A Few More...

Just for Randi

Haiku TGIF Friday

Defendants pled out
Jury duty over now
Don't have to go back.

***

Thankfully no plans
for the long weekend still have
boxes to unpack.

***

Looking forward to
resting, relaxing, eating
enjoy the backyard!

Random Snippets

• Friday night, we checked out the local Chinese place for some take out. As we're standing outside, waiting for our order, we hear what sounds like gunshots "pop,pop,pop,pop". I look at Alex and ask if he thinks those were shots? Mind you, this is, maybe 7pm on Friday night, it's still light out, there are tons of people milling about, hanging out everywhere. Everyone reacted, coming out of their houses, wondering what went on, etc. Pretty soon (as in, perhaps, 2 minutes) there were cops and fire trucks everywhere, heading toward the sounds of the shots. We got our food, and headed back home, only to find the shots were fired approximately a block from our house. We subsequently set the alarm and proceeded to rationalize our choice of neighborhood. Turns out, truck ran over a Philly bike cop and dragged him for a ways. In order to get the driver to stop, the cop shot at his vehicle (or maybe in the air? I'm not sure). They caught the driver (who was theoretically trying to hit & run) and the cop should be OK, with some leg injuries. I have to say that scenario seems better than the scenarios running through our heads at the time of the shooting....
• We headed to NJ for Alex's triathlon on Sat morning. We swung by the old place and picked up some things that were left there and dropped some stuff off at the Salvation Army. Then we headed to NJ, hitting up Walmart and our favorite chain restaurants. I can honestly say were were overwhelmed by the size of restaurants and stores in NJ. Walmart looked like an airplane hanger you could park a 747 in. We even hit the mall. Ohhh, we're such suburbanites!
• I think, to a certain extent, NJ deserves most of the stereotypes that are out there. NJ seems to take on the personality of the cities it's closest to. South Jersey tends to gravitate towards Philly, while North Jersey is basically a suburb of NYC. NJ is perhaps the worst driving I have ever seen (and I'm from CA, supposedly Californians are terrible drivers, according to everyone here!). They follow you so closely, no matter what speed you're going, they slam on the brakes a mere few feet from the stop light, and they peel out at nearly every light. Also, for some reason, they have traffic circles every few miles (ever seen one of those? Yeah, they suck and are super confusing and stupid and terrifying on MAJOR ROADS). And there are basically NO LEFT TURNS. I am not kidding. If you want to go left, you have to make a right, then make a left and then go straight. How this is better that having a left hand turn signal? I have no idea. So basically, it sucks to drive in Jersey. Avoid it at all costs.
• Triathlons are insane. Alex did really well and I am super proud of him, but these people are crazy. A 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike and a half marathon (13.1 miles) all in one day? Are you kidding me? I sat at the state park for over 8 hours, watching people compete. Let me tell you, the cheer-ers deserve a lot of credit for being out there all day long. I could literally nap all day today :)
• After the race, Alex and I were both starving, so we headed over the The Cracker Barrel at 5pm on a Sunday. Apparently we are 75 years old. We both ordered Chicken and Dumplings (their specialty). The food was OK, but reminded me a little too much of canned food that old folks might like. The entrance to the restaurant is a store, with odds and ends like old fashioned candy, garden accouterments, and lots of things about Jesus. It also had a dancing chicken dancing and singing to "Who let the hens out? cluck, cluck, cluck". It felt oddly like Disneyland, although the crowd was a little too old.
• We spent the majority of last evening in bed, watching cable TV (which we don't have at home). We watched "Mythbusters", which is always entertaining, and stumbled upon "Hoarders", which honestly confused me and stressed me out. A LOT. I just don't understand why people won't throw their shit away? So weird.
• Traffic in NJ/PA is not even close to how bad traffic is in LA. Driving back this AM was a PIECE of CAKE!
  

Too Much to do..

• we moved this past weekend - it was kinda a mess. I didn't have enough boxes and was still packing as friends arrived to help. Both our old street and our new streets are very narrow. Alex scraped a car as he went by - causing more of a headache than we needed.
• our friends are lifesavers and troopers. They helped us load and unload two truckloads of our junk and stuck around for pizza afterwards. It was awesome. I felt very loved since this is literally the first time anyone but my parents have helped me move. And I've moved A LOT.
  
• the new place is super duper. It's so lovely, I am waiting for something to be wrong with it.
• that something that is wrong with it happened the night before last. The roof leaks - right over our bed. Oh yeah, I am super excited about this. But the landlord seems really responsive and the roofers are coming today, hopefully.
• bike commuting is not as easy as it seems. People who drive are kinda jerks. But it is really nice to go door to door in less than 30 minutes. Faster than walking for sure!
  
• Alex is doing a half iron man triathlon this weekend. For the uninitiated, that's a 1.2 mile swim in a reservoir, a 60 mile bike ride and a half marathon (13.1 mile run). In one day. Yeah. Should be fun!
• I'm not sure what's going on with this weather lately. It was really hot and humid a couple days ago, then it was pleasant (like, 70s), and then it went back into the 50s and it's been freezing, raining and chilly for days now. Summer anyone?
• Working in my lab has gotten pretty lonely. There's only 2 of us. We don't have a lot to talk about. I am so ready to be done it's not even funny.
• We finally got our engagement pics back. If you promise not to tell my mom, I might post some.
  

Haiku Movin' on out Friday

Have been collecting
boxes for weeks - finally
time to pack them up.

***

Our last weekend in
our little house, so many
memories to keep.

***

New neighborhood, new
house, new chapter in our lives.
We're moving on up!

Walking the Perfect Square by Reed Farrel Coleman

I got this book for my mom for Christmas this past year. She is really into murder mysteries, and I had heard a review of this book / author on NPR several months earlier, so I decided to check it out. This is the first book in a series by Coleman, following ex-cop Moe Prager on some mysterious situations. This first book finds Prager, recently retired due to injury, looking for a missing college student, Patrick Maloney. The book is set in the late 70s Manhattan (and some surrounding areas) as well as modern day (well, at least 1998) and the chapters jump back and forth between the two times. Prager is a great character. The novel is written in first person, following Moe as he searches for the lost kid, getting involved in political corruption, solving unexplained situations, and making friends along the way. This was a great detective novel. It was well written, Prager is interesting and realistic, but he also has some faults. But he seems like a genuinely moral person, acting, a lot of the time, as the moral compass of the book. He's a hard drinker, but he's also a family man, keeping in touch with his brother and sister throughout the book, and making it a point to call his daughter on her birthday. He seems to genuinely like people, and "makes friends" with quite a few of the more bizarre characters. And he seems non-judgmental, which is hard to believe for an ex-NYPD! I thought this book was really excellent, for a number of reasons. The writing was believable and gritty, and almost written with a NY accent (can you do that?). The scenarios were not so out there that they were unbelievable: political corruption, friends selling you out, a lot of money changing hands, tragic consequences, etc. The majority of the story was wrapped up very nicely, and the narrator gives the reader a nice "what happened to whom" at the end of the book, making a tidy story. There were some aspects of the story that seemed a little bit more cheesy, or over-the-top, but that really didn't bother me. I couldn't put the book down and I was drawn into the novel almost as soon as I picked up the book. Plus, it's a book published by a small, independent press, which I love to support. If you're a fan of detective novels, give Coleman's work a try. I'm already into the second in this series and it looks just as good as the first!

Random

1. Both Alex and I ran the Broad St. run last Sunday. 10 miles from start to finish. The weather decided to change rapidly right before the race and it turned out to be 90 and humid (instead of the 60 and not humid it had been the week before). Nothing can really prepare you for that, let me tell you. I ended up walking a bit of the run, trying to take it easy on my body, and I did the whole run in about 2 hrs. Not record time at all, but something I am proud of. 10 miles seems far, even now!
2. We are moving in less that two weeks to a house we finally got the keys for last night. People actually said "hi" to us as we walked down the block. Weird, but nice! And the house is totally new all over - stainless appliances, new paint, jacuzzi tub, new windows, heater, a/c. And a 75 gallon water heater. I am pretty sure we will NEVER run out of hot water!
   
