New officemate

Today I braved the light snow we're having (and all the really wet stuff currently still on the ground), and headed into the office. After all, we're having department colloquium (rescheduled from Wednesday), and I have a meeting later.

Not long after I arrived and was sitting at my desk, I kept hearing a noise next to me that sounded like something falling. It was a light fall, like papers or something. After a couple times (especially when I considered that I don't really have anything over there, I looked over and down to my right, and saw something moving in the paper recycle bin that sits about two feet from by chair, between me and the wall (which is only about 3 feet away). I peered in and saw this:

It actually really startled me because the poor little guy* is trying to jump out, and that's not really something you expect to see. He is getting some serious air....

...but he's just too little, and the bin is just too high. There's no way he can get out.

I ended up taking him outside myself, and letting him go in some bushes. (Well, more like, on the snow. But I found a spot close to a wall, near some bushes, and he was able to scamper down in a crack to get under the snow.)



* A few of the reasons I think he's kind of cute is because he
(1) is a mouse and not a rat. (My mortal enemy since moving to Baltimore.)
(2) is little.
(3) has absolutely no chance of jumping out.

Snow Day

We (finally?) had our first big storm of the season last night. (I know that places further up the coast, e.g., NYC and Boston, have been getting hammered more frequently than us down here in the mid-Atlantic.) We got somewhere between 7 and 9 inches. (Those were the two official readings we found for Baltimore City.) Because of this ambiguity, a friend of mine and I called a draw on the wager we had of each predicting how much snow we'd get, so now neither of us has to talk to our gym boyfriends. Ha! (And whew.)

Anyway, we had a snow day today, which for a hard working post doc like me means that I can work at home instead of in my office.* Of course, I could have walked to my office, I just didn't really feel like tromping through all the wet snow.

I decided to go to the gym for a snow day work out in the evening. (There's something nice about going to the gym after being inside all day.) Because it was cold, I was feeling lazy, and I wanted to go to the grocery store after, I decided to drive. I went out to my car (which I haven't seen since Monday, since I've been walking to work this week), and got to work at clearing the snow off it. Once I spent 10 or 15 minutes getting it all cleaned off, I realized....oops, I can't actually get my car out because I don't have a shovel, so I can't move all the snow that is AROUND it.** And then I thought of how complicated parking might be upon my return. (The joys of winter street parking.***)

So....I walked to the gym instead.

I had a good workout. I did the elliptical and read The Hunger Games. (First book; I'm like seven chapters in, and enjoying it a lot.) For the last 10 minutes, I watched the Colbert Report. He was talking about the State of the Union address, and talking about the part when Obama said how we were the country that put cars in driveways and computers in offices. Colbert then added, "We then put computers in cars [picture of a GPS], and cars in offices [picture of a car smashing through a storefront]." I laughed out loud, right there on the elliptical.

On the way home I stopped at the small market across the street from my apartment to at least buy milk. I ended up also buying a chicken Caesar salad from the deli there. By that point I was starving, and it was exactly what I wanted. (Even though I didn't know it before. :) ) Oh, and I bought this little number too.


Why yes, that is chocolate pudding, oreo cookies, and whipped cream. I saw it and thought chocolate pudding sounded great. Since I already have whipped cream at home, I tried to buy a box of pudding mix, so I could make some. All the chocolate pudding was gone. What is it about snow days that makes people want to eat chocolate pudding? So I bought this thing, and it was so satisfying.

While I ate my salad and pudding treat, I listened to Amy Mann's Lost in Space album. I recently received it as a gift, and I listened to it for like three weeks straight after Christmas. Perfect chill music, for a perfectly chill evening.

Okay, I better go to bed. Thus ends one of my most random blog posts ever.

(Oh, and Mom, I promise I'll get a shovel for my car soon.)


* Technically I can work at home anytime I want, but there's something extra enticing and justifying about it when there's a bunch of snow outside.
** My mom will hate knowing this. She's always told me to have a shovel in my trunk during the winter, just in case. She also made me take an ice scraper when I moved to Austin, which, remarkably, I actually used a couple times. My mom has excellent foresight.
*** For more about that, read http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2010/02/21/can-you-dig-it/.

Seattle AAS

This past week I was in Seattle for the annual winter meeting of the American Astronomical Society. This is typically the largest astronomy meeting every year. I don't know how many people are here, but it's somewhere in the thousands. It's been a lot of fun to catch up with people I know from different places.

