It had to end sometime

I'm back in the country! I had a great time in Mexico! The weather was perfect (low 80s and sunny), the resort was luxurious and gorgeous, and the food was delicious. Thank you mom and dad! We stayed at the all-inclusive resort the Aventura Spa Palace at Riviera Maya (1 hour from Cancun). We also took a day trip to Tulum to see some Mayan ruins and to Xel Ha, a nature-water park.

Below are some pics. If you'd like to see rest let me know.

Looking out at the ocean over my favorite beach spot to sit and read in the sun

The jacuzzi in our room (yes you heard me!) along with a little towel friend left by the maids

The ruins of a Mayan palace at Tulum from about 1000 AD.

PCR is back!

Thats right, last night I did my first successful PCR in I don't know how many months. I think it was last spring, although I might have done one in July. Anyway, it is still not working totally properly, but I have all my supplies and I can get it to work well enough for my purposes. Woohoo! Now it just has to stay working while I process 300 wren DNA samples. Ahh...pray for me!

In other news, I can definitely confirm that mailboxes look like deer. When you are driving through the countryside at night (say, from KBS to EL and back...just as an example) and you are already hyper-sensitive because you keep seeing lots of deer, some of whom try to cross the road in front of youl, seeing a dark mailbox leaning over the road with a little reflector on it that looks like a deer's eye is really disconcerting! And I'm not crazy or drunk, Emily G agreed with me!

This will probably be my last post before Mexico, so ADIOS!

Anything you can do...

Ability meme...from Tina's blog

You bold anything you can do, italicize anything you wish you could do, and add one new skill you're proud of to the end.

+ Use chopsticks
+ Speak more than one language
+ Roll my tongue
+ Play a musical instrument
+ Name every single pokemon character
+ Sing in tune
+ Use html
+ Cross my eyes
+ Put both feet behind my head
+ Ride a horse
+ Swim
+ Shuffle playing cards with a fancy move
+ Move and wiggle my eyebrows independently of each other
+ Play chess and win
+ Ride a bike
+ Drive
+ Do long division in my head
+ Draw quite convincingly
+ Bake cakes
+ Stand on my head (I could do this as a child...but not anymore!)
+ Do cartwheels (ditto)
+ Spell Czechoslovakia without having to look it up first
+ Identify any garden bird
+ Mix a mean cocktail (I have Aaron for that!)
+ Read music
+ Style hair like a professional
+ Tell the difference between Prada and nada at a glance
+ Whistle
+ Recite whole passages from the Lord Of The Rings books by heart
+ Remember birthdays and anniversaries without being reminded (It's called a calendar!)
+ Tap dance
+ Defuse an argument easily
+ Nurse any sick plant back to health
+ Cook anything
+ Forgive quickly
+ Train a dog (I trained Zoe to play dead...does that count?)
+ Commit things to memory without effort (at least some things)
+ Stick my big toe up and my little toes down
+ Freakishly bend my double-jointed thumb
+ Remove any stain
+ Do anything with makeup
+ Open jars without trouble
+ Charm the pants off people
+ Hold my breath for a minute
+ Roller-skate
+ Understand Shakespeare
+ Listen
+ Sew curtains
+ Decipher morse code
+ Click my fingers
+ Complete crossword puzzles (thanks to crossword puzzle races with Katie L and Kosha during stats lectures)
+ Finish a book once I start it
+ Fold napkins into pretty fan shapes
+ Crochet scarves
+ Cheer people up
+ Write multi-chapter fan fic stories
+ Rock at Six Degrees of Separation
+ Tell a debit from a credit in general ledger accounting
+ Solve legal problems and say 'yes, the answer would be yes, but it all depends you see...'
+ Teach
+ Teach real estate agents
+ Repair a bicycle puncture
+ Assemble flat packed furniture
+ Wiggle my ears without touching them
+ Type over 60 words per minute (never been timed but I am pretty fast)
+ Run a nuclear reactor
+ Take ugly writing and make it pretty (although I'm probably not as good at this as many of my friends who might be reading this blog)
+ Confidently talk about sports with anyone

(For my added one, I was going to do something about capturing or taking blood from wild birds, but I figured fewer people would be able to (or would want to) do that.)

I wish more conservatives thought like this...

"My position is, unless we are caring as much for the vulnerable outside the womb as inside the womb, we're not carrying out the full message of Jesus. ... They began to think this might threaten their base or evaporate some of their support, and they said they just couldn't go there."

- Rev. Joel Hunter, explaining his resignation as president-elect of the Christian Coalition, after realizing he would be unable to broaden the organization's focus to include issues such as poverty and the environment. (Source: The Washington Post)

(Quote is from yesterday's Sojomail.)

Isis tales

Two cute Isis stories:

First, she has learned that when I finish my bowl of cereal in the morning, there is some yummy milk left in the bottom. Now, as soon as I start eating breakfast she runs up to me and stares until I finish and let her lick out the bowl. Is this bad for her? Maybe. Can I resist? No!

