Hi there,
So I went to the strangest get-together that I might have ever gone to before in all my days. I worked with this girl named Emily a few summers ago at the Biostation in Michigan. She now is a graduate student her at OU and we hang out pretty much every weekend. Well, this last weekend I went to her house for what she called, "a Zoo party." Well, turns out, if you get a bunch of Bio-nerds together in Norman, they throw the weirdest parties ever. Thankfully, I was driving that night so I was able to watch everyone and make mental notes of all the crazy stuff that happened. The first thing I noticed when I got to the party was a few professors were there. I've been to my share of parties with professors, but never have I been to one here in Norman. They are always at a Biostation or something like that.
Second funny thing I noticed was that some people took the concept of Zoo party seriously. I think most people just thought it was a bunch of Bio-nerds, but some actually thought that they should bring their pets. There were a few dogs running around, but the weird thing was the taranchula. It turned into a photo opportunity because before you knew it, everyone was holding the spider and taking each others picture. I got a kick out of my girlfriend holding it because she hates anything that could be mistaken for a bug.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Monday, October 31, 2011
Alanis Morisette
My friends have been on this kick lately about making fun of the things that I do that if anyone else did I would call them a girl for doing. The main things are my love of the movie The Notebook and a few of my pandora stations. First of all, The Notebook is a fantastic movie. There is nothing girlie about rooting for the underdog and thinking that old people who love each other are cute. Anyone who says otherwise is either heartless or on anabolic steroids. The other main thing is my choice of 90's music. Of course I like all the classic songs that everybody else likes, but I also include Jagged Little Pill in my list of 90's classics. My parents used to listen to it all the time and it reminds me of all the fun road trips we went on together... and about being an angry 40 year old women. We've all been there, at least metaphorically, or enough to relate to the angst of having 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife.
This brings me to my next point, painful irony. The other day I posted about how I took a test in my crime and punishment class. I called the people in the class dumb and said that the only way I don't get a perfect score on the test is if the professor takes off points for not using well thought out paragraph form and stuff like that. Well, turns out you need to answer the questions in more detail than I did, as well as have better structure and all that stuff. For a lack of a better expression, I was kicked in the butt by this grading style. Ended up having to drop the class (3 grades all year and the first one come last week? not cool.) The worst part of this whole ordeal is right when I got the test back and realized that I needed to drop the class, first thought in my head was, "Isn't it ironic, Don't cha think?"
This brings me to my next point, painful irony. The other day I posted about how I took a test in my crime and punishment class. I called the people in the class dumb and said that the only way I don't get a perfect score on the test is if the professor takes off points for not using well thought out paragraph form and stuff like that. Well, turns out you need to answer the questions in more detail than I did, as well as have better structure and all that stuff. For a lack of a better expression, I was kicked in the butt by this grading style. Ended up having to drop the class (3 grades all year and the first one come last week? not cool.) The worst part of this whole ordeal is right when I got the test back and realized that I needed to drop the class, first thought in my head was, "Isn't it ironic, Don't cha think?"
Halloween Stuff
BOO!
I thought I would take this time to give you a brief history of my Halloween costumes over the past 22 years, at least the ones that I can remember. When I was a wee tot, I was usually some form of a power ranger. That almost goes without saying, but I might as well. I was a huge fan and they always had new costumes so each year I could be a different ranger, or even the same one in a different seasons costume.
When I was old enough to think power rangers weren't cool anymore (or at least say the weren't cool, cuz lets face it, they are still awesome) I wanted to be Dracula. I had my dad put the face makeup on me... bad idea. I'm not sure why a Dracula costume came with purple makeup, but my dad used it liberally. One lady asked if I was a zombie, I was furious. Haha I love that I still remember that probably 15 years later.
I took a hiatus from Halloween for a few years in the later part of elementary school. This was because my parents would buy me a bunch of candy instead of a costume if I so chose. I should have been a business major because even then I knew I could get more and better candy by cutting out the middle man. That might be where my love of Sam's Club began.
Once in Junior High I was a banana. It was really just my dads yellow water suit with a brown hat and a sticker taped to it, but thats when I decided that I would make my own costumes from then on out.
