Men Coming and Going, Life Has Been More Interesting When They Were Going

So many things have happened since I last posted.  I had various male advances, I took a solo trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, I graduate college (though currently taking 2 post-bach classes), I’ve been exploring the underground and overground Detroit scene a bit further, I’ve interacted with every type of hipster imaginable, I’m finishing up research and looking for summer jobs, I’ve gotten chased in a goth club by a crazy man in camo, and I’ve either picked up new hobbies or I’ve taken some a step further.

I suppose I’ll start from the last time I’ve written.  An update on the red-headed guy is that….we got kinda close, we both tried to treat other like just friends.  However, it’s hard to do when you’re physically attracted to one another, nonetheless I thought we were still acting as friends.  But, I actually don’t think he wants to be friends with me, he probably thought he could get laid quickly and now feels like he has to entertain me now that he realized that he’s not getting laid…or laying with me.  I’m also younger than him which isn’t an issue for me but it might indicate our different points of views.  In talking with him about current events, he comes off like a hippie…very, “pie in the sky”-ish with that said, he’s also a bit of a anarchist.  When on the other hand I’m very technical, I want to delve deeper into the issue, understand psyche and perceptions.  Basically our conversation about humans having an innate behavior to separate into different groups would end with his response along the lines of, “we need to love each other and how we as a society should love all races and backgrounds and that not ALL humans are like this”.  Then of course, I’d come off like the asshole because I’m curious about thinking in a more scholarly way by talking about the history of human societies and that it’s not only a human behavioral trait but this behavior can be seen with most mammalians.  Not all of our conversations have been this distinct, but I always feel like I’m thinking more about whatever we’re talking about.  I find him slightly more weird than me in that he’s actually a more serious person than I am.  Though I deeply think about the issues, I’m really playful and I think he just comes off more serious while saying the most general crap a hippie could say and he’s not that playful.

Recently, he had a show I was invited too right by my house.  I had other events going on but knew I still wanted to make his event.  I asked him about the lineup and he mentioned that he won’t be offended if I couldn’t make it.  Then I responded playfully about wanting to see the other act too and if he thinks there’s a reason I shouldn’t go.  Then he said, “it’s on you! “.  I assumed there wasn’t a reason I shouldn’t go so I stopped through.  I didn’t want to either be a distraction or make him feel like he HAS to be around me so I didn’t make a big deal going to talk to him.  Technically, he was working.  However, he was talking to his other friends, and completely ignored my existence.  I did end up missing his performance set, but the point is that I came and watched the other act…which was horrible by the way.  I end up leaving with my friend like an hour and 30 minutes into coming there.  The music was literally making me sleepy. Not only that but the girls that are his friends and/or family and in no way a “threat” (for lack of a better word), were there and kept glancing at me and I got weirded out.  I could be reading too much into this but I’m definitely done making an effort to even continue a friendship with him.  In retrospect, I actually have way too much going on to contemplate seeing or talking to him again.

In between the jungle of confusion with that last guy, I went to Vancouver, B.C. in the beginning of November 2011.  I chose Vancouver because west coast is the only part of the state (I know Vancouver is in Canada) I haven’t visited and I never been to that part of Canada.  I felt I might as well get the feel of the west coast without having to be in the states.  My main objective was to stay in Whistler til I realized Vancouver is cheaper and fun(ner).  I stayed there for a week.  The first full day I actually spent in Whistler, B.C. I went ziplining and ecotouring.  Whistler is more of a snow retreat area and I was there in their off-season which was actually perfect for me.  The weather was magnificent.  Though, it did snow for 10 minutes and then got sunny again! That never happens in Michigan!  The rest of my time in was spent in downtown Vancouver.  I went to the awesome aquarium, attended fashion week, went shopping (found my new favorite latex and bondage store), I went sight-seeing, and to some electronic concerts. Here’s some pictures so you know I’m not lying

That was definitely one of the best trips I’ve taken.  The fact that it was a solo trip was even better, I got to talk to many people and feel like I belonged in the city.

