So it's been sporatically snowing the past couple of days, which is a sure sign that it's almost my birthday. Ah yes, the past two out of three years I've celebrated with snowpeople. And in one case snowanimals as well. Hooray for freak weather.

Today was my presentation on molecular "pharming". Pharming is all about genetically modifying plants to produce pharmaceutical proteins, vaccines, antibodies, and the like. Not as nerve wracking as the last one, which is funny because I had never been less prepared for anything in my life than I was for this presentation. It went pretty well, and for our final slide (the obligatory "Questions?" slide), we decided to be funny and put an animated gif that I had found on the internet last night that was the funniest and most appropiate thing I had ever seen. It starts as a stump and grows into a tree, which then shakes back and forth until a stick man falls out and lands on the ground. Most people were a little shocked and wondering why we were showing a graphic where someone falls to their death out of a tree. First of all, it's a stick man. Secondly, he's not dead, he's just lying on the ground and whoever made it didn't animate it any further than that. Third and most importantly, it illustrates how plants are eventually going to be producing human products...including humans. Why doesn't anyone get it?

I am currently addicted to this dessert that my roommate made the other night for a small dinner party we hosted (when I say "small", I mean "for one other person"). I know she's told me the name of it, but I still can't call it anything other than "the green stuff". It's like a square, and it has a graham cracker crumb base, but the main ingredients are a combination of products that you wouldn't normally think to put together in a bowl, namely pineapple chunks, lemon juice, marshmellows, and lime Jello, heated throughly and then left to gel, and finally topped with whipped cream and kiwi slices. It has a sort of fluorescence to it, but it's really really good. The lesson here: give lime Jello a chance. Take that Martha.

"Go shawty, it's your birthday, we gon' party like it's yo birthday..."

Screwed.

I think that's the best way of expressing my current state.

Or maybe utterly screwed.

I'm sure none of you really want to hear about what I need to do, and when I need to do it by, and how I pretty much haven't done any of it yet, so I'll skip those details. I just wanted to set the scene for you before I begin my diatribe about how my father has chosen this exact moment to pressure me about my career. Yes Daddy, I know it's important to get a job. No Daddy, I haven't found one yet. Yes Daddy, I am still looking, but I kind of have other things to do right now. Like graduate.

I know that I am already a disappointment to him for not going to grad school, but I didn't say that I'm NEVER going to grad school I'm just not going RIGHT NOW.

And right now, I'm here, doing something other than what I should be doing, panicking about the stuff I should be doing, and still not doing what I should.

"Every day is a winding road"

Has anyone else been receiving e-mails from (apparently) several bank auditor generals in South Africa, acting on behalf of some dead foreign industrialist who left $26 Million in a bank account, and wants you to pose as this dead guy's beneficiary so that the auditor general can transfer the money to your account to basically smuggle it out of the country, so that he can get a 60% cut of the booty while you get 35% (with 5% for expenses)?

Just wondering...

You would think that, by now, I would be okay with making presentations. At the very least, that I would not feel like I was going to pass out, throw up, or spastically hyperventilate in the few minutes leading up to it. But no. Still got those damned butterflies. And yet the second I get up there, it's just me and the powerpoint (well, and my partner(s), depending on the situation). And then I stare at people without seeing them, and the whole thing just presents itself. And then it's over, and I'm left standing there like the doof that I am wondering what the hell I was so worried about in the first place. Until the next presentation (which, by the way, is on Monday).

For those of you just joining us, welcome! Come on in, take a peek at my brain. Or a glance...or a gaze...whatever you prefer.

Would you believe me if I told you that I had completely forgotten about current world events for a brief moment? It's true! It just totally slipped my mind. How could this possibly have happened, you ask? I haven't the first clue. All I know is, for about a day or two, I was considering going to visit a friend in the States. And it never occurred to me that this could be a problem. After all, I'm just going to visit a friend, I'm not smuggling a weapon of mass destruction. And to Ann Arbor, of all places. But, as my mother pointed out, someone else could be, so why put myself in that kind of position? But it's fascinating how this war affects me in such an insignificant way that I could just forget that it's happening. Or maybe it really is senility setting in. Either way, sorry Ada, can't make it right now. I guess I'll just have to visit you in T.O.

