(dc) classic

this want ad is classic craig's list bizarreness. it's what makes reading craig's list entertaining rather than just practical.

"Opium.

I want some opium..ive never tried it..and really want to..but i can never find it..i have smoked the red rock..which turned out not to be opium at all...ide like to find someone to buy some from..but trust is a hard thing..so maybe we could hook up and hang out..and if i accidentally drop some money in your house on the way out they door..finder keepers..if you get my meaning..we cant come back to my house..i rent a room..maybe we can just cruze around..i dont know..."

(dc) deerhoof and the curse of laziness

not only was i too lazy to go out last night, i wasn't even able to bring myself to open the city paper on the table next to me, knowing that i'd find something i wanted to do. so i went to sleep at 9:30 and, of course, missed deerhoof and starter set at the black cat. i guess that makes me part of a different 9:30 club. the one for lame kids. it would have taken all of 200 steps and a warm coat to get myself around the corner to the show, but no. i'm cursed with saturday night laziness. i didn't even make it back up for saturday night live.

but on the plus side, i'm full of bright-eyed vigor this morning at 7am for today's entropy fighting.

and on the other plus side, we got another whole song tracked yesterday, start to finish, for the ruhi cd project.

(dc) eyegazing party

i want to have an eyegazing party. if i did, would you come?

(greenbelt) whale vomit

my favorite bit from this morning's express:

"Discoveries

Worth Your Weight in Whale Vomit

A streaky Bay, Australia, couple that picked up a strange, fatty lump on a beach are now $295,000 richer, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. When first finding the 33-pound lump, Leon Wright and his wife left it where it was. But, two weeks later, they saw it was sill there and took it home. Turns out, the object was ambergris, a rare digestive substance vomited up by sperm whales and used in perfumes. Ambergris develops a waxy feel and sweet smell after floating in the ocean for about 10 years."

(greenbelt) in early

my new plan of getting more sleep seems to be working.

now, if i could just stop watching ridiculous tv (2 hours of american idol last night), i'd feel really good. granted, it's very entertaining. and granted, i was parallel processing, so all was not lost. but... really... 2 hours? and it's on again tonight! thank goodness i have a meeting.

i was in to work before 8 this morning, though, after 8 solid hours of sleep and time this morning for a relaxing and enjoyable commute. unfortunately, for this to happen, i've got to be in bed by 10. that seems to cut out a lot of the most creative hours of the day. the trick, i guess, is to make every minute of the 4 hours between work and sleep productive. i'm not very good at this trick.

the tv's got to go. if not to the highest craig's list bidder, then just back into the closet, where i had it for 4 months.

(dc) how to stop bird flu

dear world,

please stop eating birds and using down. it's in everyone's best interest.

thank-you.

kelly

(greenbelt) it depends

apparently, jon stewart talked about stardust in his monologue the night before last. these are classic moments that make me wish i had cable. i hear that he talked about the cometary and interstellar dust samples giving us information about the formation of the universe "either 15 billion years ago or 6,000 years ago, depending on whether you're wrong." if any of my internet savvy friends could find me a link to this video clip, i'd be forever grateful. and props to my stardust peeps (the ones in the bunny suits) for the successful mission!

(dc) jettison

this is the latest step in my ongoing self-improvement campaign. in related news, the cheeseless eating plan seems to be working even better than i'd expected. aside from the celebratory pizza and cheesequesadillawithgreensaucefromtacobell with my sister last weekend, i've given up cheese until further notice. i'd also intended to give up wheat, sugar, and caffiene, but in reality, i've just moderated those things. however, the results have still been quick and remarkable. i'll weigh myself later today, but i estimate that i've lost about 5 or 8 pounds since fondue night.

a good friend of mine told me last night that she thinks i look like charlize theron and that if i would just start dressing like her and stop dressing "grunge," i'd be getting marriage proposals. first of all, there's no resemblance, notwithstanding the fact that she's not the first person to tell me that. i seriously don't see what they see. secondly, i just can't dress like that. it's uncomfortable and too high-maintenance, and it requires making appearances too high of a priority. i agree that i don't necessarily want to look like i don't care or i'm not trying...but... those kind of looks don't just happen. i guess i'll have to wait on the marriage proposals.

even this post is a little too vain for my taste.

