Our first Guest Contributor to end the fine month of February is the lovely Miss Desiree. Enjoy and seize the day!

Once upon a time, as a young child, a parental unit put forth the VHS story of a young, good-hearted kitchen appliance, struggling to make a place in the cold, harsh House. My life was forever altered.

I’ve always been clumsy. Disgustingly so. When I was a year old, I managed to tumble head over walker down a flight of stairs. No one knows how I managed this daring feat, but my head was cracked open and a puddle of baby blood littered the landing. The point of this anecdote: I’ve been effing clumsy from the beginning.

Lamps have been destroyed, tables skewed, knick-knacks disastrously rearranged. The Brave Little Toaster made me feel guilty for all inanimate objects that I have so horribly abused in the past. From that day on, I vowed to make amends.

Every time I bump into a desk: “I’m sorry, desk.”

A lamp: “I’m sorry, lamp. Dreadfully so.”

The Brave Little Toaster taught me that everything has feelings, even neglected toasters and old vacuum cleaners. These misunderstood, abused creatures deserve respect. It is my mission in life to give it to them. I love Lamp. You should too.

P.S. I suppose you should also love other things, like your friends, your family, and yourself. But those things are secondary and worthy of only passing thought while you never know when your stove might become angry because you didn’t thank it and it then decided to set your house on fire. Or kill you in some other disastrous manner.

P.P.S. When you haven’t slept in days and begin to hallucinate and think that the microwave is giving you the evil eye… well, it probably is.

Love,

Desiree.

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Another long week down and many more to go. The blog has found its legs and is going strong. Watch for our Guest Contributor tomorrow. I can't believe the month is already over! Whatever you find yourself doing this weekend, enjoy yourselves and be safe. The Friday edition of Repptar's Prehistoric World deals with my love for Monopoly or my love to hate the damn game.

Don't get me wrong or anything, I love board games as much as the next kid. I grew up playing Checkers, Snakes and Ladders, and Guess Who! I even received a giant book of games one Christmas, that you could open to a variety of games. It even had a digital double dice roller! Not only would it stop the use of weighted dice, but also cut down all math skills needed to play. I was a big fan of most board games but there are a few that I love to HATE! Everybody has heard of these games before, they are:

• Monopoly
• Risk
• Clue

This is the Trifecta of board games, these are the ones that have caused much pain and broken strong bonds of friendship. What makes these games so appealing yet so easy to hate once done? Come sit down on the magic carpet, it's story time.

Monopoly can be found in every house in America, whether it be in the closet, under a bed or in the trash can. This is an excellent time killing game that up to 8 people can play!* It lets players become big time business men that try to take control of Atlantic City. Pick a piece (not the Racecar!), roll the dice and hope you land on something good. Sounds like a great game right? Rolling, buying, and making a fortune off Baltic Ave. Well let me tell you, it's the most frustrating game ever created!

I'm all Gung-Ho to play with just the mention of Monopoly. I say, "Sure! Monopoly is great. I get the Racecar!". Every game starts off slow, buying a couple of properties, paying some chump change rent, and passing Go! An hour goes by and the deals start transpiring, this is where the game takes a turn for the worse. I understand this is part of the game, but every once in awhile you get a griefer who will not trade their damn property for anything! I offer them 2 properties and cash, nothing! Then I sweeten the deal with more cash, still nothing! I haven't checked the rule book for prostitution, but have you wondered why they call it free parking?

Dealing with griefers, rolling a couple of bad dice rolls and eventually having to sell your entire estate because you just landed on Boardwalk is an evening filled with enjoyment. As much as you would like to think, there is no strategy in Monopoly! Even if you would like to think there is, it can easily be blown away. It comes down to luck and the people you play with. However, after all this needless grief you can still see me at the table again and again enjoying the misery Parker Brothers calls Monopoly.

I don't feel like talking about the other two games... just re-read this twice substituting Risk for "Monopoly" and Colonel Mustard in the Study for "evening filled with enjoyment".

Footnotes
*If you have eight friends.

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Which of these subatomic particles has a fractional charge?
a) neutrino
b) photon
c) quark <---- THE ANSWER!!!
d) positron

A neutrino has no charge, a photon has no charge (WTF is a photon? Every time I think about this, it blows my mind), and a positron has a +1 charge.

But a quark has a either a -1/3 charge (down-type) or a +2/3 charge (up-type).

HOWEVER, there's no such thing as a quark by itself. They're always stuck together in the form of hadrons. A quark is an elementary particle and a hadron is a composite particle. Protons and neutrons are hadrons.

All of that is pretty much useless information. I don't know any practical information that might be beneficial some day. I apologize most sincerely.


