whirlwind tour

The latest intallment of "where's that hottie?!" took me from Geneva, back to the Hague, and out to the San Francisco Bay Area, and back (to the Hague again). (Go frequent flier miles!) I had 5 surprisingly jam-packed days -- two in Berkeley, three in Palo Alto -- to determine the location of my impending continuing education plans. Homesickness made the decision harder than you might think, particularly after a tasty lunch, multiple rounds of house-made lemon-mint soda, and a run-in with my favorite crook-tailed orange cat, Pony Boy. (OK, I didn't actually see Pony Boy on this trip... I saw my dissertation adviser. She's less furry.) Anyway, addled by the scent of Berkeley in full spring bloom (and probably by jet lag) I was highly biased against my other option by the time I got back down to Palo Alto. And yet... and yet. With the cards on the table Berkeley just couldn't beat Stanford where it counts.



(Uh, that would be the financial aid package. and the generous joint-degree offerings that will give me credit for finishing my dissertation. and the incredibly with-it staff. and the high ranking. and ... you get the idea.)



Oh, and the classrooms have these chairs. Oh, yes. :)

my new friend Alice, aka the Doomsday Machine

I went to visit Alice on Sunday. There was a big special open house day that apparently 50,000 other people took part in too. See, there's this 27 km tunnel -- you might have heard of it recently because some people think its going to destroy the earth, or at least Hawaii -- because the LHC particle accelerator in the tunnel is used to speed particles up to just below the speed of light, and crash them into each other. Then there are these big "detectors" at the crash sites, which measure for different things. Alice is one of them, and hopes to measure the smashing of large ions (hence the name... A Large Ion Collision Experiment) i.e. lead nuclei and to be able to recreate quark-gluon plasma. Quark-gluon plasma (not to be confused with quark-gluon plasma, which is probably much tastier) is what existed in the tiny fractions-of-a-second before matter was created after the big bang. So, according to the German CERN intern who was ahead of us in line to get tickets, if anything is going to create a black hole (or a dragon, see article) it's going to be the Alice experiment.

Neat, huh?

A Large Ion Collider Experiment

(Why would it create a black hole? Well, you see, when a star dies, its matter cools and condenses, becoming smaller. It has such a huge amount of gravity that all the atoms get squished closer together than normal and occasionally the atoms collapse into each other and the protons and the electrons start to touch and cancel each other out and then you get a neutrons-only playground but then those keep collapsing and you get ... "nothing" -- mostly because the gravitational pull is so strong, that you can't figure out what's in there and come back out and tell NASA. So... some people think maybe if you crash two nuclei together at just below the speed of light then conditions would be right to create a black hole, though ... it's only two nuclei, not an entire star's worth and, you know, we're still on earth and not in space and it would be subject to earth's conditions, so see, it's all very unlikely.)

SCIENCE!

new year, new look, new locale

One of these years I will start blogging again and be in the exact same place I was when I left off. No such luck this time. :) Where did we leave off, Milwaukee? Well, we made it to California and stayed there all fall, enjoying our favorite enclaves and walks, sunny days, the vegetable market, and even braving the fish monger's and a new pizza place. But, as is in our nature, as soon as the weather turns cold, we go and fly off somewhere colder. To the Netherlands, this time. Oh sure, you might think of tulips and wooden shoes, but let me remind you about a little something called...

THE NORTH SEA.

That's right, frosty, frothy waves slapping against giant metal fishing trawlers, the wind wailing through the rigging of the ships at harbor, kicking sand up into your face and hair as you walk along the dead empty sand-grassy dunes where rusted green German bunkers squat -- oh yeah, THAT North Sea.

Of course, now it's April, so it's more like the North Sea with the row of summer-only beach clubs, bungee jumping, casinos, ice cream stands, windsurfing and para-sailing. But everyone is still wearing coats.

roar!

Friday Night Fish-Fry and Brewery Tour

In Milwaukee now, home of the famous tradition: Friday Night Fish-Fry! The lovely Anna took us to the Lake Shore Brewery for Fish-Fry and a Brewery Tour!


The Happy Crew awaits the delivery of deep-fried goodness!


The Fish!


Yay plates of deep-fried goodness!


Uhh... there was a polka band, and uhhh... Anna made me do it!


Yet another picture of me and Anna dancing together.



Afterwards we went to Leon's for frozen custard, which is like ice cream, but with egg.



Ahh, butter pecan...

