April Fools

I've never really been one for April Fools jokes, neither for receiving nor giving. (Although if I had kids, I might do meatloaf-potatoes cupcakes.) But I do appreciate the occasional funny things that the people at Google or NPR do as April Fools jokes.

This morning I arrived at my office, which is in the Physics and Astronomy building at Johns Hopkins. (Across the street from STScI.) I came through one of the back doors, which then leads into the back of the main atrium, which I cross to get to my office. As I walked across it, I noticed many, many red plastic cups, each about half-full of water, set out all over the atrium. I thought it was kind of random, but my first thought was "Oh, some physics class must be doing an experiment."

When I got to my office I mentioned it to my officemate and his fiancee (also an astronomer, she's visiting this week). They quickly reminded me that it was April 1, and they had concluded it was an April Fools joke. Of course they had to be right! I hadn't even thought of that. Of course, I also didn't realize how far the cups extended. I went out to check it out some more. Here are pictures. By that point someone (janitorial staff?) had cleared some away so there were paths to allow people to get from one side to the other. Initially they covered everywhere. I took some low-quality pictures with my cell phone. We were musing about when they will (or won't) be cleaned up.

Cereal for big kids

My favorite cereal is Cocoa Krispies. Although these days I usually at least classify it as what I* like to call dessert cereal.

Tonight I had to pick up a few things at the store, and splurged and bought a box of it. As I was riding the elevator up to my 5th floor apartment, I was looking at the box poking out of the grocery sack, and saw that on the entire back of the box was devoted to the description of a contest to "win a kitchen makeover." Picture:

My first thought was about how lame cereal is compared to when I was a kid. (Seriously. What ever happened to the free toy?!) The progression of the thoughts in my head that followed went like this (I'm being completely serious):

* Why would a kid care about this?
* Maybe it's for the adults....
* Why would an adult would buy this cereal?
* Oh...wait...

I guess I answered my own question.**


* And when I say "I," I actually mean that I stole this phrase from Auburn, one of my college roommates. It's a brilliant description. She explained it on her blog.
** This being despite the fact that I have much improved from my college days of a steady diet of (award-winning Western Family) mac and cheese and Banquet fried chicken dinners. "There's no food in your food!" as my roommates would say. Ah yes, I've much improved.***
*** I can hear those same roommates having the same reaction they did when I came home from the grocery store and told them how the checker had asked me if I was "feeding a lot of kids," based on the food I was buying.

Grab Bag

I've taken a few random pictures that I wanted to post. Rather than giving each a separate post (although some might deserve it), I'm posting a random grab bag of them here. It might give you a snapshot of my life, or it might be more of a snapshot into my random brain.

#1. A few months ago, I invited a boy to go with me to see Beethoven's Ninth. (Which, if you know me, I kind of love that piece a lot.) He waited until the last minute to tell me he could go (and even then, I had to check in). It was a concert in DC and the tickets were expensive, so I didn't want to buy two unless I knew two of us were going. I checked the website often, including up to the day he finally told me he could go. And, of course, when I went back to actually buy them, the tickets were sold out. (I even checked craigslist, to no avail.) I was super bummed out, and during an IM chat with a good friend, I made the following declaration, which my good friend dutifully turned into a bumper sticker for me. It goes nicely next to the Beethoven bust I bought at a flea market for 25 cents. (And I am aware of the irony of it currently sitting in a picture holder a boy I once dated bought me in China. Or London, I forget.)


#2. Two weeks ago, we had an amazing spring-like day with temperatures in the high 60's (my Australian officemate wore a Hawaiin shirt and shorts). Three or four days later, it snowed like 6 or 7 inches. Bleh. While I was walking home the night it started snowing, a random guy ran past me in shorts and a Tshirt. Oh, and he was barefoot. Did I mention it was snowing? And yes...that's his footprint in the snow.


#3. Another weather-related grab. I like the weather feature on my Mac's dashboard. It's usually accurate, but sometimes it's not. I took these pictures the day Hubble proposals were due, so I think I thought this was funny more due to my need of a two minute break, especially since I was running on no sleep. So Exhibit 1: it says it's mostly sunny, although it's clearly raining:

(That's right! I can't be fooled now that I have an office with a window!)

Exhbit 2: 2 hours and 20 minutes later, it tells me it's raining, when it's actually stopped.


