Probing the Membrane of Science

I just realized that
a) there are only eight female characters in Death Note that have any dialogue or personalities and
b) that only one of them gets anything close to resembling a happy ending.

Two tries now, two failures.

I wonder if I'm ever going to get to try out my new Arkham Horror expansion.

I just finished Curse of the Crimson Throne, the long-running Paizo AP I've been running as a DM since last October.

The party go punked. Hard. Queen Ileosa Arabasti murdered them all, using enchantment magic to force the party to turn on each other and dance like puppets for her amusement.

What's frustrating is not that the party lost. It's that they lost, and it didn't have fun whilst doing so. It was a brutal slog, and everybody left all frustrated and unhappy looking. And what I like about DMing is that I get to provide entertainment and joy for my friends.

Boo.

I have a deep mental sickness.

I feel myself compelled to watch a Coleman Francis movie.

Pray for me.

My latest adventure in the wonderful world of buying used games off of the internet (aka, the only time I have had such an adventure)... is not going well.

Returns, hopefully, will be had.

So, the past couple of days, I've suffered from odd minor physical maladies. I've been having trouble getting to sleep, and the sleep I've been getting hasn't been that restful. My muscles ache, especially the thighs, for no apparent reason. And last night, I discover two huge scratches--claw marks might be as accurate--on my back.

Perhaps I'm doing something in the night I don't remember to accommodate all of this. Perhaps I am a werewolf. Perhaps I am a werewolf who fights other werewolves. Perhaps this is awesome.

PS: I got into UC Davis' Entomology department. I know what I'm doing next year!

So, I submitted my application for UC Davis' Entomology program today. It should be fine. Apparently, the primary cause behind the timing is to get prospective students in the door early for fellowships, which I highly approve of.

One application down, three or four to go.

So, this morning (okay, this noon), I was doing the sensible thing and preparing information for my graduate school applications. Getting addresses for letters of recommendation, that sort of thing. I check the UC Davis school of Entomology, which is a program I'm very excited about...

Only to discover that applications are due November 15th.

I had assumed that they'd be due sometime in December, which is when all of the rest of the schools are due (a few even bleed into January!). Now, they say they will accept late applications, and I can probably get things done by Tuesday or Wednesday... but that's a source of stress I wasn't looking forward to feeling today.

I know I haven't updated in a long time, but I think this is worth saying, even though you've already heard it a thousand times before. This election is important. Go vote in it. I don't even care who you vote for, but...

OK. That's a lie. Vote for Obama. Vote for Nader. Vote for Barr or whoever the Peace and Freedom Party is fronting. But do not vote for John McCain and Sarah Palin. A vote for the McCain/Palin ticket is a vote against women's rights. It is a vote against science. It is a vote for ignorance, racism and greed.

Oh, and if you're in California and voted "Yes" on Proposition 8, you and I are going to have words.

I have had roughly the same hair style since I was... six? A long time, at any rate. Which is why I'm thinking about changing it. Dying it, letting it grow out, something new.

Any suggestions?

The Big Read thinks the average adult has only read six of the top 100 books they've printed below.

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read
3) Underline the books you LOVE.
4) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read only six and force books upon them.


( And the list is... )

There... there was a meme about kaiju... and.. and... this is what I got!

Your result for The Godzilla Personality Test!...

Jet Jaguar: The Family Values Robot

Take The Godzilla Personality Test! at HelloQuizzy

Yeah, yeah, I come back to post for a meme. I'm sorry. Here's the deal: A list of 100 foods, of which I have bolded which I have eaten.
( Cut for length )

So I was in a Paleoclimatology class this quarter, and of course, it's involved a lot of talk about global warming, specifically how we can use the past to model what's going to happen and where. Which has given me some great ideas for a near-future (say, 2100-2150) roleplaying game...


The United States: As the Earth's climate changes spun into high gear, the United States lost its position as the dominant power on the face of the Earth, but manages still to maintain strong national identity and play an important role in global politics. The United States lost its position as a dominant food exporter as the wet belts moved north: California became primarily a desert, as did much of the fields of corn in the Midwest. America adapted and thrived, however, as an exporter of energy--what were once farms now hold solar cells, nuclear plants, and Lackner units for carbon sequestration. America also remains a key player in global trade, as Seward's Folly, an ironically named city in North Alaska, is one of the busiest commercial hubs in the world, a new Singapore for goods traded through the now-open Northwest Passage.

Canada: Canada was probably the nation that benefited most from the changes global warming brought. Its fertile soils now met with ample rain, causing its agricultural economy to boom. Canada now fills a role similar to that once played by the United States in terms of food production, and the two nations are on friendly terms. Canada has stepped well into the role of world power, building its army to defend against the Russian Empire, but doing its best to minimize its interference in global conflict.

