Baby Jellyfish

Baby Jellyfish, Cattle Point, Victoria, BC

I was taking a picture of the shell and realized after the fact I took a picture of a jellyfish. I knew something was moving around in the water but couldn't see it. Neat.

Thirty Years Ago Today

My parents went to bed after watching the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the New York Islanders 5-2 in the quarter finals of the Stanley Cup playoffs. My very pregnant mom woke my dad up around midnight to tell him it was time to go to the hospital. I was born around 2:30 am.

My dad used to call me "Little Dudley" before I was born. He would talk to me in the womb saying "Hey there Little Dudley, this is your dad." If if was a boy, his name would be Michael David and they had not decided what they would name a girl.

Filed under "How am I not surprised?": "Night Fever" by The Bee Gees was the top song the day I was born.

Do You Know What is Inconvenient?

When your hard drive crashes two days before a computer science final. Especially when all of your notes from the entire semester are on said hard drive.

Ouchy

I have a very bad ear infection. It came on so suddenly. My left ear felt plugged yesterday after I got home from school but since I have a cold I just thought it was part of my congestion. By bed time anytime I tilted my head to one side it felt like someone was stabbing me in the eardrum. I barely slept all night. The pain from my ear would wake me up anytime I would move my head. My mommy took me to the doctor this morning. I need to take an anti-inflammatory every four hours my ear is swollen so badly. Here I am again, so sleepy yet hurting too badly to sleep.

Fish

You can feed my fish just by clicking.



I added a smaller tank to the sidebar.

Draw me a sheep!

"Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to have to explain things to them always and forever."
Le Petit Prince (1943), Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Chapter I

Gooey Brain

I have my first final tomorrow. My brain turned to goo* at about 4 pm this afternoon (I guess at this point it was yesterday afternoon). I have somehow managed to work an additional 5 hours or so. To keep myself alert I would take exercise breaks in addition to caffeine. I can do 64 step ups in 60 seconds.** Now physically I am alert but my brain is done like dinner. I have to wake up in a little more than 4 hours and I am wide awake. Yeah, this is going to turn out well.

I want my mommy to write a note to my professor so I can defer the final.

Dear Dr Redacted,

Please excuse Janice from finals until after the NHL playoffs.

Sincerely,
Mommy Marie

* Much to the amusement of my professor.
** I think that is a lot but I don't know.

Update (6:09am): I think I slept a half hour. I tried but I couldn't. I was half awake and confusing what happened on hockey tonight with linear algebra. As I thought about a particular penalty in the Sens vs Pens game, I got worried that I didn't know what to do with p(2)+p(-2)=0 in this situation.

ARGH!

Do you ever get the feeling someone is taking advantage of your kindness? There is a guy in one of my classes that gets notes from me sometimes. He tells me he is sick or this or that but I know since he found someone to get the notes from he's been skipping class to work. It isn't an inconvenience to get the notes to him so whatever.

He missed Thursday's class and emailed me to see if I'd meet him on Friday so he could get the notes. I replied that I maybe a little late since I take a different bus. The way things worked out, I actually got to school earlier than I said I'd meet him*. I sat for a half hour waiting for him and he never showed up! I just received an email from him:
"I did not get your email until Saturday, I was at Riddell but thought you were late or weren’t coming."

LIAR! He got my email and figured it was a way of getting out of not showing up. Now he wants me to go out of my way so he can get the notes and "any hints" for the final.
I replied that I know he lied to me and left it at that.



*My bus made it downtown in time for my transfer for once. It is amazing how fast you get to school when you don't have to wait for more than 15 minutes for the next bus to come.

Fully admitting that I am a nerd

I've been working on a project since late December, thought some people out there might be interested in the results. I'm open to suggestions, comments and disagreements.
Chronological Buffyverse Viewing Guide(pdf)

For the Grad Students in my life....

Mead Releases New Grad-School-Ruled Notebook

RICHMOND, VA—Company officials say the new notebooks feature lines 3.55 millimeters apart, making them "infinitely more practical" for postgraduate work than the 7.1 millimeter college-ruled notebooks.

Tina Fey: One Hot 'Mama', Kristen Baldwin, EW Online

"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K..."

I think they may be auditioning entrepreneurs for Dragons' Den at the university today. There are "CBC Dragon's Den" signs everywhere directing people to the 5th floor of the Education building. This leads me to believe that either someone made a mistake on the sign or we have a new CBC sponsored burninating room.

Updated: Stanley Cup Prediction (Along with Clouded Judgement)

I feel very uneasy about this prediction:


After scary accurate predictions for the first round last year and overall predictions the year before, I am not feeling so confident this year. My team, the Montreal Canadiens, finished first in the East and are playing a team they beat every time this season. Things are seeming a little too good to be true. Please forgive me for my seriously biased predictions. I do think Montreal can make it to the finals but they struggle against teams in the West so the won't win.

Dark Horse Prediction: Washington Capitals.

First Round Series to Watch: New Jersey Devils vs New York Rangers

Series that Just Might Surprise: Pittsburgh Penguins vs Ottawa Senators (if Ottawa can remember the team they were at the beginning of the season).

Update(April 8, 2008): The TSN hockey panel is predicting San Jose Sharks also.

How NKOTB Saved Me From Public Nudity

In my defense, to some jerks:

I was a very unpopular grade six girl: myself and one other girl were the only girls in the entire grade who were not New Kids on the Block fans. The other girl, Evelyn, is black so it was ok for her not to like them. Not ok for me -- was much worse than the Def Leppard persecution of grade five.

By the end of grade eight, there were only two girls in the entire grade who were fans of NKOTB. I still was very unpopular but at least I wasn't being persecuted for my lack of pop sensibilities.

Towards the end of grade nine, my Phys Ed teacher brought in an aerobics instructor for a couple classes. At the beginning of the first class, she starts the music. The song sounds familiar but when I heard "Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh"* I completely lost it -- I was on the floor laughing. For displaying such rudeness in front of our guest, my punishment was to put away everyone's mats after class.

