Quick update from me- All this free time has prompted me to fill it with much business. Next week I am going to see Nana! Woohoo! Hoping to do a little job hunting and a lot of editing while I am out there. I've got SIX new papers to do- but that's great, cuz I finally got paid! It's nearly a real job!
I've decided to pick up an extra day of volunteering at the science center for the next month to help with a really cool project the Girls Math and Science Program has coming up. More on that later.
I've just put up a new "in depth" post on the Steel City Science page about polyomavirus research. I know! You couldn't get enough! Check it out, leave a comment, make my editor think someone is reading.
Tomorrow my old lab is coming over for a long in the works video project- we want to make one of those dweeby science viral videos to post on YouTube. We've got a great set of parody lyrics and now we need to do voice recording and some storyboarding. We had planned an elaborate Ke$ha parody, but we actually got scooped by the second year class at the departmental retreat. How did they pick the same absurd pop song we had planned? They may have won at the retreat, but we will certainly beat them in YouTube hits.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Speed of light: Why you care
This was going to be a comment response until it got too long, so: here's your implications:
Our current understanding of the way the universe works is largely based on well tested and well understood theories started by Einstein and built upon by pretty much every physicist since. These laws say things CAN'T move faster than the speed of light. Since space and time are intertwined, if you are moving as fast as you can in space, you can't move *any* in time. You can read more about that, but it's been one of the rock-solid foundations of physics for a long, long time.
The critical thing about this is that we may have just proven that theory wrong. If something, ANYTHING, can ever travel faster than light under *any* circumstances, the entire theory *instantaneously* falls apart. (I know, isn't science CRAZY?) Now this isn't instantaneously catastrophic for most of the physics we know and love. After all, the fact that Newtonian Physics falls apart at the very small and very large doesn't mean that we can't use it to approximate a lot of useful things.
But notably, all science is about trying to correctly model the way the universe actually works. In that way, being proven wrong is actually sometimes more interesting than just being right over and over. It would be as if we had to update the theory of gravity to include "except for at 3:57 on Thursday afternoon in Topeka, Canada for about 1/10th of a second". All of a sudden there are a billion more questions to answer. "Why?" "Why not Wednesday?" As to this faster-than-light thing, similar questions arise. "Why these particles?" "Can we see the same phenomena from other sources?" "If things can travel faster than light, how come light doesn't?" The answers to these questions will inform whatever theory rises up to replace the broken one, and will offer a more complete and correct understanding of the universe. And with that better understanding, who knows what new technology could eventually be informed by our better knowledge. We got MRIs from a whole bunch of physicists who had no interest in medical imaging *at all*. Maybe in the future we will look back at this as the first breakthrough that eventually led to faster than light travel for the human race!
Or, you know, maybe the thing is just off a little.
-N
Our current understanding of the way the universe works is largely based on well tested and well understood theories started by Einstein and built upon by pretty much every physicist since. These laws say things CAN'T move faster than the speed of light. Since space and time are intertwined, if you are moving as fast as you can in space, you can't move *any* in time. You can read more about that, but it's been one of the rock-solid foundations of physics for a long, long time.
The critical thing about this is that we may have just proven that theory wrong. If something, ANYTHING, can ever travel faster than light under *any* circumstances, the entire theory *instantaneously* falls apart. (I know, isn't science CRAZY?) Now this isn't instantaneously catastrophic for most of the physics we know and love. After all, the fact that Newtonian Physics falls apart at the very small and very large doesn't mean that we can't use it to approximate a lot of useful things.
But notably, all science is about trying to correctly model the way the universe actually works. In that way, being proven wrong is actually sometimes more interesting than just being right over and over. It would be as if we had to update the theory of gravity to include "except for at 3:57 on Thursday afternoon in Topeka, Canada for about 1/10th of a second". All of a sudden there are a billion more questions to answer. "Why?" "Why not Wednesday?" As to this faster-than-light thing, similar questions arise. "Why these particles?" "Can we see the same phenomena from other sources?" "If things can travel faster than light, how come light doesn't?" The answers to these questions will inform whatever theory rises up to replace the broken one, and will offer a more complete and correct understanding of the universe. And with that better understanding, who knows what new technology could eventually be informed by our better knowledge. We got MRIs from a whole bunch of physicists who had no interest in medical imaging *at all*. Maybe in the future we will look back at this as the first breakthrough that eventually led to faster than light travel for the human race!
Or, you know, maybe the thing is just off a little.
-N
Monday, September 26, 2011
Being on Vacation is objectively better than Home
As I already had the chance to brag about mention, I got to spend the last week in Austin Texas with the World's Greatest Nephew and his super parents. I did a little bit of job hunting, a pretty decent about of cooking and a whole lot of baby squishing. There is not one part of Tyler that doesn't deserve a kiss or a squish. And he is very amenable to adventures. He got to go to the pool! Which he liked looking at more than splashing in.... And the Neighborhood Festival (where the rest of us porked out on Bake Sale)! And to Rudy's for awesome BBQ! Where he got his feet cleaned in the handwash jacuzzi, and he came to a posh Derby Party, where he got cooed over a lot, and I got some good contacts about Austin Jobs. He is such a great baby. And I got to feed him peas and carrots, and change his tiny clothes and he even feel asleep in my arms BECAUSE HE LOVES ME.
