Bucket listings...

Holy - May 2011 was my last check in here? So much for that 2011 resolution: one blog/month. Eh. It's not like there's a race going on here.

So 2011 is finito and onwards the 2012. Update of sorts:

Last blog post was about me discovering that I kinda like gardening/planting. Main thing I learnt about that: don't plant your strawberries under a clothes dryer vent. It wasn't even my vent, but rather my neighbour's vent that for some reason is on my side of the fence. So no berries to enjoy, but I did get the "tomato plant that keeps on giving". I never had so many tomatoes before. The flowers faired well on my front entrance. In the backyard, I found out "if you plant and forget it, it'll eventually grow in the future" as a couple plants popped up that I forgot I had.

The mice issue lingered far longer than it should've. Today was the first time I had a TOASTED bagel for breakfast. Yessiirreeee, I took out the toaster that I purchased 9 months ago and finally used it. Things learnt: toasted morning bread is a God-given thing. Cherish it.

Work wise, it's been a cat and mouse (ha) game of "we'll renew your contract". The good news is that I'm renewed til March 2012, giving me a full 2 years of official post-doc status. Bad news, I've yet to find the next job that HAS money. All current opportunities require me to find my own salary. So grant writing commences Jan 3rd and we carry on with job searching. My hope is that I can keep my current job until I have another position with money.

Speaking about my job, we did move into a shiney new building. Things learnt here: new doesn't mean working condition. The first two months were spent talking to maintenance folks with water/flooding issues, autoclave issues, and the automatic blinds issues (whom I've appropriately named HAL - HAL decides when my office needs more light; thanks HAL, now I can't see my computer screen).  I call my building a trophy wife: great to look at, but does crap all.

I'm just coming off a huge high from the recent holidays; no, Santa bring me a new job, but rather I crossed off item #3 from my bucket list: to hug and thank my Grade 7 teacher face to face.

Being a deaf kid had its obvious obstacles with learning how to communicate within this world. But being the sole deaf kid in a regular school system - that just add that much more strife to my upbringing. I was bullied daily and even at an early age was falling into a deep hole of hopelessness that it wouldn't get better.

Enter a teacher named Sandi.

Grade 7 was my last year at elementary school before the deep plunge into scary highschool. I found myself dreading five more years of being picked upon. Sandi somehow sensed my angst and encouraged me to chat with her about things. Soon it became a ritual after school chat with her, which quickly became my daily solace. Within these talks, Sandi encouraged me to attend univsersity, "Highschool will be difficult, but university all that crap about being different falls away. You'll be great in university! Don't worry, it gets better!"

Me? University? A deaf kid finally fitting in? Riiiiiight.

Fast forward to my first undergrad year, I found myself being inspired with the course material and meeting people who had the same interests as me. After that first year, I found myself saying, "She was right, it did get better."

Because of her extra effort, it was high on my bucket list to find and thank Sandi. This also included to write a letter of recommendation about her positive influence on me. Her kindness and encouragement needed to be known, needed to acknowledged, needed to be shared. But she disappeared on me. I had no leads for two decades on where to find her... that is until this past fall.

Google is a wonderful thing at times.

Suddenly I had her email address and we were exchanging emails. The letter of recommendation letter was written shortly after and sent to her superiors. People were soon asking me whether I won the lotto because I had this crazy huge smile on my face for weeks.

"No, but I crossed off a high bucket list item. To me that's a huge huge win."

Things lead up to this past holiday season, where we found ourselves in the same city at the same time and arranged a breakfast meetup. As soon as eye contact was made, warm hugs were instantly exchanged, followed by a 6h chat that ended much too soon. Although my memory of Sandi was from the eyes of a 12 year old; the warm, caring, enthusiastic, positive person who gave me hope so long ago still shines. Her life journey has been incredible and she continues positively influence people in the education system today, both provincially and nationally. She'll always be my dear mentor and now my close friend.

If you have a teacher(s) who inspired you, I encourage, no, challenge you this year to seek them out and let them know about the impact they made on your life. When the right teacher and student connect, everyone wins.

Encore, merci beaucoup Sandi!

My Green Thumb & I

Something shocking happened over this weekend: I found myself in a garden center getting excited over which annuals I'll bring home with me.

Now despite the mice ordeal (which I just realized that I've yet to blog about that... soon people, soon), I've been thoroughly enjoying my townhouse. Yes, it's a rental, but it's been amazing how much my mental state o' mind has improved with windows and greenspace. I enjoyed the wood burning fireplace over the winter months. Last summer I indulged in hammock naps. And year-round, my hockey gear dries out in the basement in peace without smelling up the entire place. It's not that I'll be living here forever (I do want to own a place), but even mice can't stop me from enjoying my townhouse.

