April 2010

March flew by, folks...from the late nights drinking beer watching The Daily Show with my brudder to presenting my first official poster at the Bioengineering retreat to a co-op adventure to finally filing my taxes, much was accomplished.

Inspiration


--A labmate spent three weeks in Asia this month, and brought back presents! I received a package of Morinaga's "Rare Cheese" ---which, translated from Engrish, apparently describes no-bake cheesecake. None of the instructions are in English. But the bird on the box is cute! I'm going to go ahead and send it on to a friend who speaks Japanese and see if he can give me the basics (as in, what should be 25 g, what should be 170cc, and why in the heck they both wrap something in tinfoil and talk about 500W, a description typically utilized for microwaving?)



--Beth Terry, a woman dedicated towards decreasing wasteful plastic consumption through her blog Fake Plastic Fish. A recent post talked about two artists making their art from plastic washed up on the beach, and Beth went to visit...their plastic flotsom findings remind me of the ocean, remind me of the crappy things we keep putting into it, and push me towards being better about my plastic consumption.


--The pantry in the home of the duo behind Emersonmade, a company which makes beautiful fabric flower corsages and headbands in New Hampshire. I want it. So badly. Granted, I have a bit already started, but it is nowhere this size or magnitude or prettiness. But yes...glass containers are wonderful.



--Ole Miss is looking for a mascot to replace their current goateed Confederate "Colonel Reb" (short for the Rebels). Someone brilliant thought about extending the rebels to, uh, another galaxy far, far, away, and came up with Admiral Ackbar. Yes, the "it's a trap!" Admiral Ackbar. From Star Wars. I didn't believe The Huffington Post, so I emailed a friend who went to Ole Miss. And it's true. I just hope they can get around the whole copyright infringement thing. Because if so that'd be AWESOME.




--The seal snuggie. Courtesy of Vík Prjónsdóttir




Things to Look Forward To:

--Being at home for Easter for the first time since high school. There will be Peep explosions in the microwave. And Yesssss.... (sorry to friends who didn't know about this...it is a family-only visit for a family health issue)

--Apparently there is a new antique mall close to my home that my mom wants me to visit for the pretty dresses. Can't wait!


--"Mom" is coming to visit...sister has an opera to play in (boo) and brother can't come either. There are such plans in place, and they include a trip to Boston's approximation of Puran as well as lots and lots of walking around Boston. And ice cream. There is always ice cream.




--Gustavo Dudamel is coming to MIT to receive an award from the MIT Media Lab and conduct the MIT Symphony Orchestra in a master class. Amazing.


--The Secret of Roan Inish was a movie I often watched as a child, and I came across a copy to watch on the way to Minnesota...the trailer isn't very representative of the movie, but I'm excited to see it as an adult:






--A friend that now works in Maine is coming down to visit! Champagne, chocolate, Wagamama, and lots about the science of sticklebacks. I can't wait!



Things I Will Do:


--Cheesecake for my personal baker's challenge, especially because I skipped out of my challenge for March...Pi day would have been too tough with Eric visiting...


--Guerrilla pothole gardening, sending MIT a message, and hopefully starting a hacking trend. It's just such a cute idea, and MIT certainly has the uneven asphalt to support such a concept.


--A lot a lot of lab work. A lot a lot. The girls keep asking where I went for spring break, and my best response was "to lab!" Science is happening, slowly but surely. I can only


--Find out if I won the NSF Graduate Fellowship, a scholarship for my remaining three years at MIT...I have high hopes, but we'll see.


--Chose my thesis committee. This makes me feel really, really, old.


--Continuing cooking co-ops. Number one was an absolute success...spinach mushroom quiche and lemon mousse. I think the main thing is to plan recipes that can be executed and finished and eaten within two hours (no waiting time). But the actual recipes turned out quite well...the whole toasting sesame seeds before putting them in the crust is genius.