all sorts of updates!

...or when you realize holy cow! I have so much to say!

--I talked with the McCormick house manager on Friday, and it looks like I will be moving in the first week of August--they're repainting the whole place (woo-hoo!) and I might be able to get a bed! Well, more like two twin beds smushed together, but I'm cool with that, too. I have my first official event to attend on May 2nd (make-your-own pizza party!) and a barbecue on May 9th...both should be a rocking good time. This also means that I am now combing Craigslist like crazy to find furniture to buy and refinish/clean/whatever it needs. And no worries--I promise to bring a strong not-female person with me to all Craigslist locations. Camp Fire Girl's honor.

--Update on Harold Fairchild - another Boston resident looking up information on this gentleman came across my blog and wanted to donate two books he found that belonged to Harold...he found them at the same event I found mine. They're steam tables - basically lots of values in lots of columns and rows. For 100 pages. Gotta love the days before calculators... I still have not heard back from the MIT archives, and queries to EAA, FAA, and Pratt/Whitney have not been fruitful (they all suggested looking into the National Archives, which my contact in Pelham is doing). I was also invited to a special ceremony for the opening of the new library in Pelham as a perfect time to donate these books - it's in June after quals, so I'll probably make a weekend of the experience.

--It has recently come to my attention that my blog doesn't really have a "focus." I've thought long and hard about why and if I care, and my realization is that my blog is a reflection of me, and it is who I am. I'm a biologist, a big sister, a fond wearer of dresses, a student, a baker, a musician...I am not just one thing, and I am more than okay with that. In fact, I would have it no other way. I love that my life vacillates between Shostakovitch symphonies, internal ribosome entry sites, figuring out yet another way to make quinoa taste delicious, and overcoming/enjoying my addiction to vintage dishes. What I write here reflects this...and you can read whatever you'd like. It's like a friend serving you this amazingly delicious pizza--let's say the chicken, gorgonzola, spinach, mashed potatoes, and spinach pizza from Emma's---and you just decide you don't like the craisins. So you pick them off. Problem solved. If you don't really care about my rants about science...don't read them. I'm not going to hold you hostage and/or force feed you craisins. Promise. (although they are so. good. ever eat them with a spoon of peanut butter? = heaven on earth).

-the farmer's market opens June 6th! I cannot wait. It has been on my calender since June. Other projects include trying to find a place to buy my milk, cream, butter, and perhaps even cheese from a local supplier. (Boston people - any ideas?)

-a friend here at MIT has agreed to help me learn how to swim! I did swimming lessons when I was younger and got through everything but lifeguarding, but I don't know how to do the perfect form adult swimming exercise that would be ever-so-lovely for this bad knee of mine. And the last time I tried I knocked my head into the wall several times as well as kicking people in other lanes...the perils of being blind and without glasses. I found a pair of prescription glasses online, and I'm so excited to get them in the mail and try them out! Anyway - my friend was a varsity swimmer from Cal Tech. And probably one of the kindest guys I know. I lucked out. (now, to build up to seeing myself in a swimsuit again).