zach tagged me

List six of your current favourite songs in no particular order, and tag six people to do this too.

1. Yesterday Never Tomorrows - The Stills
2. Counting Down the Hours - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
3. Somewhere Across Forever - Stellastar
4. Modern Nature - Sondre Lerche
5. Portions for Foxes - Rilo Kiley
6. Damn Good Times - They Might Be Giants

I think this category is a little superfluous, but...

Now, list six of your newly discovered, most-listened-to-in-the-past-few-days songs, in no particular order.

1. You're Ex-Lover is Dead - Stars
2. Mr. Brightside - The Killers
3. Give Judy My Notice - Ben Folds
4. Banquet - Bloc Party
5. The Protagonist Suddenly Realizes What He Must Do In The Middle Of Downtown Traffic - The Most Serene Republic
6. Unintended - Muse

YAY! This is the fun part. I tag:

1. Gerrit
2. Connor
3. Jess Lennick
4. Ashley
5. AlexA
6. AlexO

pretty

last weekend when i went to the point with gerrit, connor, ashley, and julie, the boys played frisbee while i wandered around with ash and took pictures. here's my favorite; it's connor catching the frisbee while ash watches, seated on the ground:


for fun, i played with it in photoshop, just making it black and white and adjusting the contrast slightly:


i will probably print this one out when i get home and have a printer again and put it with my collection of b+w photos that i've taken and developed and put it up somewhere in my room in new haven.

i should take more photos in pittsburgh before i leave. photographic expedition anyone?

another thursday night, another concert

last night's concert was the stars. the opener was the most serene republic, and they were really good. at first the singer's voice bothered me a bit because he had a very nasaly, highish voice and he would go flat on all the top notes. but they grew on me and by the end of the set, i really liked them. upbeat, exciting, and fun. stars were also really good, although their music is a bit more mellow. i think i liked their music better mostly because i was familiar with a lot of the songs they played. concerts are better when you can sing along i think. but the singers in stars were also crazy. the guy looked like he was having real issues on stage and would sing intensly at random people in the audience as if he had a terribly important message to give them. the girl just looked scary and drunk. but both were really good singers and the music was awesome. both bands randomly brought out brass instruments for some songs and that was also awesome. another good cheap concert! after the stars concert, we headed back to shady side to see a funk concert that gerrit's friend had told him about. also a very good show; i can't dance though and that is sad. i did get a free beer at cozumel though because the bartender messed up and gave me a bud light instead of a yuengling. bud light tastes like watered down ass. but it was a good concert and good fun times.

some other concerts i want to see are ben folds with weezer in st louis or tennessee, but that won't happen. amazingly the day before the weezer/ben folds show in st louis, the killers are playing in st louis. that would be an amazing concert weekend, but would require everyone to take thursday and friday off work. personally, i think it's worth it, but then i don't actually do anything at work. i also want to see the decemberists with death cab on august 18 in new york city, which i might be able to do because i'll be in new haven then. and sufjan stevens is coming to ma on september 8. and there's also the pixies and weezer in toronto july 9 and elvis costello at the end of july in pgh. so many concerts so little money and a lack of car to get to them. poop.

in other news, work continues to be sucky and futile. the stuff i did yesterday didn't work out the way i would have liked. i've been working in the lab for four weeks now and have accomplished nothing except for finding out that ligating dna sucks a lot. i pretty much already knew that though. oh well, getting paid allows me to pay my rent so that's good. and it's not like i actually do much of anything. anyway, time to pour a gel to see that my ligation didn't work again. fun fun fun.

fluffies are better than lab.

poop experiment

i think my ligation didn't work again. poop. i wish something would work for once in lab.

anyway, stars concert tonight. hopefully that will be good and not sold out. and then whirlyball this weekend. also exciting and fun. woohoo!

fluffies.

dance dance dance

i want to throw a dance party sometime this summer. it would be fun. we could all listen to good music and dance. and drink and eat maybe. fun fun fun.

fluffies would dance too.

friday update

ted leo was awesome last night. even with all the crazy "the show is sold out" crap. good thing we drove from pittsburgh to cleveland and the door man took pity on us. having beth stand there and make friends with him and offer to buy him drinks helped too i'm sure. we missed the first opener, but from what i could hear outside the grog shop, they were pretty bad so that was ok. the second opener, aloha, was pretty good; i will probably try to find their cd somewhere. but ted leo was fun and crazy and awesome. good times, dancing, beer, awesome music. hooray! and now i'm exhausted from getting only 4 hours of sleep since i didn't get to go to bed until after 4:30. at least the car trip was fun too, and also full of good music. woohoo!

