Last night was the Kinnaman Christmas, when the awesome part of my dad's family comes over and we have good food and good company. Before dinner, Sam came and informed us that the family room was "South America" and the "boys were the guards" (he didn't say of what) and the "girls were the weeders" (leaders), and that he'd be in "Africa" (his bedroom) if anyone needed him.

After dinner and gifts, we played the "super-fun game" that we stole from Jordan's family. Basically, it's a complicated version of telephone, where you start with a piece of paper, and you write a sentence on it. Then you pass the paper to the next person, who must draw a picture describing the sentence. Then the paper is passed along, only with the first sentence hidden, so now the third person constructs a new sentence based only on the picture. This cycle can be repeated as many times as you want, although generally it takes 4 or 5 sentences to really deviate from the original in humorous ways.

For me, the best part of the evening was sitting next to Uncle Dave and Rebekah as we played the game. Notable exchanges: Uncle Dave (keep in mind, he grew up on a farm, has lived in the country his whole life, and rebuilds classic cars for a living) "If only I knew how to draw sequins, I'd be set!" and: Uncle Dave: "Rebekah, I can't figure out your picture. Is this some kind of log with barbed wire around it?" Rebekah: "No! That was a mistake I tried scribbling out!"

All in all, it was a great evening. Can't wait for next year :)

-----------------------------------
Star Trek Enterprise
[Mayweather has broken his leg on an alien planet and returned to the ship.]
T'Pol: Why didn't you let them finish treating you on the surface?
Travis: Have you ever been to an alien hospital?
T'Pol: Yes, in San Francisco.

Well, it finally arrived: news that Bard College hired someone else. I'm not surprised, since I haven't heard from them in 2 months, but at least now I know for sure. Now to turn my attention to finding a postdoc and finishing my thesis...

Happier news, though, is that one of the students in the math class we're teaching at the homeless center has gone from a 2nd grade equivalency in math to a 6th grade equivalency :D

--------------------------------------
Orson Scott Card, on a scene in New Moon:
And at the end, Bella actually shows some spunk. There is a memorable scene between her and werewolf boy in which she is needlessly vicious to someone who has done her nothing but good -- she wouldn't be Bella if she had a spark of human compassion or feeling for any person other than herself and her alpha-male Edward. But at least she shows a little fire instead of mere leaden depression.
It's rather as if you had lived in Seattle and not seen the sun in four years, and suddenly the clouds part, and you see, not the sun, but a meteor about to collide with you, but at least it's bright and it's not raining.

Jordan and I have undertaken a new task: to declutter our apartment. I was inspired by the blog unclutterer.com (which was linked to by one of my favorite knitting blogs, crazy aunt purl). Assuming I defend in the spring, and we move to ...wherever... in the summer, it would be nice to move only the stuff we want and need. We're taking it small, and in chunks. Today, I culled a few things, but mostly just started listing the areas that we'll need to work on. The other thing I did today was try out a suggestion from the unclutter site, on how to not procrastinate:

1. Identify the work that has to be completed by the end of the day. What, if you fail to accomplish, will get you fired/stressed/full of anxiety/arrested/etc.?
2. Identify at least three things you want to do in addition to the must-do items.
3. Identify any routines that should take place to keep you on track. Is today a laundry day? Is it your night to make dinner?
4. Estimate length of time to complete all of your must do, want to do, and routine projects.
5. Write out a plan for your day, where you stagger easy and difficult tasks and schedule the hardest task when you are the most alert.
6. Get working.

I decided to try this approach today, since getting stuff done today was pretty low-stakes, and it worked. I got all my usual cleaning (and then some) done, I've updated my ravelry, flickr, and iphoto knitting pictures, washed all my wool socks, and prepped for D&D tomorrow. Next up Jordan and I are going to go through our piled up mail, and organizing our giving for Christmas. Huzzah!

--------------------------------------
Time Bandits
Evil: If I were creating the world I wouldn't mess about with butterflies and daffodils. I would have started with lasers, eight o'clock, Day One!
[zaps one of his minions accidentally, minion screams]
Evil: Sorry.

