Taryn and the Journey to the Emerald City

Excessively nerdy night at our house

2011-05-03T15:50:00.003-06:00

We had an exceptionally nerdy night at our house yesterday.

First, I came home from belly dance class to Aaron live-blogging Canadian election results.

Second, we solved a Facebook argument using "Gardner's Modern American Usage". All parties in this argument/discussion were wrong -- there is an acceptable pronunciation in American English. Here is my paraphrase of what we learned:

If you don't know how to pronounce a word not commonly used in American English (e.g. the name of a country in the Middle East):

Find the smartest person you know. Pronounce the word how they do. The "educated" pronunciation (not to be confused with the "pretentious asshole" pronunciation -- see below) is the correct one.
Alternatively, you should try to pronounce the word as close to the original language, but using English phonemes.
Don't use non-English phonemes or overly affected pronunciations -- you sound like a pretentious asshole. E.g. don't roll your Rs.
Don't use chauvinistic pronunciations -- you sound like a regular asshole.
Example: Iran - /i-rahn/ not /I-ran/ or /i-ran/

Third, we solved this word problem in bed:

"Aaron has 450 books in his backlog. He reads an average of 50 books per 4 month period. He acquires an average of 20 books per 4 month period. How long will it take Aaron to read all the books in his house?"

The answer: 5 years.

Confounded!

2010-07-20T14:02:00.000-06:00

My doc prescribed me some pain meds and muscle relaxants for the "migraine". Turns out it isn't a migraine, but tight muscles in my head and neck causing pain. Good news is, my headache might go away. Bad news is, my study is confounded. I'll have to abandon the diet for at least the next 10 days and try again.

Food Test #1: Dairy

2010-07-20T07:48:00.002-06:00

I'm trying to find some scientific evidence that the foods I'm testing are associated with chronic pain, but I can't really find any reputable sources. From what I can gather from these less-than-optimal sources, people who are sensitive to dairy are reacting to the casein and/or whey or are lactose intolerant (as most adults, including me, are to some degree). You will feel lactose intolerance in the abdomen -- bloating, cramping, etc. Milk makes my brother-in-law stuffy -- he's probably reacting to the casein or whey.

I did my first dairy elimination in high school. At the time, I was severly lactose intolerant. Over the years, I "grew out of it" a bit, but I'm still a little intolerant, especially eating the quantity of dairy I did yesterday.

As for pain, other than the migraine I've had for the past week, and sore muscles from walking in my Reebok Easy Tones, no spike in pain either the day of or the day after Dairy Day.

Conclusion: it's not dairy.

NOTE: I mapped out how long it will take to test each food group as suggested by the fibromyalgia elimination diet site, and it's upwards of 40 days! I've found other elimination diet sites that test one food after the other, as long as there's no reaction. I've decided to amend my methods a bit and test foods at a shorter interval, as long as I'm not reacting.

Elimination Week Summary

2010-07-19T11:54:00.003-06:00

Elimination Diet Day 4

2010-07-15T15:37:00.002-06:00

Other than a screaming headache, I feel pretty good today. I'm not nearly as tired as yesterday, but not quite at full speed. I want a cup of coffee or tea with milk and sugar real real bad. Ahh, withdrawl! My diet is pretty boring -- I've been subsisting off mostly Rice Chex and rice milk, almonds, and the fruit and veggies I can eat. I have no will to dream up dinner.

I'm actually quite surprised that my pain level (except for the headache) is lower. There might actually be something to this food sensitivity thing.

I'm at the point now where I need to plan out what food I want to test first. It's kind of a bummer that I don't get to add anything back into my diet until I've tested all the groups. I might start with Dairy, because it makes sense to me as a group and it will give me extra time to see which foods go into what group. Like beans: does that include soy, or is that a separate group? I also need to look into the science behind limiting these foods. Stay tuned.

Elimination Diet Day 3

2010-07-14T12:50:00.002-06:00

Other than a slight headache from the caffeine withdrawl, my pain is quite minimal -- like almost gone! However, I am totally exhausted. I could sleep all day, but I've been dragging myself through life. And I can't remember anything.

Overall pain: 2
Joint pain: 1
Headache: 2
Abdominal: 0
Breast:0

Fatigue score: 9
Cognitive impairment: 8
Fatigue: 10
Low energy: 9
Low productivity: 8

Elimination Day 1

2010-07-12T14:18:00.002-06:00

Breakfast: 1c rice pudding (made with rice, rice milk, sultanas and almonds)
Lunch: 3/4c vinegared rice, Costco salmon patty, 1c steamed asparagus with a little olive oil, s&p
Dinner: Stir-fry of red onion, chicken, cabbage, mango, garlic and ginger and ....rice.
Snacks: 1 peach. 1-100 calorie pack of Emerald dry roasted almonds

Exercise: 1 mile walk

I'm not feeling much pain today, but damn am I exhausted. All I can think about is coffee -- a gigantic cup of really dark coffee -- which I can't have. What can I say, caffeine is my drug of choice and Mama is jonesin'. I'd also like a pastry to go with that cup of coffee.

Methods: Scales for pain and fatigue

2010-07-12T09:42:00.002-06:00

The scales I'm using to track my pain and fatigue are totally not scientific.

For pain, I'm using Allie Brosh's Pain Scale.

For fatigue, I'm using this tool from the University of Iowa. This tool is scientific as used properly (monthly assessment), but It's not been validated for daily use. I'm also weighting the calculated numbers to a 1-10 scale.

When interpreting my data and results, remember I'm looking at these numbers relatively, not absolutely.

For both tools, lower numbers are better.

Control Week Summary

2010-07-12T09:25:00.003-06:00

Weekly averages:

Pain: 4

Joint pain: 3

Headache: 1

Abdominal pain: 2

Breast pain: 2

Fatigue score: 5

Cognitive impairment: 5

Fatigue: 6

Low energy: 6

Low productivity:5

This week was totally normal for me. I ate normally, I exercised normally. The only difference is I tracked my symptoms. Except for a bad flare on Thursday that kept me home from work, my pain was low-moderate. I also noticed a trend that joint pain and headache co-occured and muscle, breast and abdominal pain co-occured, but there was not much mixing between these types of pain. Flares seem to hit my joints. Surprisingly, the fatigue has been impacting my life more than the pain. Even when the pain is pretty low, I'm quite tired.

Possible flare culprits:

Gin
Peppers

Methods: What will I eat during the Elimination Period

2010-07-06T11:42:00.002-06:00

During this period I can't eat:

Eggs
Dairy
Wheat
Oats
Barley
Corn
Peas
Beans (e.g. black, garbanzo, soy)
Caffeine
Alcohol
Sugar
Fake sugar (e.g. aspartame, sucrolose)
Citrus (e.g. oranges, lemons, stawberries)
Nightshades (e.g. potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, paprika)
MSG

I'll be posting "safe" recipies in this Cookbook.

This is your badness level. It's unusually high for someone your size. We need to fix that.

2010-07-02T09:35:00.003-06:00

The Beginnings of a Plan

2010-06-22T12:16:00.002-06:00

I really don't like that I don't know when we're moving, or how we're moving, or where we're moving to. I'm a planner. I can't plan right now. This doesn't work for me.

I really wanted to buy a house when we move. It's settling down. It's being an adult. It's building equity. This is too overwhelming to Aaron. Previously, Aaron had tied having a baby with owning a home, another thing I'm not willing to wait forever for. That is now up for renegotiation. So we're going to rent. I've been checking on pricing and availability of rentals and I'm feeling a little better that A. we won't be throwing money away (because rent has come down a lot and is now less than a mortgage payment) and B. we won't have to live in a shithole. We need a place with 2 bedrooms, a dishwasher, garage parking, that allows cats, and preferably has a washer/dryer in unit, but I will settle for onsite. I'm not doing the laundromat again.

We've also decided to become a one car family. I fully intend to walk, bike and bus as much as humanly possible. I'd also like to get a scooter. We'll probably sell Aaron's car because it's worth more money than mine.

Aaron continues to apply for jobs. We'll know more when he starts getting calls back!

Mental Health Break: Day 6

2010-06-21T15:36:00.002-06:00

I woke up this morning with some great ideas for the "Teens with Diabetes and Pregnancy" brochure we talked about at the conference yesterday. I spent a few hours in the morning mocking up a better brochure and sent it off to Deb.

Made another trip to Bakery Nouveau for second breakfast -- an almond croissant and capuccino -- before heading up to the Seattle Premium Outlets for shopping!

I shopped for three hours. Got a bunch of stuff for A and three pairs of flats for myself. I also picked up a cute outfit for Alastair from Gap, a T-shirt for Candice from Banana, and a J. Crew pencil skirt (they fit me like a glove; I now own three) for myself. I was wearing my Reebok Easytone shoes and my butt and calves were quite tired!

I left the outlets at 3pm and it took me until like 4:30 to get back to Marty's! Traffic!

I was starving, because I didn't eat lunch. I made myself a sandwich and waited for Marty to come home from the pub for a cup of tea. We're going out with Laura (Boeing Laura, not Prost!Laura) later. Got dolled up and we went to meet her on Capital Hill.

We went to a bar and grill whose name escapes me, which is just as well because the drinks were weak and unmemorable. What was memorable was the 6ft Goth drag queen sitting next to us...

Mental Health Break: Day 5

2010-06-18T23:01:00.002-06:00

Today, I spent the entire day learning about health literacy as it pertains to genomics. At best, 12% of the population has the health literacy required to make sense of genomics. I learned, reaching more of the population has less to do with "dumbing it down" and more to do with removing excess detail. I am a huge fan of parsimonious writing, personally. :)

Got home at the same time as Marty and we both collapsed onto couches. What does one do after a rough day in West Seattle? Prost! I had one big beer and one baby beer and one bratwurst sandwich (with two kinds of mustard and curry ketchup and a pile of saurkraut). Omnomnomnom.

After Prost! we went to the Feedback Louge. They have the most amazing cocktail -- the St. Basil -- there. It's made with muddled basil, elderflower liqueur, lemon and gin. I had a few sips off Marty's, since I'm really not supposed to drink and had beer earlier.

Despite being fed and watered, I never got over the being exhausted I felt at 5pm. Damnable Fibromyalgia! From the base of my skull to under my scapulas, shoulder to shoulder felt like a really bad stiff neck. I tried to be a trouper, but Marty had to take me home at about 9:30. He's so sweet, he even tried to find me medicine! I took another bubble bath and then layed on my tennis balls for a long time...

Mental Health Break: Day 4

2010-06-17T23:07:00.003-06:00

I successfully escaped from Marty's basement! Went to Target to pick up some supplies -- new pillow and some bubble bath!

Had a nice talk with A (angering but informative) about why I'm out here right now anyway.

Thought the crabby could be due to low blood sugar, so decided to eat lunch and think later. After mahi sandwich, fries, and the first coffee in several days, still crabby.