Also, I just got a birdfeeder. It is the kind that has suction cups which you use to attach it to your window. I thought it would be entertaining for Isis, but I think she is frustrated by the fact that these darn birds keep coming back but she can't catch them! Whenever one lands, she jumps up against the window to scare it away. When she can't catch it she makes funny little peeping noises as she yearns to give chase. I couldn't get any great action shots, but here is one with a bird flying away. Curses, foiled again!

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is officially over but I wanted to take the time to think about some things that I'm thankful for:
-> My wonderful, supportive, caring family
-> My great friends in Lansing, KBS, and GR
-> The fact that I don't have to worry where my next meal will come from, or whether there will be a roof over my head, or how I will pay for health care
-> That my family, friends, and myself are generally healthy and happy
-> My great cat Isis :-)
-> More trivial things: being able to travel to so many interesting places, the huge block of chocolate that Katie and Travis helped me get that is SOOO good, sunny days, the sound a hockey puck makes as it is shot around the boards, the internet, pay-at-the pump gas stations, The Colbert Report, Woody's yummy food, Netflix, the peace and quiet of living in the country, $3.5o 1st run movies, ESPN, diet black cherry vanilla coke, sunsets, fireworks, mashed potatoes and stuffing, and so much more...

Torture Lindsey Day 2006

...is over! I managed to survive a dentist and doctors appointment on the same day! I sat in waiting rooms for about 3 hours total today, but at least I got everything out of the way.

A bad sports weekend

The teams that I care about were a collective 0-6 this weekend. Granted, I expected Michigan to lose to Ohio State (and they did keep it close, losing 42-39) and the Red Wings did pick up one point by losing in a shootout, but still, what happened to all my sports luck???

For the record, I don't want a UM-OSU rematch in the BCS title game, because they would probably just beat us again. I'd much rather play in the Rose Bowl where we would stand a decent chance at winning. As long as Notre Dame doesn't play for the championship, I'm happy. And they shouldn't because even if they win out, we only have 1 loss (to the #1 team) and they would have 1 loss...to us! (They didn't play the #1 team.) So there is no way you can put them in there ahead of us! But just in case...go USC!

Even better!

Chocolate is good for your heart!

Moo!

Eating red meat linked to increased risk of breast cancer

I knew there was a reason I stopped eating it!

This and that

A cool Stewart/Colbert interview coming out in Rolling Stone...

Also, Todd and I played in a doppelkopf tournament this weekend and got our asses handed to us (me=11th out of 11, Todd=something like 9th or 10th), so we need some practice! If anyone at KBS wants to learn an awesome card game, let me or Todd know. And if anyone in Lansing in doing a doko night, with a little advanced warning I can be there!

Finally, my car hit 50,000 miles on the way home from Lansing. I bought it new when I graduated from college. I am old. Have I really experienced 50,000 miles worth of life since college???

The exciting things that happen in Grand Rapids, MI

I can't believe this made it on to the front page of CNN.com. Yes, this is my hometown:

Deer breaks free of plastic jack-o'-lantern

VOTE!

Remember to vote today! For those of you in Michigan, we have important things to vote on: governer, US senator, and several proposals. Vote vote vote!

The toughest sport?

Just saw this article on ESPN.com's Page 2 where they "scientifically" ranked 60 sports based on how tough they are. Here is a sample from the list:

1. Boxing
2. Hockey
3. Football (American)
4. Basketball
5. Wrestling
6. Martial Arts
7. Tennis
8. Gymnastics
9. Baseball/softball
10. Soccer
...
56. Curling
57. Bowling
58. Shooting
59. Billiards
60. Fishing

For the most part I agree with the rankings. (I've always argued that hockey was tougher than real football which is tougher than soccer.) However, I'm surprised about some of them, such as that rugby (13) and bull riding (42) aren't higher and that gymnastics (8) and figure skating (19) aren't lower.

I find it interesting that the 4 major US sports are all in the top 10 in toughness. Is that because we like tough sports, or are we overvaluing the toughness of sports that we like?

Snow=evil part 2

I had to scrape my car today before leaving work! SCRAPE MY CAR!!!!! NOOOOO!!!! I'M NOT READY!!!!!

Cell phones linked to male infertility

Heavy mobile use 'damages sperm'

First laptops, now cell phones...looks like the women are going to have to do all the work from now on while the men stay home and do our housework! ;-)

Iraqi lives matter: 30,000>3,000

I read this in a column on ESPN.com today (TMQ by Gregg Easterbrook) and thought it was worth thinking about:

"Of the many moral questions regarding the Iraq War, the one the American political and media systems are not dealing with in any way, shape or form is the number of Iraqi deaths. A few months ago President Bush said the estimate he has been given by military intelligence is 30,000 Iraqi deaths caused either directly by our military or set in motion by our invasion. American forces have been trying to avoid killing the innocent. But no matter how carefully our armed forces have behaved, why is the American conscience not shocked by so many innocent people killed owing to our unilateral decision to seize another nation? Why did the media shrug when Bush used this shocking figure?

