tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79794191454434514102024-03-13T15:06:27.549-05:00From the City of Big Shoulders to the Big EasyColin and Nora got married in April 2007 in Chicago, and moved to New Orleans that June. They are graduate students in Physics and Public Health at Tulane University.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.comBlogger277125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-59828670155789898452010-10-01T11:19:00.002-05:002010-10-01T15:31:51.118-05:00Friday Cat BloggingI know that we've been quiet lately, and in particular have not had Friday Cat Blogging in a long time. Today is more of a reflection than a showing of cute cat photos. I'm sorry.<br /><br />Last night, Tony came up onto the bed with us just after I laid down. He settled onto my pillow, and flopped over, leaning his body on my head. He's been doing all of this recently, except he usually chooses Nora's pillow (and her head is usually further down the pillow so he doesn't actually touch her). This is a reflection of an enormous amount of trust we've built up with him in the past year. When he first came home, he was so scared that he would hide in the closet in the office, and only come out to explore when no one else was in that room. Now he initiates affection with us, sleeps in the bed with us, and sometimes even drapes himself across our chests.<br /><br />Tony was so much worse when he came home than any of the other cats, so the change is more radical with him. But the others have all shown this to some extent as well. Okra was sick when she came home, so she didn't really like interaction until she got well enough to actually eat. She still doesn't shower us with quite the affection that Tony does, but she's very kitten-like still, bounces around the house continuously, and has slept in the bed with us (even under the blanket). Wally and Marty still mostly hide under the bed, but that's because Tony doesn't really like them. They show us lots of affection, and Wally often sleeps at the foot of the bed (Marty is just now starting to do that as well). Hodag has settled into a more quiet show of affection. When we first got him, he would wake me up at sunrise by pouncing on my toes through the blanket. He would also follow me up and down the hall when I would work on homework late at night.<br /><br />I've been thinking about this the past few days because of Tony. It's very humbling, because they all show us nearly unconditional love, and I don't really feel like I've done anything to deserve it. And yet somehow, they seem to think I have.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-44043666947210575132010-06-14T20:03:00.002-05:002010-06-14T20:04:35.992-05:00Thoughts on the BP oil spillHello all.<br /><br />I know it has been forever since we have had any posts. I blame this partially on two things, the first being the fact that my much abused laptop finally gave up the ghost, and started blue- screening at regular intervals. This meant that I had to order a new computer, which always takes a long time to arrive. Additionally, we were off in California and Chicago for a two week summer vacation. Our vacation was wonderfully relaxing, and we were able to spend time with our friends in Chicago whom we had not seen in a long time.<br /><br />On vacation we received a lot of questions about the BP oil spill, and how it was affecting the gulf coast. These questions were sometimes difficult to answer, and definitely brought back to me memories of trying to answer questions regarding New Orleans recovery from Katrina. (For an amusing take on what questions the public is asking, see the <a href="http://tulane.edu/parents/oil_spill.cfm">FAQ sheet</a> that Tulane has posted for parents who are worried about their children being in New Orleans during the oil spill.) The trouble I had was that on the one hand, the oil spill is barely affecting us at all, and on the other hand, we feel the effects of the oil spill daily.<br /><br />Practically, you can currently spend time in New Orleans and never know that anything at all was wrong. New Orleans is 130 miles from the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, and the effects on day to day life are practically undetectable. The worst I have noticed is that on some days a strange kerosene smell blows in from the south, but other residents claim that they have smelled nothing. I think that the detection of the smell depends on a highly variable breeze (I have driven a few miles from home and been unable to detect the smell any longer) and how good your sense of smell seems to be.<br /><br />On the other hand, every single day we are faced with the results of the oil spill. The Times Picayune has been relentless in its coverage of the spill and the effects of the oil on various industries ans gulf coast populations. All manner of coastal jobs are in danger due to the oil, Shrimpers, Oystermen, and Fishermen all are suffering due to either oil in the waters they harvest from, or prophylactic closures of the waters for fear of oil encroachment. Oil workers are suffering too with the proposed oil drilling ban. Many of the people who work these industries are hardworking people who do not have the financial resources to survive a whole season of lost revenue. One thing I noticed after we moved down here was how huge the pride and support of local agriculture and food was, and how integral food production and food preparation was to New Orleans.<br /><br />Then of course there is the environmental impact. The problem with oil spills is that the magnitude of the damage caused by oil can take a long time to manifest. Environmentalists are particularly worried about the oil's possible effect on the Louisiana state bird, the brown pelican. The brown pelican was only recently removed from the endangered species list (in November of 2009) after the pelican population had finally bounced back from the effects of DDT accumulation. The Times Picayune has been<a href="http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2010/06/graphic_shows_number_of_animal.html"> keeping track</a> of oiled wildlife, and dead wildlife that has washed ashore or been found during oil cleanup activities. However, until the necropsies are performed it will remain unclear how many deaths can be blamed on the spill.<br /><br />As for how people down here feel about the spill, a whole range of emotions are involved. People feel angry, sad, disappointed, frustrated and afraid. I have heard local chefs get choked up as they describe the fate of marshes that their families have fished for generations. I have heard politicians seethe with anger and frustration because both a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_swan_theory">black swan event</a> has occurred, and because there does not seem to be anything that anyone can really do to mitigate its effects. In New Orleans, the past is the present, and I think what people here fear most is that somehow the oil spill is going to irrevocably change their lives for the worse.Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-79094911143386403582010-05-15T18:47:00.003-05:002010-05-15T19:25:23.636-05:00Ponchatula Strawberry FestivalBack in April, we drove up to Ponchatula for the annual <a href="http://www.lastrawberryfestival.com/">Ponchatula Strawberry Festival</a>. Ponchatula is on the northern end of the isthmus running between Lakes Ponchartrain and Marepas, and is locally famous for its strawberries, and has a festival every year to celebrate. There's a ton of strawberry-related food available, and a bit of country-fair atmosphere.