Inspirations:
- http://www.particlezoo.net/
- "Coming of Age in the Milky Way" by Timothy Ferris (It's slightly outdated because it was published in 1989 or something, but it will still fuck with your head in the best possible way.)
- the LHC
- boys who know a lot about physics because they teach me things and I fall in love

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Growing up I didn't have a wild imagination. I never formed an imaginary friend or believed I lived in a cloud castle. My feet were firmly planted on the ground. My creativity came from my eyes. I took the subtle criss crossing of branches and turned that into a face. The certain way my living room carpet laid was a field in which I could gallop through. Even today I enjoy making pictures out of everyday things around me.

Art has always played a large part in my life and I'm sad that I never pursued it more. I had to let go of art because it didn't afford me the life in which I wanted to lead. I didn't want to be another struggling artist trying to find his niche. I wanted to be able to provide for myself and eventually for a family. Even though I had to let art go, I still respect it a great deal and appreciate what can be accomplished. Heck! Maybe one day you'll see my Macaroni sculptures in the Carnegie Museum of Macaroni Art.

The point of this post was to say never let your passion fall into oblivion. Even though it might not be your main focus, don't let it slip away completely. Set aside time for a scrap drawing, a small Haiku or a short piece on the Piano. Self expression is vital to the balance of life and people do not set enough time aside to do it. You might not be the next Van Gogh, but that shouldn't stop you from trying.

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You learn something new everyday. Well, you're theoretically supposed to learn something new everyday. I'm not quite convinced that you actually do. Regardless, PQLC is here to facilitate all your learning needs. Or at least ensure that you learn something new at least once a week. Unless you already know the answer. Then you're on your own.


Which of these subatomic particles has a fractional charge?
a) neutrino
b) photon
c) quark
d) positron


How trivial! Hope you're not too stumped. Stay tuned for the answer, I'll be posting it tomorrow.

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Usually I'm not this serious of a person. Or this emotional of a person. Just wait 'til I get my humor back. If i ever get it back. Then you'll be more entertained. I promise.

Usually I walk to school. Unless it's really cold. Except that I did walk that one morning when it was -5 but "feels like" -22 or whatever. Stupid stupid stupid. Anyway, yesterday I was too tired for the 15 minute walk, so I hopped on a 71A.

I love public transportation. You interact with people. All different kinds of people. It's very life-affirming. People are beautiful when you really stop to realize it. All the good things and bad things. This wasn't the first time I've had a very human experience on a PAT bus.

I sat next to this guy. He asked me if I knew what time it was. I told him it was 10. He asked me if the library was open, because that's where he was headed. I told him that I thought it was. Then he told me that some libraries weren't open on Monday. I reassured him that this one was. Then I asked him what he was going to the library to get. And he said books. And I kind of smiled on the inside and maybe the outside too and I asked what kind of books. He said he didn't know. He just wanted to go in and learn something. OMFG, I DIED. It was the most beautiful thing I've heard in a week.

Then he asked me if I was on my way to school. And I said yes. And he asked me what I was studying and I told him. Then he asked me why I was studying psychology. Nobody ever asks questions about the political science part. Only psychology.

So then I told him that I didn't know. And this is what I usually tell people and then I follow up the answer with an explanation about how Pitt doesn't have a minor and I had too many credits not to just keep going and get the major. But this time, I just told him that I didn't know and stopped at that and a tear rolled down my face. I cried in public. Again.

It used to be that if you wanted to get tears out of me in public, you'd have to drill down for days with the latest and greatest technology known to mankind. So it never happened. But now it's like one scoop of dirt and the underground waterfall spills out.

It was only one tear though. I said I was sorry (for the tear). And he told me not to worry. That no one really knows anything. And that you just have to know to keep going.

And all of that was from a stranger.

And I think that for the rest of my life I'll remember the time I cried on the 71A, in front of a stranger, and he told me that it was going to be ok. And that helped me more than anything probably could have that day.

I think we should cry in front of each other more often.

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Every Monday I'm going to be keeping it fresh by introducing you all to new artists or bands swept up by the Sands of Time. For the first week of Music Monday, lets do a throwback to some Lifehouse!


Lifehouse is a rock band best known for their hit single, "Hanging By a Moment". They have released four albums over the course of their career.

• No Name Face
• Stanely Climbfall
• Lifehouse
• Who We Are

No Name Face jumped started their career and Who We Are continues to bring the hits. Lifehouse is great for listening at home, jamming in the car or for inclusion into your Sex Playlist. All 4 albums rock from beginning to end and you don't feel cheated what so ever. First time listeners and old fans alike, go and experience Lifehouse right now!

Lifehouse |MTV Music

Lifehouse |MTV Music

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