JiBB

01:19 am - Visiting

I'm in Claremont now, visiting grammaravenger until Sunday. Hooray!

Current Mood: joyous

07:31 am - Quake!

Ah ha! That was an earthquake I felt at 5:25—a magnitude 4.5 quake about 14 miles away. There were a few seconds of the house shaking mildly and the pictures on the wall rattling. Now I've noticed as many earthquakes while in Seattle as I had while down in Southern California, right by the San Andreas fault.

12:56 am - Off to the Grand Canyon

Summer is winding to a close. I had Amanda here for a wonderful month of August, but now she's back in Claremont. I wrapped up my internship at blist earlier this month, and now I'm headed out for a two week trip with my father, kayaking down the Grand Canyon. I'll see you all on the 22nd, right before I start grad school again.

03:48 pm - Moving, kayaking, internship

Two weeks ago, I moved from my apartment to a nice, 1904 house in Fremont, along with leahseraph, kaflurbaleen, Aaron, and Sylvia (although leahseraph is gone for the first part of the summer, while kaflurbaleen's boyfriend is living with us). Moving, recovering from a cold, finishing grading, and finishing with classes made for a hectic week, but I'm all done now. The common areas were originally a mess with all of our communal possessions and furniture piled up, but things are rapidly becoming neater, more organized, and a comfortable, livable house. Pictures at some point, once I've smacked my camera into working.

Last weekend was nice. An afternoon of playing games with Amos, and then I spent almost all of the rest hanging out with Ally and Jess. We, and several other Amazon interns, went kayaking for Ally's birthday, which was excellent. We paddled from Lake Union, through the Montlake Cut, and to the University docks, where there was a brief excursion to the CS building for Benson Store snacks (My poor barefoot feet!). I ended up sunburnt and sore, but it was worth it to get back on the water, and with good paddling companions.

This week I've been getting started at blist. I'm still settling in and working out what exactly I'll be doing for the summer, but it looks like it'll be a good experience. Lots of new skills to learn and interesting challenges to tackle.

09:19 pm - Biscotti recipe

I've made biscotti a number of times lately, as they're a perfect snack to leave in a jar on my desk; they're simple, long-lasting, and go well with tea. I've been using the recipes from The New Best Recipe cookbook, which I've adapted into a recipe with several variations.

My current favorite of the variations are hard lemon-anise biscotti to dip in my tea, or softer spiced biscotti with orange or with currants for when I want a snack, but don't have time to make tea.

03:11 pm

Last night leahseraph and kaflurbaleen came over, and we made molé and fresh tortillas. Most tasty, and a good use of cast iron.

03:43 am

02:50 am - I can has internetz?

I've got an internet connection at home now. Quite convenient.

Current Mood: happy

05:53 pm - Moving

I continue my habit of procrastinating on updates. Much has happened since I last posted. I've worked on research for the summer, learned my way around Seattle, and met some rather nifty people.

But now summer is ending, the research paper is finished, and I've got myself a new apartment. I'm now living in the Wedgwood neighborhood of Seattle. The apartment has no internet access yet and is still a little (or entirely) unfurnished, but I hope to change that this weekend, while my parents are visiting.

03:24 am - Alive. In Seattle. Doing fun stuff

A lot's happened since I last posted. I'm graduated. Went on a fun camping trip up the coast with many friends. Ended up in Seattle, where I'll be staying for some time.

I'm working with a 6th year graduate student on her research this summer, which is ending up quite interesting. It's also nice to start getting settled in Seattle before I start grad school at UW in the fall. I have a room for the summer in a house with 5 Berkeley grads---some in grad school, some working---but will be looking for my own apartment for the year.

I'm starting to meet people up here, and some people I know from Mudd are here too, but it's still somewhat of a change from being surrounded with friends and people I knew at college. Speaking of spending time around people, I had a fun 4th of July the other day. I went to the celebration in Bellevue with ladydrakaina and a group of nice people I've met through her. Hanging out, cake, Fluxx, fireworks, a wonderful concert (including quetz),... Plus, elocinnuala brought some shiny glowing poi, and I got to spin again; I need to get back in practice.

