my planarium population has now multiplied to 3, well, as of this morning, anyway.
it's kind of interesting, the experiment we're gonna conduct on 'em on wed (probably without my TA--teaching assistant--kerry)*.

lemme expound.

my group was supposed to figure out what aspect of the planaria we'd like to conduct our research on to come up with a 10 page paper by the end of the lab sessions, so, considering the regenerative properties of planaria, these platyhelminthes,we settled on chopping off their heads and testing to see how fast each planaria grows under certain pH conditions, coz they live in freshwater regions in water of essentially pH 7.

anyway. :] hopefully it won't traumatize em too much. apparently they have a seriously underdeveloped nervous system so i hope past research has been accurate.
we're gonna sever using a scalpel right below the triangular head. :]
more on that after the experiment has been conducted.

*reason why my TA might not be in lab or discussion on wed (whooohooo!) is coz there's currently something called the TAA, when the teaching assistant's union has agreed upon a strike against new policy to charge for previously free health insurance and not to match salaries accordingly.
TA's have agreed to picket outside school buildings and try to 'persuade' students not to cross the lines. heh, not like we'd need much persuasion ahahaha.
but anyway.
yeah and they might also go on a grade strike if there's no resolution by tues (strike's supposed to be on from tues to wed)--which means that they'll withhold grades from the academic offices. wow.
except for graduating students or students with special needs.

kinda cool, huh.
i'm on the TA's side coz i've spoken to my TAs and i really empathize with their case and think that the state is being plain politically silly. what's new?

anyway, back to my planarium collection. :]
hezekiah got one new companion on wednesday, soren's new planaria (after his original "solomon" imploded) called "ichabod". AND the coolest thing is that i think ichabod errr, went into labor in soren's shelf. in the bottle, of course.
coz when i went to get em on friday, there were TWO!
ichabod became smaller and there was another live one.
waaaaaaaaaay coool.
this dude's called "ezekiel".
and they're all gonna et chopped up on wednesday if they live till then.
i need to change their water soon.

no more exciting news for now.
toodles.

what would i do without jac?!!!

lookies here, my cookiesssss:
www.haloscan.com

one of the potentially most useful things for a blog.

so... use it, loves.
;]

check this out too: http://b3.ezboard.com/fecoinsaniafrm1
(note--open in a new browser, you're not allowed to bypass my blog just coz of that. bwahaha.)
it's a site for opinions.
random thoughts, haikus, good songlists, political discussion, religion, you name it.
if you really can't find any segment you wanna post your bursting lightbulb of thought in,
create a new one! :]
whooohooo!

and... if you happen to be home and you're drunk, you have to go post on the drunk thread.
the more drunk, the merrier. :]

waaaay cool.
and don't just oogle at it, post! :]
no one will care about anonymousity, so... HAVE AT IT!
:]

ahhh.
sundays should be like this.
entirely serene, with the wind in my hair, nothing to rush, lots to think about, preferably happy things.
and with the potential for a good dinner afterwards.
perfect.

i only wish, again, that there're happy things to think about.

instead of schoolwork, being bothered about friendship and just having to wait too long for summer hols to begin.
i honestly can't wait for my mom to come over to minneapolis and spend time with me (she's gonna meet me and we'll have a little road trip around the upper midwest region, just the 2 of us nutso girls. incredible.)

yay yay to the holidays.

and NOW my friend andrew says that i should chop him in two because he'll regenerate.
hmmmmmmm.
tempting prospect, i should note that in my pre-lab report but... i don't think i'll try it coz i'm supposed to keep him alive too.
if i had 2 i might.
andrew also says that i can create an army of em just by doing that.
i wonder if that's their mode of reproduction.
freaky.
kill kill slice slice and voila! you get MORE progeny!!
eeeks.

i'm taking care of hezekiah now, lemme give you guys a sweet lil introduction to my black pal-lee-o. :]

he's a planaria.
a sorta flatworm, he's quite the darling.

he's sensitive to his surroundings, though, so i have to keep him in a lil jar of dechlorinated water.
he feeds on cooked egg yolk, raw liver... etc. BUT i have to make sure i take it out within an hour, otherwise bacteria will form and KILL HIM.
eeeks.
horrendous thought.
what a vicious circle of life.

anyway he's apparently got big googly eyes, and he's cross-eyed too heh.
cute ah.
i hoep he survives.

oh yeah, he's apparently hugely light sensitive too, but i'm supposed ti expose him to light and observe his reaction heh.
[poor dude.]

just checking to see if this works.

by the way, inspiration for summer possum is courtesy of my dear søren, hahah he was freestyling while we were walkin down bascom hill (for those unfamiliar with madison terrain, a GORGEOUS hill with abraham lincoln at the tippitytop, brilliant trees settling all around with shady embraces and litters of college kids like me sitting around on warm-er sunny days.)

basically, he said:
"summer blossom,
a burrowing possum."

anddddd.... i BURST out laughing.
no no, i also honestly have zilch idea why it cracked me up (and no, i wasn't inebriated or anything heh).
but... thus explains the origin of summer possum.
:]
acually has a pretty nice ring to it, doesn't it?
hahahaaa.
it makes me think of... an optimistic possum.
a happy bear.
or something.

nvmind. :]

ok, so, as i was saying...
testing... un, deux, trois.

oh oh oh oh must give credit to a coupla pple too.
i have to say that jac's blog gave me the first ooomph push to do this heh.
i just wanna be on her blog's list of people.
although i have full confidence that people will take an incredulous amount of time to recognize a certain summer possum. :]

heh but also... sinyi, who blogs.
and lisa, who has requested that i give her this site's URL once i get it up. :]
i will, i will.

ok, back to studying french and art (2 sorta-exams tomorrow. bummer.)

toodle-leh-eee-yo.