Had some other country or group done something that caused 30,000 deaths here, we would claim an unlimited right of self-defense and retaliation. Yet the death the United States has brought to the innocent of Iraq isn't even being discussed here. Some of the Iraqis who have died because they have been hit by our bombs, or in the sectarian violence our destruction of the Iraqi government set loose, would have died by now regardless; perhaps some of them would have been killed by Saddam Hussein, had he remained in power. But by invading Iraq we made ourselves responsible for what happened next, and what has happened next is killing of the innocent. When 3,000 were villainously slain here, we called it a crime against humanity. Since then we have caused or played a role in the deaths of perhaps 10 times as many in Iraq, and this is spoken of here as if it were some mere unfortunate side effect of policy. History may judge America harshly for acting as though Iraqi lives have no value. "

"A typical liberal"

A friend just gave me the link to "Wikiality: the truthiness encyclopedia" and I just had to share the entry on "liberal":

"A liberal is any individual who hates America, our Troops, Freedom, and everything that it stands for. The typical liberal is a henna-tattooing, tofu-eating, bear-hugging, whale-saving, war-protesting, marijuana-smoking, pornography-watching, Godless hippy moonbat bent on destroying American values."

For more, go to http://www.wikiality.com/Liberal

Stevie Y!!!!

I just walked down a flight of stairs directly behind Steve Yzerman...wow! I needed to share that!

Dr. Lindsey

Recently I received a letter addressed to me as "Dr.". Please see this PhD comic for an exact representation of my feelings on the matter:
http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=376

Happy Birthday Colbert Report!

This week marked the 1 year anniversary of the Colbert Report! I can't believe it has only been one year...Stephen, it seems like you have been in my life for so much longer than that! How did I get by without you???

To celebrate his 1 year anniversary, Stephen is auctioning off (for charity) a portrait of himself that was part of the set of the Report for year 1. I just checked it out on ebay and the bid is already up to $6,200.00!!! I guess you guys are going to have to all chip in to get it for me... ;-)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290040269306

New look

I got sick of the green. Otherwise everything is pretty much the same. Enjoy the blue!

I'm a Presbyterian!

Today I officially joined First Presbyterian Church of Kalamazoo! I love how progressive the Presbyterian USA denomination is. (The first ordained female pastor in the P-USA preached at my new church back in the 1950s! Any church that had female pastors long before I was born is definitely thinking about things in the right way!) Also, First Pres has a huge focus on outreach to the community, which I really think is important and many times overlooked by churches. For instance, they started a health clinic that serves hundreds of uninsured people in downtown Kalamazoo each year and are also very active with Habitat for Humanity, tutoring in the local inner city school, world peace and justice activism, etc. It feels good to belong to a chruch where I finally really feel like I belong!

Snow=evil

I almost cried when I woke up this morning. Snow!!! NOOOOO!!!!! It is only Oct 12!!! Sad sad sad...

10/14 edit: Phew it melted! That was close!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving. Now, (American) Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because of the FOOD, so if I get a chance to celebrate it twice a year I'm going to take advantage of it! Travis (from the Lansing gang) made a spectacular Thanksgiving feast on Saturday (although it is unclear whether the group knew it was actually Canadian Thanksgiving or not) and we all gorged. We enjoyed turkey, stuffing, mashed and sweet potatoes, apple and pumpkin pie, etc. Let me just say that Travis is a super cook anyway, and when you combine that with Thanksgiving food...heaven!

So, we can thank Canada for hockey and two Thanksgivings! I knew I liked our neighbors to the north (or east or south in some parts of Michigan).

Honk for the Christian Left

I just came across this site that sells "religous left merchandise" which turns out to be some really clever/cool bumper stickers, T-shirts, etc.

http://www.cafepress.com/turn_left

I'm not necessarily lobbying you to buy any of these things, but if you feel like procrastinating or something, surf around on the site for some interesting/funny/thought provoking ideas. Some of my favorites:

"GOD is not spelled GOP"
"Stewart Colbert 2008"
"Pro-life does not end at birth"
"Poverty is the worst form of violence"
"Who would Jesus torture?"
"The Christian Right is often neither"
"Why care about the poor when you can be a single issue voter?"
"You cannot be pro-life and pro-death penalty"
"War is a defeat for humanity -Pope John Paul II"

Now I just need to find an "Obama 08" sticker...I actually saw one on a car the other day!

The countdown continues...

Veronica Mars: 1 day
Red Wings' season starts: 3 days
Griffins' season starts: 4 days
Griffins' home opener: 12 days
Lindsey and Kath at the Wings: 71 days
Mexico: 75 days

4 years???

You know you have been in grad school for a long time when:
1. You have to make the font on your CV smaller to keep everything on two pages.
2. You are introduced to a 2nd year vet student and you say "Hi I'm Lindsey!" and he says "I know, you were my undergrad ecology TA."
3. You are so distressed about #2 that you forget how many years you have been a grad student until your labmate reminds you (thanks Katie).

