Might not be able to beat Brazil but the universe was a piece of cake.

So tonight a bunch of my friends got together to celebrate the under-celebrated Third of July and watch "Independence Day" out on the back lawn. I really should have taken pictures. Hum. Well, maybe next time. We had red Jell-O, white Oreos, and blue soda. Just think, all things that the Americans invented. Well, not carbonated drinks but since those were invented in England in 1767 and we technically weren't a country yet, I think it's safe to say that we basically invented soda pop as well. We also invented the car, the airplane, the t.v., the telephone, the Internet (thanks Gore-ical!), not to mention jazz and the skyscraper and PCR (thanks illegal drug use?). Basically, the US rocks and in ID4, don't we know it! The funniest scene is towards the end where there's an Iraqi soldier and a British soldier racking their brains over what to do about the 15 mile wide saucer hovering above Baghdad. Then by Morse code (which we invented too by the way), the signal comes in that Jeff Goldblum has figured out how to save the entire planet. Iraqi: "It's from the Americans, they've figured out how to destroy the ships." Brit: "It's about time!" Uh, really? I think that this must have been written by an American. Well, as President Bill Pullman reminds us, isn't it time to put aside our petty differences and strive for the good of humanity as a whole? To make July 4th, the world's Independence Day? Gives me shivers, but so did that dreamy Jeff Goldblum striding through the whole movie saving the world. Just saying, this is a remarkable country because we're independent and because people are able to come here from all over their planet to pursue their dreams. Like a dream of meeting Jeff Goldblum. Or becoming a famous scientist. Or, just becoming a famous scientist in movies. That third one sounds easiest.

Two things about me you may not know.

I'm at work right now trying to remember that sometimes my number one problem is that I don't give up easily enough and it's time to give up on ITC.  So as I am sitting here quelling the desire to "try it again" which would be pointless, I remembered that I have two photos here at work that describe things you might not know.  First, I hate penguins.  I loathe them.  And I'm a little afraid of them too.  But really it's more that I find them repellent.  Let me show you how I really feel.   This started in high school when I was watching Wallace and Grommit's "The Wrong Trousers" and Andrew Penguin, who is an international jewel thief masquerading as a harmless chicken by the mere ruse of wearing a rubber glove on his head. It's really when he is padding into the house and W and G are sitting in the living room snacking on some cheese. He suddenly turns his beady little eyes on them. Also, when Grommit is out in the dog house and he is up in the house staring down through the storm. Also, when he pulls a gun on them all. It started as a joke and then kind of became real. But fortunately, fear has transformed mostly into loathing although I still don't like looking at penguins. Here's the second thing: I'm helpful. Here's me bringing out three bottles of scotch at our lab party. So maybe that's three things. One, I don't give up easily. Two, I abhor those nasty flightless birds of the south. And three, I'm very obliging.

Am I too old for this or am I too young?

So tonight I went to a concert at The Showbox here in Seattle. This place opened up in the 1930s so jazz club, swing club, going out for dinner and dancing in the 40s, watching Pearl Jam and Nirvana in the 90s, it was all here. I went with my roomie MaReesa (see picture) to see her favorite band Carbon Leaf. I'm not much of a concert goer (you may remember the Hot Buttered Rum with Flu debacle of March. Flu was not part of the band but was suffocating my lungs) but I try to act my age. When I got there, I remembered why I don't go to concerts. I felt like the 60-year-olds in the opera line that wanted chairs. I realized that I'd be standing next to smellie smells and pushie pushers for five hours. It was an all-ages show so there were 50-somethings who commented "what's with all these kids here?". I didn't know if they were referring to me or to the actual kids, i.e., the seven-year-olds in the crowd (who are their parents?). Anyway, the show was fantastic but I had to get out of the mix since a flabby woman behind me kept invading my space. I normally wouldn't comment on people's fluffiness but I knew she was fluffy because I could feel it. Yes folks, her method to getting closer to the band was not pushing past people but by pushing through them. After ten minutes of bump, bump, push, press, grabbing my shoulder, and elbows in my kidney, I decided to let them pass. Then the husband started elbowing me from in front of me. My mind flashed forward to "wow, I'm going to get thrown out of a bar. I'm going to push this guy. He's going to turn around and swing at me (I'll of course dodge magnificently) and then it all goes crazy." After grad school, there just needed to be a trigger to ignite. I opted to retreat to the back of the club by the stairs. It was hilarious but I actually did really enjoy the band. Try YouTubing "The War Was in Color" or "Life Less Ordinary". The second features an old farmer picking up a tumbleweed as a hitchhiker. Literally. The tumbleweed tumbles up to his dusty old truck and he opens the passenger door and the tumbleweed hops up and in. I'm listening to the first song right now and I may have teared up last week while listening to it.

