Losers

My eternal poker losing streak continued to haunt me last night at Chris's. On the bright side, though, I did win the new 2008 Naked calendar for being the first person to go out that evening. And Greg pulled out second place so after carrying my dead weight, we still came out one kick-ass calendar and $10 in the black. WooHoo!

At the game was also our friend Jim, who just got back into town after 4 years in Hawaii. We met up with him for the first time since his return at ACL, and if I hadn't been prepared, I never would have recognized him. Since he's been away, he's completely transformed himself. When he left, he was an overweight somewhat unhappy guy. As my husband would describe it, he had a dark cloud hovering over him. Well, apparently that Hawaiian living has done the boy good. He's lost over one hundred pounds and is now a kick ass triathlete! His whole attitude has changed along with his body. We couldn't believe it. And apparently we weren't the only ones. Twice that night we reintroduced him to old acquaintances who insisted they had never met him before. It was priceless seeing recognition slowly dawn on them and then the shock. The most common reaction was a wide-eyed, gaping-mouthed Holy shit! I'm sure Jim's tired of that by now, but I love it. Good for you, amigo!

ADD

Have you ever just had so much to do/think about/plan/coordinate that your brain rebels by refusing to remain focused on any one item for longer than 10 minutes before moving on to the next pressing matter, leaving you incapable of finishing any single task so you can finally mark it off your list, but rather allows you only to scratch the surface of each project, thereby leaving you with an ever lengthening to-do list, a churning tummy, a shortness of breath, and an almost uncontrollable desire to scream F--- IT! and drop everything?

Just wondering. Me, I've got everything under complete control.

Gearing Up for ACL

Its finally here! We have passes for an all day musical lovefest at the Austin City Limits festival tomorrow. This will be my fourth ACL. The first couple of years we bought 3-day passes, but after the festival in 2005 when Zilker Park was transformed into one huge, brown dustball from crazy heat and grass pummeled to death, we downgraded to the one-day passes. Three days killed me both years - the heat, dehydration, massive crowds and brown boogers for the whole of the following week... I just can't hack it anymore, and it was not enjoyable. A few of our friends even said they were coughing up blood after inhaling all that dust in '05. Ew. Who wants that?

So we're going on Saturday. I'm a bit disappointed because Amy Winehouse, one of the big names I wanted to see this year cancelled. Apparently, she's worn herself toxic from all the booze, heroin, cocaine, horse tranquillizers, and heaven-knows-what-else that she regularly pumps into her system. Gotta get yourself to rehab, girl! And then just last week The White Stripes cancelled too. Boo. But its sure to be a great day nonetheless. Besides, this festival has always been about discovering new music for us so I guess its good that our schedule is more open now. I'm still super stoked to see Paolo Nutini, Andrew Bird and Arcade Fire though!

Ok, I'm off to hydrate and mentally prepare myself for brush-ups against sweaty strangers' limbs. Wish us good weather and TP in the portapotties!

And Once Again for Good Measure

More pics in Spain from Tricia!
Click on the photo...

Portugal & Spain Revisited

So I've finally uploaded our pics from our last vacation to Portugal where we met up with Fred and Kristie for the beginning of our trip. And then we drove up into Spain for Gunther and Maria's wedding in Gallicia where we met up with our old roommates Dan and Tricia. Click on the picture below to see the slideshow. Enjoy!

Meeting a Legend

I know when most people hear the name James Watson, they draw a complete blank and ask who?, but to a geeky biochem grad student, this guy's a superstar. Together with the help of Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and Rosalind Franklin (who under dubious circumstances was initially denied credit for the discovery), James Watson helped elucidate the structure of DNA back in the 1950's. In 1962, Watson, Crick and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel prize for their work. Unfortunately, Franklin passed away in 1958 and the rules of the Nobel prize stipulate that it cannot be awarded post-humously.

Today the 79-year-old Watson is speaking at UT, and I'll be attending. I then have to shoot off to a doctor's appointment, which will hopefully be over in time for me to go to a grad student dinner with him as the guest of honor. I'm looking forward to his talk. He's been a very contraversial and outspoken character, garnering attention for not only the omission of Ms. Franklin from his work but also for his more recent advocacy of using prenatal genetic testing to screen fetuses for signs of disease or future disorders and the potential abortion of affected fetuses. Basically I've heard that the guy can be a real jackass, but I'm hoping to have the opportunity to judge for myself.

Congrats All Around!

So Aussie Mark and Brianna have finally shacked up and threw an engagement/housewarming party on Saturday night. We couldn't be happier for them. And I have to say Brianna has got to be the hostess with the mostest. Anyone who throws a bbq and has bacon on hand for the burgers, what can I say? That's impressive.

We also learned that our friends Claus and Morgan are almost 15 weeks pregnant! We hadn't seen them all summer with our conflicting vacations and summer plans so we had no idea. But I have to say, seeing Greg's face as he was talking to them... Priceless! He was freaking out. I think the reality of the first couple in our Austin circle of friends to get pregnant hit him right between the eyes and scared the bejezus out of him. We've got a long way to go, folks. :)

Footy Time!

Tonight was the first day of our indoor soccer league. The team is made up of Greg, Glenn G, Brian S, Derek D, Jeff W, Aussie Mark, Brianna, Katie D, and myself. That's right - 6 boys and 3 girls. And since its a co-ed team, 3 girls have to be out on the fields at all times. That means the girls are getting a hell of a workout. Plus, given the fact that none of the girls and a few of the boys have never really played soccer... ...we're not exactly expecting to be league champions.

