The Soap Box
A place for me to dump my brain and you to pick thru it

GRE Word 20
12:01am

halcyon - adj - calm and peaceful…which describes the vacation I'm going on. Ergo, this is the last GRE word until I get back in June. Have fun without me :)

Ack!
11:12am

Nick and I have a gig tonight. I don't get to sing with him all that often anymore so it's exciting and scary, both. Also, I'm EXHAUSTED and we are leaving on a 6am flight tomorrow for our vacation. My head is just reeling with everything I need to do or to pack. I hate forgetting things when on vaca. I need a personal assistant for the next 24 hours. Anyone volunteer?

GRE Word 19
11:08pm

inveigle - verb - to obtain by deception or flattery.

GRE Word 18
1:19pm

aver - verb - to state as fact; to confirm or support.

Wind
11:27am

One of the symptoms of spring in New Mexico is the return of a vicious wind! Last night my bedroom was shaking, the wind was so strong. I found it difficult to sleep last night and am now tired and pissy. This morning I found out the wind was gusting to 70 mph! Isn't that hurricane weather? It's still blowing so I'm keeping the cats in which makes Damien a TERROR! I have no patience for him today. He's about to find out what a 70 mph gust feels like as I throw him outside to get his ya-yas out. As I type this, his head is blocking the bottom left corner of my screen and I just know one of those claws is itching to rip a kep off of my brandie new laptop. Now he's trying to chew on my monitor. It's a good thing for him that I love him so much!

GRE Word 17
1:06am

rarefy - verb - to make or become thin, less dense; to refine.

I Feel Better
12:58am

OK, I now have all my old email on my new computer and have all my "favorites" restored to IE. Phew! I feel a lot better. It's been tough because OS X has a LOT of invisible files, like all the mail, for example. I ask you, what sense does it make to hide mail files? Is that so I don't delete them accidentally? While OS X might be easier to use for those who know NOTHING about computers, it is more frustrating for those of us who know where things SHOULD be. However, for me, it just gives me a challenge that I choose to accept. I can be incredibly tenacious about the stupidest things. So, if there are any OS X users out there that need to know where something is, just ask me! I now know where EVERYTHING is hidden    ;)

Mr. Personality
8:56pm

OK, she actually accepted the marriage proposal from one of the men who she had NEVER seen and get this…his name is Will Dike. I wonder if she'll take his name...oh, and he just happens to be a millionaire.

Santa Fe
8:45pm

So I took mom out to dinner in Santa Fe last night and there were only 2 other tables full the whole time we were there! Then today, I went downtown to The Plaza and found parking immediately! That is unheard of. I thought I must be dreaming! I went to the Burrito Company, where you can get the best breakfast burrito in the world, and there was no one there! I'm used to waiting in line there. There was no one in the stores either! It was so bizarre. There were people around outside, but if I had to make a living off of tourist dollars up there, I think I'd be starving. It was really quite sad. Santa Fe is an amazing, unique place and quite honestly, I wish I still lived there. I hope it was just a strange off day and the economy is not as bad there as it appears.

Strange Animal Happenings
8:26pm

Last week, someone broke into the Santa Fe animal shelter, doing a great deal of damage, and stole a puppy! What's up with that? My guess is that it's someone who was turned down for adoption. They are rather strict up there. Then the very next day, someone torched the Thrift Shop belonging to the Española animal shelter. The thrift shop is the financial basis for the shelter, generating $15k a month for the animals. Needless to say, they need to rebuild ASAP. Even tho I'm poorer than a churchmouse until I start my new job next month, I donated some money to the cause. I hope they get everything up and running soon!

PS: I got an A in my Abnormal Psych class! Yay!

PPS: I'm watching the series finale of Mr. Personality and I'm not proud.

GRE Word 16
8:24pm

quotidian - adj - occuring or recurring daily; commonplace.

And The Torture Begins…
12:21am

I got my new iBook within 19 hours of ordering it online and am using it as we speak. I ripped the AirPort card out of the old mac and threw it on here and was online within about 5 minutes! Just amazing. Now, tho, I have to transfer all the files from one machine to another and THAT is a pain in the ass. I couldn't find my serial number for Dreamweaver, which is what I use for blogging, and for whatever stupid reason, I couldn't get the free trial version to download so I had to do a bit of hacking to get Dreamweaver to work without inputting the serial number.

This machine is noticeably faster than my old one and that makes me happy. It's going to take some getting used to this trackpad which is bigger than my old one which means I keep hitting the top of it by accident and the mouse goes flying all over the place.

Later today, I'm going up to Santa Fe to spend a Mother's Day with mom since I was too busy studying last weekend to go up there. Speaking of studying, I got an A+ in my first graduate level class! That makes my GPA a 4.08! That's just ridiculous.

GRE Word 15
12:17am

Tortuous - adj - winding; twisting; excessively complicated.

GRE Word 14
11:54pm

vituperate - verb - to use harsh, condemnatiory language; to abuse or censure severely or abusively; berate.

GRE Word 13
9:54pm

capricious - adj - inclined to change one's mind impulsively, erratic, unpredictable

ARGGGGGHHHHH!
9:46pm

OK, I got my computer back but it's NOT FIXED! After they told me it would be fixed in 4 to 5 days, I went there today to ask what' the deal was. They told me it needed a new logic board which was going to be over $500! Ok, this computer is not worth $500 so I rush home to order a new computer so I can get it by tomorrow. Then they tell me it's not the logic board but it needs a new power card and it will be over $300 and I said, "Just give it back to me." So I ordered a new iBook (not the $3k TiBook) and should get it tomorrow. Good thing I have a credit card.

