Monkeygirl

Done!

2010-11-29T22:50:00.002-06:00

Holy neglected blog, Batman! I am just a-coming by to let you all know I defended my dissertation and will be officially graduating in December. The whole fam is coming to help me celebrate and it will be awesome!

This transition of leaving grad school (finally) has made me think a lot about my blog and what I want to get from it. A lot of this blog's beginnings were to keep in touch with friends and to find a community in the dark, isolating days of grad school. I feel like I interact with friends more in other venues, and I don't feel as isolated any more. What I want now is a place where I can write more about my work and science related issues. To that end, I am going to stop this here blog. I have some other plans for internet adventures, so if you are someone I have interacted with over the years, please send me an email to mnkgrlblog at gmail dot com and I may let you in on my plans. MWA HA HA! If you know me in real life, keep an eye out for my future endeavors.

Seriously, I really benefited from having this space to write and from the academic blogging community. But I do think that what I need now is a more professional space, so I am moving on.

And, if you were here for the book reviews, be my friend on GoodReads!

books!

2010-09-06T20:20:00.000-05:00

81. The Hero and the Crown
82. The Blue Sword both by Robin McKinley
I loved Robin McKinley when I was like 13, and read both of these books then. They were just as good on a re-read, 20 years later. Both of these are set in the kingdom of Damar, although they are separated by hundreds (if not thousands) of years. The Blue Sword was published first and The Hero and the Crown is a prequel. I kind of like reading The Hero and the Crown first, though, to get the deep back story. Anyway, both these books have strong female characters who have amazing destinies to fulfill, although they feel out of place in the society they are raised in. Both books are just magical with lots of action and some animal friends for the main character. I think I slightly prefer The Blue Sword, but everyone should read them both.

Books!

2010-09-04T09:11:00.000-05:00

78. Earthlight by Arthur C. Clarke
Awesome straight up, old school sci fi. Set on the moon, Earth and its colonies (Mars and Venus) are on the brink of war over access to natural resources. I love to see what people in the '50s imagined the future might be like.

79. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Yay! Awesome, sprawling, epic straight up fantasy with tons of characters and lots of drama, civil war and honor. Can't wait to read the next one.

80. An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks
Sacks is a famous neurologist, probably best known due to the movie "Awakenings" which is based on one of his books. This is a collection of essays, each describing a different clinical case that tells us something crazy about the brain. I, unfortunately, cannot get into Sacks' wordy and very descriptive writing style. I know tons of people love his books, so anyone reading this review should try it for themselves. I do love hearing Sacks on the radio though, so if you don't like his writing search out his appearances on Radiolab!

Busy like a bee

2010-09-03T08:25:00.000-05:00

I was doing great posting regularly for awhile, but then it all stopped. So sad for you, my 2 blog readers. Here is the sitch: I am trying to graduate in December, I teach full time and I am applying for jobs. So much work! I am really busy. I'm trying to take time when I have it to line up some posts for the upcoming week, so we'll see how that goes. And wish me luck on my graduating and job getting!

Books!

2010-09-02T21:04:00.000-05:00

73. Tell No One by Harlan Coben
It might have been the mood I was in when I read it, but I really enjoyed this mystery/thriller/thingy. A pediatrician is living day by day after his wife's murder when he realizes she may be alive. What's up with that? All kinds of other mysteries are revealed. This writer is good, and maintained my interest in the mysteries and the characters throughout.

74. Betsy and Joe by Maud Hart Lovelace
I never read these as a kid, but I was recently talking to some people who said they were a mainstay of their growing up, like Little House or Anne of Green Gables.

I started here on the 8th book as it was in a give away pile in my laundry room. These books are really good, and I think I would have really liked them when younger, as much as I liked it now. The world of a teenager in 1910 is so interesting to see and Betsy's character is so full of life and determination to enjoy life to the fullest. I will definitely be getting the rest of these books.

75. Carney's House Party and
76. Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
Continuing my obsession with these books. Carney's House Party takes place after Betsy and Joe and centers on a more peripheral character in that book. Carney comes home from Vassar for a summer and invites several people to stay in her house for a month. The days are filled with teas and parties and picnics and some misunderstandings and romantic entanglements. I really liked seeing how many things are the same between the early 1900s and now.

Betsy-Tacy is the first book in the series. It is written at a much younger level, but I still really enjoyed it. In this book, Betsy and Tacy first meet, and their adventures begin.

77. Fool by Christopher Moore
Funny book for anyone who likes British humor, lots of swearing and sex and Shakespeare being all twisted around. A re-telling of King Lear from the court jester's point of view.

Musical interlude

2010-09-02T09:02:00.002-05:00

Sorry it is not a real video!

books!

2010-08-20T07:36:00.000-05:00

70. The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
This book lost stars as it went on and on and on. I liked the book a lot at the beginning, but the detailed descriptions and zillions of characters barely kept my interest as I slogged through like the last 1/3rd of the book. I have had this experience with Byatt before. If all her books were like 25% less long, I would like them a lot better.

71. Naked Once More by Elizabeth Peters
This is a different series than the one based around Amelia Peabody, which I love, but it was still quite good. I didn't realize it was actually in a series until I finished it, but I will be getting the rest eventually. It was a fun, light hearted mystery with an awesome female romance-writer protagonist.

72. The Light Ages by Ian R. McLeod
This book just never came together for me. I couldn't get a good sense of the world it was set in, and there was a big huge mystery that did not compel me and did not interest me when it was revealed. I don't know, it seems like I should have liked this book more, but it just didn't work out between us.

Beatles 3000

2010-08-19T08:42:00.001-05:00

This is a hilarious look at what will be known of the Beatles in the year 3000. Also makes a good parallel to a lot of assumptions made in anthropology when reconstructing the past.

A musical interlude

2010-08-18T10:11:00.001-05:00

Plague Ship!

2010-08-17T09:09:00.000-05:00

69. Plague Ship by Frank G. Slaughter
There is one book from my vacation reading that I must post about -- Plague Ship! This book is awesome. First, I bought it for 25 cents while visiting Katie (who doesn't get a link since she hasn't blogged since February). I can't believe the library was culling this! Mysterious plague from the past! Sexist doctors with sexist descriptions given of young secretaries! Giant plot holes and foreshadowings that never occur! Awkward exposition given through dialogue. This book is exactly like a bad movie that is so bad you have to love it. Really. Better yet, Frank G. Slaughter was apparently a real surgeon, and wrote other awesome sounding books like Epidemic!, Women in White and Doctor's Wives. I plan on reading more of this excellent author and highly recommend him to you, if you enjoy movies like you find on Mystery Science Theater.

Quinoa!

2010-08-16T09:41:00.000-05:00

Quinoa (pronounced Keen-wa) is apparently an amazing miracle grain full of protein and able to make you leap tall buildings in a single bound. I mostly just think it is tasty and I like it a lot better than cous cous so I use it in many cous cous applications.

I have only had it hot until recently, but then I realized I could make quinoa in my rice cooker which doesn't heat up the kitchen and THEN I could put the quinoa in the fridge, making an excellent summer dinner. Here is my improvised quinoa salad.

Yummy Summer Quinoa Salad
(partially inspired by this one, on The Picky Palate)

1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups water
1 orange sweet pepper, chopped kinda small
2 scallions, chopped, both white and green parts
1 avocado, chopped
1 small can mandarin oranges
1/2 a jalapeno (if you dare. Mine was really mild.)
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil

First, unless you have indication that your quinoa was pre-rinsed, put it in a mesh colander and run a bunch of water over it. It can have a bitter/soapy taste if you skip this step. Rinse rinse rinse.
Next, put the quinoa and the water in your rice cooker and turn it on. In 15 or so minutes you will magically have cooked quinoa. If you don't have a rice cooker, simmer the quinoa and the water on the stove. Really, it cooks just like rice.
Let the quinoa cool some and put it in a big bowl. Add all the veggies and oranges. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil, vinegar, sugar and sesame oil. Pour this over the quinoa and veggies and stir it all up. Put in the fridge for a bit and eat! Yum!

I did find this a little too sweet, so next time I will decrease the sugar by about half. You might want to start with that. Also, I meant to add fresh mint but forgot. It would be good though! Throw some in! Or parsley even.

I cooked the corn one of my two favorite ways. #1 is grilled, but here I steamed the corn. The idea is from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. Basically, put the corn in a big pot with like an inch of water, cover, and cook for like 15 minutes. I think it is sweeter and more tender than boiling the corn in a huge pot of water and it takes less water and is therefore faster.

books!

2010-08-15T21:09:00.001-05:00

OK, if I write reviews for all the books I read on vacation I will be here the rest of my life. So here is a list. If anyone is super curious what I thought of any of them, you can ask. :) All were acceptable to varying degrees.

60. Sunshine by Robin McKinley

61. Seeing Redd by Frank Beddor

62. The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

63. Heat Lightning by John Sandford

64. Serious as a Heart Attack by Louisa Luna

65. The Quiet Dogs by John Gardner

66. Smiley's People by John le Carre

67. White Hot by Sandra Brown

68. Pretty Boy Floyd by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana

Shahi paneer

2010-08-12T15:53:00.004-05:00

R came across some paneer on sale at the grocery store, so we decided to try a new to us Indian recipe. Here is some shahi paneer; a dish with paneer (Indian cheese) and a tomato based sauce. It was pretty easy and I thought it was pretty flavorful. R thought it needed more spices, but to me it was good for an every day supper. I've put the recipe below. If you think your palate is more like R's than mine, feel free to increase the spices, especially the chili powder.

Shahi paneer recipe
(Adapted from Allrecipes.com)
Ingredients:
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 large onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
4-5 Roma tomatoes, pureed
1/2 lb. paneer, cubed
1/4 c water
1 tsp sugar
salt to taste
1/4 c cream
at least 2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:
Heat the oil over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the oil until the onions are golden brown -- about 10 minutes (less if you have a more powerful stove). When the onions are brown, add the cumin, coriander, turmeric and chili powder. Stir it all around and cook until the spices are fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add the pureed tomatoes and cook about 5 minutes, stirring a few times, until some of the liquid evaporates and the oil begins to separate out. You'll see a few pools of oil forming. Add the paneer, water, sugar and salt. From this point on stir gently so that the paneer does not break up too much. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the paneer absorbs the tomato sauce and turns kind of orange-ish, about 10 minutes.

Lower the heat to a simmer and add the cream while stirring. Simmer about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat, add the cilantro and serve.

We served this with store bought naan and jasmine rice. Yum yum.

Also, we are still on the hunt for a muttar paneer recipe, so if you have one, let me know!

Funny funny blog

2010-08-10T22:36:00.003-05:00

So one of my new favorite blogs is Hyperbole and a Half. The illustrations really add to the hilarity. Also, I really relate to a lot of things about this blog. This is how I still feel about bikes and I have totally had this experience with a cat before.

books!

2010-08-08T13:02:00.003-05:00

56. Population 485: Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry
A series of vignettes about Perry's life as a writer and volunteer fire fighter in a small Wisconsin town. I really like Perry's voice and the setting, so I liked this book a lot.

57. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
The third in this super popular series. I liked this one, but I don't have the fanatical love for these books that some others have. I thought it wrapped things up pretty well, though, and through the whole series I really liked reading about Sweden.

58. The Snake, The Crocodile and the Dog by Elizabeth Peters
Another awesome Amelia Peabody mystery. Nothing more to say.

59. To the Edge: A Man, Death Valley, and the Mystery of Endurance by Kirk R. Johnson
This book was really interesting. It is the story of a reporter who signs up for Badwater, a 135 mile ultramarathon from the lowest point in Death Valley to the highest point. Johnson signs up for the race after his brother commits suicide -- Johnson's goal is to explore what makes a person able to endure. Johnson takes another brother and sister with him as crew, and aside from the family stories we also see Johnson's change from an observer of the race (as a reporter) to a whole hearted participant. The early part of the book was less interesting to me as I was not compelled by the questions of why some people do endurance events or even are able to survive certain circumstances while others cannot. What most interested me, was how the idea of Badwater started to obsess Johnson. The books does a good job of carrying the reader along on this transformation. At first I thought only crazy people would run the race, but by the end of the book I could understand its appeal. I'm unlikely to be running in the sauna to train for this race any time soon, but this book is a good glimpse into why someone might do something like that.

Vacay!

2010-08-08T12:54:00.002-05:00

R and I just got back from an awesome 2 week vacation in Costa Rica. We saw lots of monkeys, we saw a hawk eat a snake that was planning to eat a frog, we saw sea turtles laying eggs and we saw a volcano. We relaxed and read books on a mountain. We swam in the ocean a little and braved walking on a windy road with crazy drivers in the rain. It was fun. Here are a few pictures -- more are on Flickr.

Books!

2010-07-04T15:29:00.000-05:00

55. Brasyl by Ian McDonald
Meh. I felt like all the action happened at the end of this book. And also, if the action had been more throughout I would have liked it better. I am not really impressed by books/movies, etc. with the premise "reality is not real."

Books!

2010-07-04T10:19:00.000-05:00

52. The Group by Mary McCarthy
This is the story of a group of college friends from Vassar in the 1930s. I mostly enjoyed it for the glimpses of life as an educated young woman back then, but I found it hard to get really close to the characters. A good read for the historical value, but not completely engrossing.

53. The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama by David Remnick
The title says it all! The book starts out as a biography, and then moves on to Obama's political career and progress from state Senator to US Senator to president. I haven't read Dreams of My Father, so I not seen the biography stuff put all together before and I really enjoyed that part. I actually really liked seeing the whole story laid out. I mean, I lived through the election, I remember Obama's speech at the 2004 convention, but it was interesting to take a step back and see how it all fit together. This book only got three out of five stars because it was long, and some parts dragged a little, but other parts were page turners even though I knew how it would all end up. If you are at all interested in politics or knowing more about how Obama came to be who he is and fit this particular time I recommend this book.

54. Garnethill by Denise Mina
This is the second book of Mina's I have read and I really enjoyed both. I liked this one better than the other. It is a good mystery/thriller but also very well written and with a larger message about the treatment of people with mental illness in society. If you like mysteries but also more literary fiction, I recommend this book. As a bonus it is set in Scotland. I find I prefer mysteries that take place anywhere in Great Britain over those in the US.

Books!

2010-07-03T12:12:00.001-05:00

50 and 51. The Dead and the Gone and This World We Live In by Susan Beth Pfeffer
These are 2nd and 3rd books in a series that began with Life As We Knew It, which I loved. In these books a meteor crashes into the moon, pushing it off course and causing various disasters on earth. You all should know by now that I love a good apocalypse. But, I did not love these last two books. In The Dead and the Gone we go through the same time period as the first book, but in New York City. I did like a view of the end of the world from a big city stand point, but the characters were not as engaging. Also, the first book was written in a diary format which really drew the reader in and the second book was in 3rd person. The third book, though, was the worst. The characters from the first two books are brought together in a kind of contrived way and end up having to deal with things NOT going back to normal. In the third, I thought the characters were not as well fleshed out and there were many events that did not fit in with how I understood the characters so far. I would recommend reading the first book and skipping the second two.

Free like a monkey!

2010-07-02T22:04:00.000-05:00

My last post on zoos was partially inspired by this article in the Chicago Sun-Times: The Brookfield Zoo has let some golden lion tamarins (GLTs) out to forage in a wooded area next to the zoo. This is similar to a set-up at the National Zoo. There, tamarins live out in a wooded area of the zoo to learn to forage in a "wild" situation as part of their pre-release training.

In my earlier post I said I was skeptical of reintroduction programs, and I am, but one that comes closes to appearing like a success to me is that of the GLTs. Michelle sums the program up well here, and also introduces Devra Kleiman, a pioneer in this work, who sadly died earlier this year.

I don't know if reintroduction is going to save GLTs, but I haven't made it to the Brookfield Zoo yet and after reading this article I am excited to finally get there and see if I can spot the free-ranging ones.

What I think of zoos

2010-07-02T09:51:00.004-05:00

A while ago, when I was in crazy dissertating/teaching land and thus neglecting the poor little blog, Michelle had some great posts about zoos and their goals. She asked me what I thought of this, and I wanted to take time to think of an answer and do some more reading before writing a well-crafted and thought out post.

I am never going to find that time. So here is my off the cuff answer: I am skeptical of the ability of zoos to meet their goals of educating visitors to care about conservation of wild animals and to genetically maintain populations for later reintroduction. For the education part, I have a suspicion that sometimes zoos teach people animals belong in captivity for the visitors' enjoyment. I suspect this due to the number of people I have seen at zoos demanding the attention of an animal, or complaining when the animals are not in good view. I also suspect this after being in various national parks with people viewing wild animals, and hearing the people complain that the animals are too far away or not easy to see. I was at one park and heard a woman demand her money back because she did not see a monkey. She did not seem to understand that the animals were wild, and not on display for her enjoyment. So, that is a concern of mine regarding zoos.

As for the preservation of species on the chance they can be reintroduced, I am again skeptical. I am not sure what benefit animals of a species gain by being maintained in captivity when there is no habitat for them to go back to. Also, I have not yet been convinced of the success of any reintroduction program. Many times the animals are reintroduced into a habitat that still has the same problems that led to the endangerment of the animals in the first place.

So there you are. I am skeptical. But I understand that all my evidence is personal and anecdotal, and I would like to see more research into reintroduction programs (I know of some mom and pop operations that reintroduce ex-pets on a small scale, but do not follow up) and into how zoo visits affect people's views of animals and conservation. This research could definitely help convince me one way or the other, and also help us decide where to best put our resources for conservation and preservation of species.

Books!

2010-07-01T21:12:00.000-05:00

48. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
A story of various women and race relations in early 1960s Mississippi. I found the story and characters compelling; both the privileged white women, the white women aware of the injustice of their privilege and the black hired help. All were pretty much treated with respect and interest by the author. After I got into the book awhile I could not put it down, although at the end I felt the author missed the mark a little in some way, and could have gone deeper or told us something more radical. Still, a very good book worth reading.

49. Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman by Jon Krakauer
I love a lot of Krakauer's writing. This seems to be a very thoroughly researched book about Pat Tillman, the NFL player who gave up a $$$ contract to join the military. In the end, he was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan and there was a big cover up about it. This book is very disturbing when it talks about the extent of the cover up, and also the extent of friendly fire deaths in the military and the way in which soldiers are sent into dangerous situations that could be avoided. You can read this if you want to be angry and disturbed about failures of the command structure of the military, and the extent that some will go to to keep people supporting the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Aside from the indignation this inspired, I liked learning about Tillman, about the life of a pro-athlete and about the life of a soldier, all of which I knew nothing about before.

Do chimps have culture?

2010-06-29T15:52:00.002-05:00

Ah, the eternal question.
Read this post on Primate Diaries for a great discussion of the topic.

books!

2010-06-29T13:04:00.001-05:00

45. The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima
I read another series by Chima and really liked it so I thought I would pick this one up. I also really liked it. This is just really solid straight ahead fantasy. You have the supernatural, magic, people who are probably not who they appear to be, all kinds of romantic triangles hinted at and some great selfless heroism. Chima is currently one of my favorite contemporary fantasy authors and I am looking forward to the next book in this series.

46. Skim by Mariko Tamiki and Jillian Tamiki
This is a graphic novel about a loner teenage girl as she navigates various teen angsts. It didn't so a lot for me now, although I enjoyed reading a kind of character driven graphic novel. I think I would have loved this as a teenager, though, and really related to it then.

47. The Deeds of the Disturber by Elizabeth Peters
Another great Amelia Peabody mystery. This one is set in Britain, but it is still awesome.

books!

2010-06-28T14:53:00.000-05:00

41. A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce
A really good re-telling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale, with some excellent, strong female characters thrown in. This dragged a little bit in the middle, but by the end I couldn't put it down.

42. The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris
I was a little disappointed in Ferris's first book, as I'd heard it was hilarious and I did not LOL. I liked this book more. This is the story of a man with a strange medical condition/compulsion/what have you. The book follows him and his family as he deals with this. This description makes the book sound kind of Hallmark-channely, but it is a good character study with a unique premise.

43. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind
Someone highly recommended this book to me, and I always hate it when I don't like a book someone recommends, but I did not like this book. It is about a strange man who has no odor of his own, but has an amazing sense of smell. It goes inside his mind as he commits some murders, and in that way it is interesting, but I really really did not like the main character and did not want to be inside his mind. That was probably the point, but it did not make for an enjoyable read. I did like the descriptions of the smells throughout the book, though.

44. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Loved this book. It is in the form of a diary of a teenage girl who lives through an asteroid hitting the moon and knocking it off course. Of course, various terrible things befall the earth. I love post-apocalyptic novels and teen angst, so this was an excellent book for me. I recommend it.

Too much typing

2010-06-27T20:49:00.003-05:00

Wow. It has been more than a month since I updated. How have you, my five readers (hi, Mom!) survived without my updates? I bet it has been a struggle.

Here is what I was doing: teaching, finishing the quarter and dissertating like crazy. I will blame the dissertating for my absence as I dissertated myself right into some mild carpal tunnel syndrome plus some bonus tendinitis! I was supposed to rest my wrists some, but as I could not really stop dissertating I did cut down on non-essential typing, thus less blogging. I am pretty cured now -- my wrists still get a little sore from time to time, but rest, ice, Aleve, and sleeping in a wrist brace have done wonders.

Aside from that, in the last month I have also gone to North Carolina, South Carolina and to a conference in Kentucky. More travels await this summer! I am also way behind on my book list, so expect more posts on that. I've also been reading more primatology blogs and am toying with writing about more science. We'll see how that goes, though.

Late Mother's Day

2010-05-18T15:32:00.001-05:00

Here is a beautiful biology song for Mother's Day!

Thanks for my mDNA and hypothalamus, mom!

books!

2010-05-17T13:49:00.000-05:00

I think I will be caught up after this one!

38. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
As I said before, I decided to re-read some of my old childhood favorites. I actually remember the first time I read this I vowed to never read it again because it made me so sad. I was really angry at the author for writing such a sad book.

Paterson really treats the young characters in her book with a lot of dignity. This is, of course, a classic. On my recent re-read, though, I was troubled by an undercurrent of classism, but then I thought Paterson came around in the end. Anyway, Jess's poor parents are not treated in the best way, especially in comparison with Leslie's more well-off family. But part of that might be the point of view being so closely tied to Jess. Still, beautifully written book that really lets the young characters be full human beings.

39. A Summer to Die by Lois Lowry
From the title, you can tell that someone will die in this book. This is the story of two sisters who don't get along, and what happens when one of them becomes sick and, yes, dies. I will not apologize for spoilering as it is in the title and on the book jacket.

This book was ok, but I didn't think Lowry treated the subjects of the book with the same dignity and respect as Paterson does. I think I would have liked this book more if I hadn't read Bridge to Terabithia immediately afterwards.

40. Once Upon Stilletos by Shanna Swendson
This is the second in this series. I am really enjoying it for a fun, fluffy read. This book was a little less enjoyable than the first, as I thought it had a more meandering story that never really got the payoff I wanted. That said, the characters are all fun, and it is great to imagine fairies and wizards running around New York.

books

2010-05-15T12:38:00.001-05:00

35. Jacob Have I Loved by Katherine Paterson
Part of my re-reading of YA novels from my youth. I forgot that this was also written by the author of Bridge to Terabithia. While I of course loved Bridge to Terabithia as a young Laurie, this is the book of Paterson's that most stuck with me. It really captures the hopeless rage of being a teenager, and the wondering if you'll ever break out of the world you were born into. Really great book.

36. Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell
I actually listened to this book on my iPod. I don't usually listen to audiobooks, but I downloaded some as part of a plan to motivate me to run. Then I gave up running in favor of dissertating. So in the end, I listened to this on my commutes to campus.

This book is crazy! In the end, it was too much for me. The narrator is really good, and the whole story is told first person by a mafia hit man turned doctor. It is really violent and full of sex and swearing (Mom, you would not like it!). The main character is really engaging, though, and there are lots of awesome medical asides. But seriously, it is full of grossness and violence. Wow.

37. Affinity by Sarah Waters
An upper class woman in 1790s London starts visiting a women's prison and encounters a spiritualist. In what follows, the "lady visitor" starts to believe more and more about spiritualism and tries to fit into a world that doesn't seem to have a place for her in it. The characters in this book were really well done, but in the end it was rather predictable.

Books

2010-05-13T16:29:00.003-05:00

31. Bella Abzug: How One Tough Broad from the Bronx Fought Jim Crow and Joe McCarthy, Pissed Off Jimmy Carter, Battled for the Rights of Women and Workers, ... Planet, and Shook Up Politics Along the Way by Suzanne Braun Levine and Mary Thom.

I did not know a single thing about Bella Abzug before I read this book, but now I am filled with admiration for her and sad that I went so long without knowing about her.

The structure of this book is unique, in that it is little snippets of interviews put together to tell Bella's story. At first I was skeptical, but the authors did a great job of a creating a narrative thread out of it. This book is really interesting and inspiring.

Also, dude, what is up with the ERA not being ratified? Read more about it here.

32. The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
This was an excellent fantasy novel. It is framed as the re-telling of a life story by an innkeeper, who is much more than he appears. There isn't always a lot of action in this long book, but the story is so well told and the characters are all very interesting. I am looking forward to the rest of the books in this series with high hopes.

33. The Last Van Gogh by Alyson Richman
This is the story of Van Gogh's last days from the point of view of Van Gogh's doctor. It made me interested to learn more about what is actually known about the end of Van Gogh's life, and it was an ok book, but the author over did it in her color descriptions. I think she might have been using a paint catalog. :)

34. Lion in the Valley by Elizabeth Peters
More awesomely fun archaeological adventures! I am loving this series more than ever.

Amazon meme

2010-05-06T20:17:00.002-05:00

I have seen this many places, most recently at New Kid on the Hallway.

My first Amazon purchase was on December 30, 1998 and I bought a Mana CD and Couplings, by Peter Schneider. I was really surprised to see that book as I have very little memory of it. I think it was for a book club? Also, I was still in college back then! Holy carp!

books

2010-05-03T22:37:00.000-05:00

29. Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
A girl disguises herself as a boy in order to enter training to be a warrior. This was a pretty good read, but it never really grabbed me. It was nice to read about a strong determined girl who goes about reaching her goals by whatever means necessary. There are hints that something big is in store for her, so I will probably keep reading the series. I thought the writing was a little simplistic, but then I saw that this was marked as an "elementary" book not young adult, so that may be part of the problem.

30. Hope for Animals and their World: How Endangered Species are Being Rescued from the Brink by Jane Goodall
This is a good book to read if you are interested in animals or conservation. It is really a collection of small essays about different species that are labeled conservation successes, so it is not great to read straight through. The purpose of the book is to counteract the hopelessness a lot of people feel when discussing conservation. The idea is that this hopelessness stops people from acting, so Goodall decided to present some success stories, in hopes that people will see a difference can still be made for a lot of species that appear to be in a dire situation. I can see the merit in this approach, but at times I was worried the book went too far in the positive direction, and lost some of the sense of urgency that we need to have when thinking about conservation. Also, there was a lot about zoos and captive breeding programs, and I, personally, am not convinced that these contribute to conservation to the extent we hope they do. Still, I love Jane Goodall and this was a very interesting book overall.

Science nerd song!

2010-05-01T11:50:00.001-05:00

All about glucose!

books

2010-04-30T08:36:00.000-05:00

25. The All-True Travels and Adventures of Lidie Newton by Jane Smiley
I really like the main character of Lidie Newton, and was interested in the history of Kansas in the 1850s, but there was maybe too much history in this novel. Parts of it seemed like a dry history book and were kind of boring. By the end, I started to feel like Lidie's life got into too many twists and turns, and she didn't seem like the character I'd liked in the beginning. Still, a well-done historical novel about Kansas and Missouri and the dispute about slavery in these two states. Also, it was fun to be reminded of a time when Illinois was called "the west!"

26. Pretty Little Mistakes (A Do-Over Novel) by Heather McElhatton
A Choose Your Own Adventure for grown ups! This book is kind of fun for awhile, but really is mostly a novelty book. There are so many possible outcomes that even after spending a few hours on this I could not figure them all out. Mostly I was impressed at how hard it must have been to interweave so many stories. Read this if you miss Choose Your Own Adventure books or always wished they had way more possible outcomes.

27. Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
Very fun vampires in Louisiana story with romance and a mystery! If you want romantic vampires and a heroine who can stand up for herself, read this instead of Twilight! :)

28. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
I read this on the plane because it was lying around the house and I could leave it behind at my destination. It was ok. Total fluff, secret spy stuff.

books!

2010-04-25T12:16:00.000-05:00

21. Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What it Says About Us) by Tom Vanderbilt
Seriously about everything you ever wanted to know about traffic. It is super interesting, and engagingly written, but could be a bit much sometimes. There is just sooo much info. I had to take a few breaks, but really enjoyed it in the end.

22. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
So towards the end this totally sucked me in and I could not put it down. If not for a late rally it might only have gotten two stars. There is a light of explaining of various hacker things and tech jargon that I did not enjoy. Also, this is a Book With an Agenda and I generally don't like those unless the story is super awesome. This story was not super awesome enough. That said, I liked the characters and the voice, and like I said I really go sucked in at the end.

23. Committed: A Skeptic Makes Peace with Marriage by Elizabeth Gilbert
A lot of people really hate this book, just like a lot of people really hated Gilbert's first book, "Eat, Pray, Love". I liked this one, but I also liked "Eat, Pray, Love". Although I think people irritated by Eat, Pray, Love might like Committed more, as I felt she was more self-aware in this book and more directly addresses the fact that she is totally privileged and lucky to have the adventures she does. Anyway, I think I mostly liked the book as I am also someone who has partaken of legal marriage although I am deeply conflicted about it, and it was nice to read that point of view from someone else. Some of her research was interesting, but a lot of it seemed very superficial, and I know a little of it was inaccurate. But she bends over backwards to say she is not an expert on any of this and the book is about her personal journey.

I don't feel like I sold the book very well, there, but I did enjoy reading it. For me, it was like hanging out with a smart, interesting friend who shares my views on a lot of stuff and so made me feel normal for awhile.

24. The Darling by Russell Banks
This is another book a little about chimpanzees and Africa. In this one, the main character is a radical leftist in the US, involved in the Weather Underground and ends up moving to Liberia, marrying a Liberian man and kind of getting involved in Liberian politics. Along the way she works with chimps used for medical research, and eventually starts a chimpanzee sanctuary. I really liked the conclusions the main character came to about interactions between the powerful and the powerless, but she was also kind of just pushed a long in her life, and seemed to make few decisions and never stood up and took control of anything. That really frustrated me. So, this book is good for reading about Liberia and chimps, but the main character/narrator was pretty annoying to me.

Sun

2010-04-24T09:56:00.000-05:00

Awesome video of the sun, from NASA. See more here. And remember, as They Might Be Giants said, the sun is a miasma of incandescent plasma.

stuff lately

2010-04-23T10:45:00.003-05:00

Hello! Here is an update for you! I have been having a crisis about my online identity. I have recently been talking to people about the importance of being a "public scientist" and sharing more about what I do with the general public. Sometimes I feel like I would like to have a more professional blog. But how to keep it separate from this blog? How to keep personal and public separate on the internets? I could make another profile under my real name, but I know I will just mess up one day and log-in with the wrong one. So I am having an internet identity crisis. Maybe I will think about this later, after I finish my PhD. Which I still have not finished, btw. I got a lot of great comments back from my committee, but they will take awhile to address. So that is what I am working on now.

Thanks to those comments and a recent trip to a professional conference, I am feeling re-focused on my work, which is good. I have unfortunately let exercise slide in favor of extra hours in my campus office which is like a little isolation chamber of productivity. I am planning that this will not be a permanent change, but is some time budgeting I need to do to get through this push of work work work. I don't go to campus on Fridays, though, so I might get to swim or run today.

I am transforming even more into a post-PhD person, though. I have some collaborations that might appear, and lots of ideas for the future. I have started to get a glimmer of how busy I will continue to be as a non-student. So many more projects instead of only the dissertation! It is exciting, though, and I am trying to keep powering through so I can reach that place sooner rather than later.

books!

2010-04-23T10:09:00.004-05:00

18. Brazzaville Beach by William Boyd
I am not totally sure what to think of this book. I thought it was really well written and the characters and setting were all interesting. The book follows a woman who studies chimps through three key time periods in her life and I thought this was really well done. Also, as a primatologist, I was impressed with the author's portrayal of primatology. He must have done some serious research!