The rest of the girls were still laughing at me as I entered the change room. I had no idea how I was going to make it to my next class in time since showering was a requirement at my school. As I opened my locker door, the fire alarm rang. Everyone else in the class was either in the shower or in various states of undress. Girls tired to grab their clothes and quickly get dressed. Our teacher came in and yelled at us to get out because "If this was a real fire, you'd be dead by now!" Everyone had to go out as is, I was the only student that was full dressed. Guess who was laughing now?

*Hangin' Tough

I Feel Your Pain, Man

Computer Being Stupid

CAMBRIDGE, MA—After multiple attempts to get the thing to do the thing, 38-year-old freelance writer Joe Garvin gave up Saturday, citing the...

We are so funny

Lyn and I are hilarious. I forwarded her and her sisters an email my parent sent me.

Fw: Phil A[] Award


Janny: I think it really should read Phil A[]'s award. Unless he is presenting the GG the Phil A[] Bravery in Beardedness award.

LynnieC: Seriously, that award needs to exist. I like that the GG would be the first recipient of the Bravery in Beardedness award. She's so brave.

Janny: It takes a very brave woman to wear her beard with pride.

LynnieC: I know, just ask Bronwyn. *zing*

You've Got to Be Kidding Me

As I walked into the university yesterday morning, I noticed a young women affixing a poster that read "theredrevolution.ca". Had the Communist Party of Canada begun recruiting at my school? In small print below the url: "Liberal Party of Canada". Umm, something is wrong here.

Official transcript of a sisterly phone conversation:
QoWP: "Whaaaaa-t? Liberals haven't been revolutionary since 1848."
Janny: "What happened in 1848?"
QoWP: "The Revolution of 1848."
[Rim Shot]

The Liberals referring to themselves as the
Red Revolution* is kind of like call myself Wonder Woman -- doesn't mean I have an invisible plane or a magic lasso.


*Originally Published 1918

How is a girl expected to study?

Canadiens clinch division over Senators
CBC Sports, Last Updated: Tuesday, April 1, 2008 | 10:26 PM ET

I'm so giddy. I feel bad that I want them not to win the Eastern conference so they will play Boston in the first round.

Weird thing is I now prefer to watch hockey en français. It was a pleasant break on Saturday not to have to listen to Don Cherry's nattering. Although I did change to the game in English just long enough for Grapes to complain about "the tree huggers".

That's me in pictures: update

Here’s how it works:
1. Go to http://www.photobucket.com/
2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box
3. Insert the picture into your Blog

Updated!!!!!What is your relationship status?

Yes, I am single but I don't have time for anything else.

What is your current mood?


What is your favourite movie?


What kind of pets do you have?


Where do you live?


Where do you work?


What do you look like?


What is your favourite TV show? (I went with ones on the air right now)


Describe yourself


What are you going to do tomorrow?
What I do every day....


What is your name?


What is your favourite candy?

A to the wesome

Exclusive: James Van Der Beek Gets In on the Robin Sparkles Action
Source: Korbi Ghosh, Watch with Kristin, Eonline, Mon, Mar 31, 2008

Ok, maybe just one more...

I said I would quit when Derek commented but I thought it would take longer.



Derek Fact #2: Derek can only eat toast ironically.

I maybe done with Derek facts but rest assure tiny pointing Derek will not be gone. He's the aweso.

Interesting but Untrue Facts about Derek

QWoP and I are starting a game: state interesting but untrue facts about Derek everyday until he comments on our respective blog. Play along if you like but let me know if you are.


Fact #1: Derek's hats double as 10-pin bowling ball bags.

Where Did that Come from?

I have the Zoobilee Zoo theme song stuck in my head. I probably haven't heard it in over 15 years. Bee-zarre.

Open Letter to the People in My Physics Lab

Dear Girl Who Talks Too Much,

The only thing more annoying than your Uggs is you incessant stories. First, I doubt your boyfriend will die if he has anymore radiation exposure, there is radiation all around us. Second, you can't be partially allergic to cats. You are or you aren't. Just like you can't be partially pregnant or kind of have cancer.

Love, Janny




Dear Only Student Older than Me,

Sliding around the class room doesn't show you are young at heart, it shows you are immature. I like the stubble but your clothes need to be about 3 sizes smaller.

Love but not is that kind of way, Janny




Dear John,

You're adorable. Thanks for staying late so people could finish filling out their evaluation forms.

Love, Janny




Dear Lab Instructor,

You're long hair doesn't make you more Rock 'n Roll. You are an experimental physicist, nothing can make you Rock 'n Roll.

Love, Janny




Dear Lab Partner,

Sorry about messing up the experiment so we had to start again. Totally my fault, thanks for not getting annoyed with me.
Sorry I weirded you out when you found out how old I am. I glad you can still be silly with me despite that fact. I hope you can figure out what to do with your life.

Love, Janny



Dear Other Lab Instructor,

This morning I woke up with this feeling
I didn't know how to deal with and so I just decided to myself
I'd hide it to myself and never talk about it
And did not go and shout it when you walked into the room
I think I love you

Let's get married and have lots of babies.
Love, Janny




Note to Self:

You know you're tired when the bag boy at the grocery store tells you to get some sleep. You have lots of work to do but get some rest.

Love, Janny

Into the Mind of Janny: Part II

For a review of Part I

Dreamed last night my university professor was trying to convince me to be a surrogate mother for him. He always wanted to have children but had never been able to get pregnant. I didn't want to but he would not take no for an answer. He walked in on me when I was in the shower to talk to me about it again. He had taken things too far; I held the slide doors shut and screamed for help. I could see Slash outside in the hallway looking for towels in the linen closet but he couldn't hear me over the steam. I screamed louder and then Slash and Snoop Dogg came to my rescue*. When I woke up, I thought the strange part was the shower had sliding doors.





*Obviously.

From Saint Patrick's Breastplate

Christ be with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ in me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me
Christ on my right
Christ on my left
Christ where I lie
Christ where I sit
Christ where I arise
Christ in the heart of every man
who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of every man
who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me
Salvation is of the Lord.