The Russian Empire: Russia's slide back into despotism was a rapid and highly successful one, and the Russian Empire has now annexed much of central Asia and Eastern Europe. Despite the illusion of centralized power, many of the outlying states are only nominally held under control by local governors. The Russian Empire's dominance is largely paid for by its exploitation of resources from the Arctic seafloor, and huge floating nuclear reactors bearing Russian flags now stud the pole. Russia's military aggressiveness is mostly behind it, although the Emperor still eyes Seward's Folly enviously.

China: China is one of the few nations left in the world that still relies primarily on fossil fuels, a fact that little endears it to the rest of the world. Its quest for resources mirrored that of Japan more than 100 years in the past, and much of Southwest Asia is either directly ruled by China or is ruled by a puppet of Chinese interests. Like Russia, its days of expansion are in the past, and the two Asian superpowers are fierce rivals. Although this war is Cold, and fought with spies, embargoes and treaties, it could potentially heat up any minute.

Last summer, I did a lengthy post about Pokémon. Specifically, how the Pokédex, rather than being a fun-filled romp of family fun for the whole family, was in fact dark, seedy and laden with innuendo and nightmare fuel. That post can be found here.

I only covered the first 151, Pokémon that everybody knows and loves. Now, I'm reaching deeper into the Poke-Vault. So I'm providing links so non Pokéfanatics know what I'm talking about.

Bayleef
The scent of spices comes from around its neck. Somehow, sniffing it makes you want to fight. (Performance-enhancing Pokémon! For shame!)

Totodile
Despite its small body, Totodile's jaws are very powerful. While it may think it is just playfully nipping, its bite has enough strength to cause serious injury. (Remember, kids! Pokémon are adorable, playful little creatures that'll still kill you if they get the chance!)

Ariados
It attaches silk to its prey and sets it free. Later, it tracks the silk to the prey and its friends. (Your entire family is food to the Ariados. Are you sure you should have Run Away from that one two, three days ago? Maybe you should visit Mom again, just in case.)

Gligar
Gligar glides through the air without a sound as if it were sliding. This Pokémon hangs on to the face of its foe using its clawed hind legs and the large pincers on its forelegs, then injects the prey with its poison barb. (A Face-Hugger type Pokémon! At least it doesn't lay eggs in your chest)

Shuckle
Shuckle quietly hides itself under rocks, keeping its body concealed inside its hard shell while eating berries it has stored away. The berries mix with its body fluids to become a juice. (It makes its own gravy!)

Sneasel
It is extremely vicious and will not stop attacking until its foe is incapable of moving. (Yeah, kid, what the Sneasel was attacking just... fainted. Right.)

Miltank
In order to milk a Miltank, one must have a knack for rhythmically pulling up and down on its udders. (No comment)

Linoone
Linoone always runs full speed and only in straight lines. If facing an obstacle, it makes a right-angle turn to evade it. This Pokémon is very challenged by gently curving roads. (Poor stupid, stupid creature. Another contender for "too stupid to live")

Beautifly
It has an aggressive nature. It stabs prey with its long, narrow mouth to drain the prey's fluids. (Ah... Pokémon. The only childrens' game with multiple references to draining bodily fluids...)

Cascoon
Encased within its tough cocoon, it endures attacks. It never forgets the appearance of its foes. (What does the Cascoon do? The Cascoon watches...)

Sableye
Sableye lead quiet lives deep inside caverns. They are feared, however, because these Pokémon are thought to steal the spirits of people when their eyes burn with a sinister glow in the darkness. (I'll swallow yer soul!)

Spoink
Spoink bounces around on its tail. The shock of its bouncing makes its heart pump. As a result, this Pokémon cannot afford to stop bouncing - if it stops, its heart will stop. (Poor, hideously deformed Spoink.)

Cacturne
If a traveler is going through a desert in the thick of night, Cacturne will follow in a ragtag group. The Pokémon are biding their time, waiting for the traveler to tire and become incapable of moving. (The image of a lone desert traveler slowly succumbing to thirst and fatigue, while being stalked by an army of shambling cactus-men with murder on their minds is a genuinely chilling one)

Shuppet
Shuppet is attracted by feelings of jealousy and vindictiveness. If someone develops strong feelings of vengeance, this Pokémon will appear in a swarm and line up beneath the eaves of that person's home.

Shuppet grows by feeding on dark emotions, such as vengefulness and envy, in the hearts of people. It roams through cities in search of grudges that taint people.(These guys? Really, really creepy.)

Banette
An abandoned plush doll became this Pokémon. They are said to live in garbage dumps and wander about in search of the children that threw them away. (Most likely, in order to murder them.)

Duskull
Duskull wanders lost among the deep darkness of midnight. There is an oft-told admonishment given to misbehaving children that this Pokémon will spirit away bad children who earn scoldings from their mothers.(How whimsical! In the words of Crow T. Robot, "remember to believe in magic... or I'll kill you!")

