Zucchini Muffins and Marley

Good morning y'all! I am currently enjoying a cup of coffee and zucchini muffins (arguably my favorite part of every day). Who'd a thought zucchini and muffins could bring their powers together to form a wonderful breakfast delight, right? Add a Bob Marley play list to that mix and you've recreated my current state!

Well it is Thursday and I am yet to blog about the Chi-city. While I realize I may be overdue, I couldn't let such a poetic weekend (reference to the artistic works of Becky Hammer) pass by with no explanation. I would like to first pay some homage to the Song Family (no this is not a collection of musical pieces). Not only did Mrs. Song's presence and generous nature make Friday night everything that it was, but I watched her share a 30 oz beer with her son! I would also like to throw some love to Mr. Song who, despite our 30 sec. attempt at a conversation via cellular phone with the absence of a translator, told Mrs. Song to be sure to show Dong and his friends (and family) a good time in the Chi. However nothing was more priceless in that night than watching Dong pull his tiny little mother through a Chicago crowd of thousands, especially when he took off running with her after he mistakenly heard a 2 guys taunting each other into fighting (which actually turned out to be an officer yelling at some hoodlums). Oh yea, and then there was a young man by the name of Michael Johnson who after cursing at a Taxi driver for his incompetence (most likely this was not the case but rather Johnson's inability to communicate when intoxicated) was dropped off no where near what he had been told over 20 times. No worries, we found him...well kind of.

As Saturday approached, I anticipated the feeling of being dumped Into the Wild, surviving on only Dasani water bottles and 5 dollar foot-longs. I did much research on what to wear to void off predators (Hulk Rules bandanna) and how to entertain oneself to fight off insanity (songs that take 1,482 seconds to sing. Refer to calculations at bottom of page). The hiking excursion turned out to be a 5 mile nature walk with the discovery of 3 things: rain, baby frogs, and 99 bottles of beer (or one water bottle). For the confused mind, these are all items for which we could have located in Ohio. However, beyond the frequent silent whining of my fellow hikers (body language speaks louder than words), I enjoyed the hiking experience simply because I got to use my boyscout hiking pack (that's right, Smola) and I truly survived the Wilderness...of a paved State Trail.

All in all, the Bear-Grylls-of-a-weekend taught me to never trust Ohio's Thursday's perception of Chicago's Saturday's weather, I may postpone my Alaskan adventure until a later date (never), if camping is your sole priority for a weekend, find someone you know that lives close, and I would like to make a move for Subway to advertise "5 dollar, 5 dollar, 5 dollar waterproof foot-looongs."

How long does 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall take to sing?:

-Verse 1 is 4 measures long (4 beats a measure) comprising a verse of 16 beats or counts.
-Given that there are 99 verses in the song (assuming each bottle is a verse), it takes 396 measures to complete the song (or 1,584 beats/counts). Let's call this number "1584".
-How long will it take to complete the song while hiking 2.5 miles? Let's call the equation "1,584X."
-The average singer of this tune may allocate 1 second for every count (X=1 second). One with a simple mind would then say that it takes 1,584 seconds to complete the song.
-However with frequent on/off jogging and the additional factor of tossing a water bottle, this number does not accredit the exhaustion that sets in.
-A fluctuation of +/- 2 seconds for every measure must be added depending on the pace and condition of the singers.
-Since the singers in this case began with a normal pace, but became tired near 49 bottles remaining (or 16 measures x 49 seconds = 784 seconds), we may subtract 2 seconds for every measure after and including the 49th bottle verse. [784 seconds - (2 seconds x 49 verses)] = 686 seconds for 49th and under.
-We may then add this to the time of the first 50 bottles (800 seconds + 686 seconds = 1,486 seconds).
-But Wait!! At some point in the last 30 verses, due to slippery conditions, Miss Molly Dull dropped the participating water bottle, causing her to back track on the trail and delaying the entire operation by 4 seconds (1,486-4 = 1,482 seconds).
-1,584 - X = 1,482 seconds, where X = -102 seconds
- We may conclude then, that it takes approximately 1,482 seconds to complete the singing of 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall on a 2.5 mile hike in the raining conditions of Waterfall Glen trail!

ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

As of 7:11pm CST on Wednesday, July 8, 2009, book #11 of my summer has been overtaken. Somebody stop me!

And for the record, I'm really disheartened that my two efforts to get people to interact with my DGCW posts have been absolute flops. Whaaa whaaa

Enlightenment.

I have been preoccupied with very important beach time, as the past 3 days in Chicago have been GLORIOUS weather-- quite different from the last 2 months. I'm back to my brown bear self after some much-needed alone time with me, the waves and loads of reading material. Fun fact #1: I'm currently on books #11, 12 and 13 of the summer. (!!!!!!) What have y'all been reading?

I've also been busy packing. Tomorrow starts the 1-week countdown of my move from 1062 (the lovely apartment Miss Katelyn mentioned). As for my next humble abode, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a real closet, but I won't go too crazy with my dreaming! Fun Fact #2: If you keep your food in a refrigerator and your clothes in a closet, if you have a roof over your head and have a bed to sleep in, you are richer than 75% of the entire world population. ;)

This weekend was superb. Shabizz really needs to tell the good stories, but I had an excellent time with the BG crew here. I tend to believe that getting rained on is cathartic, so I have no need to complain about our hike. I loved singing (screaming?) "99 bottles of beer on the wall,"(Fun Fact #3: This song is derived from the British song, "Ten Green Bottles.") re-visiting the Terrace 2 days in a row (though they probably think I'm a lush), Mrs. Song treating us to $5 margaritas, and getting my hands on a delish jar of lingonberry preserves from IKEA (mmmm!). Fun Fact #4: Lingonberries are rich in many nutrients, including vitamin C, potassium, magnesium and those highly valued Omega-3s that are all the rage these days. I temporary lost my voice (again) because of the amount of jamming we did-- totally worth it. The el (there's your answer, Kate. Fun Fact #5: "El" actually stands for "ELevated train.") was NOT our friend on the 3rd; it stopped at every stop north of downtown with its doors open for 3-10 minutes (I resorted to timing it on my phone) while Johnson and I both suffered from extremely full bladders (Fun Fact #6: That's 10 stops before Loyola's on the Red Line.). I cite Matt Forrest as I say, "FML." All in all, it was a truly refreshing outdoor camping excursion, though it ended up being neither of those things. Becky's fam was awesome to us! :)

This weekend, my beautiful big sis is driving in so we can see Ben Folds for the 3rd time together. Fun Fact #7: Those 3 shows have all been in different cities that start with "c." Until I move, I'm enjoying a dinner date each night with different really cool people who are willing to oblige me with their company before I desert them for the Buckeye state. ;) Fun Fact #8: The buckeye is a poisonous nut, which also translates into being a really non-intimidating school mascot.

Speaking of which, OASC SENIOR HIGH II SUMMER WORKSHOP IS IN LESS THAN 2 WEEKS!!!!!! Tuesday is the day I lead, so exactly 2 weeks from now I'll be making magic with 20-something lovely darlings from all over Ohio. My Oxford trip is the night before, and I'm wreaking havoc in Dayton and Columbus for 2 consecutive nights after camp. My body/mind will be exhausted, but I figure I'll have plenty of time to sleep after my wisdom teeth removal, scheduled to go down on 28 July. (Fun Fact #9: I have an EXTRA wisdom tooth-- yes, like 5-- and the fifth one is called a "supernumerary tooth.")

To wrap up this incredibly informative post (you know you liked the colors AND the wisdom), I shall enlighten you a bit on my favorite animal, the butterfly, for Fun Fact #10: Butterflies can see ultraviolet light. Radical! 8-)

Tall House Blend

Judging by the title of this article, yes I'm becoming a little homesick. I think it's mostly because I keep getting teased when I see all of my excellent friends from home and then I mosey on back to my college house where the only thing to eat is noodles and some sort of deli-sandwich and I instantly feel nostalgic.

