birthday money

i've decided that with the birthday money from my mom and dad and the halloween bonus money from gpscy, i'm going to buy a new digital camera. specifically, this one: http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-720SW-Digital-Camera-Optical/dp/B000EA0EDO/sr=1-27/qid=1162569481/ref=sr_1_27/102-9433911-7474539?ie=UTF8&s=photo

my old camera no longer has any display and i can't change the setting on it and that is sad. this one is droppable from 5 feet and take photos up to 10 feet underwater! awesome. the price fits into my budget and i'll even have money left over to buy a giant memory card and a case. woohoo!

i also need to buy new glasses (probably, i have an eye doctor appt next friday) and new shoes. but that will happen later.

fluffies!

fantastic

the robots have to work in the dark: http://www.explodingdog.com/january2/therobotshavetoworkinthedar.html

blogger is a poop and won't let me put up photos at work. or make links. and i don't remember how to make links. gah.

holy crap blog entry

now that i haven't posted in so long that no one reads this at all anymore, i can post again. woohoo!!

i'm now in charge of the classes at gpscy so if you have good ideas for classes, let me know so i can steal them. the normal classes are a beer class, wine tasting, scotch, tequilla, and bartending. one idea for a bartending class would be to teach people what drinks they can make with only the 5-10 basic liquors that most people have in their homes. it would be neat, and not a big commitment or expensive. or a girly drink class or something. awesome.

academia nuts concert (sort of) coming up!! we're going to be singing at the mcdougal center ice cream social on sept 1 5-6pm in the hgs courtyard. it'll be awesome and you should come. plus there's ice cream. always good.

western blots are annoying!! bacteria is stinky!! i'm in lab!! i have to inject again today and will be killing so many worms!!

last night going out was lots of fun. people should go out more often. i get bored.

my computer at home committed suicide. it's really bad because it's only a year and a half old. wtf??

actually all of my electronic toys are dying. my ipod is being an asshole, and my camera still has no display. i can't afford to replace all these things. poop!!

school starts again soon and more people will be coming back to yale and that is exciting. working at the door at gpscy is going to become really annoying and busy very soon.

i am going home this weekend for my dad's birthday. yay new jersey.

fluffies!!

three things

1. michael koelle said something was "inconceivable!" the other day and it was funny because he's vicinni from the princess bride.

2. "if you don't have babies before thirty, they'll be retarded"

3. i forgot the third thing.

long time no blog

well, here i am, writing up a blog entry in the koelle lab as an official member. with a project (sort of) and everything. woohoo it;s all very exciting!

other than that not much is new. i lead a mostly boring boring life. i work at gpscy still. but there are a lot less people there so it's a little less interesting over the summer. i have lots of party plans in the future, including a bbq/stock the bar party the weekend of june 17 and a gpscy lounge party with ddr and karoke the first weekend in july. hopefully it won't be too hot. i'm still hoping to go to hungary for a bit in july. although plans have been muddled by the fact that miklos;s family wants to take a family vacation, so i have to go before they leave for that. no big deal. i'm just waiting for miklos to confirm the dates of their trip so i can buy plane tickets. woohoo!

my project in lab is cool. i will get to play with CaMKII, which is involved in learning and memory. and i will get to do some genetics and some biochemistry, which is exciting, i suppose. soon i will have worm strains to play with and eggs to count and all that.

i went to dc to josh's bbq last weekend and that was fun. i spent more time in various forms of transportation than i did actually in dc, but that's ok. the ribs were awesome and the jungle juice was good too.

i want to grill a lot this summer. anytime you want to come over and grill something, let me know.

i think that's it. there's no more tv on sundays so i will be watching lots of movies. any recommendations? i'm also working on making some skirts and things. i need something to wear to my cousin's wedding in a few weeks. oh well.

fluffies!

boys are stupid throw rocks at them

i made a boys are stupid throw rocks at them mix cd:

1. Ex-Girlfriend - No Doubt
2. Supervixin - Garbage
3. Goodbye Earl - The Dixie Chicks
4. Your Ex-Lover is Dead - Stars
5. Letters - Stroke 9
6. Heart Problems - Ted Leo Rx
7. Portions for Foxes - Rilo Kiley
8. Better Off Without You - The Clarks
9. You're the Reason I'm Leaving - Franz Ferdinand
10. Song for the Dumped - Ben Folds Five
11. That Don't Impress Me Much - Shania Twain
12. Tired of Sex - Weezer
13. A Million Ways - OK Go
14. Uno - Muse
15. Gender Bombs - The Stills
16. As You Sleep - Something Corporate
17. Say Goodnight - Jump, Little Children
18. Hide and Seek - Imogen Heap
19. Ode to Divorce - Regina Spektor
20. Bitter - Nine Days

and i drew the boy getting hit with the rocks on the cd. it's pretty awesome.

fluffies!

summertime and the livin's easy

and it is. since classes have ended i have nothing to do. here's what's been going on recently. in list form because i'm lazy....