And then we took a plane home. And then Matt and I got violently ill. I was hoping it was something we picked up while flying, but no, the Austin Family is out for the count too. I was thinking I am pretty lucky have someone as nice as Matt to feel so dead awful with, and I did have the passing thought that having a Baby around would be impossible. And then I found out Noel and Jessie both had it... So, not feeling so whiney anymore. But yes, the vacation part was WAY more fun than coming home has been.
And then we took a plane home. And then Matt and I got violently ill. I was hoping it was something we picked up while flying, but no, the Austin Family is out for the count too. I was thinking I am pretty lucky have someone as nice as Matt to feel so dead awful with, and I did have the passing thought that having a Baby around would be impossible. And then I found out Noel and Jessie both had it... So, not feeling so whiney anymore. But yes, the vacation part was WAY more fun than coming home has been.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
an update? a quick update?
Ok, smart people, I need a quick ramp-up here: faster than light neutrinos.
What is the significance of this? Assuming for the moment there's not a gauge or sensor somewhere in the 400+ mile underground corridor that's juuuust a few nanometers off the bubble.
The liberal arts branch of the family wants to know the Deeper Meaning of all this. Einstein was wrong? We can put an asterisk in the E=MC2 thing? I know time travel won't be on offer any time soon (unless we get some really surprising visitors) but . . . intergalactic tourist travel?
No pressure, I just like to hear what the implications might be . . . maybe for the stock market, etc.
Friday, September 23, 2011
The Case of the Amazing Baby
We've had a few wow moments with Tyler over the past few weeks. For starters, he's started doing crazy stuff when he's on his stomach. He's been able to lift his head for a while, and he's been getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth a lot, which is a pretty normal thing for babies getting ready for crawling, but he's started to get up on all fours and then get up his toes. And then sort of flail his feet around so he's sort of half almost crawling and kinda walking on his toes except his hands never move. He's clearly excited to get moving, but he hasn't yet figured out that the hands need to be involved. Regardless, he's getting a heck of an upper-body workout. More and more of that baby budge is starting to turn into baby muscle!
He's starting to work on his little 'pincer motion' too, where he uses his finger and thumb for delicate tasks. It's clearly a work in progress, but he likes looking at fiddly things and he gets really focused and quiet and goes to work. The thumb and finger still have some coordination to work out between the two but it's really fascinating to watch him work. I caught a glimpse of my future son while he was working with a cute, concentrated face. For some reason I could see a shadow of how he's going to look when he's older. I got a bit of a chill.
We went swimming today, too. Well...it's still not that much swimming, truth be told. He has more fun in the tub. The pool is so new and strange that he spends most of his time, near as I can tell, just trying to figure out where the heck he is. We got some splashy time out of him, but the water was pretty cold, and it isn't a really good idea to keep him out in the sun much, even though we do make him wear a hat and a shirt. Delicate baby skin, you know.
Oh, and I got to take him swimming because I got to stay home today. I took a day off because Aunt Sandlin and Uncle Matt are visiting this week. Tyler has gotten a lot of Aunt time, especially around his cheek area. Matt has gotten to hold him and feed him a few times, too. They're going to spoil that kid rotten, I'm sure.
Tyler has been, as reported, working on Carrots this week. He's getting better, but he's still not a huge fan. Those first few bites are still really rough. We balance it out with some rice or oats, nice and familiar, and eventually he gets into the swing of things. It's way messier, though. We've got peas and sweet potatoes to try next. I imagine it will be much the same story as the carrots. Huge mess, scrunchy face, really cute.
As for me, I've been playing some video games in my spare time, but I think I need to get back into the studio to make some more music. There's a few more songs from Actraiser I'd like to cover, and someone made the excellent suggestion of writing a theme song for our work. I'm thinking of making it a little bit like the old Mickey Mouse Club theme. Very upbeat and saccharine. That could be a fun project.
Jess and I are both slacking on exercise a bit. Jess has a better excuse in that her normal Derby stuff has been interrupted by places loosing their rink time and other valid excuses. I was sick last week, but I missed Judo this week because Sandlin and Jessie told Tyler to be cute so I could stay home. He did, and so I did too. And I ended up making Ice cream too. Came out great, especially with strawberries. Yum.
Sandlin has been spoiling us with food. She made us Carnitas yesterday with so many fixins you'd think we were at a restaurant. Jess says she likes Sandlin's cooking better now. So I'll just have to make sure I fix that quite promptly...somehow. There were Kebabs, too. I grilled them with some corn that came out very well. She's also made us some chicken stock that she also turned into Chicken and Orzo soup, and Chilli, and a few other things too. She's a machine in the kitchen. She bought us some smoked salt that seems really good, but you have to store it extra-tight or it makes the whole pantry smell like a BBQ.
Jess gets back from work soon and then we're going to get some burgers with friends of Sandlin's that live in Austin. More people to meet! Oh, that reminds me. Some neighbors around the corner are either moving in or moving out. Either way, we'll probably have some new neighbors to meet quite soon.