(greenbelt) it's THURSDAY!

i LOVE thursday!

i'll be going over to the fruit truck here in about 5 minutes. pink ladies. fresh bread. fresh vegetables. preserves. mmmmmmmmmm.

and magical, mystical granola.

(santa cruz -> houston) thunderstorms

i extended my little MLKJR holiday layover in houston for a couple hours to go to a barbecue with friends, and the little extension turned into getting stuck overnight because of weather. stupid thunderstorms.

(houston -> DC) personal best

i achieved my personal best solitaire score on the plane back to dc this morning. but still #2 to some fictional pre-programmed high score that came with the phone.

*(dc -> SJC) surprise!

i surprised my sister this weekend to help her celebrate her new house, and to "help her move." in reality, i didn't do much to help, since i was sort of out of commission, but i tried to lend moral support. i think i probably even messed THAT up, though, by bringing up an idea that made her sad. sigh. well, i was at least glad to see her amazing new house and to show her i care with deeds not words.

i love you, becca, and i'm proud of you!

*(greenbelt) whimper

ow.

(dc) art and life changing moments

i'll try not to get too earnest here, but you might want to skip this if you're sensitive to that sort of thing. it's 4:18am and i've just spent the last 5 hours watching every last byte on the Garden State DVD. my over-extended life allowed me to completely miss this movie and all associated discussions or spin-offs in the summer of 2004. i rented it yesterday solely because justin said it was good.

it was exquisite. i've still seen none of the reviews or anyone else's opinion of it. i watched the film then i watched the deleted scenes with commentary then without commentary. then i watched the making of the film, and finally i watched the entire film again with zach and natalie's commentary. i guess i could watch it again with the other commentary, but...it's 4:30am and i have a job. i should have started watching earlier than 11pm.

but this is exactly why i want to make music. it's the film equivalent of the music i want to make - something that will inspire someone like me to blow off a night of precious sleep just to experience it. you could tell the film was his life's dream. all his friends and family were involved. he got the finest actors for even the smallest parts. it was hilarious and stunningly gorgeous and rough around the edges but layers and layers deep. it was more about expression than impressing people.

and then i went to the itunes store and bought the sound track. you'd think i'd at least be able to wait till tomorrow to buy the CD, but no. I heard imogen heap's voice at the end, and i didn't even know she put out the record in 2002 as "frou frou." how did i miss that? i was infatuated with her first album in 1998 - but i thought i was the only one. i didn't know anyone else at the time and then i thought she fell off the map. suddenly she's got a new album out this year and now i discover this whole other frou frou thing with Guy Sigsworth. Wow.

and then suddenly, just now, i realized that i'd lost my musical inspiration. i've been looking for it since finishing chelsea's record. it started to wake and stretch recently working on devon's record, and the subsequent music blitz when he and sara were here and we toured around over the holidays. studying at berklee, working with other great artists, and listening more to bands like john vanderslice and mum and sigur ros and death cab for cutie and lots of others kept the embers alive, but tonight i feel like the fires have been fully lit again. something about the music and production of imogen heap and sigsworth...for me it's like a delivery of a million gasoline-soaked apple crates and a band of screaming monkeys with lit torches. i only have this one song so far ("let go"), and i feel like it would be enough to sustain me for days. after about the 10th listning on my CRAP powerbook speakers, i decided to put headphones on. duh. wow. that's all i can say.

if anyone wants to know what kind of music is inside me bursting to get out (at least at this juncture in the narrative), spend a week and listen to nothing but the following:
- imogen heap (all albums)
- frou frou
- sufjan stevens (enjoy your rabbit)
- steve reich
- bjork (debut and post)
- john vanderslice
- iron and wine
- death cab for cutie
- sigur ros

and you'll pretty much get the gist of it.

