What. How can the temperature be that different? We're like two inches away from each other on a reasonably-sized map! Tell me when you get snow. It'll probably be before I have to put on a sweater.

I don't think I know anyone well enough to ask them to go with me. We're friendly but not non-school-related-outings friendly.
I'm concerned about the zoo, because it has an attached water park. Why would you attach a water park to a perfectly good zoo? Perhaps it is not perfectly good. It has an aquarium, though, so we'll see. Maybe cuttlefishes will be there.

I have never actually done mass spectrometry. Perhaps that's my problem. OKCupid was never going to work for me. Not that I've been using it. Perhaps that's my problem.

What? We already have several feet of snow.

The way to become non-school-related-outings friendly is to invite them on an outing of that nature. They must also love cuttlefish, right?

You have several problems. You've identified as many as two.

I wound up going to the zoo today. By myself. There were no cuttlefishes, so that wouldn't have worked as an enticement strategy anyway. It was a very good zoo, though. Bigger than the MN zoo. More polar bears. More bears in general--a very bear-focused establishment. The only downside was that there were other human guests there, and they never fail to enrage me. Seriously, people, think before you start wrongly identifying animals to your children. THE JACKAL IS NOT A HYENA.

I learned that penguins will chase little reflected bits of light just like cats. I wonder if they like laser pointers?

I'm a member now. Gonna get a fancy card.

This week's Project Runway is heavy on the drama. Almost too heavy. Hopefully it's all over now, though.

You could run over to them and correct them in a theatrical way. Wear a costume if that helps. You could wear a zoo employee costume.

Did they have hyenas? What kinds of penguins did they have? Tiny penguins? Were they too fat to swim well? How fancy is this card? Gold leaf?

So much drama. So much. Dad and I couldn't handle all of the drama. The tablet couldn't even handle all of the drama. I'm really hoping it stops.

I don't have the zoo employee haircut. Seriously, all of the women working there had the exact same haircut. Most of them were also 60+, but I think that's probably less vital than the haircut.

No hyenas, unfortunately. They did have manatees, which may or may not have been sexually frustrated. The penguins were... penguins. I forget which kind. They were about knee-high, and were not incredibly fat. They were active, waddly penguins.
Did I mention they love bears? Five kinds of bear. I saw a baby polar bear swimming, which was more hilarious than I expected. Balto was pretty spot on.
I did not pay the $200 necessary to get a gold card. I'm getting a red card with a giraffe on it. Not super fancy.

I don't see how they could keep up the drama level now that both twins are gone. It has to settle down now. Has to.

You could wear a wig.

I fear bears. Were you afraid of the bears?

Why did you say it was a fancy card if it's not a fancy card? Lies.

Somebody could pass out and bleed all over their project. That's an option.

I definitely had more bear fear than most of the children there. They seemed disappointed that there was glass and they couldn't march up and smack the bear in the face to make it move. Very aggressive children.
Not sure how much I feared the spectacled bear, though. Surprisingly small bear. Probably could still kill me with ease, but unlikely to ever have the opportunity.

I said it wasn't super fancy. It's still fancy.

At that point, it would still be less dramatic than all these twin-themed cliffhangers. You can't really cliffhang a whole episode on blood.

After my concert, I thought that I would never have to think about Washington Post March ever again. You know what song was playing on the carousel at the zoo? Yeah.

By the way, you lied. Very much lied. You said I wouldn't be reading a lot of books while I was in grad school, so I didn't need to bring that much reading material. LIES. I have burned through most of my book supply already.

Children need to fear bears more. There are too many deceptively cute bear characters in the world. They're trying to kill us all.

You can if you can make it look like they died. There are plenty of ways to make cliffhangers. On that topic, Dad wants to gossip, so you should call him.

I am still randomly struck by the Recessional. The one printed on the back of Pomp and Circumstance. I walk to work in step to it. I know the entire thing and both repeats.

Well, my early grad school experience was somewhat different (a lot more commuting). Are you not reading enough fanfic? Read more of that. And, you know, you have Amazon Prime. They began life as a book peddler. Read some of their books.

Speaking of Prime, do you have access to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency? You should watch it. Dad and I watched it and you should watch it. But only season 1, so we don't get jealous.

The Berenstein Bears should be sued for child endangerment.

They wouldn't end the episode on a blood-and-injury cliffhanger, though. That would ruin the pacing. The best they could do would be a commercial break, which wouldn't be that bad.

I'm haunted by past music enough without the rest of the world interjecting. I didn't need that input, carousel.
How many times did you play the Recessional? I performed it three times, tops.

I'm not reading much fanfic at all. I had forgotten all of the advantages that books have over fanfic, like "always being complete" and "not being usually terrible". Although the ebooks I read mostly are terrible. They're free. I'm not counting them toward my book reading experience.
I don't think I get any free books from Amazon Prime. Not that I know of, anyway.

Nope, no access to that. I assume you got it on DVD? I'll have to wait and borrow it or something.

They're not cute. It's fine.

What if one of the models was grievously injured by the garment while walking? That would possibly work for a cliffhanger. Oh no, it's TOO AVANT-GARDE. You know. This week is an unconventional materials challenge. It could happen.

Three, plus rehearsing it for four cycles (I joined the rehearsals for the lower band in my last year, too [because I was a bum who didn't feel like going to real classes], so it's really more like five rehearsal cycles). They wouldn't let me play it when I graduated. But playing the Recessional even once feels like an eternity, and I say that as a person who really likes the Recessional.

Well, you wouldn't run out of books so fast if you read more fanfic. Not my fault your priorities are abnormal. And Prime involves access to Kindle on your phone, so you do too have access to free books.

Blu-Ray. We don't live in the past here. We also finished Steins;Gate (also on Blu-Ray). Dad liked that. I liked it again. Why won't you watch it?