Ahh, no matter. The plan today was to go to the Seattle Art Museum, so downtown I went. The SAM was cool. They had two shows going on: one about Kurt Cobain (rather, art inspired by Kurt Cobain) and an Andy Warhol exhibit. As a fiber artist myself (okay, I knit baby stuff, mostly), I appreciated two large, knit sculpures on display on the 4th floor.

After the museum, I went over to the Genomics Institute Seminar to try and catch my mentor from the MDH during the networking time. The session was running late and she was heading to dinner, so I was invited back tomorrow.

Marty cooked gigantic steaks for dinner and invited Prash and Brian over. We ended the evening in Seattle fashion with a grunge jam session.

I did manage to get my bubble bath in at 10 pm!

Mental Health Break: Day 3.5

2010-06-16T08:35:00.002-06:00

After my shitty, shitty morning, I needed to get up and dressed. I keep thinking I should be doing some work, but really I need to get my mind off of everything.

Fuck it. I'm watching videos of kittens on YouTube.

Somehow, videos of kittens turned into videos of an 8-limbed girl from India. Anyway, the desired effect was reached: brain turned off.

Karen called after work and I went over to her and her partner's apartment on Mercer Island. We had dinner at the Roanoke Inn Tavern, one of the oldest establishments on the island. It was nice to sit outside and catch up. We hung out for a while longer at their apartment and played with their kitties, Fuzzy and Omar. I miss my kitty!

And there was a beautiful double rainbow!

GPS got me lost on the way back to Marty's. I'll have to be more careful with that.

Mental Health BREAK: Day 3 Exile in Guyville

2010-06-15T14:48:00.003-06:00

Last night left me really really crabby. I was exhausted this morning and finally cranked my eyes open at like 9:30. Perhaps living the life of a single, 20-something man isn't exactly the best way to rejuivinate, or get a handle on life?

Plus, I'm quite literally the Wounded Bird; fresh meat for Marty's pack of Manimals. I can see the wheels turning on several of them -- how can they exploit this situation to their advantage? And, I don't get any joy out of blatent sexual attention from men. I've spent a lot of my life trying to avoid that kind of attention from men, so they would see me as an intellectual equal.

That's how I met my husband. Sure, we were at the pub, but we connected at an intellectual-with-chemistry level. I certainly was excited to meet someone who could keep up with my brain and challenge me, and we had common interests. Very magnetic.

So today, I'm missing my husband and feeling very much exiled to West Seattle.

Mental Health Break: Day 2

2010-06-15T11:03:00.002-06:00

My first night sleeping in Marty's basement! The room I'm in is roughly the size of my 2001-2002 dorm room and my bed is slightly lofted, so I'm having flashbacks to college.

Marty's at work, and I had a hard time getting moving. Really sore from dragging all the MDF around yesterday.

Finally got moving and headed down to Bakery Nouveau for the most authentic Parisian-style croissants this side of the Atlantic and a cappuccino. I got a pear danish, which tasted heavenly. At breakfast, I wrote a short story in the notebook I'm sending to A.

Stopped by the QFC on the way back to Marty's house and picked up some groceries. Food in Seattle doesn't appear to be any more expensive than Montana.

Unpacked groceries, turned on the dishwasher, and I was feeling fairly exhausted, so I decided to take a nap. Woke up at 1pm because my phone was ringing upstairs. Turned out to be my little sister. Called her back and talked for a while. Now it's 2pm, finally made lunch and answered some work e-mails, worked on yesterday's blog post. I made a cup of tea and was just about to do some work-work, when Marty came home.

We had a cup of tea, then decided to take the motorcycle out for a putt around Alki. I packed the badass vintage motorcycle jacket A's mom gave me, so I looked like I belonged on the back of Marty's motorcycle. It was fun watching people enjoy the day.

Back to Marty's house and put the motorcycle to bed for the evening. Time to stop by Prost! for the afterwork/pre-dinner adult beverage. Marty said we were going to Jak's for steaks after a beer or two. I brought the notebook I'm sending A with me and worked on a few things. The barfolk were curious what I was working on, so of couse I had to tell them. Every woman I've talked to has a relationship horror story. Their advice made sense, though I really didn't want it to.

Marty miraculously always has a fresh drink in his hand and it's getting later and later. Taryn is hungry. Steaks become macaroni and cheese. Okay. Taryn is hungry. Marty makes new friends at the bar, Laura (who he's just seranaded) and Jonathan. Both have rings on, we assume they are together. Jonathan starts hitting on me (hott guy thinks I'm cute!). Confusing. Jonathan kisses Laura. Swingers? Nope. Jonathan is married, Laura's finance is in Iraq, they're neighbors and fucking. Laura can't figure out why Marty and I are not fucking (eww.). Low blood sugar starts making me think that they might be taking the piss out on us. Finally wrentch Marty out of the attentions of a pretty girl so I can get fed. Marty orders a pizza on the way back to his house. We eat pizza, watch an episode of Fawlty Towers and he laments not being in Laura's pants. Which is probably all the better, because he ain't gonna want to be no where near that shit-show when Laura's PTSD fiance comes back from Iraq.

Mental Health Break: Day 1 - A day in the life of The Sweetman

2010-06-14T15:47:00.002-06:00

This morning, Marty and I went to Luna Park Cafe for breakfast. After last night, we definitely needed some food and coffee to feel right with the world. It was a beautiful morning, so we sat outside and made some Vitamin D. I very much enjoy looking at all the skin art on the waitresses. Makes me want to price out a tatoo myself ;)

After breakfast, we went next door to Avalon Glass Works. Marty is friends with the owners and had won a glass float in their Tuesday contest he needed to pick up. They had some gorgeous pieces, but much out of my price range. I did like a few of the pendants, but I'm not sure if it's totally my style, though I adore glasswork. Marty might learn glass blowing, since he needs a new hobby.

We had a little downtime before more World Cup at Prost!, so I drove over to Ravenna to pick up a second hand IKEA bed I found on craiglist. The lady I bought it from was super nice and just happened to be last year's Seattle School Board President, a good contact to have for A finding a job.

Got the bed loaded in the Matrix and headed back to Marty's just in time to go to Prost!. Met some more drinking buddies and hung out on the back patio without sunscreen for a couple hours. Nice people, but dirty dirty minds!

Got back to Marty's at around 2:30-3 ish, time to start working on Sunday dinner. Marty was busy with that, but I decided to busy myself with getting the bed into the basement room. It feels good for my fibromyalgia to move around, especially after I've been sitting a long time.

Then I entered Allen Wrench Hell. Three hours later, just after Sunday dinner guests arrived, I had subdued the bed. Took a quick shower and got ready to be social.

Marty cooks dinner pretty much every Sunday for a core group of friends, several that he knows from work. This Sunday, he made pork chops, stuffed with proscuitto wrapped peaches and cheese and for dessert, chocolate chip bacon cookies. Pork overload! Marty's friends are all lovely people. It was nice to get to know them a little more in a relaxed environment.

Mental Health Break: Day 0.5

2010-06-14T08:45:00.004-06:00

A decided to go to Missoula Saturday after he got done with work, so I decided to head out to Seattle a day early. Weather was quite good for driving and this time of year even Eastern Washington is pretty. I got to Marty's house at 7:23 pm. Surprise, surprise, Marty was busy being social at Prost!. Luckily, I had a spare key from last time I was here to visit.

Marty came home and I got the BIG HUG AND KISS I'd been excited for since Post Falls. Yay. Then we went to do the only thing Marty could think of after watching the World Cup and drinking all day: go to Mashiko for sushi.

I've learned that the best way to eat at Mashiko is to just tell the chef Hajime to "Feed us." We proceeded to catch up with the past month and a half of life over delicious little fish dishes and a bottle of sake. My top three dishes were:

Scallop burger: scallops as the "buns", spicy tuna wrapped in proscuitto as the "meat"
Tuna and wakame salad (I'm a sucker for seaweed)
Marinated baby squid

Needless to say, it was a good thing we were within stumbling distance of Marty's house after the bottle of sake...

I got married!

2009-06-01T15:01:00.001-06:00

Magic Lady

2009-05-06T12:38:00.002-06:00

I had some body work done yesterday by a lady recommended to me by my fencing student (and professional dancer) Sallyann. Wow, she was magical.

First, she had me lay on the massage table. Then she took my head in her hands and moved it to try and make my spine 'move like a snake'. She felt it get stuck and found the exact place where my back pain starts. She then proceeded to use pressure to get my muscles and connective tissue to loosen up, also talking out loud to them, asking them to cooperate. Eventually, the whole left side of my body flattened out on the table. I was slanty as my right side was still tense and 'up high'.

Apparently, a lot of my muscles are constantly in a state of contracture -- she said they feel like leathery beef jerky instead of jello. Also, she said the 'core weakness' my physical therapist said I had is a result of some contracture in my abdomen. 65% of the muscle is working to hold the contracture, leaving 35% to do other things, which reads as weakness. Also, when working on the inside of my hip, she released so many toxins, I almost threw up.

She managed to unstick all the gluey muscles and tendons, but diagnosed my main problem as my SI joint. It's stuck and she can't fix it. She recommended I see a chiropractor for a one shot deal to unstick the SI joint.

My homework is to lay on tennis balls to keep the muscles from tightening up again.

My hip still hurts a bit, and I'm sore from some of the work, but this is the best I've felt structurally in a long time!

Aromatherapy

2009-04-20T13:55:00.002-06:00

Since moving to Montana, various maladies have been plaguing my poor body.

One thing is this pain in my hip that's been going on since September. Between the physical therapist and my doctor, we think that the pain might actually be being triggered in my back. I find this highly likely since my back hurts most of the time. Since physical therapy wasn't helping, my doctor ordered an ($2000) MRI, which showed -- NOTHING!!

So I've decided to start exploring some alternative, holistic approaches....

The other thing that is a huge problem is my constant nightmares/nightterrors. I don't get any sleep and neither does Aaron. For a while they seemed to be getting better, but now are back with a vengance. We'd been talking about trying some aromatherapy or noise machines. Saturday night, in the midst of some nightmare, I totally clobbered Aaron in the neck and chest, so we decided that now would be a good time to try something.

Sunday I got a lavender and thyme reed diffuser from Target for $17.49, hoping it will have a calming effect on my sleep habits. No nightmares last night (but I did dream about the stupid diffuser) and my shoulders seemed a little less tense than normal this morning, but I felt a little stuffy too. I think I'll give it a week and see if it helps the nightmares and doesn't give me massive allergies before recommending to others.

Auntie again

2009-02-23T11:30:00.003-07:00

Me: Alastair told me he needs a little cousin to play with.
Aaron: He can play with the cats.
Me: He can't play baseball with cats!
Aaron: Well, he can certainly try.

Congratulations to Andrew and Candice on the great job on beautiful Baby Alastair!

