The energy that binds very small things together

Atoms are very small things. They consist of a proton neutron nucleus and a field of surrounding electrons. The nucleus and the electrons are even smaller still. Relative to their size, the distances between them are gigantically massive. This leads some to wonder how it is that they can even sit on a chair, when the probability of an atomic component from your body colliding with an atomic component of the chair is so infinitesimally small. But don't worry, when you next sit in a chair it will hold you up. It is the energy that keeps them together that is so strong is keeps everyone from passing by one another.

The components of my mental life currently feel like the nucleus and the electrons, spaced unbelievably far apart. The pieces of my mind are being pulled away from each other by all of the work I have to do and the obligations I hold. At times I fear that they may eventually drift apart from one another and leave me insensible.

But, today I go down to SD, to visit my super-awesome wife. You know what she is? An atom smasher. She will put my mind back together at very high velocities. She is wonderful.

OK, now to catch a bus to take me to a train to take me to a plane that takes me to her.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a pretty cool guy

This long MLK weekend, Bridget came to visit! Yay!!! I got her for 3 wonderful days. The kitties had not seen her in 2 months! That was totally crazy, and hopefully won't happen ever again. They are cats, so it is hard to gauge their mental states, but they appeared to both be thinking something in between "I am so upset with you right now" and "Why are you 20 times the size of me?"

We didn't do a heck of a lot, which was really nice. It is good to just spend quality time with one another. We drove out to Harborview Medical Center, so she can see her new workplace (at least from the outside). It looks nice! We watched lots of Star Trek: TNG, which is always awesome. We went for a walk along Alki Beach in West Seattle, which is really cool, and has gorgeous views of this fine city:


We also had a lovely date on Saturday night. We went out for some good Thai in Fremont, and then saw a movie in Queen Anne. We saw "It's Complicated" (the ubiquitous Facebook status of so many young folk). It was a chick-flick, but I enjoyed it thoroughly and thought it was pretty funny. Movies are always better when watched with someone you love, as well.

We played lots of Wii with E&K, which is always AWESOME. They have the new Super Mario Bros. for Wii, which is super-way-fun. I can't wait until Bridget lives here, and we can all hang out more often! Here is a photo of Emily trying to consume Yakko:


One more exciting thing of note: On Sunday, Bridget and I got up early to go pick weeds out of a Seattle Park! What a great way to spend a Sunday, eh? I can't think of anything nicer, especially when it's cold and muddy. But truthfully, our motivation was to get free tickets to Disneyland! This year Disney is doing a "Give a day, get a Disney day" thing, where you volunteer for a day with a local volunteer organization (on their list of participating organizations), and then you will get a free ticket to Disneyland! This is a totally awesome idea, so we took advantage. We volunteered with EarthCorps, and removed invasive species from a local park (ivy, blackberries, and buttercups). We were there for 4 hours, but with a half-hour lunch break and a lot of getting-to-know-you talking time, so it was only about 2.5 hours of work, probably. It was actually a lot of fun - Bridget misses gardening, so she got a gardening fix. I was happy to be remorselessly killing invasive species that clog the Northwest ecosystem. But generally, it just feels really good to go out and volunteer. The only downside was getting hit in the face with a very spiky blackberry vine, but that wasn't so bad.

Guess what? Bridget left tonight, and I am back to missing her again. Fuck. I am going to to try update this again soon, so that I can post about things other than how much a miss my wife. But seriously, that's 97% of what I think about when I'm not busy with work. So, that's what you get.

Britney Spears wants a threesome

And that's a fact.

Over the holidays I gained 10 pounds. No, that's not entirely true. Since I moved to Seattle, I gained 5 pounds. Then, over the holidays, I gained 5 more.

