i got shocked today by a static electric cucumber.  never expected in life to be shocked by a slice of fruit (technically not a veggie), so i wiki'ed and googled it ("electric cucumber," among other phrases).  learned a lot about static electricity, but nothing specifically about cucumbers except that you can make them light up by sending an electric current through them (there's a video out there).  you learn something new every day.  <shrug>

yesterday was the 15th anniversary of "the shot" by christian laettner.  (simplified understatement for those who don't know: famous game-winning play in college b-ball game between duke and kentucky.)  i happened upon the game on tv, and it was the first time i've seen more than just the "stomp" (aka laettner love tap) and the final shot and aftermath.  we still have the same cheers and songs now as we did back then.  the band has gotten much less nerdy-looking (i'm sure the band geek inside remains the same).  coach k's hair hasn't moved in fifteen years.  and the team...  well, i won't say it.  (i still love you, devils.)  semi-related post-script: so excited for reunion.

i have an irrational preoccupation with the word "ill," but i can't help it.  i kinda want to live in this building:

got stranded in vegas a couple weeks ago when there was that snowstorm on the east coast.  it sucks to have to deal with cancelled flights, but it wasn't all bad.  first, even though i spent most of the time roaming by myself, it afforded me good opportunities to eavesdrop on people's conversations without the annoyance of being in one of my own.  =P  i learned that there are lost people who think they're flying to the city of nebraska, that guys never get too old to share stupid drunk vomiting stories, and that straight guys gossip amongst themselves about what they read in us weekly too.  also good thing - i managed an unplanned mini-trip to philadelphia.  didn't expect to see the liberty bell on my business trip to vegas, but it was a nice added bonus.  lots of travel problems - us airways was dealing w/ computer problems and ridiculous lines, and i got put on standby for the backup redeye flight i booked after my original flight out was cancelled.  all's well that ends well, though.  managed to be the last one picked to get on the plane.  i think it's the closest i'll ever feel to what it'd be like to have rod roddy calling my name on "the price is right."  (now an impossibility - rip)  it's kinda similar, y'know - you triumphantly jump out of your seat when your name is called(!)...  you do that happy run/walk down the aisle(!)...  it's just too bad i didn't get a chance to play plinko afterwards.  i've always wanted to play plinko.

i need a stats tutor.  to dust off the cobwebs when it comes to statistical significance.  and maybe regression analysis.  and maybe correlation coefficients.  if you can help, let me know please.  it's not so much that stats is beyond me as much as it is behind me.  i can't remember much of anything i learned past high school algebra II, and it certainly doesn't help that the kind of math lessons i get lately are courtesy of the indiana university b-ball coach ("toughness + want to = winning on the road"  ...huh??  can we throw a little transitive property in there and sub in a real word please?).  anyway, stats geniuses, say hello.

this week's phrase to live by: "live and let liverwort!"  i have no idea what it means, but it came from a book called life: a natural history of the first four billion years of life on earth, and the fact that a book with that kind of title can make me chuckle is reason enough.  the other thing that i thought was cute was the author's (a british paleontologist) reference to the "ultimate insult": calling someone "slime" (aka an invertebrate simple life form).  haha, those paleontologists sound like a rough crowd. 

my phone's not always working, and i'm not getting all of my calls and texts.  so if i have ignored or will ignore you (until i get a new phone), please bear that in mind.  and forget about the possibility that i could be ignoring you on purpose.  just strike it from your consciousness.  not eeeeven worth considering.  thanks.  =)  (kidding - i treat phone calls like gold)

i'll be back (someday) for a reasonably characteristic entry, but for now, i just wanted to share yesterday morning's craft project while it's still halloween in some parts of the country.

happy halloween from your friend the baked potato =)

the coup in thailand is apparently both news and not news.  at least it helps me practice my fake (since i have no idea whether i'm right) thai pronunciation when reading the articles.  i called my folks on tuesday to ask them what was going on with the whole overthrow of the government thing, and their reactions were interesting to me.  basically, they can be characterized as "whoohoo, coup!" and "coup schmoup" [with a dismissive wave of the hand].  i learned in ms. buntyn's history class circa ten years ago that "coup" was a four-letter word (this lesson was also corroborated in spelling), mostly based on that red-covered latin american history book with no pictures which is still in my closet at home in plano even though i probably have no use for it now.  well, maybe i should dig it out to review coup history in case i'm remembering things wrong.  anyway, so i can't relate to being happy about a coup and also being unconcerned about travelling to a country which had one within days of your arrival.  by all accounts, thaksin was a corrupt prime minister and the thai people seem to be taking it in stride, so i guess it doesn't matter much that i don't get it.  hoping still to get blanks filled in by friends and family.

i think boston is a beautiful city and great to visit, but i will never ever fly there again from new york.  i think i could've unicycled there and gotten there faster.  including the time needed to secure a unicycle and to take beginning and intermediate unicycle lessons.  i took a walking tour of beacon hill, read a book in boston common while listening to the hard rock anthems of the masscann (massachusetts cannabis) festival, ate great food w/ great company a couple times in the north end, and gossiped on the phone and wrote a letter while sitting next to the charles river and watching the miniature people play.  stayed with my favorite hopi brother and also at the hotel @ mit - aka the best, nerdiest hotel ever.  case in points: robots in the lobby and equations on the bedspread.  fantastically nerdy. 

happy weekend to all!