Here's why I am not sure what to think about the book in the end, though. I felt like there is some deeper meaning I am meant to grasp, but I don't know what that meaning/message is, and all the ones I can think of seem not interesting to me. Apes and humans are the same? We have a cruel, animal nature? Chimp society is not a peaceful ideal? I feel like all those are obvious truisms, and I think I would have liked the book a little more if it seemed more like the story of the main character, and left the attempt at bigger messages out.

19. Fire by Kristin Cashore
I really loved this book, which is sorta related to the author's other book, Graceling, but not really. It is the story of a kingdom where there are "monsters", versions of living things that are more beautiful and mesmerizing than the normal sort. They can also control minds to get what they want. The main character is Fire, the last human monster.

I thought the characters in this book were so compelling and well-realized, and the rather complex plot with political intrigue and war was handled really well. The story is really that of people with power learning how to handle their power responsibly. Seriously, I could not put this book down and wish I still had more of it to read.

20. Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich

This book is a pretty harsh critique of America's obsession with positive thinking. I was skeptical of reading it as I consider myself an optimist and a positive thinker. However, my kind of positive thinking is not what Ehrenreich is talking about. She is more talking about a belief that a good attitude will get you success in life without the accompanying work. A la The Secret.

Parts of this book were great, and parts were not. In the end, I think it was not enough content for a whole book. I thought the first part, about the problem with the obsession with positive thinking in regards to cancer and medical treatments was great. I also like the part about how positive thinking lead to the recent economic crisis. The middle parts about how positive thinking has roots as a backlash against Calvinism and how it is used today in Christian mega-churches were not as strong.

In the end, this is an interesting premise, that I think either needed a lot more rigorous research and a longer book or should have remained as two essays, about cancer and the recession.

Architecture

2010-03-30T19:34:00.006-05:00

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wallyg/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I don't really know anything about architecture, but I have been struck by many of the buildings here in Chicago. Many times I am just going about my day and am struck by a cool building. One of my new faves is the Carson Pirie Scott Building on State Street. It has this totally awesome cast iron facade. The facade was all covered up for most of the time I've lived here, until recently. I had the strange experience of riding the bus on State St. not too long ago, something I do nearly every day, when I suddenly noticed this building. It was so amazing, I could not believe I had never noticed it before. Luckily I realized I was not crazy, but the place had been all covered up.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iconeon/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Musica!

2010-03-15T12:08:00.001-05:00

Here are two artists I am newly obsessed with. I actually bought their albums off of iTunes, and I rarely buy new music.

This song is pretty much always in my head: Shark in the Water by V V Brown.

Second is the Wingdale Community Singers. Here is Blue Daisy. They say they write folk/country inspired song about where they live (New York City). This is actually not one of my favorite songs. If you can find "Rat on the Tracks" or "Bike Shop Boy" those are both awesome.

Books!

2010-03-14T12:00:00.002-05:00

15. A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You by Amy Bloom
I read this collection of short stories for a book group I am in. I rate the whole collection so-so. A few of the stories really stuck with me, but overall they ran together and it was hard to differentiate them. Something about Amy Bloom just does not make an impression on me. I am sure I read here novel, "Away", but I have absolutely no memory of it aside from the cover.

16. The Curse of the Pharaohs by Elizabeth Peters
More adventures of Amelia Peabody in Egypt. In this one she and her husband escape the boredom of having to live in England for their small son's sake and get involved with a crowd of eccentric characters in an excavation at the Valley of the Kings. Fun, like all these books are.

17. The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
I debated between three and four stars (out of five)for this one. The premise of this book is that Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland, is indeed a princess from the actual land of Wonderland. I did like its originality and re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland. My only problem was that I thought the pacing seemed kind of weird and that huge chunks of time were leapt over, which was a little jarring. But still, a nice, fun, re-working of Alice in Wonderland that makes Alice into a pretty awesome warrior queen.

2010-03-10T16:04:00.002-06:00

Just a quick post from phone to announce that today I sent my dissertation to my committee. hopefully they will like it and I can move on to defense scheduling!

Like a fish

2010-03-02T09:38:00.003-06:00

People! I do not think I have told you about my swimming lessons! If you look back into the past, a mere 2 months ago, you will see that one of my New Year's Resolutions was to take swimming lessons. I have been doing it! Only two weeks left and I only missed one. It has been super great. Swimming is such good all body exercise, and does not ever hurt my knees. I have also made awesome progress, and really mostly need to practice more. Yesterday I made it all the way across the pool without stopping once (we are in the shallow end, so I can stand up if I get too much water up my nose). Anyway, it is super exciting, and because of my swimming success I have decided to make a long term goal of doing a triathlon by the time I am 40. I will also need to get a bike.

More awesome

2010-02-26T13:15:00.000-06:00

Here is another awesome thing. A web comic called Anders Loves Maria. It is about a Swedish couple, and written by a Canadian/Swede. It is NSFW and maybe NSFP (not safe for parents) as there is sex and nudity. I have been reading this for awhile, and the story just ended. Make sure to start at the above link and go forward so as to not be spoiled.

Anyway, it is a sweet/real/sad/funny story of a relationship and I've really enjoyed reading it.

Books!

2010-02-22T14:43:00.000-06:00

12. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
This is the third book in a series about a regular girl in Brooklyn who finds out she is actually part of a magical group of people with the job of keeping demons out of our world. I remember really liking the first book and the second, and I enjoyed this one, but I felt the characters were getting a little tired. They lost their complexity and interest a little bit. Also, I figured out all of the surprises really early in the book. That said, it was a satisfying third book and would be fine to end a trilogy, although I think there is a fourth book coming. I will also read it. If you like YA fantasy of strong teenage girls kicking some demon ass, plus some romance and drama, this is a great book for you.

13. Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Another YA fantasy novel with a strong female lead. I liked the story of this book better, and really liked the main character who struggles with having a supernatural power of killing. This book twists around a lot of the conventions of fantasy novels and has a lot of good women who seem to be damsels in distress but then take control of their situations. The writing was a little uneven at times, but the characters are all very compelling. I liked this one a lot and will also read the rest of the trilogy.

14. Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
I am apparently all about the kick ass women lately. This is the first book in a long series about Amelia Peabody, a Victorian woman who gets involved in arachaeology and manages to have an exciting and intellectually fulfilling life despite the constraints society puts on women. In this book, she sets out for Egypt, discovers her love for archaeology, and meets up with a bunch of characters important in the future books. I first read a bunch of these when doing field work, and I am not planning to read them in order to get the full story. Amelia Peabody is an awesome character to spend time with.

Becoming moral

2010-02-20T12:19:00.001-06:00

I have already waxed poetic about Radiolab. Because they do not make enough new podcasts for all my commutin', I have been listening to oooold episodes. Today on my run (3 miles! woo!) I listened to this one about morality. One of the stories is about a woman who has been haunted by the way she behaved while playing a frontier simulation game back in 4th grade. She talks to various people and finds out that a lot of people have a memory like this. The first time you remember being really embarrassed by your behavior, a time when you did not do what was right that you can't forget and you keep coming back to it.

Some suggest that these times are so memorable, in that they help us remain moral being later on. Once you experience the terrible shame of knowing you did something wrong, you want to avoid that as much as possible. Sometimes these episodes might really impact who you are years later, as you swear to never repeat it.

Anyway, I was struck by this idea and could immediately think of two times when I was about 10 when I behaved in a way that, to this day, I am still really not proud of. Even though I know I was really young and I probably wouldn't blame an actual 10 year old for behaving this way, I am ashamed of what I did at the time.

1) When I was 10 my family moved across the country to a new state. I started a new school in 5th grade. A lot of the other kids had grown up together, and it was the first time I was the "new kid". I was really worried about fitting in. One girl was really nice and welcoming to me so I sat with her at lunch for a couple of days. Until somehow I got in with the more "popular" girls, and they told me if I ever wanted any friends not to hang out with this girl any more. So I didn't. I totally stopped and even joined in when others make fun of her. Today, that seems so unlike me that I am mortified that I ever did it. But maybe doing it, and feeling bad about it, is part of what makes that something I would not do today.

2) This one is not about interpersonal relationships, but about beliefs. It also happened around the same age. When we moved, I also moved from public school to Catholic school. I have mostly good things to say about Catholic education, and attribute a lot of my academic success to my time in Catholic school, but this was not one of its shining moments. I was in religion class and we were reading in the New Testament where Jesus is sending his disciples out into the world he tells them that they, the disciples, are worth more to him than sparrows (Matthew 10:31, if you are interested. I had to use a concordance to look this up. Lucky I have a husband who studies religion!). Anyway, somehow the class got into a discussion of how this meant God loved humans more than animals, and that lead to the fact that animals didn't have souls and would therefore just be dead when they were dead. I have always really loved animals, and at this time had both a dog and especially a cat (Tiger, may he rest in peace) that I totally loved so I just could not deal. Also, it seemed really mean of God to not make an animal heaven. I have never been shy about speaking in class so I asked something about this, or expressed my doubt that animals lacked souls, and the teacher was really not happy. Eventually, she made me stand up and repeat after her that "animals do not have souls." It was terrible and I was embarrassed I ended up giving in and saying something I really vehemently did not believe to avoid getting into trouble.

So those are my stories -- two instances when I was just figuring out how to behave, that have really stuck with me and taught me what it feels like to really know something is wrong and do it anyway. Do you have stories like this?

Awesome

2010-02-19T12:10:00.002-06:00

You are going to hear all about my new true podcast love, Radiolab, in this and my next post. There is no podcast or radio show that is more creative, thoughtful and interesting. Each show asks big questions, like what makes animals animals and humans humans? And then tries to answer them by talking with various scientists and other people. On top of this, it is packaged really creatively, not just in a straightforward documentary style.

Anyway, all that is to tell you about an episode I was listening to called Space Capsules about the Voyager space craft which you have probably heard of. It set off in 1977 carrying a record that had all kinds of sounds from earth on it -- kind of a time capsule to let any aliens know about us. On this episode of Radiolab, they asked various people what they would put on a record today, what sounds would they want to share with any other life out there?

The answers are all really interesting, and it got me thinking. What are the most awesome things around me? What are some amazing things that I want to share about life on earth? To answer this question, and to help me appreciate more the awesome things I encounter all the time, I am opening a new blog feature called The Museum of Awesome. I just want to collect little images, stories and moments that I think are awesome.

So this first entry in the museum is my best podcast love, Radiolab.

Thing I love

2010-02-14T11:27:00.003-06:00

R and I have never been into Valentine's Day. It is nice when you are a kid and give out those drugstore valentines and get candy and stuff, but the concentration on romantic relationships as one gets older is not fun. A lot of people tell R he is lucky I don't care about it, as I guess I should stereotypically be demanding chocolates and jewels and flowers. I am pretty much always demanding chocolates, but the rest I can do without. We're looking forward to a nice day of working followed by some important tv watching: The Amazing Race and some Winter Olympics (pairs figure skating starts tonight!).

