t((u))nabla

Meh

2012-01-23T19:13:00.002-07:00

I'm feeling unusually snarky today so that's it for now.

Snowww

2012-01-22T19:35:00.001-07:00

So..
You guys all remember how happy I was to have it rain yesterday, right? Well that rain soon turned into this:

I spent 40 minutes in that snow waiting for the bus that I thought was slightly delayed due to the weather. Turned out that between last saturday and this, they switched the saturday timings from being once every 30 minutes to once an hour. As a result, I am now sniffy again. Let me tell you that I have never been happier to have lost track of the day and date than I was this morning when in the middle of pulling on leggings with one hand and brushing my teeth with the other, I realized that it wasn't Monday morning yet.
I'm not complaining about the weather, though! Seeing everything covered in white fluffy goodness was most uplifting, and I didn't have to drive. I left footprints everywhere and, given the recent reawakening of my Holmes-mania, wondered several times what sort of stories they would tell. 'Course, I don't have to worry about snow from the inside of my warm waterproof boots and new down-filled jacket..

"Soggy backpack, eating granola bars at lunchtime and waiting for the university-bound bus on a Saturday afternoon in a snowstorm.. quite obviously a grad student, Watson."
Not to mention the fact that her footprint trails are doing spirals and figure-of-eights and in one spot she apparently cleared a path through 5 inches of snow. What does that tell you about her boots, hmm?

One more thing:-
You use a lot less soap if you dilute it out 1:3 with water and pour into a spray bottle. Also makes washing more fun, on account of it being very much more like cleaning my bench at lab, which I do so much more regularly and meticulously than I do my dishes.

On a final note before I lose myself to Nyquil - if you notice my sentences getting longer and more convoluted when I blog, it usually means I'm reading a book, very probably a classic. Right now I'm nearing the end of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" (what else?)

~Me

Grey is a lovely colour

2012-01-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

I feel like I'm in Bangalore today. It's been raining all morning but contrary to being gloomy, the air's cleared up beautifully, it's not too cold and it sounds wonderful. I'm sitting by the open balcony door sipping steaming chai and admiring my new succulent garden.

Have I mentioned I love rainy days?

EDIT on Jan/25th : Guess who else did what I did, only soooo much prettier?

Many Tales

2012-01-19T22:00:00.001-07:00

Gee, I think I forgot for a while that it's ok to blog about personal experiences - you know - "things that happen to me".

That line, btw, was taken from the first episode of "Sherlock", the series by BBC. Now, I'm a Holmes'o'phile and will generally consume any flavour of fiction, fanfic, movie, play or subtle reference to that universe (and I must say I thoroughly LOVED the new movies, especially Jude law) but this series tops them all. Cumberbatch rules the role and Freeman is the ultimate Watson, not a clumsy halfwit and neither quite as suave as Jude Law's version (let me reiterate that Jude Law's Watson is candy in every sense, but back to that later) but a very real one. The series is set in today's time and tech-savvy Sherlock sends texts instead of telegrams. He still has a homeless network albeit one that specializes in spray-painting graffiti. Watson is an Afghan veteran (same name, different war ~130 years apart). Holmes no longer smokes a pipe but uses nicotine patches, plays the violin, shoots into the wall, spears dead pigs and so on. I love how everything of essence is retained and enough details are modified to blend the setting into a world today that we are all so familiar with. So cleverly done, many tongue-in-cheek references to the original.. a lovely Holmage.

Me posing as Kurt Vonnegut.

I got the new nook simple touch. It's just like my old nook, in that it is still b/w and e-ink, except it's smaller, faster (heavy users of the iPhone may disagree, but I argue that it takes just as much time to turn a page on this as it does with a real book.), and lacks a fullstop button in its virtual keyboard. You also can't browse the internet, which is fine since web browsing on an e-ink device would be frustrating in many ways, but this doesn't let me log into wireless networks that redirect you to a webpage before you can access the net through them. I love the new 'homepage' and the fullscreen touch screen, and I especially love their default screensaver - a series of woodcut caricatures of famous authors (see image).
Oh, and if you turn in your old nook, you get a new one of any kind at half-off. Why I didn't get the nook colour, resell it and use that money to buy a new nook simple-touch and make 30 or so bucks - I will never know.

I have also signed up for Pinterest, which is forever distracting but a wonderful source of new creative ideas and so many yummy food pictures that I get hungry just looking thorough everything. Which is good, because then I remember to eat. And, because one night the colours were swimming around in my head from looking at all the exciting DIY projects on Pinterest, I painted this.

I love rainy weather, don't you?

So long, folks, and thanks for all the fish.

2011-12-18T12:36:00.000-07:00

This, my friends, is easily the funnest way to adjust a buffer's pH.

whai this kolaveri?

2011-11-28T10:05:00.001-07:00

I had a dream that I went to a ChIP-Seq class.. and then that a bunch of trains were trying to run me down, which I escaped, but then there was a wolf with a knife who wouldn't let me in the door.. which I escaped, only to fall down the stairs, at which point I woke up with an awful headache and no wonder.

Still a slacker..

2011-11-26T23:13:00.001-07:00

So.. I've had multiple indications recently that people besides myself are actually interested in the progress of my novel. You should have pestered me earlier, folks, maybe then I would have plugged at it harder! Actually, no. I'm a slacker by nature, it probably wouldn't have changed much.
But, since so many people are interested, here's what I can tell you - I'm not likely to hit 50K by the end of this month, but I do plan on getting to the end of the story in whatever form (about 3k words at this point are pure outline, not prose). And then, I do plan to go back and finish the book, after changing all names to remove any sort of direct mytho/historical reference. THEN I'll show it to you. At the moment, I'm this close to biting my nails (used to be a compulsive biter - have managed to stay clean the past 4 weeks and I don't intend on breaking that record) thinking about the number of torch-wielding fanatics that are quite likely to stalk me if the story in its current form becomes public.
Call me a coward and a slacker, but that's just how I roll.

In other news, do visit Alicia Souza's blog.. her colourful doodles are to die for!

I'm such a slacker

2011-11-12T22:13:00.001-07:00

I've barely written enough words in 12 days now to cover day one and half of day two. I'm taking advantage of the fact that it's saturday night.
Playing : Wagner.

EDIT: 2500 words since I blogged last, also got #nanowordsprints flashback challenge worked into my #1k1hr sprint. Methinks I'll take a break for tonight and hang out at coffee noir tomorrow.

On an interesting note, my plot is starting to come together in surprising ways.. there were some things I had figured out in general - since this is about a myth we already know, i.e. harishchandra has to leave his kingdom at some point, I thought the existing stories didn't really explain things very well. Why did he vow to speak nothing but the truth? I don't like that he gave away his kingdom because of someone else's dream, and I don't like that the gods decided to play with him and his life - I'm willing to include a little bit of the supernatural, or what looks like the supernatural, but I want an explanation I can identify with more. That stuff kind of fell into place tonight (and yes, that was the flashback).

Also, muchos gracias to the boys, who put up with me all evening and brought me food and entertainment.

And we're off.

2011-11-01T11:08:00.001-06:00

First of November, folks. Starting midnight, I opened up a new Word file and puttered away at my keyboard. I did about 700 words before deciding to take a sleep break. It took me half an hour, which is just a little short of the speed I used to make in school, where I would have to do a 1500 word essay or short story in 40 minutes to an hour. Maybe practice will make perfect.. But, it's also a lot faster than I estimated, meaning I can allocate the greater part of my 2-hours-writing-per-day to the literature review on my thesis project.
*le sigh*

Anyways, I'm sticking very hard to the 'no editing' rule at this point, and even harder to the 'just go with the flow' rule and letting my story run away with me. g.o.k. how this is going to turn out.

Ending with a quote from Phillip Pullman's pep-talk:

"Novels that last and please readers are written because the novelist is intoxicated by the delight and the endlessly renewable joy that comes from engaging with imaginary characters"

See you on the other side!

P.S.: In other news, it snowed proper today. Winter's here too.

Sunday Evening Whites

2011-10-17T00:47:00.001-06:00

Peter Coffin
Untitled (Rainbow), 2005
30 inkjet prints, T-Pins
© Peter Coffin, 2005

I'm taking some liberty with colour-association here. It's Sunday night and I don't have the blues (thankfully) nor the "terrible reds" (I don't think I ever associate 'red' with 'terrible', really), nor even the greys. It's raining outside and I can't tell you how happy it makes my heart to think, "It's raining"! I have always liked rain, but it's taken me a while to accept any rain that's not large, heavy, warm tropical rain. Here the water evaporates before most of the raindrop can hit the ground or, if you're at the right elevation, falls as snow. Most days what we'd call a drizzle even in singara chennai with its comparitively light rainfall, is counted as a heavy downpour here in the valley, and makes everything awfully cold, especially this time of the year.
The trick to loving this rain, I find, is dressing right (a few more layers than just the one raincoat, and waterproof footwear - no sandals in the rain in this city!) and looking for rainbows.

