Today I take my last final of my firs semester as a PhD student. Then, I'm going to walk to Main Street and get Juggles one last Christmas present, go home, head to the last night of late fall league and play some disc. I'll go home, shower, go to The Arena, mourn the departure of Finn as he leaves for his home of South Africa, eat some nachos, go home, and go to bed.
This is exciting for you readers, I'm sure...
I think what it boils down to is... I'm heading to Minnesota tomorrow!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Saturday, October 24, 2009
I'm climbing up on the railing, trying my best not to look down. I'm going to do my best swan dive into shark infested waters.
We live in an apartment complex that has, what some may call, nice landscaping. We have ponds and playgrounds and trees and flowers. There are even tomato plants somehow growing through the rock landscaping stuff that's outside our computer room window.
Well, last May, I returned home from school to find fake plastic swans floating in the pond. We hypothesized that they were there to keep the geese away or something. If this was the case, it was highly unsuccessful because we had many families of geese grow up around the ponds outside our apartment door.
I digress...
The fake plastic swans floating in the ponds were named Phyllis and Martin, and they had a love affair much like Romeo and Juliet... Phyllis was on one side of the pond and Martin the other, strapped down and not allowed to move.
Well, sometime over the past week or two, Phyllis and Martin became real. I kid you not. Those things somehow transformed because we now have two swans that circle the pond together.
Birds don't like me. This is a-whole-nother story for another day, but they don't like me.
Thus, when taking out the trash today, I shouldn't have been surprised to be greeted unamicably by Phyllis and Martin as they charged me, hissing. I wasn't even in their business at all. No, they just charged. So I, of course, screamed, and ran the long way around the building to get back to my apartment. I walked in crying and laughing at the same time, and Juggles just couldn't quite figure out what to do with me.
So, I looked out the window and noticed Phyllis and Martin swimming around the pond closest to our apartment and decided to take a few pictures.
Phyllis and Martin look lovely swimming around the pond together.
Why are they getting out of the water?
No, really... why?
They really are coming after me! They're on the patio. (view from inside my screen door... which they pecked at...)
Annabelle will get 'em!
Charlie lays down the smack!
And don't come back!
Phyllis and Martin are assholes. I liked them better when they were plastic.
Well, last May, I returned home from school to find fake plastic swans floating in the pond. We hypothesized that they were there to keep the geese away or something. If this was the case, it was highly unsuccessful because we had many families of geese grow up around the ponds outside our apartment door.
I digress...
The fake plastic swans floating in the ponds were named Phyllis and Martin, and they had a love affair much like Romeo and Juliet... Phyllis was on one side of the pond and Martin the other, strapped down and not allowed to move.
Well, sometime over the past week or two, Phyllis and Martin became real. I kid you not. Those things somehow transformed because we now have two swans that circle the pond together.
Birds don't like me. This is a-whole-nother story for another day, but they don't like me.
Thus, when taking out the trash today, I shouldn't have been surprised to be greeted unamicably by Phyllis and Martin as they charged me, hissing. I wasn't even in their business at all. No, they just charged. So I, of course, screamed, and ran the long way around the building to get back to my apartment. I walked in crying and laughing at the same time, and Juggles just couldn't quite figure out what to do with me.
So, I looked out the window and noticed Phyllis and Martin swimming around the pond closest to our apartment and decided to take a few pictures.
Phyllis and Martin look lovely swimming around the pond together.
Why are they getting out of the water?
No, really... why?
They really are coming after me! They're on the patio. (view from inside my screen door... which they pecked at...)
Annabelle will get 'em!
Charlie lays down the smack!
And don't come back!
Phyllis and Martin are assholes. I liked them better when they were plastic.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Threw some chords together -- the combination D-E-F -- is who I am, is what I do, and I was gonna lay it down for you
The start of a list of "things I want to do when I'm not stuck in a gazillion classes":
(to be updated, at least mentally)
But first, I'll make it through this year... And then plan a trip somewhere awesome next May. :-)
(to be updated, at least mentally)
- Go to Austin to visit Emily and hang out at SXSW.
- Work for Rick AND Sharon and not feel pressed for time in either lab.
- Head up my own research project... on top of working for Rick and Sharon.
- Read the pile of Science magazine that's piling up on my floor.
- Travel, duh!
- Frequent happy hour.
- Find all the Fairy Doors in A2.
- Hang out with Kristin more frequently...
- And Lisa and Sachi and Kraig and Ali and ...
- Visit Minnesota more often then one weekend every 6 months.
- Visit Melissa in Cleveland because I miss her.
- Play the piano a lot.
- Play the sax even more.
But first, I'll make it through this year... And then plan a trip somewhere awesome next May. :-)
Monday, September 28, 2009
For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams of the beautiful Annabelle Lee
It's true: I haven't posted in over a month. Typical me. But life keeps rolling along.
I went to Scotland. I went to Ireland. I came back to Michigan. I went to orientation. I did some lab work. Juggles and I got a kitten. I started school. I played a tournament. I went to more school. I did some homework. That's about it.
Not like all of those things don't have some excitement in their midst, like the surprising goodness of the gooey part of a chocolate eclair. Yum.
Unfortunately, I still don't have pictures from my Scotland/Ireland trip up on the internet so I can't really share them with you yet. So I'll give a brief rundown of the vacay.
In Scotland, I visited a friend I've known since high school, Miss Samantha Johnson, originally of Victoria, MN. She's a student at the University of Glasgow, so she shared her accommodation with me and showed me around the area. She was a fantastic hostess. We wandered the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh. We climbed a mountain without a trail. We ate good food and drank good drinks. And I almost got to try deep fried pizza.