After my Vancouver trip, I got right back to doing research.  I finally completed my field survey project and in December I finished some toxicology experiments.  Though I am happy I completed the project, for some reason, I think because I haven’t been working out, I got unusually depressed this winter.  Luckily I got through it now, but winter usually sucks for me.

During December (still in the midst of the jungle of confusion with the other guy) I met a new guy.  He was swell…but short…however, he had it slightly together.  He was also older than me and wanting something more serious which I wasn’t ready for.  He also thought he could get laid by the second date and that was a no-no.  Our dates were really fun, they were circus themed, not many people (including me) know about how apparently Detroit has a massive network of circus performers.  I’ve seen a few sideshow acts at events but I didn’t know it was a (big) thing.  On the account that I wasn’t ready to be serious, he decided to date another girl and we agreed to be friends.  Which basically means that we aren’t talking anymore.

On the way to January I decided to start another Zazzle store (Spectate69) to hopefully sell some photography.  That zazzle store in combination with my older Zazzle store (Sensico) has actually sold quite a bit.  I hope I can put more time and effort to get bigger results and share my photographs with others.  And recently I started an actual photography portfolio where people can purchase photography.  It’s called Sensico Photography, check it out if you have a chance.  I will probably use this site as a main selling point for a my photographs and drawings.

Speaking of drawing! That’s my new hobby! I took a drawing class last fall semester and though I got an undeserved B (I should have got an A-) I learned a lot.  I’ll show them in later posts…as my drawing teacher and my experience in that class is another post within itself.

Annnd…speaking of drawing…I graduated with my degree in Biology! Finally!  I don’t like ceremonial things like graduation so I have nothing spectacular to talk about with that.

AH! This post getting way too long, I shall make a continued post elaborating more on what went on so far this year.

Puerto Rico Part 1

So, I’m back from San Juan, Puerto Rico from the conference and I’m here to blog about it.  It was fun! Day 1, which is the day we left consisted of us in three airports.  It went pretty smoothly, of course people were complaining about having to go through the full body scan, but whatever.  Of course no one will be complaining about increase security once another plane attack happens again.  I was going with my lab PI (aka person in charge of lab I’m in) and the lab’s PhD student. The flight all together took 7hrs I believe, with a stop at Dallas, TX airport in which me and my lab PI looked in disgust at the lack of green in Texas.  Then we talked about how we’d never want to live there.  It’s true, Texas looks like a dry wasteland….that is all.  However, when arriving in Puerto Rico, it was dark and all we could see are the lights and some of the ports.  I was very happy to be able to say, I am in Puerto Rico.

Once we arrived to the airport and found a cab…wait, I wanna say that the cab driver was a cutie Anyways, we told him which hotel but there were two and he seemed like he didn’t know which hotel we wanted to go to.  I think he was messing with us, but on the way there we took the freeway and the main thing that popped out was all the advertisements, everywhere.  I’m sure it’s the equivalent here in the states, but there, the advertisements seem more effective at getting my attention. Especially those Claro ads for the TV, internet and phone package deal.  Eventually we got to the right hotel, and it was very…discoteca(?) it also has a casino in it, so maybe that’s why the hotel was so…in your face.  Very bright with techno music playing and expensive restaurant and bar.  But overall, it was a nice hotel.  After we checked in, it was late so the first thing we did was go to bed.

The next morning we had to sign in to register.  The convention center was nice but the food was expensive.  I just ended up getting cold cereal for $2, but everything was $2…even a plain bagel.  My attempt to get cold cereal particularly Rice Krispies was a feat on it’s own.  I asked for cold cereal and the lady didn’t understand and then I said, frio cereal and she didn’t understand.  Then finally a lady that spoke English got me cold cereal.  After we got everything we needed, we ate and a couple other scientists that my labPI knew came over to talk to her.  We also looked through the schedule to see any talks we wanted to go to.  I didn’t have a preference in the talks I wanted to attend other than the talk my labPI was giving later that day.  Most the talks we went to was about Phosphorous in lakes…I think I learned a lot about phosphorous this whole conference…