-N
He's starting to work on his little 'pincer motion' too, where he uses his finger and thumb for delicate tasks. It's clearly a work in progress, but he likes looking at fiddly things and he gets really focused and quiet and goes to work. The thumb and finger still have some coordination to work out between the two but it's really fascinating to watch him work. I caught a glimpse of my future son while he was working with a cute, concentrated face. For some reason I could see a shadow of how he's going to look when he's older. I got a bit of a chill.
We went swimming today, too. Well...it's still not that much swimming, truth be told. He has more fun in the tub. The pool is so new and strange that he spends most of his time, near as I can tell, just trying to figure out where the heck he is. We got some splashy time out of him, but the water was pretty cold, and it isn't a really good idea to keep him out in the sun much, even though we do make him wear a hat and a shirt. Delicate baby skin, you know.
Oh, and I got to take him swimming because I got to stay home today. I took a day off because Aunt Sandlin and Uncle Matt are visiting this week. Tyler has gotten a lot of Aunt time, especially around his cheek area. Matt has gotten to hold him and feed him a few times, too. They're going to spoil that kid rotten, I'm sure.
Tyler has been, as reported, working on Carrots this week. He's getting better, but he's still not a huge fan. Those first few bites are still really rough. We balance it out with some rice or oats, nice and familiar, and eventually he gets into the swing of things. It's way messier, though. We've got peas and sweet potatoes to try next. I imagine it will be much the same story as the carrots. Huge mess, scrunchy face, really cute.
As for me, I've been playing some video games in my spare time, but I think I need to get back into the studio to make some more music. There's a few more songs from Actraiser I'd like to cover, and someone made the excellent suggestion of writing a theme song for our work. I'm thinking of making it a little bit like the old Mickey Mouse Club theme. Very upbeat and saccharine. That could be a fun project.
Jess and I are both slacking on exercise a bit. Jess has a better excuse in that her normal Derby stuff has been interrupted by places loosing their rink time and other valid excuses. I was sick last week, but I missed Judo this week because Sandlin and Jessie told Tyler to be cute so I could stay home. He did, and so I did too. And I ended up making Ice cream too. Came out great, especially with strawberries. Yum.
Sandlin has been spoiling us with food. She made us Carnitas yesterday with so many fixins you'd think we were at a restaurant. Jess says she likes Sandlin's cooking better now. So I'll just have to make sure I fix that quite promptly...somehow. There were Kebabs, too. I grilled them with some corn that came out very well. She's also made us some chicken stock that she also turned into Chicken and Orzo soup, and Chilli, and a few other things too. She's a machine in the kitchen. She bought us some smoked salt that seems really good, but you have to store it extra-tight or it makes the whole pantry smell like a BBQ.
Jess gets back from work soon and then we're going to get some burgers with friends of Sandlin's that live in Austin. More people to meet! Oh, that reminds me. Some neighbors around the corner are either moving in or moving out. Either way, we'll probably have some new neighbors to meet quite soon.
-N
Thursday, September 22, 2011
An in Alaska!
So, beloved Sister An returns from her world traveling duties on behalf of Belgian Bakery and Choclate supplies for a quick stop in Alaska. She looks great and has a wonderful job as a "commercial engineer" which translates into accounting work. She is auditing the books of her company's world wide facilities on a rotating basis just about everywhere. Both coasts of the US, South America, Asia and perhaps a few spots in Africa when she's not doing Europe. Excellent duty!
Her sister's are all married and having children. I think she is thinking about that too, but needs to find the "right one" for that to work out for her.
We wandered about the old haunts a bit, did a whale watching cruise, and just enjoyed her company. We got a committment that we will get an invitation to a Belgian wedding someday, so that becomes a pending retirement trip.
Nice to see all our kids doing so well with their lives!
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Babies are distracting
Yeehaw! I'm in Texas!
Actually, let's be honest, I'm just spending my days in the happy comfort of Noel's house. There is a lot of blistering Texas out there, and I am happy with the climate controls in here. Obviously, I've distracted Noel from his semi-regular update on awesome things Tyler can do, so I'll do my best to give the update. While my favorite new parents are off at work, and their best little baby is in daycare, I thought I could really get down to the business of job hunting. But babies are distracting, even when they aren't melting you with their drooly smiles and shrieking laughs.
Yesterday, under the guise of "helping," I went through all of Tyler's tiny little onesies... They are so cutely adorable, but then I realized, he is wearing 9-12mo baby clothes. The 3month clothes look SO teeny compared to him. He is turning into quite a giant! He's actually really good at sitting up on his own, although he occasionally will give up, and fall backwards, almost always into his parents arms. His two teeth are coming in quite well, and he seems excited to test them out on things. At the moment he is very interested in chewing up all of the alphabet blocks that Nana gave him- these should provide years of entertainment.
Oh! And carrots! Noel mentioned he is slowly progressing through solid foods. His first attempt with carrots was hysterical. He's never had a flavor before, and and carrots taste like.... taste. His face went through a barrage of surprise, and horror, and dissapointment and disgust, but after every bite, he'd happily eat whatever Jessie was spooning him. Ack! Not this again! Check out the videos on Facebook, if you haven't yet.
Tyler is really seeing a lot of the world around him. He and I are pretty cool, but you should see the way he lights up when his Mom comes in the room. And he really likes Noel's "jokes." They go something like this: "Tyler, ... hey Tyler.... Bleh!" And he just laughs and laughs. So yes, Tyler is good, and his parents are good, and even the kitties are good. It's so nice to finally get to meet the little guy!