In Ireland, I stayed in Dublin the entire week. I was mainly at a conference for the International Society of Environmental Epidemiologists, where I presented a poster. But I found time to wander the city, see the Museum of Modern Arts and the Kilmainham Jail and St. Patrick's Cathedral and some other great places. I drank Guinness in the Guinness Storehouse, as well as at bars down the street. I schmoozed with some conference-goers, met a cool girl from Canada, and spent time with some of my fellow U of M friends.
It was amazing, and I almost didn't want to come home.
A week after I got home, Juggles and I stopped in at the humane society to see what cute kittens were in stock. Turns out, they had a darling little black kitten who soon became our own. We welcome Annabelle Cat, now sister of Charlie Cat, into our little family. She's insane, but completely sweet. She loves cuddling, purring, playing with plastic bags, and chasing fake mice and Charlie's tail. Charlie is still getting used to her, and doesn't quite appreciate being chased over the apartment all day.
School started and I'm supposedly some big shot PhD student. I have a place in the Kardia lab now, and am sort of winding down and not able to spend as much time up in Rick's lab on 7th floor. (insert pouty face here.) I'm taking just three classes, but they are a ton of work. And I don't really enjoy two of them, which makes them twice the work -- first I have to spend time motivating myself to start homework, then I have to do the work. I do like my Cardiovascular Epid course so far, however. It's fairly straightforward and discusses some interesting issues.
Moving along, now... Hybrid went to sectionals in Versailles, OH last weekend and took second to BOI. We're heading to regionals in a couple of weeks. We'll see how that goes. I know I'll be swamped with work so even though I really want us to make it to Day 2 of regionals play, I'm okay if we can go home after the first day so I can get work done!
I've really started to enjoy playing with some of the Hybrid folks, like High School and Pug, who I rarely get to play with. I'm a De line player, and a bunch of my favorites are O line players, so I had a good time over the weekend when I was thrown in on points with Stewy, Juggles, Craig, and some others I rarely play with.
That's a pretty quick summary of life over the past month. The seasons are changing and a cold front set in today to make it feel like fall finally. It's a little depressing when I have to pull my sweaters out before I ever really got my shorts and skirts fully integrated into my fashion.
Next time, hopefully I'll have some pictures to share of Europe and Annabelle and life.
I went to Scotland. I went to Ireland. I came back to Michigan. I went to orientation. I did some lab work. Juggles and I got a kitten. I started school. I played a tournament. I went to more school. I did some homework. That's about it.
Not like all of those things don't have some excitement in their midst, like the surprising goodness of the gooey part of a chocolate eclair. Yum.
Unfortunately, I still don't have pictures from my Scotland/Ireland trip up on the internet so I can't really share them with you yet. So I'll give a brief rundown of the vacay.
In Scotland, I visited a friend I've known since high school, Miss Samantha Johnson, originally of Victoria, MN. She's a student at the University of Glasgow, so she shared her accommodation with me and showed me around the area. She was a fantastic hostess. We wandered the streets of Glasgow and Edinburgh. We climbed a mountain without a trail. We ate good food and drank good drinks. And I almost got to try deep fried pizza.
In Ireland, I stayed in Dublin the entire week. I was mainly at a conference for the International Society of Environmental Epidemiologists, where I presented a poster. But I found time to wander the city, see the Museum of Modern Arts and the Kilmainham Jail and St. Patrick's Cathedral and some other great places. I drank Guinness in the Guinness Storehouse, as well as at bars down the street. I schmoozed with some conference-goers, met a cool girl from Canada, and spent time with some of my fellow U of M friends.
It was amazing, and I almost didn't want to come home.
A week after I got home, Juggles and I stopped in at the humane society to see what cute kittens were in stock. Turns out, they had a darling little black kitten who soon became our own. We welcome Annabelle Cat, now sister of Charlie Cat, into our little family. She's insane, but completely sweet. She loves cuddling, purring, playing with plastic bags, and chasing fake mice and Charlie's tail. Charlie is still getting used to her, and doesn't quite appreciate being chased over the apartment all day.
School started and I'm supposedly some big shot PhD student. I have a place in the Kardia lab now, and am sort of winding down and not able to spend as much time up in Rick's lab on 7th floor. (insert pouty face here.) I'm taking just three classes, but they are a ton of work. And I don't really enjoy two of them, which makes them twice the work -- first I have to spend time motivating myself to start homework, then I have to do the work. I do like my Cardiovascular Epid course so far, however. It's fairly straightforward and discusses some interesting issues.
Moving along, now... Hybrid went to sectionals in Versailles, OH last weekend and took second to BOI. We're heading to regionals in a couple of weeks. We'll see how that goes. I know I'll be swamped with work so even though I really want us to make it to Day 2 of regionals play, I'm okay if we can go home after the first day so I can get work done!
I've really started to enjoy playing with some of the Hybrid folks, like High School and Pug, who I rarely get to play with. I'm a De line player, and a bunch of my favorites are O line players, so I had a good time over the weekend when I was thrown in on points with Stewy, Juggles, Craig, and some others I rarely play with.
That's a pretty quick summary of life over the past month. The seasons are changing and a cold front set in today to make it feel like fall finally. It's a little depressing when I have to pull my sweaters out before I ever really got my shorts and skirts fully integrated into my fashion.
Next time, hopefully I'll have some pictures to share of Europe and Annabelle and life.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
I am reaching out won't you take my hand, I'm coming home Ireland
I'm headed to Scotland tomorrow (later today, technically). How'd it get to be August already?