Formulaic Fantasy

I recently have been reading a new-to-me fantasy series by David Eddings (The Belgariad, thanks to Carl and Todd) and I am enjoying it, although it contains the very familiar themes, characters, etc. that can be found in most fantasy series. What I found interesting was that Eddings admits to this, and actually emphasizes it in his new preface (from 2002, the books were written in the 80s.) This is how he describes it:

“The story itself is fairly elemental—Good vs. Evil, Nice Guys vs. Nasty Guys, (or Them vs. Us). It has the usual Quest, the Magic (or Holy) Thingamajig, the Mighty Sorcerer, the Innocent Hero, and the Not Quite So Innocent Heroine—along with a widely vaired group of Mighty Warriors with assorted character faults. It wanders around for five books until it finally climaxes with the traditional duel between “Our Hero” and the “Bad Guy.””

When you think about it, it is striking how many of the fantasy series that I enjoy (Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Robin Hobb, even Star Wars) all follow this formula quite closely. And yet I still can’t put the books down. I wonder what it is about this classic story that so grabs my attention.

Hail to the Victors!

The University of Michigan football team just crushed, smashed, and obliterated a HIGHLY overrated Notre Dame team in South Bend! 47-21! Woohoo! I scared my cat because I was cheering so much. Did I mention I hate Notre Dame? Go Blue!

Also, my hometown West Michgian Whitecaps just won the Midwest League (A baseball) title, so congrats to them too!

To celebrate I am using the new muffin pan I got for my birthday to make some yummy muffins.

Half way to fifty

“I’m excited to be 25! I’ve been waiting, like, 25 years to be 25!” –Giselle, supermodel

Fall Countdown

College Football: Already started!
NFL Football: TODAY!
My bday: 1 day
The Amazing Race: 7 days
Grey's Anatomy: 11 days
Red Wings' Season Starts: 25 days
Griffins' Season Starts: 26 days
Griffins' Home Opener: 34 days
Mexico: 96 days

Feel free to add your own...

God loves evolution!

I would like to recommend that everyone read The Language of God by Francis S. Collins. Dr. Collins is the director of the human genome project (one of the top scientists in the world) and also a Christian (who started out as an atheist). In the book he addresses the interaction between science and religion, explaining how science helped lead him to God and also how science (yes evolution!) is compatible with and even enhances religion! It is very readable, written so that those without a background in science will have no problem keeping up, but also very satisfying to me as a Christian scientist to find someone else who shares my views so completely.

Whether or not you are a Christian, and whether or not you accept evolution, if you care at all about issues of science and religion, this is a book you have to read. I would love to lend a copy to anyone who is interested in reading it.

Back in Black!

Well I'm baaaaack!!!!! Back to reality... I have lots of grand ideas for all of the work I am going to get done this fall, I am just worried about finding the motivation to do it. This is Isis doing an impression of my motivational state right now:

Post for the sake of posting?

Not much going on with me right now, but I am still alive. I have not had a very healthy month, with a nasty cold, a suspected case of mild food poisoning, and some mystery headaches/dizziness that might possibly be caused by my allergy medication. Or maybe I’m just getting migraines. Joy either way.

In happier news, my field season is almost wrapped up and I will be taking my annual summer vacation soon, which I am very excited about! I am thoroughly looking forward to turning my brain off for a little while and not thinking about science. ;-)

Mama turtle

This is a picture of a female snapping turtle laying eggs that I took out at my field site in the beginning of June. I put the screwdriver next to her so you can see how big she is. No particular reason to post it, I just thought it was cool. :-)

87 days until hockey season!

The Griffins home opener has been set for October 14!!! Actually, the season starts the week before on the road, so it is really only 80 days! Woohoo!!!

In other news, I finally saw my brother’s band “A Thousand Plateaus”. (Bonus points if you get the reference!) They played a kick ass rock show! (I think “kick ass” is their favorite phrase…Doug can confirm or deny.) Check out their website and listen to a few songs: http://myspace.com/thousandplateaus

Hello Moto!

I got a new phone today that actually works in my house! Imagine, having a cell phone that actually rings when people call me and that will dial out without me having to go into the basement to make it roam! Amazing! I am giddy at the thought!

I went with Cingular since it is the only service that seems to be able to get reception to my dead zone of a house, and I got a RAZR, so now I am cool or something! Anyway, feel free to call me, you may actually get through now!

PS the number is still the same as my old one

Wuv, twue wuv...

I realized tonight that I don’t believe in love. (I am referring specifically to the romantic movie type of love.) There is just nothing in my experience for me to be able to relate to anyone feeling in such a way as to do all the stupid things people do for love in romantic movies.

