Not gonna get you a diamond ring / That sorta gift don't mean anything. / Not gonna get you a fancy car / Girl, ya' gotta know you're my shining star

A kitty's favorite part of Christmas is always the leftover boxes.

I had gotten Juggles some Sorel boots to keep his feet warm, and the box was sitting on the couch. Annabelle had made a home in it while we were watching some TV last night. This morning, I was messing around on my computer when I heard a rustling coming from the living room. I walked over to find that AB had knocked the box onto the floor and made a little fort from it. She even has a new kitty toy dragged inside of it.


Kitty in a box.

I don't want a lot for Christmas, there's just one thing I need / I don't care about the presents underneath the Christmas tree . . .

The holiday season is a time of love, of compassion, of vibrant songs of mangers and trees. Because 'tis the season, I've decided to make a list of things I've learned to love since my arrival in Michigan.

1. Journey. Journey may not hail from the great state of Michigan, but they sure won Detroit's heart with their 1981 hit, "Don't Stop Believin'." Here's the cast of Glee performing the song:
   
   
2. Cherries. I never used to like cherries, mostly because of their pits. I guess I thought I was going to eat it and a cherry tree would grow in my tummy. You know, little kid things like that. But, I learned that I actually do love cherries. And Traverse City, Michigan is home of the National Cherry Festival, along with all of northwest Michigan being home to an abundance of cherries. Apparently Michigan grows 75% of the nation's tart cherries. Neat. There are cherry wines, vodkas, jams, etc. to be had here in Michigan. And it's fantastic!
   
   
3. Microbrews. Michigan has about a thousand-million-gazillion microbrews that are just amazing. Before I moved here, I actually didn't drink beer at all. A summer of club ultimate changed that, and now I'm a flip-cup master, and I've learned to appreciate some of the fine beers as well. Some of my favorites include:
   
   • Jolly Pumpkin's Bam Bier, hailing from the nearby town of Dexter
   • Bell's Oberon from K-zoo
   • Dark Horse Raspberry Ale, out of Marshall, MI
   • MBC's Screaming Pumpkin Spiced Ale, located near Lansing
   
   There are a lot more great microbreweries around the state, which all put out some interesting and tasty beers.
   
4. Michigan Football. Well, the team hasn't exactly been great under RichRod. In fact, it's been sometimes painful to watch over the last few years. But the experience of being at The Big House with 100,000+ fans cheering wildly is absolutely incredible! Unless you went to undergrad at State or OSU, once you get to school here at the U of M, you learn quickly to be a fan of the maize and blue. The Twin Cities is a lot more about professional sports, but here in Ann Arbor, the fans are more likely to tune in on a Saturday than a Sunday to football. So, I don my Michigan gear and go out to a bar, friend's house, or even to the stadium, and I cheer for the home team.
   
   
5. Frisbee! Now, I've played frisbee for a long time, but I hadn't really played competitively except a year way back in college, until I got here to Michigan. I joined a club team the first summer I was here, and, since then, I've been filling my summers with tournaments and traveling and practices and frisbee friends. I've even become semi-active in helping to organize our local league here. Along with the love of the game, I've definitely fallen in love with my friends on teams and throughout league, as they've become a family to me.
   
   
6. Juggles. I save the best for last. My move to Michigan has made me love many things, but the one I love the most is my fantastic boyfriend, Juggles. We've had a few years of bliss together now, with many adventures including getting a kitty, vacations around the USA and Caribbean, buying a house, and even just making dinner together (it can be an adventure!). He's truly an amazing man who teaches me new things constantly and always puts a smile on my face. I love the life we've built, and the direction we're traveling together. And every day, I am thankful to have him as a best friend and partner.
   

Happy Holidays!

I get a little warm in my heart when I think of winter / I put my hand in my father's glove / I run off where the drifts get deeper

This neighborhood is a wonderful place in which to live, and our house really feels like home now.

Last weekend, we finally hung up all of our artwork around the house. This makes everything so much warmer. We also installed a new light fixture in the kitchen and did some other random tasks that make the house more "ours." This prepared us to host our first party, a holiday potluck, which went exceptionally well.