And Ali, keep being so cute and good and maybe we can get Uncle Aaron to come around soon and get you that little cousin to play with.

Wedding-Industrial Complex: Photographer

2009-01-22T13:21:00.002-07:00

Aaron and I just booked our photographer--Amy Berg. Yay! Once more thing off the list.

She's a friend of my colleague, Mike, and seems to be interested in trying something a little creative. Check out her portfolio. Anecdotally, most of the weddings in Montana seem to be ranch weddings, so you'll have to use your imaginations.

Someone should probably buy me this...

2008-11-04T15:22:00.002-07:00

Wedding-Industrial Complex: Flowers?

2008-11-03T15:16:00.006-07:00

The results are in: peacock overwhelmingly beat out coral for wedding colors.

I'm toying with not using flowers at all -- I'm not exactly sure what would work well with peacock feathers....

I did find this badass indigo-colored broom grass at Pier 1 for $6 a [handful]. And peacock feathers at this joint online for $50 per 100. I'm thinking of making the bridesmaids bouquets a mixture of the broom grass and feathers.

Update:
I bought the broom grass. There is one minor problem with it, and that is, the color comes off on your hands. I think it will be okay since I'll be wrapping the bouquets with ribbon, so the bridesmaids won't have to actually touch the grass part....

Wedding-Industrial Complex: The Colors Part Deux.

2008-10-13T16:10:00.002-06:00

In bed, this morning, I asked Aaron about his vision for the wedding -- his answer "peacocks".

I'm certainly a fan of peacocks and it works well with an Art Deco theme.

But now we have TWO possible color schemes! I need an opinion.

Wedding-Industrial Complex: The Colors

2008-10-01T14:52:00.001-06:00

Here is the color palette I'm thinking.

Wedding-Industrial Complex: The Venue

2008-10-01T08:52:00.003-06:00

I think Aaron and I have settled on a wedding venue -- The Florence Hotel in Missoula.

It's no longer a hotel, but the ballroom is available for events.

It burned down, or something, a couple times; the last time it was remade in the Art Moderne (late Art Deco) style. That was 1941 -- I think Art Deco was on the way out by then, but this is Montana, so styles take a while to penetrate the Wild West.

I'm a sucker for Art Deco. We've decided to use the architecture to drive the other components of the wedding.

So I'm off to the library to research Art Deco design.

Drinking the Kool-aid

2008-09-29T16:56:00.002-06:00

Saturday we took at trip to Missoula to check out the possible wedding venue.

On the way, I chose an Emmylou Harris album on the iPod and proclaimed I wanted to take a trail ride -- you know, with horses and outside.

Aaron put his hand on my forehead to check if I had a fever.

Yup. Horses and Americana. Drinking the Montana Kool-aid.

Fully Engaged

2008-09-14T13:24:00.006-06:00

My love life has been a bit tumultuous the past 18 months. I'll spare the kind-hearted reader all the gorey details, but this time last year, I was trying to break my engagement to my fiance of two years, boy-friend of four years. Then there was the never-quite-right relationship with my best friend/lover that totally imploded pretty much right after I brought him out to Montana. And then, in the midst of that tragedy that stole 4 months of my life, there was Aaron.

I was surprised when he asked me to marry him last last last Wednesday. We got all dressed up and he took me to high tea at the Fairmont Hotel in Seattle. Somewhere between scones with clotted cream and jam and the fruit tart, he asked me to stand up with him, got down on one knee, presented a very elegant diamond solitaire and asked me to marry him. And I whole-heartedly said yes.

It's been a quick courtship, but he's definitely the man of my dreams! (except for being 5'7" instead of 6'4" :)

Now I'm full of Engagement Anxiety, partly due to my own issues and partly trying to plan a classy, non-traditional wedding in a place where it seems the bulk of the brides wear cowboy boots.

This weekend we're checking out a potential non-rustic venue in downtown Missoula. Expect more wedding planning posts.

Being a grown-up is rough

2008-07-22T14:38:00.002-06:00

Here's an update for y'all:

I don't know why I do these things to myself, but here we go. One boyfriend moved out this morning. Another boyfriend is moving in.

Why? Why?

I'll say I'm trying to arrange a marriage for myself.

I'm pretty sure this one is going to stick. He's definitely the most compatible of the lot.

Other news: Great Condo Collapse.

Turns out buying a condo and rehabilitating it is next to impossible in Montana.
"Con-Doh?" They ask.
"Yes," I reply, "It's like a house, but in an apartment building. You build equity but don't have to mow a lawn."
???

Up next: Finding a new apartment.
Preferably one that has an oven that doesn't heat with a lightbulb and is not filled with old people or smell like pee.

Also must have enough room for 1,100+ books. Ah the joys of bibliophile boyfriends...I'll never be for want of something to read ever again.

Happy Vigilante Day

2008-05-02T16:30:00.002-06:00

Today was Vigilante Day in Helena. Early reports to me said that this is to commemorate the tradition of vigilante justice here in Montana, however this is incorrect. The the real scoop is that the parade, which appears to be the only event of Vigilante Day, was devised in 1924 as a way to keep the junior and senior class of Helena High School occupied so they would stop fighting with each other.

So, this seemingly endless (1.5 hour) parade consisted of floats constructed by kids from Helena and Capital High depicting Montana history. Maybe being a Minnesotan has PC-ified me, but I can't believe the subject matter these kids got away with!

White kids dressed up like American Indians (or Native Americans -- if you're reading from back home)
Several depictions of Saloons and Speak-easies
A couple of girls dressed up as prostitutes
A sign that read "Cowgirls last longer than 8 seconds"
Lots o' cap guns
And very many mock hangings!

Check out the pictures from last year (they look a little more wholesome than this year); hopefully they'll post the ones from this year too, as I forgot my camera.

Side note: all the kids got out of school at 11 am for this thing, so downtown has be swarming with wayward teenagers ever since. It also appears that all the cops in Helena are out on donut break, for no one is keeping an eye on them.

The Set

2008-04-11T17:33:00.003-06:00

So...right now most of my free time has been absolutely, wonderfully monopolized by Mr. Aaron Bouschor and learning a five song set for the next wine tasting party on April 23rd. Playing with him made me realized just how much I missed playing guitar, learning new things and having a product. Also, this is the first time I've played with someone (super fun). And, I might even try singing! This summer, we want to play out somewhere too!

We've got a kinda late 60s / 70s (and inspired by that era) singer/songwriter thing going right now.

Wish You Were Here -- Pink Floyd
Fever Dream -- Iron & Wine
These Days -- Nico (&Jackson Browne)
Trouble -- Cat Stevens
Thirteen -- Big Star
The Absence of God -- Rilo Kiley

Anyone else know anything that has two good guitar parts and can be sung in alto/tenor?

2008-03-16T18:54:00.002-06:00

As much as I've been bitching about Montana, I just had to post and say:
It was absolutely beautiful today.

Fellow Flatlander

2008-03-10T19:49:00.003-06:00

Just met a kid named Lance who spotted my Minnesota plates and followed me to my parking spot. He is a fellow displaced Minnesotan who can't wait to get the hell out of Helena. And he shares my sentiments on skiing (strapping waxed sticks to one's feet is a good way for a Flatlander to die).

The Scene must be created here. Any suggestions?

And, seriously, if someone wants to open a martini lounge here, I know a bunch of people who would patronize it (especially if you stay open past 11pm on a weekend...).

Survival Update

2008-03-09T16:09:00.002-06:00

2 months of living in Helena, Montana, and I am surviving, barely.

Winter is really hard here, even for a girl from Minnesota. It's a bit warmer here, but more windy, and Montana has this crazy thaw-freeze pattern that turns all the streets into ice rinks. Except, ice rinks would be the wrong term, since ice rinks are flat, and there's not a flat point in town. Helena is covered in icy hills, then, which are treacherous, at best, for my little Matrix to get around on. If I am so unfortunate as to spend another winter here (which I undoubtedly will be), I will have to invest in snow tires.

I think spring might be happening here, so things might be looking up...

My other major qualm is just that for some reason, every task here is 50% harder to accomplish here versus the Twin Cities.

Helena is most definitely not laid out on a grid -- so even when it's not sheer ice, it's difficult to find your way around the city. My friend N (who is stuck here as a city planner) says this is because Helena was hastily planned by a guy in Boston who forgot to take grade into account. That and they basically just threw his plans out the window and built shit whereever.

Grocery shopping (and really just shopping in general) is just frustrating. Wal-mart can be counted on for consistently good prices, however any item slightly out of the ordinary will be impossible to find. Also, Wal-mart is quite often out of food. And a total zoo of unwashed on the weekend. Albertson's produce is attrocious, and both they and Safeway require the use of retarded discount cards. So basically, they jack up the price of everything so you feel like you get a good deal. Seriously, my last bill went from $90 to $60 dollars once I showed my card! So, I think I will be shopping at Safeway in the future, but I cannot go with a grocery list. I have to shop only what's on sale (paying close attention to the quanity required for the discount -- another way they've screwed me! fuckers!) and try to fashion some meals out of that.

Other stores (if they're open) are miniature versions of what you would find in a big(ger) city. Therefore, they are often sold out of simple items requiring one to hunt around town to find, say, Lysol to clean the floor. And the customer service is just awful (seriously, your not going to take my return here, am I interrupting you reading the paper?)

And I have many other qualms, but enough of the bitching here.

I think I'm turning a corner from a mini-freak out I had brought on by my darling M, who had come for a visit, heading back home without me, a business trip to Denver, which looks a lot like Minneapolis, just closer to the clouds, and one too many people asking me if I ski. No, I don't, and I have negative interest in this activity.

My salvation has been the friends I've found out here; AB, ML, CF, AD, K & J L, KV and HB. Most of them are in the same boat as me: from a big city and stuck out here to get experience. I also think most of them are surviving this little town by concentrating on a finite existence here.
AB survives by taking regular trips to Missoula. I tried this strategy out this weekend, but I think the experience deserves it's own post, later.

So, the highlight of my week is Trivia on Tuesday. Our team is still chasing first place, but we've taken second a few times. There is an independent theater here -- I saw the Diving Bell and the Butterfly there last weekend, which was phenomenal. I also found a wine bar, but got chased out of it at 11pm on a Friday night... AB's apartment seems to be the only place in town to get a martini -- he should open a speak-easy.

That's about it. I'd say right now it's Big Sky-1, Taryn-0.

Foray into Cooking #1

2008-01-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

French Style Tuna melt from Rachael Ray. This was one of the first things I made once I moved out here. It is delicious and super easy to make. I think the Brie cheese is the secret to success. Also, I never knew that parsley was so tasty. My first attempt, I totally burned the bread under the broiler, but that was the only real mishap.

