I added a few items to our profile so that it reflects my interests as well as Marc's. Kylie
P.S. I have absolutely no idea what transcendental structures are. Do any of you?
27.5.06
25.5.06
more visitors
arie and leanna stayed at our place the other night en route to kelowna. we went for a nice walk, ate a lot of filo pastry and generally had a good time. oh, that reminds me... when making those cranberry and brie cups (this is for you chris) i've found it easiest to fold the whole sheet of filo in 4 after buttering it, then just fold all the corners to the middle and stick that in the muffin tin. also, i added paprika to my spice mix with the sweet potatoe fries and there's no going back.
we went to our favourite beach on the fraser... this is what it looked like a couple weeks ago.
this is what it looked like on tuesday. no wonder nelson is flooding.
on a continuing theme with a previous blog, i was working in the office of an opthalmologist yesterday and a lady came in for an assessment which included a precise visual field mapping. after staring into an inverted deathstar
for about 5 min and clicking a button whenever she saw a light flash she generated a visual field that looked something like this for each eye.
"what's that big black spot?" she asks.
oh, thats your blind spot
i dont have a blind spot
yes you do, everybody does
not me, i can see all around me all the time.
so i explain to her about her blind spot. i'm sure all of you guys did this in grade 7 bio, but if you've forgotten about it, take a pencil and hold it eraser side up about a foot in front of you. close one eye and then move the pencil side to side while keeping your eye focused straight ahead. about 6 inches to the side the eraser should disappear, but the wallpaper will remain intact behind it. thats your blindspot and its another great reminder that what you see around you is not reality, it is your brain's interpretation of its sensory input. often your brain lies to you just so your poor little conciousness wont get confused . your brain is constantly doing things like filling in the wallpaper pattern so you dont think you're having some kind of acid flashback. the same thing is happening with your peripheral vision. the actual visual inputs to your periphery are quite poor (except at sensing motion) so your brain fills in what it thinks should be there. there are many more examples like this but i'll shut up now b/c i tend to get too excited about this sort of thing.
along the same line though, here is the one of the coolest optical illusions i have ever seen. i think it works by playing on the depletion of neurotransmitters in the cone cells of your retina, but thats just a guess.
marc
we went to our favourite beach on the fraser... this is what it looked like a couple weeks ago.
this is what it looked like on tuesday. no wonder nelson is flooding.
on a continuing theme with a previous blog, i was working in the office of an opthalmologist yesterday and a lady came in for an assessment which included a precise visual field mapping. after staring into an inverted deathstar
for about 5 min and clicking a button whenever she saw a light flash she generated a visual field that looked something like this for each eye.
"what's that big black spot?" she asks.
oh, thats your blind spot
i dont have a blind spot
yes you do, everybody does
not me, i can see all around me all the time.
so i explain to her about her blind spot. i'm sure all of you guys did this in grade 7 bio, but if you've forgotten about it, take a pencil and hold it eraser side up about a foot in front of you. close one eye and then move the pencil side to side while keeping your eye focused straight ahead. about 6 inches to the side the eraser should disappear, but the wallpaper will remain intact behind it. thats your blindspot and its another great reminder that what you see around you is not reality, it is your brain's interpretation of its sensory input. often your brain lies to you just so your poor little conciousness wont get confused . your brain is constantly doing things like filling in the wallpaper pattern so you dont think you're having some kind of acid flashback. the same thing is happening with your peripheral vision. the actual visual inputs to your periphery are quite poor (except at sensing motion) so your brain fills in what it thinks should be there. there are many more examples like this but i'll shut up now b/c i tend to get too excited about this sort of thing.
along the same line though, here is the one of the coolest optical illusions i have ever seen. i think it works by playing on the depletion of neurotransmitters in the cone cells of your retina, but thats just a guess.
marc
22.5.06
niko got kicked out of a dog show today. not as a competitor or anything, unregistered mutts just weren't welcome. thats ok b/c kylie and i were having trouble keeping a straight face around all the poodles anyways.
we went into vancouver for jamie's surprise beach birthday party on sunday. does this beach look familiar amber?
we went into vancouver for jamie's surprise beach birthday party on sunday. does this beach look familiar amber?