It disturbs me that I can gain weight this quickly. But, my addiction to donuts, ice cream, and other sweets apparently reached a fever pitch this past Fall. I eat when I am stressed. And guess what? I was stressed last term! Not only is it hard being away from Bridget, it was a busy term, and the paper rejection, and the car impounding, blah blah blah... So even though I bike about 45 miles a week, run about 12 miles a week, and paddle 3 days a week, a donut is still a donut. And the Christmas holidays were apparently even worse. I was not doing any biking, running, or paddling, and was eating candy like a mad crocodile. So, this week marks the return to better eating, with the return of the reward system. I earn a sticker each day I make healthy food choices, and once I earn enough stickers they may be redeemed for a prize. Infantile, but it has worked in the past, and will work again. Never doubt the power of reinforcement!

In other news, I have been avoiding getting back into work mode by playing a lot of Muramasa: The Demon Blade, for the Wii. I gots it for Chirstmas from Bridget's Mom! It is a very fun game - a side-scrolling RPG with mind blowing art. And the story is totally whacked-out. I really have no idea what's going on. But it's very cool. And Muramasa was a real person - look it up on Wikipedia.

And now, it is time for sleeps. I shall leave you with a quote from my Paranoid's Survival Guide, which my Dad got me for Christmas.

"There are three kinds of people in any work situation:
1. The people who want your job.
2. The people who are watching you closely because there are others they would rather see in your job.
3. You."

Olympus Mons, the largest mountain in the Solar System, is 16.7 miles high

I write again! My three week vacation is over. So many things happened. Some of these things were horrendous, but a great many were stupendous. I shall not write about them all. You already know about some of the horrendous (my Dec 12th post), but for more, see my wife's blog (Dec 27th post). As for the stupendous, here is a bullet list of the highlights:

- I spent a lot of time together with Bridget
- I spent a lot of quality time with my family
- I enjoyed excellent food
- I saw old friends which I have not seen in a very long time
- I met a baby named Oscar
- I walked in the snow
- I got lot of exciting gifts
- I watched some Star Trek with Bridget
- I met two extremely fat cats named Sam and Jason
- I watched good movies

After all of this, coming home is emotionally confusing. It is home, because it has Maddy and Koshka, and it has all of my stuff. However, it is missing Bridget, and it is so far away from my family. It also has my awful upstairs neighbor who stomps around at 12:30 am above me, and sings and plays his shitty music all day and night.

But wait! A solution to this mess was recently discovered! Are you ready for it - the most stupendous thing that happened that I failed to put in the bullet list? OK, here goes: Bridget got a JOB in SEATTLE over the holidays!

W W H H OOOO H H OOOO OOOO !!
W W H H O O H H O O O O !!
W W W HHHH O O == HHHH O O O O !!
W W W H H O O H H O O O O
WW WW H H OOOO H H OOOO OOOO !!

Bridget got a job offer at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle on the 23rd, an early Christmas gift! She had only a few days to decide, which was a little crazy. You see, this is a good job, and would likely be one of her top picks. But, by accepting it, she was closing the door on other job opportunities in Seattle, at least one of which ranked higher in her ideal job list. BUT, this was a guaranteed job in Seattle, and the other jobs had no such guarantee. The goal was to get a job in Seattle so we could be together, but she needed to make sure it actually was a good job. She used her sleuthing skills, and luckily, she decided it was! So THAT MEANS WE WILL LIVE TOGETHER AGAIN IN JUST 6 MONTHS!

W W H H OOOO H H OOOO OOOO !!
W W H H O O H H O O O O !!
W W W HHHH O O == HHHH O O O O !!
W W W H H O O H H O O O O
WW WW H H OOOO H H OOOO OOOO !!

Thus, Maddy and Koshka and I will muddle through for the next 6 months, knowing that we get our wishes granted at the end. There is no God, but life is sometimes good nonetheless.

I leave you with one last thing of note. On New Year's Eve, Bridget and I decided to celebrate the end of the decade with a midnight 5k race! It started at 11:59 pm, so we were running as the New Year came to be! It was fun. It was a little weird running at midnight, but pretty cool too. It reminded me that exercise and staying healthy is an important part of our lives together, and that made me feel good.

Maddy says hello.