To Christmas and Back (or why I despise Delta)

Christmas was in Buffalo this year. We drove. It was nice to see all my family again. I did not manage to get wings this time, but instead ate a lot of pizza and Mighty Taco. On Christmas Day, we had a traditional dinner of roast beef on weck, which was as tasty as ever.

I flew out a couple days before New Years. I flew Delta. I hadn't flown Delta for 10 or 15 years, and then they lost our luggage for a few days, but I figured as long as I only took a carry-on, it would be fine. I even found a way to get the coffeepot and winter boots I received for Christmas into my carry-on. (And yes, you can get a coffeepot through security.)

Unfortunately, it was a very stressful flight, because (allegedly) no one showed up for work for Delta at the Buffalo airport, and everything was a disorganized mess. There was confusion about what gate we were supposed to leave from (even the pilots didn't know, so they figured out which gate had a plane outside it, and everyone just followed them, reasoning that the plane couldn't leave without the pilots). There was no boarding agents at either gate. After the flight was scheduled to depart, one boarding came over from another gate and let the pilots onto the plane, then boarded everyone. We boarded quickly and took off about 45 minutes late. It was pretty crappy. I barely made my connection, and the whole situation was really stressful.

I don't think I will ever fly Delta again.

Ohmygawd, there's a rat in my tree!

Sometimes lately, we let Pico roam freely in a restricted part of the house. I was in the next room this weekend, and heard the sound of Christmas tree ornaments clanking together. I found this:


Actually, that's not totally true. He was playing in the inner branches of the tree, and I had to call him to get him out of the middle so I could take a picture. He stuck his head out, climbed back in and climbed down, and ran over to me. I felt bad for ruining his play, so I gave him a chocolate chip reward. He didn't seem to mind.


He looks like a bizarre ornament in the second photo.

A Strange Sighting in Buffalo

I wonder if it drives?

More Photos of Cute Pets

Pico is getting older and calmer; he doesn’t get into nearly as much trouble as he used to. He still will find his way to the top of my closet occasionally, but when he was younger, he would survey my room from the top of the doorframe every time I let him out. 

He was a terror when he was young. He got everywhere (behind the dishwasher, inside my printer, between panes of glass in a sliding window, under a bookshelf, and he could even open my sliding closet door sometimes in college). But now, he’s more obedient. Previously, when I couldn’t find him, I knew he had stolen food and was stashing it somewhere bizarre. Now, he’s usually curled up in a pile of blankets. 

Since his rat buddies all died, he’s been all alone, and I this is how I found him when I came home. The black ball is Pico, and the brown thing is a stuffed animal. I think he misses his friends.

The girls are getting bolder, and they love their warm, fuzzy pouch/hammock. Here is a sleepy Rosie.

And here Rosie is exploring. Epi is more hyper and is really difficult to get sharp picture of.

My First Christmas Tree + Life Update

My family went out to a Christmas tree farm the day after Thanksgiving.. They got a (10-foot) tree for them, and I got a 6-foot tree for my apartment in Chicago. I took my childhood ornaments from my parents (my mom kept the life milestones like the baby carriage and the elementary school picture/craft projects), so the tree is a little heavy on the horse ornaments. There are also soccer, girl scout, and woodland creature ornaments providing a little variety, ha.

I don't have anything for the top, yet, or a tree skirt. Charlie promised to make an origami star for the top.

In other news:

-It is finally below freezing in Chicago. It was 25F outside this morning and was snowing a little yesterday morning (but the snow didn't stick). My parka is an obnoxious light blue color, since I've had it since junior year of high school and it was an OK color for when I was 16. Now I'm getting teased about it. Le sigh. Time to watch for sales? But it (mostly) gets the job done.

-Since it is now cold out, I feel justified drinking warm mead (a honey-wine: http://www.realbeer.com/edu/mead/). It is delightful, especially spiced.

-I'm trying to cut back bread/gluten products. I have 98% less stomachache. No constant stomachache is awesome, but it is a pain in the butt to not eat gluten, especially if I don't pack lunch and try to get food at a seminar or buy something on campus. It's in everything! Fortunately, I don't feel really really awful if I eat a sandwich in a pinch, as long as I have been behaving lately. Grumble, grumble, grumble.

-I am trying to write my Ph.D. qualifying exam, in which I propose my interdisciplinary thesis project (my research for the next few years) and defend it to my thesis committee (my chair, both PIs/research advisors, and another professor). Writing it is really tough.

