4th Year So Far... by OSG and Friends

Here are some highlights (with enlightening commentary):

First off...some things NEVER change =)

After 4 years of close study and constant practice in anticipation for the Fall season, Embunny has finally perfected her apple-picking skills. Olympic Sport? Yess.

We would have updated the blog more this semester, but we are in denial. In fact, Grass (being an overachieving U.Va student) started a club called Hoos in Denial. It's exactly like it sounds, in case you are wondering. We get together in a room for an hour a week and do not talk about our futures. This has been both good and bad, as you can imagine. Club activities include cookie dunking, snuggie snuggling, thesis ranting, and burning things.

Fall came and went, leaving a the typical two week period of vivid colors on the trees. This dark red one was my favorite and, being in front of the library, distracted me.

Observe: Sammy is making James laugh. They are probably talking about Glee over cocktails. We have no shame. Judge us, please.

For an asian, Oolong looks freakishly like Audrey Hepburn, don't you think? Amazing!

SNOW*SNOW*SNOW*SNOW*SNOW

...and a room with a view=)

Halloween = cuteness!!!

On the Lawn, strawberries were learning to walk and babies dressed like purple monsters. I never want to leave this place. Oolong stuffed one in her purse.

More snow!!!!

Behold: U.Va's new diversity picture. You're welcome. Slap that sucker on some brochures and you're set. Now the University can stop using the same picture of the Korean couple eating on the Lawn.

When we can, we sleep. These are rare occasions. In the image below we see Embunny catching a nap on Grass' bed and Oolong jumping in on the picture. Yes, that's the snuggie again. Later in the year we will draw straws to see who get to wear it under their graduation robes.

Oolong turned 21!*

...and Batman took his fourth and final journey out the cave. Of all the traditions to maintain without fail, I am glad OSG stuck to this one.

Well, that's all for now. Aren't you proud of us for actually updating this blog? Hooray for visuals!

Things we have learned so far this year:

1) Simba had the frat boy helmet of the animal kingdom

That's all I can think of right now. I'll get back to you. Til then...

love, OSG

*not really

'Tis the season... for Embunny to make an annual appearance.

Where has Embunny been this semester? She feels that it is a sadly frequent question these days.... Rather than working on her thesis like she should be doing right now, she will now contemplate this question and give several possible answers:

1. Alumni Hall. Haven't you heard Embunny sold her soul to them after second year?

2. The Craft Room. Embunny retreats here after long weeks to sew rocking-chair cushions and hot glue bits of ribbon to things.

3. In the Internets. Watch out, December 15th - Embunny's big fat vacation status will be blocking unwelcome (so essentially, every) email that comes her way.

4. Dean Laushway's office. Did you know he has a coffee table handcrafted to look like his pet dog?

5. Scott Stadium... oh wait, NOT. As tempting as it is to watch our peers pick fights with opposing fans while the Good Old Song is never being sung... no thanks. Grass' eggrolls proved a much better alternative this season.

6. Alderman. Apparently 4th year still requires reading. Embunny's library borrowing and renewals have gotten so out of hand that she now owes $13 in late fees.

7. Hoos in Denial. Embunny thanks her lucky stars that she has Grass and an hour of sanity each Wednesday night at 9pm. She basks in the glow of friendship, paper dolls of school-days past, and a clementine or two.

8. Antarctica. Here is a souvenir photo with her new friend.

Goals for next semester:

1. More frequenting of the Corner.

2. Less meetings.

3. Corrupt a first year.

4. World Peace.

The Internet is a Series of Tubes...Controlled by Many Old White Dudes in Suits

all hallows' eve

I can't think of anything more fun than being in costume. Oh, except biochemistry...

Far too much fun was had this weekend, so I'm making up for it tonight in Clark with my favorite subject! Wish Sammy and me luck on our test tomorrow!

Love,
Oolong

what I did this summer

A Composition by Oolong

This summer, I played on a farm with ecologists--Blandy Experimental Farm, to be exact, home of Virginia's State Arboretum.


The "Slave Quarters" of Blandy, where the students lived. These did use to be slave quarters, since the farm was a plantation back in the day.

Things you could find at Blandy:
trees
cows (on the neighboring farm, which may actually have been a meth lab)
ticks (by the thousand)


It was against Blandy law to release a tick back into the wild, so instead we collected them in little vials full of alcohol.

Things we did at Blandy:
hung out at the Farmhouse (adjacent to the Barn, which had real barn owls)
picked flowers...well, at least I did
made wedding cakes



Oh, and did some research...


Counting flowers (yellow monkeyflower, or Mimulus guttatus).

Highlights of the summer included: being nerdy with all my fellow bio nerds, slumming around in men's underwear all summer (wifebeaters and boxer shorts. don't judge), and communing with nature.

More pictures:


Us in our hot waders, off to sample some pond life.


Transplanting some monkeyflower seedlings. I did 1392 of these bad boys. Took the better part of 5 days--I listened to a lot of NPR in the greenhouse.


My sweet rope burn from rope-swinging over the Shenandoah River. The rope had a thinner cord handle at the end, and when I swung out, the cord wrapped around my knee and made me flip in the air after I let go of the rope.


Us in our DinosaurLand finery. DinosaurLand: a magical collection of fiberglass dinosaurs, designed to teach the Winchesterians about prehistoric creatures.


At the Smithsonian's Division of Birds, where they keep a huge collection of specimens (lots of extinct species, stuffed birds and skeletons, and other bits like nests, eggs, and this harpy eagle claw).


Bumblebee in one of my fake flowers (made to test bee responses to pollen odors).


Oh Blandy. Definitely one of the best summers of my life.

This year the adventures will be even MORE amazing...

Oolong, Sammy, and I are back for more adventures this year. On top of the everyday scrapes and silliness, we shall be feeling through the misty haze of our futures and making some big decisions...

Will Oolong become a people doctor or a tree doctor? Will she ever follow up on her promise to start a knitting podcast for the blind?

Will Sammy become a scientist or a therapist (or both)?

Will I (Grass) get a job? Will I go to law school after? Will U.Va actually allow me to start fires on a regular basis?

All good questions, all unanswered for now. Perhaps certainty will come with time, but at present we are prefectly content with floating along like happy ducks upon a pond of fun, friends, and knowledge.

Expect great things from us, World! So begins another year in the amazing adventures of OSG!

No Contest: The Funniest Musical EVER

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JnQuMyzPfE&feature=related

Seriously, don't judge me. This made me laugh harder than I have in a very, very long time. If you don't agree with me after part 3, then I'll give you your money back.