Yvette's Inner Geek Blog

What is it about the inherent social-spatial lesson that I (and what seems like most people) understand that some people just don’t get?

You probably know what I’m talking about: when you enter a space that you must share with other members of the public, such as a doctor’s office, you don’t sit down close to a stranger if there is a spot available at a “safe” distance, or one that is equidistant from other strangers. In a small room or on public transportation, it’s more acceptable to be in close proximity because there isn’t much space to begin with.  But in a large room, it’s customary to allow for plenty of personal space and not crowd someone for no reason.

Right?

This afternoon, I was sitting alone in a 4-seat sitting area on the perimeter of a large atrium (4th floor Losee Center) on UVU’s campus. It’s typically quiet and somewhat out of the way except for some doors to offices nestled around the perimeter. It’s a comfortable and well-lit waiting/reading area with about 50 lounge chairs scattered about. There were a handful of other people sharing the lounge area, all appropriately scattered in their own personal spaces and keeping to themselves.

I saw a girl walk briskly out of an office in my line of sight, then turn left and step up onto the platform of my little sitting area. She proceeded to sit down directly across from me—not in the seat closest to the office door, but in what I considered to be Directly In My Zone given the ample number of unoccupied seats otherwise available. Without saying a word to me or looking directly at me, she started reading the textbook in her hand.

And chomping her gum. Open-mouthed and all.

Dude. Really?

She might as well have sat directly on my lap and farted.

I initially gave her the benefit of the doubt—maybe she was just waiting for a minute until being called back into the office. But the chomping. Oh. My. God. And after a minute, it was clear that she was getting comfortable and would not be going anywhere.

My laptop was open, my feet were resting on the coffee table between us, and I was trying to do homework. I considered reaching into my bag for headphones so I wouldn’t have to listen to the chomping, but no. Why should I have to expend effort to accommodate my needs when she was the one violating the social norms of personal space and being rude by chomping gum in a quiet area?

Instead, I returned the gesture of hostility by playing a CNN video at a reasonable volume through my laptop speakers. It was an interview with a couple whose home had recently been broken into by a facebook friend and had been caught on film—there were some parts I just didn’t quite catch so I had to rewind a bit and adjust the volume. Nobody else was within earshot, I’m sure. I watched the girl shift in my peripheral vision, slightly distracted from her reading by my shared audio.

After a couple minutes, she stood up. She walked toward the center of the atrium and took a spot that was, in my opinion, an acceptable distance from others.

Pleased with my passive aggressive territory defense, I shut off the video and went back to homework.

Anybody else remember a cartoon called Maya the Bee that aired on (the brand new) Nick Jr. in the late 80s? I remember thinking that I was too old to watch it when it was on, but since my little sister wanted to, I guess I had to… As a result, hearing/reading the name “Maya” has always caused the theme song of that cartoon to pop into my head.

Myyyyyyyy-uh-ai-a, Maya the Bee.

And that song is also connected to the basement of my (one summer only, I think?) babysitter’s house and my fascination with the popping letter dice of Boggle. And David the Gnome, the cartoon that followed or preceded Maya the Bee.

Snapping back to present day: This semester I have been learning basic animation and 3D modeling using a pretty intense software program called Maya. The cartoon theme song has been a constantly droning, yet chipper, mental audio track as I curse and snarl and otherwise express my frustration for this complex software. Combine that with what I feel has been less than sufficient training from a young and monotone-y soft spoken instructor and perhaps I’m painting a picture for you to interpret as lackluster excitement for my class and Maya in general.

I have enjoyed most of the graphic and web design courses I’ve taken at UVU, but this one’s been tough. It’s a required course for the Digital Media major that I was initially excited about but have come to dread. I appreciate the art form of 3D modeling and animation, don’t get me wrong. I know how important it is as a consumer of that type of thing. It’s just… a lot of time-consuming work. And because Maya is something in which I’m not pursuing a career (or even a hobby), finding the motivation to invest a lot of time in it just isn’t easy. At least I was able to download a free 6-month trial as a student (via the parent company’s site, students.autodesk.com) so I’m not dependent on a computer lab.

Still, I’m getting to the point where I’ve done some neat things even if I want to give that 3D grid view a little what-fer to the face. I definitely prefer 3D modeling to the 2D animation we were doing in Maya at the beginning of the semester. (You say the software is powerful, I say the software is too effing complicated.) Anyway, here’s a pre-fab model that I posed (excluding the facial features) in a way to convey strength. And/or constipation.