Since college, my costumes have been a team effort between my girlfriend and I. As freshmen, we were John McCain and Sarah Palin as the leaders of the free world. I told everyone we saw that night that this was the scariest costume we could come up with. And that's when things became political. Ha I'm sure all of our friends think we're pretentious jerks, but its been a fun few years.
We went last year as a bird and a fish covered in oil; it was right after the BP spill and it gave us an excuse to rant to drunk people about the horrors associated with weak environmental policy and why regulation is a good thing. Did I mention that we might be a bit pretentious?
We went out on Saturday as tree huggers. She was a hippie and I was a tree (we hug alot.) The best part of the costume was that we have made so many tie die shirts over the past few months that she didn't have to buy anything for her costume except a vest. Nerd.
I thought I would take this time to give you a brief history of my Halloween costumes over the past 22 years, at least the ones that I can remember. When I was a wee tot, I was usually some form of a power ranger. That almost goes without saying, but I might as well. I was a huge fan and they always had new costumes so each year I could be a different ranger, or even the same one in a different seasons costume.
When I was old enough to think power rangers weren't cool anymore (or at least say the weren't cool, cuz lets face it, they are still awesome) I wanted to be Dracula. I had my dad put the face makeup on me... bad idea. I'm not sure why a Dracula costume came with purple makeup, but my dad used it liberally. One lady asked if I was a zombie, I was furious. Haha I love that I still remember that probably 15 years later.
I took a hiatus from Halloween for a few years in the later part of elementary school. This was because my parents would buy me a bunch of candy instead of a costume if I so chose. I should have been a business major because even then I knew I could get more and better candy by cutting out the middle man. That might be where my love of Sam's Club began.
Once in Junior High I was a banana. It was really just my dads yellow water suit with a brown hat and a sticker taped to it, but thats when I decided that I would make my own costumes from then on out.
Since college, my costumes have been a team effort between my girlfriend and I. As freshmen, we were John McCain and Sarah Palin as the leaders of the free world. I told everyone we saw that night that this was the scariest costume we could come up with. And that's when things became political. Ha I'm sure all of our friends think we're pretentious jerks, but its been a fun few years.
We went last year as a bird and a fish covered in oil; it was right after the BP spill and it gave us an excuse to rant to drunk people about the horrors associated with weak environmental policy and why regulation is a good thing. Did I mention that we might be a bit pretentious?
We went out on Saturday as tree huggers. She was a hippie and I was a tree (we hug alot.) The best part of the costume was that we have made so many tie die shirts over the past few months that she didn't have to buy anything for her costume except a vest. Nerd.
Monday, October 24, 2011
The crappy part of the weekend.
Gosh, I am so upset with the football team right now I can't even think straight. I'll start from the beginning. So as we started walking to the game, Kristine asked me if I thought she needed a rain coat. "Its only like a 20% chance of rain, so I doubt it" I said. Bad idea. So when it starts pouring rain, Of course I have to give her my coat. But I refused to leave my spot to take shelter underneath the bleachers, so she and I stood in the rain for the whole storm. Ended up with great seats though, since everyone else left.
Well, the team played like garbage and it started to look grim pretty early on. I refused to believe that it was even possible for us to lose to a team that we were a 30 point favorite to beat. So I kept talking trash to my brother, a Tech Student, and his Tech friends. When we lost, I was swarmed with trash talk by my brother and pretty much everyone I have even met that lives in the Tech area. It was horrible. The worst part is that they were doing the meanest kind of trash talking, being ironically nice. They said stuff like, "O don't worry, you might still get to play in the Sun Bowl," and "You guys tried your best." I wanted to cry. Heck, I might have cried, but you wouldn't be able to tell because I was drenched. At least I hadn't bought plane tickets to New Orleans yet. I wanted a National Championship so bad....
