lillian_peterson | warning: this post will likely contain many incomplete sentences.

Life marches on as usual (although really it's much more of a bewildered meandering in my case). I have discovered that steamed skim milk with vanilla is a very tasty and inexpensive treat. I have discovered that cotton "hipster" underwear are very comfortable. I have discovered that I cannot walk nearly as quickly in flip-flops as sneakers. I have discovered that the most recent keencast podcast with Randall Millholland was extremely amusing and an enjoyable listen. I have discovered that geese poop a lot.

Parasite Rex - it is intensely creepy what parasites can do, and yet, also extremely cool.

Mr. Midshipman Hornblower (and then Lieutenant Hornblower)- I less than three adventure books!

Cryptozoology A to Z - mythic creatures? or just undiscovered? personal favorite thus far: the Bunyip, purely for its name.

Confederates in the Attic - just barely started this one

Norse Myths - great style, makes me want to read them aloud to small, blodd-thirsty children.

Black Powder War (just finished) - excellent, excellent stuff.

Books in Waiting:

The Eyre Affaire and Thursday Next: Lost in a good book. Read the first one a few years ago, but I need to refresh. If only inter-library loan would hurry up (because of course book 2 arrived before book 1!).
Sandman: Endless Nights; Death: the High Cost of Living; Death: the Time of Your Life. I'm just waiting for Amazon to deliver them unto me.
Voodoo in New Orleans
American Bizarro
The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases

Also to be read is a bunch of literature for the new research job. I may have gotten myself in slightly over my head with this, but hey, they picked me and I didn't even lie on my resume. Basically we are doing usability testing on a program that catches, translates and summarizes foreign language video broadcasts and web pages (at the moment specifically news-related ones). My particular role is as an observer/assessor, so I get to watch other people deal with a frustrating system that is still very much in process! But it is apparently going to involve a bit more at-home work than I realized. This week (by Thursday) I need to

read about 40 pages worth of background material
Design a "tasks" template
figure out a task for this week that will take about an hour to complete
try and find some sort of how-to article/research/etc. about what to look for when observing human beings

Do I have any clue how to do most (if any of this)? Beyond a vague notion, not particularly. But I am trying not to worry about it too much.

The 5K on Saturday went surprisingly well, despite the heathen wake-up time of 545am. I'm rather proud of the fact that I jogged the first mile and the whole thing took me just under 45 minutes. Not the most impressive time I know, but it certainly works for me. Popped into a Starbucks on the way home (did you know nonfat vanilla cremes rock out?) and then proceeded to spend pretty much the rest of the day in bed. Not a bad way to cut a Saturday. Sunday turned even more exciting when strangecobwebs was kind enough to take me to David's Bridal to pick up some shoes. I got to sit and watch her cute new haircut be born, as well as buying 2 denim skirts for myself AND getting to eat dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, always an awesome event (and hurrah for leftovers! Especially leftover dessert! yum!). A quick stop to Target allowed the acquiration of some necessary toiletries and . Bra shopping? Is extremely not fun. Especially if you are me. I am a size 12-14 depending on what it is and am 5'7" - clearly no petit thing, with a 36 band size. However, I have the decided misfortune to be a 36 NEARLY A. This is a size that for the most part does not even exist. And those that do exist for some reason feel no need for underwire, padding or even particularly firm shape. So mainly I must buy 36As. Which is depressing to look down and realize one does not fill the cup. It seems that my only recourse might be to try and order specialty bras online, but it is so hard to know how they are going to fit, and it is too expensive an investment to take too many chances of ill-fit or just plain bad-looking undergarments. Anyway, at least I have new bras that fit tolerably well, however much a blow to the psyche they are. In other news my brother is coming down to visit me this weekend, which should be fun, I haven't seen him since Christmas. And hopefully I will be having lunch w/my friend Melissa from undergrad. It makes me feel like I almost have a social life!