I'm lost for words

I haven't updated lately. Everytime I contemplated posting I couldn't think of anything to say. The past week at work went much better, and I get to start on my project Tuesday.

I spent a lovely long holiday weekend in Houston with my friends. I would have liked to go to the ballet, but finances being what they are, I had to pass. But nevertheless I had fun spending the day with Marc, visting the zoo, and going to An's birthday party. My friends also got to meet the elusive Marc. They were beginning to doubt his existence, and it was nice to prove that I'm not a crazy person with a make-believe boyfriend.

The new Walkmen album A Hundred Miles Off was released last week and I've been absorbing it so that I'll be prepared for their concert next month. Right now I'm listening to a band from England called Editors. They're really rocking my socks, and I highly recommmend giving them a listen. They remind me a lot of Interpol and Joy Division. Very melancholy and lush.

Utter failure and other stuff

So I started my new job in the research lab on Monday. This week has only emphasized the fact that I'm a complete failure (as much as Marc tries to convince me otherwise.) I've spent most of the week observing the grad students and my faculty mentor while trying to cram a whole molecular biology course in my head. I did successfully complete an ELISA test yesterday, but today I couldn't perform a simple metric conversion much to the amusement of the grad student, and I complete screwed up a plasmid recovery again much to the amusement of the grad student. He even gave me a copy of the gel photograph so that my failure can be captured for posterity. Sigh, I was warned that the first month of this program is going to be spent trying to figure out what's going on, the second month trying to get things to work, and the third month actually getting some data. And I can't even begin my project until my virus samples come in and right now they are being held hostage in Georgia somewhere. Oh well, at least they're paying me.

Lizards and Roses

Surprisingly something has happened in my life since I last posted. Yesterday I drove out to Independence, TX to the antique rose emporium where I purchased a rose bush for my mom for Mother's Day. I had never been out there before, and it was lovely. They have an amazing selection of heirloom roses, and beautiful display gardens that are in bloom now. There were butterflies, bees, and birds frolicking as well as some lizards that I had never seen before. My lizard expertise doesn't extend much further than anoles. The nearest I can figure is that it is some kind of whiptail lizard like the Cnemidophorus gularis pictured above. Very pretty and stripy. Anyway, so I went to look at roses, and ended up getting a Souvenir de St. Anne rose for mom. It has several buds on it, and looks like it will be blooming by this weekend which will be nice.

And now for a horrible story: I woke up a couple of mornings ago to find that my cat had gotten poo all over my beautiful white bedding including the pillow I was sleeping on. Not a fun way to wake up in the morning. Needless to say I immediately jumped into the shower, changed my sheets and pillowcases, and then scrubbed Queso clean. He didn't really appreciate the rough cleaning, but I told him I could've given him a bath so he got off lucky. Seriously, if I wanted a needy, expensive creature that makes nasty poos everywhere I would've had a baby. Queso and I have been cultivating our love/hate relationship lately because he needs to be medicated twice a day for two weeks for a bladder infection. The meds make him sick to his stomach so he hasn't been eating well, and he highly resents my grabbing him and stuffing a pill down his throat twice a day.

On a recommendation I'm listening to The Decemberists - Castaways and Cut-outs album which has a nifty album cover but is not inspiring me. Sounds like several British indie rock bands which is intriguing because they're from Portland, OR. Maybe it's the accordian in the background? Rock on.

Wasting Time

I'm reveling in my new found freedom from school. Finals are over and I'm taking it easy. I've been sleeping late, making blueberry muffins from scratch, went to a gardening seminar and bought some more pretty plants for my porch, cleaned my apartment, gone shopping, and been exercising regularly. Besides the productive stuff, I also went and partied Thursday night and read US weekly. I really missed all the hollywood trash. The best part is the total lack of serious thought that I can indulge in right now. All of this will be short lived though as I start my research project in a week. At least I'll have evenings off (I decided not to get the evening job because the government gave me an additional grant and subsidized student loan for next year hooray!)

I have to finish cleaning my apartment so I can run the carpet cleaner that I borrowed from my mom. I'm driving to Houston tomorrow to return it and attend a birthday dinner for my love's grandmother.

Right now I'm listening to Kings of Leon - Holy Roller Novacaine EP

Cold hearted old days

Two finals down, two more to go. I think my brain is going to melt down before then though. I've put so much effort into studying for my anatomy final that I've let the other subjects sit on the back burner too long. The upside is that I did really well in anatomy, but now I'm feeling the pressure from the other impending finals.

On a happier note I finally managed to decontaminate my apartment. The fly plague was brought to an end with some fly paper, and after putting lemons, bleach, and vinegar down my garbage disposal it no longer smells like death. And I'm even going to clean my carpets on Friday after finals are over. This place might actually be liveable again soon.

Time to work off some stress by running and then it's back to the books. I've been listening to Millencolin's Kingwood. The mindless noise is good for getting my mind off how much my life sucks right now.