if you haven't watched the teaser trailer for harry potter and the goblet of fire yet, you really should. it's coming out in november; hopefully there will be someone at yale who will go see it with me. it's sad to go to movies by yourself.

anyway, back to lab work. hopefully my experiments will work today. but they probably won't because nothing ever works.

fluffies!

weird dreams

as promised, in my last 20 minutes of illing time at work, here are the crazy dreams i had last night....

i had three different dreams that all took place in the same setting and all three involved death. everyone was staying in this really nice hotel and there was a large auditorium, similar to the one in the mellon institute only much nicer. in the first dream, ram died (sorry). and we held a big assembly in the auditorium where for some reason i had to give a big speech similar to a eulogy. it was weird. in the second dream this kid who is a bio major, who no one who reads this would know, died and again the big assembly and the speech. in my dreams it was weird to be giving these speeches for these dead people who i didn't know very well. i had no idea why they chose me, but i had to go along with it. in the third dream, the doctor told me that i would be dead on thursday (it was tuesday that day in my dream) and i of course got all nervous and flipped out. i was also getting sick in the dream and i figured that was why i was going to die. on wednesday they had a big assembly for me, which was weird after the previous two dreams, and because of the fact that i was still alive. i guess they wanted me to be there for the assembly. instead of someone giving a big speech, snsers acted out parts of my life (nothing so remarkable that i remember specifics, but i remember that they focused on some plays that i had been in or something). i felt very weird to be watching my life on stage and laughing and crying along with it as if it were a play or a movie. then i went to sleep in the hotel bed wednesday night and woke up on thursday morning, and i was still alive-- hooray! but i was still sick and was sure that i would die at some point during the day. i kept having random adventures (again i don't remember specifics) in which i would be happy to be alive but full of nervousness and a foreboding feeling that death was coming. throughout this part of the dream i was tossing and turning in bed because i was cold; gerrit's air conditioner was on super-high, arctic blast. i tried snuggling with him to get warm but he was sleeping with his back to me. finally i woke up to use the bathroom and didn't fall back into the same dream. i'm happy to report that i didn't actually ever die in my dream, but it was still really weird. then i dreamed about other stuff that i don't remember until the alarm went off at 8:30 this morning.

anyone who likes to analyze dreams, feel free to go for it with this set.

no fluffies were involved in my dreams which was weird because i like fluffies.

lab is being boring

silly way to amuse myself and kill 10 minutes or so....

