"As My Whimsy Takes Me"

Flowers

2007-07-06T15:15:00.001-07:00

What am I doing in Atlantic City??

2007-07-06T15:13:00.001-07:00

Helena

2007-05-06T20:05:00.000-07:00

Helena has no fear of being attacked. Her domestication has almost completely erradicated the normal feline saftey sleeping techniques that a cat should employ while napping.

Almost still life

2007-05-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

Amazing Max

2007-05-06T19:55:00.000-07:00

The maintenence men asked me how I grew my cats so big. This is Max in his favorite sun spot.

The second picture is a typical napping sprawl. He takes up about half of my bed when he gets the chance.

The Masked Couple

2007-03-19T08:23:00.000-07:00

Can you really pretend you don't recognize someone when they are wearing half a mask?

Masquerade

2007-03-19T08:12:00.000-07:00

Before and after

Beauty

2006-12-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

Where did summer go?

2006-11-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

I've been reflecting over my semester and was reminded of the good memories I had of the summer. This picture is me in New Haven visiting Yale. (I really am in the picture in the bottom right!) The building behind me is a memorial to the students who died in service to the country in various wars. What a paradox to have received such an education to then sacrifice it for the rest of us.

Season Changes

2006-10-13T13:55:00.000-07:00

Whenever the seasons change I get homesick. But what am I getting homesick for? At first I thought it was for Memphis, but this most recent move has made me realize that is not it. I am not home sick for Chattanooga either. Yet, what I feel is the same thing that I feel every year at this time. I think it is a homesickness for periods of my life that are past. Those periods are made up of the relationships and events of those times. The two are interconnected becuase even if the same people were still a part of my life, the ways that we can be together and spend our time and workout our friendships will never be the same. I guess that is where the location fits in, a connection of a place with good memories. I miss my house on Florida Ave. When I am honest with myself, I remember that point in life as one filled with confusion about many things but along with that was the chance to spend time with some of my best friends during our first freedome from college without many of the responsibilities of being an established adult, Some of those friends are gone and some are still my best friends, although moved and married. I have learned that lack of growth and change is unhealthy but with growth and change often comes growing pains. Perhaps homesickness is a mix of new growing pains along with the mourning of relationships that are gone and changed.

Gymnastics Team

2006-10-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

I just came accross this picture that was taken of the Signal Mt. gymnastics team at the end of the year party. I miss this group of girls, they were so much fun to teach. I just started a new coaching job at a gym here. I am teaching beginners and boys classes one night a week. It is fun to be back in the gym.

ying-yang

2006-10-01T13:01:00.000-07:00

Max and Helena - the grandkitties!

The James and Sarah

2006-09-27T16:26:00.000-07:00

Yea! After who knows how many months, I have finally been able to upload a picture onto my blog. Actually, I only just remembered that I had a blog. Sarah and I went hiking along the James River back in May. It is an interesting river. You can hike along it on the rocks and practically cross to the other side without touching the water.

because i like to share

2005-11-29T19:17:00.000-08:00

I have been reading articles by Christopher Falvey on his web site the VN/VO. He seems to have a pretty decent perspective. At least he doesn't seem to be touting the media party line. Check out some of his writing here if you get a chance and let me know what you think!

Hot Water Mystery

2005-11-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

While I am very happy with my new little apartment I have had a few complaints. The second biggest being the apparent lack of quantities of hot water. (the first being the large insect population) I like hot water. I like it for washing dishes, I like it for washing my hands and I really like it for showering. I quickly discovered that the capacity of the hot water heater in this new place was not quite up to my long, hot, luxurious, water-wasting shower standards. In fact, I had to relearn the art of the 4 minute shower, this being the approximate duration of the hot water's issuance from the shower head before exhausting itself into cold. While not inspiring of great showers, I decided that it could have a positive effect on my water bill and perhaps even my electric bill and figured I'd grin and bear it.

ast week I began to notice that my water wasn't even getting hot. It was only reaching that mild baby milk level of warmth. I attributed this to the decided drop in mercury that occured this past week and figured I just needed to have the heat adjusted on the water tank.

