Allow me to be shallow for a moment here...

So, here's the thing;

I cut my hair two weeks ago and while sitting there watching my personal hairdresser (ooo that sounds posh!) cut off my locks, I was talking to her about coloring my hair again. I have been a brunette, a red-head and a blond (my natural haircolor) and I was thinking of maybe going red again. It is fall after all, and red goes with the season. She, that would be my hairdresser, agreed that red was the way to go and suggested that perhaps I could be a hairmodel for her. She had some color she needed to try out and it just so happened to be red. Voilá! I had an appointment for a coloring session. Free of charge. Which goes well with my student budget. 200 bucks worth of treatment for free is synonymous with "yes please, thank you very much".

So the following week she colored it. And I love the result. I really do. But I have been puzzled by this color. It is intense...to say the least. But I dont mind that. There is nothing more boring than merging with the crowd. Standing out is cool and everything, -but I would like to know which color my hair actually is. At first I thought: red. Definetely red. Then the light hit my hair a little differently and it looked like a dark pink. So I thought: Ok...pink. Cool. Then, in different light again it looked purple. At this point Im thinking; WuddeFok? What color is it!!?

The first person to comment on it was Lars at Uni. He told me I looked "cool today with purple hair and matching shoes and cell phone" (my beautiful purple phone). He wasnt being ironic, I know that...so he saw it as purple. And I agreed. Thank you for the compliment, by the way.

Then there was Irene (who I like to refer to as electron-Irene...as there are several Irenes around) who blurted out: "Wow! you colored your hair! That's what I call RED!" So she thinks it's red...And I really can't disagree...

Days go by and I start feeling comfortable with the red-head image. I am now a red-head.

That is...until I go to work and a little 5 year old girl sees me and starts crying. I used to have spikes in my hair at one point, and a mohawk after that, so Ive been used to watching old ladies clutch their handbags a little extra when I pass them on the streets (had they only known what a nerd I really am)...But I have never made a child cry before. I was a little befuddled by this as my hair is way more conservative at this point than it has been before. I didnt know I looked that scary. I DID have a 2 year-old tell me once: "Wow! You look weird!" Which was hilarious and the boy was so cute I just wanted to pick him up and cuddle him. I told him he looked really cool and his dad was tomato-red thinking I must have gotten offended.

But this girl started crying...

Then I hear her tell her mom (while still crying): "mommy, I want purple hair like that tooooo!" Upon which mommy nervously replies; "but you have such beautiful long, blond hair!" I had to laugh. I love kids.

So my hair is purple again. And few people know colors as well as kids, right? I am confused...

I really dont want to care anymore...but you know how it is. Once you get your mind set on something you really want to find the answer. That is why Eirik at work last night became such an epiphany to me...or I guess he gave me an epiphany...Either way he nailed it. This is the kind of guy who tells you exactly what is on his mind...good or bad...and we were talking about glasses and personal style and something something I cannot remember, when he simply said: "Yeah sure, but you can do it because you have plum-red hair". And I thought: "That's it! Its plum-red! Its not red or purple, its both! Its plum colored!" Aaaaah that felt GOOD!

So i think I am settled with it now. I have plum-colored hair with a touch of pink. And I am loving it. But just to give you an idea of what I have been talking about, I have taken some pictures. However, watching the pictures makes me realize this color doesnt photograph well...Somehow it looks less intense in pictures...But I'll post them anyways;

Yes, this is me. -Practicing my 'less-intelligent'-look for my next trip to rural Idaho. I'd like to see the customs agent who won't fall for this one! "Getting married"...my ass. Oh! By the way...this one kinda shows off the pink'ish purple..ish...color.

Different light makes it look red. Very red.

And here we're back to purple...or perhaps a little brown...just to confuse you/me even more. And that completes a whole F'ing blog about my hair. Sweet! Who said you need interesting topics?

The True Purpose of Facebook

Facebook...Lets just taste that word for a bit. Its wide and open, yet round in the edges...and slightly bitter.

Unless you've been on a space mission...or are one of those really old people who refuse to follow the continuing industrialization of modern time, you've heard of it. You may have read about it in the paper...or watched a TV show where it was mentioned...You may have heard it from colleagues at work or perhaps someone mentioned it once at the gym. If you are really into the technical stuff, you may even have tried it out. To satisfy your curiosity and all that jazz.

Personally I cant remember how I got involved. I think maybe it was one of those "all-my-friends-are-jumping-off-of-bridges,-so-I-should-too" incidents. Cause we all know I do everything my friends do. I have no backbone. Or nose bone...or whatever it is called...(depending on what country you are from). No will of my own. None whatsoever *cough* excuse me. Either way, I got involved. I decided to check it out and I am now deeply fascinated.

I always thought it would be one of those 24-hour flu things. Shows up when you least expect it, knocks you out and leaves you all confused and vulnerable within a day or two. But somehow it stuck. And has stuck for what I believe is almost a year now.

It all begins with a profile. You load a profile picture, preferably of yourself, but anything from your dog, a beer can or some picture of a child no one knows seems to be working ok as well. Somehow profile pictures tend to look like mug-shots anyway, so I cannot for the life of me understand why people choose their child's face as their profile picture...each to his own I guess.