NaNoWriter

2011-10-14T20:27:00.000-06:00

Hello, my friends,

This year, at the risk of incurring my PI's wrath, at the risk of driving the people who have to live with me insane, at the risk of attempting something colossal and failing (to hide my face under a paper bag thereafter) - I have signed up for NaNoWriMo. For the uninitiated, this stands for 'National Novel Writing Month' which is really an international event where writers (even imaginary ones) decide to sit down and write all November, not editing a word until after it's all done.
I fall into the 'imaginary' category because while I write (essays in school, diary, blog, LJ), I'm not very consistent. To reach the stipulated word target of 50,000 words in the 30 days of November, I'll need to write ~1700 words every single day. Every day I miss will mean 1700 words more to make up on every day that's left. No easy task for a slacker, and a full-time grad-student, nyet?

If you can't tell, I'm freaking out already. I promise, to be entertaining, though. Expect to see more of me in the next few weeks :)

Musicality

2011-09-19T19:11:00.000-06:00

The mother of all Memes, where my interest is concerned..! BBC labs is doing a 'musicality' test.Thanks to Miguel Bengoa for the link :)

Enthusiasm:
You scored higher than 46% of the populationYour ‘Enthusiasm for Music’ score shows how important music is to you in your daily life. It also indicates how much time and money you devote to music.You scored medium for enthusiasm, which suggests that while you enjoy music it isn’t a huge part of your daily life. You spend about the same amount of time as most people just listening to music or having music on in the background while you do other things.There may also be some aspects of music that you like talking about, but you are unlikely to spend more than the average amount of your free-time and money on music-related activities.Music is important to you, but not as important a focus as it is for some.

Musical Perception:
You scored higher than 64% of the populationThis is perhaps the most traditional measure of musical skill and indicates how well you understand the qualities of music, such as rhythm, pitch, tuning and genre.You scored medium for perception, which suggests that you have quite a good ear for music in some respects, but there are areas where you are less confident. Your score indicates that you are about average in your ability to keep a beat and to distinguish between different instruments and musical genres. Your scores in the musical tests will give you a good idea of where your specific strengths and weaknesses lie.

Emotional Connection:
You scored higher than 51% of the populationThis looks at how music affects your moods and feelings.You scored medium for emotional connection, which indicates that music sometimes influences your feelings and that you may occasionally use music to manage your mood. Your results suggest that certain music can reconnect you to past events and memories, but that generally music doesn’t have the power to completely change your emotional state.

Social Creativity:
You scored higher than 63% of the populationThis looks at creating music and sharing in group activities where music is involved.You scored medium for Social creativity, which suggests that you have a fairly good memory for melodies and are able to recall many of the new songs or musical phrases you hear. If you feel confident enough, you can probably contribute to group activities where music is involved, and are able to join in, singing or clapping along with others. You may not find it as easy as some people to imagine new melodies in your head.

Musical Curiosity:
You scored higher than 38% of the populationThis assesses how open you are to new musical genres and experiences.You scored low for music curiosity, which suggests that you aren’t really open to exploring new music, and prefer to listen to the genres and artists you are already familiar with. As a result, you are likely to be exposed to a limited range of musical styles and have a more focused range of musical taste than the average person. You probably wouldn’t ever attend an event just to experience live music, but may enjoy going to see familiar artists perform.

Bottom line : I think everything's accurate or ok, except for the section on emotional connection - music seriously has the ability to influence my mood.

Wonky gels

2011-08-25T22:25:00.000-06:00

I don't get it. I demand an explanation!
I ran a PCR yesterday and it looked like this:

I repeated it today because I wanted to gel purify the bands, and it looked like this:

??!

2011-08-25T00:47:00.000-06:00

Decided last-minute to bail on BBBSU.. I'm not organized enough to have a regular schedule, but oh bummer. Seriously a bummer. I was really looking forward to it, but don't want to play with some kid's life. This really sucks.

Happy days

2011-08-23T01:42:00.000-06:00

I'm under orders to record the good times, so here we go!

Late nights in lab are best fuelled by dark chocolate and full meals. Now that my evenings aren't otherwise promised, I've been staying over at lab, and I find that those are my most productive hours at the bench! especially if I plan twice the number of things to do during the day than I actually can do.
Plus, I had dinner and chocolate dipped strawberries delivered at my labstep by driver-boy.. now that is luxury :)

A sign of the times..

2011-08-13T22:33:00.000-06:00

It's funny, when I think 'trade', I think produce and gold and seaports. When I plug 'trade' into a stock photography site, it pulls up pictures of percentages and bar charts. I suppose in a way it's all the same thing.
I sometimes get the feeling my brain is stuck in a different era, don't you?

Breakfast..

2011-08-13T10:45:00.000-06:00

This is again one of those years that I completely forgot about the Farmer's Market. I haven't remembered Saturdays very well this year.. BUT this morning I woke up with the full intention to go, I say, but then discovered that certain household chores had to be completed. Now it's 10:40 and all the good stuff'll be gone and I have to go to lab so.. bummer.

Anyways, the consolation is that I mixed up a batch of raspberry oatmeal (cooked raspberries in sugar, mixed it in with oatmeal and made raspberry-sized balls out of those, threw that and a generous helping of brown sugar into dry instant oatmeal) done! Those who've been in touch with me otherwise might know that previous batches were unsuccessful for very unfortunate reasons.

Anyway. In other news, MY LORD OF THE RINGS IS COMING!! Finally bought that, the hobbit and the silmarillion with a giftcard I won with labmates at a poster competition. I got the giftcard, they took the cash-prize.. I'm rather happy XD More so because the package was supposed to come on Tuesday and went mysteriously missing until all of a sudden yesterday it became trackable again. And now it's in the post truck out for delivery. Any time now...
You'll hear about it when it arrives, methinks :)

Summer's going.. going..

2011-08-07T12:32:00.000-06:00

I feel a little cheated of the sun this year - it snowed well into June, was briefly bone-dry sunny, and suddenly switched to monsoon season. While I love warm rain (reminds me of home) I'm not sure I'm ready to give up the sun just yet. Today I will take a walk in the noonday sun in my extra broad sunhat and shop for raspberries.

Making raspberry oatmeal. Recipe from somewhere in the recesses of Mrs. Beeton's.

2011-07-24T18:58:00.000-06:00

What a busy few weeks it's been.. I haven't had many a weekend to myself because I've been spending upwards of 5 hours a day every weekend sitting in the sun. Mountain country may get truckloads of snow in the winter, but the summers do full justice to the fact that we are, in fact, in the middle of a desert. I'm actually quite fascinated by the tan I've acquired, and surprised to learn that I can actually burn.
The cause for all the sun? The boys have been playing cricket, the first of two tournaments. They blazed their way to the finals and lost by a whisker, but it was pretty fun. I learnt to bowl today, albeit I have no control over where I land the ball.

In other news - I've just signed over ~~my soul~~ a new lease on the apartment I curently live in, so I get to stay another 12 months. It's a bit on the pricey side, but it's everything I really want out of a house, and I'm really too lazy to find a new place and haul all my stuff there.

Tomorrow's Pioneer Day, a uniquely Utah'n holiday (as far as I can make out). There's a parade downtown where everybody's dressed in white, from what I've heard. I'll probably be in lab, so the only real difference is that there's no bus service.

Ooh! And I made chocolate and strawberry ice creams!

I love summer.

2011-07-08T21:11:00.000-06:00

Tonight I see a most beautiful sunset - the sky's still blue, but the clouds hide the sun, and so all I see is the patch of blue, the pink clouds that have turned purple as I type this and the silhouette of a (humming?)bird on my balcony.

Saturday holds so many possibilities - I'm quite thrilled by the prospect of having no deadlines to meet until 2:30pm when an experiment beckons. Saturday's a day when the buses run and yet I am not obliged to be elsewhere between 9 and 6.

Tell me, where shall I go?

More writing

2011-07-08T18:16:00.001-06:00

I never thought I'd be one to say this, but I sincerely wish there were a brain-to-paper tool so I don't have to stop to write, or when I sit down to write at the end of the day, that I forget what I wanted to write about.

Reading 'Remains of the Day', a book I ought to have read many years ago.

Writing

2011-07-03T21:24:00.000-06:00

I keep telling myself to write a little something every day, and I keep forgetting. Not for lack of material - I'm under instructions to keep a personal diary, in addition to which I should be writing my results and keeping them ready to publish. And I like to write.. as is probably evident.

Ai, me.

Beauty and the Beast - Tale as Old as Time, Told in Two Days

2011-07-01T21:56:00.000-06:00

Watched Beauty and the Beast (yet again) and for the first time came to the realization that the entire tale happens over the course of 2 days.
Day 1 - Belle's father leaves for the fair, gets captured, Belle rescues him, he goes back to village asking for help and is thrown out, Belle runs away, gets rescued by the beast and they make up; meanwhile Gaston forms a plan to blackmail Belle, but arrives too late to catch Maurice, who has lost no time in running back to rescue Belle.
Day 2 - Beast gives Belle the library, that evening they dance and Belle asks to see her father in the magic mirror and runs back to save him, meanwhile Gaston has gathered his forces and comes to take Maurice away only to decide to take the Beast instead. Gaston wounds the Beast, Belle and Maurice come to save him, Beast and Belle confess their love to each other (note that their acquaintance is so new that she doesn't know his real name and calls him 'Beast!' to his face). Beast dies but is resurrected by Belle's love and the spell is broken.
~fin~

Granted, perhaps Maurice lay freezing in the snow for more than just one night (between Day 1 and Day 2), perhaps a whole day. That stretches the story to 3 days now.

