Hey, click on the image below to look at pictures from my robotics competition! Huzzah!

And here is the quote of the day, from my dear, sweet, sister:

I don't necessarily hate people, I just hate when they do the following within earshot/arms reach: talk, walk, run, whistle, breathe loudly through their nose, chew loudly, and in general, exist. Just kidding. I guess I'm just not a fan of being touched by strangers. I'm also naturally very nosy, so it drives me nuts when people talk near me, because I can't stop listening to them. It's especially annoying when they talk just quiet enough so I can't understand them, but I can still hear them. That's the worst.

They say you are what you eat; I haven't changed a bit!

Today we're talking about cannibalism! Nicki checked out about a dozen books about cannibalism. She wrote a paper about self-cannibalism. She told me that anorexia is even sort of a form of self-cannibalism, because when you don't eat, your body eats itself. Awesome! Now I want to read books about self-cannibalism. What? It sounds righteous.

So, I'm back at work and lovin' it. If by "lovin' it", I mean "not lovin' it, and wishin' I were in classes again." Of course, that's what I mean. Work is fine, but I miss my peers. I also miss being outside in the sun during the afternoons.

Yesterday I received an email from a fact-checker at the Boston Magazine, which will be publishing an article about my robot team. The fact-checker, Rebecca, asked me a bunch of questions regarding accuracy of quotes and stuff. She asked if I recalled seeing certain people and teams and other items at the competition, but she also asked me the following:

You told Kevin that the competition was kind of like
a G-rated version of Mardi Gras except with pins
instead of beads—and mostly guys. Then, after
pondering that, you sort of changed your mind, and
said it wasn’t really like Mardi Gras after all! Does
that sound right? Do you remember that interchange?

Now I can't wait to read this article. I can't believe the journalist, Kevin, wrote this down. At least he didn't include the part where I was talking about some of the high schoolers on the team who were from the inner city, saying that at least they were "doing robotics instead of ...chicks."

Rubbin' sticks and stones together

Hello! I just got back from my trip to The South and I have some stories and pictures, but I am busy (!) at work and cannot do so! Soon I will! Just you wait, 'Enry 'Iggins!

The H is O

This morning, I left my cubicle to get some tea, and I was in a kind of daze, and the John R. Kelly (Hah! R. Kelly! Really!) who practically wears a kilt and tam-o-whatever to work, (he's that Irish) and who works in another area of the office, came running up to this area's coffee kiosk and asked me if he could please borrow a coffee filter. I, in my own world, said something like, "sure, go ahead, they're not my coffee filters," and proceeded to fill my mug. He took a filter and ran off. And then just now, I was picking up a document at the printer, and R. Kelly, carrying a load of coffee filters, jigged by me. He called over his shoulder, "See? I'm replacing the coffee filters at YOUR coffee maker." I must have had the most bizarre look on my face, but luckily, since he was on the move, he didn't look back to see me with WTF all over my face. It was pretty weird, though, wasn't it?

Oh man, I just noticed that my favorite long-sleeved shirt ever, the one I wear All The Time, is beginning to literally fall apart at the seams. I'm sure that has to do with:

1. Me wearing it All The Time
2. Having purchased the shirt from H&M

And now I should get back to work, since I'm leaving early today to catch a flight to The South. Weeeeeeee!

The "I Had a Dream" Speech

I just wrote this email to Nicki, and I thought I would share it with everyone.

Hi Nicki,

I just wanted to email you to tell you about my dream last night! It was freaky! You, Andrea, and I were going to be on Conan O'Brien for some reason (I think his original guest cancelled and I think Andrea got us on there with her unbelievable connections) but we were all covered in mud, so we had to quickly clean up, but we all had to pee first. You had this new way of peeing, which included standing up next to the toilet, bending over and putting your hands in the toilet water, and then I guess you had a really high-pressure urethra, because from that bending over position, you were able to make it to the toilet just by spraying it out. However, your urethra was so strong that it was pushing your pee all the way past the toilet into the next stall, which is where I was peeing, and I was doing it the normal way, and your pee was getting all over me. I was pretty mad. I yelled at you, I think, and I screamed, "You're peeing on my face!!!!!!!!"

I wonder if this was caused by

• The story about your nannying charge who peed on his face
• The story about Steve peeing on his face when he was little
• Your ability to be peeing within a second of walking in the bathroom, which I was always amazed by
• The fact that I kind of had to pee a little when I fell asleep
• Got any other ideas?

Anyway, you're still peeing normally, right?

Love,
Emily

PS: Do you like my signature? Sammy snuck into my email account and made it after I snuck into his email address and made his signature, "The world is a vampire."

--
Exit light, enter night, take my hand, we're off to never never land!

Pish

Hey, deutschbags, thanks for all of your help regarding this camera situation. If by help, I mean complete silence. Luckily, my boss just received a digital camera (the Canon SD300, for those of you still reading this webrag), and this solidified the matter for me. I checked out his shiny gadget and then ran to newegg and bought the Canon SD200, which is good enough for me but still almost as awesome as my boss's camera. I caaaaaaaaaaan't wait.

And I don't mean periods

What do you think, here? Maybe someday my taciturn readers will speak up and tell me what I want to hear. I need help! I want to purchase a camera (this camera, to be specific) and I am not sure when I should buy it. If I buy it now, I can use it in Atlanta, and then I can pay for it before my big expenses come at the end of May, when I will be buying lots of things and paying for a new apartment and everything. If I put it off, maybe I'll forget I want it and then I won't have to spend the money. I know it sounds weird, but I do it a lot. Also, if I buy the camera now, I will have to forego the Friday Mai Tai lunches with my colleagues that I so enjoy.

I've decided to read less Harry Potter and more NOT Harry Potter, so I went to the library and checked out a few women's studies books. Did I tell you already about the time I was on the (HORRIBLE) B Line train, which is HORRIBLE, but I had a pleasant experience being squished next to a lady who noticed I was reading The Handmaid's Tale and recommended a lot of other books, such as:

• The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
• Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
• Pretty much anything by Jane Austen or any Brontë
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
• Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys

I checked out the last two on the list, and I've just started reading Wide Sargasso Sea. It's the story of Bertha Mason, who was the lady in the attic from Jane Eyre. I can't wait to be well informed on lady topics, as I'm sure to be after reading these two books.

mmm yogurt with ginger granolaaaa

Yah! I'm going to the opera tomorrow night! How exciting! I'm going straight from work, so I need to wear something halfway between dressy and "business casual." I hope my eyes don't get plucked out by ravens!

In other news, not much of note has been happening. I slept in quite a bit this weekend, but I stayed up late too. I went to the midnight showing of The Animation Show at the Coolidge Corner theatre; it was the best thing ever.

Google Gulp

I love this!

Google Gulp