<br /><br />Of course, the REAL reason to go to the Strawberry Fest is for the ginormous strawberry daiquiris, which we bought from the booth run by the family of this year's queen.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsoQQcMxIIfXZx7fxzYiCPOKz1GzC-521lpZIvvFxp_GT8etyrdy_d7Da0qBf8ktR9haKkEsJnIWjX8OfrjPfs0lLcfphgo_7bktC_55rTUaikuPhOkt5pkslRSLySYMotwL1Q-mjRh-I/s1600/2010Apr10_0073.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsoQQcMxIIfXZx7fxzYiCPOKz1GzC-521lpZIvvFxp_GT8etyrdy_d7Da0qBf8ktR9haKkEsJnIWjX8OfrjPfs0lLcfphgo_7bktC_55rTUaikuPhOkt5pkslRSLySYMotwL1Q-mjRh-I/s400/2010Apr10_0073.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471651054320488898" /></a><br />(Just kidding. And don't worry; we split that between us). But really, what country fair would be complete without deep-fried things that have no business being deep-fried? We had the choice of chocolate and vanilla deep-fried strawberries; we got one of each. They taste exactly the way you would expect, which is to say, AWESOME.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEF6JPksFikEHWotNGuYbJaeiwxHZhk1eBHtk_rCLqwaXydXRSlO-J5Wo-SbGGZkO3_kdEdAGePFTHHi3VGVDEcfmCRPu3qSAsngfMqK7yJ-yEqbTja5qL9j6814MfXMdExFGTYjJ0jg/s1600/2010Apr10_0086.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEF6JPksFikEHWotNGuYbJaeiwxHZhk1eBHtk_rCLqwaXydXRSlO-J5Wo-SbGGZkO3_kdEdAGePFTHHi3VGVDEcfmCRPu3qSAsngfMqK7yJ-yEqbTja5qL9j6814MfXMdExFGTYjJ0jg/s400/2010Apr10_0086.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471651056910715426" /></a><br />When I say country fair, I really do mean country fair. The festival itself is in a park a few blocks off the main drag, and on those couple of blocks leading up to the park. They have country fair rides and game booths set up in the park, and food lining the outter edge of the park. There are more food and drink stands on the city street leading up to the park. On the main street of Ponchatula, all the businesses stay open during the festival for all the foot traffic. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIZJLDrZFqvZ41eBGnEP4zjIqbt38pj2F-72xez3kS6GGX5OO87x5vGF0nSu3cIMLOXrxYkfEIGmCBHLWsj0QJSHtmlzsQnltkP90Le5Dpb6qScleGP6MhoxaHTFsREC2OZ_Bvm4pMHo/s1600/2010Apr10_0079.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPIZJLDrZFqvZ41eBGnEP4zjIqbt38pj2F-72xez3kS6GGX5OO87x5vGF0nSu3cIMLOXrxYkfEIGmCBHLWsj0QJSHtmlzsQnltkP90Le5Dpb6qScleGP6MhoxaHTFsREC2OZ_Bvm4pMHo/s400/2010Apr10_0079.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471651066668284130" /></a><br />And finally, here is our real main mission of the day: a flat of strawberries (yes we could have gotten it back in New Orleans, but that wouldn't have been as much fun). Nora shows off the flat we bought for $8. It has since been turned into several jars of strawberry jam. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_D0HeRVKG6wWpHqG3Kt7L1-eKjohpNeYupRtnhmQBGn5IWLWR0PcE9pl3pdqhCE2iyy4B4hZMOnrfNUhfeqRZT8LkVmu5P6dw9V-arr56uNYvhgSK_HR-V-Iin3SdsJisjnvU-Fys15M/s1600/2010Apr10_0089.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_D0HeRVKG6wWpHqG3Kt7L1-eKjohpNeYupRtnhmQBGn5IWLWR0PcE9pl3pdqhCE2iyy4B4hZMOnrfNUhfeqRZT8LkVmu5P6dw9V-arr56uNYvhgSK_HR-V-Iin3SdsJisjnvU-Fys15M/s400/2010Apr10_0089.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5471651060727536322" /></a><br />The festival is so popular that we had to park about a mile outside of town, on the road leading into Ponchatula from I-55. There are farmers lined up all along that road into town, so we just bought our flat from the stand closest to the car.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-59469072856468127762010-05-07T19:48:00.003-05:002010-05-07T20:28:01.794-05:00Friday Cat Blogging: foster cats edition<span style="font-style:italic;">(Cue Jaws music)</span> Oh no, it's a scary shark!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozev1Yf1EeCZdHw0bMLTOdr6jII2synw_IPUPV3uROebbYia65QXZwIsF_AfIhh32EZF99UvKVDASMhejmDN7CMgbddoMARrQAKjBofl1wXgKKn94VHmUHhp2PpY6yz2mI6sjYwDLrvQ/s1600/001.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhozev1Yf1EeCZdHw0bMLTOdr6jII2synw_IPUPV3uROebbYia65QXZwIsF_AfIhh32EZF99UvKVDASMhejmDN7CMgbddoMARrQAKjBofl1wXgKKn94VHmUHhp2PpY6yz2mI6sjYwDLrvQ/s400/001.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468702661964116898" /></a><br />Wait, no...that's just Wally, one of the cats we are fostering. And here's his brother, Marty, who we are also fostering.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdeprfQCu0afESG0fkjW9o6zZNyiEgjvlu8NvYDCA6hFkDsELKAlPSDOZoUnZrGuRRsuPHi1KLMcpEhdft6MWzKugC9rjIIJYmk1eto0MZ1z5Sb8FGEOGgp-WG6ELfC1fIfcPUXDuSjeU/s1600/006.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdeprfQCu0afESG0fkjW9o6zZNyiEgjvlu8NvYDCA6hFkDsELKAlPSDOZoUnZrGuRRsuPHi1KLMcpEhdft6MWzKugC9rjIIJYmk1eto0MZ1z5Sb8FGEOGgp-WG6ELfC1fIfcPUXDuSjeU/s400/006.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5468702669165091778" /></a><br />Wally and Marty were found in the parking lot of the local Wal-mart, which is how they were named. Nora likes to call Wally Wall-e, like the movie. He even responds to that. We are fostering Wally and Marty on behalf of ARNO, so they are staying with us just for a bit. When we took in Tony last summer, we were debating between him and these two guys. We eventually went with Tony because we thought no one would take him, and Wally and Marty would get adopted relatively quickly. But no, they are still at ARNO. Wally had a tooth infection, and is still recovering from that. Marty is very shy. Both have gotten a bit antisocial from being coupped up in a cage at ARNO next to the dogs. So they are staying with us until Wally is recovered and both of them are more social. Then we hope to get them to a forever home without much more time at ARNO.<br /><br />They currently spend a lot of time in the closet, which is where we see them here. They are living in our office and listening to NPR and classical music all day, and slowing unferalling.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-33061974750158441912010-04-07T20:17:00.000-05:002010-04-07T20:45:57.319-05:00InjunsOne of the many wonderful and weird things that one gets to experience in New Orleans are the Mardi Gras Indians. Mardi Gras Indians are somewhat difficult to explain, but, over-simplistically, they can be described as; African Americans who create and then parade down the streets of New Orleans in elaborate costumes decorated with feathers and beads or sequins. Mardi Gras Indians form strict hierarchical groups (tribes) that do 'battle' with members of other tribes in the form of singing and dancing as they parade through the streets. The costume a Mardi Gras Indian wears is called a 'suit', and takes thousands of hours of work to create. Every tribesman makes his own suit (or at least, helps in the making of it with assistance of his family) and the costs of the materials for a suit can be in the thousands of dollars. The very best compliment you can give an Indian is to tell him he has a "real pretty suit" or a "nice suit". A new suit is made each year for the Mardi Gras parades, and often members of a tribe will begin designing and purchasing items for their next suit as soon as Mardi Gras is over.