anomalous happenings

ciao for now

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:06:00 +0000

As Christina said the time has come for us each to (in addition to AH) have our own separate blogs. Unfortunately my classes this term have been consuming all of my blogging time, so it's taken me a while to form mine. I hope you enjoy. I will write my first post tomorrow...hopefully.

Farewell Blogger

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:18:00 +0000

For a little more than a year, Ariel and I have been blogging together. The time has come, however, for us to go our separate ways, as far as blogging is concerned. We originally started blogging together because neither of us was sure we could maintain a blog of our own. Since then, we have both developed different blogging styles and habits and as we are in two different places, we now have different audiences.

I am not only leaving AH, but also blogger. I am moving to wordpress. I made this decision in response to some peer pressure, but also because wordpress had my name open as a URL and it was easier to blog from my phone. This is what my blog could have looked like if I stayed with blogger.

But I moved. My new blog is here.

I imagine that much of my posting will remain similar, but I am going to try incorporating more images from my cell phone as I can. Ariel and I will keep this blog as a place to share our exploits when the two of us are together. As much as I hate change, I am sad to leave AH, but the time has come.

I hope you all enjoy my new blog.

Summer movies

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:50:00 +0000

I watched Prince Caspian and Across the Universe yesterday.

Watch Narnia for an entertaining movie, but not because you love the books. Also, I thought the prince was a huge wimp.

I continue to be a fan of Eddie Izzard, who happened to be in both films. I liked Universe, but feel like I should watch it again before I decide how much.

Another week at Ferdinand's

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Sun, 18 May 2008 23:38:00 +0000

Grossest thing someone ordered last week: a mint pineapple milkshake (I checked three times to make sure I heard the customer correctly.)

Best mistake of the week: a co-worker accidentally poured the raspberries in the blackberries. The mixture created a delicious milkshake.

My new favorite flavor: huckleberry (we also added watermelon to our milkshake flavors this week and it was quite popular)

In other news of the week, FFA arrived in town Wednesday night and took over the campus. Beginning Thursday at 11 a.m.ish, we had a line out the door until closing. On Friday, we had a line out the door from open to close. Some of the kiddies returned multiple times each day. That's how much there is to do in Pullman.

Bookstore Woes

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:13:00 +0000

There is a lovely used bookstore in downtown Pullman, perfect walking distance from my summer apartment, or so I discovered yesterday. I decided to head back this morning to do some purchasing instead of just browsing. I thought the store opened at 11 and arrived promptly at said time. The store actually opens at noon.

What to do in downtown Pullman on a Sunday morning during summer? I couldn't come up with anything, but I didn't want to walk back to my apartment and then back downtown again. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to write a post for the blog from my phone while sitting on a bench, but I failed. It would not work. I spent the rest of the time circling around the block with the bookstore over and over again. That's right, a half hour walking in circles.

And this is only week one of my summer in Pullman. O what joys future weeks must hold.

I'm glad to be returning to work tomorrow because I'll have something to do.

Summer work begins

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Thu, 08 May 2008 00:14:00 +0000

I have just finished my third full day of work at Ferdinand's. I'm not sure this summer's work stories will be as quirky as those from last summer, but there is the occasional incident worth sharing.

Training Day
- I get to experiment making all the different drinks and ice cream dishes. When it comes time to practice banana splits, my supervisor told me banana, one scoop of ice cream, one topping, whipped cream, nuts and a cherry. I get to pick the flavors. I put raspberries on peppermint because then the topping and ice cream matched. It was gross. It sat in the break room all day and no one would eat it.

Days 1-3
- I put my apron on backward.
- I made an old man very sad when I told him I can only use shake base, not ice cream in his milkshake.
- I watched a child lick the glass front of the cheese cabinet. I had to clean the slobber off later.
- I couldn't watch as an old lady walked up to the doors after we had closed. Ferdinand's has a very strict closed at 4:30 rule. I imagine it looked very sad.
- An grumpy looking woman came in and ordered a banana split. She had a dark cloud overhead but I figured the split would cheer her up. I was wrong. Split in hand she was still grumpy. I wondered what kind of grumpy person wants a banana split. She came in the next day, but I hid in the back and let someone else serve her.

Day 4 begins tomorrow.

I leave work each day smelling of a strange mixture of Windex and ice cream. I do not have internet (or T.V.) in my summer apartment so blog posting will be occurring on days I stop by the newsroom.

Dork Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:55:00 +0000

Mine is today. Watch out.

Have you ever had a dork day? Mine are actually pretty frequent and usually pretty funny.

Go cry about it

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:52:00 +0000

Have you ever felt like you needed to have a good long cry, but couldn't because there's nothing to cry about? Maybe it's just a girl thing...maybe it's just an Ariel thing.