I spent last week crazy busy in lab trying to finish up some labwork, while simultaneously getting my poster done for the ISEE conference. I took off for Milwaukee on Friday afternoon for a weekend of frisbee at Cooler with my Hybrid teammates. The wonderful thing about Cooler is the number of Minnesota teams that represent. This means, I was blessed to see my lovely exbf360, Louie, as well as a number of other awesome Minnesota friends, like all of Kablammo, as well as folks like Jeff, Justine, and Ben Hesse.
We got back pretty late last night (Sunday), and showered and passed out. That almost meant that I got to worry about preparing to leave the country today. But not quite. I had to a) do a ton of laundry, b) attend some meetings, and c) do a bit of labwork. Then I had to run around Ann Arbor like a madwoman searching for a 42" poster tube for my poster.
Well... turns out that they don't have 42" poster tubes anywhere, it seems. But, apparently, that's ok, because when I was unrolling my poster, I noticed they screwed up the printing anyway. So I had to email them and my fingers are crossed that they'll reprint it tomorrow morning before I leave.
So, I came home around 5 and started getting my stuff ready to go. I was going to try to take my medium-sized suitcase, but that just doesn't seem like it's going to work. Turns out, since I'm bumming around in the Glasgow rain and mud for a week before going to Dublin where I need to look professional and pretty, I need a lot of clothes.
So, basically, what it comes down to, is that it's 1:30 am, the day that I'm leaving for Europe for a couple of weeks, and I'm not packed yet.
That's ok. I also don't have a place to stay the last night I'm there either. So it goes.
On an unrelated note, this chair is flippin' sweet:
I spent last week crazy busy in lab trying to finish up some labwork, while simultaneously getting my poster done for the ISEE conference. I took off for Milwaukee on Friday afternoon for a weekend of frisbee at Cooler with my Hybrid teammates. The wonderful thing about Cooler is the number of Minnesota teams that represent. This means, I was blessed to see my lovely exbf360, Louie, as well as a number of other awesome Minnesota friends, like all of Kablammo, as well as folks like Jeff, Justine, and Ben Hesse.
We got back pretty late last night (Sunday), and showered and passed out. That almost meant that I got to worry about preparing to leave the country today. But not quite. I had to a) do a ton of laundry, b) attend some meetings, and c) do a bit of labwork. Then I had to run around Ann Arbor like a madwoman searching for a 42" poster tube for my poster.
Well... turns out that they don't have 42" poster tubes anywhere, it seems. But, apparently, that's ok, because when I was unrolling my poster, I noticed they screwed up the printing anyway. So I had to email them and my fingers are crossed that they'll reprint it tomorrow morning before I leave.
So, I came home around 5 and started getting my stuff ready to go. I was going to try to take my medium-sized suitcase, but that just doesn't seem like it's going to work. Turns out, since I'm bumming around in the Glasgow rain and mud for a week before going to Dublin where I need to look professional and pretty, I need a lot of clothes.
So, basically, what it comes down to, is that it's 1:30 am, the day that I'm leaving for Europe for a couple of weeks, and I'm not packed yet.
That's ok. I also don't have a place to stay the last night I'm there either. So it goes.
On an unrelated note, this chair is flippin' sweet:
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Summertime, and the livin' is easy...
I realize it's been a couple of months since I've written anything. I'm not sure if anyone notices, aside from Jared, so my conscience due to lack of blogging is mostly directed toward him.
Summer is already drawing to a close. I've been working for Rick doing some epigenetics stuff in lab again this summer, and spending my freetime playing ultimate. Juggles and I are captaining a league team together on Tuesday nights, and I signed up to play the Thursday night league with my fellow Minnesotan and lab buddy, Lisa. On top of that, I'm playing for a coed team called Hybrid.
Due to frisbee, I've gotten to do some traveling. I started the summer with a trip to Gender Blender in Ontario with a bunch of Ann Arborites. Blender is a pretty crazy tournament, marked by a night of partying in costumes, where each team is required to provide games and shots for everyone else. It's basically a huge carnival for 21+ ultimate players in various costumes.
Geoff and I partying at Blender
Ann Arborites after Gender Blender
A few weeks later, Juggles and I took off for Grand Rapids to visit his family and celebrate Father's Day on the boat on Lake Michigan, then followed that up with a trip to South Bend to play a tournament with Hybrid called Down with the Clown. We came in 2nd, after a loss to Abusement Park on universe point.
Hybrid after playing Down with the Clown
A few days after South Bend, Juggles and I took off for Seattle to play one of the biggest tournaments ever, Potlatch, with a bunch of my Minnesota buddies. Adro was a superstar to throw that all together. It started off with flight issues. After standing in line at the airport for over an hour waiting to check in, they closed the flight and gave our seats away 3 minutes before we arrived at the kiosk to check in. We managed to run to the gate and get on the flight in the exit row right before they closed the door to the plane. Of course, this meant that we didn't have our luggage upon arrival in Seattle, so we took off for Pike's Place and had some amazing salmon, mini-donuts, and dried strawberries, and did some shopping before returning to the airport to get our luggage.
It was a super hot weekend in Seattle, far more hot and humid than usual in Seattle. The tournament is a 3-day tournament, and highs were around 90 with an insane humidity level. And, of course, we were wearing black jerseys. But, we found ways to keep cool that included, but are not limited to: getting our jerseys wet in the water fountains before games, and playing underwear points.
