Missed it by that much.

So tonight I missed the bus connection on Campus Parkway. Meh, this happens a whole bunch but what happened after does not. I think I've said about a hundred times that although it's wet up here, it doesn't really rain, it mists heavily with mixes of torrential sprinkles. But tonight, it supremely poured. And I definitely got caught in it. Here's the after photo. I guess we needed the moisture? You know we're in a drought up here. The reservoirs are only 98% full so it's serious business. I don't think this picture really does the wetness justice but let me assure you, I was almost soaked clear to the skin. Of course not all the way to the skin since I'm typically wearing about four t-shirts, three jackets, and a vest at any given moment. Um, my pants were definitely drenched and shoes soaked. I should probably buy an umbrella and some galoshes.

How to Cook Everything!

So for Christmas, my best friend Whitney bought me a book by Mark Bittman called "How to Cook Everything". The book is pretty much amazing from cover to cover. Especially for someone that has burned both top ramen and rice pudding. I just uh, start thinking about other things. Also, my love of destroying microorganisms all too often outweighs my desire to have the food be edible. I had some peppers and onions from Trader Joe's on hand so I cooked them up and put them in a delicious sandwich. I highly, highly recommend buying this guy for all your possible cooking needs from top to bottom. Next on the list is something called "asparagus". Now that I won't be a student "string cheese and tortilla with peanut butter" isn't fair game anymore.

Strong Lab BBQ

Our technician, Katherine Burke is headed to graduate school in Hawai'i (I know!) to get a masters in public health. Our graduate student Colin passed his general exam to become a full-fledged doctoral candidate . . . and something else. Oh yes, I'm going to graduate in about three weeks with a PhD. I add it at the end because really, that last thing was really an afterthought that was added to the party list about the sixth email in. Well, here is Roland. Hmmm . . . I tried to say something else but I really can't. Hmmm . . . the party was fun especially at the end when everyone was sitting around and musing over which scotches they were going to try first. I decided to jump up and grab them as there were about ten bottles inside. Here's the picture. (Will post later since it's at work) Am I serving to minors?

Double Feature, Part Next

So last night, Whitney and I tried to go see Hannah Montana and Star Trek. We figured that the hilarity of such a pairing of opposites would be too fun to pass up . . . except that Hannah Montana apparently wasn't showing past 4 in the afternoon. So we settled for 2 hours of Clive Owen walking around in gorgeous suits saying things in his British accent. The movie itself (Duplicity) wasn't too interesting but Clive was. And I dare say he was a much better choice than HM, although I'll probably watch it eventually. Why, particularly when I've never seen the show, and I'm not nine? I don't know . . . probably because it's guaranteed to be cleany-clean when you can't say that much for others. Then, the blockbuster of the year, Star Trek! I grew up watching Star Trek so I was pretty excited for it. I was really excited last year when I heard that they would be casting Chris Pine in the role of Kirk. Many of us have liked his blue-eyed mug from when he was in Princess Diaries Dos. Beautiful men aside, it was funny, quick, action-packed, and fantastic. If you didn't like this movie, you might not like movies at all. Or freedom. Or puppies riding ponies. With kittens. i.e., it's that good! I wish I could have seen it with my brother and sister. We used to watch Star Trek, the Next Generation on channel 13 at 10 PM during the summers. It was just something fun that we would all do together. At any rate, it's just a good action adventure flick worthy of the $10. Maybe I couldn't have said that about Hannah Montana. No, probably couldn't.

Sigh, best hike in Washington!

Too restless at work this afternoon, at my own thought and Matt's suggestion, I decided to take off and hike Mount Si. It's Washington's most popular hike and is located just off I-90 near North Bend (about twenty minutes or so from Seattle). The hike is gorgeous rising over 4000 feet through dense forest and ferns over the course of four miles. I had brought a messenger bag with some water and an apple in it so I was a little apprehensive about the lack of gear, particularly since I was by myself and was starting the hike around 3:30. However, being the most popular hike in Washington, there were enough people on the trail to not worry. I even caught up to and passed some fit young 30-something men and caught up to some high school students. Guess that even though I went to the opera, I'm still not that old. Two hours up and one.five hours down, it was the perfect hike. It was great to be outside, get out that restless uselessness, and feel like I accomplished something. Coming back, the leaves are just out on the deciduous trees and they provide a beautiful spring contrast to the dark textures of the evergreens. Combined with the slick silver ribbon of wet highway and a setting sun, Washington is a beautiful place to live.

Thesis turned in.

So two weeks ago, I turned in my 152 page thesis to my reading committee. I've heard back from two of the members with glowing reports of "excellent, a pleasure to read, you are a gifted scientist and writer, congratulations, wonderful, it's a shame that some of this analysis is buried in a thesis-you should write a review for the journal that I'm an editor for". It feels good to get praise. Now if I only believed it. Takes a bit of time to build back up after so much fun in grad school, but I'll get there. Yay for nice people . . . including Roland!

Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata

In other words, I went to see The Marriage of Figaro at the Seattle Opera tonight. I was at work thinking about how much I love science when I decided to walk over to McCaw Hall. Students can show up two hours before show time and see if there are any $20 rush tickets available. I was waiting in line with over-60s (the other demographic that can buy rush tix) when they started complaining about they should make chairs available because they were standing so long. It was too funny that I would be standing there with the over-60s at an event like that. At any rate, so smug, I got a ticket on the 12th row that would have been $109. I love a bargain. During the two hours, I went down the street to the grocery store to grab some pretzels . . . that I ultimately silently started choking on during Act III. The moonlight was pouring down into the garden, the players were singing of love and the soft evening, and tears were streaming down my face from that stupid pretzel. I had to wait to cough until the clapping started. Oh the agony! Anyway, The Marriage of Figaro is really good. Really funny, fast paced, and excellent music. I think of the three operas I've seen, it would be the one I'd recommend to someone who wasn't too sure about opera.

It was a dark and stormy night . . .

which means it was the perfect night to go to a Mariners game! Rich, Michelle, and their new little tyke Lauren were in town so we went to see the Mariners. It was wonderful to see them again and it reminded me of so many wonderful people that I've become great friends with since I've moved to Seattle. It was pouring rain so good thing they had the roof pulled shut. It was also really cold which was why this picture is so bad. Too cold to re-take it. SafeCo Field, as I've said numerous times before, is a great place to watch a baseball game. There's a new perk this season, beyond the fact that we're winning a few. Namely, our new first baseman, Russell Branyan. Not saying that he's a Sexson (his batting average is .289, so that's slightly better) but his favorite show is Matlock and he has the word "Bran" in his last name. That's an excellent start to being a favorite of mine. Thanks to Rich, Michelle, and welcome to Lauren on her first baseball game!