Anyway, in the spirit of a more inclusive meaning of love and at the suggestion of an internet friend, here is what came to mind when I thought of all the things I love for a few minutes:

R
My family
So many friends
The cats -- even the one I am threatening to make into mittens
licorice tea from Stash
My office
monkeys
the jungle
the Amazing Race
the Winter Olympics
my bed
fresh snow before anyone has walked on it
RadioLab
the biological processes that let us live
evolution
sunny days
Lake Michigan
the portobello sandwich from a place in Grad School Town
homemade pizza
all my kitchen gadgets
fresh ground coffee
the Sunday paper
my tivo
driving all the way up Lakeshore Drive
Dove milk chocolate
popcorn
weird shaped fungus
pajama pants

Books!

2010-02-10T20:56:00.002-06:00

I owe you some books!

7. Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding
Pretty typical chick lit in a lot of ways, although I found the plot kind of more all over the place then usual. It was a cut above a lot of this sort of book, though, as the main character was strong and capable and not obsessing over getting a man. Good fluff, but had some weird pacing stuff going on.

8. Whose View of Life? Embryos, Cloning and Stem Cells by Jane Maienschein
I saw this author speak at a conference, and she is an excellent speaker. I was excited to read this book, but found it really dry and somewhat superficial. I was looking for more of a description of the different views on cloning and stem cells, and this was a pretty straight up history of how humans have viewed embryos through the years. The beginning history was really interesting, but I would have liked more specific examples of recent events and more in depth examinations of the ethical arguments behind using or not using stem cells for research.

9. Book of the Dead by Patricia Cornwell
I don't know why I read these. Oh wait, because I get them for free sometimes! But seriously, the writing is not good. I used to really like the main character, a medical examiner, but now I am over her as well. This books is not well-written and ends with annoying cliffhangers. I can't promise I won't read more of these, but I'll feel kind of bad about it when I do.

10. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
One of the best sequels I have ever read. This is as good or better than the first book, The Hunger Games, and I may die of impatience before the third book comes out. Some nice post-apocalyptic dystopian young adult fiction.

11. Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
Awesome, funny book about punctuation. If "about punctuation" sounds good to you, read this book.

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

2010-01-29T09:40:00.002-06:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Inspired by the famous person doppelganger meme on Facebook, I thought I'd see which celebrities I look like. I would like you to note, that although Blogger is cutting him off a bit, there is an old man on the end there. Also, Nancy Kerrigan?

Book!

2010-01-26T13:28:00.000-06:00

6. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson
There's been a lot of buzz about these books by a Swedish writer who died shortly after turning in the manuscripts. I read the first book last year. Like the first book, I found this book to start slow, but then I was totally engrossed by the story and could not put it down. I think the author's main ability is in the creating of dramatic tension, but there is also a lot of weird phrasing and pacing in the book. In addition, there is some violence against women stuff that is troubling. In the end I will also definitely read the third book when it comes out in May, but unlike some I do not think these are the best thing ever.

Avatar!

2010-01-24T12:05:00.003-06:00

R and I and a bunch of friends finally saw Avatar in 3D last night. I went in expecting to think the story was boring and to possibly be offended on various levels. I expected the visuals to be awesome. I did think the story was boring, but that it was a super-pretty movie and very cool in 3D. I was not really offended, because the story was in a lot of ways so trite that there was not much to be actually offended by. If you haven't seen Avatar yet, be careful reading further as there may be slight spoilers.

As an anthropologist, I was struck by the fact that the scientists seemed to be some sort of general purpose scientist, and that if they had an actual anthropologist they might have had more luck getting to know the Na'vi. But this is nothing new, movies and tv often have a "scientist" who grasps all fields equally, making me think they must have spent a really long time in grad school. Although they are often also young and attractive, so maybe they are just geniuses.

The real take-home message I got from Avatar was to never work for the military/giant corporations as it will all go horribly wrong. CounterPunch has a post comparing the scientists in Avatar to the Human Terrain Teams that the US Military is using in Afghanistan and Iraq.

So in the end, I enjoyed my experience watching the movie because I enjoyed the 3D and the cool world of Pandora. I found the 3D to make the movie an especially immersive experience, and I thought several times during the movie that a Lord of the Rings or a Narnia movie or an Anne McCaffrey book inspired movie would be awesome in 3D. Those are all worlds I have been sucked into in book form, and it would be awesome to have that experience using the technology involved in Avatar. I was actually surprised at how much the visuals allowed me to be sucked in to the movie, despite the fact that I was intellectually aware the story was sub-par. Here's an interesting look at why we are so affected by virtual worlds. But in the end, I agree with this Savage Minds post that aside from the effects the movie has so little to offer that there is no great and deep commentary I can make, except killing people for their resources is bad.

Books!

2010-01-18T12:23:00.002-06:00

4. The Magicians by Lev Grossman
It took me a little while to get to this book, although I was excited for it when it first came out. It was billed as an "adult Harry Potter". I totally love the regular Harry Potter, along with all the Narnia books, so I was interested to see where this went. I just finished the book this morning, and I am not sure what I think of it. Some of the Narnia allusions were really heavy handed, and I think the book tried to cover too much time. Basically it follows one person, Quentin, as he starts a magical school and 17 then graduates and goes on through life for awhile. Some sections of the book were really good while some were not, and Quentin was kind of grating as a character. So I don't know if I recommend this or not. You can give it a try if you are interested in people being swooped up into magical schools and lands, but this book never quite came together for me.

5. Little Black Book of Stories by AS Byatt
I am not a fan of Byatt, and probably would not have read this if it were not a book club pick. Like her novels, I wished most of the stories were about half as long as they are. I did like the last two stories ok. So if you like Byatt, you will like these. But if you don't, no need to read them.

Weekend

2010-01-17T12:07:00.004-06:00

We had such a full weekend so far! Our friend Matt came in Friday night and we picked him up at Midway (they have some very strict traffic control people there who barely let you slow down to put a passenger in your car. wow) then we went to a Thai restaurant, had some snacky snacks, then came home and drank some drinky drinks and hung out. Matt is a perfect kind of friend who enjoys sitting around talking and drinking and looking up info on the US Interstate System on Wikipedia. We stayed up until 1:00 am, which is crazy for me these days. Saturday we used a free pass from the library to go to the Art Institute, where we enjoyed a lot of modern art and the miniature rooms. We also walked across a cool bridge to Millennium Park.

After all that, we drove Matt to Evanston to hang with his family, while R and I stopped off at a very tasty restaurant called Lucky Platter which was soooo good. I highly recommend it. I had a very tasty portobello sandwich and mac n cheese.

After that we were exhausted so we came home and napped and then headed out with some other friends to a piano bar. It was cheesetastically fun, but even better was the visit to the giant shiny McDonald's that occurred after the piano bar. We were up until after 1:00 that night too.

Finally we are to Sunday, wherein I need to work on the dissertation and grade some papers. Most importantly, tonight is the Golden Globes during which I will defeat Melinda in our annual contest of who can predict the most winners!

Winter

2010-01-10T21:30:00.000-06:00

I know I've gotten some of your hopes up with all this posting of late. I'll try to keep it up some, but no promises. I just made it through the first week of the quarter and I am having a hard time adjusting. I think it is all the fault of the 8:00 class. I am really not a morning person. So far I am just so tired this quarter, although I have had more classes before and I am actually on top of all my work. I'm prepped ahead in all my classes and I have been making time to work on my dissertation and to exercise. I think the exercise might also be contributing to my tired, and I just need to get used to it all.

Books!

2010-01-08T09:28:00.002-06:00

2. Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangstas at the Public Library by Don Borchert
This was ok. I just thought it overall was not that interesting. I am aware that crazy people, homeless people and unsupervised children go to the public library all the time and hijinks ensue. I thought the stories in this were not that interesting and not that well written. Maybe I know too many librarians in real life? Or spend too much time at the public library? Or both?

3. A Gap in Nature by Tim Flannery
Not really a book to read straight through, but this is a beautifully illustrated book of 103 different animals that have gone extinct sine 1492. Interesting, but most worth it for the illustrations.

Resolute!

2010-01-02T23:23:00.001-06:00

In recent years, I have gotten into New Year's Resolutions. I used to think they were a set up for failure, but after actually completing some, I now think they are a good chance to implement some changes in life. So here are mine for 2010:
*keep running 2 times a week
*run an 8k in March
*run a sub 30 minute 5k
*if knees start to hurt go to PT
*take swimming lessons
*eat at one new restaurant a month
*have one social interaction (with someone besides the husband) once a week
*finish the dissertation

So that is more resolutions than I wanted to make, but I am already training for the 8k, already signed up for swimming lessons, and only have 1.5 chapters left on the diss, so I am ahead of the game!

2010 book!

2010-01-02T11:33:00.002-06:00

Yay! First book for 2010:
1. The World According to Mimi Smartypants by Mimi Smartypants
Mimi Smartypants has a blog that I find hilarious. I love her writing, and she lives in Chicago and writes a lot about funny things seen on public transportation, which I can relate to. This book was published in 2004, and I don't think I started reading her blog until 2006, so I didn't know of the book for awhile. Basically, it is her blog from parts of 2003, put into a book. If you like her blog writing you will also enjoy this book.

Resolution Report

2010-01-02T11:28:00.002-06:00

So last year I made some New Year's Resolutions:

*run at least 2x a week
*run in at least two races
*yoga or pilates 2x a week
*be more social and get out of the house more
*don't stress so much

How did I do? I mostly ran for 2x a week, until my knees started to hurt in October. Then I procrastinated going to the doctor. Then my knees fixed themselves. So.
Yoga/pilates was a fail. I am not good at doing them home on my own. I think I need a class.
I was more social. Yay!
And I stressed less, thanks to an awesome stint in therapy. Highly recommended, people. I was a naysayer, but my 6 months of talking to a licensed clinical social worker once a week totally changed my life for the better. Seriously, I still think about things she told me all the time.

Later, look for a post about my resolutions for 2010!

2009 Books

2009-12-31T17:00:00.001-06:00

I read 128 books in 2009. Dude, that is a lot of books. I think that is my highest number since I started keeping track. I think it is explained by two things: 1) I have started reading before bed at night and 2) I read a lot of YA novels, which go pretty quickly for me.

Here are the ones I rated 5 stars on Goodreads. For 2010, I want to get back to posting my books here, we'll see how I do with that.

* The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
* Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy (Bloody Jack, Book 1)
* Curse of the Blue Tattoo: Being an Account of the Misadventures of Jacky Faber, Midshipman and Fine Lady (Bloody Jack, Book 2)
* In the Belly of the Bloodhound: Being an Account of a Particularly Peculiar Adventure in the Life of Jacky Faber (Bloody Jack, Book 4) by L.A. Meyer
* What Was Lost by Catherin O'Flynn
* The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
* Peeps (Peeps, #1) by Scott Westerfeld
* The Hunger Games (Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins
* Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
* The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
* How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing by Paul Silvia
* In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
* Dreamhunter (The Dreamhunter Duet, Book 1)
* Dreamquake (The Dreamhunter Duet, Book 2) by Elizabeth Knox
* Winkie by Clifford Chase
* The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
* Watchmen by Alan Moore
* The Riverbones: Stumbling After Eden in the Jungles of Suriname by Andrew Westoll
* Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb
* The Known World by Edward P. Jones
* The Magician's Book: A Skeptic's Adventures in Narnia by Laura Miller

2009 Movies

2009-12-31T15:02:00.001-06:00

Here are movies I saw in 2009 that I remember especially liking:
John Adams HBO miniseries
Lars and the Real Girl
Air Guitar Nation
Double Indemnity
Man on Wire

I remember this from last year, I seem to be less likely to give high ratings to movies than to books. But there you go. I highly recommend all of the above.

