Isn’t it lovely? This is my lovely new Vesper Sock Yarn! I looooooove it! She calls it Neopolitan, but come on … that is Big Pink Cookie sock yarn! I couldn’t resist the BPC sock yarn!

I survived today. I just told myself right before the presentation that if I can do a podcast that an amazing number of people listen to (seriously. Freaks me out when I think about it, that big. Not as big as Cast-On, but big.) then I can handle talking in front of 10-15 people. I realized later on why I was so worried about it - every time we have gotten together with our project mentor, we have gotten a lot of “no, no, that is wrong” responses from her. She asked for an abstract to submit - ok, I’ve done abstracts. Several times. Write one, Mike checks it for me - I figure he has seen even more abstracts then I have - and I turn it in. Nope, it is wrong. She basically wanted, “We will first be giving a basic introduction to X-Ray Crystallography. We will then go over how we solved a structure.”

That? Not an abstract to me. Whatever, she is the boss. That isn’t exactly what we turned in for it, but close enough. I think it is missing a sentence, but my brain doesn’t have enough room left for the cheesiness of it.

Then we went over our outline. Once I made edits that were exactly what she said to say and that was still wrong! Bah. You know, I can feel myself tensing up just thinking about it - no wonder I have been so stressed out all week! In the end, she said it was good, she cheered us on today, said we did well. All the things she should have said. It would have helped if she had just said them earlier. I was thrilled when my Chem. I teacher (who was one of the judges) told me afterwards that I had done very well, seemed very composed, and that our slides were very nice. Yeah!

Oh, did I mention that my partner for the project ended up getting super sick Wednesday night, was up all night because of it, and wasn’t there yesterday to practice so we could iron out the kinks before the day of the presentation? Yeah. Fabulous. His whole family was hit by a stomach bug. I’m just glad he wasn’t sick today. He offered to come up to campus yesterday afternoon, and I told him no. First and foremost, he needed his rest. Second, I *really* did not want to risk getting sick myself. Keep the cooties at home when you are sick, people! Don’t share the cootie love. The rest of us do NOT want your germs! So yeah, the fact that he was sick didn’t add to the stress at all.

After the presentation was said and done, I went over to meet with the woman that wanted to buy my two Paris prints. I SOLD MY FIRST PICTURES TODAY!!! I can’t even begin to tell you how happy that makes me. She bought them for $30 each. I had to remind myself not to apologize for the price - a very bad habit of mine - but instead to take pride in my work and believe in them. I wish I could put the feeling I had when she handed me the money into words, but I can’t. I’ll just say that it was good.

When I left campus, I headed over to Twisted Yarns for an hour or so to join the Friday “Sit & Knit” group. It isn’t a formal event, but there is a group that gathers there every Friday to knit. Since the shop is on my way home if I take the back roads, I decided to stop. I was lucky and got the “squishy” chair, and I felt like I was just melting into that thing. All of the stress from this week was melting away. Literally. At least 3 different times when I turned my head, my neck popped. I hold way too much tension in my neck, since I clench my teeth without realizing it when the stress builds. By the time I got home, I was drained. Exhausted. I haven’t slept enough this week, and I am on the edge of getting sick. I can tell. I couldn’t keep my eyes open, I was so tired. I ended up laying down - because sleeping upright isn’t good for my neck either - and I took a lovely 3 hour nap.

I still feel tired and drained, but better. I’m going to bed soon, so I can be up fresh and early in the morning to record my (once again belated) podcast! I have been looking forward to doing that all week. When that is over, I get to study for the next round of tests. 12 more days left. I can make it.

Oh, and the Big Pink Cookie sock yarn? Soooooooft. Very nice. I can’t wait to knit with it! Want to see what it will look like? How cute are those? Love them!

I’ve been busy, busy, busy!

- Presentation for honors day is ready, speech and powerpoint is done. Just have to pick out what I am going to wear and show up.
- Most of my research for the Biology project is done. (Still on campus right now because I was working on it.) Just have to put it in a better format and send off to lab partner to make the presentation.
- Most of my notes for the next podcast are done, and if I get home from the guild meeting early enough tonight I will record the show.
- Have to shoot one last roll of film for photography class - night picture, picture of a person by a window, and a reflection photo. (Something in a reflective surface.) Have ideas for all three, just need to take them.
- Study, study, study - lots of tests next week!