But even though I know those situations are exaggerated, I really have a hard time believing that there exists any kind of human relationship that goes beyond what I have with close friends and family. Yet all around me my friends are engaging (haha) in this strange behavior of coupling off which I just don’t understand. I have absolutely no way to relate to the motivation behind this behavior. I’m not talking about physical attraction, (which I have definitely felt!) but about the emotional/mental/physical/spiritual combination that I hear love defined as. I have never seen the potential for me to have that kind of relationship with another human. I’m not saying I’m not open to it or don’t want it necessarily, just that it…doesn’t happen. Nothing is there. Maybe this is how an atheist feels about Christianity?

Anyone who is (or has been) in love want to let me in on the secret????

Maybe I should turn Catholic and become a nun… ;-)

110 days until hockey season

I am watching Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals (go Hurricanes!), which means that after tonight there will be no more hockey until fall. This game has been great! Awesome action, speed, hits, saves, goals...and it's only half way done. Hockey is the best sport. I love it! I can't wait for October....

Eggs in a row

Okay sorry that last entry sounded really complainy. I didn't mean it to be that way, I just wanted to explain why I haven't been updating. To make up for it, here is a cute picture of a clutch of wren eggs. The numbers tell the order that the eggs were laid. Of course, these eggs are 14 day old babies now and almost ready to fly. :-)

I'll give you an update!!!

Wow I had no idea so many people actually read my blog!

So as you have all probably guessed I have not updated in almost a month because it has been heavy duty research time. I have been working 80 hour weeks and I have not even turned on my TV for a month, much less had time to do any other entertainment activities.

This was my daily schedule 7 days a week for the last 3 weeks:
8:00 wake up
9:00 head to field
2:00 come in for lunch/break
3:30 go back to field
9:00 come back from field
9:30 dinner/shower
10:30 enter data from day, plan for next day
midnight bed

Now things are getting a little better and I’m only working 8 hours a day, 7 days a week. By the 4th of July things should be back to a normal 40 hour work week, and then you can start expecting more regular blog entries.

I have some cute wren pics to post and other things to talk about, but they will have to wait for another day because I need to enter my data yet tonight and then get to bed. Thanks for caring guys. :-)

It’s a bad sign when…

I have to preface this story by explaining that my landlord has been installing a new well at my house, which has been an extremely annoying process involving 3 weeks of having bulldozers and drilling trucks destroy my front yard, random men in my basement at all hours of the day, etc.

I finally get the word that everything is done, the health department approved the new well as safe to drink, and they have switched my house over to the new well. Excellent! I say to myself. I return home from a long day in the field, flush the toilet, wash my hands, and…the water stops running. Bad sign. No water all night.

So, I inform maintenance and they arrive the next morning. “Aha! I just forgot to turn the breaker back on!” On of them says. No problem. I hear water running again. Wonderful! “Uh oh” from the maintenance men. Bad sign. I hear low talking about the water being “full of crap.” Now my “wonderful” has turned sarcastic. “I need to go get another tool, I’ll be back in a few minutes,” maintenance man says. Everyone leaves. Bad sign.

So that’s where we are right now…two guys were back working on stuff, but they just went on break. I’ll let you know if I have any water tonight.

This is why I love hockey!!!! Part 2

I lost my voice tonight from cheering!

Things did not look good for our heroes, the Grand Rapids Griffins. After blowing a chance to finish off the North Division finals on Monday night by losing to the Manitoba Moose 3-1, the Griffins had fallen behind in the series-deciding game 7.

Midway through the 2nd period they were playing terribly and losing 4-1. The Moose had all the momentum and the Griffins looked awful. You could hear a pin drop in the arena. The home team managed to score a power play goal at the very end of the 2nd period to cut the deficit to 4-2, but heading into the 3rd the situation was still grim.

Then, my boys played the most exciting period of hockey I have ever seen, scoring 3 more goals, the last one with 2 minutes left, to complete an electrifying come from behind victory to win the series!!!! LETS GO GRIFFINS!!!! If they played like that every period there would be no stopping them! What an amazing win!

Next up: The Milwaukee Admirals come to town to begin the Western Conference finals on Thursday!!!

Happy Birthday Isis!

It's not her real birthday, (she actually turned 2 sometime earlier this spring,) but today is the anniversary of when I adopted Isis from the Calhoun County Humane Society. I can't believe she's been with me for a whole year! She's been a great cat! Today to celebrate she got some catnip and a new toy. :-)

Stephen Colbert is my hero!

First of all, his show is HILARIOUS!

But, recently he spoke at the White House Correspondents Dinner. I don't know how the people who schedule these things picked him, but they should have known that Bush might not appreciate his humor. Of course, all Stephen does it tell the truth!!!! ;-) But you have to admit it takes balls to lampoon the President of the United States when he's sitting 6 feet away from you looking very un-amused by your act. GO STEPHEN COLBERT!!!!

Here is a link to an article that gives a great summary of Colbert's speech. Even those of you with less of a "liberal bias" than me will find it funny I think. Thanks to Tina's blog for the link. And here is a link where you can watch the whole speech, if you are so inclined.

