Bill With His Had in the Pan - "Emergency" Swimming Lessons
I don't even know Bill, but as my friend and expert swimmer, the most lovely Stephanie Cooper, was teaching me to breathe under water (correctly) in order to make a decent swimmer out of me, she related the story of her friend Bill, who went to Immersion Swim Training, and who had to start out learning how to breath by putting a pot of water in the sink, dip his head in and then practice blowing out under water. I am glad I went straight to the pool for the blowing bubbles and bobbing-up-and-down part of the training program. My sink is right next to the window and who knows what the neighbors would have thought what I was doing. But then again my street is full of octogenarians and their eye sight may be compromised.
There was no "emergency" really to the swimming lessons, the term actually stems from my friend Brad and Chris' son Marvon who is enrolled in a Spanish immersion class, but proudly proclaims he is in Spanish emergency class.
Stephanie said that I did good, and to remember that "breathing is important", which I will certainly keep in mind for other activities as well, not just to prevent myself from drowning.
Pennsylvania - Land of Interesting City Names
Last weekend I drove to Pennsylvania and back to attend my Uncle Coop's memorial service. It was a long haul back and forth, but I was more than entertained by the variety in city names, which were just so much fun. There was Kutztown (big festival there this weekend) and Klumsville, Virginville, Bethlehem next to Hellertown, Bird in Hand, and course the most famous of them all, Intercourse, located right between Blue Ball and Paradise. Pennsylvania to me is always like stepping back in time, it has a lot of history, but unlike Boston and vicinity it is very rural. It is beautiful and reminds me that this is the first place I ever visited in the United States as a teenager many many years ago, and how different this place was from the small town in Germany I came from.
The Big Black Bear
Well, on the way back from Pennsylvania, heading up I-84, a huge black bear ran across the freeway, and fortunately for all of us, he was about 15 seconds before we were in that spot, and so no one got hurt. It was an impressive animal and outside of a zoo, this was the closest I had ever seen a bear. Wow!
My new friend Nuvi
I have a new toy, a Gamin Nuvi GPS (http://shop.vendio.com/targetrm/item/970850779/?s=1h214044404) which guides Ella and me to the destination of our or its choice. It is a great tool, in particular locally - you just type in an address and off you go. A friendly voice tells you when and where to take a left or right turn, and pretty soon you're there. Long-distance is a little trickier at times, and I have to figure out how to tell it to avoid certain areas. It tends to pick the most direct route possible, and on the way down to Pennsylvania it decided to send me down I-95, which goes directly through New York City. Boy, was that fun, stuck on I-95 in the Bronx with one big rig after the other surrounding me. For some reason, the Nuvi also got a little confused (may have been the tunnels), and wanted me to take a U-turn right on I-95, in the Bronx. This is when I started talking back to the gadget, informing it that I was on an interstate with a center divider, and even if there was no center divider, there was no way that I would take a U-turn on 176th street in the Bronx. I got through it alright, and can proudly say that I made it across the George Washington Bridge and ended up in Pennsylvania after all.
The return trip was much more delightful (including the bear sighting), heading up I-84 and I-87 with a little Nuvi-induced detour and only one getting lost episode near the Berkshires, but I did make it home without being in one single traffic jam and that does count for something.
Celtics
The Celtics won the MBA Championship this week with a demonstrative victory over the LA Lakers. What can I say, we are a kick-ass sports town!! There was a big parade on Thursday and everyone was running around in bright green outfits, it was a delight to see. Now all we need to do is to win the World Series again and the Superbowl and all will be well in the hub.
Post-Eulogy
Thanks to all of you who send me your thoughts and support on the passing of my little bird Oscar this week. Thanks to the special friends who came by to help me what needed to be done immediately, thanks to the special friends who let me stay overnight, because I could not bear to be in my place without the little chirper around, thanks to the special friends who called, who brought chocolate chip cookies the size of my head, who sent cards and helped with whatever else needed to be done. There were so many memories that came with your emails - I thank you for that. I will keep that little bird forever in my heart because he truly was special.
Saturday
Saturday started out with the sad task of bringing Oscar to Angelview Pet Cemetery to be cremated (his ashes will be scattered in both New Hampshire and Cambridge, places he both loved), and knowing that this would be an emotional day, my friends made sure that I was distracted and kept me busy and going. I met up with my friend Denise for lunch at Stephanie's on Newbury Street (http://www.stephaniesonnewbury.com/) and a visit to the Boston Health and Fitness Expo. The Expo was not that good of an experience for a crowd-phobe like me, plus I think it was really designed to scare people into going to the doctor for every little pinch they feel anywhere. We lasted about 1 1/2 hours, but then I had to hoof it out of there.
The evening was spent with my fire-displaced friends Ruth and Georges, who invited me and their friend Laura to a most delicious dinner which featured a brisket made in the oven with beets, rutabagas, turnips and carrots, fresh pasta, a tasty salad, olives from Georges' family's orchard in Lebanon, tasty cheese (supplemented with fig jam - courtesy again of Georges' mom) and a yummy desert with angel food cake, fresh berries and vanilla ice cream. Truly a wonderful evening, and not just because of the food, but the stellar company. Good friends you are.
The Bionic Woman
I am officially declaring my friend Stephanie the bionic woman - she ran the Mt Washington Road Race yesterday - http://www.mountwashingtonroadrace.com/ - Motto: "Only One Hill. 6288 ft. The actual running distance is 7.6 miles, but the elevation gain is 5000 feet, so this is an unbelievable accomplishment. The winner, Eric Blake of Connecticut ran the race in 1:00:39, with a pace of 7:59, which is something I could not even do on a flat surface even if ran my little heart out. Congratulations Steph - you rock!!! (She is of course also doing a Half-Ironman, just in case if you wondered). I meanwhile have signed up for the sofa Olympics, at least for today, where the weather promises rain and T-storms. Movies it is!
Hope this email finds you well!
pet:)
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Eulogy for a Little Friend - June 18 2008
My dear friends,
This morning my beloved avian companion, Oscar, passed away. I was there with him when he took his last breath and chirped his last chirp. He would have been 12 years old in a couple of week's time and I was fortunate to have him as a pet and friend. He helped me through some pretty difficult times in my life, and even though he never answered, he listened - tilted his head to the side as if to say, I understand.
He had quite a wonderful life, from his early beginnings in California to our exciting life here in Boston. He flew in a plane all across the country (can't say he liked it very much), took frequent weekend trips to New Hampshire and Cape Cod and even upstate New York, and when I was out of town, happily spend time with his foster families, the Coopers in Salem and the Cooleys in Watertown. He had many human friends, some of whom became his caretakers while I was away from him - Denise, Rick, Ruth, Renee, Ken, Sally, Claire, Joanne, Ben, Kaitlin, Martin, Lucy, Glennys and Patrick, Beverly - he loved you all. He had many nicknames - "Little O", "Banana Boy", "Mr Meyer" or as I called him lovingly in German, "mein kleiner dicker gelber Vogel" (my chubby little yellow bird).
I will miss him terribly, that little yellow rascal, he was a special bird. He spoke German (mostly about himself, how cute he was, what a good kisser he was etc - he may have been just a wee bit vain), loved making kissing sounds, and sit on my shoulder, nibble on my earrings and constantly had a project going in his cage, usually involving the destruction of one of his toys. He loved the beeping sound the phone made, was very fond of keyboards, and had his favorite foods - corn flakes, orange juice, oats, yoghurt, celery greens and parsley. He disliked the color red and once in a while during one of his moods (we all have them, don't we?) he flew around like a madman just to show me who was the boss in the house. He loved his bird friend Marge, and taught her how to fly around the house and land safely back on the cage, and he loved his friend Phoebe, who always treated him special.
