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March 31, 2003
the itchy gnomes are going
the itchy gnomes are going to town on both of my big toes!
Posted by Maggie at 10:59 PM | Comments (0)
break
so its been a while...without dsl i hate using the net.
fun times over break. hair cut, color, perm. 2 new glasses. saw neal lots [lots of fun things ;) ]. relaxed. read some. ate at la charreada with steve & brian. saw the guys several times. lunch with kristi. new couch & table!!!! which are being delivered wednesday.
yeah....lots of fun things!
Posted by Maggie at 8:20 PM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2003
have i, or have i not, been saying this for over a year now too!?
March 20, 2003
Making a Statement, in Absentia
By JOYCE COHEN
THE first thing Emily Loesche does when she arrives home - home being her dorm room at Middlebury College - is check her e-mail.
The second thing she does is check on everyone else, seeing how many different ways the 190-odd people on her online buddy list have found to say they are out.
"Pray they cancel classes tomorrow because I'm not doing any work tonight," her friend Catherine has written.
"Rub-a-dub-dub," has been posted by Allison, who is apparently taking a shower.
"I want my jacket back and some *$& #@ IS KEEPING THE JACKET BUT GIVING ME BACK THE ID errrr!" her friend Sasha has written. (Sasha's winter jacket, with her college ID card in the pocket, had been stolen, and the card was returned anonymously to her mailbox.)
"I am pushing on the door of opportunity - would someone please give me a hand?" another friend writes.
From someone else: "As usual, frivolity has won out over work."
And so on and so on.
"I look through everyone's away message once or twice a day, and I look at my best friends' more frequently," said Ms. Loesche, a sophomore. "I could spend forever doing it."
Forever? That's how it seems.
Away messaging, a function of instant messaging, has become something of an obsession on college campuses, providing communication, entertainment, procrastination and social life all rolled into one. "Students go online just to read their friends' away messages," said David Jacobson, a professor of anthropology at Brandeis University, who has taught courses examining away messages. "It's a whole new dynamic that's really remarkable."
In college dorms, those always-wired students keep their instant message windows open, and send messages back and forth with their buddies who are also signed on.
Those who step away from their computers can post an away message, signaled by a notepad icon beside their screen name. The system functions like an answering machine for a computer, showing that someone cannot immediately reply.
Students rarely post the default away message that comes with the program. ("I am away from my computer right now," for example, comes with AOL Instant Messenger, the program of choice on college campuses.) Instead, they create their own, transforming the away message into a kind of personal bulletin board available to anyone who cruises by.
They post a little of everything: news, quotes, schedules, song lyrics, birthday greetings, party invitations, jokes, veiled insults, confessions, exclamations, complaints. The messages may be meaningful to everybody, somebody or nobody.
Students change their away messages often. And they keep track of not just their nearest and dearest but all sorts of acquaintances - roommates and strangers, exes and enemies, college classmates and high school friends attending college elsewhere.
"It's a different dimension than you get from e-mail," Professor Jacobson said. "You may look at your e-mail address book but you don't get the sense of someone being available. There's a psychological component of being in touch: 'I wonder what my friend is up to.' So you look at the away message."
Before she entered college, Emily Sanders, now a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania, had visited campus and "noticed people always had their instant message up." Now she knows why. With the dorms wired to provide high-speed connections, "you can be online all the time for free," Ms. Sanders said. "I can't think of anything better."
She said her friends often use away messaging as an emotional outlet. "One friend always has up song lyrics that reflect her mood," she said. Ms. Sanders has done that, too. During reflective moments, "I would be listening to sad songs and would be, 'That would make a great away message.' "
Although many keep an ear out for lyrics and quotes they can post, Stephen Demanovich, a junior at the College of the Holy Cross, disdains the practice. "I quote my friends but I don't quote famous figures or song lyrics," Mr. Demanovich said. "That is unoriginal."