Saskatchewan Girls

Speaking of stereotypes, a friend sent me this joke this morning:

Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had set their new wives straight on their duties.
The first man had married a woman from Ontario, and bragged that he had told his wife she was going to do all the dishes and house cleaning that needed done at their house. He said that it took a couple days but on the third day he came home to a clean house and the dishes were all washed and put away.
The second man had married a woman from BC. He bragged that he had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. He told them that the first day he didn't see any results, but the next day it was better. By the third day, his house was clean, the dishes were done, and he had a huge dinner on the table.
The third man had married a woman from Saskatchewan. He boasted that he told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, snow shoveled, laundry washed and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day most of the swelling had gone down and he could see well enough out of his left eye to do the dishes and the laundry; and he thought by Saturday he'd be able to shovel the sidewalk.

Judging a Book by Its Cover...

I make up stories about the people I see out and about. For example, I saw a man with a mustache carrying a backpack and immediately assumed he was a mailman. Some prejudice are ridiculous and unfounded but others are generalizations based experience.* To preface my story, the judgments are usually pretty silly and harmless. If the person heard about it, they would have nothing to be offended about.

As previously stated, I am only the oldest student in one of my classes. There is a guy who looks older than me but I figured was probably actually younger. He always wears a ball cap, jeans, a sweatshirt and hikers. He has a goatee. From this I figured out he is originally from a small town, has dated the same girl since high school and is going to university for the first time after working for numerous years. He probably played hockey up until he moved away from his small town if he still doesn't play now.

I bring all my notes for this particular class. It makes me a little paranoid when the rest of the class is silent and Janice is rustling her papers. *Cringe* Anyhoo, once after class said prejudged guy asked if he could borrow my notes. Since then we occasionally talk but up until today it was only ever about class. We started talking about why we were taking our respective degrees when he revealed to me that
- him and his girlfriend moved from a small town to Regina after high school so she could go to university
- he had been working up until last year when he started university for the first time

I prejudge to amuse myself, that is a little creepy.





*Of course, you could have a skewed experience but that is another discussion.

I Blinded Her With Science

For my computer science assignment, I need to create a program that find the first four perfect numbers. A perfect number is one that the sum of the factors equals the number (for example: 1+2+3=6). In one of my math text books, I found a formula that calculates perfect numbers using prime numbers. My CS was warily about me using this formula and I'm not sure why.

The first four perfect numbers are
6
28
496
8128

What would you rather do: find the factors for 8128 numbers and then add the factors or find the first four prime numbers? My program runs faster than the program she would prefer I create. Doesn't everyone want a computer program that no only works but works quickly? My program works perfectly, fulfills all requirements of the assignment question so I'm keeping it that way it is. I'm not going to rewrite a program that is perfectly fine because of preference. I created a computer program that uses Fermat's Little Theorem and the Euclid-Euler Theorem, I should get bonus marks for that.

Ok, Ok, I got to it...

I updated my blog roll, I have others I will be adding in the next week or so.

Some new notables include:
Kicking up Confetti Leaves - friend and former coworker
DC Power - my father, the greatest super hero of all time.

I think I need to tell the story about the pseudonym, DC Power (mostly because I don't think my dad remembers everything about it):
A couple years ago I wanted to demonstrate my new webcam to my parents. I showed my dad how to use MSN Messenger. I set it up downstairs and they watched me upstairs. Dad, set up up his display name as DC Power -- his initials (he has no middle name) plus his occupation (electrical engineer).

Fast forward a couple years and both of his daughters have blogs. After much "frustration" over his "serious reputation being ruined" on his daughters' blogs, he started to threaten "just wait until I have my blog". Just like he claimed he was going to get a trick bike, it seemed like a pretty empty threat. Before Christmas, my dad and I were watching hockey and he threatened me with what he would post about me o n his blog, once he got one. I asked him what his blog name would be. He wasn't sure so I started suggesting ridiculous ones: "Rashumba, Queen of Fabrics", "Papa Brisebois", "David Powpow"* and "DC Power". I even called Dad "Papa Brisebois" for a couple days preceding.

With my dad working more at home during the winter, a coworker suggested they start web conferencing. He logged onto Windows Live Messenger for what he thought was the first time to rediscover he already had some contacts and the display name "DC Power". He admitted to me later that he thought I had just made it up and thought it was a pretty good nickname, not realising it was he made up himself.

Now my daddy has a blog, much to my surprise. Now, I know why my dad wants spring to come, he wants to learn some sick tricks on his new bike.


* Joe Powpow was a quarterback for the RoguhRiders in the 80s. Dad used to tease me that I was going to marry him someday just so my name would be Janice Powpow. I do admit, that would be a pretty awesome name.

Have you seen my silliness? I think I lost it.

The last two days I have been in a funk that I just can't seem to shake*. It started when I got back my computer science midterm. I lost about 17% due to careless errors and not reading the directions properly -- nothing to do with what I do or do not know. I didn't do poorly but it was the difference between an OK mark and an excellent mark. I have to step it up even more to reach my goals. It seems daunting right now but all I can do is improve my work habits one at a time. Sigh.

Yesterday my former faculty adviser emailed me to see how the semester was going. How can I tell him that I know how to learn, I know how to study, I know how to write a test, I know how to achieve the needed higher levels of thinking but I just can't pull it together to make it happen? Translating theory into practice. I've spent years transforming the work habits of students and can't transform my own. Being an above average student isn't enough.

I was feeling a little better this morning like "Hey, I have problems but I can tackle them." I received back an assignment this morning and I lost 10 marks out of a possible 50 because I forgot to include the last page. As the professor handed it to me, he looked at me like "What happened?"** I was in his office last week to ask him questions and he knew I was done. He is the kind of professor that takes his student's results kind of personally. It absolutely breaks my heart to think I disappointed him. OK, maybe not disappoint him but the frustration of a student who's mark does not reflect the ability.***

I'm supposed to go to my physic lab instructor's office to pick up my notebook so I can prepare for this afternoon's lab. I'm filled with dread -- I don't even want to know how I did. I think I did well but I'm not prepared for disappointment.

For disclosure, things that did not help the situation:
- I left my lights on yesterday and my battery died. Why do I only seem to need to call CAA during the winter?
- Bron's post
- etcetera, etcetera, etcetera

* The Project Runway finale didn't even help.
**My interpretation but I know him well enough that it won't be far from the truth.
*** Of course, I think he overestimates my ability since he has a slight bias towards me.