My favorite sound in the world was his first chirp in the morning, very quiet, very faint, as if to say, I am not quite up yet, give me a minute.
My friend Rick said something very nice today about having pets - they are part of your family, loyal companions who are always chipper, who never judge you, and are always happy to see you. That was true for Oscar - when I came home, he hopped to the front of the cage to welcome me, and he never cared if I looked my best that day, or if my hair was a total mess (at least he kept it to himself). He was my first pet as an adult and definitely set the bar high.
He was a good bird.
Very sadly,
pet:)
Monday, June 9, 2008
#51- Boston - 15 Blueberry Muffins - June 9 2008
15 Blueberry Muffins
That is all my friend and colleague Murray thought he would be able to eat during ASCO, the cancer conference we both just attended. The food courts in the McCormick conference center in Chicago are notoriously bad, and one does not have two many options - Starbucks being one (blueberry muffins, yes!) and the slightly expensive two bistros courtesy of the Hyatt Regency hotel that is attached to the conference center. The regular "food courts" are quite awful and the food is inedible. By the time we met up with Murray and his colleagues from a UK biotech we work with, he would have probably eaten anything that was put in front of him, unless it had blueberries in it or was muffin-shaped. Good luck for him that this was the night we picked to eat in my favorite restaurant in the US of A, Nacional 27 (http://www.nacional27.net/), which features food from all 27 Latin nations in the world, killer ceviche and tapas, and let me tell you, they know how to mix a cocktail. I have not had had alcohol in the past three months except for a bottle of hard cider at a concert recently, but for this night, I had saved up all my good drinking karma to have my favorite cocktail, "Dark and Extra Stormy" - ginger beer, rum, lime, and real ginger crushed up, with a sugar cane stick to stir. Oh my!!! In addition, and that adds to my admiration for this place, they have an entire page of non-alcoholic cocktails and their "Mango-Ginger-Habanero" concoction was so good, I asked the waitress three times to make sure she did bring the non-alcoholic version. The ginger and the habanero give it such a kick, you really don't care if it contains booze or not.
30,000 of my Closest Friends
What can one say about ASCO, the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, other than it is a complete zoo. The McCormick Conference Center is a cavernous maze, and to add to he confusion they now added a new wing, the West Wing. You have to plan your daily schedule - forget about sitting in one session and then deciding you don't like it and go to a concurrent one. No no - not possible. 20 minute walk. At certain times during the day, when the major sessions let out, the main corridor resembles the Tokyo subway during commuter time, which is not good if you have a problem with crowds.
Sessions or meetings start at 7 or 8 AM in the morning, and by the time the poster sessions and the exhibit halls close, you are usually toast. You try to find the shuttle to your hotel, which may be at least a mile away and if you are too sick and tired, you grab a cab. You get about an hours rest before heading off for a business dinner and maybe in between you do some emails. The last day, which in my case was Monday, I was unable to move by 4 PM, headed to the hotel, grabbed a cheap sandwich around the corner at Chicago's own "Potbelly Sandwich Works" (http://www.potbelly.com/) and watched whatever was on TV. When you know you have to get up at 5 AM the next day to catch a flight back to Boston, going out is not an option.
I have to say though that the conference organizers tried hard this time to make some improvements - more seating areas were added, and everything was recyclable - the big fat conference proceedings books, and even the conference bags, of which us frequent attendees have dozens in our basements, and we really do not need another one. Really.
Good Eats
I did eat at some very nice places, my friend and colleague Peter from Belgium and I headed to Nick's Fishmarket (http://www.nicksfishmarketchicago.com/), which I believe I told you about already. Very good seafood, upscale prices as well, and generally a very attentive wait staff, except for the fact that they could not figure out how to spread the bill over three credit cards. Interesting about Nick's is that it shares an entrance with a McDonalds, which may be a slight turn off to some. Business meetings during the conference lead us to 101 Bistro (the first place I ever at in Chicago in 2003 - http://www.levyrestaurants.com/Levy/DiningExperiences/Restaurants/Group4/Bistro+110.htm), 312 Chicago (http://www.levyrestaurants.com/Levy/DiningExperiences/Restaurants/Group4/Bistro+110.htm) and of course Nacional 27. My favorite breakfast chain, the Corner Bakery, was just around the corner (http://www.cornerbakery.com/) from the hotel and so were tons of small places to grab a bite in the morning or whenever needed.
Look at that Bitch
I am not naming names, but following one of these dinner occasions I returned with my two colleagues after our dinner to my hotel and we were waiting to hail a cab for them. Now my hotel is in the slightly funky theater district and featured a beautifully ornate, but brightly colored pink bench in front of it. One of the lovely ladies I was with exclaimed "Look at that bench", and I was so glad that I was not the only one with a baffled look on my face (or bad hearing), but our other companion and probably several bystanders heard her say "Look at that Bitch". May have had something to do with a certain accent, but again, I am not naming names, as promised.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Well, upon my return and after a day of being in a complete daze, I joined my lab mates Hannah and Susan for an ushering gig at the Lyric Stage Company, this time for the Oscar Wilde play "the Importance of being Earnest", a lovely and light-hearted play and acted to perfection by the company at the Lyric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest). In particular the incomparable Bobbi Steinbach took the role of Aunt Augusta to new heights, and was simply fabulous. http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/05/23/versatility_is_her_calling_card/ Most theater companies are now going on summer break, so maybe a little less ushering in the near future, and more outdoorsy stuff to come for yours truly.
Numb What?
I am not even going to try to describe this, just watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjzrNWPul9E
Celtics
The Boston Celtics are in the NBA playoffs and the whole town is going gaga, wearing kelly green outfits and routing for the team to beat the LA Lakers!! Go Celtics!
From Winter to Summer in 2 Days
Last Thursday, temperature 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius), Saturday 98 degrees Fahrenheit (=36 degrees Celsius). Enough said.
4-year anniversary in Boston
On June 4th, four years ago I moved to Boston with three heavy suitcases and a frightened little bird in a travel cage. Time has gone by so quickly and I can't believe what an adventure it has been. Celebrations were held, a lovely dinner at Bambara in Cambridge (http://www.bambara-cambridge.com/), a chick flick with the lovely Denise (Sex and the City - what else?) and a hike in Lynn Woods yesterday, where the bloody flies had a field day with me and I now feature welts the size of dinner plates on my arms and legs. I have been spraying myself with Benadryl and hope the swelling goes down and I don't look I have some disease like leprosy or the Ebola virus.
You may have noticed that I am sending the update a little less frequently. After 4 years of weekly diatribes, I felt it was time to take a break and write when I felt like it and when there was something to write about. You'll still hear from me, you just won't know when and who doesn't like surprises? Thanks to all of you who have enjoyed them, and who on occasion send a brief word or an update of your own. I do enjoy hearing from you and when I am in your neck of the woods , I'll let you know.
Now it is time to focus my attention back to the TV where the 1964 movie "Seven Days in May" with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas has been keeping me entertained. Did you ever notice he had a hole in his chin? http://www.medaloffreedom.com/KirkDouglasNice.jpg Very distracting, I must say).