His own away messages are often dialogues, part real and part fabricated. When he and his friend Bob were discussing housing options, this exchange occurred:
Bob: We need to either find something really cheap or consider taking on more roommates.
Steve: Having my own place is essential to my happiness. You cannot say, 'So, wanna go back to my mom's house and make out?' It simply doesn't work."
After a snowstorm, his message was: "Would the woolly mammoth please step away from my window?"
He has a reputation to uphold; he is known for posting great away messages.
"People pay an unusual amount of attention," he said. "If I have the same one for too long, people will be like, 'Hey, Steve, what's been up?' Everybody enjoys reading them. The frequency with which people check lets me know it's interesting and a part of somebody's day."
Not surprisingly, the real message in away messaging is between the lines. "I see away messages providing a venue for developing, nurturing and controlling the social network," said Naomi Baron, a linguistics professor at American University who taught a class last semester that analyzed away messages.
The primary function is "to position yourself within a social circle and not lose your stature," Professor Baron said. Even a message saying someone is sleeping or showering has a bigger purpose: "I want to tell you where I am because I don't want to be left out of the loop. Away messages are working overwhelmingly on this subtle underlying level."
"An away message saying, 'I'm stressed out,' or 'LSAT will eat me,' is a cri de coeur, a plea for communication or commiseration," Professor Baron said. "One person left these intricate messages: 'Out to dinner and who knows what will happen after that.' She wanted people to see her as a social butterfly."
As with other kinds of computer communication, people can easily manage the impressions they create via away message. Whereas they once avoided answering the phone if they were sitting home alone on Saturday night, they can now post a social-butterfly type of message, even if they are on the couch watching videos. And if students write that they are studying hard, well, who knows whether that's because they figure Mom will be checking?
The most obvious sign of a good away message is whether it provokes responses. Students say they are cheered to return to a screenful of messages replying to their away message, and disheartened to return to an empty one.
What's more, the away message "becomes a litmus test for personal worth," said Rebecca Blatt, another sophomore at Penn. "Writing 'having an awful day,' or 'drowning in a sea of tears' clearly invites a reaction. What if no one responds?"
And when it comes to sweethearts, especially former and future ones, away messaging adds a new immediacy. Those unwilling to delete a former flame's screen name can effortlessly if painfully keep track of a life they are no longer part of.
Mr. Demanovich admits he has used away messaging "to socially engineer some stuff." His away message has said he is out with one girl in order to make another one jealous.
"I know she is going to read my away message and will wonder who the girl is," he says. "It helps out, which is fantastic."
Checking, with its voyeuristic and addictive appeal, is the biggest time-sucker of all. "With 190 people on my buddy list, it can take a lot of time checking them," said Ms. Loesche at Middlebury. "I find myself clicking whether I care what they are doing or not. Last year I got to the point where I had to take someone off to add someone." (AOL says that a buddy list can hold up to 200 names.)
There are tricks for finding out who might be viewing your message, like using tools available at www .imchaos.com. Users can provide a link in their away message and then see who has clicked on the link.
"It felt good to see people I hadn't talked to in five years checking through IMChaos," said Natalie Lambert, a senior at Brandeis. "I do the same with them. I know it sounds really sick but it's not."
Professor Baron expects away messaging to evolve speedily. If wireless hand-helds become common, for example, lengthy away messages might become obsolete - too much typing (or scrawling).
Students, too, see an evolution in the own use of away message. Ms. Blatt finds herself using it more. "I got busier this year and don't always have time to communicate in person or on the phone," she said. "It saves so much time. I don't have to say separately to six different people that I'm going home for the weekend."
For most, though, it is less of a draw over time. Even Mr. Demanovich now changes his message relatively infrequently, a mere twice a day.
"In my freshman and sophomore years, I changed it maybe five times a day," he said. "I was always at my computer. But as you get more socially active and have more to do and are actually interacting with people, I see less of a need to construct an away message."
Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company | Privacy Policy
Posted by Maggie at 8:27 PM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2003
sarah found this a long time ago on someone elses LJ
Apparently from the files of "memories of Catholic high school chemistry":
My high school chemistry teacher was somewhat of a mad scientist. Great man, but a mad scientist.
During the chapter on the periodic table, for some reason the class was discussing lightweight European racing bikes.
Father K. cut in to remark, "You know, the ideal material out of which to create the ultimate featherweight bicycle would be lithium, the lightest element that can retain solid form at normal temperatures."
Pausing a few seconds to ponder the idea, he added, "However, the downside of it is that if it rained, your bike would probably explode."
she and i are both quite fond of it
Posted by Maggie at 5:25 PM | Comments (0)
this is quality
this is quality
Posted by Maggie at 4:59 PM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2003
the bad stuff is easier
the bad stuff is easier to believe....you ever notice that?
--vivian, in pretty woman
Posted by Maggie at 9:43 PM | Comments (0)
slist:so what percentage of young
slist:so what percentage of young ladies go on spring break looking to hook up?
slist:34%?
me:v0v
slist:is that a yes?
me:ive never gone on spring break myself so i cannot attest to the behavior of individuals in that situation...i have never experienced it
slist:if you had to make an edumaked guess
me:sure
me:a third
slist:hmmmm
slist:interesting
me:??
me:that means you only have to hit on three girls to get some!
slist:statistically speaking
me:4 to be safe
me:an i suppose you would need to look into sexual preferences
slist:however, but how many out of those 1/3 would say "slist, even though I just met you, I think your a really nice guy, so lets just hang out and be friends"
me:NICE
blah blah blah
steve: and then you will be like "steeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeevvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
steve: and I would be like "huh?"
Posted by Maggie at 12:36 AM | Comments (0)
March 15, 2003
went to j alexanders with
went to j alexanders with neal dave and tina.
were waiting for a table...neal and i are standing outside, its hella windy, im wearing my pin.stripe pants, curled my hair but it was raining some, so....looked icky....wearin steve madden mary janes, JNY peacoat and eddie bauer purplish tight long sleeve shirt...
leaning against a pole, neal looks at me oddly....my hair is blowing in my face [and mouth] and he is kind of staring at me....and i exclaim "what?!"to which he [clearly] responds "nothin"..so...i glare at him...and he keeps givin me the look...and i say "what???" sounding exasperated, im sure....he smiles, looks down and turns away then kind of looks back up at me and says "you look good tonight" i was trying to be better but....i rolled my eyes....we just stand there for a few, im trying to get the hair out of my mouth and face and he looks at me and kind of giggles and says "no, you look really good" so i, still being maggieular say "uh huh" sarcastically, of course....and he says "im serious, you really look good..." so...not knowing what to do, i just grabbed his coat and pulled him in some and gave him a little kiss...
i wish i were able to express what i think or feel about him better/at all...i just dont feel comfortable with it...i dont know why. i think its scary. i worry that i am feelin this much this quickly...i worry that i just want to be wiht someone or just want to be in a relationship, or that this will be like bill or sean or matt--i just really needed someone at this point in my life. i dont want that. i mean, neal deserves someone who likes *him* not just *a* boyfriend....and i dont think that is what is going on...i really really dont...but i worry about it since i have a history of doing that....
i dont know.....i guess ill just try to be self aware and figure it out later. i dont think i like being attractive and that is all...but....v0v
though, i really dont think that is it...
Posted by Maggie at 3:27 PM | Comments (0)
March 14, 2003
me: i need to re
me: i need to re do my toes
neal: that sounds painful
neal: =)
me: paint
me: the nails
neal: =P
me: you can do it tomorrow if you wnat 8D
neal: you know what is funny....
me: what?
neal: ...that actually sounds fun.
me: that is weird
me: but you are more than welcome to if you want
neal: vOv
neal: it will be something new to do
me: i was goin to say i have ugly manish feet..but...you already know that so i dont need to warn you about that
me: you can even choose a color! 8D
neal: sweet
neal: peuce
me: among colors i have
i emailed that to steve
steve:
that is different.
