Kelly's been complaining that I don't blog anymore, so here goes...

I'm sick with a cold, but not too sick that I can't go to class (even though classes are over now). Finals went well. I think I aced every one except my French final, but since I'm auditing the class, that doesn't matter much. I did all of my Christmas shopping already, but I'm still working on the mix CDs for my brother.

The Two Towers came out last night at midnight, and I might be able to see it tonight. Uh oh! The group meeting is starting soon so I have to get off.

Mike Stevens is on my shit list. I was supposed to have a late-nite TEM session tonight, but this bastard has signed up for tonight and tomorrow night. I don't know who he is, but I hate him. I wish public humiliation on him and his kin. Maybe boils or something biblical like that. A plague of frogs or termites might be cool. I don't want him dead though. First off, I'm not an inhuman monster. Second, it's much better to see them suffer than to put them out of their misery.

So what's the plan, you ask? I'm signed up for a session on wednesday next week. And one the monday after. Tom and I may do one this Sunday, but neither him nor I want to give up our weekend. Saturday is bad because it's Grady's birthday (Tom's son). Why can't we just have our own TEM? Then we could use it whenever we wanted.

By the way, you can only sign up for two sessions, and I already have two nice times picked out. I wasn't about to give one up for half of a shitty evening session. But I ran the risk and lost. Fuck Mike Stevens!

I realize I haven't posted in a while. This may be a habit for a while as the conference draws closer. I'm making good progress though. I have a good sample, so I can concentrate on that. If I can get some diffraction patterns, x-ray spectra, and EELS spectra on the kerogen, I'll be set. Then all I have to worry about is the presentation itself. If I can finish all the research work next week, then I'll have two weeks for talk preparation (i.e. learning powerpoint and practicing public speaking). Kelly took me to the Chandler Mall the other day to look for new clothes for my talk. Although I don't really care for J Crew, they had a really spiffy pants-shirt-sweater combination that I really liked. Kelly also bought me one of those cool wallets. Now all I need are shoes and a belt.

In short, I'm in a good mood for the time being.

This past weekend, I had a field trip up to the NW corner of Arizona, near where to Grand Canyon empties out into Lake Mead. Once I get pictures developed, I may post them (if I remember).

I fucked up big this time. I was supposed to have a TEM session with my advisor early monday morning. I didn't quite finish up all the sample prep this week, so I was going to come in on the weekend and do it when I can have the whole place to myself. Unfortunately, I forgot that I don't have keys to the sample prep lab. So now I feel like a big fool, and I have to tell Tom we can't do TEM tomorrow. That also means we have to make up that session either at night or during the weekend because the microscope is booked solid until mid-November. I was lucky to get that monday, and I threw my opportunity away because I'm a dummy. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really cut out for grad school. I have very little motivation sometimes.

In case anyone cares, Karl "if-he-was-an-animal-he'd-be-a-grizzly-bear" Weiss gave me the thumbs up for using the CM-200. This is after about 6 training sessions. So now I can go willy-nilly on the TEM anytime I want. As you may no doubt have already guessed, 5 straight hours in a dark room chock full of super-expensive scientific equipment really fucks with your head, leaving you in a state of temporary insanity afterwards.

Stress levels are climbing. I just found out yesterday that I have to give a talk at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting on December 6. That gives me about a month to complete the necessary research, and right now I'm only doing sample prep. So, please excuse me if I don't blog as often as I should. I actually have to go off and to that right now. Later!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY!!!

Egad! I have a frickin' Thermo midterm tomorrow. Time to "rise above" and show those physics majors that geology majors are superior! So tonight I'm going to go home early and study all night (in addition to making a black-light box for Earth Science day and finishing wrapping Kelly's birthday gifts). By the way, my oral midterm for French took waaaay longer than it should have, increasing my stress levels dramatically. I just want to get that shit over with, but people kept being stupid and couldn't work their stations. I mean, how hard is it to press record, stop, rewind, play?!? These people make me sick!

Ahhh! Now back to the grindstone. Today I have to leave ASU early because Kelly needs to do a Maple lab on my computer. I guess I can use the extra time at home to do other homework. I don't have much to say right now because I have to leave soon. So I'll just leave you with some slogans for our research group. If you are confused, you should know that we don't have much space and we are lobbying for more.

TEM Group Research Closet
TEM Group: Close-Packed since 1996
The Guinness Book of World Records' World's Smallest Research Space

Finally, the weekend!

You know, after I bought that laptop, I have no urge to spend anymore money. Even if I visit websites or stores and see something that I'd like, I don't even think about actually buying it.

