Street Cred

HiGh- Blasting Nicki Minaj in my car while driving through west philly and turning it down when I passed people that had more street cred than me.  This meant I was really only blasting it in the CVS Pharmacy parking lot and by the dog park.  I have NO street cred at all but I think Nicki Minaj drops some sick beats and rhymes like a piranha in a dog fight.  Her verse in the Kanye West song Monster is too legit to quit. Did that sound street? No? Damn.


LoW- Bodhi got accepted into the members only dog park!  This should be a high but man the people there are obnoxious.  Always wanting to talk about their dog when all I want them to do is focus on my dog.  I wonder if they have ever noticed that their dog is super boring and no one cares about it but them.  Soon they will realize that Bodhi is where it's at and they'll probably just want to give their dog away and focus more on my dog.  I can't stand these people that are so obsessed with their dogs.  Here is another picture of Bodhi.  I took this at the dog park while we were trying to ignore the other dogs that are clearly inferior to Bodhi. 

Don't step on me

HiGh-  you know the "don't tread on me" flag that has become a symbol of the tea party movement?  i think the flag below is a more appropriate one for their cause.  something about the tea-bag movement smells fishy-- or shitty-- and i'm thinking they should consider adopting this flag instead of the historical flag from the revolutionary war that has nothing to do with the crap they stand for.  it could be called the poop-bag movement and just imagining people waving this flag has made my day.

LoW-  hipsters!!  and their fixies!! i have no idea how more hipsters don't perish while whizzing through traffic on their fixies with no regard for their safety or anyone else's.  today i saw a hipster on a fixie tailing a garbage truck and i was willing him to hit the back of the truck with all of my might.  somehow he managed to pass it on the left on a really busy street and when he couldn't get all the way around, he zipped back to the right side and bunny hopped onto the sidewalk and went around.  i have to say, it was impressive, but i was really hoping to see him fly into the trash.  maybe next time.

dog days

HiGh- It was a beautiful day in Philly today.  Mid sixties and fall color everywhere.  I got to spend a few hours outside and it was glorious.  Ivan and I went to the dog park and observed the madness there.  Bodhi made a friend.  Another border collie named Shelby that gave Bodhi a run for her money.  They were soul sisters and it made my day. 

LoW-  After much observation I have come to the following conclusion: If my dog were a person, she would definitely have to wear a helmet during everyday activities.  In fact, she should probably wear a helmet in her dog form too.  Here is a preview made possible by the magic of photoshop. Priceless.

the croatian is here

HiGh!-  The croatian is visiting!  This means plentiful groceries and normal sleep cycles and doing lots of fun things that I don't normally do because I'm too busy pretending to be busy.  Hanging out with the croatian is a joy.  We drink beer and talk and miscommunicate at least once an hour. It goes a little something like this:  Oh, you didn't mean what you just said literally?  No, I meant it figuratively.  Unless you think it's funny in which case I meant it literally.  Ok, I get it.  Ha Ha.  Wait, what were you saying?  I. am. confused.  English is our second language.  But, for the rest of the hour, we are like peas and carrots.  What carrots?  That's an example of an expression that would send us into a tailspin of confusion :)

Last night we went and saw some music and the world cafe live.  It was a great time!

LoW- DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME IS A NIGHTMARE

I don't usually like to write in all caps but I strongly dislike daylight savings time and the darkness that it brings at 2 in the afternoon.  The above is a photo of what my walk to school looks like.  Very pleasant.  The possibilities are endless on a day like this.  I enter my office refreshed and invigorated. Little do I know that the day is wasting away at an alarming rate.  I will emerge just a few hours later, to this:

There are no more fun outdoor adventures to be had in this black hole of 5pm.  All you can really do is hope you get home alive.  Boo daylight savings time. 

wow!