20.5.06
in other news...
kylie just brought me some chips and told me to guess what they were made of. i eat the first chip... crunchy, slightly sticky texture, very salty but good. second chip is deep red, sweeter and the tiniest bit sour. a couple more chips and i still have no idea. finally after much gustatory rumination (is that a tautology?) i give up. kylie reads off the list of ingredients, "taro, ruby taro, sweet potatoe, yuca, batata and parsnip" wow, i was close.
today i had a rush of discipline and worked on my research project for like 2 hours with only a minority of the time spent staring out of our office window at the willow tree in our backyard. while i was working i was even pretty efficient. suddenly i looked at my computer screen and thought "wow, i love my mac". i can have my main working tools and documents all on the desktop at the same time, and if i need to find something that's buried, i just slide my mouse to the corner and all the open windows tile out into view so i can pick the document i need. do pc's have this feature yet? mac has used it for years now. anyways, i thought perhaps this desktop could be research art, and maybe i could hand it in as an art project and not have to finish the research, so i took a screenshot.
yesterday i was also working on my research project, although i wasnt being quite as efficient. niko was upstairs bugging me for a while but eventually he got the message and went downstairs to hang out by himself. i didnt hear from him for over an hour. when i went downstairs to say hi i found my (decimated) wallet and its contents spread out over the entire room. he got a tooth mark in almost every one of my cards, wrecked my bank card and my visa, chewed the corner off my birth certificate (i think its still valid) and tore the actual wallet to shreds. that brat. "fine, if you dont want to play with me, i'll show you... i'll have fun all by myself". oh well, i needed a new wallet anyways.
this morning in the obligatory procrastination process that initiates all of my attempts to do actual work on the computer i discovered a number of comments that people had posted on our blog that had been lost but now are found. too bad they are scattered all down our blog and no one will read them. thanks to shareen for pointing out the problem, thanks to fraser for carrying on my (his) helmet joke, thanks to chris for the useful advice, yes jenessa i agree that olive oil is healthy and sorry josh that the first blog comment of your life got rejected.
the other day i was privileged to hear the perfect doppler effect. a train blew its whistle just as i was about to pass it going the opposite direction on the highway. a textbook "wheeeeeoooooOOOOHHHH" when the sound waves beat on my tympanic membrane with steadily decreasing frequency as i travelled towards and then rapidly away from their source. it served as an excellent reminder of the relativity of our various observations of the world. every person in the vicinity of that train heard a slightly different sound made by the same whistle at the same point in time even though the sound waves produced scattered identically in all directions. remember, the world you see and hear around you is not actually there; what you are experiencing is merely a map of your environment produced by your brain and your limited senses and projected to your conciousness to enable you to survive. you have no way of knowing what is really out there or what anyone else is really experiencing.
today i had a rush of discipline and worked on my research project for like 2 hours with only a minority of the time spent staring out of our office window at the willow tree in our backyard. while i was working i was even pretty efficient. suddenly i looked at my computer screen and thought "wow, i love my mac". i can have my main working tools and documents all on the desktop at the same time, and if i need to find something that's buried, i just slide my mouse to the corner and all the open windows tile out into view so i can pick the document i need. do pc's have this feature yet? mac has used it for years now. anyways, i thought perhaps this desktop could be research art, and maybe i could hand it in as an art project and not have to finish the research, so i took a screenshot.