I also need to take pictures of my new YARN and some of my new prints from class. But not right now - it is time to go KNOT! (Knitters North of Town, the local chapter of KANG, the Knit at Night Guild.)

Notice how I said that my lab partner is making our presentation for next Tuesday? Yeah. I’m giving up control. I didn’t realize just how much of a control freak I am about things like this until yesterday, when I was working with my honor’s project partner on our presentation for tomorrow. I resisted the temptation to say it was just all wrong when I saw how “wordy” the slides were, but man … it was hard. I knew I had issues with liking things done a certain way, but I didn’t realize it was quite that bad! Ugh. I really must work on that. I do not need to obsess and control everything. The world is not going to fall apart if the slides do not look exactly like I want them to look. So for Biology, I am resisting the urge to try to take over and control everything with the attitude of “if it isn’t done my way it isn’t right.” I mean, I don’t cope very well when I am treated that way by other people, so it is time to stop doing it myself! (I also let my perfectionism stand in my way of completing things, because what if I do it wrong? But really, no, I don’t have issues. Nuh uh. Nope.)

I feel like I don’t know if I’m coming or going these days! Just 13 more days! 13 more days!

Working in the Honors Chem lab

Originally uploaded by bpc.

No, no, not those kinds of “New Kids on the Block” - new podcasters! I just listened to the first episode of Knitty D and the City this morning, and I *loved* it. Wendy of Knit and the City and Christina of Knitty D are the hosts of this new show, which just went live yesterday. Now, as a warning, Wendy had told me ahead of time that she didn’t like how the mic picked up the recording, and they are working on it. Also, keep your finger on the volume button, because the first music clip that they play in the show came through my car stereo really loud. But hey, if that is the worst that you can say about a first show, then it is pretty fabulous!

Seriously, as I said in their comments, listening to the show made me wish I could call them right away and talk to them about what they were talking about. When that happens, you know it is good. They made my drive to school this morning pretty great - and if you recall from that “to do list” I am pretty stressed right now. So anything that makes me laugh and smile is a very good thing. Heck, if Loop had been open in Philly at 9am their time, I would have called Grace and talked to her again! (I talked to her in the beginning of April - details coming on the next podcast that I’ll record tonight or tomorrow night!)

Now I really wish I could hop on a plane and go back to Philly to see the most fabulous knitters outside of Houston! Wow… Mac, Sarah, K., Wendy, Knitty D., Grace, plus visiting Loop again and Rosie’s Yarn Cellar for Koigu? And getting some lemon sorbet? How kick ass would that be?

If you haven’t already, be sure to check out their show. It is fantastic!

On a completely random separate note - I had someone ask to buy my prints today! A member of the school staff sent a message to me through my Photography instructor; she wants to buy two of the color photos of Paris that I had printed for the student art competition at school. I was so surprised! Now here is the big question again … how much should I charge? I was considering $50 per print, but in some ways that sounds too low, and in other ways it sounds too high! Ugh. I just can’t decide; I guess I need to research it a little more before I call her tomorrow. (If you have advice and need details, the are color 8×10 prints, unmounted and unframed. Should I mount them and frame them first? And then price accordingly?)

Also on the plate for tonight:
- Edit outline and slides for the Honor’s Day Presentation on X-Ray Crystallography, prepare for preliminary run-through tomorrow afternoon;
- Press leaves for Biology Scavenger Hunt project;
- Start shooting final roll of film for Photography class, if the light permits;
- Gather information on the reproductive systems of birds and mammals for comparitive analysis group project;
- Pick a photographer and write the “famous photographer” paper. I don’t want to go to the library tonight, so I’ll go with a photographer that is mentioned in at least 2 books that I have here at the house. (5 resources required, maximum of 3 from the internet.) I cranked out the last research paper in under 1.5 hours, so I’m sure I will do the same with this one.
- Write show notes for next Pointy Sticks podcast. Not for school, but I want to do a show now. Now, now, now.

(I’ll update when I finish stuff.)