I don't know if I know a girl who likes her feet.
I have to say, I don't think I would be opposed to putting nail polish on icj or something as such. Not really sure why the idea is appealing. Who knows? Maybe its b/c its a way I could help w/ something girl that does not really require a whole new skill set, unlike picking out a matching outfit, hair stuff, makeup stuff, etc. just a theory
Posted by Maggie at 3:22 PM | Comments (0)
March 10, 2003
so...i went to the store
so...i went to the store yesterday...i needed a few things, but, also, neal can never find things he wants to eat at my apartment...so i asked what he wanted, and made a list of some things...incidentally, i wrote them down in the gross lab yesterday...this is what the list looked like when i wrote it:
tuna
honey.nut cheerios
graham crackers
cheese (slices)
lettuce
--usually when i go to buy stuff i do it partially by mosing around and seeing what there is i want...
list after sarah had somethin to do with it:
tuna
honey.nut cheerios
graham crackers
cheese (slices)
lettuce
spaceship
pony
tennis shoes
fuzzy baby
very small rocks
more cheese
Posted by Maggie at 9:50 PM | Comments (0)
Lila
Lila, Lila, there's no time, there's no time
Soldiers will take you away
To a place I'll search till my dying day
This flower blows in the same wind
That fills the sails of the English ship you'll be in
Lila, Lila.... I will see ya'
Lila, Lila, there's no crime in cryin
These pages write cages, onto this land
With a gun in hand.
But I hear Acadian laughter from long before
And for long after.
Lila, Lila
I could get up and fight
They'll wipe us out of sight
But what good is it to try
Be a hero and die?
There are other tears to fall
Than from my own war cry
Lila, Lila
Will your name still be Lila
And when I see you that day
Will you remember Grand Pre
Lila..... I will see ya
Lila, Lila.... I will see
Posted by Maggie at 2:44 PM | Comments (0)
March 9, 2003
$53.27=
going rate for 2 clogging lessons & 3 emu's
Posted by Maggie at 6:14 PM | Comments (0)
8D
i cant believe that it has been a month already.
neal gave me crabs....their names are dadan and leila
i have to write an ethics paper.
go shelley its your birthday....and so on and so forth.
Posted by Maggie at 1:16 PM | Comments (0)
March 7, 2003
drum roll please.....
i have a new favorite enzyme! it goes by the name of:
mitogen activated protein kinase kinase kinase (or MAPKKK for short)-->it is used in cell growth...it is a serine/threonine kinase, and is used to activated MAPKK. MAPKK functions to phosphorylate (and activate) MAPK.
its udderly rediculous! i love it.
Posted by Maggie at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)
memories of the gait lecture...
also curtosy of cnn
SAN FRANCISCO, California (CNN) -- Penguins may do some things with grace and ease, but that funny waddling walk of theirs isn't one of them.
Still, it appears nature gave penguins their waddle for good reason: To conserve energy.
Researchers have known the Antarctic birds used lots of calories when they walked about -- about double the calories of other animals of the same weight walking the same distance.
And researchers assumed it was the waddle that was using up the energy. But a group of University of California, Berkeley, scientists studying five selected Emperor penguins at San Diego's Sea World made a surprising discovery: Waddling appears to help penguins conserve the kinetic energy they generate with calories when they walk.
Researcher Tim Griffin said, "We found that waddling didn't actually require increased work. Instead, walking is costly for penguins because they have such short limbs, which requires their legs to generate muscular force very rapidly."
Think of a bowling pin
So why is the waddle efficient? Griffin calls it the "inverted pendulum" effect, and he compares it to a wobbling bowling pin. Kinetic energy and gravity combine to keep it rocking back and forth over its center of gravity.
