In the realm of the creepy...

This guy used to be in my department. Til he flunked out... he was always creepy and very very very weird. Turns out, none of us even knew HOW screwed up he really was. So glad he's long gone
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,406584,00.html

PCR song has a friend!

As part of my boss's continuing efforts to keep us a happy bunch of lab rats... he introduced us to this song today!

(but he won't get us the robot darn it!)



IN case you've been longing to hear the PCR song again.-- Click here!

Sam and Katie!

Katie got a brand new buddy a couple of weeks early this weekend. On Saturday, Sam was born! I got a couple pictures when we went in to meet Sam and his parents at the hospital.

Have you ever seen 2 prouder Daddies?

Or 2 happier ones?

A big congrats to the new parents! Sam is so teeny--- he makes Katie look like such a bruiser! But he's just perfect and I am so glad you guys will be doing this whole parent thing along side us! (And I can't wait to see him at the shower this weekend!)

PS- Cody, you'd better watch out-- that's now 3 little boys vying for Katie!

oops!

Craig tells me I posted the "behind the scenes" instead of the ACTUAL music video. So just to make sure everyone is able to fully appreciate how cool it is. Here is the full song!





And the lyrics!

The PCR Song by Scientists for Better PCR

There was a time when to amplify DNA,
You had to grow tons and tons of tiny cells.
(Oooh) Then along came a guy named Dr. Kary Mullis,
Said you can amplify in vitro just as well.

Just mix your template with a buffer and some primers,
Nucleotides and polymerases too.
Denaturing, annealing, and extending,
Well it’s amazing what heating and cooling and heating will do.

[Chorus]
PCR when you need to detect mutation (detect mutation)
PCR when you need to recombine (recombine)
PCR when you need to find out who the daddy is (who’s your daddy?)
PCR when you need to solve a crime (solve a crime)
[x2]

Bits and pieces from the weekend.

Craig's birthday party went well... I made a TON of paella, and it was almost all eaten-- and it turned out pretty well too--- this was the first time I had baked it instead of finishing on the stove. It definitely is easier to finish off baking than on the stove (and requires less watching) though you do miss out on the socarrat (crusty yummy burnedish rice on the bottom of the paella) This version was with chicken, shrimp, mussels, and some actually very good chorizo (thank you wegmans!) If anyone needs/wants a recipe-- let me know!

The department welcome party was... odd, Kim and I went, we felt-- old. 5th years, how the heck did that happen. But hey, the director of my grad program now knows we're expecting ("No really, I don't want a beer" is apparently a dead give away)

Outside of that, work has been beyond frustrating this week-- people do not follow directions-- and then I get screwed. GRRRR. Just do what you're supposed to do and it will work, if you do something else then I have no idea how to fix it. I wrote instructions for a REASON.

On the Tadpole front-- still no signs of squirming munchkin that I have noticed (yeah yeah, I know, its early, thats normal blah blah blah...) but at the follow up doctor's appointment to the ultrasound the kid was apparently moving about cause she kept having to try all over to get the heart rate. She'd have it for a second and then lose it and then look around awhile and catch it-- so that made me feel better. I also got the ultrasound report-- and it said Tadpole was "mobile"-- so I will take their word on it even though I sure never saw it. As with every OB appointment I have had, they moved my due date up AGAIN. So now they are telling me the 2nd. A couple more visits and this kid will be a Leap-Year-Day baby. Which quite frankly would be cool, yet kinda weird. Do you celebrate Leap-year birthdays on the last of February or the first of March???

Starting year 5-- That makes it... Jesse and the Glowing Mouse?

Another exciting year of grad school has begun. Marked by the halls swarming with confused first year med students so damn certain they could cure diseases in the hallway with one hand behind their backs (and maybe blindfolded) and absurdly proud of their green scrubs, another year of me hiding in the lab is here.

Lab is same old same old this week, I am still plugging away at the paper and trying to get my mice to behave. My super important took me two years to breed this damn mouse mouse, FINALLY got a tumor... (this is a good thing) so I am checking on it semi-neurotically to make sure it keeps going normally and all that-- I need this thing to live and the tumor the get big so that I can hypothetically graduate some day. So, keep your fingers crossed that this little gal is doing ok. I think I should name her... hmm, what though? I'll have to think about that!