Mushroom and Thyme Risotto from The Naked Chef (Jamie Oliver). There is five tablespoons of butter in this recipe, so of course it's good. This actually tasted a lot better the second day, I think because I didn't quite have the timing right when I was adding my chicken stock and undercooked the rice. I had to use a lot of pans all at once, which was hard on my Easy Bake Oven/Stove, but I managed to pull it off.
Spinich Crêpes with Curried Krab from a low fat cooking book. This is actually the most vile thing I've ever eaten. Maybe it's because I used krab instead of crab. Maybe it really needed the mango chutney (doesn't exist in Montana). Either way, ick ick ick. The crêpes were a super huge pain in the ass to make too. You basically had to almost burn them to get them to hold together. Maybe I can salvage the crêpes, but the krab filling is going straight to the trash!

Confirmation of Montana Observation #1

2008-01-29T18:53:00.000-07:00

So I observed when I came out to interview here that everyone my age is married.

Chelsea and Megan confirm this:
1. More like, everyone over the age of 18 is married.
2. There is no singles scene.
2.1 Because the town is so small, no one will approach you in a bar. They would have to see you again if it didn't go well. Too scary.
3. They advise considering a long-distance relationship. (Dammit! I already did that and it sucked.)

The Microbrew Review

2008-01-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

I had my first social event last night. I went down to the Helena Civic Center (note: not a mosque) for the Annual Cool Dog Ball and Microbrew Review with the kids from work. Everyone in Helena between the ages of 21 and 30 were at this thing; totally the place to be.

$20 got you 7 -6oz. tasting glasses of Montana's finest microbrews. I liked the chocolate porter I had straight off the best. I missed out on the same brewery's cream beer, that Katie said was good.

Katie, her husband Josh and her friend Amy, Karl and I, the Montana newbies, hung out all night. I got to network with some other health department folks, namely Anne and Bridget, too. Chelsea, one of the other kids from work, has lived here since 2000. She literally knew every 9th person at this shindig, so we didn't see her all night.

But, we're all old, so our night was over at 10:30...

Snowed In

2008-01-21T13:38:00.000-07:00

Alright, I know I say I'm an indoor girl right in my blog title, but this is getting a little ridiculous!

Montana is cold as hell (as in the Dantean frozen lake sense...)! It snowed for a day and a half, resulting in about 8 inches of snow. I drive a Toyota Matrix, which, as much as I love it, is not great on snow. The spoiler catches on anything over 4 inches, ergo, I won't be going anywhere until they plow the alley out of my parking lot. It's Monday, we got the bulk of the snow on Saturday, so I'm not holding my breath. I'll probably wind up walking to work tomorrow, so I should try and find my long underwear and snow pants.

My goal for this weekend was to finish re-finishing the dresser I bought at Good Samaritan (pictures coming soon!) but I need to get out to Target to buy some hardwear and contact paper for the drawers.

So, I'm bored off my ass. Mayhaps, I will look at my yarn stash and see if there is a project contained there... I have a back log of sewing projects, but I need to purchase a work table before I can start any of those...Argh!

Home on the Range...

2008-01-19T17:07:00.000-07:00

I've successfully made it to Helena! I'm pretty much all set up in my apartment and work is going great!

I got back from my first Diabetes Coalition meeting in Billings yesterday. On the way, guess what I saw...deer and antelope! Ha Ha!

Also, there are actually tumbleweeds here...

Driving

2007-12-31T15:49:00.001-07:00

Big Changes for the New Year

2007-12-27T14:58:00.001-07:00

The movers came today and loaded my meager possessions onto a truck bound for Helena, Montana.

After two years of distance, Sean and I are done (being a Chinese housewife was just not for me). Now I feel like a 25 year old divorcée. I have a really pretty wedding dress, just in case I need to get married in a hurry.

I've been feeling like I need an adventure for several years now, however I didn't think that adventure would involve the Wild West. So, I got a job as a full-fledged Epidemiologist for the Montana Diabetes Project -- a great career opportunity for me -- but how will I, city girl through and through, survive tiny town Montana.

Minneapolis -- Population ~400,000
Helena -- Population ~40,000

2007-09-15T12:52:00.000-06:00

Uh oh... haven't updated the blog in a while... Here's what I'm up to:

My Master's is very nearly done! I defend my project on the 26th. What's my project called?
"Transcription factor 7 like 2 (TCF7L2), adipokines and other inflammation markers: The Athersclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study" Sounds pretty fancy, doesn't it. Here's what I'm studying in layman's terms: TCF7L2 is the product of a gene that was found to give carriers higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes. Inflammation is also associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes. My study is looking to see if TCF7L2 is related to inflammation.

Also, I'm looking for jobs. What I really want to do is get into pharmaceuticals. However, every job I find wants 3 years of experience (and sometimes a Phd, which I'm interested in pursuing, just not right now). Really, someone should hire me. I'm really good and I'm cheap (on account of the minimal experience).

Also, I'm looking for jobs in Taiwan (also here, but Taiwan would be better). I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to do that, though, since I don't really read Chinese. I was bitching about the pay being low there, but turns out the pay is low for anything I'm qualified to do here (until I get that magic 3 years XP). How my roommate got such a well paying job, I'll never know. Luck, I think.

But, do I move to Taiwan before I have a job lined up, move there temporarily to look? I don't know. Sean is coming to visit in a few days, so maybe we'll figure it out.

2007-02-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

It's day 19 of Taryn's continuous work extravaganza. I don't recommend it. Basically, all I want to do is work on my master's project because:
1. it's really neat
2. i want to get the hell out of this school
but alas, it is last on my list, which is ordered as such:
1. work at shoe store
2. work at MDH
3. class
4. homework with a due date
5. eating/groceries
6. sleeping
7. laundry
8. master's project

i think most weeks the master's project could go above the laundry, but i need clean laundry to go to work and work so that i can eat, so this past week laundry came first.

this weekend is my glorious, glorious weekend off. i was planning on having a homework free weekend, but it looks as if the SAS class has thwarted me with a two page homework due tuesday that has lots and lots of coding. Perhaps i will have to buckle down and do it thursday evening and friday before work so that the weekend of bliss can go as planned.
Saturday: I am going to the MIA for a wander in the morning and over to Matt's for a fencing club event at 7.
Sunday: I am going with my mom and sisters and roommate to look at wedding dresses! (kind of excited, kind of sickened by the girly-ness of it all)

Gettin' Busy

2007-02-06T19:48:00.000-07:00

Ha ha, if only.

But seriously, I'm super busy now. My field experience at the Department of Health has started (with pay!) and my master's project is reving up. 10 hours a week on the Field XP, 10 hours a week on the master's project. I'm still trying to do 25 hours at the shoe store until March, when I've requested to work between 12 and 15. If only I could quit, but alas, I must conserve my meager earnings for the move to Taiwan and the Wedding. I also need to put in 7-10 hours coding for my SAS class, which was something I hadn't totally anticipated. I figure between shoes, MDH, MP, classes and coding, I have about a 60 hour work week. Not so fun.

Sean had a job interview yesterday, which went well. However, he told me what he'd get paid and I've come to the conclusion that we're gonna be po' unless I get a decent job. If my calculations are correct he'd be making about $not enough an hour, when he should be making at least $15. I get that the cost of living is different, but I've lived there and it didn't seem that different. So, I'm trying to figure out what an apartment rents for in Taichung, but not having much luck. This is making me think I should re-think the 'teaching english for a year or so' plan and look for a real job sooner, but that will massively interfere with current wedding plans, so no way to win here. Of course at this point, everything is speculative, so I should stop worrying about it and concentrate on learning about Diabetes genes.

2007-01-07T19:48:00.000-07:00

Sorry, I've been too too busy to even think about writing the blog. Today is again action packed. I will post at length when I get home, lots of pictures too.

2006-12-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

The finals are nigh on done. Just one take home cardiovascular disease epidemiology final to go, due the 20th. Right now, I'm killing time before the first of 3 holiday parties I some how got invited and agreed to go to. Did I mention I'm not so into the whole Xmas thing. I had visions of making a t-shirt with a tiny heart and the words "three sizes too small" on it to wear to all these things, but alas, skool and shoes have sucked away all the time I would normally devote to such creativities.

So, I'm supposed to be unburying my bedroom, but it's reached the state where it would be easier to just pack up and move. I think I just get frustrated because back at the apartment, everything more or less had it's place, but here, it just explodes everywhere. My cds live in the hallway, which means they wind up in little piles everywhere in my bedroom because the hallway is too far from the stereo. Similar story for the knitting projects and sewing notions. I need to start a purge of useless junk. That can be part of my New Year's resolutions, which I'm being peer-pressured into doing.

My roomie Emily is sort of Pollyanna-ish and make all sorts of resolutions all throughout the year. I don't think I've ever made a one. So here goes:

1) Anything useless goes away
2) Learn one new song on the guitar every week.

I suck at this, obviously. She has like 15 resolutions all ready.

Here's another one:
3) Try to get excited you're getting married.

I'm working on this one. I bought bridal shoes. Check them out.

Oh, and I found a dress I actually like. It's not princess-y at all. Everyone who isn't Sean can look at it here.

2006-11-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm studying for my management test...or rather not studying for my management test. This class is bizarre. The prof is like a motivational speaker. When he's talking, you're like "Yeah, right on!", but then latter on, when you're trying to process the information in the class, and in the notes and in the book, you're like "what the fuck did we learn in class today?" "i seriously can't comprehend any of this"

for example:
What the fuck does "overestimating the power of authority and underestimating the authority of power" actually mean?

Check out my crappy paper!

2006-11-16T14:55:00.000-07:00

This is what I do with all my time: read journal articles and write papers where the page requirement it too limited to fully explore the issue!

Economic Implications of Family History Screening

In calculations of cost-effectiveness and utility, the population based approach to chronic disease prevention always wins (Hunt 2003). However, the reduction in chronic disease is leveling off. If we wish to drive the prevalence of chronic disease lower, a new approach must be taken. Targeting strong interventions to high-risk families should be used to supplement the population based approach. While the utility of the high-risk approach, barring fantastically effective interventions, will never exceed the utility of the population based approach, it is greater than the current utility of genetic screening. As technology improves, the synergy of the high-risk approach and genetic testing may create utility greater than the population based approach (Ross 1999).

The basic formula for utility is benefits minus costs. The benefits for chronic disease screening are primarily a decrease in years potential/productive life lost (YPLL) and a decrease in money spent of treating chronic disease. YPLL is a function of age of onset of disease morbidity and mortality (Gordis 2004). Money spent treating chronic disease is a function of the number of hospitalizations, drugs, surgeries; the costs of these treatments as well as the age of onset of disease morbidity and mortality. In multi-factorial disease, greater genetic involvement is correlated with earlier age of onset (Gordis 2004). Strong family history reflects more genetic involvement and accounts for a greater proportion of early disease. The Health Family Tree Study in Utah found that the 1% of families that had the strongest family history of CHD accounted for 17% of all early CHD events (Hunt 2003). Clearly these families will reap the greatest benefit from early intervention, as they will see the greatest reduction in YPLL and disease treatment costs due to the higher proportion of early onset disease.