Since I'm currently applying for jobs (funding only goes until September, so I have to look now for a job that would start next fall), I am attending the meeting. And since I'm attending the meeting, I needed to present something. I'm currently working on a really cool, interesting project. However, I don't really have any results yet (although it's not really entirely my fault), and so putting together my poster was really stressful. An AAS poster certainly won't make or break one's career, but I still want to do the best job I can. Especially since I'm applying for jobs. Gotta make a good impression, you know?

But it was still stressful and I worked some long hours, including a large percentage of my Christmas break. Boo.

But surprisingly, despite not having any real results, my poster turned out pretty well. It looked pretty, at least. (Yellow font and white plots on a dark blue background is so striking!)

My poster was up Monday at the meeting. (The AAS is so big that each poster is only up for one day of the week-long conference.) It actually generated a lot of interest, which is great. This is easily the most popular poster I've ever had up at this meeting. (And I've attended several of these annual meetings.) Seriously. It was great (and kind of weird) to have so much interest.

Here's a picture of me and my poster:

Oh by the way, just in case you're wondering. I officially found out that I did not get the job in Seattle I wanted. I heard it right from the source (i.e., I actually talked to the project's PI). But that's okay, it just means that I'm supposed to be doing something else and living somewhere else. Now to figure out what/where that is. I can deal. Anyway. That's all I want to say about that.

On a more up note. It was really fun to see people and catch up. I didn't take many pictures of people, but Kevin and I went to lunch with Mike and Lisa Joner, which was so fun. Lisa took this picture of Kevin and I. (He looks a lot happier than me, but I promise I was having just as much fun.)

During lunch on Thursday (last day of the conference) I went down to Pike's Market, which people kept telling me I needed to see. Once I got there, I realized I saw it the last time I came to Seattle (like 7 years ago), but I still haven't seen anyone throwing fish.

I took the red eye flight out of Seattle Thursday night. Since I had an entire evening to kill, I decided to go to the temple. Maybe it's not really the normal touristy thing to do, but hey, it was raining and it was so close (-ish). So why not?

These white specs in the picture are raindrops.

As it turns out, there were pretty much no places to put a camera to use the timer. So I put it on the sign (see above), set it to go, then started to back up. This picture was taken when I ran into a low bush after about 1.5 steps and realized that the grass was really wet and my shoes were wholly inappropriate. (But at least my reaction was laughing, right?)

Better picture of the temple from the side.

Someone finally came out and was able to take my picture.

I made it to the airport in plenty of time. And I slept really well on my flights. (I think I was just that tired.) Of course, they weren't nearly long enough to get a decent amount of sleep. Short layover in Houston, then onto Baltimore. It was kind of annoying because all the overhead space was full on the flight from Seattle to Houston (I shouldn't have changed my seat to be closer to the front! Lesson learned.), so they made me check it all the way through to BWI. But the flight to B'more was really empty, so it came off the carousel fast. Oh, but in other news, Continental served Biscoff of the flight from IAH to BWI. My favorite!!

And now....back to work. Dealing with two referee reports (one super easy, one less easy), and finishing the next round of job applications.

Some things we never grow out of

You know how little girls* sometimes go through this phase where they have an article of clothing they love so much that they never want to take it off, including wanting to sleep in it? Well, as it turns out, sometimes you don't grow out of some things.

Last night I had to make a quick trip to Kohls** because I had to buy something for a Secret Santa thing I'd signed up for at church. (It involved buying a dress for a girl in the Spanish branch. Also, as it turns out, I know nothing about the way little girl sizes work.)

And so of course, since I was in Kohls, I walked out with stuff for me too, including a shirt, a pair of shoes, and a dress (all for $25!). I wasn't sure about the dress, but I bought it anyway. Among other uncertainties, it was sleeveless, so I was going to need to wear a cardigan over it and I wasn't sure if the one I had would work that well.

So I got home and I tried it on with the additional accessories, to see if I'd need to take it back. Oh no. It's great! I love this dress. I got home and tried on all the additional accessories (no, the fact that it was after midnight did not deter me from this exercise), including the black cardigan, as well as black tights, my blue shoes, and burgundy-colored pearl necklace. When I tried it on last night, I didn't want to take it off; I kind of wanted to sleep in it, I loved it so much. I wore it to church and kept it on even after I got home. I even took an afternoon nap wearing it. Ha! I guess that means that I did sleep in it! Mission accomplished.