Always with the changes

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:32:00 +0000

We're almost done, done with the last issue of the semester. While waiting for my last stories as News editor to come in and avoiding my poli sci paper due tomorrow, I cheated and read the senior columns in jetset. Individually, none of them really got to me, but collectively, they made me feel sad. I know it's probably much harder on the seniors, since they're the ones actually leaving, but I too am sad to see them go.

I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm worried about being lost without their guidance. I'm scared about not being ready to fill the shoes they're leaving. And most of all, I'm concerned about how much I'm going to miss them. And worst of all, there's nothing I can do about it.

This is why I hate change.

Finally some summer plans

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:10:00 +0000

I'm staying in Pullman over the summer. After a month of not knowing what I was doing this summer, the decision was essentially made for me in two days. I called Ferdinand's to see if they had any job openings, they called me for an interview the following day, and yesterday they called and offered me the job.

It was either serving ice cream or going back to the plywood plant. While I think last summer's job was a valuable life experience, the idea of experiencing it again isn't entirely appealing.

So I'm staying here. I'm not quite sure how I feel about this turn of events, but it's how it's going to be. I've already found housing via subleasing from a fellow co-worker, thankfully. It will be hard not to see my family this summer. That's the biggest down side. I haven't seen them since spring break and with my youngest sister entering high school in the fall, I wish I could be there for her.

Things at home have been a little rough and I feel guilty for not being there to help. My father has accepted the new arrangement and is supportive as always.

I sign paperwork on Tuesday. My finals should be finished by then so I may start right away.

Who needs some funny quotes? You do.

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:46:00 +0000

I've got some good ones folks! Are you ready? Here we go.

Mom [in response to one of my dumb questions]: "Does a bear shit in the woods?"

Ali:"That frickin' hurt!"
Me:"What?"
Ali:"I kicked that cookie!"

Me [about my crush on "Hot Biology Guy"]: "It's about time it was with a real guy."

Ali [in response to me laughing at the above quotation]: "Shit I'm funny."

Ali: "It's either the $24 hat or the $12 in cash. So, basically I'm buying my own birthday present."

Me [in church]: "Mommy...I'm choking on Jesus!"

Father Dave: "Our mass has ended. Let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord."
Church People: "Thanks be to God."
Me:"It's like we're thanking God for ending mass."
Mom: "I don't think that's the intent."

Bio Prof: "endoplasmic reticulums are fun but genomes are funner."

Bio Prof: "Cells are much smarter than that."
Me: "Yeah, I don't give my cells enough credit. Good work boys [cells]."

Bio Prof: "...Bubbling mud pot..." <--my new favorite insult

Maggie: "What happened here?"
Me: "Basically...I'm just a big fat dork."

Anth Prof: "We'll have a movie about chimpanzees, everything you ever wanted to know about chimpanzees. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll probably have to leave to go to the bathroom...I guarantee at least one but probably all three of those things will happen to you."

Lab Partner: "Where's your bump man?"

Anth Prof: "It's just...it's total bullshit."

Anth Prof: "So short people don't get any love basically."

Chem Prof: "I think I was making up crazy chemistry in my head."

Chem Prof: "water can be an acid and a base at the same time! WOAH huh?!"

Chem Prof: "Let me take a deep breath here...pheeeeew inner peace..."

Chem Prof: "Buffers are fuuuuuuuun!"

Something for my personal ad

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 03:20:00 +0000

Todd says:
you attract drama like nobody ive ever seen
Ariel says:
I KNOW!!!!!

Fair Warning.

Song of Day

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:42:00 +0000

"Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson

Ch-Ch-Changes

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 02:32:00 +0000

Have you ever felt desperate for a change (positive change) in your personal life? Maybe you're tired of being single (or not single), of being around the same few people day in and day out, of your hair, of your clothes, of your location, or all of the above.

When you get to this point what do you do? I usually just wait until the feeling passes. I'm not one to be impulsive. But some people can just go out and get a tattoo, or a piercing, or dye their hair, or pack up all their stuff and move across the country. There must be a way to induce change without going to any of those extremes. What is it?

Another series of fires

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 03:18:00 +0000

It is frustrating being a student journalist. This is something I've pointed out before. I mention it again because it continues to be true. Remember the fires in Pullman last November? I got an early morning phone call about the fire, skipped my first class, and spent the morning covering the fire with Lisa and Victor.

Last night, or early this morning if you prefer, I got a phone call from a photographer at 2 a.m. Apparently, a series of small fires had been set around campus. I got out of bed, don't even change out of my pajamas, and headed to the largest residence hall on campus, which had been evacuated. On the way I call Lisa and Victor and they head to campus to help.

