30 August 2006

Rashomon story

I always enjoy participating in Hyperion's projects. On Weds, he set the stage for our Rashomon project and today we are unleashing it to the world.
Me? I play the role of Bishop Janiff. I am the dude in the black robe and glasses, see the photo. I am telling my story to Bishop Valetti, the dude in red (scarlett?) robes.
What is truth? Come explore with us...







In the burrows of the Nightmare

Where Justice naked is,

Time watches from the shadow

And coughs when you would kiss.

Thanks to the Auden society for letting me copy and paste this section from "As I walked out one evening"

28 August 2006

Revelations

I've been having an extremely productive day. For a slacker gal, such as myself, I have a reputation to uphold and I usually don't tell folks that yes I do work. But, today, the work is part of my repetition. I have been getting up from my desk every 3-5 minutes since 10:30 am and I'm getting pretty sick of it, even though the data I'm collecting is totally kick butt! The constant getting up to move samples, take spectra, rinse and repeat has put me in a mindset to think about habits and schedules and the future. Alot of thinking goes on underneath this slacker facade, indeed.

So I've been contemplating my birthday. Since I'm sure that you constant readers will note that I am aging so gracefully in all your comments, I am compelled to preemptively say "thank you". ;)
That's NOT the reason why I'm musing and being all Linus-like about my birthday. Good grief. (Aside-Charles Brown is a great blues musician. Meow.)

There are some people who love their birthdays and are very vocal about wanting to celebrate birthdays. My ex sister-in-law was very much one of those people-she even told me that she thinks her birthday should be a national holiday. She seems to be always disappointed on her birthday because the celebration is never *enough*. Then there's the polar opposite-they hate their birthdays, are very quiet about their birthday, and try their best to not celebrate it.
Me? I LOVE my birthday, and I love it when someone does something nice and thoughtful for me on that day. No great expectations: it doesn't have to be a grand gesture, or something big for it to be memorable. For example, it's nice to get a card from my family or get a phone call from a friend or last year I got a small gift card for Whole Foods that I used for some delicious tea that I enjoyed for several weeks after my birthday. With all the small gestures added up, it's nice to feel like a *superstar* on your special day! :D

Stranded on an island, licking salty peanuts. :) LJS

Totally on notice


Tracy Lynn posted the link to the 'on notice' generator awhile ago-and slacker me is just now getting to it. Note the inclusion of ninja! I've been reading too much "Us" magazine-and getting annoyed at two-dimensional actresses....will somebody please give these girls a cupcake!?!? (or some of Dragon's mac-n-cheese!)

:D LJS

24 August 2006


This optical arrangement looks *a tad* convoluted. I'd hate to see what aligning that system entails.
But, awesome work.

LJS is famous!

One day, while I was working (naked, natch), Hyperion took it upon himself to interview me on Yahoo. Here is the exciting revelations, everything you ever wanted to know about me folks is revealed in the Monkey Barn!
Ever your immortal beloved,
:) LJS

Artist, this one is not


This has got to be the worst rendition of a microscope. Ever. Thankfully it's a beta version, so it should improve in the upcoming weeks.
{sigh}
I guess that I should be thankful that there's nothing in here that looks obviously phallic, but I'll betcha that Lord Mullett finds one anyway.
I'll blog more later about my trip, but for now I'm trying to make this darn thing look better.
Eh, :) LJS

14 August 2006

Star Trek is, like, totally inspiring

So check out the awesomeness that is James T. Kirk and his intergalactic band of hotties. Although I maintain that Picard is a way better captain, the crew of TNG doesn't really "fit" with these types of inspirational posters.

As Dragon said, three more sleeps. :D

I'm totally craving potstickers. Yikes.
:) ljs

12 August 2006

Alternative names

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet and current street name)

Whisky Linden

2. YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME: (grandfather/grandmother on your mom's side, your favorite candy)

Nola Sweet Tart

3. YOUR "FLY GIRL/GUY" NAME: (first initial of first name, first two or three letters of your middle name)

K Ann

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal)
Violet Pussy

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)

Ann Cleveland

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first name, first 2 letters of mom's maiden name and first 3 letters of the town you grew up in.)