3. My computer broken. I mean, like, really broken. The screen went blank and apparently something in my motherboard died. So, it's been sent off to Apple land to be fixed. Hence, no pictures or anything interesting like that for at least two weeks. I am working off a computer in lab, which is kinda a pain.
4. This weekend, we are having engagement pictures taken. Don't tell my mom. It's gonna be a surprise late Mother's Day gift sent to her.
   
5. I am actually excited about going through my stuff and getting rid of a bunch of it. We are renting a gigantic Uhaul - and we are crossing our fingers it will fit down our street (it's a pretty narrow street)!
6. It's pretty hard to go to work when it's 80 and gorgeous outside. I would be so content to sit outside and read. Man, it's been a loooooong time since I've been able to do that!
   

The Purity Myth by Jessica Valenti

This book was honestly the first piece of feminist literature I have read. It didn't really tell me anything I didn't know, per se, but it did emphasize and coalesce thoughts and ideas in my mind.
The hypothesis of this book is that people (the book points at men, but realistically women are involved, too), for a myriad number of reasons, mostly religious, are obsessed with female virginity. Girls are seen as having this magical thing called virginity, which the author argues is technically undefinable, which must be "saved" for their husband. This idea creates a number of problems. Firstly, girls (and women) do not have ownership of their bodies, creating a situation where women will not become educated about health care, family planning choices or prevention of STDs. Secondly, girls who no longer have this magical virginity are seen as "damaged goods" or less worthy of pretty much everything (family, relationships, etc.). These rules generally only apply to "innocent looking white girls" as opposed to any "women of color". These ideas also create an odd relationship between women's value in society and their sexuality, which, when you think about it, is really strange. Why would what you do in the bedroom have anything to do with your job, or your life outside the bedroom? For some reason, however, sexuality is tied to morality. This book makes a lot of valid points, has sufficient footnotes (although not extensive) and is written to a younger generation. I wasn't totally thrilled with the way the book was written. Being an academic, I tend to like books that are well written and well cited. I am also a bit snobbish and like to read books by authors who should be an expert in their field. Valenti writes like a blogger, and I found the whole book to be written like one long blog post. Not bad, just different from my academic reading. I did, however, really like this subject matter. In case you are wondering, here is my opinion on the whole thing:


I grew up attending private school all the way through high school. I know where a lot of these ideas in this book are coming from. I saw them firsthand, saw them developing over time into something that is now marketed and paid for by our tax dollars. I started high school at this really tiny Conservative Christian high school in a town near to where I grew up. There were literally less than 30 kids in my freshman class. The people were nice enough and I quickly made friends with a girl called J. J was a little different, wore "grunge" clothes and has pierced ears and a streak of blonde in her dark hair. Although people liked her, she didn't really have many friends, definitely no girlfriends. She told me one afternoon that one of the teachers had molested her the year before, when she was in 8th grade. I'm not sure what exactly had happened, but when I got there, the teacher had been relieved of teaching duties and was transferred to the "administration office". As far as I know, he was never punished. Even then, I remember a attitude of "she wears weird clothes and does her hair weird so she must have deserved the molestation somehow". I don't remember being bothered by this attitude at the time, but I certainly am now.
At this same school, we had PE last period. All the girls changed in the bathroom and headed out to the soccer field. I remember some girls coming in late to change, having just met their boyfriends behind the dumpster for a quickie bj. This was shortly after signing the "purity contract" with their pastor and parents, swearing before Christ to stay a virgin until marriage. Needless to say, I did not sign said contract, and there was no pressure from my parents to sign it.
After I left the school, the married Algebra teacher got a 16 year old student pregnant. The last I heard, he had left his wife and had gotten an apartment for him and the 16 year old and the baby. I wonder how they are doing now?
After we all graduated (I switched to a new school in my sophomore year), I returned to a friend's house for a big graduation party, including all the people I had started high school with and some others who were a class above or a class below us. The girl's parents were out of town, so we all spent the night at her house and drank wine coolers and hung out. At some point in time, the girl who gave the party, G, was looking for her boyfriend, F. F was nowhere to be found, although he did turn up sometime later. He had taken another girl, A, back into the bushes behind the house for a little hanky-panky and had left her there. It turned out to be my job to help A on with her panties, as she was too drunk to get them on properly.
In high school health class, we were blatantly lied to about the effectiveness of birth control methods and how the pill works. And the teacher was supposedly a nurse!
I've also been on the receiving end of quite a bit of the virgin/whore dichotomy. I have a pretty outgoing personality, and I like to meet new people. I've been accused of being too flirtatious, of being slutty because I want to go dance on the dance floor, or being a whore because a lot of my friends are guys.
Most of these stories are harmless, silly things that happen in high school (and, arguably, beyond). The thing that concerns me the most is the hypocrisy. The telling people one thing and doing/living another. Hypocrisy is the number one reason I highly dislike organized religion, and would never subject my children to any of it's bs. I would rather be up front with my children about sex. About birth control, condoms, STDs, the whole thing. Be up front, educate yourself and then at some point, when your kid grows up, they have to take responsibility for themselves. And you have to trust that you gave them a good enough education that they will insist on using a condom, or getting yearly checkups, or advocating for women's health. I'd hope to raise responsible, socially aware kids than kids that are so ignorant they don't know if a blow job can get them pregnant (trust me, I've had this conversation....).
As a biologist, the thing that concerns me the most is the lack of education. The dirty lollipop or the dirty piece of tape, the idea that a girl (or woman) is "used" - the whole thing is ridiculous and disturbing. Along with the paternal ownership of a girl's body - the whole idea is just inane. And, call me silly, but I'd want my kids (or anyone else's kids, for that matter) to be equipped with as much education on subjects as possible, before they are faced with the decision to have sex or not have sex.
The upside? I've started reading more about this whole "feminism" thing. Turns out? I guess I am one :)
Commentary an reviews can be found here.

Haiku "Yogging - I think the J is silent" Friday

Prepping for Broad Street
A ten mile run from north
to south through Philly.

***

A race including
Thirty thousand people wow!
Largest ten miler.

***

All I can think about
jog-jog-jiggity-jog from
my Dad's running days.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know what a huge fan of used book stores I am. While visiting Colorado last summer, Alex dropped me off at this great book store called Poor Richard's in downtown Colorado Springs. (As an aside, I'm not really sure why I feel the need to describe where / when I obtained this book, but, for some reason, in my mind, the book and the experience of vacation are inextricably linked). It was my perfect idea of a store, with a used book store, a coffee shop that sold delectable confections and also wine and beer. I loved that place and could have stayed there for much longer! Anyways, I picked up The Awakening by Kate Chopin while there. I'm not sure where I first heard of this book, but I do remember it was a controversial book at the time it was published (late 1800s). I'm a big fan of controversial books - anything that gets people riled up is usually a really good book, right? And this book was a really good book. The Awakening is about Mrs. Pontellier, an upper class housewife in New Orleans society. The book opens upon Mrs. Pontellier summering on an island with her two children and her husband. Her husband periodically returns to New Orleans to continue working, while Mrs. Pontellier stays at the resort with the children (and their "nanny" - Chopin actually calls the childrens' nanny a "quadroon" which was acceptable terminology at the time, but I feel is somewhat unacceptable terminology now - there are many examples of this throughout the book, which I suppose is a risk one takes when reading historical literature). At the resort, there are many families vacationing, and the reader is introduced to many social niceties and interesting dialogue, especially a lot of sayings in French or French Creole. The story is of the "awakening" of Mrs. Pontellier - that is, she discovers she is her own person, that she has her own feelings and her own self worth and that no one owns her or can tell her what to do, not even her husband. The awakening occurs gradually, over a several month period, and Mrs. Pontellier ends up shunning different societal traditions, realizing that she is in love with a man who is not her husband, and discovering that she is able to do things on her own, which is very much appealing. She somewhat abandons her children, abandons her household, leaves her husband to his trips across the country and lives her life for herself for a very brief period of time. I thought this book was brilliant, and I thought it illustrated well a struggle that women still have to this day. The idea of societal pressures, the pressure to "look good" (in whatever way you want to take that, physically, financially, job-wise, etc) and the pressure to have the perfect household, the perfect kids, the perfect marriage, etc. contrasted with what you, the individual wants, where you want to go, what you want to do with your life and how you want to portray yourself. These are all very pertinent issues that I struggle with on a daily basis. The Awakening is brilliantly written, if a bit old fashioned. It gave me a glimpse into what life might have been like over 100 years ago - and it illustrated the struggle we all still continue with. I identified with Mrs. Pontellier on many levels, and I nearly wanted to pull her out of the book and make her real so I could have a conversation with her. Chopin was a wonderful writer who received absolutely no credit for her controversial novel - I am looking forward to reading more of her work.