NY-Ohio

After leaving Beth's on Tuesday, we started the long, long, loooong drive through the length of New York State. It looked a lot like this for much of the time:

We were surrounded on all sides by corn. And occasionally there were dilapidated barns:

Once we were in Ohio, the skies cleared, and we decided to stop for some Roadfood for dinner. In good midwestern style, it was 5pm. The White Turkey Drive-In is an institution in Conneaut, Ohio. The on-the-ground directions in the book are non-existant, and of course our Rand-McNally atlas doesn't exactly have a city map of Conneaut, so our first step was to find the place. After driving from the highway to Lake Erie and back by the historic train depot, we gave up and called. A chipper, high-school cheerleader answered, and gave us one-step-at-a-time directions, promising to "stay with us" until we made it. ("OK, are you headed toward the lake?" "Um, yes" [we weren't]. "OK, so, you'll have to turn around." "oh, ok... [believable pause] Done." "Have you passed a Big K?" "Sure." [we hadn't] "OK, well, we're on the other street, so you'll have to make a left until you see a mobil station." "...Great. Fine, we're there..." and so on.)

It was kind of miraculous that we made it at all, actually.

The White Turkey Drive-In is a summer-only ... drive-in ... with stools at the counter and picnic tables around the back. They're schtick is a "secret-recipe" turkey, sort of like a juicy pulled-turkey sandwich, as well as root beer and tons of types of ice cream fountain drinks.



And cheerleaders.



Matt got a Turkey Sandwich and I got the "Large Marge," which is a turkey sandwich plus cheese and bacon. Because really, what can't be improved by the addition of cheese and bacon? And I got a root beer float, which was made with a huge swirl of soft-serv vanilla, and bubbled over the frosted mug when I stirred. It is unclear what the process of turkey preparation is, but according to the menu, the owners and 8 workers spent all of January preparing 8,000 pounds of turkey for consumption during the 2007 season.



We spent more time finding the place than scarfing down our turkey sandwiches, but we were satisfied that we'd experienced a bit of Americana by the time we'd left. The main street, decorated at intervals with flags, lead us back to I-90.



And as the sun set, the tops of the corn were illuminated by the horizontal light, and the white farmhouses glowed orange, a bald eagle kept pace with the car for a split second, and then veered left, out of sight.



No shit.

Pics!

Me in Hyde Park, during our 18 hours in London. We had ice cream.



While we were in Washington, DC, we went to the Smithsonian. Actually, we went and had a nice lunch in the National Gallery and thought while we were there we'd see some stuff. The Nat Gal was pretty empty but Natural History was really, really crowded. Though I did muscle my way in to see my jewels, temporarily on display ;). I always thought that if this was mine, I'd replace the turquoise with something faceted. I mean, the turquoise really doesn't go, does it?



And me, in a crystal structure. Matt says it's salt. Really, if I were to be in a crystal structure, do you think I'd choose salt??



And then I cut Jim's hair, because it was an emergency and also the 4th of July, so his usual Supercuts or whatever wasn't open.


It was only an improvement, believe me.

And Pete took us on a tour - here's us on the little diamond marker that used to be the point-from-which all map calculations were based, directly below the capitol dome and atrium.



And all the states have statues of important people, so here's me with Will Rogers.



And the best part - we got to ride the train!



And here's the first frame from the Road Trip - Leaving Hamilton, VA!

Syracuse-Ithaca-Albany

Like those hot wheels that you click backwards to build up enough wind to zip across the table, we have gone east before our push west. We arrived in Albany in the middle of a storm which brought down trees and powerlines - and we made sure not to park *under* a tree, seeing the back-end of a silver SUV totally crushed beneath several thousand pounds of tree just before arriving at Beth's house. We were awakened during the night by the sound of the city's wood-chippers cleaning up the streets. (The storm did NOT stop us from going to get soft-serv ice cream with sprinkles after dinner, though we had to go to Beth's second-choice store because the first had no power and was closed.)

Before arriving in Albany we made a stop in Ithaca, which was sort of a waste simply because it was so hot and humid that it made for a really unpleasant visit. But we got Hot Truck Pizza Subs based on a recommendation from "Roadfood," a book loaned to us before our trip, which were very good. (Though I must admit, just about the last thing you want on a hot humid day is a hot truck pizza sub.)

Next up, pictures!

Manolo on the Lawyer Shoes

Oh my.

Road Trip, Mark III

You'd think we'd have had enough of this cross-country thing, but here we go...