I wish I had pictures of Melissa and I prepping our turkey, Kirby, for the feast. But, two and a half bottles of wine makes us far too silly and forgetful to remember things like photographic evidence of our awesomeness. Anyhow, we brined Kirby on Friday night, as well as made and iced a bunch of sugar cookies, and also spent plenty of time being silly. Saturday morning, we stuffed Kirby in the oven and waited.

Folks came over later in the afternoon, sharing tasty dishes such as Frances' ricotta torte, Dean's amazing jambalaya, and Brett's pumpkin-chocolate cheesecake. Many hours, and some nearly innumerate amount of calories later, and we called it a successful party.

Overnight, a few inches of snow fell, meaning we had to shovel the way out of the driveway (which took a trip to Home Depot in order to buy shovels). I made a snow angel to celebrate the first real snow of the year.

And then we met our neighbor, Dale. He's the real reason for this post (since I don't have silly pictures from our party).

We saw him from a distance -- brown jacket, his face entirely masked by cold-weather gear, and a shining bright red snow-blower. He began across the street and a few driveways down and slowly made his way closer and closer to us. As I shoveled, I wondered who this masked stranger was. Would he come rescue us from the peril of the cold? And, like a knight with shiny snowblower, he did. He came to introduce himself as we were maybe half-finished with the driveway and explained that he and one of the other neighbors just always took care of it.

Chivalry may be close to dead in my own generation, but, in his, it's alive and well, and it shows in the brotherhood of this neighborhood. Whether it's a couple of old guys taking the time to plow their neighbors out of their driveways, or the way people take the time to stop and talk to each other when they see a neighbor out doing yardwork, this neighborhood is filled with hearts of gold, willingness to lend a hand, and a real neighborly feeling.

Juggles and I really do love it here. Though this may not be our home forever, it's certainly a place we'll always design our ideals for our future around, and a place where we'll build and learn together.

Goodbye Ruby Tuesday, who could hang a name on you?

Since I needed some documentation about a software program we're using, I decided to make an account with Illumina, Inc. in order to access certain areas of their website (i.e. product downloads, weeee). All was going fine and dandy until I had to do the security validation part...



What is that second word? Is it someone clawing at a wall in a horror film? Is it some sort of ancient script I've never seen? Is it merely a bunch of i's and l's?

What's worse is that I clicked on the audio button to try the security validation that way and it gave me the instructions to type out the words I heard spoken. Then it proceeded to have about 4 people mumbling at the same time with no actual words audible!

Worst security validation system ever! I finally reloaded the text one and got some real words, but, srsly!

Stormy weather, just can't get my poor old self together

It seems I haven't lived in Ann Arbor long enough to remember its seasonal intricacies when they arise. Late autumn is really foggy. Almost every day there is some sort of visibility warning. Of course, this dismal fogginess is quite eerie and beautiful in the morning, but it leads to a long, dark winter where the sun doesn't show its face frequently enough and the whole world is dreary and sad.

The other morning was the beginning. I awoke to look out on a blanket of white through the three dimensional space of my backyard. Without my glasses on, I proclaimed, "Juggles, it's snowing!" He laughed and said it was just fog. Oh yes, this fog stuff we get.

'Tis the season.


Unrelated, there's a Haydn symphony nicknamed "The Palindrome" (Symphony No. 47 in G major Hob. I:47) due to its third movement wherein the second part of each the Minuet and the Trio is the same as the first, but backward. I heard this on the radio today and liked the concept of this done in music.



... and back to your regularly scheduled programming...

One of my best ladies, Miss Lindsay Juntunen, and her nifty fella', Chad Lajiness, are going to get hitched. Congratulations on your engagement, friends!

Life

Many of you may wonder what it's like to be in a PhD program. I feel my life is pretty typical to that of my chemistry, physics, and engineering PhD friends, except they spend more of their lives sitting around a lab and can't actually leave at a normal time.

