Haven't given much of an update lately on what I've been up to.

The weekend before last my sister, Madeline, and Christian came up to visit. I met them downtown on Saturday and my sister took me to get my first ever professional manicure. I had a lot of fun and Maddie is a joy. She is so huge, though! I'd swear she was 10 or 11 if I didn't know she was 7.

Last weekend, invalid_userid came down for the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows release. purpleglitter, invalid_userid waited in the long line in Harvard Square. Usually waiting in lines is boring, but with the crowd I had a great time. There were a couple profiteers who got in the front of the line and walked down it trying to sell their books for $50. I didn't see anyone buying, but I'm sure they found someone when they got near the end (which rumor had it was somewhere in Watertown). I was very excited to get merryperseis's register when I finally got my books, I had thought the odds of that rather slim.

zarthon took purpleglitter, invalid_userid and me out to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix the next day. Inevitably a lot of the book was left out, but I think enough critical stuff was missing that someone who hadn't read the books probably wouldn't be able to make much sense of it.

Sunday, we all went to the Museum of Science. The exhibits there have enough range to appeal to any level of scientific knowledge. We saw a demonstration of the still very functional original Van de Graaff generator built by Robert J. Van de Graaff in 1933, but my favorite part of the Museum of Science visit was the butterfly exhibit, where a large owl butterfly landed on my shoulder and sat there for a very long time just looking at me and occasionally stretching its wings. Looking into the butterfly's eyes made me regret all the nasty rhetoric I've spouted about exotherms.

Next weekend, our new landlord is coming to visit from California. She has not seen the building in over a year. I'm excited to meet her, she sounds awesome over the phone. She's trying to rent the unit next door, so if anyone is interested in a two-bedroom in Arlington, let me know.

At the end of next month, I will be heading down to see my sister in the Washington, D.C. area. My mom will be visiting there at the same time, so it should be a great trip.

For each of the following, indicate which one you option you like more (or dislike less) by selecting a number on that side of the scale. The closer to -5 or 5 indicates the degree to which you prefer that option.

Poll #854560
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

butterflies (-5) vs. dragonflies (5)

China (-5) vs. Russia (5)

Christianity (-5) vs. Islam (5)

Doctor Who (-5) vs. Star Trek (5)

fossil fuel burning power plants (-5) vs. nuclear power plants (5)

fruit (-5) vs. vegetables (5)

Hugo Chávez (-5) vs. George W. Bush (5)

Iraq under Saddam (-5) vs. Post-Saddam Iraq (5)

madness (-5) vs. sanity (5)

Mars (-5) vs. Venus (5)

meat (-5) vs. tofu (5)

New York City (-5) vs. Los Angeles (5)

North Korea (-5) vs. Iran (5)

Palestine (-5) vs. Israel (5)

paper (-5) vs. plastic (5)

Paris (-5) vs. London (5)

Scientologists (-5) vs. Christian Scientists (5)

I took purpleglitter's camera along with me on my walk this morning. This is what I saw:


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