-Roommate Felipe is going to Spain for the winter quarter, so we're trying to find a subletter to replace him for 3 1/2 months. It's an interesting process. Lots of interesting people; some obvious mismatches. We'll see who we end up with.

-Does anyone want to go see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in January? They're playing Tchaikovsky 6 and they're playing the score to a Hitchcock film. I want to see both. Student tickets are very affordable.

Baby Rats

I got two little baby girls. I wasn't really planning on getting more rats until after New Year's at least, but I was in Petsmart and these girls called me out on being a sucker. They're still a little shy, but curious.

Here are pictures of the night they came home (11/11/10):


This is Epi (Eppie?). She's named for epifluorescence, a microscopy technique. Also, Eppie is an old lady name, so it works two ways. She was at Petsmart for a couple weeks in the back (the story is that she was a little sick, but nothing to be concerned about in the long term), so she played with the employees a little, so she's a little older and a little bolder than Rosie.


This is Rosie, hiding on the left. She was being really shy at this point, so this was the best picture I could get of her. She likes food more than Epi, I think. She was smaller than my palm when she came home. Pico was just MASSIVE in comparison, which is pretty funny since Pico was always one of the smaller boys.

She's named after Rosalind Franklin, who took the X-ray diffraction pattern of DNA, which Watson and Crick used to figure out the structure of DNA. She died of cancer before the DNA Nobel Prize was awarded, but many think she would have gotten the Nobel if she was still alive.

They're getting bolder as they get more used to me. Here they are playing on my bed:

It's hard to take good pictures of fast-moving, small animals.

They also (I have no idea why) love my keyboard. They just loooove prying off keys and running off with them. Perhaps it is an attention-seeking behavior? Fortunately, the keys pop back on easily. Here's Epi, trying to hold on to my tab key.

I am working on training them to not eat my computer.

Now (12/2), they're much bigger, maybe 6 inches from tip of nose to base of tail for Rosie and 7 inches for Epi. They eat about maybe 3 or 4 times as much as Pico does in a given day. They are growing like little weeds.

They came home to my parents' for Thanksgiving, and I think all the noise, chaos, and attention helped bring them out of their shells a little. They run around and play with me now, sit on my shoulders, and beg for attention. Now, they seem to look forward to coming out of their cage to play and run around. They also recognize their names and will come when they're called. Maybe I'll let them play on the floor soon, now that I can call them back. Also, it's time to start learning tricks!

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Naperworld was fun and pretty tasty. Somehow no pictures were taken, other than an awesome sunset in the backyard.

 

Christmas lights are starting to go up, too.

Tim Kasher at Schuba's

Tim Kasher (of Cursive and The Good Life fame) played Schuba's on 11/20. I actually took a picture at a show. Woah. And it's an action shot, too!



The show was great. He's a really talented musician.

We're seeing his band Cursive's show on New Years Eve. It should be fun.

Oscar has a more complete review on his blog

The red line. Photo taken with long exposure. I like how you can see the rails.

I am totally in love with Chicago lately

<3

The last rat standing

Now that Pico is an only rat, I'm trying to come up with more ways for him to occupy his time. Here's a treat-holding toy hanging from the top of the cage. (Photo looks down from above.)

From Almost Relevant

He is still as curious as ever.

Atto Died Today

He had a heart attack. I was holding him and he got restless, so I went to put him in his cage, and he started jerking around. It was apparent that he was not ok, so I picked him up. He cuddled into my hands between body spasms. No heartbeat.

He was a really great pet. Our vet said that he was the friendliest rat that had been into the clinic in the last few weeks.

A baby picture:


Another picture from a couple weeks ago, when he fell asleep cuddling next to me: http://imgur.com/B5SvY

Update (version 10.28.10)

-Pets: Mario died. Atto started coughing and wheezing, so we went to the (very, very nice) vet. Turns out he has a suspicious lump in his abdomen and a heart murmur. Ugh. Swelling near the heart presses on his trachea, likely causing the trouble breathing. A diuretic (reduce fluid volume overall so heart works less) seems to be helping this. Dose is 30 uL (0.03 mL) for his “massive 440 grams.” He is extra cuddly lately. Pico is rambunctious as usual and has overcome his fear of the rat ball in order to roll around the house freely. Typical. Photos soon.

-Purified a tricky protein out of eukaryotic cells. It is slightly functional. Not bad for a first shot! Must repeat next week.

-Qualifying exam scheduled. Much reading and writing to do!