yesterday i was also working on my research project, although i wasnt being quite as efficient. niko was upstairs bugging me for a while but eventually he got the message and went downstairs to hang out by himself. i didnt hear from him for over an hour. when i went downstairs to say hi i found my (decimated) wallet and its contents spread out over the entire room. he got a tooth mark in almost every one of my cards, wrecked my bank card and my visa, chewed the corner off my birth certificate (i think its still valid) and tore the actual wallet to shreds. that brat. "fine, if you dont want to play with me, i'll show you... i'll have fun all by myself". oh well, i needed a new wallet anyways.
this morning in the obligatory procrastination process that initiates all of my attempts to do actual work on the computer i discovered a number of comments that people had posted on our blog that had been lost but now are found. too bad they are scattered all down our blog and no one will read them. thanks to shareen for pointing out the problem, thanks to fraser for carrying on my (his) helmet joke, thanks to chris for the useful advice, yes jenessa i agree that olive oil is healthy and sorry josh that the first blog comment of your life got rejected.
the other day i was privileged to hear the perfect doppler effect. a train blew its whistle just as i was about to pass it going the opposite direction on the highway. a textbook "wheeeeeoooooOOOOHHHH" when the sound waves beat on my tympanic membrane with steadily decreasing frequency as i travelled towards and then rapidly away from their source. it served as an excellent reminder of the relativity of our various observations of the world. every person in the vicinity of that train heard a slightly different sound made by the same whistle at the same point in time even though the sound waves produced scattered identically in all directions. remember, the world you see and hear around you is not actually there; what you are experiencing is merely a map of your environment produced by your brain and your limited senses and projected to your conciousness to enable you to survive. you have no way of knowing what is really out there or what anyone else is really experiencing.
17.5.06
Humourfying and Blogging
Two thoughts on my mind tonight. (Is it hard for those of you reading to tell if it is Marc or I writing - does the lack of capital letters give Marc away? AHHHHH I'm using brackets again.) Anyways two completely random thoughts that Marc and I were talking about when he phoned me tonight from the hospital.
1. Blogging is sure a great way to keep in touch! We were just talking about how much more involved and in touch with people's lives we feel when we regularly read their blog. This past Christmas we went out for coffee with Stephen and Amber and Jason and Michaelia (see their blogs on the side, I don't yet know how to do the linky thing) and Amber, Michaelia and I were discussing how when we come home for Christmas everyone asks what we are doing now and sometimes it gets tiring to update everyone with the same information but yet we still ask others that same question because we genuinely want to know about them. But now that we have blogging friends we can keep in touch with day to day stuff and then have deeper conversations in the future. So really we are saving time in the future by blogging today. Wow what a concept! Next time Marc worries about how he could be spending his time doing other things (see last posts) he should really be thankful for the fact that he is banking future time.
2. On a second note Marc and I were talking about this very large sharp knife that his Aunt Cheryl gave us that is EXTREMELY sharp. Today I washed it and then carried it across the kitchen to dry it and Niko walked underneath me and I all of sudden worried that if I dropped it would the knife chop his head off? I asked Marc this in our phone conversation and Marc said it definately wouldn't chop his head off but it could chop his paw off. I immediately of course was horrified at the thought of chopping my puppies toe off but in some weird sick way I thought it was funny. It would be a funny story to tell that you had a three legged (or pawed) dog because you were carrying a knife across the kitchen and you dropped it on your puppies toe. I told Marc that there needs to be a word for something that is both humourous and terrifying at the same time, thus the title of this post - humourfying. I allow any of you who think my word explains a very hard to explain concept to use my new word at your leisure. :)
PS I intially had Marc's on call in brackets after "he phoned me tonight from the hospital." I typed it unconsciouly. I need to break the bracket habit!!!!! Am I a weirdo for thinking that my puppy getting his paw chopped off would be in any way funny???
