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05:44 pm: tori amos - spark

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12:37 am: Darfur Human Rights Effort




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09:01 pm: that assistant professor
I am taking a biochemistry lab. I took biochemistry a long time ago at UHCL during the summer. The instructor of this two credit hour lab, Dr. Wang, is not a very good teacher.

Upon mslilly's insistence, I missed the exam at 6 PM last Monday night knowing that I would have a doctor's note. I found out just before taking the make-up exam that the instructor had mailed a number of people in the class, excluding myself, a thorough explanation of the old test the morning before the exam. (We had gone over this info in class the week before rather quickly.) After having started the exam, this instructor came in and the first thing out of his mouth was a loud "Did you write this?" He was pointing at my note from the family physician. He had called the number of the note but there was no answer. I explained that our physician's office had closed just after my visit.

We were assigned this huge lab report. The class after we turned our reports in, he spent most of the period showing us how we should have written our reports. The lecture would have been very useful had it been given beforehand. I was late in turning this lab in because I couldn't make sense of the instructions for preparing the lab report. I went in to the instructor's office and was told to omit an entire paragraph of the instructions. I was still deducted the full 10% of the grade for each day the report was late. The time spent coping with the inadequacy of his instruction has cut into my prep time for a whole barrage of papers and exams this week and last.

I will start drafting my student evaluation of him soon. mslilly wants to start sending letters of protest, but I've asked her to wait until he assigns me a grade. Turns out the mother of one of the students - one of my lab partners - works very closely with my wife. This student dropped the class failing and had to return a good portion of the financial aid.

08:35 am: Burgundy and I noticed a group of cub scouts at Clear Lake Elementary this morning. There is a scouting recruitment meeting at 6:30PM. My step daughter wants to join Boy Scouts but she thinks Girl Scouts is boring (consists of cookie sales and has less emphasis on The Great Outdoors.) I'm an Eagle Scout with 56 merit badges. I went through the program starting with Cub Scouts. I was very involved in Y Indian Guides before that. I would love to get back into scouting but would feel out of place in Girl Scouts. I have a question that someone might be able to answer. Has anyone ever heard of a girl joining Boy Scouts?

08:29 am: I've noticed over the last year more and more of my hotmail advertisements are for dating services. So, to make the seductive women go away I tried changing my birth date from 1974 to 1996 under personal options. Alas, the ads were still flowing in. I found the solution. I changed my sex from male to female. I've only seen one personal. It was picture of a bald guy that didn't seem too friendly telling me that I have only 4 minutes to flirt. I can live with that. Could someone please offer me a gmail account?

10:08 pm: I had originally planned to attend a free concert tonight at Rice University. However, I went by the main campus library to kill some time and got caught up in a book. So now I am reading on the theme of unification in physics. I wonder if notsuoh will be open tonight.

01:21 am: babysitting - day one
I'm babysitting the Burg while lilly26 is away on business in Florida. I took Bugundy and one of her friends to see Cheaper By the Dozen starring Hilary Duff and Steve Martin - as well as a few other celebs I haven't kept up with. This was a movie full of action involving a family with twelve children. A great flick for anyone with ADD.
I managed to finish assembling the Burg's loft bed, but not before whacking her in the head with a rail that I was repositioning. Nothing a few games of Snood couldn't rectify. We later went to Taco Bell to pick up a small dinner and then the Burg took a very long bath. I let her have the feather mattress off lilly26's bed. I'm just as comfortable with a firmer mattress. I plan to get Burgundy out of the house by 7:30 for a good breakfast at the school cafeteria. I will have to get her to sleep earlier tomorrow.

02:00 pm: Is anyone interested in going to see A Winter's Tale by The Bard at the Miller Outdoor Theatre (MOT) on Friday night with lilly26 and me? The show starts at 8:30PM but we will need to arrive early to get one of the non-reserved pavilion seats.

I also want to return to MOT to see Rigoletto on th 22nd or 23rd.

01:30 pm: Today I located a public library near my abode. I was returning to my place after dropping Burgundy off at Summer Camp when I noticed the little green highway department sign.

I am typing at a distance of several thousand feet from the Maxwell House coffee factory. The best part is a computer lab has been constructed with eight high-speed internet terminal. These puppies have flat panel monitors and are loaded with Microsoft Office.

