*In Comic Book Guy voice* Longest presentation, ever!
I have a presentation to do tomorrow. 15 minutes. Goody.
Well, I think I'll be able to fill in the 15 minutes, but I still don't like it! The prof said that 15 minutes goes by quickly (not for me, they don't!). Oh well, I think I can handle it.
One of my office mates told me that the presentation for the thesis proposal is going to be half an hour. Well that's something to look forward to next year. *cough*
Anywho, I'm doing my presentation on barriers to fish migration. Wish me luck! ^_^
Cookies, anyone?
I baked some almond cookies this morning, all by myself (and without setting the kitchen on fire! Woohoo!). I kinda overcooked the first batch, as you can see in the above pic, but I learned from my mistake and cooked the second batch properly.
Want to know the recipe? Of course you do. Here it is:
Muggins' almond cookiesCreamed mixture ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
6 tablespoons brown sugar
6 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Dry ingredients:
1 1/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
And:
1 cup chopped almonds
- Cream butter and sugars until light; beat in egg and vanilla
- Sift together dry ingredients
- Blend dry ingredients into creamed mixture
- Stir in nuts
- Drop from teaspoon on ungreased cookie sheet
- Bake at 375 degrees for about 10 minutes
- Cool cookies slightly before removing from pan
- Enjoy, dammit :p
Grad school, grad school, grad school
I found out earlier this week that my application to McGill HAS been accepted. My boss/supervisor told me last Tuesday that the selection committee in the department had a meeting to discuss the applications they've received. They are supposed to discuss as a group whether a particular applicant should be accepted. Apparently, everyone on the committee knew me, and they were unanimous about accepting me into grad studies. I was pretty surprised to learn that the entire committee knew who I was!
I'm supposed to get the official offer of admission soon. If I'm not mistaken, the department has to send their 'recommendation for admission' to the higher-ranking dudes in the university, and, as long as everything is in order, it becomes official.
The thought of starting grad school this fall is exciting and freaky at the same time. I'm really going to be doing serious research. Whoo! And, eek!
What will I be doing? I'm going to examine downstream fining of sediment along several rivers in the Gaspésie peninsula. Normally, the rocks on the bed of the river get smaller as you go downstream, but there would occasionally be a sudden transition from sand (or some other small sediment) to boulders, due to lateral inputs of coarse material. The size of sediment present on a stream bed affects whether Atlantic salmon are likely to spawn there (for instance, if it's too sandy, their gills get clogged or something). So I'm going to examine topographic maps and air photos to try to find potential sources of coarse sediment, and this summer, I'm going to spend a couple of weeks in Gaspésie to confirm my predictions.
On a slightly different, less happy note, I also found out I was rejected for the NSERC scholarship. I kind of knew I wouldn't get it, because it's really really competitive (apparently there are some undergrads out there who've already published papers; those were some of my competitors), but it still stinks finding out you've been rejected. In my rejection letter, they said stuff like "There were many excellent applications", "It was difficult choosing among all the qualified applicants", and "We apologize for any disappointment this rejection may have caused." Geez, I wish they wouldn't say sappy crap like that; they're essential shoving the classic "If it were up to us, you'd ALL be winners!" BS down your throat. It doesn't make me feel better, it just annoys the socks off of me; just tell me I've been rejected and that'll be that! You're not fooling anyone!
Anywho, I'm hoping I'll get that other scholarship I applied for. Students generally have better luck with the provincial-level scholarship; my brother got that one, too.
So good news and bad news in the same week. The same day, in fact. I'll have to wait patiently until April for news regarding that second scholarship.
Things I have in common with characters from...
The idea for the following post comes from my good friend Siberia's
Geeky Sanctuary Profile Page.
All hail Siberia!
======================================
THINGS I HAVE IN COMMON WITH CHARACTERS FROM...
The Simpsons
Lisa: Her lack of popularity among her peers; her intellectualness (maybe); her belief that the smarter you are, the more unhappy you become; her love of horses; playing the saxophone; her obsession with being perfect academically; her poor athletic skills
Marge: her lack of confidence in achieving her goals, her inability to say no (and hence getting walked over)
Mr. Burns: his lack of awareness of current events (ex: when the Olympics started, I asked my sister, "The Games are in Salt Lake City, right?" She exclaimed, "That was FOUR years ago! What planet are you on??")
The Lord of the Rings
Frodo: His despair when faced with a difficult burden, his need for someone to prod/encourage him to complete his mission, his kindness
Pippin: His occasional foolishness and carelessness
Faramir: His belief that battle should be for the purpose of protecting others, not for personal gain, domination or other macho man reasons
Éowyn: Her refusal to be a damsel in distress, her sadness, unrequited love
Lilo & Stitch
Lilo: Her loneliness, her desire (and inability) to fit in and make friends
David: His awkwardness around people he has a crush on, his gentleness, patience, and caring
X-Men: EvolutionRogue: Her loneliness; her bitterness; unrequited love; her disdain for popular, superficial, materialistic people; being betrayed by a friend
Jean: Not wanting (or needing) to be a damsel in distress; her occasional poor judgement of someone's character; her love of learning
Wanda (Scarlet Witch): Her tendency of holding a grudge for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time
Harry PotterHarry: His awkwardness around people he has a crush on, his righteousness
Hermione: Her bookishness
Ron: His occasional cluelessness, his jealousness of others' accomplishments
Last night, I cooked dinner for my family for the first time ever. I made gnocchi and meatballs, as well as cherry tomatoes stuffed with home-made guacamole (I learned this stuff from my cooking class). I guess it turned out okay for a first try, although my gnocchi came out a bit mushy; I think my mistake was not putting enough flour in the mashed potatoes.
It took more than two bloody hours to prepare the whole thing, and that's
with my mom's help, lol. Had I cooked done completely by myself, I would've had to get started right after eating lunch! ~_^ But, as they say, practice makes perfect.
