I really wanted to say, "Bromide" but for no reason. He would have immediately said "yes" but then he would have repeated me quizzically and changed his answer to "no". He would explain why, even if I told him that I had said it on a whim. He would say what Bromide was actually used for, but by then I would have moved on to think about bromliads. He doesn't know anything about bromliads... well, he's not expected to, but he probably does. He is my favorite professor. I'm going to marry some guy like that (only my age, of course). But when he gets to be that age, he'll be like my professor. He'll undoubtedly wear glasses. He'll tell jokes and no one will laugh but me. He won't be a professor but if he was he'd get chalk all over the back of his pants. If he was gone til 10 on Mondays and Wednesdays he'd be sorry about it and he'd come home to my arms and tell me that it was only a matter of time before he made enough money so that he could come home at a decent hour and he'd mean it and I'd tell him that I loved him no matter what time he got home and I'd mean it.

Comment! (2) | Recommend!

My rabbit died. Her name was Obelisk. Here is a poem for her:

Rabbit as King of the Ghosts
Wallace Stevens

The difficulty to think at the end of day,
When the shapeless shadow covers the sun
And nothing is left except light on your fur—

There was the cat slopping its milk all day,
Fat cat, red tongue, green mind, white milk
And August the most peaceful month.

To be, in the grass, in the peacefullest time,
Without that monument of cat,
The cat forgotten on the moon;

And to feel that the light is a rabbit-light
In which everything is meant for you
And nothing need be explained;

Then there is nothing to think of. It comes of it-
self;
And east rushes west and west rushes down,
No matter. The grass is full

And full of yourself. The trees around are for you,
The whole of the wideness of night is for you,
A self that touches all edges,

You become a self that fills the four corners of
night.



I like it because in the part I did not include it refers to the rabbit as "black as stone" which is what Obelisk was. Black, with specks of white like sugar on black velvet and dark chocolate spots on the top of her front feet that you can only see in the sun. She was 10 going on 11 years. L. Nickerson says she had a rabbit that was older but may I say respectfully, I do not actually believe her.

Comment! (3) | Recommend!

Whenever I am in a plane, I always begin to think, "What if this plane crashed?" I think about when we'd know that it was going to crash, the terrifying/fun feeling of being in total free-fall... trying to get yourself together enough to clutch your head in the fashion of the featureless, emotionless victims on the tri-fold safety brochure. One has a baby in her arms. One is a child and so is bent in half, everyone else has their arms against the seat in front of him. When the plane slams into the ground, will his arms break against that seat? Will the paltry strength of his arms be enough to hold the rest of his body back from the catapulting, crushing effects of inertia? Probably not. The seat belt will be his only hope.

In the first scenario, I usually die. How tragic! She has died... on the brink of life's adventures, at the tender age of 21, she was killed in a freak plane accident.... Depending upon my emo level for the day, this one lasts longer or shorter, but usually shorter. Then we move on to even more fun fantasies.

In the second scenario, I am the only one in the whole plane to survive. It's for various reasons, sometimes it's where I'm sitting or because I'm the only one without a person sitting next to me, etc. So I live, but the plane is in ribbons and on fire, and after the wave of the crash is over I look up, trembling, to find the person sitting next to me is DEAD. I usually look at the person next to me at this point and try to imagine what they would look like dead, and whether or not I would be able to climb over them to get out, or if they fell on me, would I be able to lift them off of me, or would I suffocate from bad fumes, still alive but unable to wriggle my way from beneath my neighbor! No, I would definitely escape- even if I were severely injured, as long as it was an injury on one of my extremities, I would endure the pain of yanking my leg, broken in four places, from where it was stuck (perhaps I'd have to rip it off!) and escape the burning plane. Everyone would say, "oh no! She was on that plane! Everyone died! Oh no!" but then it would come out that no, one person survived, it was me, I'm in a bad way, but I'm alive. I'd have to do some serious rethinking of my life and priorities, probably. Having been spared by God, I'd have a new soberness in my personality. I'd be a little less exhuberant, more pensive. Sometimes, if I were at a party and everyone was having a good time, I would just disappear. Oh wait, I already do that.

In the third scenario, my personal favorite, I save everyone. Well, not everyone but mostly everyone. I survive the crash, realtively unharmed. Maybe a broken arm or something, but hopefully not. The first people I have to save are the other people in my row. I have to take stock of them as we sit in the plane, ready to take off: Too heavy? Too bulky and awkward? If I had to choose between the two of them, which one would I save? Where are the nearest children? You've got to save them, of course because they are children... not to mention light and easy to throw over your shoulder. Depending on how badly the plane is on fire, I make quite a few trips back to make sure everyone gets out. I assign some of the not-as-badly-injured folks to help people get down the evacuation slide. For this reason, when they tell you to take note of the nearest exit, keeping in mind that it may be behind you, I always do, because you never know- it could be really smoky and you couldn't see the exit sign, or really dark- you have to know where your nearest exit is and whether it is a window or a door. What if there is a water landing? Well then I'd have to remind everyone to remain on the raft so nobody gets wet and we don't have anyone dying of hypothermia or being eaten by white-tipped sharks. Everyone would be panicking because the plane would be slowly sinking, they'd try and do something stupid. I would have to say, "Calm down, everyone, I need you to calm down for me so we can get through this. I'm not leaving this plane til everyone is safe."