But to recap the very exciting weekend in chi-city! Molly's apartment/flat/top-floor-of-a-huge-house was AMAZING! Looked a lot like her: long white walls, bedrooms were all painted a different color, wooden flooring, bright flowers, I don't know if "Molly" is an adjective but I'm going to end with "Molly." [And just so I feel better about my house, my bedroom is NOT plain for the record.] But we went to a very trendy restaurant Friday evening after an obnoxious ride on the "L" or "EL" or whatever the written abbrev. is for "Elevated Train." The restaurant was called "Feast" (http://www.feastrestaurant.com/)---I do not know how to post links like you guys do---and our waiter was an asshole because we didn't want to order a $17 glass of wine. I like wine, but I usually buy a box and end up slapping the bag by the end of the night. Food was premium, however. We went to The Terrace that Molly recently blogged about; to her dismay the exact same host was working as the night before that she took her friends there--kind of funny.

I will let Shawn post about Johnson or our hiking excursion, it may be funnier coming from him because all of have to say about hiking in the rain is: Wait for the rain to stop before you start a nine mile hike.

On Saturday after hiking we went (sopping wet) to an IKEA!!! This is one of my favorite stores EVER!!! You can eat, furnish an entire house, and get lost in a warehouse all in one trip!!! Becky was less excited about this stop (but still she did not complain once) because she lives a mere ten minutes away from the heaven we visited. The closest Ikea we have in Cleveland (or the one my Dad seems to jump to is in Pittsburgh and that's a long drive in my little brother's truck). I got the coolest wall sticker to spruce up my plain room, a knife (because we do not have one knife in my whole house), and a toilet brush scrubber for 99 cents. I also got cake. See what I mean?!? Cake AND decorative items. You can't beat that shit.

Quite a bit more happened over the weekend, but it's time for me to go check out my drying gel. I will blog soon about what I actually do in lab, because I sound like all I do is wait for things to dry at work. Much love from afar...

Gossip.

So I know I just posted but there have been so many "rumors" and "words on the street" flying about this that I feel it deserves a post of it's own.

I'M COMING TO OXFORD IN TWO WEEKS.

Just for the night. I have to be in Dayton by 11am the next morning, so there will be no breakfast scramble like last time Adam Harris, but I will be there and I will be ready for Oxfun. And I owe Matt Forrest a Chicago-brewed beer whilst I am there.

And also, Nathan and I are going to dominate all of you. "In what," you say. Well, that's irrelevant. We will dominate in everything, so just don't get your hopes up is what I'm trying to say.

So it's confirmed. Now please stop putting my name and the word rumor in the same sentence. :-P

I'm Caught in Suspension.

Eli just left an hour ago and I am waiting for a carful of falcons to arrive in 2.5 hours-- I'm literally suspended in a fairly useless amount of time waiting for the best summer of my life to continue (shoutout to Loyolacappella for the title of this post, yeah?). Lucky for me (and all of you-- our THIRTEEN followers!!), blogging is a great filler for that "fairly useless" amount of time. ;)

I babysat Tuesday, and the 2 siblings (in 7th and 5th grade) filmed an entire commercial for a cleaning company called the DustBusters, inspired by them having to vacuum the cookie crumbs they decorated my backseat of my car with on our way home from the library. After watching it, I wondered why kids don't actually control the world-- they are still in touch with their imaginations so they are SO creative, they aren't afraid of looking silly and they are all interested in learning. I say we nominate an adolescent as president in the next election.

