Childhood Memory

On Monday night, I was flipping through the channels looking for something mindless to watch. I ended up on Jon and Kate plus 8. It was a Valentine's Day episode. I'm not a huge fan - I much prefer the holiday this week - Halloween. In fact, it's pretty clear that some of my neighbors agree. I need to go take a picture of this house that is totally decked out. I'll try to post it tomorrow. So you are wondering why I mentioned this. Well, Kate had set up a scavenger hunt for the kids to find their gift (with clues that took them throughout the house). We used to do that as kids - my sister and I. But our hunt was for Easter. The Easter bunny would always leave clues for us and at the end was our candy filled Easter basket. We always had real baskets. None of this plastic stuff from the grocery store; though there was a time in my life I was jealous of that "junk," I'm now really glad we had real baskets. They had ribbons woven through the holes of the basket and were just overall pretty cool. But I think the best thing about Easter was the scavenger hunt. Definitely a tradition that I remember very well - and not just because there are photos of it, but because it made a lasting impression. I was glad to see that the kids on the show also thought it was pretty darn cool, too. I highly recommend this as a fun way to give a gift.

Almost 50:50

Typically when I go to conferences, I am one of only a handful of women in the room. And often there is only one or two female speakers (sometimes for the whole week)! I was in a session earlier this year (at a different conference) where there was only 1 female speaker and probably only 5 women in the room of at least 30 people total. (This is not a good ratio!) This is the danger of being a woman in the physical sciences. There are many ideas of why this happens, but I'm not sure I believe any of them! In any case, I made an interesting observation at this meeting that even prompted me to do a quick count in one of the sessions I was attending. I counted 33 women in a room of 70 people. That's almost 50%, folks! That means it absolutely can be done. And not only that, we had at least one of the "big" talks given by a woman. Plus when discussing who we wanted to nominate for next year, at least one woman's name came up. I can't tell you how rare this is. It was very exciting for me to notice. Overall, the folks at this conference were awesome - both the men and the women. They seem to work together more and don't seem scared to be trumped by someone stealing ideas. It was a welcome change of pace.

Travel Karma

I am having a string of good travel karma, however I really shouldn't say this because I might just jinx myself. However this is well deserved as it is following up a bunch of bad karma that included getting stuck in a snowstorm of several (read 3) days a couple of years ago, having my luggage arrive late when trying to string two trips together and having some serious luggage damage (to the tune of several hundred dollars). My good karma this time allowed another conference attendee to be able to retrieve checked luggage and catch the "early" bus on Friday night. We were supposed to land at 8:45 - which only gave ~30 minutes to deplane, get luggage and get to the curb. Instead we landed at 8:10 and made the bus no problem. Folks from the plane even tried to make the earlier bus.

Also, can I just commend JetBlue on their on time record. I have not yet had a late JetBlue flight - though I have not yet taken JetBlue through JFK.

Conferences make me tired

I'm exhausted. It's been a long week and it's not over yet. But it's been a good week... lots of great ideas floating around. A few things that people mentioned that will either improve my work or tie my work to what they are doing. I consider both of these great. It's also been fun to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while, though I haven't done as much networking as I should. I've sometimes gone to conferences in the past with a list of "big-wigs" I wanted to meet. But I didn't do that this time. One of the reasons I had done this in the past is partly because you must be known in your field to get tenure. Departments "go out for letters." Meaning they ask people in your field to write basically a letter of recommendation on your behalf. It's all kind of weird, especially when you are in a field that cuts across lots of different sciences. I don't know who they would have write at this point, but that's still a long way off.

The hotel is very swanky. I must note that I am a big klutz. I was so looking forward to enjoying the pool at my hotel, but I now have very bruised legs. I nearly fell down the stairs yesterday. I caught myself on the way down, but I still knocked my shins on the hard stone steps pretty good. I have a scraped knee and some nice big bruises (that I'm certain aren't done forming yet). So no skirts today (though this is one of the things I look forward to about conferences since I don't have a chance of being in the lab, where I won't where skirts).

