My projects

It may not have involved any 2000 degree ovens, but I've had my own weekend art projects. Less flame, more electricity. Less crazy science pictures, more tech research and signal diagrams. I'm finally building my studio!



It's been a long time coming, but since I've finished the second draft of my book, I figured it would finally be okay for me to take up music production as a serious hobby. I spent a lot of time doing gear research (after all, picking the equipment is half the fun) and put in the order right before we went off to Derek's wedding. When we got back the front room was filled with boxes (brought in by the cat-sitters) and I had a lot of presents to open.

I've gotten the basics all set up: the audio interface, two microphones, and some software. I can do recording now, which was one of the goals I had for my studio. I'd like to try and put out some simple podcasts up here for fun. Just me and Jess talking about stuff. We'll see how it goes.

The other thing I'm planning to set up is the synthesis portion of the studio: that keyboard you see there and some more software. I've been experimenting and reading up on the recording software, and just finished that book, so now I can go on exploring synthesis. It's all so exciting!

Also, this week marks our one year anniversary. Even more exciting! Being married is really fantastic, it's been a pretty amazing year for us, what with the new house and new town to explore. We continue to get along great, primarily, I think because we both believe in open and honest communication and because we both like to see the other happy so much. Here's to many more great years!

-N

G20, Day 2

Overnight there were 'riots' near campus. 40 people were arrested, but I heard a lot of the confusion stemmed from students being in the streets, trying to ward off violent demonstrators. There has been no sign here of the targeted demonstrations that were supposed to disrupt all the banks and starbucks in the city. The groups responsible for yesterday's mayhem decided to splinter into a large and explicitly peaceful demonstration, leaving the smaller anarchist factions to do whatever they felt like. Hopefully this will allow some kind of message to get out. Tibetan monks assembled up the hill for a march this morning, but there hasn't been much else going on here.

I am disappointed really. Aside from a few small and clever demonstrations, the nondescript mayhem captured most of the media attention. Pittsburgh doesn't have many activists, so on the whole residents are confused and aggravated by this. It just seems like pointless destruction. Even the groups that are "anti-greedy-big business" are having to hoof it around town to find some big businesses to protest. Ugh.

The Big Protest has been really well received, very peaceful. There was speeches and singing, just like a Rally. We'll see if they move forward peacefully. The city was significantly over-prepared for protests, and violence- it isn't surprising that there were clashes. I'll agree with Bart, too many people uncoordinated on both sides always leads to confusion. The 'confusion' has gotten a LOT more coverage locally than any issues that anyone has been pushing. On the flip side, I am really surprised that there are so FEW protesters here. I guess everyone who cared was at the UN in NY at the start of the week.

---
In his closing remarks, Obama said he was resentful that he didn't get to eat at Pamela's, the local diner that serves big, fried in butter pancakes to die for. Or put you on lipitor. This was a visitor favorite, before it got the presidential nod. Who wants to go for breakfast?

G20, day 1

At the moment I am drinking coffee and writing from the safety of a Squirrel Hill Coffee shop. It ha been pretty busy this morning, since reports from all over town are that no one is working. Campus is dead "like a Sunday morning," and this is my favorite of all- from WPXI "Police communications center says city is so quiet the mid-morning media briefing is canceled." Buses still seem to be running fine, but most protests aren't scheduled until later this afternoon.

Delegates have arrived without much going on. There has been some sense from the ACLU that the city has over reacted, and squashed peaceful protests. My sense from Squirrel Hill is that in general people are more scared then interesting in 'joining the dialogue.' A few minutes ago, the Coalition of Anarchists launched a march to 'disrupt the summit.' Sigh. They are lead by a banner that says No Boarders, No Banks. There are TONS of cops around, so I wonder how far they'll make it.

3:30- The illegal protest has reached a stand off at Penn and 32nd. Police are threatening to escalate, in an effort to disperse. Live feed suggests there are equal numbers of spectators and protestors, and not as many of them as there are police.

As the day wraps up, the work leaders are in Phipps Conservatory, and most of the protesters are off the streets. Reporters think maybe 6,000 people were here protesting, hardly what we might have expected based on London or Seattle. They've also only arrested 15 people. When 50,000 people marched in Seattle, they arrested 6,000 people. Matt and I went out to eat, and saw people from other marchs (Free Tibet, Anti-Ethiopia, Oxfam) taking in the city. The smaller demonstrations were mostly squashed out of the news by the big, vague protest. It wasn't very violent- but they kept interviewing college kids who would say "it's our right to demonstrate- why are they doing this?" which was sort of expasperating. If these kids were really anti-big business, then they shouldn't be disrupting traffic in front of all these small businesses. Sigh. Could have been worse. The big (stupid, lame and disruptive) stuff is planned for tomorrow- we'll see how that goes. All is well here- let's just hope the world leaders are having a productive evening.

G20- so it begins

I mentioned earlier that I would be working from home in celebration of the G20. Worst case, riots will envelop campus like the Steelers SuperBowl win, best case this is a perfect excuse to start writing my paper. Likely, this will just save me dull waits in traffic. In either case, I am starting to feel pretty thrilled with my choice- esp when the entire lab started streaming LIVE webcast of 4 Greenpeace climbers who had lowered themselves off a bridge, to bring out attention to climate change. Many arrests were made, and attempts at 2 simultaneous stunts were quashed- but the summit hasn't even started yet!