Until then.
pet:)
That is all my friend and colleague Murray thought he would be able to eat during ASCO, the cancer conference we both just attended. The food courts in the McCormick conference center in Chicago are notoriously bad, and one does not have two many options - Starbucks being one (blueberry muffins, yes!) and the slightly expensive two bistros courtesy of the Hyatt Regency hotel that is attached to the conference center. The regular "food courts" are quite awful and the food is inedible. By the time we met up with Murray and his colleagues from a UK biotech we work with, he would have probably eaten anything that was put in front of him, unless it had blueberries in it or was muffin-shaped. Good luck for him that this was the night we picked to eat in my favorite restaurant in the US of A, Nacional 27 (http://www.nacional27.net/), which features food from all 27 Latin nations in the world, killer ceviche and tapas, and let me tell you, they know how to mix a cocktail. I have not had had alcohol in the past three months except for a bottle of hard cider at a concert recently, but for this night, I had saved up all my good drinking karma to have my favorite cocktail, "Dark and Extra Stormy" - ginger beer, rum, lime, and real ginger crushed up, with a sugar cane stick to stir. Oh my!!! In addition, and that adds to my admiration for this place, they have an entire page of non-alcoholic cocktails and their "Mango-Ginger-Habanero" concoction was so good, I asked the waitress three times to make sure she did bring the non-alcoholic version. The ginger and the habanero give it such a kick, you really don't care if it contains booze or not.
30,000 of my Closest Friends
What can one say about ASCO, the Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, other than it is a complete zoo. The McCormick Conference Center is a cavernous maze, and to add to he confusion they now added a new wing, the West Wing. You have to plan your daily schedule - forget about sitting in one session and then deciding you don't like it and go to a concurrent one. No no - not possible. 20 minute walk. At certain times during the day, when the major sessions let out, the main corridor resembles the Tokyo subway during commuter time, which is not good if you have a problem with crowds.
Sessions or meetings start at 7 or 8 AM in the morning, and by the time the poster sessions and the exhibit halls close, you are usually toast. You try to find the shuttle to your hotel, which may be at least a mile away and if you are too sick and tired, you grab a cab. You get about an hours rest before heading off for a business dinner and maybe in between you do some emails. The last day, which in my case was Monday, I was unable to move by 4 PM, headed to the hotel, grabbed a cheap sandwich around the corner at Chicago's own "Potbelly Sandwich Works" (http://www.potbelly.com/) and watched whatever was on TV. When you know you have to get up at 5 AM the next day to catch a flight back to Boston, going out is not an option.
I have to say though that the conference organizers tried hard this time to make some improvements - more seating areas were added, and everything was recyclable - the big fat conference proceedings books, and even the conference bags, of which us frequent attendees have dozens in our basements, and we really do not need another one. Really.
Good Eats
I did eat at some very nice places, my friend and colleague Peter from Belgium and I headed to Nick's Fishmarket (http://www.nicksfishmarketchicago.com/), which I believe I told you about already. Very good seafood, upscale prices as well, and generally a very attentive wait staff, except for the fact that they could not figure out how to spread the bill over three credit cards. Interesting about Nick's is that it shares an entrance with a McDonalds, which may be a slight turn off to some. Business meetings during the conference lead us to 101 Bistro (the first place I ever at in Chicago in 2003 - http://www.levyrestaurants.com/Levy/DiningExperiences/Restaurants/Group4/Bistro+110.htm), 312 Chicago (http://www.levyrestaurants.com/Levy/DiningExperiences/Restaurants/Group4/Bistro+110.htm) and of course Nacional 27. My favorite breakfast chain, the Corner Bakery, was just around the corner (http://www.cornerbakery.com/) from the hotel and so were tons of small places to grab a bite in the morning or whenever needed.
Look at that Bitch
I am not naming names, but following one of these dinner occasions I returned with my two colleagues after our dinner to my hotel and we were waiting to hail a cab for them. Now my hotel is in the slightly funky theater district and featured a beautifully ornate, but brightly colored pink bench in front of it. One of the lovely ladies I was with exclaimed "Look at that bench", and I was so glad that I was not the only one with a baffled look on my face (or bad hearing), but our other companion and probably several bystanders heard her say "Look at that Bitch". May have had something to do with a certain accent, but again, I am not naming names, as promised.
The Importance of Being Earnest
Well, upon my return and after a day of being in a complete daze, I joined my lab mates Hannah and Susan for an ushering gig at the Lyric Stage Company, this time for the Oscar Wilde play "the Importance of being Earnest", a lovely and light-hearted play and acted to perfection by the company at the Lyric (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Importance_of_Being_Earnest). In particular the incomparable Bobbi Steinbach took the role of Aunt Augusta to new heights, and was simply fabulous. http://www.boston.com/ae/theater_arts/articles/2008/05/23/versatility_is_her_calling_card/ Most theater companies are now going on summer break, so maybe a little less ushering in the near future, and more outdoorsy stuff to come for yours truly.
Numb What?
I am not even going to try to describe this, just watch it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjzrNWPul9E
Celtics
The Boston Celtics are in the NBA playoffs and the whole town is going gaga, wearing kelly green outfits and routing for the team to beat the LA Lakers!! Go Celtics!
From Winter to Summer in 2 Days
Last Thursday, temperature 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius), Saturday 98 degrees Fahrenheit (=36 degrees Celsius). Enough said.
4-year anniversary in Boston
On June 4th, four years ago I moved to Boston with three heavy suitcases and a frightened little bird in a travel cage. Time has gone by so quickly and I can't believe what an adventure it has been. Celebrations were held, a lovely dinner at Bambara in Cambridge (http://www.bambara-cambridge.com/), a chick flick with the lovely Denise (Sex and the City - what else?) and a hike in Lynn Woods yesterday, where the bloody flies had a field day with me and I now feature welts the size of dinner plates on my arms and legs. I have been spraying myself with Benadryl and hope the swelling goes down and I don't look I have some disease like leprosy or the Ebola virus.
You may have noticed that I am sending the update a little less frequently. After 4 years of weekly diatribes, I felt it was time to take a break and write when I felt like it and when there was something to write about. You'll still hear from me, you just won't know when and who doesn't like surprises? Thanks to all of you who have enjoyed them, and who on occasion send a brief word or an update of your own. I do enjoy hearing from you and when I am in your neck of the woods , I'll let you know.
Now it is time to focus my attention back to the TV where the 1964 movie "Seven Days in May" with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas has been keeping me entertained. Did you ever notice he had a hole in his chin? http://www.medaloffreedom.com/KirkDouglasNice.jpg Very distracting, I must say).
Until then.
pet:)
Thursday, May 29, 2008
#50 Boston - Paper with a Pulse - May 29 2008
The Tiniest Closet of Them All
Greetings from Chicago, the windy city, where yours truly landed today after a fairly uneventful, slightly bumpy flight. I am comfortably settled in the Hotel Allegro (http://www.allegrochicago.com/) , very cool place, newly renovated. The rooms are chic, but tiny, and I swear I could not find the closet at first ,it is that small!!! Astronauts have bigger accommodations and I actually think one of my pantry closets may outsize this one. The bathroom is also very small, but spotless and features a really cool design. Everything else about the hotel is fantatastic, the staff is the coolest, there is free wireless, and you get free daypasses to a gym nearby (http://www.fitnessformulaclubs.com/) - I just came back from a nice swim - and they even give you a rollaway bed for free. My colleague Eunice was called last minute to a couple of meetings at the conference and will be crashing in the tiny room for a couple of days with me, and the staff could not have been nicer. Finding a room on such short notice with 40,000 oncologists in town is pretty much impossible and Eunice and I have frequently roomed together.
Tomorrow the conference starts, so I have the night off and my friend Peter from Belgium and I will go to the prime seafood place in the neighborhood, Nick's Fishmarket (http://www.nicksfishmarketchicago.com/) for some tasty treats. After swallowing all that pool water, I have worked up an appetite.
