santa sighting

Santa just rode down 14th street on a motorcycle. With a police escort.

0.5!

Today is my 0.5 year anniversary. DH and I are very happy, and enjoy celebrating decimals. We celebrated our 0.4166 anniversary last month, and our 0.33 and 0.25 before that. The possibilities are endless!

wedding follow up: vendors & venues-- part 2

Continuing from part 1.
--
Wedding Photographer: Ryan Cummings

I scheduled the photographer as early as I could after settling the wedding day. I only had a couple photographers in mind as possibilities, and didn't want the stress of having to do more searching if they were booked. I met Ryan Cummings while he photographed my friend Libby's wedding last year. He was very friendly, good with kids, and shot natural photos. They turned out very well. He has lots of options, and we chose the basic digital wedding package. He releases the copyright also, so you can keep every photo he takes. He'll send copies to your parents too. I had another recommendation from a friend for Jonathan Canlas, but he was more expensive and I already liked Ryan quite a bit. I called Ryan and he was available! He worked out really well. He got to the temple well before we came out for pictures, and did a great job. He was also efficient and organized. I highly recommend him! He let us do something pretty fun too--after the luncheon (or during, actually) we looked at a few pictures he'd selected from the pics he'd just taken and we chose one. He touched it up, printed it and mounted it and brought it to the reception for the guest book table. This is the photo we chose:


(Something I just noticed--a wedding picture of Libby and her husband Jay are one of the rotating photos on the homepage of Ryan's website! They are celebrities!)

--
Wedding Luncheon location: Joseph Smith Memorial Building

Finding the luncheon location was tricky. I had no idea where to look for ideas. Since I was getting married in the Salt Lake temple, I wanted it to be either close enough to walk to, or a very short drive. Some of my aunts have bad knee problems, so walking very far was a concern. JSMB was one of the obvious choices, as was the Lion House, since they were very close to the temple. I was told by the temple that I should allow 3 hours between the start of the ceremony and the beginning of the lunch, so I was aiming for 2:30 pm lunch. Again, the JSMB/Lion House websites were very helpful. They list prices and have pictures of all the rooms. I did everything over the phone--and didn't have to go and meet with the coordinator at all. (If I'd done flowers through JSMB then I would have had to go, however.) There was another venue that I found close by, the McCune Mansion, but their website was completely unhelpful and they did not reply to my email. Other choices were to rent out a restaurant for the lunch, but since I was picking a venue without ever seeing it, I did not like that option as well. As far as prices go, my mother told me something interesting--she is in the Utah Symphony Choir, and they go to an annual dinner. She said that they have called around a lot of places in the salt lake area, and that JSMB is one of the cheaper options when you have lots of people, so her choir always ends up going there. They don't charge you for the room either--just the food and service fees.

Keep in mind--if I'd wanted my mom to spend all her time hunting around the city and visiting every restaurant, then I may have found another place. But my goal was for less hassle and stress on everyone, especially my parents. (Are you noticing a trend yet? I wanted everything to be as stress free as possible, and to avoid turning into bridezilla. I did become bridezilla for a couple weeks, however.) I was very pleased with the luncheon at the JSMB. We ended up in the Wasatch Room.

Tip: 3 hours between the start of the wedding and the luncheon was barely enough time. I initially thought it was way too long and we'd all be waiting forever, but no. In fact..the groom and I were 15 minutes late because we'd left my ring in his temple locker! (We had a ring ceremony at the beginning of the luncheon.)

-----

Continued in part 3...

tree on the train

There was a tree on the train today. Seven feet tall, the roots and dirt wrapped in a big black garbage bag, and sitting in the middle of the BART car. The woman with the tree kept pulling it into her face when people would try to get by. It was a packed train too! It was pretty amusing.

wedding follow up: vendors and venues -- part 1

The last few months have been so busy, I have not written at all about my wedding, online or offline. Planning a wedding from afar was pretty difficult, and I looked around the blogsphere quite a bit hoping to find brides posts on what photographer they used, who did their hair, who make their cake, etc. I did not find much success. So I am going to post information about my wedding vendors in case anyone who is trying to plan a wedding in Salt Lake City or Bountiful, Utah area is in search of some good ideas. I'm going to go through the list in the order that I dealt with them.
----
I knew I was getting married about 5.5 months ahead of the desired wedding date (I knew in the first week of January). Since 5 1/2 months is a longer engagement than most LDS couples, I knew I would have no problem getting a large sealing room at the Salt Lake temple on any day. DH and I didn't have a specific day in mind, just a 2-week window in which we wanted to get married.

