I find it rather amusing that the shorthand abreviation for the Human Estrogen Recepter is hER.

...I think I've been working on this proposal for too long...

I was driving out around lunchtime to redeem a free lunch coupon for Argonne employees at Chipotle, and got stuck in a minor traffic jam. It was jammed in both directions, all due to a flock of geese that couldn't make up its collective mind to cross the road or not. Next, I see the guy in the first car traveling in the opposite direction get out of his car and charge at the geese waving his arms like a madman probably yelling something like "SHOO! SHOOOOO!!!" Seeing such behavior come out of a scientist was rather hilarious.

"First off, if you are born a male your sex chromosomes are “X” and “Y.” If you are born a female your sex chromosomes are “X” and “X.” You can’t change that. No matter how much he looks like a girl, he’s still a guy.

If you cut off the legs of a lizard, it may look like a snake, but it’s still a lizard."
-Some random person on RoflRazzi

This statement irks me as a geneticist. This person obviously has NO idea how genetics and (for lack of a better term) genetics screw-ups can happen. XY females and XX males exist. What happens is in XX males, the sex determining region (gene SRY) on the Y chromosome gets translocated (transferred from one chromosome to another) to an X chromosome during chromosomal recombination as part of meiosis. A person as such would be genotypically female but phenotypically male (genetically female but anatomically male). For XY females, the sex determining region of the Y chromosome gets deleted from the Y chromosome entirely during chromosomal recombination. No sex determining region, no junk. So a person as such would be genotypically male but phenotypically female.

Why rant about this? Because I learned the details about this when I was in college. If people could learn about these things earlier, maybe we as a society could have a better and (hopefully) more tolerant understanding of how sex and gender work.

I just found out by checking my bank account that the restaurant I went to with big group of friends last Saturday charged the full cost of our dinner on my debit card while pocketing the $86+ that everyone else paid. This was after I told them to put $32 on my card and the rest would be paid in cash (upon handing the lady my card and the cash).

This was stupid of me for two reasons. First, I should have just gone to the ATM to withdraw cash and pay like I had originally wanted to do. Second, I should have looked at the receipt before signing it. As a result, there's nothing I can do about it. Oh well, you live and you learn. That doesn't stop me from wanting to put my fist through the monitor.


*Update 07/29/09: Relieved Lindsey is relieved. The restaurant credited my account yesterday for the money I was out. There must have been a mix-up regarding the cash but everything's okay now.

3's Meme

Three names I go by:
1. Lindsey
2. Linds
3. L-chan

Three Jobs I have had in my life:
1. Website creator/editor
2. Genetics lab assistant
3. Scientific editor

Three Places I have lived:
1. Oak Park, IL
2. Chicago, IL
3. Uh...does Paris, FR count? (I was there for 3 months)

Three Favorite drinks:
1. Chai Tea
2. Green Tea
3. Fruit flavored Black Tea


Three TV Shows that I'm watching this summer:
1. CSI
2. Bones
3. Leverage

Three places I have been:
1. Paris, France
2. Prague, Czech Republic
3. Yellowstone National Park, WY

People that text me regularly:
1. Lizz
2. Dustin
3. Anna

Three of my favorite foods:
1. Pasta
2. Sushi
3. Soup

Three friends I think will respond:
1. Lizz
2. Dustin (maybe)
3. Don't know

Three Things I am looking forward to:
1. Dustin moving in with me
2. Weekend trip to a friend's cabin in Indiana
3. Whenever the next time I can go to Ren Faire is

I watched an episode of the show Extreme Trains last night that featured the Union Pacific 844 steam engine - the only commercially working steam engine today (not a feature in a railroad museum, but actually transporting passengers). It takes passengers aboard actual period passenger cars from the '50s-ish from Denver to Cheyenne for the big national rodeo. I recalled reading an article not so long ago about how train travel times today are actually slower than they were back in the '20s and '30s despite modern technology. So I started thinking about steam engines and Pullman passenger cars and the heyday of rail travel and the 20s/30s, and of course since I'm a dork, all roads led back to Baccano! (I know, shut up), and I started to get itchy. I kept thinking about how I wish I could have experienced all these things in that period; how awesome it must have been. Afterward, I became a little bit sad because, in all reality, if I had lived in that time period, I would have had a HORRIBLE life. Being half black and half white in that era would have been a curse. I would have grown up poor and been discriminated against for being black, and I wouldn't fit into either "racial group" for not being completely one or the other. There's a good chance that someone like me wouldn't have existed at all in a big city like Chicago.

