Science (non) Fiction

So. I’m still alive. I just haven’t felt like writing anything in quite some time. But I am here to update you with what is going on in my life these days. Just in case you were wondering.

~ I am teaching college, at 2 different (very different) schools. One private, liberal arts college, and one technical community college. Very different environments, very different kinds of students, and very different colleagues. But I enjoy both of them quite a bit, for very different reasons. I’m teaching 2 introductory classes at the liberal arts school, mostly to freshman biology majors and upperclassmen non-majors. It’s challenging to motivate the non-majors and still keep the majors engaged. I’m also teaching anatomy and physiology at the community college, and the average age of my students is probably older than I am. It’s challenging to keep up with the fast pace of the material we have to cover, and to keep the students from talking me into making things easier for them.

~ My previous roommate (Rebecca) got married last weekend, so not only were we wrapped up in wedding planning, but we also moved out of our beloved little Ardmore house. She is now, obviously, living with Mike out in Clemmons, and I have moved a couple miles south on Ebert into Beth’s townhouse. Despite a significant effort on my part in the month before the move, I still have waaaaay too much stuff, but we got it all moved, with a monumental amount of help from our wonderful friends. (We seriously could not have done it without all of their help.) I am now mostly settled in, and we are adjusting to each other pretty well – Dinah even seems to like Beth a lot (she usually takes a good bit of time to warm up to new people). Beth and I are both relatively busy people, so we don’t see a ton of each other, but its been a good experience so far.

~ The family is pretty good. Dad’s health has improved quite a bit since this time last year right after the surgery, though some lingering issues remain to be worked out. He has even talked about getting back into the workforce lately. Mom helped out so much with Rebecca’s wedding, so I got to see a lot of her between the move and the wedding, which was great. Matthew is still out in L.A., and happy to be so. He’s back on a production job (I can’t think of the show/movie right now) after a brief hiatus working a non-production job for a little while. We got to see him for a day and a half when we (Mom, Valerie and I) went out to San Diego and he drove down from L.A. (That trip was one of my favorite trips in memory, actually.)

Those are the highlights, anyway. I worked an interesting summer job in plastic and reconstructive surgery at Wake, and it was a nice break from teaching. Lots of exciting events in the past couple months: Alex and Daniel welcomed baby #3 Sonnet Rose on October 8th, Rebecca and Mike got married, and Alisa and Jason got married (and we had a fantastic weekend of catching up with old friends!). I’m on a very short kind of fall break this week, and am trying to get ahead with schoolwork so I can keep up with this second half of the fall semester. I’m in the process of converting 2 sets of class lectures into powerpoint, and enjoying the lull between exams which means no grading for a little while!

I think I’ve fallen a bit behind on my reading this year, compared with last year at least. But I’ve read some really interesting books this year, including some really good book club choices. We’re actually meeting at an Indian Restaurant tonight for this month’s discussion of The White Tiger, a book about modern-day India (which I loved). I will hopefully get around to sharing about some of the books I’ve liked so far this year.

I know this is another book post, and not a real blog post, but it’s better than nothing – and I will be trying to keep up more with this whole blogging thing a bit more, especially as the semester winds down.

Anyway, on with the geeky-ness! This is from Kari.

1) What author do you own the most books by?
Hmm. Probably LM Montgomery (Anne series plus several others), or JK Rowling, or Jodi Piccoult.

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I don’t own multiple copies of many – couple of Blue Like Jazz, and I’m pretty sure I’ve got more than one copy of at least one of the Harry Potters.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Yes. I’ll admit it. I know it’s technically ok now, but it still drives me crazy.

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
As much as I love Pride and Prejudice, I would probably go with the heroes of Sense and Sensibility (Colonel Brandon) or Emma (Mr. Knightley) for Austen men. Or Gilbert Blythe (he was my first literary (or any) crush). Crush.crush.crush.

5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
Until recently, I re-read my favorite books all the time. I’ve re-read Jane Eyre more times than I remember; same with Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, the first several of the Anne of Green Gables series.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Probably one of the Mandie mysteries, or Anne of Green Gables. I know that I was hating on Rebecca of Sunneybrook Farm around that time. Hate.

7) What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year?
Hm. I read several that I didn’t care for last year (A Fine Balance, Out of Africa, Wide Sargasso Sea – all book club books). I was also not a fan of The Shack.

8 ) What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
Prayer for Owen Meany, or maybe Paper Towns. Or The Book Thief. Lots of young adult books last year apparently.