I needed to find out what happened exactly, but the firefighters were busy. Unwilling to give up, I waited outside the residence hall until 3:30 to speak to the Fire Captain on the scene. I got my information, went back to the office, wrote an online story which went up at 4:11 a.m. and returned to my bed by 4:30. I spent the next hour lying awake trying to thaw from my exposure to the elements.

I share all this not to complain. Sure it was difficult, but breaking news is the kind of stuff journalists live for. I was simply disappointed because all my effort wasn't enough. I came into the office this morning at around 8:30 only to discover that an arrest in relation to the fires had been made. A couple hours sleep and we were already behind on the story again, and rather than updating the web version, I had to go to class. There was no skipping possibility this time.

Luckily, Lisa was able to work on the story all day. In the end, I think we made up for the late morning update, but I still wish we hadn't had the gap in our coverage. I ended up having to cancel my news meeting in the afternoon so I could go to the courthouse for the first court appearance of the suspects.

Lisa and I shared a byline for the November fire article and we'll share another in tomorrow's paper. Victor has also been on scene with us both times. He's great for moral support and is always a back up notetaker and helps edit online updates. Apparently we have become quite the reporting trio when it comes to arson coverage.

Your own personal ad

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 01:42:00 +0000

A couple days ago my friends jokingly made a personal ad for me on Craig's List. At first it was a little funny because I knew they weren't being serious, but after I read it I was a little disappointed. Even though I knew their description of me was only half serious I really hoped that the way they wrote me wasn't they way they actually saw me.

I was a little annoyed because I would never put any of the things they included on my person ad. Which led to this thought, "What would I put on my ad?" Then this, "What aspects of my personality would I want someone to respond to? I mean I can't put everything about myself on an ad, that would be like writing a book and would require too much explanation. What about me do I want men to be attracted to? What kind of men do I want to attract?"

Having never actually written a personal ad I spent a great deal of time thinking this over and still I only have a little bit of an idea of what I would say.

That's a man

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 20:12:00 +0000

Thanks to an excellent IB history series and a collection of political science courses at WSU, I consider myself fairly well versed in America's 20th Century history. But despite the many courses, somehow I have never learned very much about President Eisenhower. He was casually mentioned in two of my courses this semester and he piqued my interest. I'm looking at his 1952 campaign strategies for one of my final projects. He is quickly becoming my favorite president. Below are the passages that began my fascination.

The first that struck me:

"Upon first encounter," one observer noted, "the man instantly conveyed one quality – strength. ... There was one feature of his face impossible to ignore or to forget – the blue eyes of a force and intensity singularly deep, almost disturbing, above all commanding. ... Always they would speak of the moment and the mood: icy with anger, warm with satisfaction, sharp with concern, glazed with boredom. And always somehow – was it their eloquent explicitness of feeling? – they conveyed an image and a sense of strength."

Then this passage in a different book for a different course a couple days later:

Eisenhower was extremely confident of his own expertise compared to that of Dulles, a point he noted during an interview, commenting: "The fact remains that (Dulles) just knows more about foreign affairs than anybody I know. In fact, I'll be immodest and say that there's only one man I know who has seen more of the world and talked with more people and knows more than he does – and that's me."

And the most recent passage I like from a third book:

Eisenhower then told Brownell that he'd once met with Taft and assured him that he, Eisenhower, would not run for president in 1952 if Taft would support the internationalist view of NATO and the protection of Western Europe. Taft replied that, "in good conscience," he couldn't make such a deal. Eisenhower apparently did not know that as Taft left the meeting at the Pentagon, he told companions, "By God, that's a man."

Being perfectly honest, I think part of my fascination may come from the fact that I often find myself drawn to powerful, confident, blue-eyed males.

Portland Part Three

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:28:00 +0000

Sunday morning we returned to Pullman. The drive was long and Mother Nature apparently hates Washtucna. Snow/hail/sleet caused the car in front of us to spin off the road. Dan and Victor pushed the car back onto the road and the young driver followed behind us until the Colfax turn off. The rest of the highway 26 had similar bursts of awfulness followed by completely normal stretches.

We made it to Pullman in time for budget and worked to put out Monday's paper. After a couple hours at work, Pullman looked like it was December, not March.

I was going to take photos from my phone to document the trip, but I forgot. All I got was a photo of a dirty van at a rest stop, Victor driving, and a blurry train. I failed to get a photo of a sign for the town Rufus.

Portland Part Two

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 18:19:00 +0000

We woke up Saturday morning and Victor's adorable parents had prepared a breakfast spread for everyone. We returned to the conference, just missing the keynote speaker. Some of the sessions were good, others were boring and useless. One in particular, where the speaker and member of the audience bonded over having awful childhoods, was odd and uncomfortable. We spent the last session of the day sitting in the back of the room working on the Tony Bennett story. This post and this post were written during the session.