HiGh-  Oh man!  It has been awhile.  Basically, I had a really fun weekend and then got totally destroyed by the crazy workload I left for myself on Monday!  My friend Dan Burnout came to visit which was definitely a HiGh.  Besides his farting problem he is really great company!  The HiGh of the HiGh visit was definitely the Halloween celebration.  We grabbed some costumes last minute and proceeded to drink beer and be obnoxious all night.  It was great.  I was a whoopie cushion and Dan was a monk of some sort.  A monk with Adidas trainers on.  I went around asking what people were and when they started to answer me a made a huge whoopie cushion sound (similar to a fart sound) and interrupted them.  Only two people out of dozens told me to F#!k off!! Success!  Here are some more pics, they pretty much sum it up. 

 

The baby is fine, no worries!

 

 

LoW-  This last one is my LoW.  It turns out that if you're a whoopie cushion and you lay face down on the floor, you look like a piece of discarded gum.  Fail!

Saying hi to my dear brother davi

HiGh-  This made my night. 

LoW- Sitting. Writing. Trying to convince myself that the proposal I am writing is not complete bullshit.  REPEAT.  ALL DAY. 

Slow Few Days

HiGh-  In order to pass the time today in GIS class, I did about an hour and a half of daydreaming.  The GIS professor is interesting enough, but after struggling with the last assignment until almost three in the morning, the last thing I wanted to do was watch someone show off their proficiency with the program.  After taking a stand, I will obviously be struggling with this week's assignment too. Damn.

Today I daydreamed about what my dog Bodhi would write me if she could text message me.  I think the day would go a little something like this:

Bodhi-- 9:15am: omg you just left

9:15: heard a noise. and another. it's noisy and boring all at once

9:17am: it's ok. i'm  ok. i think

9:23am: i just went through the bathroom trash. no big deal, just looking for something to do

9:34am: hey i was thinking we should do something where are you?

9:38am: i really have to pee. bad

9:42am: i guess you seriously left you a-hole. but i win, i get to sleep all day

9:44am: omg i feel like i slept for days!  where are you? do you want to do something?

10:00am: turns out i actually didn't sleep much and you're still gone. but i don't have to pee anymore! worried?

10:05am: window is open, outside smells amaaaaaaazing. jerk. trying the white chair for a snooze

10:07am: boom. i feel amazing, what a nap! omfg where aaaaaare you?

10:12am: i'm gonna read the koran for a bit, see what that's all about

Me-- 10:13am: really? that's impressive

10:15am: no not really! hi!! omg hi!! when the phone lit up i was like omg omg!!

10:30am:  i took the bear off of your bed again. you should come pick it up

11:00am:  FIRE!!  fire in the building, hurry back! maybe after the fire we can play frisbee!

11:30am:  mouse just ran by, no big deal

12:00pm:  my ass is on your pillow, you should come move my ass... and then we can do something?

2:00pm:  i have been licking the floor for the last 2 hours. fun game. way more fun than your day

4:00pm:  you will not believe the monster nap i just took, i will have so much energy when you get home that you will cry. hurry up!

5:00pm: holy shit i hear you you are here. let's do everything!

Hi, I'm in Delaware

HiGh-  Field work in Delaware!  Yup, Delaware.  Apparently they have huge stinky marshes there that are great for coring. All I could think of the whole time was the Wayne's World quote, "Hi, I'm in Delaware."  But it was good times and I learned a shit-ton.  Yes, that is a technical term used to describe what one learns in a marsh.  HiGhs included seeing the Christine O'donnell signs in person, watching the whistle tips video (I heard a real live whistle tip the other day!), watching the Phillies-Giants series while drinking some cold beers, and bonding over the joy of farting in your waders and carrying it around for hours before it gets blasted in your face when you bend over.  Good times, good people. 

