Follow the Mome Raths

Sunday, November 30, 2003

Well I baked all day yesterday for our Christmas party Thursday, as well as doing laundry. It took me 3 hours to do my laundry, because with these @*#$& crutches it's almost impossible to get there with the clothes, soap, money, and keys, wash them, then get them back again without dropping them.

Today I made broccoli soup and blueberry pie for Ang, Marcia, and Kayla. The pie was really good, and I made the whole thing from scratch, pastry and filling. Now I just need to get ready for The Festival of 9 Lessons and Carols tomorrow at the Winspear...which means I need to bring a lunch AND a supper with me because I can't get around on my crutches to get dinner.

And I get the first chocolate from my advent calendar tomorrow!

Karlie@11:32 p.m.

Saturday, November 29, 2003

I came home today to a lovely decorated apartment. Marcia had put up the garland and paper snowflakes. We also made stained-glass cookie ornaments for our tree, so our house looks happy and Christmassy.

I just found out that my piano teacher's husband died. It's really sad, he was a very nice person, a very gentle man. I feel really sorry for my teacher, how awful to spend the holidays alone for the first time.

Karlie@1:18 a.m.

Thursday, November 27, 2003

I did a quiz I found on Allan's blog, about which ethical philosophy best describes your own beliefs. Here's my results:

1. Spinoza (100%)
2. Epicureans (92%)
3. Jean-Paul Sartre (86%)
4. Aristotle (83%)
5. Kant (81%)
6. Stoics (81%)
7. Nietzsche (80%)
8. Ayn Rand (76%)
9. Aquinas (75%)
10. Jeremy Bentham (74%)

The link for the quiz is here.

Karlie@6:54 p.m.

Sticks and Stars

This is a little something I'd like to call sticks and stars. You'll find something like it in most small newspapers.

Stars:
I'd like to give stars to the ETS drivers who have made unscheduled stops to let me get off that closer to home, the people who backtrack just to open doors for me, and everyone else who's been helpful while I'm stuck on crutches.

Stick (Beatings):
These go to the people who have kicked my crutches out from under me, or tried to brush past me and knock me off balance WITHOUT saying sorry. The ones that did are forgiveable, gosh knows it's impossible to move sometimes in Tory and CAB. But many are in their own little world. I actually almost fell after this person kicked my crutches, and they just kept walking listening to their discman, without even looking back. Wouldn't you know you hit something, and at least try to find out what it is?

Karlie@6:44 p.m.

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Here's a neat little quiz, it's about The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (mostly the book, some about the movie) to see how much you know. I'm rereading it right now, the last time I read it was 3 years ago. I'm only on page 31 at the moment but I got 8/10, so I guess I have a good memory. How will YOU fare?

Karlie@11:36 p.m.

It's been another really long time since my last post, but for good reason.

1) My ice fall turned into a long saga involving x-rays, possible surgery (but not anymore), and a declaration of severe damage to the tendons along my instep: consequence of crutches until I can put weight on it again
2) I got a chest cold this weekend which won't let go, so I'm kept up half the night coughing and my asthma monster is back with a vengence
3) To top it off a pipe in my ceiling burst, running water in the wall underneath the carpet in my room and the hall so the hacked a hole in the ceiling, we have a wind tunnel in our hallway with industrial fans, and I think the bottom of my desk and dresser are ruined.

So I've had a rough weekend. The worst is that I can't get to my Geomorphology class because it's too far and I don't have the upper-body strength to make it from the bus stop to ETLC, and I have two choir performances next week. Speaking of which, if you live in Edmonton come to the Lighting of the Legistlature, 4:00 on Dec. 4 at the leg.

Karlie@11:08 p.m.