#4. I mentioned Hubble proposals were due last week. This is a stressful time for everyone at STScI, except the few lucky ones (mostly theorists who don't rely on data) who aren't writing any. (They may be involved, but they're usually not PI.) One of the newest theorist post docs said she felt a little guilty seeing everyone working so hard on proposals when she wasn't. So the day they were due, she made cupcakes and brought them around to everyone's offices. Now THAT is nice! And they were pretty:

And surprise! There were two kinds of cake inside! (Maybe she actually bought these....I was too hungry and excited to care...)


#5. My friend Lauren seems to keep amazing track of the pulse of this city. (Maybe that's appropriate, since she is a med student....har har!) I don't know how she knows about half the stuff she does, but she sometimes tells me what she knows. A couple weeks ago, we found ourselves down in Little Italy making homemade ravioli. This was part of a volunteer effort at a church who was having a ravioli dinner/fundraiser the next weekend and needed people to help make it.



#6. On my way somewhere (I think it was when I was going to Europe; which reminds me of all the posts I've meant to put up and never have), I saw this card in the airport gift shop and bought it. I thought it was funny, and largely true. Except this may be debatable after this post. :)


Happy March everyone!

Some things we never grow out of

You know how little girls* sometimes go through this phase where they have an article of clothing they love so much that they never want to take it off, including wanting to sleep in it? Well, as it turns out, sometimes you don't grow out of some things.

Last night I had to make a quick trip to Kohls** because I had to buy something for a Secret Santa thing I'd signed up for at church. (It involved buying a dress for a girl in the Spanish branch. Also, as it turns out, I know nothing about the way little girl sizes work.)

And so of course, since I was in Kohls, I walked out with stuff for me too, including a shirt, a pair of shoes, and a dress (all for $25!). I wasn't sure about the dress, but I bought it anyway. Among other uncertainties, it was sleeveless, so I was going to need to wear a cardigan over it and I wasn't sure if the one I had would work that well.

So I got home and I tried it on with the additional accessories, to see if I'd need to take it back. Oh no. It's great! I love this dress. I got home and tried on all the additional accessories (no, the fact that it was after midnight did not deter me from this exercise), including the black cardigan, as well as black tights, my blue shoes, and burgundy-colored pearl necklace. When I tried it on last night, I didn't want to take it off; I kind of wanted to sleep in it, I loved it so much. I wore it to church and kept it on even after I got home. I even took an afternoon nap wearing it. Ha! I guess that means that I did sleep in it! Mission accomplished.

I'm not really sure why I love this dress so much. I just think it's super cute, comfortable, and really flattering on me.

My camera is currently in NYC with my friend Bridgid (she's visiting me this week and up in NYC for a couple days; hopefully I'll post more about that later), so I tried using Mac PhotoBooth to take a picture. It's not good at focusing long range (for a full body shot), so here's the best I could do. Not the best picture, but it's cute, I promise!





* Maybe little boys too...I'm not sure since I (a) don't have any little boys and (b) wasn't ever a little boy; but I'm sure about the little girl thing. I was one a long time ago.

** Okay, "quick" and "Kohls" for me never belong in the same sentence. This statement is clearly an exaggeration.

Balsamic Genius

A few days ago I was grocery shopping and wanted to buy some balsamic vinegar. (Which I LOVE, by the way.) As I perused the various brands and sizes available, I came across something I'd never seen. I give you exhibit A:

Balsamic vinegar with a SPRAY cap. You can SPRAY your balsamic vinegar. This lid also unscrews so you can pour and measure out, as normal. Exhibit B:

This is absolute GENIUS.

I cannot get over how much I absolutely love this.

Balsamic vinegar is the BEST. But a little goes a long way and it's often tough to get just the right amount. The spray solves that problem completely. It distributes the balsamic evenly and so you don't get some bites that are overwhelming and others that are underwhelming. Perfect every time. And it's so EASY to use! There is something strangely satisfying about using it. And now I'm even using it on MORE things than I was before.

I am officially in love.

Nevermore

I've loved and been somewhat fascinated by Edgar Allan Poe ever since I was in 10th grade and we read The Masque of the Red Death in my high school English class.*

This year is the 200th anniversary of the birth of Edgar Allan Poe. He was born in Boston, January 19, 1809. He died in Baltimore on October 7, 1849. That's 160 years ago today, in the city I currently live.

As the bicentennial of Poe's birth, there have been many celebrations and events throughout the year, in various cities. (Since various cities claim stake on being Poe's city -- to name a few, Boston, the place of his birth; Richmond, VA, the place he spent much of his life; Baltimore, the place he died.) No one really knows how he died, just that he was found delirious in the streets and taken to a local hospital where he died. He died very unceremoniously, it wasn't even immediately announced. Ten people attended his funeral.

