pretty

i love science art.

Birthday party

Saturday night, I went to the drive in movie with friends. LW brought poppers, the kind that explode with confetti and banners when opened. We caught one on camera. After a picnic spread, complete with candles and tasty baked goods, we wrapped ourselves in sleeping bagas and sat back on beach chairs to watch Wallace and Gromit, followed by The Corpse Bride. A wonderful birthday celebration. 

Intimidation attempt

today i was headed toward the main exit to my apartment building when i saw a man outside speaking angrily toward a woman in the complex who had poked her head out of a nearby area. he was asking for the manager, asking her to let him in. i reached the exit and as i opened the gate he put his hand on it and said "thank you." the rest of this conversation is paraphrased, because i got pretty upset. i kept my hand on the gate, blocking his entrance, and said, "i am not letting you in. who are you?" he said he was evicting someone and couldn't reach the manager. he started to walk into me, i think he was trying to intimidate me into getting out of the way. i put my hand out in front of me and he walked into it. he said, "are you touching me?" this really made me mad. i reached for my cell phone. he said, "what, are you going to call the police?" i nodded. another guy came out of the complex. as he came by me, i told him this guy was scaring me and asked him to stick around, which he did. i called the police, and described the aggressive guy, who left the entrance. he went to his car, got something out of it and walked around the corner of the complex.

i was really shaken up when i was talking with the police. i didn't understand the question of "paramedics or police?" at first, and i think i gave them the wrong address. eventually i gave them a description of the guy, his car and license plate number. i heard the aggressive guy shouting in the background, and eventually he came out from inside the complex. he sneered at me and said, "thanks for your help." he drove off, and i told the dispatcher what was going on and what direction he was headed.

eventually the police came, probably seven minutes after i first called (probably five minutes after i gave them the address clearly). they were very professional and good. they told me that another unit had pulled the guy over and confirmed that he was a process server. once they confirmed that he hadn't assaulted me, they let him go. i'm glad he at least bore some responsibility for his actions. i'm going to try to track down the owner of the apartment that he was serving and ask them to switch process serving companies.

In the beginning, there was a mold

...and Jello, and sweetened condensed milk to make it opaque. The cherry pie was for filling.

The filling

 

Complete!

 

it was against the rules

 

Aspen Grove

AR, the woofs, and I went to a place in the San Bernardino National Forest unimaginately named "Aspen Grove" for the fall color and the crisp air. It was awesome. Click for more pictures. 

A day in the life

This is my bench near the end of a busy day. Note the scorch mark on the paper behind the burner, created when i knocked the burner over.