Last year vs. this year

This is what I was doing a year ago:

I was partying it up in Taipei with two of my favorite people, waiting for the fireworks at Taipei 101. Also partying and waiting for the fireworks were 800,000 Asians, every single one of whom I bumped into, was accidentally groped by, or otherwise awkwardly interacted with during the course of the evening. Consider the following:

That is the Taipei metro on new years eve. I would never recommend it to anyone with any amount of claustrophobia issues. We only survived because Dave was a foot taller than everyone else, so we relied on him acting as a periscope.

So, last year was super exciting. This year, we briefly considered going to NYC to watch the ball drop, but since I haven't quite recovered from last year (see the above picture), we decided to play it low-key. We will be welcoming 2012 by eating this:

And also these, which I've made before and were specifically requested by Dave:

(Side note: If you are thinking, "Who is this person who cooks actual food? What has happened to the scowling, ramen noodle-cooking Meredith we know and love?", then do not be alarmed. It's just that I cook now. In fact, I've basically transformed into a domestic goddess. Or something.)

We will then be watching Community and playing Blockus and Jenga untill midnight, when we'll use pan lids as cymbals and make an appropriate amount of noise.

Bottom line: yes, we are lame-o people who stay in on New Years. But I'm going to enjoy the crap out of it.

Happy 2012 to all, and to all a good night!

out of focus

While trolling the interwebs, I came across this picture today:

(from dooce.com)

I immediately liked it, because it reminded me of being a (blind as a bat) kid at Christmas time. I remember standing out in the street looking at the house after the lights had all been put up, or sitting in the darkened front room with the decorated tree all lit up, and I'd slip my glasses down my nose and enjoy the lights. I thought I was so much luckier that people with good eyesight because I could see the lights in a way they couldn't. They could only see the lights in focus, but I, I had this extra option. I could see the lights as blurry, glowing orbs, all the colors overlapping and twinkling. It was so magical.

Once apon a time, it snowed. And then all the freaking TREES fell on all the freaking POWERLINES!!!** Which brings us to today's topic:

Random person: "Hey Meredith, what do you think it's like to live in a refrigerator? "

Me: "Oh, you naive random person, I don't wonder; I know."

Let me tell you what it's like:

It's cold and dark and there's no internet or hot food or running water and you sleep wearing a hoodie and socks and maybe even your jeans just so they'll be warm in the morning. (Stop judging me!)

But! If you're lucky enough to be a grad student who lives in a refrigerator, at least you can escape the dark coldness for the well lit, internet-supplied haven of your lab! And while there, though you can't seem to generate any data that may actually lead to your academic progression, you can generate graphs such as the following:

Stay tuned to see my upcoming data on the weakening of my mental state as a function of days spent without electricity!


**Seriously, how was this not anticipated by the lovely people at Connecticut Light & Power?

Ittay bittay kittay committay

Did you ever wonder what a freezer full of cat cadavers would look like? Well, wonder no more. Behold:

[Figure 1: Me in a freezer full of cats.]

As a grad student, I have to (get to!) TA a couple sections of an anatomy/physiology lab. Part of the class involves using preserved cat cadavers to help the students learn about muscles, internal organs, etc.

However, I think I'm spending too much time thinking about/dealing with the cats. Between doing cat dissections myself, studying up on cat anatomy so I at least seem like I know what I'm talking about, and helping my students dissect the cats, I spent about 20 hours last week on cat-related issues.

Why mention this? Because the cats are invading my dreams. Seriously.

Example one: I'm teaching one of my lab sections, when a student suddenly says, "Meredith! This cat is breathing!" I rush over, and sure enough, the thing is coming back to life. I yell for someone to get some radioactive stuff (really??) to inject into the cat to re-deaden it. Someone gets it. I inject the cat. The radioactive stuff doesn't work. OH MY GAAASH, WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?!? I wake up in a semi-panic.

Example two: I have a cute little (alive) kitten. Some unknown person wants to take it and use it for the anat/phys labs. I spend the whole dream running away and wake up exausted.

So there you go. I am being driven insane by dead cats. Or maybe the formaldehyde fumes are starting to get to me.

Tomorrow is Friday, guess what that means??