I had this conversation about this subject with Dustin not too long ago and he said that in this sort of hypothetical situation my race wouldn't matter. The situation would be more based on my economic and social standing. In that case...my mother was a teacher and my dad was in small business. We probably would be okay, not poor, most likely middle class. Certainly not upper class. If so, I probably wouldn't be able to experience things like the swank Pullman rail cars, but I probably would have been able to experience rail travel itself, not to mention many of the other things I would deem fun in that era.

So is it a hypothetical win? Maybe, but I'm sure that the reality would be quite different than the romanticism. *Sigh*

I saw a car burst into flames while driving on I94 last night. The flames literally shot out from under the front of the car, flowed across the undercarriage, and practically exploded out, up and over the rear of the car. I think the guy driving the car was okay, he pulled over and quickly exited the vehicle. Not long after, I saw/heard the flashing lights and sirens of a responding fire truck.

That was the craziest thing I've ever seen while driving on the highway. I think that even tops the time when a tire blew out on the car that was three cars ahead of me and it narrowly escaped causing a pile-up.

Man, I wish I could find Baccano! anime lj backrounds and desktop backgrounds that weren't the boring ones off the official American site. I want to make one of my own but I need to find (or take) the right screenshot and come up with the right saying to put on it. That, and I don't really know how to make backgrounds...though I hear it's easy.

I guess I'm just a little over-excited about Dustin and I cosplaying my favorite couple from my new anime obsession at A-cen. I'm going as Chane LaForet and Dustin's going as Claire Stanfield (conductor outfit, not assassin outfit) from Baccano!. I'm also kinda nervous. A-cen is 2 weeks away and we still haven't gotten a chance to really work on our costumes. It's not like we have much to do; we pretty much have all the clothes for the outfits, but we have to add ruffles and shorten my dress, style my wig, (those are the easy parts) and Dustin has to sew together a khaki 1930's style train conductor hat because the only ones that exist are black or navy blue (the hard part). On top of that, we need to make at least one knife. I don't think it's going to take too long, but hatmaking is a bit of a difficult task, especially without a pattern. We're going to try to get it all done this weekend. Fun times. Otherwise, I can't wait. It will be a blast.

In other news, Lizz came in to visit the weekend of the 10th for her birthday. Friday night we went out drinking for Justin's birthday. Note to self: food before alcohol, otherwise your tummy will not be happy with you. And I only had one drink! Lizz had a few drinks and had a fun time. Afterwards we went to Pick Me Up to eat, since neither Lizz nor I had eaten dinner. Lizz gave me a belated birthday gift that she had been hanging on to for a long time. It was a copy the Kaikan Phrase manga artbook Sakuya! Yays!!! ^_^ Saturday (Lizz's birthday) I took her to Woodfield Mall while Dustin was in an A-Cen meeting. She bought some pants as a birthday gift to herself. I got a DVD for myself and 2 for Dustin since they were missing from his collection. I also got a black rose pin for my Chane costume. Then I picked Dustin up from the meeting and we took Lizz to dinner at Sushi Station, which is her favorite sushi place. Afterwards, Lizz had to take a math quiz, so I played some World of Warcraft while she did so, then we all hung out with Jon and Amanda and watched Twilight. Having not read the books, I thought it was a pretty decent movie, if you could get past the cheesiness. Having a laugh at it as we went along made it better. Sunday Dustin and I drove Lizz to her aunt's for Easter, and he and I spent dinner at Dustin's parents'. It was a tasty and fun evening.

Wow, long post. First one in a while. ^_^

What is your favorite word? Deoxyribonucleic acid. Okay that's two words, but they are so much fun to say. Why yes, I am a geneticist. How did you know? ^_^

What is your least favorite word? Pussy. Not necessarily as a euphemism for the anatomical part, but what it insinuates when a person uses it to call someone a wimp.

What turns you on? Intelligence, sense of humor, honesty, integrity, and the ability to wear a fedora well.

What turns you off? Misogyny, douchebaggery, and arrogance.

What sound or noise do you love? The roar of the motor of a muscle car.