This week, Baltimore is creating a lot of hoopla around his death. Because they feel Poe was not given a proper funeral at the time of his death, they're doing it right this time around. Downtown there is The Poe House and Museum, where Poe once lived. Tonight at this house they were having a "public viewing of Poe's body" where "Mr. Poe's body will lie in state" and it would be "an open casket viewing."

There was no way I could resist this.

I headed downtown to 203 North Amnity Street, through some obviously sketchy neighborhoods. There on one of the narrow streets (that I actually missed the turn for the first time) is a rather unspectacular house, that I didn't even recognize right away. The Poe House.

And the front door.

Upon entering, the guides spoke to us for a few minutes, explaining a bit about the house, and that this would be a self-guided tour. I took one of their brochures and read the entire thing before proceeding through the rest of the house. It explained a bit about Poe's life. The part I liked the best were the clear statements that the Poe Society would neither confirm nor deny any sort of "haunting" tales about the house, but clearly stated that if you heard something here that couldn't be explained, it was probably just your imagination.

The house is incredibly small. The staircases are incredibly narrow. For example: looking down the staircase we went up to get to the second floor:

On the second floor they had a small room with several sketches, etc. of Poe and those close to him, as well as sketches inspired by his writings.


Across the small hallway from that room was the room set up for the actual viewing 0f Poe's body. It was a replica (obviously), but it was set up in an open casket and dressed appropriately. It was kind of creepy, but not terrible; the guides stationed in that room weren't playing along and acted like it was 2009 and not 1849. But it was still solemn, and in some ways felt like a real, somber viewing. They allowed us to take pictures.

A closer look.

Tonight they are holding a midnight vigil at the nearby Poe Monument. (Sorry, I won't be there.) Sunday they are moving Poe's "body" to a nearby church on a horse-drawn hearse led by a real Pipe and Drum corps. The funeral will then be a real show -- actors acting as Poe's contemporaries will speak, including the first eulogy given by an actor portraying Rufus Griswold, Poe's enemy who published a libelous obituary of him in the New York Tribune, right after his death.

As much as I would love to, I won't be at the funeral, because it seems to be sold out and costs $40 to go to. Sadness.

Anyway, here are some pictures of me, outside the Poe House and then with Poe's "body." (Is that weird?)


The Baltimore Museum of Art has an exhibit opening this month of more works of art (sketches, etc.) inspired by the writings of Poe. It opened this week and I can't wait to go see it!



* I suspect my love of the works of Poe stems from the same place that my love of Hitchcock films does.

ID pictures

As part of being in a new location and a new job, I've had to get my picture taken a few times. First off was for my ID badge for here at the Institute. It took awhile for the computer to cooperate so the guy could take my picture, so I just sat in the chair and waited. He kept saying, "Oh come on!" which was an obvious indication of his frustration with the computer. Occasionally, he'd say, "Okay, here we go," so I'd ready my smile, but then he'd say, "Oh wait, no." Anyway, it was probably a full 10 minutes of sitting there, waiting. I kept kind of half smiling and looking around the room. Then suddenly he said, "Okay, got it!" What?! No warning?! No, "Okay, one, two, three!" He just took my picture without even telling me! So this is what I ended up with.

It's not a very good picture, and I kind of wish I could get it retaken. But honestly, it makes me laugh more than anything.

Later that afternoon I was getting my membership set up at the JHU gym. They had to take my picture for an ID card too. Fortunately, she did give me warning, and I like my picture a lot better.

Can you even tell those pictures were taken just two hours apart?

Smoothie Operator

I recently bought this:

It's a single serve blender. It's great.

I wanted to buy a Magic Bullet. But they were like $50. So, based on recommendations from my sister Sue and friend Desiree (who both own one), I bought this thing for $15 instead. It's especially great because I can drink my single serve smoothie straight from it. (The lid is designed for that.)

I've been looking for alternatives to cold cereal for breakfast for awhile now. Smoothies are great, in theory, but before I got this they involved a big blender that was too much hassle and that I hated cleaning.

My sister Sue gave me this basic smoothie recipe.

1 cup milk
1 heaping tbsp pudding mix (I prefer to use the fat/sugar free variety)
1 cup frozen fruit

(It also calls for ice, but I actually don't use it, never having had success with crunching ice in a blender of any kind.)