Depressed
12:32am

I have to bring my computer in to get fixed today. I'm having severe separation anxiety. I don't think I realized what an internet addict I am until now. When I'm at home I check my email every 20 minutes or so. I know it's an illness. I get all my news from either google, yahoo or excite. What am I going to do for the next week? I already feel lost. In reality, it's a good thing that my little Powerbook will be in the shop for the next week so that I will be less distracted while studying for my Abnormal Psych final , or so I tell myself. I always get overly attached to my computers. That's why I am still using this 400MHz black Powerbook instead of using a 1 GHz TiBook. I can't give this baby up! It's been so good to me over the past couple of years that I feel I owe it not to give it up just because it's not as cool looking or as fast as the current machines. (Also, the TiBook I want is like $3K.) My husband, being the wonderful guy that he is, has offered the use of his laptop from time to time over the next week but it's just not the same. Plus, it's a PC. While I'll definitely take him up on his offer to surf around, it is very unlikely I will be posting from his machine.

Well, wish me luck on my final and the GRE Word game will resume just as soon as my baby comes home from the hospital.

GRE Word 12
12:29am

reticent - adj - quiet; reserved; reluctant to express thoughts and feelings.

GRE Word 11
11:06pm

penurious - adj - penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous

GRE Word 10
10:26pm

effrontery - noun - extreme boldness; presumptuousness

Odds & Ends
10:17am

Well, it's time for finals again. I have one today in about 3 hours then another one next Thursday and in between I am a TA for a class of around 1000 students for which I need to proctor finals then input all the grades. (I wonder if I'll lose my mind.) So if you don't see me around much, that's why.

Anyone else watching Eco-Challenge Fiji?I personally find nothing more satisfying than sitting on my ass watching people race 3000 miles through rivers and a jungle called "the lost world." Last night, one racer said something to the effect of "no matter what I did, nothing would stop my diarrhea and vomiting." These athletes pay THOUSANDS of dollars for THAT? Uh, no thanks. I had the luxury of drinking my Starbuck's Chai from the comfort of my couch and enjoyed the fact that there is no way in which I will ever be in that situation.

I have to bring my computer in for some repairs. *SOB* What am I going to do while it's in the shop? Will I survive? Hopefully I can find someone to fix it in one day. Anyway, while it's being repaired, the GRE Word game will be temporarily suspended. I'll give you more details when I got it all figured out.

GRE Word 9
6:16pm

Infelicitous - adj -unfortunate; inappropriate

Unbelievable!
11:37am

The following is from Big White Guy who lives in Hong Kong and is reposted here with permission:

SARS: Pet People Panic

Panicky people make poor pet owners.

The Hong Kong SPCA has seen an increase in the number of abandoned animals from whom their owners fear they'll catch SARS. Small, furry animals such as hamsters and rabbits are being dumped because their owners believe the virus will be caught in their fur, which is ludicrous. Despite there has been no evidence to suggest having a pet increases the risk of contracting atypical pneumonia, hysteria has once again raised its ugly head, and people are making irrational decisions.

Some have even gone to the SPCA to have their animals euthanised for fear of SARS, but when they get turned down on that basis, the quickly invent some other reason. Other people just take their animals to places like Lamma Island on the weekend and leave them behind. It ticks me off that people are that irresponsible. A pet is not something to be tossed out at will.

And taking a dog for a walk is not likely to result in bringing SARS into the home any more than people are. Just as they should wash their hands and clean the floor, so should they clean the dog's feet and give it a bath. Alternatively, they could do like many dog owners in Hong Kong do—they could simply take the dog for a carry. The dog won't get SARS, but it also won't get any exercise, which is why so many dogs in Hong Kong are fat.

It's a good thing obesity isn't contagious.

GRE Word 8
12:05am

Mendacity - noun - the condition of being untruthful; dishonesty

GRE Word 7
12:24am

Aggrandize - verb - to increase in intensity, power or prestige

Bizarre Fact of the Day
4:33pm

Hilary Swank earned $75/day for shooting Boys Don't Cry for a grand total of $3000.

GRE Word 6
12:16am

Intransigent - adjective - refusing to compromise

O…M…G!
9:15pm

This is the most fucked up story I have EVER read. A hiker trapped by a boulder CUT OFF HIS OWN ARM, applied a tourniquet, rappelled down a cliff then walked for help! They say he's in serious condition. Gee, did you need a medical degree to figure that one out?

Movie Review of Sorts
8:36pm

Saw X Men and thoroughly enjoyed it. Parts don't make sense if you are looking for continuity so don't bother. Alan Cumming is awesome, of course. Very cool make-up job. And to the man whose son asked him what language Alan was speaking, that was GERMAN not Russian, DER! Munich is NOT in Russia but nice try. And we wonder why the youth of America is so fricken stupid.

Steph, not you too!
1:25pm

Sure, get me interested in your life, then cut me off! Humph! You'd better let me know how you're doing with your new job and bf and medical issues and all! Where else am I going to get my Segway sightings? I can assure you I am not going to see any in Albuquerque!

NO Gawddammit!
10:37am

The past tense of drag is NOT DRUG! It's dragged! If I catch you using drug incorrectly again, I'm gonna get medieval on your ass! I'm NOT kidding.

GRE Word 5
12:15am

Salubrious - adjective - promoting health or well-being

GRE Word 4
12:01am

Obdurate - adjective - unyielding; hardhearted; intractable

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