Dusty vs. Jack

or...



I think I prefer The White Stripes version, but yeah, that's essentially all there is.  Nature.  Beast.  Hello!

And now...it's been real.  

Feliz Navidad

A health benefits fair was offering free flu shots and so my lab mates decided to take advantage of this marvelous opportunity and go.  Though goaded by my friends to follow suit, I declined the offer and insisted that I haven't had the flu since I was about 10.  I have the immune system of an ox (Do oxes get sick?  I dunno, but if they do have strong immune systems then that is what mine would be akin to)!  With that, I thought it best to sit comfortably, injection-free, in my chair and scan the Justice headlines on CNN.  Naturally, because irony is such a dear friend of mine, I later caught the flu a mere 2 days later.  Plans to take over the world were foiled by a virus.  I suppose there's next week then.  So the past week, I've been battling a 104 degree fever, but oddly enough the fever and chills weren't what bothered me.  It was the torture of staying confined in my apartment--trapped in my thoughts.  Terrible.  Anyways, during my recoup, I did accomplish many things.  I watched both, count 'em BOTH, Paranormal Activity 1 and 2, watched all the seasons of Parks and Recreation, finished my documentary on the galaxy, finished another documentary on serial killers, and of course I watched a few chick flicks here and there.  Dirty Dancing is cute.  Patrick Swayze (back in the day) and Jennifer Grey are cute.  The whole soundtrack--cute.  So yeah, I totally got my TV watching on that week. 

I taught my last genetics lab a few days ago.  Talk about bittersweet.  I'll miss my students (most of them, not all) but I'm happy that I can finally put more energy into my research.  I wrote on the board their last assignments for the term: "This week: Think about microbes and stuff; Next week: Eat lots of food" (in light of the Thanksgiving holiday).

Today my parents celebrated 28 years of marital bliss.  My parents and I were eating dinner with the television on one day and suddenly the theme song to Green Acres began to play.  As soon as it came on, my dad grumbled, saying under his breath, "I hate that song."  My mom and I just laughed and asked why.  When my mom was living in California and my dad in the Philippines, my mom would call him once a month on a Sunday.  Which Sunday of the month and at what time she would call was the mystery, but without fail, my dad would wait all day in this public recreation area (which is where the only phone in my dad's province was located) and every time he waited, Green Acres would play.  He waited for her for 3 years before they decided it was finally time to get married.  Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!
   
I started listening to some Christmas tunes last week.  Thanksgiving is next week and so no, I don't think it's too early to whip out the Christmas Partay playlist.  I'll admit, I actually began listening to Christmas tunes back in June, but whatevs.  It's all good.  I'm looking forward to a visit from mom again next week.  Sadly, it costs significantly more to travel back home than it does to fly here to New York which is why I'll be spending the holiday here. 

I'll kick off the Christmas season with one of my favorite tunes...



Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Everybody's workin' for the weekend

I like to indulge in the simplicities of life.  To me that defines a good weekend--it is nothing extravagant, but it sure is comfortable.  Thank goodness one of the TAs had to go out of town for the weekend so we weren't stuck grading the students' dang fly exam.  So far, these kids are 1 lecture exam, 1 microbe lab exam, 3 lab reports, 6 quizzes, and 1 final away from being completely donzo with this god awful class.  I've dealt with so many panic-stricken kids in the past few weeks, I'm beginning to feel more like a therapist than a teacher.  This class is like no other I've ever taken before and it still amazes me how much they must endure for one measly 5 credit class.  But like I've been telling my kids, any hardship that you go through, this too shall pass.  And it's true.  Come mid-December, we will all wash our hands clean of Genetics 2810.  Hurrah!

Anywho, the weather (surprisingly enough) has been absolutely lovely these past few days.  I hate how my mood tends to reflect the weather patterns here, but I will take any sunny day I can get, honestly.  Sunday has become my favorite day.  I went to lab in the morning to take pictures of my canavanine assay, went to mass and afterward I grabbed a coffee and sat at the Barnes and Noble to read my book.  People watching is great.  I noticed this old husband and wife (presumably so) browsing the $10 section and debating what Elvis cookbook to buy.  Adorable.  Later, I went for a run and ended the afternoon in lab to deconvolute my microscopy images.

This past week, Aaron Ciechanover came to deliver his Racker lecture and then he visited us in our lab.  Apparently, him and Scott go way back and are pretty chummy.  This guy was hilarious and had a lot of charm.  But he did offer some sage advice which I felt was quite apropos since many of us have no idea what we want nor where we're going in life (well, not completely true for everyone, but I will repeat what he said regardless of where you are in your life): "It's important to study and do what you love.  I mean who knows why a banana curves, but there are people who study it because that's what they love." 



Good night.   



I really like that song too.