Lesson for the day: be wary of grey meat.

"Come out upon my seas/cursed missed opportunites/am I a part of the cure/or am I part of the disease"

The post-party-mellow-out phase. Here's a numerical recap of last night's events:

6 - number of people I knew who showed up to the same salon to get their hair done at the same time (5 girls + 1 prof getting his hair cut)
1 - number of times we had to turn around because we forgot something
620 - approximate number of people who came to this shindig
zillion - approximate number of photos I was directly or indirectly involved in
3 - number of times I was hit on the head with a balloon by a drunken classmate (actually, it was the same person each time)
2 - number of glasses of wine that I had
5 - number of really good songs played in a row that I had to dance to, despite the fact that my feet were numb
1 - number of muscles I pulled while dancing a little too vigorously
0 - number of door prizes I won (boo...)
42 - number of bobby pins I pulled out of my skull at the end of the night ("ouch" doesn't exactly cover it)
7 - number of hours of sleep I managed (not too shabby)
2 - number of extra people living at my house right now

From the sporatic reports I had received throughout the night and today, people seemed to have enjoyed themselves, which is always nice to hear when you spent the last 8 months getting this thing ready for them. And as far as I know, nobody destroyed any toilets this year, which is also nice to hear. But someone did have a confrontation with a door. Unfortunately, he lost.

"See that girl, watch that scene, dig in the dancing queen"

I really miss Toronto. Well, I was there last weekend, but it was really surreal. I was cruising into the city towards Union Station, and I was looking at the skyline and suddenly I realized that this is it...this is home. I will never ever feel the same way about any other place on Earth. Even though I've been in Waterloo for the better part of the past 5 years, and it's not a bad place to be stranded in, it doesn't compare to this overwhelming feeling of belonging that I felt as the bus took me home. Don't get me wrong, I love travelling and experiencing the world (my last major journey was to France...that was absolutely amazing). I think everyone should feel that they belong somewhere. I've found my spot.

So, several hours from now, I'll be attending my Gradball (which, contrary to what certain other people think, is not a new kind of sporting event). It's one of those rare occasions where I can attempt to get pretty and wear dainty shoes that would cripple most men. But before I go and hide beneath a stratum of foundation and hairspray, a funny story to tell.

While watching TV, my roommate Marie and I encountered one of those great car commercials that try to generate that warm fuzzy feeling that only comes from cheesy nostalgia. These people are driving through a town that is populated by teenage prom-goers while Forever Young is playing in the background. As the commercial continues, they drive past girls in pastel gowns standing by the wall, guys dancing, mirror balls everywhere, and Marie's face takes on a look of confusion, and she asks me, "Why is everyone in high school so fat?"

Okay, it was funny to me, and if you see the commercial again, take a look. Especially at the girls by the wall.

"Hoping for the best but expecting the worst, are you going to drop the bomb or not?"

So, here I am, sucked into something new by my friends. Well, no, I was actually trying to create a space in the web for myself but that little project is still on hold. This is the most feasible interim cure for my growing need to be here in the electronic world. I do have a webpage, but I have come to the sad conclusion that nobody will EVER FIND IT. It's impossible, and believe me, I've tried. Of course, this probably has to do with the fact that I'm so easily lost in the background. I'm also absolutely horrible at keeping in touch, so maybe this will be a more effective way for people to stalk me if they choose.

Anyway, me. I'm on the verge of ending my school career and starting the next phase of my life...namely, the rest of it. That's...really all I have to say about that.

Wow, I really have nothing else to say right now...

"Time, where did you go? Why did you leave me here alone..." - Chantal Kreviazuk