Actually, let's be honest, I'm just spending my days in the happy comfort of Noel's house. There is a lot of blistering Texas out there, and I am happy with the climate controls in here. Obviously, I've distracted Noel from his semi-regular update on awesome things Tyler can do, so I'll do my best to give the update. While my favorite new parents are off at work, and their best little baby is in daycare, I thought I could really get down to the business of job hunting. But babies are distracting, even when they aren't melting you with their drooly smiles and shrieking laughs.
Yesterday, under the guise of "helping," I went through all of Tyler's tiny little onesies... They are so cutely adorable, but then I realized, he is wearing 9-12mo baby clothes. The 3month clothes look SO teeny compared to him. He is turning into quite a giant! He's actually really good at sitting up on his own, although he occasionally will give up, and fall backwards, almost always into his parents arms. His two teeth are coming in quite well, and he seems excited to test them out on things. At the moment he is very interested in chewing up all of the alphabet blocks that Nana gave him- these should provide years of entertainment.
Oh! And carrots! Noel mentioned he is slowly progressing through solid foods. His first attempt with carrots was hysterical. He's never had a flavor before, and and carrots taste like.... taste. His face went through a barrage of surprise, and horror, and dissapointment and disgust, but after every bite, he'd happily eat whatever Jessie was spooning him. Ack! Not this again! Check out the videos on Facebook, if you haven't yet.
Tyler is really seeing a lot of the world around him. He and I are pretty cool, but you should see the way he lights up when his Mom comes in the room. And he really likes Noel's "jokes." They go something like this: "Tyler, ... hey Tyler.... Bleh!" And he just laughs and laughs. So yes, Tyler is good, and his parents are good, and even the kitties are good. It's so nice to finally get to meet the little guy!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
New Blog! Steel City Science!
One of my friends, who is a talented scientist and great writer, has decided that Pittsburgh needs a new blog, a blog to cover the exciting science happenings in town. It's surprising that there isn't something like this already, frankly. There are a lot of "Pro-Pittsburgh" blogs etc., supporting this great online community of people who like to shine a light on what makes Pittsburgh unique. There are dozens of research institutes and museums here, with cool science for Nerds and the Public alike, but no single place where all these great things get highlighted. Her idea, then, is to publicize it a bit more. Short news features from cool seminars, updates about great public events written for the average yinzer to understand. And she asked ME to help! I'm so excited!
The new blog is called Steel City Science, and you can follow us on twitter @SteelCitySci. Obviously, the twitter is mostly me. My posts are written by drsandlin (obvs), and the other bloggers (so far) are former coworkers.
I'm excited about this 1) because it gives me a good excuse to go to events and science stuff still, and 2) because it is a new way to think about science. AND it's giving me an excuse to learn some new skills- I'm the defacto PR person (uh, Kels, expect some calls). For example, I am linking here because I know you all LOVE to see what I am up to, but also because we need some more google cred to climb the rankings. Share the link, send me Burgh related stories and prepare to be excited by the awesome science coming out of Pittsburgh!
In other news- I'M GOING TO TEXAS TOMORROW! Don't leave your babies unattended or they will be kiss-tickled into hysterics.
The new blog is called Steel City Science, and you can follow us on twitter @SteelCitySci. Obviously, the twitter is mostly me. My posts are written by drsandlin (obvs), and the other bloggers (so far) are former coworkers.
I'm excited about this 1) because it gives me a good excuse to go to events and science stuff still, and 2) because it is a new way to think about science. AND it's giving me an excuse to learn some new skills- I'm the defacto PR person (uh, Kels, expect some calls). For example, I am linking here because I know you all LOVE to see what I am up to, but also because we need some more google cred to climb the rankings. Share the link, send me Burgh related stories and prepare to be excited by the awesome science coming out of Pittsburgh!
In other news- I'M GOING TO TEXAS TOMORROW! Don't leave your babies unattended or they will be kiss-tickled into hysterics.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
With all this free time, why do I feel so busy?
Hello old, neglected blog,
It's been a long time since we've had a chance to catch up. I know, it's surprising, given that I am between jobs at the moment. But I am intermittently very busy with finding the next job, and this is time not punctuated by anything very interesting or blog worthy. So there you have it.
Actually, that's not true. Yesterday was Matt's birthday- totally blog worthy! Matt went for a nice bike ride on his "new birthday wheels" (read:expensive wheels he bought himself a month ago and is still really happy with) and we ordered a meat lover's pizza and watch Thor, which was exactly as awful and awesome as I expected. If I hadn't been at the Science Center all day, I would havebaked a cake gone to the store to get ice cream.
Speaking of the science center- it's so fun! I'm starting to feel more confident on the exhibits, so I feel ok approaching people to encourage them a little. My favorite is the atrium, which is the 4 story playground for rockets, parachutes and air cannons. To me, its clear how play become science. "Your rocket went so high! Do you think it would go higher with different wings? How did you make it spin like that?" It's partly because kids never get tired of shooting the rockets. (They tend to get a little bored of the laproscopy demos, and there isn't as much to say about an aquarium.) And neither do I, apparently.
