I'm not dead yet!

I saw the brain doctor yesterday and got to see all the pictures of my brain. Turns out I can get copies of them, too. It's a very pretty brain indeed.

They had done a bunch of blood tests and concluded that if I have lupus I wasn't having an attack then. I feel like I win either way: indeterminate lupus. Also I didn't know that lupus came in attacks. (Don't tell Mark.) (I don't really have lupus.)

Otherwise I just have to wait for my eye to get better. It's a little better than it was, already. And, I'm done with the IV so my secret robot identity is no longer on display. Whew!

the squinky eye

This is a pretty good representation of how I see now:

But most people recover all their sight. The steroids are supposed to help but they take a while to kick in. It is called optic neuritis.

If I want to ignore anyone I just look at them with the squinky eye and they go away! Magic!

Now that Margaret is part robot....we can begin our plans of world domination....through music

The Whale has a microKorg. (See Below) Its red which is kinda ridiculous but I like it. The guy at the indy music shop said that there are only ten red ones in the western US but he's prolly full of it. Either way he gave me 20 dollars of the price and a high five. I also got some ear phones so I can rock out independently of The Crab. Its a tinkerers dream machine with all the knobs and dials you could hope for. It will do anything you want it to except make you look cool. (Also see below. SMK ... nerd-core) Other than that the crab is sick... stuffs going down this week with the Program in Molecular Plant Biology recruitment weekend this weekend (i have to present a short talk on the awesomeness of CSU and such) and my first test in Plant Phys. Tomarrow is my first day with Rein Pilon and its gonna be in tents. (see below)

Micro Korg

SlagmalsKlubben (SMK) - Sponsored by Destiny

Marinous Pilon (Rein)

a delicious old bay-style vegetable soup

4 tablespoons butter or your vegan cooking oil of choice

1/2 onion chopped

2 carrots diced

2 celery stalks with leaves diced

1 6 oz (the small ones) can tomato paste

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes

1 14 oz can broth

14 oz water

pasta as you please (I had farfalle, ~1/2 box)

1 14 oz can dark red kidney beans or your other favorite bean (drained).

spices:

parsley (a good sprinkling over top)

2 bay leaves

salt (not too much, you can always add more)

ground black pepper (lots)

curry powder (lots)

----

Heat the oil on medium-high. Saute the onions, carrots and celery about ten minutes.

Add the tomato ingredients and heat through.

Add broth and water, kidney beans, spices. Heat through.

Add pasta. Bring to boil and let simmer, covered until the pasta is done - about 10 minutes.

Serve as is or with a nice hot sauce, oyster crackers, parmesan cheese etc.

You can include all kinds of other vegetables of course like potatoes, turnips, squash, spinach - but no need to go overboard. You can always make another soup later.

Anyway, it is delicious, especially when you eat it while watching James Herriot. If you have Netflix and like English things and animals, check it out!

Martin&Osa put the shirt I wanted on sale but now it only exists in giant size. Likewise with all other sale clothes.

Also I have this new attachment to my arm ie I am part robot:

tidbits

1) new routine: rinse the mouth with salt water after brushing. causes massive death of microbes and fresh feeling all day. Do not use salt water anywhere else.

2) new breakfast: oatmeal with maple syrup and brown sugar. Just like Instant! Or, oatmeal with brown sugar, ginger (powdered), cinnamon, and pecans. Sometimes cream.

3) Charlie and Herman Melville are long separated twins.

4) I got new shoes! They are extremely English (I think).

Sarah and Emily are so wee

Yesterday we were learning about the cell cycle in plants.

There is a protein that controls cell division rates. If it is underexpressed then the cells divide too much and are too small and the plant dies.

If it is overexpressed the cells are ginormous but I think the plant lives.

Wee protein.

nerd alert

I sit next to a guy in class who talks exactly like the guy from Freaks and Geeks - the tall nerd with huge glasses. This guy looks just as nerdy but he has curly hair.

I suppose they also sound like Shake from Aquateen.

We're gettin the band back together.

Band practice is totally awesome! Pat (the office mate) seems to want to hang out and play some tunes, which is fine by us. He has a real accordion, a piano with almost all the key covers taken off (so the wood underneath sits exposed), guitars, bass (with a leopard-print furry strap!), drums...beer.

Eric rocked the drums, Pat rocked the guitar, and I learned about the bass. I like it so far. Two fingers, no chords. Can't wait for next week!

Its like jabberjaw...

So za vhale and le krab have a band 'try-out' today. The band so-far consists of a post-doc from Spain who shreds guitar like a metal head, my office mate who listens to country and plays rhythm guitar, and a chick from soil and crop science who apparently likes hip-hop and plays the accordion. If we are recruited the whale will play drums much like jabberjaw (If you don't know who I'm talking about, then i feel sorry for you but at least goggle knows) and the krab will use her multitude of obscure musical talents (most of them learned on the streets from Mr. F) to complement/complete the band, she may even have to learn to play the bass which I have explained to her is 'sweet' and 'totally rad' because all female bass players are hot...



Case in point....That's right I love Kim Deal and I'm not ashamed.

eye-xciting day!

So I had blurry vision in my one eye today. I called Mom and she said, well, it does say to see the doctor if that happens. So I saw the doctor, and the doctor made me get an appointment for later in the day at the eye center because it might be a detached retina!?!?!?

Then I went to class and played with the blurry spot instead of paying attention.

At the eye center everyone was very nice and I had yellow stinging drops put in my eyes and now my pupils are dilated so I can't see anything up close. It was very hard not to lie on the eye chart test or the seeing colored numbers test, and also not to hit anyone with the paddle they gave me to cover my eye with.

The eye doctor said it's probably an ocular migraine, so it should go away in a few days. If not I'm probably about to die or something from a blood implosion in my face. Either way it will be resolved quickly.

Eric doesn't believe in ocular migraines and said they had to make up a new disease for me to explain my (fake) symptoms. He may be right. It's still pretty fun to close one eye and see everything so distorted, and then to close the other eye and it all just goes back to normal.

science-y news

1. Ecosystem services.

Turns out this cool idea, where nature's services are given an economic value, can also justify things like reimbursing farmers for letting their land lie fallow. Although I have only heard this from an ag economist so don't take my word for it.

2. Chloroplasts gene transfer AKA Animals that are also plants!!!!

I wrote a grant for my class last semester proposing to study why some genes stay in the chloroplast genome while other genes (involved in making the same protein complex) get moved to the nuclear genome. And the latest word from Science News: a sea slug has made a similar switcheroo. The sea slug nuclear genome has genes for making chloroplast-specific proteins, and the sea slug uses those genes and makes those proteins, dammit.

So all animals could one day photosynthesize. And there would be peace upon the land.

Check it out.

Its Hamburger-time...

McLusky, Yah they are Welsh

Mclusky (often stylized as mclusky) was a three-piece alternative rock group from Cardiff, Wales. The group consisted of Andy "Falco" Falkous (vocals, guitar), Jonathan Chapple (bass, vocals) and Jack Egglestone (drums), who replaced previous drummer Matthew Harding in late 2003.

The latest activities

1) Watching the BBC(?) series All Creatures Great and Small, based on the James Herriot books. Now I want t' learn all about th' moon an all that.

2) Making valentines with Alicia for some 6 hours this weekend. Also we tried making cupcakes. They turned out really well.

3) Introducing Pocky to the rabbits. They still aren't sure what to think of each other.

4) Hatch 'n Grow gator time. I eventually tore the shell off, and didn't take a picture first. According to Eric that was a most unscientific move. Now the gator's chillin' in the windowsill, watching the birds.