07:19 am - Ear piercings

It's been a couple of weeks since it happened, but in the spirit of trying to get in the habit of updating Livejournal before I graduate...

My ears are now more topologically interesting! Little 14 gauge barbells through each lobe. I like the look, and they've been fairly comfortable.

10:40 pm

Still off in Puerto Rico, and it is being fun and nice and warm. We spent a day in San Juan, then came out to Fajardo, on the east coast. Got to swim at the beach one day go up and hike in the El Junque rain forest up in the mountains today. Tomorrow, heading off to the little island of Culebra, a bit off the east coast of Puerto Rico.

And now my hour with the internet is almost up, but will hopefully I will get another chance later in the trip. Until then, enjoy your breaks (those of you on break).

02:02 am

Tomorrow (or perhaps now it is this) morning I'll be heading off to Puerto Rico for almost all of the rest of break. I'll try to check email and LJ occasionally while I'm down there, but for the most part I'll be out of touch until I get back to Mudd.

Enjoy the first bits of 2006, y'all.

05:22 pm - Grades

Portal is now showing all my grades, but it is still only using 5/6 of my classes when calculating my GPA. Odd. I assume that that will be fixed eventually.

Not going to post specific grades here, but I am satisfied with them. Even PLs, although screwing up the date of the final did hurt me more than I would like, is not as bad as I had feared.

Current Mood: content

11:52 pm - Late night snacks

Mmmm...

Being at home means much more choice for midnight snacks than microwaved-something back at Mudd. Last night: scrambled eggs with cheddar, parmesan, turkey bacon, and basil. Tonight I took my inspiration from Schlock Mercenary and made a chupaqueso (Another guide to making one). I only had sharp cheddar and parmesan, so I used cheddar instead of jack in the filling. Still quite tasty. And quite artery clogging. Quite tasty, along with some Satsumas. I found another description of making one that was rather helpful.

Current Mood: full

12:13 am - Cold!

Yipes, it's cold here in Colorado. I went out five minutes early to catch the bus back to Boulder, and got reminded of what cold is. My breath puffing out in a strong, frozen cloud, the cold air on my bare arms and face, the crinkly feeling your face gets when you suddenly expose it to really cold air, the tickle of a few snowflakes brushing your cheeks. Slightly painful, in a friendly sort of a way.

Admittedly, standing around in the cold waiting for the bus to be 25 minutes late was a bit much of the cold, but... It's still good to be back.

01:30 am - 21, teeth, and return

The other night I headed over to Denver to meet up with an old friend for dinner, cake, and a trip to the club to celebrate my 21st birthday. Unfortunately, a poorly-done filling in one of my molars decided to break in half and fall out. No good. My dentist's office is closed on Saturdays, but he offered to come in after his daughter's soccer game this afternoon and repair the filling. Turns out that meant he came in with his 13 year old daughter, still in her soccer gear, who was his assistant. Amusing, but my the filling seems much better now.

On an unrelated note, my packing (It all fit in my suitcase on the way out...) is all finished, so I should head to bed. I'll be back at Mudd around four this (Sunday) afternoon.

09:07 pm - New AIM screen name

I've been meaning to post this for some time now. I've abandoned my old AIM screen name in favor of JiBBering, in an attempt to maintain a more consistent, JiBB themed identity. Apologies to anyone who has been unable to contact me recently.

02:24 am - "You want the taste of dried leaves in boiled water?"

Tea makes everything better. That is, unless you pour a not-too-long-ago-boiling cup of it on your arm and into your lap. Of course, after you run cold water over the scalds, a cup of tea makes that better too.

"The first cup moistens my lips and throat. The second shatters my loneliness. The third causes the wrongs of life to fade gently from my recollection. The fourth purifies my soul. The fifth lifts me to the realms of the unwinking gods." - Chinese mystic Tang Dynasty

Current Mood: morose

12:08 pm - ...Of Science!