my name is becky and i'm a 4th year...

oh, man, lacey is kicking my butt at being a dedicated and informative blogger. i sent around an e-mail a while ago that contained some pictures of my trip to colorado. the truth is, although i am physically going through the motions of being back in pennsylvania, my heart is still on the trip that allowed me to be calm and carefree - plus dried my hair with no humidity. and the basic jist of the e-mail is that we went to a lot of places, all of them beautiful. this included:

i) driving up Mt. Evans, which allows us to boast both having driven up the highest paved road in the world, looking down upon the continental divide from several miles up (between four and five i believe), seeing mountain goats and marmots from closer than i've been to some of the people that i know best, and also being the only people on the mountain summit in sleeveless tops, shorts, and flip flops as everyone else had dressed for what was obviously going to be colder weather. we enjoyed it, nonetheless, and the paradox of snow on the ground while wearing summer clothes was nothing if not entertaining.

ii. an awesome, awesome, awesome concert at red rocks (google that if you haven't seen pictures, it is GORGEOUS) where we basked in the glory not only of each other, but of the black keys, my morning jacket, and one of the happiest, least grumpy concert crowds that i've ever encountered. our grumbles from climbing the 9000 steps to get there were quickly put to rest and the evening was topped off with the moon hanging dead center over the stage. it couldn't have been more perfect or more beautiful. or maybe it could've, but i have no idea how.

iii. a post mini-golf rooftop dinner and colorado rockies game. both excellent and (once again) beautifully tucked into the colorado scenery. i did not win miniature golf, i must admit, but it hardly put a damper on the day. neither the rockies nor the reds played well, but that didn't spoil anything either. we sat near a rather spirited bunch of elementary-aged students who took great delight in starting the wave and leading whoever they could coax into several rounds of cheers meant to stir some sort of rally. it didn't work, but they thanked everyone for their efforts before the night was over.

and now classes have begun again. it was a busy week trying to get used to having classes amid everything else that needs to be done during the semester. yesterday saw a new season of ncaa football, and what a hot beginning it was. rachel and lacey and i are some of the few that have season tickets this year and we beared the heat for as long as we could, though there is only so involved you can be in a game where your team is leading by 50 points. i played softball, if you'll remember and for many years there was a 10-run mercy rule. due to the extreme-heat-induced sweatiness, no pictures from the game will be posted, but you can trust me that i was there.

the other event this week was a get-together to watch obama's acceptance speech at the democratic national convention. it's weird to think that we're a part of history, but we did what we could as proud democrats to mark the occasion. that's me tucked into the chair with jeremy on the left (if you're not used to my bangs yet, you probably won't recognize me). i'm not sure why lacey looks so alarmed on the floor next to me. i'm uncertain why there are about half a dozen people missing from this shot, but i've a suspicion that it has something to do with the deep-dish pizza that was being served. yum!

and now i'm once again resolving to be in better contact with those who are still at home as i do whatever it is i do here in the valley. today that involved an afternoon of bbq, sun, and swimming at jeremy's pool. tomorrow it will involve a mad scramble of hard work trying to compensate for the lack of things that got done, today. still, though, i get to introduce myself as a 4th year student and talk about a few more things that i got accomplished in the past 12 months. that's got to count as progress, right?

this is the average of all of my non-posted posts

i've started three different blogs now about how my mind hasn't been clear enough to complete a thought lately. and not surprisingly somehow completed none of them. awesome. actions speak louder than words, right? except they're difficult to post.

okay, so the update involves a lot of traveling, not surprisingly. i saw josh and nick play in new york on june 17th and got to stay and hang out most of the following day. it was so great to see them - as always - but a little different to see them so in their own element. it seems like not that long ago that josh and i were talking about graduate school and bands in new york like they were these really distal dreams and almost unrealistic options. and now here we are. and it's maybe just as scary in this place as it was in that. because now the dream is closer but the person is farther away. so...there's that. but they were great - as was the 15-year-old prodigy that played before them. incredible. really. plus, i still absolutely love new york...to absolutely nobody's surprise. and my mother will readily recount to you the tale of my "bus" which turned out to be a 15-passenger van...to absolutely everyone's surprise, actually. i couldn't get the press release to copy and paste, but you can visit the link here: http://http//www.last.fm/event/660892

all right, and from there i spent a few days in state college before heading to columbus, ohio. and as much as i feel like a traitor saying so, they have a pretty sweet setup over there at the ohio state university. which i mainly believe because they have about 6,000 pizza places (including one that offers "chicago style") and they also have an urban outfitters right across the street from one of their science buildings. which i love and hate at the same time. mostly because i'm jealous. but i'm also eternally poor - like every other graduate student - so perhaps that actually works out. we also ate at this really cute brewery that apparently used to be a gentleman's club or something strange like that. anyway it had decent food but these super sweet stained glass windows, which i thoroughly enjoyed throughout my meal. i feel as though i might have overdone my time in ohio over the course of the last year, but i had a terrific time. so, props to them.