Sigh. I suppose this is how I can tell I'm not 5 anymore.

Scrubby

2011-06-14T20:45:00.000-06:00

Walked down to the market and stopped by the dollar store on the way back. Felt good to shop :)
Making some edible stuff today (almond brittle, will post recipe when I pick one) and some non edible stuff (face scrubs)

Sugar scrub

1 cup organic brown sugar
1 cup white granulated sugar
¾ cup almond, soybeans, hazelnut, or macadamia nut base oil
2 teaspoons cinnamon, powdered
2 teaspoons ginger, powdered
2 teaspoons nutmeg, powdered
40 drops cardamom essential oil

...and just for reference, one that I might try later

Scrub for fresher skin

1/4 cup granulated sugar
Chopped fresh tomato
2 tablespoons yogurt or sour cream

1. Place the sugar in a small bowl. Add enough fresh chopped tomato to moisten, then add yogurt. Combine and apply to a clean, damp face, using fingertips to gently massage the formula into skin.

2. Allow formula to remain on skin for 10 minutes, then rinse with warm water and pat dry.

Muahahah.

Midnight Snack Reprise - A Haiku

2011-06-14T00:51:00.000-06:00

Never thought I would
be craving Barbecue chips
but they're all I've got.

A Rainbow Visited My House...

2011-06-13T23:23:00.002-06:00

...and did this on the carpet.

Making baby toys en masse to keep up with all the baby production that's happening this year.
These five are promised out, but let me know if you'll be needing some :P

In other news, I'm cheating on my Blogger blog by starting a Wordpress blog. That one's strictly for (crappy but hopefully improving) science posts and Q*bee-related stuff. If I get too cynical on here, scoot over to the other one.

Kbai.

Aasa

2011-05-14T02:14:00.003-06:00

Was there a reason? She couldn't afford to think about it. She hoped nobody would miss her. Sneaker-shod feet scuttled over the loose gravel. It was still light out - the sun wouldn't set for a while yet this time of year, in that she was fortunate.
Her hand went to her pocket, to check that she still had her wallet and her cellphone, and that she hadn't missed a call. What if they had called and her phone hadn't registered it? She tried to convince herself that it shouldn't matter.
There were three seconds on the timer to cross the road. She ran across and turned around, suddenly worried that she might have dropped her phone in crossing. No, it was still in her pocket. Had it fallen out, it would have been run over anyway. The practical thought eased some of her anxiety. Her hand went again to her pocket, and slipped further down to the bag she carried. The corners of her mouth tilted up. She could feel the five yards of softness that the bag held.
No, there didn't have to be a reason, she finally decided. She pictured herself draped in the lovely rust-coloured fabric and forgot to catch the last bus home.

Laundry Day

2011-05-11T01:21:00.000-06:00

It's hard being mommy to two grown boys, I'm glad there's someone here to mommy me around as well and put her foot down wrt laundry and such..(feels good to slip into freshly laundered nightclothes. Boys, I tell ya, don't knock the nightie until you've tried it.)

A belated happy mother's day to all mommies, biological, foster, and just plain incidental. Thanks for being you.

Midnight Snack

2011-04-28T03:01:00.001-06:00

This spaghetti recipe I got from a labmate became a favourite fast, pun intended.

Boil water
Add spaghetti, let it go as long as you like (depends on brand, how soggy/unsoggy you like it)
On the side, heat oil, add garlic and veggies of choice (olive, chopped and an inch or so of zucchini, sliced. I also added rosemary since my plant was being obliging today.)
When spaghetti's done, throw the sauted garlic oil dressing on top.

I added grated parmesan, just 'cause I had a cheese craving.

Monsters Over My Head

2011-04-12T01:36:00.002-06:00

After days of sleeping on the floor in the hall (felt cozier and like I was camping. Try before dissing) I return to my bedroom and realize that the upstairs-neighbours love playing loud rock in the bedroom and walking heavy. The music doesn't bother me much, but the heavy-walking makes me nervous when I sleep, kinda like someone's sneaking up on me :P

I try to sleep again now.

Ex-spearminting

2011-03-29T19:43:00.000-06:00

Pepperjack cheese omelette and plum sauce... who knew?

Knotty knotty..

2011-03-27T14:53:00.000-06:00

Oh. My. God. The 'Mystic knot' is the hardest knot ever. I have literally spent hours trying to weave my cord in to the prettiness that is the chinese bowtie.

On the plus side, I have now mastered the Good Luck knot, maybe that counts for something.

Also, I made panneer tikka on Friday, with homemade panneer and curd.

Yay ok, back to knotting.

Random

2011-03-17T21:25:00.000-06:00

Since I'm supposed to be working very hard on a presentation right now, it's only natural I feel distracted.. hence the post.

Been eating pasta/couscous for about 10 days now (home-cooked, that is) and liking it. Also, I realized suddenly last night that I don't have to account to anybody but myself for what I eat, and ate cornflakes porridge for dinner (hate to disappoint you, ma! :) )
The second half is waiting for me :D

In honour of my favourite food, I present to you the recipe.

Ingredients:
*Cornflakes brand of your choice - 1-2 cups
*Milk - 1 cup. Cream/evaporated/condensed milk also ok.
*Sugar to taste.

1. Throw the cornflakes into a pan with just enough water to get all of it wet.
2. As it gets mushier, add the milk and stir on heat until it boils. If you're using cream or condensed milk, it's just easier to add that after cooking the cornflakes, so add more water to start with if that's the case.
3. Take off the heat, pour into your favourite porridge bowl and add sugar to taste. I like my porridge undiluted, but you may prefer yours with fresh fruit, dry fruit, honey, nuts or all of the above.

Of course, if you're rushed for time, 1-2 cups cornflakes, 1/3 cup water, 3-5 minutes in the microwave and milk afterwards also works just fine.. I just like ritualistic preparation.

*cackle*

Drama

2011-02-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know that Korean Dramas are just that - a lot of drama.. and I know they're aimed at schoolgirls and that they're unrealistic and very silly and utterly mindless.. but I need my fix already!
Watching 'My Princess' :) Thanks, Un!

The Week in Impressions

2011-02-19T20:08:00.000-07:00

Monday - V-day, watched a happy wedding.
Tuesday - funny day. Jewel-coloured sunset.
Wednesday morning - blue sky, breezy. Post-ballet, Lara's Theme plays as snow blusters around train stop.
Thursday evening "In" was superlative.
Friday - no(breakfast,lunch), salad, tea, zumba, party, goosefeathers and jogging home under the (almost) full moon.
Saturday - morning nonexistent, hair-dried, ran for the bus. Sleeping Beauty from the last row in the hall, walked to pick up dinner from the Pie. It rained lovely.
Sunday - I'm waiting.

Burning Midnight Oil.. and all that.

2011-02-01T23:37:00.001-07:00

Late night at lab is addling my brain. But it's worth it, I promise you!

For those of you who've heard me complaining (since July) about a major experimental result that I've been waiting on (and waiting and waiting and waiting..).. it FINALLY came in. Since I showed up at about noon today at lab, I've stayed on a little(lot) longer than usual trying to analyze all that data. Technically, I don't need to stay cos the computer with its 24 cores is doing all the grunt-work, but because this is the first time I'm doing this and because there's no one around to run to if there's a problem (again, punishment for showing up at noon :P ) I'm sitting around watching each step. So far, have had to redo a couple of things because I got it wrong the first time, but it's been running smooth for about 2 hours now. Should be done anytime.

The very fact that I'm so close to blogging about experimental detail is evidence of how zoned I am right now.

Oh, I figured out I like wearing my hair in 2 braids, it stays put (unlike any other hairstyle I've tried with this hair of mine) Now all I've got to do is figure out how to wear two braids without looking like a ninny.

Today's weather was crazy.. blue-bubble sky, snow-dusted peaks and a view to the other end of the valley. Only, there were wind gusts upwards of 34mph and the temperature was 9 below freezing. Stepped out after class today and was blown away down the staircase and sent running for cover. Took the circuitous indoor route back to lab from there.

"Sprinnnng" is in the air.

Eh.

2011-01-28T23:17:00.003-07:00

It's Friday night, I'm in a movie-watching mood but my laptop dies at the mention of movie and it already died once today. I'm done cooking and sewing already, and it's too late to go out. The guys are otherwise occupied.

*grumble*

Where the Mind is Without Fear

2011-01-25T11:45:00.005-07:00

Hiiiiiii, so in case anyone's wondering why I'm suddenly so active on Facebook, Blogger and Twitter all at once, it's cos I've had a very very long weekend. Nothing major, probably zumba 2 days a week wasn't such a great idea, but at any rate, I'm getting plenty of R&R (as you can see :) )

Snow-day today, but the thing about this town is that we've got excellent snow-clearing systems, so the U's still running, but fact is - it's all pretty out and I'm all cozy in with a great view.

It had to happen..

2011-01-14T21:30:00.003-07:00

For the first time in three years, someone asked me for a cigarette. I didn't so much mind the question or that it was a random stranger who asked it, but what really made it absurd was the 2 seconds we had left to cross the road before the lights changed, and the fact that he decides to stop mid-way to ask. Kids, really.

I did some gallivanting today, hopped onto a train and got myself lost downtown in search of well-known bookshop to which I received a gift-card from Prof for Christmas (I wonder if it was a hint to indulge in some mind-improving activities for a change).