Day-to-day life as a PhD student goes like this for me:

• Get up when I want, as long as I can make it into school before whatever morning meeting I may have (which range from 10 am to 11 am start times).
  
• Drive to parking lot. Take bus to SPH.
  
• Walk up to 4th floor.
  
• Never ever EVER leave cubicle unless it is to go to conference room or chair's office for meeting.
  
• Never ever have any idea what else happens on any other floor of this school, nor see new faces of MPH students.
  
• Have lots of meetings in small or large groups
  
• Occasionally go out for lunch.
  
• Spend lots of time reading articles and trying to write and figuring what direction my dissertation will go in
  
• Bus to parking lot. Drive home/to frisbee fields/wherever I have something after school.
  

I bet you're all jealous!

XO,
A

Summary-time, and the living is easy

Well, it's been a whole month since that deer fiasco, but I still think of that poor baby deer getting mauled by a car every time I drive up Huron Parkway and am saddened. That aside, life is pretty fantastic -- mostly filled with frisbee and epigenetics.

The month of August was a blur. There was Cooler Classic where I played with The Alliance; Juggles and Lucas also played with us which was awesome because those are two ultimate players whose sweet disc moves I know back and forth. The weekend after Cooler was Treetown Donut Crown, put on by Pat Reed in Ann Arbor. My random pickup team was freaking sweet and managed to edge out the other random Spoiler/Alliance team just barely to take the crown.

My parents also came to town in August and helped to clean up the gardens and yard a bit. We did a lot of work, and my yard started looking a lot better. We still have a lot of work to do, but it was a big help to have them out.

Later in August, Melissa, Lee, Ed Dupas and I took a spur of the moment trip down to Cedar Point and spent the day riding roller coasters and eating fatty foods. I honestly don't think I've screamed and giggled like that since I was a kid. Man, roller coasters are AWEsome!

Last weekend was Chicago Heavyweights, where Melissa and I played women's ultimate for the first time in a long time. We picked up with the Surly Women from my home state of Minnesota. Those ladies sure were a TON of fun, and drinking a big can of cold Surly beer after a long day of ultimate feels absolutely incredible! We broke seed, and Melissa and I even managed to learn everyone's names by the end of the weekend.

Somewhere in there, we got a facecord and a half of wood delivered to our house. (Turns out, that's a whole lot of wood!) Now we can make fires in our fireplace OR our brand new firebowl on the patio. Also, Jason and Angela finally tied the knot at an awesome Italian catholic wedding, which had really delicious food and this weird DJ who would lip sync to every song.

I also finally figured out sort of what I might want to do for my dissertation, which is a huge step forward. But, now it's just a matter of actually getting it done. When I presented the idea to my adviser, she seemed to think it was going to take me a really long time. And, honestly, there's a lot involved in it, so it probably will.... So, work is filled with writing papers and researching, which is great because I didn't really feel like I had direction over the summer so I didn't get as much done as I would have liked. But now I at least have a path, whether or not it's paved in cement or I have to follow breadcrumbs to find my way....

This weekend will be filled with a visit from the legend: Allan Evans, who has been off exploring the world and helping people near and far. Also, there are plans to go to Frankenmuth, "Michigan's Little Bavaria," for the world's largest Christmas store and a whole lot of beer at Oktoberfest.

Lastly, I just signed up for Door-To-Door Organics, so now I will have organic produce delivered to my home on a biweekly schedule. This is my new favorite business idea, especially because it's really affordable and they give you a ton of produce. This winter is going to be filled with fresh, delicious fruits and veggies!

So that's it. A summary of the last month of my life. It was boring to read, and much more exciting to live. But, I felt I owed this blog a little bit of time.

Deer, I fear, we're facing a problem....

It's 10:39 a.m. and already today has been... filled with unexpected events.

It was a typical morning. I awoke, drank some coffee, and slowly got ready for school. It's a dreary morning. The drizzle started as I pulled out of my garage. Traffic was flowing as I journeyed up busy Carpenter Rd to the more scenic Hogback Rd.