LoW-  Bodhi wreaked havoc on the people of Clark Park this morning.  I decided to take her down to play frisbee so she would settle down and let me get some second sleep and instead she was a huge and embarrassing failure.  I showed up all proud and ready to bring some joy to the hearts of the Saturday morning farmer's market hippies, and right from the start Bodhi had another agenda.  It didn't help that everyone and their mother was down at the park this morning.  First bodhi decided to go after every little soccer kid she could find.  Giving them one loud bark and a firm arm jab while they were trying to dribble to safety. Then the best--or worst-- part happened.  There was a particularly enthusiastic group of hippies practicing some giant head routine for a parade.  I didn't notice it at first but these people were lining up on the edges of the park holding huge paper mache masks with long fabric pieces on each side.  These masks required 4 people to hold them up and dance around and Bodhi was on it before i could stop her.  She went after the purple masked face with the biggest arm jab I have ever seen and sent the hippies toppling backwards and the banner holders scurrying to safety.  The whole routine had to be restarted after they checked for damage on the mask.  I took Bodhi home but I was secretly laughing my ass off because it couldn't have been more of a shitshow saturday morning.  cheers boodley!  

Actual Work!?

HiGh-  It's hard work makin' myself look so bad so today I'm going to take a break and report a solid academic HiGh.  I gave a presentation at school today for the Monday Seminar series and it went really well!  My first PhD presentation was not a huge and embarrassing failure.  Success! I didn't faint, throw up, or fall down (I came close though when I got a little excited about an earthquake and ran into the table).  Success!  The above image is a slide from the presentation.  I like this slide because it has pretty colors and it helps people understand what the hell I am talking about.  That's a solid slide.

Double HiGh!-  I didn't really have a low yet today although I haven't started my ArcGIS homework and I am expecting that to be a major buzz kill.  My second high is, you guessed it, BODHI! She hasn't been feeling well and this morning she threw up what appeared to be half of a red rubber ball.  She's been on the up and up ever since! Good grill Boodles! Today she brought joy to the hearts of the people at the park with her frisbee skillz.  She jumps, she catches, and the people cheer and rejoice.  I should start charging money for all of the joy she brings but I know she wants to just give it away :) 

Photo by Dan Burnout

40 oz Friday!

HiGh-  I was on my way to school this morning at the bright and early hour of 10:30am when I decided I would get a breakfast sandwich, which made me even later.  But that's not the point of this story!  No one was at school yet anyway!  I'm not a slacker and I probably won't fail, so get off my back!  But I digress.  As I waited in the all-purpose deli for my breakfast sandwich, I decided I should probably buy some water and a diet coke.  That's when I saw the 40 oz beers in the refrigerator.  Brilliant!  What better way is there to celebrate a week of zero productivity than thirsty 40 oz Friday! So it begins today, the 40oz Friday tradition.  I have to pick it up with two hands.  And I'm really careful with it around the computer, I promise. 

LoW-  I am just going to go ahead and admit that my low is the fact that I am drinking Bud Light.  Stop judging me!

Washington!!!

For fall break I went to Washington to visit the Croatian.  Basically it was one big HiGh... the beauty!  The splendor!  The nutella!  It was good to see the people and print the thesis.  It felt like a proper goodbye to Washington and not a move-out-load-uhaul in one day mess like the late August affair.  It's all good now, and Washington will always be the best place in the world for a hike. 


HiGh-  Hike up to the Thorp Mountain fire lookout with Ivan and Katie.  Katie basically runs up the mountain while I chase her.  All the while I have to make sure we haven't lost the croatian to his fanciful observations and the pictures that result.  It's a delicate balance of power and precision and on this day, we pulled it off and made it to the top. 

Thorp Mountain. Photo by Ivan


LoW-  I didn't have a chance to do any blogging while on the trip but I did have a chance to reflect back on my earlier posts.  I was mortified to discover that all of my posts thus far have included some reference to poop.  This realization came after I amused myself and the other people people on the hike (I think) by writing "POOP" on the only other car parked at the trailhead.   So, the picture below is my goodbye to my poop days.  Goodbye poop!   Hello maturity!  Yeah right!

Poop van. Photo by Ivan

Kim's HiGh LoW Debut

Today it's Kim's turn to be ridiculed.  She is working on a PhD in sediment transport.  Remember when you got into a creek when you were little and scooped up mud with a bucket and threw rocks at the lame kid (me)?  That was a form of sediment transport.  Kim works on more robust and important models and everything she does is very relevant to the future of our planet. 