Apparently living in this place has tapped into the gardener in me. Growing up we had gardens, and every spring/summer I'd watch my mom attempt to tackle every weed and plant what would call herself "beautiful" plants. As a kid, I could care less. It was beyond my logic why would people spend hundreds of dollars for plants that don't really grow well in Canadian environments. Fruit/vegetables I understand, but trying your darnest to grow some orchid or lilly in forever sun (no shade) or forever shade (no sun) conditions, plus the neverending "chance of overnight frost" never resulted in successful gardens.

But my mom seeing my distaste in gardening would kindly tell me: when you're older, you'll develop an interest in all of this. Standing for 3 hours in the greenhouse debating on several flowers and legumes to grow in my tiny garden space in my townhouse probably means that I'm officially now older.

And poorer - spending $110 on plants. I bought a variety of flowering plants including asters, salvia, and others which I forget the names. I'm also trying a mini vegetable garden of peas, green beans, tiny tom tomatoes, blackberries, and strawberries. I'm not expecting to reap anything. But the chance of it growing in my lil' niche I'm looking forward to.

And sorer - after an afternoon on my knees in the dirt and lugging around potting soil and mulch, I found I had new unused muscles. Apparently goalie knees aren't gardening knees.

So it's all weeded, tilled, and planted. And now the water & wait game commences. I probably did everything wrong in planting and choosing the best combos to plant together. But I think that's part of the fun, an experiment if you will - the trial and error of gardening. If I eat three beans or a half of a strawberry or just witness tomato flowers, I'll consider it a success.  (I'll post pictures soonish... blogger is being silly slow with uploads atm).

Can you hear me NAO?!

Personal things this month. Back in June I had yet another amusing adventure that my phone wasn't working which I quickly concluded that this time it was my hearing aids and not the phone itself. I say "this time" as there have been a few adventures of me buying/trying half a dozen phones out before coming to the realization what was the exact problem.

So the T-coil option on my aids (which enables me to hear on phones) clunked out... again. It's the 3rd time in six years with these aids. Because the aids were 6 years old and the cost to fix them was now half the price of a new aid, my audiologist and I mutually agreed that it's time for new aids. I really can't afford new aids right now, but I decided to suck it out and purchase some shiny new $4000 aids. It's like buying a new laptop for each ear. And of course people think that because these aids are NEWER, BETTER, FASTER, it'll mean that I can hear NEWER, BETTER, FASTER!

Newer? Actually yes. Very much so. When I was fitted with the new aids, everything and everyone sounded completely different - either an octave or two in different directions. Or sharp/flat tones in several voices. This wasn't a shock to me. I've expected a lot of transition to the new sounds over these past few weeks. This involved two things: me looking like a foreigner in new country (you know, those ppl who look totally dumbfounded and lost trying to understand their world around them) and headaches galore with trying to mentally reteach myself to hear. It is quite mentally tiring.

Better? Most people make the mistake that hearing aids "fix" the problem. No, I am still deaf dammit. Can a guy on crutches walk normally? Of course not! They hobble along, but its still considered "walking". Same goes with hearing aids - do I hear normally? Hell no. But with them I can communicate with the Hearing world much better than without. For the record though, some sounds/voices do sound clearer. But I still can't hear some tones/beeps. Nor filter out the accents in people's voices. And of course when some folks yell at me, it's like I'm watching their lips flap away with a vuvuleza buzz filling the air.

Faster? What is this? The gimp Olympics?

For settling in with the new gizmos, so far, I've been impressed. My audiologist (bless her patient soul) and I have tweaked around with the aids to my personal settings. She also made me aware of some nifty T-coil wire loops that connect into your MP3/ipod player. Rather than using painful headphones that pinches the aids against your skull, these babies connect into the T-coil option. Now I'm enjoying ipodish music relatively looking like most folks and the sound quality would be considered surround sound in your head. Of course I've never truly heard what surround sound is. But what? You're going to argue with the Deaf chick?

So then - phone back, MP3 crisper, and everyone sounding like different people. Interesting month indeed.

Music then - how about some Bob Seger's Old time Rock n' Roll? I was karaoking last Friday night... it was on the playlist. No, no one took off their pants and paraded in their socks.

A room (or townhouse) with a view...

Before June flies by like May did, I decided to stop staring at unpacked boxes and stare at the blank blogging screen. The move "eated" up the month of May and then some. I'm sitting in my new living still surrounded by boxes still. But in 72h things should be (or at least look) as if I'm settled in. Reason for the rush is that my mother will soon visit, soon followed by my father with soon-to-be wife #4 (or #3 depending on who's counting), then a good friend from my hometown who is leaving on a fabulous 2 year adventure in Lao. I think the move is following the Field of Dreams karma: if you build it, they will come.

My new place has been interesting so far. The windows and backyard overlook a large park/school yard field, in which I am a firm believer that everyone who owns a dog in the neighbourhood uses the grass as nature's lanteen (the dogs not the owners). Other musings have included an interesting stone/drunk/psycho fellow with his holy grail backpack. Needless to say, the blinds went up soon after that display. I also have an overly friendly 4 year old neighbour that insists on helping me with groceries, hockey gear, or simply opening my doors. I'm not sure whether this is a sign of her boredom or more so a sign that I'm aging.