1. Blogging is sure a great way to keep in touch! We were just talking about how much more involved and in touch with people's lives we feel when we regularly read their blog. This past Christmas we went out for coffee with Stephen and Amber and Jason and Michaelia (see their blogs on the side, I don't yet know how to do the linky thing) and Amber, Michaelia and I were discussing how when we come home for Christmas everyone asks what we are doing now and sometimes it gets tiring to update everyone with the same information but yet we still ask others that same question because we genuinely want to know about them. But now that we have blogging friends we can keep in touch with day to day stuff and then have deeper conversations in the future. So really we are saving time in the future by blogging today. Wow what a concept! Next time Marc worries about how he could be spending his time doing other things (see last posts) he should really be thankful for the fact that he is banking future time.
2. On a second note Marc and I were talking about this very large sharp knife that his Aunt Cheryl gave us that is EXTREMELY sharp. Today I washed it and then carried it across the kitchen to dry it and Niko walked underneath me and I all of sudden worried that if I dropped it would the knife chop his head off? I asked Marc this in our phone conversation and Marc said it definately wouldn't chop his head off but it could chop his paw off. I immediately of course was horrified at the thought of chopping my puppies toe off but in some weird sick way I thought it was funny. It would be a funny story to tell that you had a three legged (or pawed) dog because you were carrying a knife across the kitchen and you dropped it on your puppies toe. I told Marc that there needs to be a word for something that is both humourous and terrifying at the same time, thus the title of this post - humourfying. I allow any of you who think my word explains a very hard to explain concept to use my new word at your leisure. :)
PS I intially had Marc's on call in brackets after "he phoned me tonight from the hospital." I typed it unconsciouly. I need to break the bracket habit!!!!! Am I a weirdo for thinking that my puppy getting his paw chopped off would be in any way funny???
procrastination tools II
it is somewhat ironic that it did not even occur to me to mention blogging when discussing my procrastination propensities. i especially enjoy travelling vicariously through my friends' blogs.
check out michaelia and jason frolicking in ireland for their anniversary, or my buddy aaron biking through china, or arien and megan traipsing across south america.
check out michaelia and jason frolicking in ireland for their anniversary, or my buddy aaron biking through china, or arien and megan traipsing across south america.
16.5.06
procrastination tools
having been in university for almost 10 years i have had many procrastination tools at the ready when deadlines loom, but the difference between those deadlines and my new deadine is that the prostination tools are crazy these days!!!! and they can be accessed by one stray click of my mouse (oops, i meant to click word).
if you like photography, or even if you possess eyes, you will be able to spend a lot of time on Flickr. its a huge group of photographers from all over the world, and the newest pictures with the most buzz float to the top. i can hit reload for an hour and keep following pics down to others in the set or by the same photographer or in the same category...
my other new favourite procrastination tool is google earth. check out these satellite photos of a bus and matatu park in kampala, uganda. this was the central point for all of kylie and i's travels in the country. if you want to go anywhere in uganda outsite greater kampala you go to the bus park and get herded onto a bus to sit in the back corner squeezed in between an old lady and her chickens and a giant rust hole in the side. if you are trying to get somewhere closer to kampala you cross the street to the matatu park and walk around bewildered as 5 or 6 people simultaneously try to give you directions. finally someone yanks you onto a matatu (which wont move until it is full - like seriously full) and you slowly edge out of the crazy multimatatu nexus and into the equally crazy city traffic. here is a conventional pic of the same park.
if you like photography, or even if you possess eyes, you will be able to spend a lot of time on Flickr. its a huge group of photographers from all over the world, and the newest pictures with the most buzz float to the top. i can hit reload for an hour and keep following pics down to others in the set or by the same photographer or in the same category...
my other new favourite procrastination tool is google earth. check out these satellite photos of a bus and matatu park in kampala, uganda. this was the central point for all of kylie and i's travels in the country. if you want to go anywhere in uganda outsite greater kampala you go to the bus park and get herded onto a bus to sit in the back corner squeezed in between an old lady and her chickens and a giant rust hole in the side. if you are trying to get somewhere closer to kampala you cross the street to the matatu park and walk around bewildered as 5 or 6 people simultaneously try to give you directions. finally someone yanks you onto a matatu (which wont move until it is full - like seriously full) and you slowly edge out of the crazy multimatatu nexus and into the equally crazy city traffic. here is a conventional pic of the same park.
