things are looking up!

i got a delightful telephone call from my dear friend tim rappl this afternoon. i was working on an insane organic chemistry synthesis problem set, so i couldn't talk to him for long. BUT, he let me know that this evening there was potentially a chance i could watch the international space station and the space shuttle atlantis cross the sky together. i checked website and typed in my location to find out when exactly i would be able to see it. turns out the ISS and the shuttle aren't going to dock together until later this week, but i still decided to see if i could catch them cross the sky. from the coordinates i was able to catch them! it was so neat. they look like huge stars and they fly so quick across the sky.

check it out!

thursday and friday are really the best times, so i hear.

hooray!

the perfect hangover cure:

reheat and eat greasy leftover phad thai coupled with a cup of orange juice.
wait 30 minutes.
drink an 8 oz. cup of totally fantastic coffee from lulu's accompanied with a square of ultra dark chocolate.

the phad thai has simmered down the unhappy stomach.
the orange juice provides some vitamins and water to rejuvinate.
the coffee and chocolate combats the spacey haze.

perfect.

i finished my first set of cumes. (a 2 hour exam on SATURDAYS! that covers anything from 12 different scientific articles. whoa, it was crazy.) laura sanchez and i are a rockin' chemistry team. almost on par with the kato/kelly combo. we may have swept up, only time will tell! think happy thoughts for us. if we pass the first 4 of these exams then we are done in two quarters. if we fail we have 11 other tries to pass.

fuck my shitty, old ass, french road bike

ahem, let me rephrase that:

oh boy! i sure am glad that my bicycle has needed so many 'tune ups'! how else would i learn all this gosh darn interesting bike maintenance? plus, i learn things EXTRA well because it's a french frame and therefore has very specific needs and intricacies. it's funny idiosyncrasies mean i'm learning even MORE! i like to think of it as me becoming a more well-read 'bicycle investigator'. hooray for bike malfunction. what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger right?

seriously though. something new on my little jeunet seems to break every damn week! it was fun when i had a bunch of time to learn about fixing bikes, but right now all i do is science. i like riding my bike to work because it means i don't have to waste time waiting for a bus. plus, bombing down i even beat cars i go so fast (sorry dad, today it was raining and i went slow just for you!). it's a time saver, all this breaking down is a time sucker.

i don't want to say it, but if i continue to have so many problems with little jeunet i may have to retire her for a bit. i might need to buy a more reliable commuter bike. oh man. that would make me sad.

things i've replaced: derailer and brake cables and housing, the rear wheel, the rear derailleur, front and back brakes, and a rear spoke. i've overhauled the bottom bracket. i've trued the rear wheel, scraped off the rust from the old ass chain with a steel brush, messed with the front derailleur limit (only one and i couldn't make it work), and lubed the ENTIRE bike.

today my front wheel started making 'ping' sounds like the spokes are unhappy! how much more can go wrong!

on a lighter note, chemistry is wicked cool. i have to read 12 scientific articles for a GIANT scary cume exam this weekend (damn organic chemistry!!!), and i am actually sort of enjoying reading the papers for natural products. neat!

love,
kelly

today

i met a man with the last name lemon. he is the first person i have even met who also has a fruit for a last name. strange. he said he had met a lot of melons in the past. after we talked for a few minutes we both had to admit we had forgotten each others first names. his first name is rob. he volunteers at the bike church. he seems alright.

lulu's chai sucks

santa cruz coffee shops have proven void of any even mildly acceptable chai.

all of it is too sweet and the only recognizable spice is cinnamon, tons and tons of cinnamon. for the love of god will someone in portland send me a bottle of spicy dragonfly chai. i miss the bejesus out of it.

ps. if i spend any more time at this coffee shop they may just begin to reserve a table for me in the morning.

oh chemistry, how i love spending my entire day reading paper after paper pertaining to your idiosyncrasies.

pps. did the pied cow close?!? tell me this is a vicious rumor!

a rough transition.

so, i've been trying my best to initiate fabulous snail mail with friends. so far, i've got few takers. i've sent over 25 pieces of mail and gotten 3 pieces in return (two from sushi...one was 5 words long). i think i may be overwhelming people with my amazing mail. i really got into it when i started and i've been making the envelopes really fancy. perhaps snail mail is just too far removed from my generation. it's a dead method of communication. oh my that would be tragic. maybe i am just being impatient...snail mail has snail in the title for a reason. i suppose i shouldn't stop sending out excessive volumes of mail. everyone loves mail, even if they don't respond. it's hard to fight the wish for reciprocation though.


uck. i guess the lack of responses has become increasingly tough as school ramps up and i am having less fun. i spend my days, weekends included, at a computer or at a desk scribbling nonsense (at least from a non-organic chemist's point of view). i want to get out and play, meet new people, but i just don't have time. i figure since i've committed to this whole graduate school thing i may as well put in the time and energy to do it right, at least in the beginning. it's pretty horrible. i have 21 credits, i TA four classes, next week i start studying for organic cumes (big scary tests that happen every few weeks), and i am attending tons of extra seminars to find out what the hell i actually want to research.

send me some love. just a short anecdote of your day. or, send me a buck and i'll mail you my new zine called, "my friends and their tall bikes."

oh rereading this post is even more despressing. well...back to my powerpoint presentation...