You never call me when you're sober..
Some mildly important things have occurred.
One of the members of my Bible study has a gaming group, and I finally was able to go last night. I'd been looking for people to hang out with, but this might be too intense... 6-11 every Friday is a very huge time commitment, and although I could probably force my toe in the door of their new campaign (in GURPS--an RPG that's more spontaneous and creative than D&D) and this would be fun, the issues are that I rarely am out of lab by 6, and the conversation of this group is on a different plane of existence.
Most are library science career track, with two in graphic design. They talk about movies, TV, literary references. I find myself a little baffled how anyone could have time for consumption of that much media.
We shall see if I return...
Monday Bible Study is now at my house. This will force me to keep the house clean. It also means I can bike to work on Mondays <3
There are a lot of podcasts on my list. 64, to be exact. Not episodes, but different providers. Not counting iTunes, which are another 12 or so. There is a smattering of informative podcasts, one comedy, one comedy radio show, a handful of religion (this is growing as I find ones I like) and the rest divided between health and science. Some of the health podcasts are very good, with highly informed hosts who seem to understand the literature and keep up on it. These I love. Most CAM podcasts I've tried feed their listeners misinformation --- GMOs are evil, down with Big Pharma, conspiracy, blah blah blah. These are painful to listen to, because they're simply fear-mongering, and people are eating it up.
But oddly, my favorites spout all kinds of bunk and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
-BTR: Radio Show for Women. I'm listening to this now. This show is hosted by a woman with a heavy accent I can't place-- sort of Indian but sort of not. She focuses of spirituality and natural health. Healing through the mind and whatnot. Lots of bunk, but... she's got something that is positively infectious, emphasis on the 'positive.' She starts the show with music for dancing and a quick breathing exercise, saying 'smile!' a lot. It just makes you feel good.
-Jillian Michaels. Yes, of Biggest Loser fame. She might know what she's talking about as far as fitness goes, but has some crazy ideas about health. The entire show is basically her rants, and it is hilarious. Her co-host and producer are fantastic, too. She tells it like she sees it in no uncertain terms. It's refreshing to hear accomplished people talk about their weaknesses and insecurities and frustrations.
Other podcast gems:
-Preston and Steve on WMMR. This is a rock station and morning show I used to listen to at home. They're just... I don't even know. It's fun to listen to. Mildly NSFW a few too many fart jokes and weird sex stories often turn up on the Bizarre Files, lol.
-The Human Bible. Dr. Robert M. Price is an evangelist-turned-atheist. He studies the Bible as a literary work, and discusses it as such. He's fond of debunking common myths and drawing theories. Often I think he's more sure of himself/his theories than he has right to be, but it's nonetheless informative.
-Threshing Floor Ministries with Dr. Walter Bramson. Jewish atheist-turned-Christian. He also studies the Bible text, and puts it in the context of the culture. Also has some theories that might not be valid, but it's fairly easy to extract the information from the opinion. His teachings are highly sarcastic and funny.
By the way, steer well clear of 99% of the atheist-support podcasts, because they're extremely negative.
Recently I've been looking into what the Bible says about homosexuality. I've always held the stance of "I don't know, but I DO know that regardless of whether God thinks homosexuality as a sin or not, Jesus definitely taught love. Therefore, behave accordingly." My main problem has always been that it seems so contrary to God's character to condemn homosexuality. It's an innate trait, not a choice. Why would homosexuality be so inherent in nature if it's a sin? It hardly seems 'unnatural' any more so than color blindness or height. The acts are a choice, but to tell someone to abstain from a romantic relationship seems cruel. It is true that homosexuality is never in a positive light in the Bible, but nor is there a clear case. It's always wrapped in idol worship or other sins, like the raping of guests. Price makes the excellent point that when the mob showed up at Lot's door they clearly weren't hard-pressed for same-sex partners for their orgy; the motivation is clearly beyond lust. The New Testament talks about purely lustful homosexual relationships. I don't know any homosexual relationships based on lust--the couples I know show more love than most heterosexual couples.
Rick Warren is quoted on wikipedia as being of the opinion that although he does not support homosexuality, divorce is more damaging to society. That second bit I definitely agree with.
This week was the Micro Dept retreat. We hold it at a crappy hotel because we're poor. We're trying to change the format to bring the department together. Overall, it was pretty good... I'm fairly proud of my poster, although my 5-min talk wasn't so hot. Note to self: practice beforehand. It hardly matters for this purpose, though.
Increased Calorie Week was a failure, even with the extra rest from forced disability. After the retreat I'd gone for a 1.5-hour walk, and my knees swelled up like water balloons. Oh my gosh, I had horrible visions of knee damage that would put me out of commission for years, or forever.