Costs are comprised primarily of the cost of screening and the cost of a positive test result. Cost of screening is the number needed to screen to treat one person (NNS) times the cost of the test. NNS is calculated by multiplying one over the risk reduction attributable to the intervention by one over the prevalence of the exposure in the population (in our case, family history) times one over the sensitivity of the test (Higashi and Veenstra 2003). As the risk reduction of the intervention, prevalence and sensitivity of the test increase, the NNS decreases. The Health Family Tree Study in Utah found the prevalence of family history of CHD was 14% in their study sample (Hunt 2003). The cost of the test is very minimal for family history screening. Hunt et al. estimates, as technology increases, the cost of a screening test for family history could be less than one dollar per family (2003). Lower NNS and a cheap test translate to minimal cost of screening for the family health history approach.

The cost a positive test is a more complicated function of the monetary cost of the intervention, the time cost of the intervention, the specificity of the test, money and time costs of any other clinical visits (counseling, or to treat other conditions revealed by the test) and the “psychological ouch factor” caused by a positive test.

The “psychological ouch factor” is any anxiety, guilt, depression or other psychological stress resulting from the knowledge of a positive test result. It is highly variable between individuals and can be mitigated by careful counseling about test results. This factor can decrease utility directly by increasing costs (both monetary, from counseling bills, and non-monetary) and also indirectly by deceasing compliance with the intervention, thereby decreasing the benefit of the intervention. However, an optimal level of “ouch” is akin to perceived threat in the Health Belief Model, which we have seen can favorably predict behavior change, leading to increased compliance with an intervention and greater benefit.

Time costs and monetary costs of intervention vary with the intervention. A lifestyle modification intervention is likely to have lower monetary costs (possibly monetary savings, if smoking cessation is included) and higher time costs than drug intervention. Using drugs for primary prevention in a person with one risk factor for disease is generally the most expensive type of drug intervention. Primary prevention for a person with multiple risk factors is less expensive. Since multiple risk factors tend to aggregate in these families, thus drug therapy is likely to be more cost-effective in individuals with family history of disease (Hunt 2003).

The trends of higher benefit and lower costs give the approach of screening for high risk individuals through family history positive utility. If the utility, as predicted, is positive for screening for family history, insurance should reimburse screening and treatments at the level that maximizes this utility. Demand for screening varies directly with education and knowledge of the risks and benefits of screening (Higashi and Veenstra 2003). Just as one can use insurance reimbursement to decrease the price of screening and treatment to a level that increases demand, one can use risk/benefit education to increase demand to that optimal level.

A possible externality is also associated with insurance. Labeling a person as “high-risk” can have negative consequences with respect to insurance premiums and coverage. With family history assessment, as soon as one person is labeled “high-risk”, his or her first degree relatives (parents, siblings, and children) are also labeled “high-risk.” While this property is positive for assessments of number to screen versus number to treat (i.e. one screening event leads to the treatment of more than one individual), one family member’s decision to be screened could also negatively impact insurance premiums and coverage for the whole family. This property also impacts the “psychological ouch factor” as the “high-risk” label can cause anxiety at different levels in family members other than the proband. These externalities warrant careful consideration by the entire family before screening occurs.

While the high risk approach tends to lag behind population based approaches of chronic disease prevention, it is possible that because of greater benefit among families at high risk, aggregation of multiple risk factors within these families, and cheap screening costs, with a strong, effective intervention, it is possible that family history screening could approach the utility of population based approaches. Supply and demand analysis can help direct insurance company reimbursement and risk/benefit education campaigns. Because family history screening affects the whole family, careful counseling and consideration should precede screening in order to minimize negative externalities.

References

Gordis, Leon. Epidemiology. 3rd Edition. Elsevier Sauders. Pennsylvania. 2004.

Higashi, M.K. and Veenstra, D.L. Managed Care in the Genomics Era: Assessing the
Cost Effectiveness of Genetic Tests. The American Journal of Managed Care
2003; 9(7): 493-500.

Hunt et. al. Family History Assessment: Strategies for Prevention of Cardiovascular
Disease. American Journal of Preventive Medicine 2003; 24(2): 136-142.

McPherson, Elizabeth. Genetic Diagnosis and Testing in Clinical Practice. Clinical
Medicine and Research 2006; 4(2): 123-129.

Ross, Jeffrey S. Financial Determinants of Outcomes in Molecular Testing. Arch Pathol
Lab Med 1999; 123: 1071-1075.

Awesome news

2006-09-29T15:33:00.000-06:00

My mentor for my field experience gave a lecture for my Environmental Health class today. This gave me the perfect opportunity to corner her and ask what's been happening with my project. I was getting a little worried that she decided to get rid of me, but it turns out she was just super busy (as are we all). So, three pieces of good news:

1. The worksheet for family health history risk assessment I made for her to improve her workshop turned out to be really innovative. She took it with her to CDC and distributed it during a conference. So, now it's part of CDC's documentation of the conference and it's been picked up by several other research institutions. (!!)

2. The joint project with Al Sy using ARIC data is coming along. Once it materializes, it's mine.

3. I may get paid (!) to do my field experience, which is just double bonus for an already cool experience.

DDT is good for me!

2006-09-06T11:26:00.000-06:00

(this hilarious and frightening image was featured in today's Environmental Health class)

Other news:

Huzzah! I got an underground parking space! Too bad it wasn't before the Frat boys did $1300 worth of damage to my car (so says State Farm).

Damnation!

2006-09-05T21:24:00.000-06:00

1st day of Skool today. Or, as Dan put it, Skanky Girl Day. Gods I hate freshman! There's just too many of them. They take all the parking and buy all the food at the grocery so that no one in my househould can get a bottle of milk. Little locusts. I refuse to believe I was ever such a creature.

Also, work sucks. I only sold $59 in 7 hours. @#$! Someone should really come in a buy a handbag or a coat from me.

Tomorrow:
Get Frat Boy damage appraised -- 9 am somewhere in Vadnis Heights

Groceries
Laundry
Ink Cartridge

Environmental Health -- 1:25 pm

Work 5ish-9:30

Try to find parking 9:30-10 pm

Red Balloon

2006-08-31T11:14:00.000-06:00

Things are looking a little brighter today. I don't work until 4:45, which is almost like having the day off. I've got a few chores to do, but they shouldn't take too long, as I am not wasting another day trying to clean the shower. (Last time, it literally changed color and I only finished half in an hour.)

Don't know what to do with my afternoon. I thought about hitting up the yarn store, but I have some stash and no projects except for that damned kimono sweater that's taken me a year (one sleeve and the collar to go!). I'm waiting for Sarah to come back to start work on an orange raglan that will be part of Taryn's Look for Fall. Macy's is having a good sale, but I don't think I want to go to the mall today (as I spend way too much time there as is with work and all).

Good news, insurance does cover Frat boy damage, so I'll be able to get the car fixed without spending my meager scrimpings this month. Also, Mom's free haircut rocks! The bangs are perfect now and I feel like a cute little Mod. I'd like to lighten it, since I've been wearing so much black, but I really should spend my extra money this month on a couple pair of shoes. I've needed them for a few years now, so I really should stop putting it off, since I get a discount. Pretty hair would be nice...

Karma

2006-08-26T09:50:00.000-06:00

Seriously guys, what deity did I piss off? Check out this series of unfortunate events:

1 month of sickness

In 24 hrs:
Drunken college boys destroy my driver's side mirror
awful idiots at other Easy Spirit stores turned 20 minutes of work into 4 hrs worth -- sell no shoes
get locked out of apartment due to roommates garbage piling compulsions, with no shoes, no phone, pot of water on the stove. costs $15 to get back in.
dealer has to order part for car, waste of gas, several days without mirror
$34 parking ticket
awful gas milage

Consumption

2006-08-03T20:50:00.000-06:00

Okay, whatever this shit I've got is, you best not get it.
A dry, hacking cough, quite painful.
Hall's Fruit Breezers bring sweet relief, but only if I suck on one constantly.

Hooray!
Tomorrow is one of my only days off for this month.
I want to sleep in, but that would waste my precious, precious freedom.
On the schedule:
ER
Pleasure reading
Shopping (Consumption)
Crafting
Dinner with friends

If only tomorrow could last forever...<3

Queen of Hip Pop

2006-07-09T19:41:00.000-06:00

a reason to drink on a Tuesday...

2006-07-05T08:31:00.000-06:00

I hung out with the girls at Easy Spirit for the 4th of July. Everything started out okay at the fireworks; Kristie, India, India's fiance and his brother and I watched them on a blanket. The trouble started when sweet little Miss Susan's boyfriend came around. We're hanging out at Kristie's apartment, which is right next to Santana's, out on the balcony.

Okay, apparently, James (Susan's bf) goes into Santana's (real drunk, real underage)and says "That's an outrageous price for that cigar!" (probably like a real dick). At which point the owner of Santana's jumps out from behind the counter with a taser (don't fuck with a scorned Egyptian man). James thinks it's a real good idea to call the cops on the owner for threatening him with a taser, but then wanders over to Kristie's instead of hanging around.

Okay. so. I'm (and a few other people) are sitting on the balcony when the cops pull up. The owner of Santana's comes out of the store and starts gesturing in the general direction of Kristie's balcony where Nate ( a buddy of James who also looks a lot like him, but is not a douchebag) and I are sitting. We decide it's a good idea to go inside. Kristie closes the blinds so they can't see us ('cuz that won't be real obvious ...).

Everything is fine for a while. India and her crew go home. Nate goes home. James decides to leave, but says he'll call in a few minutes. I tell him, "Don't go near Santana's. Go around the block." Kristie, Susan and I are looking at photos when I notice the flashing lights from Santana's. So we go out on the balcony to see what's going on.

"Oh look, there's James!"
"Is he in handcuffs?"
"He *is* in handcuffs!"
"Are they taking him to jail?"
"Oh no wait, they took the cuffs off."
"Is he crying?"
[Susan]"what a little bitch..."
"Oh, they're letting him go...no wait he's going in the other squad car."
"You're boyfriend's going to jail, you better call Nate."
"I think it's time you get a new boyfriend."
"This is good James. He used to do cocaine. Now he doesn't even smoke weed or nothin'"
**Zuh?**
"Oh wait, Nate says they just dropped him off at home."

Is this what I missed out on my not living in Dinkytown all those years?

Wedding Crashing

2006-06-06T13:01:00.000-06:00

I went to Matt Hanna's cousin's wedding this weekend. "Why?" you ask. I will tell you: It was a Hindu wedding. Anyone who knows me know I love, love, love Indian things, so this was the height of awesome. One thing I learned, however, is that outdoor weddings, while the sound like a good idea, are not. One of two things can happen; the weather can be nice or it can rain. Of course, raining is bad, but, as I learned this weekend, nice weather is just as uncomfortable for your guests. The weather in Milwakee was gorgeous, sunny, 72 degrees. However, sitting in the glaring sun on concrete for 3 hours is not so pleasant. I had my SPF 50 super Taiwan strength sunblock, so I remained mostly pale. The Hanna clan did not fare so well. Matt's sister Laura had sunburn lines around the chunky bead necklace she wore.