Later for lunch we went to the rooftop outdoor pool area for lunch.  Where we first encountered our first but not last time where the service is sloooow.  We waits well over 45min for food.  Partially because the cook was late.  Also, partially because they only had one waitress. Nonetheless my Reuben sandwich was good…little cold…but good.  We also encountered these cute little birds.  One in particular was really cute, then I looked at the photos I took of it and now I think the bird looks evil…and ready to attack at any moment

Then later we went to more talks.  Then for dinner we went downtown for dinner at La Raices in Old San Juan which was crowded.  We were meeting with another scientist and his wife.  The wait was 20 min and it was still light out so we walked around and went to some stores.  The restaurant was nice, the staff were dressed as maidens and whatever the guys were supposed to be…anyways, and it was packed because it was Valentine’s Day.  I had one of the best cooked Salmon ever, and they put strawberry sauce on it which I wasn’t particularly fond of on it’s own, but it went well with the salmon.  Another thing throughout my stops this whole trip is that I’m not fond of the mashed potatoes with crushed plantain(?)…they always served too much of it when only a small amount was needed to fill you up.  I however do indeed love plantain on it’s own. Anyways, after the restaurant, we rode back to the hotel.

The next day we didn’t really go to the conference….instead we asked the hotel concierge about places to go in Old San Juan for breakfast…and we didn’t go to any of her suggested spots, we were too hungry so we went to the first place we saw with was CafiCultura…hands down the best place to eat in Old San Juan.   I had the Cafi Coco and a croissant breakfast sandwich and it was all to DIE FOR!

Ahem, so on with the day from when we got to Old San Juan.  My favorite thing about Old San Juan for this trip were the beautiful buildings and architecture.

On the way to searching for a breakfast spot I saw the above artist station.  There’s a guy that makes things out of leaves.  During my trips to Old San Juan I’ve only seen him in the evenings, so I wonder if he just leaves his stuff out there all day til he comes to work.  I guess he doesn’t have to worry about people stealing his leaves.  Eventually that’s when we picked CafiCultura.  After that we wondered around the city til we were ready to take the trolly…so we could take a ride around the city.

While wondering before catching the trolley we stopped by an awesome antique shop and I get an antique book. It’s 1949 “La Gran Aldea”.  The book had a lot of character so I decided to buy it, plus I’ve heard about this book before so I thought it’d be a great addition to my antique book collection.  After that, we explored a small church and I sat in the *confessional*…very nice…now I know why the confessional is popular.

So eventually we got on the trolley and randomly decided to stop by the Fort museum.  Oh, Oh! I have more pictures!

After the Fort walked to the other Fort museum.  This post is way too long, I’ll just stop here and continue with part 2 next.  I hope you enjoyed the pictures, I tried to get good shots.  See you next time

I Think I Want To Be Left Alone & Ninja Squirrel

So it’s near the end of this semester.  Though I’ve been happy for most of it, it’s starting to end in a very sad way.  Apart from me not being able to handle an increased amount of social attention, I also tend to create more awkward experiences for myself then what’s normal.  I kind of have been chalking my experiences to me not being used to talking much…which is true.  It’s all so new to me and since the semester started, majority of my free time has turned into social events.  I might be able to search through old blog posts and find where I might have written, “I wish I had more of a social life” well now I’m dreading it…at least this level of social(ness).

The ecology department where I have been working and doing research most of the time is a very small portion of the entire biology department.  Everybody has gotten to know everybody.  The means, we have all been going out for drinks and eats, getting to know each other more.  And the more they get to know me, the more I’m either a brat, I do strange things, or I’m spoiled, yet I’m still fun to hang out with.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I am proudly all of those things.  But when I am, it’s usually with the intent of laughter or an ironic joke in which I’m usually successful.  Also, being around them has greatly opened my eyes as to what other people do and it’s a growing experience that I probably needed.  Ya know, to open myself up to others more, learn how to communicate, reinforce that age old theory about me that I am cool once you get to know me, and to also know how others perceive me.