then, shortly after i got back, karen got here. we did what we could to entertain ourselves in state college. i must say that i think that we did pretty good. considering that we were roommates in pella, ia, we're used to such a challenge. we watched the bats come out at shaver's creek nature center, we hiked in black moshannon (and saw a snake...which was a little traumatic), we visited a winery at which i purchased cheese that literally tastes like straight garlic. wow. (i was going to try to save some of that and make my dad try it when my parents come out but it is like super stinking up my fridge).

and now i'm back at trying to get some real, actual work done before lace and i leave for the jersey shore on friday. we should have more pictures from that trip since lacey will be along. although the plan at this point is less to see sights and do fabulous things and more to try to get grad school out of our minds for at least a couple of days so that we can lay on the beach and rest. i like everything about this plan so far.

so that's the quick and dirty of the update. lots of travels over the course of the past month that lead to today and all of the things that i have and have not gotten done therein. as with every post, i find myself hoping to be more diligent about getting updates done at smaller intervals. containing more information about each event and fewer summaries that involve the words "over the last month..."

so there should be a summary of the jersey shore before there is a summary of july. and maybe mom and dad's visit. because Lord knows that august isn't looking to slow things down at all.

still wish i was home...not that that is much of an update at all :)

is it hot in here?

holy moly - it's hot and muggy here. my apartment is in desperate need of a cleaning, but i seem to prefer sitting in front of the fan and moving in small increments every once in a while. actually, it's not that bad if you stay inside, but then it seems like a waste of a sunny day when they are so few and far between here anyway.

it was a quick week, though, particularly given that i spent most of it counting down to my "day off" on friday. i met matt in morgantown, wv on what has got to be one of the hottest days yet. we actually met at this cute little brewery (yes, it is green). but you can sit outside out back in a spot that overlooks the river, so i was happy (and then i was sunburned:) we had the best of intentions to take advantage of all of the outdoor activities that morgantown had to offer, but mostly just saw the old stone house (below) before calling lacey and asking her what the heck we were close to that we could do inside.

bless her heart, she led us to the somewhat archaic bowling alley where we split a couple of games and decided to leave it like that lest our competitive natures lead to the demise of our friendship. really the rest of the day consisted of jukeboxes and happy hours and the unsuccessful search for a pool table. it was the company that was meant to be enjoyed, anyway, and enjoyed it certainly was.

of course, being out of town on friday meant working yesterday in compensation, but it was totally worth it. lace and i took advantage of the waffle shop having no waiting line now that the undergrads are out of town and treated ourselves in order to jumpstart a day spent working on papers and theses. i, for one, feel none the smarter. i think part of graduate school is the constant reminder of how much you are ignorant of. or maybe that's life in general. nothing special is planned for this week that i'm aware of. it should be the last week of our study in the EEG lab barring anyone needing to reschedule, of course.

one thing i think my parents in particular will appreciate is that i have once again broken my strappy sandles. i wish i could find a picture to put up of them, but they are inexplicable except for their grecian influence. the funny part is that i broke one of them two or three years ago playing kickball at family reunion. urban outfitters actually sent me a replacement pair and it was this pair of replacements that met their demise in morgantown. it's actually very sad - i've never seen another pair like them which makes them exactly the type of shoes that i love to have. but they are of little use to me, i suppose, if i can't keep them attached to my feet and i suppose they have already lasted a good couple of years longer than they should have (there is still debate as to whether i was actually deserving of said replacement pair).

the one with all the outdoor activities...

i don't know how we've been lucky enough to not have rain for almost a full week now, but i have a guess that it has something to do with kara's visit. it's possible that she may have been just humoring me, but i got to go on one of my conquests outdoors just as i've been dying to since the temperature has risen (relatively speaking) and classes have let out for the summer. it was all-around great to have kara here as a bittersweet reminder of all the things that have changed for me over the course of the last five years. good and bad, as is typical. but overall a happy experience. i'll have to cite kara, though, for the excellent photography:

i think the only hang up for the whole weekend was trying to host a bbq when my grill wouldn't light. no worries, though, lacey came to the immediate rescue and my dad is working on the long-term solution.

also, for those of you who are interested, ben found this awesome game on line: http://arcade.espn.go.com/cameraman-baseball.htm. as if we need another excuse not to work :)

i'm heading to cincinnatti on saturday with kristin and erik for liz's wedding. it should be an interesting cross country quality-time trip with my advisor et al.