We began our adventure with a few weeks in Washington, DC and surrounding areas. Highlights included Pete's tour of the Capitol, the Williams-Sonoma and J Crew outlet, mexican food at Abi's, and Matt's mom's magical biscuits (they just appear when you arrive for tea...). Hopefully I'll have a picture or two up soon.

Yesterday our drive began once we managed to stuff the car with all the junk we'd been storing, plus a brand new X-Box 360 that was a wedding gift from Matt's friend Dave. (Thanks Dave. No really, thanks. If Matt never finishes his dissertation now, it's on you.) Driving northward we accidentally happened upon the Gettysburg battlefield while searching for a McDonalds - traffic was heavy with reenactors and slack-jawed amateur historians, so the over-educated grad students turned back and made for the next exit. Yeah, we're those people - seriously, you can see it from Google Earth if you really want to. Passing rolling countryside over rolling countryside, we made our destination by dinner, which was the house of our hosts' Middle Eastern parents, so we were greeted by a bone-in leg of lamb, potatoes, stuffed grape leaves, salad, broccoli, carrots, green beans (I think), rice, and probably something else I'm forgetting, with Kanafi (sp?) for dessert (which is mostly cheese, and orange rind). Eat, eat. Are you finished?! Don't you want some more lamb?

So now we're in Syracuse, tomorrow to Albany to visit Beth. Yay!

Grad School is Hard, Part II

After our fabulous Rome wedding and honeymoon on the Amalfi coast (pictures of which can be found here, we took the overnight train to Geneva to visit Matt's aunt and uncle. (We were almost foiled by a country-wide taxi strike in Italy... that part wasn't very fun.) Now we are about to head up to their chalet in the French Alps, and then Matt and I are driving down to Provence for a few days before returning to the chalet, meeting back up with Matt's family, going back to Geneva and then flying back to the US shortly thereafter.

We'll be here.

:)

wedding!

matt and amelia's wedding(s)

Korncrake!

Mein Gott, how I longed to slap him, to shout at him, “Flee this place, young man, before the academy eats your soul!” But, it was already too late, the boy had given himself over to it, and any spark he may once have had had already been leeched away by the stultifing inanities of the “life of the mind”.

Please, please go read the fabulous, hilarious antics of Herr Professor von Korncrake, friend of the esteemed Manolo.

PS getting married friday!!! See Anna's blog for Rome pictures!

Yay, I'm a llama again! Hooray! ... Wait.

Matt and I are back in Rome for the final 6 weeks or-so of our time here. Classes with Reggie wrap up next week (though I may stop going earlier - busy for the, what was that again?)

We are hoping to go through and do some of the things in Rome we've been wanting/meaning to do but haven't yet - it's funny to us to say things like, oh right, we'd better get back to that rare book store and buy that print - we only have six weeks left. :)

Medieval Academy Antics

For now, I direct you to my friend Anna's post concerning the medieval academy meeting and a marvelous picture of us there. :)

At the moment, I'm back in Rome, though, alas, without my luggage...

BERKELS!

I have made it (finally!) to Berkeley to pick up my fabulous dress! YAY! I have had a terrible cold, lost my voice, gave a paper at a conference, been to Toronto, and now I am back for the first time since August in Berkeley-berkeley... the air is so much cleaner here than in Rome!

We have Dragon*Con, and the Belgians...?

check out this article from the nytimes

Belgium was probably a pretty civilized place in the Middle Ages, actually.

neat article

Street Performance by "Greatest Violinist in America" goes ignored at L'Enfant Plaza

PRINCESS HAIR

I'M A PRINCESS PRETTY PRETTY PRINCESS!!!!!

I just got the best haircut EVER from the exceedingly talented Rick at Noi Salon and and and he curled it and I looked fabulous like a princess and today its STILL LOOKS GREAT.

I have therefore scrapped all of my convenient and inexpensive hair and makeup plans with "Francesco" through the hotel and rescheduled all wedding hair and makeup with him and his partners at twice the price.

PRINCESS PRINCESS PRINCESS!!!!!!

What should you study?

Your Learning Style: Personal and Passionate

You are very flexible and curious about the world. Human understanding is very important to you. You Should Study: Anthropology Architecture Art Art history Art therapy Classics Counseling Foreign Languages and Literature International Studies Linguistics Literature Psychology Sociology Teaching

What Should You Study?

Damnit. Where did I go wrong? (How is art therapy like classics??)