What sound or noise do you hate? Car alarms. Especially when they go off in the middle of the night and nobody seems to notice.

What is your favorite curse word? Shitfuck. It takes me back to high school.

What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Shark biologist.

What profession would you not like to do? Sewer cleaner/diver. All I can say is ewww.

If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive? "Why of course you keep your consciousness after death!"

I saw a yellow convertable SAAB today. It looked like Sunny, the yellow SAAB that my dad had while I was in high school. It wasn't a viggen, like Sunny was, but it looked exactly like her. Even the wheels looked the same. She was an awesome car.

R.I.P. Sunny. I hope the great garage in the sky is treating you well.

Make a comment and I'll respond with 5 things you make me think of, then you have to extrapolate on them in your lj. When I come to mind, Glenda thinks of:

French: My senior year in high school we were part of a kick-ass French class. It was me, Glenda, Alison, Megan and Rhona all sitting in a group being silly while being taught by the ever-so-awesome Mademoiselle Farley.

Sproingy hair: Something both Glenda and I share. My hair is sproingier than hers though. We'd have fun with it during the aforementioned French class.

Super Frisco to the Disco Rescue: While eating Chinese food before a D&D session at her house in Oak Park, someone (I think it was me) made a comment about Glenda being awesome, and she responded "That's 'cause I'm Super Frisco to the Disco Rescue!" and ended it with a disco pose. The rest of us fell over laughing, and from then on it was an inside joke between us.

Anime: I loves me some anime. We'd watch it all the time in sci-fi club and at each others' houses.

Acen: The awesome Chicagoland anime convention that we frequent. We've been going since high school and I'm booked for this year. Acen is important for me, not just because it's fun, but for many reasons. It's one of the few times I get to see Lizz, it's the only time in the whole year I get to see Mary, who comes in from Rhode Island, it's where I met Dustin, and it's a place where an anime fan can really be themselves, cut loose and have a great time without worrying about how everyone thinks of you, because they're all in the same boat. I hope Glenda will get to come back for it sometime like in the old days.

wolf, shark, falcon, cardinal (a friend once suggested that the cardinal was my guardian bird.  Wherever I am, inevitably a cardinal is there)

Hooray! They Might Be Giants won the Grammy for best children's album (Here Come the 123s). It may not be as swanky as best single, best rock album or best pop album, but it is nonetheless a Grammy. Go them!

That reminds me, I still need to download their song Seven. It's hilarious.

Recently I signed a petition against shark finning. I'm reaching out to my friends on here to help by signing it as well. This is an issue that is very important to me. It's important because it's a serious ecological issue that nobody seems to care about. Not the government, not the environmental activists, nobody save researchers and a few of the conscious public. Millions of sharks are brutally killed for their fins alone every year, some of which are finned and tossed back into the ocean while still alive to suffer and die by drowning, yet it is the sharks who are seen as vicious monsters. People use this as a convenient excuse to kill sharks indiscriminately simply for their fins, and as I said before, the rest is dumped overboard. Approximately 90% of shark species are not dangerous to humans. Has anyone ever heard of a horrifying zebra shark attack? Or a dogfish attack? Or a bamboo shark attack? I rest my case. But just as people can kill sharks, people can save them. The sharks of the world need a voice, and I ask that you all would help me do that.

I know there are many people out there that say signing a petition is a foolish waste of time. They say that nobody reads it, nobody takes it seriously or, especially in the case of internet petitions, that it's a piece of non-legitimate junk put out by non-legitimate people with no way of tracking signatures and no way of keeping track of it. Yes, this may be true for those fake petitions that come through your email saying "So-and-so had such-and-such horrible thing happen to them and nobody seems to care, so sign this letter and pass it on to x-million number of your friends and after n-number of signatures we'll send it to such-and-such place so that so-and-so can receive health care/justice/peace of mind." This is not an email petition. What I am talking about is a legitimate online petition from a reputable source that can keep track of the signatures on its own site. Once it has enough signatures it will be sent. This is not a "sent this to all of your friends" thing. This is a "go to this website and sign" thing. And to those who say "don't bother," I say at least we have to try, because if we don't, who will?