With that has come my status of “like family“.  I dread this now, as an only child who has been happily left alone most my life, I don’t think I like being the little sister.  Don’t get me wrong, I actually love being around them.  But lately, I have been texting a lot (to a guy) and it was always, “Sooo, who you texting?” and I’d say, “no one important” or “None ya business“.  As one of the grad students said, “It’s like blood in the water“…referring to my uncomfortableness about people asking me intrusive questions.  Eventually, I let my guard down and he saw who text(ed) me on the phone and now the new questions are “So hows the guy you’re talking too?“, knowing that I hate those type of questions!

It’s not like I want to be like that, I just like having the option of people not trying to be in my personal life.  Which is weird, cause I don’t care if people online know my business except from pin and social security numbers…  On to boys…besides the one I text a lot, there has been one other.  He works in the lab across from me.  I don’t know how to describe him as…basically (I’m assuming) not interesting in me.  I don’t know why.  We went on a class trip up north and he was totally staring at my boobature and we actually get a long very well.  Anyways, he’s very shy, and I saw his chest up north on our ecology trip and I didn’t really like it…I mean, I could do better.  If I’m going to settle for guy with a lackluster chest, he better be exciting and meet my personality requirements.  Also, our ecology teacher thinks he looks like Gumby, so that also kind of puts a nail in whatever chance I would try to get with him LOL

So, in the lab I’m looking at the tolerance levels of two invasive species of mussels.  The main method is checking mortality…so far….none are dying ;p  Which sucks because I’m going to …. PUERTO RICO!! to present my research in the form of a cool science poster at a conference and I will have virtually no results.  The experiment is still running.  Currently the mussels are surviving in the toxic sediment except one and only one…ONE has died in the toxic water at an increase temperature!  So…I don’t know what will happen next.

On to actual classes…so basically I’m not doing good in any class pretty much failing my evolution and population and community ecology class.  In evolution, the teacher writes ridiculous questions, like WTF? Why even ask this? type questions.  And in my population and community ecology class, the exam questions are ridiculously hard, the class average of graduates and undergrad students are in the 54% range give or take 1%!  This sucks because this is my second to last semester and I should be doing good.

Another thing to mention is that I finally finished my project proposal.  I was the first to submit it before the deadline of Nov. 26th.  Then, they announced they are extending the deadline for the late comers due to the holidays.  I think it’s rather unfair, I worked really hard to get it done early.  It already sucks that I was the first one to submit it.  They weren’t even ready for my submission, I’m scared it’ll get lost in the office somewhere!

On another note, because I’m sick of writing this post, if you’re wondering about squirrels…here’s my crazy ass squirrel story.  So I was clearly minding my business going to the garbage to throw out trash (my god given right to do so).  Suddenly, I didn’t even start to put the trash in the bin when this squirrel just started going crazy.  I was scared for my life.  It was jumping towards me multiple times and jumping backwards multiple times….like a ninja squirrel.  Anyways, when I went on the other side of the bin  it actually ran away.  Kind of ironic this ninja squirrel couldn’t turn around to fight me! Anyways, garbage in garbage bin, Mission Accomplished!

So that’s the end of my post.  Toodles!!!

The Screw Is Sort Of Tightened

Oh yea, I have a blog….hmmm, there’s a lot to catch up on but I suppose I’ll only include the important stuff.  Some me-related things to talk about.  I did my first ever interview as a blogger.  Check it out on Blambloozers, you might enjoy the read, visit now or die later.  Ahem, also I slightly updated my About Me page.  I only added one thing and changed the song at the bottom of the page…other than that it still looks the same.

On to my life, so since I left this blog to collect dust I went on a week research retreat in Saginaw Bay, MI.  It was pretty nice, but a lot of hard work outdoors.  During the day we went to canals and rivers along the bay to collect sediment samples.  We were looking for a certain species of Mayfly (or fishfly).  There was a lot of off-roading and a lot of worrying about getting stopped by the cops

At one point we went to this creek only to find that it was polluted and the area was mosquito infested and hand a bunch of sticky bushes.  We only got 2 sediment samples instead of the 5 we usually get.  Anyways, on the way up from the creek right when we got the car I realized the batteries were missing from my camera.  I was about to give up since I didn’t want to go back near the creek, luckily after searching the ground, the batteries dropped on the grass near the car.

