It's been an odd day, but before we get into today allow me to take you back to last night.

My students have an annoying habit of playing 6 degrees of Separation with various celebs, their favorite is linking just about anyone to Jon Voight though I'm not sure why.

Understand it's not that I mind this game in and of itself, more that when they are working in the analytical lab and I'm in my office I can only hear the portions of their conversations that are shouted over whatever vile contrivance that passes for their music. I'll be working away and I'll hear something like this...

"Eric Roberts LA Confidential"

"Keifer Sutherland"

"JOHN MAHONEY!"

It's disturbing. Truly.

Anyway, as my favorite ex student called to tell me, actually I forget what she called to tell me but I'm guessing it was about something the was expelled from an orafice because that's how Boobs (the original accept no substitute) rolls, I started to thing about how different things are than they were when she was here.

Going through those thoughts in a strange way brought me to the ? degrees of separation game and BING that dim little bulb over my head went off.

I know we haven't talked about him in a few weeks but I'm still madly crushing on Jay Manuel from ANTM, most especially now that he's shown up on tv wearing this shirt:

so I started playing the Separation Degree game in my head with Jay and it took mere seconds to connect us.

Jay worked for and is supposedly good friends with Iman who is very close friends with Gela Nash Taylor who just happens to be married to John Taylor who just happens to be my buddy. In fact, if you want to get downright technical I met Iman at Gela's birthday party some years back so there's even a shorter line, but I couldn't pick up the phone and call Iman.

I could and did pick up the phone and call John.

Now to be clear, I'm not asking for much. I don't want a hook up, I don't want a meeting, or an email address or anything like that.

I just want the dirt.

John put Gela on the phone who said that she's met Jay at a few things but that he was pretty quiet and kept to the group he was with, but she promised that the next time she spoke to Iman she would pump her for me.

So yay that.

See, those pain in the ass students come in handy every once in awhile.

Moving on to the fact that I woke up at 4:30 this morning with the familiar pains that tell me my GERD is going to act up.

For the life of me I could not remember what otc stuff I took to combat it (knowing that I absolutely had to come to work today to sign my review negated being able to take the happy prescription stuff that knocks me on my ass for 6 hours).

I got up, got sick, laid down, slept some, had dreams about serial killers (probably a bad idea to read Predator the new one from Patricia Cornwell every time I got up to get sick), got up, got sick, laid down...well you get the idea.

At 8 I got up and called the KOI and told him I'd be in later, maybe to work, maybe just to sign, we'd see.

I took care of Ketos and then went back to bed were I remained until noon.

I crawled into some sweats and put a hat on and drove to work.

I signed my review by making the KOI bring it down to my car over at main campus and then came here.

I was reading a Biometry textbook (see, I don't talk about the science geek stuff here much, but that's what I was doing today, just reading, as in cover to cover the Biometry textbook) and they used the word "nowadays".

Okay, let me go back a second to say that reading the textbook was sort of making me think I was having a seizure of some sort because the words kept jumping around and I found it very hard to focus my eyes and my head is very sore, but then I realized that I didn't really sleep that well and probably it was more being tired than having a seizure so I read on....

Anyway...the word "nowadays" popped up in the text and I thought, that's not an acutal word is it?

So I consulted my buddy Mr. Webster and yes, "nowadays" is a word.

Is that neccessary? And even if it is, doesn't it seem a bit conversational for a textbook aimed at the masters/ph.d. level student and working researcher to be used in an autodidactic way?

Maybe its just me, but it stopped me in my tracks, as did the later use of the word "shall".

Who says "shall" any more?

"We shall now define..." First, just define it, don't announce to me that you are going to define it. I expect you to define things here, that's why I need the damn book, but moreover, we SHALL define?

It's so over the top for someone who just said "nowadays".

I'm waiting for them to tell me that the chi-squared test is becoming obsolete for shizzle.

Take it all with a grain of salt. I spent a good hour today being bummed out that it's friday and my laptop has issues so I can't start working on the new project with E-beth (the quote diary which can be found here) until monday.

Except that today is tuesday.

and there is not Amazing Race tonight. I have no idea why I got out of bed today.

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