Rolling scientists gather no moss

Things have been busy here in Beer Town. I've been reorganizing the lab since late summer in between running experiments and TAing cell biology. But, never fear, I found plenty of time to play and frolic in the waning late-summer days!

I walk a lot here in the city, but a couple of weeks ago was the first time I walked in an organized fashion -- my first 5K! Al's Run is a major event up here -- there were over 15,000 people running, walking, and racing wheelchairs this year. It was a beautiful day for a 5K, but for a walk, it wasn't much of a challenge. Not only is it not very far, but there were so many people, strollers, wagons, etc. that I never got beyond what I would call a leisurely pace. It was a little frustrating, frankly. But I was walking with friends and once I was able to let go of my frustrations, I had a great time. The shirts were cute, too:


You can see that I was proud of the fact that I'd become a number:


Yes, that's the reaction for the hydrolysis of ATP on the back of my shirt. The Biological Sciences department had a team. That was our artwork. We are complete dorks.

More fun was had last Friday night when several of my classmates went to Caffrey's a local pub for happy hour. We weren't very good at darts, but we had a lot of fun trying. Here, my friends Xi, Priyanka, Radhika, and Mae give it a go:


And while I do truly, truly suck at darts, it turns out I'm not half bad at bar shuffleboard. Who knew? I think I'll be playing that more often!

Last night I went to the rally to send off the Brewers to their first playoff series against the Phillies (sorry, Mr. Yarnthrower, but I really hope your boys lose!!). The turnout was enormous and I couldn't see a thing. I could barely hear a thing, either, but it was fun to be there nonetheless. Also, I have no pictures, but they would have just been of the backs of the heads of the 14,000 people standing in front of me, so just close your eyes and picture that for a moment. Wow, it's like you were there!!! We didn't hang around for the party after the players left the stage, so as we were walking back to the bus stop, we were pleased and surprised to see the players buses come to a stoplight right beside us! We waved, they waved -- it was the best part of the afternoon! Turns out I'm a science dork and a sports dork!! Tomorrow I'm watching the first playoff game with my friend Anne, even though I kinda have to sneak out of work to manage it (it's an afternoon game). It will be worth it! Plus, I figure, watched cells never mate, so I'm really helping my experiment by leaving and ignoring them! It's actually a scientific strategy! I'm a genius! Just give me my degree now, please!

Well, since that's probably not going to happen, I'll just plug along in the lab and spend most of my evenings doing handwork. The last couple of nights it's been the Seraphina shawl. I love this pattern, but I wish I had softer yarn to work with. This is one of those times in life when one cannot justify yarn expenditures when there are four Rubbermaid totes of yarn in the front closet and one's stipend just went down. So, it's stash acrylic and it's a little stiff. It's a very pretty color, though -- TLC Heathers in Blue Moon -- and much prettier in person than in the pic. I think the weight of the finished product will help with the drape.


So that's what's been keeping me so busy. Which is good, because moss is so hard to get out from between my toes.

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Bad news football; good news baseball

So maybe I just shouldn't watch football this season.

I hadn't watched any Broncos games until today and they were undefeated until today. Maybe I'm bad mojo. This is, of course, ridiculous -- my presence or absence in front of a television screen has nothing to do with how the players perform miles away from me. But as far as sports superstitions go, it's completely reasonable. I will ponder this possibility and decide what to do before next week's game.

Since I have no television of my own, I had to go to the Union Sports Annex to watch the game -- they have Sunday Ticket -- and it just so happened that the screen showing the Brewers game was right next to the screen playing the Broncos game. It was maddening. It's bad enough watching two different football games at one time, but to watch two screens showing two games of altogether different sports, both of which I was heavily invested in, was really difficult. Plus, the football game was horrible, while the baseball game was terrific. An emotional roller coaster if ever I've been on one.

Anyway, the good news is that the Brewers won and the Mets lost, so the Brewers are going to the playoffs!! We're all very excited up here in Beer Town, to be sure. Go Brew Crew!!!