But, despite the nice weather, the ceremonies (one Christian, one Hindu) were gorgeous. The groom's family are strict vegetarians, so they served Mutter Paneer and some sort of chickpea Masala for dinner. Matt was not a fan of the Indian food (Too mashed together, he thinks), but it was delicious. The dance was super fun. They played mostly Bollywood/Indian dance pop, which just makes you want to dance, and boy those Indian know how to party. Matt's sisters and mom got their groove on with me. I did manage to get Matt out on the dance floor for a short period (which was a small miracle; the kid can't even clap in rhythm) but he did well ;).

Getting back from the Green Bay area proved to be a challenge for me. I got to Wausau just fine, but something terribly wrong happened after that. I didn't exit or anything, but somehow I got off 29W. I'm boppin' along, singing with the iPod. I see a sign for Merrill, "Hmmm. that's ominously familiar..." Keep on boppin'. Then I see a sign for Rhinelander. Uh oh. Hey, where the fuck did all these pine trees come from?! Highway ends! 51N! How the fuck did I get here! So I found a gas station to turn around at, which was hard because I was out in the middle of the woods. I called Matt to tell him what an idiot I was. Then I saw a sign "59 miles to Wausau". "How did you get *that* far!" Matt says.

The logical answer is all the road construction in Wausau somehow got me diverted from the correct path. Personally, I think it's dark eminations from Rib Mountain. Seriously. There's one random mountain in the middle of Wisconsin. Here's a conversation Sean and I had three years ago:

Sean: Hey, look at that mountain!
Me: That's not a mountain. There are no mountains in Wisconsin. It must be a big hill.
Sean: No, I think it's a mountain.
Me: Naw. Let me check the map. *rustle rustle* Hey, whatdayaknow, there's one triangle on the whole state map. Rib Mountain. You were right!

Okay, so it's got to be some alien landing pad or something.

Oven Cleaning in Spring

2006-05-31T14:04:00.000-06:00

Thick, black, gooey grime;
Stick my head in the oven,
it all goes away.

Zen and the Art of Rollerskating

2006-04-05T12:21:00.000-06:00

I went rollerskating at Roller Garden with Villian and J last night. It was a big step for me. First, I have terrible balance (which I attribute to my towering height, tiny feet, weak ankle flexors and poor quality ears); sometimes I fall over just standing. Second, my obese childhood has robbed me of ever having any athletic prowress, though I am now shapely. Third, I was sure I'd have a panic attack due to some repressed childhood rollerskating trauma. Now, #3 nearly happened due to the backward, trick skating assholes playing "Fuck with the Noob" (though Villian thinks we're not clued into some rollerskating etiquette that says I should skate in the middle, not by the wall), but I just had to remind myself that all they have going for them is rollerskating, and I'm soo much cooler with my degree and all.

Rollerskating turned out to be an exercise in meditation for me. I had to concentrate real *real* hard to not fall over. I basically visualized my entire body reduced to a very dense orb floating just above my belly button. If I focused all my attention on that orb, I was able to skate fairly well. Chanting a mantra seemed to help too. Pretty much, if they had been playing some ambiant techno or new age music instead of the '90s hip-hop, I would have communed with god or become enlightened or something.

Is rollerskating my Bohdi tree?

Engagement Party

2006-03-19T02:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Taipei

2006-03-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

Sean's been keeping me pretty busy so this is the first chance I've gotten to post...

My flight went rather well. Nothing got delayed. The ride was pretty smooth. And I was able to sleep (but probably only because I drugged myself with antihistamine). Hooray! That being said, I was still horribly jetlagged until today when I was able to sleep until 8 am!

The first day in Taipei was really nice. 80 and sunny. Sean took me to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial (which is pictured below).The memorial and surrounding gardens are very beautiful. The memorial also seems to be guarded by some crazy moose-monster...(Sean says it's really a Chi-ling, which is a mythical Chinese animal related to the dragon).

Sunday Sean decided to take me to Yaming Mountain to see the Sakura (cherry blossoms), which would have been great, except it was raining and shitty. We didn't stay up there long. I could do with a winter jacket, it's actually pretty cold right now. And wet. So the cold gets right into your bones and stays there. Btw, I've discovered they make Sakura flavored Kit-kat...

Monday we went to Hualien. We were supposed to go there last time I was here but the typhoon thwarted that trip. Hualien reminds Sean and I of Duluth. It's a very small city on the Pacific Ocean coast. Nobody lives there. Sean says this is because there's really no flat area between the ocean and the mountains. That day we went to this ocean themed amusement park. They had a good sealion and dolphin show and a mermaid show(which is like synchonized swimming), and also showed manatee. Oh yeah, here's more proof of evolution: this fish has straight up feet.

Tuesday we went on a guided tour of the Taroko gorge with two Canadian ladies. Mr. Sam was our tour guide. He spoke English, but Sean wound up doing a fair bit of translating on harder subjects. Pictures don't do this place justice on how pretty it is.

I've run into a few more Americans and Canadians than usual and find them really annoying. I keep detecting these bigoted undertones in what they say. People do things differently here. It's not any better or worse, just different. Sean thought the Canadians on our trip were annoying too (he wouldn't help them bargain). It was really funny; they'd spend hundreds of dollars on just junk, but then when we got to a store that was actually selling something valuable (jade jewelry and such) they turned their noses up.

Back in Taipei today. Carl's coming up from Taoyuan to take care of me today while Sean works.

A-Line Blythe Dress

2006-02-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

IMG_0917
Originally uploaded by tarynagogo.

Look! Look what Villian's scraps can do!

So cute

2006-02-08T22:13:00.000-07:00

IMG_0932
Originally uploaded by tarynagogo.

Blythe flowered dress

2006-02-03T19:27:00.000-07:00

Blythe flowered dress
Originally uploaded by tarynagogo.

Finished a new dress for Blythe.

Miracle of Life

2006-01-29T15:18:00.000-07:00

The miracle of life has visited my fish tank! Two days ago I noticed a baby fish! (See artist rendition) Lolli had looked pregnant -- I think I even saw a gravid spot. I haven't seen the little guy since. Despite my best (drunken) efforts to remodel the fish tank to afford him more catfish-free hiding spots, he probably got eaten :(

Also, not getting much sleep or homework done as of late due to the fornicative stylings of my upstairs neighbor, Fei Pwo. I briefly considered sleeping on the couch last night for fear the ceiling in my bedroom would cave in. One wouldn't think a perfectly spherical woman such as Fei Pwo would get that much play...

Half-Dead and Dynamite

2006-01-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

Why oh why do I compete collegiately for fencing?

This time, I travelled 12 hours to Purdue only to be struck down with a damnable Norovirus (=food poisoning). Though I was ready to pretty much die, I still managed to win 7 of my 9 matches (and the two I lost were feather dusters (4-5). The general disorganization of these things also annoys me and my illness greatly reduced my dork patience.

Also, at 23, I am old. Oberlin apparently has a queer or queer-friendly women's epee team (what with the rainbow socks and triangles). Since I live in the gayest part of Minnesota, rainbows are an everyday occurance for me. However, some of my teammates were intrigued enough to comment. And I'm thinking Who cares? Lesbians, schmesbians. but then I remember, ah yes, my teammates are 18 and naive. This is probably their first experience with alternate sexualities...

Please Don't Feed The Shop Girls!

2006-01-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

Ahhh, Family Day.

So much fun for the patrons. So much un-fun for the shop girls.

Why is it that the sound of children giggling brings out the worst in people?

Nobody seems to understand that we lowly gift shop employees have no say in museum operations. All the complaints come to us. We are just here to take your money. That's it. Think the shop is over priced? Can't help you. You haven't been a member since 1999, I can't give you a discount.

Be nice to the shop girls. They work for food.

A Very Biohazard Christmas

2005-12-23T19:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Melissa,

Thank you ever so much for the viral Christmas present. The headache, fever and nausea are divine and the crushing lethargy is an lovely added touch. Hopefully, next Christmas I can return such a thoughtful gift. Perhaps a norovirus or a nice, old fashioned strep!

Thanks again,

Taryn

P.S. I hear Leanna is enjoying her gift as well!

Mad Scientist

2005-12-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

That's right, kids, it's official, I'm a Mad Scientist. I think this is the natural promotion from Science Genius Girl. Anyhoo, (the company) Mad Scientist hired me this morning. It's a company that does science demonstrations for elementary school kids. It pays about $20 for 1.5 hours of work. Now some of you think, "little kids, oh hell no" and I'll admit, for someone who generally likes children, I'm a little bit wary. It could be fun, it could be more trouble than it's worth, but I'm going to try it out. The season runs Jan 3 - March 30, so if I hate it, I can be done then, no problem. They also run a chess program, which it sounds like I will be teaching due to my stint on the chess club in high school. The chess program seems like less pressure. I think I would rather teach that than the science classes.

Oooh! I can come up with a persona to teach in, which means excuse to make a costume. I definitely need a name fitting of a Mad Scientist...hmmm.

On a related note (because I had to venture out in it for the job interview), snow sucks. The Matrix is about as agile in the snow as, say, a rhinoceros. I got stuck in it and freed myself like a half a dozen times before I got really stuck in the middle of the alley behind my apartment trying to get into my parking space, which is rendered useless by snowfall greater than 3 inches. Did I mention the car got stuck in park as well? Yeah, I put it in park to try and dig it out somemore and then tried to put it into a gear to try moving it again, but no, stuck in park. This sent me into panic and a flurry of obsenities. Of course, there's no one around to help me at 11:30 on a weekday. Only the flute guy, and he plays the flute all day, so I'm guessing he's not to much help with the automotive side of things. I called my All-Knowing-Sire, who told me to call the dealer, who, thankfully, told me about a magick button that would release my car from PARK. Right about this time, Brett the Caretaker either came home or woke up (he looked a little dishevelled), so I recruited him to help free the car. Brett the Caretaker is awesome, so is his partner Christy the Caretaker. Brett the Caretaker dug out my parking space, found the magick button, and finagled the car into the space (I helped push a little) all with a smile.

Onward Christian Soldiers!

2005-12-13T11:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday Bob, Heather, Dan S. and I went to see Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. My advice to you is wait for video. The movie didn't really pick up until the kids met Aslan, which was over an hour into the flick. And then, the Christian allegory insues. Some asshole in the theater actually screamed "He is risen!" when Aslan is "resurrected." This is immediately followed by a clunky and surprisingly violent battle sequence. Something was just off about the whole movie (other than the pacing). It didnt' seem to have any heart. The White Witch was pretty awesome, though.