Reception location: Eldredge Manor

I chose Eldredge Manor for several reasons. I liked the idea of having a reception at my parents house, but decided against it because of all the stress and preparation (and clean up) involved. Plus then I'd have to worry about decorations and catering, and I had enough to worry about without that. I was not interested in using a church building, and so I asked my mom what some of the reception centers were around the Bountiful, Utah area. I had been to most of them at some point from growing up in the area, so I was able to narrow it down to a couple of places without going to visit. Eldredge Manor had a website--which was a big plus. Websites are SO important when planning from a distance. It was easy to find out information. While home for christmas I visited Eldredge with my mom (even before I told the groom yes, since I knew it would be my only opportunity to visit). I chose my wedding date based on their availability schedule. Then I called the temple and reserved 11:40 am on that day.
----
Wedding Dress vendor: Bay Area Bridal

The dress. Aaahhhh! You try finding a modest wedding dress in California. My options were (1) fly to Utah at least twice, missing work, to find a dress and have fittings, or (2) buy a strapless dress in CA and have it modified. I decided on option (2)--mostly because it was cheaper. I wasn't particularly worried about finding a dress, and had no plans to look for one for a while. But, at my mother's urging the 3rd week of January to go and look, I took my one of my fashionable roommates and tried to go to David's Bridal (the only bridal shop I was semi-familiar with). We arrived only to discover that you are supposed to have an appointment to try on dresses. How was I supposed to know that? Of course, all their appointments were full and would we like to make an appointment for another day? No, we would not. Goodbye.

So, then we crossed the street and bought sandwiches. Rachel (the fashionable roommate) suggested we look in the phone book we'd just passed for nearby bridal shops. So we did, and there was, and we called them (or rather, SHE called them for me) and we had an appointment for 30 minutes later at Bay Area Bridal, just down the street! I never would have known about BA Bridal if not for this accidental discovery. We went in, looked through dress binders pulling out the pictures for those I wanted to try, and then got started. The first few looked awful. Then I discovered a certain cut looked really good (drop waist). So the girl helping us brought out several more dresses with that cut. I tried those on, loved 2 of them, tried each of them on a couple more times, then picked one. I marvel that it took me only 2 hours to pick a wedding dress when it took my sisters 2 days.

I discovered, to my surprise, that you cannot buy wedding dresses off the rack in California like you can in Utah. They are not on the rack. There is no rack. There is one dress in each style in a random size in the store. And that's all. You have to be measured and then order the dress of your choice in your size. Did you know it takes 3-4 months for a dress you order to arrive from the maker? I did not. If you go to a wedding dress shop and say your wedding is in 3 months, they will laugh. I am SO glad I listened to my mother and went dress shopping 5 months in advance.

Tip: Casablanca dresses can be ordered with the "temple-ready" or "modest" option. My dress was strapless, and a Casablanca brand dress, so if I had known about that option then I would not have had to worry about getting a jacket made. But, alas. I did not find out until it was too late. Several girls in my singles ward did that, but I was not in the loop until after I'd already ordered the dress.


Continued in part 2...

brush with the police

A couple days ago when I was waiting for the train to go home, I saw a man walking at the bottom of the escalator (the wrong way). For the 5 minutes I was standing there, he was walking slowly nearly leaving the escalator as it spooled around and carried him back up continuously.

Perhaps coincidentally, the next day, that escalator was blocked off. Hmmmmmmm.

That reminds me of the time I got in trouble at ZCMI mall(back when it was still ZCMI). I was on a field trip with the orchestra (led by Mrs. Tuke. Or Tooke. I really have no idea how it is spelled) and I ran up the escalator the wrong way along with an accomplice. There were a couple mall policeman at the top, and they told us not to do that again. It was a mild brush with the police, and I didn't mean to frighten you with the title of this post, but one has to get attention somehow.

Dan Brown Mad-Lib

Whether you like or dislike Dan Brown, this fact is undeniable: he has consistent plot elements that repeat through out every book. If one knows the pattern (i.e. if one has read a single book of his), then the mystery is gone. You know what is going to happen. If you've read one you've read them all. Beware of pattern spoilers!

Prologue:
Little did he know, that his actions in the last 24 hours would lead to his demise. He wished to speak, but could not, and could only feel the life draining out of him. (continue with ominous demise and unusual method of death bit)

Chapter 1:
(beautiful brilliant single woman's name)awoke early in the morning by a phone call.

Chapter 2:
(handsome brilliant single man's name) discovered a very unusual message left on his cell phone.

Chapter 3:
(Barely mysterious antagonist) secretly plots in a disguised voice over the phone to his lackey.

Chapter 4:
(Father figure) is involved in seemingly innocuous meeting with (handsome single man or beautiful single woman).