when i was 18 i read a book ("diet for a new america"), and from that moment on, i have been vegetarian. in the same way, there are musical experiences for me that, in once instance, change my identity. in effect, this film and music tonight has done that for me. i feel like i'm one step closer to knowing who i am and who i want to be. sorry if that sounds cheesy.

it's 5. i should sleep now, if i can. props to justin for recommending this film. i sort of got sidetracked on music tonight (because i make music, not film), but it's a great film. see it if you haven't.

(dc) new old post - snook cousins

becca, doesn't bella look like melissa?

(dc) goddard culture photoessay, bonus

these photos are just bonus material, as they do not come from the hallways of my building. they're from the x-ray interferometry testbed.

(dc) mvd?

mvd, please email me your phone number or call me. i really need to talk to you.

(dc) a new home for studie

today i'm moving my studebaker to a barn someplace an hour and half outside dc. this move is primarily motivated by the urgent need to cut back spending (the barn will cost $50/month, whereas the garage on 13th street costs $200), but also puts the car on the property of a studebaker lover and owner. perhaps this will mean she is more likely to get the attention and love she needs.

(dc) final farewell

on a whim tonight i called up kat and invited her out for fondue at the melting pot in dupont circle. i have decided that enough's enough and i'm giving up cheese and sugar and wheat (my favorite things) until i lose 32 pounds.

so what better way to go out than with a bang of all of the above? we ate two pots of cheese on skewers with bread and apples and vegetables. we planned to finish with a pot of chocolate, but we were too full at that point.

we had a lot to celebrate. she had just finished a day of interviews with NIH that went very well. and i got a call from the metro lost and found that they found my purse. everything was still in it! this called for lots o' pots o' cheese.

it was yummy and it's always lovely to see kat. it was especially sweet because she insisted on paying at the end (even though i'd invited her), and the melting pot isn't cheap. i have awesome friends.

(greenbelt) astrophysicist

so i'm now, officially, dr kelly snook, astrophysicist. it says so on my nasa personnel action form that i'm holding in my hand. well, i was holding it in my hand before i started typing.

now when people say (as they always do), "aren't you some sort of astrophysicist or something?" i can say, "why yes. yes, i _am_ an astrophysicist."

time to learn something about astrophysics.

(greenbelt) for becca

i've gone back and filled in some posts for the last few weeks. not just for becca, but for my senile and very dear friend (i won't name her, but let's just say her name rhymes with smelly cook), who can't remember anything she does.

(greenbelt) goddard culture photoessay pt. n

work ahead of me this week: unpacking these pallets.

(dc) new year with spacegen

this year enough of us were broke that we held our annual spacegen new year gathering in DC at cafe philosophe (aka will and jessy and robbie and amanda and chris and john and emily's mansion in adams morgan). for new year this year, we were missing some of the usual suspects (mark, kevin, bojan), but many were able to make it (nishi, george, loretta, justin, karen). juls and paul flew in from the UK (paul had a nightmare connection in paris, in which they were forced to sit for 6 hours on the tarmac to wait for a storm to pass - THEN they flew to DC). kat joined us, as did saadat, pete warden and his friend randy, and lots of other people. it was the usual fun. lots of dancing and food and drink (except those of us who don't drink (this year numbering more than 4!)) and also lots of high-level discussions. new year's day we did our roundtable where we sat together for 4 hours and went around the room to document and discuss our progress since last year on our goals, which will dutifully documents. i'd post it here (because it's extremely interesting and impressive), but that would probably not be appropriate. we talked about work goals and personal goals and collective goals that mostly had to do with making a positive impact in the world. it's an awesome group of friends, and i'm always amazed when we go through this exercise every new year.

(dc) esse quem videri

"To be, rather than to appear to be."

my new year's resolution.