I am now 12 weeks pregnant and wonderfully, somewhat able to eat again! (ok, don't let me jinx myself there-- its been 2 days) I have actually managed to eat DINNER for the last 2 days-- and I am hoping that this means that soon I will have regained control of my stomach! Craig and I went to my parents for the weekend and I got some stretch-y clothes-- my jeans are too snug these days even with the weight loss-- so I have been rubberbanding them to give me a few more days-- but the end of these is quickly approaching.

My next doctors visit is Wednesday--- I am excited/nervous about it-- I'm looking forward to getting some confirmation that things are going well and hopefully reassuring some of my fears-- I did not expect to worry so much-- well, at least not until Tadpole was going to school or dating or something-- but I am. So I think I may get to hear the heartbeat this time-- and from my insane reading of books and internet-- if the heartbeat is normal at that point, then the chances of my making it to a healthy baby go WAY up... which would be nice to hear. So I have to make it through 6 more days of nutty worry until the appointment-- and then 6 more months of worry about Tadpole til I can see them, and then... well... many many many more years of worry about everything else.... sheesh... I just never expected this.

Outside of that, Craig's out of town for the weekend for a Bachelor party. My parents are in town for corvette week. And I'm hoping to get some of the house dug out this weekend while I have it to myself. I am feeling less like a zombie, most of the time, so maybe some work will actually be accomplished (unless its 90+ degrees again)

Thats it from here. I'll try and get some fun science up soon!

Another week down...

Sometimes my boss will say things that give me hope that SOMEDAY I may actually graduate. Someone in the lab made a comment about hoping their family's genetic diseases and their husband's family's diseases balance out in their kids... and the boss said genetics don't work that way... but I was able to explain that for multi-gene traits, that sometimes it could be possible that they do... and then comes the phrase from the boss "You know, talking like that comes from people who are almost ready to graduate." Ahhhh... now if it were only really true.

I am pretty sure this whole baby thing will set me back a ways in terms of when I graduate. I am hoping its not more than a month or 2 delay-- but in reality, who knows. I am very lucky that my boss is really understanding and seems excited for us, but -- well.. I still have to convince my committee that things will be ok. I think that should go ok as well. I am making pretty great progress on my thesis research -- and they have been happy with my progress on that-- and I am working on writing my first first authored paper (ok, technically, my 2nd-- but my undergrad research advisor was a lazy bum and never submitted it after the revisions)-- and my PhD research is WAY cooler than my undergrad stuff- so thats ok too.

Ugh.. its just a little bit of a headache.

Outside of that, I am finally working on this paper-- I've got 6 pages written so far! (and thats single spaced, normal font too-- with no pictures!) but its yet to head off for any editing, which I am truly dreading. I am just looking forward to it going out and having it DONE with. The writing is my least favorite part of science. I can deal with the mixing chemicals, mouse surgeries and tedious molecular biology procedures-- but writing, blah blah blah. It does give me a nice excuse to plop my bottom at my desk every day though-- so I am enjoying that! Our lab moved to a new room in November, and now we can have food at our desks-- so I can snack and drink my lemonade all day if I wanted (and well, if the Tadpole would let me!).

Nothing too big in Tadpole news, I am 11 weeks pregnant today (well... ok, today, yesterday, tomorow-- depends on whose due date we are using. I figured the 6th, the OB the 4th-- so we'll split the difference and call it the 5th of March) Apparently that means I have just about 2 weeks left in the first trimester-- I can't wait for them to pass! Because when they go I have the promise of my stomach returning to its normal purpose of actually being hungry and digesting food. Interestingly, it is an odd assortment of things that I actually am eating these days... strawberry fruit roll-ups, fudgesicles (see, that's calcium), pears and strawberries, and vanilla wafers, and microwave buttered popcorn have all been pretty appealing. I am trying to gak down some meats and such when I can-- hot pockets have been doing ok most days at lunch. Its not the most balanced diet-- but I figure its better than continuing to lose weight everyday. I've got vitamins and the same calcium supplements I have been taking for a while-- so hopefully, it'll be just another few weeks and I can get into the whole "eating for two" part of pregnancy. I've got my next doc visit in 2 weeks... so I am anxious to have a professional opinion that everythings looking good.