(x) smoked a cigarette
(x) smoked a cigar
(x) smoked a joint
( ) crashed a friend's car
( ) stolen a car
( ) been in a fist fight
(x) snuck out of my parent's house
(x) had feelings for someone who didn't have them back
(x) made out with a stranger
( ) gone on a blind date
(x) lied to a friend
(x) had a crush on a teacher
(x) been to Europe
(x) skipped school
( ) seen someone die
(x) had a crush on one of your lj friends
(x) been to Canada
( ) been to Mexico
(x) been on a plane
( ) rolled a blunt
( ) thrown up in a bar
( ) purposely set a part of myself on fire
(x) eaten Sushi
(x) been snowboarding
( ) met someone in person from the internet
(x) been moshing at a concert
( ) been in an abusive relationship
(x) taken painkillers
(x) love someone or miss someone right now
(x) laid on your back and watched cloud shapes go by
(x) made a snow angel
(x) had a tea party
(x) flown a kite
(x) built a sand castle
(x) gone puddle jumping
(x) played dress up
(x) jumped into a pile of leaves
(x) gone sledding
(x) cheated while playing a game
(x) been lonely
(x) fallen asleep at work/school
( ) used a fake id
(x) watched the sun set
( ) felt an earthquake
(x) touched a snake
(x) slept beneath the stars
(x) been tickled
(x) been robbed
(x) been misunderstood
(x) petted a reindeer/goat
(x) won a contest
(x) run a red light
( ) been suspended from school
(x) been in a car accident
(x) had braces
(x) felt like an outcast
(x) eaten a whole pint of ice cream in one night
( ) had deja vu
(x) danced in the moonlight
(x) hated the way you look
( ) witnessed a crime
( ) pole danced
(x) cheated on a boyfriend/girlfriend
(x) squished barefoot through the mud
(x) been lost
(x) been to the opposite side of the country
(x) swam in the ocean
(x) felt like dying
(x) cried yourself to sleep
(x) played cops and robbers
(x) recently colored with crayons/colored pencils/markers
(x) sung karaoke
(x) paid for a meal with only coins
(x) done something you told yourself you wouldn't
( ) made prank phone calls when you were younger
( ) laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose
(x) caught a snowflake on your tongue
(x) danced in the rain
(x) written a letter to Santa Claus
(x) been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) watched the sun rise with someone you care about
(x) blown bubbles
(x) had a bonfire on the beach
(x) crashed a party
(x) gone rollerskating
(x) had a wish come true
( ) humped a monkey
(x) worn pearls
(x) jumped off a bridge
( ) screamed penis in public
( ) ate dog/cat food
( ) told a complete stranger you loved them
( ) kissed a mirror
(x) sang in the shower
( ) have a little black dress
(x) had a dream that you married someone
(x) glued your hand to something
( ) got your tongue stuck to a flag pole
( ) kissed a fish
(x) worn the opposite sex's clothes
( ) been a cheerleader
(x) sat on a roof top
(x) screamed at the top of your lungs
(x) done a one-handed cartwheel
(x) talked on the phone for more than 6 hours
(x) stayed up all night
( ) didn't take a shower for a week
(x) picked and ate an apple right off the tree
(x) climbed a tree
(x) had a tree house
(x) are scared to watch scary movies
(x) believe in ghosts
( ) have more than 30 pairs of shoes
( ) worn a really ugly outfit to school just to see what others say
( ) gone streaking
( ) played ding-dong-ditch
( ) played chicken
(x) pushed into a pool/lake with all your clothes on
( ) been told you're hot by a complete stranger
(x) broken a bone
(x) been easily amused
(x) caught a fish then ate it
(x) caught a butterfly
(x) laughed so hard you cried
(x) cried so hard you laughed
( ) mooned someone
(x) had someone moon/flash you
( ) cheated on a test
( ) have a Britney Spears CD
(x) forgotten someone's name
(x) slept naked
(x) French braided someone's hair
( ) grown a beard
( ) belong to the KKK
(x) rule at life

i've done a lot of good stuff. yay me!

it seems that my colony pcr worked today which is good. and that means that the insert was ligated successfully into some plasmid. whether it's the plasmid that i want the insert to be in or the original plasmid, we'll find out tomorrow. although it should be the plasmid that i want since i super-purified the insert from the original plasmid. well, faithful blog-readers (ie. people who are also bored at work and can play with the internet), stay tuned and find out tomorrow or whenever i post next.

also, do anti-rain dances so the flagstaff movie tonight is not cancelled. it's "sky captain and the world of tomorrow" and i kinda want to see it. and eat nice healthy food and leftovers from yesterday's dinner picnic-style on flagstaff hill. how nice.

and ted leo is thursday night!!! woohoo that will be fun. i should be listening to shake the sheets right now, but instead i'm listening to hedwig and the angry inch, which i stole from zach yesterday along with a bunch of other music. i like getting good music from people; it makes me happy! yay!

so now what do i do? i have work to do that will take maybe another half hour if i stretch it out and work slowly, but i don't have to be anywhere until 3. so do i go home when i'm done and then walk back to campus for taing orientation, or do i try to stretch out work even more and stay here until 2:40 and then walk to campus? who knows.

i guess i'll hang out and maybe i'll post about my crazy dreams from last night later on today.

fluffies!!

this is where i really am living next year in new haven

i have an actual apartment with a nice landlady instead of an evil one. here are some pictures.... of course you have to imagine them without the peoples' stuff in the rooms, or with my stuff in there.

this is my bedroom. it also has a nook, as do most of the rooms in this apartment.




this is the living room:


and the nook in the living room:


here is the kitchen:

(the random girl in the side of the photo is my roommate carolyn)



nook:


and the really ugly bathroom:




so that's that. i think the fluffies will be happy there.