I took a left onto Huron River Drive, which is a very narrow, shoulder-less 2-lane winding road, with trees and marshland on either side of it as it carves its way through the river valley. The speed limit is 35 mph, and no passing is allowed. But, apparently these laws don't apply to large SUVs. The guy behind me pulled out alongside me to pass me. He was going probably close to 50. He narrowly made it back into the lane before getting hit by an oncoming car that he didn't see because THERE'S NO FREAKING PASSING ON A TINY WINDING ROAD!

So, that was interesting. I called Juggles to report the idiocy of certain SUV drivers, and continued my drive, turning right onto Huron Parkway, a faster 4-lane divided road. As I was approaching my Michigan left to get to my parking lot, a baby deer pranced out in front of me. I exclaimed to J, "Wow, that was close!" and marveled at his cuteness, all the while thinking that 10 am is a strange time for a deer to be prancing across roads.

I looked back in my rear view mirror just in time to see him get torn to bits by another vehicle. I burst out crying, of course... He was just a baby. I watched him as he slammed up on the car's hood and almost lost a leg in the ordeal. The best I can hope is that he died instantly and didn't suffer.

It was horrible. Absolutely horrible. Poor baby deer. :(

As I pulled into my parking spot, bawling, I kept wondering what I should do for the baby deer. Should I go back and see if it's still alive and try to help it? Of course, reality hit and I realize there was very little chance the little creature could have sustained injuries of that nature and lived. What should I do...?

I called my mom, knowing that she'd be able to provide me with compassionate words in this situation. She reminded me that though this is a sad, sad situation, we should take this moment (and every one) to celebrate life, to smile upon it, and to be compassionate to those around us.

So today is for you, little baby deer. Your death was brutal and your life short, but I will do what I can to commemorate your little prancing spirit on this cloudy and dismal day.

If I gave you diamonds and pearls / would you be a happy boy or a girl

When 1.5 shelves in your fridge are filled with beer, you know:

1. You have great friends (though maybe the quality of your friendship is equivalent to the quality of beer they bring you?)
   
2. The obvious logical choice for a dinner beverage is likely a Magic Hat Wacko.
   
3. You need to invite people over more frequently so you have room for things like eggs and milk...
   

Also, I apologize to Dawn and everyone else who have asked me for pictures of the new house. It's still horribly a mess since I haven't had a weekend to actually work on organizing things (and I won't have a weekend at home until August sometime!). So... I promise, there will be photos someday.

Finally, I'm going to submit a bid to a tournament that my friend Pat is putting on called Treetown Donut Crown. Here are team names I've come up with so far:

1. Deep Fried Toroid
   
2. D'oh...NUTS
   
3. The Magic is in the Hole
   
4. Shut Your Donut Hole
   
5. The Donut and Sausage Situation
   
6. Donut Burger
   
7. Donut Genie Mark VI (that's the name of the mini-doughnut machine at the best mini-doughnut place ever in Pike's Place)
   

Thoughts?

Hi-diddly-ho, Neighborinos!

And neighborinos you might be! See, Juggles and I just bought a house. We closed on Thursday and moved in Friday. It's been an absolutely insane weekend and we are still swimming in boxes, wondering where some of our everyday items, like vitamins and shampoo, might be. But, we're unpacking slowly but surely.

The house is great -- really adorable with a cool layout. I'll take pictures and post them once the mess is a little more controlled. My dad bought us a fantastic new lawnmower, which we have yet to use, and we also now own TWO ladders and a weed whacker. Fantastic!

We aim to meet our neighbors when we have the chance. On either side of us, we have original owners who bought their houses in the '50s when they were built. One side is this woman with an amazing beehive of a gray hairdo. I imagine she's just about the coolest lady ever. On the other side, is an older couple who seem to have a great garden. Of course, about a block away, there's a house with LITERALLY about 50 birdhouses in the yard of all shapes and colors. I am so going trick-or-treating there just to meet whoever lives there.