Talking Pants

Sitting in Calculus class, suddenly I heard a woman's voice inaudibly speaking. I looked around to see who was so rudely talking during the lecture only to find no females sitting anywhere near me.* I noticed the guy beside me looking around too. Very loudly she said "Hello? Hello? Are you there?" The guy next me looked shocked and started to TRY to shut off his cell phone from outside his pant pocket. I started laughing as he fumbled to get the phone out which got him laughing which got me laughing even more. His friends became very curious why their friend was in hysterics with a girl he doesn't know. He explained to them after class, his phone was on vibrate and he tried to shut it off but instead turned the speaker phone on. He didn't know what was going on right away. I was the only other person who saw what was going on.






* Contrary to a male classmates complaint of "too many chicks in the class". Stupid engineering students.

Who Says Women Aren’t Funny?

Who Says Women Aren’t Funny?
The idea that women aren’t funny—and which male said that?—seems pretty laughable these days. TV has unleashed a new generation of comediennes, who act, perform stand-up, write, and direct—dishing out the jokes with a side of sexy. Annie Leibovitz photographs a dozen of the wittiest dames in showbiz, from 30 Rock’s Tina Fey to Sarah Silverman, to S.N.L.’s current stars, while the author learns why the setup has changed.
Alessandra Stanley, Vanity Fair Online, April 2008

Some Germanic Truth

"When you say that you agree to a thing in principle you mean that you
have not the slightest intention of carrying it out in practice."
--Otto Von Bismarck

Grinning from Ear to Ear

My Habs are in first place in the East. The start a four game western road trip that should only extend their lead. It has been a very long time since they have been in this position so it is a little surreal right now.
For the past several years they start off strong, have a mid-season slump then pull it together to barely make the playoffs. Last season they started out strong but were hit hard by the flu that lasted about 3 weeks before everyone was back. Almost the entire team was dreadfully ill. They never were able to pull it together enough at the end to make it. (Didn't help that Toronto eliminated themselves and Montreal, stupid Maple Leafs).
Earlier in the week they traded Cristobal Huet, their goalie. I was livid. Former coach Jaques Demers said* that Montreal will not win the Stanley Cup without Huet and I tend to agree. Their go-to goalie, Carey Price, is very young and inexperienced**, you can see he has talent but I worry about the pressures of the playoffs. He has been doing well so far, time will only tell.
16 games to go...

*My French isn't the best and I was watching RDS. I think that is what he said.
**CBC news story about the Huet trade, will open up as a CBC video player.

Tim vs Christian Walk Off

With special bonus of Heidi Klum tickling tim Gunn.

Not Cool at All...

Prince Harry and the Secret Kept by Fleet Street, BRIAN STELTER and SARAH LYALL, March 1, 2008
Despite London’s rabid tabloid culture, journalists kept quiet for 10 weeks about Prince Harry’s deployment to Afghanistan.

In the case of Prince Harry, his life was put in more danger than it already was for the sake of the "latest information" to feed the voracious appetite of the general public. Real news organisations never publish the whereabouts of troops or people visiting troops until after fact for their safety. The UK tabloids which are reportedly are the worst offenders, managed to keep their mouths shut about it. Matt Drudge and that Australian magazine went way too far.

Here's some pictures the British Army released after he was safely back home. Yeah, they're pretty hot.
Prince Harry in Afghanistan, John Stillwell/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images, Published: 20080229
British reporters unleashed into the public domain all the interviews and video scenes of him discussing his deployment, wearing fatigues and firing his machine gun that they had been saving for later.

Wouldn't that Bore a Hole in His Head?

"On a Buffalo power play, Thomas Vanek fired a laser beam that found the glass behind the Montreal goal, bounced right back in front over the top of the net, hit Price in the back of the mask and rolled down his back and in."
Source: Plekanec and Price are peerless in victory over Sabres, Friday, February 29, 2008, 10:15 PM ET, CBC Sports

I watched the game on RDS (French TSN). I have no idea where Vanek even got the ray gun from. I personally did not see the laser beam so maybe the sports writer was wearing special infra red glasses. Since the ref was also not wearing infra red glasses could be why no penalty was called. I think the Habs need to petition league officials to review the tapes; shooting laser beams at least deserves a three game suspension. I've seen fans kicked out of rinks for using laser pointers during games so I'd imagine a player using a ray gun would be way worse.

Thomas Vanek and the offending ray gun




Author's Note: Yes, I know I'm ridiculous. Am I any more ridiculous than a man who writes about metaphoric laser beams?

Idiom Shortage Leaves Nation All Sewed Up In Horse Pies

WASHINGTON—Authorities expect the shortage to subside by April, but until then, urge citizens to skip shy the rickshaw until the flypaper marigolds can waterfall.

Ode to My Mother

My mommy is the bestest. She anticipated my need for .7 HB lead for my mechanical pencil.

Puzzling

I got the "whattup" nod from a 19 year old boy today. I have never seen him before in my entire life so it wasn't a greeting "whattup".

As Seen on a T-Shirt...

"You laugh at me because I am different, I laugh at you because you aren't"

Weird Question but...

Today someone during office hours at a location in the suburbs of Cleveland looked at my post about Bea Arthur wrestling dinosaurs four times. They may or may not be marginally clever. Any theories as who it could be? Any theories why they looked at it four times?

The Reality of My Finite Nature: Part 2

Here's a review of part 1.

I really feel like garbage. I ran out of time on my physics midterm and got a terrible grade. So much for bringing up my GPA. I had high hopes that physics was going to be my highest mark. It got me thinking about what will my average have to be to bring up my GPA to even consider applying for grad studies:

Current GPA: 76%
Classes Completed: 42
Needed GPA: 80%
Classes to Complete: 21
Total Classes: 63

(42/63)*76 + (21/63)x = 80
(2/3)*76 + (1/3)x = 80
3[(2/3)*76 + (1/3)x = 80]
2*76 +x=240
152 + x =240
x = 88

That's right folks, 88% average over 21 classes for 3rd & 4th year honours math classes, some second year physics, some first year chemistry and biology classes. I realized I may have blinded some of you with my mad algebra skills* but you don't need to be a mathemagican** to know that is a tad on the improbable side.

