This picture deserved posting.  I can't wait for the desert storm season.

What causes a cloud to form?  Most people could tell you that a cloud is water condensed in air.  A simple answer for a simple question.  But that answer doesn't cover it.  What actually causes the process?  Water condenses on suspended particles of dirt or dust in the atmosphere, with favorable humidity and pressure conditions.  But does that answer even do the process justice?  Different kinds of clouds form at different altitudes from entirely different weather systems and conditions.  Now you've entered meteorology.  One step in any direction opens completely new doors: the chemical reactions involved in cloud formation and chemical composition are based in chemistry; the ability for earth's atmosphere to be suitable for clouds that causes the entire process is based in geology; the hydrological processes that govern the water cycle from ground to air are based in fluid mechanics.  And on.  And on.  And soon you realize, a simple question no longer has a simple answer.
The amount of knowledge needed to completely understand the universe is as vast as the universe itself.

I'll be there waiting

Reality check: reading my blog does not make you an expert on my life.  It's just something I tell my stories to when the cats get bored of listening.  Lulz~

/end rant

Random story for the day.. years ago I was at the beach with a friend, and a scruffy wrinkled homeless looking old guy walks by us.. and as he passes by he stares at me, then we hear him mutter.. "too white, too white.. you need to get a tan.."
Flash forward 10 years, I'm at a gas station filling up my car, when I hear a guy from behind me yell, "Dayum girl you PALE!  Where you from?"  He looks at my license plate.. "CALI??!!  Damn why so pale??"..

Ok.  So.  Two things I don't get.
1) Is it just me?  Or do people go up to strangers all the time and comment on their lack of skin pigment?  I'm not the only white girl on the planet.. and I'm pretty sure people don't normally get hassled like this..  Which brings me to..
2) What evokes comment from perfect strangers?  Do people think I have more potential, and they need to give me a heads up?  Or do they think I'm beyond hope and feel like giving me a hard time?  I'm guessing the former, since I still get hit on all the time.  But getting called pale isn't the only random comment I get from strangers.  I just don't get it.

/afk giving myself skin cancer

Someone told me once that you're lucky to find even one person your whole life who you truly love.  Some go their lives never knowing.  To find something great, no matter how fleeting, is worth the time in between.

That's why this song will always have meaning.  It's also why I find myself inexorably drawn to the sound of someone playing an acoustic guitar.

The silence is the alternative to causing even more hurt.

Recently discovered youtube vids that make me smile.

Tasty cheerleader nomnom

Ninja cat

OMG cat

~

I believe you when you say you'll never hurt me.

I've been applying to fellowships to fund my research, and one in particular sounded pretty interesting.  It was a program that gave grad students time in the classroom with elementary school kids for a year.  Last week I had the interview, and the two program managers were thrilled.. told me I was a "perfect fit" for the fellowship.  Then.. they told me I'd have to be on campus at the elementary school 2 days a week, assisting in teaching classes.  Way more than my advisor and I had thought.  And since he wants me submitting a paper on my research by December, I had to decline the offer.... it still felt good to know they wanted me bad for the position.

From the last person I'd expect, I had sort of an eye opener this week.  I watched someone grow up.  The young guy I went on a few dates with last year told me he's been having a hard time with school and started realizing his limits.  Coming from someone normally so arrogant was sort of surprising.  And he felt it was important enough to tell me about it.  I think he's still trying to make up for how he treated me.  Or maybe, he sees how much better of a person you can be by understanding your limits and being able to relate to others.

"The weak can never forgive.  Forgiveness is an attribute of the strong."

This El Nino season has been disappointingly dry.. for all the hype I was hoping for some torrential downpours.  Alas, except for one storm system, we've seen nothing.  At least I have the gorgeous monsoon season to look forward to.  Lightning show in the desert, anyone?

Forgive me for what I've done.. for what I'm about to do.

It's been a long 9 months.  How much has changed.  Blind unwavering confidence replaced with a need to survive at all costs, at once growing and decaying, one step back and two steps forward.  In the right direction.  Hopefully.

This time of year makes me yearn for the beautiful spring storms I left behind.

This song will always be driving with you at 90 miles an hour; our destination, the horizon; eyes and minds open; chasing flickers of light in the inky black rush of wind and rain as we followed the storms.

My first spring in Arizona.  There's nothing like a warm desert breeze picking up the scent of orange blossoms and jasmine to make you feel at home...