On the way back, also popped into a cd store that I've been eying all these years but never had the courage to actually walk into on account of interesting location and external graffiti, but which wasn't so bad at all on the inside. In fact, I think I'll be doing some reading on the genres I want to explore, and head back over.

Next-up, movie-hunting on Netflix and some comfort-food dinner. I've often watched movies for the actors/tresses, haven't you? My latest fixation is Richard Armitage. I knew there was something going on when, through all 3 seasons of Robin Hood (as anyone who's read my tweets from the period will have surmised) I was thoroughly convinced that Guy of Gisbourne was in fact more worthy of Maid Marian than said Hood. It became a full-blown crush when I watched North and South (a Netflix recommendation, excellent call, as it unites Armitage and another recent obsession, Gaskell). The final episode of The Vicar of Dibley (where he makes a 2-part appearance as the tall-dark-handsome and irresistably lovable townie) was the 'icing on the cake and the cherry on top' as the lovely Alice (in that same episode) puts it (speaking of which, I think Emma Chambers is brilliant). So what's it to be, now, more Notting Hill, a rerun of North and South, Persuasion or something new?

I'm eating a healthy dinner of yogurt, fruit and nuts (read - greek yogurt, raspberry jam and nutella.)

Muahahahah. Armed for the weekend. Ciao!

Jetlag

2011-01-09T10:19:00.003-07:00

Lesson for today, folks - you don't want to heat a boiled egg in the microwave.

It's 10 am and I've washed the dishes, un-trashed the house, put up a new calendar and started ironing my laundry, not to mention rised out and hung out to dry the fabric that will soon become a lovely new kurta (at least, that is the hope).

Jet lag has its advantages.

On a different note - don't watch TR2N unless it's at a theater, and not unless it's 3D.

Hoome!

2010-12-08T20:20:00.003-07:00

Please do forgive me for disappearing.. I'm back home now :) And that means walks to the beach, frankies and home-food. I did the walk-to-the-beach part yesterday and barely got home without falling asleep where I sat.
Daddy's cooking for me since mommy's out of town for a wedding, she's coming back again with goodies for all of us :)

I'm watching the Potter movie right here in Chennai, where it's 5 times cheaper and in the best company.

I'm feeling a little disoriented, though. Could be the jetlag, or the head-cold, but I don't remember my way around the city anymore, I don't know how to get into ATM vestibules, and apparently Chennai has a bunch of new malls now.

Also, Rs.50/- per packet of popcorn is cheap.. I take your word for it, it's just that it reminds me of how long I've been gone.

Breakfast beckons :D

Hooker.

2010-11-04T11:08:00.003-06:00

I was thrilled this morning to find that there's someone else who crochets on the bus. It took all my willpower to keep from saying something, but I'm pretty sure the glee was written all over my face.
(Picture by LilGoldWmn )

Yaaaaay

2010-11-01T21:16:00.003-06:00

I am feeling happier and more enthusiastic about working in lab than I have in two and a half years now.. and that was even before today's experiment worked after weeks of trying.

A toast to Science and a career of discovery..

P.S.: Do you think, once I've found a cure for cancer, that I could go back to school and join Pixar? The thought is enticing.

First Snow

2010-10-26T22:57:00.002-06:00

It's that time of year again, I'll be wearing my fuzzy brown boots tomorrow.

Watching 'Wives and Daughters'.. I hadn't heard of it before, but I'm liking it so far..

Turning point

2010-10-21T23:08:00.004-06:00

The past couple of days have been so eventful that I don't know where to start, so let me get to the pointe.. or should I say, beside the pointe, since ballet dancers only ever get to stand on their toes after years of training, wouldn't you know (once and for all, for everyone who wants to know if this ballerina can stand on her toes.. no.)
But.. went to ballet class after a 2 week break, and after a day that I felt I really wanted nothing else on my plate - and am I ever glad I went. I faltered a lot, nearly fell twice, got outdanced by everyone else in the class, young and old, and had the time of my life. I froze outdoors for 40 minutes with nothing over my t-shirt but a sparkly shawl, having missed my bus in favour of getting ice-cold orange juice from a convenience store (putting normal clothes on after 90 minutes of physical activity can seriously mess with your brain's ability to judge ambient temperatures for the amount of time that is needed to buy a drink from a convenience store and miss your bus), I returned to lab to complete my day's work in the most cheerful of spirits. I also met a man named John on the bus ride back, to whom I had to struggle to explain the pronunciation and meaning of my name (he was awfully nice, though). Do any of you know what my name really means? Please enlighten me.

This morning I discovered that The Point, although they advertise breakfast up to 10:30 am, really switch to the lunch menu at 10:26 and do not 'do breakfast'. I wasn't in the mood to walk all the way over to beside-the-point for french toast and fresh fruit, so settled for instant oatmeal with honey instead.. which wasn't too bad.
I also discovered, shortly before the oatmeal, that my cells were contaminated, rendering a week's work pointless. I therefore occupied myself with going page by page through an amazingly entertaining little book (considering its subject matter) with pointers on perl for DNA analysis (and analysysts), writing some very beefed-up and very useless perl programs in the process. Fun.

I spent the rest of my evening watching the Pioneer Theatre company perform Dracula, which spooked the living daylights out of me (I wonder if that's where the phrase comes from, but that's besides the point entirely.)
I have now come home to a dinner of 7-layer burrito, fiesta potato, 'Over the Hedge' and a parcel that looks suspiciously (delightfully) like an unabridged copy of Mrs. Beeton's.

With that, I sign off.

Good night!

P.S: I might also be feeling insanely happy right now because I booked my tickets on Tuesday :)

Anniversary.. almost.

2010-10-17T00:56:00.003-06:00

Four years (in a day) since I started this blog. I've changed the layout (since Blogger's decided to make their defaults a lot nicer to work with, I didn't need my clumsily coded but perfectly tailored layout anymore..). Also, if you take a look at the archive on the right, I've been writing a lot less.. Still, never fear, I haven't abandoned anything.
Four posts this month is the highest this year, along with March. There are also more posts this month than any other month save October last year (october had 5). In fact, looking back, it seems that my blogging productivity took a major hit the month I left home for the first time and flew across the seas to the New World.

Just some interesting stats.

Mushrooms-beans-carrots thing was good, threw in half a can of italian style diced tomatoes and made pasta on the side (a whole bag, half a cup of alfredo, one cup marinara mixed in at the end) .. dinner was yum.

Have I mentioned I like root beer floats very much, lately? Teddy's is my favourite so far (only kind of root beer I've had, actually, so maybe that doesn't count.. but I tried A&W today and don't like it as much) I hear Barq's is good..

gotta go.. kitchen emergency.

Julie & Julia

2010-10-16T18:23:00.003-06:00

Watched above movie on Netflix, now inspired to cook for dinner, keeping in mind that you can never have too much butter...

Cooking this.

.. and making this while veggies boil.

jet lag, minus the jet

2010-10-12T21:56:00.002-06:00

Why do I have this craving for breakfast food at dinner time? Perhaps it's my body's way of reclaiming all those lost mornings I've been spending asleep lately.

.Omelette
.Toast with butter and blackberry jam
.Oatmeal, strawberries and cream
. ..contemplating pancakes if I'm not satisfied after the above.

Beauty in motion

2010-10-07T22:02:00.004-06:00

Anyone who knows me probably knows by now that I can be moved to tears by a well performed piece of music, theatre or dance. I myself try to attempt these, (music and dance more than theatre) just so I can immerse myself in them further.
And so today I was at Capitol Theatre downtown, watching the students and company artists practice at Ballet West, trying to decide whether their mixed-level adult class was something I could attempt (after a year or so of sporadic beginner-level stuff), and I'll have to say, I had one and a half hours of watching the best, I swear best dancer I have ever seen, dance at that class. It was beautiful.

(moment of silence)

There were a couple of other dancers who looked like they were professional/in training/ used to be professional at some point, and they were very good too. I am tempted to take this scarily advanced class just for the inspirational experience of watching good dancers dance well. What say you?

- EDIT -

Hm. Upon leaving the class, I ran into him in the hallway and told him he danced beautifully and that I really enjoyed watching him today and, of all things, he took a bow and was acting, as I thought, plain coy. I come home, blog away, tra-la-la around the internet and discover that this particular dancer has just come out of a long and successful career with a ballet company midwest and is now teaching. He wasn't being coy, he was probably going, "Where the heck is the nearest exit?!"

Autumn

2010-10-03T17:53:00.002-06:00

Autum's here. Morning started out all sunny and evening suddenly turned windy and overcast. I'm sitting at my balcony watching the leaves fall.

Musings Midnight

2010-09-09T02:03:00.004-06:00

When it is past a certain hour of the night, when one has no company but oneself, spent with the day's industry, one's thoughts tend to take a singularly philosophical turn; (Also, when one has been reading novels of a certain vintage, a la Bronte, Austen, Alcott, Coolidge and Doyle, one tends to articulate those thoughts in an odd and archaic manner).

I have been involved in discussion of a certain nature repeatedly in this household, and it has been more a discomfort to me than anything else. You see, when I am subjected to listening to a heated discussion that I have strong opinions about, it is not easy for me to simply shut up about it. I enjoy a good ol' philosophical debate much as the next person, but when it is considered impertinent to voice those strong opinions and impertinent to exit the room on account of not being able to stand staying there any longer without voicing those opinions, it tends to frustrate, so here I vent.