Find the story here-

Also, 6 people were arrested today trying to get in to the secure parts (read: animal facilities) of our building. Thanks Pitt Police, for letting the rest of us work like normal!

Tomorrow, I'll likely post a couple updates on the off chance anything of interest happens. The local news is doing a nice job of covering the changes and security, and hopefully will keep me up to the minute of the rest of the excitement without having to be a first hand witness.

News at random

For a work project, I've been testing Bing News Alerts, where you can get a notice from Bing whenever a topic you're interested in pops up in the news.

I asked for a regular alert on a company called Perot Systems, just to see what level of detail would turn up, and how many different items might flood my in-box. Well, nothing much happened for a while but last week, Dell offered to buy the company, which, yes was founded by Ross Perot, for $3.9 billion.

Today, Bing sent me a summary of all the articles on this sizzling hot, Texas-sized busines-tech story. At the top of the list was a link to the story . . . as it appeared in the People's Daily Online. Yes . . . the one in what used to be call Red China.

I'm not sure what's more jaw dropping . . that a computer algorithm ranks the People's Daily Online along with the Wall Street Journal . . or that the the PDO actually exists . . or the scary thought that there are probably millions of PD readers who are actually interested in the dealings of Michael Dell and Ross Perot.

All I can say is, the world's certainly changed since I first sat down at the wire service desk at the Spokesman-Review.

Good luck, Sandlin and Matt, with that G20 thing . . try to meet some interesting venture capitalists, or something.

G20

It's coming! It's going to be this week! The madness has already started. CMU is closing several buildings including one a friend works in due to their perfect view of the site of Michelle Obama's diplomatic dinner, Phipps Conservatory. In an email to students, the department said FBI officials would be inspecting the offices to confirm the best 'views,' but urged students not to let in anyone without a valid badge number, since the best view would be advantageous to people of nefarious interest. Ick.

Pitt has been distributing this soothing message:

The University of Pittsburgh is honored that world leaders will be convening in our great city for the G-20 Summit. We want to remind students to abide by the Student Code of Conduct and law at all times. In accordance with the Pitt Promise, please conduct yourself in a civil manner and exercise mutual respect and concern for others. You are also reminded to use your common sense and avoid potentially dangerous situations.

Don't let one bad decision negatively affect your future.

While the G-20 Summit will put the world’s spotlight on Pittsburgh, it also will bring many visitors to Oakland. Because of heightened security, we ask you to use caution and common sense on and off campus. As a reminder, here are several safety tips to follow:

* Avoid angry or obviously violent individuals.
* If you find yourself in a "mob", find a safe spot and remain calm. Text friends to let them know where you are.
* If you are in a dangerous situation, contact police. When you are on campus, dial 412-624-2121 (add this number to your speed dial); off campus dial 911.
* Treat others, including police officers, with respect.

(italics mine, edited for length). Dr. Boss also reminded us of his days in a Berkeley yeast lab when ignorant PETA protesters broke into his lab and destroyed equipment. He urged us to keep our large-windowed door locked while he is out of town to a meeting in Italy, but didn't go so far as to suggest we stay home. Parts of campus will be closing, and I suspect more to come. I'll be watching the broadcast news while I work from home, and Matt will hopefully avoid the worst of traffic delays.

I maed youz a prezent

But I eated it.



-N

Feeding the inferno, and other things I couldn't do without Matt

<-- Just a pizza, but more like how I imagined the firing might go. We survived the wood firing, which I hope by the end of the post you'll appreciate as a righteous achievement. I went to the laurel highlands to participate in firing this kiln as the culminating event in my Wood-Fired Ceramics class (a generous birthday gift from Mom and Dad!). My teacher Joe, had described the process as 'you know, the kiln has to be loaded, and there is a lot of smoke and ash that transforms into glaze and it takes a long time and then later we can unload it. Oh, we can camp and there is pizza oven.' This description somehow failed to convey the sheer amount of labor, heat and vertical shooting FLAMES that would be involved. Really, I should have put that together on my own- Normal glazes melt at just under 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and to deposit enough ash that could be transformed into a glass that would melt evenly on the surfaces, that has to get to 2,300 degrees. And sit there for hours.

The whole process is transformative. A dusty shed at the edge of retreat center is filled with shelves, pots and wood, sealed shut and becomes a kiln. The pots turns from earthware to ceramics, the logs turn to ash which becomes a colored glass. For myself, I rebuilt my definitions of 'uncomfortably hot,' 'dangerously hot,' and 'hot as summer in hell.' But with Matt there and my classmates/coworkers to cheer me on, I suited up and conquered the flames. We won't see the pay off for all this hard work until next weekend