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
I’m going to agree with Kari and say Pride and Prejudice. Classic for a reason.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
I don’t really know. I think I agree with Kari – Lee Smith, or Cormac McCarthy. Audrey Niffenegger? or Gail Godwin?

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
The Time-Traveler’s Wife (I know that’s cheating, they’re already making a movie).

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
A Fine Balance. That’s just based on how much I disliked reading it this year.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I don’t know if I’ve ever dreamed about a literary character. I think I may have dreamed about living on Prince Edward Island when I was reading the Anne series for the first time.

14) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult?
Oy. I have read some doozies, at least based on style. Including a bodice-ripper at the beginning of this past year. Accidentally.

15) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
Difficult based on topic, lately at least, probably The Kiterunner (and slightly less so, A Thousand Splendid Suns), or Atonement. I tend to avoid books about clearly difficult topics (Nazis, etc).

16) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
The Russians. I haven’t read many French authors. But I do love Anna Karenina. So the Russians win.

18) Roth or Updike?
I haven’t read either. Should I?

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Sedaris. But only if I can hear him read it/talk – I don’t find him nearly as funny unless he’s doing the reading.

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Shakespeare, definitely. I’ve only read a little Milton, but I did like Chaucer in high school and college. But I wouldn’t read it for fun.

21) Austen or Eliot?
I do like George Eliot, but I adore Jane Austen.

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
There are lots of ‘classics’ I have yet to read. Or that I have given up on trying to read (see: Tale of Two Cities – I’m not a fan of Dickens). Like Kari, I have also not read any Hemingway, but I’m not really planning on rectifying that anytime soon.

23) What is your favorite novel?
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I’m agreeing with Kari again. Surprise. (Though I have found myself enjoying Sense and Sensibility more the last couple times I’ve read it, but not enough to overtake P&P)

24) Play?
Much Ado About Nothing. Or Twelfth Night. I’m sure Matthew was in some that I really liked in college, but I can’t remember the names.

27) Short story?
I’m going to disagree with Kari – I don’t like Flannery O’Connor at all. I like several of Mark Helprin’s short stories, but in general I would rather read a whole book than a short story.

28) Work of non-fiction?
Girl Meets God by Lauren Winner, or Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller. I think.

29) Who is your favorite writer?
How about a list? I can’t narrow it down to one. Jane Austen, Madeline L’Engle, Ann Patchett, Jodi Piccoult, Alexander McCall Smith, CS Lewis, Charlotte Bronte.

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Stephenie Meyer? I’m going to agree with Kari about this one (though I admit to being totally hooked on the books when reading them). (But I do like Jonathon Safran Foer – at least Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

31) What is your desert island book?
Um. I have one volume of all Jane Austen’s novels – does that count?

32) And … what are you reading right now?
I’m reading American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. And I’m listening to Agatha Christie’s Cat Among The Pigeons on audiobook. Love her.

I am not tagging anyone. But I would like to read your answers if you would like to participate. Leave a link in the comments if you post your answers on your blog.

Just some good things happening in my life right now (or now-ish):

~ Good, deep conversations with friends about important (and some not-so-important) things

~ Knowing that going to see WICKED is only ONE MONTH AWAY!!!!! (SO excited!)

~ When experiments actually work correctly reproducibly, and move my work forward instead of backwards

~ The fact that LOST and How I Met Your Mother is back on TV regularly, and many of my other favorites will be back shortly (April 10th for The Office!)

~ Broadway musical soundtracks (Lately it’s been old favorites that I’m revisiting like Les Mis and Into the Woods, plus Wicked of course)

~ Long, fun voicemail messages from friends and family about cat’s brains or cute coworkers

~ The fact that my birthday is exactly two weeks away!

I will not post the accompanying crappy things that are going on, as the good things generally outweigh them right now.

So what’s going well in your life right now?

OK, I know it’s been forever since I’ve posted. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting til I had some solid answers about the future, but as it seems my life will stay in a state of semi-chaos for a while longer, I figure it’s time to catch y’all up with the goings-on.

First of all, in case you’ve forgotten, in my absence, what I look like:

And, even though I posted since then, I don’t think I’ve actually said that Rebecca and I have moved into a cute little house in Ardmore just over a mile from school and less than that from church:

We love it – it’s been really nice to be close to school again (not that I was that far before, but it’s still nice to be closer), and to have enough space to have people over regularly (despite having a couple issues with neighbors), and Dinah appreciates having more people to regularly love her.