Oh, and I made one and a half dishcloths while watching all of this. True multi-tasking, I'm telling you. I had completely depleted my random dishcloth stash when I visited my family this summer, so I really needed to start stocking up again. I think I'm up to around four. Many more to go!

Okay, so I know I promised State Fair pictures a long time ago. But somehow this pressure has become too great and I've just not been blogging instead of doing all the photo manipulation required to present such a post. And, since Yarnthrower reminded me that I made a New Year's resolution to not feel guilty about my blog, I'm permanently throwing that to the back of the back burner for the sake of blogging in general. So there, guilt! Away with you! Ppbbfftt!!

On to a little progress report! The Maui Shrug is indeed finally finished (the one I tried to do for the Ravelympics and failed horribly) but I don't have pictures yet. It really needs to be modeled to be seen properly, and that will require enlisting the help of a second party to snap the pic and looking decent myself for the picture. This will require planning. So it may be a while. I can't help it. I'm vain yet lazy. It's a terrible burden, I assure you.

My friend Anne's bridal shower was a couple of weeks ago and I finished all her gifts in good time and went on to have a blast at the event itself. It was held at a wine bar and there was quite a spread. And I couldn't believe all the gifts she got -- what a haul!! And that was just the shower!!!

My addition to the haul included dishcloths,


potholders,


lid hats,


and a market bag.


I put it all together and made fiber content/washing instructions tags for everything.


She loved it! Here's Veronica, Anne, Me, and Rachel at the shower. It was great!


I have also finished the wedding gift for Anne and her finace, but finished pics will wait until after the giving. Just in case.

Tonight I started the Seraphina shawl. I've never felt the shawl love, but this pattern is calling to me for some reason. I've only got a tiny bit done, so I'll save pics for next time. But I'm really enjoying it so far. In fact, I think I'll get back to it right now!

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Fail

Yes, I failed.

For Ravelympics, I picked the Maui shrug, which I though was an easy pick (even though you're supposed to pick something that would be challenging to finish during the Olympics) but the joke was on me. I didn't finish it. I got the body piece finished, but I did absolutely no finishing or construction. So, what I have to show you is a somewhat long rectangle.



Beyond this, I've also failed to post about the things I promised would be soon in coming in my last post. Three strikes and I'm out?

Which brings up an interesting topic -- how long after an event is too long to post about it on a blog? Not the sharing of childhood memories or past events that tie in nicely with some current topic, but just the kind of stuff we go around and take pictures of, thinking, "I going to blog this". The WI State Fair was weeks ago, but is it ever really too late for pictures of amazing quilts and Elvis impersonators? Yes, but how about the photos of me with Tom Bodett and Carl Kasell from when I attended a taping of Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! last fall???

Miss Manners just doesn't address these kinds of things.

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Promises, promises

There's a lot to tell you about, but I'm in a flurry-of-activity place right now, so I'm going to post a little bit and make promises that I will post more really soon. And then we'll just see how that goes. :)

I tagged a project for the Ravelympics, though I didn't join any teams or anything. It'll just be between me, myself, and my blog readers. So, about five of us. It's the Maui Shrug, and I started it during the Opening Ceremonies at my friend Rachel's house while drinking wine and eating cheese and grapes. She knows how to throw my kind of party, that Rachel. I'm using sport weight yarn instead of worsted, so I went up a hook size and the result is that the pattern has less definition than the example in the pattern and considerably more drape. It will be close-fitting, so I think it will work out fine. I've made some progress, but I'm going to have to crank it up if I want to get it finished and blocked (such that acrylic will, but it will a bit) before the Closing Ceremonies. Here's my progress so far:


That's about 18 inches and it needs to be at least 42 inches. Here's a closeup of the stitch pattern:


I would have more done if I could work on it while I actually watch the Olympics. Why can't I, you ask? Well, because I tried crocheting while riding the exercise bike, but it just doesn't work very well.