I was nervous going in to my first shift- the kiln had been cooking for a full day, and I was handed the gloves at 8pm Saturday night with the temperature at ~1,600 degrees. Joe hoped it would get to 2,000 by lunch, and Matt and I had the reins until 4am. I'd been watching my coworkers, so I knew what to do and had safety gear to do it in, but pulling the lid off a blazing inferno brings out a really instinctual response (RUN AWAY) that seemed impossible to overcome. Within the first hour though, I was doing it all. Opening the door to reveal the blaze, counting the cones of glass that would melt as the temperature increased, piling in wood until flames poured out the chimney, the pressure holes in the ceiling and finally the door itself until I slammed the inadequate-seeming pillow of fiberglass back over the hole. In this blazing atmosphere, you can smell the oxygen burning out of the iron, a smell that accompanies thick black clouds of burnt metal. Matt and I took turns feeding the fire and passing the wood, and Matt killed time by splitting logs and raking coals. As scared as I was to be in charge of this monster until 4am, I was so much more brave to have Matt there with me, whose welding experience gave him an edge at things like battering a coal bed flat with an iron rod, and raking coals until the iron rod turned red hot (eta:30 sec). With his support in tending, we got the fire to 1900 degrees by 4am. We saluted the next shift by shooting flames out the chimney and slept a few hours.

We took over again with more help the next day at noon. The temp was up to 2050, and we wanted it to get just a bit hotter and stay there over the day. We worked the first until about 6, and then left the kiln in the careful hands of Joe to tend for another day or so. When it is done, he'll seal up all the intake, choking out the flame and giving the pots a chance to cool slowly. We'll be back next weekend to unseal the door (we closed gaps with raw clay, which was baked into submission over the weekend) and unload the kiln. I can't imagine what we'll see- pots fused together by overzealous ashing, pots shattered by inarticulate wood tossing? we nearly destroyed the door on several occasions by shifting bricks out of place so severely they had to be banged back with a mallet-, but I hope some things come out well. Just as Joe described though, we made a lot of pizza, the camping was quite glamorous and it was a lot of fun. Fabulous! More pictures, here!

I'm in San Diego

Hey,

So I may not have called this out to anyone, but I'm in San Diego this weekend at Derek's wedding. You know, my best man from my wedding. I got in early to attend a bachelor party thing on Friday, but that kinda fell through. So instead, today, Jess and I went to SeaWorld.

Jess had never gone before, and I have, but it was YEARS ago, so it doesn't really count. It was really fantastic. The Killer Whale show was spectacular, very dramatic with big leaps and amazing stunts, and a lot of splashing that we avoided by sitting up high. There was also a show with sea lions (and an adorable otter) that was really funny and pretty impressive with stunts.

Lots of sea life to see, too. My favorites where the ones where we got to touch things: rays and starfish, mostly. There were some neat exotic fish, too, and we got to see seahorses eating, sucking up little sea monkeys. We were there for the manatee feeding, too. They had 50 or so heads of lettuce in the tank with them and the critters were just NOM-NOM-NOMing away. Very cute.

Jessie's favorite moment was when we realized that the Splash-mountain-esque roller coaster that had been closed all day had just been started up right when we were nearby. So Jess and I went by and rode it twice with no lines at all. Lucky us! We got pretty wet and had a lot of fun on that ride, even though it was a little odd. We were supposed to be on an 'adventure through Atlantis' where we were deciding the fate of the doomed city. Evidently our riding of this coaster was VERY important to the lords of the sea, and we were heroes for braving the challenge. I thought it was just a roller coaster, but evidently I was mistaken.

We've been eating in Downtown San Diego, by coincidence of personal geography, and both times Jess wanted to go to the same place. Franks Mexican Cafe (wonderful fish tacos) and then the Ghirardelli shop for dessert: Hot Fudge Sunday. Delish.

Anyway, it's late, so I'm going to relax for a bit and sleep and then go to a rehersal and then maybe drive up to LA and then go to a wedding and then go home and set up my studio. Oh yes, that is happening too.

-N

Grad School- a Primer

An essential trait I have picked up in grad school that I also forsee being a major handicap later in life is the ability to seamlessly pick up and assimilate information, and carry on as if I have know all along. I catch myself reciting the off-handed responses by my coworkers as if they were bio 101 knowledge. It is essential, because our classes no longer take the time to dissect information- we hear it, we learn it, and we know it all in one breathe. I hope you can forgive me if I occasionally pull this routine on my family- especially with regards to the process of grad school. Who besides a grad student has access to this information?

Without further ado- your primer on grad school- namely graduating from it.

What is the title of your dissertation?
I mentioned before that I don't get to graduate until I discover something, and I am starting to suspect that this discovery IS the title- so, I don't really know yet. However, it will probably be something about finding small molecules that inhibit virus replication (not drugs, not treatment, just has to work in a tube). We've got some good leads, and I can now DO all the assays I can envision wanting to do to wrap this up, just need to get it done.

When will you graduate?
Although this depends on the success of the above discoveries, the better question is HOW. I only just learned this, but I think I've told 3 ppl like I wrote the policy myself. First, I need admission to candidacy- this is to say that I've finished the formal requirements for my program, and am transitioning to 'writing.' The catch is that this process (or form with signatures from my committee), must be complete 1 YEAR before I actually defend. At this point I will be ABD (all but defense). This is the soonest I could graduate, not a deadline- a person could languish in ABD purgatory for years without good advising. The first step usually comes with copious string attached- 'you can go ABD, but don't start writing until you have these experiments done and this paper published.' Second, I actually write a thesis (~200 pages, double spaced with generous formatting), which is presented to the public and defended privately with the committee. THEN I can graduate.

