A Tattoo?

Tattoos are a fairly controversial topic. There are references to tattoos in the Bible (Lev. 19:28) and just about everyone has their opinion on what it actually means. I, personally, believe that God judges the heart above anything else. He cares more about the motivations that drive your daily decisions than the actual results of the path chosen. I got my first tattoo about a year and a half ago and I haven't regretted it. A lot of thought (and prayer) went into what to get and where to get it. In fact, the whole process challenged me to consider more than just moral law, but also various theologies of salvation.

Either way, there are definitely some wackos out there that take things waaaaaay too far. These tattoos that I randomly stumbled upon on-line are kind of cool though. I've always liked blacklights (yes, I was the kid in high school who had a blacklight in his room along with reactive posters- just because I thought they were 'cool'), so naturally I thought this new ink was pretty sweet too. You can only slightly see them (due to the scars) under the sun and white light, but they fluoresce under blacklights! Perhaps this is the perfect option for people looking for a quick thrill or a drunken mistake....



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Now playing: Regina Spektor - Wallet
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Of the DEVIL

Need more proof cats are from the Great Deceiver and absolutely no good exists in them? Read here. I haven't actually read the details of the study, so I read this news article with a grain of salt. Evolution is supposed to take millions of years, right? That's not to mention the havoc that human domestication and breeding would've caused in a natural process like 'evolution.' That being said, I can't help but agree with their overall conclusion. Since getting my first dog, I've said cats are evil. You never know what they're thinking or what they're going to do next. Half the time you don't even know where they are. Now there is 'proof' they are down-right manipulative, always giving you sass to twist your arm to their beck and call. And please, the fifty human participants must have been older ladies kidnapped outside the SPCA, like the CCL. If I had been involved, I might have identified the 'special purr' as I cry for help, and then politely put it out of its misery- how's THAT for natural selection!? :)


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Now playing: Secondhand Serenade - Pretend
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Experiment #1

I'm going to try to tell you a story. A story that is much funnier than I will ever begin to communicate, but of which I must try to tell. Before our recent move, Jordan and I decided to discontinue our cable service. We came to such a decision after long deliberation (in front of the TV) and lots of curiosity. What will I do in the evenings? Is it even possible to own a TV if it isn't directly attached to ESPN HQ? Either way, we concluded that upon entry into our new apartment, we would NOT continue our Comcast service, even at a discounted price. Lets give it a month and see where we stand, can we survive? I mean, it's not like we watch more than maybe 4-5 hours of TV a week, and I know I'm the only one that really watches it.

According to the local Comcast tele-operator, we won't live to tell the story. I swear, I talked to Bernie Mac on the other end and taught me a life lesson, of which only time can tell the truth. When I first talked to him, he copped an attitude when the social security numbers didn't match- although they were wrong previously, and naturally, they never fixed it when we told them it was wrong last time. Either way, he seemed in a much better mood when he asked how he could help. When I told him that I wanted to cancel my cable service, he asked the mandatory, "Was anything wrong?" I proceeded to explain my situation and told him, per request, we'd been married for just over a year. He laughed.

He laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

For an entire minute on the phone, he laughed in my face- one of those laughs that starts out high and in the back of your throat and proceeds to reach down into your gut where it forces out full-body convulsions. Yes, he laughed just like that, I was beginning to feel a bit insulted. He then willingly offered that 20+ years of experience taught him the "give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile philosophy," and once she realizes it is a good thing- say goodbye forever. I tried to explain to him that we are trying an experiment, and when football begins next month, we'd pick it back up. Nope, this applies to all realms of life, and he painted a picture for me: soon enough I'll be driving a mini-van, changing all the diapers, and letting her dress me. Mini-van, check- what next? His best advice in such dire situations was to respond with mono-syllablic answers and when possible, grunt or groan.

As we began to discuss the specifics of cancelling the policy, I wanted to quickly establish whether we pay for the cable before or after the service, and whether or not returning the cable box would affect being charged another month. He responded, "OH, you'll pay for it alright, don't worry about that, you'll pay for it- MUAHAHAHAHA."

I couldn't help but begin to nervously laugh with him and wonder, what am I getting myself into?