Blinding you with science

2009-12-20T11:58:00.004-06:00

I am not sure I have shared here how I never planned on being a scientist. In fact, it is still kind of shocking to me that I am indeed one. Here is my deep dark secret: I only liked biology in high school and in college the only science I took was intro psych and one semester of ecology and evolution. Yet here I am, an actual scientist with a science-y dissertation and attendance at science-y conferences. Aw yeah.

I have been thinking about this lately, as I am teaching science to non-science majors right now. Many of them are scared of science, and math. I have been thinking I should share my circuitous journey to science with them, so they can know that you can start out not liking science, and totally change. Also, I am still scared of math.

I have been struggling with some new to me statistics that I need for my dissertation. I was having trouble figuring out how to best look at some data, and one of my committee members came up with some ideas which are great, but which mean I need to teach myself some stats fast. I am not comfortable with math, and stats has always been the hardest part of science for me, but I am persevering and it is making me feel really smart and good. It has been quite awhile since I really had to learn something totally new and unfamiliar, and I am proud of myself for doing so. Here is a picture of the books I have been reading, so you can be impressed with my smart, science-y self.

Dentistry

2009-12-14T14:26:00.003-06:00

After an embarrassingly long hiatus due to the fact that I haven't had a full-time job (aside from student, which does not come with good benefits) since 2000, I have re-entered the world of regular dental care. My new job does come with dental insurance, so I set off for the dentist a few weeks ago. My dentist is awesome and I told them how embarrassed I was about the long gap in my dental care and they were so understanding and not naggy and kind. I got x-rays taken and was shown alarming pictures of my wisdom teeth. My wisdom teeth are alarming, as there is room for them, but apparently not enough room to brush them super well, so they are getting yanked. But other than the wisdom teeth, I did not have a single cavity in the rest of my mouth. Right on, genetics! Thanks, Mom and Dad! I went back for a real cleaning today and am enjoying the very clean teeth. And I am going to the oral surgeon Friday, where I will be knocked out and have the offending wisdom teeth pulled while I sleep. R thinks my wisdom might go with them, but I am sure I have absorbed all the wisdom they have to offer by now.

Writing Well Challenge: Character

2009-12-10T10:32:00.003-06:00

As I am more and more convinced that more writing=better writing, and while most of the writing I do is comparatively dry as it is academic, there is no reason for it to be crappy. To that end, and because I like programs and systems and because I keep forgetting to blog, I am doing the Writing Well Challenge. Here is week 1, which is about character.

As I approached the coffee shop I was worried, it was finals week, and cold out, and there might not be spare seats. I did find one, although it was right by the door. As I struggled through the old, discarded library book (bought cheap from Half.com!) on learning and instinct in animals, I kept looking at a woman right in front of me. I couldn't help it, she was in my staring-off-into-space line of sight. She was all in black, with dark curly long hair and a bubble gum pink pashmina. Somehow, in the dim coffee shop and her black clothes the pashmina glowed, drawing everyone's attention. She was working hard on her computer, drinking cups of coffee, ordering soup after she determined it was dairy free. She seemed like a normal grad student, typing a paper, like all the rest of us there that day. Later, though, I realized she was entering numbers from tiny slips of paper into a spread sheet. Number after number, from many tiny sometimes crumpled pieces of paper. A mathematician? A spy breaking a code? Just doing her taxes? Finally she left, wrapping the bright pink more closely around her as she went out into the gray and rainy day.

Here are some others who have completed this same challenge:

Long weekend

2009-11-28T10:41:00.002-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving to the people who celebrate it! Hope you all had a good one. I had a great day. My whole family gathered at my youngest brother's. He is only an hour away from us, so we could sleep in, go have Thanksgiving with everyone, and then come back home and sleep in our own bed. I got to see the new niece again as well, and she is funner than ever, with added new skills of smiling and making little babbling noises. Also she has a very cute yawn.

We ate and ate and then played some Trivial Pursuit (the women beat the men) and some Wii bowling (which my mom loves). It was all very good times. Just don't ask about any dance offs. :)

Muppets!

2009-11-25T10:29:00.003-06:00

Happy day before Tofurkey Day! Enjoy the Muppets covering Queen. So awesome.

Further adventures

2009-11-20T10:01:00.003-06:00

I am glad I am recording all the adventures I have been having, as sometimes I feel like I am boring, but then it turns out I am not!

So additional adventures:
1) Some friends and I went to see Margaret Atwood in a dramatic reading of her new book, "The Year of the Flood". I was intrigued, because I loooooove Margaret Atwood, but also mildly concerned, as I thought a dramatic reading with songs written based on the book could also just be weird. It was totally awesome though. Margaret Atwood looked like she was having so much fun and the readers and singers were great. Also, it is a brilliant idea for a book tour as they read up to like the climax of the book and then did not tell you the end! So now I have to buy the book! Which I did, and am waiting for Amazon to get it to me. Barbara Kingsolver also benefited from this dramatic reading as Amazon told me she had a new book as well, and as I love her nearly as much as Margaret Atwood I bought that book too. I barely ever buy fiction books. My last book purchase was Seasonality in Primates. I know you guys don't want to miss out on that one.

2)The same weekend as Margaret Atwood, R was out of town so I took advantage of his absence to have a Naked Lady Party. Don't be scared to click on the link -- it is a clothes exchange. I had some friends over and cooked up a tasty strata (I left out the ham and subbed kale for the zucchini) and served mimosas and we had a fun time exchanging all our old clothes. I still need to take the unclaimed clothes to Goodwill though.

This weekend, we are going to a play! ooh! Fancy!

Adventures of late

2009-11-07T14:09:00.005-06:00

Here are some of my recent adventures.

A while ago R and I went to see Chuchito Valdes, a Cuban jazz pianist. So good. I highly recommend seeing him live if you can. He is crazy with his fast moving and hands and jumping up from the bench a lot. So much energy!

The leaves began to change, and there were many many yellow ones. I did not take any pictures, but here is one from frozenchipmunk on Flickr.

I went to a two day Darwin conference which was super cool and inspiring and like a rock concert for evolution nerds. It happened to fall on Halloween, so for a friend's party I dressed like Darwin.

Laaaaazy

2009-11-07T13:55:00.003-06:00

People, I should get an award for the amount I have accomplished in my life thus far, despite the fact that I suffer from a sever case of lazy. Seriously. I am really lazy. You may not believe it, as I am so accomplished, but just imagine what I could do if I were not so lazy? I would be setting the world on fire.

I have not been blogging much due to the aforementioned lazy. I think of posts, but then I am just too lazy to write them. I means, signing on to Blogger is just too much work when I could more easily play Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. I do manage to prep my classes, grade papers, and work on my dissertation, but cleaning the house? Nope. Defeated by the lazy. Also, I bought fabric and frames from IKEA to whip up some nice wall hangings for my office on campus, but how long have the materials sat here on my desk collecting dust? Quite a while, I tell you. And a friend of mine can tell you how long it took me to season the new wok I bought in Chinatown. I actually had to throw out the old wok and have an urgent need to stir-fry before I could off my lazy butt and season up that wok. I did manage to put up inspirational monkey pictures above my desk at home, a mere year after moving in. I count that and the fact that I got the wok seasoned in a matter of months as two small but important accomplishments. Sometimes, due to all the work I have to do despite the lazy, the lazy builds up and builds up until I give in. The last two days I have greatly enjoyed lying about and reading, and am still in my pjs at 2:00 pm.

I plan to emerge from this wallow in the lazy fresh and clean in order to tackle many Things That Must Be Done over the rest of the day. I am having people over for brunch tomorrow, so I am also counting on this deadline to help me clean the house. And important part of this morning has been spent contemplating the best direction in which to clean. What do you think? Start in the kitchen, followed by the dining room, bathroom, then living room (the bedroom is exempt from cleaning)? I am worried this plan will result in me running out of energy before the living room, which really needs the most cleaning. It contains my desk, and I have come to accept that I work best surrounded by alarming piles of paper and a fortress of books stacked on the floor. Seriously, I've been kicking it on the dissertation pretty well, and am surrounding by so much clutter in a perfect arms' width semi-circle. Also, I envision the party tomorrow taking place mostly in the living room, so perhaps I should start there.

Wish me luck that the lazy can be out run just for today.

Harvest time!

2009-10-16T09:47:00.003-05:00

So it was getting dangerously close to frosty time and I was going away for the weekend. As head gardener, it was my job to decide if we should bring in the green tomatoes on our porch or not. I decided better safe than sorry, and picked them all. I also picked the basil and spent the Thursday before my trip making some pesto. The pictures show the lovely fruits of the garden.

It turns out that I don't think it has actually frosted here yet. We are close to the lake, and thus are temperatures are often 10 degrees off those inland. It has been cold and rainy, though, so I am going to believe the tomatoes would not have ripened anyway and that I made the right call.

We had a super tasty dinner the other night of the green tomatoes sauteed and mixed with angel hair pasta and the homemade pesto. Yum.

Messed Up

2009-10-03T11:56:00.002-05:00

Hello! I arise to tell you a story that really crystallized for me how messed up we are in the US about thinking about how women's bodies should look.

Last night I was at a party for R's department, talking to a student who knew the part of the world I do research in. She was asking about my research and if I was "tough" because of having to live in harsh field conditions. I told her the only harsh condition was the food, which resulted in me quickly losing a lot of weight. But when I returned everyone kept saying how good I looked like 20 pounds lighter. And I had to reply -- I don't look good, I look starved! This is not healthy! The other woman has a similar experience where she was really sick for awhile and lost a lot of weight and everyone complimented her on how good she looked. Both of us were amazed at the experience of being malnourished and sickly and yet receiving more compliments on our looks than ever. Dude, that ain't right.

State Fair!

2009-09-07T18:08:00.006-05:00

A little while ago we went to Minnesota to celebrate a friend's marriage on a boat in the Mississippi. We also got to go to the State Fair. It rules. I want to move there so I can enter something in the State Fair one day -- maybe some seed art?

Aunt!

2009-09-01T10:33:00.001-05:00

My brother K and his wife L had a baby girl this morning. I am an aunt! Very exciting -- it is my first niece. Let the spoiling begin!

Personal stories

2009-08-30T10:32:00.000-05:00

For me, health care reform is really a moral issue. I don't understand how we can limit people's access to doctors! I have so many friends who have not gone to the doctor when sick, or postponed going to the doctor, because they didn't have health insurance and did not have good enough health insurance. I have had times in my life without good/any health insurance and even today I always balance how much something might cost with what I (not a medical doctor) judge to be the severity of my sickness. So today, here are some personal stories demonstrating the need for health care reform.