Also, a strange observation about the hotel I made today. The shower looks like it is stone. Well, it's a stone design on regular tile. I think it's pretty strange.

Mr. Plant 2

Some of you know my friend from grad school's story about Mr. Plant. For those of you who do not, she received a plant (of, then, unknown variety) during grad school. It sat on her desk for weeks and soon she (and the rest of us, too) realized it had the potential to grow very tall. She decided that once it reached the ceiling, she would be ready to defend. Sure enough, the summer that she finished up, the Mr. Plant reached the ceiling - as I recall within days of her defense. Since then, Mr. Plant has had some grand adventures. And it's been discovered that Mr. Plant blooms with beautiful pink blossoms. Mr. Plant is a begonia, but not one of the varieties on wikipedia. Instead, Mr. Plant is exactly like the plant I got from my grandma.
Does this mean that I will only get tenure, if Mr. Plant 2 reaches the ceiling? BTW, yes, Mr. Plant 2 is cheating, he has a stake! But currently Mr. Plant 2 is not very tall; he only reaches the top of my IKEA Poang chair. In fact, the shoot growing on the floor is longer than he is high.

Colin Powell Rocks!

I watched Meet the Press today (for the first time since Tim Russert's untimely and much too early death earlier this year). I'm not huge into politics. However, I have a fascination with the three most recent people to hold the post of Secretary of State. Why, you ask, I have no idea. Maybe it's because I know people who work for the State Department. But really, I think it's probably just because they are fascinating people. Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. So, my title isn't because Powell endorsed my candidate, it's rather because of something very thoughtful that he said. (I'd like to remind you that I'm no historian, first.) But this country was built up because people desired religious freedom. Powell called out the folks within the McCain campaign who are causing fear to swirl around Obama by saying that he is a Muslim (and in some cases a terrorist, but that's less what I'm talking about here). Powell confirmed what we all should know (espcially after the whole thing earlier this year with Obama's Christian Pastor), that Obama is Christian - always has been. But what he said after was why I think Colin Powell Rocks! He said that he thought it was crazy for us to be scared of someone because they are Muslim. Don't we have the right in this country to believe what we want! Each of us! And haven't Muslims been part of the military and died defending this country so we can all be free? Shouldn't Muslim (or Budhist or Hindi) children be able to believe that they can grow up and do what they want - to be president, if that's their dream? (If you didn't hear his touching story, I recommend that you at least try to find a podcast or read the transcript.) What he said was brilliant!

I also think this gets to the point of why I'm sometimes frustrated by the kids I teach. I feel like if they don't want to put forth the effort in my class, how are they going to be able to work towards their dreams. One thing I know, it takes a lot of effort (blood, sweat and tears - and this is absolutely true for me) to acheive dreams! Anyone can do it in this country, but you have to want it badly. Some of my students don't want it very badly (even though mine is a required course for 99% of their majors - so you'd think they would realized it was important).

Breaking the rules...

I have to go to a conference next week and will be flying. I am trying to decide how much I can break the rules. I will only be gone for a few days and so can easily carry on all of my stuff (I'm an expert at this and even can get my toiletries through security easily). BUT the big problem is that I have to bring a poster tube. This is about a meter long (~3 feet), and clearly does not fit in the little box they tell you your stuff has to fit in. I wouldn't mind checking it, but I have a sneaking sense that it would get "lost" in the baggage hold. And I need it the morning after I arrive, so if it did get lost, it might not arrive in time and I don't want to have to do a last minute Kinkos run that will likely involve renting a car (which I wasn't going to do).

This is even slightly more complicated because I either can leave my place at 5:30 am to get to the airport about 50 minutes (though it could be ~1 hr if the traffic cooperates) before my morning flight or at 4:30 am to get there and wait for nearly 2 hrs. I wouldn't worry if I was taking a "shuttle" as I've always cleared this check point in 5 minutes. But, I have waited at security at the terminal I'll use this week for nearly 40 minutes before (although during that time they had people calling out flight number that were about to depart and fast tracking folks on those flights). But if I get stopped because of the poster tube, and the line is long, I'll likely miss my flight.