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Now playing: Kristian Stanfill - You Will Always Be
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The small things in life

It is often the big things in life that draw our attention. More often than not, it's the life-changing events that define who we are not only to ourselves, but to each other. Others often notice our impressive accomplishments and numerous accolades before anything else. I think you'd agree, however, that the little things in life subtly establish the larger things. Our habits, propensities, decisions, and customs slowly shape our persona and affect the person we are becoming.

All that being said, our move was yesterday. Jordan and I down-sized from a two bedroom, two level apartment to a one bedroom apartment. And all I have to say is, "WOW, when did we accumulate so much crap?!" And man, I didn't realize I'm such a girl... I have A LOT of clothes- more than Jordan! :( To my credit, every single article of clothing I own is bigger than hers though, so although it looks like I have more clothes, I do wonder how much the size biases the apparent volume. And hey, at least she still has more shoes than I do, nor do I get regular 'pedis' (which, apparently, some dudes are into *cough cough*). None-the-less, the move wasn't all that bad considering we only moved across the hall. With the help of two courageous Jubos, it was a fairly smooth transition that lasted less than 24 hours, and there weren't any major issues (like last year, when our boxspring couldn't fit up the stairwell even after hammering the wall in).

The worst part was getting the kitchen table into the kitchen. We had it on its side and down three quarters of the hallway when we reached the molding around the bathroom door. It isn't some big ostentatious piece of art, it's fairly simple. But apparently that half-a-centimeter was just too much.... After rotating the table and turning the table on both sides, we decided that a hammer wouldn't fix this job either, and so we shimmied back down the hall where I could remove the table top from the legs and easily re-assemble it in the kitchen. All-in-all, I'm happy with the new place. It has promise and I think will make quite a home- once the internet and A/C start working :) I guess I shouldn't worry about those little things all that much...?


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Now playing: David Crowder Band - Remedy
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Crazy Cat Lady

I've always heard about crazy cat ladies (henceforth referred to as CCL) but I'd never met one.... until today. I understood the term 'cat lady,' that is pretty straight forward, but I always wondered why crazy was thrown into the mix. I mean really....crazy? psycho? insane?
At the beginning of the week a post-doc in the lab began fostering a kitten for the SPCA for a two week period. She started her story by telling me that she doesn't want to name the cute little button in order to prevent becoming attached. **right** What transpired between then and now is truly miraculous. It's a testament to how easily we humans can be broken.
This animal runs her life. It all began a couple of days ago when the poor little kitten got sick (and with animals, there are only two kinds of sick- front or back) which sparked a whole sequence of events that can best be summarized in what I just heard while we were all gathered eating pizza. I was in a groove, working on my ninth slice of free pizza, listening to CCL tell us how happy she was that Sasha was feeling so much better, and she dropped, "and then I stimulated her by massaging her anus." She simply stated this matter-of-factly after describing how she stimulated her stomach with a cotton swab. And then she went on explain that naturally, NATURALLY, as in the natural world, animals use tongues to do such things (you know, like dogs and mice do- of course). As if somehow because she didn't use her tongue I should understand. Call me crazy, but I think that is the type of thing you leave to veterinary professionals. I mean, yeah, we work in a lab, but come on! We are a yeast lab for a reason. I'm also trying to eat!
My friends, that is the definition of a crazy cat lady.
BUT, I will have to admit, she is a very cute kitten...

The whole scenario reminded me of the Matthew Broderick/Meg Ryan movie Addicted to Love. In one scene they are sitting at in a diner plotting how best to ruin the lives of their exes, whilest falling in love, and Maggie (Meg Ryan) shares this story about the nature of love- and in a rather dramatic fashion.

"When I was a kid, my father had this dog that started to get all weak and sickly. He takes it to the vet, he examines it and says a maggot must have laid eggs in the dog's butt. The baby maggots have crawled up, now they've started to grow, and eventually they're gonna eat the dog alive from the inside. He says it should be put to sleep, because it's an old dog anyway. But father won't do it. He takes the dog home, he puts it on the bed, he reaches up into the dog, picking out the maggots with his finger, one by one. It takes him all night, but he gets every last one. That dog outlived my father. That's love, Sam."


**CCL wanted me to clafiry that in no way did she use her hand or tongue, but she dipped a cotton swab into warm water and gently massaged Sasha's anal sphincter.
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Now playing: Dario Marianelli - Elegy for Dunkirk
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