So, about a month or so ago I got a phone interview with Bard College, where I had applied for that tenure-track position. At the time, they said I'd know "within the week or so" if they wanted me to come for a campus visit, which they intended to have "by Thanksgiving." Well, it's past Thanksgiving, and still no word on whether they want me to come visit or not. For a time I was stressing out about it (did I mention this place is only 12 minutes away from Rhinebeck(!)), but now I've entered a very Zen-ish state of acceptance.

In other news, Thanksgiving has been quite fun and relaxing. I spent Wednesday playing with the kids, Thursday eating awesome food and playing with the kids, and then Friday hanging out with Jordan's side of the family. Jordan and I prepared the meal on Friday for everyone: crock-pot ratatouille, rice, and tilapia. It was very yummy :) The other highlight from Friday was the deer eating out of the Miller's bird feeder:



It looks further away than it was because of my tiny iPhone camera, but it was only about 10 feet away from the window. It could see us, but since it couldn't smell or hear us from in the house, it stayed at the feeder for several minutes, eventually eating nearly half the birdseed. At one point a small doe also came by, but it didn't get as close.

Alright, off to get some lunch.

-----------------------------------
Supernatural "Monster Movie"
Pizza Delivery Guy: Uh, pizza delivery?
Dracula: Ah, you have brought a repast. Excellent. Continue to be of such service, and your life will be spared.
Pizza Delivery Guy: Uh-huh. That'll be $15.50.
Dracula: Tell me…
Pizza Delivery Guy: Yeah?
Dracula: Is there… garlic on this pizza?
Pizza Delivery Guy: I don't know. Did you order garlic?
Dracula: No!
Pizza Delivery Guy: Then no. Look, mister, I've got four other deliveries to make. You want to just pay me the money so I can go?
Dracula: Of course. Yes. But I have a coupon.

Well, I just applied for my first tenure-track position. I can't say that I have the highest expectation for this position, because the job posting said preferred candidates would have post-doc experience (which I don't). But I do have teaching experience, which was also preferred. And I turned in a rocking application, if I do say so myself :) So we'll see. I did learn a couple things from this experience: 1) I am capable of writing a 5 page research proposal from scratch in about 24 hours, and 2) I think if I do end up anywhere near drug design research, it's going to be on neglected diseases. I may even look for a post-doc in that, if these faculty positions don't come through...

All of the stress from creating my application package from scratch in less than a week has left be a bit drained. So what did I do? I went and donated 3 units of platelets this afternoon. My general feelings of wooziness hasn't subsided, but at least it's for a good cause :)

I'm looking forward to this weekend, when we celebrate family fall birthdays. I just need to get clothes set out for the family picture, and grab posterboard to make my now traditional "poke the tail on the donkey" (the first time I made the poster I just forgot what it was called and of course it's now stuck :P

-------------------------------------
Top Gear
Jeremy: Well of course, what we have proved there is that the Bugatti Veyron, which we know to be the fastest car in the world, is faster than another kind of car.

the new couch, with pillow in new pillowcase:

doctor who hoodie with new K-9 patch:

and the latest D&D inspired creation, a skeleton, in honor of the 23 skeleton monsters the group bested, albeit not all at the same time (it's actually a bit creepier than I intended, but the skull was hard to get "cute," even for me):


---------------------------------
Arrested Development
Gob: The zero hour, Michael. It's the end of the line. I'm the firstborn. Sick of playing second fiddle. Always third in line for everything. Tired of finishing fourth. Being the fifth wheel. [thinks for a moment] There are six things I'm mad about, and I'm taking over.

I had a really nice weekend. Friday night Jordan, Laura, Amy, Ashley and I played our version of balderdash, which is about as much fun as you can have with a dictionary :)

Sunday afternoon/evening was Kristina's wedding, which was great. It was outside at their "compound" in Michigan, and the weather cooperated beautifully. The groom walked in to the Throne Room song from Star Wars. Laura, Jordan and I recognized it immediately, and it was amusing to listen to the audience as people got it further into the song. It was a lovely, casual wedding.