Seattle through a Sculpture
Alicia and Juggles, sweaty during tournament play
Little Girl in Sumo Suit (because she was cute)
After playing Potlatch, we took off for San Francisco, where we rented a car to drive to San Luis Obispo to visit on of Juggles's closest friends (and former roommates), Bill, and his girlfriend Tamera. They moved from Ann Arbor last summer because Tamera wanted to be closer to her family. The climate in SLO is perfect -- about 80 and sunny every day of the year. At night, the fog filters in from the ocean through the mountains (there's a range of 7 old volcanoes that funnel the fog into SLO). We did some hiking up Bishop's Peak and some wine tasting at the local vineyards. Of course we ate at In-N-Out Burger and it was very delicious. Even I, the pseudo-vegetarian, had a big meaty cheeseburger. It was a phenomenal vacation, and very necessary to break up the summer a bit. Unfortunately, I managed to catch a cold from one of the flights and was pretty full of snot for the entire time we were at Bill's. But, we took it easy and relaxed in California style, so it was still a great vacation.
They make their fries from potatoes right in front of your eyes!
Juggles enjoying his burger
Climbing to the top of Bishop's Peak
I'm the queen of the world
Bill and Juggles at one of the vineyards
Bill and Juggles sauntering back to the car
The day we arrived back from our vacation, my favorite birthday buddy, Melissa, was in town to take her nursing boards. (She passed with flying colors!) This meant a night of debauchery in her honor, and a weekend of low key hanging out after that (she stays on our couch when she's in town, so it's like having another roommate, especially because she now has a key and her own bathroom). We started out Friday night at Dominick's and moved to Habana when they closed. Somehow Habana turned pretty insane -- people were buying rounds of shots for everyone (there were 15 of us or so?), so I probably managed to have about 5 shots and 2 beers in the couple hours we were there. I woke up Saturday morning hangover-free though. That's why I love shots and having a high metabolism! Saturday was a lazy day filled with breakfast with Jugs, Melissa, and Eric, then the start of the Harry Potter marathon, and culminated with a trip to Olive Garden with Grant and Zeke.
Will, Dana, Josh, Geoff, and Melissa at Habana
Grant and Melissa
Juggles and Alicia
The next weekend, we headed to Chicago to play Sandblast, a really fun tournament on the beach of Lake Michigan. My favorite Cuspian Twin (she was born 12 hours before me, and we're both on the Taurus/Gemini cusp), Kriss, came to visit us on the beach and take some pictures. We played on a team lead by a guy named Jon who was known as Juggles's twin when he was in A2 because, without his beard, he has the same build and really does look similar enough that people used to get them confused. A few other Hybrid buddies, including Sherri, Jules, and Scooter, played on this team, as well as some Toledo folks and a few other randoms. It was fun, but I ended up with a migraine on Saturday and had to miss the party because of it. On a positive note, Kablammo, Adro's Minnesota team, was there sporting white briefs and button down shirts, ala Tom Cruise in his dance scene from Risky Business. It was pretty hot.
Throwing discs
Carrying around his 6'4" frame
Kablammo in their Risky Business attire
The weekend after Sandblast was a local tournament called Motown Throwdown in Hartland, MI, about 30 mins north of A2. Hybrid decided to split into two teams, offensive and defensive lines, for the tournament to practice some new stuff, and also since their wasn't heavy competition. I played on the defensive line, and had some okay scores and such. We worked our clam de a bit, and played around to adjust our zone better. It was great fun, but an entirely exhausting weekend since we didn't have as many people on our teams.
The Thursday following MoThrow was Juggles's birthday. Of course, we have frisbee on Thursday nights, so I arranged a nice, quiet evening at The Arena with him and about 40 of our friends for karaoke, nachos, beer, and the destruction of Juggles via alcohol. Sparing too many details, Juggles had an amazing night -- shots, an AMAZING rendition of "Loveshack" that he performed with Amish, more shots, and... well, too many shots. Poor kid had a pretty rough night and a horribly rough Friday.
This brings us to August, and our last tournament, The Rock, in Rockford, IL. Stew and Vic picked us up on Friday at 530. Juggles slept the entire way to Rockford (6 hrs!). Saturday morning, he shook off his hangover, and played some amazing ultimate. Hybrid played okay on Saturday. I think we went 2-2, but there was one game we definitely could have had if we would have made better decisions. Sunday was a little more rough, and very frustrating for most. This tournament made me realize that our team has incredible potential, but may never realize it because we just do stupid things. If we can clean up our game, we have a definite shot at making it pretty far in the club series this fall. But we've got a ways to go. I won't go into specifics, but I'm just going to say that I was pretty much forgotten about during our last game, which is highly amusing because when I was on the line, I never once let the girl I guarded score on me even if she was the fastest girl on the team and had an iso called on her in the endzone. Let me say, my car had a few words to say on our journey home, based on line calling, strategy, and decision-making. It was a trip. We got home at 2 am and were worn out.
That brings us to this weekend... We had Hybrid practice in Detroit this morning in the pouring rain and it was great fun. Tomorrow we have practice again. Then, next weekend we're headed to Milwaukee for Cooler Classic. That's been my summer thus far!
Summer is already drawing to a close. I've been working for Rick doing some epigenetics stuff in lab again this summer, and spending my freetime playing ultimate. Juggles and I are captaining a league team together on Tuesday nights, and I signed up to play the Thursday night league with my fellow Minnesotan and lab buddy, Lisa. On top of that, I'm playing for a coed team called Hybrid.
Due to frisbee, I've gotten to do some traveling. I started the summer with a trip to Gender Blender in Ontario with a bunch of Ann Arborites. Blender is a pretty crazy tournament, marked by a night of partying in costumes, where each team is required to provide games and shots for everyone else. It's basically a huge carnival for 21+ ultimate players in various costumes.
Geoff and I partying at Blender
Ann Arborites after Gender Blender
A few weeks later, Juggles and I took off for Grand Rapids to visit his family and celebrate Father's Day on the boat on Lake Michigan, then followed that up with a trip to South Bend to play a tournament with Hybrid called Down with the Clown. We came in 2nd, after a loss to Abusement Park on universe point.
