Monday, October 16, 2006

So here's the news.

1. My thesis committee has approved my thesis design. Since I have completed my required class credits and have passed my qualifying exams, this means that I have now officially advanced to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. Yow.

2. Mama DeathKoala is having surgery this winter. We found out a few years back that she has a benign meningioma. She's been having regular MRI scans to monitor it, and her recent results showed that it's growing quickly enough to warrant removal. It's about the size of a grape.

She is healthy and strong, her surgeon and his team are very good, and the procedure is about as low risk as you can get when you're talking about brain surgery. The tumor is more or less encased in its own little package, sort of like a cyst, so it will be easier to remove. It is also located in a (relatively) safe area, not burried in her language centers or anything horrid like that, so there's less chance that something important will be damaged trying to get it out.

Mama is joking about how much she enjoys milking this for sympathy and good behavior from Daddio and Boo. Daddio and Boo are offering to shave their heads to match Mama's for the surgery. I'm wigging out and being of no help whatsoever.

This is a crazy year.

Monday, October 02, 2006

From the Department of Freaking Sweet:



This guy named Julian Beever does amazing sidewalk art with pastels, creating images that appear 3-D if viewed from the right angle. To really appreciate the optical illusion, you can compare works like Make Poverty History from the front and from the side.

Coolness.