Earlier on Saturday morning Amy and her family's van and I went and picked up a couch I bought off of craigslist. This was actually my first experience buying something off of that site, and it worked out really well. Once I remember to take a picture of the couch, I'll post it here. The couch came with a couple of big accent pillows which are not exactly to my taste. So I used fabric from the red futon cover and made two pillowcases for them (fancy pillowcases with extra fabric to cover the pillow on the "open" end of the case. Again, once I have a picture...) Since I had the sewing machine out, I also hemmed two pairs of pants, and sewed a K-9 patch on my Doctor Who hoodie.

I also crocheted another D&D inspired amigurumi. Once again, I'll post pictures once I have them. (You'd think I don't have a camera or something, but really it's just that I don't think about it until I'm at work, waiting for my jobs to make it through the queue)

----------------------------------------------------------
Blackadder
Blackadder: Am I jumping the gun, Baldrick, or are the words "I have a cunning plan" marching with ill-deserved confidence in the direction of this conversation?
Baldrick: They certainly are, sir!
Blackadder: Well, forgive me if I don't do a cartwheel of joy. Your record in this department is hardly 100%. So what is it?
Baldrick: We do nothing.
Blackadder: Yup, it's another world-beater.
Baldrick: No, wait. We do nothing... until our heads have actually been cut off.
Blackadder: And then we... spring into action?

 Last weekend was the annual Wool Gathering in Yellow Springs. It's a great chance to see Christina, as well as Dan and Jill, who awesomely put us all up for the weekend. Friday Laura and I went to Witt and gave talks to the chem and physics dept senior students, respectively. I also got to see some profs again, although Dr. Hanson was out. Saturday was the big day, though, since we went to the wool festival. I was armed with birthday money from my parents and this is what I got:


That is ~8400 yards of 100% silk, all lace-weight. I could make anywhere between 9 and 21 shawls out of that, depending on the yardage/shawl. As Laura and Christina could tell you, I couldn't stop grinning and petting my yarn all day after I bought it. 
Other sites included llamas:



angora bunnies:

 RIght now I am DMing a D&D game for a bunch of physicists and physical chemists. It's been a lot of fun, and has nicely paired with yet another crafting type thing I am starting: amigurumi. Even though in general I am firmly in the knitting > crochet camp, there are a couple places where crochet wins, including the construction of small, cute animals and dolls. So I've started to take select monsters the group has defeated in battle, and render them in crochet. My first go is of a green dragon, freshly hatched from its egg, which the group slaughtered (a feat made easier by the fact that the hightest I rolled for a particular attack was a 3). 



I'm working on defeated monster #2, but it's a surprise for the group:) 

----------------------------------------------------------------
Darths and Droids, helpful hints from the writer:

When running a game, you should always take notes of what the PCs are doing. Ostensibly for record-keeping purposes. But mainly so you can set up horrible, horrible consequences of the things that they do with nary a second thought.

ZZ and Nevi visited last week (yay!) and we had a grand ole time. It was so much fun seeing them, as the last time we were in the same state was at my wedding, so I didn't get to see them as much as I'd like. So last week was great, especially since I could work from home most of the time. Before they arrived, Laura and I went to the library and I picked up (pretty much at random) a book on making cute stuffed animals out of socks and gloves. We were inspired by the sock ones (well, and because meijer doesn't carry cotton gloves) and made these:


They are: an elephant (laura), a cat (nevi), a monkey (nevi), a sheep (laura), a cat (carrie) and an elephant (laura)

Also, ZZ showed that it is possible to have a very successful magician yugioh deck (especially if you don't choose cards based only on appearance). And also that it's possible to kill someone with "swarm of locusts," not that I'm bitter :P 

Also, on a less happy note, I found another bug in my code *sigh*. At least this one doesn't require me to start this part of my research over (again)
---------------------------------------------
He started to count to ten. He was desperately worried that one day sentient life forms would forget how to do this. Only by counting could humans demonstrate their independence of computers. -Ford Prefect, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Sorry for the size and pics, I've still not been able to get an LJ cut to work right...

It's been a while since I've posted about knitting, likely because I usually just keep my ravelry site updated. But now you'll all be subjected to my latest doilies (mwahahaha!)

