The burn continues...

Burn, day 10:



My burn has morphed into this horrible looking, painful, annoying mass of blisters on my hand. I went to the doctor (again) today and got a tetanus shot, which has caused annoyances and pain of its own, and a "stay the course" diagnosis, since apparently this is part of the healing process. The blisters are protecting the new skin as it forms, and will eventually disappear. Sigh....Eventually, maybe, but in the meantime, I don't think I will ever use the hot water bottle again!

Sigh....

In the last week I have managed to fall off the ladder to the attic (resulting in a bruised bum), slip and fall on an icy patch near the entrance to my building (resulting in a bruised cheekbone, bruised hip, and separated ribs), AND pour boiling water on my hand while attempting to fill a hot water bottle (resulting in a relatively small but very painful second degree burn). Needless to say, I am having a rough time of it! Fortunately, my cheek is pretty well healed, and other than the bandages on my hand, nothing else is visible when I'm fully dressed, so I don't look as pitiful as it sounds.

Below is a picture of my lovely burn. It doesn't look too bad in the photo, though. The discolored spot in the red area to the left was actually a blister earlier - the blister is gone now, but the skin-shell is still there which makes the discoloration. The palm side of my had looks similar, but no blisters. Also, my thumb has a few splash spots (they don't really show up very well) and blister on it, but I didn't want to take the band-aid off for the photo because it's the only one I had left...

Weekend treats with good friend...

My friend Jenny came down for the weekend yesterday - we haven't had a "girls" weekend in quite some time - and we have spent the day relaxing. Well, at least part of the day. I worked this morning and Jenny stayed at my place and read. Then we went to lunch, stopped by Target to pick up a few things and then we went and had a pedicure. A good pedicure is the most amazingly relaxing experience and the best way to paper yourself for not very much (also, it's good for your feet). As always, the folks at SuperNails were excellent and ever-attentive to details and we had a great time. I did notice something strange while we were there, however; in the chair next to me was a rough-looking cowboy! His wife was getting a mani and a pedi, so I guess he thought he would try it out. He looked so out of place - thick, bushy mustache, tanned face (with a hat line), well-worn jeans, pearlsnap shirt, Carhart insulated vest, hat in hands, and mud-covered cowboy next to his seat (which, BTW, at SuperNails are fabulous massage chairs so you get a massage while you get a pedicure) (also, you could tell he had worn boots most of his life as the hair on his legs from mid-calf down wasn't there any more, evidently worn off from daily boot wear; my dad has the same look). He looked a bit uncomfortable during the whole thing, but he seemed to be enjoying himself; I guess even cowboys like a bit of pampering now and again!

Ummm....Perhpas a title change is in order???

Someone asked me today why my blog is titled "All the world's a phage...Scientifc progress goes boink". The first part is is a quote from William Shakespeare (although I can't recall from what work at the moment), and is maybe a bit overused by phage biologists to emphasize the importance of their field (http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20030712/bob9.asp). Phage comes from the Greek word "phagein" meaning "to eat" (also, the Greek word "phagos" means a voracious or gluttonus man, which would also apply to some phages, like T1. Oh, for those of you that don't already know, a phage (full word - bacteriophage) is a virus that infects bacteria (i.e., it "eats" them)). I am studying the phage lambda host cell lysis system for my PhD project (see Young lab homepage link to the left). The second part is the title of a Calvin and Hobbs comic collection, of which I am a huge fan. "Boink", in that case, is meant to mean goes bad or off course or at least not the way you planned, sort of like what you might imagine happens to an object that when dropped, makes the sound the word boink makes when you say it. However, since I did not know the formal definition of the word boink, I looked it up on dictionary.com. I was shocked to see the answer:

- from the American Heritage Dictionary -
boink - verb; (boinked, boink·ing, boinks); To have sexual intercourse with; to engage in sexual intercourse. [From boink, imitative of bumping or bouncing.]

After reading this, I immediately realized that I did, in fact, know this definition of boink somewhere in the back of my brain, but it certainly did not come to mind when I picked the title of my blog!

Still, I think the title, using the Calvin and Hobbes definition, very aptly describes what my life has been centered around for the last 5.5 years, so I guess I'll keep it.

Things eveyone should know and other people already said better...

We cannot learn without pain - Aristotle

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tired anything new - Albert Einstein (It's always good to try new things, right, Gran?)