Gorebyss
A Gorebyss siphons the body fluids of prey through its thin, tubular mouth. Its light pink body color turns vivid when it finishes feeding.(Delightfully accurate for a deep-sea, transparent blood feeder. Also, mention No. 3 of draining bodily fluids!)

Bagon
Bagon has a dream of one day soaring in the sky. In doomed efforts to fly, this Pokémon hurls itself off cliffs. As a result of its dives, its head has grown tough and as hard as tempered steel.(Remember to live your dreams, children! Even if it means severe head trauma!)

Metagross
Metagross is the result of two Metang achieving fusion. When hunting, this Pokémon pins the prey to the ground under its massive body. It then eats the helpless victim using the large mouth on its stomach. (Why can't I do something that awesome in Trainer battles, then? I want to see the helpless faces of the Elite Four as my mighty Metagross sits on, then messily devours their prized Pokémon!)

Drifloon
It tugs on the hands of children to steal them away. However, it gets pulled around instead. (This one starts creepy, what with the child-snatching, but then it just fails. It's a two-fer!)

Munchlax
It hides food under its long body hair. However, it forgets it has hidden the food. (Ick)

Toxicroak
Its knuckle claws secrete a toxin so vile that even a scratch could prove fatal

Dusknoir
The antenna on its head captures radio waves from the world of spirits that command it to take people there.(I find it fitting that the Pokédex entry that inspired this whole project is the last one. Radio waves from the spirit world? There's a lot of (bizarre) world-building potential in that sentence alone. Pokéworld is a scary, scary place.)

So, this morning I got up, took a shower, realized that the notes online for my 9:00 class were extensive, then went back to bed.

And I don't think I left REM sleep a single minute of that three hour "nap".

In the dreams, I was Samus Aran, the spacefaring bounty hunter from the Metroid games. I was traveling with a few friends around the world, and running into (and oftentimes away from) all sorts of weird stuff. Of what I remember, there was the tourist-trap "ghost house" in China that actually was haunted by the ghost of a werewolf (the second werewolf we'd encountered on our journey), which I successfully released to find peace and attain vengeance on those who had exploited it. I remember running through the hilly streets of San Francisco until dawn. I remember meeting a young woman on a parade and encouraging her to take up the bounty hunting lifestyle.

In the last segment of the dreams, we had come to a lovely hostel/bookstore in the mountains of Eastern Europe, and we were all looking forward to a magnificent meal, after weeks of eating on the cheap or what we had packed in the wilderness. But the place was having trouble with its cash register, and had run out of mashed potatoes.

And then I woke up.

I blame this (or at least the Samus part) on too much Smash Brothers.

Alright, so I'd been thinking, which is always a bad sign.

What I'd been thinking about specifically was how little biodiversity we humans actually consume on a regular basis. When it comes to animals, everybody (at least, in the United States) only eats three phyla. Chordata is an obvious one: we eat vertebrates all the time, usually fish, mammals and reptiles (in the form of birds). I'm got a bit of a leg up on most USAians here, as I've tasted tunicate, one of the non-vertebrate chordates. Salty and fishy, otherwise unremarkable. Mollusca is Phylum #2--delicious bivalves, cephalopods and gastropods. Phylum #3 is Arthopoda; most Americans only eat crustaceans, but I've also eaten insects (although molecular evidence suggests that Insecta might merely be a sub-category of Crustacea).

Today, I ate a member of a fourth phylum. Uni, the gonads of a sea urchin (as it's pretty much the only edible meat on one).

How was it?

Dreadful.

Uni has a mellow flavor, not unpleasant. Salty and fishy, which makes sense. Redolent of the sea. The real problem, though, is the texture. It's cold, a little slimy, and firm, but yielding. Basically, imagine a flan that tastes like fish. Not too appealing, is it? Heather and I posited that it might work well in a stew, either dissolving to add a thickening and flavoring, or sliced into little strips amongst other ingredients. On its own, though, in a big buttery chunk in nigiri? Awful.

So I'm one phylum up on most Americans. Next stop... Annelida?

It is, as I type this, 5:57 AM.

I have not been able to go to sleep tonight.

However, I have managed to, in between episodes of The Venture Brothers and putting away dishes, write five pages about Paranthropus boisei and its diet, despite the fact that the scientific community has not actually done any research on this, merely giving the impression that they know what they're talking about.

Now, to sleep for three hours before I have to get up to go to class.

Goddamn.

Many others may have said it more eloquently, but still, I must say it.

RIP Gary Gygax.

You will be missed.

So I woke up slightly before my alarm at 10:30 today, got up, started going online: my usual morning routine.

And then I realized, wait a minute. It's Wednesday.

The day when I have section at 11.

Where a huge paper is due.

That I forgot to finish the busy-work "library assignment" that went along with it.

In fifteen minutes.

So, I powered through the busy work, threw on pants, got there only ten minutes late, and only because there was a bus that was as late as I was.

Goddamn.