Chapter 5-15:
Development of plot delving deep into either historical or scientific minutiae. Then plot thickening, involving misleading cliffhangers at the end of each chapter, eventually uniting (handsome single man) with (beautiful single woman) as they either run for their lives or get perilously close to uncovering a secret at risk to their lives. (Father figure) appears to be helping them. Meanwhile, attraction grows between (handsome single man) and (beautiful single woman).

Chapter 16:
Carefully researched plot explodes with the (father figure) revealing himself as the (barely mysterious antagonist). (handsome single man) and (beautiful single woman) are shocked and have no one to trust but one another, driving them closer together as the (father figure/barely mysterious antagonist) hunts them down.

Chapter 17:
(handsome single man) nearly dies, but manages to save the day.

Last Chapter:
(handsome single man) and (beautiful single woman) finally get time to hang out.

glimpse

I work in Oakland, California. For the last leg of my commute to work, I take the train (BART) to downtown Oakland where there were 127 murders committed in 2007. This earned Oakland 5th place for the most dangerous cities in the nation ranking (which was apparently an improvement from 2006, where they were in 4th place). Also, one of the favorite places for mugging in the city is at the entrance to the BART station that I go in every day. Such pleasant thoughts!

I have recently relocated to the 3rd floor of my building (from the 9th floor). Also on this floor is a new regional manager who still lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. He flies home every thursday afternoon and flies to Oakland every monday morning. He said today that it was 29 degrees when he left Salt Lake City and that it had recently snowed. How delightful! I don't get glimpses into the weather of my lovely Rocky Mountains very often.

My relocation to the 3rd floor is a result of joining the Seismic Hazards group at work. That, combined with the legal change of my name should result in some new business cards (not that I ever gave any away, except the one time for reasons unrelated to work--family not counting). I'm now an "earthquake engineer" and no longer the dull civil engineer of yesteryear:)

one gallon axe

David and I watched another episode of Mary Tyler Moore recently on Hulu.com. It was about how the anchorman, Ted, temporarily lost his inflated ego. During the 5+ commercial breaks, Hulu shows the same commercial each time. (This is a major flaw in the hulu operation. They really need to vary their commercials, and perhaps do some age targeting based on the show. But then, CWTV.com does the same thing half the time.) However, I did not mind watching the same commercial 5+ times because it was SO AWESOME. It featured some rocker called "White Gold" who has super long white hair and plays a guitar filled with milk (his "one gallon axe" that he drinks from occasionally) singing an awesome song about how drinking milk makes him cool. He's the new face of GOT MILK? and is sponsored by the California Milk Processor Board. Newsweek calls the music "surprisingly excellent." It's targeted for teens, so if you end up hating it then keep that in mind:)

I've never been so delighted by a commercial. At the end of the MTM episode, there was a link to www.whitegoldiswhitegold.com. If you go to it, you can participate in an interactive music video and gain access to the "milktastical" realm where if you complete 7 quests/tasks, you can download the White Gold album, "The Best I Can Give is 2%." Here's a little taste:

the pink distraction

A few weeks ago in el barrio (the ward), the missionaries were speaking. Can you guess how many missionaries come to my ward every week? Ten. Four sets of Elders, and one set of Sisters (Hermanas). Since there are really too many to keep track of, I say ten because there were ten missionaries who sang in the primary program last October.

One of the odd things about being in a Spanish speaking ward is that the missionaries don't have very good Spanish. The amount of Spanish language learning that would take a missionary in Ecuador (total immersion into Spanish) 3 months, takes 3 times as long for the missionaries in my ward. They have too many people (like me--a bain to their existence!) who talk to them in English--including many of the investigators they teach.

But on this particular Sunday, while the missionaries were speaking in sacrament meeting, there was a pink distraction. A little girl with a pink dress and pink bow was running around the aisles, crawling under benches, snuggling up to random people on random benches, tripping, giggling, and occasionally running back to her mom before taking off again. This went on the ENTIRE meeting. I had lots of opportunities to check and see if she was wearing any other pink items, but her tights were white, and her shoes were black, alas. I think she might have had a pink undershirt on though.

pumpkins!

These were pumpkins carved as an assignment by a Stanford art class, and put on display at a professors home on halloween night! Oogabooga

autumn and roundabouts

Autumn is here in Palo Alto. It is so lovely. I noticed today that trees on my block have leaves of every color, even some hints of orange (the coveted color). If anyone is bored and would like to make a list of trees with leaves that turn orange during the fall (and send it to me), I'd be most grateful!

Do you see my car?

It may look from these photos that I am standing in the middle of the street, but that is not quite true. I am standing in the middle of a roundabout! These roundabouts are getting a lot of attention lately. Not only are they very small and don't require you to slow down to get around (veering is sufficient), but they put them in the same intersections as stop signs. A lot of people ignore the roundabouts and just turn left the short cut way. Whenever I witness people doing that I make sure to pause and glare at them so they may know I am VERY unhappy with their choice of action.