Wednesday I woke up to NO HOT WATER AT ALL!!!!!! I didn't panic. I called my trusty neighbor (who has a beautiful shower with hours of hot water) and was granted the use of her shower facitilies for the morning. On my way to her place I noticed a brand new hot water tank sitting outside the apt. building. I had a hard time containing my excitement and I quickly located the maintenance men and asked them if they were fixing my hot water. Joe (the maintenance guy) told me that no, this was for the apartment below mine, but he wanted to know if I was having problems. I let him know my problems but we both figured that the lack of hot water that morning was due to the work they were doing on the apt. below mine. Needless to say I checked out the water situation as soon as I returned from work in the evening. It came out of the faucet just fine and warm so figured I'd give it one more shower before calling in my own complaint. The next morning I jumped into the shower with mixed emotions. (I was struggling with jealousy of my downstairs neighbors as I envisioned that shiny new hot water heater chugging away in their service and at the same time reminding myself to be thankful for the bit of hot water I did have) I washed my hair and conditioned my hair, then I stood under the hot water to savor the last bit of warmth knowing that at any second it would turn cold, and I stood and stood and stood...and I checked my watch and still the fountain gushing from the wall remained nice and hot! I like to experiment and would have kept myself in the shower till it turned cold just to see how long it would last but I had to get to work at some point. Since Thursday, I have had hot water past the four minute mark and I still have not discovered its depletion time.

So What Happened?!! Did they give me the new tank by mistake? My theory is that somehow my neighbor's and my own hot water are combined. In fact, I suspect that I may be paying for my neighbors hot water bill. The other theory is that while fixing my neighbor's hot water tank, they ajusted something on my own tank. But this would be very out of character for my landlord. Of course they could have fixed it accidentily which would be much more plausible... So although good, it is still a mystery and one into which I must make further inquiries.

Quote of the day

2005-11-19T09:28:00.000-08:00

There is no past that we can bring back by longing for it. There is only an eternally new now that builds and creates itself out of the Best as the past withdraws.
J.G. von Goethe

Writing

2005-11-10T19:41:00.000-08:00

Some people write from the depths of their soul, the words that appear are representative of the deep feeling and ideas they have inside. This is not the case with me. When I write, what is produced is merely the white noise that covers my thoughts. I get so frustrated with this. When my mind is filled with ideas that are growing, points of baby green only lasting for a moment before becoming incorporated into the dusky green of adult obscurity, I sit down with a clean piece of paper and my favorite pen and begin to write in an attempt to capture them. After some time has passed I reread the words that have mussed the page only to find a mess of my daily thoughts reproduced there. So why keep writing? I suppose it clears my brain enabling me to think about what really matters to me. So while nothing of value is produced on the paper, the value is found in the clarity of thought inside.

Bistro Dog

2005-11-10T19:27:00.000-08:00

I just shared a nice bottle of Bistro Dog Shiraz with a friend. It was a nice wine, not a ton of flavor but easy to drink with just a slight hint of berry sweetness. It doesn't have the greatest scent, but neither my olfactory epithelium nor my palate (craial nerves X11 & IX if you are interested) is trained to be discriminating beyond my own personal preferences. Anyway, the guy at the liquor store recommended it and it is easy on the wallet so I wish someone else would try it out and let me know your thoughts.

Slide Staining Correction

2005-11-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

We continued to work on stains and counter stains in lab tonight. I am proud to report that all my slides turned out nicely. However I need to correct the things I said about inks. I had orignially stated that inks had either a positive or a negative ion, in actuality the inks that we use for staining have both a positive ion and a negative ion. In acidic stains the color is in the negative ion and in basic stains the color is in the positive ion. So, when staining a slide of bacteria, which has a slightly negative charge, a basic stain would be used. And with a positivly charged organism the acid stains.