HiGh-  Kim is feeling mighty fine this morning because yesterday she was able to skip school and sit around in her sweatpants all day reading papers and drinking tea.  Yup, it is shocking but there are more than 2 papers to read on sediment transport and Kim plans to read all of them.  In Kim's opinion, the more sweatpants-wearing paper reading she can do, the better. 

LoW-  Kim is being stalked by a squirrel.  The drama started when Kim and her boyfriend decided to trap the squirrels that are living in the walls of their apartment.  They bought some humane traps and have been catching 1 squirrel a day.  Because Kim and Matt are not right in the head, they have been videotaping the squirrel trapping and posting it on youtube.  This has angered the local squirrel community, which brings us to the squirrel stalking incident.  Kim claims that a squirrel followed her all the way across the Upenn campus, sneering at her and sending out an alert to it's fellow squirrels.  When I asked her what harm a squirrel could cause her, Kim claimed that this squirrel is likely planning to poop in her food.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=I_khaXWNs9Q

Brandon's HiGh LoW Debut

 

Today I interviewed Brandon to get his HiGh's and LoW's.  Brandon is a dinosaur man and is not afraid to talk about it...  all the time.  He will be getting his PhD in the magic of animals that have been dead for millions and millions of years.  Go get em' Brandon!  You give me hope that what I am doing is relevant.  I kid I kid!!  The truth is, Brandon works really hard and I am jealous. 

HiGh-  Today Brandon finished dissecting a dog in his anatomy class.  It has been a month long process so he's pretty excited about it!  The only trouble is, he rubbed the dog guts in his eye one day (see LoW).  ** The dog pictured here was not harmed in the dissection.  That is Brandon's dog, Dave.  He is a wiener shaped dog.

LoW- Brandon has a bad case of pink eye as a result of bad lab hygiene.  To be fair, I only saw a little bit of dog on his anatomy book but now that I heard about the pink eye, I think the rest of the goop ended up in his eye.  Good luck Brandon!!

Fat Load Sunday.

HiGh- Playing the frisbee with the bodhi.  She is fast and strong and I am proud.

LoW- A lady from the apartment building next to mine called me out for not picking up Bodhi's pee.  I guess she thought that bodhi was doing some other business and asked me if I was just going to leave it there.  It was awkward standing there with her looking at the grass where the turd should have been.  For the record I have left no turd standing in Philly, although people like that lady deserve one in the middle of their living room floor. 

River Race Day

HiGh-  Race day!  Ran a 5k today along the banks of the flooded and muddy Schuylkill River.  It was a perfect morning for a run and I ran a personal best!  20 mins 15 secs.  It's possible I could have gone a tiny bit faster if not for my tiny hangover thanks to Friday night happy hour with the UPenn crew.  Thanks guys, good looking out.


LoW-  The mouse in my house.  Right when I was getting nice and cozy for a second sleep at around noon, "Jack" the mouse ran through my kitchen like he was doing his very own 5k.  Not cool Jack!!  I named him so I can sleep at night.  He terrifies me.  I knock on all the cupboards before I open them.  Jack owns me.

ivanpic

HiGh-LoW

They're revolutionary, they're groundbreaking, it's hard to look away, they're the highs and the lows of my days.  

The bottom line, I want to blog.  The problem, I have trouble convincing myself that I have anything interesting to say.  The solution, keep it simple.  In this blog I will simply be reporting the highs and lows of my days here in Philadelphia.  I will also throw in a picture (most likely unrelated to the text) for those visual learners out there. 

Chances are I will be the main source of traffic to this blog because it's fun to click on your own blog.  But, I also know that I have some comrades in the procrastination department that would love to add another website to their stall cycle, so let's do this!!!!

I should be reading papers

This should probably be called the procrastination blog, not the seize the day blog.  But really, I am seizing the day by procrastinating so it's tricky.  Mostly I plan on stealing the beautiful photos that Ivan takes and posting them on here as my own.  Therefore, I will be procrastinating and seizing someone else's day all at the same time. Wow!  When you look at it like that, it sounds productive! 

photo by Ivan 'meatball' Rabak