Well, the team played like garbage and it started to look grim pretty early on. I refused to believe that it was even possible for us to lose to a team that we were a 30 point favorite to beat. So I kept talking trash to my brother, a Tech Student, and his Tech friends. When we lost, I was swarmed with trash talk by my brother and pretty much everyone I have even met that lives in the Tech area. It was horrible. The worst part is that they were doing the meanest kind of trash talking, being ironically nice. They said stuff like, "O don't worry, you might still get to play in the Sun Bowl," and "You guys tried your best." I wanted to cry. Heck, I might have cried, but you wouldn't be able to tell because I was drenched. At least I hadn't bought plane tickets to New Orleans yet. I wanted a National Championship so bad....
The funny part of the weekend
Ok, so, my brother Paxton came to town this weekend. He has come up for every Tech game since I have been at OU (that will be the topic of my next blog). Since he last came up here, I got a new room mate. This guy is named Korey and Paxton has never met him before. Korey is a former Marine, so he is a big and intimidating dude. Korey works at one of the local casinos as a security guard. He has to wear a uniform that, at first glance, appears to be a police uniform. Do you see where this is going?
So Paxton and his friends get to my apartment around 10. Korey gets off of work about 1030 and gets home around 11. He and I had been working on this scheme for a while, so I sent him a text to let him know the prank was on. There were about 10 people in my living room when Korey knocked on the door the way cops do. I say, "everybody quite... O crap. O crap" and then answer the door like I'm about to wet my pants. Korey stood there with a stone cold look on his face as he explained that he was Officer Elliot and that the neighbors had called him about a noise complaint. The whole living room was fighting so hard not to laugh as he asked to see everyone's IDs. Paxton, being a huge girl, was hiding in a closet. So I opened the closet door and had him give his ID to Korey. Korey asked him to go outside with him so he could write him a ticket for the noise complaint and hiding in the closet when a cop came to the door (which is apparently the norm at Tech). Paxton was horrified and honestly might have cried if the gag went on any longer. So I start cracking up, and the whole group joins in. Paxton falls to the ground hes so relieved. Haha it might have been the funniest prank I've ever pulled. I'm laughing out loud just thinking about it. Even my parents thought it was hilarious.
So Paxton and his friends get to my apartment around 10. Korey gets off of work about 1030 and gets home around 11. He and I had been working on this scheme for a while, so I sent him a text to let him know the prank was on. There were about 10 people in my living room when Korey knocked on the door the way cops do. I say, "everybody quite... O crap. O crap" and then answer the door like I'm about to wet my pants. Korey stood there with a stone cold look on his face as he explained that he was Officer Elliot and that the neighbors had called him about a noise complaint. The whole living room was fighting so hard not to laugh as he asked to see everyone's IDs. Paxton, being a huge girl, was hiding in a closet. So I opened the closet door and had him give his ID to Korey. Korey asked him to go outside with him so he could write him a ticket for the noise complaint and hiding in the closet when a cop came to the door (which is apparently the norm at Tech). Paxton was horrified and honestly might have cried if the gag went on any longer. So I start cracking up, and the whole group joins in. Paxton falls to the ground hes so relieved. Haha it might have been the funniest prank I've ever pulled. I'm laughing out loud just thinking about it. Even my parents thought it was hilarious.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Crime and Punishment
So while I was in Michigan this past summer, Ola offered me a job as the Evolution TA. I thought it would be fun and look good on my CV, so I took it. It was at the same time as a Stream Ecology class I was enrolled in, so I had to drop that. Because I had little access to the internet, I had about an hour to drop that class and pick another one. I saw one called Crime and Punishment and thought it would be a pre-law style class. My sister just started law school at Emory, so I thought it would be cool to know a little bit about what she was doing. Turns out, the class is nothing like what I thought it would be. Its more focused on the history of Greek, Roman and Chinese law. But not even in a law-ish way. Its more literally a history class that focuses on the power balance between the governing bodies of these cultures and the people.
Well, because I know literally nothing about any of these cultures' penal systems, I went into the class super far behind everyone else. Its an honors class, so I figured the people in the class would know what is going on and I could simply follow their lead. Well, turns out honors kids are either hypochondriacs or dumb. In science classes, you would be a fool to not keep up with the readings and come to class prepared. Turns out in history and political science classes, as long as you talk alot and ask irrelevant questions while dominating the class discussion, you are doing a good job.