What a Week Haiku Friday

Rollercoaster ride
emotional and happy
feeling lucky, sad.

***

Home is so quiet
muffled, silent, only breath
Moue misses sister.

***

On my finger, a
ring, signifying a new
start, life together.

We're Engaged!

It's been a whirlwind week, that's for sure. So many things going on and so many emotions. I'm not sure I've taken it all in yet. Alex and I got engaged last night. I now have a fiance. I am a fiancee. How odd. Hasn't really sunk in yet. In case you'd like to know, here's the story.
I got home last night soaked from the rain and not having an umbrella. Alex had the kettle on for me so I got into my sweats and had a cup of tea and just sat for a bit. Alex suggested wine and pizza for dinner, so I changed back into my regular clothes and we headed out to the liquor store and the pizza joint. As we got to the pizza place, Alex stopped me and said something to the effect of, "We've been going here for a really long time, right?". I turned back to him and he had a ring in a box and he asked me to marry him. Not down on one knee, just having a conversation. It was over in a flash. I was giggly and also sad and weepy. He was all proud. It was super cute. We got our pizza and went home and called family and friends to let them know.
It's been a long time coming, I'm sure everyone knows that. We've been together for 4 years, and have been living together for 3. My parents are thrilled, and his are as well. I've been having permagrin for most of the day. The ring is a diamond, but it's called a "raw" or "unfinished" diamond. It has a ton of occlusions, alot of brown and gray flecks in it. We picked it out at a jewelry store here in Philly and asked the guy to make us a ring. It came out exactly as I wanted it to. It doesn't look like a traditional ring, it's unique, and nobody thinks it's a diamond! Love it! Oh, and I'm petting my cat. That's why it looks like I have a pelt underneath my hand Haha!
So, that's the story - no date set, no place booked, nothing is planned. I hope to get the PhD before we walk down the aisle. All we know is that we'd like our family and friends to be there and that Randi's a matron. Of honor, of course. Haha! LYLAS!

Romeo and Juliet

This review is of The Acting Company & The Guthrie Theater's Romeo and Juliet at the Annenberg Center on Penn's Campus.

Last night, we made the HUGE mistake of attending Romeo and Juliet performed at the Annenberg Theatre here on campus. I have to admit, like most Shakespeare, I have a soft spot for this play. We read it in high school, and I remember the satisfaction in finally being able to understand it after long classroom discussions. Both Alex and I were understandably brain dead after such a terrible day, but we both thought that the last Shakespeare show we had seen had been so amazingly good, that we might want to see this show. The company putting on the show was billed as "Tony Award Winning", so I thought it couldn't be bad...However, we the theatre kept sending out ads by email on discounted tickets, special "meet & greets" with the actors and other incentives to come see the show. I received a phone call that my tickets had been majically upgraded from the balcony to the orchestra section (when does THAT ever happen?). And the lobby was eerily quiet when we arrived for the show - the audience seating was nowhere near full. The show was billed as "modern", or as "trying to teach a new generation about Shakespeare". OK....I'm not sure what that means, but considering I was probably one of the few people who enjoyed Baz Luhrmann's Romeo and Juliet, I thought that this billing couldn't be a bad thing, right? The show started with the traditional dialogue,

"Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean."

I was so excited to hear that opening - brought back so many memories. However, all of the cast was dressed in, say, late 1800s-ish formal wear. Not super modern, right? And how would that costuming appeal to "a new generation"? OK, well, maybe I'm being too picky. No, wait, it seems the men are dressed in linen suits that are wrinkled. The womens' outfits fit oddly. As in, maybe they were padded or something (not like they are wearing a bustle, but perhaps an odd corset? Huh. That seems weird. Right? I mean, costumes made out of linen seem like a really bad idea, but most backstage areas have garment steamers, so that should have been taken out right away. And any stage production (especially, I would imagine, a "Tony Award Winning one) would have a tailor to fit costumes to the actors, right? And then the dialogue started. There is something to say for Shakespeare. He really knew what he was doing. I mean, the words and poetry are so beautiful, even with horrible actors saying the lines. It literally sounded like amateur hour, perhaps a show put on by the local high school or junior high. Romeo was whiny and ridiculous, not overly dreamy and romantic. Juliet had a pitch to her voice that was unbelievably annoying. I think she was trying to "project", but just ended up shouting. The Nurse, who is somewhat of a comic relief, was (holy lord) shouting on the top of her lungs. Mercutio was (methinks) trying to portray a "gangster type" as well as a "comic type" as well as a "pimp type". It was a little much. There was a guy who was wearing sunglasses (perhaps for youth appeal?) and appeared drunk most of the time - oh, and had no lines. Odd. The dialogue was said wrong. Things like "silly girl" were added to sonnets. There were pelvic thrusts involved, and several mocking gestures to boners. I realize that Shakespeare was written for the proletariat, and that such writing was crude in manner and suggestive in dialogue. But, I much more appreciate subtlety than outright crudeness, especially at a play billed to be for the "younger generation". I could go on and on, I am sure. But I will call it at that.
Needless to say, we left at intermission, along with, as far as I can tell, half of the audience (which was not a big audience to begin with). I am not sure what type of acting is required to act Shakespeare, but I feel that, in general, it requires real talent. These sad amateurs might have been wonderful at a more "modern" play (hardy-har-har), but for this, lacked real talent and understanding of what the words and poetry are trying to portray. Romeo and Juliet had no chemistry. There was no reason for them to be together, and Juliet was portrayed as a child, running and skipping about in mock high-heels. Its unfortunate that this was such a bad show. The first bad show we've seen at this theatre in over two years. Just, whatever you do, don't go see this show.

RIP, Sweet Girl...

Lonely Weekend Haiku Friday

Alex has gone to
cycle in West Point for the
Penn Cycling Team.

***

Home alone for the
weekend, whatever shall I
do? Haha funny!

***

As if I don't have
exactly one million things
to do any day!

Bad Boys of Dance

Holy Moly, you guys. I am turning into a teenage girl again! Bear with me....

Last night, Alex and I went to the Annenberg Theatre on campus to watch the Bad Boys of Dance. I was pleasantly surprised to see their performances were to popular songs that are super fun to dance to, such as "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas, "Bad" by Michael Jackson, "Crazy" by Prince and "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen. There were two parts to the show. The first part of the show was a story, about a guy and a girl and falling in love and how relationships are hard. The boys were dressed in jeans and colored T-shirts, making them look exactly like a Gap commercial. Their choreography was not as technical as some that I've seen. There were fewer interactions among the men, more physical lifts and tumbling. And MAN, were they STUNNING! Seriously! Very, very beautiful. Very. Did I get my across? Haha!
There is one woman in the show, Adrienne Canterna-Thomas, the wife of the founder, Rasta Thomas. She is full of energy, a great addition to the show, providing a lot of fun and distraction. The men dancing each had some particular talent - like tap dancing, tumbling, classical ballet. They have really stunning bodies, they completely interact with the audience, mostly by yelling, mouthing the words to the songs, or winking or making some funny faces or dance moves. The whole group is so energetic and so lively, I almost wanted to join them on stage. The lady next to us nearly did. She was dancing in her chair, a few times I thought she would end up in Alex's lap! The show is energetic, athletic, super cute and very attractive. AND? If you cheer hard enough, the do an encore performance to "I'm too Sexy" by Right Said Fred. Shirtless. And we were nearly in the front row. Teehee!