The next day was miserable. I felt like death. Still, biked to work. Botched an experiment because of the difficulty thinking. Had a huge mess to clean up when I got there because someone (either technician or part-time technician) had split cells over the weekend and left the biohazard waste full, the pipettes empty, no media left... Technician called in sick and asked me to do his cells. Boss called in sick. Alone in the lab with a million things to clean, and botched experiment.
Then, things turned. The part-time technician came in in a great mood and offered to take on the technician's work. (I will certainly clean your mess if you do awesome stuff like that!) Then I got a call from a fair trade store in town-- I won a basket from a raffle.
This requires some background.
S-- and I had gone there on a whim on World Fair Trade Day, because they advertised free chocolate. That's the second time I'd been in that store. While there, there was a dress on the clearance rack that caught my eye. This never happens... clothing is not exciting to me. But something about this one... but $65 is more than I like to spend on a whim, even if it IS fair trade.
Anyway, so when I went down to pick up the basket, I checked the rack again, the dress still in my mind. It was still there, and fit like a glove. I took that as a sign... turns out, then, that the $65 is the original price, not the sale price.
After picking up the awesome, I lounged on a park bench and read literature. It was a cloudless day, just the right temperature, and some half-naked, well-toned boys were playing tennis.
Basket of awesomeness: Coffee, earrings, 2 teacups, organic cashew butter (ohgosh), organic peanut butter (alsoohgosh), chocolate, and a basket. Super. Awesome.
Turns out, the knees are aggravated by pounding only, and there's probably only minimal damage. Too much walking with bad shoes and pushing it up the hills on the bike, it turns out. My favorite, elliptical, does not aggravate them at all. DDR and saturday jogs are out, though, so I'm going a little crazy this morning... but energy will be expended by house cleaning, since I'm planning to work tomorrow (stupid plates for stupid bacteria and stupid needy cells...).
Someone on the CR FB group is convinced that I'd feel better if I went vegan and ate a pound of greens a day. A pound of greens? Actually, it might not be as untenable as it seems.... given $2/pound for your average greens, that's $14 for a week's supply. No indulgences to fit in grocery budget, but that's ok for a trial.
Worth a shot for a week, anyway.
Couscous and creamy binders, I'm learning, are the enemy. I was halfway through a sample before I spotted the stupid little white beads. At 11:30PM, I woke up to a miserable stomachache. So either just the little tiny couscous was enough to set that off, or the creamy sauce on the potato casserole had flour....
9:30. The day's half gone. MUST. CLEAN. Podcast time!
One of the members of my Bible study has a gaming group, and I finally was able to go last night. I'd been looking for people to hang out with, but this might be too intense... 6-11 every Friday is a very huge time commitment, and although I could probably force my toe in the door of their new campaign (in GURPS--an RPG that's more spontaneous and creative than D&D) and this would be fun, the issues are that I rarely am out of lab by 6, and the conversation of this group is on a different plane of existence.
Most are library science career track, with two in graphic design. They talk about movies, TV, literary references. I find myself a little baffled how anyone could have time for consumption of that much media.
We shall see if I return...
Monday Bible Study is now at my house. This will force me to keep the house clean. It also means I can bike to work on Mondays <3
There are a lot of podcasts on my list. 64, to be exact. Not episodes, but different providers. Not counting iTunes, which are another 12 or so. There is a smattering of informative podcasts, one comedy, one comedy radio show, a handful of religion (this is growing as I find ones I like) and the rest divided between health and science. Some of the health podcasts are very good, with highly informed hosts who seem to understand the literature and keep up on it. These I love. Most CAM podcasts I've tried feed their listeners misinformation --- GMOs are evil, down with Big Pharma, conspiracy, blah blah blah. These are painful to listen to, because they're simply fear-mongering, and people are eating it up.
But oddly, my favorites spout all kinds of bunk and it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
-BTR: Radio Show for Women. I'm listening to this now. This show is hosted by a woman with a heavy accent I can't place-- sort of Indian but sort of not. She focuses of spirituality and natural health. Healing through the mind and whatnot. Lots of bunk, but... she's got something that is positively infectious, emphasis on the 'positive.' She starts the show with music for dancing and a quick breathing exercise, saying 'smile!' a lot. It just makes you feel good.
-Jillian Michaels. Yes, of Biggest Loser fame. She might know what she's talking about as far as fitness goes, but has some crazy ideas about health. The entire show is basically her rants, and it is hilarious. Her co-host and producer are fantastic, too. She tells it like she sees it in no uncertain terms. It's refreshing to hear accomplished people talk about their weaknesses and insecurities and frustrations.
Other podcast gems:
-Preston and Steve on WMMR. This is a rock station and morning show I used to listen to at home. They're just... I don't even know. It's fun to listen to. Mildly NSFW a few too many fart jokes and weird sex stories often turn up on the Bizarre Files, lol.
