ok this is making me really angry. and disturbed. and worried. it's not good.
here is the link to the story from the Daily Bruin after it happened (the incident was this past tuesday). there weren't a lot of details at that time, but it still pissed me off. then I saw that someone had actually posted the video from their cellphone that they took while it was happening. after watching that, I felt kind of sick. it is a very disturbing video. you can hear him screaming and the officers yelling at him. it is not good. the students that were around were trying to get information (like their badge numbers and names) from the officers, but they threatened them with the taser instead of giving them the information.
today's LA Times had another article; the student is going to sue. there are more details in this article, especially the student's side of the story. I just hope that something good comes out of this. this is totally insane. what is going on with our country? (and the world?)
Friday, November 17, 2006
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
life + research = research
today's PhD Comic seemed especially relevant to how I feel about my research right now. *sigh*. for reals.
at least I like what I'm doing. and I seem to be able to get an OK amount of sleep this semester. but still. yeah.
at least I like what I'm doing. and I seem to be able to get an OK amount of sleep this semester. but still. yeah.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Bill Clinton!
well I had a bit of a fun surprise today. in the middle of a meeting I get an IM from Angel saying that Bill Clinton is coming to campus today and do I want to go? well, of course, yes, I do. so we walked over to the library lawn where it was all set up. and waited. and waited. finally some of the other democrat local candidates spoke and it was nice. and then we waited some more. (I would like to mention that Angel remembered the wrong time, so that made it even longer, but oh well.) finally, Bill Clinton showed up (along with Harry Mitchell and Jim Pederson) and gave a great speech. it was great to see all of us young college-aged (or post-college-aged) students out there cheering on the democrats. only five days until the election. don't forget to vote! this is the most important thing you can do as a citizen in a democratic country - don't take it for granted.
here's a couple pictures I got from my phone. they're not too great, but here they are anyway (if you click on them to make them bigger it is easier to see him).
here's a couple pictures I got from my phone. they're not too great, but here they are anyway (if you click on them to make them bigger it is easier to see him).
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
happy halloween!
so it's Tuesday. and it's Halloween. and I don't really feel like it's today. everyone had parties over the weekend, so that was more of the holiday for me. it was lots of fun. for my costume, I made a dress out of those blue bags from IKEA. I thought it was pretty clever, because I am obsessed with IKEA and love it to pieces, so it is sort of a crazy IKEA fan costume in some respects. everyone really liked it, which was cool. it was sort of born out of a need to do something creative and Project Runway no longer being on that drove me last wednesday night to go out and buy a sewing machine so I could construct the dress. it took a bit longer than I was expecting, but that is mostly because I got a really crappy cheap sewing machine. it works relatively well for what I paid for it, so I'm not actually complaining.
Jody dressed up as a Gumby from Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series. not many people actually knew what that meant, so he didn't get as good of a reaction as we were hoping, but I will say that he looked awesome and had the voice down and everything. for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's a link to a compilation of some of the finer Gumby moments from the Flying Circus.
here are pictures from the party at Katie, Angel, and Rosa's house on saturday (via my Google photo page):
if you prefer Flickr, you can check out the pictures there as well: http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrogirl720/sets/
Jody dressed up as a Gumby from Monty Python's Flying Circus TV series. not many people actually knew what that meant, so he didn't get as good of a reaction as we were hoping, but I will say that he looked awesome and had the voice down and everything. for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's a link to a compilation of some of the finer Gumby moments from the Flying Circus.
here are pictures from the party at Katie, Angel, and Rosa's house on saturday (via my Google photo page):
if you prefer Flickr, you can check out the pictures there as well: http://www.flickr.com/photos/astrogirl720/sets/
Monday, October 23, 2006
I had a weekend
well, last week was fairly crazy. not as bad as the previous week, but they are definitely keeping me busy here. at least the weather is beautiful now. sooo nice. really makes up for the insane summer.
friday evening we ended up going bowling. it was lots of fun. I hadn't been in a really long time, but somehow still managed to do well. Angel and Rosa didn't fare as well and Jody had to bowl left handed due to his shoulder injury, but he still did pretty good. anyway, it was fun. we should go again soon.