No Trouble with Bouncers This Time
Last Monday I had to return to the site of my previous altercation with a bouncer, the Paradise Lounge in Boston to see one of my favorite bands, Augustana( http://www.augustanamusic.com/) alongside with two opening acts - David Ford( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybt26QmzZ6U) and Wild Sweet Orange (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nv3DlQzDCz0&feature=related). This time no melee with the staff, plus we got seats, which suited my sore heel very nicely. We were able to see the bands mostly, except for one ditzy dame who definitely made a better door than a window and whose rear view is forever etched in my memory. Augustana were just fabulous and proved why they were the headliners. Go see them when they perform in your town - you may know there songs "Boston" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnqvjD7Kxs4) - my favorite - or "Stars and Boulevards" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDLAmUj9P2k&feature=related).
Paper with a Pulse
After looking at my laundry pile which was reaching the critical point and some work tasks that needed attention, I decided to not go to the Cape this weekend, but hang around Boston. After putting in some time at work, I headed to the Wimberly Theater at the Boston Center for the Arts for an ushering gig, which was so worth it and one of the most outrageous performances I have ever witnessed. Ennio! - aka Ennio Marchetta (http://www.enniomarchetto.com/) appears on stage dressed in an all-black suit and then dons adult-size origami costumes and effortlessly switches from one character into the next. Watch the movies on his website - one second he is Eminem and with two flicks of his wrists, he is Donna Summer. A jewish rabbi turned into Britney Spears, Frankenstein morphed into Frank Sinatra and then Nancy Sinatra, and of my favorites was the transformation of a wine bottle into Amy Winehouse. The Hollywood Reported called his performance "Paper with a Pulse" and the audience including myself lept to their feet for a standing ovation - anyone who can play 100 characters in 60 minutes deserves a response like this.
Now I am Never Gonna get my Ego back!
After getting the laundry crisis averted and making some progress on the work front, I decided on Monday to have some fun and head out with the bike and join my friends Holly and Carol on a ride on the Minuteman Bikeway. We were joined by Carol's 7-year old Boston terrier Dunkin who was just the sweetest thing ever, and had sort of a side-car thing going in form of a milk crate that is bolted down on the back of Carol's bike. He is quite comfy in there, enjoys the breeze during the ride and receives plenty of attention from fellow bike riders and joggers along the route. According to Carol he learned his lesson (meaning stay in the crate) when he once tried to hop out and chase after a squirrel, but then the leash held him back and dangling from a bike was not too much to his liking. Well it was a beautiful day and everyone was out and about, kids hat lemonade stands, including one group who was quite noisy in their quest to get us to stop and drink some of their artificial juice-like stuff, whatever it was. When we gracefully declined, one of the kids yelled after us and what I heard was "Now I am never gonna get my Ego back" and I thought, wow, he is taking this serious - turns out it was my bad hearing again, and he actually called "Now I am never going to get my Eagle Batch". I am cleaning my ears out with bleach, I swear.
Tidbits
*I got a new lap top from work, and boy am I happy. There are still a few kinks with the remote access of my network folders, but it is nice not thave to lean the computer against a cast-iron cook book or a Jim Beam bottle, and all the keys are there and work.
*My new favorite You Tube Video (I love Weezer!!): Pork and Beans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI
*Falling under the heading of bad names for products should be "Mommy's Bliss Nipple Cream" who not only has an unfortunate name but also was just pulled off the shelves by the FDA because it containes ingredients harmful to infants.
The Next Big Step
I received my note for my US citizenship interview and July 14th is the big day. Monday morning, 8:30 AM. My friend Ram already is finished with his process and proudly has his US passport (Congrats!), and my friends Georges and Mike are in line before me. This is going to be one big citizenship party/shindig. Some time this summer, stay tuned! (If all works out well, I will be able to vote!)
The Coolest Guy Ever
I am ending on a very sad note - our Uncle Coop passed away this last week, and the extended family is immersed in deep sadness about losing him. He was kindness in person and will be missed so much. My first memory of him was when I came to the US as a 15-year old girl from a small town in Germany and was staying with my great uncle Albert in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We were sitting out on the porch on a hot and muggy summer day on Edgeware Road and Coop came strolling down the street. I thought he was the coolest guy I had ever seen, and once you met him you knew that was true. He was an avid jogger and two years ago during a visit to him and his wife Louise, he and I and a jogging buddy of his went for a five-mile run on a crisp November morning, and it was just beautiful. I will keep both of these picture memories in my heart and count myself lucky to have met him.
Until soon.
pet:)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
#49 Boston - The Knob Behind the Potato - May 21 2008
The Knob Behind the Potato
My friend Rick and I have slightly strange ways of describing a beautiful view in the White Mountains and at one point after our hike up Table Mountain we stopped along Bear Notch Road at a "vista" and were trying to identify the range of mountains we were looking at.
Rick: "I think that round thing is the mountain we hiked" (referring to Table Mountain)
Petra:" You think?"
Rick: "I wonder what the knob is back there?
Petra: "What knob - the one that looks like a potato?"
Rick: "No, the one behind the potato!"
Sooooo out of shape!
I am officially out of shape. It was a sad picture, hiking up the Attitash Trail up to Table Mountain. It was a beautiful day in the White Mountains, and if you are not a big time hiker or a slacker like me, this may be up your alley. It starts out easy, but then gets a little steeper as you go on. The weather was fantastic this weekend up in the White Mountains, and Mother Nature did something really swell - it was sunny and warm during daytime and only rained a wee bit in the evening (we made it off the patio in time after dinner, before the rain drops started falling. Table Mountain afforded spectacular views (all the way to Squam Lake and Lake Winnipesaukee), even though it was unclear as to where the actual summit was. We went as far as we could and stopped at the point where Rick had to crawl underneath a tree and still could not find the trail.
A Bear, Three Snakes and Two Rabbit Legs
It was an interesting day for wildlife, good for some - the snakes were out sunning themselves along the hiking trails, which delighted Phoebe to no end; Rick and I spotted a bear on Cannon Mountain (don't worry, we were on I-93 far away) - bad for others, as we saw two rabbit legs and a whole lot of fur along the trail. Some predator had a poor little bunny for lunch, but apparently did not appreciate the whole treat.
Knuckelitis
On account of the Plantar Fasciitis, I am now wearing my inserts in my hiking boots which makes them a wee bit tight (time for new boots, I say!). Since our hikes were steep this weekend, several of my toes now have knuckelitis, which is so much fun. Next time, I'll get taped up, I swear. I am a wreck.
BoocerBall and Tiny Table Tennis
Among the many diversions in Franconia are Boccerball (http://www.boccerball.com/) and a table tennis set that is clearly designed for children. Denise and Rick were unbelievable at Boccerball, which is fast and fun, and I demonstrated my skill for knocking the ping pong ball anywhere but on the table, so Will spend a lot of time hunting for lost ping pong balls under couches, behind the treadmill etc.
Stupid is As Stupid Does
Said Forrest Gump, and please, sign me up to that list! On our hike up Georgiana Falls in New Hampshire, Petra got it in her silly little head that going up boulders in the middle of a raging river might be a good idea. They looked big and sturdy, and for some reason, neither Rick, Denise or Will stopped me from doing it. Come to think of it I don't think I would have listened to their objections anyway. Maybe I had something to prove, after the huffing-and-puffing episode the day before up Table Mountain, but I should know that it is never a good idea to give in to the notion that you feel like superwoman. (Reminds me of one of those joke E-mails - you may be a redneck if you can respond with a number to the question "How many relatives of yours have died right after saying "Hey, watch this!" ?). So, here I was, in the middle of the river, thinking I could walk on water, gingerly balancing over slippery rocks and realizing quite quickly that this was one of the stupider ideas I had in recent months, and believe me, there were others.