And at graduation, PhD candidates don't 'walk.' They get hooded.

Who is this committee?
I assembled my committee of 5 people, including Dr. Boss and Dr. Rockstar, who are smart folks with some interest in my research. Most of them are not experts in my field, but for whatever reason they like me and what I do- I selected people who think I am smart, and deserve a PhD. This is their most endearing trait, really. I have talked to them enough to know that they think I should have 2 (first author) publications on hand before I graduate. For those keeping count, I currently have none, but am arguing for (ie writing) my first.

What will you do after you graduate?
I recognized sometime ago that the obvious thing to do with a PhD, is to do more post-doctoral training so you publish more papers so you can get a faculty position. You can do lots of things with more post-doc training, and it is a really easy track to get on. Then you end up like my post-doc coworkers who've been post-docing for many years and STILL are in a training position, at low pay ($40K isn't much for someone with that much education), few benefits and grueling hours. I have been considering other options, and the current front runner (not winner, just the current top of my stack), is to work in public policy. The world at large needs help understanding science, research scientists don't have time to explain it, hopefully they hire me to help develop informed opinions so they can, for example, make intelligent legislation. I get to learn about new things, teach without giving grades, advocate for things I believe in and really serve in a way that I would be valuable. This dream may be bigger than curing cancer. And more vague.
I also need to work on cracking into this system- namely, how does a person with no policy training get this type of job? Well, AAAS has fellowships that place recent PhDs into government offices to act as science liasons and get some experience. There are several programs like this, and it currently seems like a very viable option. For reference, the application deadlines for these things are in winter.

You just posted this on a BLOG. Does your boss know all this stuff?
He does now. Earlier this week I had a conversation about all this with Dr. Boss. He graciously acknowledged that many people will serve science and help science to serve in a variety of non-faculty ways. That made me feel good, but we had previously discussed graduating in 2012- and I want to be done way before then. I pressed him a bit- "there are these fellowships, see, and I have to be completed my PhD requirements before I apply... and do you think I have to wait until 2013?" We walked through my sort of idealized timeline- paper #1 this winter, teach bioethics fall 2010, paper #2 next winter (2011), then write and defend and move to the new job by the fall 2011. And he didn't say it was stupid or unrealistic! He actually said to do that, we need to be sure that I need admission to candidacy at my next committee meeting in March. So yeah, the rest of the committee needs to get on board, and then I'll have 'just a couple more' years to wrap up, but the most important person to convince agrees with me, and I am taking a LOT of satisfaction from that.

____
Women in Science Careers met tonight to talk about work/life balance. This was a great topic, and lead us to what I hope will be a new series of topics that will go from changing attitudes in science about careers (because when 70% of graduates are in 'alternate careers,' it is demeaning to call it a fall back), developing positive working environments, and being a good mentor.

Also, Matt and I leave this weekend to fire the Wood-Fire Kiln which is the highlight of this semester's ceramics class. The process takes about 60 hrs of active work, and we won't see the results until the next weekend. Wish us luck!

Our Cruise, Day 5

Day 5

Our last day, and the one we were probably most excited about. Nassau, Bahamas. And the Atlantis Water Park. Atlantis is a MASSIVE resort built on a beautiful island, and they have an awesome water park in the backyard. Jess was really excited about this one, and so was I, but first, we had to fix something.

You see, Jess has always been afraid of aggressive water slides. As she tells it, she was never able to go on them when she was young, and she never got over the fear. Well this place had a lot of slides like that, and Jess decided she wanted to try them out. So she was nervous, but she had her husband with her who would go down first to make sure it was safe. :)

We got to the water park early on, and as soon as the rides were open, we got in line for the “Leap of Faith”, a massive drop down a long chute that then goes *through* a shark tank. It’s really impressive, and Jess was nervous, but intent on defeating her fear. So we got in line, got to the top, and I went first. Everything went fine for me, and so Jess got in position, steadied herself, and then took the plunge!

From Caribbean Trip

My brave girl conquering her fear.

I managed to get a shot of her just as she was coming out of the ride. She was laughing and excited, and kept saying “I did it, I did it!” over and over. I was really happy for her, and I could feel her shaky adrenaline when I gave her a congratulatory hug. But she was glad she did it and thought it was a lot of fun.

From Caribbean Trip

After that, there was no stopping her. We went on this ride called ‘The Abyss’ right afterwards, which was the same kind of ride, but totally in the dark. At the end, it dropped us into a ‘hidden’ grotto with awesome aquariums filled with exotic amazon fish. Jess was all excited because if she hadn’t done the ride, she would have missed it.

After that, we did all the rides in the park, over and over. We especially liked their ‘lazy’ river, which had stretches with rapids and a long wave pool that we went through several times. My personal favorite was right next to the ‘leap of faith’ one. It was a twisty ride on a tube, and it went through the shark tank more slowly so you could see the fishes and get a good look at them.