Stories of the uninsured.
A nurse's view on health reform
What one family has to do to keep their daughter insured.

Isn't our health care system the best?

2009-08-29T10:26:00.000-05:00

No! Here is some info on that:
Five myths about health care in the rest of the world.
Comparing Britain's health care system to the US.

Why reform health care at all?

2009-08-28T10:23:00.000-05:00

Today I want to give you some links on why we should reform health care at all?
Short, simple cartoon explaining problems with our current health care system.
Harvard study finds that 62% of personal bankruptcies were due to medical costs, and 78% of those people were insured.
And, finally, health care explained on 4 napkins.

What, exactly, is in the health care bill?

2009-08-26T10:11:00.003-05:00

I am going out of town for a long weekend, but I am still very concerned about health care reform, so while I am gone I am going to queue up some posts to give you some more info. It can be confusing, but just a little time reading can clear up a lot of myths and misconceptions.

Also, I made phone calls in support of health care on Saturday, and if anyone else wants to get involved in volunteering you can do so here.

For today I give you: (1) the actual bill with fact sheets prepared by the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
(2)Health insurance reform myth vs. facts
(3)FactCheck.org debunks some lying ads

nom nom nom

2009-08-21T09:59:00.003-05:00

R and I don't really celebrate our wedding anniversary, because although we partake in the institution and are into each other, we are not into legal marriage per se. I feel like I always totally shock people when I say this, but there you go. Legal marriage -- I could take it or leave it.

BUT my parents and R's parents celebrate our anniversary and send us gifts, which is awesome. Thanks to their very generous gifts we were able to go out to this restaurant last night and enjoy 5 amazing and tasty courses of vegetarian food. And a bottle of wine. We called it a celebration of our mutual awesomeness.

I don't think I've ever gotten the tasting menu at a restaurant before because they often contain meat. It was super to have dishes just appear before me, each one super tasty in its own way. I have been vegetarian for over 14 years now and I don't at all feel limited by it on a daily basis. I don't feel like it is any kind of sacrifice. It is nice, however, to periodically go to a restaurant where there is a whole menu of stuff for me to order or where I can just let the waiter bring me anything and I know I will be able to eat it.

Health Care!

2009-08-18T10:28:00.003-05:00

People, I have been very concerned about the health care system here in the US for a long time. As a graduate student, my funding did not include health insurance. I have been paying a TON for this for a long time. Right now I am on R's insurance. He is lucky enough that his funding pays for his, but not for mine. When I start my new full time job in September my employer will give me insurance and we will all of a sudden be saving about $2000 on health insurance. Seeing this stark difference close up really makes me appreciate how lucky people are who have employers who insure them. And how bad it is for people who work slightly less than full time, or not close to full time, or who are laid off, or who have employers with bad insurance plans. Really, for my entire adult life I have always considered the possible cost of care when deciding whether or not to go to the doctor. This is not right. People should go to the doctor when they are sick -- not wait around trying to figure out if they feel really bad enough or not to make it worth it.

So I finally got off my butt today and read about the actual health care bill. Since there is so much going on with people misrepresenting what the bill actually does, I recommend everyone start there as well. Then, please write your elected representatives and tell them you support the bill. You can find those people and very convenient web forms here and here.

It won't take you very long, and it is really time we fixed health care in the US. Really, it is appalling.

Lost weekend

2009-08-10T19:46:00.003-05:00

I'm back from teaching the smart kids! And apparently I brought the weather of the SE with me. I am really really not into hot and humid weather. Really. I think if I had my way it would very rarely get above 75. That might even be pushing it.

R was away at a conference this weekend, and we realized it was the first time I was alone in the apartment so I had big plans of eating broccoli, maybe having popcorn for dinner one night, and watching movies R would not like. These plans were all mostly defeated by my technological troubles.

First, I got an iPhone on Friday. This is awesome and was a present to myself for getting my first full-time academic job. Also it was on sale. I waited sooooo long for the UPS to bring it, then I had to set it up and charge it and then I was finally ready to make my first call and the person on the other end could not hear me. That is right. The mic was broken. It was still awesome without the talking ability and I a, lucky enough to live in a Big City with an Apple Store so I took the broken phone there on Saturday. They fiddled with it for a bit, and then said they would just have to give me a new one. So I got a fresh new one. Yay! Happiness!

BUT then I came home to plug my new phone into itunes and put all my podcasts on it when what do I get but a Blue Screen of Death. Many, in fact. The next day and a half are many phone calls to Dell, attempts at re-installing Vista, and finally the promise of a new motherboard. Luckily I somehow got a long warranty so it is all free. But now I have no computer (I'm typing this on R's) and am waiting to hear from the tech who is going to bring me my new parts.

I also meant to write a ton this weekend, but with no computer that did not happen. It is all backed up because I am responsible that way, but there are some programs I will need to get access to again. Anyway, that was my weekend which did not at all end up as planned.

Employed!

2009-07-17T21:01:00.002-05:00

So, I was seriously considering stopping the blogging because I post so little lately. Also I kind of feel transitional lately. I have still have no defense date because I have no completed dissertation, but over this last year my self-image has really changed from that of a student to that of a professional. A professor. A non-student, whatever. So I think that is good, as I think that is one of the things to be learned in grad school. Hopefully I can use this new self image to propel me into getting this stuff done. woo! Much of this transition was helped along by the million classes I taught last quarter. While I do not recommend teaching a million classes ever, and while I hope to never do so again, I think it was good for me in the end. I did not dissertate too much, but I now have so much teaching mojo! I can teach anything, anywhere, with little notice. Aw yeah. And I am not scared of a heavy work load. I did work on my own stuff while teaching the million classes, although at a much slower rate. Teaching so much made me feel like a professor AND I have now gotten a full-time job at one of those schools for next year. That's right, guaranteed full time load (less than a million) for a whole academic year! A grown up salary! A title. Love it. Now I will try to use my desire to be a "visiting assistant professor" as opposed to a "visiting instructor" into to defeat that pesky dissertation.

Oh, and in the end I am apparently not stopping blogging. Maybe when I graduate I will do a "Dr. Monkeygirl" style makeover. We'll see.

Smarties!

2009-07-11T10:41:00.002-05:00

Look! I'm still alive! I have just been unmotivated to post. Anyways, I am back in the land of teaching smart kids. I am at a different campus than the last two years, though. This one is at a small college in a small town. I am really loving the location so far. I went to a Farmer's Market today that was so nice and well-attended. I don't have access to a fridge or a kitchen (it's all dining hall all the time for me) but I did buy some blueberries and grape tomatoes to eat as snacks. Also a blueberry muffin for breakfast.

I'm teaching a new to me class, zoology, but I can combine a lot of stuff from previous classes I taught, so I am not too worried. The kiddies arrive on Sunday! Should be fun.

OK, I'm off to lunch.

Books!

2009-06-07T09:24:00.003-05:00

So I've been to busy to review all the books I've read, but I have read 45 books in 2009 so far. Here's a list of the ones I rated 5 out of 5 stars on GoodReads.

Watchmen by Alan Moore
Dreamhunter and
Dreamquake by Elizabeth Knox
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
How to Write a Lot by Paul J. Silvia
Bloody Jack: Being an Account of the Curious Adventures of Mary "Jacky" Faber, Ship's Boy by L.A. Meyer
Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
The Riverbones: Stumbling After Eden in the Jungles of Suriname by Andrew Westoll
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Now an even more awesome champion

2009-05-25T17:13:00.003-05:00

You may recall that back in October I ran my first 5k race, beat some clowns and clocked a time of 38:54. Well today I ran another 5k. There were no clowns to beat, but I think I smashed my previous record with a new time of 34:27. Go me! It was a fun race, very neighborhood-y (not in my neighborhood) and R got to over hear some firefighters with Chicago accents talk about how they supported the IRA. The old school IRA, though, not the current one. The current IRA is just a bunch of punks. Also, this race went up "largest hill in Chicago". I did not notice a hill. I am glad I began my running career at the highest point in Manhattan so that these Chicago hills are not a threat to me.

Sunday

2009-05-17T12:35:00.002-05:00

So two of my classes are over and I just need to finish up some grading and paperwork! Woo! As there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I am now trying to blog every weekend. We'll see how that goes.

It has been a very nice sunny weekend. Yesterday R and I walked to a garden fair and then to a coffee shop where we attempted to work for awhile but it was too loud. So we moved to a bench in a park where we ran into a random bike race. This is one of my favorite things about living in a big city. Both here and in NYC I will often come across some sort of random event like a street festival or market or bike race. I finished grading exams while watching the bike riders zoom by and then we headed back home. At night we went to a banquet for R's department which was pretty fun. I am friends with a lot of R's fellow students, so I didn't feel out of place and there were other spouses/partners there as well.

Today I need to get to work to prep classes for the week ahead and finish off a book chapter I've been working on. Then it is back to hard core dissertating. I'm having a little bit of a hard adjustment to not having such a packed schedule that I need to work all the time. It is less motivating to have some stuff I kinda need to get done, but no OH MY GOD IT MUST BE DONE NOW!! stuff. I also think I want to slack a little after all the work of the last months. But I will rally and get to work! Go me!

Good morning!

2009-05-09T11:49:00.003-05:00

Happy Saturday! I am all happy today as it was sunny yesterday and R and I ate dinner on the porch for the first time this year. We had homemade black bean burgers, fries and corn on the cob. After that we went for a shake and a malt and then watched Baby Mama. This morning R made me eggs and toast.

It is overcast today, but I am determined to run. All the teaching has really dstroyed my running habit, but my new plan is to run 4 miles a week. When I am always doing that I will up my miles. I also want to start doing yoga 10 minutes a week (from this book).

Last weekend my parents came to visit and we had a very fun time with them. We went to dinner and sat on the porch playing games. My mom and I shared a bottle of plum wine and at one point my dad advised me to gamble more while my mom advised me to drink more. It is good to know they are looking out for me. :)

My parents also drove us to Home Depot where we bought supplies for our back porch garden! Woo! We have a hanging tomato plant and a window box of basil and dill and some chives which were planted from seed and have not yet emerged. The picture is from R's iPhone from inside the house so it is not the best, but it is too cloud y to get a good picture today.

I'm posting because two of my classes are ending this week, so I have hopes of returning to a semi-normal life and also making more progress on actually getting out of grad school one day. Hopefully I'll be around more once I grade all the finals!

Snapshot

2009-04-30T11:40:00.003-05:00

This is for the May Scientiae.

TEACHING FIVE CLASSES! Hopefully, in the future, I will look back on Spring 2009 and remember this was a very bad idea. Here is how I spend my time: teaching, planning labs, prepping labs, prepping classes, grading, eating, sleeping. That is pretty much it. Seriously, people, don't teach five classes in a semester, especially if three are lab classes.

scientiae-carnival

Fun

2009-04-05T11:42:00.002-05:00

People, I enjoyed Spring Break in Florida but got little teaching prep done. Then I returned to Chicago where I immediately started spring quarter. Also, this week was the big conference for my field (luckily here in town) and I have spent the end of the week at that. Thus, I am behind in everything.