I did fall into the water once (thank goodness for quick drying pants) and would not be surprised if a certain part of my anatomy (the one you sit on) would have a nice bruise on it. The highlight was when I was really stuck in the middle of the river, in front of a 7-foot boulder with no good plan on how to climb on top of it (which I needed to in order to escape the dilemma I was in). So I hoisted the back-pack, my hiking poles and the camera up on top and then in a performance that resembled one of those snake-woman acts in a circus, weaseled my way up the rock. There was no room for the slightest mistake and it took me quite some time to calm down afterward and stop my legs from shaking. Rick came back to rescue me at some point, when I had made it out of the water and we re-joined Denise and Will, who had already made their way up to the top of Georgiana Falls. The trail going up at some point is unrelentingly steep and not marked well at all, so you have to bushwhack it quite a bit (I think I fell two more times - maybe this is why my right knee hurts), but once you make it up there it is phenomenal (http://public.fotki.com/12101995/hiking-pix/2007/georgiana-falld-nh-71207/georgianafalls71207004.html - this is a web site I found with some great photos - mine will follow in due time). Worth the effort.
The Week in Review
Week-work-work-work-nice-walk-with-Hillary-along-the-Charles-River-on-Wednesday-etc-etc-etc-Friday-leaving-for-Franconia. Buying new running shoes, darn Plantar Fascitis acting up again. C'est ca.
The Nearsighted Cyrillic Computer
Well, the laptop computer is now officially dead. While it operated in limited fashion (leaning against a cast-iron pot (or in the case of Franconia against a Jim Beam bottle), keys missing (Page Up, A, CTRL, some others, broken in half), you can now no longer read anything on the screen, unless it is in 100-point bold type font. Trying to read any document or application name is as if you are extremely near-sighted without contacts or glasses and you are trying to read Cyrillic letters. The new computer is being shipped and better times are ahead.
Talk to you soon.
pet:)
Sunday, May 11, 2008
#48 Boston - Bless the Feet - May 11, 2008
Another incident related to my reduced capacity to hear people in noisy restaurants – Friday night at my friend Christian’s birthday party (Happy B-Day Chris!) at STIX (http://www.stixboston.com/) , a posh little place in the heart of the city (not for from Copley for those of you in the know), a group of us were discussing road races and my friend Sriram started mentioning a specific race where there is “the blessing of the fleet”, but being the running-focused person that I am (and not as sailing-inclined as he is) I thought he said “The blessing of the feet” which for a road race made total sense. Actually in 2004 about 55 runners of the then-108th Boston Marathon went to Our Lady of Victories in Boston’s Bay Village to have both their feet and running shoes blessed. Made sense to me, and once I start running again (I got the go-ahead for some light jogging in July) I may resort to some kind of ritual to keep the footsies happy.
STIX is a wonderful place BTW, dipped in warm and Friday-evening appropriate colors and aptly named after their “kebabs”, which feature chicken, beef or shrimp skewered on flat, broad sticks. The food was delish (try the chicken stix when you go, they are superb!!!) and the wonderful bartender whipped up a non-alcoholic cocktail for me, a pomegranate Cosmo, which was so delightful, I had two of them. Don’t worry, I took a cab home.
Believe it or not, I worked on Saturday for a few hours (but not before laying on the couch earlier on for two hours straight to finish my book group book (Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand, excellent read), and then headed over to start help with the setup for Community Running’s 10th anniversary party/ shindig http://communityrunning.org/) that took part at Crossroads, an Irish pub on Beacon Street on the edge of the Back Bay (http://crossroadspubboston.com/ ). As this is one of our favorite post-run hang-outs, we decided it was a great place to celebrate at, and we convinced the managers to give us the entire upstairs. Aside from a couple of old ladies looking for margaritas and a group of frat guys looking for their letters on the wall no one bothered us up there, and it was an enjoyable evening, with speeches, raffles, and a trivia quiz that was just evil. Did you know that Steve Prefontaine’s middle name was Roland, and that the fastest time one mile has been run backwards is 6 Minutes and 9 seconds? Well neither did I and so it came as no surprise that I did not win, not even close. 7 out of 10 of my answers were “no idea”, and for some of them I just made something up. Since I have not been running with the group since last July on account of my injury and only see people for our volunteer work (I am the coordinator of these efforts), it felt really good to see lots of familiar faces. However, it was pretty hot up there, and I left reasonably early; I was tired and completely knackered, as they say in the UK>
Speaking of the UK, today I watched a couple of movies – both play in the UK - (“Hot Fuzz” – a Must Watch and “Children of Men” – very gripping), made use of the couch and in the late afternoon went for a 22-mile bike ride on the Minuteman Bikeway (http://www.minutemanbikeway.org/Pages/intro.html). Contrary to the weather forecast we had a decent weekend, and today, just in time for Mother’s Day, the sun came out and provided me with no excuse to stick around the house. I had done a couple of 11-mile rides this week in the evenings, but the Minuteman is much less populated than the Charles River Esplanade and if you want to catch up (as my friend John and I wanted to do) and ride next to each other, this is the place. It was a nice ride, and only an episode with some troublesome youths who I believe attempted to grab my purse put a bit of a damper on the day. Thankfully there were some riders right behind us who also stepped in, and we escaped unharmed and my purse and all its contents is still with me.
The week pretty much went by quickly, work was all-consuming – Tuesday Lab Day, Wednesday I hosted a company all day, and Friday I was so absorbed in a project that only at about 2:30 PM when an email came out that there was food leftover from a luncheon, I ran screaming out of my office “Lunch, where is the lunch? I have not eaten - everyone out of my way!!” At that point I was ready to tackle anyone for a slice of cheese or a spoonful of pasta salad. Some rewards this week came in form of two long bike rides along the Esplanade, a massage at MGH and a nice luncheon with my friend Chris at Ma Soba (http://masobaboston.com/).
Next weekend will find us again up in Franconia, New Hampshire for a couple of days of hiking and a little celebration, but more on that once it has happened. I am still horrendously overdue with sending you photographs, but promise to do so soon. I am halfway through the San Diego pictures, and hoping that I may be able to finish them some time this week.
Today was Mother’s Day, so Happy M Day to all of you moms, moms-to-be-, those of you who have moms, and those of you whose moms have passed on and who you miss so much. I know you think of them often, and there are days when time does not seem to soften the blow and you miss them even more. I certainly do. I have to send a quick thank-you-for-your-kindness shout-out you to my local branch of Citizens Bank, whose staff are not only all really nice people but also gave me a flower just for being a “mom” of a 12-year old gnarly budgie named Oscar.
Hope this email finds you and your families well –
Pet:)
STIX is a wonderful place BTW, dipped in warm and Friday-evening appropriate colors and aptly named after their “kebabs”, which feature chicken, beef or shrimp skewered on flat, broad sticks. The food was delish (try the chicken stix when you go, they are superb!!!) and the wonderful bartender whipped up a non-alcoholic cocktail for me, a pomegranate Cosmo, which was so delightful, I had two of them. Don’t worry, I took a cab home.