From Caribbean Trip

After a long day of water partying, we took a tour, backwards, through the aquariums in the resort, and we nailed the timing, because it was feeding time. They had a massive tank with a couple of manta rays that would do slow, underwater loop-de-loops when their food showed up. There were a lot of other highlights, not the least of which was the style. Since the resort was called Atlantis, they had ruins in all of their tanks that looked really nice. There were also lots of lobsters, jellyfish, and other interesting sea life. Very cool.

The resort was very nice looking, too. They had several glass sculptures by Chihuly, there, too. Really beautiful ones. There were columns adorned with water accents and slowly spinning granite spheres among the paths. I really liked the place.

We picked up a couple of souvenirs on the way back to the boat. Some rum cake for work, some magnets for the Florida family, and a Conch shell for me, continuing my tradition of getting ‘containers’ from all the countries I visited. This one held fish. :)

Then another evening on board the boat, with food, music, and sleep.

Day 6 was our debarkation day, where we got off the boat. The one interesting note from this day was that if you were able to cary your own luggage, you could debark first, but everyone had to go through customs, so it would be a long day, and everyone just wanted to get home. So they gathered all the self-carying people all in the auditorium, had us wait until customs was ready, and then said, ‘okay, everyone, go!’ There was very nearly a stampede to get out there first. Jess and I, more restrained, just found our route and quickly made our way off the boat, through customs, and on to the mainland. Mom Swanson picked us up, and off we went.

So that was our vacation.

-N

Our Cruise, Day 4

Day 4:

Day four found us in Half Moon Cay (pronounced ‘key’, I think), a private island owned by the cruise ship companies. It has, no lie, on of the most beautiful beaches I think I’ve ever seen. I think they probably filter the sand during the off season, it’s so white and clean, and the water is very, very nice.

We anchored off the island and took a boat (tender) onto land, and when we got there it was HOT. We had some time to kill before our excursion, and we spent it mostly trying to find good shade.

From Caribbean Trip

We made a good choice, though, because our excursion was a glass bottomed boat tour. Covered from the sun and out on the ocean, the weather was much, much nicer. And the glass bottom tour itself was very, very pretty. It started off simply enough, cruising along the ocean and seeing the occasional fish, but before too long we were at a very tall coral structure that was teeming with ocean life. We got a really nice view through the bottom of the boat. After that, we got to feed the fish, and as you can imagine, they were excited for the food. Every piece of bread you threw would get instantly snatched up by hungry fish. So bright and colorful, it was a lot of fun to watch.

From Caribbean Trip

When we got back to land, the weather had cooled down and so we hit the beach. We hung out and soaked up the ocean salts for a while, avoiding sunburn with floppy hats and shirts, and then we played around in the sand on the beach, avoiding sunburn by covering ourselves with sand. We made a sand ‘castle’, with a working river flowing underneath it, for a little while, until the river ate down the walls. Then we just buried Jessie until the tide unburied her again.

From Caribbean Trip

We took tender back a little bit early, after having some lunch on the island, and spent some time riding the water slides while they were unoccupied. The rest of the day was equally relaxing: dinner, cuddling and watching the ocean go by, and watching some more Blood Power up on deck.

Then to bed. We had to save our energy for the morning.

-N

Our Cruise, Day 3

Day three brings us to, finally, a port of Call. Our first one, in Grand Turk, known for its beautiful beaches and excellent snorkeling and scuba. We had two excursions planned, one in the morning, where we would snorkel, and on in the afternoon for SNUBA. More about that later.

We had to get up early for our morning jaunt. Quoth Jessie: “Whose idea was it to wake up this early and go snorkeling?” We ordered some room service for breakfast, which did show up late, but there was smoked salmon with bagles, so I forgave them. Delish.

From Caribbean Trip

We did snorkeling at two places. The first was about thirty feet deep, a coral bed with lots of fish and neat looking underwater plant life to look at. And then right over to our right, directly to the side, was a 7000 foot drop. No exaggeration. And it was a sheer drop, too. A couple of coral clinking to the cliff face, and then *nothing*. It was a good thing we float, or we might have fallen over. The guide there brought some food for the fish, and so there was plenty of life to be seen. Jess and I, more experienced snorkelers, jumped right in first and swam around mostly on our own. We used the buddy system, though, so we were safe. As we came back to the boat, I got followed by a tiny, tiny little yellowtail fish. I think he thought I was some sort of manta ray or other massive fish he could take refuge beside. Either that or my sunscreen tasted good.

From Caribbean Trip

The second location was more shallow, only about 14 feet deep, and so it was much easier to see there, and boy was there a lot to see. There were more crags and crevices to look around in, which was nice for exploring, but a little intimidating, as far as hidden sea life goes. For example, Jess found a shark.

From Caribbean Trip

See that fin in the middle underneath the rock? Yeah, that's Jessie's shark.

It was sleeping, just lying there under an outcropping of coral. Jess told the guide and he brought everyone over to take a look. Meanwhile, Jess and I zipped around to see tons of urchins, fish, and other creatures that may or may not have been poisonous. I’m just saying I was the nervous one, that’s all. On the way back into the boat, we saw some jellyfish. Very small, and almost transparent in the water.

