Our First Date

It was eight years ago Sunday night that Jeremy and I went out on our first "kinda sorta semi quasi no pressure date sorta thing." Unfortunately for Jeremy, I am a lot like a cockroach. While I no longer hide in dark corners of rooms or feast on Mischa's cat food, I am pretty persistent. He's still stuck with me after several years.

Our first date was on a Thursday night. I remember that evening being afraid he would forget our date, so I lurked on Instant Messenger hoping to remind him that I was around. Apparently, we eventually met up because I know we went to Soma, a B-ton coffee shop. Jeremy told me his major was "pre-life" and I remember talking for a long time. We then went to the IU Union to see a free (or nearly free) showing of Gladiator. You'd think the movie title would have tipped me off, but I believed Jeremy when he told me it was a romance. Because the movie was free, the projector broke every 30 - 40 seconds, creating lots of opportunities for discussion one doesn't normally get during a film.

I don't know if it was the pre-date online stalking, the blood and guts, or the awkward pauses during the film, but something got us moving in the right direction!

The first date gave way to a second even more romantic outing (thought I am certain Jeremy only invited me along to be polite). Jeremy took me and three of his closest friends caving. Having recently completed a stint as a ballerina and southern belle, the phrase "drop to your belly and crawl army style through the mud until you can lift your head" is the one I most remember from this night. Jeremy's friend Dave also initiated a fun game called What's the Meanest Thing You've Ever Done? on the drive home.

I didn't realize it at the time, but Jeremy created a brilliant dating obstacle course full of awkwardness, gore, mud, and intense interviews with close friends.

And I'm extremely glad I fooled him enough to pass!

ACL Festival & Cheap Living

For what I think is the fourth (or possibly fifth) time, Jeremy and I are headed to the Austin City Limits Music Festival. We are really excited that Chris is joining us from Indy again. Last year, we established a routine that enabled us to enjoy the music we wanted to hear while not killing ourselves. It should be a little bit cooler, and if I insist on getting heat exhaustion and hurling in the port-o-let (again), Chris is a doctor (mostly). Have I mentioned that I barf a lot? I can be a difficult person with whom to travel.

The ACL Festival entertains me on a number of levels. Primarily, I enjoy music. Also, I like to make fun of people. Not openly, and not in a cruel way, but I make fun (in my head, and sometimes to Jeremy) of people who take themselves WAY too seriously. Austin, for good or bad, seems to be the Garden of Eden for the self-important. Hooray for next weekend!

One thing I do take VERY seriously is free meals. The new student welcome party for Jeremy's department was Friday night. I am not ashamed to say that I brought 3 gallon sized plastic bags to the catered party so we could load up on "take out"after everyone finished eating. While no one else came prepared to "take out" dinner, I think we inspired others to follow suit next year.

I am so classy. ;)

Icing on the Cake

And finally, The New York Times.

WOW

For a little ant, this guy moves FAST!

When I searched for stories about it yesterday morning at 8am, there were 53 hits, and all of them in languages other than English. This evening, there are more than 21,000!!!!!

Even Dave Barry, the humor writer, mentioned the paper Jeremy co-authored. http://blogs.herald.com/dave_barrys_blog/2008/09/science-lunges.html

That is pretty dang cool.

Congratulations Jeremy!

My wonderful smart hubby co-authored a paper that came out today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS). He won't say it, but it's kind of a big deal.



Christian, another UT grad student, found a most unusual ant on the floor of the Amazon. Jeremy provided the phylogenetic (in English: family tree) analysis of the ant which revealed its enormous significance. The ant is an entirely new subfamily, and the most ancient species ever found.

Keep an eye on the NY Times, as we think they've picked up the story, too.

You can see more at any of these links. If you google "martialis heureka" you can see all the stories! They keep piling up! Jeremy was interviewed for the one on Wired.com and gets mentioned occasionally in some of the others.


http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/living-fossil-a.html

http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080915/full/news.2008.1107.html

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/science-shots/

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article4760982.ece

http://www.physorg.com/news140716045.html

http://www.livescience.com/animals/080915-new-ant.html

http://myrmecos.wordpress.com/2008/09/15/eureka-heureka-an-astonishing-new-ant/

http://mattdowling.blogspot.com/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/09/080915174538.htm

http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/36455/title/Ant_from_Mars

http://www.sciencecodex.com/new_ant_species_discovered_in_the_amazon_likely_represents_oldest_living_lineage_of_ants

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080915/sc_livescience/strangeantfrommarsdiscovered

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-09/uota-nas091008.php

Maybe he stole a secret recipe?

From cnn.com:

FRESNO, California (AP) -- Authorities say they've arrested a man who broke into the home of two California farmworkers, stole money, rubbed one with spices and whacked the other with a sausage before fleeing.

Fresno County sheriff's Lt. Ian Burrimond says 22-year-old Antonio Vasquez was found hiding in a field wearing only a T-shirt, boxers and socks after the Saturday morning attack.

He says deputies arrested Vasquez after finding a wallet containing his ID in the ransacked house.

The farmworkers told deputies the suspect woke them Saturday morning by rubbing spices on one of them and smacking the other with an 8-inch sausage.

Burrimond says money allegedly stolen was recovered.

Why Biologists are Necessary

Book Recommendation

If you want to understand how to end "Islamic terrorism" (in the words of Rudy Giuliani) read Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson. Now. Don't wait - go get the book before your next trip to the bathroom.

I haven't even finished it yet, but so far the book has reinforced what anyone with a scrap of sense knows already. When people are poor and lack access to a balanced education, very bad things happen. Three Cups of Tea is about the amazing efforts undertaken by one man to educate the children of Pakistan, especially the girls. The schools created by Greg Mortenson were constructed with the local community, for the local community, staffed by the local community. It is a completely uplifting read and should be compulsory for presidents, lawmakers, and the general public.

This man's efforts to support local communities' wishes for a balanced education will probably do more to promote peace than anything else.

More intestinal distress

I'm now watching the RNC. Not to be entirely negative, but Rudy Giuliani irritates (and embarrasses me) in much the same way as Joe Biden. I would like to reiterate my support for Joe Schriner, an independent presidential candidate.

This election has indeed been an exciting one, though! I can't believe how quickly election day is approaching!