Hybrid after playing Down with the Clown
A few days after South Bend, Juggles and I took off for Seattle to play one of the biggest tournaments ever, Potlatch, with a bunch of my Minnesota buddies. Adro was a superstar to throw that all together. It started off with flight issues. After standing in line at the airport for over an hour waiting to check in, they closed the flight and gave our seats away 3 minutes before we arrived at the kiosk to check in. We managed to run to the gate and get on the flight in the exit row right before they closed the door to the plane. Of course, this meant that we didn't have our luggage upon arrival in Seattle, so we took off for Pike's Place and had some amazing salmon, mini-donuts, and dried strawberries, and did some shopping before returning to the airport to get our luggage.
It was a super hot weekend in Seattle, far more hot and humid than usual in Seattle. The tournament is a 3-day tournament, and highs were around 90 with an insane humidity level. And, of course, we were wearing black jerseys. But, we found ways to keep cool that included, but are not limited to: getting our jerseys wet in the water fountains before games, and playing underwear points.
Seattle through a Sculpture
Alicia and Juggles, sweaty during tournament play
Little Girl in Sumo Suit (because she was cute)
After playing Potlatch, we took off for San Francisco, where we rented a car to drive to San Luis Obispo to visit on of Juggles's closest friends (and former roommates), Bill, and his girlfriend Tamera. They moved from Ann Arbor last summer because Tamera wanted to be closer to her family. The climate in SLO is perfect -- about 80 and sunny every day of the year. At night, the fog filters in from the ocean through the mountains (there's a range of 7 old volcanoes that funnel the fog into SLO). We did some hiking up Bishop's Peak and some wine tasting at the local vineyards. Of course we ate at In-N-Out Burger and it was very delicious. Even I, the pseudo-vegetarian, had a big meaty cheeseburger. It was a phenomenal vacation, and very necessary to break up the summer a bit. Unfortunately, I managed to catch a cold from one of the flights and was pretty full of snot for the entire time we were at Bill's. But, we took it easy and relaxed in California style, so it was still a great vacation.
They make their fries from potatoes right in front of your eyes!
Juggles enjoying his burger
Climbing to the top of Bishop's Peak
I'm the queen of the world
Bill and Juggles at one of the vineyards
Bill and Juggles sauntering back to the car
The day we arrived back from our vacation, my favorite birthday buddy, Melissa, was in town to take her nursing boards. (She passed with flying colors!) This meant a night of debauchery in her honor, and a weekend of low key hanging out after that (she stays on our couch when she's in town, so it's like having another roommate, especially because she now has a key and her own bathroom). We started out Friday night at Dominick's and moved to Habana when they closed. Somehow Habana turned pretty insane -- people were buying rounds of shots for everyone (there were 15 of us or so?), so I probably managed to have about 5 shots and 2 beers in the couple hours we were there. I woke up Saturday morning hangover-free though. That's why I love shots and having a high metabolism! Saturday was a lazy day filled with breakfast with Jugs, Melissa, and Eric, then the start of the Harry Potter marathon, and culminated with a trip to Olive Garden with Grant and Zeke.
Will, Dana, Josh, Geoff, and Melissa at Habana
Grant and Melissa
Juggles and Alicia
The next weekend, we headed to Chicago to play Sandblast, a really fun tournament on the beach of Lake Michigan. My favorite Cuspian Twin (she was born 12 hours before me, and we're both on the Taurus/Gemini cusp), Kriss, came to visit us on the beach and take some pictures. We played on a team lead by a guy named Jon who was known as Juggles's twin when he was in A2 because, without his beard, he has the same build and really does look similar enough that people used to get them confused. A few other Hybrid buddies, including Sherri, Jules, and Scooter, played on this team, as well as some Toledo folks and a few other randoms. It was fun, but I ended up with a migraine on Saturday and had to miss the party because of it. On a positive note, Kablammo, Adro's Minnesota team, was there sporting white briefs and button down shirts, ala Tom Cruise in his dance scene from Risky Business. It was pretty hot.
Throwing discs
Carrying around his 6'4" frame
Kablammo in their Risky Business attire
The weekend after Sandblast was a local tournament called Motown Throwdown in Hartland, MI, about 30 mins north of A2. Hybrid decided to split into two teams, offensive and defensive lines, for the tournament to practice some new stuff, and also since their wasn't heavy competition. I played on the defensive line, and had some okay scores and such. We worked our clam de a bit, and played around to adjust our zone better. It was great fun, but an entirely exhausting weekend since we didn't have as many people on our teams.
The Thursday following MoThrow was Juggles's birthday. Of course, we have frisbee on Thursday nights, so I arranged a nice, quiet evening at The Arena with him and about 40 of our friends for karaoke, nachos, beer, and the destruction of Juggles via alcohol. Sparing too many details, Juggles had an amazing night -- shots, an AMAZING rendition of "Loveshack" that he performed with Amish, more shots, and... well, too many shots. Poor kid had a pretty rough night and a horribly rough Friday.
This brings us to August, and our last tournament, The Rock, in Rockford, IL. Stew and Vic picked us up on Friday at 530. Juggles slept the entire way to Rockford (6 hrs!). Saturday morning, he shook off his hangover, and played some amazing ultimate. Hybrid played okay on Saturday. I think we went 2-2, but there was one game we definitely could have had if we would have made better decisions. Sunday was a little more rough, and very frustrating for most. This tournament made me realize that our team has incredible potential, but may never realize it because we just do stupid things. If we can clean up our game, we have a definite shot at making it pretty far in the club series this fall. But we've got a ways to go. I won't go into specifics, but I'm just going to say that I was pretty much forgotten about during our last game, which is highly amusing because when I was on the line, I never once let the girl I guarded score on me even if she was the fastest girl on the team and had an iso called on her in the endzone. Let me say, my car had a few words to say on our journey home, based on line calling, strategy, and decision-making. It was a trip. We got home at 2 am and were worn out.