Why do I feel like I'm being punished for choices I made in my late teens and early twenties? I made a conscience effort to settle for doing "okay" so I could have a social life. Forty of those classes where completed before age 22. At the time, I needed at least 70% in my major (secondary math education) and 65% in my minor (secondary English education). I had well above that. Now I have 23 classes of the 40 that do not count towards my degree but do count towards my GPA.

I was getting help on an assignment this afternoon when the prof said "An intelligent person like yourself...". He was impressed*** that I figured out how to do a question that he did not teach in class and it isn't covered in the textbook. He was convinced he had covered it and went as far as looking through all of my notes to make sure. It made me feel a little better but compliments from profs do not bring up one's GPA.

People in my life, be prepared to see me even less for the next two months.

* I did the math in my head in the shower, that is why it is mad skills.
** Nickname a student gave me. I was also referred to as a mathlete. He was much more interested in math-related nicknames than the actually math.
*** Yeah but it took me two hours. Well it mostly took me two hours because I was watching hockey and then Sport Centre. C'mon, it was Trade Deadline '08. My boy Cristobal Huet was traded so how could a girl concentrate fully on linear algebra? It will be a future blog rant, trust.

You Go Girl

Emma Thompson Fights Miramax's Weight-Loss Demands, NYMag.com, "The Cut", 2/25/08,4:57 PM

7 Odd Things About Me

Yes, yes, tag I'm it. I finally got to it.

1. When bored I often imagine sound effects to people’s words or that the people around me break into elaborate dance sequences and /or musical numbers. My mind is very amusing.

2. When I was a first year teacher at a conference, I found out that my ability to learn by hearing is incredibly low and learning by doing and seeing are incredibly high. Learning by hearing is so low that the teacher facilitating the session was surprised I got good grades in school. People learn less by hearing than by seeing or doing but I learn way less than normal.

It really made sense to me. People have accused me of being hard of hearing and I usually retort that I am hard of listening. I can’t really spell something by sounding it out but rather remember what it looks like. Sometimes I even forget what word sounds match with what letters. Telling me a phone number or how to spell a word? You have to slowly say one letter/ number at a time. If I’m occupied with something else and someone starts talking to me, they will be half way through what they are saying even before my brain has processed that someone is trying to talk to me. I have a hard time watching TV if people are talking. This is why I often sit in the basement by myself to watch TV.

3. I was one of the shortest girls in my class up until grade 8. In two months I grew about 4 inches and became the second tallest girl in my school.

4. I hated apple juice even from the time I was a baby until I started getting allergy shots. I loved orange juice but it started making me very sick. I can only drink in it if it mixed with other juices or if I only have half a glass occasionally.

5. I can’t seem to eat crusts on bread. They are all scratchy on the roof of my mouth. If I’m eating a sandwich I’ll eat the crusts of the first half but not of the other. I used to dip my crusts in orange juice but now cannot (see above).

6. English was always my best subject in high school. I was always good at math but I was passionate about literature (still am). I didn’t get passionate about math until my second year as a teacher.

7. I can rewind and fast forward songs in my head. This may sound contrary to #2 but it actually isn’t. People’s ability to remember music is different than regular listening skills.

Tennessee Helpless Against New Basement Tornadoes

Tennessee Helpless Against New Basement Tornadoes

Seems oddly familiar...

E-Mail From Aunt Accidentally Opened

Sew Not Over

Shows With More Episodes this Season

Here's a list of shows with new episodes that will be produced before the end of the season.
The Return of Mother, Life and, Oh Yeah, Lost, Kristin Dos Santos, Eonline, Wed, Feb 13, 2008, 4:42 PM

Where's Will Smith when you need him?

Senate Passes Bill to Expand Government’s Spying Powers
New York Times, ERIC LICHTBLAU, Published: February 12, 2008
The Senate vote, a major victory for the White House, also gives legal protection to phone companies that aided government wiretapping.

Most Fun Photo Shoot Ever

To promote his upcoming movie, SI interviewed Will Ferrell for their swimsuit issue. You need a swimsuit model so get the one with the sense of humour to pull it off.

The Fug and the Fab

NYmag's 100 Most Fabulous Looks for Fall/Winter '08 from NY Fashion Week - including two looks from a Project Runway designer.


Even more amusing is NYMag's 100 Most Hideous Looks for Fall/Winter '08 from NY Fashion Week - vibrant plaids! yeti arms! paratrooper wear!

Those Wacky Communists

Kristin Dos Santos was covering the WGA union meeting in LA yesterday for E!. She noticed "Communists were distributing literature at the gate under the vague guise of being WGA helpers, but one wag who managed to duck the handout quipped, 'Oh, god, the Scientologists are everywhere!'"

Source: Strikewatch: Live from the Shrine Auditorium, Kristin Dos Santos, Sun, Feb 10, 2008, 12:51 AM



Like my new tag? Ten points for the first person who gets the reference.

V-Doub Representing Deutschland

My favourite commercial of 2007:


There is something inherently funny about Germans.

The Reality of My Finite Nature

I had to withdraw form a class and I feel terrible. It was a difficult class and I just didn't have the time or energy to dedicate to it. I have been thinking about for awhile and thought it would be enough to quit my job. My semester is just too heavy, especially for my first one back. I still need to take the class in the future but now that I know what to expect I can plan my semester accordingly. I still feel like garbage about it.

I need to think about the future : bring my GPA so I can get my honours degree and be eligible for a MSc. I'm not saying I will pursue my master's degree but I want to have the option. Not that my GPA is bad, the standards are different for an education degree. I did well enough but I could have done better. As it stands, my average is fine for an honours degree but not so fine if I even want to consider applying anywhere for a master's program.

Yes Mom, I know it is late. I'm just too wound up to sleep. You know how I get.

