Is Area 51 in your cites?

If the aliens are studying us, I hope at least that they are collecting systematic data, taking good notes, making interesting graphs, and publishing their results.

-Female Science Professor

Quote for the day

Today AfricanKelli posted about a book that touched her, and I was immediately drawn in by the quotes she posted, including the one below:

"You could be all the traditional feminine things — a mother, a lover, a listener, a nurturer — and you could also be critically astute and radical and have a minority opinion that was profoundly moral. You could escape the fate of your mother, become who you were born to be, and succeed in the world without having to participate in traditionally male terms — without hardness, coldness, one-upmanship, without having to compete and come out the winner." -- From Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

Candy heart

Your Candy Heart Says "Get Real"

You're a bit of a cynic when it comes to love.You don't lose your head, and hardly anyone penetrates your heart. Your ideal Valentine's Day date: is all about the person you're seeing (with no mentions of v-day!) Your flirting style: honest and even slightly sarcastic What turns you off: romantic expectations and "greeting card" holidays Why you're hot: you don't just play hard to get - you are hard to get

What Does Your Candy Heart Say?

How did they know?

What Angineer Means

A is for Articulate N is for Neat G is for Giddy I is for Irresistible N is for Nerdy E is for Emotional E is for Emotional R is for Radical

What Does Your Name Mean?

Crazy

Do you ever distinctly remember reading something--maybe a phrase in an article or a whole entry on a blog--and find yourself completely unable to locate it when you go back? Do you ever wonder if maybe it was all in your head to start with?

Oh! The humanity!

Deb at Smitten uses chocolate teddy bears for a cheesecake crust. Possibly the funniest flickr set ever!

P.S. If you don't laugh when you mouse over this pic, you're a little dead inside.

Best of Bad Baby Names

Need a laugh? Visit Best of Bad Baby Names: "Prospective parents should give potential baby names a test: did they fit better in the sentence, 'Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States [blank] [blank]' or 'And now, on the main stage, the Lusty Beaver Adult Club presents the hot action of [blank] [blank].' I think hospital forms should be reformatted to force parents to do just that. "

Angie takes no responsibility for helpless giggling or breathlessness caused by said giggling, or being caught obviously not working by co-workers and supervisors if viewing the above site during working hours.

Unusual outlook

The Pensacola News Journal: "Several roads in Escambia County are closed. They include:
-- All roads that normally flood in the downtown area"

Doesn't this indicate a problem to anyone else?

Virtual Book Club: Sophie Kinsella

Every time I start a Sophie Kinsella book, I wonder why I'm bothering to read it. Having read four of her "shopaholic" books, I had sworn off any more of her books, even if the preview of her latest book had caught my eye as I gratefully finished the last one. But somehow at the library last week I found myself picking up "Can You Keep a Secret?"

The premise of this book had promise. Our protagonist, Emma, hates to fly and gets a little tipsy before boarding her flight home from a disastrous business trip. When she gets freaked out during the flight, she spills all of her secrets to the handsome stranger next to her. Of course she discovers the next day at the office that her handsome stranger is the CEO of her company.

Imagine what you would do if your CEO knew your code with your coworker for heading to Starbucks for coffee and knew that you resented that the girl next to you got the new desk. The book looked even funnier with the CEO obviously deciding to pursue Emma--how would you feel if your new prospect knew you lied to your last boyfriend about your underwear preferences and that you liked to have a glass of sweet sherry before dates? Funny, right?

Unfortunately, not really. You know those movies where you watch the screen through your fingers as you cower from the embarrassing situation the protagonist has gotten herself into? Every single one of Kinsella's books is cringeworthy just like that. In the "shopaholic" books the protagonist Becky told huge lies to avoid creditors that were pursuing her. In this book Emma keeps her lies small but her insecurities huge. I will say that I was glad she spoke up for herself, a lesson that Becky could've learned.

