shirking

Today marks one week back from vacation, which slashed my enthusiasm for regular life.

The timeline goes thusly:

Return midnight on Thursday, jet lag.

Wake up early Friday (jet lag), eat chocolate for breakfast, then nutella on a white bun. Deign to visit my lab for three measly hours from noon until...the bar opens downtown. Proceed to drink beer on the patio from 3-6:30 pm, vainly trying to recapture the Biergarten atmosphere. Fail. Fall asleep on the couch at 8 pm.

Wake up early Saturday (jet lag). Drag my ass to the market, yard sales, visiting friends. Basically do anything that keeps me from going home and actually being productive. Eventually come home to a giant pile of cord wood and an overgrown garden. Go inside on a sunny day, and watch TV/movies until I fall asleep on the couch at 9 pm.

Wake up early Sunday (jet lag). Lounge around doing nothing, watch some more movies. My mother, in a fit of pity, comes over to get my ass into gear. I reluctantly tackle the chicken coop with her help, manage to get it clean. My in-laws and nephew arrive for supper, which I don't lift a finger to help make. They feed me, and help my husband finish the wood shed so that we can start stacking wood. Visit with friends in the evening in an attempt to stay awake past 9 pm. Partial win, but only late at night.

Wake up Labour Day Holiday, drag my ass to the couch, start YET ANOTHER MOVIE. I am so lazy. I get a talking to by my husband. He says something along these lines: "it was okay to do nothing for three days, but honey, it's time to do something. Anything. Get off the couch." So I'm guilted into stacking wood in the sweaty heat, swatting mosquitoes who seem particularly adamant. Go to lunch with friends, and supper with more friends. Itty-bitty Win.

On Tuesday my new coworker started, so at least there was a given task-list: get him keys, a password for the computers, a soft copy of all the protocols, an email address, a tour of campus, etc, etc.

I still want to eat chocolate slathered in nutella for breakfast though.

Addendum: The Movie Review (out of five stars)

The Adjustment Bureau: 4.5/5

The Hurt Locker: 4/5

The Darjeeling Limited: 4/5

Adam: 2.5/5

Lord of War: 3/5

I Love You Phillip Morris: 3.5/5

Incommunicado

The $3000 dress

I've been looking for the perfect "little white dress" for TWO summers. I want something that would look nice in a formal setting or a casual setting. I've found something I might like, but it's a tad expensive:

Perhaps someone would be willing to make me a version for under $100?

middle america, translatlantic flights and a funny picture of chickens

I was in Minnesota for the first time last week, and my impressions were thus: 1. sunny beautiful weather, as opposed to here where it's been dark cold and dreary for so long the farmers are starting to worry about not being able to cut their hay 2. ate the best poutine of my life at Vincent's restaurant (better than the poutine eaten in a restaurant in Montreal that only had poutine on the menu!) It only cost $4, and I washed it down with a $3 glass of local brew. Heavenly in the fattiest-sorta-way. Mmm. 3. Chatting with a neighbour exhibitor, it was apparent he was surprised by my degrees. He presumed I was a "booth babe", and told me so. I was visibly offended. 4. Don't bother with the breakfast buffet at the Hilton Minneapolis as the eggs taste like flour and the bacon tastes like freezer-burn. The pancakes were alright, but that's because they had half a pound of butter in each one, which ensured a crisp golden exterior (and tons of grease really early in the morning). The coffee was, predictably, horrendous.

A picture of my chicken, triple-stacked.

Tomorrow our flight to Germany takes off at 10 pm. I haven't packed yet for our two-week trip. We'll only be doing backpack carry-on only (almost, but not quite, too old for this). I'd like to hike in the mountains for days on end and go "wild camping". I'll let you know how this works out when I get back in September. Meanwhile at work, a paper windstorm has swept through:

PaperVomit, office-style.

Two evenings ago we went to see a wee little house right in town as a potential rental home. We've debated being landlords, the market is brisk, and the investment would probably pay off. We are lukewarm over the thought of jumping into a second house before the first is functional.

Here is an inspiration picture I took of a local house I was visiting. Same approximate age, but with tons of personality in the front entry. I need more curves in my life.

Vavavoom.