Don't even ask, I'll just tell you.

I don't have a TV in my cute little abode, so to watch the Games, barring a party at the home of someone with a TV, I have to watch in the exercise room of my building (or I could go to a bar, but then I'd have to buy something, and I've become such a miser lately). If I watch in the exercise room then, ostensibly, I have to exercise. Most especially if someone else is there. Often there isn't and I can take nice, long breaks. But during my 2 1/2 hours of watching last night, I rode for 1 1/2 hours total. And during my breaks I was all sweaty. So, no crocheting. But I'll get the shrug done -- I still have plenty of time to sit around on my backside and listen to All Things Considered. Never fear.

Along with my increase in bike riding, I've also started a new little fitness regime. Last week I started the One Hundred Pushups program, wherein one trains to do, oddly enough, one hundred pushups.


Yes, I know. One hundred pushups. Every time I say that in my head, it sounds like Dr. Evil saying "One million dollars". And it sounds like a ludicrous thing that I, the queen of sloth and no-upper-body-strength, could never ever do. I'm doing "girl", or knee pushups, obviously, and for my initial test I could only do three. Three. And they were some of the crappiest pushups you've ever seen, too.

So I'm a week and a half into it, and I'm happy to announce my humble little progress -- in my max-out for the last two days I've achieved seven very respectable-looking pushups. Yes, I'm pleased as punch with seven. It is, after all, a 133% improvement in a week's time. And they're no longer crappy! My high school gym teacher wouldn't even yell at me to keep my butt down!

It's a "six week" (LOL!!) program, but it will likely take me the rest of the year. But I don't mind. As long as I stay reasonably motivated, I think I can really do this. I'll keep you posted.

That's all for this morning, but watch for coming posts about the Wisconsin State Fair (including Elvis impersonators!!) and my dream about The Apocalypse! Yes, it's all excitement, all the time, here in Beer Town! Have a great day, and don't get too wild out there!

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Thankfulness

I'm playing hooky from church to get some stuff done around the house before I go to the State Fair today. Even though I'm staying home this morning, I should still take a few moments to be thankful for all that I have. I will share this very incomplete list with you.

• My sweet, loving, supportive husband, who I love very much.
  
• My relatively good health.
  
• A wonderful bunch of friends in Milwaukee who are fun and caring and who keep me from becoming a hermit, which is something I tend to do.
  
• The ability and opportunity to do graduate studies in an exciting field that makes me happy and has obvious application in the "real world".
  
• An awesome family of really cool people who put up with my foibles and love me anyway.
  
• A great adviser and faculty in a graduate program that is close-knit and supportive.
  
• A fun neighbor who likes to show me around parts of the city I've never been before.
  
• The ability and opportunity to make pretty things for the people I love.

Taking the time to consciously give thanks is the most important part of going to church for me. And like I said, it's a really incomplete list. But those are the things in the front of my mind this morning.

With that last one particularly in mind, I have a couple of FO's to share. Even though they're both for me. Not that I don't love myself, it's just not what I meant... Oh, screw it. You know what I mean. Just look at the pretties, would you? ;)

I finished the Primavera socks and I like them very, very much! I think this is a pattern that will be used again! They're just lounging by the pool for a bit this morning...


Pattern: Primavera Socks by natalja.
Yarn: Berroco Comfort Sock in color 1811 (which I think is discontinued). Fingering weight; 50% nylon, 50% acrylic. This yarn is very soft, but a bit splitty. Overall I enjoyed working with it, but this pattern is more frustrating with splitty yarn. I managed pretty well once I got the hang of the "tricks" needed to overcome the problem.
Needles: Boye aluminum double points, size 2 (US).