Let's see, this weekend I have to:
- relax!!!!!
- read the rest of the Spark of Life book about early life on earth (mostly stuff I've already heard before)
- read one of my Thermo "enrichment readings" and write a summary about it (more like an opinion)
- make out with Kelly (better put that as number 1)
- see Philip on Film, where an orchestra plays the Philip Glass scores to some short films (I like Philip Glass alot).
- did I mention relax?

Uh oh. I just did something bad. I just bought a laptop.

It's a refurbished gateway. It's actually a pretty decent computer--1.2 GHz, 20G hard drive, CDRW, Ethernet + Modem, with a free carry case. And for all that it was only $900. So, in all actuality, I got a smoking deal. I just feel bad for spending all that money. It actually took me about an hour to go through all the check-out procedures because I had to keep proving to myself it was worth it. I spend 20 minutes alone with my mouse over the submit button before I pressed it. You know, $900 is a lot of money. I can afford it, but I just feel a little weird for spending that much. At least it's something I'll use alot (I'm always asking to borrow Kelly's computer to use Excell).

Kelly's probably wondering where I am. It's almost 8:00 PM. Maybe she's still at work. I wish I had my cell phone with me, but I left it in my office. I'm going to go down there now.

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Let me begin by apologizing for not 'blogging for a while...oh wait, I'm not sorry because this is my own damn 'blog and I can post whenever I want!

Anyways, it's been a busy weekend. Kelly had a couple field trips, and I was her support this weekend (dropping her off, picking her up, making her lunch and breakfast). Plus I had to get my usual load of work completed. I didn't get everything done, but I'm in good shape for this week. It just seems that I never have time to do anything. I'm definitely going to rethink my classload for next semester, and I probably won't audit another semester of French. Truth be told, the language really isn't all that interesting, and unlike German, it makes no sense at all. There are grammar rules in French only for the sake of pronunciation! How can I condone the creation of an "exception to the rule" just to make it easier to say? Maybe if they would just pronounce every syllable in a word things would be easier!

I'm always thinking about putting in aftermarket parts in my car, even though I don't have to money to do it. Lately, I've been considering the idea of putting in lightweight underdrive pulleys. Everybody knows that there are a set of belts and pulleys that use the engine to run things like the a/c compresser, the alternator, the fan, and other things. The auto manufacturer makes these pulleys as cheaply as they can, which means they are usually made out of steel. However, steel is pretty heavy, so it has a lot of rotational inertia. Aluminum, on the other hand, is quite light, and spins at the same rate with less energy consumption. This means the replacement of steel pulleys with aluminum pulleys frees up energy to turn the car wheels. Also, aftermarket pulleys are usually slightly smaller (at least the one connected to the engine) so that each revolution uses slightly less energy that if they were stock diameter (even though slightly more revolutions are needed). Unorthodox Racing makes a set of pulleys for my car that apparently frees up to 12 horsepower (about 5HP for normal driving). This is pretty good compared to HP gains from intake or exhaust modifications. Unfortunately, the set costs $480, although I know where to get it for $410. This is just stuff I think about.

Being fed up with long walks through the blazing heat of lot 59, here is my reasoning for spending the extra dollar for a parking structure:

1) Paying for a structure is still relatively cheap. This year, a structure costs $159, while lot 59 is only $50. By comparison, using the pay lots for only ONE month costs a maximum of $100. Even if the cost of a structure goes up to $200 next year, it will still be cheaper by %78 than using pay parking for 9 months

2) A structure is a fixed distance from campus. In a structure, I will never again have to walk from Tempe Butte, all the way AROUND Sun Devil Stadium to get to my classes. Think of the emotional distress I can avoid. In a structure, there will always be a spot for me, and even if I am the last one to arrive, I will still be closer to my classes than if I get to lot 59 at 8:30 in the morning.

Now all I have to do is remember to buy a parking pass at the soonest allowable time, because structures fill up fast, especially if I want the one closest to my office and lab.

I went on a cool field trip this weekend. Saturday, we went up near Sunset crater and looked at lava flows. Specifically, we were looking for caliche development, and we found it on even the youngest (900 year old) lava flows. Our class is trying to figure out if caliche could possibly form on Mars. If it did, then we may be able to measure the carbon isotope fractionation in it. An abundance of light isotopes may imply the presence of life sometime in Martian history. Sunday, we went to the Grand Canyon to look at the spectacular geology and cherts, AKA the amber of the precambrian. I saw some things for the first time, and I learned some new things about the Grand Canyon. I was really excited when our prof pointed out the Unkar Delta, something I had written a paper about for another class. We didn't really talk about why chert was important for astrobiology, but all the stories about the Grand Canyon were very cool. Now I want to go hiking there. I want to go to Unkar Delta and Hance's asbestos mine (4'' long fibers!), but chances are both of those are off limits.