Believe it or not, I worked on Saturday for a few hours (but not before laying on the couch earlier on for two hours straight to finish my book group book (Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand, excellent read), and then headed over to start help with the setup for Community Running’s 10th anniversary party/ shindig http://communityrunning.org/) that took part at Crossroads, an Irish pub on Beacon Street on the edge of the Back Bay (http://crossroadspubboston.com/ ). As this is one of our favorite post-run hang-outs, we decided it was a great place to celebrate at, and we convinced the managers to give us the entire upstairs. Aside from a couple of old ladies looking for margaritas and a group of frat guys looking for their letters on the wall no one bothered us up there, and it was an enjoyable evening, with speeches, raffles, and a trivia quiz that was just evil. Did you know that Steve Prefontaine’s middle name was Roland, and that the fastest time one mile has been run backwards is 6 Minutes and 9 seconds? Well neither did I and so it came as no surprise that I did not win, not even close. 7 out of 10 of my answers were “no idea”, and for some of them I just made something up. Since I have not been running with the group since last July on account of my injury and only see people for our volunteer work (I am the coordinator of these efforts), it felt really good to see lots of familiar faces. However, it was pretty hot up there, and I left reasonably early; I was tired and completely knackered, as they say in the UK>
Speaking of the UK, today I watched a couple of movies – both play in the UK - (“Hot Fuzz” – a Must Watch and “Children of Men” – very gripping), made use of the couch and in the late afternoon went for a 22-mile bike ride on the Minuteman Bikeway (http://www.minutemanbikeway.org/Pages/intro.html). Contrary to the weather forecast we had a decent weekend, and today, just in time for Mother’s Day, the sun came out and provided me with no excuse to stick around the house. I had done a couple of 11-mile rides this week in the evenings, but the Minuteman is much less populated than the Charles River Esplanade and if you want to catch up (as my friend John and I wanted to do) and ride next to each other, this is the place. It was a nice ride, and only an episode with some troublesome youths who I believe attempted to grab my purse put a bit of a damper on the day. Thankfully there were some riders right behind us who also stepped in, and we escaped unharmed and my purse and all its contents is still with me.
The week pretty much went by quickly, work was all-consuming – Tuesday Lab Day, Wednesday I hosted a company all day, and Friday I was so absorbed in a project that only at about 2:30 PM when an email came out that there was food leftover from a luncheon, I ran screaming out of my office “Lunch, where is the lunch? I have not eaten - everyone out of my way!!” At that point I was ready to tackle anyone for a slice of cheese or a spoonful of pasta salad. Some rewards this week came in form of two long bike rides along the Esplanade, a massage at MGH and a nice luncheon with my friend Chris at Ma Soba (http://masobaboston.com/).
Next weekend will find us again up in Franconia, New Hampshire for a couple of days of hiking and a little celebration, but more on that once it has happened. I am still horrendously overdue with sending you photographs, but promise to do so soon. I am halfway through the San Diego pictures, and hoping that I may be able to finish them some time this week.
Today was Mother’s Day, so Happy M Day to all of you moms, moms-to-be-, those of you who have moms, and those of you whose moms have passed on and who you miss so much. I know you think of them often, and there are days when time does not seem to soften the blow and you miss them even more. I certainly do. I have to send a quick thank-you-for-your-kindness shout-out you to my local branch of Citizens Bank, whose staff are not only all really nice people but also gave me a flower just for being a “mom” of a 12-year old gnarly budgie named Oscar.
Hope this email finds you and your families well –
Pet:)
Sunday, May 4, 2008
#47 Boston - The Purple Passion of Love - May 5 2008
You gotta love Chinese restaurants and their menus. Turns out it was actually “The Purple Tour of Romance”, but Renee and I later on just could not remember what the name of the fancy sounding drink was at Wisteria, the new Chinese place in my neighborhood. Their menu is full of surprises, but I think I asked too much of the waitress with my questions about various items. Well, the purple thingy disappointingly turned out to be just a couple of juices mixed, among them grape (hence the purple attribute), and when I inquired as to what would be in the mango smoothie, she guessingly looked at me and said “You know smoothie”? “Yes, I know smoothie” I said, “but what is in there in addition to mango”, as generally in most smoothies there is more than one fruit. Turns out it really was just mango crushed up with ice, not sweetened, which I actually did like, but after asking some more questions concerning their dinner entrees, I did not even want to venture finding what the “Sea of Magic” was. Other interesting items on the menu were “Lion’s Head”, “Sun, Moon, Stars”, and “Pipa Tofu”. And then of course there were those dishes where you clearly knew what they were, but there was no chance in hell that you would ever order never mind eat it – Pork Blood Tofu and Intestine and the Pig’s Ear appetizer, just to name a couple of the tasty bits.
Additional entertainment was provided by a couple sitting next to us, who clearly had different ideas on how to spend their Sunday morning. “I don’t wanna go to church”, exclaimed one of them, and his partner shook his head in disbelief on how he ever ended up with an atheistic boyfriend, who was clearly going to hell some day. The latter informed both us and his significant other that he rather visit the Church of Bloody Marys and Mimosas, and I don’t think there was much headway made on solving the issue.
Renee and I had been in need of some nourishment prior to our drive down to Foxboro to Gillette Stadium (http://www.gillettestadium.com/), the arena where both the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution play. Renee had won us some tickets in an MGH lottery to attend a soccer game between our home team, lovingly called “The Revs” by their fans, and let me tell you, the tickets were not too shabby. We had club access, so could either sit in our seats or sit in the clubhouse and watch the whole game in a cozy warm area, where you could buy bear for 10 dollars and a hot dog for 8. This was my first game to attend with the Revolution, and let’s just say their motto “Pride and Passion” was nowhere to be seen (http://www.revolutionsoccer.net/). The Chicago Fire, the opposing team, clearly ran the show and sacked the Revs with a score of 3:0. As much fun as it was to sit in the cushiony seats and stroll around the fancy club house, the real action was in “The Fort”, the north stands of the stadium which is where the hardcore Rev fans were sitting. They are called “The Midnight Riders” and “The Rev Army” and I think in order to sit there you must bring a drum with you - the noise coming from section was deafening, but I am sure those guys had fun.
As usual, my hearing which is going down the tubes (it may have been the noise in the place too), lead to some funny moments – as Renee and I were nosy-ing our way through the club house, we saw that there was an event going on behind a curtain, so walked up to the bouncer and asked him what the illustrious group was, and why we were not invited. What he said was that is was some sort of Youth Soccer Association, but his Massachusetts accent was so thick, that I swore he said “nude soccer association”. Now there’s a reason to quickly walk away.
In another deafness-related incident, when Renee said she was going to get something to eat and was looking for the pretzel-cooker, I thought she said that she was looking for the “pretzel hooker”. I thought, wow, these tickets are definitely worth it. Pretzel hookers and preferred parking, hot dogs at exorbitant prices, what more can you ask for?
Meanwhile last weekend, as mentioned, my friend Frank (who happens to live in my hometown in Germany) was in the hub for a conference, and for some entertainment, we decided to head up to beautiful Newburyport (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Newburyport&gbv=2) and Plum Island (http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=Plum+Island). It was a lovely day and despite the fact that some of the beaches were closed on account of bird nesting season, we had a lovely stroll along Sandy Point beach and also did the dune loop portion of the Hellcat Trail. We waltzed around Newburyport for a while, but it is a touristy town and surprisingly none of the restaurants on the main drag (tourist traps, all of them!!) was a true fish restaurant. This is a seaport town for God’s Sake. We want fish!! Fortunately, we asked a woman who worked in the local book store, and she pointed us to a wonderful place called “Michael’s Harborside”, located in a small marina right next to Route 1, which served spectacular seafood. And apparently the word was out on the street, because the place was packed (http://www.michaelsharborside.com/) and deservedly so. Some of the best seafood I have had in a long time.