While standing in the middle of the round about I got some funny looks, but it made me think. Nobody ever drives through the roundabout. It's perfectly safe to stand there. I might put a tent there sometime. Or play a game of boggle. I looked down at my feet and saw the sewer cap, and noticed that the sewer has the same logo image as Stanford University. The TREE!

Look at the flowers my wonderful husband got me when I got sick last week.


If any of you have noticed a marked change in the number of photos I post, it's because I've married into a digital camera.

election sign archive

I took some photos of the election signs around my house. The proposition passed 52 to 48 percent.






The Palo Alto library system put Measure N on the ballot also. None of the libraries have air conditioning. They were desperately in need of help. This measure passed. Across the street from the Yes on N sign was the Yes on Y sign. It was a hilarious joke. Fraiche yogurt is a new yogurt place in Palo Alto.

shoes

I'm going to make my first blog about shoes. I adore these shoes. I bought them on sale. And I love them.

The end.

on the trail

I emailed John McCain. That's right. I wrote, "Can I borrow your water level meter?"

It's true there's a John McCain at my firm, as mentioned in a previous post. In that post I mentioned that I knew who he was, but we'd never spoken. But I feel speaking is imminent.

4:20 pm, yesterday: I email John McCain.
5:05 pm, yesterday: John McCain emails me back.
8:15 am, today: I leave a message on John McCain's answering machine.

Now it's all a waiting game.

---update---
9:24 am, today: We speak.

The end.

una experiencia en el barrio espanol

I go to a spanish speaking ward now. Does that mean I speak spanish? Not quite. Since joining this ward, I have had some funny experiences. Two of which occurred today:

1) I attended Relief Society today. I was glad that today was a lesson from the manual, so I could just read the lesson in english. I sat next to a new woman in the ward (similar situation: her husband speaks spanish but she doesn't). We were whispering in the back getting to know each other during announcements (which we can't understand), when all the sudden we hear, "HELLO, NEW PEOPLE!" The RS president was waving her arms trying to get our attention to introduce the new sister. The new woman then stood up, red faced, and introduced herself, while I stared into my lap. It's hard to know when people are about to introduce you when you don't understand what they are saying. But it was pretty funny. Relief Society spanish style is louder for sure.

2) The teacher got up to begin the lesson. I started reading the lesson, and looked up to see the everyone in the room with their eyes closed and the teacher still speaking. I thought, "oh, she must be praying." Slightly confused, I closed my eyes too. But she kept going on and on. "This is a really long prayer," I thought. I heard her mention the name "Johnson" twice, and remembered seeing that name in the lesson manual. I opened my eyes and realized she'd just been reading a long quoted story in the lesson manual, and had probably asked the class to close their eyes. When I told DH about it in the car on the way home he burst out laughing.

websites I'm kind of obsessed with...

I'm a web 2.0er. As such, I am obsessed with a few websites. These include:

Mint.com: Great for managing money. It's free, and has nearly all the capabilities of Microsoft Money. (And it doesn't screw up your accounts like Money does, AND it has no annual fee, let alone any fee.) And it's totally secure.

Geni.com: This is a family networking site. You can keep track of cousins, their kids, their birthdays, and post photos and events. It's nice for putting down information about ancestors too. You can share ancestor information easily with family, which you cannot do with personal ancestral files (PAF). This site is also secure.

Librarything: I already blogged about this. This site remains totally awesome. I have no idea if this website is secure, but who cares if people know what books you read?

Goodreads: This is the lesser version of Librarything, but it's completely free and more people use it so you can network with your friends on the site and see what they're reading and what reviews they've written. Ditto on security.

By the way, I am not obsessed with Facebook or My Space. Especially not My Space.

I love my Dentist

DH and I have been watching the Mary Tyler Moore show online (legal too!) Last night we watched this delightful episode featuring a memorable dentist. I know my mom has collected various films with dentists in them (in honor of dad), but I'm not sure if she knows about this episode of MTM. Oddly enough, SarahandCompany has also been watching MTM, quite coincidental!

P.S. I stole the title of this blog post from my mom's key chain.

P.P.S. Sarah, did you know that there is another blogger at the address of sarahandco.blogspot.com who has only one post, "Hi I like penguins" made in 2005? I quickly realized I'd gone to the wrong address:)

day off

Apparently some people get Columbus Day off. BART was less crowded yesterday then today.

Alas.

I am not one of those people. I do remember and love the Columbus Day holiday song my family used to sing. I forget if the music book was blue or green. I think I was given this music book for christmas one year, but I don't think I still have it. It was probably misplaced inside some piano bench and will never be found.