Tripped out PBS

2005-12-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

I was flipping channels somewhat late the other night and landed on PBS. I had to check because they were showing swirly graphics and playing classic rock. At first, I thought, "Man, PBS is really going down hill" (not to mention down market) catering to the stoner crowd. Turns out, it was a documentary on Mandelbott sets and fractals. I watched for awhile; they'd interview a mathmatician, then show 1-2 minutes of fractal art with classic rock backing, then back to the math guys and so on. Very bizarre.

B's new clothes

2005-12-01T22:09:00.000-07:00

I don't know if it was all the cyborgs I've been reading about, but I was hit by the sudden compelling urge to make doll clothes. And so, Blythe has a much needed new outfit. I finished the multicolored sock yarn sweater started weeks ago at Villian's and made matching flared trousers and cap. Hella cute.

2005-11-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

The Noble Princess

You are just and fair, a perfectionist with a
strong sense of proper decorum. You are very
attracted to chivalry, ceremony and dignity.
For the most part you are rather sensible, but
you are also very idealistic.

Role Models: Guinevere, Princess Fiona (of Shrek)

You are most likely to: Get kidnapped by a stray
dragon.

What Kind of Princess are You? - Beautiful Artwork (Original Music is BACK!!!)
brought to you by Quizilla

Trogdor

2005-11-12T14:08:00.000-07:00

Trogdor: the original
Trogdor: the dictionary definition
Trogdor: the Game

Went lifting yesterday with Ejvin and Garry from fencing. I now have Trogdor arm from many prison-movie bicep curls.

After lifting and building weapons, Ejvin, Matt Hanna and I spontaneously went to the orchestra. Doc Severison directed some local acts such as Cantus and this dude name Bruce Henry. Nachito Herrara played too, and I love Cuban music, so that was extra awesome. After the show, I took the boys to Little T's in their suits. It was fun.

Today at work, I'm pretty sure some perv took a picture of me while I was ringing people up, so keep your eyes peeled for my cleavage on the internet.

Test Anxiety

2005-11-10T13:50:00.000-07:00

It's test day in Epi-land again. After freaking out basically since the last Patho test and copious amounts of Tea Garden studying, I was pleasantly surprised to see that crazy old Dr. Crow changed the test format to multiple choice. This made the previously unwinable Path test actually managable, although a number of us were convinced that the old Dr. was trying to trick us and thus felt the need to ammend multiple choice answers with explanatory paragraphs on the side. It feels like I did well, but that's what I thought last time when I got a B-. Unfortunately, The Cheater probably still got a good grade on this one, only hopefully she didn't ace it this time.

Also today, an uneventful (except for having to calculate standard deviation for a 10+ sample) Biostats test, which I'm sure I rocked.

Later, test day Happy Hour with the rest of the Epi group.

Halloween

2005-10-30T20:48:00.000-07:00

Operation: Taxidermy

2005-10-24T19:38:00.000-06:00

This crazy looking bird flew into the glass entry at the Museum Sunday. CJ and I thought it was a Common Snipe, but on futher inspection, turns out it's actually a Woodcock.
I decided that the ornithologists at the U would like to have him, and thusly collected the specimen. Good thing the car was cold. Dragging a dead bird to class was kinda weird too:
"Whatcha got in the bag, Taryn?"
"Dead Woodcock."
"Oh."
"Don't worry, he died of blunt force trauma."

I probably looked extra eccentric today. I made a daring fashion decision and took a cue from Stray Cat in Pistol Opera and wore the sweet Batiked kimono I got at Goodwill for $4 with black boots. Totally female assassin-core. And I was carrying a dead bird around.

Speaking of eccentric, anybody who frequents the C.C. Club know Booty? You know, the skinny, shrunken, Mark Hamill on heroin lookin' dude. Any thoughts?

2005-10-20T11:46:00.000-06:00

You Are 27 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.

13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.

20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.

30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!

40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Cyber Olive Branch? + Pretentious Movie Night

2005-10-13T16:46:00.000-06:00

Today, on myspace, JG (for you who knew me in MS or HS, you know who this is) friended me. To accept or to deny. She made me miserable in MS. Maybe this is some sort of cyber olive branch or maybe she's just trying to amass friends. Or maybe my problem with her was 10 years ago, so I should just let it go.

JG was pretty straight laced and ordinary in HS. Her profile has a lot of indie music and movies. This leads me to believe indie=trendy. Ah well, at least more people are listening to decent music.

Her profile also lists La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2 as favorite movies along side Ace Ventura Pet Detective and Free Willy (hmmm...).

Somewhere along the line, I must have missed out on the pretentious movie bandwagon. I feel left out. I think the only remedy to this problem is to get Netflix and start rentin' em up.

La Dolce Vita and 8 1/2 seem like a pretty good place to start. Any other suggestions?

Philosopher

2005-10-09T15:08:00.000-06:00

Courtney's Prof:

"I can never have a girlfriend, because every time I do, I get all, like, philosopher on them. They'll ask me, "Tom, are you happy?" And I'll reply, "What is happiness really..."

Deerhoof

2005-09-27T10:21:00.000-06:00

Finally got together with Matt H. We went to the Triple Rock Social Club to see Deerhoof. The Triple Rock was neat (first time there) and Deerhoof rocked. Unfortunately, I did happen to cross paths with one of my stalkers (okay, not really stalker, but clingy-guy-I-knew isn't as catchy). I can't remember his name...Mike maybe. I did catch him looking at me, but there was no verbal communication. Hooray! Deerhoof is like the meeting of both my music worlds. All the sensibility of rock with all the eccentricities of J-pop.

Also met Matt's friend David. David drives the school bus for elementary school over in North Minneapolis. Since he's the low man on the totem pole, he gets all the challenging routes. He told us a story about Crunk man (on of his charges), the 11 year old that gets the whole bus of grade schoolers fired up for Lil John, swears and all.

The rest of the night was spent hanging out at Matt's house, chatting, and cuddling Matt K's cat O-tsu's kittens. Oh yeah, also trying to escape Emily with a spider and not end up in Matt K's lap (which is hard to do with a sleeping kitten in your lap. I wish I weren't allergic, they're so cute!).

Worst Break-up Ever/Hell hath no fury...

2005-09-22T11:41:00.000-06:00

My fellow Epi student Nicole told this story about her future brother-in-law this morning whilst we were waiting for Path class to start:

The brother has been working as an English teacher in Korea for quite a while. He was dating a local. Apparently, he dumped this girl rather harshly, so she decided to get revenge.

By getting him deported!

Imagine having only 24 hours to leave a country all because you pissed some girl off...

Pathophysiology Fact of the Day

2005-09-22T11:20:00.000-06:00

Your body produces bleach. Who knew!?
superoxide => peroxide => bleach (via MPO enzyme)
This all happens in the macrophage when they're trying to kill a bacteria they've phagocytosed.

Knife Fight

2005-09-17T14:35:00.000-06:00

(as told by Leanna)

Isaac and London Pete were backpacking in Spain. While enjoying the view up on a mountain, they were approached by two Spanish boys (around 16 or 17 yo) and asked to buy drugs. Anything they wanted, the boys had. Isaac and London Pete were cool, didn't need any drugs, but hung out with the boys for a while anyway. Apparently, in this part of Spain, people live in caves. The boys asked I and LP if they wanted to come back to their cave for some Moraccan tea. Isaac thought this sounded a little sketch, but LP really wanted some Moraccan tea, so Isaac agreed to go. They hiked down the mountain and it started to get dark. They still hadn't reached the cave when they started up another mountain, so London Pete moved his knife from his backpack to his front pocket for protection.

Finally, the guys reached the cave. The boys shut an iron gate behind them and introduced them to a woman named Rosario that lived in the cave. Isaac and London Pete noticed that Rosario seemed very nervous in the short conversation they had before she disappeared into a back room. Isaac and London Pete made themselves comfortable in two easy chairs whilst the boys fixed the tea.

All of the sudden, in stormed a huge Moraccan guy. He locked the gate and a massive metal door behind him. He walked over to Isaac, palmed his head into the back of the chair and took his backpack. This was especially bad because the backpack containted a large sum of money, credit cards and Isaac two passports. LP pulled his knife out of his pocket and held it to the Moraccan guy's throat, demandin he let Isaac go and return his backpack. The Moraccan guy didn't seem to be fased by this and grabbed the blade of the knife, intending to close it. London Pete had locked the knife in the open position, so the Moraccan guy slices open the palm of his hand.

At this point, the Moraccan pulls out an even bigger knife and goes after London Pete. Scrawny Isaac attacks the Moraccan. A scuffle ensues in which the candle that had been lighting the cave is knocked over. Now, they're in a knife fight, in the dark. But not for long. The candle ignighted a tapestry hanging on the cave wall, soon filling the cave with smoke.

Rosario runs screaming out of the backroom, panics, unlocks the door and the gate and runs out of the cave. Isaac follows her, followed by the Moraccan, the Spanish boys and London Pete, who had enough sense to grab Isaac's backpack before exiting.

The Moraccan, tired of the fight, tries to explain that this was all a big misunderstanding...

Isaac and London Pete ran down the mountain, stopped in at the first pub they saw, and realized they were covered in blood. Turns out, they escaped with a few minor cuts.

Save Dave

2005-09-15T10:22:00.000-06:00

I made a new friend today; he's a fellow Epi MPH named Dave. Guess where Dave was supposed to be attending grad school this year: Tulane. So, needless to say, Dave has nothing; he even needs shoes. I'm trying to figure out what my meager budget can spare for Dave.

So far, we're getting along famously. I'm glad to make a new, cool friend.

Aborted Rock

2005-09-10T14:22:00.000-06:00

Trying to figure out what to do with myself now that Sean's out of the country. I decided that some of the happiest times I've had were going to shows with Matt H. back in high school and early college. So, I'm trying to reenter the scene. The problem is, I don't really know where the scene is these days, but I saw that Faux Jean was playing the Funk at the Fred at the Weismann Art Museum, and I've really wanted to see them play for a while now, but it just didn't work out when Sean was around.

So off to the Weismann I went. Late, because I wanted to skip as many openers as possible. I made it in time for the second half of the Digitata set, which turned out to be really, really good; so good, I ran over to Coffman after their set to get some money to buy a cd. I guess maybe I should not skip openers as often in the future.

While I was waiting for Faux Jean to start playing, I met this really cute boy. And I stress the word boy. Probably wasn't 18 yet, and you could tell talking to him. But, he was nice enough and eye candy. Curly, cinnamon colored hair, deep brown eyes and a scruffy little beard and an overall nice shape. Aparently, so other granny-rocker like me thought the same, because he (Josh btw) started talking to me after this older indie rocker with crazy blonde curly bouffant-on-the-top, slicked-on-the-sides hair threw a card with "cute boy" written on the back in his lap. "Oh great, so 40 year old lady is hitting on me," he says. "I don't think she looks that old, maybe 30," I replied. We chatted for a while and I think he looked kinda bummed that I had a boyfriend. I thought it was pretty neat to talk to such a nice male specimen as he. I think he was probably equally excited to talk to a hot, 23 year old grad student. But, I am taken and he is jail bait, so no pedophilia happening there.

