Flashback Glorieta

Wreck Em Tech

Two weeks ago, the 'rents came up for the Texas Tech v. OU game here in Norman. It was mighty cold, but Tech gave the Sooners a good fight.

At the tailgate before the game

Mom and Cary huddle against the cold and the Sooner fans.

My childhood chum Meredith, whom I have yet to call since I moved to Norman.

Chemistry in my Life

I have a wart on my finger.

Since I downsized the quantity of necessary possesions to make my move to Norman easier, my wart remover did not make the cut. Thus, on Saturday I made a trip to Walgreens to get some wart remover.

After finding the right aisle, I start browsing brands. Of course, I want the most acidic stuff I can find so it will carve a crater in my finger and leave no trace of the wart behind. But none of the meds go above 17% salicylic acid, which is apparently the active ingredient in killing warts, so I grab the cheapest one and go.

Normally, this would not be a blogworthy event. But there is more.

Yesterday at Kroger, I bought an extra bottle of my favorite moisturizer (Clean & Clear) because it was in the original bottle with the nozzle I like (they are switching to a new nozzle that gets clogged all the time). Once I get home, I decide to check and see if Johnson & Johnson has changed the ingredients of my moisturizer along with the bottle design. I pull out my newly purchased original bottle and look at the ingredients.

"Active ingredient: 0.5% Salicylic Acid" it says. I check the other bottle and it says the same. This pricks my memory of my wart-medicine shopping from earlier this week. Is it the same ingredient? I check and sure enough it is.

From Wikipedia:

Salicylic acid is the chemical compound with the formula C6H4(OH)CO2H, where the OH group is adjacent to the carboxylic acid group. This colorless crystalline organic acid is widely used in organic synthesis.

Salicylic acid is the key additive in many skin-care products for the treatment of acne, psoriasis, callouses, corns, keratosis pilaris and warts. It treats acne by causing skin cells to slough off more readily, preventing pores from clogging up. This effect on skin cells also makes salicylic acid an active ingredient in several shampoos meant to treat dandruff.

Aspirin can be prepared by the esterification of the phenolic hydroxyl group of salicylic acid.

I probably studied and used this molecule a lot when I studied organic chemistry. It seems interesting now, looking back. Pfft.


So now I have to decide whether the idea that I am putting low-grade wart remover on my face everyday is disgusting or not.

Briefcase Found in Lobby

Mr. Simmons,

Earlier this morning, security noticed a brown leather briefcase sitting unclaimed in the lobby. After thoroughly checking the bag for suspicious articles, they brought it to the front desk. I scanned the three items found inside the bag, as per our new policy and am forwarding them to you for filing. The three items were returned and the bag was put in storage locker B. I will notify you further if the owner claims the bag.

Marcy Frisk
Front Desk
The Waldorf=Astoria

Bee Careful

Sometimes bugs - bee-kinds of bugs - make me nervous. I'm sitting quietly on a bench, minding my own business at a small airport on a humid afternoon right outside of Tamarindo Bay, Costa Rica. I notice a small waspish sort of insect buzzing around next to me annoyingly. Eventually it buzzes directly at me but - smack! - I'm too quick for the little jerk and I knock him away.

Now, after the first swat, I'm convinced I have instigated an emnity of sorts between myself and the bee. A gauntlet has been thrown, war flags are flown in the gentle, tropic breeze. From now on, when the bee approaches I am sure it is out to get me. It hovers, waiting to strike and I hop and flail to avoid giving it a stable place to land. If he gets the chance, gently alighting on my knee or shoulder, I'm caught, frozen. Well played, my little friend.

Slowly, time ticks by as I sweat it out, waiting for the the bee to make a move. He crawls about in circles, my eyes riveted to his wiry body until the wind scares the devil away once more. I grasp about for a book, a shoe, my brother's ipod, and strike with deadly precision. Scraping the slimy bug guts from the shiny face with "copyright apple computers" engraved on the back. My brother grumbles.

"Now you've just angered it's family."

My smile falls. I have only won the momentary battle. I discreetly cover the bug body with my purse to hide the evidence. They can't pin anything on me - It was self defense!

Now I'm really scared.

I Follow the Popular Arts

Rap music starts eminating from Brittany's bedroom. Brittany walks out to the living room to retrieve something; Annie is sitting on the couch.

Annie: Rap music?
Brittany: Yep
(Brittany starts mouthing the lyrics to the song)
Annie: Who is this?
Brittany: I don't know. I think his name is Lunatic or something.
Annie: Ludacris?
Brittany: Oh yeah, maybe thats it.

Domesticity

Friday night was Domestic Night at our house. (Upon hearing the title of our evening, Jonathan thought it was Domestic as in domestic beers' night at our house, which I think would be a great follow up party for next weekend.) Lisa brought over an excess of knitting supplies to get all of us going if we didn't already have our own stuff. The venerable Laura proved to be quite indespensable at teaching all the girls to knit and even corrected what I had been doing wrong in my own knitting (and by the way she looked KILLER in this hand embroidered purple sweater we found at a thrift store earlier in the day). I had asked Annie to plan something for us all to bake together, but she misunderstood and ended up baking all this yummy stuff beforehand, which was okay too. We ended up watching Newsies after a few of the girls lost interest in the knitting. I don't know how to tie in Newsies to domestic life since its about a bunch of newsboys living on the streets of New York City. It just boils down to the fact that Christian Bale is hot stuff.

Alas I have no pictures of Domestic Night. But here is one of me and Anne a couple of weekends ago when we were visiting Pam in Houston to go to John R's wedding.

Grace, Grace Alone Availeth

In this day of multiple human "rights," most people wrongly assume that God owes us something - salvation, or at least a chance at salvation. He shows astonishing favor to many, but he does not have to (that is the essence of grace). If he were obliged to be gracious, grace would no longer be grace and salvation would be based on human merit rather than being sola gratia. That is why the doctrine of election is opposed by so many. It doesn't seem fair to them. But as soon as we introduce the doctrine of fairness, we introduce a standard of right by which God has to save all or at least give everyone an equal chance of being saved. And that is not grace! If God were motivated only by what is right, without any consideration of grace made possible by the work of Christ, all would be condemned, and all would spend eternity in hell. Humbled, we celebrate a "Declaration of Dependence," agreeing that we are endowed with alienable (transferred to us from our Creator) rights.

- Will Metzger, Tell the Truth