<br /><br />The Indian's position in the tribe also provides some requirements for the suit, as <span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/11/national/11tootie.html?_r=1">Tootie Montana</a>, the long-time chief of the Yellow Pocahontas explained:<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><br />"You've got first chief, which is Big Chief; First Queen; you've got Second Chief and Second Queen; Third Chief and Third Queen. First, Second, and Third chiefs are supposed to have a queen with them. That's just tradition. I found them doing that. ..You also have your Spy Boy, your Flag Boy and your Wild Man. Your Spy Boy is way out front, three blocks in front the chief. The Flag Boy is one block in front so he can see the Spy Boy up ahead and he can wave his flag to let the chief know what is going on. Today, they don't do like they used to. Today you're not going to see any Spy Boy with a pair of binoculars around his neck and a small crown so he can run. Today a Spy Boy looks like a chief and somebody carrying a big old stick. It's been years since I seen a proper flag... The Wild Man wearing the horns in there to keep the crowd open and to keep it clear. He's between the Flag Boy and the Chief."</span><br /><br />Often you can tell the Big Chief and First Queen by their elaborate costumes and large headdresses, and the chief carries some sort of identifier of the tribe (the "big stick" that Tootie refers to above). Flag boys have embellished 'flags' to signal danger, and the wild man wears a headdress with animal horns attached.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;">The origin of the Mardi Gras </span>Indians is difficult to determine . It appears that the Mardi Gras Indians have masked and paraded in New Orleans for around two hundred years. It is clear that West African influences,Native American influences (both those of local tribes such as the Choctaw and Chitimacha as well as those of the plains Indians) and the New Orleans slave and free black traditions contributed to the costumes, chants and culture of the 'Indians'. The fact that local Native Americans in Louisiana assisted escaped slaves from New Orleans and surrounding plantations, may have inspired slaves in New Orleans to dress in the style of Native Americans.<br /><br />Regardless of what inspired Mardi Gras Indians to start making and wearing their suits, the results of their handiwork are amazing. The pictures below are taken at the Mardi Gras Indian parade on st. Joseph's day.<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcNjfDpGfohGbqAhhVESZR-2Xc-5oMfiLxnEO3zzA5DatBeub1KBoeYFLwSAlcae7y2Ml6L04B5nXUgOEpggseYKTgFixXOwMNa3BMlSeORKorqm7vDnB1_onH2X4kg5QjaRM3tXptFRQ/s1600/2_3_2010+183.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcNjfDpGfohGbqAhhVESZR-2Xc-5oMfiLxnEO3zzA5DatBeub1KBoeYFLwSAlcae7y2Ml6L04B5nXUgOEpggseYKTgFixXOwMNa3BMlSeORKorqm7vDnB1_onH2X4kg5QjaRM3tXptFRQ/s320/2_3_2010+183.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453867480187111154" border="0" /></a>I feel pretty, oh so pretty!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEE52saPzwAq8-1Ol5Op5NOnzRjKBttRqDyyA_TsquFSpj7ACfcIjQvD1nhRapkXFZah4qcyRUxDhwNwAcYc8nkFCUMfHYMLgy3wFHD61cKUTchLEjyxWko9V5bN0fNpQq-BIVVozRlT8/s1600/2_3_2010+194.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEE52saPzwAq8-1Ol5Op5NOnzRjKBttRqDyyA_TsquFSpj7ACfcIjQvD1nhRapkXFZah4qcyRUxDhwNwAcYc8nkFCUMfHYMLgy3wFHD61cKUTchLEjyxWko9V5bN0fNpQq-BIVVozRlT8/s320/2_3_2010+194.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453865778518236162" border="0" /></a>A beautiful suit made by a female Mardi Gras Indian. If you look closely, you can see the pictographs representing the life of female Native Americans. I caught this Indian before she had put on her headdress, you can see it being held by the woman next to her. I am pretty sure this is a Hard Head Hunter tribe member.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZK8utfT2aL0k7bSjxdtInH8fPN-4k31sb-v5dzvSqyD8oWOGP4IExORTkOQh2N8d7JgLDK3ksLfrckitNGX1KKWe7_a5yuhra0iOOhThLS0yTO-PjdVvaKJhkhacjuVKXwPmXuJuT-Q/s1600/2_3_2010+193.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCZK8utfT2aL0k7bSjxdtInH8fPN-4k31sb-v5dzvSqyD8oWOGP4IExORTkOQh2N8d7JgLDK3ksLfrckitNGX1KKWe7_a5yuhra0iOOhThLS0yTO-PjdVvaKJhkhacjuVKXwPmXuJuT-Q/s320/2_3_2010+193.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453865767726299794" border="0" /></a>Again, I sadly captured this Indian without his headdress. According to <a href="http://www.nola.com/mardigras/index.ssf/2010/02/new_orleans_mardi_gras_indians.html">Nola.com</a> he is a spy boy for the Hard Head Hunters tribe. If you link to <a href="http://www.nola.com/mardigras/index.ssf/2010/02/new_orleans_mardi_gras_indians.html">Nola.com</a> you can see him fully dressed at in the slide show at the bottom of the page.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TpavnPVhOtkKyf3lRj-UDq_7TFjzs6gcw_-QdPN6xFZ1pCWDb4PodmmdkAYaKvnFn74f3z_OpqA4AgE3ZJ9QXLHnXl3rBy4EV0V3TbMKwEx57nV04TDkmBhbCbifU7ufpO7fcoRGSfY/s1600/2_3_2010+188.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TpavnPVhOtkKyf3lRj-UDq_7TFjzs6gcw_-QdPN6xFZ1pCWDb4PodmmdkAYaKvnFn74f3z_OpqA4AgE3ZJ9QXLHnXl3rBy4EV0V3TbMKwEx57nV04TDkmBhbCbifU7ufpO7fcoRGSfY/s320/2_3_2010+188.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453865756431689042" border="0" /></a>Indian butt! Notice how an a single suit can contain several accessories that are equally impressive as the costume itself. Here you can see a fan and a flag. This is probably a cheif given how much equipment he has.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW9VgagFn0VX1pG5b-uKaXGvmPsyLwKkVt80KCM226DFL4Xv59XKiBlD2RI4froneFRnLLrDurzuVSTYl98JQBORjSeNY49jrdZa7ej_llQAw-yYrOiVfdZjC_QAD_HwwFO-qUgVRiiZU/s1600/2_3_2010+186.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW9VgagFn0VX1pG5b-uKaXGvmPsyLwKkVt80KCM226DFL4Xv59XKiBlD2RI4froneFRnLLrDurzuVSTYl98JQBORjSeNY49jrdZa7ej_llQAw-yYrOiVfdZjC_QAD_HwwFO-qUgVRiiZU/s320/2_3_2010+186.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453865748448394258" border="0" /></a>An individual suit can weigh over a hundred pounds. They are also quite hot and do not allow for air circulation. This particular Indian was so hot and dizzy by the time he got to me that I ended up giving him a drink of water out of my nalgene bottle.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3rw4jqvEbn0wmGabosE66SJ15_Q0azeoA7gd3yGPQWjvnJPKiTb-2FIbaJ8thhwoRnOO9sHvhLEfn8c-KL37uwaFhfVX7vNEzaxVb9VF0MwL1IkHYvwvDl8JCeJhXS3Sgb5qLxBMwqQ/s1600/2_3_2010+182.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl3rw4jqvEbn0wmGabosE66SJ15_Q0azeoA7gd3yGPQWjvnJPKiTb-2FIbaJ8thhwoRnOO9sHvhLEfn8c-KL37uwaFhfVX7vNEzaxVb9VF0MwL1IkHYvwvDl8JCeJhXS3Sgb5qLxBMwqQ/s320/2_3_2010+182.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453864270292828738" border="0" /></a>According to <a href="http://photos.nola.com/tpphotos/2010/03/mardi_gras_indians_super_sunda_39.html">Nola.com</a>, this is the Mohawk Hunters Flag Boy Jamal Casby. the two 'flags' are visible at the bottom of the photo.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDF5xB84uOdgBZXYTTna5DIbgHt54MDLATwRxj4dukT86sO6TjpeqMbNJ51wcAyUv2sQsThQfooPbsVGYwd9y0tXXiQ4e-QTqUSQG6GCrY6HcuqRavwsUD-J3af6hO4ChOR1rB51oM3n8/s1600/2_3_2010+172.