The Invention of Lying

I'm not sure why this movie appealed to me so much. I think, mostly, I loved, loved, loved the cast. I also thought it was a funny premise for a movie - that the whole world exists and no one tells a lie? Hysterical, right? Well....actually, I'm not sure what it was. Alex called it "cute". I thought it was "nice", maybe? I'm not sure. There were definitely some funny parts, but sometimes the dialogue was more awkward than funny. I mean, you can only tell Ricky Gervais that he's chubby so many times before it gets kinda tired, and eventually, pretty sad. And Jennifer Garner can only talk about masturbating so much before it gets somewhat uncomfortable, right? I guess, perhaps, this movie is not meant to be funny. Or, perhaps, it's not meant to be so much a comedy as a commentary on life in general, I suppose. The story goes that Ricky Gervais lives in a world where no one can lie. He falls in love with Jennifer Garner's character, who promptly tells him that she is out of his league and would not be going on any more dates with him. He gets fired from his job and has no money and has no idea what to do. He then finds out he is able to tell lies. What follows is a somewhat bizarre turn of events. His mother is dying, and he lies to her, telling her that life doesn't just end, but it continues on (in a somewhat modified version of the Christian idea of heaven). People overhear him, and the entire world camps out, waiting for him to tell them what he knows about death (and life, I suppose), turning him into a bit of a "Messiah" figure, so to speak.
I'm not quite sure what the idea was behind this movie. It was a tad slow - reminded me a bit of "Pleasantville" or other movies like it, where the characters are so naive and boring. Jennifer Garner's character keeps telling Ricky Gervais that they are not "genetically" compatible, and that she does not want to have chubby, snub nosed, little kids. Which, honestly, made her a somewhat unsympathetic character. I didn't really like her much - and I really, really love her usually. Ricky Gervais was mostly just depressing (although, I am assuming, this is what he was going for) and the whole movie just seemed to be an ill-thought through rom-com. I am a bit on the fence about this one. The cast was really good. But I'm just not sure....at least it wasn't very long...

Random Tidbits

• Signed a lease on our new place - so super nice! A jacuzzi tub, a backyard (city style, but still really nice) and 1.5 baths! Woo hoo! And cheaper rent than we pay now, to boot! Yay! Will be living a but farther out from school (about 3 miles), but that's OK. I think I'll become a bike commuter.
  
• Hurt my heel running. I guess I do have something in common with Achilles.
• Did not run at all this weekend. Kinda bummed out about that.
• Found Oxnard Strawberries at Reading Terminal this weekend. Bought 4 lbs and made some Strawberry Shortcake with fresh whipped cream - YUM!
• Watched The Invention of Lying and really liked it - more on that later this week.
• Made plans to go to Yellowstone with practically the whole family. Poor Alex, he'll be dragged along on a memorable, family filled Model T vacation this fall.
• Finished my taxes and sent them off. Phew!
  

Polar Opposites Haiku Friday

Good and bad, sad and
mad. Looking forward, glancing
back. Where to go next?

***

Life's never as you
thought, never perfect, always
messy, surprising.

***

Growing up, moving
on: new place, new neighborhood
On to the next step!

Current Pet Peeves

For whatever reason, I'm a bit snappy lately. Not sure if it's the fact that it's gorgeous weather outside and I'm stuck inside with an endless list of experiments to do. Or that we're moving in about a month and I'm not at all prepared. Or the myriad number of things I should be doing instead of killing time reading the internet. Who knows? Therefore, I present a list of things that bug me:

• Tiger Woods - anything and everything Tiger Woods. I could honestly care less about him, his golf game, his misogynist golf club where he's playing or the fact that he missed his son's first birthday. Hello? You're the jackass that decided to screw everything in sight! You're the one who screwed up, you should pay for it. I don't feel one bit bad for you and I wish your wife would take you for all you're worth.
• The local news here in Philadelphia. No matter what station, no matter what time, the news is SO bad. The stories presented are not presented well. There are blurbs (short, with very little detail) about SERIOUS CRIME here in the city. However, apparently, because they involve minorities or poor neighborhoods, the get little, if no, air time. Instead, I have to listen to a nearly 5 minute discussion about "going green" while having sex. Seriously - they said NOT to use latex condoms! Hello, HIV?? STD?? Anyone??
• I hurt my hell somehow. I have no idea, but I'm sure it has something to do with my flip flops and walking about a hundred miles in them (whoops!). Now, my heel is killing me, I am back to wearing actual shoes and I have dance lessons with Alex tonight. Ugh. My entire life is walking - to/from work, all over my lab and my workplace. And every step hurts. Plus, I need to continue training for this 10 mile run in less than a month. Great.
  
• We have a paper towel dispenser in our bathroom at work. The paper towels are on a roll and sometimes the paper towels get stuck, or need to be re-loaded in the dispenser. Does anyone on this floor do this? I fix it every day. Is it hard to fix? No. Sometimes, I just wonder about people.
• Now, I am not usually one to complain about the weather. For the last few days, it has been gorgeous and amazing and lovely. However, it has been 90! Don't get me wrong, I like sunny warm days. But seriously? 90 in the beginning of April? Holy moly - what will summer have in store for us?
• I am so irritated about the way people are allowed to treat kids. I am not OK with a school deciding to cancel prom simply because a girl wants to bring her girlfriend. I am also not OK with kids not being able to express themselves in school. Granted, anything promoting hatred should not be allowed. But wearing clothing that depicts your religion, your sexual orientation, your identity should be fine. Even is it's screaming "I'm gay!". It would do a lot of people a lot of good to open your fucking eyes and see the world around you. A gay kid is not a threat to the fabric of society. But ostracizing one is.
  

All right, I think I'm off my soapbox for now....

Haiku Sickie Face Friday

Home with a cold, blech.
Stuffy head, sore throat, coughing.
No fever, thank god.

***

Nice to catch up on
old shows that I love: Sex and
the city, movies.

***

Silence and quiet
Refrigerator hum
and cars motor by.

Book Club: The Commitment by Dan Savage

I loved this book. As someone considering heading into the realm of marriage, I think this book does justice to the idea of "commitment" and "marriage" and what they mean to modern couples today. I'm not sure this is an actual "gay manifesto" as it is made out to be. I think it's more of a person's struggle with the idea of marriage and the whole idea of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". I think it's hard to understand how different marriage is now as compared to it in our grandparents (or even parents) age. I have multiple friends who cohabitate and have made a "commitment". I have friends who are married, yet engage in "swinging" or partner exchange, or whatever you might want to call it. I know people who have had kids and THEN decided to get married. As for myself, my boyfriend and I have lived together for years, yet something (societal or familial or maybe something more) pushes us to "validate" our relationship by getting married. I think Savage lends an honest glimpse into what his relationship with Terry is like, and concludes that it might not be what your relationship is like with your partner. I think the nice thing about marriage now is that we can define it how we want to define it - as open, closed, common law, multiple partner, etc. I think that gay people should have the right to do the same thing (to perhaps screw it up as much as us straight folks have?). Savage's writing is easy, entertaining, and funny. I laughed out loud more often than not and am very glad to have read this prior to making a decision on getting married. Savage humanizes the debate, putting his family at the middle of it (I would love to see what Dobson et al think of Terry, the stay-at-home-dad, or the kid who opposes gay marriage). It comes down to the idea that life isn't perfect, you can't plan everything and live and let live. I loved, loved, loved this book and highly recommend it.

I posted this in the comments section of the book club discussion as well. Comments here are disabled, to comment, head here.