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15.5.06
Crazy Mama!
Since Marc posted some silly pictures of his mom I decided to post some of mine.
For those of you who weren't sure where I got my craziness from I will give you a little bit of a hint.
Happy Mother's Day mom, you are fun, brave, silly and best of all it was from you that I got my desire to do as little laundry as possible and to put brackets in everything I write. (I'm not sure who I can blame my love of sugar on though.) :) Hee hee
For those of you who weren't sure where I got my craziness from I will give you a little bit of a hint.
Happy Mother's Day mom, you are fun, brave, silly and best of all it was from you that I got my desire to do as little laundry as possible and to put brackets in everything I write. (I'm not sure who I can blame my love of sugar on though.) :) Hee hee
13.5.06
my mom
many people have a lot to thank my mom for. she is the penultimate hostess and generous with both her time and her home. my parents' house has the air of a hostel at times; it is thick with university students, international students and anyone who mentions in or near my mom's presence that they are in need of a warm meal or a place to stay.
i have a lot to thank my mom for. she gave me freedom when i needed freedom, rules when i needed limits, trust even when i might not have deserved it and love all the time. my friends always felt welcome in her home and if they felt any hunger it was brief. i think that i also have her to thank for my ability to eat huge amounts of food and not gain weight. both my mom and i are quite physically active but i dont think thats the whole story... check this out.
here is my mom at christmas dinner (which took her all day to create). note the anticipation.
here is my mom after christmas dinner; note the plate and obvious lack of uncomfortable gastric distension.
thanks mom, for christmas dinners, friends' dinners and the intrepid stomach!
marc
i have a lot to thank my mom for. she gave me freedom when i needed freedom, rules when i needed limits, trust even when i might not have deserved it and love all the time. my friends always felt welcome in her home and if they felt any hunger it was brief. i think that i also have her to thank for my ability to eat huge amounts of food and not gain weight. both my mom and i are quite physically active but i dont think thats the whole story... check this out.
here is my mom at christmas dinner (which took her all day to create). note the anticipation.
here is my mom after christmas dinner; note the plate and obvious lack of uncomfortable gastric distension.
thanks mom, for christmas dinners, friends' dinners and the intrepid stomach!
marc
Happy Mother's Day!
Marc and I both have great moms! Happy Mother's Day you two, you are both awesome. We love you and miss you and appreciate everything you do for us. Have a great day! Love, Marc and Kylie
8.5.06
sweet
chris brought over my new landyatch today. 85mm wheels, tight carve capacity, low slung stability and an unexpectedly nice handpainted graphic.
there's this 200m stretch of virgin asphalt just down our street (around 1 week old now) and niko was ripping tonight. i carved back and forth through the whole length with the board gliding effortlessly underneath me. it can even bump up friendly curbs pretty smoothly. i cant wait to take it on a nice long hill.
there's this 200m stretch of virgin asphalt just down our street (around 1 week old now) and niko was ripping tonight. i carved back and forth through the whole length with the board gliding effortlessly underneath me. it can even bump up friendly curbs pretty smoothly. i cant wait to take it on a nice long hill.
7.5.06
done
my neighbours and i recently got together to beat back the rainforest of blackberries that were overtaking our yard. we're planning on tilling it and planting grass +/- a small garden plot. it only added ~30% in depth but it feels like it has doubled in size.
in other news my new longboard has arrived but i havent picked it up yet.
also i may never write another test again in my entire life.
in other news my new longboard has arrived but i havent picked it up yet.
also i may never write another test again in my entire life.
4.5.06
Things I have learned since getting a Dog!