This one’s a work in progress. I started from a single cube and have transformed it into a larger and disfigured cube that will hopefully be a cartoony toucan bird with wings extended by Wednesday night. I have a tutorial to follow, but it’s not great. I might end up turning this lump of pixels into Lou Ferrigno ca. Hulk Angry Time instead. Actually, that would be quite bitchin’.

I had to take Marianne to school with me today for logistical reasons, but it worked out well for her in terms of swag. It was “Wolverine Wednesday” at UVU, which is a one hour school spirit extravaganza involving $3 “J-Dawg” sausages and a spin-and-win wheel of fortune.

Marianne’s spin landed on a candy bar, but I asked the student running it if she could have a t-shirt instead. “She’s visiting me from Norway,” I said. It worked, and look how happy she is with her free, high-quality, totally American t-shirt!

Then I also landed on a candy bar, and the guy said “You’re not from Norway. You’re not getting a t-shirt.”

We also walked through the Hall of Flags, where we took an obligatory photo of her by the Norwegian flag.

And then a funny one by the Swedish flag (they had just beaten Norway in a cross-country Olympic ski relay, so it was warranted).

Guess what else happened? The Blu-ray player arrived! Whee! We watched some of the drool-worthy promos on the Wall-E disc, then enjoyed Gattaca. Marianne had actually watched it before in a science class when they were covering genetics, but she wanted to see it again—a girl after my own heart.

Lastly, and officially for the record, Nidar Bergene Melk chocolate is not as good as Freia Melkesjokolade. It’s a harder consistency and has a flavor that reminds me of hot chocolate rather than a smooth milk chocolate bar—and it’s feels a little waxy despite being made of all natural ingredients. You can’t test it yourself (at least not at my house) because what’s left will not be shared. Sorry!

My little sister defended her PhD in neuroscience on Thursday, August 13. She passed without conditions!

I am tremendously proud of her, despite the fact that I am now the only non-doctor of sciencey things in my immediate family. Monique blew through the University of Colorado Health Sciences PhD program in only 5 years. Yes, she’s one smart cookie, but she worked very hard to make it happen.

I flew into Denver Wednesday afternoon and met up with my family in time to see Monique practice her presentation, then helped her set up the conference room on Thursday before her official presentation at 2pm. “It’s only going to be my committee, people from my lab, my family, and maybe a couple friends,” she said.

Uh, yeah.

Monique grossly underestimated the turnout for her presentation. About 50 people ended up packing into the small conference room and I think a couple even turned away because even the standing room only area was filled.

“You counted how many people were there?” Monique asked when I reported the results to her.

“Duh,” I said. “But I did it during the part of your presentation that I had no chance of understanding, even a second time.” That seemed to make her feel better.

Still, before other people started trickling in, I gave Monique the gift I’d planned on giving her for over a year: a silver necklace with a pendant in the shape of a seratonin molecule. Lucky for me, she was already wearing the perfect shirt for it and her other necklace wasn’t even showing, so she wore it during her presentation.  And lots her nerdy science friends ooohed and aaaahed over it afterward. You can see it in the first photo above.

Regardless of the seratonin boost, Monique nailed her thesis presentation on “Translational Regulation of Amyloid Precursor Protein in Alzheimer’s Disease.” Damn impressive. I even understood a little, like the part in her PowerPoint where she incorporated a little cartoon image of Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy next to an Alzheimer’s-stricken brain to convey brain cell death.

She was nervous, but it didn’t show as much as she thought it would. After her presentation, and after thunderous applause and some cookies, the crowd dispersed and Monique disappeared back into the conference room for a closed-door meeting with the committee that decides whether or not she’s done enough experiments and accumulated enough knowledge to deserve her PhD.

It was this actual defense that Monique was most nervous about. I waited with my parents in the lounge next door for an unspecified amount of time.

We waited. It seemed like forever. There wasn’t much light reading available, but the view was nice despite being a little cloudy.

After an hour and about 15 minutes, Monique emerged very stressed.

“Break number one,” she said. We tried to ask how it was going.

“I’m really tired don’t talk to me,” she said, and took a bathroom break.

She then hung out with us for a few minutes, not really saying much except that her committee was grilling her and it was HARD. Before we knew it, they were calling her back in.

And then, maybe 20 minutes after that, the door opened. My parents and I peeked around the corner, not quite sure what to expect… and someone said “She passed!” We went in to give her big hugs, and before we knew it, her advisor uncorked some bubbly and we were celebrating her successful defense!

The sun came out, Monique was all smiles, and everyone I talked to said wonderful things about her. As a scientist, as a person, and as a friend. All things I’ve heard before, and all things that I know I will hear again.