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDF5xB84uOdgBZXYTTna5DIbgHt54MDLATwRxj4dukT86sO6TjpeqMbNJ51wcAyUv2sQsThQfooPbsVGYwd9y0tXXiQ4e-QTqUSQG6GCrY6HcuqRavwsUD-J3af6hO4ChOR1rB51oM3n8/s320/2_3_2010+172.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453864256974767730" border="0" /></a> A small child gets in on the dancing.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSk-cp9X3q1wcLjECK2weujMJL29y-YZNs3CBQubzjjZPnXwMzlD5ig7s3t9bQIwGuQZSk35dZGSPOVVy3wIYQNJ6pYY7S8TnD1aWkPpPT29xLnkJ-7SXES86BrdCoHGcFtkhC1I4Uqw/s1600/2_3_2010+164.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXSk-cp9X3q1wcLjECK2weujMJL29y-YZNs3CBQubzjjZPnXwMzlD5ig7s3t9bQIwGuQZSk35dZGSPOVVy3wIYQNJ6pYY7S8TnD1aWkPpPT29xLnkJ-7SXES86BrdCoHGcFtkhC1I4Uqw/s320/2_3_2010+164.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5453864239183155058" border="0" /></a>A young flag boy, holding his shotgun shaped flag.<br /></div>Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-57776339960595757162010-03-23T11:04:00.004-05:002010-03-25T08:47:01.306-05:00TA'ingSorry for taking such a long hiatus here folks, sometimes the hectic life of a PHD student just gets in the way of things I actually want to do, like update this blog.<br /><br />Recently I have been devoting a lot of time to my TAing job. I am the TA for epidemiology 712, which could also be called intermediate epidemiology. As unimpressive as that class sounds, I assure you TAing it can be quite challenging. This is because epidemiology is one of those subjects where the difficulty of the subject matter does not increase as a gentle slope, but rather as a sine wave from zero to 110 degrees (AKA, quite steeply, followed by a plateau). For some reason, intermediate epidemiology is the hardest class that most epidemiology majors take at the masters level, despite the fact that they are required to take advanced epidemiology (advanced epi would be the plateau part of my analogy above). I think this is because Epi712 teaches you all the theory needed to design and conduct an epidemiology study, and once you have that down, the rest is window dressing. Since the class can be tricky, I have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks giving extra help to struggling students. Luckily, I continue to enjoy teaching, so despite the fact that it has been a bit of a time drain, at least I have been having a good time. Additionally, because I am so involved in the class (giving the occasional lecture, hosting problems sessions, creating the homework) I have gotten lots of experience that will be useful when I begin teaching classes as a professor.Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-16405894744687368842010-02-26T21:53:00.004-06:002010-02-26T22:17:23.748-06:00Friday cat blogging, snuggle timeThe cats have been pretty snuggly this week. Last night they were all asleep on our bed with us, keeping close and warm. Here is a photo I shot a couple of weeks ago of Okra and Tony being cuddle buddies. Hodag is still being a bit aloof from us and the other cats, but we are slowly forcing him to be social.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzwY42UvW8jAXIrlKD3DDhn9M5CDxYiZldQMTmTWByR4FZ0GkYrMmVluApQ5D8euTFzA0wxjQuW4qMTf2gL-ETb9C49BbHNf0CdjE_qvurgt9mJZv4lkCwpmVrH4cvs-6Ew5crqZPndg/s1600-h/2_3_2010+036.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbzwY42UvW8jAXIrlKD3DDhn9M5CDxYiZldQMTmTWByR4FZ0GkYrMmVluApQ5D8euTFzA0wxjQuW4qMTf2gL-ETb9C49BbHNf0CdjE_qvurgt9mJZv4lkCwpmVrH4cvs-6Ew5crqZPndg/s400/2_3_2010+036.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442768627942000178" border="0" /></a>Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-36026771736517432162010-02-20T20:38:00.001-06:002010-02-20T20:39:04.688-06:00Back from the DeadPart of the reason we were so quiet In November and December is that I was studying for (and passing, apparently) my qualifying exams. I had meant to say something about this just after I had taken them, but didn't finish the post, and eventually forgot about it with all the other craziness going on at the time. I'm glad to finally be done with the exams, as this means I can actually get some useful work done at home and on research. On the other hand, it's sort of a weird feeling no longer having any major deadlines looming over my head for a few years. <br /><br />Qualifying exams are odd beasts. For us, there are two exams, "Classical" and "Modern," each 5 hours long. I have to pass them separately, so if I pass one and fail the other, I only have to retake the one I failed. I get one more attempt, if necessary, in the spring. What is most odd about the exams is the split. "Classical" normally means "not quantum"; in this context it means "pre 1900." And even then, the split is not perfect. <br /><br />Our classical exam has mechanics (ie, analytical/Newtonian), electrodynamics, and statistical mechanics. Stat mech contains thermodynamics, which I suppose is why it gets put under classical, but it also contains quantum statistical mechanics, which should definitely go under modern. What you end up with is that a single problem could be split between the two exams, with the stat mech part giving you a result and having you carry out further derivations from that point, and the quantum part deriving the result the stat mech part took as given. <br /><br />Our modern exam has quantum, special relativity, and math methods. The math that physicists use all predates 1900, but a lot of the higher-level stuff gets used primarily in quantum, so that's why it's on the modern exam. Special relativity really ought to be under electrodynamics, but the grad-level discussion of it does start to pull in some of the more difficult math, so some (I emphasize "some") relativity problems aren't too out of place on the modern exam.<br /><br />What was weirdest for me was the actual set of problems that showed up on my exams: the difficulties I had in the problems seemed very low-level. On the classical exam, only two problems gave me any real trouble. One was a thermodynamics problem involving a derivation I hadn't seen since second year of undergrad. The other was a statistical mechanics problem that really amounted to a series of increasingly complicated infinite series. The major difficulty was keeping track of all the terms (though to be fair to the problem, I think there is a MUCH simpler way of doing it if you remember some stat mech cleverness, which apparently I don't). And since we only had to do seven problems, I didn't really have to worry about them. As it turns out, I didn't quite finish two of the other problems, because I made similar stupid mistakes at the end of both of them, and forgot that the last part of each problem was really as easy as it apeared. Two of the modern problems were trivial math problems, which was a little disconcerting. All the other problems on that exam were good, but I was a little surprised at the lack of problems requiring matrices and state vectors. One of the relativity problems used the electromagnetic field tensor, but nearly all of the quantum problems were written so as to favor solving partial differential equations. I guess in sum, the quantum was more Schroedinger and less Heisenberg than I anticipated. Which is a little weird because usually the Scroedinger approach is taught earlier, and the Heisenburg (and Dirac) approach is only taught on the student's second or third pass through Quantum Mechanics.