Some personal wishes are coming true with having this new abode. One is having a hammock. I've wanted to own space for a hammock since my elementary years. If you're never had the chance to spend some time in a hammock, I suggest you put that on your "bucket list" pronto. The hammock has been ordered and will arrive next week. Just in time for my mom to marvel it as well.

Another personal wish is having a wood burning fireplace. I so love the smell of wood fire. Though they are a pain to keep clean, I'm looking forward to a cold snowy winter night in front of the crackling wood. Of course having a nice XY to share it would be the next step, but one thing at a time. Maybe the karma includes "if you have a townhouse, he will come".

Hammock for summer, fireplace for winter, I think I'm set for all Canadian seasons.

Music music music... life needs music. I've been listening a lot to Lady Gaga of late, like everyone else it seems. The TV sensation "Glee" devoted a whole episode to Gaga music. Let's "just dance" folks.

New Year, New Decade, New You?

I rarely make new year's resolutions, but seeing how I get weekly "you haven't written in your blog for AGES" comments, I decided to to resolve that I'm going to try to post more and consistently throughout this year.

But as most resolutions, this will be broken at some point.

Eh... at least I'm honest?

ANYWAYS, Happy New Year, New Decade, New Job-title! No, I don't have my dream job as of yet, but this is the year of a bunch of first and new territory. The first being that 2010 marks the first year in 27 years that I will not be enrolled as a full time student. I say this with a cautionary air as I've been eyeing some photography and sign language courses. Right now hockey and job hunt trumps those, but who knows in the twilight months of 2010. So perhaps a night-course student in the fall, but for the moment, I'm enjoying not worrying about essays, reports, and exams.

My contract of my casual job has been officially extended til' June, so I continue my hunt for the post-doc. It seems to be on the minds of everyone I talk to. I'm not sure if it's out of concern for my well-being or rather "what else do I say to the scientist?". Yeah, I'm a geek, but an informed geek. I have interests outside of geekhood peeps. Anyways, I look, I hunt, I apply, I wait. Nuff said.

The first two months is hockey central for me. January alone I have 19 games. These are scheduled games and not including pick up hockey that I'm an on-call goalie. I get a lot of those emails as well. It's just the luck of the draw that I'm free that night OR that the games are at least 4 hours apart.

Plans for this blog... I like the music tabs, so expect more of the same. For Something Sciencey Sunday, I'm going to try once a month, maybe Something Sciencey Second Sunday (there you go Claire!).

To reboot things, a lil' Red Hot Chilli Peppers and their "Roller Coaster of Love". This was the "official unofficial theme" for the Shanty Raidio group. Whenever I'm having a good work day, I think about this song and the Disc Jockeys who made even the scientist smirk in front of the beakers. Enjoy folks!

Driving me crazy...

This morning I indulged in my masochist side and once again took my car into the mechanic shop. I might have well shot myself in the foot to obtain the same effect. I don't enjoy servicing my car, but I do understand it's an necessary evil in car ownership. My car isn't really high maintenance. The usual oil/fluid change and replacement of normal parts (tires, breaks, belts) that get worn down over the car's lifespan. In fact, on whole, my current car has treated me well. Hell, any car would treat me better compared to my first car which was appropriately named, "mushroom mobile". So maybe my perspective is a lil' too bias, but that my readers is a story for another blog entry.

So yes, today I took my car into the shop for what you could characterize as preventive maintenance. I have a hunch that the water pump is due to be replaced and I would rather find out about it now, rather than on some prairie roadside awaiting for a towtruck. Thus, I willingly submitted my car for inspection. Right now, it's being poked and prodded. I'll assume that they will find something wrong with it as mechanic/service shops can ALWAYS find something wrong with your car.

But that isn't the focus of today's blog rant but rather the service shuttle I receive from the dealership. This is a standard service offered by all dealerships to their "valued customers". In fact I think they prefer the customers being offsite instead of pacing around the waiting room. The problem that irks me is the employed driver of these carpools. So far I have had the pleasure to know three shuttle drivers:

There's the Granny-"Let me tell you"-driver. This woman apparently has no qualms about her personal life being public knowledge. It's like tuning into a biannual drama show. Each episode is an update on her (still) estranged husband and her run away daughter with unplanned grandson. Details of her finances, phobias, and latest jewelry purchase help the character development of this driver. But sadly the plot always falls short.

Next we have "Let's chat" and "I know a better way to get there" guy. Now I've only lived in my current city for 6 years, and in agreement with Dawn, I do get lost on occasion. However I think I know the route to my lab pretty well. Seeing that I've spent literally 4 of the 6 years living at this workplace (the other 2 years are at my flat sleeping or on the ice playing hockey). But according to this guy, he knows the best route. Um, ok... you can take that street and stop 4 times more than going the other route. But I try to keep in mind that he holds the wheel and just enjoy the scenery.