For about as long as I can remember, I have held the firm and deep-seated belief that Truth can mean many different things to many different people. I will even go so far as to say that every point of view has truth to it, that can be seen if it is understood, because the true Truth is much larger than many little points of view that each represent only one cross-section of the entire thing.

Based on this, then, how might I reconcile two seemingly contradictory little-truths?

Take for instance, Science and God. Belief in God ideally requires a blind, unquestioning and all-encompassing faith, while all of Science is founded on questions, cross-examination and the belief that all that we have established to be true may, in the face of new evidence, ultimately be false.

[Note added upon re-reading the below - it's kind of long and ranty, so for those of you planning to skip the rest, all I effectively say is that Scientists seek the truth, and God-seekers seek God, and ultimately they are both the same thing. There, wrap your brain around that.]

I am sick, sick, sick, sick, sick of the God vs Science, Belief vs Questions debate, as if the two are vastly different. For once and for all, let us establish that a true believer in God and a true Scientist have a common goal - Truth (Religion is a whole other topic that I will save for another rant; suffice it to say that I believe that belief in God has not a whit to do with religion.).
A fundamental difference is that Scientists have the means to record their progress, while there is no easy way of documenting a spiritual journey in a transmissable manner. (Would you own that, however much the great saints and philosophers have described their spiritual journies, their moment of realization, their present state of being- it is impossible to completely understand their meaning without experiencing the experience for ourselves?)
Because of this difference, finding Truth in God may be compared to scaling an indescribably high mountain, while the entire field of Science may be described as a never-ending baton-race. The destination, however, is the same - we all want to know the answer to Life, the Universe and Everthing.

I would now like to say a few things as a scientist. Being Scientist is a way of life - you look around you and wonder about very ordinary things - you wonder how they work, what makes them tick. You wonder about what might be there that you cannot see, and what they do. You also do not accept something as a fact if there is no proof - hearsay and hunches have their value as leads into thorough investigation, but blurry cell-phone videos of aerodynamically inclined holy men will not be accepted as strong evidence, and if one is pushed to accept such as evidence, it will be ridiculed.
That is not to say Science denies the existence of God. God is not defined particularly well or in the same manner by different people, but by general definition as the Creator and omniscient presence who influences life, there is no scientific proof for the existence of God (by scientific proof I mean proof that is documented in a communicable manner, repeatable, and without a doubt un-falsified.. and perhaps other things too, comment please). There is also no scientific proof disproving the existence of God. Therefore, whatever their personal beliefs, a Scientist remains non-committal on the issue of whether there is, in fact God, and strives to explain phenomena by means that do not depend on the existence of God, on the principle that nothing, unless proven, is true. Let no one accuse a Scientist of being devoid of wonder or of lacking respect for creation!

And let no one insist, either, that an absence of Reasoning is the essence of true belief.

April showers May flowers and all that.

2010-05-24T09:57:00.002-06:00

I wish I could show you all the wonderful pictures of tulips, crocuses, daffodils and irises that I take with my phone.. but all I have for you are pictures I take with my laptop webcam. I have one more snowy picture for you. Note that the date is the 24th of May, 2010.

I love thundershowers, so long as they're not freezing.

Guess what I've been up to this weekend?

With that, I bid thee adieu - I need to run to lab.

May

2010-05-06T19:01:00.003-06:00

And so.. April begins and ends with snow. (for real. it was snowing last week.)

Now it's back to high winds, stormy weather, temperatures coasting freezing and lovely blue skies. Flowers seem to be about done.. they were pretty.

Watching new Holmes movie before we need to return the DVD tonight, so weather update is all you're getting for now.

Ta!

Pappu pass!

2010-04-01T17:16:00.003-06:00

I passed I passed I passed I passed I passed I passed I passed I passed I passed.. and I'm not going to get sick of saying that XD

On a different note, I give you April, people.

I'm off to sleep.. ta.

Sundaze

2010-03-07T11:56:00.002-07:00

Google Weather predicts rain for today. 70% chance of precipitation. I want Farmer's Market to start, already.

I had another weird dream last night - I kept seeing my journal notebooks of yore appear all around the place and made pains to pick them up and hide them away. It's only on waking up that I realised I know exactly where all of them are, and they're under lock and key, no less.

Four years of prolific, teen-angst-filled notebook journal writing, folks. That's about as long as I've had this blog too, it would seem. Then, imagine this blog, only with 3 posts to each day and 10 pages to a post, in notebook form. Throw in some emo, dried flowers, bits of perfume and newspaper clips, et. voila - you have my 15 notebooks, all numbered and most of them personalised to some extent

All under lock and key because, painful as those years were, I can't bear to throw them away.

Morning

2010-03-06T11:04:00.004-07:00

Heylo. Just woke up today. The milk's gone bad, so that means no cornflakes.. sorta. I've made do with water and milk powder, it tastes pretty much the same but smells a little weird now.
I had a dream in which I was talking about pet cats and dogs with my uncle, it was quite pleasant, for once, unlike the other dreams I've been having recently. We then proceeded to talk about pet mice, and I remember his face looking disgusted, while in real life I know this would probably never happen, and that he might have said something terribly funny. Ah well.

Oh, and the snow melted the day it fell, mostly.

Snow!

2010-03-05T10:41:00.005-07:00

...In March, no less. And I don't think we've had this much snow since December.

Sanga-mangey makes a cameo appearance

Is it Little Boy and Little Girl or Big Bad Global-Warming Wolf? I dunno, who's to say?

I been a baad, baad girl today, I missed ballet class this week and I also missed the extra ballet class this morning.. woke up at 10:30 and the class starts at 9.
Short post, in the hope that I'll post more, with pictures, yeah?

Testing..

2010-03-01T16:35:00.004-07:00

This has been stewing in my head for some time, and I may even have made a post on something similar in the past, but it has to be said.

I use the bus to commute to campus and back, as a result of which I frequently come across a number of posters that get stuck on the telephone pole next to my bus stop, often advertising yard sales or missing pets.

Recently, I came across (several) with the following headline, "Is Your Dog or Cat Missing?" and went up for a closer look. Below a collage of dog and cat pictures, it continues to read, "These dogs and cats were sold by the ... animal shelter for cruel experiments at the University ... Some may still be alive.." etc.

Friends and family know me as an avid animal lover. It is also fairly obvious to anyone else who happens to make my acquaintance when there's some sort of animal around. I also can't stand to watch them suffer or be in pain. This is also at the root of my personal decision to opt out of research which requires me to deal with animals - I wouldn't personally be able to do it.

However. This poster makes me livid. It is irresponsible and underhand of PETA to advertise their cause in this misleading manner. Perhaps they know no better, but I suspect the contrary - that they do know the true story but choose to paint it in colours that will garner them support from the many pet owners in this city. The general public does know no better, unless they are actually involved or have been exposed to research, and of course, who can't resist taking up a cause when they look into the eyes of the animals in that poster that they now believe are being subjected to needless cruelty by evil scientists.
Seriously, PETA, stick to doing something constructive, instead of propagating fear and hatred without presenting all the facts in context. I find it unfortunate that you've now got at least one animal-lover who is tempted to go anti-PETA, and that defeats your cause.

This post is, by and large, addressed to that general public. Here are some things I have learnt about how that system works that were not brought to the public's notice by PETA.

1. Yes, those pets were taken from the pound. I can understand if you are upset because one of those animals is your pet. However, if you are getting worked up because it is/was somebody else's pet, here is some info for you -
That dog/cat was either ill-treated or abandoned by its owner, or has run away, for it to be impounded. Moreover, every animal that enters the pound is characterized in terms of its behaviour, and a badly behaved animal, or one that doesn't get adopted out after a period of time, is deemed unfit for adoption and will be put to sleep. Regardless of whether they were used for testing by a research institution instead, every animal that enters the pound has a chance of being put to sleep.
(On a side note, I think this is extremely unfair to the poor animal, however I also see that this becomes somewhat of a necessity, considering that the animal shelter for a single county receives over 10,000 animals a year, and has limited space. It's an unfair world. Adopt from the pound, people.)

2. Instead of being put to sleep at the pound, a number of animals are adopted by the animal research facility at the University and a number of tests are conducted on them. However, not all these tests are invasive and not all of these animals are used for tests. Some animals are used for non-invasive tests, others are used as 'controls' meaning that no testing is done on them at all, while still others are found to be the wrong sort of animal for that particular test and are disqualified from being tested.

And then, there are those animals that undergo invasive, sometimes harmful testing. This may seem cruel to many, especially to put oneself into their shoes and think about the pain. If you're in for that kind of mental torture, go ahead, I choose not to indulge in it. Why? I know that they may be in pain, and frankly some tests creep me out too. However, this is not needless cruelty. These animals are being used for studies that improve therapy for a number of debilitating diseases. Not all those studies will give positive results, but that is the sacrifice that is made for our understanding of the body and the diseases that plague it. Try telling somebody who's doing their best to battle early-onset Alzheimers, or a recurring cancer, and fighting to stay alive until there's therapy or a cure, that this research is not necessary.
These animals may have no choice in it, and the experiments may be painful (note use of the word 'may'), but unless you advocate assisted suicide of everybody with the currently incurable Parkinson's/Huntington's/rare cancer/genetic disease, in other words, 'putting them to sleep' in the same manner that unwanted animals are put to sleep in the pound, or unless you want to tell the future generations that get these diseases that there will never be a cure, there is a great need for this kind of research.

