Lassen!

Stop. Kittenpause.

buh buh buh buh bup can't touch this!

Hello my dear readers. At this point I've probably lost those of you who don't know me personally but that's okay! I promise, I'll make a concerted effort to post more.

So I spent the last week at Hat Creek Radio Observatory and Lassen Volcanic National Park. It was hugely exciting and a ton of fun.

Plus, I got to meet and spend time with Jill Tarter. You know, that person that the book and then movie Contact was based on? yeah. Her. AWESOMESAUCE! She's a crazy driver!

My favorite part of the week was on Friday when a bunch of us went to Burney Falls. We walked over to the viewing deck which was cool and took some pictures and then I complained copiously that I wanted to go down closer to the falls. But the usual trail was closed! Finally somebody noticed that there were people walking down there and someone else started walking the other way and we ended up finding the alternate path. Which was such such fun. We got to the bottom and then scrambled out onto the rocks. As we stood there it seemed to me a better and better idea to jump in the water (and how cold could it be, really?) So I did. It was MUCH MUCH colder than I thought it would be. Like 40 degrees. I got in and swam like halfway to the waterfall and then went "My arms aren't really working properly" and swam back to the shore. But it was TOTALLY worth it!! So so soooo glad I did that.

That day we also went to Subway Cave which was formed from the volcano eruption. And I had brought my bicycle headlight for my flashlight which happens to have a blink feature on it. So I instigated a cave rave. It was awesome.

I also got to see Devil's Kitchen and the Jumbles at Lassen which were cool, but I wish I would've had more time to just explore.

A bunch of people went backpacking but since I didn't have the right equipment and my back has been acting up (essentially my bad posture is catching up with me) I decided it was unwise to go backpacking even though I would've loved the hike.

We also got to see some really kick-ass fluorescent and phosphorescent rocks the one night. They looked normal under regular light but under UV they were these gorgeous neon oranges, greens, purples, and even some pinks! It was soooo cool. Sumac, for example, is luminous under black light. Makes me wonder what those rocks my parents just threw out would've been light under an appropriate light source ;)

Anyhow I keep on trucking. I've met some really nice people here and no one is particularly hateful or mean (although being with people for a week pretty much nonstop if I don't particularly love them is hard for me. Definitely wished I would have had internet in my own room or at least cell phone use). I have to remember to tell myself to be nice and play nice and not overreact or take things too far. Which I sometimes have the tendency to do. And I apologize for that. Sometimes I am just not a pleasant person to be around :/

The Doctor Who series (to us Americans, season) finale was great and I can't wait until series... 6? If any of you aren't watching it you should!

I'm currently on the hunt for a new old show to watch and catch up on. I may do Lost or Star Trek, but I'm not sure so if YOU have ideas, let me know!

All right. Proceed with your regular business.

PLAY

The Beginning of the End & How to Procrastinate

Surprise! It's kittenpause time again!

I know, 5 months, no excuse.

To be fair it's been a very long, frustrating couple of months in my land, and free time was more likely to be spent on mind deadening things than anything else.

Anyhow, exams will begin Monday and be over by 1:15 on Thursday at the latest so... I'll try to be a more prolific writer. Although I won't have my own computer for almost a month, so my ability to post may be limited. BUT once I get to SETI (where I'm working this summer!) I'll try to post what I can and keep you all apprised.

Onto the meat of this post... procrastination strategies!

STRATEGY #1: sleep. This is an excellent form of procrastination. Just don't get out of bed. Side effects including feeling gross and the need to shower.

STRATEGY #2: watch Hulu. This also applies to regular tv, youtube, any website with video content, really. Basically watch everything you find interesting. Then search for new shows.

STRATEGY #3: Find friends. They are very diverting and distracting. Go for a walk, go on an adventure, forget that you have to study for things in general.

STRATEGY #4: make a list of things you need to do. Don't do any of them. Feel that this is enough work and read a book, play a game, check all of the above to see if anything new is going on.

STRATEGY #5: learn an instrument! Not well enough that you can actually play, just well enough to annoy people.

STRATEGY #6: Realize it's too late to start anything. sleep some more.

Who else has effective procrastination strategies? I think zoning out is also pretty effective.

Thanks for reading this brief kittenpause. Now back to your regularly scheduled life.

PLAY

(finished SG-1 ages ago)