the best pair of jeans EVER!!!

I was in desparate need of a new pair a jeans, and after searching every store in the mall and several nearby, I came up empty handed. I got on the internet and searched "custom jeans" just to see how much they might cost. The second link I clicked on - MakeYourOwnJeans.com - looked very promising, and to my surprise, the jeans they make only cost $60 with shipping included!!! (see link on the left - MakeYourOwnJeans.com to check out the company) I ordered a pair about 10 days ago and have been anxiously awaiting their arrival. They arrived this morning, and OH MY GOSH they are AMAZING! They fit so well and are so comfortable - they are made of 100% cotton as well, not the silly 99% or 97% plus lycra, so they aren't stretchy and won't sag like my other jeans. Also, because they are custom made, they aren't too low on the waist, but they aren't highrise either...Alright, I know, I sound like an info-mercial, but for anybody out there who hates to shop for jeans, and/or has a hard time finding jeans that fit, this site is the BEST place to get jeans. They also do "Clone a Jeans" (which, for those genetists/microbiologists/molecular biologists out there is especially funny), where you send in your favorite pair of jeans and they replicate them for you (I'm going to try that next). Anyway, woohoo! Hooray for new jeans!

Two new spots!

I was very excited today to see that I have two new spots on my visitor's map (left hand side, under the links). It looks like someone in Southern California (Phil, perhaps?) and someone in Northern China have now veiwed my blog. Also, my College Station dot grew to the 100+ size. So exciting!

A bad day at the dentist...

This moring started off fine, Macy enjoyed her usual lie in (at least until 8:30 am), and then we went to the vet. Today was the day for Macy's annual dental exam and teeth cleaning.

The Vet - Dr. Bay - called at 1 pm to let me know that Macy had done well and all her lab results looked normal, but unfortunately, she had to pull 5 of Macy's teeth! Two at the very back on the bottom, 1 on the top right next to her canine, and her two bottom middle teeth. Poor Macy!They also had to shave one of her legs for the IV line, and she struggled a bit, so it's bruised as well. She didn't like having her picture taken either - although Joel did his best to keep her still. Dr. Bay said that loosing teeth is very common for Chihuahuas, and the fact that Macy is 7 and has never had any teeth pulled (until today) means that she is very well cared for and is in excellent dental health (whew! I was very upset when she told me and was relieved to hear that). Her gums look good and she should heal quickly.

Although Macy is now missing her two front teeth (see above), the day ended at home, with Macy happy and seemingly unaffected by her missing teeth. She was quite happy to get soft food for dinner.

I have been told that the last 10% of anything you do is the hardest 10%.

If that is true, I am really up a creek, as my PhD has been rife with hardships, from my health to my progress to interpersonal relationships and everything in between.

I think I can feel that that end is near, but don't know if I should be excited or really scared....

Busy, busy bee!

My burn has finally healed and it's been off to the races for things at work and school. Carrie defended her dissertation on Tuesday, Taehyun's last day in the lab was Monday, and Anh is trying to choose a job. Yi has moved to Taehyun's bench, in the first step of a musical chairs bench swap session. Chelsey (my undergrad) will be getting Anh's bench when she leaves, and Doug has taken Yi's bench. I'm supposed to be up next to defend, so I have to get busy, busy, busy to finish up.

SRW plans are taking a heavy toll, although Jamie Rae and Stacy are bearing the brunt of those and I am basically just answering email and a few other little things. Spring Break will be here soon. Sigh. Where does the time go?

My car is officially a lemon. I have begun the process of claiming so legally under Texas' "Lemon Law" and it seems that it is going to be a long, drawn-out, painful process. Sigh. I'm so tired of this ordeal, and yet it never seems to end.

No luck on the job front thus far...There's a new one posted that I want to apply for, but I need to rework my CV and cover letter. Also, Daisy booked my flight to San Diego today (hooray!) so I really have to get things prepared for that. I am beginning to get overwhelmed!

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.

The end of an era

Tonight was my very last night to teach micro lab at my university; as I am near the end of my PhD, apparently I "don't have time" to teach anymore (at least according to my advisor). It was really sad to say goodbye to my classroom, and even more sad to say goodbye to my last group of students. They are so AWESOME! They really reminded me of why I'm doing what I'm doing - they're intelligent, dedicated, funny, down-to-earth, and fun. I had a really, really wonderful semester with them, and I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did.