Talking about enjoying the scenery. Yes, actually, I am a quiet rider with complete strangers. Since the day I got my driver's license, I've been behind the wheel daily. Not always to my wish. Just that it was one of the various exploits by my mom with her reasoning that since she chauffeured me for 16 years, it's my turn to chauffeur her. There's also the fact that I'm one of the very few people in my social group who owns a car. So that means, I'm the designated driver. Thus, being taxied, bused, or shuttled is a sincere treat to me and I enjoy the ride... in silence, to collect my thoughts, and discover places that I never knew existed because my eyes were on the road. However apparently I was too quiet for this driver who made the comment, "Are you mute too?"

Yeah, gasp. I gave him an sympathetic smile since he was clearly pathetic and said, "No, just a lot on my mind considering that this week I defend my PhD" (yeah, I got an oil change that week too). That comment shut him up and blessed silence ensued.

After THAT interesting service shuttle experience, you'd think that there's nothing that could top that ordeal. That is true... until this morning. I was met with "The New Guy" driver, whom I predict will quickly become "That Fired Guy". First impressions were horrid. This guy comes to me in the waiting room and announces that he's ready to take me to the wrong place. I corrected him with right location to my lab (which was clearly indicated on his clipboard) and he nearly had a tantrum as he scratched out the right location and rewrote the same location in its place. I thought that he was possibly dyslexic, which cast doubt on the remainder of this car ride. Quoting myself, "I'm doomed".

A couple more misadventures occurred before we exited the parking lot, but this blog is getting lengthy. I will comment that I do not like traffic circles myself. But this guy wanted to avoid them like the plague. Unfortunately the shortest route to the lab would involve going through one traffic circle in which the guy overly complained and whined continuously as we maneuvered through this intersection. On top of that and him being brake-happy, the last straw was him blatantly neglecting my overly polite direction which of course resulted him to miss the essential turn off and forced us to go through yet another "cursed" traffic circle. I can accept that people won't be familiar with the area that my lab is located. But he refused to follow my directions and as punishment for him (and for ALL of us it would seem) another traffic circle to conquer. I'm probably being mean, maybe he's just having a bad day. But honestly, if you are nervous about driving through traffic circles during non-rush hours, you should find another day job other than driving service shuttles.

Edit: results in from the prodding which will cost me $800. Ouchie. Maybe I should just ramp up the experience and have a private limo pick me up. Servicing your car shouldn't have to be THIS painful. Woe is well.

Take me out to the patio...

First off - okay, from now it's a personal goal of mine to attend a Comic Con. Yeah, it's primarily a gathering of mostly middle age people who can be categorized as fanboys. But I do like conventions of this type. Attending one makes me think, "Well at least I'm not THAT weird." Although you may think this is a place for only comic swapping, it's now also the launching of upcoming blockbuster movies. Examples include Iron Man 2 and Twilight's sequel (I'm only in interested in the former, not the latter). This was also the venue that James Cameron launched his next movie "Avatar". Considering that the last movie Cameron made was Titanic, it makes it a pretty big deal that he launched his next film here. The vibe is so big this year that the media is dubbing the event HollyCon due to the presence of so many Hollywood stars. One preview that tugged on my memory is Disney's remake of TRON. I honestly forget the plot in the original movie - all I remember watching a dark movie full of blue lights and speed chases. But that's about it. The remake looks stoked enough that I'll spend my $15 on it one night.

Finally summer has arrive! Though I'm not enjoying being *too* warm at night despite the efforts of my floor fan. It's a sign that I'll always be Cdn - I just like temperate weather. 25oC is my max temp. But with the summer-like weather means various outings with people. In fact Wed to today, I've been out with friends nightly, sipping cold cider on patios and enjoying some summer food. Today I have a deck party to attend to continue the tradition.

There's also another tradition with hot weather: BBQs. More specifically hot dogs. I like hot dogs. I try not to think what's really in them. Though of recent years, I purposely buy those "all-beef" kind. However "beef" is still ambiguous.

This is all leading to this week's episode of Something Sciencey Sunday. BBQd hot dogs are the best. But there's an invention of the roller grill that you often see hot dog wieners being cooked. I think this is the source of where a scientist had the inspiration when faced with the problem of how to continuously rotate Western gels overnight for washing. In fact, I can see the certain scientist going out and purchasing a wiener roller for this purpose BEFORE the engineers developed the "scientific" roller (which means inflated price for the same piece of equipment). I will give the engineers credit that this roller does rock in two directions (y plane and z plane) rather than one direction. Oooooh, ahhhhh eh?



You might be wondering what's this purpose? To develop gels properly, the longer washings are with buffers to rid background developing, the better the gel looks to discern any results. Such washings require constant rocking back n forth of solution over the gels which can be rolled up in those conicals tubes. This machine makes it a godsend for the poor grad student who would have to spend his/her entire night rocking the gel back n forth manually.

Things that go "Click" in the night...

