31 July 2003

Lifestyles of the Distributed and Autonomous

With David back from Siberia for a week, my work load is steadily increasing. Last night I worked late, but was productive, and still managed to prepare a delicious and healthy dinner. Tonight is swing at Tokio; I can't wait.

The thesis plans are shaping up. I think I'm pretty much decided on doing my own "modest" language evolution simulation, and writing about how it fits into contemporary work. The more I get to read DeBoer, the better. Sanskrit has sort of fallen by the wayside, but I'm still reading about lexical morphisms a little bit each day over breakfast. It's really fascinating, but there's a lot more I'd need to learn.

GRE word of the day: STYGIAN Look it up!

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1 August 2003

Dysfunction Junction

It's not surprising that at 8:30 on a Friday morning, I'm the only one in the lab. Even I shouldn't be here this early; I was out late dancing again. It was Ray's last night at Tokio, and the dance was free, so everyone and their mother showed up. Well, not my mother, but we're working on that. Evan introduced me to a physics nerd named Don who turned out to be a Computational Linguist. He's working on RNA sequencing: talk about your subset of Sigma*. I think he may be gay, though. Not that it matters; he's far too old, anyway.

Tonight I'm headed home again. I hope the car gets me that far. Meanwhile, I've got a Hungarian corpus to compile. I'm not looking forward to that. But at 4:30 I'm taking off and making the most of the Murder Mystery Art Stroll in Kennett. And sleep...

GRE word of the day: SOBRIQUET Look it up!

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4 August 2003

The Snack That Smiles Back

This weekend I went home, that is, to my mother's house. I spent lots of time putting things in boxes, and more importantly, throwing stuff out. Now everything I own is with me, or in Tupperware in the basement. Except for one shelf of books and a couple dresses in my closet. Mom inherited the red sparkly dress with the admonition to wear it to my wedding. I was reunited with my Rainbow Brite lunchbox from preschool.

Friday night there was a Murder Mystery Art Stroll in Kennett. We had to walk around to all the shops, interviewing actors. When the alibi, movite, and weapon lined up, that was the killer. Mom and I both won prizes, which we summarily traded. Yesterday I spent the whole day doing puzzles of some sort: 3D, Scrabble, and GRE. I remember when I used to be good at math... Today is going to be all work: Hungarian corpus-building and the like. Stupid Dave has off again, but I am consoled by the thought that this slackerdom causes him to miss out on Millie's brownies. And I'm not bringing him one. He's probably still asleep now. Judging from the state of the lab, the rest of the world is, too. Well, it's off to be productive, in most unsatisfying sense of the word.

GRE word of the day: PANEGYRIC Look it up!

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5 August 2003

Pirates Could Happen to Anyone

This morning started with Good News. My mother called entirely too early to tell me my grades had arrived. She decided not to question the Singapore return address and congratulated me on straight HDs. For you non-Aussie readers, that's like an A. Now, one would think this would indicate some sort of intelligence on my part, but I don't think it translates. Less than an hour after recieving this news, I left my lunch in the library.

Last night Dave and I watched the film version of "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead," directed by Stoppard himself. The questions game was on a tennis court. They switched sides after each serve. It was wonderful. However, there was no mention of Alfred hoisting the sail from the lighting grid in a hoop skirt. That must have been cut. I still liked this version better.

GRE word of the day: GAFFE Look it up!

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6 August 2003

Because the Pilot Was a Loaf of Bread

Today is going to be Interesting. Last night at the gym I pulled my wrist and now it won't move. So it's one-handed typing for a while. I got an email from Mark that served many functions, one of them being to remind me how much I miss him. I've got to find some way to work Sydney into my Watson. In any case, he alleviated my simulation woes so I can feel productive about my work agaiin.

Watched "The O.C." last night. I'd give it two bananas out of five. Not likely to watch it again. Swing tomorrow.

GRE word of the day: PHILIPPIC Look it up!

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7 August 2003

Fish The One You're With

Last night Dave and I played Scrabble on the beach. He was upset because I didn't trounce him thoroughly enough. I started the morning with an email from David that contained none other than a 10,000-word Hungarian corpus. This would be wonderful, except that I spent the last three days compiling one of my own. Well, 20,000 words couldn't hurt.