I recently got new sunglasses and, as is the current style, the lenses are quite large. I love them and call them my Diva Shades. But I needed a case for them so they don't get scratched up in my purse. My other glasses cases were not big enough for the awesome largeness of my new shades. It also had to work up quickly because I wanted it now! I'm impatient like that. Enter a single skein that I got on clearance at my LYS last year and had never figure out what to do with:


Pattern: I made it up. Thinking of writing it up, even though it's really simple and you can probably tell what I did just by looking at it for 0.5 seconds. What do you all think?
Yarn: Lana Grossa Maxi in colorway 612 (also discontinued). Bulky weight; 100% virgin wool.
Hook: Size J (US).
I had the button lying around and it worked great. I like this very much. I hope I have enough yarn to make a little case for my digital camera, too.

Okay, must get ready to go to the Fair, where I will watch pigs race and eat many foods on sticks. It's going to be glorious! And people say that Americans have no culture. Bah!

I'm very thankful that you've visited my blog today. I'm thankful for those of you with whom I regularly communicate and for the lurkers I know are out there. I hope my blog does something for you. It does a great deal for me. Thank you!

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Random loose ends and progress report!

Oh, I forgot to include one of the awesome activities of my last day in Santa Barbara -- I ate at In-n-Out Burger! I hadn't been to one since we lived in Las Vegas in '00 and it tasted just as good as I remembered. My fave is the hamburger, animal style. I had to take a pic of the awesomely simple menu.


I love that they have, like, four things and then a secret menu for mixin' it up. And they make all their french fries from scratch -- we watched them putting potatoes in a little fry-making contraption which is totally low tech and very cool. Yay, In-n-Out Burger!

Okay, moving on to the handwork front, which is the main purpose of this post. While I was in Missouri, I kept finding clearance yarn. It was tragic. So tragic, in fact, that I had to buy a whole bunch of it and cart it home in my luggage. It was no small feat getting it to fit. And to think of how much ridiculously marked-down yarn I wanted to buy! I settled on this:


That includes four $.50 Red Heart skeins, four $.99 Baby Bee skeins, some clearance sugar n' cream twist, 40% off sugar n' cream ginormous balls, half-price Tofutsies in a discontinued colorway, and a $2 ball of mystery wool that I thought was pretty cool. The Austermann Step sock yarn I actually paid full price for. So this got crammed into my already overladen luggage and thus my stash is enhanced! Yay, bargains!

So, in order to get crackin' on some of this new yarn, I'd better get bustin' on some of my current WIP's, no? No worries, I have been. The second Primavera is coming along nicely:


I've also made significant headway on the Ripple afghan which started as a gift, then it was going to be for me, but now has gone back to being a gift:


My advice about ripple afghans? Weave in the ends as you go. I'm cursing myself roundly for leaving myself such a ginormous task for the end. It's not going to be pretty.

I'm off this evening to see Casablanca, which (can you believe it??) I've never seen. There's a restaurant down by the river that is showing it tonight on their patio. It's going to be a nice evening; it should be a very good time!

Oh, and I saw the X-Files movie. It wasn't good. But David and Gillian were, and it was very 'shippy, and I liked it. I'm eager for it to come out on DVD so I can watch it over and over so I can analyze the hell out of it. I can't do that in the theater. Yes, yes, that whole Phile Dork thing was spot on. ;p


'

Leaving Santa Barbara

...which doesn't sound as cool as Leaving Las Vegas, but does not have the concomitant angst, either, so it's all good. I've taken a few days getting settled back at home before taking up blogging again, but I really am trying to get back on an at least semi-weekly blogging schedule. As always, we'll see.

Saturday was the last day of the workshop so that evening a bunch of us took a long walk on the beach during which time I took tons more pictures of the ocean, which look remarkably like the pictures of the ocean that I have already posted, so I won't bore you. Suffice it to say it was gorgeous! We walked up to a bar on a pier and had a farewell beer together.


I don't know why it came out all wonky like that. I am not a picture-taking goddess.

On Sunday, my flight did not leave until almost 10 pm, so I had the day to myself to walk around Santa Barbara. Before I struck out on my own, Becca, Kasper and I investigated the largest Moreton Bay Fig tree in North America. That's what those cool trees on campus were! (Yes, Adam, it's a type of Banyan!)