Oh yeah, after all that waiting, the power went out and the facilities managment guys couldn't get it back on, so no Faux Jean and hence Aborted Rock.

Dude, Where's My ...

2005-09-07T11:28:00.000-06:00

Green CD wallet.

Anybody seen it? It's lime green with my name written on it is blue nail polish. Last time I saw it, it was on my desk or bookshelf. Now, gone.

It's not in the car, in the bookshelf, on my desk, under my bed, in the cd shelf in the living room. Any ideas?

Too cool for school

2005-09-07T10:58:00.000-06:00

First day of graduate school yesterday. So far g-school is disappointing. Pathophysiology of Human Disease lecture was boring yesterday, but I hope it picks up once we get into the meat of the course. So far, the professor just reads off his powerpoint slides and gives lots of definitions. Plus it's at 8am, which is far to early for me. 8 it self wouldn't be to early, but I have to get on the bus (the earlier bus as the 7:39 bus got me to school late) before 7:30. Which means I have to get up around 5:45, which I haven't done regularly since high school.

One would think that a graduate level Biostatistics course would be somewhat difficult. No, not so much. My instructor sounds exactly like the mom from Bobby's World. I'm just waiting for her to say "Oh, for cute!" Her tone in class is definitely more suited to kindergartners than grad students. Yesterday, we went in depth on how to create stem and leaf plots, histograms and timelines. When did you all learn to make histograms and timelines? I think it was 4th grade for me, with graph paper and colored pencils. "Anybody lost? Are we going to fast?" Oh yeah, she actually apoligized for an example for which one needed to find the mean being "too mathy." I checked the syllabus: everything we're learning this semester I learned last semester in my undergraduate Data Analysis class. But alas, I must take this class because I need to learn how to use SAS and the college is making me. I will get an A in this class. I will be the top student in this class.

Epidemiology class is going to be awesome. When I met Dr. Pankow (rhymes with Bronco) he seemed kinda twitchy, which made me nervous to take his class. Turns out he's a really great lecturer. Nice use of Powerpoint, anecdotes, and stiff little jokes. This will be the best class on my semester, I'm sure.

My Exciting NIght

2005-09-01T15:08:00.000-06:00

Here's what I did last night:

I watched "Ten Things I Hate About You" (my fav teeny-bopper romance) while following along in my Complete Works of Shakespeare (it's based on The Taming of the Shrew, for all those unfamiliar with Ten Things) and eating left over Vietnamese food, out of the carton with chopsticks, in my underwear, in my bed.

Conclusion:

Ten Things is very very loosely based on the Shrew. Why did I used to love Letters to Cleo? They are basically a cover band. My life is sad.

Which Movie Star?

2005-08-30T22:39:00.000-06:00

If you had to compare your looks to a movie star (or other famous person), who would it be?

Sean is easy. Chow Yun-Fat. Even his mom says he looks like Chow Yun-Fat. Sean's admitted his personal style developed out of Yun-Fat's character in The Replacement Killers.

What about me? I just don't know. Recently, I've gotten:

Gwyneth Paltrow
Laura Prepon (probably more because we're the same size person)
Kirsten Dunst (which bums me out because I just don't like her)

And CJ thought Mandy Moore

Army Sean

2005-08-28T21:13:00.000-06:00

Sean posted a picture of himself after 20 days at bootcamp. I barely recognized him.

9th Circle of Hell

2005-08-21T11:07:00.000-06:00

After much trial and tribulation, I've finally arrived back in Minnesota. And, I'm thoroughly jet-lagged, though not quite as much as going out to Taiwan. I woke up at 6 am this morning.

I must have bad airport karma. I was delayed getting out of Taipei, but that didn't matter too much because we were taking the same plane from Osaka to Detroit. That flight proved to be hellish. Because I was all alone, I was fortunate enough to get to sit by 7 -8 yr old James, which I've lovingly rechristined the Demon Child. If there ever was a child in need of Ritalin, James was that boy. He literally bounced around in his seat for 12 HOURS. Most of the time he was bouncing, he was also talking, singing or whining loudly to himself. He bounced while reading. He bounced while playing Play-Doh. Sometimes he found it amusing to flick his light on and off, on and off. Or open and close the window shade. Or mess with the air controls. And where was his parent all this time? Sleeping between me and him, only waking to eat and occasionally half-heartedly tell her child to "Swei-jiao" (sleep).

To make matters worse, my seat was broken. The previous occupant had thought it awesome to break off the tip of his headphones deep inside the plug. I asked the flight attendant if I could move (and therefore escape Demon Child), but alas the flight was totally full. Therefore, no radio for Taryn. No movies for Taryn. No escape from the Hell Spawn.

incidentally, I've flown 4 times between the US and Japan, and 3 of the 4 times my seat has been broken. Either I'm really unlucky, or most of Northwest's airplane seats are broken.

Finally make it to Detroit and I'm feeling pretty good considering. Only an hour and a half flight to go and I'm home...or so I think. Get boarded on the aircraft, wait around for a while and the captain comes on saying they forgot to sign some log book or something. So they have to get some guy up here to sign it or something. Wait some more. Captain comes on again. Uh-oh, there's some maitenance problem with the plane that they have to pressurize the cabin to check so we all have to de-plane (leaving our baggage behind). I decide this is a good moment to get some Taco Bell and call my dad. Whilst on the phone, it is annouced that our plane is broke-assed and we all have to get our bags off the plane and go to gate 41/43 to be rebooked. Awesome. I wait in line for like an hour or two ( I'm at 30 hours of no sleep at this point so time means nothing to me) and finally am told I'm booked on the 10:23 flight back to Minneapolis.

I sit. I knit. At 7 pm, I start hallucinating bugs during dinner. At 9 pm, I'm shivering uncontrollably. I get back to North Saint Paul at 12:30 am, 9 hours late.

Now, I'm back at my apartment. It is obvious that my roommate has not been living here. No food in the fridge. The bathroom is covered in black dirt from the window that's been left open. She hasn't even unpacked yet. So, in essence, she's the perfect roommate. Pays the rent. Doesn't leave dirty dishes in the sink. All I have to do is close the door to here room and it's like I'm living all by myself.

Back to unpacking and then off to the kiddie b-day party!

Heading Home

2005-08-16T01:43:00.000-06:00

This will be my last post until I get to America. Tomorrow, we're going to Taipei for the day. Then, I fly out nice and early on Thursday morning.

Sean's mom just finished packing my bags for me. Damn, that woman must be good at Tetris.

Later gators.

Vintage Image Captures Taryn's Mood

2005-08-14T08:37:00.000-06:00

I slept like shit last night. Lisa and I stayed up 'til 2 am watching "White Chicks". If you want to watch a movie about guys in drag, I suggest "Some Like It Hot", on which this movie is loosly based. Then, finally going to bed, my mind was racing thinking about Sean, and school, and work (or lack thereof) and money (also, lack thereof). I think I finally got to sleep around 4 - 4:30 am. Sean's mom finally woke me up around noon.

Sean's mom asked if I wanted to change my ticket so I could stay until next Sunday to see Sean again before I go. As much as I want to see him, I think I just want to get the hell out of Taiwan more.

So, I've been rather unenthusiastic today, even though Sean's mom and dad tried to distract me with a day trip to Sanyi today. We went with Sean's dad's classmate and her twin daughters. Aparently, they got 100% on their high school entrance exams in English (They did speak very well for 15 year olds).

Sanyi was mostly hiking. We stopped for tea at this cafe by the old train station. Interestingly, at this tea shop, they teach you how to make tea and a few desserts the old fashion way. The three girls and I worked on making a special kind of green tea.

First, you grind the tea leaves. Then, you grind up sesame seed with the tea. Next, you add and grind up some peanuts. Then, you add powdered green tea and mix it all together. Finally, spoon some of the concoction into tea cups (much more than you think you'll need), add hot water and crispy rice and Voila!

Handmade green tea that tastes like drinking peanut butter. It's really thick and creamy. I think it would be better in the winter time.

Later on, we went to dinner at this place called Green Ark. I was a little confused getting there. At 7 pm in Taiwan, it's dark. It's dark, and we're driving down this windy, little, unkempt road in the middle of the jungle. Hmmm. So, we finally get there, and we have to walk 10 minutes to the restraunt down a windy, little path in the middle of the jungle. I can hear muck too much wildlife. We get to the restraunt and, whatdayaknow, looks just like Noah's Ark. It's kind of a fancy restraunt. They serve cuisine. But we had to kill three exotic looking bugs during dinner and there were about a millon bihus hanging around the lights outside the door, so I think the real reason they call it Green Ark is on account of all the animals inside.

Pre-Teen Bonding

2005-08-12T09:46:00.000-06:00

Okay, maybe more like teen bonding because the girls I hung out with today were nearly 14 and 16. We went to this store that sell all manner of beauty aids, which Sean has affectionately dubbed "The Girl Store". I needed to pick up some eyebrow shavers because the beautician told me I have over-plucked my eyebrows and now have a bald spot and shaving is better because it looks more natural. I think we spent an hour and a half perusing the hair doodads, cute socks and stationary. Afterwards we went to Sogo Department Store and "window shopped" (as Lisa put it, I told her "good use of English vocab") although there aren't any windows. Lisa really reminded me of Sean while we were shopping. She told a story about shopping with her (unfortunately named) friend Fanny, who isn't allowed to wear clothes that aren't conservative at home. I think she must have lamented to Lisa that she could never wear some cute fashion at which point Lisa encouraged her to just try it on. She thinks there's no harm having fun trying on something that you would never be allowed to wear at home. Often, when Sean and I are shopping, and I spot something I really like that is way out of my budget, he always encourages me to just try it for fun, when I would be inclined to just put it back.

Anyway, while shopping, I learned all about Taiwan teen culture: which schools have the best uniforms, which Chinese male singers are cutest, which Chinese female singers have the best voices, which bands are total posers, that Jojo Jeans suck, how to buy shoes, which boys in class are weird, and much much more -- all in broken English!

We also had Korean barbeque, which was good eating it, but then bad later. Probably a combination of nerves and weird food gave me a bad stomache ache. So I've eaten Korean food twice and its been bad news twice. Should I try it again, or am I just a gluten for punishment?

Also, I have rotten luck. I sat around all night until like 9 o'clock when Lisa asked if I wanted to go to the video store. Of course, during the half hour we were gone, Sean called. Hopefully, he'll get a chance to call again.

Army Scouts

2005-08-11T09:14:00.000-06:00

Sean is confused:

He's not sure if he's going to boot camp, or boy scout camp!