new haven apartment

so remember those nice pictures of my pretty apartment that i posted a few days ago? you can probably scroll down to see them still. well funny story.... the landlady aparently had also shown the apartment to other people who had also given a deposit and signed a lease. so she made her final decision on friday and decided to give the apartment to the other people. giant suck. erica, carolyn, and i will be taking our second choice apartment, which is still very nice, although a little bit smaller. and i don't have pictures of it yet. the bedrooms are all the same size but smaller than the other place, and the bathroom is really ugly. the good news is that we will have a separate living room and kitchen and access to the backyard for bbqing and generally being outside. it's a nice place. when i have pictures i will post them.

what was sad yesterday was that the flagstaff movie (a series of unfortunate events) was rained on and canceled. luckily we got to watch the buffy the vampire slayer movie in the mcgill lounge. good stuff.

the gods of science continue to smite me. yesterday i spent all day doing colony pcr and running gels to check if my ligations worked and all i got was a bunch of blank gels. poop. i'd post them, but what's the point; only the positive controls worked. hopefully today will be better, and i will have pretty bands on my gel and nice dna sequences. indeed.

i went to a pirates game on tuesday night with gerrit, connor and kaitlin, and the pirates actually won! it was an exciting game for the last two innings. the rest was a bit boring. my favorite part was when they hit home runs and there were fireworks. we went out to buffalo wild wings afterwards for wings and beer. good stuff.

this weekend miklos, phil, and josh are coming back to pgh and that promises to be a good time. i haven't been to hemmingways at all yet this summer (although i guess i've only been here for a week). and we will go to hooters and maybe have a bbq and drink a lot. it will be fun!

the pudgy fluffy has been hanging out in mcgill with arfie for the past couple of days. he likes it there. he will come home to the house soon though. yay fluffies!

senior year mix

i've made a mix cd of every year for the last three years. so here's this year's mix....

1. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Me and Mia
2. The Stills - Lola Stars and Stripes
3. Blush - Alarm
4. They Might Be Giants - Damn Good Times
5. OK Go - You're So Damn Hot
6. Hot Hot Heat - Talk to Me, Dance With Me
7. Franz Ferdinand - Michael
8. Andrew Vincent and the Pirates - Bahamas
9. Apollo Sunshine - I Was on the Moon
10. Cake - Wheels
11. Rilo Kiley - Portions for Foxes
12. Guster - Center of Attention
13. Death Cab for Cutie - The Sound of Settling
14. Postal Service - Such Great Heights
15. Keane - Somewhere Only We Know
16. Modest Mouse - Float On
17. Ben Folds Five - Magic
18. Muse - Thoughts of a Dying Atheist
19. Belle and Sebastian - If She Wants Me
20. The Shins - Gone for Good
21. Barenaked Ladies - Light Up My Room
22. The Decemberists - I Was Meant for the Stage

a little different from previous years' mixes, but that's to be expected. i think it is a good mix. i like it. and that's what matters.

the next post will be an update on my housing situation in new haven, assuming that i have more info on what the hell is going on with that. now that's a funny story....

fluffies!!

i have an apartment

i got an apartment in new haven for the next two years. people will have to come and visit me there. but until then, here are a few pictures....

the outside of the house:


here is the nook in my huge bedroom:


and here is my kitchen:


isn't that pretty and nice? the place also has a washer/dryer in the apartment and is less than 2 blocks from campus. hopefully it will be fun.

i'm now back in pittsburgh working in lab, waiting for my pcr reaction to be done and for tiffany to come in and tell me where the cut vector that i need is located. hopefully that will happen soon. maybe i'll start posting about my experiments again this summer. i have lots and lots of free time. at least i will get a lot of reading done, and maybe finish the cross stitch of cinderella that i've been working on for a year and a half. then i can start another one. :)

i get free food this afternoon because the gewit and atom are getting aladin's for their summer residents and i get to mooch of course. probably other people can too.

amazingly, we actually went out for the poop's 21st birthday for drinks and a lousy band was playing. it was still fun though. and i'm in charge of passing on the sparkly 21 tiara to gerrit in a month. then he will pass it on to the next person, which is alexo i think. how exciting.

fluffies remain well and snuggly. i now live in the sunroom of the not sns/not beth's/cbh/whatever you want to call it house. i have a mattress so life is better than it was on tuesday when i moved in and had no place to sleep.

eh, back to waiting for people to come and experiments to be done. what fun!!