Sant Fe II: Convention Center

I really like the convention center in Santa Fe, much more than the one in San Diego, which was essentially a huge-beyond-all-reason hollowed- out cement block.

Here's one of the entrances. Adobe!


This is one of the halls. On the right are the doors to the room for the poster session and some of the rooms for the symposia and other presentation. On the left is a table with a constant supply of coffee, water, and soda.


In the main lobby there was a fireplace. I loved that fireplace! We weren't always sure that the heat was on in this place, so after a 2-hour long symposium, many of us would flock to the fireplace to warm our hands.

Santa Fe I: Around Town

Two Fridays ago I flew out of Rochester to Santa Fe (well, Atlanta, then Albuquerque, then took a shuttle to Santa Fe) for the American Society of Neurochemistry meeting (sounds pretty dorky, huh). All the science kept me pretty absent from the blog, and twitter, and most things internet. But here's the first part of an account of my time there. (I'm breaking it into several parts because I find blogger cumbersome when there are too many pictures.)

Part I: Around Town

This is the first thing I saw on Saturday morning as I stepped out of my hotel room. What gives? I thought Santa Fe was in the southwest, in the desert! Aren't the southwest and desert supposed to be warm and sunny? As it turned out, Santa Fe was mostly overcast -- I only used my carefully packed sunglasses for about 15 minutes -- and we got a couple inches of snow.


I walked by this wall on my 1-mile commute to the conference center every day. Yes, there was a shuttle, but it only ran at the very beginning and very end of the day, and I thought 2 miles a day would be good for me. I love this wall. I saw something new in it every time I passed it.


This is the plaza near the conference center. I was surprised at how pedestrian-oriented Santa Fe is. I had expected something like New York or Boston, or maybe San Diego, with tall buildings and nasty traffic. Actually, Santa Fe reminded me more of small-town Oberlin than any city I've ever known.
This plaza was cool. On Saturday there were vendors out on the sidewalks, and at night, they lit up Christmas lights in the tree branches.


This is a cute little cafe where I got my first fend-for-myself lunch on Sunday. I was lured in by a sign outside promising sandwiches. The cafe was burried in the depths of a building filled with cool artsy shops. Walking past them was difficult.


Here is the Cowgirl Barbeque, where I got dinner on Monday night when I had no specific plans. Cool place. There's always music playing when you walk by, and all the waitresses wear cowgirl hats.

carzoocritters giant list

If you haven't seen this yet, go see it:
http://carzoocritters.blogspot.com/2010/01/giant-list-of-blog-topics.html

As advertised, it is a giant list of blog topics. Like, tons. I plan on using it.

For now, I'm posting it here, partly to share it with y'all, and partly (mostly) so I know where to find it when I need it.

While I'm sharing... this poor little robot couldn't handle the pressure.

Has anyone got a favorite lace yarn that they would recommend? I'm planning my knitting for my trip to Santa Fe, and I know I'll need knitting. I've read that lace is best for travel because it takes up no room and a ton of time. I'm not quite decided on a pattern, yet, either. Maybe two patterns: one brainless and one interesting.

Also, I'm proud of these:
I think that's a pretty good picture. *puffs chest in pride*

Motorcycle Parking

I took this picture a while back, during that huge snowstorm that everyone seemed to get.

Where I have been

Where o where have I been? A sort of forced break from blogging for purposes of part II of my qualifying exam. On Friday 2/19/10 I presented my thesis proposal and had my oral exam. I passed, and have earned my masters degree in neurobiology and anatomy. Friggin' phew!

Now that that's finished, I should have more time for blogging! Yay!

Simple Sewn Sachet

Lab has been rough, lately. Yesterday was a 15 hour day, and the recent past and near future are filled with unsavory tasks. So I've been desperately craving the opportunity to make, to create. And I really wanted a project with a high payoff-to-time-invested ratio. So I decided: scented sachets. Very easy, very quick, useful, and using materials I had on hand.


Then I thought maybe I'd share how I made these sachets. So I went ahead and wrote a little tutorial. My first one. :) If you could give it a try, I would love to know if the technical aspects of posting the tutorial actually worked. I would also like to know if the directions make sense, or if my little annotations are too much.

I'm thrilled with the response to my giveaway! 106 comments! Wow! The winner will be announced tomorrow, and then I'll be mailing the scarf. Thank you so much to everyone who participated!

Big ol' Saturday

This is turning into a big Saturday. Got up, watched Land of the Blind (a whacked-out movie. I can't tell whether I liked it or not), walked across the street to buy laundry detergent and deodorant, started laundry, cleaned like crazy, made and ate lunch, and now I'm sitting on the couch, listening to the president's meeting with a bunch of republicans. Interesting. Later, my brother and his girlfriend are coming over to make personal pizzas for us, and then all four of us (Jonny, Anna, Evan, and I) are going to the Rochester Philharmonic concert tonight to have a "grand old time," as Jonny said. I guess it's good to have productive Saturdays.

Last night I came across a new very cool blog, offering a free PDF for this project. I had to go to Joann Fabrics immediately to buy heavy weight fusible interfacing.

Not the best picture ever, especially color-wise, but you get the idea. Useful thingy. But I was reminded that I am definitely not a sewing person. My seams started out even and pretty, but by the end I started rushing, and the seams were considerably less even and pretty. Still functional, though.

On Thursday night I sang with Schola in Harmony for Haiti. The weather was atrocious, so the turnout was smaller than I had expected, but I think the concert was a success. I feel like a good person.