somwhere between bob vila and judge judy

so, this is what i spent basically my whole saturday doing:
yep, i assembled that desk and the corner cabinet with my own two hands. and if i have to be honest, i definitely had the top and bottom cabinet panels on backward at one point. no worries, though. it's all assembled and all functional at this point. yay, me. and thanks target and target sales. my poor old little desk was just stretched beyond its capacity. although i can say that i felt awful throwing it out. when lacey and i left for the gym, i felt kind bad leaving it by the dumpster...but no fear. someone had rescued it even before i returned home that same evening. phew.

i also realized, that i'm not sure that many of you know, but sometime last month i got a "wild hair" so to speak and dyed my mane a mahogany color. it's started to fade a bit, but i had taken a few pictures so that i could at least show mom and dad. i think enough stuff had gone down in the early part of the semester that i needed something to change and change immediately. it was either this or a puppy and i'm technically not allowed to have pets. it's lightened up a bit already, but it's been fun because people haven't tended to notice immediately. it was kind of like when i got my nose stud...there's this "something is different" response and then a few minutes or hours or days later people seem really able to pin down what it is that has changed. i think this is a good thing. or maybe that's just something that i need to tell myself.

i'm trying to finish up a bunch of work and a equally large amount of cleaning before kara arrives on saturday. hopefully it will be nice over the weekend and we can take some hikes. i'm just itching to get outside, i must admit. the weather, however, has not been as eager to allow me to do so. thanks again, pennsylvania.

oh, i almost forgot! yesterday i was a judge for the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) day. Basically, students in grades 7-12 present on research projects that they've done in either behavioral sciences, zoology, biology, physics, chemistry, and two other fields that i can't remember right now. i judged behavioral sciences (9th and 10th grades) in the morning and physics (8th grade) in the afternoon. it reminds me of high school drama or music competition in that each participant is judged against an overall set of standards rather than against other participants. overall, though, was really impressed. you can tell a number of these kids have a good jump on what it means to think about something scientifically. makes me proud... :)

joepa would've been so proud

last night lacey and i took what is quite possibly my favorite picture from state college to date. it reflects the miniscule amount of excitement needed to make us happy and the joepa fever that pervades the entire area. please, please love it as much as i do.

there's been a lot of grilling hubub around here lately. the summer weather preview that rolled through last week has made us all eager to be doing summer things, i think. we had two lab visits on saturday and spent the downtime in between at the batting cages on mount tussey. fun times were had by all, i think, and we definitely recruited rachel as a player for the softball team we're trying to put together. we're at five players or so now, so hopefully we can get things worked out so that we have enough for a full team. that would make me very much happy.

i also am not necessarily disappointed about the fact that two of my tentative travel dates are no longer set to be carried out. the july trip to UC Davis and the june trip to louisville have been scratched, each for different reasons, but cumulatively giving me two weeks of my summer back, which is nice. if i can get a financial footing under me, i should be able to go home? maybe? hopfully?

the other excitement came from a fiery round of bowling last weekend, when i rolled seven strikes in a row. there is photographic evidence for five of the seven. you'll just have to take my word that the first two balls of my next game were strikes also. this seems to only happen when we bowl in big groups with visitors present, because i think the last time i did it was when nick was in town.

that's it for now, i think. finals are over and this summer will be full of paper-writing time, i think. there are worse ways to spend it, to be sure, but i'm going to need a bit of my motivation back to start making a dent in the workload. and if the rationality of that doesn't inspire me, i can always try to kickstart my energy level by thinking that kara will be here in two more weeks!

sorry it's been so long

so, at lacey's inspiration, i'm going to try to get back on the blogging horse. so, how to recap the last three months. they went something like this:

work
wisconsin trip
work
missouri trip
work
vancouver trip
work
san francisco
work

now.

although vancouver was equally if not more beautiful, san francisco definitely gave us the best weather. we spent most of our time at the conference, of course, but got to take in a bit of the city the last day. we hit the highlights, i think. cable car ride. a jaunt through the shopping district (union square?), buss ride, haight ashbury, giants game, telegraph hill, coit tower, and trying to discretely change clothes in the airport. mission accomplished. don't we look happy? eighty degrees in the middle of march will do that to you, i suppose.

the other event as of late is that i've changed my hair color. i'm a somewhat-of-a-redish-brown-haired girl now. color 558 to be exact. i've wanted to do it for a while and it just seemed like a good time. spring has sprung and something new needed to go down.

this is the last week of classes here and then summer's in full swing. i already have a laundry list of things i'd like to accomplish - one of them being to get some actual time off. mostly i'm excited to have so many lovely visitors planning trips out to this gre---er--interesting state ;)

ttfn.