saturday, Jody taught me how to drive a manual transmission. so that was fun. I think I got the hang of it, driving around the parking lot. I think after another practice session I'll be ready for the harsh streets of Tempe. heh. I'm glad I finally learned. I had been trying for such a long time. people kept telling me they would teach me (ahem, jpg) but I never got around to it. so yay for that. it wasn't so hard.
saturday night angel tried to arrange a group outing to see tim burton's nightmare before christmas in 3D. without going into all the gory details, let's just say that the planning didn't go over so well as one person got left at home (due to some miscommunication) and we got into the movie late (angel had everyone's tickets and he was late), had to go find the 3D glasses from some clueless movie theatre employee and had to sit in the second row. ugh. but, the movie was good, so I guess that mostly makes up for it. well, that and the glasses were seriously hilarious. they made everyone look like either a bug or elton john.
sunday I slept in a bit, then got some work done. at our soccer game last night, I scored the one and only goal. so hooray for that. it felt good to win for a change. our team has a bunch of new players this season and we're trying to get used to all the new playing styles and positions and everything. I think it's starting to come together so hopefullly the rest of the season goes as well as last night's game. everyone did a great job, with the passing and defense and all that. go brilliant fc!
and in other news, here's a shout out to Jeremy Cogan, who was quoted in today's New York Times article on a fantasy Congress game. hehe.
friday evening we ended up going bowling. it was lots of fun. I hadn't been in a really long time, but somehow still managed to do well. Angel and Rosa didn't fare as well and Jody had to bowl left handed due to his shoulder injury, but he still did pretty good. anyway, it was fun. we should go again soon.
saturday, Jody taught me how to drive a manual transmission. so that was fun. I think I got the hang of it, driving around the parking lot. I think after another practice session I'll be ready for the harsh streets of Tempe. heh. I'm glad I finally learned. I had been trying for such a long time. people kept telling me they would teach me (ahem, jpg) but I never got around to it. so yay for that. it wasn't so hard.
saturday night angel tried to arrange a group outing to see tim burton's nightmare before christmas in 3D. without going into all the gory details, let's just say that the planning didn't go over so well as one person got left at home (due to some miscommunication) and we got into the movie late (angel had everyone's tickets and he was late), had to go find the 3D glasses from some clueless movie theatre employee and had to sit in the second row. ugh. but, the movie was good, so I guess that mostly makes up for it. well, that and the glasses were seriously hilarious. they made everyone look like either a bug or elton john.
sunday I slept in a bit, then got some work done. at our soccer game last night, I scored the one and only goal. so hooray for that. it felt good to win for a change. our team has a bunch of new players this season and we're trying to get used to all the new playing styles and positions and everything. I think it's starting to come together so hopefullly the rest of the season goes as well as last night's game. everyone did a great job, with the passing and defense and all that. go brilliant fc!
and in other news, here's a shout out to Jeremy Cogan, who was quoted in today's New York Times article on a fantasy Congress game. hehe.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Jesus, etc. indeed
one of my favorite blogs posted a love letter to Wilco's Yankee Hotel Foxtrot last week and I just had to share.
I am currently writing my second proposal of the week (although I'm not actually finished with the first one - final version isn't due until Friday). it's going to be a fun week! lol.
I am currently writing my second proposal of the week (although I'm not actually finished with the first one - final version isn't due until Friday). it's going to be a fun week! lol.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
welcome to the Grand Canyon state (officially)
so, as of today I am officially no longer a Californian (as far as I am concerned). I finally went in and got my Arizona drivers license. it was ridiculously easy and didn't take very long (although I am glad I had my book to read). the thing is good until I'm like 65 years old or something crazy like that. so yeah. I'm a "zonie" or whatever. at least I won't have people looking at my CA drivers license all funny now (not only does it look fake because of all of the hologram stuff on it, but the picture I had on there was from when I first got my license when I was sixteen. so times have changed).
in other news, our soccer team is doing ok. we are trying to adjust to all of our new players and I think considering all of that, we are doing really well. we are fighting hard, but still playing fair (unlike some of the other teams in our league), and in general it is going well. we will keep getting better. :)
in other news, our soccer team is doing ok. we are trying to adjust to all of our new players and I think considering all of that, we are doing really well. we are fighting hard, but still playing fair (unlike some of the other teams in our league), and in general it is going well. we will keep getting better. :)
Thursday, September 28, 2006
"but I am le tired..."