She’s currently editing and preparing her actual thesis to be printed and bound—a requirement that will result in her thesis being forever on file in the school’s library and accessible for future generations who want to wade through a couple hundred pages of sciency jibba jabber. I think that’s really cool.

And it’s extra cool to think about her research being used by others in the future to help develop pharmaceuticals for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.

I give her an A+ for contribution to society in general.

Okay, so she’s still officially matriculating until the end of December, when she will receive her actual diploma and her thesis has a dewey decimal number attached to it, but she’s completed all of the other requirements. She’s not taking a break at this point, and is actually going to start her Next New Adventure this fall. As always, she’s accomplished one thing and is looking forward to move on to a new challenge.

My little sister, Dr. Monique. Even though I view her as more successful in life than me, I like to think that I’ve always been there to encourage her along the way.

Welcome to another “a few things all at once” post!

• I missed Worldwide Dungeons and Dragons Game Day yesterday. *sadface* But one of my local friends is preparing to be a kickass DM, so there’s something D&D for me to look forward to. *happyface*
• I started another semester of classes at Utah Valley University, where I’m working toward a 2-year degree in Digital Media (technically it’s “Digital Communication Technology”) which sounds kind of vaguely Technical with a splash of Cool. And it is. I already have my bachelor’s degree in English/Creative Writing, so it’s kind of weird to be gunning for as associate, but hey, it’s achievable, man! And all of my general ed requirements transferred and/or are waived because of the pre-existing degree, so that’s nice.

  This summer I’m packing in all of my art classes that count as Digital Media electives: 2D Design (required, actually), Typography (LOVE this class), and Drawing I (because I’d like to be able to hand-draw something by which I’m not embarrassed). I’m the only Lady Student left in my Digital Motion Picture Essentials class, i.e. Making Crappy Short Films 101. Half of the class dropped after the first day when the prof presented himself as an egotist asshole. I get along with the 7 other guys, so the class is still fun. And I’m excited to be learning how to use Final Cut Pro.

• A few weeks ago, I applied for a part-time summer internship and was offered a position right away. I didn’t realize at first that it was unpaid, but I decided to go for it anyway for the college credit and potential resume/portfolio boost. After two weeks, though, it became clear that I was not going to benefit much from the experience, and I quit. It is very out of character for me to quit a job so quickly, but the fact that I wasn’t being paid made it easier. Oh, and the fact that the woman in the cubicle next to mine played her music at an unprofessional volume, AND it was country, AND she sang along. Gah.
• Quitting that “job,” however, has freed up my availability to pimp my freelance writing services and to volunteer more for the Sundance Institute, which runs a bunch of “artist labs and workshops” for film directors, screenwriters, etc. This is the first year they’ve accepted volunteers outside of the annual winter film festival. So far, I’ve just been moving boxes and doing inventory and asking a lot of questions. Not surprisingly, I love hanging out at the Sundance resort and doing “backstage” stuff for the incoming workshops. I’m hot for creative environments. Also, I’m really looking forward to sorting office supplies. I was serious when I told the venue/production manager that office supply stores put me in my zen place.
• Ben and I drove up to Boise, Idaho, two weekends ago, and life has been pretty busy since then. I have notes but need to formulate that into more of a coherent story. Stay tuned!

I honestly love snow, and I never want to live anywhere without a “real” winter. However, this winter of 2008/2009 is officially on my shit list.

It started early and has been a very wet winter for Utah—which is GREAT for the mountain snow pack, should it ever actually start to melt and fill the rivers and reservoirs with water. But there has been a little Springtime torture mixed in lately that is driving me NUTS.

***

Exhibit A: Sunday, April 12, 2009

I took this photo on Easter and thought, “Oh wow! Spring has finally sprung!”

It had been chilly and rainy in the afternoon but warmed up enough to be simply cool and delightful. Ben and I sat outside and enjoyed the early evening sun until it got too cold.

The past couple weeks have had spotty sun and more day-to-day clouds than I think I’ve ever seen since moving to Utah. I’m just being whiny*, of course. This is still no comparison to Cincinnati’s total of 4 nice days a year.

***

Exhibit B: Tuesday, April 14, 2009

It got colder again and rained for a good portion of the day. As I was walking on the university campus with my bold purple umbrella protecting me, I had to try very hard not to smile and laugh and all of the people who weren’t even wearing jackets, let alone carrying umbrellas.