Last night after becoming tired of reading some of my thesis (it's definitely not a page turner! I doubt any thesis really is), I started to fall into the land of nod when:

CLICK!

It was loud enough to alert me... me, being the stone Deaf chick. I often sleep with one aid in to help wake me up in the morning (I had an early ball hockey game), but still it's ONE aid in. I passed it off as me hearing things, nuzzled back down with my cat close by, closed my eyes...

THUMP!!

Ok. Definitely something there. At first I thought it was my pipes groaning for some gawd knows reason. Checked on my thermostat, things alright. Fine. Whatever. Get some shut eye girlie you need to be wakey wakey tomorrow...

CLICK!

WTF? Now I'm thinking something of the rodent species. My place is clean, but of late my walk up flat has had too many "accidents" of the pest kind. Also this reminded me of a recent tale by Jules and the chipmunk that lives within the walls of her flat. So I peer around my bedroom. Can't find evidence of anything with four legs other than my cat (who is now pissed off at me for rustling around the room so much). I start thinking it might be my d-day nerves, get over it... try to sleep. Then listen to continuous: CLICK! THUMP!! KNOCK!!!

Ugh! I'm reminded of Kermit's song "In quiet of the evening" song now. But soon I noticed that my window is open. Hmmm, maybe it's coming from outside. I take a quick glance into the dark abyss, no one around. Closed the window. Sounds no more! Yay! I fall asleep.

7 hours later...

4 cop cruisers...

1 officer taking my statement.

Apparently someone last night was firing off a shotgun and then left the gun in the field across from my flat. "Click" my ass! The poor Constable who got the luck to interview the deaf witness.

"Click? That's what it sounded like?? Just click??"

"Well, you must understand I was only half aided. Often it was a "thump", but seriously, I'm not your prize witness obviously."

He smirked.

Luckily no one was hurt, nor was there any property damage. The officer assured me that this is most likely an isolated incident (yeah, they always tell you that). I asked him if I hear any more "clicks" at night and see someone, should I contact the police? Apparently I was humouring him majorly with his boyish smile (gotta admit, I like a man in an uniform) and he answered, "Most definitely."

So excitement last night. Some hick shooting off his/her shotgun. Yesiree, I've definitely moved into a cowboy province. Maybe it's their version of the welcome wagon? Yeehaw?

Edit: the story finally hit the news, apparently there was property damage (shots fired through windows) and the suspects were from my apartment complex... great, Hillybilly for neighbours.

Something new that I'm going to try here. Since this IS a Mad Scientist's blog, I'm kinda seeing that I don't talk much about science other than my recent job quests and thesis. But if I start rambling about the latest E. coli stress response paper, I'm sure readership of this blog will cease to exsist. I could talk about being a science geek, but Matt and Roz has that corner well under control. So how about something with pictures? I consider myself an amature photographer and seriously considering taking photography courses as soon as I finish this Ph.D. With the digital age, photography as a hobby has become less expensive. Though I agree that film captures something that pixels cannot. No matter, I'm going to start posting a picture/movie of something sciencey (oooh new word!) every Sunday (hence the tag). It'll be from my real life around the luuuub or elsewhere that strikes me as "science". So here's something for you check on this blog weekly.

This week: Fun with Dry Ice

I remember as a kid thinking that dry ice was the coolest invention of modern science. Now since I'm a scientist, seen marvels of the biological world, worked to unravel genetic mysteries... dry ice is still and always remain very cool. Every now n' then, we have perishables enzymes mailed to our lab in which the package comes with 2 lbs of dry ice that's basically useless to us. Oh what to do??? Throw it in the sink, turn on the water and presto! Cool fog to play with.

Opa!

I'm happy about this weekend as "My Life in Ruins" opens. This movie is the third by Nia Vardalos, a Cdn Greek, in which I'm told by my Greek family is a distant cousin. Of course, if you're Greek, everyone's a cousin. So I'm not sure how distant Nia's family is to the Iatridis family. But I've learned quickly within my Greek family that theios (uncles), theias (aunts) and xederfos (cousins) could include your next door neighbour's best friend's girlfriend. Often ex-girlfriend too. Anyways, in case you were living under a rock about 8 years ago and missed "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", DEAR GAWD, go and rent that movie. Tora!! (NOW!!)

Now you may be wondering if I am actually Greek. Officially, no. But I consider myself an adopted Greek and have a full fledged Greek family. The short version of this story is that I grew up with a close highschool friend who's father is from Greece. The family has two sons, so me being over at their house daily often felt like being the daughter of the family. One Greek Orthodox Easter, they presented me with a cake. I quizzed them to why I would have my own cake on Easter (of ALL days!). They explained to me that this day would now be my nameday (a Greek tradition) and gave me my own Greek name: Anastasia. The name comes from Anastasios meaning "resurrection", hence the Easter theme (though I was later told that my nameday is actually December 22nd, not Easter, but ehhh, we bend the rules a lil'). So Greek name, Greek nameday, Greek family. Opa! I couldn't ask for a more supportive adoptive family like my Greek mom and dad, not to mentioned two fabulous Greek bros. The above picture is from my Greek bros' wedding a few years back. Come my wedding, we're smashing plates just like so! I'm very proud of my Greek family, just as I am of my own. Both our families are close, my moms hang out together as much as possible. And if you have watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" (if not, why are you still reading this blog? GO RENT IT! TORA! TORA!!), yes, my Greek family is EXACTLY like that (minus the spitting). So Mad Beaker to Nia for giving the non-Greeks in the world a lil' insight to the rich culture of hers (and unofficially mine).

