Whiny

I'm tired. I compulsively stay up too late. Last night my excuse was that I wanted to keep knitting. I forced myself to go to bed not too long after "Revenge of the Nerds" started as the CityTV late night movie. There's no justification for watching that.

Earlier in the evening, I finally saw "March of the Penguins", a big-screen documentary that I've been meaning to see for a long time. It made me happy. It was very touching - the challenges that those birds go through to bring little ones into the world are incredible.

*spoiler alert*
Basically, the males have to incubate the eggs by holding them on their feet under a flap of skin for two months, until the females come back from feeding in the ocean. The care with which the female transfers the egg to the male is crucial - if the egg touches the ice for more than a few seconds, the little eggy will die. The film seems to indicate that this makes the penguins quite sad. If the egg dies, the would-have-been father can march back to the water with the females, and continue his life until the next mating season.

I said all that to say this:
On the way home, when we were talking about the movie, Daniel said,

"I figure the best plan is to drop the egg right away. Whoops! Then you can take off and go back to the ocean. Why wouldn't they all do that?"

This is the future father of my children talking. How concerned should I be?

Correction(Dec. 27, 2005):Daniel did not say, "Why wouldn't they all do that?" He said, "That's what I would do." I don't feel any less concern.

Family

My aunt is in town, and tonight she took me, Daniel, Crystal, and two of my cousins out for dinner. It was great. My aunt is a riot, and I hope I'll get to spend more time with her (and my cousins) in the future.

I love how with family, even if you don't see them or talk to them often, it can be so easy to connect when you do get together. Daniel and I also experienced this over the summer when we visited family out at the coast - we had a great time, we got thoroughly spoiled, and we really got to know people a lot better. It's just cool what an easy connection there can be sometimes.

That's my warm fuzzy thought for the day. It could just be that I'm buzzing on high doses of MSG (we had Chinese food), sugar, and caffeine, but I feel happy.

Who are you and what have you done with my husband?!

Daniel and I were at the West Edmonton Mall for SIX HOURS yesterday. Daniel was shopping for glasses (his first pair ever!) and I was mainly shopping for a dress to wear to my "grad" party next month. (Cruel joke: I won't actually be finished for at least another year; only the course-based part of my degree is finished.)

Anyhow, I notice that a few posts ago I mention my shopping-related guilt with regard to Daniel's frugality. I occasionally complain to my friends that I suffer from abnormal shopping restraint when I am with him. Well, today I take it all back. He actually pointed out stores that looked like they'd have good dresses, and suggested that I try more on. He did this even when I was tired and didn't really feel like trying any more dresses on. Wow. The result is not one but two Daniel-approved dresses up for consideration.

Daniel also got his glasses. They look very good on him. Now he'll be able to read road signs, and we'll all feel a little safer.

Must get away from the computer. . .

I thought that since I just invited y'all to come by, I should post a picture.

Hi! Hope to see you again soon.

Check it out!

Hey - I just want everyone to know about a fun and informative blog out there. Inky Circus is maintained by 2 young Canadian science journalists and 1 Brit living in London (one of them is my former college roommate). It's your daily dose of current research headlines and general informativeness with a twist of humour. Good times.

Coffee + Thesis = Wonderful

If I had the right tools, I would make a button for myself that reads: Ask me what I learned in school today! because that's pretty much all I really talk about.

For example, if you or anyone you love still isn't totally convinced that smoking is a really bad idea, ask me about my voice and resonance class. Oh, the horror. You have NO idea. Please ask me.

The other thing I am dying to share with people is the physics behind why sopranos can't make clear vowel distinctions. When you're squeaking away on the high notes, all the vowels sound pretty much the same no matter how you contort your face, and now I know why. Ask me, please. I just learned it yesterday. I'd love to tell you, and I'll even draw diagrams.

Learning new things makes me very happy. As happy as writing over a thousand words on my thesis proposal makes me. I'm so happy right now. And so very full of caffeine. Yay!