I have been using the hemp laceweight yarn Christina got me, and I really like making doilies with it. Since it's a plant-based fiber, it's not as stretchy as wool, but I really like the stitch definition. I will definitely be using more of this yarn in the future. With the green I made a doily for my Aunt Vickie's birthday (this is the fastest doily I've ever made -- it took just about a week and a half to complete).


The other reason I like this yarn is that it is really easy to dye. I made a doily for Dan Fleisch's fiancee Jill, but I just ran out of blue yarn before the crochet bind off


So I bought some blue dye from a tie-dye supply website (it came with a very hippie-centric catalogue) and some mordant (sodium carbonate) from a pool supply store. And voila, a rich, primary blue doily (that will match the decor in Jill and Dan's sunroom)


Every time I make a doily, it just reinforces how much I love lace. I love the process, and the way the final product looks. It's also made it more clear why I can love knitting lace, but still have an aversion to lace in clothing/decorating: I really like the handmade stuff, it's the mass-produced stuff that's just bleh.

--------------------------------------------
MST3K Last of the Wild Horses
[The credits identify Albert Glasser as the film's score composer.]
Forrester: Ah, Albert Glasser, the man who straps you down and pummels you with music!

Ok, I fully realize that the following image means almost exactly nothing to any of you (especially as I didn't even label the axes). So I won't tell you what it is, but I will tell you what it means:

It means that the idea I had for my research -- an avenue of investigation that wasn't generated by my advisor -- worked. Really worked. As in, it solves one of the fundamental issues we've been having nearly since day 1 (how to incorporate solvation effects, for those who must know). I'm so excited :D I still have a lot to do, mostly just getting more and more data, but the idea is solid. And it works. This little graph, as insignificant as it looks, is probably the crowning achievement of my graduate career so far, because it's the first real, meaningful thing that I've done that hasn't been doing something someone else thought of. *happy dance*

--------------------------------------------
Chuck

Morgan: Alright, listen, look at me. In all honesty, and I hope you know this... but I've always been of the mind that you were destined for great things. Whatever you wanna do, you can do. Senator, President... Emperor of the Known Universe... whatever you want to do. You understand?
Chuck: Yeah. I do.
Morgan: BUT... before you go running off to change the world, I think I should tell you that I'm currently on my way to securing forty-five Twinkies. Now, by which I mean forty-five BAGS of Twinkies.
Chuck: Why would you do that?
Morgan: Good question. Because Jeff said he'd eat all of them in under three minutes. Now he thinks he's eating forty-five, but, technically speaking, he's going to eat ninety.
Chuck: Ninety?!
Morgan: Yeah.
Chuck: Nobody can eat ninety Twinkies.
Morgan: That's what I said. See, he may die! Or at least do extreme damage to several major organs.
Chuck: This I have to see.
Casey: Good to see you, Bartowski.
Chuck: Hey! Ninety Twinkies in three minutes! Be there!

One of the best parts of the last weekend was discovering a kindred spirit in Joy, one of Jordan's cousins. She also enjoys crafty type stuff, as I found out when she showed me her beading kit. We made several pairs of earrings; the first to match the shirt I wore to the wedding, and the others just for fun. Jordan took an artsy picture of them:



I love them :)

I also taught Joy how to knit (but not how to purl -- sorry, Joy!) and she put on several rows on the socks I'm (now we) making for mom. Meanwhile, I'm trying to finish a secret project by Saturday (I apparently cannot do arithmetic, because I was 10 rows off in what I thought I had to do to finish...oops). Once that's done I'll post about it, as well as a new dyeing project I've been working on (it needs another go in the dye to even it out).

--------------------------------------------------
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (daily calendar)

Knitters are frequently accused of being obsessed with the process and the stuff we use to do it with. I think that sounds sort of negative. Instead of describing myself as "obsessed with knitting," I prefer to think of my lifestyle as exquisitely focused in a very narrow direction.

So far Jordan and I are 2 for 2 for Atlanta weddings per years since we got married. This year it is Lauren (Jordan's cousin) who got married. The ceremony was in a really cool manor:



and had a tent outside which gave me a reasonably artsy picture:



I got to help video the ceremony, which was great fun. It was a really beautiful ceremony, and a very relaxed (and groovy) reception. This was one of my favorite weddings I've been to, where I haven't been in the wedding party.