As an aside, since I'm on the topic, here's my response to PETA's 'undercover' animal researcher who saw fit to publish information that made animal researchers look like cruel, evil people who didn't care for their animals and who think of them as mere objects.. I don't personally know any of the people that you refer to, but I can say this much - everybody who is a researcher that needs to work with animals is also human. As humans, we feel compassion for other living things (by and large). Especially, if one is sensitive, it is difficult to cause bodily harm, even if it is to heal. Think about how surgeons and vets cope with having to slice/drill/saw into the body and essentially make a mess mucking around, hopefully fixing something in the process and then sewing it all back up - they know that they are doing the best they can, however they also know that it causes pain and damages the patient's body. How do they deal with it? By thinking of it as a job, by thinking of the ultimate end-goal of greater good, by thinking of their patient as an object for the duration of the surgical process and by getting on with it. It's the same with a researcher who needs to do invasive tests on their animals.

Back to the public - there is a lot of legislature in place for the treatment of animals in a research facility that is constantly being improved upon, admittedly fueled by external pressure, but know that it is illegal to house or treat research animals in a cruel manner, aside from the tests itself. These animals are often expensive to obtain and maintain, and are therefore treated even more carefully. While they're not having tests done on them, they're pretty well taken care of, and that's probably the best middle-ground between the anti-cruelty and pro-testing poles.

3. Animals that go through milder testing/no testing at all are adopted back out to the public. Every fall, there is a widely advertised adoption drive on campus for retired research animals looking for a good home. These guys are happy, healthy and cheerful, and definitely not dead. And by the end of the one-day fair, they all find a home.

General Public - what say you now?

Siege

2010-02-05T12:58:00.008-07:00

"Dear Diary,

I haven't stepped out in days, and have lost all track of time. Our food stores are almost empty and there is nothing left to eat. We are beginning to get desperate..."

Hints of a noblewoman stuck up in her castle waiting for the siege to end.

.

Add a bit of, "I have no more washed clothes to wear, the 13 gallon dustbin has overflowed to 3 times its volume and the house looks like it was hit by a rough storm. Oh, and I forgot to bathe..."

tells you that this person is unquestionably a grad student in the Prelim Zone.

Keeping Sane

2010-01-22T22:17:00.004-07:00

I have, as of this weekend, officially entered the PRELIM ZONE (otherwise called the self-imposed solitary confinement test that holds the fate of your career by the b- ahem.).
In response (albeit very belated) to several requests for pictures of my latest obsession, here you go, captioned and all.

I have a craving for spicy brinjal and pappu. I have no onion. Will make do with dessicated coconut and a number of podis. Basmati (pronounced bas-MAA-tee) is smelling fragrant, kitchen calls.

much lous.

Future '10's

2010-01-05T21:20:00.003-07:00

Began the new year with a bang at Las Vegas, only I did snuggle up and fall asleep shortly after midnight - one week of 4 hours sleep and daily hikes in Arizona was exciting enough to put me to sleep in the Sin City on the craziest night of the year..

Decided to bring the lab Arizona treats for eats and picked up a box of 'Assorted Cactus Candy' made from the juice of the prickly pear, Mesquite bean, and one other unidentifiable source, that was today discovered to be 'Margarita' flavoured. Did it have Tequila for real in it or was it just a flavour? I can't tell you because this is a dry campus and consuming alcohol is considered illegal.

Went this morning to the Student Health Center since I'd been having pain in both my feet for a couple of months now and wanted to make sure it wasn't serious. The doctor was very pleasant, said I had Morton's Feet which apparently predisposes me to being a good runner (I can hear you chuckle. Shush.). He then took X-rays and said my feet looked very healthy, that they had wonderful bone structure and a nice arch, and basically couldn't find anything wrong with them. He did however seem to think that my ballet might be placing a strain on one joint, which led to the other foot getting hurt due to bearing more weight etc. He seemed a touch disappointed that I didn't have any theories of my own, but said he would consult with a physiotherapist tomorrow morning and shoot me an email.

At lab, I sent out a meeting request to my committee for my preliminary exam, the one in which they decide if I possess the critical thinking skills required to be a successful PhD student (and if they find I don't, I get to go back home a lot sooner than I planned), except I sent out an official meeting request to the members and scheduled a meeting room... on the wrong day. Boss wasn't very happy. Admin assistant called me aside, said that she was paid to do this stuff while I was paid to do the science, gave me a cookie and said not to worry, she'd fix it in the morning.

I lead a wonderful life.
Much lous to you all.

PS: I'd heard of these people but never actually seen their work. This is from The Week. Wiki them, they're...interesting.

Aap kahan se hain?

2009-12-12T20:03:00.002-07:00

Something surreal happened a couple of weeks ago, back before it plummeted to a cheery sub-zero. I'd decided to undertake the task of grocery shopping for three without a car and had a real blast catching the trax, shopping on my own time and seating myself with a satisfied sigh on a bench, waiting for the return ride home. Whence began to speak the guy on my left, who wanted to know if I was a new student this year. I wondered if this had anything to do with my car-less, trax-riding mode of travel, but let him know all the same that I'd been around for a year and a half. He explained that he thought I was new because he thought he knew every Indian student at the U with the exception of the current batch, and then caught himself mid-sentence to make sure I was Indian. I said I was from Chennai and liked the heat and humidity very much, thank you. He did know the boys though, because he asked if they'd cut their hair yet. And he got off at the next stop.
This might have been the perfect moment for me to go back to my crocheted Poncho, except for the fact that a white guy with beaded dreadlocks and a messenger bag was attempting to catch my attention. When I did acknowledge him, he brought out a book, pointed at its title and asked the question in the title of this post. The book, incidentally, was the Hindi version of the first Harry Potter. The guy was a student (he was on the trax, of course he was a student) of Business Marketing, International studies and Hindi. He explained very excitedly that he was going to be spending a semester at Hyderabad University very soon, studying advanced Urdu. When he asked me where I was from and I told him, he nodded as if that explained everything - particularly why all my replies to his questions were in English.
I feel a little disloyal, leading people on to believe I'm Tamil when in fact I'm Golt, but hey - the state's split up now, the white guy on the trax speaks better Hindi than I can, and I speak a butchered mishmash of Tamil and Telugu, all of which makes me quintessentially Chennai.

So. Sewing machine was Black Friday purchase, which means I can finally do something with the 20 yards of pretty fabric I bought last year, and most of that yardage is going to become a sofa cover. What think'st thou of this?

Exam on Monday and I'm calling home now, so b'bye birdie.

Nar-cook-ist

2009-10-30T00:20:00.003-06:00

I never thought I'd relish any kind of kootu until I successfully made the cucumber variety for the first time yesterday.
Also pesarettu, with onions and all.
And capsicum-potato.

But I've always loved annapodi-sambar, and my carrot-onion sambar rocks, thank-you-very-much.

Muahahaha-HA.

Farmville

2009-10-29T10:47:00.001-06:00

Also, pictures.

Asking Questions

2009-10-25T12:59:00.001-06:00

"All right," said Deep Thought. "The
Answer to the Great Question…"
"Yes…!"
"Of Life, the Universe and Everything…"
said Deep Thought.
"Yes…!"
"Is…" said Deep Thought, and paused.
"Yes…!"
"Is…"
"Yes…!!!…?"
"Forty-two," said Deep Thought, with
infinite majesty and calm.…
"Forty-two!" yelled Loonquawl. "Is that all
you've got to show for seven and a half million
years' work?"
"I checked it very thoroughly," said the
computer, "and that quite definitely is the
answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest
with you, is that you've never actually known
what the question is."

Quotable Quotes.

2009-10-24T22:03:00.004-06:00

"Our best defense against life may be the ability to stay fickle in the face of all that could grow to matter."

"Ah the dreary lives of old women who are young"

"Dreams are futile without a vision to see them through"

I went to lab for a couple of hours, went grocery shopping for trash bags, bought a broom and carried it all the way home, stopping for a hot chocolate on the way. I did not get to say, "Oh, I try not to ride my broom where it can scare people, but I prefer to fly". I got mobbed by 50 crimson-clad Utes supporters coming downhill from the stadium. I took plenty of pictures on yellows and reds. I baked banana-mush-bread and put brinjal-curry to stew. I reinstalled firefox and am google-talking with my best friend. I will harvest my rice and go to sleep. I may have burnt that banana-bread already.

The End.

Lab on weekends..

2009-10-18T17:27:00.002-06:00

..Actually rocks! High-speed internet, a nice comp (which is fast and has a huge monitor), a gorgeous view, complete privacy except for a little company in the way of the fellow weekend-worker, and free hot chocolate. I wish there were more weekends.

Ups and Downs contd.

2009-09-25T17:22:00.002-06:00

Ups and downs

2009-09-25T17:16:00.009-06:00

Happy day.

2009-09-20T17:49:00.002-06:00

Young first-time cook writing in.