I'm also starting to work with a group that is promoting girls in math and science, or as it is known, the STEM fields (Science, Tech, Engineering and Math). My job right now is to come up with some online modules for a budding online community to have some STEM activities and prompt some interaction. I've got some starts of ideas, but it is going to be challenging to find a way to meet all the design requirements for the site. Like, there are some great science demos you can do for kids 10-14, but there is no reason for them to come back online and share. And how do you use that to launch deeper exploration? It's a fun challenge to break up the job hunting. Bleh. I'll let you know if that goes anywhere. In the meantime my "job" is looking more like a job. I've got more work for the week I'll be in Austin TX, which will keep me busy between BABY KISSING and BABY CUDDLING, my main plan for TX.
It's been a long time since we've had a chance to catch up. I know, it's surprising, given that I am between jobs at the moment. But I am intermittently very busy with finding the next job, and this is time not punctuated by anything very interesting or blog worthy. So there you have it.
Actually, that's not true. Yesterday was Matt's birthday- totally blog worthy! Matt went for a nice bike ride on his "new birthday wheels" (read:expensive wheels he bought himself a month ago and is still really happy with) and we ordered a meat lover's pizza and watch Thor, which was exactly as awful and awesome as I expected. If I hadn't been at the Science Center all day, I would have
Speaking of the science center- it's so fun! I'm starting to feel more confident on the exhibits, so I feel ok approaching people to encourage them a little. My favorite is the atrium, which is the 4 story playground for rockets, parachutes and air cannons. To me, its clear how play become science. "Your rocket went so high! Do you think it would go higher with different wings? How did you make it spin like that?" It's partly because kids never get tired of shooting the rockets. (They tend to get a little bored of the laproscopy demos, and there isn't as much to say about an aquarium.) And neither do I, apparently.
I'm also starting to work with a group that is promoting girls in math and science, or as it is known, the STEM fields (Science, Tech, Engineering and Math). My job right now is to come up with some online modules for a budding online community to have some STEM activities and prompt some interaction. I've got some starts of ideas, but it is going to be challenging to find a way to meet all the design requirements for the site. Like, there are some great science demos you can do for kids 10-14, but there is no reason for them to come back online and share. And how do you use that to launch deeper exploration? It's a fun challenge to break up the job hunting. Bleh. I'll let you know if that goes anywhere. In the meantime my "job" is looking more like a job. I've got more work for the week I'll be in Austin TX, which will keep me busy between BABY KISSING and BABY CUDDLING, my main plan for TX.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Tyler with Other People
We're sitting here on Saturday at the other end of Tyler's first nearly-full week at Day Care, and things are going pretty well. He's picked up a case of the sniffles and his temperature was up at 100.2 last night, just barely below the technical definition of 'fever', but this morning his fever is gone though he continues to have a runny nose. You're supposed to use the bulb squeezer to help keep his nose clear, but he hates that thing. It takes two of us to use it, one just to hold his head still, and he gets really fussy after we use it on him. He recovers quickly, though.
So I finished my festival of cooking last weekend and everything came out great. It turns out six grilled pizzas may have been slightly too much for Jess and I to eat, but the leftovers were nice, if not quite as nice as leftover oven pizza. I'm sure if we did the ingredient list for the pizzas we'd be stunned at how much the cost, especially the 'Alton Brown Recommended' pizza of Dates, Prosciutto Ham, fresh Mozzarella and Thyme, all ingredients purchased at Whole Foods. Heh. Anyway, that one came out great, the Margarita Pizza was delicious, and I made up a 'Spicy Salmon' pizza that involved Smoked salmon (Locks) Sriracha, and then Cream Cheese after it came out of the oven. A delight, especially for breakfast the next day.
The Fudge was also a hit, and much of it has already been given away at work. We did save some for ourselves, but knowing how much sugar is in that thing makes me want to eat it sparingly. I need to try more of that Avocado Ice Cream. I keep forgetting we have it.
Anyway, Tyler at day care has been getting better and better. Jess was worried earlier in the week as he didn't seem to be having as good a time, and was in a quiet mood when we got home. Dad fixed that quickly enough with nuzzles, games, and other distractions (I'm good at that sort of stuff), but Jess was still worried. That all changed, though, the next day when Tyler had a much better day and the day care actually called Jessie to let her know that Tyler was doing well. We picked him up in a smiling mood and he was much happier that evening. He's been pretty cheerful most every day ever since.
I was taking a shower on Thursday when Jess yelled at me from the bed. “I want Katsu Curry!” So we tracked down a place that did Katsu Curry for dinner and went there after work on Friday with Tyler. As always, he was a perfect gentleman, and Jess and I had some really great food. I order ridiculous sushi rolls and some Katsu Don (also great), Jess got her Katsu Curry and then we had some Mochi Ice cream and some Tempura Ice Cream for dessert. It was all pretty fantastic, especially as Tyler just sat and stared and occasionally made cute cooing noises at us the whole time. Also of note, we were surrounded by hot chicks at all the nearby tables. Jess kept saying that they were all attracted to a stable father taking care of his baby. I can't say I disagree.
Tyler has also started playing with one of the toys Great-Nana Preecs got him while she was here, a sled with a whole bunch of blocks in it. One of his favorite games is to sit with the sled in front of him and just pull blocks out and drop them on the ground, occasionally keeping a hand on one and stuffing it in his mouth and scraping his bottom teeth against it over and over. He's definitely better at coordination.