After a quick lunch break, we did some SNUBA. Now snuba is like scuba, in that you breathe air from a tank, but whereas scuba requires some training and you strap the tank to your back, in snuba the tank floats at the surface of the water, so you can only go down about 15 feet, the length of the tube. At that distance, decompression and the bends aren’t a consideration at all, so you don’t need to be certified to do it.

From Caribbean Trip

Anyway, we went out to the location, got all suited up, and then got to swimming around underwater. Having been scuba certified was definitely helpful, and Jess and I felt really comfortable in the water. It was very relaxing and a lot of fun. Being able to swim around wherever you want is a very nice sensation. You do tend to keep it slow, though. Nice and relaxed. There were fish and shells and coral and other strange sights to see, and all too soon it was over and time to head back to the boat.

After that, we came back, had some food, and relaxed away the evening. Jess found the new Star Trek movie on TV, and we watched it 1.5 times while I goofed off, read a book, and jotted down some notes about our trip. So that I could write this, as it turns out.

And then, once again to the rocking of the cruise ship, we fell asleep.

-N

Our Cruise, Day 2

Caribbean, Day 2

When we woke up, we went out on our balcony and saw flying fish. Yeah, actual flying fish, darting alongside the boat. I’d never seen them live before, but Jess tells me they follow boats all the time in that part of the world.

This was our ‘day at sea’, which is to say the boat didn’t stop anywhere, so we took our time and explored most of the nooks and crannies of the boat. We found a pool at the back of the boat and hung out there for a while, which was really fun because the boat was rocking a little bit and so the pool had this neat, wavy motion pretty much the whole time. We boated through a downpour, too, but only a brief one, and since we were in the pool already, we didn’t have to worry about getting wet.

From Caribbean Trip

Jess took another nap (hey, we’re on vacation!) and I went on the galley tour. I got to see the big, main kitchens where they do the dinners in the fancy dining rooms. It was a lot of stainless steel, and they had set up a little ingredient tour for us where we got to see some of the stuff they work with and some of the things they make with it. They had a guy carving elaborate patterns in a cantaloupe there. I’d seen pictures, but never anything like that in person. Very pretty.

I also dropped by the art auction, which was nice in its own way, if not a little silly, and the Cigar bar (where Blood Power would be performing later!)

From Caribbean Trip

Then it was time for dinner. Formal night, this time, which meant we got to dress up in the fancy clothes we brought along. Something I hadn’t mentioned before was that you always had dinner in the same location, with the same people. We were with a nice couple from Boston and another from the Florida area. We would sit and chat about cruising, what we had done, and what was upcoming and exciting. There was another couple there the day before, but we never saw them at dinner again. The may have just hung out by the Pizzaria.

After dinner, we went to the ‘Show’. They had one on the boat most every night. This night it was a ‘revue’ of a sort, which is to say people singing and dancing and some ladies in costumes with massive feather fans and the like. I sat there through several of the songs trying to figure out what the point was. I didn’t like the music much, and if I want to see scantily clad ladies, I don’t have to put up with bad music to do it. Eventually we just dodged out of the theatre early and hung out on the balcony, watching the sun set and the boat move. The motion of the waves against the bow is really hypnotic.

And then more blood power band! We saw them in the cigar bar and listened for quite a while, but not quite so late, we had to get up in the morning. There was *adventure* to be done.

-N

Our Cruise, Day 1

So, because people seem to like reading about it, is a rundown of our Caribbean vacation. In brief, though, because there’s a lot of stuff that happened.

How about we start with DAY 1

From Caribbean Trip

This was monday, and we got in a little early to check in and enjoy the lunch buffet. They were smart to make the check in process as much as possible like an airport, because that way everyone knew what was going on. There was a pretty long line, what with 5000 people all trying to do the same thing, but they did a pretty good job of ferrying everyone through the process and before we knew it, we were on board and enjoying a lunch buffet. The rumors are all true, there is a lot of food on a Cruise Ship. There was different stuff at the buffet every day, and we had to be careful not to stuff ourselves to destruction every time we sat down for food.

We checked out our room next, and then we had to do something called a ‘muster drill’ where we all went down to where we would have to go in the event of an evacuation and put on our life vests. After ‘passing muster’ we come back to the room, where Jess took a nap and I looked over some options for stuff to do on the boat and in the various ports. And then it was time for dinner.

We had dinner in the Universe Dining room, and while understated, I have to say that dinner was the most impressive feat on the boat. Simultaneously serving 1700 people, in two dining rooms, with delicious prepared foods...while at sea. For a week. But they did it, and they made it look easy. We just had to sit down, order appetizers, entree, and dessert, and the food just started coming out. You could order whatever you wanted, as much as you wanted, and it was all covered by your ticket. The food was delicious, too. Jess and I would order food and then taste each others stuff to see who had the best dinner. I like being married. Jess also ordered the ‘Chocolate Melting Cake’, with extra ice cream. That became her favorite dessert on the trip. I generally went for whatever they were serving that I hadn’t tried before. With the exception of the one time I ordered the smoked salmon, because I love smoked salmon.

After dinner, Jess went off to get a massage, which is always nice because I ask her to teach me things she liked every time she goes. I’m slowly becoming a massage expert. While she was doing that, I consulted the ‘Carival Capers’ newsletter, which is this thing they hand out every day that details what will be happening on and around the ship. It’s a good summary of events, times, and places to go do things.

