wall. The matte made the dimensions a 12x16, so it's a little harder to find a frame for it. I envision a metal blue frame.. I don't really want to do custom framing, but I might go that way if it needs be.. I also decided that a frame that is the color of my table wouldn't look bad... So I guess taking a picture of the artwork has at least 2 main benefits - I can show off the amazingness AND I learned that a neutral brown frame would be a good second choice! Anyways, let me know what you like and if you find a metal 12x16 blue metal frame ;).

Thar she blows! - or rather he, since its name was Ike.

So the other day, Friday the 12 and Saturday the 13, I experienced Hurricane Ike. It was pretty exciting. All day Friday I was like, what can I do to prepare... I had a high level of stress the whole day. The anticipation was killing me. I ended up taking all my pictures off the walls - in case the windows broke and made them fly around with all the wind.. I covered or put my electronics in case of windows breaking or leakage.. made my little hurricane center in my bathroom and hallway. Where I live I basically have a wall of windows all along my apartment. So I didn't really want to sleep right under it, in case it broke from the hurricane winds or any tornados that were spurned. So I actually slept in the hallway away from windows in the middle of my apartment. Danny made fun of me for it, but I figure it was good to be prepared, and my other friend didn't think it was a dumb idea. Plus besides the safety issues, since it was away from my chimney and windows it was quiet so I could actually sleep.

So my power went out at 1am on Friday. I was expecting this though, but I did not expect the speed at which I got it restored - only 17 hours later! And this is when there were like 2 million people in Houston without power. I was one of the first to get it restored and I got internet with it. Danny never lost power, but his internet still isn't working. Also lots of my friends were without power for almost a week... some haven't gotten it restored yet. There are whole parts of town without power, you can see it from the freeway - whole business districts, restaurants, houses, etc.. Some of the grocery stores still run out of perishable goods, and some opened their doors to sell goods with all their perishable goods covered since they weren't for sale because they perished. I've walked around and driven around. Houston doesnt seem like it was too badly hit, there were definitely a lot of trees down, some car ports crushed cars, some messed up traffic lights, some brick walls fell, lots of down shingles (at my apt), and there was definitely damage, but then the lower lying places and those near big water sources (lakes and bayous), and galveston really got hit badly. They still haven't opened some spots that were under mandatory evacuation to the public and people who live in these areas. But in Houston there was a mandatory city-wide curfew for a week (just got lifted on Sunday the 21), and there are some really dark areas with no power and some roads and freeways were flooded for a day or two after the hurricane... it was quite the experience. Since I was back to normalcy pretty quickly, and there wasn't too much damage around me, and it was kinda cool to have a hurricane experience, I'm glad I stayed, but in the future if a strong category 3, cat 4, or cat 5 hurricane is coming my way, I'm not sure I'd stay. Ike only hit us as a cat 2 (though they say the storm surge - like at galveston and such was as bad at like a cat 4 or 5 since the hurricane was so huge - I mean on satellite it looked like it covered the whole gulf of mexico!). At my apartment and area around me they had gusts of wind at about 90 mph and about 8" of rain... And that would only get worse with a stronger storm... and I saw the damage that it caused... Anyways, I've been meaning to write in my real journal about this for about a week and a half.. but I haven't gotten around to it yet, so I thought I'd document it somewhere, maybe if I can figure out how to post pictures I'll post some on here... or maybe I'll just link you to a site where they are at.

my ankle went on strike since I didn't listen to its demands!

So I don't like how I'm getting old and my body is breaking down on me. I mean out of nowhere my ankle started to hurt... I think it might be because my ankle sorta rolls inward when I run, and running and making cuts does not make the stress less. So after I had played ultimate frisbee one day (though the whole day I was walking completely normally without any extra pain), my ligaments in my ankle got torn a little or got too tight or something causing me to be lame... literally. I almost fell over when I tried to stand up... I was like wtf? did i sprain my ankle in my sleep? My friends also suggested that maybe I was abducted and the aliens did it to me. Then other friends suggested maybe i have an alternate personality that i'm unaware of and am a trained hitman in my sleep. And one that is even more unlikely is I have sympathy pains for my ex, since he broke his ankle/leg a few weeks ago.. But anyways, even though I was taking it easy for 2 weeks, I am way too impatient that i decided i was healed... or healed enough to play frisbee again and walk like 2 miles on... when i obviously wasnt, and reinjured myself. It totally sucks. Today I was in total pain.. cried a little, crawled a little, hopped a little, and just wished i had someone to wait on me... oh well.

oh a happier note, apparently my better place of being reasonably happy with myself and my relationship status, guys apparently are more attracted to me and give me more attention. Which is kinda fun to live up. If i could exercise and lose weight (without hurting my ankle) i think I might be unstoppable in my sexiness... :).

I am glad that i have a day off tomorrow.. though I might have to cancel my active plans... which i'm not really excited about... hmpf... well we'll see...

Hey everyone!

Just thought I'd start off my blog with a greeting. I have a lot to update you all on.. trip to washington DC, trip to new mexico, and just everyday life. Hopefully I'll be regular with it though... basically because, as anyone who knows me knows, I love to hear myself talk... and I almost love my thoughts just as much! So blogging is a great combination for me!