It seems I am sharing one symptom with my soon-to-be sister-in-law. She apparently can NOT stand the smell of pepperoni either since the whole chemo thing started ... how weird is that?! Speaking of Christina, please keep her in your prayers, she's back in the hospital for her next bout of treatment leading up to her transplant. So pray for a speedy and total recovery so she and my little brother can get themselves hitched.

A few quick notes

1) We're heading to my parents out in the boonies of western PA for the weekend. Murphy will be run ragged up and down the hill and generally be as happy as a dog can be-- plus he'll get spoiled rotten by my grammam and her never ending peanut-butter bone supply-- he likes visits to my parents. We are taking the weener along--which should be interesting. Tiki is staying here with Kim to check on her... she will also be spoiled rotten.

2) The new car is still behaving wonderfully-- and we are heading out there to show it off!

3) Monday will be a great day cause the weener is GOING HOME!! Jane and Roy are back from Ireland this weekend and will be retreiving her on Monday... YAY!!! That's good for the weener to be back on her normal life and good for me cause there will be no more poo piles or dog fights during the night while I try and sleep.

4) Fourth of July means a day off work! And we have free hersheypark tickets that expire on the 4th--- so we may take an extra day off to do that next week too... should make for a very quick work week.

5) The new microscope is super-duper, and I can work it better than my boss, and he was THRILLED with the results I took yesterday and showed him this morning... so making me look good at work is always a nice bonus-- I think he's convinced to start writing this paper so I can get it out!!!!! (and FINALLY have a first author paper)

I've been slacking

Yes, I have been slacking on the blog. Its mainly the result of the incredibly cool new imaging system that we got in our lab. I have spent more than 8 hours being trained on it-- and the rest of my time playing on it since yesterday morning. It is the neatest thing. It is a microscope that is completely automated... touch a button on the touch screen abd VOILA! your picture. It takes BEAUTIFUL pictures of my glow in the dark mouse boobs! Also, it will take movies! It is a spiffy piece of technology with more buttons, knobs, and adjusters than I know what to do with yet... I will be hiding in the dark a few more days-- and then I promise, I will share some cool pics and be a good blogger and post more again.

me and my big mouth

Well, this afternoon, I got myself in trouble. I am participating in a mentoring course this summer and today's topic was DIVERSITY. Ah yes, if there was a topic more likely to cause me to vent my political and personal views it would have to be firearms or taxes. Its a close tie for all three.

Anyway, academia, bastion of far leftist thought that it is, may not have been the smartest place for me to expound on my beleifs. I think I am more worried because the head of my department heard my statements-- and I am pretty sure now thinks I am a member of the KKK. Honestly, nothing could be farther from the truth. I do not ever judge people on the color of their skin, only on the work that they do, the way they treat others, and the honesty in their hearts. Stating this got me into trouble. I take my philosophy to be against afirmative action.

AA judges people first on the color of their skin, not on WHO they are and WHAT they can do. I never want to be judged on different standards than people around me-- not based on my height, weight, ethnicity, family background-- anything. I have NEVER claimed special treatment based on those things (ok, other than a step ladder)-- and I never will. I want to know I am worthy of what I acheive. I think this basic right to know you are due what you acheive and that it was not handed to you unevenly is proper for every person.

I understand that sometimes AA gives people chances they would never have gotten without it, and that sometimes people succeed due to these chances. But I also have seen people use AA to get away with doing less work, use it as an excuse to try less, and use it to get a position and then be unqualified for that position. I think these are all invalid uses for the AA policy. I would much prefer a gender/race blind application process for colleges and jobs. Let the best candidate get the spot end of discussion. All this regulation of what percentage of any student body or office needs to be of each certain ethnicity is frankly ridiculous.

Diversity should be fostered not forced. Diversity takes many forms-- I have friends of different religions, races, politics, upbringing, sexual orientations,money status and who knows what else. I didn't pick them because they were black or lesbian or whatever. I picked them becuase they make good friends.

Why can't academia rely on its oh so touted "colorblindness" to develop diverse student bodies? Why do they have to rely on laws and altered standards??

ok, enough venting. Here's hoping I don't get signed up for sensitivity training or something now. I am not ashamed of how I feel about this stuff... but by now I should have enough self preservation instinct to not spout off in front of professors I know are way way way way far left of me. (Craig by the way, thinks I should have gone further with explaining why AA is not a good plan)

Woohoo...