Sunday I lazied around watching bad movies, and after a Mexican dinner at “Fajitas and Ritas” (http://www.fajitasandritas.com/) headed to the Orpheum Theater, a beautiful old theater built in 1852 and which was the original site for the New England Conservatory (http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=Orpheum+Theater+Boston). We went to see a concert with Colbie Caillat (http://www.colbiecaillatmusic.com/) – you may know her song “Bubbly” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PWfB4lurT4). The concert was nice, not spectacular, not one of those “wow, what a night” experiences. Part of the “not-so-good” bit was that there was a 40-minute break between the opening act, Jason Reeves (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rG1Rp2Jh-c) and the main act (Colbie). Loved his performance, he is a great singer/songwriter, except for when he talks - he sounds like he is about 12 years old and completely stoned, but hey…
Monday night, the 4S Wine Group (Holly, Hannah, Christos and I) accompanied by new Bostonian Caroline Grace attended a dinner at the Museum of Fine Arts to commemorate the “Art in Bloom” annual exhibit. We had tons of fun, welcomed back Christos, who is a CPA and tends to disappear during tax season, and our waiter Nathaniel thought we were the most fun table in the room. We were probably also the noisiest – which is why the flower fairy (a woman dressed up as a peony or gerbera who ran around blessing everyone with flower love or something similar) spent only a limited time with us. I think we may have scared her.
Other events this week – our boss Bruce took Renee and myself out to lunch on Wednesday at the new Italian restaurant in the Liberty Hotel, “Scampo” - http://libertyhotel.com/dining.html - very tasty food, however they just opened and the staff was not quite “in tune” shall we say? Wednesday night was the Lab-rat Dinner Group, this time at Susan’s place in the North End. We had picked Mexican as the theme, and had a feast – Georgiana made a killer guacamole, I made a Mexican Jicama salad (with beets, carrots, oranges), Susan provided all the trimmings for burritos, her sister Anne made a fabulous corn bread, and Hannah served up a flan to die for (accompanied by some cookies that we dipped in Dulce de Lece). We were so full that at some point Susan stated she was unable to lean forward or even sit up straight. Leaning back was the only option. (I agree with that since all I wanted to do was to lick out the bowl with the dulce de lece, but was unable to do so).
Thursday evening was the book group, and apparently it was not a good date for most of the members - it ended up being just Renee and me, so we made an executive decision and went out for dinner in Arlington, at a wonderful Indian restaurant called Punjab (http://www.punjabarlington.com/). We discussed the book (Christopher Moore’s “Dirty Job”) and stuffed ourselves silly with delectable Indian cuisine.
Friday night, I headed to the airport to return Frank’s suitcases to him (they stayed with me for a wee bit while he headed off to Philadelphia) and we ended his visit with a dinner at Legal Seafood at Logan Airport. Did you know that you can check in a live lobster? Frank bought one, the poor little creature gets put on ice, with a little seaweed, packed up and checked in along with the rest of the luggage. Who woulda thunk?
Some good news - my photographs, the ones I just recently showed at the MGH Cancer Center, are going to be in a small exhibit at the West End Branch of the Boston Public Library on Cambridge Street (nor far from MGH). I will be out of town for the reception, but will let the Boston contingent know when it is (June 3rd I believe).
This week has been a taxing one at work, no matter how hard I pushed, I did not seem to get anywhere, there was just too much to do. Monday was probably the worst day of the week (Isn’t it always?) and I want to describe an incident (hang in there with me, I know this is a long write-up) otherwise known as “Gels gone awry”.
Now for those of you who are not of the scientific persuasion, I will explain just a wee bit (yeeee, science lesson!). Gel electrophoresis is a process where you separate DNA – an electric current is applied to a gel matrix and the molecules will move through the matrix at different rates depending on their size. Usually you make the gel with Agarose (1 g in 100 ml of a specific water) and nuke it in the microwave, 4 min at 40% and then add ethidium bromide (very bad stuff), pour it, stick in the comb that creates the wells for the DNA, it sits 20 minutes and then you can add the DNA, apply the current and 35 minutes later you look at the result and take a nice picture. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gel_electrophoresis)
Here is how it went on Monday:
Gel Attempt #1: We are using a 2% gel (2 g in 100 ml) – which apparently boils over after about 2 ½ minutes. Do over.
Gel Attempt #2: Same thing again. Petra did not learn from the first one that it may be a good idea to hang around the microwave and watch the damn thing.
Gel Attempt #3: Figured out that I need to watch this closely, and get the gel to not boil over. Pour gel and let it sit to solidify (takes usually 20 minutes). After 15 minutes realize I forgot to put the comb in the gel.
Gel Attempt #4: Everything seems to go according to plan (except for my nerves which are a bit strained already at this point), gel comes out beautiful, comb was in; I have wells. When attempting to put DNA and loading dye in wells realize that I used wrong comb, wells too big, can’t see which wells have been filled. When adding more loading dye to each of the samples, instead of doing it gracefully, release huge blob of dye from the pipette.
Leave lab to hyperventilate and have minor nervous breakdown in the rest room.
Compose myself, finish loading wells.
Notice that the comb made only 20 wells (I needed 26).
Gel Attempt #5: Make additional gel for the remaining samples. Everything works out well. No more major disasters.
Not one of my best moments I have to say, but as they say “an opportunity to excel”. In moments like these, one has to remember my favorite quote from Albert Einstein “If we knew what we were doing, it would not be called research”. Or as one of colleagues emphasizes “It’s called RE-search”.
On that note, may all your experiments, scientific or not, go well. I am heading to my couch and will continue to watch “Anna Karenina” and let me just say typing this update was a major challenge, since my laptop is falling apart as we speak. Yesterday I lost the “a” and the “CTRL” key, several others are missing already, and the hinges that connect the screen to the base are broken, so the whole thing is leaning against a cast-iron cook pot. Never a dull moment!
Toodles,
Pet:)
Additional entertainment was provided by a couple sitting next to us, who clearly had different ideas on how to spend their Sunday morning. “I don’t wanna go to church”, exclaimed one of them, and his partner shook his head in disbelief on how he ever ended up with an atheistic boyfriend, who was clearly going to hell some day. The latter informed both us and his significant other that he rather visit the Church of Bloody Marys and Mimosas, and I don’t think there was much headway made on solving the issue.
Renee and I had been in need of some nourishment prior to our drive down to Foxboro to Gillette Stadium (http://www.gillettestadium.com/), the arena where both the New England Patriots and the New England Revolution play. Renee had won us some tickets in an MGH lottery to attend a soccer game between our home team, lovingly called “The Revs” by their fans, and let me tell you, the tickets were not too shabby. We had club access, so could either sit in our seats or sit in the clubhouse and watch the whole game in a cozy warm area, where you could buy bear for 10 dollars and a hot dog for 8. This was my first game to attend with the Revolution, and let’s just say their motto “Pride and Passion” was nowhere to be seen (http://www.revolutionsoccer.net/). The Chicago Fire, the opposing team, clearly ran the show and sacked the Revs with a score of 3:0. As much fun as it was to sit in the cushiony seats and stroll around the fancy club house, the real action was in “The Fort”, the north stands of the stadium which is where the hardcore Rev fans were sitting. They are called “The Midnight Riders” and “The Rev Army” and I think in order to sit there you must bring a drum with you - the noise coming from section was deafening, but I am sure those guys had fun.