And because we keep getting asked, we are doing fine, wildfire-wise. There have been a couple of scattered fires in our 'neighborhood' that have been quickly contained, and the really big fire that everyone keeps talking about is outside of a city that is just southeast of Austin, and we're northwest, so if our house gets threatened by these wildfires it will have to have gone through the entirety of Austin to get to us, and I'm sure you'll see that on CNN.
This weekend we're inviting Dan and Amy, yes, the ones from Juneau, over for Fondue and baby talk. We have a big pile of things Tyler doesn't fit into anymore that we are planning to give away. Other than that, I'm mostly planning to write this blog and then go get lunch, because I am *hungry*.
-N
So I finished my festival of cooking last weekend and everything came out great. It turns out six grilled pizzas may have been slightly too much for Jess and I to eat, but the leftovers were nice, if not quite as nice as leftover oven pizza. I'm sure if we did the ingredient list for the pizzas we'd be stunned at how much the cost, especially the 'Alton Brown Recommended' pizza of Dates, Prosciutto Ham, fresh Mozzarella and Thyme, all ingredients purchased at Whole Foods. Heh. Anyway, that one came out great, the Margarita Pizza was delicious, and I made up a 'Spicy Salmon' pizza that involved Smoked salmon (Locks) Sriracha, and then Cream Cheese after it came out of the oven. A delight, especially for breakfast the next day.
The Fudge was also a hit, and much of it has already been given away at work. We did save some for ourselves, but knowing how much sugar is in that thing makes me want to eat it sparingly. I need to try more of that Avocado Ice Cream. I keep forgetting we have it.
Anyway, Tyler at day care has been getting better and better. Jess was worried earlier in the week as he didn't seem to be having as good a time, and was in a quiet mood when we got home. Dad fixed that quickly enough with nuzzles, games, and other distractions (I'm good at that sort of stuff), but Jess was still worried. That all changed, though, the next day when Tyler had a much better day and the day care actually called Jessie to let her know that Tyler was doing well. We picked him up in a smiling mood and he was much happier that evening. He's been pretty cheerful most every day ever since.
I was taking a shower on Thursday when Jess yelled at me from the bed. “I want Katsu Curry!” So we tracked down a place that did Katsu Curry for dinner and went there after work on Friday with Tyler. As always, he was a perfect gentleman, and Jess and I had some really great food. I order ridiculous sushi rolls and some Katsu Don (also great), Jess got her Katsu Curry and then we had some Mochi Ice cream and some Tempura Ice Cream for dessert. It was all pretty fantastic, especially as Tyler just sat and stared and occasionally made cute cooing noises at us the whole time. Also of note, we were surrounded by hot chicks at all the nearby tables. Jess kept saying that they were all attracted to a stable father taking care of his baby. I can't say I disagree.
Tyler has also started playing with one of the toys Great-Nana Preecs got him while she was here, a sled with a whole bunch of blocks in it. One of his favorite games is to sit with the sled in front of him and just pull blocks out and drop them on the ground, occasionally keeping a hand on one and stuffing it in his mouth and scraping his bottom teeth against it over and over. He's definitely better at coordination.
And because we keep getting asked, we are doing fine, wildfire-wise. There have been a couple of scattered fires in our 'neighborhood' that have been quickly contained, and the really big fire that everyone keeps talking about is outside of a city that is just southeast of Austin, and we're northwest, so if our house gets threatened by these wildfires it will have to have gone through the entirety of Austin to get to us, and I'm sure you'll see that on CNN.
This weekend we're inviting Dan and Amy, yes, the ones from Juneau, over for Fondue and baby talk. We have a big pile of things Tyler doesn't fit into anymore that we are planning to give away. Other than that, I'm mostly planning to write this blog and then go get lunch, because I am *hungry*.
-N
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Weekend in Virginia
Matt and I took advantage of the long weekend to go and visit our favorite people in all of Virginia. They've been living there for a year, so it's really about time we stopped by for a visit. I can't say I've thought much about Virginia before, but it was so green and beautiful down there. We had a nice drive down on Friday, stopping only once to feel deeply lost, and got in some hiking, some eating, some chatting, some touring and some more eating over the weekend. It was a really nice trip, and of course always fantastic to see old friends, and see them doing really well. New jobs, new house- it was like hanging out with grown-ups.
Of course, getting to travel is one of the perks of being "between work." I finished my last day of real work at Pitt on Wednesday, and I've started volunteering at the science center- how fun! I'm going back tomorrow for my first non-orientation day. The time in between, is of course, to find a real job. And make dinner and stuff. I had a good lead today, and hope to work on a system for getting more soon. Being unemployed could be fun for maybe as much as a month, but I'll get bored of it pretty quick, I am sure.
Of course, no sooner am I out of a job but my main manuscript was rejected. Bummer. Not sure how Dr. Boss plans to deal with this yet, so I'm going to go visit on Thursday and see what he is thinking. I'm sure he'll get it out somewhere, but he doesn't have the incentive to get published that I do. I expected this though, so I am optimistic that we can move on it quickly.