The Talk Show Throw Down

Jon Stewart & Stephen Colbert make a surprise appearance on Late night with Conan O'Brien. A "feud" erupted between O'Brien and Colbert over who made Mike Huckabee a viable presidential candidate. It culminated into:
'Vicious Cross-Network Melee Leaves Stewart, O'Brien and Colbert In Critical Condition' on Defamer*






* Sorry, I tried to embed the video but NBC website kept on embedding the wrong clip. I could only get the correct clip form the Defamer website.

SuperBowl Ads

Since when are Super Bowl games exciting? Apparently exciting enough to take me away from my mounds of homework and watch it. I'm usually meh towards the NFL. It isn't that I don't like football, I just don't have a team that I'm passionate about. Whether you like football or not, you need to check out The Only Super Bowl Ads Worth Watching.

It is like Christmas twice a year...

New York Fashion week is once again upon us. The Fugly Girls are back posting for New York Magazine's fashion blog.

Nutcracker of Truth sez...

"Lyn is pretty."

I've finally uploaded more pictures on Flickr, check them out.

I heart i*

Know that I am an honours math student, my prof turned to me and asked if I had taken any complex number analysis classes. I wasn't sure if he was looking at me since the class was in a lecture theatre and there was about 10 other people he could have been looking at. Maybe he misunderstood the sudden joy** of hearing there was such a class at the university as that I already had taken it.

I'm not sure why he singles me out in a class of over a hundred students. This is the third time he has done it. The first time he ask me specifically if I understood the theorem he just explained. The second time I dropped my eraser he he leaped off the stage to retrieve it. It maybe because the first time I met him I asked how his name was pronounced which he appreciated. Or maybe my dad told him I do a wicked awesome impression of him. Who knows.



* i = sqrt(-1)
**Yes Kate, I know that I am a nerd.

What I read instead of Abstract Algebra...

Shia LaBeouf Models the Latest in Cow Couture - pictures not used from his recent SNL appearance.

From Gawker: Science Proves You Just Like Music Because It's Popular - I knew it! You conformist sheep.

Stephen Jay Gould Speaks Out Against Science Paparazzi

I'm such a nerd...

I finished working on homework early so what does Janice do? Catch up on her TV shows? No. Go to bed early? Nope. Read a non-school book? Not even close. I decided to work on a bonus question from my computer programming class. I know, I'm ridiculous.

Man Braves Freezing Weather To Cross Parking Lot

Man Braves Freezing Weather To Cross Parking Lot

Top Ten Campaign Promises

Book Meme

1. Name one book that changed your life.
The Information by Martin Amis. I really started to look at the world differently after reading it.

2. Name one book you have read more than once.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Has to be the most pleasant book ever. It makes me happy in the same way Amelie and Pushing Daisies do. Everyone needs to be reminded what it is like to be a little kid.

3. One book you would want on a desert island.
The Bible. It is the Book of books you know.

4. Two books that made you laugh.
Joe's Apartment by Gordon Korman
The Information (it realy made me realize what a dark sense of humour I have).

5. One book that made you cry.
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. A little boy named Oskar finds a key in hidden vase by his father who died on 9/11. The boy begins to search to see what the key is for. I loved this book even more than Everything is Illuminated.

6. One book you wish you’d written.
Can't think of any.

7. One book you wish had never been written.
Fifteen by Beverley Cleary. Seriously the worst book I've ever read in my entire life. A teenage girl wants a yellow rain slicker but her mom buys her pick one. Said teenage girl gets so upset she puts roses in the garbage disposal. Parents can't handle such a rebellious girl so they decide to send her way to live with her mom's friend. Teenage girl finally gets a boyfriend who just happens to be a popular basketball player. He starts failing classes so they aren't allowed to see each other anymore. One her last day before going home she realized that she really truly loved this random boy who is barely in the book. She is devastated. There was a lot of "You got to be kidding me!" while reading this book.


8. Two books I am currently reading.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. I'm about 2/3 done which means I've read over 600 pages. This book is never going to finish. A coworker remarked "What? Only Tolstoy's second longest book?".
I'm currently also reading Physics: Principles with Applications and Programming and Problem Solving With C++

More Than Anyone Would Want to See...

I have the unfortunately incident of seeing an old man's butt on the bus. My seat was facing the door and his pants exposed at 3/4 of his old man hairy butt. Gross.

Apple as an Economic Indicator

Follow this logic: analysts say since Apple had the most profitable quarter of its history (and sold the most amount of product), the American economy is not in a recession. The only difference between the good times and the bad are the number of companies that are profitable. Now there is a company that is so tied into our culture it alone is considered the economic indicator. Hear that? That was my mind being blown.

Source: Analysis: Apple's best-ever quarter is no disappointment by MacJournals.com,Jan 23, 2008 5:48 pm

For Those Who Like to Doot Doot D.A.N.C.E.*

Did you that Downloads.com has a music section (music.download.com)? I discovered it recently. Most music you can only stream but there are some free MP3s you can download. Here is one of my favourite songs of the moment:
Justice featuring Mos Def and Spank Rock - "D.A.N.C.E." (Benny Blanco Remix)





*That's an in joke.

You know you are tired when...

You fall asleep on the bus, miss you stop and have to walk 4 blocks in January.

I think Jerry O'Connell just redeemed himself...

A Short Rant About My Physics Lab

1. The physics dept got the bright idea to have reports due two days after lab instead of a week. They did not tell us this until the lab. Even though I lucked out and enrolled in a Thursday lab (meaning a Monday due date), this still is not enough time. It gives a student no time to go to the lab instructor for clarification.

2. This is the first time that they have ever had this particular experiment for this class. I really don't think they realized how long it would take non-physicists to do this lab or this report. I going on to the 7th hour of working on this lab and I'm no where close to being done.

3. They changed the format of the lab so they give the student less directions. They want students to figure out more on their own. Dude, how about you teach us how? they reworded the whole lab book and the instructions are confusing. We get questions like: what is the volume of atmospheric pressure? The volume of atmospheric pressure? Let me think, most of the Earth's atmosphere is within 10km of the surface, the Earth has a a radius of approximately 6,371 km. V=(pi)(6371km - 10km)^3 = [maternal expletive] nothing to do with this experiment!