Back in a coffee shop today, finishing the slides for the defense. Last night I was losing some sleep over the d-day. Just concerns that I won't make the grade to be Ph.D. material. My colleagues and friends say that isn't the case, but I'd rather be worried and study like hell than be overconfident and arrogant. A colleague of mine recently attended an open defense and was shocked that the student didn't actually READ their thesis before hand. WTF did they think the questions would be on? Their choice of attire of the day? I'm already reviewing my thesis and finding (oh my) big areas for revision. Game plan is to keep quiet about what I found that needs fixing unless they bring it up. So shhhhhhh...

Music, since I'm talking about my Greek family, might as well as play a lil' Arkadia, a Greek band from my hometown that comprises of (you guessed it) my Greek cousins. Sadly, I can't finding any youtube clips (cough cough nudge nudge to my Arkadia cousins), but if you search within their discography site, you'll find some samples of their CDs. I miss hearing you guys play live!!! Sniffs. Ora kali (laterz) folks!

Perking along

One thing about thesis writing... I've been consuming more amounts of coffee than usual. I'm not an avid coffee drinker. Tea is more my drug. But there's very few tea houses in the area, so I rotate around coffee houses throughout the week. Rotate meaning a different coffee house everyday. Reason? I sit here for HOURS typing away, drinking just a few cuppa joes, so I'm not the greatest customer. Thus to not annoy the proprietors, I just rotate around, maybe visit the same coffee house every two weeks. Yeah, I'm sneaky like that.

So two weeks officially left. EEEK! But I'll get it done. Yes... I will... YESSSSSSS I WIILLLLL. (oh com'on, let me try to convince myself! Join in on the fun!)

So short update here as I want to finish this new data set I found last night before heading off to hockey. Like, ooooh more DATA to add! In my ear, the smooooth John Mayer and his slow sexy "Your Body is a Wonderland". Yeah, I'm a hopeless romantic. Aren't we all?

A rare feeling...

So another day, another interview. This one was for the lab tech of a first year interdisciplinary undergraduate course. I wasn't aware that this course is brand spanking new, so they are definitely in search for someone creative. This comes rare to me, but I'm feeling good about the interview. I personally knew one of the interviewers and that kinda set me at ease right away. I felt that it wasn't an interview, but rather a conversation about this potential job. So I think I have a decent shot at getting it. The only concern is that there's someone else in the interview pool that is of higher caliber than myself. Someone with more lab tech experience, more creativity. I can't control that and besides, if they do get the job, they are better suited for it than me. So whatever may be, shall be.

One funny ancedote I'll share about the interview. They were talking about the extra hours that this job would involve. One "concern" was that there would be a field trip that "would require me working the entire weekend as well". I smiled and said, "Okay, let me get this straight, I get a weekend in Jasper, spend some time outdoors in the mountains, have room n board, get PAID for it, plus get to do some science in the meantime. This is suppose to be something bad?"

They laughed with me. I hear next week the result. Keep your fingers crossed.

Elsewhere, hockey weekend fast approaching: 3 days, at least 4 games, possibly 5. That and writing on the side. I think my Wii Fit will gather a lil dust this weekend. On that note, I'm still enjoying Wii Fit. Weight loss? Not much, but 5 lbs is 5 lbs. I do at least 30 minutes of exercise everyday (except days when I have hockey). When I land a job and can afford a gym again, I'll alternate more. Just doing all Wii Fit can get boring despite the 40 some activities. Another thing I wish is that the boxing segments are longer. 10 minutes isn't much for cardio boxing. I'd like to do 20 - 30 minutes. But overall, I enjoy the Wii Fit. It is a good program to monitor your progress.


Music... hmmm, I'm in an upbeat mood which means Collective Soul is helping me celebrate. Here's a recent one, "Hollywood". I love the piano set and beat to this bright tune. Enjoy folks!

Back in the net

Well after a hiatus of no hockey for nearly 3 weeks (talk about cold turkey!), BOOM! I'm back between the pipes. Secretly, I wish I had 4 weeks off considering what's left to write about thesis, but happy to be back nonetheless. However, holy hell (oooh alliteration again! I'm on a roll!)... can we say overkill? Within the space of 9 days I've got at least 7 games. There's a ice hockey tourney I forgot I signed up for this weekend. And city league ball hockey sweetly starts the same weekend too. I would groan, but it's the same group of women I'm playing with for both leagues, so we just groan together. At practise today it was nice to see our captain back in action. She broke her ankle in two places in a January match (ouchie) and has been on the sidelines ever since.