From Caribbean Trip

One of the things that caught my eye on the guide was a band called ‘Blood Power’. I had no idea what they were, but with a name like Blood Power, I had to go check them out. As it turns out, they were a rock cover band, four gentlemen of Phillipino descent. When I got there they were halfway through the solo to Freebird, and were doing quite well. I decided to stay until they played something I didn’t like, and I ended up staying for the entire first set. I went back to the room to get Jessie, and we came back and listened to them until 1 in the morning. We are big fans of the Blood Power Band.

While we were listening I also discovered that I like whiskey. My drink of choice for the tour was Jameson on the Rocks. I would get that whenever I ordered a drink, which wasn’t often. Jess liked the big fruity things with little umbrellas in them. It’s a cruise, what did you expect?

After a long night, we crashed in bed and slept. Jess loved sleeping on the boat, neither of us (evidently) gets motion sickness and the gentle rocking of the boat put us both right to sleep.

-N

Things to do while waiting for a party to start

Well, today we are celebrating Matt's birthday. We started with hefty breakfast at Pamela's (famous for their fried in butter pancakes- ooooo :), and then I surprised Matt with tickets to the Steel City Big Pour, an amazing event that benefits Construction Junction, and features breweries from all over the country. We chatted with some people, had great food and beer and headed home to prepare the house.

Right now, we sit with munchies in place, a sextel of Dogfishhead's 60 min IPA in the kitchen and a happy Matt on the couch. Should be a good night.

I am sharing a photo below from Papa's birthday party (lovely!), and also and album of pictures of Raoul. Betty make him a brand new kitty bed for his birthday, which, you can see, he enjoys a lot. The position on top of my dresser is where he has been settled in this summer- the new bed makes him really happy.

Grandparent round up

I wanted to round out the notes from the weekend. For starters, everyone is in great health and humor and the old family homestead is in great shape. Papa indulged me by spending a lot of time with my NEW digital voice recorder (Thanks, Noel!) helping to record some family stories. Once I make up my mind about which software to use on these files, I'll work on compiling some of these to share. I've got some classics here- and some new and interesting stuff too.

We celebrated Papa's birthday at the Down River Grille, a classy restaurant where Nana and Papa are TOTALLY regulars. They even brought out a piece of chocolate cake to celebrate Papa being 92- Papa wants everyone to know that he needed Nana's help to blow out the candle. Like he said "I couldn't have done it without her."

Nana kept us busy, day dreaming about craft projects with Betty, dinking around in the garden and puttering through the kitchen. We didn't cook as much this weekend- what with all the celebrations- but Nana did concede to let Matt air out his fool-proof meatloaf. The secret is Italian Sausage. They will probably be eating Meatloaf and Chocolate Zucchini Break (Cake!) until Thanksgiving.

Matt and I had an uneventful return trip from Spokane, and I am already trying to sort out when I can go back. It was fun to combo visit with Betty- I am sure I could be urged to combo visit with someone else. Who is headed to Spokane next?

Birthday Bash!

Matt and I are this weekend in Spokane, enjoying a boisterous weekend with the grandparents. Seriously- these two wear me out! I've been collecting some great stories from Papa (did you know he crossed the Panama Canal in his Navy years? Or that the men in his family had all been coal miners? This is why he never thought he'd have a 92nd birthday), and made some valiant efforts in Nana's garden. Matt has been the ultimate Mr. Fix-it, which he LOVES- He's installed new doorbells, showerhead, fixed a bathroom fan, destroyed a hornet's nest and done all the other 'Tall Person' work.

Nana and Papa of course make this more than worthwhile- they invited Matt's mom to join us for the weekend, and we celebrated an early birthday for Matt on Saturday. Sunday, of course, was Papa's big day, and when asked he was going to celebrate he said "Well. I am going to read the paper. I am going to take a nap. We've got dinner plans later, and then I'll watch the Sunday Mystery." Needless to say, his birthday plans went off without a hitch. More updates later- I just wanted to brag about what great time we were having!

Gone Runnin'

Today Jess and I went out to get some exercise along Brushy Creek Trail We didn't go along the whole thing, but my estimates put my run at approximately 2.5 miles out, and then the same back again. I wasn't always running, to be fair, but that is a definite distance record for me, so I'm proud. Now Jess and I are resting off our morning exercise after having some delicious lunch. I made some homemade bread and we made grilled cheese sandwiches on our brand new...grittle! Thanks so much Sandlin! We've already gotten a couple of uses out of it, once for breakfast, which was great because you can make a massive dose of pancakes, all at once, and then agian for grilled cheese. It warms up really quickly and you can easily control the temperature, which is very nice.

The the parents, we also got your other present in the mail, a pair of kitchen shears. They're really nice, and the two blades unhinge from each other for easy dishwasher cleaning. Thanks so much again!

The arcade was really neat. It was Buzzing, full of people, a lot of competition going on. Most of the games were competitive fighting games, which is great because it fosters a sense of community in your arcade when you meet up with people, play with them, and actually get to see their face. I played a bunch and then Jess and I came home to relax.