New Job and Staining Slides

2005-10-31T11:14:00.000-08:00

Guess what!!?? I have taken a third part time job! I decided I wasn't busy enough so this new job works perfectly. I'll be working for the real-estate company of a friend about 7-10 hours a week. This should be fun! What in the world am I doing trying to go into nursing? I hate being in a building all day!
On that note, we have been learning to stain slides in my micro lab. This is so cool. My favorite stain so far is nigresine. It is the most beautiful blue color and makes the organizm under the slide so attractive that it is hard to think of them as having the potential to be an evil pathogen. Last week we also did some stains with India Ink. What an interesting life scientist lead. Not only do they need to know about microorganisms but they have to learn about the properties of various inks. Certain types have a slightly positive or slightly negative charge. Depending on the charge of the organism being stained, it will either attract or repel the stain! We never talked about that in art class! Too bad I can't post slides from my lab here for you to admire.

What is my problem

2005-10-29T22:56:00.000-07:00

I scare the good guys away. There is no doubt about it. Someone please knock me over the head and tell me what I am doing wrong. I went to a concert tonight. It was fun! I danced, laughed, chatted with everyone around me, and I looked HOT! I know I did. I wore these nice stretchy jeans and an awesome red halter top with embroidery on it. It was fun. I had all the guys around me trying to dance with me and asking me why I wouldn't go out with them. So what is the problem? I don't like them. They are loosers, I sound like a snob but these guys haven't grown up. They are still living in an extended high school beer party, and I have no problem attracting them. Yet as soon as I meet a cool, interesting guy who thinks beyond his next TV show or beer, I seem to scare him away after one or two conversations....What is wrong with me???

Quote of the Day

2005-10-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

Christianity is based on far more than naked human reason but by no means upon less. Though divine revelation carries us beyond the limits of rational speculation, it does not sink below the bar of rational intelligibility. -sproul

Gymnastics Leotards

2005-10-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

I wish everyone could see how cute my little gymnastics girls are when we start talking about their new leotards! When we pull out the catalogues and the "create your team design" books, they all become little fashion designers and have very definite opinions on the future image of the team. The intended new look was to be a shimmery silver leo with a swirl at the top leading into a sparkling black velvet neck line (I am still a bit bitter at the ugly styles we had when I was a kid, then again these new styles are a bit much) But the price has turned out to be greater than anticipated and we are having to move to option 2 which is as of yet undetermined...

Sobriquets

2005-10-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I am very happy with myself for using the above given term. In fact I have used it several times this week but I still doubt my ability to pull it out of the cranium in a stressful moment of verbal exchange.
But on to the point of this post. Is it a good thing or a bad thing for a guy to call a girl babe or baby or baby doll etc...? I think that it depends on the guy and the context. Anyway, I got on someone's case for calling me "baby doll." He apologized as he considers himself a liberated man of some sort. I wasn't expecting the apology, in fact the more I thought about it, the more I realized I sort of didn't really mind him calling me that b/c I knew it was just to make me mad or to be funny not because he really looked down on me. I am kind of surprised at myself. Shouldn't I be cheering for the victory of one more male put in his place in realizing the inherent chauvinism that exists in all males no matter how hard they try to think of women as equals? What does this say about me???!!!!

I have no answers for the above questions but for you curious males out there here are my conclusions on nicknames for women:

Baby Doll - this is bad. It reeks of male condescension. Of course if you are just trying to be funny, it could possibly be funny.

Baby - A guy can potentially use this term in a positive light regarding a female. But he should be wary and careful. He should probably be at least dating the woman he dares to call this...

Babe - this word can actually be used to the male's advantage. Every girl, no matter how into the feminist ideology she is, secretly wants to be considered "hot." The word "babe" can easily be used to indicate this hot status. However, the male should still be careful.

Justification Reminder

2005-10-10T18:22:00.000-07:00

For you few but faithful who check my blog I just needed to clairify the fact that I only started this blog to figure out how it worked. I don't have any great wisdom or insight or political/spiritual truths I am trying to impart. The best thing I have found about it is getting to read your comments.