Monday, April 30, 2007

Friday, April 27, 2007

So, In Conclusion...

I have been preparing and writing my Capstone paper all this semester. I actually began preliminary research before the end of the fall semester. For anyone who knows me this is an amazing feat of non-procrastination (not that I didn't procrastinate!). I have my paper presentation in my department today at 11am.

So, what have I learned from months of reading and research?

-Wine was always freakin' expensive, and unless you lived in Italy or France, it was reserved for the super-wealthy
-There have always been wine snobs
-Russia doesn't really have any wine-growing regions, since in winter it gets FREAKIN' FREEZING. Ahem.
-Putin and the Romanov Dynasty have more in common than people want to admit: namely that he is a strong ruler who keeps a tight hold on the elite (formerly nobles, currently oligarchs) and who has serious isolationist tendencies. This is related to the wine commentary, I swear!
-There will always BE wine snobs
-Where a decent bottle of wine may cost $50 here, it can cost $100 or more in Moscow. Damn that oil wealth.

Wow. All that reading summed up in six points.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

On the Job...

As the semester wanes and my time in graduate school comes to an end (if I survive the next two weeks, which is somewhat debatable...) I am being trained in a new part of my organization in preparation for me to go full time.

The section in which I'm working right now deals directly with a government agency. I had no idea how not-stereotypes all those gummint stereotypes are.

Wow.

Well, at the very least I am getting the idea that I have job security: my boss comes by my office approximately twice a week now to mention that this is going to be a chunk of my duties when I go full time. I think he's getting a kick out of the fact that I'm staying-you must understand that every time he does this he has this almost-manic glee in his manner. It's actually pretty amusing :D

On the other hand...

Apparently Captain America sightings are up recently. And he's being a very bad superhero indeed!

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

To quote the Express: "Rocking Out"!

So, those crazy Serbs strike again!

They've found a mineral with the same composition as Kryptonite!

Superman sightings are predicted to fall by at least 50%.

Conspiracy theorists suggest that Lex Luthor may be spearheading the mining operation which uncovered the rare mineral.

Monday, April 23, 2007

And yet another passing...

Boris Yeltsin has passed away. This is a tragedy for all those who loved the fellow for his crazy rantings and drunken benders. He is and will be beloved by many.

To his memory, we must have a vodka toast when we arrive home this evening.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Virginia Tech Tragedy

To all those affected by this horror, I once again extend my thoughts, prayers, and blessings.

Here is a link to the most recent article I have found concerning the victims of this tragedy.

I have nothing else to say. There really is nothing more to say.

Edited on April 25th to include the latest of the lists.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

And one more...

For my sister to appreciate.

Well, two: this is for my other sister to appreciate.

I wonder...

If this guy has his own comic book. I'd pay for it!

And I thought my lunch was bad...

What this guy ate makes my Ramen noodles look like haute gourmet!

Then again, I could have done this over the weekend...

They might have even thanked me!

The party could have gone on for days....at this place!

I would, however, need to avoid this place.

Monday, April 16, 2007

What the...?

I often wake up in the morning with a fairly good outlook on the day ahead.

Then I read about things like this....and I wonder whether, indeed, today IS the day that i should start shopping for that remote mountain peak away from everybody.

Edited to add:

The death toll has now reached about 32 people. My thoughts and wishes go out to all those affected by this tragedy!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Ahhh......the smell is so sweet!

I LOVE the scent of fresh stress in the morning

Hmmmm....

Have you ever had a feather pillow or blanket? Have you ever noticed how these things, over time, start to smell slightly of ancient farts?

Now...since I was riding the metro when I thought of that, I wish I knew where it came from. If I figure it out, maybe they won't put me in the looney bin quite yet.

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

This Just In

Warning:

Do not follow this link in a place where you might get in trouble for ACTUALLY rolling on the floor laughing.

Use caution when handling coffee, tea, or other beverages while viewing this site.

Eating is also not recommended while viewing this site, as one may choke during a laughing fit.

If you have high blood pressure, you may bust a capillary trying to laugh silently if you attempt to view this site at work.

http://www.engrish.com/

Unsurprising Revelations

When one lives in or near a large city, one gets used to seeing things like empty beer bottles near metro stations, usually 40 oz bottles in brown paper bags. This most often happens in the early morning before the local maintenance crew has made its first round, if you live in an efficient and clean city.

On my way to the Metro this morning just before 7am I noticed an empty half case of beer. It was Black & Tan. When the people who drink near the metro station are buying Black & Tan, it really hits you that you live in a very different section of town. Even the litter is freakin' upscale.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Khakassia Part Deux

For the record, Khakassia is a republic of Russia in the south center meaning that it is mountainous and not in the desert. This is a rather small, but indicative picture of the actual area. Looks nice! There are several other gorgeous pictures of the mountainous regions of the Russian Federation here. This is the Wikipedia article on the area. The ethnic natives are Khakas. I am not kidding.

Khakassia? No way!

My friends have a blog which outlines strange, interesting and funny news from the Former Soviet Union, Central Asia and Russia. This is the most recent posting.