BUT, despite all this, I am excited as R and I are going to see the Circus Cats of Chicago in a few short hours. Performing cats! Hilarious!

Spring Break!!!

2009-03-21T10:06:00.001-05:00

That's right! I still have papers to grade and classes to prep, but it is spring break and in a few hours I am off to Florida for a friend's wedding and then a week of hanging out. Woo! Good times! I am excited about the warm weather and the sun.

Food

2009-03-18T00:16:00.002-05:00

Once before, Ellen asked me to write about the tasty meals R and I make and since I only live to please Ellen, here are few.

They are all from Martha Stewart's "Everyday Food" magazine. I got a subscription to this magazine in order to use up some frequent flier miles that were going to expire. At first I was skeptical. I mean, I like Martha and all, but the magazine is Reader's Digest sized and looked like something sold at the grocery store checkout (like all those 100 Best Cakes! little booklets, or Prevention or something). But I cut out some tasty looking recipes, and by now we have made several that have all been really good. Seriously. There was one recipe that was merely 'meh' but everything else has been super tasty and pretty easy. Also, Martha kindly shares the recipes on the internets, so I can point them out to you.
Warm Spinach Salad with Fried Egg
Red-Leaf Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes
Bourbon-Pecan Truffles
Portobello, Broccoli and Red Pepper Melts

Enjoy!

Challenge

2009-03-13T17:11:00.004-05:00

The April Scientiae topic: Tell us about that most firey fire through which you have had to walk in your scientific career. How did you overcome the challenge? Did you have help along the way, or was it a solo effort? And what did you learn? Why are you a better scientist given the difficulties that you have encountered?

Peeps, I am in the most fiery challenge of my scientific career right now. I am not going to go into details, but my dissertation writing is by far the hardest thing I have ever done. I began writing this thing back in early 2007 and have had a bastard of a time with it since. There are difficulties with professors involved, I have become angry at the system and I feel it has greatly let me down.

I have not overcome this challenge yet, but I know I will sometime. I do have help along the way. I have friends who are willing to listen sympathetically and who also are willing to not ask when I say I don't want to talk about it. R is great at reminding me to be self-confident and at reading my chapters critically and coming up with awesome insights that really help my writing. I have also started going to counseling, which has been amazing for helping me remember who I am, and that I am a smart, successful person, even when others say I am not.

I have also really learned a ton. I have learned about facing huge obstacles and harsh criticism and about how I work best. I think this last part has been most useful. I've often tried to work how I think others work, or how I think I should work. But it is only this semester, when I am teaching 10,045 classes and writing that I have really found what works for me. I have carefully scheduled writing time that I CANNOT make up if I miss. Really. If I don't write between my two classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't have time to write for that week. This knowledge really makes me cut the procrastination. Also, the time chunks I have are short enough that I don't get bored. I am forced to stop by needing to go teach, which always leaves me wanting to get back to my work. And I have finally accepted that I don't work well in the house. I have access to a great office that I am using a lot, and I recently added two more hours to my work time by staying after my classes for an hour at night.

When I am not too upset by the whole situation, I know that this really crappy dissertating experience will in the end make me more sure of myself as an independent scholar, and will make me more able to take rejections and criticisms of my ideas in the future. I also wouldn't wish this experience on anyone, and hope it will help me be more sympathetic of any grad students I may get to work with in the future.

scientiae-carnival

Wow

2009-03-10T22:35:00.002-05:00

So, I knew that female hyenas had a false penis, but until reading this post at Field Notes', I had no idea how crazy their birthing was! Wow.

Also, here is a story of a chimp who plans ahead to throw stones at zoo visitors. I have been planning to raise up a gorilla army for many years now and I think this chimp can fill a leadership position.

Snow

2009-03-01T20:39:00.003-06:00

I woke up early today and had my Human Evolution class prepped before lunch. I also did laundry. It was a good day in that regard, although it snowed the whole freaking day. Actually, the snow would not be bad if it were not for the wind. It is coming in under our back door and making this weird whistling/rattling noise. I am concerned for the state of our house. We are on the third floor and it may blow right off.

In other news, it is 8:41 pm and I am seriously thinking about going to bed.

Valentine

2009-02-15T20:40:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a good Valentine's Day. I am not usually into Valentine's Day, and R and I usually do not really do anything special. Since the day was on a Saturday this year, though, we took some time to cook a very tasty dinner of mushroom, leek and lemon risotto and green beans with shallots followed by homemade caramel flan and an awesome drink made of champagne, vodka, and lemon sorbet all smushed together in the blender. It was nice to turn off the email, not talk about work and just hang out and play some cribbage.

Now get out there and buy the discounted chocolate!

books

2009-02-15T12:30:00.003-06:00

I am soooo busy. I am on campus from like 9:00-6:30 4 days a week. It is like I am a regular person with a real job. Anyway, that is why I have not been blogging. I am also still writing away on the dissertation. I have been reading, though, and I want to catch up some. Here is a list of what I have read recently. The ones I loved and that you should read are starred.

7. Dreamhunter by Elizabeth Knox*
8. Watchmen by Alan Moore*
9. The Genius Factory by David Plotz*
10. Girls in Pants by Ann Brashares
11. Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares
12. The Breaker by Minette Walters*
13. My Freshman Year: What a Professor Learned by Becoming a Student by Rebekah Nathan
14. Billion Dollar Kiss: The Kiss that saved Dawson's Creek and Other Adventures in TV Writing by Jeffrey Stepakoff
15. The Tales of Beedle the Bard by JK Rowling
16. City of Thieves by David Benioff
17. The Law of Similars by Chris Bohjalian
18. Downers Grove by Michael Hornburg*
19. Next by Michael Crichton

Some statements

2009-02-07T11:47:00.001-06:00

1. It is February
2. I live in Chicago
3. I am about to go running wearing shorts!

Dreams

2009-01-28T09:20:00.005-06:00

This month's Scientiae Carnival asks, "What do you think a better, more equitable society should look like? What are your dreams for your life? For the lives of others? How close are you to living the life of your dreams? What would make you able to live that life?"

I'm going to answer the last part of this question, as it relates to things I have been thinking about lately. I recently kind of hit rock bottom in my feelings about my dissertation and things I have feared would happen with it happened. Despite that and the fact that I am in a new city and missing old friends and also that I insanely took on a huge teaching load, I have been really happy. I think I am really happy for two reasons. 1) We know we will be here for awhile. R will be in his PhD program for 5,6,7 or more years. After I graduate and he finishes classes I might get a tenure track job elsewhere, and we might spend time in between two cities, but he will be at this school for the foreseeable future. It gives us some stability we have not had for a long time. 2) I realized that if I spent all my days like I did now with the addition of more money and a PhD, I would really be exactly where I want to be. I really love teaching, and this semester I am teaching some upper level classes which are giving me more of a taste of what I might get to do in a full time job someday. I also think I'll be teaching at these schools for more than 2 semesters, so I'll finally get to see what it is like to settle in a little somewhere, learn the student culture, know where to eat lunch, etc. I have been striving so long for the goal of a PhD, I think I forgot a little what I wanted it for. I wanted it so I could teach and research, and I am teaching and researching (or at least writing up research) right now. I already have my dream job in a way, and if I keep doing it, the diploma will come.

So I am so so close to living the life of my dreams. It is pretty awesome. And what do I want for others? I would really love if everyone could have the space to figure out what they want and then the opportunity to try it out and see how that kind of life fits them. I have so many students who have interests in one area, but feel compelled for financial reasons to follow a path they are less interested in. I wish they could follow their dreams for awhile, to see if those are their real dreams. I know how lucky I have been to end up where I am now, to be encouraged to get into a profession that is not at all 'normal' and that is risky in someways, and I wish everyone could have the encouragement and support I have had.

scientiae-carnival

books!

2009-01-19T10:48:00.001-06:00

6. Patty Jane's House of Curl by Lorna Landvik
I was given this book for free, and it is kind of just standard "women are strong and survivor's" fluff. Think of Steel Magnolias set in Minnesota. It was a fun read and the characters were engaging.

New Year

2009-01-18T13:53:00.001-06:00

I have made some New Year's resolutions. They are mostly about exercising, but here they are:
*run at least 2x a week
*run in at least two races
*yoga or pilates 2x a week
*be more social and get out of the house more
*don't stress so much

----
And since it is already Jan 17, here is how I have been doing. I have been doing great on the running. I got a Nike+ (Santa got me an ipod Nano for Christmas) which is a huuuuuuge motivator for me. R laughs at me, but knowing the Nike+ is watching me makes me push myself harder. Also, I love graphs! So I am on track for my running. We'll have to see about the races, but I have a whole year ahead of me. I have only done yoga twice and I still need to figure that out. Basically, I need to get over being embarrassed to do yoga with R in the house. I am not home enough when he is gone to get two half hour practices in a week. I am still trying though.

We have done great on the social front! I am so happy about it. We went out two nights last weekend, had people over during the week, and are going out two nights this weekend. woo! Go us!

Finally, I have been having serious issues with my dissertation which I cannot share here. BUT I have learned an important lesson which is that I need to go easier on myself, and stop beating myself for not reaching expectations I had that were ridiculous to begin with. To this end, I dropped my spring hours which means I definitely cannot graduate in May. That is ok. I am approaching the dissertation more as a journey. I work on it, and one day it will be done. I do not know when that day is. From now on, when people ask when I am going to be done my answer will simply be, "when I am done." I have lots of things I would probably do differently if I could go back and do grad school over, but one of the biggest is that I would not be so fixated on getting out fast. I was too obsessed with finishing and that made me get so upset when I missed deadlines and therefore caused me to procrastinate more. So I am working more on enjoying the day to day. And the lack of pressure has not made me work less, but actually more, as it is less of a chore now.

Monkeygirl

Done!

books!

Books!

Busy like a bee

Books!

Musical interlude

books!

Beatles 3000

A musical interlude

Blogroll business

Plague Ship!

Quinoa!

books!

Shahi paneer

Funny funny blog

books!

Vacay!

Books!

Books!

Books!

Free like a monkey!

What I think of zoos

Books!

Do chimps have culture?

books!

books!

Too much typing

Late Mother's Day

books!

books

Books

Amazon meme

books

Science nerd song!

books

books!

Sun

stuff lately

books!

Architecture

Musica!

Books!

Like a fish

More awesome

Books!

Becoming moral

Awesome

Thing I love

Books!

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

Book!

Avatar!

Books!

Weekend

Winter

Books!

Resolute!

2010 book!

Resolution Report

2009 Books

2009 Movies

Blinding you with science

Dentistry

Writing Well Challenge: Character

Long weekend

Muppets!

Further adventures

Adventures of late

Laaaaazy

Harvest time!

Messed Up

State Fair!

Aunt!

Personal stories

Isn't our health care system the best?

Why reform health care at all?

What, exactly, is in the health care bill?

nom nom nom

Health Care!