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other - JFK

Education is not received; it is achieved - Unknown

Confidence comes not from always being right, but from not fearing to be wrong - Peter T. McIntyre

It is not easy to find happiness in ourselves and it is not possible to find it elsewhere - Agnes Repplier

The life given us by nature is short, but the memory of a life well spent is eternal - Cicero

The Ice Storm continues...

The University was closed AGAIN today - this hasn't ever happened in the 6 years that I have been here! My roommate, Dave, took these pictures this morning - it's worse than yesterday.

Can you see the Chihuahua in this picture?

Macy is always snuggling in the clothes freshly out of the dryer...

British vs. American vocabulary - this time, in the kitchen...

I got several really lovely cookbooks from Phil's parents for my birthday and Christmas - all British cookbooks (a hint from Phil, perhaps?? I also got British measuring cups/spoons) - Jamie Oliver's "Cook with Jamie", "The Taste of Britain", and my favorite, Gordon Ramsay's "Passion for Flavour". My roommates and I decided to cook together the other night, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to try out one of the recipes; I chose the absolutely fabulous looking/sounding "Rump of lamb Nicoise". However, upon trying to procure the ingredients, I discovered several things: 1) there was no rump of lamb to be had at the three grocery stores that I tried, 2) I have no idea what 'aubergines' or 'courgettes' are, and 3) that I need Phil here to translate or a American/British food dictionary. [BTW, 'aubergines' are eggplants and 'courgettes' are zucchini squash]. It's all well and good when you're at home and can access Google, but at the store...Nonetheless, I can't wait to try any of the recipes, especially from the Ramsay cookbook. I have to admit that I'm a little bit of a fanatic when it comes to Gordon Ramsay (http://www.answers.com/topic/gordon-ramsay). I watch three of his TV shows (Hell's Kitchen, Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares, and The F Word, although they are all aired at different times of the year) and am reading his autobiography "Roasting in Hell's Kitchen - Temper Tantrums, R Words, and the Pursuit of Perfection". He is so amazingly driven and inspiring to those around him - even though his relentless pushing of those who work for him can appear overly demanding and maybe even cruel, it is clear that he cares for them and really wants them to succeed (this being the important part - if your going to be demanding, exacting and hard, you have to be just as willing to give praise for a job well done as you are criticism for a job done poorly; it is important to note that although he is known for his bad temper, he has great relationships with many in his employ and in fact has retained 85%+ of all of his employees). I find him really fascintating, amazing, intriguing, and definitely inspring. It would be awesome to do as much with my life as he has, nevermind being able to cook and create extraordinary dishes like that!

Macy's new friend and some horrible weather...

Macy has finally made peace (sort of) with my roommate Dave's friend, David. She still follows everywhere he goes in the house, but she doesn't nip at his heels any more, and last night, even sat with him and had a cuddle (gasp!). [Phil, you'd better come home soon or you won't be the only man in Macy's life.]



The weather here the last few days has been cold, wet, and icy. So cold, wet, and icy, in fact, that the University was closed today, which meant a nice day off and not really leaving the house (although Joel and I left to go to the post office to pick up a package for Phil - the lady at the counter called him "Mr. Lee" which was hilarious, as Joel almost corrected her by saying, "Actually, it's Dr. Lee" - and to Hastings to get a movie to entertain ourselves). It was a real pain to go to work this evening, though, as my car had iced over again and it took me ages to de-ice it again (well, about 20 minutes, anyway). See below for pics of the car, pre-first de-icing.

Macy patiently waits...

For me to finish blogging so that we can play!

A project completed is a project enjoyed!

Macy's old bed "died" the last time that I tried to wash it, so I had to make her a new one. The unfortunate thing about it, which I realized only after I finished it, is that it is very pink. Now if you knew Macy, you would know that she is not a very pink sort of dog. However, since dogs can't actually see colors, she has kindly overlooked this terrible flaw and enjoys her new bed tremendously.

After a long and painful hiatus, a return at last!

2006 was a pretty crappy year. It was really, really busy without really accomplishing anything. I am still working on my PhD, although the end is in sight (hopefully). I guess things are looking up though - I will graduate in 2007, I will get to move in (finally) with Phil, and best of all, I will get to start something new! I can't say that 2006 was all bad, though, as several really cool things happened (like my nephew having his first birthday), so I guess the glass is half full after all.

Macy has been keeping me great company these last few months, and I have her to thank for not sinking into complete despair. She is a great comfort and very wise for a dog of her years. I really don't know what I would do without her.

I have really high hopes for 2007, and have a good feeling that it will be a great year.