Eli's visit was absolutely awesome. Not only was it great spending time with him, but it was motivation for me to pay $2.25 to take the CTA places, which is something I don't usually feel like splurging on when I'm flying solo. I showed him RoPo, Andersonville, Wrigleyville, Lakeview, Lincoln Park and literally the entirety of downtown, from Pearson Ave all the way to the S. Loop. We talked politics (can you imagine-- people are able to do this in a civil manner!), our childhoods, our futures, and things that set us on fire (in a good way). All of this conversation happened over great food and drink: my homemade black bean burgers, the wine from Italy (which was deLISH!), buffalo tofu, yummy beers from Hopleaf and Uncommon...the list goes on forever, since this is the best food city in the country.

I think my favorite meal of the visit, though, was last night's dinner. A fellow OASCer, Chris, who is one of my close friends despite the fact that we don't ever see each other, is actually in Chi city for the summer, so he met us for a late dinner. I found an outdoor terrace in the heart of the city with great food, a spectacular view and lots of open air. We sat for 2+ hours and enjoyed the reunion (and some bomb-awesome falafel)...I loved the catch-up time! Special guest appearance of the week goes to Steve Zeisler from NC. He put up with our obnoxious late-night phone call.

Anyway, I was able to be confirmed in a lot of the things I've been thinking and feeling about myself/my life path lately, which is one of the reasons I enjoy getting back to my roots and reconnecting with people who have watched me grow and understand what is important to me. Thanks for the clarity, E! :)

So now, Katelyn, Becky and Shawn are en route for another excellent couple of days. Of course we're headed downtown to check out Taste of Chicago, but I am not a fan of dawdling crowds who stand where you're supposed to walk and don't realize that there are 100,000 other people around them, so I am much more anticipatory of our camping expedition. Apparently, our back-up plan if we don't get a campsite is a camping trip in Becky's backyard in the 'burbs. I won't complain-- how many times have we camped in backyards?! As long as I get to put my awesome tent to use, you can count me in!

Until they arrive, I'll be calling all of the lovely first-years I get to hang out with in the Social Justice Learning Community next year and polishing Rhianna's "Take a Bow," which I just taught myself to play on the guitar. I know you're jealous.

Question of the day: Is chivalry dead, is chivalry sexist or has chivalry evolved into a way of treating people that ANY gender can act out toward ANY OTHER gender? I'm interested in everyone's thoughts. Play nice, though, friends! :)

Venti Awake tea with honey

Today is rather ordinary, but I woke up with a cool scratchy voice (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=INQX2E3Nrbs) and I really have been owning it.

Went into the lab a little late because I busied myself with lots of things going on around campus--Chris Grigrella (an orientation leader) found the ONE family from Elyria that is visiting Bowling Green today and literally shouted across the entire union to tell me where they were. I answered all the questions that you have as an 18 year old girl and are un-embarassed enough to ask an acquaintance: Am I going to run out of meal plan, did you? (Just eat when you're hungry, but yes I did gain 15 pounds freshman year so tread with caution) Does my dorm have air conditioning? (Do you count a box fan as central air?) I'm only taking 14 credit hours, should I take more? (Well if you want to graduate on time, think about another class. Or just jump on the five year plan like the majority of the students at BGSU and get comfortable here)

But jumping ahead to the good news--my samples finally worked today!! For the past THREE days I have been moving a clear liquid around into different tubes, running gels, and then looking at nothing when I'd go to take a picture of the image. BUT (insert drum roll here)--I figured out what I did wrong! I just diluted the primers I was using ten times too much!! Silly Katelyn--if someone handed me coffee that was diluted ten times and expected me to work a full day, I wouldn't work either! So now I just need to repeat everything I did over the past three days over again, which seems to be what scientists always do anyways so its whatever.

So I ran some errands after work: went to the library to try and renew Arrested Development Season 2 (someone had reserved it after me, to my misfortune) and went to walmart to grab a few things. Found out the hard way that buying the cheapest toothpaste is not always your best option. Things like fresh breath really are worth splurging for. So I bought NEW toothpaste, a $5 movie, etc and came home. I'm blogging about toothpaste, it may be time to sign off for now. This was not my best work and the dontgochasin' site is pretty new, so please don't judge pre-maturely what type of an impact I can have on the world.

For now, friends...