WOOHOOO! Look what was in my email box when I got back from seminar!!!
After 2 years with no raises, no cost of living increases, no hope of it ever getting better.... we get a whole extra $500/year. Not wonderful... and not what the keep promising us. But a heck of a lot better than nothing!

"Dear Students,
I am pleased to inform you that graduate student stipends for all full-time PhD students at the COM will be raised 2% for the 2007-2008 academic year to $21,187.
Consistent with the principles established in the past, this stipend will be paid over 12 months as follows:

Fall 2007 - ½ time graduate assistant - grade 16 - $1764.00 per month August through December
Spring 2008 - ½ time graduate assistant - grade 16 - $1764.00 per month January through May
Summer 2008 - wage payroll as graduate lecturer/graduate researcher -$1773.50 per month in June and July

Please remember that your summer wages are subject to tax witholding, so the amount of your summer checks may be slightly less than $1773.50 depending on your personal situation; please budget accordingly.
Dr. Verderame"

(this last part about the taxes pisses me off to no end-- it was changed to be like this under the table with no chance to complain-- just last year)

Bits and pieces

It seems Craig has managed to pick up my cold. So hopefully he's not sick for too long. I am finally feeling better after going to bed at 7 last night-- yep, you read that right. I slept from 7pm until 7am... and finally feel almost human. Now if I could only stop coughing like a 70 year old chain smoker I'd be back to normal. Winnie had another day with no messes-- YAY! She does have the most painful ear splitting bark though--- ugh, I sure hope she doesn't do that all day while we're at work. 5 barks is enough to make me want to try and chop out her vocal cords.. I can only imagine what the neighbors think after a day of that noise.





I've got a long and hectic procedure at work today, so I am hoping to be out of here by 5. The one thing I can say about this procedure is that when it is done I have TON of data. So its nice to show the boss that I can be productive-- it just makes for an unpleasant work day. Keep your fingers crossed that it works!


Here is one pic of a previous run of this experiment. The procedure takes mouse boobs (yes, the techinical term) and turns them into a soup of single mouse boob cells. Then I can run those cells through a machine called a flow cytometer that lines them all up single file and looks at them. It looks at them for what they have on their outsides--- (that is, are the tags I stuck on there)-- I can then see how many cells that have a certain tag (A) also have other tags (B, C, etc)-- then I can quantify how many cells are A+B vs B+C, vs A+C--- which tells me something about the kind of cells that make up the mouse boob. The big problem for me is that I put a LOT of cells in, but only the ones circled in the picture are the ones that matter. So it takes me a long long time to get enough of the important cells--- oh yeah... and it takes me 6+ months to get a mouse with the right combo of genes to be old enough for the experiment--- so there is a lot riding on it working right--- cause if it doesn't I have to start over with breeding more mice-- YUCK!









Other than a big science day, we have cake class tonight--- no actual cake this week, just working with fondant and gumpaste-- we're learning carnations, "fantasy flowers" and daisies. Should be a quick and easy class. I'll try and get some pics up tomorrow for everyone to see.






Also-- if you have any recommendations for an affordable reliable car-- 4 door, decent gas mileage (ok, so anything will be better than the blazer was), has a radio, good safety record, would hypothetically hold a car seat and associated progeny related crap, that doesn't look awful-- please, let me know.
The blazer is dead (may she rest in peace) and I need to find a new car. I figure I am going to have the new one for a bunch of years, so practicality is important. All suggestions of models or makes are welcome!

FINALLY! A post that won't mention poo.... (well, I won't mention it after the title)

I have been given "permission" to start writing my first paper in grad school. This paper will be on the stuff that I took to the meeting in Colorado in March and a little bit more. I am finding it very very very hard though to start writing it. Writing anything with my boss is a challenge for me. We have VERY distinct writing styles and neither of our styles suits the others at all. My drafts do not come back with editing on them, they come back with the same thing rewritten in my bosses words. This has been extremely frustrating for me over the past few years and I am not looking forward to the debates that will have to happen on this paper. I want to feel like my paper is MY paper- and I know that my boss is the "expert"-- but outside of the atrocious grammar I display on my blog-- I know how to write. If there is one thing St. Tim's teaches its girls-- it is how to write well. My writing is more clear and much more simple than my boss's. It gets the same points across, but in a much more reader friendly manner. I do not oversimplify things-- rather he tends to over complicate them with obtuse vocabulary and odd sentence structures. I really want to get this paper written and published by the fall-- I am just hesitant to start what I know will be an unpleasant couple of months to get it done. I need the authorship to get myself a job when I am finished with grad school, and getting this paper out would be a huge help with that as I will be first author.

