god save the queen

I ate fish and chips today! And had many more adventures my first day in Europe/England!

Read more here.

:)

dégoutant

I. do. not. want. to. write. an. abstract. for. a. paper. about. French. healthcare. and. the. role. of associations. in. picking. up. the slack. for. the government.

Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh.

If it's this hard to write one page, how the heck am I going to get through 15?

Shoot me now.

can't believe i'm labeling this post with "school"! it is summer! i am not meant to be writing papers during this time!

This is just to say

I have brought another blog into the world!

It's entitled "Katya in Europe"
and you can find it here. (pardon the not so pretty layout...it's still under construction)

It'll document all of my adventures in...Europe...this summer. So click, read, live vicariously through me or something. :)

5 days...

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin' it's early morn
The taxi's waitin' he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time let me kiss you
Close your eyes I'll be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I won't have to leave alone
About the times, I won't have to say

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh baby, I hate to go

Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go


What a perfect farewell song.The only differences are I know when I'll be back again (August 21st), and I do not hate to go. That being said, it is a tad bittersweet...
and that dang Gattacca quote fits so perfectly.

The end.

forget about deal breakers?

I found this article via the incredible blog The Apron Stage:

"My advice is this: Settle! That’s right. Don’t worry about passion or intense connection. Don’t nix a guy based on his annoying habit of yelling “Bravo!” in movie theaters. Overlook his halitosis or abysmal sense of aesthetics. Because if you want to have the infrastructure in place to have a family, settling is the way to go. Based on my observations, in fact, settling will probably make you happier in the long run, since many of those who marry with great expectations become more disillusioned with each passing year. (It’s hard to maintain that level of zing when the conversation morphs into discussions about who’s changing the diapers or balancing the checkbook.)"

Very interesting read...what do you guys think? Can you be happy with settling? Or is there something to be said for holding out for exactly what you want?

uh...

It's perfectly normal to eat the lasagna you brought for lunch cold at 9:30 AM, right?

I am hungry all the freaking time.

That's all.

bam.

I just wanted to say that I am very proud of myself for getting an article in the Daily Universe for National Lab Day, and for getting fliers taken to 15 schools in the area.

Go VP of publicity.

And I also find it highly amusing that my lab made it into the Police Beat yesterday.
(a piece of tape on top of one of our oven started smoking and a janitor saw it, freaked out, called the fire department)

Also...I leave for Europe in two weeks from tomorrow.
Wow. Wow. Wow.
Ah. Ah. Ah.
I am simultaneously ecstatic and terrified.

Before I leave, I need to:
have another India night
write up my abstract for the paper I'm writing while I'm there (although, really? making me write the abstract before I'm done with or even started the paper? That is ridiculous and counterproductive.)

If you were leaving the country for 3 months, what would you do before you leave? I feel like I need to fill up my reserve of American-ness, eat some apple pie or something.

OH! And I saw "Iron Man 2" last week, and ohmygoshIlovedit.
The cast was great. Can I just say I am so impressed with Robert Downey Jr.'s ability to make Tony Stark, who is totally selfish and self-destructive in this movie, very charming and very likable? Pure awesome. I did think Scarlett Johannson's character was sort of unnecessary besides the fact that she had a fab scene of taking out a bunch of guys.

Anyway...please excuse the randomness of this post. If you have any thoughts on Europe, my incredible accomplishments with Y Chem (ha), things to do before I go, Iron Man 2, etc, feel free to share. :)

edit

Dang, I always mix up dates and days of the week.
Correction to last post:

Pre-Tour Show is Friday, May 14th.

Thanks Kim :)

purple, black, and blue for you

This started out as a post about the p90x I've been doing every morning at 6 AM with a bunch of chemistry friends and Shannon from dance, but it somehow morphed into a long plug for:

Blackpool Pre Tour Show! Next Saturday, May 14th!

Tickets are $12.00 and yesterday the box office released all of the really good reserved seats that the dancers' families didn't buy, SO you should all run over to the HFAC and purchase some tickets because this show is going to be incredible. The latin medley rocks because we have giant shiny discs for skirts and feathers up the front and back of our dresses, the music is incredible (thank you Mr. Kurt Bestor) and Cirque de Soleil-esque, and we have absolutely amazing choreography (thank you Eugene and Maria!). Also, I am a bookend, and by bookend I mean I get lifted way up in the air at the very beginning and very end of the routine, waving my arms around and looking intense and exotic. So, if for nothing else, please come and watch me in my two moments of glory.

Seriously guys, the medley will never look this good again. And this is probably the peak of the peak of my dancing ability (am planning on being done with individuals after Blackpool) so...if you are my friend...and are still around for the summer...it would really mean a lot if you could come watch.

Anyway.
I hurt from the lethal combo of p90x and 3-6 hours of dance every day.
But it is all worth it, right?
I just wish you all could see the bruises on my legs (I am in serious pain from the preparation for the Pre Tour Show! Look at the sacrifice I'm making for you to see some rad dancing! Do not make me suffer in vain!). They are everywhere, and it is really funny.

And...that's all I have to say about that.