It made me think of a recent episode of Heroes when Angela Petrelli chides Noah for being out in the rain without an umbrella. And then that irritated me because hello, Heroes? Needs to just quit being a telenovela and kill everyone off except Hiro. And then Hiro needs to be badass like Future Hiro in Season 1. Read more…

I should figure out how to make an automated “Gone Fishing” message appear when I haven’t blogged in a while. Then you would know that an update-vomit* is on its way!

What I did over my Christmas vacation

• Hosted a kickass adults-only Christmas party with kickass white elephant gift exchange and kickass imbibing of beer, cheese balls, and sugary snacks. The being-feverishly-knitted-at-the-time hat was stolen from me at the gift exchange, so I ended up with a Miracle Bread Stamper, Utah-shaped cookie cutters, and three packets of official Mormon orange jello.*
• Had a somewhat crappy pre-Christmas that I was in no mood to blog about.
• Had a good and snowy Christmas Morning at home, failed to go caroling at Senior Centers with friends in the early afternoon, and then Ben and I spent the early evening with a former coworker who is undergoing cancer treatment.
• Played our newly acquired Rock Band 2 (for Xbox 360). A lot.
• Played Killer Bunnies with friends and cursed the impracticality of the rules. It gets a FAIL for intuitive gameplay. Though the ways that bunnies died were amusing (for most of us, anyway).
• Played Rock Band 2 with friends, for which gameplay was more than intuitive; It was AWESOME.
• Met with my government-issued Employment Counselor to discuss taking classes at Utah Valley University—the cost of which would be covered because I was laid off from a company that sent jobs overseas. Signed some papers that were immediately wrapped in 4 rolls of red tape.
• Celebrated New Year’s Eve at home with Ben, with Fuzzy Navels and another new game, this time for the Wii: MySims Kingdom. It started off slow (survivable with a light buzz and sarcastic/inappropriate comments) but actually turned into an enjoyable game for me. Lots of collecting things and some puzzle-solving—a perfect blend for my OCD tendencies. Ben zonked out on the couch for a little while, and for some reason we watched the ball drop on TV. Every year we turn off the TV at 12:01 and wonder why it’s a tradition to watch it, and then make our first official resolution: Not to bother watching NBC’s “Rockin’ New Year’s Eve” next year.
• Saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with Ben on New Year’s Day and most definitely cried in the theater. There were a few small incongruencies that didn’t make sense to me, but other than that it was a great movie. Also, see: Brad Pitt Is Hot.
• Flew to Denver on Jan. 2 where I met up with my mom and we spent a few days visiting my sister and her Norwegian holiday house guest (who happens to be my “little brother” from my year in Norway, whom Monique invited out after they became friends through that magical place called Facebook, and whom she is not dating because that would be some sort of weird incest even though they’re not related).
• Bought an ugly sweater at Monique’s favorite Arc thrift store in Denver.
• Attended an Ugly Sweater Party at Monique’s house and finally met a bunch of her grad school and French Club friends.
• Tried a weirdly delicious spiked blueberry lemonade at Bar Louie in Denver, which accompanied a $1 Tuesday Night Special burger ($3.50 with my desired toppings).
• Saw Marley and Me with Monique and her roommate. It’s a good thing we had some extra restaurant napkins on hand to catch all the chick flick crying that was going on. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone to movies regularly, but I don’t think there’s ever been a time when I’ve seen two tear-jerkers within one week. It’s like if there were a Lifetime Channel movie theater or something. But seriously, Marley and Me was better than I expected.
• Flew home on Wednesday, dropped off my bags at home, and drove up to the Sundance Resort for my training/orientation for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. I have more to share about that, and won’t diminish its coolness by including it in this update-vomit.
• Met with a UVU adviser and registered for a full courseload of classes that, if completed, would award me with an associates degree in business management. Because I already have my BA, all the general education requirements were waived so I’m free to start taking electives in Digital Media. I’ve already attended a couple classes, but that is also worthy of a separate blog entry.

Next time there might even be some photos of some of the aforementioned events. Hey, it doesn’t take a BA in English/Creative Writing to know that you have to give your readers a reason to come back!

* There actually was a little vomit involved in Denver after eating some presumably shellfish-tainted restaurant chicken. Monique was sick, too, and is also allergic, and the non-allergic person who also ate chicken was not affected. I’m sorry to bring vomit to my blog. It’s a new high for me, to be sure.

** Distributed by the church. Seriously. “You can’t BUY that, you know,” said the giver. (I don’t like jello [brand name Jell-O or generic gelatin] much in the first place, but I certainly won’t touch it if it has shredded carrots mixed in. Is that a vegetable? Dessert? Trans-fat? I haven’t seen it in person, but many Utahns have reported that rumor to be true. I think I’d rather have a stapler in my jello.)