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-90058607584344898432010-02-13T22:21:00.000-06:002010-02-13T22:22:01.178-06:00Mardi Gras? More like LOMBARDI GRAS!!!<a href="http://bigshouldersbigeasy.blogspot.com/2010/02/black-and-gold-victory-brownies.html">Nora mentioned</a> last week that the Saints were playing in the Super Bowl. [SPOILER ALERT] The Saints won, 31-17.<br /><br />Needless to say, the city has gone insane. The team had already planned a win-or-lose victory parade through the CBD to celebrate the season and their first Super Bowl birth. Okay, and because it's New Orleans, and we barely need an excuse to have a party. After the victory, the parade was quickly re-named the Lombardi Gras parade. Estimates of attendence range from 200,000-300,000 (from NOPD) to <a href="http://www.nola.com/superbowl/index.ssf/2010/02/new_orleans_saints_super_bowl_9.html">over 800,000</a> (from Barry Kern, of Blaine Kern Studios, quoting WWL). (Sorry, I can't find a quote for the NOPD figure, but I swear I saw it in the paper this morning.) For comparison, the city population is about 350,000, and the metro population is about 1.1 million.<br /><br />I biked to Lee Circle to watch the parade. When I got there, the crowd was solidly packed for about 50 feet back. It loosened up a bit when the parade got to us: people with <a href="http://images.google.com/images?client=opera&rls=en&q=mardi%20gras%20ladder&sourceid=opera&oe=utf-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi">ladders</a> climbed up them, and people with kids lifted them up on their shoulders. That opened up a little bit of room for me to move up.<br /><br />The atmosphere reminded me of some photos of we saw of Louis Armstrong as king of Zulu; the parade threaded down the street, while masses of humanity stood by to great the returning heroes. Several Mardi Gras Krewes donated floats: the kickers rode on the <a href="http://goneworleans.about.com/od/mardigras/ig/Krewe-of-Muses/Muses-Shoe.htm">Muses shoe float</a>, the recievers rode on a float with outstreached arms (can't remember from which Krewe), and the other groups of players rode together on their own similarly cleverly-designated floats.<br /><br />Speaking of which, this is right in the middle of Mardi Gras. All of last Sunday's parades were moved to earlier in the day or canceled because of the game. Thursday night should have been Muses, Chaos, and Babylon. It wasn't because it was raining (and snowing on the north shore): Muses moved to last night, Babylon tomorrow morning, and Chaos was canceled. That's okay, because we were able to spend Thursday night cleaning, and see Muses and Krew d'Etat last night. We have to clean because we are hosting a University of Chicago alumni party Monday. It's a little awkwardly timed, because we have to balance the fact that not everyone gets Lundi Gras off, and some people might get trapped on the wrong side of the parades. So it's early enough that people can come and then get home around parades, and late enough that people can come after work and stay until after parades. We're really looking forward to it, and it sound like a lot of interesting people are comingcolinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-47362251306779771192010-02-03T20:32:00.008-06:002010-02-03T22:02:54.772-06:00Black and Gold Victory BrowniesSo, you may have noticed that the <a href="http://www.neworleanssaints.com/">New Orleans Saints</a> are going to be in the Superbowl for the very first time in their 43 year history. To say that New Orleanians are <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UecwHdDUo4M">excited</a> about this is an enormous understatement. It has been said that New Orleans has two religions, Catholicism and Football, and I think they may be overstating the catholic part. People here took to the streets, cried, hugged strangers, and shot fireworks when the Saints won the national football league conference championship game.<br /><br />For most of this fall complete strangers would decide to have football related conversations with me in unlikely locations. For example, once I was greeted with an enthusiastic <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLoW_eEWs94&feature=PlayList&p=E71710B854F6BCFB&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=37">"Who Dat!"</a> at the gas pump. Another time a man and I had an in depth discussion of passing tactics in the deli line at Wall-mart. I am not exactly sure why, but for some reason it was clear to the true locals that I was following the football season closely. Colin were I listening to every game on <a href="http://www.wwl.com/">WWL</a> "the Saints radio network", hosted by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Hebert">Bobby Hebert</a> (pronounced Ea-Bear) the "Cajun Cannon" and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokie_Gajan">Hokie Gajan</a>, both former Saints players. We really enjoyed listening to the games, but we missed being able to see the plays being discussed due to our lack of a functioning tv. For the NFC championship game we went to a friend's house and were able to actually<span style="font-style: italic;"> see </span>the game. I made brownies to celebrate this, and thus the Black and Gold Victory Brownie was born. Basically these are Nigella Lawson's super delicious brownies with peanut butter and Reece's peanut butter cups added. I have included the recipe below, but I warn you that they are not for the faint of heart.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwvOY5NYtgXjILzxHbe5gey9K8_ucFH6774367MvTVL5F0bfXUlOiJdRCLwSTGZjUhkoLiKUwdTsS6SMq-RhMgIgybXtH_b2_Hx28kIWfGlbpXTogmrMTV0nLceDvC8Ek4hOLcAHeTFc/s1600-h/2_3_2010+002.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 260px; height: 347px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAwvOY5NYtgXjILzxHbe5gey9K8_ucFH6774367MvTVL5F0bfXUlOiJdRCLwSTGZjUhkoLiKUwdTsS6SMq-RhMgIgybXtH_b2_Hx28kIWfGlbpXTogmrMTV0nLceDvC8Ek4hOLcAHeTFc/s400/2_3_2010+002.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434211097605128418" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Side view of Victory Brownies, showing their height and composition.</span><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKKQ0AGrBoN9uglNkr8c2E_r6MaFK_1670cCBQBgkjVqv5I8BeAWWFdUOrET3AbtU9HO90u1JOvIUrsYkuNwBcGlQ5aBoDuq-KcMs3zqmCvTRKSZmzotlVqtKkO4rNdp_rpC0gkPifJw/s1600-h/2_3_2010+001.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 307px; height: 230px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLKKQ0AGrBoN9uglNkr8c2E_r6MaFK_1670cCBQBgkjVqv5I8BeAWWFdUOrET3AbtU9HO90u1JOvIUrsYkuNwBcGlQ5aBoDuq-KcMs3zqmCvTRKSZmzotlVqtKkO4rNdp_rpC0gkPifJw/s400/2_3_2010+001.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434211087633489314" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Top view, showing decoration using peanut butter cups</span><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Black and Gold Victory Brownies</span><br /></div><ul><li>13 ounces best quality bittersweet chocolate </li><li>1 2/3 cups softened butter </li><li>6 large eggs, lightly beaten </li><li>1 2/3 cups granulated sugar <span style=""> </span></li><li>1 teaspoon vanilla extract </li><li>1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour</li><li>1 teaspoon salt </li><li>1 medium sized bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups</li><li>2 cups natural ground peanut butter</li></ul> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">1. Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9 x 13" pan. </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">2. In a double-boiler, or a small pan melt the butter and chocolate.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">3. Whisk until well blended and let cool. </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">4. While chocolate is melting, whisk together the eggs, sugar and vanilla until frothy and slightly lighter in color. </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">5. Gently fold the cooled chocolate mixture into the eggs, and whisk until well blended.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">6. Fold in the flour and salt and mix well.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">7. Add 1 cup of the peanut butter to the batter and mix well.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">8. Cut up about half of the Reece’s peanut butter cups into fourths. </span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">9. Gently stir in the quartered Reece’s peanut butter cups.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">10. Pour into the baking dish and cook until a crust forms on top.</span></p> <p style="font-family: georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">11. When cool, frost with remaining peanut butter and dot with remaining peanut butter cups. </span></p>Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-27944982043058007732010-01-23T18:55:00.003-06:002010-01-24T22:21:05.293-06:00Classes Spring Semester 2010In case anyone wants to see what I am taking this semester, here is my schedule:<br /><br />Mondays:<br />12:00- 1:00 Departmental seminar.<br />A class I have to attend and get no credit for, woo-hoo! Various faculty members and guests give power-point presentations on their recent research.<br /><br />1:00-2:00 TA hours.<br />I am TA'ing Epidemiology II this semester. Epidemiology II is significantly harder than Epi I is, and I fully expect lots of panicked visits from students.<br /><br />Tuesdays:<br />10:30 -11:45 Regression.<br />A bio-statistics class in regression techniques. Supposedly much easier than last semesters Categorical Data Analysis, but we shall see.<br /><br />Wednesdays:<br />9:00 -11:45 Reproductive Epidemiology.<br />I am really looking forward to this class, since I know very little about how to measure birth outcomes, which is probably what I am going to be looking at in my thesis research.<br /><br />1:00-2:15 Epidemiology II (the class I am TA'ing for)<br /><br />Thursday:<br />10:30 -11:45 Regression.<br /><br />Friday:<br />1:00-2:15 Epidemiology II (the class I am TA'ing for)Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-2985938331239870442010-01-23T17:36:00.005-06:002010-01-23T18:21:11.587-06:00Nature blogging, Racoon edition!<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjKOqRBGYhcut2ARc4PjvJt1sVTRyYrORRzs5Q4vBmdtP0Q_Wr0-2ayvKvAF6Fe50WYA0aurgiICyzFgq28y3o-fInzqrj1npEtSxndmYzTZzue6hROxU1G-f8FKpDY9hy-aviAaHECo/s1600-h/2010_01_23+259.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEjKOqRBGYhcut2ARc4PjvJt1sVTRyYrORRzs5Q4vBmdtP0Q_Wr0-2ayvKvAF6Fe50WYA0aurgiICyzFgq28y3o-fInzqrj1npEtSxndmYzTZzue6hROxU1G-f8FKpDY9hy-aviAaHECo/s400/2010_01_23+259.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430088082412968802" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Why, hello there.</span><br /></div><br />Last weekend, we were at home being domestic and doing some chores. Colin was in the attic investigating a possible roof leak, and I was sitting in the bedroom working on some Biostatistics homework. After about ten minutes in the attic I hear Colin call for me, saying that I have to come see something. I obliging trot over to the attic stairwell, mumbling the equivelent of 'this better be good darn it, I was in the middle of something...' to find Colin staring out the window. I go stand next to him and look outside at the veiw of Ent, the enormous tree that lives in our backyard. At first, I see nothing unusual, and then suddenly I spot the raccoon lumbering along a tree branch towards our neighbors roof. For a moment I thought the racoon was going to jump from the branch down on to the neighbors roof and then scramble down to the ground from there. He looked down onto the roof and seemed to be assesing his chances of a soft landing. After a few minutes, he turned around and headed back on the branch towards the tree trunk. At this point we quickly retrieved the camera and shot a couple of photos of our stripey new friend as he descended the tree and wandered off into the underbrush.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwfGLUqf0OaterW-LunjWoSsF-Ix4BtZ38YpConk60S0disN_Z2Ur4DSSWxQ5O6E2YE5-F3LikHLuSssJHGEfn1Z-zkmQrhEklydMqMUWroYNtnT77vnF_LxdhDudqxANJ3ABF6SPrVU/s1600-h/2010_01_23+261.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIwfGLUqf0OaterW-LunjWoSsF-Ix4BtZ38YpConk60S0disN_Z2Ur4DSSWxQ5O6E2YE5-F3LikHLuSssJHGEfn1Z-zkmQrhEklydMqMUWroYNtnT77vnF_LxdhDudqxANJ3ABF6SPrVU/s400/2010_01_23+261.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430088096406050594" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Displaying head down climbing technique.<br />I did not even know raccoons could climb both head up and head down!<br /></span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSgXJjf0M4TIyFG4UHa-Dp7ZDXJAK-HYanJmhNEupCpq5IQP4qO3xExOgVG6GkbCRMcnv8lq9sLSDDJ8fu_NkX4-zCdosJevcPN5lIWBkQqo6fZCdg1aA5DUQOyocR4Y3SjrM8ttkpwVo/s1600-h/2010_01_23+264.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSgXJjf0M4TIyFG4UHa-Dp7ZDXJAK-HYanJmhNEupCpq5IQP4qO3xExOgVG6GkbCRMcnv8lq9sLSDDJ8fu_NkX4-zCdosJevcPN5lIWBkQqo6fZCdg1aA5DUQOyocR4Y3SjrM8ttkpwVo/s400/2010_01_23+264.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430088089709915938" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Last shot before he lumbered away. Check out those awesome paws!</span><br /></div>Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-24241407399182741202010-01-17T19:55:00.000-06:002010-01-17T19:55:47.305-06:00Surfing SafariI took surfing lessons while we were in Hawaii. This requires a back story. In order to encourage you to read the back story, I am going to cleverly place the photos at the end of this post.<br /><br />First, the back story. Last year while we were in Hawaii, I made the decision that I wanted to learn how to surf. At the time, however, my swimming prowess had severely atrophied. Nora would not allow me to take surfing lessons unless I strengthened my swimming ability, since she was afraid that I would drown since I cannot float in water. <br /><br />So at the beginning of the academic year in August, we started going to the gym almost every morning. We did weights and swam. At first, I was a pathetic swimmer; I could barely make it across the pool without running out of breath or exausting my arm strength. But I slowly got better. I'm still not where I would like to be in terms of bodily strength and endurance, but I was strong enough to maneuver the board and to swim myself around without getting too tired. I feel much better health-wise than I did when I started (I sleep better, am in better mood, etc), so the experience has encouraged me to continue to swim and improve my health.