Alas.

paging sarah palin

I don't blog about politics. Thus, I am not currently blogging about politics. You may proceed safely.

9/26/08, 10 AM

Setting: I'm sitting quietly at work when I hear the receptionist page someone over the loudspeaker.

Loudspeaker: John McCain, please dial extension 3222.

(A John McCain really does work for my firm. I've seen him, but we've yet to speak. )

5 minutes pass.

Loudspeaker: Sarah Palin, please dial the operator.

And...a bunch of geologists erupt laughing from 100 feet away.

The last time this happened was a few months ago when someone got the receptionist to page Seymour Butts to a certain extension. I convinced my cube neighbor to dial the extension and say Seymour Butts was calling.

Our poor receptionist. She's not really up on politics.

corn syrup

I had a friend in 4th grade who claimed to be allergic to corn syrup. She was from the South (Alabama maybe?) and had an accent. I even remember her name. Lets call her AC.

So, AC told me she was allergic to corn syrup, and then excitedly mentions that because of her allergy there is only one kind of ice cream she can have--the best (as she called it)--Dryers. I have never had Dryers before and have never checked the ingredients to double check that it does not contain corn syrup. Because as we all know, nothing is for sure unless I confirm it. Ahem.

I have often thought back on this conversation between myself and AC. Why should I retain such seemingly mundane and useless knowledge 15 years later? I know not. But whenever I read the ingredients on a box of cereal and see "corn syrup" listed, I think of her. AC. She may not even be AC anymore. She might be AZ or AF or--who knows, even FA. Most recently when I read on the box of cereal "corn syrup" and thought of good old AC, I wondered HOW she could possibly discover she was allergic to corn syrup. Everything has corn syrup, practically. How could she have isolated this single ingredient and figured out it was the one thing preventing her from meal time bliss? And by age 10?

I can only think of two possible explanations:
1) she ate corn syrup plain and had a reaction. (I dislike this idea. Who would eat corn syrup alone?)
2)Her mom made pecan pie and experimented replacing the corn syrup with honey at the advice of a cooking friend(as my lovely french friend told me to do). After witnessing the two reactions of AC to the seemingly similar pies, the verdict was out. AC must be allergic to corn syrup.

I put my money on #2.

Ratatouille

I have made Ratatouille three times now.

1) Pre-movie. At least 4 years ago. I did not like it..and I don't recollect where I got the recipe.

2) Post-movie. 1 year ago. I used the Cooking for Engineers version. There is some debate that the "real" way to make Ratatouille involves cooking each vegetable by itself to preserve the individual flavors (as done in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol. 1) before combining at the end. The Engineers recipe is not done this way. But I still recommend it. It was most delicious. DH thought so too.

3) Post-movie. 4 days ago. This time I tried Julia Child's version. It turned out really well. I can't remember how the one last year tasted in comparison, but DH claims that he does and that the French version is better. So, there you have it.

Event Horizon: Do Not Cross

Beware of falling into black holes. Some critics say this is a dangerous pastime, since "what goes into a black hole, stays in a black hole."

Cern will be turning on the "Large Hadron Collider" tomorrow. But by the time you read this, it will have already happened. And you might just be reading this from inside a black hole.

Or not.

PS. My take on this matter, is that we should worry as much about being eaten up by a black hole as we should worry that the Yellowstone Caldera Supervolcano will erupt. And if any of you saw that movie, yeah. I don't think so.

Social Security & DMV

I officially changed my name. Yes, lr=lrh. This occurred one sunny day in July after waiting for an hour in the downtown San Jose social security office. While unusual for me to be in San Jose, it was even more unusual for me to find myself waiting at social security. I found out too late that you can make appointments. Alas. At least I had a book:) While I attempted to read I was distracted by a family that sat behind me. Every time a new number was called they would excitedly count how many numbers were left until their number. "C65! Our number is C95, that's only 30 more people!" They did this over and over...Meanwhile at least 25 numbers were called and none of them were even close to my number: B214. As time passed by, I began to worry and wondered why there were no other B numbers called. Finally they called my number, just before C95. I'd arrived before them, after all. Changing your name takes a whole 3 minutes. Make an appointment.

PS: The DMV is too horrifying to mention.

used book sale

Once a month my local library (Palo Alto City) has a book sale. Today was the first time I'd gone in several months. It is a huge operation--tons of volunteers help out. It's like going to an full size library and everything is for sale and extremely cheap. There are so many people that go that you have to wait in line so they can keep the number of people within fire code limits. The volunteers are always book enthusiasts who have pert opinions on where books should be categorized. For this reason I'm always excited to find a book in the wrong category. The mistakes are caused because of the misleading titles--which unless you've read it, you would never know. Today I found "Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!" in the humor section. Lots of books are funny, but that doesn't put it in the humor section. This book is an autobiography of a physicist. I've also found romance novels in the cookbook section--something similar to the title, "Cooking Up a Storm." That one didn't have a single recipe! Hrmph.