Dehka Anbru

8. SUPERHERO NAME: (your favorite color, favorite drink)
Violet Tea

All told, my alternative names kinda suck. But I am digging my Star Wars name, and any name that can use the word pussy in it (without the irony, without the snickers) is fine by me.

So, play along folks. Tell Lady Jane Scarlett what your names are too!

10 August 2006

Wear you helmets kiddos

'Cause Auntie Jane Scarlett will drop a bunch of f-bombs. She's that angry.

You've been warned.

So I've been in the worst kind of hell-graduate student limbo- since October. And the reason why I'm still stuck here is because of one person. I can't even say they are a person, they are more akin to a force of nature.
I can't even begin to describe my frustration, mostly because I know that I've done my best to satisfy this person and they have done nothing but move the carrot stick a bit further away from me. Shortly after one my oral exam, I knew that my committee had concerns about my research proposal. While I did not do exactly what they suggested, I did do other types of data analysis that did the exact same thing. I sent out the revisions late November. I heard back from all of my committee members by early Feb. They were happy with the revisions and OKed me to leave graduate student limbo.
But...
{insert noises of chirping crickets here}
I did not hear from this person until June. That's right folks...fucking June. I had a one-on-one meeting with them, and during that meeting I got:
1) My ass torn out
2) More suggestions, more concerns, more reasons to not advance me to candidacy

Despite the ass chewing, despite the "but you're young, so I'm going to help you" bit (tangent-heh, it's good to know that I can still pass for "young"), despite the nearly 6 months of unprofessional silence, I said to myself "I really respect this person-they are very intelligent, they have their stuff all together, they are on the ball. Their suggestions are reasonable. I want this person to be on my committee because I know that I'll be a better engineer in the end for it."

So, the month of June was spent learning all about statistical analysis of data, setting up experimental designs and other stuff that would bore non-engineers to death. I learned alot, and I was begrudgingly grateful that they made me do it. I presented to this person a report of my findings-they liked the results, but now they wanted a clarification on the meaning of a term in my proposal. No problem. I had been studying this very issue in the literature and in my own research so I was able to provide them with a succinct answer in less than a week. I thought that I was finished-I had satisfied this person's concerns and now they would OK me to leave graduate student limbo.

Uh. Not. So. Much.

The next day I get an email back stating they were impressed that I had learned so much regarding this issue. But now, they were concerned that I don't know what kind of protein I am dealing with. In their words "Not a good thing".
Huh? What the fuck is this "Not a good thing" bit? Martha fucking Stewart does engineering?? So, I replied to their email. Hoping that I'd get a bone, a bit of consensus.

Uh. Not. So. Much.

Instead, I get a cryptic " Your understanding and presentation of what is meant by "disorder" are now vastly improved from your earlier presentation, and you have an opportunity with your research to clarify this to the community. I wish you the best of luck."
HUH?? What in the fuck does THAT mean??? So I'm confused, I'm stuck, I'm frustrated, and I want to scream scream scream. I have no fucking clue what else I need to do. I suppose I could ask, but I'm too frustrated. I'm wondering if this is *just* how it's going to be with this person, but a deadline is approaching and I need to know if this person is going to get me out of limbo or not. In the immortal words of THE KING, it's now or never.

I know that there's the easy way out, but I'm not about to give up after all this time. I'm too darn stubborn. And, I still like them. After all this time...

Ever hopeful, but still pissed off... LJS

03 August 2006

Copy and Paste

I'm really excited about going to Montreal in 13 days! :D

I thought that an email I sent was kinda fun, so I'm sharing. The names have been changed to protect the utterly boring.
:) LJS


After waking up at 6am, then again at 8am. I have now put in 2.5 hours of
partially productive work. Actually, it was completely productive if one counts blog
stalking, checking email, and listening to Robin Williams tell NPR that Ann Coulter's
blood can be used as snake anti-venom because not even cobras want to go near that shit.