4. I'm tired and I'm making stupid mistakes. It is nearly 2 am and I wanted to go to bed at 8 pm. I have been averaging less than 6 hours of sleep a night and I look and feel like death. Now I have the tough decision of do I go to bed now and try to wake up early or stay up until it is done?

Overheard in a Call Centre

Coworker1: Oh, you're a musician? What do you play?
Coworker2: Steel drums
Coworker1 [shouting]: HOT!!!
Coworker2: [crickets chirping]

I know I should be asleep but...

I had to tell you my seamed nylons arrived today courtesy of her Majesty's mail. That's right fellow babies, they're imported from England. Not only are they seamed nylons but they are seamed nylons for the big and tall girl.

Blogger's note: I'm not awake from excitement, I'm awake with a case of the "too much homework". That seems to be going around lately. I'm allergic to eggs so I couldn't get the shot for it.

The Student Commutor Workout

Equipment Needed: Shoulder bag containing at least one large hardcover textbook, various food filled plastic container, a travel mug, one clipboard, one package of loose leaf, cell phone and various miscellaneous office supplies

The Workout:
Phase One: Trip to the University
Leave your house in the morning at the last possible minute so it is guaranteed that you will nearly miss your bus. Run like your life depended on it to catch the bus or you will be late for school. Motivation is the key to this workout.

Phase Two: Trip from Class to Class
To get the full benefit, make sure that your professor never end class on time and your next class is on the opposite side of campus, up several flights of stairs.

Phase Three: Trip to Work
Before catching your bus to go to work, purchase lunch from the most popular food establishment to guarantee the longest line thus the longest wait time. Try to eat your food as quickly as possible and underestimate how much time you will need repack your equipment (see above). Run like your life depended on it to catch the bus or you will be late for work.

Once you arrive downtown, get off at least 4 blocks away from work because transferring to the bus that would take you right to work would make you late. To ensure greater motivation, walk to work in the middle of a winter storm. Strong winds not only encourage you to increase your pace but also provide excellent resistance training.

Phase Three: Trip Home
Make sure your boss give you too much work so you have to leave late so you have approximately 8 minutes to cover 3 blocks. This will ensure that you will in fact miss your bus forcing you to run to the next stop two blocks away like your life depended upon it. In fact your life does depend upon it because it is after 9pm, you are downtown and the next bus doesn't come for another hour. As with phase three, winter weather is still a great motivating factor.

The results: Even the fittest person will feel the burn in their abs, legs and shoulders.

Just Call Me Student Lady

Hello Blogosphere! I hope you missed me. I really need to be in bed but we have so much to catch up on.

This week was Teacher Lady's triumphant return to university and what a week it was. I'll try to break it down into categories.

The Bus
I decided not to get a university parking pass and opted instead for a student bus pass. It will also save me gas money. I had a transit pass in Calgary that cost me $75/month and I was amazed that a student pass here is only $48/month (there is no such thing as a student pass in Calgary and an adult pass is for anyone over 14). After studying the routes, I figured out that driving 5 minutes and parking my car at a nearby mall would save me about a half hour of travel time. I was pretty used to this concept since I always used to drive my car to a nearby train station in Calgary.

The first day I took the bus was on Tuesday. After classes, I take the bus downtown to work. As of this week I've shifted to part-time hours and Tuesday was my first 1-9 shift. The plan was to catch the 9:15 bus at Victoria Park which is a couple blocks north of work. As I arrived at the bus stop (early) the bus started to pull away. Since I was coming from behind the bus driver didn't see me. The next stop is at Cornwall and because of the one way streets the bus has to go to Broad and loop around to 11th. Cutting through Scarth Street Mall, "I ran. I ran until my muscles burned and my veins pumped battery acid." I beat the bus there. Actually, I beat the bus there but didn't know it and had to check about 7 other buses to see if they were the right number. I had to double back when my bus arrived. (See illustration below. My path is black, the bus' path is blue). I had two text books in my bag and I was wearing winter boots and the impact on the pavement and the lack of proper footwear bruised the bottoms of my heels.

Excuse the crude path drawing, I'm still learning GIMP

In other news, the route on the way home from the university makes me motion sick. I don't know why but I suspect it is because it winds so much. Today I took Gravol to combat but since I couldn't swallow, it got stuck at the back of my mouth. So gross. Once swallowed, I had a peppermint to get rid of the taste. Bad idea, you should not mix peppermint and Gravol. Peppermint relaxes the esophagus opening* and I think it messed with Gravol working properly. It also made my throat numb. I should have known better.

Classes
This semester is going to kick my butt, as my former roommate used to say. I have five classes (one of which is an honours math class) and two labs, all of which are faculty of science classes. Every week I will have 4 assignments, 2 labs and 1 quiz. Four out of my classes seem like the work will be easy but just a lot of it. My honours class probably will make me cry and make me cry often. I'm struggling with the review material (does not help that I took the prerequisite class over ten years ago). I was slightly comforted by the fact that I have more of a clue of what is going on than the rest of the class (comforting but does not help the grade). A fellow student found notes from a different prof as well as his old assignments and tests. I hope this will be a help since I've only had two classes and I fell like I'm a semester behind.

They restructured the math requirements for Education, Science and Engineering so now everyone takes the same classes (For example: they used to have specific Engineering Calculus classes). I'm not used to such big classes, especially 3rd year math classes. Three out of my five classes are held in lecture theatres. My honours math class only has five people in it and the class room is comically large.

As of today, I am officially an honours student. I had enrolled as one but through a clerical error I was not registered as one. The Department of Math recognized me as one but the university did not. There is a summer research job I'd like to apply for but it needs to say on my transcript that I am an honours student.

Making Myself Known
I'm trying to be bold and make myself know to my professors, lab instructors and people in the math department. I figure it can only help me in the long run so I had to bite the bullet and overcome my shyness. The acting department head is the only professor I have this semester that I've had before. I asked him a question after class and we got talking about his markers (as in people who mark). When I mentioned I previously had been a high school math teacher who has taught Calculus, he encouraged me to apply to be a marker in the fall (too late now). I also randomly ran into the former dept head who I've had many dealings with when I was previously at the university and after as a teacher at conferences. He is retired from teaching but still works at the university running a math education website. He gave me his card because he wants me to come visit him. He wants to talk about my academic future and get my feedback on the website. He was one my favourite profs, second only to Jimmy P (but who can ever complete with a soulful tenor?**) He is so awesome, he has a great bushy beard and wears cable-knit sweaters.