So, busy weekend... We're settling in slowly, but managed to make it through a tough and sleepless weekend of moving and cleaning. The cats are going insane around the house and we have about a bajillion projects to start upon. Juggles set up our TV last night though, so we can at least order pizza and watch some Dragonball Z.

Ahhh, home sweet home.

I should blog more!

But first, to the textbooks! BBIAB!

On my Easter Sunday, I made myself a big brunch of perfect French toast with real maple syrup and fresh strawberries. And I called my parents and boyfriend (who is on his way back here anyhow) to feel like I had family around while I was eating. I got chased around by the cats. I watched an episode of the Simpsons. I opened the windows to enjoy the spring breeze. And I plan on playing some frisbee in a couple of hours.

It's not such a bad Easter, just not a typical one from my youth. There's no ham dinner or seeing cousins or dying eggs and hunting for them. But that's what growing up does... It makes me realize how much I appreciate my loved ones every day of the year. I may not see my family frequently or even on normal holidays, but there's never a doubt that they're always in my heart.

Happy Easter.

Still Life with Fruit and Blood.

And some of that blood is no longer blood, but just little double helices of pyrimidines and purines floating in buffer. The rest is frozen in time.

A photo of the IDS Tower that I took was included in something called "Schmap," which, to my understanding, is basically a city map with pictures of landmarks.

You can see it here.

Neat.

I take everything from the inside and throw it all out

J and I went to this new Chinese place in Ypsi for lunch today. On Sundays, they apparently do dim sum until they open the buffet at 3. I can get behind some dim sum. Or so I thought.

I've always taken issue with meat served at most Chinese places. It's usually served either fried and greasy, or otherwise just doesn't seem to be very high grade meat. And, well, I have enough issue with eating meat in general, being a former vegetarian and a public health student simultaneously (I try to avoid factory-farmed meat, served predominantly corn meal and antibiotics).

So, the way this place worked is that you sit down and servers walk around with carts with different dishes on it. They stop and, if they spoke any English, they'd tell you what was on their cart and you could choose to have it or not (if they didn't speak English, you'd have to guess as to what was on their cart -- fried balls of some sort of seafood? Maybe!). This is not ideal for a picky eater like me, but I figure I'll eventually find something I can get behind.

J gets some pork-something-something. I don't eat pork. He then gets some lobster balls of some sort. Meh. Some guy comes around with these mini egg pie things, so I grab some. They're much sweeter than I'm expecting, but I eat some just because I'm unsure if I'll find anything else I'll actually eat.

A guy comes around with some chicken-rice-mushroom thing wrapped in a huge leaf of some sort. I decide to just go for it. It's chicken, right? It can't be so bad!

It's... fine... for the first few bites. Fine. Chicken mashed with rice and mushrooms. Ok.

Then I notice it.

WTF is this thing? It looks like the end of a hot dog, complete with some sort of sheath around it. I eyeball it and immediately begin feeling nauseous.

J removes it from my plate and then notices that he has one too. By this time I'm nearly gagging as I'm considering what this might be. Chicken intestines? Gizzards? What organs otherwise resemble the end of a hot dog? I'm so not down with this.

We start to joke about what anatomical part of a chicken these are. The only logical thing is chicken penis, of course. This humor does not help me regain my appetite.

Lesson of the day: don't loosen your morals just for a cheap meal. Blech. BLECH!

Nothing can catch her, nothing can touch my 409

I love seeing pictures of my parents when they were young. My mom was a fox and my dad was a handsome devil. Recently, my mom forwarded me an email from her brother that had a couple pictures of her at 18. Of course I have to share one, because she's gorgeous! And so is that little red car....

I found that amusing. That is all.

Oh Kitty, My Darling, remember that the doom will be mine if I stay

Kitties in the sink!



I peaked out of the shower when I heard some commotion. Seems Annabelle was playing with one of her toys in the sink, while Charlie sat idly by, slightly peeved. I had to run and grab the camera to capture it, though this pic doesn't quite do them justice. Now, they're running around the apartment while I attempt to get some epi reading done. Crazy kitties!