My favorite part of the weekend, though, has been hanging out with my cousins-in-law. I love Jordan's family, and its been so much fun spending time with them :) We all went to a chocolate emporium yesterday for tea and cake, then took some pictures at a cool vintage coca-cola sign:



Then we went to Lauren's new apartment, tore up movie tickets (to be thrown in lieu of rice), watched a movie, ordered pizza and chinese, and generally had a great time:)

-------------------------------------------------
Futurama (The Deep South):

Donovan: Atlanta was a city, landlocked, hundreds of miles from the area we now call the Atlantic Ocean. Yet so desperate the city's desire for tourism, that they moved offshore, becoming an island, and an even bigger Delta hub. Until the city overdeveloped, and began to sink. Knowing their fate, the quality people ran away. Ted Turner, Hank Aaron, Jeff Foxworthy, the man who invented Coca Cola, the magician, and the other gods of our legends. Though gods they were - and also, Jane Fonda was there - the others chose to stay behind in their porches with their rifles, and in time evolved into mermaids, and sing and dance, and ring in the new...

I had almost forgotten how hard it can be to get back to work after a vacation. This year at the beach was one of the best ever -- the weather was great, the food was better, and the kids are at really fun ages. One of my favorite moments was when we were cresting the bridge and getting our first view of the ocean and Sam yells, "I see a water tower! It's bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuue!" LIke, glad we just drove 800 miles so you could see a blue water tower. Mid-week we went on our traditional ice cream expedition, as there's a great place within walking distance of our house, and I got this pic of McKenna (and Laura):






We also got to go to Jimmy's this year (thanks Bekah and Tim!), when I increased my crab leg percentage by an infinite percent (from 0 to 1 crab leg). Even without my help, we still ate over 200 crab legs this year. Leslie wanted a picture of the kids by the Jimmy's sign, but it was a little bright outside...



The water was great this year -- no jelly fish like last year. I used a raft to ride in the waves once, and it was a blast. The rest of the time I just dove through the waves, which is one of my all-time favorite things (when there are no jelly fish). Once, though, I was coming out of the ocean, where I'd been wave-diving, and was thinking to myself, "it's nice that I don't have sand in my suit or anything" which is of course the ocean's cue to wallop me with a wave and send me tumbling to the beach. Luckily Laura had shouted a warning, so I wasn't hurt, just covered in sand and shells.

Alright, obligatory beach shot:



---------------------------------
Who's Line is it Anyway
[making a compilation CD commercial]
Ryan: Hey Col.
Colin: Yeah, Ry?
Ryan: Here's another riddle for ya.
Colin: Alright.
Ryan: What kind of bird always says the name of our next band?
Colin: Oh. I guess a...tern? An Arctic tern?
Ryan: And what sound does an Arctic tern make?
Colin: (in a parrot-like voice) "BACKSTREET BOYS"?

Actually, the lack of posting initially was because in my head I figured my next post would be an update on the St. Mary's gig. Which this is, actually, in the sense that after the phone interview I didn't hear anything from them until yesterday, when I got a letter saying they offered the position to someone else. I'm not too surprised -- my lack of a PhD would've been a really big hurdle for them to get over. It's a little frustrating, in that the timing didn't work out, because I feel like I would've gotten my job if it were for next year instead of this year. So now I'm back to plan A: graduate next spring and look for teaching jobs/postdocs.   

Life has been good though, Jordan and I will celebrate our second anniversary tomorrow, which just seems crazy, because it feels like we just got married. Research has been going well, too. I've published two papers this year, and am working on getting the data for two more (if only the opterons would finish running my gaussian jobs the first time I submit them...) 

So yeah, I'm going to try to be better at posting again. We'll see how this goes:)

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Gear

[on his provided Japanese snacks]

Jeremy: That is just a fish... lightly killed and then put in a bag. The marvellous thing is that Richard Hammond won't be able to enjoy any of this, because he won't eat anything unless it's come from a burger van on the A38. [Imitating Richard] "I don't like cheese, it's full of bacteria, and I don't like fish."
[elsewhere]

Richard: Mate, it's all fish.