I'm feverishly writing today too. Yesterday's experiments left no time to write. It's 10 hours of straight science. Kinda a change, but I feel this weight bearing down on me that "YOU SHOULD BE WRITING!!!!" Eh, in 3 weeks, I'll be done this, there will be hockey and research before the defense in June.

On the job hunt front, I got another interview this Thursday for a lab tech position at the University. Cons: it's not research position and doesn't really help advance my career, but pros: the pay is good and it sounds like a lot fun. It's a lab tech position that oversees a special first year university course that takes a different approach to teaching. So I'll be back doing chem, physics, even computer science. No doubt I'll miss research, however there's a part of me that wants this job to re-connect myself to the love of science. Grad school has definitely made me (news flash!) bitter. I miss the innocence and thrill of discovery without the pressure to perform.

They sent some interview questions, so I've got to prep for that. I'm certain there's many ppl like me applying for this job, so I'll have to turn on the shine. Stay tune for details from that.

In my ear... I'm in a mellow mood today (well, stressed-out mellow mood, is that possible?), so I'm listening to the Brit DJ Bonobo's "Silver" (advice, don't watch the video, the pictures kinda kill the vibe, just play the music). It's kinda a mellow electronic pop. I enjoy music like Bonobo or Moby when I'm writing. The silence of writing is often distracting, but putting on my regular playlist will often result to me dancing, or singing... or both. So, just Bonobo today.

Great debate...

To the lab or NOT to the lab. That is always the question I ask myself these days. In theory I'm supposed to be done experiments and JUST writing. However my dear old advisor has other plans for me. For some reason I just CAN'T write and do expts at the same time. I find writing at the lab distracting and not much lab work gets done. So with me it's either one thing or another. Oh I can multi-task expts... just writing isn't one of those tasks.

Eh, I forgot my mouse at the lab, so that probably means I'll go in eventually.
Edit: I went to WalMart and just bought a new mouse. Wheeee!

Onto "normal" things. Update with owning a Wii Fit. It's going quite well actually. I've been working myself up to spending 35 min of workout time (not real time) on the machine everyday. I'm enjoying myself. There's lots of variation and so far some muscles are getting sore which indicates that it's working. No loss of weight, yet. I think it'll be a few weeks before any change will be noted. I'm aiming 3 months to decrease my BMI by 8 points. So stay tune for updates.

I've been enjoying Twittering. It's kinda neat to hear updates from people throughout the day. Kinda makes even famous people seem "normal". For example I'm following one of my favourite groups Collective Soul. It's interesting hearing their day to day updates on the road. I own all their albums and have seen them perform over a dozen times. I just love their music, it speaks my feelings so clearly at times that it's scary. Dean Roland asked on Twitter what was my fave song. Seriously I can't give just one. I've got two self-burned CD compilations of my faves. So you'll hear about my CS faves time to time. Today, I'll start off with the ballad that hits home the most: Needs.

There are a few reasons why "Needs" is special to me. The biggest one is there a repetitive chorus throughout the song "I don't need nobody". Which at face value, means, well... I don't need anyone. I lived most of my life as an outsider, fiercely independent, swearing not to need anyone. But "I don't need nobody", it's a subtle double negative. All this time swearing off people, you realize that you've been crying out for somebody. I think that's why there's a break in the song, almost a realization. And the chorus changes to "You're all that I need." Kinda a self-discovery song in which those are always the best.

Can't win them all...

Well that rec ball hockey season sucked. Totally got pwned in the semi-finals (5-9). And I'll take personal responsibility for 4 of those goals. So no crappy Tee this year (sniffs).

Today is Tuesday. And for the past few months I've been treated to a good meal with friends. They call it "thesis-bail-out-Tuesdays". Writing thesis means becoming antisocial plus your diet thrives on things that take only 5 minutes to prepare. Of late I've been actually good, many fresh veggies and "ironed" meats to upkeep my energy levels. Dawn and Mike though always treat me on Tuesdays with new dishes. Tonight though a request from Dawn: Nanc's nachos. I didn't think much of them before but apparently my nachos are to die for. Who knew I had a keen idea about cheese and chips? So prepped the meat and cheese last night after hockey and will throw in the hot spices later tonight over at their flat.

Thesis writing accomplished a bit today. Snaps for me. But fuck! These things take FOREVER to write. I just fiddled with graphs and tables today because I felt like it.

Reading more about the Pox virus for the interview tomorrow. Holy crap is that a sweet virus! I get a lot of weird looks talking about nasty bacteria and viruses like they are the best thing since slice bread. Seriously though, microbes are awesome. It has always amazed me that something so tiny, so unicellular can take down a complex multi-cellular organism like me. The coolest thing regarding Pox viruses now days is that we're using them to treat cancer. It's still in its infancy stages, but gene therapy with viruses will be a reality. I'm excited at the opportunity to work with them, learn the ropes. Who knows, maybe I'll become a virologist instead. Wish me luck for that interview tomorrow!