The romantic angle in both books is also severely flawed. Kinsella's intention to make the romantic heroes seem perfect instead creates two-dimensional characters whose infatuation with the protagonists seem inexplicable. I found it very difficult to understand why successful and handsome business men would be interested in women who were so insecure and neurotic.

In short, don't bother with any of Sophie Kinsella's books. I swear this was the last one I'll be reading!

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Thanks to Anne from Tiny Kingdom for the Virtual Book Club idea. If you have thoughts on this author, her books, or other books, feel free to leave a comment or continue this discussion on your own blog!

Wanted: ABC News copy editor

ABC News: Frist Breaks With Bush on Stem-Cell Bill: "At the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan said Frist had given Bush advance notice of his announcement. 'The president said, `You've got to vote your conscious,'' McClellan said. "

No, he was going to vote his unconscious. At least it is spelled correctly.

Binary humor

T: Yeah, we went visited our end product today too. There were lots of people dressed as zeros and ones and we thanked them for being electrons. Actually, there wasn't anyone dressed as zeros--there was just blank space that we assumed...
Me: You're too cute for your own good.
T: Well there are 10 types of people in the world...
Me: Those that understand binary and those that don't.

Interviewee

Thanks to RP for interviewing me. My questions and the rules are below--keep scrolling and you'll see my answers as well.

1. If you could pick one world affliction to end, which would it be and why? What bad effect on the world at large do you think your choice might have?
2. What is your biggest disappointment to date? How have you rebounded from it, assuming you have?
3. How is it to work in a traditionally male dominated profession? Do you find it different from other jobs you have held?
4. What is your favorite room in your house and why? How is it furnished?
5. What was the most unexpectedly great class you've ever taken?
6. Why do you blog? What do you get out of it?

Here are the rules:

Leave me a comment saying "interview me". The first five commenters will be the participants. I will respond by asking you five questions. You will update your blog/site with the answers to the questions. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions. (Write your own questions or borrow some.)

Here are my answers:

1. If you could pick one world affliction to end, which would it be and why? What bad effect on the world at large do you think your choice might have?

I would choose to get rid of addiction. Unfortunately, if addiction were eliminated, I believe a lot of those individuals who are addicted would find another way to ease their emotional pain. Hopefully that new technique would be less destructive, but it might be worse.

2. What is your biggest disappointment to date? How have you rebounded from it, assuming you have?

I live a relatively charmed life, so all of my disappointments seem trivial. I could go with the trite breakup story, but I think I'll choose my discovery that my favorite adults (Aunt K and my elementary school teacher) were actually adults and not my playmates. While I had this realization a long time ago, it has far-reaching implications. It is still a little disappointing when I see that my aunt is imperfect like the rest of us or even when I am disappointed in one of my friends today.

3. How is it to work in a traditionally male dominated profession? Do you find it different from other jobs you have held?

Being an engineer is the only professional job I've held, so I have little room for comparison. For the most part I enjoy working in a male-dominated field, but more than working with men, I simply enjoy working with engineers. Engineers have an appreciation for little weird things that I share with them as well as being, for the most part, comfortably logical.

4. What is your favorite room in your house and why? How is it furnished?

I skipped this question because since I moved in January, I wouldn't really classify any of my rooms as furnished--at least, not in any kind of cohesive manner. :)

5. What was the most unexpectedly great class you've ever taken?

Women's Health Care in America. One of the books we read for this class was Midwives by Chris Bohajalian. In addition to introducing me to a great author, the book convinced me, as well as the majority of the students in the class, that we would be interested in giving birth at home with a midwife. To understand why that is so amazing, you have to know that book is about a midwife that is put on trial for murder because she performs a caesarian section delivery on a woman she believes has just had a stroke during labor while trapped by a Vermont ice storm. (Also read Trans-sister Radio. Wow.)

6. Why do you blog? What do you get out of it?

I'm sure this is a peculiar statement from an engineer, but I typically don't analyze my life or my feelings. By maintaining my blog, I commemorate fun moments and anecdotes but I also explore feelings that I wouldn't otherwise.