Of course, getting to travel is one of the perks of being "between work." I finished my last day of real work at Pitt on Wednesday, and I've started volunteering at the science center- how fun! I'm going back tomorrow for my first non-orientation day. The time in between, is of course, to find a real job. And make dinner and stuff. I had a good lead today, and hope to work on a system for getting more soon. Being unemployed could be fun for maybe as much as a month, but I'll get bored of it pretty quick, I am sure.
Of course, no sooner am I out of a job but my main manuscript was rejected. Bummer. Not sure how Dr. Boss plans to deal with this yet, so I'm going to go visit on Thursday and see what he is thinking. I'm sure he'll get it out somewhere, but he doesn't have the incentive to get published that I do. I expected this though, so I am optimistic that we can move on it quickly.
Sunday, September 4, 2011
New reading adventures?
I know there are a lot of Harry Potter fans reading this, so I thought I'd pass along my thoughts about a sort of similar reading experiences.
George R.R. Martin is the author of what is now a five-part series called the Song of Fire and Ice. The first book in the series, Game of Thrones, was recently made into a multi-part HBO movie (which I have not seen but got good reviews).
I have just finished reading (frequently non-stop) the fifth and latest book in the series, Dances with Dragons.
"Masterpiece" is an over-used term, but I don't know what else to use. The books have been compared to "Lord of the Rings," but I think they are deeper and more complex even than Tolkien.
I got hooked on the series while stuck in Seattle on work-and-home-repair trip. The clerk at Borders said he liked the series because it was "character-driven" and not just a military strategy sort of swordplay saga. That's only partly true. There is an avalanche of intrigue, betrayal, violence, sex, and yes, swordplay. But the scope is just enormous, and most of it is indeed driven by the amazing cast of characters.
Hogwarts had four houses . . . these books are set in a land with two continents, seven kingdoms, well over a dozen different *major* characters, each with vividly distinct personalities. The characters evolve over time, with some villains becoming almost likable as events wear them down, other seemingly heroic characters reveal weaknesses and poor judgement that cause huge, often disastrous consequences.
The story is told in a series of chapters that hopscotch from one character to another, sometimes interacting with each other, other times, drifting on to a narratives paths that appear to be far, far from the main road . . . with regularly surprising twists, turns, and switchbacks.
I can't tell you captivating this all is. A couple of cautionary notes: If HP was a PG-13 movie, this series would be rated R-Not under 17. Adult situations, violence, and potentially offensive language. Also, don't start this series when you have a major project or deadline . . . i found it totally captivating. Be warned.
Happy Birthday to me
Whenever I write one of these I like to go back to the previous one and read about where we were last time I wrote. Two weeks can be a heck of a long time in baby-years. The biggest change since last time, in fact, has been a big one. Tyler is a day-care baby now. That's right. We got him through a good 5 months of being a home baby thanks to everyone's help with babysitting, but now it's time for him to start learning some other lessons, like how to interact with other babies and how to get sick rather a lot.
The place Tyler is going for school (It's just easier to start thinking of it like that now) is called Bright Horizons, and it's part of a nationwide chain of daycare centers. A few people we work with go there too. It seems really nice, so far. Tyler has gotten along with the new environment surprisingly well...well, not that surprising when you consider that it's Tyler, I guess. But his first day Jess was very much nervous and so we 'happened' to go out to get lunch and it 'happened' to be at a place really close to the day care. We stopped by to see him and he was having a pretty great time, just hanging out on the floor and playing with toys...stuffing them in his mouth, that sort of thing. He was really only mildly interested in us, really, and after we got ourselves some Tyler-cuddling time, we just put him right back down and he went back to playing. We're told he has had a couple of rough mornings so far, but I'm sure with experience, both from Tyler and from the day care staff, they'll learn his cues better and that will smooth out. But considering the abruptness of the change, Tyler seems like he's fitting in quite well.
There's seven other babies in Tyler's class and two teachers. The babies go up to a little over a year old, but after that they become toddlers and graduate up to the next class. There's a lot of cuties in there, but Tyler is, of course, the cutest. Donna is one of the oldest. She has a full head of hair but no teeth, and she likes people a lot. She came up and flirted with me on the first day. One of the days Tyler even took a nap over two hours long. He missed his morning nap, though, so that's to be expected, and he didn't seem to happy about that.
But yeah, so far things have been going great at the day care. Friday we didn't even have to go see him at lunch, and he's always happy and smiley when it's time to pick him up in the afternoon. Also, no sickness, yet, though I'm sure it's just a matter of time with so many babies around.
Solid food has also been going well. He's still mostly just on rice, which he really likes but it is occasionally to slow for a very hungry baby. Today, though, we got him some oats to try. They didn't taste much different than the rice (both like cardboard) but he had some to eat and didn't complain or anything. What a great baby.
Mom Preecs was here to take care of Tyler for his last two weeks at home, and the two of them got along just great. So great, in fact, that mom had plenty of time to cook us a lot of dinners for us and do a couple of sewing projects for Tyler. She made up one of those seven-can stools for him with some really neat fabric we got, and she even made Tyler a 'Gussy' to cuddle with. It's got a cute face and pockets and everything. Also, really nice fabric. I helped find that one, so that's my contribution.