Thursday, November 20, 2003

Welcome to Opposite Land

Yesterday I was walking back to school with Curtis after buying the DVD (see Monday), when I fell. I stepped with my right foot over the curb, and when I brought my left foot over it caught some ice and kicked my right foot out from under me. The result being that I landed on my left leg, and I now have torn ligaments and muscles in my left ankle by my achilles tendon, strained lower abdominals (in my back) and have to walk with a cane. I hate that thing, it's so humiliating. I tried to make it sound better by calling it my Smeltings stick, but my friends that haven't read Harry Potter don't get the joke. At least they're few and far between.

This morning I got a phone call from EnCana Energy, they gave me a summer position. 4 months, at $3800/month. That's more per month than I earned over the whole of last summer.

It also snowed a good foot at least.

But my lab was short.

I'm just waiting for what happens next. Since choir tonight was good and Kayla made dinner, I'm expecting to be hit by tomorrow's bus on the way to my lab. I can't go to class because I can't walk (even with my Smeltings stick) all the way across campus from the bus depot. I don't know how I'm going to dance at the wedding I'm going to this weekend. Oh well, I have a gorgeous new outfit so I'll just sit and look beautiful I guess.

Karlie@1:07 a.m.

Monday, November 17, 2003

It's very strange - City Centre Mall is only open until 5:30 Monday-Wednesday. See now, I would have thought seeing that every other mall I've been to in the city is open until 9:00 every weekday night, this one would be too. Elizabeth and I trekked all the way to the bus depot, to the mall, and then back again after realizing it was closed. Oh well, it was exercise and fresh air.

In other news, LOTR The Two Towers: Special Edition comes out tomorrow. I'm going out in my 3-hour spare to buy it. Yay! This means that I will be spending Tuesday evening drooling over new DVD footage.

Karlie@10:32 p.m.

Friday, November 14, 2003

I'm so bored right now. Kayla's at a wedding reception for the weekend, Marcia is with Jeff, and I'm doing diddle squat as usual. I can't remember the last time I did something on a Friday night. So I journaled some more in my scrapbook, I'm all caught up now. I don't want to start any new pages before I get some pictures printed from my friends and family. I don't want to see any of my movies again. At least tomorrow I'm doing something, Angela and I are going to go to West Ed after choir. I did get my Geology sweatshirt today, it's a really intense shade of royal purple. I like it, although it really does scream "I'm purple, look at me!".

Karlie@10:28 p.m.

Thursday, November 13, 2003

Water

You are water. You're not really organic; you're
neither acidic nor basic, yet you're an acid
and a base at the same time. You're strong
willed and opinionated, but relaxed and ready
to flow. So while you often seem worthless,
without you, everything would just not work.
People should definitely drink more of you
every day.

Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

I got 88% in Min 1 and 92% in EAS 225. Yes, I am God. Just kidding.

Karlie@11:53 p.m.

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

I saw a girl today who was wearing a sheepskin coat, sheepskin boots (just under knee-length), and this itty-bitty tan cotton skirt with no nylons or anything. I wanted to slap her and say "Um, you're in EDMONTON. In the WINTER. " I dunno if people like this think they're cool or something, but I'd like to point out that when it's winter and you're wearing summer clothes people just think you look stupid.

Karlie@11:43 p.m.

The owner of the Rock and Mineral store in West Ed identified some rocks I had been puzzling over that were picked up during field work for EAS 225. One has Lepidolite and Fuscite, the other is non-gem-quality Iolite.

Karlie@1:07 a.m.

Lest We Forget

Today was the first Remembrance Day in a few years when I was up for the ceremonies. I had felt bad about sleeping through the others, and so this year Kayla and I watched (very very fuzzy) Global which was showing the unveiling of the Juno Beach memorial. I realized, truly how much I owe to those men. They left home in order to give us today. 43,000 of them never came back from WWII.

In Flanders Field, the poppies blow
between the crosses row on row,
that mark our place, and in the sky
the lark still bravely singing flies.
In Flanders Field.

We are the dead, short days ago we lived.
Felt dawn, saw sunset glow.
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
in Flanders Field.