-Erratic Chicago weather makes dressing difficult. This morning was 43F, feels like 36. Had on tshirt, fleece and scarf. Slightly chilly? Yes.

-Halloween costume whaaaaat? Need to come up with something by tomorrow.

-Spent last weekend in Milwaukee with my guy. LCD Soundsystem/Hot Chip concert was high-energy and cool (though I was a little mopey from Mario). Lakefront Brewery tour was awesome. Cheap tickets got each of us: 4 beers at the brewery, free pint glass, and a free pint at a local bar. Nice.

Sometimes this scares me

(from postsecret)

Mario Died Friday

From rats

He'd been sick for a while. Poor little guy.

Atto has been a little quieter than normal.

Italian in the Park

Peter and I found this sweet Italian deli in the South Loop. We buy the food there and walk to Grant Park to eat. We also got extra lucky: a couple weeks after we went the first time, there was a Groupon for $10 for $20 of food, so we can easily justify being pigs. Without exaggeration, we left with 10 lbs of food.



Aranchino with meat and cheese and marinara.



Cannoli. (Fresh!) I asked for the cannoli in the counter, and the guy says "Well, let me make you some fresh ones. Those are a few hours old." They were perfect.



I just realized how many of my blog posts involve food, and I am a little bit appalled.

Preconceived Notions

I've been such a jerk.

(For Charlie: I may have been hatin' on red states a little too much.)

We're Goin' Home!

Guess where I took this picture?



If you guessed "a highway underpass on 90/94 near the Indiana border," you're right. This is not actually Indiana, though. I would never subject you to that.



Almost had to tell T to just break into the apartment. Hah. My current roommate and my former roommate are becoming SuperBestFriends, a la South Park.

Buffalo, a lot of family and a lot of food

My grandma makes the best Irish soup. Don't ask what's in it, because nobody knows anyway. (It's "whatever was in the fridge or freezer.")

When the soup's on, it's a magic homing beacon for the family: people appear in the kitchen instantly.



Buffalo is also a food Mecca.



I have done nothing but eat lately.

You Can't Taste the Alcohol: the Makings of Lohanfest MMX

A good night on the couch watching movies with a current roommate and a former roommate. N.B.: a bottle of wine is great, but one cannot taste vodka in sweet tea until it is much, much too concentrated. Thanks C and T for mixing the over-vodka'ed stuff back into the virgin pitcher.

"Spice World" is more pointless and vapid than I ever could have imagined:
me: "I have no idea what is going on anymore."
C: "I haven't known what's going on for half an hour."

This movie seems like something I might write if I was tanked for three weeks straight. Evidence:
-Evil record exec sits in dim room with cat and fire built into the wall.
-Aliens land and ask the Spice Girls for autographs when they are peeing in the middle of the woods. Whaaat? Seems like the kind of thing that might make one wet oneself?
-Guy spying for bad press is in the middle of a buffet table with a veggie tray as a disguise hat. Superfluous? Couldn't you just hide under the table? How has no one noticed that the veggie tray moves?

Also watched Mean Girls, that Classic!

This marks the beginning of Lohanfest 2k10. Let's DO this!

&@$%@^# Squirrel!

Caught the little snot in the act this morning!



Ruination!

Lollapalooza!

Highlights:

-My Dear Disco: a fun electro-funk band with an engaging stage act. I'm looking forward to their album.

-Kuma's burgers! Tasty and the best food/money value at the festival

-My raging coffee addiction: needed to take a coffee break in the evenings to make my headache stop. Who needs coffee at a huge music festival? Seriously? Must get this addiction back under control.

-Gaga stopped her momentum to go on a diatribe about bullying in school or about her last "trainwreck" Lolla show. Would've been engaging without that. Switched to the Strokes, who were great.

-There are an alarming number of pre-pubescent girls running around in bikini tops. Who let them out of the house like that?

-Alcohol is detrimental to music-festival stamina.

-Loving all the US soccer jerseys in the crowd.

-.Got a photo with Greenman!

- Crowd surfed for the first time.

All in all, a pretty nice weekend, if exhausting.

(The End of an Era)

And I don't even care anymore.

(phew)

Visiting My College

It's been about a year since I've been on our quad.



It's funny, but it doesn't feel like home anymore.

How to Fix a Phone, Science Nerd Style...