Also, if it helps at all, I will have printed my boarding pass ahead of time.

So, the question for you dear readers, is do you think I can get it through? And further, does it matter if I have two small bags + poster tube, or one bag + poster tube?

Annoying fit

I went shopping today at the recommendation of a friend who mentioned a sale. So, there I was at Ann Taylor Loft finding this really beautiful red shirt that wasn't on sale, but that I would have purchased if it had fit. It was super cute. But... Arg... I really hate wrap shirts. My figure is not well suited to them at all! At least I wasn't feeling like it didn't fit because I had gained weight (even though I have), since my friendly aesthetician who I saw earlier in the week said she was jealous of how skinny I was. It was nice, but I wonder if that's just to get a bigger tip.

Running Loudly

So, during the race I ran a few weeks ago, my friend said to me that I run quietly. We were running at my "couch pace," so my effort was not great. This friend defined "couch pace" as that pace where you are most comfortable. I sometimes wonder how far I could run at my "couch pace." Could I be an ultra-marathon runner? Maybe. But the point here is that he said I run quietly. I didn't really know what my friend meant by that, so he told me that my foot strikes hardly made any noise. I didn't notice that- what sound his were making or that mine were soft - but it was an interesting observation. (I think it helps that he's a scientist.) I didn't really think about this again until I was at the gym this week running on a treadmill (I know, I know, this is a waste of energy, especially when there is perfectly good road out there, but the road would have been very dark, and somewhat dangerous.). The person nearby was really super loud when he was running. I couldn't quite tell if that was just how he always ran or if it was that he was doing speed work and therefore might be a bit louder than normal. Oh, and speaking of treadmill running... I sometimes wonder why people will choose the treadmill right next to you even if there are about 10 vacant treadmills down the line? I always try to observe the every other rule unless there's a lot of people and this is not possible. Fortunately at my new gym, there is almost always room for an every other motif - unlike the gym I used to go to where I'd often have to wait in line for a treadmill.

These are...

So in my Sunday post, I asked if anyone knew what my newly found veg/fruit is. No one commented and I'm sure you all are waiting in anticipation, checking my blog every few minutes. But they are ground cherries or gooseberries. They are all gone now and are fairly hard to find. A trip to the farmers market might be in order for the weekend.

Two household cleaning tips...

So I have two crazy household cleaning tips that I just recently figured out. In my current place, the walls were not all freshly painted before I moved in. There were several scuffs and annoying marks on some of the walls, including what looked like a soda had exploded on walls in the kitchen above the counters. Turns out, using a magic eraser on the walls worked wonders! All the marks are gone! Amazing!

My other tip has to do with the annoying mildew that gathers around the tub that you use as a shower, too. This mildew seems to shows up no matter how much you clean. Clorox is now selling a bleach pen. It is great for getting stains out of white shirts (which is why I originally purchased it). But turns out, if you put it on dry grout and wash it off about 12 hours later, everything is sparkling white! And seems to stay that way. I don't guarantee this yet (so if you own your house, think twice before you use this yet). The great part is that it doesn't stink like bleach and you can leave it on for quite a while. I'm not sure of the environmental impact of this product, but it's just bleach, I think.

Can they read?

This year I have begun to wonder if my students can read? I had a most annoying exchange with a student today. The students were turning in their first labs today. They are to turn in a cover page with them. This tells them what they will earn points for and it make them easier to grade. One of my students showed up early today and said, "Do I have to hand in my notebook pages?" I said something about if he had a cover sheet; the cover page says you earn points for your notebook pages, so yes, if you want to earn the points, you need to hand in the notebook pages. He said, "No it's not on the webpage!" (In a somewhat hostile manner, in fact.) I had someone (no this same student, thank goodness) email me on Sunday night saying they couldn't find the cover sheets. So I double, triple checked to see that it was there and gave them specific directions for what they need to click. Students think they are web savy, but our class webpage isn't complicated, so I beg to differ. It was there - I'm super careful making the webpage to make sure that everything is there and is accessible. I was so frustrated because he was so sure that it wasn't. Once I opened the lab (after taking a walk around the building to cool off). I pulled up the webpage right away and opened the folder and tada there is was. He said, "Oh there it is..." Like it hadn't been there before. My frustration about all of this was that he was blaming me instead of admiting that he couldn't find it. I'm happy to help if you don't understand or can't find some bit of information. But I give them most of the tools they need to find things.