Oh, and the fish was great, too.

-N

Is my birthday!

Yesterday, Jess made me cupcakes, orange cake with buttercream frosting. Really good. I had about four myself and gave away the rest to people at work. Protip: If you need help from someone, offer them a cupcake. They will never refuse. I got a surprising amount of work done yesterday, thanks to cupcakes.

And today is my birthday proper. I've already had a few packages show up, and a very nice card from some very caring grandparents. Thanks so much, Nana and Papa, you make very excellent elders. Hugs and kisses!

Today Jess has some sort of 'mystery errand' planned for me, which should be fun, but I'm mostly just happy that she likes me enough to do stuff like that for me on my birthday. She likes me a lot, I think. The kitties have also gotten in on the action, cuddling and meowing adorably this morning while we were trying to sleep.

And in the evening, I get fish and video games! I'm going to met up with some friends at McCormick and Schmick for some delicious fish fare (especially nice when I can be sure of its origins) and then we're going out to a place called Arcade UFO. Arcades have been a dying breed in America ever since home consoles and PCs became popular and it was just easier and cheaper to play your games at home. Some people still keep them going, though, and Arcade UFO was opened recently by arcade enthusiasts just a few years ago. I'll go patronize them with a couple buckets of quarters. For old times sakes.

-N

For a Thursday, it was pretty awesome

Yesterday, I took our Graduate/Professional Student Association up on thier invitation to atttend a breakfast meeting with local Congressman Mike Doyle to discuss health care reform. This was actually a really nice event- he clarified a lot of the confusion about the healthcare debate, his positions on them and also other things that were currently up for proposal. Being a graduate student meeting, there weren't any ballistically ignorant people there, so it was a very civilized and informative discussion. I was really glad I went.

I am starting a course (my last required class for my whole life if I can help it) at the School of Public health, where I ran into my friend Hui, who I thought had moved to Baltimore- Happy Surprise! I also overheard my classmates talk about being asked to move out of their downtown apartments for the G20- what?! Boy, am I glad I don't live downtown.

At the end of the day, I had harbored enough energy to go out to a new restaurant for dinner, it was an appropriately pretentious French restaurant that mostly served crepes and ambiance in a recently gentrified area. We hung out on their back patio, soaking in the sauces, and crepes and wine like real sophisticates. Pretty great day, all things told.

Also great- packing to go to Spokane! We catch our plane at 7 tonight, so I'll be hugging Nana before bed tonight! Yea!

The Evolution of the Bath

These are two before picture of the "office" that will become the master bath. The picture following is the after shot.

The two following pictures are the before and after of the "old" master bathroom.

G20 or H1N1

I've been debating back and forth which would make a better blog post- the impending G20 summit that will be happening HERE in Pittsburgh, or the Pandemic flu outbreak that I will inevitably get first of all our family members. I decided on both, since I will have to come back to both later in their own time.

First- G20, it's happening.

For most of our readers, I suspect that G20 will be hosted in Pittsburgh is little more then a ticker headline, so I'd like to add some color to that description. This year's Leader's Meeting will presidents from the world's most influential 20 nations to talk about the issues that they agreed to deal with last year. It is a kind of economic summit, biege in topic, but explosive in its ability to completely derail the entire city's infrastructure. The 20 Presidents (and their motorcades, and their delegates, and their entourage) will be hosted downtown at the convention center. Most of the downtown buildings will be EVACUATED to minimize the security threat- this means office buildings, stores and COLLEGE DORMS. You know what I would do if I had to leave my dorm for 3 days from some money summit? Protest. You know where the "Designated Free Speech Zone" for the summit is? Across the opposite river. Yeah. That's where all the protesters will head. Sure.

Don't get me wrong- I am super excited that this event it taking place here, it will give Pittsburgh a chance to show it's new face to the world, and in some ways is an ideal venue. But I don't yet have faith that anyone in Pittsburgh knows how to approach an angry protest mob. Hopefully this won't be a topic for a future blog post- all I know is the city is going to be gridlocked around motorcade traffic and I am going to work from home.

Pandemic Flu Stalks Nation- H1N1

We've been talking a lot about H1N1 at work, possibly because we have been inundated with carefully worded memos urging us to wash our hands, get plenty of rest and stay home if we have a fever. More likely because H1N1 is already on campus. As I've mentioned before- Pandemic means it spread well- it doesn't mean it kills you any more. There are some predictions that suggest this might change later in flu season (like, cases reported in August is early, long time since the last H1N1 strain was out, ...) but in the meantime, it is just a flu we have a name for.
We also have the first case in the building I work in. Given that I am planning to fly to Spokane this weekend, I am being extra SUPER careful, especially with disease carrying undergrads swarming campus. Not that I ever want to be sick, but knowing that there is a particular germ with a name hanging around makes me feel like I am being stalked.

Matt and I are looking forward to a long weekend in Spokane, to celebrate Papa's Birthday, Matt's birthday and Labor Day! Matt's Mom will be joining us, which means we will be having a no holds barred awesome weekend. I'll also be taking my AWESOME digital voice recorder to collect more family stories, once I get my act together, I'll try to format them for a larger audience.