Done so far today:
- Submission of scholarship form and the “Why I want to be a Pharmacist when I grow up” essay. (Cheese. Pure cheese.)

- Paper that I forgot about on the seminar I attended about saving the Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle. Doing my part to help bring them back to the Galveston beaches. (If you see one down there, or you spot turtle tracks, call 866-Turtle5 right away.)

- Paper on the Solarization technique, aka the Sabatier Effect, for photography. One of my favorite things to do in the photography darkroom when I took the course back in high school, the effects this technique produces are really cool.

Still to do tonight:
- Powerpoint Presentation to go with the outline created for our X-Ray Crystallography presentation on Friday. Mike, the resident Powerpoint guru, has promised his assistance on this project. (I wrote the outline, all we are doing now is transferring pieces to slides.) UPDATE: Initial draft done; will need more editing tomorrow.

Still to do, but probably not tonight:
- Paper on a famous photographer. Considering Man Ray, as I just read a lot about him because he helped make the solarization technique famous. Willing to consider others (but not Ansel Adams) if you have suggestions. My teacher can only read so many papers on Ansel Adams in one semester.

- Beginning of research on the reproductive systems of vertebrates for Biology presentation due next Tuesday.

Today was also officially our last lecture day in Chemistry II. We will do labs on Wednesday, a test next Monday, and that is it before the final. No more classes as we have a Wednesday off. Wow. I think the Photography darkroom closes this week also. But in Biology II, I think we are having lectures up to the last possible second, and then a practical, a test, and the final.

I’m beginning to feel a bit drained of creativity, losing all of my knowledge power, and finals are coming up fast and furious. Somebody hold me.

How can you not love watching old school Sesame Street videos? You know, from back before Elmo came on and the whole show changed? Man, I love Sesame Street. And cookies.

[via TV Squad’s article, Cancel Everything and Watch Sesame Street the Rest of the Day]

Pretty picture shared to remind me to focus on the good things and not the bad.

Gah. Some days, people suck. I mean, really suck.

I don’t normally rant about anything related to Blogomania here. Matter of fact, I don’t really rant about Blogomania at all - it is actually fairly smooth 99.998% of the time. People need hosting, I set up their hosting, their sites run.

Back in 2004, there was a problem with the online registration form. Depending on web browsers or on the type of computer people were using, the form broke and they didn’t get sent through to PayPal to pay for their hosting. No problem, we normally set them up, sent them the link, they paid, all was good in the world. A little inconvenience, but we could never duplicate the problem to fix it, and eventually it just stopped happening.

Fast forward to today. A client wrote that he wanted to shut his site down. No problem. Close the account on the server. Go into PayPal to find his payment subscription and make sure it is cancelled. Can’t find it. Write him and ask for the e-mail address, as sometimes PayPal is weird about searches on names. He sends it. Repeat search. Find that he has no payment subscription. Ever. Odd, but look around some more - and discover that he is one of those people that we set up when the form failed.

Problem is, he never got a payment link. So he has been hosted for 17 months without any payment at all for the hosting.

Ugh. I write to him, explain the mistake, point out that it is entirely my fault for not catching it - oh, 16 months ago. Ask him if he would be willing to pay a small, greatly reduced portion of the fee. I offered to take payments. Anything. I considered not writing at all, since I have nothing to hold over him - I can’t suspend his account as it is already closed, and … well, it is my own fault. I was just hoping to maybe make up a small portion of the lost fees.

He wrote back that I offered no proof, he really didn’t see any reason to pay anything. A “better luck next time” sort of response. Uh, hello? The proof is right there in HIS bank statements, or in HIS PayPal account - he hasn’t paid a thing. I can’t log into these things to show him this proof, and I already told him everything I know, down to the date he initially signed up. It wasn’t a ton of money, but still - I guess I just didn’t expect that response. Whatever. Sigh. At least his account is closed and gone.

People. I normally have a lot of faith in the good of mankind, but it has been really rocked tonight. Oh well, karma is a bitch sometimes, and they always say that what goes around comes around.

I need to write two papers for photography (one on a photographer and one on a technique we are not doing this semester), a speech & slides for Honors Day this Friday about my X-Ray Crystallography project, a comparision of the various reproductive systems of the vertebrates due in just over a week, and last but not least the essay on what I want to be when I grow up for my scholarship form.