We had a test yesterday, and I expected it to be next to impossible. We had been talking in class for at least three weeks trying to get everyone on the same page about what will be on the test and that the classes high stress level is an over reaction. People were just freaking out about how impossible the test will be. It was horrifying. The class seemed to think that no matter how much we studied, we were all going to fail the test miserably.
Well, when the test came and went, I realized that it was not difficult at all. Every question on the test had been at least mentioned in class discussion. The readings really said everything that you could possibly want to know in great detail. I'm guessing the people who were freaking out (about 3/4 of the class) must have just not been doing the reading at all. Or else they are just naturally stressed people. Plus, it was open book and open notes, so I dont think I even wrote a sentence that I hadn't already at least paraphrased in my notes. It was a joke. The only way I dont get a perfect score on the test is if my spelling and sentence organization wasn't perfect (which is a possibility because of the time crunch). The information was not difficult to use at all.
So the moral to this story is if you are going to take a class that you have no background information in at all with, you should first do two things: 1- make sure the class is what you think it is. This way you doing get stuck in a random class with a much of frustrating, loud, and stressful honors nerds. 2- if these same nerds are freaking out about a test, you can just blow them off and study in the way you normally do. This is because either non-science majors dont know how to study... at all, or they are just so stressed about everything that they can trick you into being way more stressed than you aught to be.
Well, because I know literally nothing about any of these cultures' penal systems, I went into the class super far behind everyone else. Its an honors class, so I figured the people in the class would know what is going on and I could simply follow their lead. Well, turns out honors kids are either hypochondriacs or dumb. In science classes, you would be a fool to not keep up with the readings and come to class prepared. Turns out in history and political science classes, as long as you talk alot and ask irrelevant questions while dominating the class discussion, you are doing a good job.
We had a test yesterday, and I expected it to be next to impossible. We had been talking in class for at least three weeks trying to get everyone on the same page about what will be on the test and that the classes high stress level is an over reaction. People were just freaking out about how impossible the test will be. It was horrifying. The class seemed to think that no matter how much we studied, we were all going to fail the test miserably.
Well, when the test came and went, I realized that it was not difficult at all. Every question on the test had been at least mentioned in class discussion. The readings really said everything that you could possibly want to know in great detail. I'm guessing the people who were freaking out (about 3/4 of the class) must have just not been doing the reading at all. Or else they are just naturally stressed people. Plus, it was open book and open notes, so I dont think I even wrote a sentence that I hadn't already at least paraphrased in my notes. It was a joke. The only way I dont get a perfect score on the test is if my spelling and sentence organization wasn't perfect (which is a possibility because of the time crunch). The information was not difficult to use at all.
So the moral to this story is if you are going to take a class that you have no background information in at all with, you should first do two things: 1- make sure the class is what you think it is. This way you doing get stuck in a random class with a much of frustrating, loud, and stressful honors nerds. 2- if these same nerds are freaking out about a test, you can just blow them off and study in the way you normally do. This is because either non-science majors dont know how to study... at all, or they are just so stressed about everything that they can trick you into being way more stressed than you aught to be.
Monday, October 17, 2011
My awesome weekend
To celebrate the fact that my girlfriend and I have been dating for three years as of today, we spent this last weekend in Kansas City. Turned out to be an awesome weekend.
We left on Friday before lunch so that she could take a test in one of her classes. She thinks she did well, so that put us off on a good start. I drove the whole way up there. Not that I'm complaining, I like to be alive, so I do as much of the driving as I can without her realizing why. We checked into our hotel and had just enough time to get some food before we went to the Blind Pilot concert started. Some fancy little outdoor bar. They had a green chili cheeseburger, so of course thats what I got. It had a whole green chili on it! Reminded me of home. It was good, but it wasn't as good as one from New Mexico, but this is to be expected.