I wouldn't add that I was going to leave before we got the dead people off, because frankly, sinking to the bottom of the ocean in a plane isn't the absolute worst place to be buried and I'm not willing to risk my life or the lives of my plane-mates for people who are already dead. But I wouldn't say that because I think it would just remind the living people of their dead friends and relatives and they would get more panicked and we just can't have that.

Then the flight takes place and it's fine and we land and that's exciting because at any moment we could turn the plane the wrong way and it could start doing mad cartwheels down the runway, the wings tearing off, the tail tearing off, the back of the plane is now open, people could fall out! But really that's the best way to crash land a plane because the wings take up all of the energy that the plane previously had traveling at such high speeds when they break, so there won't be as much energy left when we SLAM full speed into the terminal, much to the chagrin of waiting passengers!

But then we land and it's fine and then we don't get hit by any airplanes that are taking off or landing around us on the runways, and we get to the gate, and after all that it's almost a bit of a let-down.

Comment! (2) | Recommend!

I GOT INTO WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS!!!

The description of their program is so hard-assed, I didn't know if I'd get in, but I'm in! I'm in! I'm in! And Brown "really wants to set up a time to talk to me about my interests in detail!"
And I'm probably going to get in to Notre Dame!

Bob kept saying I was qualified, but I didn't really believe him. Now Seth and I are rockin' it three ways from Tuesday.

Bitchin'.

Comment! (3) | Recommend!

Ok, so far this semester is great. I've spent it eating healthfully, working out, playing video games, watching movies, and going to a minimal amount of class, which is just fabulous.

Comment! (3) | Recommend!

Today was the first day of school. It was great, I had petrology and petrology lab. I went to track and caught up with all my old track buddies. Oh, man, I love track. It makes me eat healthy, too. This semester is going to be so much better than last semester, fer serious. Last night we watched a movie that took place in one of our dorms here on campus. It was called "Real Genius" and it had Val Kilmer in it. I've heard he's an ass, but I think he's a good actor. He had some great lines in this movie. We watched Top Gun before that and it was really funny because my whole life I've thought of the Iceman as this huge asshole, but when I just watched it again, I realized that he's not really an asshole at all, it's Maverick that's the asshole, the Iceman is just a team player who is looking out for the rest of the men. A leader, really. Like when he says that he's sorry about Goose. Nice guy, team player. Though not letting Maverick have the shot and trying to get it for himself that one time was lame. (and probably killed Goose by putting Maverick in the jetwash). But AnnnnYWay, today I learned how to make a thin section in petrology lab, and that was awesome. Now I'm trained on the grinders and if I want I can sneak down there and make some nice granite bookends. hahaHAa.

Now I want to play video games because there is no way in hell I'll ever have time to do it again for the rest of the semester!

Comment! (0) | Recommend!

Once upon a time there was a girl who mysteriously went missing. The only thing that was left of her were two blue sandals that she had left on the beach. Unfortunately, that one clue that she existed is now also missing, as her sandals were shortly stolen by an invisible man with very long legs who is so light, he can practically float on water. The man apparently put on the sandals, walked out over the corals towards Africa, and was never seen again.

Comment! (4) | Recommend!

Last night I had a dream. It was weird. But it made it seem like the night lasted forever, so while Erin and Prof Wirth are exhausted from staying in lab til 10:45 last night, I feel rather chipper and well-rested. That is, despite being up since effectively 5 in the morning (due to the time change) and having been traveling about for about 10 hours. I had to take a plane from Denver to Phoenix to Seattle to Pullman, what a circuitous route!
Today we're supposed to bore holes in zircons with the laser for like 10 hours, but we got here before nine and its past 11 and the laser still doesn't work. I feel like I should go and help or something, but I would definitely just be in the way. I feel like a slacker. Maybe I should finish my app for the University of New Mexico. It would be cool to go there, I like Albuquerque. Here is my new favorite quote. It applies so well to everything I've ever done in science:

"Theory is when you know everything, but nothing works. Practice is when everything works, but no one knows why. In this room theory and practice come together... Nothing works and no one knows why."
--Peter Haderslev, Denmark

hahahhaha

Comment! (0) | Recommend!