So really, I am just procrastinating on starting this paper til I haul in these last trailing bits of data that should be finished next week or so-- and then I have to knuckle down and get it written. I have figures worked out for the most part-- and I like doing that part and I am good at it! Its just this writing that is the big road block. Keep your fingers crossed that my boss recognizes that this is MY turn to write a paper-- and he has help EDIT it not rewrite it. That will be best for everyone's sanity.

(Photo is a sneak peek of part of one of my figures-- one mouse boob! in green!)

Weekend in Review and plans for the week

This weekend was largely spent catching up on laundry--- the oh so exciting life of newlyweds. Woohoo. We did go see Pirates 3 :return of random sword wielding squid yesterday. Craig enjoyed it, I found it loud... and very random. But, if you like random fish creatures fighting against colonial British forces and pirates, this may be the movie for you! (ok, and Keith Richards makes a brief and to me comical cameo) Swashbuckling fun-- but at least it was a couple hours in air conditioning!!!
More exciting was that we then went to dinner at Passage to India in Harrisburg. Delicious as always-- and even better when we had a buy one dinner get one free coupon! (for once hubby's need to save every piece of junk mail we get worked out for the better!!) I had some sort of lamb -- lamb Rogun Josh or something like that. It was quite tasty-- not too spicy-- just nicely flavored. And as a bonus, there were enough for leftovers-- I just have to make up some rice-- that's the kind of dinner I can handle any night-- even when it is 90 in my kitchen.

Today we got some laundry done, I got my veggies transplanted outside (heres hoping they survive), polyurethaned the outdoor sink and the new front door step, and got the guest room cleaned out for this coming weekend's guest. Not too bad a day-- the good thing about laundry folding is that it is the ideal fit for chick flicks! Today-- Circle of Friends, Dance with Me --Vanessa Williams AND Chayanne! ;-)-- and When Harry Met Sally-- one of my all time favorites ever. So it was a nice afternoon. Craig is locked down in the dungeon working on his homework for his online course. I guess that's what I get for encouraging him to go back to school and get his Master's finished up. Two of us in grad school... what was I thinking?!?!?!

This week looks to be a full one. Monday has my semi-monthly or whenever we remember to schedule it rotating dinner with two of my friends from grad school, Tuesday brings cake class -- stay tuned. The first cake we're doing this time is "Ireland"-- Should be pretty good. (and yes, I will share recipes) Wednesday is wings night here again. Thursday Craig and I have dinner at our friends who are getting married this weekend to meet their parents who we'll be helping get around while they are here, then Friday rehearsal/dinner with the to-be-wed Mike and Leah, and finally Saturday is their wedding. Should all be fun, but some Sunday I will definitely be looking forward to a NAP!

Stay tuned- I should get some decent pics to share this week. If nothing else, I have a pic of Craig in a pirate hat that is BEGGING to be shared!

Katie and James are Married!

Katie, my roomate from the first year of grad school got married this Saturday in Maryland. Craig, Kim and I were invited to see the big day and we carpooled down. They had a short outdoor ceremony in the early afternoon (whew... it was HOT out!) and then a lovely (air conditioned) reception. The cake was tasty! (no scary buttercream or tasteless fondant-- it was frosted in whipped cream!) It was a nice day and they happy couple well, looked very happy! Congrats to Katie and James!


Here is one quick picture of Craig and I from the reception-- Craig was enjoying the "Moby's"-- a special rum drink recipe from Katie's family-- so he had a pretty good time!

The remainder of this weekend was spent hiding in our room-- the only air conditioned room in the place-- amazingly, you can now see the floor-- we dug out all the boxes and bins of stuff and sorted out winter clothing that could be stored away in the attic or cellar for the next few months and now you can actually WALK in our room--without tripping! The plan is to allow the Murph and the poo-machine in the room tonight so they can enjoy the AC as well. I think for Tiki's well being... she'll be just as happy to stay out of there and have the run of the house in peace!