Parenthood

I've started watching the NBC show Parenthood, which comes on after The Biggest Loser. Originally, I thought the promos for this show looked cute, and I could never turn down Lauren Graham (who played Lorelai Gilmore on the Gilmore Girls), so we decided to check it out. It is nothing like the movie Parenthood, starring Steve Martin, but I guess I wasn't expecting that either. There are some things about this show that are a little much (like the ENORMOUS house the parents live in, or the fact that one of the somewhat unemployed "kids" lives in a boat on the SF marina), but I am willing to suspend disbelief for an hour. What I do like about this show is that it has so far portrayed a couple with a stay at home dad and a power attorney mom, a mom who married a loser, had two kids and now has to move home with Mom and Dad in order to regroup, a guy who is so freaked out by any sort of commitment that he can barely stand it when his girlfriend sleeps over, etc. I like the characters, I like the story line. It's easy on the eyes and, although I lack 4 brothers and sisters and have no children, I identify with a lot of the plotlines - usually from the parents' perspective, now - scary, eh? Tuesday nights episode dealt with one of the teen boys wanting to take approximately 7 showers a day to masturbate - what one earth do you do about that one? It also involved a teen daughter hiding her boyfriend from her parents (I totally did that) and then her parents found out and her dad went ballistic (yeah, totally lived that one too). The actors, I thought, were really good; in that, I felt uncomfortable and squirmy while watching the aforementioned scenes. And it's a nice change from the Law & Order or CSI type show, which seems to be on every night. I'm looking forward to seeing where this show goes - hopefully up!

Philadelphia Cleaner Emissions Fail

Why, yes, that is SEPTA! On Walnut St, nonetheless!

Pointless

Every morning I walk through the center of campus, an area called College Green, which contains some large sections of grass, among other things. This is an area, for those of you unfamiliar with the campus, that contains the main library, a large button sculpture, a large statue of Ben Franklin, a miniature "LOVE" sculpture, several large, Ivy-League-looking buildings and "The Castle", a frat house that literally looks like a castle. For the last few mornings, there have been college kids "camping out" on the green, either hanging out on a big tarp, or relaxing in folding chairs outside a big tent. Usually, these things are some kind of charity work, like, "We're sleeping outside to raise money and awareness for the homeless", or "We're pedaling our stationary bike for 48 hrs nonstop to raise money for kids with cancer" or some type of raising money/awareness for some bad situation. These people have no signs. They have no information sheets, no flyers to hand out, nothing. The women have Coach purses and Macbooks, designer jeans and high heels and look a little bedraggled from being outdoors. The men have aviator glasses on, wearing designer ripped jeans and polo shirts, and are constantly checking their Blackberrys. Alex and I have postulated that perhaps they are all pledges for fraternities or sororities? But that doesn't make sense, since the Greeks would be all over them for hazing. Nobody knows...

Yes, I live in 2009.

I finally convinced my boyfriend to sit down and watch The Hangover, a movie we've had for about a month. It's difficult to get him to sit still, so this was a real treat! As basically everyone on the planet has already seen this movie, it needs little introduction or review. We both loved. Alex loved it so much, he launched into that silent laughter where no noise comes out and you have a hard time breathing. It totally cracked me up. I think Bradley Cooper is super cute and I really loved Heather Graham in her role as well. Basically, it was a great movie, and perhaps is going on the list of movies to buy. Mostly because I want to see what kind of ridiculousness is involved in the extras and special features.

Ides of March

When I was 15 or so, I switched high schools from this teeny, tiny Christian school to this "bigger" Catholic School. I was really excited to go to the same school as Randi, who I had grown up with. We hadn't attended school together since kindergarten, so I thought this would be a real treat. Plus, I hated the tiny Christian school and all it stood for: hypocrisy, secrets, and disgusting behavior (real Christian, right?). We had this awesome English teacher, Mrs. W. She was super cool - I remember loving her class all the time. She had us read "Hotel California" by the Eagles and dissect its parts to determine its meaning. She also had us read Julius Caesar by Shakespeare. Having missed the Freshman year discussion of Romeo and Juliet, I had no idea what to expect from discussions of Julius Caesar. I was really intimidated by Shakespeare, with its fancy language and hidden meanings. I thought I would never understand what all those characters were trying to say. And I never thought I could understand the storyline. What Mrs. W did was allow us to read Julius Caesar over a period of several weeks. She let us read it slowly, and then talked to us about what those passages meant. She also emphasized the simplicity of the play: Shakespeare gives little direction on the parts of the play, merely indicating when characters enter or exit, or perhaps the time of day or the date to give context. Which is one of the reasons why Shakespeare is so timeless. I'm not sure whether we were reading Julius Caesar specifically on the Ides of March, or whether Mrs. W later pointed that out to us. I just know that every Ides of March since then (I've had nearly 20!) I have thought about Julius Caesar, Mrs. W and Shakespeare.

Independence Collage

terrible poetry to follow...my apologies :)

I've come to believe, the older I grow,
the more I hear music, the more that I know,
it's the songs that I heard, as a tiny wee teen
that most of my life, the most they will mean.

Not sure what that means, nostalgia or what,
I've had these songs in my mind, perhaps in a rut?
All the songs I hear today, all the tunes, all the words
Sound like copycats, reissues; I think it's for the birds.

Lady Gaga, to me, you will never achieve,
the talent, the awesome, Madonna would receive.
Flashback the synthesizer, tune up the machine drums
I've heard it all before, it gives me the ho-hums.

The legwarmers, the neon, the big hair, the tights,
We wore it all better, with more spunk, with more lights.
We weren't afraid to carry the boom box, to shout,
To announce our independence, to earn us some clout.

The movies, the pop culture, the fashion, the clothes,
To me, now, even the teeny kids look like hos.
That wasn't the idea, over sex the whole world,
It was more about statements, a chance to be heard.

I guess that it's true - I guess I'm just old,
there's not much to say, no more to be told.
Just respect your elders, pay us some homage,
Because we all started it, with our fancy plumage.

Alice in Wonderland

On Saturday, we were lucky enough to get into a showing of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I really, really loved this movie. I must admit, it's been a long time since I've thought about anything Lewis Carroll related - I know I read the books with my mom ages ago, but I don't remember much about them. I am sure I saw the Disney movie several times, and I have definitely been on the Alice in Wonderland ride at Disneyland (wow...that's a whole other post!). I know that Burton and his screenwriters took liberties with the storyline, but I couldn't recall the original, so that was fine with me. The acting was phenomenal - what I would expect from Helena Bonham Carter, Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway and Crispin Glover. The young Alice was also amazing - she embodied the perfect mix of awkward, unsure teenager, and confident, settled adult. The animated characters were quite well done - not distracting at all, and the scenery was very moody - going with the mood of the characters, so to speak. The cinematography was really amazing and the story line was so well done, I felt like standing up and cheering at the end. The movie is well done - not too long, not too short. The characters are well developed, and the message is quite clear. The only thing I would warn about is this movie is NOT for children. It's quite scary in parts, and altogether frightening in others. It is not your "feel good" kids movie. It has adult themes and an adult story line, and I heard many children in the theatre screaming or crying over the movie, which can't be good. We did not partake in the 3D phenomenon, so I couldn't tell you if it's worth the extra $5 or not. The scenery was beautiful, but I wasn't really willing to risk severe motion sickness over it. Altogether, go see this movie. I was so pleased.

Dancing Machine

Dance lesson last night
Box step, rhumba, swing and more
So super goofy!

***

But who knows? Maybe
one day you will see us on
Dancing with the Stars!

***

Dancing is a great
way to hang out and learn to
communicate well.

Normally, I abhor trampolines....

Trampoline Dog - watch more funny videos

Stuck in the Middle

A girl in my program defended her thesis today. She did a great job and I was really kinda amazed at how well she did - how composed, etc. She had a nice story and backed it up with some nice data and I thought it all came together well. She started grad school a year after me, which kinda sucks. Science takes a really long time to do careful experimentation. And, of course, I pick the kind of science to do that takes even longer because I am working with living animals who have to produce embryos that have to be a certain quality in order to do the experiments. I also have a boss who is the worlds worst procrastinator. For example, he asked me to write a review article for an online journal which solicited this review from us. A review article is exactly what is sounds like - a survey of current and past literature on a particular subject framed in the context of general scientific scrutiny and skepticism. We were solicited in Dec 2007. I completed the manuscript in Feb 2008, after taking some time (likely about a month) to do the research and to bring together a comprehensive review article on what we know about a particular class of transcriptional repressors. This manuscript has been on the desk of my boss since then. He has not read it, he has not asked for any more input from me. Obviously the literature has advanced (meaning, it would take a major re-write on my part to bring it up to date). Absolutely nothing has been done in over 2 years. How frustrating is that? And to think, I have to get out, not one, not two, but likely three different papers this year, hopefully within the next few months. He has no concept of time, no idea how frustrating this whole thing is to me, even though I've told him over and over again. I have a feeling I would have graduated by now if I had chosen another lab to do my work in. Instead, I fester, and infuriate myself. And hope this is all preparing me for my future career. Whenever I get there.