-i went to the "beach" last weekend. and by "beach" i mean lighthouse point which is on the sound.
-i picked a lab. i've officially joined the koelle lab!
-i've been working at gpscy a lot.
-my acapella concert didn't suck.
-i've been working on arranging "goodbye earl" and "song for the dumped" and it's gotten to the point where i have to bring them to rehearsal so we can try to sing them.
-i have a huge crush on this cute set designer boy who comes to gpscy and talks to me all the time. unfortunately, he's in nyc for the summer. so all of you blog stalkers in nyc this summer, be on the look out for a cute tall dark haired guy in the set design masters program at yale. tell him i say hi.
-i made a skirt and chicken marsala yesterday.
-i'm going to take a pilates class over the summer and i'm very very excited!
-i have no motivation to do laundry, and as a result my room is a mess with dirty clothing. oh well.
-my friend jenny gave me basil plants and they are happy. i'm going to start growing mint as well. i wonder where i can get mint seeds and a pot.... maybe the supermarket? probably walmart.
-my life has been on and off awkward due to a friend of mine. ask and i'll explain but i'm not going to elaborate here.
-i read a lot!
-fluffies are cute.
-i figured out how to combine my two facebook accounts into one and that made me happy.
-i'm going to ask my parents for a nice keyboard for my birthday/christmas present this year. yes my birthday is in october.
-i'm probably going to hungary this summer. if i find out when miklos is going soon. and my plane tickets will cost $1000.
-i'm going to be wedding photographer at katie and scott's wedding in july, and i'm excited about that.
-sns is doing "the trailer park musical" for homecoming this year. seriously, where do you people find this shit? i'm really glad i'm not going to be in pittsburgh this fall. (no offense to any big fans of the show, or those directly involved). seriously?
-i <3 gray's anatomy. it is so not over.
-i keep getting bored in lab and printing out new recipes from foodnetwork.com. soon i will make chicken cacciatore, spinach artichoke dip, and lots of other things. i will cook for you if you ask.
-i like mojitos. this is the reason for growing mint in my kitchen. speaking of which, the mint i bought on friday is going to get sad soon. i should make mojitos with dinner tonight.
-boys are stupid. throw rocks at them.
-lab is boring.
-weekends are boring.
-let's face it, i'm pretty boring at this point.

-fluffies are awesome!!

summer reading list

since i'm pretty sure i will be doing a lot of reading this summer, i might as well keep track. it will be interesting. i'll start with the end of classes two weeks ago as the beginning of summer, and then update this post every once in a while with books i read. it'll be fun!

so far....

the phantom tollbooth - norton juston
the princess bride - william goldman
the count of monte cristo - dumas
to say nothing of the dog - connie willis
obbsessive genius: marie curie - barbara goldsmith
the strange case of dr jekyl and my hyde and other stories - robert louis stevenson
travesties - tom stoppard
after the king - a book of short stories in honor of jrr tolkein
the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime - mark haddon
freakonomics - steven levitt and stephen dubner
a long way down - nick hornby
the davinci code - dan brown
american gods - neil gaiman
good omens - neil gaiman and terry pratchet
mirror mirror - gregory maguire
harry potter 1&2
interpreter of maladies - jhumpa lahiri
the unbearable lightness of being - milan kundera
the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay - michael chabon
the timetraveller's wife - audrey niffenegger
one hundred years of solitude - garcia marquez
life after god - douglas coupland



just for good measure here's what i've read betweeen spring break and the end of classes....

love in the time of cholera - garcia marquez
dress your family in corderoy and denim - david sedaris
memoirs of a geisha - aurther golden
stardust - neil gaiman
neverwhere - neil gaiman
a midsummer night's dream - shakespeare
all's well that ends well - shakespeare
barrel fever - david sedaris
mysteries of pittsburgh - michael chabon
a man without a country - kurt vonnegut
evidence of things unseen - marianne wiggins
confessions of an ugly stepsister - gregory macguire
the complete history of america - rsc


i know there's more than that. i will have to edit this post when i get home from lab.

i'll also post a real life update soon too. like in a few minutes.

Acapella Concert this Tuesday!

My acapella group, The Academia Nuts, is performing this Tuesday in the McDougal Center Common Room. You should all come hear us sing because it will be awesome! Details are below....

-------------------------------------------

A night of acapella music and fun...

Tuesday, May 9, 8pm
McDougal Center Common Room

The Citations
with
The Law School's Habeus Chorus
and
The new Grad Group The Academia Nuts

Refreshments will be served.