Went got back to the house, we sieved the sediments and put them in jars filled with ethanol.  During the night we performed a separate experiment that involved quantifying the amount of Mayflies in the area.   We set up a certain amount of hoola-hoops on white sheets under lights and count the number of Mayflies that fall.  It was okay at night.  The grad student I was with tried to play the 20 questions game.  I asked, what would she do if she was trapped in a magical word with unicorn with a talking rabbit? Apparently, she didn’t like that question giving me some foo-foo answer like, I don’t know have tea with the mad hatter.  Pfft, I’m surprised she hasn’t thought about this before.  We all need to consider what we’d do if in this situation, in case it happens!

So, that was basically my trip, now on to other things.  So, plans for next semester is that now I’ll still be in the same lab but I’ll be in there as a student, not as an employee.  I’ll be doing a senior research project, taking terrestrial ecology, evolution and population & community ecology.  It’s all biology classes and I don’t know how that’s going to turn out.  All on top of that, I have to prepare for grad school and take the GRE! Next semester will be very busy for me.

Update on the crushies….I have no more crushies.  They all have something I can’t handle.  One guy is extremely materialistic and into his looks and the other guy is vegan!  But, I still have a slight, thing for the materialistic guy.  He’s very attractive and we argue and talk about anything.

My life is essentially whatever is going on in the lab, I don’t have time for anything else.  Since this is just an update type of post, I’ll stop here.  I recently gotten another day off each week from my other job so I have more time to devote to blogging.  I’ll be updating more frequently my little irrelevant life experiences.

Oh and in relation to the title of this post, I have been having an issue with the screw in my glasses forever.  I finally got the screw tightened a bit on my own but it’s still not in there all the way.  I would get it looked at but early next year I’m due for another new pair of glasses, so I can wait.  Anyways, to-da-loo, bye bye

Lesson #1: Don’t Ask Questions

Today started off cold and more cold.  Woke up early to print out my lab report that I didn’t finish til around 3am.  I decided last night when I was doing the report that I was skipping physics.  Which was perfectly fine with me….of course!

I got to school early and studied for the Spanish quiz I didn’t study for.  Hopefully I was able to BS as many questions as possible and still get them right.  During class I had to be partners with this guy. He’s smart but he always has an eclectic style of dressing.  I thought I heard him say that he wanted to be a sociologist but his appearance does not compute with me so I asked what his major was.  Apparently he’s journalism and graphic design.  Which was good to know, cause now I can accurately distinguish between sociologist and graphic designer based on clothing

After class I went to lab where I waited for a couple of people to be finished so we can go collect mussels on the isle.  So it was like really cold and we (lab tech and other student)  literally walked 10+ minutes way off campus to the hospital area.  Then when we got there the guy we were meeting wasn’t even there and 5min before we were about to leave he finally showed up.  As my professor told us days ago he is indeed the stereotypical crazy haired scientist.

Eventually we finally got to the car and he drove us to the spot.  The lab tech from our lab was with us and the relationship between the two was…interesting.  The scientist says something like, will the students will be working on this alone right? Then the tech would say, yea I don’t want to put much on their plates so we’ll do rotations.  Then the scientist say, YEAWELL, I have stuff on my plate too which is why I asked you blah-blah-blah lol

In the car over to the sampling spot we talked about random things.  He asked me and the other girl with the short arms what our paths were.  She was pre-med, which I didn’t know, then I said either marine biologist or limnologist and he was very excited.  He told the other girl that it’s okay she was pre-med but they (the department) was focusing on researchers.  She didn’t care either way.  Then him and the tech talked about their experience at marine stations and schools.  Also on the way there, he quizzed us on mussels.  The other girl is more timid than me, she refused to answer a question that had a 50% of being right.  I took a guess, which I got wrong but I think he appreciated that I tried.

Also in the car, he started talking about pheromones in worms.  I asked a simple question, “How did that research question come about?”.  I got a long answer which was interesting and educational.  I wish I had not opened up that can of worms.