Then you answer a couple of grueling questions like; your name, your hometown, sex (you only get to choose between female and male...they seem to have forgotten the simple 'yes' and 'no' feature), birth date, and political as well as religious views. Once you get these done its over to the serious stuff ('cause everyone knows politics and religion never leads to anything serious). You give out your contact information, your relationship status, what you are looking for relationship wise (here you can actually choose the somewhat desperate line: "whatever I can get"), education and work info and eventually also your interests...books, movies, favorite quotes etc etc. In essence; you give your life story in the shape of a not so anonymous questionnaire.

Once you've done this, you can add other people to a 'friends'-list. These people can now read all the information you have in your profile, they can write you messages on your 'wall' and send you links and pictures and little 'gifts' in the shape of a cartoon picture. You want a garden? You can add it. Complete with cartoon plants to water and nurture. You want a puppy? You can have one...or an aquarium. -With mermaids.

What fascinates me about this whole ordeal is the purpose. What in the name of Alice ("who the fuck is Alice") is the purpose? Why do we do this? Why do I continue doing this? I originally thought it would be a nice way of getting in touch with lost friends. I would add them to my friends list and perhaps write them a message on their wall. You'll get a message back saying something like; "Hey, how are you? Long time no see. What are you doing these days?" And thats about it. You dont really get in touch with people...the people I leave messages to are people I normally see in real life as well. I dont really have anything to say to people I havent talked to in 5-10 years. Not because I have anything against them...but because we have nothing in common.

And then you have the people who add other people to their 'friends'-list just to get a high total number of "friends"...Why? Do they collect people? Why add people to the list of who gets to read up on your life, if you dont know them? Ive gotten add-requests from people I cannot remember ever having met! Im thinking they know someone I know and therefore automatically believe we have met at some point. Well, think again! I find it strange...

Ive come to realize that Facebook is not a way of getting in touch with lost friends as originally stated...It is a way of spying on people you used to know but no longer have contact with. "Oooo she married that guy she cheated on her boyfriend with." "Oh, he is single again." "She has 3 kids already?"

And in a way it is fun. To make up for the spying you wish someone a happy birthday when facebook gives you the notice...and all in all you know they are spying on you too, so it is ok. Being aware of it though makes it possible to put certain people on a limited profile list. Meaning they only get to read the stuff you allow. And if you are reading this while also being a name on my 'friends'-list...wondering why you only get a limited profile...Please dont be upset. Dont be hurt. It is not because I dont like you. There are seriously few people in this world I do not like...and I certainly would not have added you to any list if you are one of those few people. It is just that I like to know who are spying on me. If you only get a limited profile, its because I feel I dont really know you...or perhaps never actually did.

-Which defeats Facebook's original purpose...I know. But I like to play by my own rules at least once in a blue moon...and if you know me, you'd already know that.

So I guess I will keep checking in on my "friends" to see who they hooked up with last weekend or what movies they've seen recently, knowing this is just a new form of gossip. But at least it is open and both ways...and the source is you and no one else.

Saying No To Power

I realized the other day that I have essentially been making “yellow rain” in the lab lately. When I say yellow rain, I am not talking about urine or anything even remotely similar to any natural bodily function, or bodily byproducts. I mean yellow rain as in the biological weapon.

For those of you who didn’t pay attention in history class, “yellow rain” is in reality a trichothecene mycotoxin, T-2, produced by various types of mold, which has been linked to incidents in Vietnam and Cambodia in the 70s. It was said to cause blindness, bleeding, neurological symptoms and death in those subjected to it, and eyewitnesses claimed it had been released from low-flying aircrafts as a yellow oily substance, hence the name: yellow rain. Now, this was never really proved to be an actual weapon, as many doubt the witnesses and many claim it was a result of swarms of bees dropping pollen with the toxin present…Either way it was tested to contain the toxin and the symptoms are similar to known cases of T-2 toxin ingestion…which you can imagine is pretty bad no matter who or what caused it.

I guess I haven’t really been making true “yellow rain” as the mold I use contain more toxins than just the T-2 one…which come to think of it, could be even worse than yellow rain. The mold Im working on is one of the most toxic ones we know of, and yet not much is known of its affect on people…or other living things. But it frightens me how easy it is. Sure you need certain machines most people don’t have access to…and chemicals which isn’t super easy to acquire…but where there is a will, there probably is a way too.

I personally feel a certain sense of awe towards the organisms I am working with. Knowing that something as seemingly simple as a fungus can give a child pulmonary hemorrhage and even cause death, or make an adult chronically sick…and knowing how easy it is to take this organism and turn it into something as horrifying as a weapon. It makes me wonder what causes people to actually do it. Just because I know how to do it, doesn’t mean I would ever even consider doing it! What makes some people think differently? It is strange how you can so easily find yourself in a position where you can do something terribly wrong, yet good to know I would never even think of it. But I wonder what makes some people do the opposite of good. What trigger factor is needed for someone in the same position to actually cross the line? I am not sure I want to know.

You can take someone like Alfred Nobel for instance. A chemist and engineer who invented dynamite, thinking this would “end all wars”. He probably thought he was doing something good when in fact he invented something capable of killing more people in a much shorter time than ever seen before. But was he a bad man? Was he really aware of what he was doing? It is hard to imagine anything else today, but go back a hundred years…? I guess he realized his grand mistake before his death, creating the Nobel Peace Prize (in addition to some other prizes), but the damage was already done.

I for one think I will go about this as something I need to do in order to finish my work. –Which may have been the standard excuse used throughout the history of time, but I know myself well enough to know that I have a goldfish memory about things I do not wish to remember. And this procedure is on its way out of my head already.

Toxins? Yellow rain? What the hell is that?
Im just another dumb blonde.