I usually call mom if in need of inspiration or last minute help. What normally follows is that she'll give me a few pointers, and after hanging up, send me the link to the corresponding recipe on this blog on chat.

I tried an experimental pesarattu for this morning's breakfast for four, but used urad dal flour instead of the actual pappu, and let it soak overnight warm and with a little curd.
It turned out edible - soft and tasted pretty nice, only it wasn't pesarattu!
Repeating now, armed with real dal and a real recipe from Mahanandi.

Plus, roomie made potato and chilli bajji today. This is what I call living in style :)

I'm baaaack.

2009-09-14T23:34:00.003-06:00

*dusts away some cobwebs*

Hello.

Thunderstorms today. Received the following in the mail smack in the middle of the work-day:

Message sent - 9/14/2009
Severe Weather Alert
This is an emergency alert. A severe storm is shortly expected to reach campus. The University will not be closing, but we encourage you to take necessary precautions and find shelter. Hail and lightning are expected.

This led K to wonder, "So we're supposed to stay indoors like this the voice of God yelling down from the skies 'STAAAY AT LAAB AND WOOORK'?"

I did stay and work, plus I figured out how to get from my building to the bus stop without having to expose myself to thundering skies - the blessings of inter-building walkways. It is important to know such things before winter comes.

All's Well.

2009-07-29T23:20:00.002-06:00

Hey all. This bird hasn't chirped in a while, so writing in to say that all's well, and I'm still alive and doing fine.

Labbies

2009-06-17T15:11:00.002-06:00

If I've said anything about the members in my current lab that sounded negative - I would like to rephrase it. Everybody's helpful and nice, and I resonate with some individuals more than others. It's not their fault that I'm socially awkward and find the need to envelope myself in silence every once in a while.

Except that for the past couple of days, I haven't been able to shut up. And I started this morning with large gulps of someone else's coffee because I was thirsty. Coffee doesn't keep me awake - it merely makes me hyperactive.

I'm in the library now, and it's so much warmer, quieter and comfier than the lab bench. Paradoxically, I'm finding it easier to stay awake now.

Go figure.

Coming Home

2009-06-16T18:33:00.003-06:00

For those of you in the un-know, I just got back from a (very) quick and (very) last-minute trip to India. I spent two weeks in the comfort of home, rarely venturing outside, except to eat frankies or pick up shiny stuff at the beach.

I also spent two days with an uncle in Dubai, and two more with an uncle in San Fransisco, and back I am.

Homesick as I do get, when I sit still long enough to think about it, That little trip served to fill up the little hollow. Surprising how much a few short days can do!

Also, I'm insanely happy to be back in my home away from home. This city, with all its quaintness and its flowers and its friendly people, and its little surprises. I imagine they don't build anything very tall here because whatever they build would look laughably insignificant. Yes, I missed the mountains more than I should have. It's reassuring to stare off into the distance and see their familiar, awe-inspiring shapes.

Wiki-walk : Holy Moly!

2009-05-17T11:44:00.002-06:00

(I've been meaning to blog about this for years now, but have not, thus far, managed to remember to do so before closing my tabs.)

What's a Wiki-Walk? I'm sure most people who use Wikipedia do this on a fairly regular basis - it's my name for the process of 'walking' through a string of related articles. Let me explain.

Today, I started by looking up 'Ulysses', because I wanted to know the spelling. Ulysses, of course, is the Latin name of Odysseus, the hero of Homer's 'Odyssey'. He is most famous, says wiki, for the 10-year return journey home from Troy, in which he meets the Cicones, the Lotus-eaters, Polyphemus, Aeolus and the Laestrygonians, before he runs into Circe, who turns all his men into swine. Odysseus, when running in to rescue his men, is warned by Hermes and advised to take with him a certain holy herb to protect himself from Circe's influence. Take a wild guess at what this herb is named?

Holy Moly, would you believe it?

Neapolitan Sheik

2009-04-30T19:02:00.001-06:00

Easter Monday

2009-04-13T04:13:00.003-06:00

Does it get any East-er than this?

Yesterday was a wonderfully sunny, windy day. V, S, C and I went to the zoo (animals that we are, already). We saw Bison, birdies, poison-dart frogs, little sleepy, furry critters that curled up tight, peafowl, orangutans, gorillas, langurs, lemurs, elephants, zebras, rhinos, cougars, black bears, an amur tiger, cheetahs, giraffes and my favourite - the snow leopard. We ate pink strawberry-flavoured cotton-candy and some popcorn. I promised to keep my hands off everything at the gift-store, and we had a great time.

I stayed up half the night and filed my taxes for the State of Georgia, the State of Utah and the grand ol' States of United, upon which I reverted to a State of Somnambulism.

If I can but finish my commentary on the States of Maturing Virions and the States of ATP-dependant Trunkamides, my mind will be rather more at ease.

It's just my job..

2009-04-04T02:05:00.002-06:00

Another conversation on the shuttle, but this time, I was in it.
We were talking about journalism, and H. said, "You know, I think journalists and we do the same kind of work."
I asked him what he meant by that.
"Well, Journalists report the truth, and as Scientists, we report the truth. We just work with different things."

Doubt I'll ever be sick of scienting.

The Tools Make the Woman.

2009-03-11T22:45:00.005-06:00

..a small tribute to my favourite female comic protagonist.

Read Girl Genius. Would probably rate mature for (a lot) of violence and some skin. And crazy ideas that should be kept away from megalomaniac types that plan to take over the world.

Springy

2009-03-11T16:39:00.004-06:00

I suppose I must post, yes?

It's good to have longer days again, and coming home in the afternoon sunshine had me skipping all the way down the corridor. I even threw out the trash today, to somewhat lessen the smell of fermented cabbage in my apartment, and left the balcony door open long enough to get some fresh air. Only to burn mini-samosa in the microwave (I mean, who was to know that things actually caught fire in the microwave?!)

My wall calender shows a little foal in a flowery meadow. Definitely spring pictures.

Recent purchases - an id card reel with an embellished surface. What? It's pretty! Well.. I'd have bought just the reel alone simply for the joy of being able to pull out my card with ease, tap-on, and watch it snap back to place. Yes, I'm a stationerymaniac. It was just too much to resist going that one step further and actually getting one that looked as gorgeous as this one did. Here, pictures.

Notice heart on back. It's little details like this that I love.

Wordle

2009-02-12T18:28:00.001-07:00

You should check this site out.
Now presenting: The Little Mermaid.

Eavesdropping.

2009-02-04T12:26:00.003-07:00

"I'm thinking of majoring in Physics y'know.."
"No way, do you realise how much more physics you'd have to take? Like way beyond, man."
"What, like Quantum ..?"
"You'd be going way beyond Quantum, you'll be learning about quarks and spoots and stuff. You're going to be going so beyond, you'll be learning about stuff that doesn't even exist, man. You major in Physics - they'll teach you about stuff that doesn't exist.."

I burst out laughing at this point, as did half the bus.

The Words of a Sensible Man.

2009-01-20T14:10:00.002-07:00

"..we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.."

Full text from CNN

spelunking

2009-01-18T10:54:00.003-07:00

I just like the word, it's kooky.

Sitting on couch, watching the sun, played Guitar Hero (I sing on that, btw. Others do the guitar.) ate pumpkin-chocolate-chip bread for breakfast (Great Harvest Bread Company. Love that place.) Kissed good morning to Cloney-bear (I should put up a pic sometime. He's a Dillard's Christmas '07 bear and looks a lot like this blog mascot)

In a while, will be going snow-tubing. And terribly, terribly sorry - my camera ran out of battery while I was at Chicago, so no pics unless I can find replacement batteries in a jif. Seesya!

sandpaperspiedmirrorbardtoothwintertingle

2009-01-06T21:52:00.001-07:00

Happy New Year, all.

Hatemail

2008-12-20T11:56:00.009-07:00

Why do people hate.
In the wake of the terrorist attack on Mumbai, I've been receiving mail forwards filled with hate, filled with loathing. Some of them have been good reads - one senior Mumbai-ite addressed his letter to the Prime Minister, in which he provides a list of people holding positions in the government, in response to Manmohan Singh's "nobody will be spared." That was fun.
Other mails have been rants against the "Pakistani Terrorists", the yellow-bellied cowards, the heartless animals, the blah, the blah, the blah.
It doesn't stop with forwards. A Sikh family in Texas was harassed and arrested by the police when they called 911 to report a burglary... because the moment they entered the house, the police saw the turbaned and bearded men, and one woman with a kirpan at her waist, and thought they were Islamic terrorists. "Do you know what happened at Mumbai?" one of the officers had asked them post-handcuffing.
The Indian Cricket Board has canceled a 2009 Pakistan tour.

I suppose the web of connections will grow, the attacks caused no small ripples. Sitting halfway across the world from where it happened, I am worried. Not so much for my own safety, but for the sanity of people in my homeland.

I believe that Ahimsa is meaningless as a National Strategy in this day and age - we are the ones in power, and yet we are the ones under attack. It's not clear who should be practicing ahimsa - there is nothing to differentiate between the ones in power, the victims, and the ones mediating the attacks - not race, not religion, not economic status.
So what is our new motto?