I'll leave you with a picture of Charlie that I took on my phone. He's hanging out with his best friends, Lauren the Bear and Leslie the Lesbian Sock Monkey.

Last week I wanted just to disappear / my life was dust / but now it just may be a happy new year

Goodbye those 365 days that we called 2009. And, welcome to 2010!

The last few weeks of 2009 flew by way too quickly. I spent a weekend in Grand Rapids to celebrate the holidays with Juggles's siblings and father, then followed it up with two final exams. I was done with finals on Dec 15 and then spent a short week in Minnesota with family and friends to celebrate the holidays (and my best friend's 30th birthday!). I returned to Ann Arbor on the 23rd, and left for Grand Rapids the next day to do Christmas with Juggles's mom's side of the family. I spent time in lab this week, and also caring for Juggles as he came down with a nasty fever on Tuesday. I also started to clean and organize the apartment a little better.

For Christmas, my parents got me a new phone. I opted for T-Mobile's Google phone and I do love it so far, partly because it's burgundy, but also because of the addicting games I downloaded to it. I'm obsessed with WordPops and JewelsMania as of late. I also enjoy having weather, Wikipedia, and Pandora right at my fingertips.

Another amazing Christmas present included this wonderful piece of art that my mom found at a show at the University of Minnesota. They're shipping it to me so I can get it framed here. I already have the perfect place in my apartment picked out for it. They also gave me silk prayer flags that they picked up when they were in China. They're already hung in my apartment to add color and spirit to the living room. Juggles got me silly things like a giant plush Herpes (because it looks like a sunshine so I've always loved it), and a couple of BPA-free water bottles to replace my cancer-causing water bottles I've got sitting around, etc. Sandy got me an electric tea kettle which we've been putting to great use this week.

I really enjoyed giving Juggles his presents. I was really happy with the presentation of the gifts, as well as how well they represented him. I got him some new work clothes because he doesn't have many options on days when he has to impress the bigwigs, as well as a Threadless tee that suits him. I got him a computer game he wanted, as well as an XBox game that his friend recommended. To top it off, I got him some fingerless gloves to keep his hands warm while he's on the computer. He's been wearing them NONSTOP. I also got him a graphic novel written by Terry Pratchett because I thought it sounded pretty cool, and I've enjoyed stuff by Pratchett (with his shadows of Native American culture all over his writings). I got him a couple other little things too.

I did some fun baking this week when I had time. I made some delicious enchiladas one night. Then I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies the other day, followed by a batch of pumpkin pancakes for breakfast this morning in order to use the rest of the pumpkin puree. All turned out nicely. We have dozens of cookies left to eat if anyone wants to come over!



The cats are starting to get along better. Charlie was laying on the ottoman this morning and I saw Annabelle cuddle up behind him and spoon him. They stayed like that for a good 15 minutes or so until Annabelle got restless and started chasing things. Charlie's more cuddly lately, and sweeter in general, I think.

I did get to see Diana over break very randomly. That was phenomenal. I do miss her dearly now that she's away in PA for med school, but I'm also very proud of her for being her awesome future-doctor self. Hopefully I'll get to see her again soon.

School starts soon, I think. I'm not exactly sure when. I should check into that so I can figure out what I'm actually going to take.

I've been doing some online shopping over the last couple of days. So far I've managed not to buy too much. I ordered a new backpack the other day because I couldn't NOT -- it was a Burton bag for about 1/3 it's original price including shipping. And it was cool fabric.

Other things I'm looking at buying over the next few months include: a new lightweight comforter, dinnerware, glassware, and a wine rack. I'm slowly making this cookie-cutter apartment feel more like home. The prayer flags in the living room definitely help a lot, as do the Yeti stockings hung above the fake fireplace. Maybe next summer I'll even try to plant a few herbs and things.

2010 is filled with a few good resolutions and hopefully many good revelations. Of course there's the typical "eat better" and "study harder" stuff, but I've also got some more personal soul-growth resolutions that I'm putting together.

Happy New Year. May you be true to yourself, and may your year be filled with peace and bliss.