That brings us to this weekend... We had Hybrid practice in Detroit this morning in the pouring rain and it was great fun. Tomorrow we have practice again. Then, next weekend we're headed to Milwaukee for Cooler Classic. That's been my summer thus far!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Those flashing lights come from everywhere
I have a crush on this girl's awesomeness:
She's played with Tegan & Sara, Foo Fighters, etc. And, in 2006, was named a "Guitar God" by Rolling Stone, being the first female to ever make this list. Also, she's not even 30.
:-)
She's played with Tegan & Sara, Foo Fighters, etc. And, in 2006, was named a "Guitar God" by Rolling Stone, being the first female to ever make this list. Also, she's not even 30.
:-)
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Winter Semester, 2009.
- EPID 516, Genetics in Public Health - take-home final exam due: 4/29
- EPID 543, Virus Diseases - in-class final exam: 4/28
- EPID 565, HME Capstone - Done!
- EPID 582, Molecular Epidemiology - Done!
- EPID 609, Vaccines in Public Health - Done!
- EPID 631, Topics in Cancer Epidemiology - Done!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
When Autumn comes, it doesn't ask / It just walks in where it left you last
.
& I've been imagining myself 1000 miles away
in a million different places since the day I was born.
What makes you think I'll find reality any time soon?
.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Public health joke, as told by Shama:
Ha. Ha. Ha.
So this Bangladeshi woman married this man whom she had known for quite some time. However, being that they were good, pious people, they hadn't been exposed to each other's bodies at all until their wedding night.
On their wedding night, the man began to undress. The woman noticed a horrible looking mark on his elbow and asked what it was.
"Oh, that! That's left over from my elbolio. I've had it since I was a child."
"Don't you mean 'polio,'" the woman responded?
"No, no... elbolio!" the husband replied.
He continued undressing and the woman noticed an ugly rash on his legs.
"Oh my! Your legs! What's wrong?" the woman exclaimed!
"Oh, my wife. No worries. That is from my kneesles. It is not contagious anymore."
The woman responded, "Wait, do you mean 'measles?'"
Her husband replied, "No... I'm sure it's kneesles!"
So, the man kept undressing.
As he removed his underwear the woman's eyes grew large.
"... Don't tell me," she said. "Small cocks?"
Ha. Ha. Ha.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
PUMA Women's v-Konstrukt II Gci FG - White/Black Firm Ground Soccer Shoes
New cleats. Backordered.
I love my Diadora's but they're wearing out really fast. So, I'm trying some Pumas as I work my way through the list of cleat-makers in the quest to find the perfect cleat. So far, nothing beats my old Adidas that I had about 5 years ago -- so comfortable and long lasting... But Adidas these days just doesn't fit right.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
All Things Left Before Graduation
4/16 - Vaccines Exam
4/16 - A2 Ultimate
4/16 - Rock Band Night @ Windemere
4/17 - Art and Wine with Lisa
4/19 - Hybrid Workout
4/19 - A2 Ultimate
4/20 - Virus HW 5
4/20 - Dinner at Melissa's
4/23 - Nichole's Defense
4/23 - A2 Ultimate
4/21 - MDR-TB Group Presentation
4/24 - MDR-TB Group Paper
4/24 - SPH Friends at Dominick's
4/25 - Compagnie Marie Chouinard @ Power Center
4/26 - Hybrid Workout?
4/26 - A2 Ultimate
4/28 - Virus Exam
4/28 - PARENTS ARRIVE!
4/29 - Genetics Take-Home Exam Due
4/29 - Indoor Ultimate?
4/30 - GRADUATION
4/16 - Vaccines Exam
4/16 - A2 Ultimate
4/16 - Rock Band Night @ Windemere
4/17 - Art and Wine with Lisa
4/19 - Hybrid Workout
4/19 - A2 Ultimate
4/20 - Virus HW 5
4/20 - Dinner at Melissa's
4/23 - Nichole's Defense
4/23 - A2 Ultimate
4/21 - MDR-TB Group Presentation
4/24 - MDR-TB Group Paper
4/24 - SPH Friends at Dominick's
4/25 - Compagnie Marie Chouinard @ Power Center
4/26 - Hybrid Workout?
4/26 - A2 Ultimate
4/28 - Virus Exam
4/28 - PARENTS ARRIVE!
4/29 - Genetics Take-Home Exam Due
4/29 - Indoor Ultimate?
4/30 - GRADUATION
It's the final countdown
Assignments and Due Dates Until I Graduate:
4/16 - Vaccines Exam
4/20 - Virus HW 5
4/21 - MDR-TB Group Presentation
4/24 - MDR-TB Group Paper
4/28 - Virus Exam
4/29 - Genetics Take-Home Exam Due
4/30 - GRADUATION
4/16 - Vaccines Exam
4/20 - Virus HW 5
4/21 - MDR-TB Group Presentation
4/24 - MDR-TB Group Paper
4/28 - Virus Exam
4/29 - Genetics Take-Home Exam Due
4/30 - GRADUATION
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
You may not realize this, but I'm one of the least patient people ever. Maybe lab is teaching me some patience... Lord knows, you have to wait a long time for some of this stuff to turn out correctly!
Also, just to throw a random fact out there: they stock the presidential Cadillac with bags of the president's blood type. Obama is AB.