I'm not really sure why I love this dress so much. I just think it's super cute, comfortable, and really flattering on me.

My camera is currently in NYC with my friend Bridgid (she's visiting me this week and up in NYC for a couple days; hopefully I'll post more about that later), so I tried using Mac PhotoBooth to take a picture. It's not good at focusing long range (for a full body shot), so here's the best I could do. Not the best picture, but it's cute, I promise!





* Maybe little boys too...I'm not sure since I (a) don't have any little boys and (b) wasn't ever a little boy; but I'm sure about the little girl thing. I was one a long time ago.

** Okay, "quick" and "Kohls" for me never belong in the same sentence. This statement is clearly an exaggeration.

I must be close

So I've been involved in doing research for awhile now. And I've noticed a trend for when I am on the verge of completing a project. (Holds true for conference presentations, papers, or any of the three theses I've written.) The trend is this: right before I finish it, there's a moment of total crisis when it seems like all of my results are completely falling apart. (Sometimes the crisis lasts for days, sometimes it lasts for hours.) Nothing makes sense and nothing seems to come together. It makes me worry that my presentation/paper/thesis will be delayed or worse, wrong. And that I'm the worst astronomer ever.

I've almost come to expect this crisis moment. In fact, it's sort of like a signpost that the end must be near. But in that moment, I always feel like "this time" things won't work out. "This time" the crisis will result in me being crowned the worst astronomer ever.

Okay, so that said, I've been working on this one "side" project for the past year and a half. This is longer than my boss and I expected it to take. But I feel like I've taken a project that was a pretty straight forward paper and turned it into something more interesting than just a data dump paper. ("Look! Data!" is now "Look! Science!")

So I've been waiting on some collaborators to get me some things I need to really knock it out of the park. But we're getting impatient. (Because we can still hit a home run without it.) My boss is getting anxious for me to get it out the door so I can work on other things. (And I am too.)

The deadline I set for the collaborators is tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm going to submit it, with or without the extra frosting on the cake.

Though, as it turns out, I'm not entirely finished with it.... Last week I was polishing it a bit and re-checking/refining some of my more important calculations. None of them were working! "How did I get those numbers before?! Why can't I reproduce what I *thought* I got before! I updated a few things, so I need the new numbers, but they shouldn't be *that* different than the old ones!"

I ran the calculations a bunch of times. They kept coming out way off. This was the moment for this paper when it looked like everything was falling apart. I felt slightly panicky. "Sure, things worked out in the past...but THIS moment of crisis...how am I EVER going to salvage this mess in time?!"

This was especially nerve wracking since I've committed to submit the paper tomorrow. So I'm up late tonight making sure everything is ready. I looked at those numbers again. The numbers that were making everything fall apart earlier this week.

Lo and behold. I found my mistake. Everything is working again.

This is a relief!

It must mean that the paper is ready to go.

But seriously. The trend continues to holds up. Why can't I just do everything perfect every time? That would be nice!

Commentary on Ezekiel 47

I know this post is a little different from the theme of my normal posts, but I couldn't let this go by without jotting down some of my thoughts. And I think some of my readers will enjoy reading this. It was too cool to pass over.

In my church, we don't have a paid clergy, so each member of the ward (local congregation) has a specific job (or more than one job). One of my jobs is to periodically teach the adult Sunday School class. This year we're studying the Old Testament. I taught today's lesson which covered Ezekiel 43-44 and 47. It was an interesting coincidence because as I was celebrating Thanksgiving with one of my good friends and her family up on Long Island, it was discovered that she had taught the same lesson in her ward last Sunday, that her brother was teaching it there that Sunday, and I was also teaching it down in Baltimore.

I'm pretty sure that I've read these passages in Ezekiel before, but I don't remember them. Nor do I remember them being so awesome.

The premise is that Ezekiel, who was a prophet in ancient Israel, had a vision of the temple in Jerusalem. By reading a variety of verses in Chapters 43 and 44, we gain insight into various aspects of the temple. (Including it being the house of the Lord, its holy nature, the very grounds being holy, worthiness requirements to enter, etc.) The really meaty stuff is in Chapter 47. This vision blows my mind.