I was not required to enter my PowerCard ID to use it either. (A good thing since mine is currently suspended.) Looks like tomorrow will be the day to return that huge bag of previously lost library material and start making payments on the sixty dollar fine.

Just about time for me to pick up the Burg from camp and down to Salad Express to meet up with Mel and go to work.

10:34 am: I found a roommate to share the art space a couple of weeks ago. He just finished his nursing degree and got a job assisting in surgery at MD Anderson Cancer Center.

A number of my neighbors are read to move ahead with DSL. My neighbor, Josh, works for Brinks as a DSL and cable connection installer.


You are Frigg! Frigg is the goddess of childbirth
and marriage. She is the wife of Odin and
highest in rank of the goddesses. She is called
the mother of the Gods.
Frigg is as wise as Odin but is more reserved and
shy. She's very rational and people come to her
for advice.


Which Norse Mythology character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

11:11 am: I paid $200 to Kountry Kar Klub to replace a water pump and transmission gasket. My car has become much easier to drive and the radiator is remaining cooler than in the past.

I stopped by lilly26's house today to find three cows in her front yard. It was one of those moments where I wish I had a camera on me. I called her landlord and discovered that this has happened before.

For the past three weeks I have been able to average eight shifts a week at Salad Express. However, this week I am only scheduled for six. I am trying to get a lighten my work load to accompany my lightened schedule. I pointed out to the store manager that most of the shifts I have been covering are opening and closing shifts.

The bathrooms on the fourth floor of Francisco Studios have been torn apart and the plumbing has been redone to allow for a 50 gallon water heater - a much anticipated improvement. Jason is asking everyone to donate fifty dollars toward his out-of-pocket expenses. I might have to wait until April to contribute.

Lilly26 and I will take some time apart this week. I hope to use the slack in my schedule to make some progress in cleaning my art space.

A couple of guys came by in a utility pickup to round up the livestock.

10:10 am: I went to a party at cixelsyduera's and roet's apartment with mslilly after work last night. The turn out was healthy and mslilly made a delicious desert to follow up cixelsyduera's delicious cooking. Eric brought a couple of his home-brewed wines.

05:30 pm: Last night my neighbor, Rebecca, told me that the 4th floor artists created an anti-war poster. I haven't had a chance to see it yet.

mslilly and I returned from our trip to New Orleans and Mississippi. We then went to Brian Farley's birthday party at the Flying Saucer.

No more time to update now.

08:46 am: very affordable living
I posted roommate ads at Dietrich's (two of the three) and at Cafe Artiste. I'm searching for a roommate to split the $325/mo. all bills paid (your share will be $162.50/mo.) rent on my 20'x25' downtown Houston art space. The location is about four blocks south of George R. Brown at Lamar and Dowling. The room is on the fourth floor of a music studio. The fourth floor is more focused on the visual and performance arts. I have unrestricted access to DSL via a router for $7/mo. The neighbors are nice and outgoing. Beginning dance classes across the hall run $5 per lesson. There is a final Saturday drumming circle in one of the rooms. Anyone interested?

09:23 pm: I've spent the whole afternoon in the Clear Lake area with few demands on my time. I think I will sleep at my parents' house tonight. It's a good thing I brought my backpack. I will probably continue reading Seeing in the Dark. The subject of the book is amateur astronomy and the contributions it has made to science.

09:45 pm: I've moved into the fourth floor of Francisco Studio's on McKinney. Beside serving as the residence for artists and practice space for musicians, the building houses a factory for fortune cookies. I will update more often once I have my DSL hooked up.

09:24 am: I have just returned to my parent's place to find that I am downloading Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) at a rate of 50 KB/sec from 15 different sources. DSL is so cool!

11:53 am: I rode my dad's two-seated bicycle today. He might trade it in toward the purchase of one that seats two side-by-side.

11:43 am: I spoke with the owner of Francisco Studios this morning. The word looks good - I might have to come up with $100 for the deposit and $325 for the first month's rent in the next couple of days. The room is 25'x20'x14'. Electricity is included in the rent.

08:06 pm: My father has purchased a large number tropical plants at a discounted price. When I came over this evening, I felt like i was on the set of Jurassic Park. He wants to open a plant nursery. This idea might fly . . .