I Am So Old (But I Don't Look It)
Nobody has called me a Narc yet, so that is a plus. Even though I am probably the oldest person (besides the prof) in the class, I don't look it. Some of my classmates look 12 but some look older (poor premature balding boys). It helps that I am mostly taking 3rd year classes.

The university had to reissue my student card since my purse was stolen after the last time I took a class. The girl gave me the option of using my old picture since I "look the same" (her words). I could not believe they would let me use an ID picture from 1996 of an 18 year old Janny. Almost 30 year old Janny approves and will take that as a compliment.

The math dept head looks exactly the same as he did ten years ago. I think he is in his late 40s (judging from how long he has had his PhD). I'm pretty sure he has the same clothes too (or he buys his clothes in bulk). His Dr Martens circa 1994 would be the dead give away.

More stories for another time.....

*gastro-oesophageal sphincter if you want to get technical
**An April Fool's Edition of the U of R newspaper ran an "article" about a boy band comprising of beloved faculty. The nickname, Jimmy P, stuck. Jimmy P, kicking it to you history style.

Wisecracking Applications

I was converting some avi files to mpeg-4 when iSquint kept on switching how long it was going to take. First it would say 7 minutes then less than a minute then back to 7 minutes again. Finally it said:


When you go into advanced settings it announces "What? You think you're better than me?"

***Blush***

To combat boredom, myself and a co-worker make paper snowflakes to decorate our cubicles. Yesterday I was leaving a message on a customer's voice mail. While explaining how I fold my paper, I realized I had not ended the call. Approximately 40 seconds was for message and the other 90 seconds was explanation on how to make paper snowflakes. I don't blush often but my co-workers noted I was beet-red.

Oh Snap*

I spent most of today calling customers to let them know when they can upgrade their cell phone. From as much as I remember, this is a VERY revealing conversation I had today. The names and places have been changed to protect the innocent (and not so innocent).

Teacherlady: Hi, is [Bob] there?
Wife: No, he's at work. Can I take a message?
TL: [Company preamble] Can you let [Bob] know that the cell phone he purchased from us about two years ago is eligible for an upgrade [later this month]?
W: You must have the wrong [Bob], we don't have a cell phone.
TL: Is this the [Bob Smith**] residence?
W: Yes, what address do you have?
TL [Cherrytree Lane]
W: That's our house. When was the phone purchased?
TL: Two years ago.
W: Hmmm, When was the last call made?
TL: Sorry, I don't have access to that information. Only if [Bob] called directly could he find that out. If there has been some sort of mistake, tell [Bob] to call us directly so we can get this fixed.
W: Umm, [long pause] well thank you for telling me. [long pause]
TL: Well, [awkward pause] thank you for your time and hope you have a good day.

A couple minutes later I was on the phone when a co-worker told me there was a very angry woman on the phone who would talk to no one but me. By the time he tried transferring the call, she had hung up.

I explained to my co-workers and supervisor what had happened. Then I told them what I wanted to say the customer if he called in mad. "Number one: It's not my fault that you two have trust issues. Number two: It is not my fault that you are dumb enough to use your house number as your customer contact number for your secret cell phone."

* I never use the phrase but that was my honest reaction after hanging up the phone.
** The real name is actually uncommon so it was no mistaking that I had the right house.

"All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down"

At my previous school, one of the teacher assistants JUST HAD to tell me her daughter's first impression of me. Her daughter pulled up to drop her off at the front when she saw me for the first time. She turns to her mom and says "Look how skinny she is, that's just disgusting." Umm, thanks for the story? The lady thought it was really funny.

I rarely get compliments on my physical appearance. I'm not saying I should but it would at least be a good counter-balance to garbage that comes out of people's mouthes abut my weight. Comments like "I hate how skinny you are" and "You're so skinny, it disgusts me". I've had other comments like "I must weigh 100 pounds" or "I'd break like a twig" or "Eat more, you need to fatten up." What do you think that does to a person's self-esteem? Those are the sort of things that absolutely ring in my ears. Sometimes I want to scream "I'm OK with the way I look, why can't you be OK with the way I look!"

I've even had people "joke" about me being anorexic. Like me having an eating disorder is the ONLY I could be thin. High metabolism, genetics, food allergies and eating relatively well have NOTHING to do with it. There was one friend that said something along those lines that was so hurtful that I walked away from him and never spoke to him again. Talking to people that way is just cool.


This past spring a girl friend was tell us how great it was that this guy was bashing skinny girls. First off, bashing someone else's appearance is not considered a compliment. Secondly, wouldn't anyone rather have a compliment than feeling better by making others feel worse?

When did it become socially acceptable to bash people for the way that they look? I once a friend told me that if she didn't know me she'd hate me because of the way that I look. That is a ballsy statement. My first reaction was wondering how she would feel if I said the same thing to her. I'd probably get slapped and deservingly so.

Lessons of the Day: Instead of tearing people down, try building them up.
Bonus Lesson: People will try to tear you down no matter how you look.

Happy Birthday Sister!

You are a whiter shade of pale but you will always be yellow baby to me. Happy 27th birthday Maryanne.

Impressive

I impressed a young coworker today with my parallel parking skills. It was a tight spot and it took me a bit to get in. He watching me the whole time and I thought he was going to give me a hard time. Bonus points for it being a left side parallel park.

My boss thanked me today for what a good job I've been doing. I don't really think I am doing anything special -- I work hard and ask lots of questions to make sure I am doing it right. The job isn't hard but a lot of my coworkers put the zzzzzzzzzzzz in lazy.

That was then this is now. I started training for the job I was actually hired for today (two weeks after I started). There is so much to learn but it is pretty easy. The funny thing is they've decided to train the inbound reps (what I was hired for) to do outbound calls (what I've been doing for the past two weeks). Since I've been doing such a good job, they told me I'm going to help train. Me? I'm the newest employee and I'm helping train.