--------------------------------------

For more information on The Academia Nuts (including upcoming performances or auditions) or to join our fan club mailing list, email me or academia.nuts@gmail.com.

boredom

dear blog readers,

with classes over and summer soon approaching, there is less work to do. once i really join a lab this may change but for now i am bored out of my mind. i've read pretty much every book that i own at least once. i need recomendations of good books/plays/things in general to read. even if the lab work picks up, i'll still need things to read while i work at gpscy (wed and sat this week). so, any ideas, suggestions? let me know!

thanks,
catherine, who has nothing to do right now.

pretty

here is a section of mouse cerebellum labeled with anti-calbindin antibodies. it is pretty. i'm a nerd.

pissburgh is frickin awesome as haell

my adventures to pgh this past weekend for carnival....

wednesday
-arrive in nyc by train, miklos has a paper to work on so i went to see the producers! $26.25 sitting in the 6th row (all the way to the left so i had a partial veiw). awesome. we take the bus to nj to miklos's house

thursday
-lots of driving
-burger at the media bbq. thank god i ate. miklos and phil did not....
-when i went into the city of angels dressing room, i got a million hugs. it was great to see people again.
-miklos, phil, and i went to the liquor store.
-after finishing off a bottle of vanilla vodka and then some, and discussing business ideas, we go to hemmingways to meet josh and everybody else who was in the show.
-phil was so drunk he couldn't stay on a bar stool so we sent him home with miklos who then came back later. phil later said that he didn't remember being at hemmingways at all.
-everyone from the show showed up. my memory gets a little fuzzy at this point. i cut my chin and i have no idea how. i talked to gerrit and ash and everyone else.
-we went to mcdonalds and i ate everyone's fries. yum.
-i went back to webster with gerrit and connor and everyone. miklos, joe, and josh went to another bar where joe and miklos drank a pitcher of beer. miklos didn't remember this until josh reminded him. (thank goodness i ate!)
-we hung out in 403. i went to gerrit's room to get some neosporin and asked him personal questions along the way.
-i told dan tasse that grad school sucks. or grad school doesn't suck but yale does. especially new haven.
-joe and ash went to sleep at amberson, everyone else left, and i slept in joe's bed.

friday
-pizza at phi bar for lunch. so good. fixed my tummy's liquor-induced unhappiness.
-went to walk around the booths for a bit. they were cool.
-walked to whole foods with phil and josh while miklos went to talk to his advisor. i got lots of peanut butter!! hooray!!
-went back to midway (phil and josh went to webster) and hung out with gerrit for a bit. it was fun.
-saw city of angels with miklos, phil, gerrit, and gerrit's parents. gerrit's mom said that she missed me and i was such a nice sweet girl and the next time i am in pgh i should give them a call and eat dinner or go to gerrit's grandparents house. gerrit's mom likes me.
-the show was pretty good. exactly what i expected it to be. ask me to explain more and i will.
-went to hooters for wings and beer (although i got grilled cheese and fries and ate other people's extra wings like i always do).
-happily buzzed, we went back to webster. i hung out with a whole bunch of people i hadn't seen like tim and dan jenson. i talked to dan a lot. we threw shit out the window. connor threw three onions out tim's window while he wasn't looking. then joe and i threw lightbulbs and a paper airplane onto 5th ave from 403's window and dan threw a beer bottle with beer still in it onto 5th. it was fun.
-i slept on the couch in 403

saturday
-went to see counterpoint sing. they were good. since it was raining, i stayed in the tent and saw the o's and soundbytes as well. also good. i like acapella.
-went to the biosac reunion thingy and saw lots of bio people and ate free food. david hill is going to med school at penn, not yale.
-went to hemmingways again and had a long island iced tea and a vanilla vodka and coke. drinking in the middle of the afternoon is fun. i miss that.
-went to outback steakhouse for phils bday. (for his bday present, his parents pay for him to take his friends for dinner) miklos, phil, josh, dana, and gerrit all came. i talked to gerrit a lot. we are still friends. he misses my funny faces and cuteness and penguins.
-steak is good.
-went to see city of angels again. good again. sad that it was the last show.
-found lots of sns alumni to talk to and did so: atom, katie, scoot, theresa, kevin and susan perry. there were others as well i'm sure.
-beth was really drunk. i took care of her by offering moral support.
-went to greg's house with beth and greg where there was going to be a party.
-around 12:30 i tried to rescue connor, joe, and ash from strike but it didn't work and then connor stepped on a screw and had to go to the hospital.
-i drove beth home in greg's car and then ash drove me back to webster at 2am.
-played solitare while drinking in phil's room (kaluha and milk and then kaluha, ice 101 and milk) until miklos, phil and tim suggested we play asshole. we did that and i drank a lot of cocconut rum on the rocks. i ended up president at the end with the most amazing hand ever: three 10s, three Qs, two Ks, two As and three 2s. awesome!
-around 4am, everyone came home from strike after a quick stop at wendy's and we all went to hang out in 403.
-went to bed around 6:30. joe and ash slept in joe's bed, julie brown's sister slept on the couch and julie slept on the floor so i slept in connor's bed.

sunday
-got up around noon-thirty.
-packed. :(
-got lunch and bubble tea smoothies (no bubbles for me, please) at lulu's with gerrit. it was nice.
-got in the car and drove to nj. the challange was to stay awake and keep miklos awake so we didn't die. and we didn't die.
-bused from nj to nyc
-got on a train.
-stupid train broke about 20minutes into the journey and we sat there on the tracks for 2.5 hours. grumpy, cranky tired poop train. they pulled us into the next station and we got on a new train.
-arrived in new haven a little after 3am. got home at 3:40. went to bed at 4am.

today i went to lab and did some stuff. i got my bike back from the shop and got some lights for it. now i am home.

new haven sucks ass. i miss pittsburgh.