FREE FOOD FOR THE GRAD STUDENTS!!!

Win.

Come on, Irene!

Well, it's official. We moved to Connecticut. And naturally, the first weekend we're here there's a hurricane headed right towards us. Neat.

Church is cancelled tomorrow, school is cancelled on Monday, and I've got the chorus of this song in my head:

Time flies when you're having fun

One year ago today:

I remember during all the bridal showers and pre-wedding excitement, more than one person said:

“The first year is the hardest!” (or some variation of this lovely thought)

WHAAAT?! First of all, no matter how well meaning you are, why the jack would you say this to someone who is getting married in a few weeks? And secondly, maybe the first year is the hardest if you’re a BYU success story that went from Just Met to Just Wed in two months, but Dave and I had been together for long enough that I pretty much knew what I was getting into. We’d been on several camping trips together, which in my opinion is the key to getting to know someone. The way a person behaves when sleep deprived, bug bitten, and without indoor plumbing gives you a lot on insight into their personality. But I digress.

This doom-and-gloom prediction of “the hardest year of marriage” planted pictures in my head of me and Dave, three or four months into married life, shrieking at each other and hurling kitchen items across the room because we'd discovered all sorts of unsavory habits in each other that we hadn't been aware of before.

But seriously, if the past year was the hardest it’ll ever be, me and Dave are in for a charmed existence.

Because it’s been great.

P.S. This HIMYM clip pretty much sums up me and Dave's relationship.

First impressions of Connecticut

1. There are lots of trees
2. It's more humid then I anticipated
3. They really like red brick buildings (see Figure 1, above)
4. The people in the cemeteries have been dead a long time... and apparently this makes Dave nervous (see Figure 2, below)

Happy Commitment Phobia Awareness Day from a recovering commitment-phobe.

The irony of commitment is that it's deeply liberating--in work, in play, in love. The act frees you from the tyranny of your internal critic, from the fear that likes to dress itself up and parade around as rational hesitation. To commit is to remove your head as the barrier to your life.

-Anne Morriss

a post about bacteria

So today I was attempting to check out my bacteria under the microscope (yes, I finally coaxed them into growing) and it was giving me some grief. The bacteria I’m working with produces this stuff called green fluorescent protein, so to see if it’s alive and well I look for little fluorescing specks. I was getting frustrated, decided maybe it was too bright to see my bugs, so I turned off the light and continued searching for any sign of life.

Then I saw a little speck of light! Hallelujah! Using my mad microscope skills, I slowly brought the field into focus, and can I just tell you… it was beautiful. Really. All those little bacteria, fluorescing like crazy on a black background, looked just like a billion sparkling stars.

Stars and bacteria. Completely opposite things. But both are kind of amazing.

And now, a few lists.

Things the World Needs Less Of:
-Geico commercials. Seriously, I hate ‘em all.
-Those cutesy blogs where really trendy girls post close up pics of their food.
-Jeggings. So unattractive.
-My use of sarcasm to compensate for being introverted.
- Freakin bacteria that WONT GROW EVEN WHEN I GIVE IT EVERYTHING IT COULD POSSIBLY WANT! Not that this is a sensitive subject or anything.

Things the World Needs More Of:
-Erlenmeyer flasks. So useful.
-Disney Land. Sorry if you’re one of those “I’m too mature for that kind of thing” haters, but I dearly love the Happiest Place on Earth.
-Bluebird chocolate’s Melti-Mints
-Christmas lights. I recently learned that Christmas lights at any other time are called “Event Lights.”
-Aggie Basketball
-People who wash their hands.
-Mittens

First one, baby. yeeeah.

I used to think that to have a blog, you either had to have 1) an adorable child 2) tons of amazing thoughts that you were capable of clearly expressing in writing, or 3) a really exciting life. However, it was recently brought to my attention by a few of my dearest friends that you don’t actually have to have any of these things to have “blog.”

Well, I have no brilliant ideas, my life is boring, I only say witty things once in a while and usually by accident, and I definitely do not have a kid. But because I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to waste my time on the interwebs, I now have a blog too.

Also because I’m a social conformer.


Seriously, this is going to be awesome.