yeah I'm exhausted. I need to sleep. yesterday I had one of those all day meetings (9:30am to 5pm). luckily they gave us lunch and coffee throughout the day as needed. which I definitely needed because I only got about 3 hours of sleep the night before. totally couldn't fall asleep. soo annoying. so I figured that I would be able to sleep just fine last night. but, no, of course not. I probably got about four hours. ugh. somehow I did make it through today, though. but now it is time to sleep.
sorry about the sleep talk. it's one of the most important things in grad school, so really there's not much else to talk about. heh.
and for those of you not cool enough (or weren't around two years ago when we were quoting it everyday) to understand the title reference, here you go: http://www.endofworld.net/. enjoy!
sorry about the sleep talk. it's one of the most important things in grad school, so really there's not much else to talk about. heh.
and for those of you not cool enough (or weren't around two years ago when we were quoting it everyday) to understand the title reference, here you go: http://www.endofworld.net/. enjoy!
Sunday, September 17, 2006
picnic in the park
yesterday was such a nice day and some of us decided to have a little picnic in the Tempe Town Lake Beach Park (that's actually what it's called - don't look at me). it's a little grassy park by the fake lake here in Tempe. anyway, we had a good time. natalie brought her adorable dog and we ate lovely sandwiches and other things. katie and angel screamed like little girls every time the bees came by to smell our lemonade so that kept us amused for a while. :)
later that afternoon, katie and rosa came by and we had a grey's anatomy season 2 marathon until we all fell asleep.
later that afternoon, katie and rosa came by and we had a grey's anatomy season 2 marathon until we all fell asleep.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
harry potter and nclb
I heard about this article the other day and I just had to post a link to it. it was written by one of the professors in the college of education here at asu. it is nominally a book review of the most recent Harry Potter book (this came out a while ago ), but is actually more about current education reforms and no child left behind (nclb). it's very interesting, especially if you are more familiar with the book itself and some of problems with nclb. happy reading!
http://edrev.asu.edu/reviews/rev246.htm
http://edrev.asu.edu/reviews/rev246.htm
Sunday, August 27, 2006
party pics!
So Saturday night Angel, Katie, and Rosa had a party at their new house for Angel's birthday and a housewarming sort of thing. most of the physics and astronomy grad students showed up (and some of our non-phy/ast friends) and everyone had a really good time. here are some pictures from the evening:
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
more pics
I re-uploaded some of the 4th of July pictures to my other photo site (which I will probably be using instead of Flickr). it's a lot easier (integrated with iPhoto) and much more free space (250mb).
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
happy birthday Angel!
today was Angel's (23rd) birthday. I made him some yummy cupcakes and we surprised him at school after he finished teaching his last class (at 10pm). he was super excited to see us and it was lots of fun.
click below to check out the pictures. (some of them are of Katie just being silly since we had some time to kill while we were waiting for Angel to finish).
click below to check out the pictures. (some of them are of Katie just being silly since we had some time to kill while we were waiting for Angel to finish).
Monday, August 21, 2006
a new semester
today begins a new semester of grad school. it started out by me sleeping in, which was very nice, and ended with me at school until almost 9pm and coming home during a thunderstorm to an apartment with no power. awesome. that about sums up the day.
it really seems to me like school never ended, so it's really kind of weird to even think about a new semester starting up. I worked all through the summer and the work is just continuing throughout this fall, hopefully culminating in me finishing my masters thesis (cross your fingers). I am only taking one actual class this semester, which only meets once a week (wednesday evenings for 3 hours) and the rest of my credits are tied up in my research and writing my thesis. so that's kind of nice. I am expanding my research stuff this semester to include some stuff on science & society, so hopefully that will go well.
along with that, all the new incoming grad students have kicked me out of my old TA office in the h-wing. but of course, even though I lost an office, I gained another one, with my new research group. so I still have three offices on campus. lol. I really shouldn't advertise that fact, because I know some people who barely have one office. hehe. oh well. I am just lucky to be working on well-funded projects right now. anyway, here's to a new semester full of new and interesting things (let's hope).