Take up our quarrel with the foe.
To you from failing hands we throw the torch.
Be yours, to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die,
we shall not sleep, though poppies grow
in Flanders Field.

-John McCrae

In a little lighter tone I made paper snowflakes today. I found a site online that showed how to fold the paper so as to get six-pointed shapes like real snowflakes are. Now they are hung on thread in the corner, and the dance a little in the circulation from my heater. I made my Grandmothers' Christmas presents. So that's two less! Two more to buy, and one to finish.

Karlie@12:12 a.m.

Monday, November 10, 2003

Mineralogy is Beautiful

No really, it is. It's like poetry or music, at the risk of sounding over-romantic or sentimental. Take all the silicates. They have very precisely ordered structures, but within them you can have substitutions that allow them to be many different things. With music, you have to follow precise and strict rules (no chord can be missing it's third, the circle of fifths), but within these rules any notes and any combination of notes can be used. Or a sonnet (iambic pentameter, 15 lines) with whatever you choose to say within it.
I say all this because I wrote my Min I second midterm today. There were two questions on it, which involved feldspars and pyroxenes, respectively. Initially looking at the questions, I realized that I didn't know the facts off the top of my head that the questions were asking for. But, I did know how their basic structures worked, what substitutions could occur, and other things like that. So using basic knowledge I answered the questions, correctly. I love things that are like that!

In other news, yesterday Allan and I went to West Ed. We window shopped for awhile, looking around at all the Christmas decorations. We decided that Old Navy definitely had the tackiest ones, these weird metallicky but not green streamers and stuff. We also went to the fossil and mineral store by the brick. The owner was thrilled when he found out I was in geology, and picked up one of his specimens, and told me I could have it if I identified it. It was kind of hard, because it was vitreous, greasy feel, but pale greenish-yellow with no apparent cleavage. I tentatively said fluorite, at which he smiled and said that no, it wasn't but it was something very close. So I guessed calcite and was right! Now I have a very nice piece of calcite to add to my collection. I also bought a blue goldstone pendant from him, because it was pretty and he was such a nice guy. Allan and I also saw Finding Nemo a the theatre, which was absolutely hilarious! I think I like the seagulls the best - "Mine! Mine mine mine mine mine!". Today I am going to West Ed again to the Killimanjaro (sp?) at IMAX with Michelle and some of her friends.

But right now I'm about to eat lunch of fettucine with a pesto cream sauce and smoked salmon. Not nearly as expensive or difficult as it sounds.

Karlie@1:42 p.m.

Thursday, November 06, 2003

As I'm sitting here trying desperately to recuperate from the stomach flu long enough to write a midterm tomorrow, I came across a website that I want to buy t-shirts from:

Karlie@10:32 p.m.

Monday, November 03, 2003

Life has been very busy, and stressful as of late, as evidenced by my lack of journaling. Wednesday was as busy as Wednesday's always are for me, with 4 classes, a lab, and a 2 hour choir practice. Thursday was more one of those days I should have stayed in bed. There was no hot water, so no shower for me. It was freezing cold out, I was sick, the one card office screwed up so I spent half an hour fixing that mistake, then another half-hour looking for articles for my 225 paper which seemed to be non-existent. I went home that night and crawled into bed for 14 hours. Friday wasn't much of a day, despite the fact is was Hallowe'en. I went to class, wrote some 225, and was in bed by 10:30 because I had to get up early on Saturday. Saturday was spent on a bus and at the Royal Tyrrell Museum doing a palaeo assignment that was less than exciting. And Sunday I went grocery shopping and finished 225.

So today, I need to cook, do laundry, and study for Mineralogy, which I have a test in tomorrow and a midterm in Friday.

Lord Help Me.

Oh I did get tickets to the LOTR marathon though, it starts at 1:30PM December 16th (A Tuesday), and you get to watch the Special Editions of the first two, and get to be the first people to see the last one. The general public won't get to see it until it opens Thursday.

Karlie@8:00 p.m.