In the interest of peace I did rid myself of a few pairs of shoes this weekend as well-- Craig seems to beleive that two laundry baskets full is too many--- he fails to understand how I can NEED 5 different pairs of black sandals (the casual pair, the super high heel strappy ones, the semi-casual dress pair, the flip flops, the comfy but still dressy pair etc...) So I discarded a few pairs that were well past their prime-- including my FAVORITE sandals of all time-- these are the ones my mom called the "spartacus" sandals-- brown leather, criss-crossed straps, flat soles-- I wore these things to death-- across Europe, through college, they went with anything and were so very comfortable-- my dad had given them a second life with a few rivets 3 years ago-- and I had nursed them through last summer with glue and tacks-- but the time has come to say goodbye---and so this afternoon-- I tossed them in the trash--- of course-- this means I have to go get some new ones right?!?!?!

Craig is hiding in the cellar working on his HW for his online class-- its cool there and it means I get sole control over the TV! (so with a choice of 5 channels-- there's not too much to argue over-- but still!)

This week cake class starts up again on Tuesday and I've got my first full week with Undergrad Guy--- so it should be a busy week. I think I have one more fitting to go to with a friend for her wedding dress and I have to put together a wedding emergency kit to take to her wedding on June 16th--- its my turn to play "Kim" for a change and deal with all the nonsense that pops up so she doesn't have to worry-- Hrm... I should make sure the guest room isn't too bad either as we are keeping the groom the night before the wedding.

Big news over at my SIL's blog-- she's got all her paperwork to Vietnam and is #1 on the waiting list for a little girl--- looks like our new niece will be here before too long!

And as for my future SIL-- she's a trooper-- she survived her first entire weekend at my parents this weekend! And my Mom only had wonderful things to say-- about her and about her pup who came to visit too! So apparently the nuttiness that is my family hasn't completely scared her off-- and we are thrilled that she'll be one of us!

This week so far.

Monday brought a picnic at Shelley and Erin's-- yay! I made pierogie bake *yum*-- not fancy, but so tasty-- with a stick of butter how could it not be! We had lots of grilled food, got to swim (that was a great treat on a hot day) and I played croquet. Over all a very nice day.

Tuesday was back to work-- then Roy brought up the poo machine winnie and returned murph to us. The cat is terrified and has spent the last 2 days hiding in a cardboard box in a room closed off with a baby gate-- poor thing. shes's miserable. Winnie has poo'd in the house 2x so far and peed all over a rug--- luckily, she was confined outside of bedrooms and the large oriental rugs, so it was only on a throw rug and could be washed-- still--- she is not on my good list right now. She better straighten up and behave-- and quickly. She's getting walked as much as we can with work schedules--- she's going to have to adapt and quick-- or I will be a very very very unhappy girl.

Wednesday brought my summer internship kid to the lab. His name is Will. He just finished his sophomore year at Temple and will be working with me this summer (til early August) so we'll see how that all goes. Then it was wings night-- this week I tried wings from scratch-- some deep fried then coated with a franks hot sauce/butter/steak sauce blend and some baked in a honey-soy-citrus glaze I made up-- both turned out pretty well I must say! We played Wii! I may be addicted-- its a video game that doesn't make you play like a video game-- if the character on the screen sword fights, you move the controller like a sword-- tennis, like a tennis racket, hula hoop... well.. you put it on your hips and hula away. it is very very very amusing-- and thankfully, much simpler than the traditional style games-- very little time to learn--and great to play in a group! All in all a fun evening.

Today-- well, the report on today will have to wait til its over... but so far so good.

The Weekend

We were out in Jersey for the weekend at Craig's parents-- I went shopping, wandered Wegmans (I love that place) and baked a cake. Craig dug out old fence posts and replaced them in concrete, rewired a lamp post, and replaced a toilet-- so guess who had a more relaxing weekend?! (Ok, so I did help with the toilet)
Wegman's is sooooo cool, I wish there were one closer. We keep hearing promises, but they never materialize. They have EVERYTHING. I got the yummy aged primadonna cheese we got hooked on while dating and taking trips to the reading terminal market (another wonderful place for food), the cotija cheese I need to make Craig the chilaquiles he got addicted to for breakfast in Puerto Vallarta, green Thai curry paste, lemongrass, mirin, rose and orange blossom waters, and these super tiny red skin and white potatoes-- they are going to be yummy. Oh! And the very best thing--- Digestive cookies! I love those things, my madre in Spain had them out almost every morning at breakfast-- sooooo good. And I can never find them anywhere-- and they had them, both the plain ones and the chocolate covered ones. YAY!!!!