While at the collection site the student who is really supposed to be working on this ongoing met us there and was trained on how to collect.  First, he showed us how to do it.  We have to stand over the pier and put the instrument, which was a really long with a net at the end.  Then with that, we have to scrap the sides of the piers to collect the mussels.  The student who was working on the project tried it first and he did pretty good.  Then I tried it and when I pulled up the sample he say, oh ho I think she pulled up more than you. It was a proud moment lol. Then he had the other girl try it, and he mentioned her shortness and small armness.  Luckily she did fairly well, we actually couldn’t keep any of the mussels she collected but it’s probably because mid-through the collecting, the net started to tear.

On the way back to the lab, it was just me and the other student in the car with him.  The lab tech rode in the car with the other student to make sure he finds the correct parking lot.  On the way back he mentioned something about why peacocks have big feathers.  I gave every guesstimation the Discovery Channel has taught me.  Apparently that wasn’t good enough and started talking about would he be more attractive if he was riding in a nice car.  I didn’t get the point but he asked me what a certain chemical was and I said pheromones cause it seemed to be a logical answer.  Then he said I was wrong and there’s only two other people he knows (including my professor) that would answer with that incorrect answer lol …and since he refused to tell me, I am now stuck with researching what it does.  So because I asked that question earlier and got him thinking, I have to do more work.  He also asked me to research what vitamin C and E have in common, but later on he forgot he asked me and pushed that research on the other girl, thank god.  Next time I see him will be on Wednesday most likely so I have at least a day to think about the answer.  Of course, google will help me   He also asked us about our GPAs and said I’d have to work a lot more harder to get what I want oh and the other girl had a 4.0 but she’s pre-med, they’re crazy ass do-gooders when it comes to school and grades

After that we got back to the lab and cleaned the mussels and he talked a lot.  I was pressed on time so I was asking about the time to the lab tech.  I hope that didn’t come off rude but I did have a class.  Eventually I was late for said class but that doesn’t matter, it was physics but the lab ended to early,  I’m glad I didn’t get there too late like last week (which I didn’t blog about, long story short, I lost track of class times after we got back from spring break lol)

So, now I’m at home, doing nothing but blogging.  I have to go to work later, but whatever.  Toodles!

Kicking & Screaming: Part 2

So, yesterday was more classes that I had for the first time.  I meant to write and publish this post yesterday but little interesting happened.

First was Spanish, blah-blah-blah, fun.  Oh and there’s a girl who I’ll call my Spanish-class-only-friend(?)  who is equally if not worse at Spanish than me.  Which is FABULOSO!!!  I think I’m going to love this class.  Also, she has a used Spanish book where the person before her wrote the answers in the book which is awesome because my used book is the same too so I don’t have to feel awkward when the teacher says, pair up and do these problems…since they’re already done.

Next was Ecology which was interesting.  Lots of new faces and there was 3 familiar faces besides the professor.  One of the people didn’t recognize me at first til we had to introduce ourselves to the class, then he was looking at me kind of weird.  I’m a horrible on the spot speaker and I can’t believe I was shaking just so I could say, hey my name is ****, I’m a bio major, hopefully graduating in Fall or Winter semester, I like ecology.  I really need to work on my nerves, luckily no one noticed my shaking….hopefully.  After giving his uber fast run through of the syllabus, the teacher gave an uber boring lecture.  I’m sure it’ll be more interesting but the first lecture, I already knew what he was lecturing about.

Then there was Calculus TWO.  Oh My GAWWWD….the class was crowded and after the teacher went through the syllabus I could see why.  He’s going to be super EASY!!! I’m so excited.  We get to use formula sheets and calculators on the test and quizzes.  He’s such a good teacher, I understood everything he said.  I’m still trying to guess what his accent is.  He sounds like my tio politico who is German.  By the way, I used tio politico, which is Spanish, because there’s not a term in English to describe it.  Though I could use uncle but it’s my aunt’s husband.  Anyways, I also recognized a familiar face from like freshman year and I’m completely surprised she remembered me.

So, that was it, and I didn’t want to clutter this post so I have a thread of all the unrelated stuff that happened in between and before classes started that I wanted to mention.  And since you know I love music, here’s Amerie ft. Fabolous “More Than Love”,