James: Yeah, it's good for you.

Richard: Don't like fish.

James: Well, you've come to the wrong country.

I had my first job interview ever on Monday -- which is a little strange since I still have a year left of grad school. The thing is, at Saint Mary's (a sister-school to ND, across the street), the pchem professor is going on sabbatical this upcoming academic year. And I applied for the position to replace her, which would entail teaching gen chem, pchem, and the labs for each. I'm really excited about this possibility, since I've loved teaching the math methods course this semester. I think the interview went really well, and I'll find out sometime next week if they want to invite me to campus for a face-to-face interview. We'll see :)

-----------------------------------------------
Museum Expert: What does it symbolize?
Jeremy: The Audi?
Museum Expert: Yes.Jeremy: It symbolises... [pause] freedom...? [making reference to the film Braveheart] freedom...! like that

full of yarn I've already paid for...

Anyway, I decided recently that I wanted a different way to display my yarn (rather than my current "display" method of shoving the skeins in boxes). A long term idea, which I still want to do, would be to modify a book case with diagonal panels (for sort of a wine rack effect), but we don't really have room for another bookcase in our apartment. So for now, I went with a temporary solution:



ta-daa! It's one of those shoe organizer things, and only cost me $7. I may have to get a second one though...

---------------------------------------------------------
Futurama Movie: Into the wild green yonder

Court officer: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Nixon's head: Ah, uh, um, are you under the oath when you take the oath?

Wow, i have been horrible about posting. Needless to say, life has been crazy. Here's a sum-up before I get to the point of the post:

*My boss' son has leukemia, so I've more or less taken over the math methods course (hence having no time to post). His son is doing well with the treatments, which is good (obviously).  
* I've basically decided I want to do the whole teaching at a small university rather than work in industry. I'm looking into getting some certificates to add to my resume.
* Jordan starts his IT class tomorrow. I think he'll really enjoy it :)
* Jordan's grandmother gave me a portable sewing machine she no longer needed, and mom taught me how to sew. I've hemmed three pants so far, and have plans for making curtains for our bedroom.

Anyway.... 

On Friday Laura gave me a book that belongs to her physics advisor, Kathie. The spine of the book had pretty much come off: it was missing the top 1/3 or so and was hanging on by a corner. Laura had mentioned to Kathie that I knew how to mend books, and Kathie was interested in me trying to fix this one up. I gladly accepted -- book mending was one of my favorite things about my work study at Witt. Rebekah and I went to Hobby Lobby to get supplies, and I found rice paper and a plastic... tool... thing... Here's the before picture:


You'll notice that the roll of rice paper is white, while the book is black. Luckily I have ink in a variety of colors from back in the day when my creative outlets involved more paint-type material and less wool-type material, so I was able to dye the rice paper black. I fixed a couple pages inside the book before fixing the spine. I'm pretty pleased with how it came out:

Ok, this entry might be a tad picture heavy, and I can't get the LJ cut to work, although I've tried.

So I decided this fall (Sept-ish) that I wanted to make a doily for my mom for Christmas, since I made one for Jordan's mom last year. I have several lace pattern books, and I'd always (well, for the last year or so, since I got the book) wanted to make the pattern "chrysanthemum" (anyone familiar with my work history will understand :P ) I started working on it, using slightly bigger yarn/needles that it called for, because I wanted to work with wool instead of cotton and because I had size 1 needles already (the pattern called for 0) I was partway through when I looked at what I had knit, and looked at the picture of the completed pattern in the book and realized just how much more there was to do, and more importantly: this was not going to be a doily. No, it was going to be a tablecloth. And I only had 43 days left until Christmas Eve (worst case scenario, I'd had to have blocked it overnight that night), and at that point, I had about 150 rounds left to do. That doesn't sound like much, but the last 150 rounds contain 106,068 stitches. That's an average of about 2500 stitches a day for 43 days to finish. As it turned out, I managed to do a bit better than that and finished early, on the 20th :D I think overall I put in about 200 hours total. The following pictures were taken by Leslie, primarily of Mom's reaction to the tablecloth and some pretty ones of the tablecloth itself.