<br /><br />Now for the awesome photos that Nora took of me surfing. First, here is me sitting on my board waiting my turn.<br /><br /><A onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqurts1ElC_yn9QIKNNAaPK77QD8MmpppC_yiXLFhAzpFNp3pZI20eUkR_XEio5OIJiIL1CRzdp3nn8oNzAX13exV20nvt8ZxMQT0a96jMnnCUKa5KENaswxY9pSCyU5L07kl8RNeT0Ek/s1600-h/145.JPG"><IMG style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqurts1ElC_yn9QIKNNAaPK77QD8MmpppC_yiXLFhAzpFNp3pZI20eUkR_XEio5OIJiIL1CRzdp3nn8oNzAX13exV20nvt8ZxMQT0a96jMnnCUKa5KENaswxY9pSCyU5L07kl8RNeT0Ek/s400/145.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424214290734312818"></A><br />And here is an action shot of me riding a wave in.<br /><br /><A onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKH293YAPyjlnsmz29wcmGWUFzE5-yQ-vQATS-UOJObE-H3ulfFiLCHXJyg1w9ODcNQbDd1KRENYhIawytAoWHkuUw4vw8Ppu66-PldqnaEeUBNkyUyeitANxUfcVtbM-ra3sewt4HHDA/s1600-h/149.JPG"><IMG style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKH293YAPyjlnsmz29wcmGWUFzE5-yQ-vQATS-UOJObE-H3ulfFiLCHXJyg1w9ODcNQbDd1KRENYhIawytAoWHkuUw4vw8Ppu66-PldqnaEeUBNkyUyeitANxUfcVtbM-ra3sewt4HHDA/s400/149.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424215283795249218"></A><br />I'm the surfer in the front. This also shows off both Nora's impressive photography skills, and her camera's powerful zoom.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-53522567129736905662010-01-08T14:46:00.000-06:002010-01-08T14:46:57.036-06:00Friday Cat Blogging: Snake EditionAlex, the younger of my step-brothers, has a pet boa. Nora and I met Cookie Monster (that's what Alex calls him) for the first time while at my parents' house. Isn't he cute?<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidb9xhrWtEMKc72QPhLHwlFPieSY6szckg8Gqu2hdFtXyTjH1jYxI1UKn5sjX_FpPUFWnvvzGbrbVGSVL-A8N56nDFop3SN3u0E9Keq0nZHqbTHkqfdC4wzNiQpKBtEcbgnwYYfS7SNJE/s1600-h/252.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidb9xhrWtEMKc72QPhLHwlFPieSY6szckg8Gqu2hdFtXyTjH1jYxI1UKn5sjX_FpPUFWnvvzGbrbVGSVL-A8N56nDFop3SN3u0E9Keq0nZHqbTHkqfdC4wzNiQpKBtEcbgnwYYfS7SNJE/s400/252.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424203306929621090" /></a><br />Cookie Monster eats mice, apparently. As opposed to cookies.<br /><br />BONUS UPDATE: We also have an update on Poggibonsi, the cat that Nora <a href="http://bigshouldersbigeasy.blogspot.com/2009/09/friday-cat-blogging-poggibonsi-edition.html">sent to her parents</a>. While we were at Nora's parents' house, we got to check in on him and his progress. They think he is a Maine Coon, which means he should eventually get big. Right now, he is just really fluffy.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9T-7noXzzioLu0rBfBAay0J1F8nG0hZGq3tsoPwy6riecbfE3Vqb9L0Qn05HEXcBjVkz_QAykNvbkRiB_lNSJW4s1fdI2S7RGleMYiIMn9Q8B9Lrn4IZ2X3u73XplAjCoZURSeBNglE/s1600-h/248.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP9T-7noXzzioLu0rBfBAay0J1F8nG0hZGq3tsoPwy6riecbfE3Vqb9L0Qn05HEXcBjVkz_QAykNvbkRiB_lNSJW4s1fdI2S7RGleMYiIMn9Q8B9Lrn4IZ2X3u73XplAjCoZURSeBNglE/s400/248.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5424204010560499986" /></a><br />Overall, Poggi seems very happy to be in his new home, and get along very well with his older brother Ruffus.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-67208974509119263212010-01-07T19:53:00.002-06:002010-01-07T20:15:12.706-06:00Back from VacationWe're back in New Orleans from our various vacations. We both apologize for the relative silence. But fear not; tomorrow will feature some awesome animal-based blogging.<br /><br />Classes start up again for the University on Monday. Nora still has classes to take; she will probably post her schedule at some point. I am fully done with classes, and my teaching doesn't start up until a few weeks into the semester. So I just have research fo a couple of weeks. I passed my qualifying exams; I was formally notified the day before we left (which was apparently a bit slow). I'm told that I passed them quite handily, which I'm glad to hear. It's a huge relief to be done with them. They are enormously (surprisingly so) time-consuming to prepare for, so it's good to have that extra time again. And they are the big hurdle at which most physics students drop out of grad school. So it's good to be past that finally. On to research!<br /><br />I will be presenting a poster at the American Chemical Society meeting in March in San Francisco, which is exciting. We are presenting a bit of work I did over the summer and the fall in between studying, and am continuing between now and the meeting. My time between now and the meeting is likley to be taken up finishing some experiments and assemblying the poster.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-77999826040474133942009-12-08T21:37:00.003-06:002009-12-08T21:47:14.191-06:00Friday Catblogging: Mid-week, ladder editionNora apologizes for me being a loser and not blogging enough recently. She is far too busy at the moment with exams. But we present a cat-based episode from earlier this evening.<br /><br />We had an "incident" with the smoke detector. The battery was running low, so I climbed up the ladder to unplug it so it would stop beeping at us until we got new batteries for it. When I unplugged it from the wall, it started screeching very loudly and at a high pitch. All three cats stared at us and started meowing as if we had caught some exotic high-pitched bird. Eventually we figured out how to get the battery out, and it finally shut up.<br /><br />But the cats had to examine and climb all over the ladder before we could put it away. Tony in particular wanted to examine the new hole in the ceiling, thinking the bird lived there.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SX71LZaOB3tHUYUnKtJ1leAmbPqG-My-H6G9kVCuXdO4fpsC5j5NlHjSjvcfbjjeSXxFJJ9dExVOMF1VX4EMNQTtP5UOgJQApsjGQa4iTOBcGN6SnuyRu3fns2kQo-t81dd2ERHT9Hs/s1600-h/116.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0SX71LZaOB3tHUYUnKtJ1leAmbPqG-My-H6G9kVCuXdO4fpsC5j5NlHjSjvcfbjjeSXxFJJ9dExVOMF1VX4EMNQTtP5UOgJQApsjGQa4iTOBcGN6SnuyRu3fns2kQo-t81dd2ERHT9Hs/s400/116.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413076259532069026" /></a><br />Oprah enjoyed the chance to use her awesome climbing skills to climb up and down the ladder repeatedly. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR9O_Y-WNHugj0NkkxtA5XQZIYlu6gakmlLu7EhQkjddY8v1XBMtSsUBxQPrJHuORrm42UE_aPpx3FrpseatSRBFs_P4-jL8FckC3K3erMVZSNbO3T61lxJgXfcOF2F-Yyhdbq4ybVJ44/s1600-h/113.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR9O_Y-WNHugj0NkkxtA5XQZIYlu6gakmlLu7EhQkjddY8v1XBMtSsUBxQPrJHuORrm42UE_aPpx3FrpseatSRBFs_P4-jL8FckC3K3erMVZSNbO3T61lxJgXfcOF2F-Yyhdbq4ybVJ44/s400/113.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5413076249372153634" /></a><br />Hodag just stared at Tony and Oprah as if they were idiots. He seems to have gotten used to his humans doing weird and stupid things, so he did not expect to find anything interesting in the ladder.