The Agrinautica

   Ladies & gentlemen, it is my esteemed pleasure to introduce you all to Pelekea Cachaça, a 12 week old siamese kitten and newest member of my family in Mission Viejo.
   The name is rather an amalgamate of several proposed names. Allegedly "Pelekea" (or some similar spelling?) is Hawaiian for mischief (I haven't been able to fact-check this though, the best I could do is confirm that Pele is the hawaiian goddess of fire, lightning, etc). We expect to call her "Pele" for short, which in the spirit of recent world cup fervor & our Brazilian heritage, is the name of a famous Brazilian soccer player.
   "Cachaça" (pronounced "ka SHA sa") is the national drink of Brazil, and is similar to tequila. It is the fourth most distilled spirit in the world (by volume), but you probably haven't heard of it because only 1.5% of it is exported from Brazil. We expect to shorten this to "Sasha."
   The name Cachaça is also of course in keeping with the same theme as the kitten's cat-cousin Bailey.

   So others are calling her "Pele," but I prefer "Sasha." I dunno, the cat just doesn't remind me of a soccer playing brazilian dude.


In Other News
   Yesterday I went with Shalane to a punk-rock party. It was the awesome. Everyone was decked out so punkish, it was like I was in SLC Punk! I meant to bring a 40 of steel, but Viejo Liquor had none (!?!), so I got Arrogant Bastard Russian Stout instead -- but it tasted like soy sauce and I only drank half the bottle. d=

   Today I had coffee with Mara, who happened to be passing through on her way from causing a ruckus in San Diego back to her home in Los Angeles. Since last mentioned here, Mara has graduated with a bachelors in Art History and landed a sweet swanky job at the Christie's auctioning firm in Los Angeles.

   Today I was talking to Kristy on the cordless phone here (since my cell phone is still without a recharger), when the cordless phone died. I called her back on a corded one, but then HER cell phone died.


Previously on Emosnail
   Two Years & One Week Ago: Phonepost: Strongest Sauce Message Ever - Hear Kristy's delightful voice as she observes squirrels frolicking.
   Two Years Ago Monday: I Can't Believe I'm Crochety! - With pictures to illustrate the crochetiness & pansy romances. Also, Getting Screwed By The Man Volume II Episode I
   Two Years Ago Wednesday: Photo Essay: San Diego - Went to San Diego with the parents for 4th of July, saw the San Diego sights. Took pictures. Check it out.
   Two Years Ago Yesterday: Pictures of People at Diedrichs - ..featuring Shalane & others
   Two Years Ago Today: All Your Vampire Slaying Needs - Pictures to prove we've got your vampire slaying needs covered.
   Two Years Ago Tomorrow: The International Court of Weak Sauce - I thoroughly critique the ICJ decision vis-a-vis the Israeli wall and conclude that the ICJ is totally weaksauce.

   I think I forgot to mention it, but Bailey, our favourite kitten, played a saucy prank on Kristy the other day -- He turned her screen upside down!
   Apparently the Dell Inspiron 6000 laptops Kristy & I both have have an option to rotate everything displayed 180 degrees. The primary purpose for such an option presumably is playing pranks on computer owners who are unaware of this.¹
   Personally I think Bailey actually whupped out a screwdriver while we were gone and manually rotated the monitor, he's such a crafty little scamp!


   Yesterday we had the hearing for Case 32, Nanakul v. SGAO (the mysterious missing Student Bill of Rights). It was less exciting than usual, since Justice Judy "I like to try to make counsel cry" Reed was flooded in down in Vacaville ("I have been up since 0400 moving livestock to higher ground" wtf Justice Reed?). Fortunately we made quorum without her and Justice Joe "Dissenting" Harney. As the rest of us were leaving after we'd finished deliberating for the evening we accidently stumbled upon a secret meeting, but they cleverly swore us to secrecy thus thwarting exposure.

   We decided in our opinion we are going to appear to favour one side on the first page, the other on the second², and then for the ultimate twist we are actually going to attach the missing Bill of Rights to end of the brief. Just you watch.


   I had my "second pass" the other day as well. The way this works is one can sign up for 12 units during first pass (but not upper division classes in impacted majors if you are not that major, so I for example couldn't sign up for any of the upper div Communication classes I needed first pass), and then up to 19 units second pass (which, since classes are usually 4 units, often results in an anticlimatic one more class). Then somewhere along the way they ease up and let you add up to 24 or something if you are feeling sadistic.
   I am now signed up for: HIS111C (Rome from its earliest history until 476AD), HIS121A (European history from 476AD until the 8th Century), CMN136 (Organizational Communications), and CMN1 (Intro to Public Speaking -- I wanted to take it with the legendary Professor Duax, but he's no longer teaching do to some kind of departmental drama). These classes will complete my minor in History. Additionally I already have a minor in Political Science and major in International Relations completed. I will need one more class for a minor in communications, and in order to graduate I will need to learn how to brew beer.³
   At the moment I have 191 units -- next quarter's classes would bring me up to 207. I will need to petition to take up to 225, but I'm told they really just want to make sure you have some kind of plan -- mine being to take those two remaining classes. If I take 12 units in Fall (those two + another class to keep me at full time status), I'll then be at 219. I will then formally integrate my transcripts from UCI & UCLA, which will bring my unit total to 239, thus giving the registrar's office a heart attack.


This Week in International Jurisprudence: The International Court of Justice begins hearings on Bosnia / Herzegovina v. Serbia & Montenegro, in which Bosnia alleges that the state of Serbia/Montenegro has committed genocide against it.

Random Fact of the Day: "Vesna Vulović, a flight attendant from Yugoslavia, survived a fall from 10,160 m (33,330 ft) when the DC-9 airplane she was traveling in blew up over Srbská Kamenice, Czechoslovakia, on January 26, 1972." -Wikipedia.


¹ Actually, as Chris "I Hate KDVS" McKenzie, who helped us figure it all out, explained, its because fancy shmancy computers for which its useful to turn the whole screen around use the same software.
²This may be a complete lie.^4
3For the science breadth requirement I need to take three science classes - I've taken winemaking and nuclear physics already.
⁴Don't think I won't attach the missing Bill of Rights though.


Picture of the Day

Bailey makes Kristy's screen display upside down (reenactment)