So today we had Dilek sub for us, and the poor thing thought that since she's just the sub, it would be a piece of cake. Well, no. I got lost on my way to the field and so was about 15 minutes late to the game and completely frazzled. Meanwhile, Dilek was dying of exhaustion and Katie was getting absolutely battered because I had her shin guards. As soon as I got in, I threw on my kit (for the first time in my life so it took a little longer than it should have). And then ran out on the field in an attempt to just do something useful. People were yelling at me to Go up and Get back. Having no idea what that meant, I just scrambled on the field like a headless chicken and hoped for the best.

Now I knew I wasn't in the best shape of my life but after about 5 minutes on the field, my lungs and chest were on fire and I was fighting to catch my breath! Indoor soccer is a killer! Everything happened in an absolute blur. The only thing I knew how to do was to catch the other team with the ball and just hound them until it forced them to make a mistake and hope that a better player was around to pick up the ball from there. I missed most of the first half when we went down 6-0. Then during the second half Greg saved us from a shut out and made two absolutely beautiful goals. That's my husband, ladies and gentlemen. By the time he scored the second goal, I was so winded that I could not physically muster a congratulatory yell. That's how wiped I was. But I have to say it was so much fun. We ended up losing 8-2, and we can't wait until the next game.

Here's hoping I'll figure out what I'm doing before the next game. :)

Back to Normal

Today is my first day back in lab after a 3-week vacation (actually a TWO week vacation, three days being screwed by U.S. Airways, one mental health day to recuperate, and a long Labor Day week-end). As always, there are a few slight adjustments to make upon re-entering normal life after a fab European vacation.

1. Getting from point A to point B no longer requires schlepping up steep hills or worrying about busting my butt from slipping on slick stones in my flipflops.
2. Being able to get a seat on the bus because everyone drives here and thinks public transportation is for "poor people". Seriously, some woman said this to my Danish friend - we've got a long way to go here in Texas. *sigh*
   
3. Seasonally-appropriate attire is again meaningless as every building on campus has the AC cranked to the maximum possible output thus requiring my winter gear no matter what the thermometer outside is reading.
4. Re-learning everything I forgot about website management to get ready for my boss's new class.
5. Having to scurry around in a frenzy getting said website up and running before the class starts, and gently breaking it to my boss that some things are simply not going to be accomplished within the next 15 minutes.

Ah, its good to be home! :)

Love, Me

Our friends Matt & Brandy got married today at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. The ceremony was an interesting mix of traditional Jewish customs and more non-traditional elements that I'd never seen before. But what really got me was the very first guitar solo of Collin Raye's song Love, Me. Its an old country song that I hadn't heard in years. And it took just about everything I had to hold back the tears.



I miss you, Grandpa.

The name on your birth certificate said L Z, but everyone called you Luke or Luther. You grew up during the Great Depression and that taught you never to be wasteful. You served in the army during WWII. Doing what, I have no idea because I never thought to ask you. You taught my mom to shoot, and she loved it. You were tall and strong and had a soft-spoken voice. If I try to think of a time when I ever heard you raise your voice, I come up blank. You were never in a rush but also never still. You were always fixing something around the house or tinkering in your little workshop at the back of the house or spending hours and hours in the garden. I was your first grandchild. You made me a wooden rocking horse, a bed that had a Strawberry Shortcake cushion for my stuffed animals and a four-story dollhouse that I still have in the garage. I remember playing in your garden and pretending it was a wild, lush jungle because that's what it seemed like to me. I climbed that big tree and ran through the clothes that were drying on the line. When we got on Grandma's nerves, which was quite often, you would take us aside and calm us down. I remember sitting with you and your smell and your scratchy chin. You loved Alistair MacLean books. I borrowed a few from you but never got around to reading or returning them. You always had this old mint green jeep in the driveway, but I never remember it running. If there was a problem, you knew how to fix it. You taught me how to get rid of garden slugs with an aluminum pie plate and a beer, not that garden slugs were ever a problem back home in the desert. I found it horrifying and at the same time a little amusing that they were both attracted to and killed by the beer. You taught me how to fix a sticking door with a dry bar of soap. You were the McGuyver of household repairs. :)

Your granddaughter Sarah died in your arms as you gave her CPR. I remember you once came to visit us and passed out while you were working in the yard all by yourself. You didn't tell anyone about it until much later so we wouldn't worry. I remember getting a shock when I first saw you in that severe hospital bed in your den, like it was a permanent fixture. And unfortunately, it was. I remember how you slowly got weaker and weaker. That is not how I will remember you. I promise. I wish I had recorded your stories. The one that sticks out most in my mind is of your brother who would drink a cup of half coffee and half sugar and who once broke out of jail with a spoon. I wish I had brought you more Alistair MacLean and Louis L'Amour books. I wish I had taken that trip up to Albequerque so you could have met Greg. I think you would have liked him. And I know he would have loved you. All the boys did - Dad, Mr. Mac, Trav. You were always someone a man could look up to. The way you conducted yourself, your values, your strength - you were real hero material and that's the way I'll always remember you.

After 86 years, your struggle finally ended on August 27, 2007. I know you know that I love you.