Say it with me. It's, "EVERYBODYHATETHOSEYELLOWBELLIEDCOWARDLYFUNDAMENTALTERRORISTSWHOINFILTRATEOUR
COUNTRYANDCAUSEUSPAINANDSUFFERING..." (deepbreath"...YOUANDYOURKINDWILL
ALWAYSBEREMEMBEREDFORWHATYOUTRULYARECOWARDSWHOKILLEDINNOCENTDEFENCELESSHUMANBEINGS!!"
..as applicable to any Pakistani Terrorist (henceforth referred to as PTs) who has, in the recent past, either bombed/gunned/kidnapped innocent civilians.

I understand the rage of the people whose hometown has been violated, whose friends and relatives have been affected, I understand the rage and the horror of every feeling soul who witnessed or read about the attacks, but I do not understand the direction that it's taking.
I suspect that the powers-that-be act from their own political motivations that are too highly complicated for the average honest citizen to comprehend, while the average honest citizens themselves are left frustrated and directionless, and resort to passing around hate-mail.
If there's one thing I'd like to see achieved, it's understanding and communication between the average honest Indian citizen and the average honest Pakistani citizen, and yes - I do believe they exist.

Bachelor cooking..

2008-12-07T14:52:00.001-07:00

'Recipe' by Joyce Armor

First you take a giant bowl
and put a waffle in it,
then you add a bunch of jam
and stir it for a minute.

After that you get a cup
and fill it up with custard,
then dump it in with mushroom soup
and just a little mustard.

Squeeze a lemon right on top,
add peanut butter - - oodles,
but don't forget the applesauce
and two big scoops of noodles.

Then nuke it in the microwave.
That's it, you've got a winner.
Get the plates out now and yell,
"Come and get it! Dinner!"

Catch 22

2008-11-08T20:20:00.002-07:00

..cos once it's gone, it's not coming back. Who cares, there's 23 after that :)

I had a flippin' awesome time. Chocolate cake at 12 made the day pretty much perfect to start off with. Plus, I got stationery. And an alarm clock. And a trip to IKEA (oh joy, now I can call you over, cos I've got plates and mugs and cups and stuff like that!). I also got a Flip camcorder. Contemplating starting video blog for some of you special people (you know who you are :) ).

Thankee for the wishes, thankee for the presents, thanks for all the love.

:)

Dog Owner's Prayer

2008-11-06T00:40:00.006-07:00

Oh God on high
Grant me a dog so clever
That even I,
While boasting of him to my friends, have never
A cause to lie.

Sunny

I can't imagine why they play this game.

2008-10-18T22:06:00.003-06:00

Being Indian, I get weird looks when I tell people I don't do cricket. Most others obsess over the game. If there's a series of matches happening, the streets immediately fill up after school hours with kids of all ages imagining themselves to be their dream teams, and playing until they drop. It doesn't stop with high school.
My roomies, on the eve of an important presentation early the next morning, stayed up half the night giggling over a cricket ball and a swiss army knife (after having first exhausted my nail file :P ) attempting to rough up one half in order to be able to put a swing on it while bowling down our kitchen hallway.
Just this morning, boys who went to bed at 6 am after watching the Bengaluru match (is that how you spell it now?) were up and out of the house with bats, balls, stumps and pads before I could muster the willpower to poke my head out from under my quilt. They and half a dozen other guys who presumably stayed up to watch the match last night too.

I just don't get the point of the game - unless you're one of the batsmen or the bowler, all you do for most of the game is stand around, or sit and watch. The game drags on for days on end, moments of action are few and far between, and the game itself seems to be so intricate that only by playing it at the pace at which it's played, is it possible to take in that level of detail. Or perhaps it's the other way around.

It matters if the pitch is hard or if it's cracked, or how well it's prepared.
It matters if the ball is new or old or unevenly roughed up, and whether it lands on its side or on the seam.
It even matters how hot or cold or humid the darn day is!!

Seriously, I prefer football where everything's quick and dirty and not so subtle.

After two decades of puzzlement, however, it struck me recently to ask somebody what the appeal of the game really was. I was quite joyfully treated to a day of coaching on the physics of ball swing, the difference between a spinner, a seamer, a swinger and a fast bowler (all of which still remains rather blurry, I confess) NatGeo analyses of ball-play, live demonstrations down that kitchen hallway, balcony-views of stick-cricket, real-time translation of commentator-ese, and a summary of the past-present-and-future of Indian cricket put together piece by random piece.
I also discovered that Brett Lee and I share birthdays exactly 10 years apart. He also plays the guitar, incidentally, and you can't imagine how thrilled I am about that!
You've got to hand it to them - being a cricketer requires super-fast reflexes.. seriously, how do you see which angle the seam on something 6cm in diameter is, when it's coming at you at 135kmph, let alone judge your shot based on that? It's quite awe-inspiring.

The real moment of comprehension for me, though, dawned when I received this for an answer to my question.. "It's amazing Tunes, when you go up to play, you feel like a warrior!"

As simple as that.

Settling in

2008-09-28T12:23:00.003-06:00

Life's come to some kind of routine now. Things are still very haphazard and the house is a mess, yes, but at least I got the laundry in, the trash out and one half of my lab work done. Plus, I put rice on today and have a definite plan of what to cook.

Academically.. I think I'm just about staying afloat. The one thing I think needs to be done is that I wake up on time and stop missing morning classes. Tests and problem sets - I'm coming out about average, which is not very good, considering that I'm now borderline if I'm average!

In lab - I've been slacking off lately, not really doing much, but that's cos the protein was insoluble and I've been too lazy to start working on solublizing it. I do need to go make the buffers some time today, though. Still, that won't take me long. Today's priority is, alas, tomorrow's exam. My only hope is that everyone else is as confused as I am.

At home - house is a mess, one room is a waste of space and needs to be organised.. actually everything needs to be organised.

c'est la vie.

Wild West

2008-09-02T09:58:00.000-06:00

WildWest

Eeee I'm going to be getting my own apartment this week!! Not like these guys haven't taken great care of me.. just that I'm looking forward to a place of my own that I can decorate.

In the New World.. YET AGAIN.

2008-08-16T14:03:00.003-06:00

Sigh. I think I exhausted my honeymoon phase with the 5 month stint in Atlanta. As an International Student, I have been told that it's normal for me to HATE AMERICA RIGHT NOW.
Thank goodness for that.

Salt Lake City is beautiful. Here's a sample of the mountains at sunset.

The Purple any better?

2008-08-05T14:09:00.001-06:00

Backing up laptop data, packing up old stuff, packing in new stuff.

Count down in hours now - 29.

Murphy's law.

2008-08-03T01:31:00.001-06:00

Arrrrrrgh! Sorry folks, just after shifting everything over to my new site does their server decide to have downtime. Like, while I was in the process of uploading a file. Grr.

Purple.. eh, pfft.

The REAL reason for the purple..

2008-08-01T11:01:00.003-06:00

Heylo all. This may not come as much of a surprise for my precious inner circle (mweheheheh.) but the real reason for the purple layout is so that we're now colour-co-ordinated with:

HERE!

ta-da!
Yes, it's my very own.

and yes, I'm still trying to make peace with purple. :P

Purple also happens to be what you get when you mix Pinks with Blues. I fly in 6 days.. alvida, Chennai, I'll always carry a piece of you in me. *sniff*

Wild West, here I come!

:D

-bows-

Ponystars!

2008-07-26T09:03:00.004-06:00

Sigh. I'm sure I'll stop this mindlessness when I start my classes (and moreover, don't have a laptop :P ) but for now.. find my profile on Ponystars.

For my own record, here are my beauties.

Latte : http://www.ponystars.com/index.php?p=poney&id=77490
Anemone : http://www.ponystars.com/index.php?p=poney&id=83085
Angelwing : http://www.ponystars.com/index.php?p=poney&id=77547
Morgan : http://www.ponystars.com/index.php?p=poney&id=84648
Kelp : http://www.ponystars.com/index.php?p=poney&id=77611
Tigerlily : http://www.ponystars.com/index.php?p=poney&id=84684

In the Garden City

2008-07-20T02:29:00.002-06:00

Sighetty. 17 days longer in this country.

Okie, so what's with all the purple? Just me trying to make peace with the colour. Am undecided on whether or not to embark upon the mammoth task of learning PHP and making my website php enabled in the space of a few days. Then it'll be up and ready to update on a regular basis with little effort.. sounds wonderful.

Only, today we're going to the bookshop, so I'll probably start tonight.

I read Flatworld, and was not very impressed.

I need to buy suitcases.

On a Break

2008-07-12T02:13:00.002-06:00

To everyone in general, there are a lot of things I'm supposed to be doing right now, only I'm to lazy to do them. Let me get back to doing stuff again, as opposed to only eating and sleeping, and I'll get them done.
Sorry if any dues owere owed, they'll be de-owed soon :P

Tum ti dum ti dum..

2008-07-11T13:17:00.003-06:00

I'm in an unusually wicked and self-satisfied mood. Muahaha. You'll see, in a few days.

Meanwhile.

I bathed doggie today. Quite a workout, as I've been announcing on my status message. However, doggie is now clean and shiny and several shades lighter... and giving me incredulous looks, wondering what I'm doing up and clacket-ing at 1 am.

Give me time.. I'll set up a way you all can see pictures :)

annd. My apartment hunting service tells me I am homeless this fall/winter, as are they, but are willing to accommodate me in the lab broom closet until a vacancy opens up.