updates!

I have been a very bad blogger lately. No reason, other than I have been doing other things:

1. Wedding planning! We're getting down to the home stretch 1 month and 1 week to go! I have made boutonnieres for the boys (which I want to post to show off what cool things I did, but haven't taken photos yet). I am working on programs, not completely sure how I want them to be yet - or how I want to arrange them - or what to include on them. I am also thinking about what other paper things I need to make for the big day.  And I need to get yummies to put in the favor boxes. And I need to order the flowers - not a big deal, but I do need to order them, I love being low maintenance in that I just want white roses and I can order them from an online wholesaler for very cheap (works out to $0.67/rose). The only reason bridezilla is now present in my mind is because our "photographer" just informed us that his nice camera is broken and his plan was to take our wedding photos on a crappy digital camera. I would like to shove that camera to where the sun doesn't shine - or at least smack him over the head with it. But, I've asked someone with a fancy camera to save the day but if he cannot, I will try to see if I can rent a good camera for our "photographer" to use (and I will put "photographer" in quotes to describe him from now on because he no longer deserves the title of photographer).  I'm also working on making a few other things, but they are top secret!  Dress fitting was this morning - only a bustle and steaming and I won't get my dress back until 1 week 1 day before the wedding. Makes me a bit nervous, but, as the seamstress put it, less time for the dress to get wrinkled that way! 
   
2. I am working on a fellowship application. Luckily it's only 5 pages + 2 pages for figures and not including references.  Spitting out a 5 page paper is a piece of cake, but being succinct and still getting the point across is difficult.  I also need to write something about being committed to cancer research for the rest of my career (which I think every biochemist wants to be committed to cancer research, research just doesn't always go in that direction - when I started my PhD I was doing cancer research, at the end it was HIV drugs and laminopathies).  And I have to finish it by mid-July to give time for boss to review because it's due August 12 and I will be on honeymoon until August 10. And my boss will be in China from July 30-August 12 (so perfect).
3. I'm on the lookout for stories about animals kissing and other displays of affection. Also to be found by mid-July. If anyone knows of any cutsie animal PDA stories, I would love to hear them!
4. Trying to think about honeymoon plans... anyone with must do ideas for San Francisco, I am all ears!
5. Can I just say that 2009 is like the best year ever! With graduation and our house and our wedding, I may be a little bit crazy lumping it all in one 8 month period, but it really has just made this year incredible. Love it!

want to post something...

I want to post something, but I'm not sure what to say!

I've been in wedding planning mania mode and I don't want to be the type of girl that can talk about nothing but her wedding (though it is so much fun for me!). Everything's about ready, I need to order the beer and the guy at the liquor store is on vacation. I've been really crazy about looking at DIY blogs and such, getting ideas, and trying them out to only be disappointed that they don't look nearly as cool as on the blog. My most recent escapade was making tissue paper flowers - I don't know if I made it too small or just suck, but I'm not a fan (the original can be found at http://www.i-do-it-yourself.com/2009/04/diy-tissue-paper-carnations/). I was hoping to use these to decorate the stairs of the history center. I have toole to drape along the railing but am not sure what to use to secure the toole to the railing. So, I'm still looking since my tissue paper carnations suck.
I'm super psyched about our honeymoon - there's going to be a Georgia O'Keefe / Ansel Adams exhibit at the SF Museum of Modern Art (www.sfmoma.org) while we're there that I cannot wait to see! I've been letting my hair grow out for the wedding and it's driving me bonkers! It gets caught on all my bags when i put them on my shoulder - I'm not used to hair being pulled out of my head every time I use a purse! I will be begging my sister-in-law to chop it off on August 2! I cannot have my hair drive me bonkers all over San Fran!

Other than that, work is okay. I'm still frustrated, I don't think it will change. I have gotten more used to some things and other things are driving me more crazy. My boss still doesn't listen. The most recent moment in which I decided he's out of his mind was when he wasted $50 because he could admit that I was right but couldn't admit that he was wrong. I convinced him that ordering something other than what he wanted was better, but then he just ordered both. It's very unlike my old boss, who would NEVER waste money - not even $2, and had no problem getting input from the graduate students on what to order. We're the ones who do the experiments, shouldn't we get the materials that make the experiments easier??

The wonderful Dr. Isis has a super interesting post up right now about scientists and rockstars. GQ recently did an ad for Geoffrey Beane suits of scientists posing with rock stars (the Rock SOS campaign is for Geoffrey Beane to donate and increase funding and awareness for medical research, which I am totally behind, you can go to http://www.rockstarsofscience.org/ to sign the petition). There has been much speculation in the blogosphere about what wrong with the ad - specifically that the scientists are all white males - but Dr. Isis finally weighed in her opinion and, while I agreed with others, I think Dr. Isis really hit the nail on the head (http://scienceblogs.com/isisthescientist/2009/06/how_gq_got_it_all_backwards.php). The pictures are of scientists worshiping the rockstars instead of the rockstars worshiping the scientists. Or, maybe worshiping is the wrong word, how about rock stars recognizing the awesomeness that is contained within the scientists??

For not knowing what to say, I sure did babble on for a while!