First though, it's important to understand the geography of the region of this part of the world. Here's a basic map of the area:

The Sea of Galilee (the top, smaller lake) is a fresh water lake. The Jordan River flows out of it, and into the Dead Sea (the bottom, larger lake). The Dead Sea is the lowest point of dry land on the planet earth, about 1300 feet below sea level. Water does not flow out of the Dead Sea, and as water from it evaporates, it leaves the salt and other minerals behind, so it just gets saltier with time. It's a crazy cool place, and geologically very interesting. In fact, due to the high salt content of the water, it is much more dense than fresh water, and so people can actually float in it. I can attest to that! (And it's really, really fun.)

Because the Dead Sea is so salty, it cannot sustain life. There are no fish or bugs anywhere around, not even those brine shrimp that seem so abundant in the Great Salt Lake. There are no macro organisms of any kind. This is why it's called the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea is located to the east of Jerusalem. In between the two is an area known as the Judean wilderness. It is among the most barren places in the world. (I took this picture on our drive to the Dead Sea this past summer.)

Ezekiel's vision, as recorded in the first 12 verses of Chapter 47 (specifically 47:1, 6-12) goes something like this: He sees the temple in Jerusalem, with its doors facing toward the east. (This eastward facing is symbolic for other reasons, but note that this also means the doors are facing toward the Judaen wilderness and the Dead Sea.) In verse 1 he sees a river rushing out the eastward-facing door of the temple.

The results of this are astonishing. I love the imagery. Specifically parts of verse 8 (emphasis added):

These waters issue out toward the east country,
and go down into the desert, and go into the sea:
which being brought forth into the sea,
the waters shall be healed.

Amazing! What beautiful symbolism. Because of the water that is flowing from the temple, the waters of this barren sea are healed. What a beautiful choice of words!

The verses continue to talk about the multitudes of life that are brought forth as a result, including trees, and specifically the tree of life. (Although it doesn't call it that here; however, John sees something similar in vision, recorded in Revelation 22:1-3, and does refer to it as the Tree of Life.) We know from other scripture (including from Lehi's vision in the Book of Mormon) that the Tree of Life is representative of the love of God, is most desirable of all things, and will bring joy to our souls.

The symbolism of this vision is so rich. The imagery is so beautiful. Our discussion of it in Sunday School today led to many thoughtful possible interpretations of it. I believe the overarching symbolism is this:

• The water from the temple: Pure doctrine; Christ as the living water; etc.
  
• The Dead Sea/Barren Wilderness: Personal suffering; consequences of sin; etc.

In other words, the doctrines of the Gospel are healing. Specifically, the power and spirit that are available from the temple are healing. We can be healed. Everything that the Savior touches will be healed, whether it's a broken heart, a broken relationship, a broken home, or a broken society. I believe the answer to life's ills lie in the Gospel of Jesus Christ; and like the waters from the temple in Ezekiel's vision healed the barren wilderness and the Dead Sea, so can the Gospel (and especially the power available from the temple) heal us and cleanse our hearts and homes if we allow it.

Hairstyle

I'm in need of a hair cut/trim right now.

I haven't found a hair dresser yet in B'more that I like. (Of course, I haven't looked, which may be part of my problem.) Any of my local readers have any recommendations?

A few weeks ago I was on a plane flying somewhere. (California? Utah? I don't actually remember.) The woman next to me was watching CSI: Miami. I've never really been into CSI, and I couldn't hear anything, but one character caught my attention. She looked familiar, but I didn't know/couldn't remember her name. She had medium-length brown curly hair, a lot like mine. I really loved her haircut. It reminded me of a haircut I got over a year ago in Utah by my sister Sue's friend Marin. That was a great haircut! But Marin doesn't cut hair anymore. :( (And....I don't live in Utah anyway.)

So I searched and searched for pictures of this actress. I had no idea what her name was, just that she was on CSI: Miami. No luck.

Well, this weekend I solved the puzzle. Turns out the show was CSI: New York, not CSI: Miami. (Sheesh, how could I get them mixed up?) The actress is Melina Kanakaredes. I did some online searches and found some pictures, and this cut/style I particularly liked. What do you guys think of it for me?

I've never taken a picture to a hair dresser before. Would this picture be enough for someone who is good to figure out the cut and style on me? The part is in the middle, instead of my usual off-to-the-side (see below), but maybe I could pull it off? Or just have them alter the style from the picture and keep it on the side?

(In case you forgot what I look like.) These are just mac photo booth pictures of me (i.e., taken while I was procrastinating work, and hence a little bit silly). This one was not long after I got that great hair cut.

This one was about 6 months later, so it's still the great haircut, but grown out a little bit. (And hence a little less great, but still not bad. It was a good hair day.)

Opinions?