nerdy & flirty

First day of classes, and Duke doesn’t want me to open my...

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:00:31 -0400

First day of classes, and Duke doesn’t want me to open my textbooks.

He’s also in the midst of a yawn in this photo.

I really love how production laid out my latest article.

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 16:09:29 -0400

I really love how production laid out my latest article.

"After going to MIT, I’ve come to realize that ugly people can be players too."

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 00:39:48 -0400

“After going to MIT, I’ve come to realize that ugly people can be players too.”

- The Best Friend

sneakypooh: how to wash a cat. Note to self: buy a wetsuit. I...

Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:29:00 -0400

sneakypooh:

how to wash a cat.

Note to self: buy a wetsuit.

I still have scars from the “panic hug” that Duke gave me the last time I tried to bathe him.

lol so you used to smoke regularly? why do you smoke? how much do you smoke in general in a week?

Sat, 17 Jul 2010 10:17:28 -0400

Yes, I used to smoke fairly regularly. Around a pack a week. Especially, while writing term papers. I adored the feeling of a cigarette break when working, and I found it to be the perfect cure for writer’s block. Then I started working for a nonprofit health-related agency, and I found my smoking habits to be inconsistent with the overall message of the agency. So, I pretty much stopped smoking. In general, if I do smoke, it’s less than one cigarette a month. So far, I’ve only smoked three cigarettes this year. It usually happens when I’m with my friends who smoke. Although, I prefer smoking cigars socially. In response to your other question, I’ve not smoked the unfiltered Camels.

do you smoke? if so, what brand and how much?

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:46:00 -0400

These days, I only smoke cigarettes socially. I keep a pack in one of my clutches; a pack tends to last me a year. I like my Reds; none of that Menthol stuff for me. I also don’t mind regular Camels. They’re about $8 a pack now in Boston, but in West Virginia they’re $4.50.

I also enjoy a Chinese cigarette company, Changsha, but I haven’t purchased any in the states.

Amazon Hooks College Students With A Free Year Of Amazon Prime

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:30:00 -0400

Amazon Hooks College Students With A Free Year Of Amazon Prime:

The online retailer has launched a program for college students — appropriately called Amazon Students — that offers a free one-year subscription to its premium Amazon Prime service, which normally runs $79 a year. The program also promises exclusive deals and promotions. To join, you’ll need to have an .edu email address and be enrolled in at least one college course (this is US only).

Source.

I can haz cheezburger?

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 08:45:00 -0400

I can haz cheezburger?

I made this soup over the Fourth of July weekend. It has to be...

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 12:07:40 -0400

I made this soup over the Fourth of July weekend. It has to be one of the best soups I’ve ever eaten. I avoided the heavy cream and substituted 2% Reduced Fat Fage Greek Yogurt. I couldn’t find shallots in Florida so I used onions instead. On a side note, I also couldn’t find Bok Choy in Florida except for wilted ones at Whole Foods, and various stores kept labeling leeks as Bok Choy -_-.

The asparagus soup looks like baby food after it comes out of the blender, but so long as the red pepper is roasted, the sauce compliments the soup well. The soup doesn’t really taste that asparagus-y, and lump crab meat is amazing. This is definitely a nice summer soup.

Duke just loves lab notebooks for some strange reason?

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 15:58:23 -0400

Duke just loves lab notebooks for some strange reason?

Your writing for the tech is pretty funny stuff, it's definitely one of the more entertaining stuff to read. What your major/year?

Thu, 27 May 2010 17:03:17 -0400

Thanks. I was originally 2011, but I took a year off so now I’m 2012. That makes me a rising Junior. I’m a Writing major (21W), and I can’t decide between Digital Media or Science Writing. So, I’ve been taking the classes required for both, and then I’ll decide when I write my Senior thesis. Because of MIT’s core requirements, I’m minoring in Biology as it helps fulfill my REST and Lab requirements.

Confession: I deliberately try to make games of Scrabble as...

Sat, 22 May 2010 14:13:31 -0400

Confession: I deliberately try to make games of Scrabble as dirty as possible. I thought the two moves side by side were pretty awesome.

One time, I managed to spell, “dildoes,” “orgy,” and “hoe” in the same game.

Pizza for Breakfast?

Thu, 13 May 2010 14:38:52 -0400

thekeri:

christineyu:

“Whatever, Jamie Oliver. Respectively, Huntington High stopped me from becoming obese in my teen years by serving such disgusting, repulsive school lunches, preventing me from eating between 7:30am-3:30pm. That’s how it works, silly Brit.”

—

Friend’s Facebook Status

See, I was planning on asking you what you thought of all that, Christine.

I’ve been asked quite a bit for my thoughts on this show, but I’ve never actually sat down and watched an entire episode. Instead, I’ve just heard outrage from my friends, “wait were you served PIZZA FOR BREAKFAST?”

I never ate breakfast at my high school.

I don’t remember eating any meal at my high school; I actually would take classes to get out of “lunch” until my senior year when the administrators changed the schedule to where lunch was no longer a module, and everyone needed to schedule a lunch. For my Senior year, I just ended up leaving early since I was only taking two classes and doing research for the other part of the day. Then, I would just eat before going into work. I always knew the school lunch was unhealthy and unsavory.