Pop it into the desiccator overnight:



A desiccator is a chamber hooked up to a vacuum line, and it has a drying agent in the bottom. So you turn on the vacuum to take all the air (and the moisture that comes with the atmosphere) out, and the drying agent grabs the remaining moisture.

This actually fixed my phone! It worked perfectly, I made calls and responded to texts, and everything.

Then, I went outside into the humidity, and all was lost. So I still need to drop $$ on a new phone. (Or I could only use the phone in November-February, when there is no moisture in the air anyway.)

Rats!

CSI: Laboratory Forensics

Whose bacteria could be contaminating your cultures? Oh, you have the DNA sequence? Oh, that's the DNA in the bacteria I was just using... shit.

DNA is as incriminating in laboratory contamination as it is on CSI.

(frown)

Scones, Attempt #1

Penance for turning off the shaker on X, so I made pennance-scones. (X was reluctant to specify a penance-baked-good-of-choice, so Y and Z (real names, no joke!) like scones. They were ok.

Baking! Yummy!



The aftermath:



Somehow, I didn't manage to take a picture of the scones themselves.

Next goal: make them whole wheat!

Massive Piles of Cars and Food

Transformers 3 is filming in Chicago:



Walked past the set on the way to Kuma's

(This burger is already partially eaten. So many leftovers!)

Watertower place

Ran around the city for little sister's 21st.

No luck getting into Inception.

Rainy Night, Rooftops

We went over to an acquaintance's for beer for her birthday, which was nice. The rooftop has a nice view of downtown, and a storm was rolling in. I was trying to get pictures of lightning, but the low cloudcover just made for really diffuse, lighter patches in the sky.

This is the view looking downtown:




Towards the west (looking out towards the burbs):




We went inside when my hair started standing up on end. Woah, building charge? As we were going back into the building, we passed a couple heading out to the roof. We told them that they should stay inside because there was lightning close enough to make my hair stand on end. They replied "well, that's why we are going out! We want to see!"

Darwin Award in the making...

Weird Dreams

1) I haven’t been sleeping much lately, so I’ve been too worn out to push nagging worries away. Today I am terrified that I am wasting my life. Although I love what I’m doing, I don’t know if I can do it forever. I feel compelled to somehow change the world for the better. I would love to make changes to science education in order to help people think through problems in a logical, evidence-based method. Use facts to investigate the world. “Better living through science!”  or something equally corny.

(The obvious flaw is, of course, that in the modern era, it’s really difficult to separate facts from lies. Sometimes it’s unclear when the news is news and when the news is entertainment, and everyone is constantly spinning facts in a neverending PR-battle.)

(Nonetheless, I think a lot of situations could be partly resolved if we all sat down for a second and evaluated our thoughts and behaviors logically. Yes, this is “the pot calling the kettle black.” You caught me, now enough with the attitude!)

This may be the only scheme that I can concoct to "improve" the world using my current skill set.

This is one of the things that sometimes keeps me up at night.


2) I’ve been having weird, vibrant dreams lately, and I haven’t been able to shake them once I woke up. After a little research, the symbolism is alarmingly obvious. Wow, subconscious, thanks for the kick in the butt...


3) Brains are bizarre and incredible.

Summer in Chicago

The weather in Chicago has been hot and sticky lately. It is so humid that walking more than a block outside leaves all your skin moist and uncomfortable. My walk to the lab where I work is a little over a mile, and frankly, I am starting to wonder why I bother to shower before I leave home, since I feel like I have just stepped out of the shower by the time I get to work. And don’t even get me started on my feelings about humidity and wavy/curly hair. Despite my best efforts, I have cultivated an intimidating, poodle-esque hairdo.
 

Fortunately, the sun sets eventually, and the lakefront breeze cools down the city a little. Our new home has a fantastic porch a little bit above street level. My roommate and I spent the night out on porch relaxing and lamenting the tribulations of graduate school.
 

Here’s our view. The people-watching is great here: there are all sorts of interesting characters in the city.

Bonus question: Can you find my roommate in the frame?
 

Bonus answer: Probably not. My camera took a hit (literally) at some point in the moving process, and the only way to adjust settings is to prod buttons indiscriminately until something happens. After that, editing on the computer has limitations. Hmmph. My roommate is on the far left, sitting on the ledge reading a book.
 

In other news, we are finally settling into our new home, or at least that’s what I’m going to tell myself. At the very least, the kitchen is cleaned and unpacked, which is really the most important part of the house anyway. The pets have acclimated to my room and are enjoying the extra attention from one of my roommates. More on that later.