Best. Idea. Ever. I've made smoothies almost everyday since I bought it, including the following varieties:

* Raspberry with lemon
* Strawberry with white chocolate
* Blueberry with vanilla
* Raspberry and peach with vanilla
* Strawberry and peach with vanilla
* Strawberry and pineapple with vanilla
* Strawberry, peach, and pineapple with vanilla

(Obviously vanilla is my good go-to flavor.)

I may branch out to new recipes. Like using different fruit juices instead of milk.* And buying more frozen fruits. And maybe even adding protein to make it pack a real punch.

Tell me if you have a favorite smoothie recipe I must try. (Especially breakfast smoothies, but I'm open to all!) I'm a novice.


*Problem is, milk is just so much better for you than most fruit juices out there on the market.

Gmail Goodness

I once had a roommate, Rebecca, who was very wise*. (Still is, in fact. And she makes the best pies ever.) When I had crazy ideas (of which I have many), she'd look at me and say, "Is this a good idea?" (She was good at keeping me grounded in reality.) And we could quote The Simpsons like there was no tomorrow.

One of her favorite mantras was, "No major life decisions after 10:00." (PM, obviously. Though we half jokingly extended it for me to "No major life decisions before 10:00am either.")

Rebecca would probably approve of the new gmail gadget I just discovered. I can't take the credit, but rather, I read about it on my friend Marci's blog**. I did a bit of online research (using Google search, of course) to find out what it was and how to use it.

It's called "Mail Goggles." You can read about it on the official Google blog. Their tagline is "Stop sending mail you later regret." You can set up mail goggles so that it will ask you math questions (like "69-38" or "11x2") during a certain time (say, 10:00pm to 6:00am) before sending your mail. It times how long it takes you. The idea is, if your brainpower is running slowly, maybe you should rethink that email.

I found this page with step-by-step instructions on how to set it up. I'm going to try it out for a little while, mostly because I think it's funny!

It was too great, I had to share!

P.S. I was so amazed when I browsed through the other "Google Labs" gadgets. Who knew all this stuff was in there?!




* Rebecca, I promise this shout out is in no way related to the comment I left on your blog about naming your baby after me. Really, I swear.

** Funny thing, it was my OTHER friend Marci that introduced me to Google Reader, a Google tool that has made my life infinitely better. I think the Marcis are on to something.

Pumping Gas

You know how sometimes when you get gas, you like to do something else while it pumps? Like clean your windshield because it is extraordinarily dirty and hard to see out of due to all the dirty road slush that has splashed up on it, and this is your only chance because it's so cold outside that your windshield wiper fluid is frozen and hence can't be used. (You know...hypothetically speaking.)

Well, turns out in New York, you can't do that. Nope. "Continuous flow" on the pump is not possible, as the gas pumps don't have that thing that lets you click the gas nozzle on while the gas is flowing. Rather, you have to stand there and hold it until it's finished.

And don't even think about rigging something up with your gas cap....

Happiness

I find I'm happier when I take pleasure in small things. Here are some of the small things that make me happy right now.

1. That Golds Gym lets me use the good spinning bikes when a class is not happening in that room. Not only do I get to do my great cycling workouts (of which I have made several more) on a much better bike, but I (usually) get the entire room to myself. Sometimes I sing along to my music. And no one can hear me.

2. The sun is trying to come out more often. Springtime in the northeast seems to be like an unstable tightrope walker, trying to figure out the right balance, trying to figure out which way it wants to go. ("Warm...no wait, cold! No warm...") But it's warm enough that Mohawk river that I pass over everyday is finally thawed. (Nothing makes you feel colder than seeing a river full of huge floating chunks of ice. Unless of course it's a river that is frozen solid.)

3. Sister Porter (my branch president's wife, who I can probably just call Mary, but never do) has kept a constant supply of fresh, homemade bread around the house for several weeks now. And she made her corn and bean salsa again yesterday. (It's sooooo good, I could eat that stuff until I'm sick.) Actually, Sister Porter's cooking in general makes me happy.

4. The hot chocolate in the Siena cafeteria. I don't know how they make it, or what they do different, but it is so yummy.

5. Albany radio. This is weird, and totally unexpected, but Albany has some really good radio stations. One in particular I've found seems to always play a song I like. I've also started listening to NPR more regularly. And I've realized that saying, "When I was listening to NPR the other day...." makes you sound (a) really smart, or (b) really geeky. Or both. Not that either are bad.