Good news and bad news

Hockey Playoffs, Round 1

Good news: The Griffins looked great dispatching the Toronto Marlies in 5 games, including two overtime victories. The team went 1-1 at home and 3-0 on the road. In fact, we won two games in Toronto with our third string goalie, since our first stringer was called up to Detroit and our second stringer is out with a long term injury. The Griffins looked confident beating a team with a hot, experienced goalie that gave them fits all season. Next we play Manitoba in the Division Finals. The Moose (yes Katie W, they are the Manitoba Moose, but you still aren’t allowed to cheer for them!) are another good team with a great goalie, so they will be another good challenge for the Griffins. At least we don’t have to worry about anyone being called up in this series because…

Bad news: The Red Wings got their asses handed to them by Edmonton, losing in 6 games. The Wings have way more talent, but they didn’t bring it when it mattered. The only Wings players that caught my eye as having a good series were Lebda, Kronwall, and Zetterberg. Captain Steve Yzerman’s injury and absence did not help as he is the heart and soul of the team. The Wings rested on their laurels, expecting Edmonton to just roll over. When they didn’t, the Wings didn’t adjust and up their game in time to avoid being ousted in the first round. The have only won one playoff series since their last Stanley Cup in 2002. The regular season excellence of the past few years means nothing when you can’t win in the playoffs.

Death Cab for Cutie Lyric of the Week

From "Crooked Teeth"

I'm a war, of head versus heart,
And it's always this way.
My head is weak, my heart always speaks,
Before I know what it will say.

And you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.
No you can't find nothing at all,
If there was nothing there all along.

Yeah for spring!

Why I love this time of year (late April/early May):

~Fun field work: NO DEER FLYS, comfortable temperatures, not too much crazy work yet
~Hockey hockey hockey: Playoffs on TV every night, Griffins and Red Wings playoffs games to go to
~Great weather: no snow, not super hot or humid either
~It stays light until almost 9
~Did I mention playoff hockey????

This is why I love hockey!!!!

Game 1 of the playoffs, Jiri Hudler gets hit in the face, takes 18 stitches, and comes back to not only finish the game, but score the game winning goal in triple overtime! GOOOOOOOOOOO GRIFFINS!!!!!!!!! The Griffins were behind 4-2 going into the 3rd period, but came back to win it 6-5 in 3 OT. Also the Wings won 3-2 in 2 OT! Woohoo! The playoffs are here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Doe, a deer!

This is what I saw out my back window a few days ago:

Three little deer decided to make my backyard their salad bar!

Arrrr!

My pirate name is:

Captain Anne Bonney

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. You can be a little bit unpredictable, but a pirate's life is far from full of certainties, so that fits in pretty well. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from fidius.org.

Hot new band

Everyone go see "A Thousand Plateaus" at the Intersection (front room) in Grand Rapids on April 24.

http://www.myspace.com/thousandplateaus

Disclaimer: This post may or may not be motivated by nepotism. ;-)

Death Cab for Cutie Lyric of the Week

From "Your heart is an empty room"

The flames and smoke
climbed out of every window
and disappeared
with everything that you held dear
and you shed not a single tear
for the things that you didn't need
'cause you knew you were finally free

And all you see
is where else you could be
when you're at home
out on the street
are so many possibilities
to not be alone

NHL rules!

Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images

Although I’m pretty sure none of the four people who actually read my blog care about the NHL, I care about and so I post these interesting links that I discovered today while I was procrastinating doing real work:

First, a great interview with my favorite player (and Griffins alumni) Nik Kronwall.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=amber_david&id=2404391

Next, an article that I thought was hilarious because of the title for the link on ESPN.com: “Ovechkin reaches 100 points, earns pie”
Ovechekin, the probable rookie of the year for this season, is one of my top five favorite NHL players, but I’ll let you read the article to find out about the pie
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/recap?gameId=260410001

And finally, a column by John Buccigross, my favorite NHL columnist, (who actually replied to an email I sent him once, calling me “Lindsey love,”!), written during the NCAA basketball final four, about him not caring at all about basketball and feeling like an outcast at March Madness time, and why hockey is better. :-)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/story?columnist=buccigross_john&id=2387250

Death Cab for Cutie Lyric of the Week

From "Marching Bands of Manhattan"

Sorrow drips into your heart
Through a pinhole
Just like a faucet that leaks
And there is comfort in the sound
But while you debate half empty
Or half full
It slowly rises
Your love is gonna drown

Woohoo!

Put July 27, 2007 on your calendars: THE SIMPSONS MOVIE!!!