The last few days the ventilation guys have arrived:

Front entry alight with shiny new venting equipment.

And in the garden, things are starting to look a little overgrown. My arugula bolted. Turns out I don't like arugula enough to eat what I planted. My cilantro is doing awesome though, and has been used in multiple dishes the last week. Tomatoes are a few weeks behind which is good for us...perhaps we'll actually get to eat some of our harvest rather than leaving it all to the house-sitter :)

Country garden fare.

little gems, big diamond voices

Tonight while listening to a great CBC radio 2 program called the Signal, they played a song that lead me to this lady:

Shara Worden:



Who is very clearly a talented singer. She also plays under the name "My Brightest Diamond":





EPIC.

On working with students

55% Reactionary: "Don't worry! you can fix it. Just _____"

35% Pre-emptive: "Don't do that. Do ____ instead"

10% Too late: "That was dumb. You'll need to re-do it"

geek out

This wall decoration.

These shoes.

Haloarchaea!

Make you Squeak?!?! Seriously?

Dear Biolynx,

Please refrain from sending entirely stupid (and borderline offensive) marketing material to the lab. I don't think I will find a use for the limited edition rubber duck made up to look like a Bavarian beer peddler, complete with creepy cleavage. Thanks anyway.

Natalie

Entirely expected

Samson's solo acoustic set. Despite 1000 people in the tent, it was just as quiet as the following video, and luckily I was much closer to the stage than this:

When my friend asks "are you getting teary-eyed?", I just put my arm around her shoulders and smiled.

job list

I don't think I've been chosen to teach the class. That's OK by me, I have enough to do. Working 50 hours over the weekend during a music festival, working 12 hour days in the lab, trying to keep myself from getting ill by popping ginseng extract and drinking/eating tons of healthy food, no matter the budget. Also treating myself: getting my hair done/waxing/ordering make-up online. Finally ordering that piece of biologically-related jewelry I've been coveting for YEARS. Spoiling myself.

Next weekend I leave for Minneapolis. The weekend after that will be packing for Germany. Four weeks from now I'll be camping in Bavaria.


Life is grand, and I'm very lucky.

kickin ass

lovely actress as a waif-soldier version:

real-life MMA fighter in the lead role version:

One of these two films has Ewan McGregor in it, so you know which I prefer.

Update: How *would* I organize the course?

I am going to be "interviewed" by the hiring committee about Human Biology on Monday about 2 hours before I will be conducting interviews for the company position. How symmetrical.

Related, I wonder if this is worth it? I think it would be. Perhaps one of my requirements if I get hired as a lecturer is that the department cough up $400 for this unlimited science slide database.

hearts never heal

If I were queen, I would ban oversized lettuce pieces in salads, terrible musak in elevators and the re-reading of old emails.

Dear Boss

PBS means what:

Protein Solubilization Buffer misspelled?
Phosphate Buffered Saline?
Porcine Ball Sack?

I can't tell, please help.

-My fried brain

search terms

Your mission, if you decide to accept, is to find protein extract belonging to a close relative of Chlamydomonas. Since you work in a sea of cyanos, it will be no easy feat. Good luck.

(For the geeks only: http://www.uga.edu/protozoa/education/chlamydomonas.mp3)

Dontcha know?

VWR rep: 1, sanity: 0

Thunder and Lightning

This summer morning I woke up chilled: sixteen degrees celsius outside, but curiously still in the midst of a thunder storm. How does that work? It was so dark outside my dog had no interest in the day, she was clearly heading back to bed as we left for work. Still tons of shit to do but I've been kicking ass on the productivity front so here's to another week of great science, meticulous paperwork and house plans.






WWPJ are playing in Germany two weeks after I leave and in America one month after my American visit. Jeez.

Update: Failing miserably on the productivity front. Come back motivation!! Come back!

Ramp Up

The first half of summer was lazy and lovely. The second half is going to kick my ass, and it started this week.


So here's a cool video instead of a real post.

strawberry season

Time to enjoy fresh local and totally delicious strawberries, then make jam for the freezer with the three flats (8 qrts each).

To live happily ever after on my (temporary) pantry shelf or my belly.

ivorykeys