Also, just to throw a random fact out there: they stock the presidential Cadillac with bags of the president's blood type. Obama is AB.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Everyday is a winding road, I get a little bit closer...
This post is dedicated to my friend and 6th floor lab buddy Jared.
I haven't updated in ages. It's true. I'm a bad, bad blogger.
I've been incredibly busy with school, mostly. I just recently finished my capstone presentation on my summer research on DNA methylation and lead levels. I also just got published. Yes, I'm just one of a long list of coauthors, but it's still pretty neat. You can read it here if you're interested: Influence of Prenatal Lead Exposure on Genomic Methylation of Cord Blood DNA
I'm working my way through my last semester of my MPH. Allison told me our countdown is something like 38 days. I don't know if that's just weekdays, or if that counts weekends. Nonetheless, I graduate on April 30. Mostly, I'm really looking forward to seeing my parents for a few days. I'm sorta hoping to get home for Easter, but I'm not sure if that'll happen.
On a positive note, it's springtime in Ann Arbor! This means warmer weather, no snow, and the opening of Dominick's. I made sure to have some sangria last week in celebration of a) springtime, and b) being done with my capstone presentation at Dominick's last Thursday and hope to visit it many more times before the ending of school. It's sometimes tough to keep academically on track right now as most people have just checked out.
Last week, Diana and I did some homework together at Espresso Royale on State. We left as ER was closing around 11:30 and just happened to walk by Ashley's on the way out. I joked that we should stop for a beer, and Diana proceeded to pull me through the doorway. I enjoyed my Stella Artois, while she despised her Michigan micro beer tour. Apparently Michigan beers aren't always the way to go, as one tasted like cough syrup. No joke. It was nast.
Just to prove my flighty nature, I will now discuss things that will happen in May and beyond. Juggles just forwarded me a note from Deb about going to a tournament in Destin, FL in the middle of May, so I might go down to play Surf 'n' Turf if I can afford the plane ticket. After that, I'm hoping to make it to Gender Blender in Toronto, assuming an Ann Arbor team gets formed, and I was asked to play Poultry Days in Ohio with a friend's team later in June. And I'm heading to Seattle in July to play Potlatch with my friend Adro's Minnesota team.
Other planned trips include going to visit my cousin Lisa in DC at the beginning of June, and hopefully a trip home at some point in time sooner than later. I have been a little homesick lately. I realized that Winter Break didn't leave me with the feeling of home, since I had to share my experiences by spending most of my time with Juggles and Dean. Not like I don't love them both dearly, but I wanted some alone time with my parents and friends, I think. I'm such an only child! Basically, what I'm saying is that I need to get home for some chill time!
Tonight is SPH prom. If I would have planned earlier, I would have gone to the Salvation Army to purchase some '80s formal with big poofy sleeves and hit up the dance like that. Instead, I'm wearing some slinky black dress that I've only worn on a few occasions. I'm going this year, which is one step better than last year. And I'm looking forward to it, because it means spending time with Kristin, Emily, Catherine, Kraigor, Sach-meister, and Krish, as well as others. Mostly, it's unlimited booze until midnight, with snacks to top it off. So, it's probably worth the $35 ticket.
Anywho, this will conclude this edition of blogging. It was boring, I know. I'm sorry to make you suffer through it without adding any funny antics or adventures. There will be a next time, though, and I promise it will be less spaced out than last!
I haven't updated in ages. It's true. I'm a bad, bad blogger.
I've been incredibly busy with school, mostly. I just recently finished my capstone presentation on my summer research on DNA methylation and lead levels. I also just got published. Yes, I'm just one of a long list of coauthors, but it's still pretty neat. You can read it here if you're interested: Influence of Prenatal Lead Exposure on Genomic Methylation of Cord Blood DNA
I'm working my way through my last semester of my MPH. Allison told me our countdown is something like 38 days. I don't know if that's just weekdays, or if that counts weekends. Nonetheless, I graduate on April 30. Mostly, I'm really looking forward to seeing my parents for a few days. I'm sorta hoping to get home for Easter, but I'm not sure if that'll happen.
On a positive note, it's springtime in Ann Arbor! This means warmer weather, no snow, and the opening of Dominick's. I made sure to have some sangria last week in celebration of a) springtime, and b) being done with my capstone presentation at Dominick's last Thursday and hope to visit it many more times before the ending of school. It's sometimes tough to keep academically on track right now as most people have just checked out.
Last week, Diana and I did some homework together at Espresso Royale on State. We left as ER was closing around 11:30 and just happened to walk by Ashley's on the way out. I joked that we should stop for a beer, and Diana proceeded to pull me through the doorway. I enjoyed my Stella Artois, while she despised her Michigan micro beer tour. Apparently Michigan beers aren't always the way to go, as one tasted like cough syrup. No joke. It was nast.
Just to prove my flighty nature, I will now discuss things that will happen in May and beyond. Juggles just forwarded me a note from Deb about going to a tournament in Destin, FL in the middle of May, so I might go down to play Surf 'n' Turf if I can afford the plane ticket. After that, I'm hoping to make it to Gender Blender in Toronto, assuming an Ann Arbor team gets formed, and I was asked to play Poultry Days in Ohio with a friend's team later in June. And I'm heading to Seattle in July to play Potlatch with my friend Adro's Minnesota team.
Other planned trips include going to visit my cousin Lisa in DC at the beginning of June, and hopefully a trip home at some point in time sooner than later. I have been a little homesick lately. I realized that Winter Break didn't leave me with the feeling of home, since I had to share my experiences by spending most of my time with Juggles and Dean. Not like I don't love them both dearly, but I wanted some alone time with my parents and friends, I think. I'm such an only child! Basically, what I'm saying is that I need to get home for some chill time!