Now, I realize that there's only 4 people on my friends list. I realize that means only a limited audience will see this. But if at least four more people sign, that's four more signatures toward the goal. Below is the letter and the website to accompany any posts/emails to friends:

Dear Friends,

I have just read and signed the petition: "Tell Congress: Ban Shark Finning".

Please take a moment to read about this important issue, and join me in signing the petition. It takes just 30 seconds, but can truly make a difference. We are trying to reach 10000 signatures - please sign here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/190900047

Once you have signed, you can help even more by asking your friends and family to sign as well.

Thank you! Lindsey


http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/VdK7/qM../AnYau

P.S. If you have not seen the documentary movie Sharkwater, you really should. It is heartbreaking and very, very real.

1. Where is your cell phone? Desk

2. Your significant other? Dustin

3. Your hair? Long

4. Your mother? Retired

5. Your father? Work

6. Your favorite thing? Science

7. Your dream last night? Dunno

8. Your favorite drink? Daquiri

9. Your dream/goal? Ph.D.

10. What room you are in? Office

11. Your hobby? TTRPGs

12. Your fear? Failure

13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Chicago

14. Where were you last night? Home

16. Muffins? Tasty

17. Wish list item? Plants

18. Where you grew up? OP

19. Last thing you did read? Manga

20. What are you wearing? Clothes

21. Your TV? Off

22. Your pets? Downstairs

23. Friends? Everywhere

24. Your life? Okay

25. Your mood? Meh

26. Missing some one? Yes

27. Car? Corvette

28. Something you're not wearing? Hat

29. Your favorite store? Filene's

30. Your favorite color? Black

33. When is the last time you laughed? Today

34. Last time you cried? Weekend

35. Who will resend this? Dunno

36. One place that I go to over and over? Dustin's

37. One person who emails me regularly? Mom

38. My favorite place to eat? Orso's

39. Why you participated in this survey? Bored

My incredibly cheap complete set of the manga Les Bijoux came today! ^_^

INCREDIBLY cheap.

Like, the shipping cost more than all 5 brand new books put together.

Squeee!!!

It's been a loooooooooooong time since I posted here. I didn't think I would ever again, but this is something I just feel compelled to write about here. Maybe it'll jump-start me into online journaling again.

On to the real topic...

I think I spend way too much money. Just last week I went to Ikea with Dustin and Ron and Weston and ended up walking away with two $50 wooden coffee tables to make a Japanese-style dining table, as well as a few cushions. I know I know, it's furniture and I more-or-less needed it for when I have sushi night on Fridays because I won't have to move the kitchen table around and we'll have more space for food and preparation. Nevertheless, this setup wasn't necessary. It was a "want", one that was almost great enough to roll over to "need", but still a "want". An expensive "want". I can't really afford to buy all the "wants" that I want. I have to pay the tax bill for my parents' (and my) two-flat house, which is going to eat up most of my savings, and then my college loan bill after that. I don't even have that much in savings, not just because bills eat it all (though they do take a sizable chunk), but because I can't seem to curb the spending for long enough that it makes much difference. The biggest problem now that the holiday season is rapidly approaching is that I have SO many "wants" but they're all expensive, so I can't realistically ask my family for any of them for Christmas. Here's a sample list:

Henkels knife set (to replace the shitty one I got for free): $89.95 on sale, before shipping costs
4 more cushions for my Japanese dining table setup: $79.96 (if bought @ Ikea)
Devil Hunter Yohko Artbook seen on ebay: $50.00 before shipping costs
You Higuri Artbook seen on ebay: $50.00 before shipping costs
Various manga sets: Some are expensive, some are cheaper depending on where you look.

But what I REALLY want is this: Clover English manga 1-4.
I've wanted this series ever since I saw it at Borders several years ago, but I was foolish and didn't buy it then. Now it's out of print and it's EXTREMELY hard to find anyone who wants to sell their copies. Amazon.com has used copies available for all four, but to buy them all it would cost at least $78, since each one is from a different owner and has separate shipping charges. I really don't want to let this opportunity to buy them pass me by and be kicking myself later, but considering the circumstances, I really shouldn't.

Normally I'm not bad with money. I'm just bad at suppressing my wants.

Instead of going away, my eye infection is getting worse. My vision in the affected eye is getting so bad that it's interfering with my ability to be a student. Luckily, I have a doctor's appointment today. My French teacher, who made the appointment for me, is my hero.

I really need to come home.