I've had some issues with another student recently who took two weeks to report to me that he couldn't find any information about the topics I had asked him about. We check in each week, but he had requested an extension last week, which was convenient for me too. No longer. I've decided we will meet every week no matter how inconvenient it might be for me.

What are these?

Having finished 70% of a science related task I've been putting off for months just now, I thought I'd update everyone as to what I did this weekend. Yesterday I went to the local farmers market. There, I saw this lovely, red tree. It is clearly fall here. The leaves are beautiful. The sky is blue. And we are being treated to natures beauty because we all know what comes next. (In case you don't, the answer is feet of snow.)

The farmers market had lots of apples (including kinds I've never heard of before like Baldwins) and squash (in all varieties including butternut, acorn and delicata). All those great hearty things. In addition, several farmers had something that I only just tried last year. Do you know what these are?
I'll tell you later in the week. They are not tomatilio. Too small for that. I will also tell you that they taste like a cross between a tomato and pineapple. Strange indeed. But delicious in a salad. I will have fresh greens, these beauties, a chocolate pepper and a lemon cucumber in a salad for dinner. Nothing like foods that sound/look like they should be something different than they are.

In addition to delicious food, the farmers market also has local artisans. My favorite potter was there yesterday. Erin does beautiful work. I have a mug (minus a handle) that I drink my tea out of every day. She uses really vibrant colors and mixes them so a different color is on the inside from what shows on the outside. My mug is lime on the inside and a periwinkle color on the outside. The mug is formed from a ball of clay, so it fits neatly in my hand with it's lovely indentations where it was molded into a cup shape. I also have a wonderful, large serving bowl in colors similar to those of another cup I have. See below. I call them my inside out cups.

Strangeness...

I went to breakfast at a local sugar shack with a friend this morning. When we pulled into our parking space and were just about to get out of the car, my friend started laughing. I said, so what am I missing? I turned my head to the right and in the pickup truck next to her car sat a goat. A goat!?! Seriously, a goat. A goat with horns and a long white beard. Wearing a very patriotic looking visor. None of this is a lie. I swear. So we go in and sit down. Once we were ready to order, I said to my friend, who do you think the goat belongs to? Perhaps someone who works here? Probably not, because that's a prime parking space. The big party of 6 next to us? They would have had to come in two cars. The couple who looked like they are in town for homecoming? Probably not. The couple who are strategically positioned so the man can look out the window with an almost perfect view of the goat. Turns out the last guess was right. The man came up to our table as he was leaving and said, see my goat there. Yes, of course we had. He said the goat was part of his family. He lives in the house and sleeps in the man's bed. He's either 12 or 16... I can't remember now. And that's how his whole life has been. Strange, but I suppose it's not much different than a dog. But it was certainly a moment that I wished I'd had my camera. Sorry no photos.

The bear in the room...

So, I lost a bunch of money this week. I was convinced by a financial planner that I should invest some of the money I was saving for a down payment - and in a fairly aggressive manner. Basically everything I saved this summer is gone - and perhaps more. Bummer. But instead of dwelling, I'd like to tell you what's on my list of things I'd like to have in my new place.

• E/S facing window(s) in my bedroom
• Lots of light (for the plants of course)
• A garage
• A nice kitchen (room for 5 or more people to move around comfortably, a large oven - currently only small cookie sheets fit in my oven, nice counter tops, enough storage space)
• Open floor plan
  
• 2 bedrooms
• I'd love a least a bath and a half, but it's not necessary
• I waver back and forth between wanting to be in the center of things (at least walking distance to city/town) or wanted to be in the middle of nowhere. The quiet is appealing, but I would love to be near the action.
  