No kidding. Now, I've studied that region for...well, it's going on nigh 12 years now. And I never knew there was really a region of the RF called Khakassia. Is that, like, the butt of a pair of khaki pants? I mean, honestly! I'm seeing sand. LOTS of sand. Something like this. Or perhaps this. Or maybe this even.

Monday, April 9, 2007

Easter

Well, Happy Easter to all of you who celebrate, also Happy Passover, Happy Ostara, and if there's some equivalent other holiday, Happy whatever.

My mother really enjoys Easter, and she is completely enabled by all of the adults in our family who still love to run around like little 'uns and find plastic eggs filled with candy. Every year the Egg Hunt gets bigger and funnier-each person gets one special egg with their name on it and more candy inside. This is the cause of much hilarity as for the past two years people have-in their zeal to collect as many eggs as possible-grabbed other people's eggs. Fortunately it's all in good fun...even if my aunt DOES get so into the whole thing that she brings comfortable shoes to change into in order to be more competitive.

It's also a guarantee for a good meal, as my mother gets everything all set up for a huge feast, always involving a ham that seems to be bigger than any one pig could produce :D This year my sister also chipped in with these phyllo-wrapped asparagus spears that were FABULOUS. Even if they probably did constitute most of my calories for the day :D It's Easter, after all, and the celebrations always include more food than is probably good for you...so I figure, enjoy! It only happens once a year, and as we get older it seems to be more and more fun for all of us to get together and celebrate in that manner.

It was a shame, however, that my other sister (whose birthday it was) wasn't able to be with us, but from what I hear she and her husband also had a wonderful holiday. I can't wait for the pictures from kayak-point to start appearing on her blog :D

Happy Birthday and Happy Easter!

Thursday, April 5, 2007

Best Laugh I've had in a While

tickle me elmo

Legend has is it that a new employee was hired at the Tickle Me Elmo factory and she duly reported for her first day's induction training, prior to being allocated a job on the production line. At 08:45 the next day the personnel manager received a visit from an excited assembly line foreman who was not best pleased about the performance of the new recruit. The foreman explained that she was far too slow, and that she was causing the entire line to back-up, delaying the whole production schedule. The personnel manager asked to see what was happening, so both men proceeded to the factory floor. On arrival they saw that the line was indeed badly backed-up - there were hundreds of Tickle Me Elmos strewn all over the factory floor, and they were still piling up. Virtually buried in a mountain of toys sat the new employee earnestly focused on her work. She had a roll of red plush fabric and a bag of marbles. The two men watched amazed as she cut a little piece of fabric, wrapped it around a pair of marbles and carefully began sewing the little package between Elmo's legs. The personnel manager began to laugh, and it was some while before he could compose himself, at which he approached the trainee. "I'm sorry," he said to her, not able to disguise his amusement, "but I think you misunderstood the instructions I gave you yesterday.... Your job is to give Elmo two test tickles."



This was found on this website :D

Hee!

Моя сестра решила вчера, что очень круто писать её "блог" в каком-то азбуке морзе , и ещё по-ипсум лорум. Я, поетому, решила писать свой "блог" по-русски . :D

Я люблю языков, и мне нравиться, что она тоже думает, что лингвистика-интересна :D

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Fun Facts

So, I was reading the instructions to the wine kit (yah, I know, reading instructions is for GIRLS...but I am a girl :D), and it mentioned that a person over 21 can legally make up to 100 gallons of wine, beer, or mead in one year for personal consumption, as long as they do not sell it.

I'm not sure about you, but I'm pretty sure that 100 gallons already constitutes alcoholism, and a HELUVA lot of free time to be making this stuff. That's about 2 gallons a week, or almost 2 bottles of wine every day.

It also states on the outside of the box that the kit is meant only for persons over the age of 21. See, I don't think that they can prevent a person under 21 from buying the kit, technically, since it does not contain alcohol...but it gives explicit instructions and precisely measured ingredients and equipment to MAKE alcohol, which could be a problem.


Hmmmmm. I wonder what the cashier at BB& Beyond would do if a 12 yo kid tried to buy this thing.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

On Comments

I realize that other people are most likely reading this blog. I respectfully request that if you have a comment, please post it here, not elsewhere.

Hee Hee!

The fiance and I went to FINALLY do our registries, after spending the night at my friend's aunt's house on Saturday out of depression over the Gtown loss....and some Shiraz...and some games of pool, and some poker (which I lost badly, reference Shiraz above)...yeah. We had lots of fun after we got over the loss, though, which is a plus :D

Anyway, back to the subject. We did two registries, which took most of the day. While we were scanning china patterns at Bed Bath & Beyond, we noticed a box on one of the discount shelves: a mini winemaking kit, just big enough to make four bottles of Merlot. Weeeell....since we live in an apartment, we haven't really ever done the making of wine thing before (for the uninitiated, it kinda takes up space), but this was a tiny kit, and it was on SALE...so now we have grape juice happily fermenting on the kitchen counter.

As a second experiment, I also took organic grape, black cherry and blueberry juices and mixed them and added some of the yeast to that as well. I actually think that one is going to turn out to be tastier, but we shall see.

One of these days we'll have a backyard...or, rather, we'll have a vineyard where there was once a backyard :D