You can see a very brief trailer (preview): here

My new favorite quote

"Speaking of Plato, he would have been a Red Wings fan." ~John Buccigross, ESPN.com

Update

So yeah I know I haven’t blogged in forever. I guess there just hasn’t been much that has inspired me to blog lately. Also, ever since I had that 2 month long sinus infection in January and February, I’ve been feeling like my brain is stuffed full of cotton or something. It has been a struggle just to concentrate enough to do work stuff, so I haven’t had a lot of brain cells left to think deep thoughts. In truth, I still don’t think I am fully better. I still get headaches quite a bit. Maybe the sinus infection increased my sensitivity to some allergen or something, but I haven’t gone for more than a day or two without a headache since before I had the sinus infection (going on three months now). The headaches aren’t nearly as bad as when I had the sinus infection; it is just a nagging ache in my forehead and around my eyes that won’t go away. Advil Cold and Sinus helps a lot. What a wonderful product! ;-)

Other than that there is not too much going on. I’ve had a frustrating week in the lab so far because my PCR is screwing up. But of course I didn’t find that out until the next day when I ran my gels, so I wasted two days and still have no idea what is wrong with the PCRs. The rest of my week will probably be spent troubleshooting. Also, starting next Thursday I am giving three different hour long talks in 6 days, with a day of putting up nest boxes snuggled in between, so I will be keeping quite busy for a while.

I want to go!!!

Space tourism companies reaching for the stars

At the rate I'm going, maybe I will be able to honeymoon on Mars. ;-)

I'm a big kid now

I got my new queen sized bed today! Finally I'll be sleeping on something bigger than the twin I had all through college!


And yes, that is a pillow sham and a dust ruffle you see. Aren't I grown up???

Chocolate makes you live longer!!!

The news Katie W has been waiting for her whole life...
Cocoa linked to lower risk of disease

Go Sweden!

This is a picture of me with my friend Niklas Kronwall, who just won an Olympic gold medal with Sweden's hockey team this morning!!!!! Yay go Sweden!


Nik scored a goal in the gold medal game. In fact, all 3 goals in Sweden's 3-2 victory were scored by Red Wings. Five current Red Wings played for Sweden (see below, Nik is second from the right).


It is also interesting to note that the last two times NHL players played in the Olympics, the same NHL team won the Stanely Cup. Lets hope they pull it off again this year. Go Red Wings!

If you need a way to waste hours of your time...

...check out Sudoku. Katie got me addicted to this fun and easy to learn game. This website is my favorite place to play: websudoku.com.

The rules are on the side of the page.

I'm a 5!

I refuse to do the Johari thing but I will follow the crowd and post my results for this test:

the Observer
you chose BZ - your Enneagram type is FIVE.

"I need to understand the world"

Observers have a need for knowledge and are introverted, curious, analytical, and insightful.

How to Get Along with Me

* Be independent, not clingy.
* Speak in a straightforward and brief manner.
* I need time alone to process my feelings and thoughts.
* Remember that If I seem aloof, distant, or arrogant, it may be that I am feeling uncomfortable.
* Make me feel welcome, but not too intensely, or I might doubt your sincerity.
* If I become irritated when I have to repeat things, it may be because it was such an effort to get my thoughts out in the first place.
* don't come on like a bulldozer.
* Help me to avoid my pet peeves: big parties, other people's loud music, overdone emotions, and intrusions on my privacy.

What I Like About Being a Five

* standing back and viewing life objectively
* coming to a thorough understanding; perceiving causes and effects
* my sense of integrity: doing what I think is right and not being influenced by social pressure
* not being caught up in material possessions and status
* being calm in a crisis

What's Hard About Being a Five

* being slow to put my knowledge and insights out in the world
* feeling bad when I act defensive or like a know-it-all
* being pressured to be with people when I don't want to be
* watching others with better social skills, but less intelligence or technical skill, do better professionally

Fives as Children Often

* spend a lot of time alone reading, making collections, and so on
* have a few special friends rather than many
* are very bright and curious and do well in school
* have independent minds and often question their parents and teachers
* watch events from a detached point of view, gathering information
* assume a poker face in order not to look afraid
* are sensitive; avoid interpersonal conflict
* feel intruded upon and controlled and/or ignored and neglected

Fives as Parents

* are often kind, perceptive, and devoted
* are sometimes authoritarian and demanding
* may expect more intellectual achievement than is developmentally appropriate
* may be intolerant of their children expressing strong emotions

Priorities

How you know when your cat thinks you are spending too much time on your computer and not enough time paying attention to her:

Microchipped!

Isis went to the vet today for her yearly shots. I haven't had her for a year yet, but it has been a year since she got picked up by the animal shelter, so she was due. (She was actually there for 3 months before I adopted her last May! How could no one pick such a great cat for that long!!?? She must have been waiting for me!)

While at the vet, I also decided to get Isis microchipped. The vet injected a little microchip under Isis' skin, and now if she ever gets lost any shelter or vet can scan her and they will get all my contact information. Isis is an indoor cat, but she is also a very good escape artist, so I wanted to have some way for her to be traced back to me if she is found. I was watching an episode of Animal Cops on Animal Planet where they found a cat in San Fransisco that was lost in Florida and hadn't been seen in 7 years! And they were able to reunite it with its owner because it had a microchip. I don't anticipate Isis getting lost, but it's nice to know the microchip is there just in case.