I have some pretty specific ideas and have contemplated trying to build something. I think if I went that direction, it might take me longer to become a home owner. Though there is a beautiful piece of land for sale nearby with water views, and it is significantly reduced, it would still take me a long time to be able to afford.

In the meanwhile, I'm enjoying watching HGTV and gathering ideas.

Science and politics

I am very certain of who I will vote for in just under a month. A lot of my decision rests with my position in life. Currently as an assistant professor, I am fighting what I feel is an up hill battle - and possibly one that I can't win. There is only so much money out there for scientific research. And there is little room for the new fighters. Currently, a researcher receives their first NIH grant around age 40. If you are 30 when you become an asst professor (or even 35), this won't happen before you have to submit your tenure portfolio (which is basically just a list of your accomplishments as an independent researcher that your peers and superiors use to decide if you are worthy of tenure). I would really like to get tenure. Thus, it's critically important that the next president increase funding for science. And in fact, one of the candidates would like to support the new and budding researchers out there, like me. If you are curious about the candidates opinions on science issues, take a look at Science Debate 2008.

Organic Soup

This summer I volunteered at a local organic farm. In exchange for my help doing everything from putting up a greenhouse to picking lots of cherry tomatoes, I got a bunch of fresh, organic produce. I received things I wouldn't often have bought and some of it required me to search for recipes. One of the recipes I found was for a creamy potato leek soup. Whenever anything says creamy, I think dairy, something like milk, cream or yogurt. This one uses tofu instead. I found it quite good and it's the season of soup here.

Plum goodness

My sister and I had a discussion about plum pie the other day. I was not surprised when the following npr story about plum treats appeared today. She's usually ahead of the trends!

Buds

One of the Christmas Cacti from Grum has lovely little buds on it! I'm very excited. I don't think it will bloom at Christmas, but before is quite alright with me. This time of year when buds are in short supply, this is a welcome surprise!

Running Log

So you might ask how many miles do I run in an average year? This year my total so far has been 620 miles. Last year, my total for the year was only 500 miles. The significant increase all started in May when I was feeling a little sad the weekend after my grandmother went to heaven. I decided to take my uncle's challenge up again. I had conquered this 8.5 mile loop near my house that includes some significant hills along with some nice water views last November. So I decided to do it again. This meant increasing my long runs from 5 to 8.5 miles. This is not something I recommend. But it turned out fine and it meant that I was consistently running over 20 miles a week this summer. Now that my race is over, mileage is going to go down hill. There is a conference to prepare for, students to get on track, and a grant to write. Too much to do to take the time to run so much. Plus it is getting dark so early now and I really hate running long distances in the gym. So instead my winter pattern is more speed work with shorter distances.

Brrrrr...

It's cold here. I pulled the down jacket out of the closet this morning when I went off to I meet my friend for breakfast. I thought it might be overkill, but turns out she was wearing a hat and gloves. Plus, I was cold even with the jacket on. Now, I'm in my office with my jacket still on.

It's a good thing...

I recently purchased a set of bamboo/cotton sheets from Target. They are in a lovely greenish blue color. They are very soft and seem to wash well, so far.

First race in about 2 years

Today I ran a race with a reward of apple pie at the end. I was running with a friend and at about mile 10, we started randomly exclaiming "Pie!" to each other. I don't know if it made the last few miles go faster or not, but it was entertaining.

The Crazy Plants

My grandmother passed away in May. All of us grandchildren always called her Grum. I didn't know her very well. We always lived far away so visits were rare. I got to see her at Thanksgiving last year, which was very lucky. I made lasagna for my visiting family; the lasagna is a great recipe with lots of mushrooms and a parmesan cheese sauce. Grum actually got to see where I live, which hasn't happened in all of my adult life. I've found out over the last few months that I share several traits with her. We both save notes that people send to us. And we both love plants. I have acquired a bunch of her plants. They are doing amazingly well. Even the violets that I have not had much luck with in the past seem to like it here.