Never boring

A friend of a friend once said, at the end of one of our mutual friend's many interesting (read: crazy as hell) stories, that "at least it's never boring!" While that was not the reaction said friend was hoping for, that phrase has turned out to be SO USEFUL. As many of you have pointed out to me, my life is a little insane. And that's just the moving around, crazy work and living situation part. It doesn't count any crazy interpersonal relations, of which there are a reasonable number, potentially to be discussed further here later... But anyway, you can imagine that when you get together me and several other people from my master's who are all at least as nuts as I am, there is always something (and usually a lot of somethings) going on. It's never boring!

Today has been the least boring day in at least...three days. Everything has been extra special not-boring lately, but today was a winner. More details when I figure out how any of this not boringness is going to work out. Your teaser: in the next month I have 2 big interviews (one of which is at 5am because the three people involved are in a range of time zones covering 14 hours) and may be moving to an island in the Indian Ocean. Not boring....

Random Science Phrases

In scientific literature I occasionally come across terms or phrases that sound ridiculous. They are sometimes less so as a function of the context, but not always. I'm amused and thought I'd start sharing these little laughs. Today's is "foreign body giant cells" aka, rather originally, FBGCs. The definition isn't too interesting, (they rarely are for these odd terms) so just enjoy the momentary "Huh?" and maybe visions of  huge cheesy horror movie amoebae or something.

Brunch

Sunny warm midwinter Sunday brunch outside. So good!

On the road in Georgia

I took a road trip this weekend to visit friends in Savannah. Hellooooo southern nostaliga attack. I haven't been to south Georgia in years and had forgotten how pretty it is! The city was beautiful as always with its Spanish moss, azaleas (blooming in January due to a nonexistent winter, except the weekend I was there, which was freezing), fancy old houses and people, and the marshes.  Unexpectedly, I also really enjoyed the four hour drive. Lots of agriculture (including pine plantations and pecan groves), forests, hills, rivers, and lakes. The trip both ways coincided with dusk, which never hurts for prettiness. Neither does being recently back on birth control and HORMONES. So much beauty I almost cried. Such a girl.

Two odd things along the way:

-The peacock I almost hit because it was eating right beside the highway. Reasonably sure peacocks aren't native here...

-The "all you can eat fresh seafood buffet" restaurant (shack) in the straight up middle of nowhere. Do. Not. Trust.

A few pictures.

Beautiful Savannah

Sunset during my drive south

The salt marsh! Love these. Maybe love-hate. I worked in them for a while, which was miserable. But they're beautiful from a slight distance.

As a sorta ecologist, I hate pine plantations. But they look really cool as you drive by.

Pecan grove!

Happy Valentine's Day!

What love should look and taste like!

Easy and Delicious Pad Thai

...not a myth. I made it, which vouches for the easy part! This recipe is a mix of bits and pieces from various online versions, but it was good, so I wanted to share. And put in on here for when I lose the sheet of paper I wrote it down on!

Ingredients

- 12oz rice noodles
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, chopped
- enough oil to fry above chicken (~1/4cup)
- 4 eggs

- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 green onion, sliced

Sauce
-3T seasoned rice vinegar
-6T fish sauce
-5T sugar
-crushed red pepper to taste
 -1.5t peanut butter
-a bit of lime juice (yes, precisely that much)

Optional
-bean sprouts
-salad shrimp

-1/4 c chopped peanuts

Prep
1. Prepare the noodles (if they're raw, cook them, but if they're already cooked, wait)
2. Mix up the sauce ingredients
3. Heat sesame oil on high heat in a wok
4. Fry the garlic and green onion
5. Add chicken, cook.
6. Add eggs and stir in 1-2 minutes (it looks like way too much egg, it's not, don't worry)
7. Add the things that need heating--noodles, bean sprouts, shrimp...
8. Add sauce.

Plate, garnish with chopped peanuts, lime wedges, whatever you like/remember from restaurants. EAT.

A Master's In Music

As much as I liked music before my master's, I became infinitely more obsessed with it during the program. My tastes were changing before I left, and I had some people in my class that have great taste in the kind of music I was gravitating towards, which was awesome. Now that the program is over I realize that certain songs will always remind me of specific semesters--the location, the people I met, the things I was doing. I love it! Here are some of my favorites from each semester:

1st Semester, Groningen (The Netherlands): All kinds of adjusting and rethinking. "Islands" by The xx (whose AMAZING concert I just saw in Asheville, NC).

2nd semester, Montpellier (France): I think it was this one, although I'm honestly not sure! Another weird semester. Not my best musical time.

3rd semester, also in Montpellier: Weird and awesome, sort of carefree and dreamy in a weird way."Hard 2 Keep" by R E A L M A G I C and "Twice (16 Bit remix)" by Little Dragon.

4th semester, Uppsala (Sweden): Work hard and play hard. The sun didn't go down much, and we didn't sleep when it did.