Posted by: patriciamar | May 5, 2009

Lariam / Mefloquine

Stay tuned for more information on why this is the most evil drug on the Earth…

I didn’t like pharmaceutical companies before… But now I think they may be pure evil. Who puts this on the market? Anything that causes 10 percent of users to have psycho-neurological side effects or anything of the sort just should not be on the market.
I mean, people actually live in Indonesia. They have normal, mellow lives, and are obviously not all taking these evil anti-malaria drugs.
And this was just a test run.
Never Ever recommend Mefloquine (also called Lariam). Never take it, never think about taking it, and never allow someone you know to take it.
Even if you hate them. Don’t let them take it. It’s just too cruel.

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Posted by: patriciamar | April 25, 2009

Waking up before the bubble bursts

Some days you wake up and you just feel great and ready to go.  Today is the day I will finish that draft, finish that project, etc. etc.  The main obstacle is that period of time in between actually getting out of bed and starting that project.  Of course, this could be five minutes, but at brushing your teeth (a given), maybe a shower, some days even a run before that, and you should always eat breakfast, or maybe throw in a quick load of laundry…

Pretty soon, you are sitting at the desk staring blankly.  The moment is gone, the rush is gone, the motivation is gone.   Now, how do you get that back?

Do you just wake up and head straight to the computer?  Even if it’s 6 a.m.?  Do you not brush your teeth?  What are the real critical moments that are about to slump your start?  And why isn’t there a little internal device in me that warns me when I am about to burst the positive bubble?  Wait! Don’t do that!   You are going one step too far!  Just work on the paper!

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Posted by: patriciamar | April 21, 2009

My Bloggal outrage on Pepsi Max

I have just discovered that Pepsi Max is actually Diet Pepsi Max.

It really isn’t. It’s just called Pepsi Max. But it has no sugar and less than 1 kcal.

Apparently this is the whole marketing scheme for it… Pepsi Max: Pepsi flavor, no sugar, maximum taste, and extra caffeine.
This is not what I was looking for. I was looking for actual Pepsi flavor, normal sugars (though I understand this is actually high-fructose corn syrup), and extra caffeine.

Am I just confused as to what Pepsi Max actually is???
Is it the Pepsi equivalent to Coke Zero? or is it the Pepsi with extra caffeine? I am just so confused. Since I am not living in the U.S., I don’t get to see a gajillion commercials explaining the advantages and the disadvantages and the Coke/Pepsi equivalence.

What if I want just the Pepsi (regular) with extra caffeine and not the Pepsi (diet) with extra caffeine???

Does this not exist?

Am I in some European bizarro Pepsi world where things are not the same?

The other day I explained to someone that there is no such thing as Coca-Cola Light in the U.S. It’s Diet Coke there. It becomes “Light” rather than “Diet” once it crosses an international border.

At least I think so.
Who knows anymore?
Whatever happened to transparent marketing?
I just wanted a Pepsi with extra caffeine.

I suppose I should’ve just stuck with Dr. Pepper.

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Posted by: patriciamar | April 13, 2009

The B & the B

I was just down on the first floor changing my laundry.  Overall, the trip was highly unsuccessful, as there were no open dryers, and my clothes were covered with white stuff from some mysterious and evil pocket remnant.  There were actually two open dryers,  but one was showing absolutely no sign of life, and the other had so much life that I thought it may start my clothes on fire.  I was then forced to bring all my wet clothes back up… and it is now hanging outside on my balcony railing- underwear and all.  I am like an old woman.

Fortunately, there was one positive aspect of the trip down to the erste verdieping (1st Floor)…  On the way back to the stairs, (okay, I’m lying, I took the elevator).  On the way back to the elevator, I heard familiar music coming from a nearby apartment.  I was quickly able to place the tune in my backlogs of memory and yes – that’s what it was- the theme song for The Bold & the Beautiful.  Fabulous.

Now, I can very safely say that I was never a soap opera addict.  I know this show as well as tidbits of The Young & the Restless from my childhood and periods of time when my mother, or my babysitter, or maybe my college roommate (though I think that was As the World Turns…???), or whoever, used to watch these nice, oh-so-artistic, yet trashy shows.  Ahh, the life of soap operas.  This apartment building incident brought several things to mind…

Firstly, how is it that someone is watching (and loudly, might I add), The Bold & the Beautiful, at 5:00 p.m. in Leiden, Netherlands, in my Smaragdlaan apartment building???