-The Human Bible. Dr. Robert M. Price is an evangelist-turned-atheist. He studies the Bible as a literary work, and discusses it as such. He's fond of debunking common myths and drawing theories. Often I think he's more sure of himself/his theories than he has right to be, but it's nonetheless informative.
-Threshing Floor Ministries with Dr. Walter Bramson. Jewish atheist-turned-Christian. He also studies the Bible text, and puts it in the context of the culture. Also has some theories that might not be valid, but it's fairly easy to extract the information from the opinion. His teachings are highly sarcastic and funny.
By the way, steer well clear of 99% of the atheist-support podcasts, because they're extremely negative.
Recently I've been looking into what the Bible says about homosexuality. I've always held the stance of "I don't know, but I DO know that regardless of whether God thinks homosexuality as a sin or not, Jesus definitely taught love. Therefore, behave accordingly." My main problem has always been that it seems so contrary to God's character to condemn homosexuality. It's an innate trait, not a choice. Why would homosexuality be so inherent in nature if it's a sin? It hardly seems 'unnatural' any more so than color blindness or height. The acts are a choice, but to tell someone to abstain from a romantic relationship seems cruel. It is true that homosexuality is never in a positive light in the Bible, but nor is there a clear case. It's always wrapped in idol worship or other sins, like the raping of guests. Price makes the excellent point that when the mob showed up at Lot's door they clearly weren't hard-pressed for same-sex partners for their orgy; the motivation is clearly beyond lust. The New Testament talks about purely lustful homosexual relationships. I don't know any homosexual relationships based on lust--the couples I know show more love than most heterosexual couples.
Rick Warren is quoted on wikipedia as being of the opinion that although he does not support homosexuality, divorce is more damaging to society. That second bit I definitely agree with.
This week was the Micro Dept retreat. We hold it at a crappy hotel because we're poor. We're trying to change the format to bring the department together. Overall, it was pretty good... I'm fairly proud of my poster, although my 5-min talk wasn't so hot. Note to self: practice beforehand. It hardly matters for this purpose, though.
Increased Calorie Week was a failure, even with the extra rest from forced disability. After the retreat I'd gone for a 1.5-hour walk, and my knees swelled up like water balloons. Oh my gosh, I had horrible visions of knee damage that would put me out of commission for years, or forever.
The next day was miserable. I felt like death. Still, biked to work. Botched an experiment because of the difficulty thinking. Had a huge mess to clean up when I got there because someone (either technician or part-time technician) had split cells over the weekend and left the biohazard waste full, the pipettes empty, no media left... Technician called in sick and asked me to do his cells. Boss called in sick. Alone in the lab with a million things to clean, and botched experiment.
Then, things turned. The part-time technician came in in a great mood and offered to take on the technician's work. (I will certainly clean your mess if you do awesome stuff like that!) Then I got a call from a fair trade store in town-- I won a basket from a raffle.
This requires some background.
S-- and I had gone there on a whim on World Fair Trade Day, because they advertised free chocolate. That's the second time I'd been in that store. While there, there was a dress on the clearance rack that caught my eye. This never happens... clothing is not exciting to me. But something about this one... but $65 is more than I like to spend on a whim, even if it IS fair trade.
Anyway, so when I went down to pick up the basket, I checked the rack again, the dress still in my mind. It was still there, and fit like a glove. I took that as a sign... turns out, then, that the $65 is the original price, not the sale price.
After picking up the awesome, I lounged on a park bench and read literature. It was a cloudless day, just the right temperature, and some half-naked, well-toned boys were playing tennis.
Basket of awesomeness: Coffee, earrings, 2 teacups, organic cashew butter (ohgosh), organic peanut butter (alsoohgosh), chocolate, and a basket. Super. Awesome.
Turns out, the knees are aggravated by pounding only, and there's probably only minimal damage. Too much walking with bad shoes and pushing it up the hills on the bike, it turns out. My favorite, elliptical, does not aggravate them at all. DDR and saturday jogs are out, though, so I'm going a little crazy this morning... but energy will be expended by house cleaning, since I'm planning to work tomorrow (stupid plates for stupid bacteria and stupid needy cells...).
Someone on the CR FB group is convinced that I'd feel better if I went vegan and ate a pound of greens a day. A pound of greens? Actually, it might not be as untenable as it seems.... given $2/pound for your average greens, that's $14 for a week's supply. No indulgences to fit in grocery budget, but that's ok for a trial.
Worth a shot for a week, anyway.
Couscous and creamy binders, I'm learning, are the enemy. I was halfway through a sample before I spotted the stupid little white beads. At 11:30PM, I woke up to a miserable stomachache. So either just the little tiny couscous was enough to set that off, or the creamy sauce on the potato casserole had flour....
9:30. The day's half gone. MUST. CLEAN. Podcast time!