As usual, my hearing which is going down the tubes (it may have been the noise in the place too), lead to some funny moments – as Renee and I were nosy-ing our way through the club house, we saw that there was an event going on behind a curtain, so walked up to the bouncer and asked him what the illustrious group was, and why we were not invited. What he said was that is was some sort of Youth Soccer Association, but his Massachusetts accent was so thick, that I swore he said “nude soccer association”. Now there’s a reason to quickly walk away.
In another deafness-related incident, when Renee said she was going to get something to eat and was looking for the pretzel-cooker, I thought she said that she was looking for the “pretzel hooker”. I thought, wow, these tickets are definitely worth it. Pretzel hookers and preferred parking, hot dogs at exorbitant prices, what more can you ask for?
Meanwhile last weekend, as mentioned, my friend Frank (who happens to live in my hometown in Germany) was in the hub for a conference, and for some entertainment, we decided to head up to beautiful Newburyport (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=Newburyport&gbv=2) and Plum Island (http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=Plum+Island). It was a lovely day and despite the fact that some of the beaches were closed on account of bird nesting season, we had a lovely stroll along Sandy Point beach and also did the dune loop portion of the Hellcat Trail. We waltzed around Newburyport for a while, but it is a touristy town and surprisingly none of the restaurants on the main drag (tourist traps, all of them!!) was a true fish restaurant. This is a seaport town for God’s Sake. We want fish!! Fortunately, we asked a woman who worked in the local book store, and she pointed us to a wonderful place called “Michael’s Harborside”, located in a small marina right next to Route 1, which served spectacular seafood. And apparently the word was out on the street, because the place was packed (http://www.michaelsharborside.com/) and deservedly so. Some of the best seafood I have had in a long time.
Sunday I lazied around watching bad movies, and after a Mexican dinner at “Fajitas and Ritas” (http://www.fajitasandritas.com/) headed to the Orpheum Theater, a beautiful old theater built in 1852 and which was the original site for the New England Conservatory (http://images.google.com/images?gbv=2&hl=en&q=Orpheum+Theater+Boston). We went to see a concert with Colbie Caillat (http://www.colbiecaillatmusic.com/) – you may know her song “Bubbly” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PWfB4lurT4). The concert was nice, not spectacular, not one of those “wow, what a night” experiences. Part of the “not-so-good” bit was that there was a 40-minute break between the opening act, Jason Reeves (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rG1Rp2Jh-c) and the main act (Colbie). Loved his performance, he is a great singer/songwriter, except for when he talks - he sounds like he is about 12 years old and completely stoned, but hey…
Monday night, the 4S Wine Group (Holly, Hannah, Christos and I) accompanied by new Bostonian Caroline Grace attended a dinner at the Museum of Fine Arts to commemorate the “Art in Bloom” annual exhibit. We had tons of fun, welcomed back Christos, who is a CPA and tends to disappear during tax season, and our waiter Nathaniel thought we were the most fun table in the room. We were probably also the noisiest – which is why the flower fairy (a woman dressed up as a peony or gerbera who ran around blessing everyone with flower love or something similar) spent only a limited time with us. I think we may have scared her.
Other events this week – our boss Bruce took Renee and myself out to lunch on Wednesday at the new Italian restaurant in the Liberty Hotel, “Scampo” - http://libertyhotel.com/dining.html - very tasty food, however they just opened and the staff was not quite “in tune” shall we say? Wednesday night was the Lab-rat Dinner Group, this time at Susan’s place in the North End. We had picked Mexican as the theme, and had a feast – Georgiana made a killer guacamole, I made a Mexican Jicama salad (with beets, carrots, oranges), Susan provided all the trimmings for burritos, her sister Anne made a fabulous corn bread, and Hannah served up a flan to die for (accompanied by some cookies that we dipped in Dulce de Lece). We were so full that at some point Susan stated she was unable to lean forward or even sit up straight. Leaning back was the only option. (I agree with that since all I wanted to do was to lick out the bowl with the dulce de lece, but was unable to do so).
Thursday evening was the book group, and apparently it was not a good date for most of the members - it ended up being just Renee and me, so we made an executive decision and went out for dinner in Arlington, at a wonderful Indian restaurant called Punjab (http://www.punjabarlington.com/). We discussed the book (Christopher Moore’s “Dirty Job”) and stuffed ourselves silly with delectable Indian cuisine.
Friday night, I headed to the airport to return Frank’s suitcases to him (they stayed with me for a wee bit while he headed off to Philadelphia) and we ended his visit with a dinner at Legal Seafood at Logan Airport. Did you know that you can check in a live lobster? Frank bought one, the poor little creature gets put on ice, with a little seaweed, packed up and checked in along with the rest of the luggage. Who woulda thunk?
Some good news - my photographs, the ones I just recently showed at the MGH Cancer Center, are going to be in a small exhibit at the West End Branch of the Boston Public Library on Cambridge Street (nor far from MGH). I will be out of town for the reception, but will let the Boston contingent know when it is (June 3rd I believe).
This week has been a taxing one at work, no matter how hard I pushed, I did not seem to get anywhere, there was just too much to do. Monday was probably the worst day of the week (Isn’t it always?) and I want to describe an incident (hang in there with me, I know this is a long write-up) otherwise known as “Gels gone awry”.
Now for those of you who are not of the scientific persuasion, I will explain just a wee bit (yeeee, science lesson!). Gel electrophoresis is a process where you separate DNA – an electric current is applied to a gel matrix and the molecules will move through the matrix at different rates depending on their size. Usually you make the gel with Agarose (1 g in 100 ml of a specific water) and nuke it in the microwave, 4 min at 40% and then add ethidium bromide (very bad stuff), pour it, stick in the comb that creates the wells for the DNA, it sits 20 minutes and then you can add the DNA, apply the current and 35 minutes later you look at the result and take a nice picture. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gel_electrophoresis)
Here is how it went on Monday:
Gel Attempt #1: We are using a 2% gel (2 g in 100 ml) – which apparently boils over after about 2 ½ minutes. Do over.
Gel Attempt #2: Same thing again. Petra did not learn from the first one that it may be a good idea to hang around the microwave and watch the damn thing.
Gel Attempt #3: Figured out that I need to watch this closely, and get the gel to not boil over. Pour gel and let it sit to solidify (takes usually 20 minutes). After 15 minutes realize I forgot to put the comb in the gel.
Gel Attempt #4: Everything seems to go according to plan (except for my nerves which are a bit strained already at this point), gel comes out beautiful, comb was in; I have wells. When attempting to put DNA and loading dye in wells realize that I used wrong comb, wells too big, can’t see which wells have been filled. When adding more loading dye to each of the samples, instead of doing it gracefully, release huge blob of dye from the pipette.
Leave lab to hyperventilate and have minor nervous breakdown in the rest room.
Compose myself, finish loading wells.
Notice that the comb made only 20 wells (I needed 26).
Gel Attempt #5: Make additional gel for the remaining samples. Everything works out well. No more major disasters.
Not one of my best moments I have to say, but as they say “an opportunity to excel”. In moments like these, one has to remember my favorite quote from Albert Einstein “If we knew what we were doing, it would not be called research”. Or as one of colleagues emphasizes “It’s called RE-search”.
On that note, may all your experiments, scientific or not, go well. I am heading to my couch and will continue to watch “Anna Karenina” and let me just say typing this update was a major challenge, since my laptop is falling apart as we speak. Yesterday I lost the “a” and the “CTRL” key, several others are missing already, and the hinges that connect the screen to the base are broken, so the whole thing is leaning against a cast-iron cook pot. Never a dull moment!
Toodles,
Pet:)
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