Ack! I'm so busy this week! Usually I do thermo homework over the weekend, but this weekend I have a kick-ass field trip to Sunset Crater and the Grand Canyon. Consequently, I have to do all my thermo homework this week. It just so happens to suck especially hard too. So, I'd love to chat a little, but I have to go differentiate hyperbolic trig functions. Au revoir!

I saw this in The Onion, and I thought it was hilarious. I guess it's kind of an inside joke between Kelly and me.

Supreme Court Cock-Blocks Iowa Man
WASHINGTON, DC—By an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court cock-blocked Des Moines, IA, bar patron Jon Carmody Friday, severely curtailing his power to score with fellow bar-goer Megan Navarre. "Carmody's right to put the moves on Navarre does not and cannot be construed to supersede this court's right to hit on her, too," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote in the majority opinion. "That Carmody scored last weekend with that blonde girl at P.J.'s serves to illustrate that he's had enough for now. We will preclude the shit out of that tool getting any from Navarre."

By the way, I was watching more Sopranos, and the son was wearing a long-sleeved version of a shirt that I had in college. I guess I had better taste in clothes than I thought.

The new season of television is starting up at the end of this month, and I'm a little excited. I'm looking forward to a new season of The Simpsons, Smallville, and Alias. I failed to get Kelly hooked on Smallville, but I hope that she'll get into Alias, because I think it is a really great show. She likes Sex in the City, Six Feet Under, and The Sopranos. They're all HBO shows, so I've never seen them before until she showed them to me. Sex in the City is OK, but it's definitely geared towards women, and sometimes I get bored of their antics. I don't know why Kelly won't let me watch Six Feet Under. She says I probably wouldn't like it. As for the Sopranos, I'm kindof excited for that, since I usually enjoy good mob dramas (like the Godfather trilogy). Kelly doesn't know this, but I'm preparing for this season. Last night I rented the first DVD of season three, so I can catch up on the plotlines and not be totally clueless for season four. Unfortunately, it is season three, so I don't know what happened the first two seasons. I've watched the first episode so far, and all I can tell is that Tony ordered the murder of one of his employee's twin brother, but I don't know why. And the cops are bugging his house, but I don't know why because I don't know what Tony's involved in yet. It seems like a pretty good show so far, but I need to see some more episodes to really make up my mind.

Yeah, everything worked out for me and my thermo book. It came today, but that's still 11 days after I ordered it. Fortunately, I don't have to just sit and take it, so I gave the seller a shitty feedback rating. Ha Ha! Revenge is soooo sweet!

Speaking of sweet, Kelly met me today outside my French class. Tracy was there too. I kind of guessed she might show up, but it still made my day. She loves me so much, and it makes me happy.

Here's an update to my sordid tale of my textbooks. This is for my Thermo book.

Once upon a time, there was a young (1st edition) thermodynamic textbook who lived at the Arizona State University bookstore. Its name was Thermal Physics, and it lived happily on the Shelves with all the other textbooks. A young happy-go-lucky man wanted to own this book, but unfortunately, it cost $45. Wishing to save much money this semester on textbooks, the man went to the science library and looked up the book's cousins. There were three: one was being born, one already had a master, and one was sitting on the library Shelves. When the man went to look for the book, he discovered that was not living on the Shelves, but had run away. Then the man found someone on the internet who wanted to trade his book for $38. This seemed a good deal to the man, so he agreed to the trade. However, the book had to travel a long way, and would take many days to reach him. But the man needed the book now, so he went again to the ASU bookstore to buy a new book, which he could then return later for a full refund when he received his slightly cheaper version. Alas, the ASU bookstore had no copies of the book, so the man spent three days (plus or minus two days) looking for anyone who had the book. He finally found the book at a bookstore on College Avenue and purchased it, with the intent of returning it later for a full refund.