Also, this has been my life recently:

I’ve been running gels like mad, trying to get things wrapped up so I can finish this thesis and graduate in the near future – for those counting, it will likely be either May or June, so stay tuned in for the last-minute thesis issues that I’m sure will be coming along shortly. I’m looking for jobs in the area, as I’d love to stay here, but I might end up looking farther afield, but still in the state at least. Let me know if you hear of any good teaching jobs (preferably small, liberal arts colleges, but I can be flexible).

The brother is still doing well out in Cali:

Well, he doesn’t look like he’s doing well there, but he just wasn’t pleased with all of my picture-taking at Christmas. He’s working at Sony, doing some writing, and looking for a good production job now that things are gearing back up after the strike. Dad got to fly out and visit him this past week, so I’m very jealous. Maybe when I have a real, grown-up job…

Mom is still adjusting to her new job and schedule – and she and Dad are having to make some tough decisions in the next little bit. I’m going home tonight to celebrate Dad’s belated birthday, so that will be good.

Hopefully I can keep this more updated than it’s been lately – entering the home stretch may make that difficult, but I will try.

Sorry I’ve been so absent lately. But to distract you from the pain caused by my lack of blogging, I present you with more excellent LOLcats.

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and my current favorite:

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I submit the following photo for your viewing pleasure. Mom brought back these shirts from her trip to Disney World last year (without us, I might add), and we finally got around to taking a picture of us in them this Christmas while Matthew was home from Cali for the holidays. Enjoy!

LOLCats are my new current obsession – I don’t even think I can explain why I find them funny, but I do, quite hysterically so. So I’m going to share a few of my more recent favorites.

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It’s been a long time since I posted last – sorry. Things have been really busy, and I’ll eventually try to update you about the goings-on in my life lately. But that will have to wait til I have more time. Until then, enjoy this list.

Things you might not know about me

1. I almost have to have the toilet paper roll over the top in order to use it – it drives me crazy to have it come out from the bottom.

2. I care way too much what people think about me. I’m working on that.

3. I think I walk in a strange way – when the ground is wet, my shoes throw water droplets onto the backs of my calves – does that happen to everyone?

4. I have a tiny scar under my right eye from falling into a metal-rimmed ping-pong table when I was little.

5. My handwriting varies a lot from day to day – I mean, if I signed two checks on two different days, it might look like two completely different people signed them.

6. I am often easily coerced into agreeing with you, unless I really don’t like you.

7. I hate throwing anything away. Seriously, anything.

8. I am seriously bothered by grown adults who refer to themselves in the third person. *shudder*

9. I don’t like talking to people I don’t know on the phone. Though I’m getting better at that.

10. I can’t wink my right eye, only my left. And I apparently have no control over my right eyebrow.

There you go. 10 useless facts about me. To tide you over until I can really post.

I think I need to take more risks.

(I’m sure this would get a resounding AMEN from my mother at this point, actually. So I’ll pause for that.)

I have never been much of a risk-taker – even as a kid, I think. I was never the one that went the highest up in the climbing tree, or that liked to speed around corners on roller skates (or later, roller blades), or that enjoyed having the older boys in the neighborhood take me on go cart rides careening through the streets. This has led to not liking roller coasters, or downhill skiing, or going too fast in cars.

And I think a lot of it comes down to me needing to have control over what’s going on with me and the things around me. If I don’t feel like I have control over my body when downhill skiing, for example, that removes all of the enjoyment from it, despite the adrenaline rush from the speed. And maybe that means that I just need more experience (and/or lessons), so that I do have a bit more control, but part of me feels like it’s the desire for control in the first place that’s the problem.

I know that I’m not ultimately in control of my life – that’s in God’s hands, and I can say that I trust Him with my life, but am I actually living that? Is my fear showing a lack of faith in God’s ability to rule my life?

(And this totally applies to things less physical than roller coasters as well. Like taking risks with relationships and telling people how I really feel. But that’s a whole other post.)

Now I’m not talking about sky-diving or base jumping or anything crazy. But I’m thinking I could use a little more ‘risk’ in my life. Maybe a roller coaster at the fair this week? or pulling out the roller blades for some roller derby-style racing? or heading up to Virginia for some downhill skiing when it turns chillier? I am open to suggestions for my risky-ness. What do you think?

A random list of things I currently love:

~ Sugar-free popsicles – yummy, especially in the heat we’ve been having.

~ Robert Sean Leonard – also yummy I’m watching House season 3, so I get to see lots of him as Dr. James Wilson.

~ Over the Rhine’s new album, The Trumpet Child – so awesome and beautiful.

~ Gail Godwin’s books – Father Melancholy’s Daughter was incredible, and Evensong is also enjoyable so far.

~ COBigelow Mentha Lip Tint from B&BW – yummy (again) and light color.