It's not a date. I would go as high as 98% sure.

Guys don't use the same scale. I have been told too often that a guy won't hang out with a chick for any considerable time if he's not angling for something more.

This was told to me by someone with whom I'd spent insane amount of platonic time, but needless to say I didn't go any further with the point.

Just experienced my first blind spot. I really hope I'm not just working my way down the migraine symptom list. I was having a long number dictated to me over the phone and three of the digits disappeared off the paper while I was writing.

No yay.

I had no morals when it came to plagiarism (I do feel terrible that I misspelled it upthread, though!). I remember plagiarizing a 4th-grade project (we had to write our own story, illustrate it, and bind it, and my mind was so blank that I lifted the story from a book I was reading at the time--it was an older book that nobody else seem to have read, so I got away with it) and my 6th-grade report on Sweden (our encyclopedia set at home wasn't World Book but a set no one else had, so I got away with it, too).

I also got ideas for college papers from things people said/stuff I read in other sources, but never lifted things whole-cloth from them, so I felt only partially guilty for not being completely original. I called it "effective plagiarizing," which, along with the ability to bullshit at length, was required for every English major.

I would say that today's Asshat of the Day award goes to the teachers who thought it would be a good idea to stage a gun attack on 11-year-olds.

Nice. Message to asshats: STOP MAKING THE REST OF US LOOK BAD.

No love,
Kristin

Coffee:

I also got ideas for college papers from things people said/stuff I read in other sources, but never lifted things whole-cloth from them, so I felt only partially guilty for not being completely original. I called it "effective plagiarizing," which, along with the ability to bullshit at length, was required for every English major.

Actually, there's nothing wrong with using other people's ideas. Especially once you get into higher-level academic writing, there aren't many topics or angles that haven't been written about. The key is to give credit for the source of the idea (i.e. "Anderson's examination of gender in Surfacing suggests a correlation between illness and femininity..." blah, blah acadamiacakes). Synthesis is good. Stealing is bad. I find that this distinction is the one that most students (inclluding me for many years) don't get: citing ideas, even if summarized or paraphrased, along with citing quotes. I still get mad at myself for not being more careful when I was in college.

Aargh. Seems I wrote down both numbers incorrectly, and therefore can't get the information that I need.

Didja' know that tigers sometimes dive underwater to get food? Well, it's true. And here are some pictures: [link]

Actually, a lot of pictures. Taken at a Russian zoo, I think, where you can watch as they throw meat into a pool and the tigers dive after it. Cool and bizarre....

If you scroll to the bottom of the pictures, there are some ads that are NSFW. Those Russians....

I knew tigers were swimmers, and food is a major incentive. I just never imagined what it would look like. That first picture could give a person nightmares.

We were drilled about citing in High School-- to the point where I think we may have over-cited. I remember doing an A paper that cited every sentance (I think it was a research report about the Louvre,so I didn't have many originalideas!) We just learned some method of citing that was not the one I needed to use in college (the MLA).

Today another woman and I yelled at a teenage asshat on the bus. Our bus was packed like sardines today (not ususally the case)-- With an unusual number of mom's and babies and strollers. And these teenage boys sitting in the handicapped seats did not get up to give the mom carrying a six month old a seat! Both of were like "You need to get up and give this lady a seat!". Then I got up and gave another lady with a toddler a seat even though there were about 8 teenage boys sitting -- I can't believe these kids!

Those are awesome tiger pictures. I'd guess they are all snarly-faced to keep the water out of their ears.

ita, it's horrid you have a new symptom/manifestation. Sheesh.

tigers are COOL! That diving thing rocks.

So, Noah needs surgery to close the hole in his aorta. Tentatively, it's scheduled for tomorrow afternoon. Same surgery as Grace had weeks ago.

Also, I have been getting the first set of hospital bills. Just for the stay, not including pathology or consults, each of my kids has racked up over $430,000 in hospital bills for one month.