What did I do this weekend? Figured out afterthought heels (well, the first part of them at least), finished a sock except for the afterthought heel, cleaned out a dresser, sorted out part of a closet, cleaned out other stuff from the piles that the pile fairies seem to bring and dump in my house, and read about several different photography techniques.

Ok, the last one counts as being related to my paper, but I didn’t need to spend so much time reading all of them.

I am nothing if not predictable. Doing everything I can to avoid doing the homework that I must get done this week. Smart, huh?

Oh well, at least I was really motivated to get some housework done.

I still can’t figure out how to send a text message along with a photo from my phone, and I can’t get it into that speed typing text mode either (something 9? Those of you that text know what I mean) so I didn’t send a full message with my photo of my photo last night. Then when I got home, I was so tired I crashed by 10pm, right after watching a very interesting documentary on the concentration camps of Nazi Germany.

I was told before that all photos submitted would be on display, but that was not the case. The correct statement was that all photographers that submitted work would have something on display - one print from each person that submitted work. My “Don’t Lose Your Head” (Click to see it larger) print was selected, so it was pretty cool to walk in and see my work hanging on the wall. I wasn’t sure if they would all be there or just one at that point. It was also interesting to see other people looking at my work. I thought about taking a photo of someone looking at the print as it was hanging there, but I thought that would be sort of weird and I didn’t feel like asking anyone if I could take their picture. My phone makes this really loud sound when I take a photo with it, so no stealth photography for me. That is why I was so far away from the print when I took that shot! Although it would have been easy enough to explain that it was my picture, so I wasn’t violating any copyright law.

They have already done the judging, and I didn’t win any prize. However, I didn’t really enter for the prize - I entered more for the opportunity. So in the end, it is ok. I hope the winners were people that really needed the money to continue their education. It would have been nice, but financial issues are not standing in my way and keeping me from registering for the fall semester. (Organic Chemistry, Trig, and a required Psych class that you have to take for the scholarship I am applying for. Already registered on Wednesday.)

The big news for today? JASON TURNS 14 TODAY!!! Oh my goodness. 14. How did that happen? It seems like only yesterday he was a cute little baby. Now he is 14! He will be in high school in the fall! Yes, I have to use exclamation points with everything related to his birthday! Tonight we will go to eat with a few of his friends from school, and then the guys will go and play Laser Tag. Afterwards, it is Cold Stone ice cream cake (yum!) and X-Box time at our house, and one of the guys is spending the night. Tomorrow night we have family dinner plans with my parents.

14. I still can’t believe it.

I had this gushy post in mind yesterday, but I didn’t write it right away (being half-asleep and all that) so now I don’t remember it all. I wish I did. I’m sure it will come to me later though, and I think I’ll save it for just him. Something sappy to remember how much Mom loves him.

Happy Birthday, Jason! I hope 14 is a fabulous year for you!

I’m completing an application for a scholarship from the community college I am attending. It is for the Pre-Professional Medical & Health Sciences group; basically, anyone that wants to go into the medical field in one way or another. They would pay for my tuition next year if I am awarded a scholarship.

The only roadblock? I have to write an essay, maximum length 1 page, about why I want to be ___________. So for me, it is why I want to be a pharmacist.

There are a few problems with this essay. First of all, I am such a cliche Libra. I can never make up my mind. I realize that they won’t hold me to the major or degree that I write on my essay, but at the same time I worry. What if I don’t want to be a pharmacist? What if I get through a good portion of my degree and change my mind? I hate to commit to being a pharmacist if I am not sure that is what I want. Ugh! Second, why do I want to be a pharmacist? Is it just because aptitude tests say that it would be a good fit for me? Is it because my dad is a pharmacist, albeit not one on a daily basis? Is it because the starting salary for a pharmacist is so attractive, especially after being overworked and underpaid for some time in the legal field?

I realize that their point with this question is to make me think about it, but I also realize that it wouldn’t look good if I just wrote, “I want to be a pharmacist because the pay is good and I want to save lots of money up so I can travel Europe in the not too distant future. Right after I put my son through college.” See? That isn’t going to fly. Plus it isn’t anywhere close to being a page long.