I would have to guess that they are watching via YouTube, Surf the Channel, or some other sketchily broadcast version.  Maybe I should have took the one minute to listen and see if I could tell just what Thorn is up to nowadays…

But really- listening to a soap opera through someone’s door sounds a bit creepy… Though from the looks of the situation, I am guessing that this particular student is so addicted that they would probably have invited me in to watch.

My second thought was more of a realization that The B&tB theme song must be one quality recording if I was able to recognize it in less than ten seconds after not having heard it for at least a decade.  I should probably look up who the writer is… It’s probably the same asshole who wrote that Five Dollar Footlong jingle that makes me what to stab out my eyes.

But so darn catchy.

Oh, the soap opera life.

Now, back to thesis denial.

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Posted by: patriciamar | April 13, 2009

The State of Maine

I was in bed last night, not sleeping, and thinking about the state of Maine…  Isn’t it strange that I have never met anyone from Maine nor have I ever met anyone who has been to Maine???  I do not even think that I have met anyone who has every known anyone who has either lived in or visited Maine.

In all honesty, I actually looked up the state to make sure I spelled Maine correctly.  I understand that this sounds a bit exaggerated and ridiculous, but in my defense, there is someone in my hometown with the last name, Maine, and I knew that they were pronounced the same, but for some reason, I thought they were spelled differently.  So, I knew that the name was spelled, M-a-i-n-e, so then I thought that maybe the state name was spelled differently, even though I knew it was, obviously, not spelled, M-a-i-n.

So about Maine… Perhaps the state of Maine is actually a figment of our imagination.  It doesn’t actually exist.

Or –

It does exist, but it was seceded to Canada years ago and is now some ex-urbial territory of New Brunswick, the Canadian province that no one would know existed except for the fact that they (along with Quebec) are ineligible for most giveaways and contests.

I did actually meet someone someone from New Brunswick once.  It was in Mexico and he immediately accused me of not knowing where New Brunswick was.  This made me pretty angry… I am really- where am I from, Georgia?  Just kidding.  Sorry Georgia, that was a low blow.  And mainly because I met someone from Georgia once who didn’t know that South Dakota existed.  They said they knew there was a North Dakota, but they didn’t know there was a South Dakota.  I am in no way defending South Dakota and their huge importance to the country, but she was from the United States.  Even if you can’t list all fifty in under seven minutes, you should be able to at least identify if they exist or not.

Except for Maine, that one’s a kicker.

Let me know if you’re from Maine… I’m interested.

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Posted by: patriciamar | April 1, 2009

Things Matt feels strongly about:

… Stay tuned for information on this…

The nature of life

Things humans do and dogs wouldn’t

Ben Woodside

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Posted by: patriciamar | March 31, 2009

Things he says…

A few minutes ago, Matt used the phrase: shoot the lights out.
I don’t even think my grandpa says this…

He also says phewf.  Not “phew…” like any other normal human being.

He also explained that he sometimes enjoys drinking straight pina colada mixer because it makes him think of putting on sunscreen.

I sure am glad he doesn’t read this.

Phewf.

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Posted by: patriciamar | March 29, 2009

My Thesis Grandpa

I recently discovered that Noam Chomsky is my thesis grandpa.  Noam Chomsky is the phd thesis advisor of my MA thesis advisor, thus, my thesis grandpa.  Overall, this situation causes me great stress and further pressure while in the thesis writing process.  If you don’t know Noam Chomsky, you can look him under:

Linguistics, father of

See what I mean?  Adds a fair amount of pressure.  Fabulous thesis?  Has the potential to be sent to Noam.  Shoddy thesis?  End of future career as a linguist.  What happens if I just want to turn in a normal thesis?

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Posted by: patriciamar | March 25, 2009

I keep mine in an airtight container and grind it fresh everyday…

This morning I had no coffee beans, and because it was raining, no will to bike into town to buy more.

Although as a coffee drinker I am ashamed of it… I ran the water through the grains from yesterday.  Ouch.

I just really needed a cup of coffee…

As I drank the half cup in my coffee corner with not the slightest coffee aroma in the air, memories of Minnesota gas stations flooded me. That weak bottomless pot that sits there in the KwikTrip from 2-5… Yes, that’s the smell… and taste..

It has been a rough day so far.

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Posted by: patriciamar | March 25, 2009

Fresh Brood

Today in class, the door was slightly ajar. This led to the smell of freshly baked bread continuously flowing into the room. It was all at once amazing and tortuous.
Bread… Yum.

Although you might think my classroom is located near the cafeteria, it is actually on the third floor of the building.

Who knows where breadsy air comes from.
It just appears.

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