Battle Damage

I guess that dip was a bit more dangerous than I thought...

Guess what! Guess what! Guess what!

I got to learn how to do this today.

(Sort of. Only picture it as a lot more dramatic. And with actual people.)

[clapping hands] Isn't it awesome?! I'm so excited!

And I'm going to be really sore tomorrow, but it's totally worth it.

"Call me irresponsible..."

So, funny story for the day: we started learning the foxtrot (or maybe quick step? No, foxtrot) in my ballroom class today. And the music my teacher put on was--Michael Buble! I was so excited, I seriously sang along to the entire song. Which made my partner laugh. Here's a sample of our conversation:

Partner (and yes, I know his name, I'm just choosing not to put it on here): How do you know the words to this?
Me: I love this music! It's Michael Buble!
P: Who?
M: Michael Buble. You know.
P: [blank stare] Ok...
M: Come on, this is great music.
P: What, is this from your era or something?
M: Oh yes.
P: How old are you again?
M: 52 1/2.

Like I said before, my dance partners probably think I'm a freak, but at least I have fun. :)

Dancing Dr. Carpenstein out.

Yargh

Anyone know how to rationalize the pKa of a compound by using resonance structures and electronegativities?

Hmm...me neither. That might make Wednesday's test a wee bit difficult.

Blech.

Zachy's Last Hurrah

Yet another post I've been meaning to do for a while. In fact, you could even say I've been postponing it. Hehe. (That one's for you, Dad.)

So, as some of you may know, my little brother left for his mission on February 10th. The Friday before he left, my parents asked him what he wanted to do as his last big thing. He said go-kart racing. So, off we went to F-1 Racing Factory.

We're all suited up.Gotta love the smooshed chipmunk cheeks.


The whole racing gang.
(Plus random little boy...)

And now for some (really blurry) awesome action shots!

It's Sarah! (I think)
And...Mike?
I'm not even going to try to guess who's in this one.

The scores! My racing name was Ruby. Yeah, I'm not that creative.
But I got 5th place! (The first time. I was dead last the second. Haha.)

Here's all of us in our really attractive "head socks". Hygiene is important, people.
(We take such lovely pictures...)

This car was outside the factory. Hmm...

So, we had lots of fun. I'm definitely not the fastest racer, but I thought I did pretty well. Hooray for family time! By the way, I apologize if this post doesn't make much sense. I figured seeing all the pictures would be better than me trying to explain it. Aren't you all glad I got a camera for my birthday? ;)

And our last picture is: spirit hands! (Or wrists. Whatever.)

(This is what happens when the 3 younger ones get a little carried away, apparently.)

This is Dr. Carpenstein signing off.

Crazy Kailei/Jenny Tuesdays

I've been in a funk all day today. I don't know why--it's not like anything really bad has happened. It's weird. Let's blame it on med chem. Yes, that will work. Dumb med chem...

Anywho, on to the updates that have been put off for a long time.

So, last week (I think) my friend Kailei and I realized something: we always seem to do really random things on Tuesdays. Such as watching "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" on a "school night". Or "Cinderella" (the really old Julie Andrews/Rodgers and Hammerstein version). The latest installment involved dance shoes and really expensive ice cream.

It all started when I decided that I needed actual dance shoes for my ballroom class (you can only do so much in tennis shoes). So, being the wonderful friend she is, Kailei said she would take me on our way home (I ride with her on Tuesdays and Thursdays to and from school). We got to the store...and it was closed. Lame! We were all sad because this was really the only time I could get out to this place and we couldn't even see any price tags to see if it would be worth it to go inside. Then, as we were about to leave, Kailei realized something--the store was closed on Monday. It was Tuesday. A revelation! After realizing that, we found out that the store opened at 11:00. Current time: 10:50. "Ha," we said, "we can wait 10 minutes." We decided to wander through the shopping complex for the next 10 minutes.

We didn't make it very far. Just around the corner was a Baskin Robbins and it sucked us in. And we had to buy some really expensive ice cream just because we felt like it. Seriously, $3.45 for 2 scoops of ice cream? They were kind-of big, I guess, but really, $3.45.

Anyways, we bought some.

We got Love Potion 31 (white and milk chocolate and raspberry) and Apple Pie a la Mode.

See, don't we look happy?
(Or pirate-ish in my case. Arr...)

It was quite delicious.

As my nephew would say, "It's all gone." (I think the hand gestures would help in this case. Sorry.)

So, we had some pretty awesome ice cream and then the store was opened. The owner was really helpful, but I didn't end up with any shoes. Not to worry, though--I got some later that night at another place. Sorry, no pictures. Right now, anyways.

Moral of the story: umm...Baskin Robbins is expensive? Kailei and Jenny really like ice cream? I don't know. You can pick one for yourself. :)

Dr. Carpenstein out.

Oh boy

Ok, sorry people. I know I've already posted a lot today, but this could not be kept to myself. Tonight, I've been working on my online class and my teacher posted a paper for us to read. At least that's what I'm assuming he wants. There's no description of it (such as "Here's a chapter from this book" or "Here's a paper from Such-and-Such, a master in music history..."). Just a link. And a horrible, horrible paper. Seriously, tears were rolling down my face as I read this paper. I almost couldn't breathe I was laughing so hard. Here are a few excerpts for you to savor along with me.

"In New York the area known as Black Bohemia, artists, musicians, writer would gather to be seen and hired. White would also go there to interact with this jazz community." Who is this mysterious "White"? No one knows...

"Storyville was closed when the department of the navy established their facility in New Orleans. The lifestyle that was forced to developed due to segregation efforts war still to successfully risky for the government officials." What the heck is this even supposed to mean? How can you misspell something this badly?

"Kansas City in from the late 1800s was in the path of migrating musicians. Most of the live music headed west passed through there. Vaudeville, Burlesque, minstrel shows a circuses played it many venues." That last sentence is my favorite. "A circuses." Seriously?!

"The idea that musicians who were involved with drugs would be most comfortable with others that shared their addiction was evident. This sharing of the common experience is often a desirable activity in team building exercises today. Drugs happen to be one of the extreme options." You heard 'em, folks. If you really want to build a team, give them all lots of drugs!

Maybe I just have a twisted sense of humor, but I thought this paper was hilarious. Hard to understand (hopefully it won't be on the test), but it definitely made my night. Hope you enjoyed it, too!

Dr. Carpenstein out.

That's odd...

I just realized something strange about my lovely planner.

It looks something like this.(Image from Carolina Pad's website. And yes, that picture is of a folder, but none of the planners looked like mine. At least the pattern is right on this one.)

It has two back covers. Not on purpose--it's not a clear plastic one to cover the real one or anything. Two heavy cardstock/cardboard pieces with exactly the same pattern, barcode, and little sticker saying it was made in China. Hmm...looks like someone was a little confused during the assembly process...

A Poem of Apology

Ahemahemahem:

Dearest bed, please don't take it personally
That I haven't been using you much, for you see
Lately you've seemed to be so far away
To my sleep-deprived brain at the end of the day.
It's not for the comfort of couch or of floor
That I sleep there. (In fact, they have made me quite sore.)
You are the comfiest pallet by far
Nestled beneath all my glow-in-the-dark stars!
More use in the future I cannot guarantee,
But for now, please accept my heartfelt apology.