On Sunday evening we grilled dinner in... I took care of the baked potatoes (somehow everyone thinks mine are really good-- I don't do anything much special to them-- I just put some olive oil, salt and pepper on the outside-- though this time I used "Crazy Jane's Mixed up Salt" and then bake them for a while)-- made some bacon for them, sauteed up some mushrooms and then made a little foil packet of smushed garlic and olive oil and threw that on the grill while Roy cooked the steaks-- the garlic turned out very yummy that way. I also made that coconut cake that I make all too often now and filled it with some whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Yum... a good dinner-- but it made for us getting a late start to get home.

We left Murph there to get him a vet visit and groomed (he was starting to stink!) and Jane and Roy will bring him back next Monday or Tuesday. Tiki really misses her buddy... she just wanders looking for him. Oh well, is she in for a shock when he gets back-- winnie's coming with him to stay for a month--- poor kitten won't know what hit her!

That's it for the weekend. Not too big. Yesterday was Bachelor Season Finale-- I had correctly predicted the winner-- so that was super exciting and we had a nice girl's night watching the finale.
Today its back to work-- gotta get some data--- want to graduate before I am 50.

You might be a grad student if...

you have ever brought a scholarly article to a bar. (guilty... so sad, but true- I feel bad for the folks who came to wing-night with there significant others who are not in science-- 2 hours of discussion of Northern Blotting techniques- not so much fun for them)
you have ever discussed academic matters at a sporting event.
you find the bibliographies of books more interesting than the actual text. you have accepted guilt as an inherent feature of relaxation.
you reflexively start analyzing those greek letters before you realize that it's a sorority sweatshirt, not an equation.
you find yourself explaining to children that you are in "20th grade". (actually for those keeping track-- I'm just wrapping up 20th grade, so soon it will be 21st grade-- its sad... I have spent 5 times more years in school than out)
you've ever brought books with you on vacation and actually studied.

Why God Never Received Tenure at any University
He had only one major publication.
It was in Hebrew.
It had no references.
It wasn't published in a refereed journal.
Some even doubt he wrote it himself.
It may be true that he created the world, but what has he done since then?
His cooperative efforts have been quite limited.
The scientific community has had a hard time replicating his results.
He never applied to the Ethics Board for permission to use human subjects.
When one experiment went awry he tried to cover it up by drowning the subjects.
When subjects didn't behave as predicted, he deleted them from the sample .
He rarely came to class, just told students to read the Book.
Some say he had his son teach the class.
He expelled his first two students for learning.
Although there were only ten requirements, most students failed his tests.
His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountaintop.

Seminar Recap

My seminar and committee meetings yesterday went really well! I was nervous and talked too fast so I finished my 40ish minute presentation in just under 30 minutes-- but that was ok becuase my committee then decided that they would have my meeting right then. So instead of having to wait all afternoon-- it was over and done in just about an hour. The committee was happy with my progress and thought my presentation was great-- the only criticism I got was that I was talking too fast because I was nervous... so all in all good stuff there. My science and my explanations were plenty good. They said I should schedule my next one for the fall... so about 6 months-ish. I hope that means I am moving towards finishing-- the more often they want to see how you are progressing/wrapping up supposedly the better.

Yes, I am still alive.

I'm still here, just in survival mode until 4:30pm tomorrow. Then it will all be over. yippee.. but first I have to make it through til then. Seminar is at noon (til 1ish) then I am on a panel to convince younger grad students that it is all worth it and they can survive (HAHAHA... the irony) and then 3:30-4:30 is the meeting with the committee (insert scary music here) and then DONE. I may regain brain function by hrm.. maybe tuesday?

Keep your fingers crossed, sacrifice a toaster, pray whatever-- I will take any good karma that can come my way. (I really really don't like these things-- thank goodness they aren't too often)