The concert's headliner was Brett Dennen. I'm a big Brett Dennen fan, but Blind Pilot is my favorite band of all times, so we mainly went to see them. After their set (which was awesome) we watched about 4 Brett Dennen songs before we were ready to go. As we were driving away from the concert, we saw Blind Pilot in their tour bus. We debated for a few blocks before we realized that we had no choice but to go over to the van and tell them we love them. So we turned around, parked the car illegally and went to the bus. As we were walking up, I saw some people through the windows of the bus pointing at me and smiling. It was because I was wearing my Blind Pilot shirt that they hadnt sold in a while or in this part of the country. When we got to the bus, I told them how awesome I thought they were and how we drove 6 hours to hear them. They were so cool. I asked if kristine and I could take a picture with them, so they said sure, but a few of the members were still inside the concert hall. I said crap, they wont let us back in since we have already left. Then their manager said no problem follow me. We walked right up to the bouncers and the manager said, theyre with us. So we walked back into the show with the band and found the other members. I shook all of their hands and told them that they were my heroes. Then we all took a picture together. It was so freaking cool I cant even describe it.
The next day we went to the farmers market in Kansas City. That was pretty cool. Bought some nifty spices and bread. Then we drove to Fulton, Missouri to watch Kristines brothers soccer game. That was pretty sweet too. After that we all went to his fraternity house and got the tour. They cram so many guys into such a small space I would probably die, but he likes it so that awesome.
After that, we drove to Lawrence, Kansas to watch the OU KU football game. We won, which also was awesome, but the team didn't kick as much butt as I was hoping for.
The next day we drove home, but along the way we stopped at some random side of the highway gas station. While we were filling up, I went over and picked some wild sunflowers from a little patch in a field. I gave them to Kristine, cuz Im such a nice guy.
Got home just in time to study and catch the last inning of the Cards game. Going to the world series! ha what a good weekend.
We left on Friday before lunch so that she could take a test in one of her classes. She thinks she did well, so that put us off on a good start. I drove the whole way up there. Not that I'm complaining, I like to be alive, so I do as much of the driving as I can without her realizing why. We checked into our hotel and had just enough time to get some food before we went to the Blind Pilot concert started. Some fancy little outdoor bar. They had a green chili cheeseburger, so of course thats what I got. It had a whole green chili on it! Reminded me of home. It was good, but it wasn't as good as one from New Mexico, but this is to be expected.
The concert's headliner was Brett Dennen. I'm a big Brett Dennen fan, but Blind Pilot is my favorite band of all times, so we mainly went to see them. After their set (which was awesome) we watched about 4 Brett Dennen songs before we were ready to go. As we were driving away from the concert, we saw Blind Pilot in their tour bus. We debated for a few blocks before we realized that we had no choice but to go over to the van and tell them we love them. So we turned around, parked the car illegally and went to the bus. As we were walking up, I saw some people through the windows of the bus pointing at me and smiling. It was because I was wearing my Blind Pilot shirt that they hadnt sold in a while or in this part of the country. When we got to the bus, I told them how awesome I thought they were and how we drove 6 hours to hear them. They were so cool. I asked if kristine and I could take a picture with them, so they said sure, but a few of the members were still inside the concert hall. I said crap, they wont let us back in since we have already left. Then their manager said no problem follow me. We walked right up to the bouncers and the manager said, theyre with us. So we walked back into the show with the band and found the other members. I shook all of their hands and told them that they were my heroes. Then we all took a picture together. It was so freaking cool I cant even describe it.
The next day we went to the farmers market in Kansas City. That was pretty cool. Bought some nifty spices and bread. Then we drove to Fulton, Missouri to watch Kristines brothers soccer game. That was pretty sweet too. After that we all went to his fraternity house and got the tour. They cram so many guys into such a small space I would probably die, but he likes it so that awesome.
After that, we drove to Lawrence, Kansas to watch the OU KU football game. We won, which also was awesome, but the team didn't kick as much butt as I was hoping for.
The next day we drove home, but along the way we stopped at some random side of the highway gas station. While we were filling up, I went over and picked some wild sunflowers from a little patch in a field. I gave them to Kristine, cuz Im such a nice guy.
Got home just in time to study and catch the last inning of the Cards game. Going to the world series! ha what a good weekend.
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