In my ear... I'll admit that I'm a HUGE retro fan. I'm always listening to some great 80s tune. Today on the playlist, a canuck! Bryan Adams. Most probably know him from that sappy love ballad "Everything I do (I do it for you)" from the flick Kev Costner's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. However that's not my fave tracks from Bryan. One with the best memories that I caught in my ear today is "Summer of '69". You play this at a pub anywhere, the ones who are hollering the lyrics are true canucks.

Trendy Omnivore

There's a blog making some waves in the news. Apparently Jill and Andrew from Very Good Taste decided to make an intriguing list of foods of the homo sapien palate. The contents of the list is of course debatable. But from reading what's on it, I must agree that it comprises a good blend of world foods. It's funny though that Big Mac Meal, Poutine, and Krispy Kreme donuts make up of the North American choices... goes to show how fat the North American diet really is.

Now I'm not a picky eater, especially compared to some close friends of mine. When ppl send me those dreaded "My fave...." lists to complete, the part where it asks about your fave food I always put "ethnic". Which may seem like a cop-out. But it's the simple truth.

So without further suspense... I've bolded the items in the list that have graced my lips. Apparently I've tasted 52/100. I'm not sure if that's bad or average.

1. Venison my Greek dad hunts deer... it's very good meat. But I like moose better.
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros thanks to befriending some Mexicans of late, I've been enjoying many of their dishes!
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile I remember eating this with friends over Christmas. It's tough meat!
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart best memory... a vender on Young Street in Toronto. I was 11.
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23.Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters but sorry no... shellfish aren't my fave
29. Baklava mmmm, my Greek mom's the best!
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl not in specific bowl...
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar sadly not together
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O can we say Jell-O shots?
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat and chicken, lamb, beef, shrimp...
42. Whole insects according to my mom I used to eat ants by the dozen
43. Phaal (sorry I like my tastebuds untorched)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more I'm a student, you think I'd spend $60 on Whiskey? Sorry Tullamore Dew is my "uppercrest" Whiskey
46. Fugu after that Simpson's episode, I doubt many will try it
47. Chicken tikka masala oh gawd... this with naan is heaven!
48. Eel on sushi... ick ick ick
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut this is the god-given purpose of glaze
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear in Mexico they call it Tuna... which causes some misunderstanding when someone orders a tuna sandwich
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer mmmm cheeeese
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal sadly any McD meal since I was raised behind a McDonald's (true story!)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini shaken, not stirred
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine I'm Canadian.. duh!
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. SweetbreadsIt wasn't what I thought it would be... but not bad tasting
63. Kaolin I've no idea what this is
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain though I'm not sure if simple fried bananas count...
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette for the the love of God, no no no! I've been offered it, but passed
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini sadly just caviar
73. Louche absinthe they still allow this to be consumed?
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill seriously... what is THIS doing on a list with Krispy Kreme?
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong thanks to Steeps, I get to try exotic teas
80. Bellini three words: Cactus Club Cafe
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant wtf?!!
85. Kobe beef hmmm, unsure if kobe beef on sushi counts?
86. Hare
87. Goulash my granny often makes this...
88. Flowers I've had dandilion soup, but edible flowers as garnishes
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano ole!
96. Bagel and lox part of the joy of dating a Jew
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee funny... this is now the 4th time I've seen this coffee mention in the past 30 days. Weird.
100. Snake

lil mouth o' pain

My mouth is blessed.

For the 3 decades of my life, my mouth has been blessed with good teeth. I give credit to my maternal grandfather's side for being Darwinian and carrying "good" teeth genes. Not one cavity, filling, maybe a touch of gingivitis, but hell who doesn't have that.

However there's a draw back of having good teeth... you never experience the pain in your mouth. So this week my wisdom teeth decided to migrate a lil north. They have moved before, even cut. It produced some discomfort, but nothing I couldn't handle. My dentist has always urged for me to get them removed, but there's a quirk with me. Thanks to my patneral side, I inherited a blood disorder. Nothing too life threatening, just that I bleed much more and it's hard to get it to stop. So... teeth extraction requires more than a trip to the orthodentist, it requires hospitalization. Which then there's a lot of questions about the cost involved, yadda... And me being a poor grad student, it's not on my list of priorities.

Though soon I'll probably find out. Holy sh!t my toothies decided to migrate this week. My lower right wisdom tooth has impacted in my mandible and I pleaded for pain killers all yesterday. The codeine is working, though my mouth and face have swollen up, and can barely extend my jaw. I find out my fate tomorrow at the dentist... so it'll mean surgery within the next few weeks if not months. I'll keep ya posted.

Now off to spoon feed myself some soup.