Somedays I just want to toss it all aside and be a professional photographer. Now wouldn’t that be fun?!?

Which reminds me - my photography teacher informed me today that he was told that all entries into the art show were accepted, and are all up for consideration for the various scholarship prizes! The exhibit opening is tomorrow; it is going to be interesting to see my own photographs hanging up in the Fine Arts Gallery on campus. (Yes, I will take pictures and share.) I need to find out if it is too late to put prices on the prints; I learned when I turned them in that that was an option. How much should I put? I was considering $20, but that sounds high. Watch me find out that some prints were sold for $200 or something like that. I wish I knew what to do. See? Decisions? I suck at them.

Today, I did something far from brilliant in my photography class.

I rewound the film I finished shooting this morning. I took the film out of my camera. I went into the loading room, which is completely black because film is sensitive to all light, and loaded it onto a spool and put it into a developing tank. I went back out into the classroom, and I got the first chemical ready to process the film.

Considering the process is called “developing,” a normal person would use developer to develop their film.

Today, I used the stop bath.

The stop bath is a chemical that stops the developer from developing. It is not what you should use for the first step. Doh!

Fortunately, stop bath doesn’t do much of anything if it doesn’t have developer to work on. I was greatly relieved to learn that rinsing my film several times and starting over with the developer would probably work out just fine - and everything was ok in the end. I figure that there is some sort of statistic that would show that for every “x” numbers of rolls of film you develop, you are bound to do something really stupid. I’ve developed a lot of film over the years, and this is the first time for me on doing something so foolish. I guess it was bound to happen.

The above photograph was taken last fall. When it was cool outside. Click it to view it large.

It is freakin’ sweltering hot outside. It is April. It is supposed to be spring. NOT near record-breaking temps in the 90s or whatever unbelievable temperature it was today. At 4pm, I had to walk across the very small campus - maybe 2 blocks worth of walking - and while I was walking fast because I was in a hurry, I was dripping wet by the time I arrived at the Fine Arts department offices. I was miserable. This makes me cranky.

Tomorrow’s high temperature is expected to be 94 degrees. That doesn’t even take into account the “feels like” temperature, which will probably be around 97 degrees with the nasty humidity.

Oh yeah, I am *so* excited that summer is right around the corner. Ha!

It is going to be a long, hot summer. I am grumpy just thinking about it.

I’ll try to stop complaining now. There is no use. We aren’t moving anywhere - I put in a plug last night for Mike to try to get a job at the giant company that his friend Mandy now works at in Seattle (not Microsoft), but he pointed out what a good place he is at right now with his company - he is doing what he loves, he has room to advance, so on and so forth. Neither one of us wants to give that up. If only it didn’t mean living in Houston. Of course, there are other reasons to stay here - low cost of living, inexpensive housing (especially compared to Seattle!), my parents live here (although my Mom wants to move too), Jason is about to start high school, if we moved I would have to pay “out of state” tuiton for awhile in a new state until we met the residency requirements… the list goes on.

On a positive note, my Half Pi Shawl is done! I just have to block it out tonight or tomorrow night. And I entered 5 photographs in the Fine Arts department competition - 2 Paris photos (only one which has been posted online), 1 flower photo, and 2 black & white photographs (including the sleeping flamingos); if they select any of them they will be displayed in the gallery on campus, and the winner of the competition gets scholarship money. I also have my applications for two other scholarships almost ready to go - the Honor Students scholarship (I am in Honors Chemistry right now), and the Pre-Professional Medical program scholarship. Having someone else cover the cost of books and tuition would be sweet!

Oh! And I can put a price on the prints and offer them up for sale! It would be so awesome to have someone buy my photographs!

I’m almost done with my shawl! Whoo hoo! The Rosie’s Yarn Cellar Half-Pi Shawl is coming close to the end. I’m down to the i-cord bindoff. So. Painfully. Slow. K2, SSK, move stitches back to the left needle, repeat. For a total of 288 stitches. I was hoping I would be done tonight, but it isn’t looking good at this rate. Maybe it will get faster as I work on it. Or maybe I’ll just finish it tomorrow!

Next up, finishing the Lady Eleanor shawl!