6. I finally got a new pair of tennis shoes that seem to fit. I have such a hard time getting new shoes for running/working out. The shoes I bought last year ended up not working as well as I wanted, and since being here, I've bought 2 pairs and then returned them because they didn't work. But I got a new pair and they seem to work. And they look cool. They have green trim, and quite appropriately, I first worked out in them on St. Patricks Day. (That wasn't at all planned.)

7. A cover of "Summer of '69" by Bowling for Soup that I found recently. I love that song, and I love Bowling for Soup, and it's awesomely fun. I found it on youtube, and you can hear it by clicking here.

I am my own trainer

This afternoon I was going to go to a cycling class at the gym. You'd think I'd have gotten enough last week...but apparently not. I was running late, so I ended up not making it in time for class. (I have this problem with always running late....I considered giving that up for Lent, maybe I should have.)

So I missed my cycling class, but still planned on going to a weight lifting class in an hour, so I would just do cardio on my own until the class. I'd just do the elliptical and read tonight's Institute lesson until weight lifting time. But they were all taken. So I decided to do the bike until one freed up, then go snag one.

After 5 minutes, no one using the ellipticals gave any indication they were going anywhere anytime soon. A good song came on my iPod, and I decided, "Hey, why can't I just choreograph my OWN cycling workout? Sure the bikes in class are a lot cooler, but this is sufficient." My favorite cycling teacher in Austin, Flor, is my inspiration. Her workouts are perfectly choreographed to really awesome music. I have some good workout songs on my iPod, and on the spot came up with the following workout for myself.

* Paralyzer (Finger 11): Sprint on the chorus (3:29)
* Low (Flo Rida): Sprint on chorus: seated first half of chorus, standing second half (3:51)
* Zombie (Cranberries): Gradual hill, ending in a standing climb (5:07)
* When You Were Young (The Killers): Jumps in counts of 8 (i.e., 8 up, 8 down) on the chorus (3:40)
* Somebody Told Me (The Killers): Standing sprints on the chorus, with one final seated sprint at the end (3:18)
* I'm Yours (Jason Mraz): Active recovery, pedal with the pace of the song (keeping it, as Flor says, "just above uncomfortable") (4:19)
* Repeat When You Were Young (The Killers) because I can't get enough of that song. But this time with sprints on the chorus instead of jumps. (3:40)
* Sounds of Pulling Heaven Down (Blue October): Another hill, ending in a standing climb (4:43)
* Viva La Vida (Coldplay): Keep quick pace during verses, accelerate during chorus (4:01)
* Repeat When You Were Young (The Killers) with jumps again. Did I mention I love that song? (3:40)
* Round Here (Counting Crows): Cool down

Total: 38:48 + cool down

Wow. Outside of cycling class, I've never really had a good workout on a stationary bike. But seriously...this was awesome.

Have I ever mentioned that in my next life I want to be a fitness instructor?

Ode to my Valentine

We've been together awhile, you and I.
When was it...four or five years past?
Since then, we've been through a lot, you and I.
Fruition is coming, coming at last. (I hope.)

We've stuck together, you and I.
The final hurdle towards the PhD.
At times we've been negligent, you and I.
Though I guess that was mostly me. (Actually, all me.)

We've been around the world, you and I.
To an Observatory, or a conference.
Seen interesting things, you and I.
Luckily it was all at my adviser's expense. (Thanks Ted!)

We've pulled all nighters, you and I.
Sometimes it was just part of the grind.
Written proposals and papers, you and I.
Sometimes nearly losing my mind. (Seriously.)

We've been inseparable, you and I.
You're omnipresent, never-yielding, aggressive.
The task master, the servant, you and I.
Though I wouldn't say you're...oppressive. (Yet.)

We've now gone into hiding, you and I.
In a place that's so very, very cold.
No more excuses exist for you and I.
Your full beauty we'll all soon behold. (Hopefully with six signatures.)

We've got to focus, can't delay, you and I.
Time, time, I just need more time!
But we've got a deadline, you and I.
So will you be my Valentine? (Sans chocolate.*)





* At least until the completion of Chapter 2.

Guest blogging

My friend Sarah co-writes a blog with three other women called The Apron Stage. It is delightful. Every Friday they have a guest blogger, and today's features yours truly. I wrote a piece about the BCS. It's not as extensive as the one I wrote here, and is for a different audience. However, you should still check it out. And you should read other posts on the blog. It's delightful!

http://theapronstage.com/

Oh, well, now we know

A few months ago, I ran a triathlon. During the month prior to the race, I included in my training a swim in Town Lake, where the actual race was to be held. I did this twice. When I told people that, I got one of two reactions: "Ew, you actually SWAM in that water? Gross." or "Is that legal?" I got the latter question more frequently, and my response was, "I don't know. I didn't seen any signs that said it wasn't."