Tonight is SPH prom. If I would have planned earlier, I would have gone to the Salvation Army to purchase some '80s formal with big poofy sleeves and hit up the dance like that. Instead, I'm wearing some slinky black dress that I've only worn on a few occasions. I'm going this year, which is one step better than last year. And I'm looking forward to it, because it means spending time with Kristin, Emily, Catherine, Kraigor, Sach-meister, and Krish, as well as others. Mostly, it's unlimited booze until midnight, with snacks to top it off. So, it's probably worth the $35 ticket.
Anywho, this will conclude this edition of blogging. It was boring, I know. I'm sorry to make you suffer through it without adding any funny antics or adventures. There will be a next time, though, and I promise it will be less spaced out than last!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Things overheard while studying at Duderstadt Center late on a Tuesday night:
Also amusing: leaving Duderstadt tonight, I saw an undergrad wearing shorts. At 1 a.m. It's above freezing, sure, but barely. Put on some pants!
Ah, undergraduates.....
I thought "lemma" was a name of, like, some dude who figured this out.
Also amusing: leaving Duderstadt tonight, I saw an undergrad wearing shorts. At 1 a.m. It's above freezing, sure, but barely. Put on some pants!
Ah, undergraduates.....
Saturday, February 7, 2009
People of the world today, are we looking for a better way of life
One thing I find at least slightly amusing is the fact that Ann Arbor's population is 114,024, yet there are 120,895 people registered in the Ann Arbor, MI network on Facebook. College town!
Monday, January 19, 2009
this is the definition of my life, lying in bed in the sunlight
Summary of my life as it stands...
The semester is underway like whoa. It took me about three seconds of one class to realize that it's not going to be an easy one. It's Week 2 of school and I have four homework assignments and a bunch of reading due. Today, when I wasn't in class, I was in meetings concerning the direction of our laboratory stuff.
I'm taking the following classes: Virus Diseases, Molecular Epidemiology, Vaccines in Public Health, Genomics in Public Health, Geographic Information Systems, my Capstone Project course, and a Cancer Prevention Symposium. Molecular Epid is, by far, the most demanding course I'm taking, with homework due every class period, on top of a bunch of reading and a very large group project coming up. We will see how the other ones treat me. The Cancer Prevention course is probably the most interesting so far, though it only meets once a week. However, our last lecture was on lead toxicity, which wasn't really related to cancer but was still shown to be a huge problem, especially in the developing world.
Winter League ultimate starts up this Friday and runs for a couple of months, and my friends and I are trying to get together every so often because we've all been so busy this year and want to see each other as much as possible before we all ship out of here. So, that's the fun stuff going on.
As for fun-work stuff, there's plenty! I've got my name on my first publication that's due to be published in Environmental Health Perspectives sometime within the next couple of months. Also, we're working on a second publication that will be submitted to Science shortly. We're also hoping to get a couple more projects underway, so it's possible that I may have my name on a third. Lab is pretty great, and is going to keep me busy for the next few months!
I feel this post is all-business, so maybe I should skip to some fun stuff. Here's a picture of me devouring a gingerbread man at my favorite St. Paul bakery, Jerabek's, over winter break.
And, well, how about that new president that's being inaugurated tomorrow?!?!?!?! :)
The semester is underway like whoa. It took me about three seconds of one class to realize that it's not going to be an easy one. It's Week 2 of school and I have four homework assignments and a bunch of reading due. Today, when I wasn't in class, I was in meetings concerning the direction of our laboratory stuff.
I'm taking the following classes: Virus Diseases, Molecular Epidemiology, Vaccines in Public Health, Genomics in Public Health, Geographic Information Systems, my Capstone Project course, and a Cancer Prevention Symposium. Molecular Epid is, by far, the most demanding course I'm taking, with homework due every class period, on top of a bunch of reading and a very large group project coming up. We will see how the other ones treat me. The Cancer Prevention course is probably the most interesting so far, though it only meets once a week. However, our last lecture was on lead toxicity, which wasn't really related to cancer but was still shown to be a huge problem, especially in the developing world.
Winter League ultimate starts up this Friday and runs for a couple of months, and my friends and I are trying to get together every so often because we've all been so busy this year and want to see each other as much as possible before we all ship out of here. So, that's the fun stuff going on.
As for fun-work stuff, there's plenty! I've got my name on my first publication that's due to be published in Environmental Health Perspectives sometime within the next couple of months. Also, we're working on a second publication that will be submitted to Science shortly. We're also hoping to get a couple more projects underway, so it's possible that I may have my name on a third. Lab is pretty great, and is going to keep me busy for the next few months!
I feel this post is all-business, so maybe I should skip to some fun stuff. Here's a picture of me devouring a gingerbread man at my favorite St. Paul bakery, Jerabek's, over winter break.
And, well, how about that new president that's being inaugurated tomorrow?!?!?!?! :)
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
And I welcome you to Detroit City; I said welcome to Detroit City
Today, I found myself defending Michigan in a conversation. I realized that just because I love Minnesota, doesn't mean I can't have pride in my current state of residence.
Detroit.
A picture's worth a thousand words.
A picture's worth a thousand words.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Here I am; rocked you like a hurricane.
My band, Novia, totally rocked out the venues. I have completed my Medium-Level Guitar Hero Tour (in Guitar Hero 1), and have completed 4 songs on "Hard" and 2 on "Expert." I know. I am pretty spectacular.
I am only a Medium Guitar Hero. Soon enough, I will be a full Guitar Hero. And, yes, I sign autographs.
I am only a Medium Guitar Hero. Soon enough, I will be a full Guitar Hero. And, yes, I sign autographs.
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