The punchline is, today while looking in the cookbook section (again! I have far too many cookbooks) I overheard a volunteer call out, "The person who put Flora and Fauna Designs in the cookbook section should know I am very angry! Someone might have been looking for this book and could not find it because it is in the wrong section!" Then I hid my nose in the cookbook I was looking in (the recipe on the page was for suckling pig..hmm) and tried to look nonchalant.

translation to: a mathematical love story

It seems as though I was a bit obscure. Thus I will provide a line by line translation.

Firstly, one must understand that my husbands initials are DRH, but usually just goes by DH, dropping middle initial. My initials are now LRH, but I have hitherto been known as LR. Thus H is husbands last name.

Secondly, (<3) is a heart (in parentheses)! Gchat has taught us these essential techniques for expressing one's self.

---if(dh + lr = <3, lr=lrh, lr=lr); ---
If statement: DH plus LR equals love. If true, then LR becomes redefined as LRH. If false, LR remains LR. (LR representing the hitherto single entity). This is the IF format used in EXCEL.

---elseif(dh +lr =2*(<3), dh=dr,dh=dh);---
If statement: DH plus LR equals twice love. If true, then DH changes name to DR (takes LR’s last name), If false, DH remains DH. ELSEIF is a command in matlab I think, but it is pointless in my opinion because IF does the same job.

---dh=drh;---
DH redefined to be DRH. This is just to create the new variable DRH for future use. Also note the semicolon at the end of the lines to this point. MATLAB and MAPLE lines end in this, though MAPLE also uses a colon.

---factor(drh + lrh) = (d + l)rh---
LRH has been created as a variable because the initial IF statement turned out to be true. Thus now there is both DRH and LRH variables in the workspace. Now I take the twisted turn of ignoring previously defined variables and assuming d,r,h,and l are all unique variables as though in an algebraic equation. I factor the common RH out of the equation. FACTOR is something I used to use in MAPLE and MATHEMATICA. I stopped using semicolons to terminate the lines at this point because I'm now looking at it as an algebraic equation and not a statement.

---(d+l)rh=(<3)---
Returning to the original IF statement, since LR became LRH, DH plus LR must equal love. And since I factored DH plus LR to equal (d+l)rh, I plugged that in the love equation.

---...d+l=(<3)/rh ---
And now I am just manipulating the equation with standard mathematical operations.

---...d+l-d=(<3)/rh-d ---
---...(l-d) +d = (<3)/rh-d ---
---...(l-d) = (<3)/rh-2d ---
Aha. And now I have solved for (l-d).

---if(l - d = h) ---
I have subtracted the 12th letter of the alphabet from the 4th letter of the alphabet. This resulted in the 8th letter of the alphabet, h.

---& substitute:---
---thus: h=(<3)/rh-2d ---
I solved the above love equation for (l-d). Since I determined (l-d) equals h, I substituted h for (l-d).

---...h = (<3-2drh)/rh ---
more manipulating.

---...rh^2 = (<3) - 2drh ---
---...rh(h+2d) = (<3) ---
This is the final line of my proof. I have redefined love (<3).

---!!---
I tried and failed to find "therefore" in the symbol options or in the ALT secret combinations. Does anybody know how to make "therefore"? Alas. I know not.

---A: rh(h+2d) ---
---Q: What is love---
In Jeopardy format.

a mathematical love story

if(dh + lr = <3, lr=lrh, lr=lr);
elseif(dh +lr =2*<3, dh=dr,dh=dh);
dh=drh;

factor(drh + lrh) = (d + l)rh

(d+l)rh=<3
...d+l=(<3)/rh
...d+l-d=(<3)/rh-d
...(l-d) +d = (<3)/rh-d
...(l-d) = (<3)/rh-2d

if(l - d = h)
& substitute:
thus: h=(<3)/rh-2d
...h = (<3-2drh)/rh
...rh^2 = <3 - 2drh
...rh(h+2d) = <3
!!