Well, I was biking around the Town Lake trail and rode over on the eastside (that is, the side east of I-35, known for being a bit...rough). I saw this sign:

So I guess I do know now.

Oh, and I just want to say one reason I love living in Austin. Biking around Town Lake on December 20 in 70 degree weather. It was a beautiful day!

Okay, now THIS is hilarious

Two funny posts in one day. But I couldn't resist this one.

This afternoon our grad coordinator (the admin in the department who keeps track of us grad students, makes sure we're registered for our classes, forwards emails about job opportunities, etc.) forwarded this article to us:

http://chronicle.com/news/article/5494/call-to-scientists-dance-your-phd

It's about a contest called "Dance Your PhD." Kind of random, but okay. I thought the Lindy Hop video was pretty cool.

But the quote that got me is in the 3rd paragraph of the article.

“The human body is an excellent medium for communicating science — perhaps not as data-rich as a peer-reviewed article, but far more exciting,” says the contest’s Web site.

Okay, I could NOT stop laughing at this. I wish I could somehow work that quote into a paper or my thesis or SOMETHING. But the mental image of a talk seemed best, getting up and saying:

"Today I've decided to forgo the usual powerpoint format for my talk and instead introduce you to my dance partner, Maurice. He will help me tell you about my recent work on these star clusters and white dwarfs...."

HAHAHAHAHAAHA!!!! Oh man. I can't stop laughing. It's definitely time for the weekend to start. hahah!

Amusing University Emails (and some football)

The football stadium here at the University of Texas was recently expanded. (Because 80,000+ seats wasn't enough, there's now 98,000+ seats.) The stadium is right in the middle of campus, so this big construction project caused some changes in traffic. In an email dated May 25, 2006, right before the project began, we all received an email informing us of theses traffic changes. It said (among other things) this ( with emphasis added):

"...please expect traffic and parking disruptions throughout the next two years."

This is easily one of the funniest emails I've ever received.

The follow-up email sent last Thursday (November 13) was much less funny, just informing us that the street that had been closed due to construction was now open.

I took this picture of the inside of the newly expanded part of the stadium at the first game of the season.

Official attendance at the game that day:

That is a lot of people in one place. Seriously. (And that jumbotron is one of the largest HD video screens in the world.)

And while I'm at it, here are a few more pictures from football season this year. This is me and Bridgid at the UT/Oklamhoma State game.

This is me and Shaleen at the UT/Baylor game.

Oh, also from the UT/Baylor game. You know you need to punt on 4th down when....

National Parks Series

My roommate Michelle and I have only lived in our apartment for 10 months. We decided then it was time to hang up some decorations. :) We've actually had this idea for awhile, but finally did it! We've traveled to and hiked in two National Parks together this year (I know, we're pretty much awesome), and Michelle went to another alone. (I couldn't go; I was in Europe at the time...) We have some awesome pictures as a result, and decided to pick a representative photo from each, blow it up, frame it, and hang them up in our living room. We call it our National Park Series. They turned out awesome. They look great! Here's what it looks like:

The pictures are (left to right): Guadalupe National Park, Grand Canyon National Park (river), Grand Canyon National Park (rim), and Crater Lake National Park. Yay! Since you can't really see them, here are the pictures we used.

I voted!

Voting makes me feel patriotic. I went this morning to vote, didn't even have to wait in line, and wore my "I voted" sticker all day. I heard rumors of free chicken sandwiches and ice cream, so I searched for it after I left campus. The first Chick-fil-a I went to wasn't giving away sandwiches, but they "heard rumor" that another one was. On the way there, I tried to find the Ben and Jerrys to get free ice cream, but was unsuccessful. (I think they closed the Round Rock scoop shop?) Finally I made it to the other Chick-fil-a, wondering if I would be foiled on this election night, thinking I would have to title this blog post "I voted anyway!" Well, they DID give me a free sandwich. Yay! Now I will watch the results come in while eating my own ice cream.

Dave Puppet!

Imagine my surprise when a visit to my good friend Sarah in D.C. ended up in me meeting a celebrity! Unexpected, but delightful! He is just as charming in real life.



(Oooh!!!)





You may have never heard of Dave Puppet, so let me change that:

http://vimeo.com/1185293

(This is a movie my friend Sarah made with her ward at Stanford.)