Mom was also here to help my celebrate my birthday weekend! With Fish! We went out to a very fancy fish restaurant (Thanks, Jess!) called Trulucks (pronounced True-lucks, we finally figured out) and had all sorts of fancy ocean delicacies. Including rather a lot of dessert. Mom and I both tried the Tuna, which I hadn't tried in quite a while, and the crab cake which was fantastic. And dad managed to mail me some Dremmel tool stuff for use around the house, no doubt. I already know what my first project is with that. Thanks dad!
Jessie's birday present to me was that I got to go to whole foods and buy WHATEVER I WANTED. Which, let me tell you, is a heck of a lot of fun, though not cheap. So I put together a list of a few random things I wanted to cook, most of them from Alton Brown episodes, and picked up all the ingredients. I've made about half of my menu already:
1) Cheesy Italian Meatball Casserole – Frozen for future eating
2) Pastitsio Casserole – Lots of parts, but really fun to make. Also frozen already
3) Avocado Ice Cream – I'll let you know how it turns out.
The rest get made later today or tomorrow:
4) Fudge – Yum!
5) Grill Pizza – Double-yum. I'll make several types.
6) Stuffed Tilapia with cheese sauce. (Jess is letting me make fish for dinner!)
So that's what I do for fun on Birthdays. Way better than pub crawling. At least, for me.
Later today we're going down the street to the neighbors to hang out with Grant and get him used to strangers a little bit more. I also want to use the opportunity to see if Tyler likes playing in their jumper. His legs are getting stronger and stronger, though he still needs more practice sitting up on his own.
-N
The place Tyler is going for school (It's just easier to start thinking of it like that now) is called Bright Horizons, and it's part of a nationwide chain of daycare centers. A few people we work with go there too. It seems really nice, so far. Tyler has gotten along with the new environment surprisingly well...well, not that surprising when you consider that it's Tyler, I guess. But his first day Jess was very much nervous and so we 'happened' to go out to get lunch and it 'happened' to be at a place really close to the day care. We stopped by to see him and he was having a pretty great time, just hanging out on the floor and playing with toys...stuffing them in his mouth, that sort of thing. He was really only mildly interested in us, really, and after we got ourselves some Tyler-cuddling time, we just put him right back down and he went back to playing. We're told he has had a couple of rough mornings so far, but I'm sure with experience, both from Tyler and from the day care staff, they'll learn his cues better and that will smooth out. But considering the abruptness of the change, Tyler seems like he's fitting in quite well.
There's seven other babies in Tyler's class and two teachers. The babies go up to a little over a year old, but after that they become toddlers and graduate up to the next class. There's a lot of cuties in there, but Tyler is, of course, the cutest. Donna is one of the oldest. She has a full head of hair but no teeth, and she likes people a lot. She came up and flirted with me on the first day. One of the days Tyler even took a nap over two hours long. He missed his morning nap, though, so that's to be expected, and he didn't seem to happy about that.
But yeah, so far things have been going great at the day care. Friday we didn't even have to go see him at lunch, and he's always happy and smiley when it's time to pick him up in the afternoon. Also, no sickness, yet, though I'm sure it's just a matter of time with so many babies around.
Solid food has also been going well. He's still mostly just on rice, which he really likes but it is occasionally to slow for a very hungry baby. Today, though, we got him some oats to try. They didn't taste much different than the rice (both like cardboard) but he had some to eat and didn't complain or anything. What a great baby.
Mom Preecs was here to take care of Tyler for his last two weeks at home, and the two of them got along just great. So great, in fact, that mom had plenty of time to cook us a lot of dinners for us and do a couple of sewing projects for Tyler. She made up one of those seven-can stools for him with some really neat fabric we got, and she even made Tyler a 'Gussy' to cuddle with. It's got a cute face and pockets and everything. Also, really nice fabric. I helped find that one, so that's my contribution.
Mom was also here to help my celebrate my birthday weekend! With Fish! We went out to a very fancy fish restaurant (Thanks, Jess!) called Trulucks (pronounced True-lucks, we finally figured out) and had all sorts of fancy ocean delicacies. Including rather a lot of dessert. Mom and I both tried the Tuna, which I hadn't tried in quite a while, and the crab cake which was fantastic. And dad managed to mail me some Dremmel tool stuff for use around the house, no doubt. I already know what my first project is with that. Thanks dad!
Jessie's birday present to me was that I got to go to whole foods and buy WHATEVER I WANTED. Which, let me tell you, is a heck of a lot of fun, though not cheap. So I put together a list of a few random things I wanted to cook, most of them from Alton Brown episodes, and picked up all the ingredients. I've made about half of my menu already:
1) Cheesy Italian Meatball Casserole – Frozen for future eating
2) Pastitsio Casserole – Lots of parts, but really fun to make. Also frozen already
3) Avocado Ice Cream – I'll let you know how it turns out.
The rest get made later today or tomorrow:
4) Fudge – Yum!
5) Grill Pizza – Double-yum. I'll make several types.
6) Stuffed Tilapia with cheese sauce. (Jess is letting me make fish for dinner!)
So that's what I do for fun on Birthdays. Way better than pub crawling. At least, for me.
Later today we're going down the street to the neighbors to hang out with Grant and get him used to strangers a little bit more. I also want to use the opportunity to see if Tyler likes playing in their jumper. His legs are getting stronger and stronger, though he still needs more practice sitting up on his own.
-N
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