Random Tidbits

• I enjoyed watching the Olympics -the athletes are so inspiring! But, I must admit, I will be happy to go back to no TV watching for a while. Little bit of TV overload.
• Philadelphia has experienced the most snow ever recorded this year. And more is on the way tomorrow/Wed. I don't know how people deal with it in places like Buffalo and MN. I am so sick of snow turning into ice and then nearly killing myself walking everywhere. I am also sick of wearing boots. I am currently thinking about getting a pair of lab slippers.
  
• That being said, this past weekend was gorgeous - I never thought 45 would be gorgeous, but when the sun is out and it feels even slightly warm through your coat and you can take off your hat for part of the day, it's soooooooo nice!
• Work has been pretty busy, but I've just not felt too motivated lately. I think, in general, Feb should just be a month with less productivity because I just want to crawl back into bed and sleep until Spring.
• I have to start looking for postdoc positions. There are some labs I really like, and some labs that look interesting. So far, my most favorite lab is in Utah. Yeah, Utah. Not sure about the place, but the lab, people, campus, funding situation, research looks great. Another interesting one is at the Salk Institute in the Whale's Vagina. That could be super cool too.
  
• I went bra shopping this past weekend because Macy's was having a sale. Can you tell me why something made of metal and not a lot of fabric costs so damn much? Seriously, why is underwear so expensive? It's not like there are a lot of design choices or anything. Two straps, an underwire and some padding and it's $40? Ridiculous, I say!
• I am pretty sure that I could write a scientific paper on my cat. She has a brain tumor which causes her to have diabetes. I've been researching all of her symptoms, and we're now trying her on human meds, trying to control her blood sugar. As far as I can tell, she's the only cat on these meds. Should be interesting....
• I think today might be a "home sick" day. We went out last night to watch the USA-Canada hockey game and ate some nachos and beer. For some reason, my stomach is VERY angry about this. We'll see if things improve, but I must admit, a day home watching 90210 sounds pretty appealing right now!
  

RIP, Howard Zinn

The world has lost a great historian in Howard Zinn. If you have not read A People's History of the United States, I highly encourage you to do so. It does not read like a history book, but rather like a commentary on history from the peoples' perspective, rather than from the government or big business perspective. Trust me, you will never look at Columbus Day the same again. If you would like to read more about Zinn, the NYTimes has a nice obit on him.

Lots to do Haiku Friday

Snowy morning, looks
so pretty but not icy
I love it this way!

***

Lots to do this month
Committee meeting coming
soon - nose to the grind

***

Glad my folks came to
visit. Too cold but had a
great time. Back to it!

Book Club Book Review: What is Marriage For?

Before first delving into my review of this book, I must admit, I am both a liberal academic and a scientist, which may bias my review of this book just a bit. Altogether, I would give this book a positive review. Graff is a lesbian and lays out her reasoning for a allowing gay marriage, arguing that all of the things heterosexual marriage is for (money, sex, children, kin, order, heart - her chapters) are the same things homosexual marriage is for. She also argues that, as society has changed, so has marriage, reflecting our views as society. I found this book to be interesting in it's historical tidbits, but honestly, pretty hard to get through. The author, while understandably passionate about the subject, tends to ramble on about historical situations or studies which hammer home her point, but at a certain cost. The reader must slog through brief explanations of such studies, attempting to pull out the relevant information. For example, while I found it interesting that gender of a parent did not seem to have an effect on children, as long as the parent is loving, the studies she cited were so small as to cause me to wonder why she cited them at all. I am mostly curious how the studies would look today, with ten years time in between.
I found the language to be a bit insulting - using the term "preggers" more than once, or the term "babies" for children (that may be my elitist academic in me) and I'm still not sure to whom the book was written. As the political situation had played out, it seems to be mostly right wing conservative Christians who have the biggest problem with gay marriage. I understand it's hard to address issues of religion with reason, and I assume this book was not written for them. It seems to be written for logical, reasonable individuals who have an interest in human rights and equality, but are on the fence about allowing gay marriage, for whatever reason. At this point in time, I think most of those people have been convinced that legalization of homosexual marriage is the next logical step, perhaps making this book a little dated.
However, I do understand this book set a precedent and has been quoted and used in arguments and discussions of same sex marriage over the last few years. I also understand that this was the first book to look at same sex marriage from the woman's perspective, which is indeed intriguing. I commend the author for her work in this field, and being brave enough to be the first one to logically lay out the reasoning for legalization of gay marriage.
On the personal front, I was appalled and outraged at the blatant discrimination carried out by voters when Prop 8 passed in California last year. I grew up with an unrelated gay uncle whom I will always fiercely defend. I really feel this is a constitutional issue for the Federal Government, one that must be interpreted by both the right for equality (separate is not equal) and the separation of Church & State (in that, the government cannot force a church to marry people it does not want to marry). I am hopeful this political nightmare will play out in a rational and justified way (and am astonished that Iowa is leading the way!). Ultimately, I think Graff's book should be read by anyone interested in marriage itself (whether gay or straight) as well as people interested in the arguments for gay marriage.
If you'd like to join the discussion, head over here.
If you are interested in book club and would like to join, check it out here.

And just for fun...

"NORAD intelligence reports indicate that Santa does not experience time the way we do. His Christmas Eve trip seems to take 24 hours to us, but to Santa it might last days, weeks or even months. Santa would not want to rush the important job of delivering presents to children and spreading Christmas to everyone, so the only logical conclusion is that Santa somehow functions within his own time-space continuum."
courtesy of Santa Tracker at NORAD.
Enjoy!

Snowpocalypse 2009 continues

This storm has really killed this city. It's really amazing what a little bit of snow can do! We got about two feet of snow and the temps have been below freezing for the most part since the storm. Which means that the snow has not melted and gone away. Most people have shoveled their walks, except for those stubborn few who, apparently, like to skate down their front steps and walk. I think there are approximately 6 guys with snowplows and shovels charged with the task of snow removal. They are still working today! I walk to work every day, and once I get to Penn campus, things are great - everything is plowed and salted and it's clear and lovely. However, getting there can be quite a trick. Nobody plows the sidewalks on the bridges, which are a main thoroughfare and so us pedestrians just have to slog though 2 feet of melted and icy snow to get across the bridge to get to work. So, we decided to walk in the street. Along the side of the street, of course, but in the street. It's been plowed and is clear, does not have treacherous ice and snow on it (think about it, if you are walking on a bridge with a guard rail, and there is 2 ft of snow on said bridge - that guard rail doesn't do much for you anymore does it? woosh- right into the Schuylkill! Whoops!). So, the cars get mad, and they come pretty close to us pedestrians and nearly hit us. People on bikes don't have it much better since the snow is piled into the bike lanes! I talked to a guy yesterday who said it took him 4 hours to dig his truck out. Wow! Everything has just slowed down - I think people are still stressed, but it's more of an "Oh well" type of situation - only doing what absolutely HAS to be done and ignoring all the frivolousness. Which is lovely, I must say. Other than twisting my knee on some icy snow, this has been a lovely snowstorm, mostly because I don't have to drive or travel anywhere. To those of you traveling, godspeed and good luck. To those of you here, welcome home. And to everyone else, a very Merry Christmas!

Things I learned this past weekend

we used to have a backyard!

• Snow is very beautiful and lovely and turns me into a seven year old.
• There is more than one kind of snow. This particular kind that fell was "light" and "dry", mostly meaning you couldn't make snowballs or snowmen out of it.
• Snowmen made out of such snow do not look like Frosty the Snowman.
• The City of Philadelphia and surrounding areas do not know how to deal with the snow in any way shape or form. Case in point, it stopped snowing Sat night, schools are closed today.
  
• Snowplows on the freeway travel in armadas, with several plows, dump trucks and more plows. It made me think of Christopher Columbus.
• They do not plow every street. Especially mine, which is tiny.
  