Tonight I'm off to Tokio again, so my car is venturing once more into the city. It's getting better the more I drive it, now that all the wasp colonies have been erradicated. And grocery shopping. Because I've got to keep people fed.

In an unrelated note, I should be paid more.

GRE word of the day: ANTEDILUVIAN Look it up!

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8 August 2003

And No Potatoes

Last night I went to Tokio alone, in the rain, in my car. The things I do for love of the dance... Nevertheless, I had a ball. Don showed up and we had a fascinating conversation about Atlantic City lifestyles and Israeli history. I met two guys from Penn State, one of which danced like Joe, and the other of which dressed like Brian. And Paul was there, and Ken, and Matthew, and Jon, whom I haven't seen in ages. The best compliment I got all night was when Jon and I were talking and Ken tipped his hat and asked if he could interrupt. He asked me to dance, and I said, "Oh, I thought you were going to ask Jon." Ken replied, "Don't tell him I said this, but you're much cuter than Jon. And you're a much better follower than either of us." I love Ken.

So, I may be going to the beach with Paul and Matthew at the end of the month. That is, provided Becca comes. I miss Becca.

Quote of the day:

GRE word of the day: STOCHASTIC Look it up!

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13 August 2003

The Doctor is IN

Rainy, rainy week. My pumpkins are dying. There are mushrooms in my front yard. Right now it's been reduced to a fine mist, but precipitating nonetheless. Much to do today, first being to figure out how to get the Dells to play CDs. Then on to the daunting task of combining research initiatives. Don't even ask about that. But there's a nectarine in my lunch and tomorrow I get to go dancing, so I'm happy.

On the subject of pumpkins, I found through various sources that the plant needs plenty of water to grow, but that didn't free me of dead-pumpkin guilt. So I looked more and found a site that warned against getting too much water on the leaves, as they can get diseased and the whole plant will rot. Bingo. Between the constant rain and the humidity, those leaves were staying quite moist. This also explains why the plants low to the ground have shriveled up, while the ones growing over a nearby bush have survived. And now I needn't feel culpable for the demise of half my pumpkins. That is, as long as I keep a close eye on the rest of the crop.

GRE word of the day: GAMBOL Look it up!

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14 August 2003

The Wrath of Kahn

Today did not start well. I slept badly out of pumpkin guilt, then did garden stuff and went to work early. Stopped by to talk to Millie, but the whole office is out today. So I tried the Sun Lab. Locked. No one around. Lemonade. I picked up the mail for Eleonore and put in an hour there, figuring that someone would be around when I got back to the lab. I did a lousy job punching holes. But to no avail. All routes locked, no key within reach. Oh, Evan's got a key, but he's not in yet. He'd better watch out; I'm not one to be crossed today. There will be a reckoning!

GRE word of the day: EVISCERATE Look it up!

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18 August 2003

Cake or Death?

Today I was feeling very underproductive. Granted, I did see Jesse and Joy, and went to the library, but I also forgot the numbers Jesse and Joy gave me, and couldn't find my ID to get books out. Work is just loose ends, and Brennan started a conversation about grad schools that took up most of my time. Luckily, after lunch I went to see Millie, who was in a tizzy over formatting issues. I taught her how to use regular expressions and she sent me back with strawberry shortcake for the whole of the lab. So now when anyone asks me what I can get with a degree in Computational Linguistics, I can answer with pride, "free cake." That's something my mother can relate to.

GRE word of the day: INCHOATE Look it up!

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19 August 2003

The Comfy Chair

I got a package. Packages make me happy. With any luck, it's from Ernie, though I don't think I trust the postal system that much. After all, the Valentine's Day package from Mom took three months to arrive.

This is my last week of research, which is to say, I have 30 hours left of work to do, however that is spaced. I feel like I've actually made some progress, which is comforting, especially because Dave left and I'm lonely. Big Plans with Becca on Thursday, including dinner and yarn shopping for my latest crafty endeavor. I spent last night surrounded by graph paper, after sunbathing in the big chair. Feeling a little cryptic today...

GRE word of the day: SCURRILOUS Look it up!

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20 August 2003

Little Black Rain Cloud

Bad mood. Too much to do. I hate everything.

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25 August 2003

Construction Site Darth Vader

Yesterday I learned to drive a backhoe. Today I'm hanging signs for Millie. I should get more sleep. So much to clean...