1. Dogs burp - did you know this? I did not know this. Niko burps quite often (at least once a day) and several times I have been petting him and kissing his face and telling him how cute he is and he burps right in my face. Quite lovely!
2. Dogs manipulate - it is amazing how humanlike Niko will be in his behaviour when he wants something. He bats his eyes, he puts on his cute puppy face, he pretends he didn't hear a command that we ask. Silly dog.
3. How to breathe when I run - I know that this really has nothing to do with a dog but since getting Niko Marc and I have been running a little more to give Niko exercise. One night we were running to the park and I was breathing through my nose as I usually do when I run and for some unknown reason I opened my mouth. WOW! I know that those of you reading this are asking yourself how a 27 year old woman (am I a woman? I would rather write girl.) does not know how to breathe when they run? Well apparently somehow along the way in my 27 years here on earth I missed the how to breathe when you run lesson. Several times! Since then I have really perfected my breathing through my mouth and have been running more regularly and actually enjoy it. (Small amounts though still) Maybe one day I will be a marathoner.
4. Last and certainly not least - dogs are really fun to dress up! As evidenced here is Niko dressing up as Marc and Niko dressing up as Kylie.
Hee hee.
In other news I have had an accident prone weekend. I jammed my pinky toe in the coffee table last weekend, Niko pawed me on the mouth and I got a fat lip (a small fat lip but still a fat lip) and I was searing salmon in olive oil and some hot oil splashed on my forehead and burned me (I did not wash it right away because I HAD to finish the salmon) and yesterday Marc and I went for a walk in nice beautiful weather and it tanned in the sun. Marc says it may stay like that. (I don't know if this is him being Dr Marc or him being silly husband Marc - how can I scare Kylie with my knowledge hee hee hee) And on top of all that, I have a bad cold. I'm glad it was me and not Marc who got the cold though because he has his big test this week.
Finally on a completely unrelated note I have noticed that I use a lot of brackets when I write. My mom does too and I would always curse her when I was typing the family Christmas letter because brackets are annoying. I am becoming like my mother. AHHHHHHH! :)
2. Dogs manipulate - it is amazing how humanlike Niko will be in his behaviour when he wants something. He bats his eyes, he puts on his cute puppy face, he pretends he didn't hear a command that we ask. Silly dog.
3. How to breathe when I run - I know that this really has nothing to do with a dog but since getting Niko Marc and I have been running a little more to give Niko exercise. One night we were running to the park and I was breathing through my nose as I usually do when I run and for some unknown reason I opened my mouth. WOW! I know that those of you reading this are asking yourself how a 27 year old woman (am I a woman? I would rather write girl.) does not know how to breathe when they run? Well apparently somehow along the way in my 27 years here on earth I missed the how to breathe when you run lesson. Several times! Since then I have really perfected my breathing through my mouth and have been running more regularly and actually enjoy it. (Small amounts though still) Maybe one day I will be a marathoner.
4. Last and certainly not least - dogs are really fun to dress up! As evidenced here is Niko dressing up as Marc and Niko dressing up as Kylie.
Hee hee.
In other news I have had an accident prone weekend. I jammed my pinky toe in the coffee table last weekend, Niko pawed me on the mouth and I got a fat lip (a small fat lip but still a fat lip) and I was searing salmon in olive oil and some hot oil splashed on my forehead and burned me (I did not wash it right away because I HAD to finish the salmon) and yesterday Marc and I went for a walk in nice beautiful weather and it tanned in the sun. Marc says it may stay like that. (I don't know if this is him being Dr Marc or him being silly husband Marc - how can I scare Kylie with my knowledge hee hee hee) And on top of all that, I have a bad cold. I'm glad it was me and not Marc who got the cold though because he has his big test this week.
Finally on a completely unrelated note I have noticed that I use a lot of brackets when I write. My mom does too and I would always curse her when I was typing the family Christmas letter because brackets are annoying. I am becoming like my mother. AHHHHHHH! :)
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