it really seems to me like school never ended, so it's really kind of weird to even think about a new semester starting up. I worked all through the summer and the work is just continuing throughout this fall, hopefully culminating in me finishing my masters thesis (cross your fingers). I am only taking one actual class this semester, which only meets once a week (wednesday evenings for 3 hours) and the rest of my credits are tied up in my research and writing my thesis. so that's kind of nice. I am expanding my research stuff this semester to include some stuff on science & society, so hopefully that will go well.
along with that, all the new incoming grad students have kicked me out of my old TA office in the h-wing. but of course, even though I lost an office, I gained another one, with my new research group. so I still have three offices on campus. lol. I really shouldn't advertise that fact, because I know some people who barely have one office. hehe. oh well. I am just lucky to be working on well-funded projects right now. anyway, here's to a new semester full of new and interesting things (let's hope).
Monday, August 14, 2006
12 hours of fun
so today was one of those really long days at work. like almost 12 hours. which is really hilarious for a number of reasons. first, the meeting I was supposed to have at 9am to start off the day was pushed back to 9:30 after I had already gotten up and ready for school. then, the person running the meeting was half an hour late. so that was awesome. there goes an hour of sleep. anyway, the kicker to the whole thing is that since today officially starts the fall semester in terms of our RA hours and everything, I am only supposed to be spending about 10 hours total PER WEEK on this project. and I have meetings later in the week I have to go and I spent part of yesterday working on it already. so that's exciting. whatever. at least everything went well today. that makes it all worth it.
anyway, here's an awesome clip on YouTube that Angel sent me today. it's really amazing.
anyway, here's an awesome clip on YouTube that Angel sent me today. it's really amazing.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
that's no moon...
nerdy link of the day: Star Wars Asciimation
I'm having one of those weeks. I can't believe it's only Tuesday. work is crazy. just crazy. and mostly in a bad way. ugh.
I'm having one of those weeks. I can't believe it's only Tuesday. work is crazy. just crazy. and mostly in a bad way. ugh.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
what a week
so the end of last week was crazy. the conference was so so tiring, but really good. I got back late on Friday and was exhausted. I spent most of Saturday sleeping, and was recharged enough to play some soccer on Sunday (it wasn't too hot - I think only like 105 or something - but it still felt like we were playing in a sauna).
I cooked dinner on Monday night. it was sort of a cooking experiment actually because I hadn't tried making eggplant parmigiana before. but I think it turned out really well (and Jody said he liked it, so there you go). then, some people came over and we watched Match Point which was really good.
the rest of the week has been a bit of a blur. lots of stuff going on at work, getting ready to start the semester and everything. and just lots of stuff going on in general. I'm glad tomorrow's Friday.
I cooked dinner on Monday night. it was sort of a cooking experiment actually because I hadn't tried making eggplant parmigiana before. but I think it turned out really well (and Jody said he liked it, so there you go). then, some people came over and we watched Match Point which was really good.
the rest of the week has been a bit of a blur. lots of stuff going on at work, getting ready to start the semester and everything. and just lots of stuff going on in general. I'm glad tomorrow's Friday.
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
AAPT
so I'm in Syracuse, NY for a conference (AAPT = American Association of Physics Teachers) this week. I left the insane heat in Phoenix (it was 117 on Friday) to the relative cool of central New York on Sunday morning. the day of travel was not so exciting, especially since I had only gotten about three and a half hours of sleep the previous night, and then the airline lost my luggage, so that just added to the headache of the day. luckily my bag showed up the next morning and so I wouldn't have to go buy clothes for the conference. anyway, yesterday was the first full day of the conference, 8am to 10pm, and it was exhausting. I ran into some people I hadn't seen since the conference last year, so that was nice. this morning I gave my talk (on STEM behaviors of high school math and science teachers, in case you care) and I think it went really well, so that is good. I wasn't able to show the video clip I wanted to, but I think it's for the best, because otherwise my talk would've run over the eight minute (!) time limit. so it all worked out for the best. now I'm just taking a break before lunch and more sessions. today we will end at 10pm again, and the same tomorrow, but Thursday (the last day of the conference) won't go as late. I'll be back in the heat on Friday.
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