the joys of rereading

I had forgotten that the action in The Castle of Otranto begins with a giant helmet falling from the sky and crushing Manfred's son. That's one scenario that I don't think the Final Destination people have tried yet.

mystery solved!

Spin Art. It's an "American Tradition" (the website says so).

news for a Wednesday morning

This morning, my exam dates finally got confirmed! Woot.

I know this announcement is belated, but my cousin had a beautiful baby girl last week.

And finally . . . I just overheard my roommate's boyfriend's mom describe my couch as "butt ugly." (Specifically, "the butt-ugliest.") That is remarkably accurate.

I would try to describe the couch to you, but I can't remember the term for the 80's t-shirt art process in which one would place dabs of puffy paint on a t-shirt in a kind of vague design and then spin the shirt around very fast in a special t-shirt spinning machine. (Anyone?...) Because my couch looks like it has been through that kind of process, and then put through another, very special secondary process involving years of wear and dust and food stains. I've never really seen a couch like it.

Then again, I purchased it from another grad student for only $20, and it's super comfy, so I don't care.

news from the apartment complex's lawn

I saw the very first small bunny of spring today! It looked like a large hamster with oversized ears, and was adorable. That is all.

Also, I'm going to try to start tagging posts, since I just noticed that I can with the new blogger. My tagging inspiration is Neil Gaiman, although I don't expect to reach his level of tagging genius. (No, really, you should take a look at his tags.)

studying for exams for me = more Ricky Gervais for you

"I've never worked out what the moral of Humpty Dumpty is. I can only think of, 'don't sit on a wall if you're an egg.' "

the post that sums up where March went; or, why I got a B in astronomy

I've been wading through piles of qualifying exams material, and hoping I end up still on the surface by the first week of May (the week of my oral exam). Other parts of my life have been receiving a bit less attention than usual, parts like sleep. I think that's why the following exchange occurred today between my advisor and me:

Advisor (reading my headnote): Milky Way? Do you mean "the" Milky Way?

Me: Yes.

Advisor: Okay. (reading silently, then laughing)

Me: What?

Advisor: The empress [in Fontenelle's Conversation on the Plurality of the Worlds] is startled to learn that there are "several" stars in the Milky Way? Dear, I'm pretty sure there are thousands.

Me: Well, I knew there were more than three.