An Antarctic penguin waddles as he walks along the snow
Griffin demonstrates with his own legs, showing how his center of gravity rides up and over the leg.
"So when the penguin takes a step, its center of mass is low, so when he stops coming up over his leg, the mass moves to the side," Griffin says. "And it's high now, and as it starts rocking backward, it starts falling to the side, it's also falling forward."
An energy-efficient approach
The side-to-side waddle is obvious. But penguins -- as well as other animals and people, for that matter -- also waddle forward and backward.
"We can't look at just the side-to-side movement," says Griffin, "but in terms of the combined side-to-side and forward movement, penguins conserved up to 80 percent of the mechanical energy required for walking. This was quite high, because other measurements for humans and other birds have found that they recovered only up to 70 percent of the mechanical energy."
People may find it amusing, but Griffin says a penguin's waddle is more efficient than a human's walk.
Posted by Maggie at 9:24 AM | Comments (0)
from cnn Southwest: Penguins should
from cnn
Southwest: Penguins should fly
Amusement value, lack of pockets cited
Tuesday, February 4, 2003 Posted: 8:56 AM EST (1356 GMT)
Southwest says the penguins travel well and are used to being handled.
DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- Southwest Airlines is seeking the government's approval to bring back its popular SeaWorld penguin tours, in which two of the tuxedoed waddlers are put on jets to promote the amusement park as a summer destination.
The promotion was shut down after the September 11 terrorist attacks, and some security concerns must be addressed before the promotion can restart.
"One of the things that they mentioned was, `Would it be possible that we would be able to wand the animals?"' said Melanie Jones, creative manager for the Dallas-based carrier.
SeaWorld and Southwest Airlines have worked since the 1980s to lure business to parks in San Antonio, Texas; San Diego, California; and Orlando, Florida. Southwest flew SeaWorld animals -- most often their penguins, but sometimes parrots -- to cities that have nonstop flights to the parks.
"If we can find a way to make this happen, far be it from us to not say yes," said Ed Martelle, spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration. "The trick is being able to do this and not compromise security."
Southwest has been informed that whatever animals would be brought would be subject to wanding at the security checkpoint.
SeaWorld officials say that's OK since the penguins travel well and are used to being handled.
"We feel like they really brighten people's days," said Fran Stephenson, SeaWorld's spokeswoman in San Antonio. "Besides, they don't have any pockets to empty."
Posted by Maggie at 9:16 AM | Comments (0)
March 6, 2003
sarah was ill...now she is better....
So with the vision of someday being an M.D. and seeing the puppies you gave me, I thought that I should commemorate this time in my life. So I decided to name the puppies after the antagonists of my life right now: Richard Drake and Michael Lieberman. Bridget has taken to calling Dr. Drake "Sir Richard Drake" because she thinks he sounds all knightly and whatnot. So I have named the worried-looking bulldog "Sir Richard" and the friendly-looking (but potentially vicious!) beagle "Mikey."
P.S. Sir Richard went to the ER with me last night. People tried to give me a hard time about it, but then he growled and them and they got scared and were quiet.
Posted by Maggie at 9:24 PM | Comments (0)
March 4, 2003
you could show me dead
you could show me dead bodies...and i could show you where to pick up hookers on the west side of dayton...you know...tit for tat....
--neal
Posted by Maggie at 6:03 PM | Comments (0)
March 3, 2003
good morning, its monday, heres some crotch mold
me phyllis had more crotch mold today
steve phyllis, get your head in the game!
Posted by Maggie at 6:50 PM | Comments (0)
March 2, 2003
the last four weeks
many hum drum, run of the mill things....
however, there were a few out of the ordinary or noteworthy things....[not all good]
grandpa died.
boyfriend.
passed micro.
passed phys.
wendy in the hospital again--took them 4 days to figure out the problem....for a day or two, we werent sure she was goin to live.
working on headway in the bridesmaid dress front
Posted by Maggie at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)