Then I started strolling down State Street, the main drag of the town. I went to the Art Museum (Sunday is free day!!).


They were featuring a great exhibition of Hollywood photography from the first half of the 20th century. Some of those old photos are just amazing. Current photography doesn't seen to hold a candle to it. Alas, I could not take photos inside the museum.

I found a cute little plaza-like area -- an alley with shopfronts more-like. It's called La Arcada and it's cute as a button.



There is some great public art:



And part of it was apparently once a church:


After walking some more, I treated myself to a wonderful last meal on the west coast. I found a charming Danish bistro/bakery called Andersen's. I mean, c'mon, they had a harpist!!


The special that day was crab cakes benedict. I said, "Yes!" Oh, and they had Chimay!!


And it came with a "surprise" dessert! This was the surprise. Yummy!!!


Thus ended my trip to Santa Barbara. Then I flew all night (with two layovers!) and it sucked and I came home and my luggage didn't make it, but luckily it came late Monday night and I slept all day and then I went back to work on Tuesday. All that is not nearly so blog-able. Plus, I was tired and cranky the whole time. You don't want to hear about that.

So now I'm getting back into the groove and there will be knitting/crochet content again soon! Plus, stash enhancement! w00t!!! Now you'll come back, I know it! ;)

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Great pink flowers and a great white whale

A couple of us took a slightly different route back from lunch yesterday and came upon some gigantic flowers. They were so cool.


Sujal and I had to pose with them. For scale.


Last night we all went into Santa Barbara and had dinner on Stearn's Wharf at the Moby Dick restaurant. I had seafood linguine with shrimp and scallops and it was perfectly fine, but not particularly outstanding. The view was quite nice (I got to sit right by the window):


And the company was terrific:


It was a great time and it was so nice that the organizers included this in the plan.

In more annoying news, for no apparent reason my feet swelled up today. Like, a lot. So right now I need to raise them for the rest of the night. Hope they go down. G'night!

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This is not unexpected

Your result for The X Files Dork Test...

Phile Dork

You love The X Files. And you know your shit. And you are obsessed. But not scarily so. You still have a firm grasp on reality. Or maybe you just started watching the show too late or stopped watching too soon to know all of the answers. Either way your knowledge is still impressive and you are a true Phile. Message me, we should talk.

Take The X Files Dork Test at HelloQuizzy

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More conference. And a sock picture.

Even with all the science, beachy-ness and gluttony, I have found some time to sit on the patio and knit. In fact, Sock went with me to the lookout and we had this cute portrait taken:


And though I said I wouldn't just post picture after picture of the ocean, I'm going to post more pictures of the ocean. Turns out, the beach gets cooler the farther you go. There are these cool rocky island-y things that I really want to climb and get all "Rocky at the top of the stairs" on:


That will have to go on my "to do" list. They look really awesome at dawn:


This is one of my favorite pictures of the beach so far. I just really like the reflections:


Okay, that's all the ocean for today. On to the lab!

We are primarily spending time in two buildings. The main Life Sciences building is where we have our lectures:


In California, apparently the buildings don't need a lot of actual walls. In this building, all the hallways are open to the outside. If this building were in Milwaukee, we would have to scoop snow out of the hallways.


I'm standing in the hallway here. See the restrooms on the right, there? Past that is the hallway to the labs, offices and conference rooms. No door. I'm such a midwesterner. I think this is weird as hell.

We spend most of our time in the lab. Since there are 22 of us, we are in one of the instructional labs rather than the research facilities. Again, no actual hallways. Each classroom door opens right to the outside. It reminds me a of a motor lodge.


Inside, though, it looks just like any other lab:


This is the bench where I work:


I tried to take a stealth picture of Kaspar, but the flash made it more of a picture of a vortex. And here I thought it would turn out all artsy.


There likely won't be a post tomorrow because we're going into town for a big dinner after we finish in the lab. Don't worry, I'll take pictures.

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