Bono's best sermon yet

Bono's best sermon yet: Remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast

Please follow this link and scroll down to read the remarks made by Bono at the National Prayer Breakfast.

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=sojomail.display&issue=060203

He has some really important things to say about the role of the church in social and economic justice and about the Biblical requirement for helping the poor.

RIP West Wing

An article that sums up a lot of my feelings about a wonderful show. With so much crap on TV it is sad to see a truly smart, thoughtful show get cancelled. The West Wing was my favorite show all through college, and I strongly associate it with a time when I was learning to think for myself about political issues. What a great show. I would rank it the #1 overall TV show of my lifetime.

(Side note: although this author points out that the current popular drama Lost is escapist, I do enjoy Lost and I think that it also falls in the category of smart, quality TV.)

Edit: another article about the cancellation

And yet, for some reason I am still a Lions fan!

In honor of Superbowl XL, which will be played in Detroit in 2 weeks:

Overall NFL standings from 1979-2005
We got you Arizona!!!

Also check out the NFL Misery Index
Lions are only #4, but it is hard to argue with #'s 1-3.

Cat and mouse

Okay I know I haven’t blogged in over a week. I just haven’t been feeling very motivated or profound. So, I guess I’ll just post a cute story. Isis has been growing more and more interested in my computer (maybe a sign that I spend too much time on it?). Recently she discovered that there is this little arrow on the screen that moves all around, and she has grown determined to catch it. That’s right, my cat is chasing the mouse! Imagine her disappointment though when every time she paws or bites at it, it gets away. That darn arrow is sneaky!

Jamaica pics

As promised. If you are interested in seeing more pictures, let me know. (All pictures taken with Katie's camera, the first two by her, the 3rd by a Hooves employee, the last by me.)

The beach area of our hotel, Club Ambiance, on a rare sunny day.

Dunn's River Falls. One of many sections that we climbed up.

Me riding Tango on the beach, right before we head into the ocean!

Pool on the beach!

Ya mon!

I’m back from Jamaica! Katie and I had a great time! I’ll post a few pictures soon once I get them. Highlights:

--Dunn’s River Falls: A 600 foot waterfall that we climbed up/in! You walk down to the bottom at the beach, and then they have a guide that leads you up in groups. You scramble up, in the water, over rocks, through pools, etc. with the water flowing past you the whole time. It took us over an hour to climb all the way to the top! Everyone in the group holds hands so that if someone falls, they don’t fall too far. Our group had a bunch of kids in it, so the guide put adults in between the kids to help catch them just in case. Katie and I became adoptive parents of two cute kids from Indianapolis, Jillian and Jenison.

--Horseback riding in the ocean: We went through a place called Hooves that uses rehabilitated horses. We started out with a tour of an old sugar plantation that had all sorts of neat artifacts from as far back as 1500 that were dug up on site. Then we got on the horses and rode for about a half hour down to the beach. After a short snack break, we got back on the horses and rode into the ocean! The horses actually run in the ocean with the water up to their chests. It was super cool!

--Reading on the beach: The main reason I took the trip in the first place!

--Jamaica Night at the resort: Delicious Jamaican food like pepper pot soup and jerk chicken, along with a live reggae band!

--Jamaican driving: An adventure in itself. First, they drive on the left side of the road. (Although in lots of places it barely deserves the name “road”.) Crazy passing on a very small two lane road, random potholes, speed bumps, unpaved sections, and goats made for a very interesting ride whenever we went anywhere.

--All the guys called us “pretty lady”, “sexy”, “beautiful”, etc. everywhere we went. We decided that we need more of that so from now on Carl may only address us using one of those expressions.

--We both appreciated the laid back Jamaican attitude. No problem mon!

Lowlights of the trip were that I had a sinus infection, (I got it the day we left,) so I pretty much had a headache the entire time, plus the weather was cool by Jamaican standards (70s and cloudy/windy) for most of the time. But we still managed to have a blast!

What a way to go!

From MSNBC.com

Bowler dies after third perfect game
Michigan man collapses, dies at bowling alley

PORTAGE, Mich. - A bowler collapsed and died at a bowling alley shortly after rolling the third perfect game of his life.

Ed Lorenz, 69, bowled a 300 Wednesday in his first league game of the night at Airway Lanes. When the retiree got up to bowl in the fifth frame of his second game, he clutched his chest and fell over, and efforts to revive him failed.

“If he could have written a way to go out, this would be it,” said Johnny D Masters, who was bowling with Lorenz.


(FYI, Portage is a suburb of Kalamazoo, so this happened right near me!)

Happy New Year!

I start the new year eagerly anticipating Katie and my trip to Jamaica! I came down with a cold on Friday, so it looks like I will be sick when we go, but hopefully that warm tropical sun will bake it out of me. ;-)

I don’t normally make New Years resolutions, but this year I am going to make a very boring one of joining a gym and working out at least 3 times a week, since my exercise seriously slacked off this fall. So please, after I get back ask me about how I’m doing on this one!