A: rh(h+2d)

Q: What is love

What I've done the last month instead of blogging:

1. gone to three wedding dress fittings
2. had two bridal showers (makes for seven total)
3. searched for, stressed over, and finally found new apartment
4. haunted craigslist looking for furniture
5. made 10+ house visits to look at furniture or pick up
6. rented a truck twice
7. spent many hours online fruitlessly researching anything and everything wedding related
8. was broadsided on Dumbarton bridge and became one with the concrete barrier at 80 miles per hour
9. became bridezilla
10. drove through MacArthur Maze during rush hour and lived
11. stressed over late wedding invitations which led to a Berkeley stake out
12. typed up 300 labels
13. stuffed and mailed 550 wedding invitations
14. cleaned new apartment (the dirtiest wood floors EVER)
15. discovered computer has died (again)
16. packed up old apartment
17. moved into new apartment
18. found silverware
19. ate cereal
20. slept in my new lovely bed

And now we have reached the present. I now live in a chaotic mess lined with a whole wall of bookshelves and lovely books. And a fridge that is all MINE.

Meanwhile, I still work full time and commute 2 1/2 hours per day. And I am not sick. This is a miracle.

perfect fruit

I have eaten the most perfect banana.

A brilliant yellow.
Opened with ease.
No browning of fingernails due to misplaced banana juice.
No hint of ripe aftertaste.

Sigh.

Bridezilla cometh

I am Bridezilla now.
Beware.
I am mean.
I make impossible demands with no remorse.

A haiku for you:

Bridezilla cometh
Stay not in paths of danger
Beware the large foot

lunch room ladies part 2

Today I made the mistake of acknowledging that I heard the conversation going on in the lunch room. As they ate, the admin ladies were trying to remember a movie where a manikin comes to life, and I thought I knew one possible answer. I joined in the conversation (while across the room at the sink washing my bowl) saying something I thought might be of interest to them on that topic.

The reply: "uh huh." Then silence.

I somehow managed to hault their conversational progress by participating.

Lesson learned.

tissue crisis

When I get a cold, my asthma takes over and I get a disgusting, wet, 4 week long lung hacking cough. Such as now.

At times like these, I greatly value the boxes of tissues people have given me. I have one at work (or rather, had one, since I used the last bit yesterday) and one at home (now nearly empty). Unfortunately I can't carry them around with me, so I carry around a roll of toilet paper in my bag. I think it is very practical. Why not carry a roll of tp? It's cheap, compact (at least more so than a tissue box), abundant in supply (much better than the portable tissue packets that will be gone in 30 minutes), and easy to get to. But I have encountered resistance to this concept. Some people just don't think tp should be carried around like that, or they find it extremely funny. I think it is funny, but still practical so I keep doing it. In fact, one of the tissue box gifts was a result of my last evil cough, from my roommate. Along with the tissue box was a note saying she hoped this gift would help the bathroom supplies last longer. It was a lovely joke, and it did help the supplies slightly:)

I didn't always carry tp around. Once upon a time, I wasn't always sick or having a runny nose. My current job is death to my health. Apparently. My tp days started when I was studying abroad in the UK at Cambridge. I discovered that I was very allergic to something in the air, and I could not stop sneezing. Being in a foreign country, naturally I could not find familiar allergy remedies and I didn't know what to take. My solution: steal toilet paper from the bathrooms (because I was in classes and could not go to the store) so I could blow my little nose to my hearts content. I carried tp around with me the whole time I was there, and even took some home with me on the plane. I kept that tp roll for a few years as a souvenir of sorts, but finally just finished it off:) It was a thrill using foreign toilet paper, let me tell you. I had people tell me after getting back that Benedryl definitely exists in in England. I must not have looked in the right places. Alas.

The most remarkable thing: I was just gifted with a new box of tissues! Not 5 minutes ago! I blow my nose with such high frequency that running to the bathroom each time is not efficient. Having run out of tissues at work yesterday, this morning I got some tp reinforcements from the bathroom in anticipation of much nose blowing today. But to my delight one of my cube neighbors (a cube mother, to be precise, who takes care of me) knew of my misfortune and brought me a new box.

My tissue crisis is over.

survival

Even though not inspired, this is what was on my mind today. Part 1, of course.

How to survive at work.

1:

When in need of amusement, be sure to go in the break room during lunch to refill your water bottle or wash something. The admin ladies (taking their forced lunch hour) talk very loudly on a variety of topics—the more amusing when heard only in snippets.

Today’s snippet:

“I didn’t know she was a transvestite. Is she taking hormones?”

“What about Dexter? Have you seen him? He’s the complete opposite.”

I have no idea who Dexter is. I mistakenly thought she was asking if anyone had watched Dexter’s Laboratory on Cartoon Network (my favorite cartoon! Especially the episode at the ant colony where Dee Dee does her dance and saves the day).

2.

Water your plants. The free baby plant that came with your cube can be your best friend. Invest in a $5 pot. Beware of overwatering…

If you have a plant that flowers, take a picture immediately. The flower will be dead within 48 hours. Insert company name here sucks the life out of everything.