• You have to dig your car out of the snow. Like, literally, with a shovel.
• Sometimes other people shovel your walk for you.
  
• Driving in the snow requires a lot of brake pumping (that's what she said, eh, Randi?)
• The local news was on all day Sat - covering the snow. At one point, they were literally pulling people off the streets to interview them.
  
• Buses, trains and airplanes do not run in the snow.
• Snow can act as an insulator - our roof covered in snow = warmer 2nd floor of the house! Go figure!
• Walking in the snow is hard and should only be left to professionals. Or those with Gaiters, Yaktrax and huge puffy coats, like me.
  
• People are much friendlier in the snow. Or, only the friendly people come out in the snow. They tell you all about their childhood, their neighborhood, anything. We met our next door neighbor for the first time (lived there for 3 years so far....) I think cabin fever is also involved.
• Snow falling makes a certain noise that I can't describe. White noise, maybe. And every other sound is muffled. The silence is wonderful!
• The last time this area had this much snow in December was literally 1909 - it was the storm of the century :)
• I am very glad I do not drive. I would have killed lots of people.
• Sometime, when driving on the freeway, cars can randomly spin around for no reason whatsoever. Who knew?
• Babies and dogs in snow are just about the cutest thing I have ever seen.
• A shovelful of snow on your head is cold. And wet. And requires hot chocolate STAT.
• You don't feel so bad drinking the full fat hot chocolate from SBux because you just walked in the snow for miles.
• Kids really do wear snowsuits. Adults too, Haha!
  

Because it's that time of year....

My brain is mushy Haiku Friday

So many things to
do, so little time. Weekend
visitor tonight.

***

Tree is done, next are
cards. Mailing gifts. Some time
on the internet.

***

Writing a paper
Hope it will get published you
Will hear about that!

Dag-nubbit!

I broke my coffee pot on Friday night. On Saturdays and Sundays, I usually lounge around and read the paper and enjoy my cup of coffee. You know, because on other days, it's Go!Go!Go! So we tried to make coffee on Saturday morning and it didn't quite work well. Everything we made turned out weak and sad and watered down. Alex realized that he had an old 4-cup coffee maker in the basement from his bachelor years, so we pulled that out. Thankfully, that still worked and we were able to get a couple cups out of it for Sunday morning. I then headed to the dreaded KMart. Why is that the worst place on earth? Seriously? I've hated KMart ever since I was a kid and the one in Ventura had no parking and the worst lot on earth to get out of. Then, in college, the only place near campus was KMart, and it sucked just as bad as the one in Ventura. Now, the only "discount" type store I can get to in the city - KMart! Grrrrr....
Everything is Martha Stewart crap everywhere. Their Christmas decorations are hideous, cheap and nasty. Everything is jumbled about, the lines are a mile long, the service is slow and rude and mumbled, you are accosted as you leave the store for your receipt and all your stuff you bought that you've carefully packed into your backpack (yeah, I literally JUST checked out - could you pay attention, security person? Then maybe you would notice that I just paid!). So, the have a Mr. Coffee replacement carafe and I purchase it. For maybe $12 or so (silly to pay for one of those when a whole new one is $30, I know). And I get it home, and lo and behold, it's, literally, 2cm too wide in diameter. So it won't fit into the burner (or into the machine, for that matter). So, I'm back to my dinky little 4 cup coffee pot. Which is fine, mostly, but we've got people visiting this weekend and then right after Christmas. It's kinda a pain to make, basically 1.5 cups of coffee per run o' the machine.
Mostly, I would kill for a trip to Target right now. I wish they were close by or I wish I had access to a car that I could just pop over there one evening this week. Sometimes, living in the city is great. When it takes a 2hr bus ride or a treacherous bike ride across town to get the things you're looking for, then it kinda sucks!
Considering the pros and cons of purchasing a car......

Dear State of New York,

Could ya get it together? You and CA are supposed to be the trend setters - instead you let places like Iowa take the lead? What the hell is wrong with you? Who are these damn people who oppose gay marriage? Can we just give them one of the shitty states and the rest of us non-discriminators can just have the rest of the country? I'm so sick of this shit - where are these people coming from and where do they get off restricting access to state sanctioned institutions?

Arrrrrrgggghhhhvoldknsrbo;erinbsozeibfhjwiorg pbthhhhhht!

And thus concludes my rant for the day....

What Would You do to Graduate?

A recent article in the NY Times highlighted an interesting tactic in college graduation. Lincoln University, a predominantly African-American college a bit outside Philadelphia, has declared that students with a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30 need to take a gym class to graduate. BMI is a ratio of your weight to your height and is a crude (although somewhat effective) way to determine if people are overweight. Granted, if you are Peyton Manning (quarterback of the still undefeated Indianapolis Colts), your BMI is pretty skewed because he's 6'5" and a ton of muscle. But for the rest of us, it's a pretty good indicator of size. And I realize that obesity is an American epidemic that especially hits lower income families and minorities the most. I applaud Lincoln University for recognizing the epidemic, and for trying to do something about it, but I think the approach is wrong. I think the majority of us could use an extra gym credit, a health class, a cooking or nutrition class. When I was in college (back in my day...), I took some dance classes that I loved. It was a great way to burn off steam, and there was no homework! Just show up. I understand that perhaps these classes are not for everyone. Someone commuting to school, or paying on a per credit basis, would probably not appreciate the little one-unit class that made them drive all the way to campus for no reason. But, for students attending college and living on campus, as the majority of students at Lincoln are doing, an extra class dedicated to nutrition, how to use the gym or a plethora of sports, could be a great addition to the curriculum. For ALL students. Not just those considered technically obese. I think it's pretty prevalent that a lot of us get out of college and don't know how to take care of ourselves. I had late nights filled with pots of coffee, dinner consisted of Spaghetti Os or Ramen noodles, or those Pasta-Roni boxes, and I drank copious amounts of alcohol. It would have been nice to have a nutrition or health class, or, heck, even Home Ec in high school (please, without the sexist agenda!). I guess what I'm saying is that the sentiment is right at Lincoln, the execution is just off. Let's make eating healthy and taking care of yourself part of our education, but let's not single out one group of people to force that education on. I think we'll all be better off if we do.

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

• had 6 people for Thanksgiving - I think it was a total success, even if one guest was terrified of cats and jumped every time a cat walked near him.
• have so much turkey, I have no idea what to do with it - want some?
• did absolutely nothing but sit on my ass Friday. Barely even cleaned up after dinner. Tryptophan indeed.
• Had a lovely day walking about on Saturday. Checked out Christmas displays, looked in windows at all the things I can't afford and caught part of the Macy's lights show in the old Wanamaker building.
• Found out that the display on Princess Diana at the Constitution Center costs nearly $30 to get into. Doesn't that seem excessive for a display on someone so rich?
• Hit up the movies, which was a treat.
• Had several lazy mornings, reading the paper and drinking coffee.
  
• Went for a 3 mile run yesterday, and MAN was it hard! I guess eating all that food sure can kill your stamina.
  
• Can't believe it's almost December!
  

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Alex and I caught a showing of The Fantastic Mr. Fox last night. It's a Wes Anderson film, and I honestly has not heard about it or seen any previews of it anywhere. It stars George Clooney as Mr. Fox and Meryl Streep as Felicity Fox, Jason Schwartzmann as their son, Ash and several other big names (Willem Defoe as a bad rat, etc). I must say, the cast list is impressive. Plus, it's stop motion animation, which I have loved ever since the debut of the California Raisins. I might have been a little old to have read this book as a kid - I don't really recall. The story follows Mr. Fox and his family. A former chicken stealer, Mr. Fox settled down with his wife, Felicity, to have a family (his son, Ash) and decided to give up chicken stealing (it's dangerous, you know!). Upon moving the family from a burrow to a tree, Mr. Fox is tempted one again to steal farmed fowl from the nearby farms owned by some nasty farmers. He successfully breaks into the farms, steals various fowl and food and humiliates the farmers, who vow to get him back. The story is a little bizarre (the original was written by Roald Dahl, which might explain it) and I was constantly looking for "other meanings" in the story (and I am not so sure this movie has underlying meanings or themes). I was incredibly pleased by the animation, the characters, and the plotline. Mr. Fox indeed is fantastic, and I cannot think of anyone better to play him than Clooney. The supporting characters are brilliant, and everything turns out OK in the end. Plus, there are little snippets like, "Everyone knows that Beagles love blueberries!" which just kinda make you giggle. I was surprised to see a theatre full of people watching this movie on a Saturday night, but it was super entertaining and a great example of stop motion cinematography (although perhaps not as great as Wallace and Grommet, which I think is the best!).