In all honesty, I don’t think Huntington is fat because of what they feed the youth. Instead, I would argue the obesity stems from so many factors.

I don’t know if Jamie Oliver has ever shown the parks, but one of them is full of bums and the other one is where hookers hang out by the bridge (which was painted pink at one time for “breast cancer awareness”.) The sad thing about the parks is that people drive there! Even if they live close by. Same with gym. My friends will drive an extra block to go from bar to bar.

I couldn’t lose weight until I went off to college and learned to love walking. However, I still don’t want to walk in West Virginia. This vehicle-dependency is almost necessary given that West Virginia is a hilly region. You have to drive to Huntington High School: it’s on a hill with narrow roads and high school students who drive too fast. This illustrates poor city planning.

From what I’ve heard about Jamie Oliver’s show, it sounds exploitative. If you truly want to help the town, how does a reality TV show that makes money off the horrors of feeding pizza to children for breakfast help? The fact he’s portraying the town in such a negative light in hopes of bringing change bothers me. It really irks me.

Why isn’t he talking about Safe Routes to School?

If he really wants to help, introduce a program for the kids. Don’t exploit the existing problems. Just focus on the positive: how to bring change.

"Whatever, Jamie Oliver. Respectively, Huntington High stopped me from becoming obese in my teen..."

Wed, 12 May 2010 22:11:25 -0400

“Whatever, Jamie Oliver. Respectively, Huntington High stopped me from becoming obese in my teen years by serving such disgusting, repulsive school lunches, preventing me from eating between 7:30am-3:30pm. That’s how it works, silly Brit.”

- Friend’s Facebook Status

Statistics about the region I grew up in depress me. This is...

Mon, 10 May 2010 02:08:00 -0400

Statistics about the region I grew up in depress me. This is from Men’s Health.

Charleston is 45 minutes from where I grew up, Huntington, WV, labeled by the AP, “the most unhealthy city in America.” Jamie Oliver is even doing that show about it. When I think back on the foods offered to me as a child, it amazes me it took the nation this long to fuss over the obesity issues in my hometown.

Pizza for breakfast at the elementary schools, enough said.

I always have issues visiting home. My parents have gained so much weight since moving to that town, and I just have to wonder if it’s about the lifestyle the town fosters. Really, you need a car to get around, and it makes more sense to drive another two blocks to find a better parking spot. You even have to drive to the gym and park.

"I like my women like I like my water, tested."

Fri, 07 May 2010 23:08:00 -0400

“I like my women like I like my water, tested.”

- A friend’s “too” offensive bar team slogan.

(I actually think it’s super catchy.)

SMBC

Wed, 05 May 2010 01:41:46 -0400

SMBC

Duke knows I spend way too much time with my lab notebook.

Tue, 04 May 2010 04:50:19 -0400

Duke knows I spend way too much time with my lab notebook.

a cat for president?

Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:55:00 -0400

Assignment: A Web page with, for now, your final project description (a short text) on it. This is part of your final project. The page will eventually contain the text of your project and/or documentation of it.

I haven’t fully decided what the best way to present my final project yet, or if there will even be a web component of it besides this mention. I may, due to time restraints, just create the hard copy for this class, and then eventually feed it online. Or, I may just release the .pdf on my blog. I figured to fulfill this assignment for now, I’d just blog about it. The idea behind my final project for an Experimental Writing class is to take source text from political documents or propaganda, particularly the US Constitution and rewrite the text to reflect the style and voice of Sockington the cat. The underlying intention of this piece is to cause the reader to rethink documents like the Constitution, and why such longstanding documents are so difficult to interpret.

Here’s a sample for those curious:

COME MY MINIONS yes, you only count as 3/5 a person for the sakes of taxes and representatives DEPENDING ON YOUR SKIN AND STATE.

MY ARMY will be recounted within 3 years of the formation of the UNITED SOCKINGTON NATION and then again every 10 years.

shh representatives of this nation cannot exceed one for every thirty-thousand minions BUT EVERY state will have at least ONE representative, YES I’M GENEROUS.

Compare it to the source text:

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons. The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to chuse three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New-York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.

"In spite of all the missed predictions, there were at least two people who understood the pill’s..."

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 02:24:18 -0400

“

In spite of all the missed predictions, there were at least two people who understood the pill’s revolutionary potential from the beginning: Margaret Sanger, who had first imagined a contraceptive pill in 1912, and Katharine McCormick, a wealthy feminist — both elderly women who had been advocates for women’s rights since the early 20th century, and who teamed up in the 1950s to bring the pill project to fruition. Sanger and McCormick financed the research and found the scientists to conduct it.

Sanger and McCormick anticipated how the pill would be a tool for women’s emancipation. And, indeed, the minute the F.D.A. announced it would be approved, millions of women rushed to their doctors for prescriptions. They would use the pill to gain control of not only their fertility, but also their lives. They could decide whether to have children, and when. They could take advantage of new opportunities for education, work and participation in public life that opened up in the years following the pill’s approval.

Today, women no longer need to choose between having a family and a career. At the pill’s 50th anniversary, that alone is well worth celebrating.

”

- Op-Ed Contributor - Promises the Pill Could Never Keep - NYTimes.com (via miraonthewall)