X-Ray Vision Reveals Your First Look at the Lois & Clark Box!

TV Shows on DVD reports that the first season of Lois and Clark will be released on DVD this summer--most likely between June 6 and July 8. They also published this picture of the box. I'm so excited!

Everything isn't on Ebay

My bridesmaid dress for July's wedding is being delivered this week. Seeing the UPS notice on my door reminded me that I also need to order my shoes and decide if I want any accessories to accompany my outfit. I had a sudden brainstorm--while I might be able to wear the separate dress pieces again, the likelihood of wearing the shoes or accessories again is slim at best. Why not buy someone else's? There are hundreds of bridesmaids all over the country who are wearing sea mist this year--surely one is reselling her shoes, accessories, etc. Nope, not a single sea mist bridal item on Ebay. And I thought you could find anything on Ebay.

Online dating

PJ and I were having a very enjoyable conversation last week, when he asked me if we could talk about our relationships--or was that too weird? He caught me completely off-guard, so I stalled for a moment, and then said, "Sure, it will be awkward, but if we're going to be friends, it would be easier if there weren't off-limit topics." Turns out he's single now. Kind of a relief actually--I was afraid he was bringing it up because he wanted to talk about his girlfriend.

He told me that one of his friends discovered that she couldn't say she was a rabbinical student in her online dating profile because it attracted men who were looking for therapists, not girlfriends. "You mean on JDate?" I interjected. "Yeah," he said, surprised that I knew about the popular Jewish online dating site. "I say I'm a graduate student on my profile. Then I tell them I'm a rabbinical student in our first contact."

I am amused by the irony that rabbinical students, a group I would imagine to be hyper-moral, are keeping truth about themselves from potential dates. I do appreciate that they are keeping an aspect of their lives private for their own safety. I have at least one other friend who also struggles with what information to share, and when, in the online dating process. And it is much like the process I go through as I prepare my blog entries--what information should I reveal?

Women-Only Language Reemerges

Discovery Channel :: Women-Only Language Reemerges: "In late April, Chinese archivists will unveil a rare collection of items featuring Nushu, a mysterious ancient language created by, and exclusively for, women. "

Best wishes for 2005

This New Year's wish comes from Neil Gaiman who wrote two amazing books that I still think about over 4 years after I read them--Stardust and Neverwhere. It encompasses everything I hope your year to be.

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't to forget make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

Our accomplishments

I started my blog in August of last year. I was one of the seven percent of US adults who started blogs in 2004. During the course of the year, bloggers covered the political conventions, scooped the traditional media and kept them honest. Bloggers were named People of the Year by ABC's World News Tonight and mentioned in Time's Person of the Year issue. What a great year for blogs!

The Blogger's Tsunami Challenge | Loaded Mouth

THE GOAL

For bloggers and blog readers to donate a total of $5000 to a charity of their choice.

THE CHALLENGE

For bloggers to donate, then get their readers to match their pledge by offering services or goodies to them. Be fun, be bold, be creative.

Teen safe-sex laws cost Texas $44 million a year

HoustonChronicle.com - Teen safe-sex laws cost $44 million a year: "Two laws in Texas that limit teenagers' ability to confidentially obtain reproductive health care cost $44 million a year largely because of additional pregnancies, local researchers have found. The laws were passed by the Texas Legislature in 1999 but only recently enforced. One requires teens younger than 18 to obtain parental consent before receiving prescription contraceptives, and the other requires health care providers to report to law enforcement agencies the identity of patients younger than 17 who they think are sexually active."

How wrong is it that Texas passed a law that doctors must inform on their minor patients that they believe are sexually-active? How is it positive to encourage teenage girls (how do you tell that teenage boys are sexually-active?) to lie to their doctors or not see a doctor at all? One positive note not reflected in this excerpt is that any clinic that receives federal funds must abide by federal patient privacy laws, making them exempt from these ridiculous laws. Unfortunately there are Texas cities that have few or no federally-funded clinics.