Car camping and Denny Creek hike

Hurray for the beginning of camping season! Well, for school being over and feeling more at liberty to go camping! It was about time to dig back out my $8 4-man tent and $5 2-man tent from DI. Seriously, you find the best stuff there! Well, my mom does, she's amazing in so many ways. We (about ten of us) headed out after work last night and drove to Salmon La Sac just north of Cle Elum. Cle Elum is where you can buy meat by the yard. It's true! They have big rolls of beefy jerky wound up on spindles and for sale. What a wonderful place! We had a delightful evening of chatting by the campfire and eating s'mores. Anyway, camping at Salmon La Sac was gorgeous and then it was off back towards Seattle and a hike at Denny Creek where apparently there is a giant rock water slippy slide in the middle of the river. We hiked through a bit of snow and mud to get there since it's still wet here in the North Cascades and sadly, the second bridge was washed out on the hike right at the slippy slide. Apparently during the summer, this is a super, super popular hike since you can slip down the whole river bed in this sections. But with the trail washed out, this is what we thought of it. And here is a picture of Jen pensively surveying the washout from the spring run-off. Here's Karen negotiating with Tom about how maybe they could poke their way across the slippery rocks and high waters to get to the trail on the other side. And here is Sarah happy about the whole camping trip and hike altogether. We stopped off at the cafe where they filmed Twin Peaks and had like forty burgers on the menu. I opted for some delish cherry pie. After all, we deserved it after that strenuous one mile hike we had to suffer through. Tonight we're going to watch "Lost Skeleton of Cadavera" again. What a classic!

Pike's, Deception Pass, a ferry, and another ferry for ice cream!

This morning, we went to Pike Place Market since it had been a while since everyone (including me) had been there. Pike's has everything delicious and wonderful. Great fruits and vegetables, jams, chocolate, flowers, icky fish, donuts, apple fritters, cheese, breads, etc. Next time the family comes up here, I think I should probably send them on a market food tour. After we picked up some essentials (some bread, some homemade Beecher's cheese, and a big apple fritter which was about the size of a dinner plate and serves 6) we headed up to Deception Pass on Fidalgo Island and had lunch down on the waterfront. I think I've talked about DP before so I won't go into the details. Here was lunch! On the way home, we were trying to decide what to do for the evening and a Mariner's game came to mind. Unfortunately, the entire city had about the same idea and the bleacher seats were all sold out. Not to worry, in this greatest city on earth, there's always something else fun to do. So we grabbed some seafood (and chicken!) on the waterfront and grabbed a ferry to Bainbridge Island. Here's Nate, my mom, and my dad on the ferry! They have an amazing ice cream shop over there called Mora's. Jeff and I got the pistachio and I think we made a stellar choice. Here's my mom and dad out front enjoying their minty and chocolately confections. Muy delicioso! And one of my mom, sister, and brother enjoying the same. What a perfect trip! Thanks family!!! And on the way back, *tee-hee* here's a picture I took of a classic gorgeous Pacific Northwest dude. Howdy stranger!

Family time in Seattle!

I think the last time we were all up here in Seattle for real was when we were living in Boise and I was six. Well this time, I could take them on a tour as a native. Since everyone in Seattle who has lived here longer than two years pretty much considers themselves as locals. While the boys and my mom went down to the Museum of Flight, my sister and I went went touring the UDistrict for shoes and bubble tea. Bubble tea is basically a fruit smoothie (mine was supremely yummy with green apple lemon and big black tapioca balls that I think are the best part). Then we went and rescued my mom and went and got pedicures. Oh lovely! There is nothing nicer than sitting and reading magazines while your feet soak in a hot bath and get a little massage etc. It was absolutely delightful. I think my mom found it pretty relaxing too. Here's my sister getting her bubble tea. Then tonight since most of the museums in Seattle are free after 5 PM on the first Thursday of every month, we went to the Muppet exhibit at the Experience Music Project and to the Science Fiction Museum (the Pitbull Hoverboard of Griff's from Back to the Future, Part 2!). And then Italian in the north end of Belltown. What a pretty city!

Presenting . . . Dr. McBeth!

So today I defended my dissertation titled "New twists in immune recognition revealed by an alpha/beta TCR". I was sort of nervous but more nervous for what my boss was going to say about me as part of the introduction. It turns out that he was kind of nice and he even gave me a hug afterwards and said congratulations. So look at us, BFFs for about six minutes. The questions weren't that bad afterwards but I think I could have done better. But I always think I could have done better. Thus my curse. Well, it's over and I turned in my dissertation to the graduate school this afternoon. I'm now Christine McBeth, PhD. Or to be more accurate, Christine McBeth BS PhD. Maybe I should stick the first one! Well. Huzzah! Now my beautiful family is in town and we have the weekend to enjoy Seattle together. This afternoon we're going on the Underground Tour where Seattle looked like a belgian waffle for a while and out to dinner for Indian at "Taste of India". Here are pictures of the after-party that my lab threw for me. Here's me and Whitney. Here's a groupish shot of the crowd. And the gift from my lab was a penguin that is now going to be watching over me as I finish up my last three months.