I remember once when I was 14 or so, I was reading the periodic table and I came across the description for Gallium. It's a metal that is solid and brittle at room temperature (if you strike it, it shatters like glass), but it melts at 86°F, so if you hold it in your hands for a few minutes it will melt. Unlike mercury, gallium is not toxic. It also easily becomes supercooled, meaning that if you bring it down below 86°F, it will remain liquid until it is "seeded" — when you drop in a tiny chunk of solid gallium, the liquid will suddenly solidify. I thought that was amazing, and I've wanted a chunk of gallium ever since.

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Last weekend I went to Charleston to visit Jessie. She was having a "Periodic Table Of The Elements" party. The idea for the party is genius, and I had an idea for a fun costume (the excitingly historied-Seaborgium", interpreted as a robotic sea monster) but I ended up not having time to put it together. Jessie took me to Party City and we settled on a Noble Gas. The day was saved.

Originally the plan was for Meg and Meej to make the drive from Clemson for the party, but Meej ended up having schoolwork to do, so they couldn't make it.

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