When the conference ended, the group of us sought food. While waiting to be seated, Mel and I went to the Nordstrom rack that was right across the street from the restaurant. We bought shoes, as did Dan, but they unfortunately gave him two right ones. Once fed, we returned to Victor's house and I tried to snuggle with his cat which would have none of it. But it adored Victor.

Portland Part One

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 19:08:00 +0000

One week ago today, a group of us at the Evergreen headed to Portland for the regional Society of Professional Journalists conference.

Part One: Friday

The journey began early in the morning with three staffers each in two cars. The drive was long and not particularly pleasant. I have nothing else to say about it.

The other car arrived at Victor's house (where we were staying) first. My driver got a bit lost and we arrived about a half an hour later. We changed our clothes and Brian hogged the iron. We then headed to the awards banquet. The Evergreen picked up seven awards, 3 for columns, 3 for photos, and one for breaking news reporting. Much my horror, The Daily from UW won best student newspaper.

Conference organizers tried to get the 30 people or so at the banquet to mingle, but we would have none of it. We left after the awards and walked to the mall so Melanie and I could take advantage of no sales tax. We both bought dresses. When the boys had enough, we returned to Victor's.

New Quarter

noreply@blogger.com (Ariel) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 22:23:00 +0000

I'm back. Well, I never actually went anywhere, just home. Unfortunately our computer at home is beyond slow so writing one post takes hours. I'm back at school now and have started a new term. I am taking biology, chemistry, and biological anthropology. Yes, that also means I have three labs. Hopefully, when summer finally gets here I will still be alive and relatively sane.

I wanted to share with you a ridiculously cool video my biology professor showed us today. It was made by the crazy kids at Harvard and shows the inner happenings of a cell. Seriously rad.

More to come soon

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:11:00 +0000

Where have I been? Same old place, except for this weekend when I was in Portland, but I haven't felt like blogging lately. It's too bad because interesting things have occurred, like this and this.

I wrote a few blog posts out by hand during my classes, but then I never feel compelled to actually put them on my blog. I'd be better at keeping a diary than a blog, as Lisa pointed out, but that means little now.

Posts about Portland will be up shortly. I was going to put them up now, but just realized I forgot the notebook in my room. Photos from my phone will also be delayed because I hate technology and Bluetooth confuses me.

I'd hoped for a smile ...

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 18:54:00 +0000

Yesterday, I was elected to be The Daily Evergeen's editor-in-chief for fall 2008. The experience was surprising. I became more nervous than I thought I would be and I didn't feel at all like I thought I would when I heard I had won.

I thought long and hard about the decision to run. The paper has become my life. As I noted in my presentation, this past year I've spent more time in the newsroom than out of it. I ran for editor-in-chief because I believed it was the best thing I could do for the paper I care about so much.

More experience would always be nice, but I know myself well enough not to do something I'm not ready for. Reactions were not what I expected, but at the end of the day I'm looking forward to next fall.

I know I can do it, and not just because I have to. I wouldn't have run otherwise. I'm glad to be editor-in-chief. I've had great examples to learn from and I hope to be as successful as the editors before me.

Farewell Diamond

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:35:00 +0000

My father called this morning, when he knew I would still be sleeping, to tell me my cat died last night. I was relieved that she wasn't attacked or sick, but simply died in her sleep. She was a very old cat. I remember holding her when she was kitten and I was about 3. That made her 16 when she finally went to sleep and never woke up. She was a barn cat and an excellent mouser. I named her Diamond, because the way she had different colors of brown in her coat reminded me a scene from the Rescuers when a flashlight hits a diamond. It will be strange to feed the animals without her trailing after me.

On catching my attention

noreply@blogger.com (Christina) — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:58:00 +0000

As News editor I get 20 to 50 e-mails a day, depending on the day of the week. I am annoyed by most of them and delete at least half. Others I flag to return to at a later time and the handful of useful ones I print and add to my clipboard.

Today I got a cute little card in my real mailbox about the College of Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition. "I guess I'll send a reporter to this," I said to Lisa. She in turn pointed out how this is a perfect example of contradictions in my character.

"If you had been e-mailed the same information, you would have deleted it," she said. "But because they sent an actual invitation, you're going to send a reporter."

This is true. Had it been an e-mail, I would have ignored it and the student body would never hear about the poster competition. But because the College of Sciences put in the extra effort to make me feel like they really wanted the Evergreen to be there, I'm more willing to comply with their request.

I should note that telling me in an e-mail that a story is VERY NEWSWORTHY does not count as putting in extra effort to catch my attention. When I receive 50 e-mails a day, if you want coverage your event better actually be newsworthy or you should do something to make me like you better. Cute cards are apparently effective, though nothing can make up for a story that has no relevance to our readers.