I ran a race....

On the day before my 32nd birthday.

Prior to starting, I was in my corral, waiting for the race to start. The mayor was an MC- literally "singing" (if that's what you'd call it) the theme song to Rocky prior to the start of the race. I was freezing my rear off and goofing for the camera!

Here I come into the chute, ready to cross the finish line....

Sometimes, I run like a gazelle. I know you're jealous....

Official time: 51 mins, 47 seconds to run 5 miles. About a 10:25 mile - not too bad in my book!
I think I'll keep doing this!

A Poem about Running

As and ode to my health, to prove I'm not old,
I am running on Sunday, even in the cold.

The last day I can say: I'm but thirty 0ne
Thirty two I will be on Monday - hope it's fun!

While I'm running the course with thousands of others
I'll be thinking of you and everyone's mothers.

So, if you happen to wake early on Sunday morn,
Think of me and the thousand of others in the Philly marathon!

I'll be huffing and puffing long before eight,
here's to the weekend! I hope it will be great!

Dear Bicycle Riders,

You are a moving vehicle - stay off the sidewalk and don't try to run over pedestrians. There is a bike lane for your use. It's clearly marked. Use it, not my sidewalk.
Thank you.

Dear Christian Fascists,

Please don't hand out an edited version of Darwin's book On the Origin of Species as a cheap ploy to get me to listen to your intelligent design/creationism bull shit. I don't take your Bible and edit it to support my views on life (oh, wait, you already do that!). I am perfectly happy with the absence of religion in my life and I don't need you to hang out on the campus of a medical school, for Christ's sake and try to trick people into believing you are celebrating the publication of Darwin's groundbreaking work. I am sorry that you feel the need to edit and alter Darwin's work to serve your own goals. I am also sorry that your arguments are so thinly veiled and so easily discounted. I think it's sad when you take quotations out of context and you use the wonderful openness, and peer review process of science to attempt to prove your points. It's also a shame that all of your bibliography consists of references to Newsweek articles and Creationist publications and websites. What? You couldn't find any legitimate, peer reviewed articles to quote? Not even from your friend Richard Beehe? The fact remains that you are trying to force your brand of religion on the rest of us, on our schoolchildren, and on the public in general. This is precisely why there is a clause in the Constitution regarding the Separation of Church and State. If you are so concerned about your children learning false viewpoints, then, by all means, teach them all you want. Just don't usurp our scholarly and scientific texts to try to shove some Christian Fascist bullshit down our throats. Your book will be stoking our Thanksgiving Day fire. And so concludes my rant for the day.

"Teaching intelligent design in public school biology classes violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (and Article I, Section 3 of the Pennsylvania State Constitution) because intelligent design is not science and 'cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents'."

Anxiety

My labmate is graduating. She's a year ahead of me and has been working on her thesis for a while. She's not really sure what to do with herself after she graduates, so she's been exploring lots of different career options. She's limited to a certain area because her husband has a job at a somewhat local school, and the economy's been shitty (as if you hadn't noticed). Having worked in industry, I keep encouraging her to stay patient and on top of things and that, eventually, she'll get the job she wants. Sometimes it's hard to take your own advice. You see, I have a problem with my boss. I need to publish at least one first author paper in order to graduate. I will have done enough work for (hopefully) three first author papers by the time I'm ready to graduate. My boss has some weird aversion to publishing. He doesn't like to read the things you send him unless it's under a deadline. When I wrote a grant with him a few years ago, I was up all night the night before, getting revisions from him until 3AM. Honestly, it was kind of a nightmare since I'm not really a procrastinator. I try to finish things up with plenty of time. So, on top of all the worry and anxiety of dealing with and getting through grad school, I have to now figure out a way to get my boss to read and critique and publish my papers. It's pretty stressful to say the least. I'm also trying to consider where I will go next, what I want to work on, what type of environment I want to look for and where I want to live. Needless to say, I've got a lot of anxiety in my life right now. I've been trying to develop my "patience" skill. I don't have a lot of it, especially since I moved East. It's definitely a skill I'd like to develop! I've also been running a lot. I run at least three times a week. It feels great to get out all that energy and decompress. I don't listen to my headphones, I don't do anything but focus on my breathing and my stride and I run. It makes me feel like a kid again (although I don't have nearly the amount of endurance or energy as I did when I was a kid). I'm not very fast, and I probably have all the wrong form. But it helps. And I just have to trust that when the time comes, things will work out for the best.

Monday, Monday

So, my birthday's coming up in a week. I am glad it doesn't fall directly on T-Day this year (yay, I can have cake instead of pumpkin pie!). I usually get really excited for my birthday, and this year is no exception. I've asked Alex over and over again what he's getting me for my birthday, and he just won't say. You see, Alex has a wee bit of a gift confidence problem. He is not too sure how to buy me gifts (yes, we've been together for nearly 4 years now LOL). So, I hinted heavily that I needed some new slippers. Mine have gone to hell in a handbasket, let me tell you. So, over the summer, we visited the LL Bean store in Freeport, Maine, and I found the slippers I wanted. Fast forward to a few days ago. I was falling asleep one night, while Alex was reading something in bed. I woke up to a sound downstairs, wondering what was going on. Alex wasn't in bed anymore and I asked him what was going on. Turned out, he had walked into his bike, making the noise. Asking what he was doing downstairs, he said he was checking the lock on the back door (a door we hadn't opened in quite a while, since it's been freezing lately). He came back to bed and I saw him try to slide something underneath the bed. I started bugging him about it. Turns out, he was hoping to replace my old, beat up, nasty old slippers with the new ones I had wanted. Had I stayed asleep, he could have pulled it off. Instead, the bike gave him away. I have to say, it was a wonderful surprise either way and I am so pleased to have warm, fuzzy toes for the winter!

Haiku Friday the 13th!

Happy Friday the
Thirteenth. Superstitious say
it should be bad luck.

***

I always think it
can't be that bad, right? It is
Friday, after all.

***

Ten days to go till
the big three two. And to think
I still feel fourteen!

Dear Julie Andrews,

There's been a theme in my life. And I'm not quite sure where it came from, but Julie Andrews has always been in it. I think, perhaps, it's because my mom always sings in this false operatic voice (and, trust me, she is constantly singing) that sounds somewhat like Julie Andrews. Perhaps my mom always sang Julie Andrews songs ("What do the Simple Folk Do?" from Camelot comes to mind, as well as the Do Re Mi song). I have always sort of thought of my mom as a cross between Angela Landsbury (she is always reading and solving mysteries) and Julie Andrews. As you can imagine, I loved The Sound of Music, and had never quite experienced it in such a way before. We had the great pleasure of attending the Doug Elkins & Friends performance of Fraulein Maria, a dance/vaudeville interpretation of The Sound of Music, complete with Rodgers and Hammerstein original cast recording as music. I was even involved in the show! I broke the 4th wall! The show stays fairly true to the original storyline, but includes not one, but three Fraulein Marias (one of them a man!) and included lots of wonderful dance moves, including classical, modern and even hip hop. Their portrayal of Germany invading Austria was carried out by Elkins himself (along with our lovable MC) fighting over the seat on a bench - one of the most innovative ways I could think to show invasions of countries. The final scene, danced to "Something Good", the couples include, not only Fraulein Maria and her handsome man, but also a female-female couple and a male-male couple, nicely bringing in some modern twists to the plot. The show is funny, moving, sad and wonderful. The dancers are fantastic and I loved every minute of the hour long show (in fact, I wish it was longer). This troupe is based out of NYC, but if you get the chance to see this amazingly innovative and entertaining show, DO IT!