Now our story becomes complex. At this point in time, the man owned two copies of the book, one in his hand and one that was travelling to his office. The book in his hand could only be returned before the magical date of September 09, 2002. Three days before the magic date, his travelling book had not yet arrived, and the man began to worry. His plan hinged on receiving book on route before returning his book in hand. Then, respite came for the man, because the lost library book had now been found. The man quickly changed his plan. First, he bought a book from the bookstore until the library book was found, then he used the library book until his travelling book arrived. The man desperately hoped this new plan would prove successful. ... To Be Continued

ASU is pissing me off. With such a ginourmous university, you'd think they could keep their goddamn servers up and running! I don't have alot of free time anymore, so when I want to check my email, I want to be able to check it. I can't even get to the main page! At least I had a nice three day weekend. It took me all that time to do my thermo homework, anyways. I kept making stupid mistakes. There's a point in a physics problem when you think to yourself, "It shouldn't be this difficult". Once you get to that point, you've probably done something wrong. Sure, they sometimes have complicated integrals and stuff, but even though they may be long, they are always solveable. The important thing is to make progress. I start to get stressed if I don't make progress, and it's hard for me to enjoy other things. That's why I get in such a good mood when I finish a problem, and I feel like rewarding myself with kisses from Kelly or video games.

Hmm. Let's go see if ASU is online again.

Whew! What a first week. For all you who have been living in karst topography or are high on Kava, this was the first week of classes at ASU, and thank goodness it's over. I'm exhausted...from getting up an hour earlier than usual...from working out every day of the week...from running around in the blinding heat looking for my texbooks and other class materials...from worrying about that clicking sound my car makes in reverse...from not making sweet love to Kelly every day (or every other day). Hey, it's my 'blog, so I can talk about whatever I want, thank you very much you uptight NU freaks. Sorry, that was a little harsh. They ARE really nice people; they just don't know me right now.

But I'm tired, and it's only 2PM, or as they say in France, ... just kidding, we won't learn how to tell time until next week. All I can do is count the number of peons with cell phones. un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, ... too many to count. I think there are more cell phones at ASU than there are stars in the universe! Thank goodness for a three-day weekend, so I can spend time with my girlfriend.

Ahem. Bonjour. Je m'appelle Bradley. Je suis americain. J'habite a Mesa, Arizona. Comment vous appelez-vous? Comment allez-vous? Je vais tres bien. Et vous?

I am now being hassled by "the Man", otherwise known as (AKA) MR. BLOGGER. Sure, sure... it all sounds like such a phony conspiracy. I can just hear y'all saying "You're just making it all up, Brad." I know how you guys think. "Always with another CRAZY theory." Well, let me tell you this. You'll all feel pretty silly when I turn up dead in my office with a blogspot.com sticker on my pale, bloated corpse. Maybe I should call this "bradophrenia" instead of "bradvertise", because I'm feeling a little John Nash today.

MR. DEGREGORIO, THIS IS MR. BLOGGER. YOUR BLOG HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED IN 5 DAYS. I AM AFRAID WE WILL HAVE TO START POSTING PHONEY MESSAGES FROM YOU IF YOU DO NOT START REGULARLY BLOGGING. YOUR GIRLFRIEND WILL BE MUCH HAPPIER IF SHE FINDS A NEW BLOG EACH TIME SHE CHECKS FOR A BRADVERTISEMENT. THANK YOU.

MR. BLOGGER

All's well everybody. No one noticed my facade at Dolce, except for an old high school acquaintance who just happens to work there. We caught up on post-graduate gossip--who's married, who's engaged, who's pregnant, who's divorced, etc. I left as Kelly was getting her color, so I haven't yet seen her new asymmetrical 'do (I can't wait!). Instead of waiting around for hours until Kelly was all done, I went shopping for school supplies. The furniture guy at Office Max gave me free shelf supports, I found the only left-handed notebook east of the 101, and I spent over $100 on binders, folders, and magnets (and some other stuff too).

Ack! Why do I get so nervous before getting a haircut? Why do I feel the need to impress all the people in the salon? Why am I worried that they'll see right through me and realize that I'm nowhere near cool enough to step foot in Dolce? I just want to look cool. I want Kelly to think I'm cool. I want this damn hair out of my eyes!

Well, I know I'm lazy, so I took the day off today. The draw of video games was just too much for me to resist. But don't think I just sat around and played PlayStation all day. I also washed my car for the first time in weeks. I really love my car when it's clean. It just looks so cool!

And it looks like Beth finally figured out how to post her posts!

Last night I forced Kelly to watch the 1927 silent film Metropolis. It was frickin' hilarious! The son was a wackadoo, the girl freaked out every time she was being pursued (I was sure that an alien was about to pop out of her tummy), and the robot was basically a slut. The acting was over-the-top melodrama, while the makeup was silly (by today's standards). Oh my. Excuse me while I patch up my sides. I guess it needed something to take away the boredom of watching a film where you only know a quarter of the dialogue.

The Capitol of Geo-tainment!

Brad loves Kelly