Someone gave me a bromeliad for my birthday last August. It bloomed its one long awaited flower 2 months later—on a Friday. It was dead when I came back Monday. Sigh. At least I have a picture:) See above photo.

sunrise

I blog when inspired. But I have had no inspiration for quite some time now (obviously). I think this is because I am too busy/sick/tired/stressed/loathing job to notice the inspirational things going on around me. I did see the sunrise yesterday though (while driving to work). It was beautiful (and surprisingly quick). I did not have inspirational thoughts to blog about as a result of observing the sunrise, except to recall a poem I wrote last week on the way to the airport:

cumulonimbus
fluffy blanket in the sky
celestial pillow

by lr for kt with love:)

men are from mars

The origin of the species is discovered: Scientists Discover Signs of Life on Mars.

Or not. Salt does not mean life. Headline writers can come up with totally bogus headlines. And inaccurate. Do they even bother reading the articles before writing the headline?

And speaking of inaccurate headlines, I must protest book blurb writers too. I have seen too many grossly misleading statements on the back cover of books written to catch your eye. Did they do it intentionally, or maybe they just skimmed the first and last chapters because they were in a rush and misunderstood the plot. I wonder how much of the book the summary writer is required to read, by contract, before writing the blurb. I doubt it's 100%. What would you guess? 30%? Skim the whole thing? I guess I'll never know.

I wonder what the book blurb would be for the Bible.

belated wedding post

I'm to wed! Hurray! You may have noticed my avatar's new outfit (I just love having an avatar that can wear different outfits..it's one more way to enjoy life). In honor of the upcoming wedding, a new website is born: www.davidlaura.com. We thought long and hard (actually, not long or hard) about having a hyphen in the web address, but david thinks hyphens are overrated... The website includes the proposal story (for the saps), registry links, and a semi-very exciting quiz.

As always, I accept donations. Or in this case, wedding presents:) The wedding is June 19th, 2008.

Also, I am not going to add a countdown timer to the blog. Just so you know.

addendum to fae flying high

Here is the photo I mentioned I took in my fae flying high post. The stuffed animals are suspended perilously above the head of my bed.

the longstanding err of fantasy

I must express my consternation (and sympathy) at the death of Robert Jordan. I know I am 6 months late, but I only just learned of it. He was one book away from completing his 12-book fantasy epic, the Wheel of Time, the books of which range from 600-1000 pages each and an impressive display of excessive information. I read books 1-10 all at once, then decided to wait until book 12 came out and read 11 and 12 together. Alas! He cannot finish it. But all is not lost, his wife has asked another fantasy author, Brandon Sanderson, to write the last one using Jordan's notes. Sanderson is LDS too. I think I'll try one of his books.

Some fantasy series have the tendency to go on forever and ever. What really irks me is when I have waited years for another book (often the 3rd book in what I think is a trilogy) to come out, only to discover that the story doesn't end. I'm cut off and left hanging once again. My latest frustration: The High King's Tomb, by Kristen Britain. It is book 3 in her green rider series. I was sure it was going to be the last. But no. Not. And she is the slowest writer living. Dead writers are even slower, but not by much. I wish there could be a disclaimer on the first page, saying:

this book doesn't end, don't get your hopes up.

Sigh. I really must protest.

Another flaw in neverending series is that you have forgotten everything about the previous novels while waiting for the sequel. Inefficient. Tsk tsk. Not to mention the danger of the author in dying before it ends. Beware.

a post!

My computer has finally emerged from its slumber, timidly, yet triumphantly, primed to reenter the world of computational competence.

Not having a computer put on hold many other aspects of my home life, such as cleaning, opening mail, paying taxes, balancing checkbook, etc etc. After getting my computer back, I proceeded to clear off my desk and found several items supposedly lost…

Unfortunately, the IQ of my wireless network has dropped ten-fold, and it delights in slowness and kicking me off.

Lessons learned: 1) Always unplug computer at night.
2) "No-post" is bad.
3) I got more sleep when I didn't have a computer.
4) How to take apart a motherboard and put it back together!

lack thereof

I do not post.
I do not post for good reason.
I do not post for the good reason that my computer is in pieces.
I do not post for the good reason that my computer is in pieces because the motherboard is dead.

Alas.

I await it's return under warranty. (hooray for 3-year warranty!)

ps. My apartment building is not grounded (for electricity). Thus, we have to use plug converters. Thus, my surge protector is useless. Thus, I highly suspect a power surge to have rendered my motherboard useless. Alas. I know not how to prove this. I know not how to convince my landlords to ground the building. Sigh.

a song worth remembering

I meant to post this at Christmas, but forgot. Alas. Better late than never:

Remember this delightful tune?

See last year's post.

This post is brought to you by J+R. :)