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-14031525585985475772009-11-13T20:57:00.006-06:002009-11-14T10:07:48.526-06:00Tulane vs LSUOn Halloween night, Colin and I enjoyed one of America's great national pastimes, cheering for the loosing side at football game . The annual LSU Tulane football game was especially bittersweet this year, as it was probably the last time ever that these two teams will play each other. Although both are division one football teams, LSU has for the past few decades so far outclassedTulane that the game was becoming predictable, and, quite possibly, dangerous for Tulane players. Colin and had a great time. We had never been to an LSU game, which is a rite of passage here in Louisiana. Colin and I were really excited because the game was at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, which meant that the mascot of LSU, Mike (VI) would be at the game.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbuQWQ7V0mRoZz0PqA-YzRvxG5bbxlgI1J9MZNIR9U3EbbSYvh5pNBBeb8vs3a0CKxvZmVlIBk7e0Z4jYqWedRpdYX8UkFNjOLr5CHqvpxsb2Ymj9DKmsA3MXhw0mwriotM_qgdRpOdU/s1600-h/Lsu+vs+Tulane+031.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihbuQWQ7V0mRoZz0PqA-YzRvxG5bbxlgI1J9MZNIR9U3EbbSYvh5pNBBeb8vs3a0CKxvZmVlIBk7e0Z4jYqWedRpdYX8UkFNjOLr5CHqvpxsb2Ymj9DKmsA3MXhw0mwriotM_qgdRpOdU/s400/Lsu+vs+Tulane+031.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403791837176070946" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">Despite the fact that Tulane lost to LSU 42-0, they actually made some impressive plays.For instance, there were several under 150 pound guys from Tulane who were really good at tackling the larger LSU players by diving at their feet and hanging on for dear life. </span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoQuNoQdmQXiQYvhDLybnd_QPjniN8EGmEHiDwEKYn2DEnYHjJjePH7Z3-7v-vAU38YNtejYOYmSkwmcQ0zZGXYLzOjv76iNW7x4gmlAdnHouM6Xv70MufEGMW7UEEMwdzD6ExIoDfhE/s1600-h/Lsu+vs+Tulane+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIoQuNoQdmQXiQYvhDLybnd_QPjniN8EGmEHiDwEKYn2DEnYHjJjePH7Z3-7v-vAU38YNtejYOYmSkwmcQ0zZGXYLzOjv76iNW7x4gmlAdnHouM6Xv70MufEGMW7UEEMwdzD6ExIoDfhE/s400/Lsu+vs+Tulane+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403947037457691362" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The famous LSU Tigerland Marching band.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0iQ1J4rXM7vK4QH9AQPDwExoE9fcwwhZhopFoxXkbVq0YXXGQsr4y7z2GNQya6vdxkXibNs0VcnQmeKcerZ7y5JPFd4AJUaXn1s64xt4zNUpO1BMo9J_ICCjTHF8sNRsGFkmyreFs1l4/s1600-h/Lsu+vs+Tulane+014.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0iQ1J4rXM7vK4QH9AQPDwExoE9fcwwhZhopFoxXkbVq0YXXGQsr4y7z2GNQya6vdxkXibNs0VcnQmeKcerZ7y5JPFd4AJUaXn1s64xt4zNUpO1BMo9J_ICCjTHF8sNRsGFkmyreFs1l4/s400/Lsu+vs+Tulane+014.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403789176637218050" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">The LSU cheerleaders on top of the cart that carries Mike the tiger around the Tiger Stadium.</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34zWgrbuTuUvSsd-qYPdeF3LjI1BuyOkFa46srr6rMHIrh_Yp7hzOvXfXFB98GNeZ6GS06ygfEzIaN16NrIUSdzW-a9opWSmBAhqcAD4B1IExnM3xeTa8OOX2WWfCVffEfkwDvViW05A/s1600-h/Lsu+vs+Tulane+007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh34zWgrbuTuUvSsd-qYPdeF3LjI1BuyOkFa46srr6rMHIrh_Yp7hzOvXfXFB98GNeZ6GS06ygfEzIaN16NrIUSdzW-a9opWSmBAhqcAD4B1IExnM3xeTa8OOX2WWfCVffEfkwDvViW05A/s400/Lsu+vs+Tulane+007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403789163639503810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">An up close picture of Mike in his cart. He is larger then when we last saw him, and in his adolescence.<a href="http://www.nola.com/lsu/index.ssf/2009/09/mike_the_tiger_wont_go_in_his.html"> Apparently</a> , now that he is older, he is a bit more reticent to get into his cart. I do not blame him, since I wouldn't want a bunch of undergrads standing on top me.<br /></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE55__R-X8r5_eJyeRLIkn3LKyAIUjoU-8ELyI8S08t11NnURPbkHaADvE6NkrxxUXhO3EVrwlsY1lepSxk3QqPKmu7KTPfRG97xp0Hwgx4n-A829i66qhIyLRNeF6wB1ChyAG_MatZ4Y/s1600-h/1619412566493948909b4f5.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 269px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE55__R-X8r5_eJyeRLIkn3LKyAIUjoU-8ELyI8S08t11NnURPbkHaADvE6NkrxxUXhO3EVrwlsY1lepSxk3QqPKmu7KTPfRG97xp0Hwgx4n-A829i66qhIyLRNeF6wB1ChyAG_MatZ4Y/s400/1619412566493948909b4f5.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403983095395203570" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xqSD0ME9BpgBF7qnXv-PnzBXZG9SSwol1mUuzKhkV1VX3MiR8jbip3oNQ7lLbv47qd3QGKwzDd0mfHKidh4E4vpySzTKrLMq3IUNwlUw2WjnGO7zSPqDzN3PSQ3qCGiY4nYOYq9Clgg/s1600-h/16051471614aca13e92c352.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0xqSD0ME9BpgBF7qnXv-PnzBXZG9SSwol1mUuzKhkV1VX3MiR8jbip3oNQ7lLbv47qd3QGKwzDd0mfHKidh4E4vpySzTKrLMq3IUNwlUw2WjnGO7zSPqDzN3PSQ3qCGiY4nYOYq9Clgg/s400/16051471614aca13e92c352.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5403983093005499938" border="0" /></a></div><span style="font-size:85%;">Official photos of Mike (VI), from his<a href="http://www.mikethetiger.com/"> website</a>. He sure is a handsome cat.<br /></span></div>Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-3642488497605449372009-11-13T14:50:00.002-06:002009-11-13T14:57:57.590-06:00Oysters!Readers outside Louisiana may or may not have heard of the <a href="http://www.nola.com/dining/index.ssf/2009/10/louisiana_blasts_fda_plan_to_l.html">FDA's proposed rule requiring that raw oysters harvested from the Gulf during the summer be treated</a> for a rare (but potentially fatal) bacteria. The oyster industry here is huge, so this was front-page news in the Times-Picayune.<br /><br />Well, good news: <a href="http://www.neworleanscitybusiness.com/uptotheminute.cfm?recid=27902">the FDA has decided to back away from the rule</a> after a meeting with our congressional delegation. I may have to go celebrate with some raw oysters.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-48470624566864438752009-10-30T22:29:00.005-05:002009-10-30T23:18:00.709-05:00Friday cat blogging, Halloween editionMeet Oprah, one of the newest cats at <a href="http://www.animalrescueneworleans.org/">ARNO</a>, and the perfect feline to feature in this Halloween edition of Friday cat blogging. A few weeks ago, a local veterinary office called ARNO to ask us for a special favor. They were calling on behalf of <a href="http://heavenspets.com/">Heaven's Pets</a> , a local pet cemetery. Apparently, Heaven's pets found itself in an unusual situation, they had a<span style="font-style: italic;"> live</span> pet on their hands. Oprah was found, undernourished and ill, wandering the grounds of the pet cemetery and crematorium. The cemetery staff had managed to catch her and bring her to the vet, and after she was given some food and fluids, the cemetery staff and veterinary staff decided that they would ask ARNO to take her in. Since Heaven's pets cremates any animal who dies in our animal shelter for free, we were more than happy to oblige them and take little Oprah under our wing. Not only was Oprah found in a pet cemetery, in October, but she is also all black with orange eyes. She would be downright creepy if she were not so tiny and adorable. Oprah was still a little weak when we got her, and so I brought her home to live with us for a while and get extra feedings and special attention. In the week that she has been with us, she has gained weight and strength, and seems much perkier. I guess that when you start off in a cemetery, there is really nowhere to go but up.<br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8f14IwVvvufM0bknRqOpBa3ZyXlshhIInYsIh8PWf3jfL-V1F1kuf4hNoiCF-Vdiw6u18wmAAEBdY6VvOlHXMNpRkrG6ktAfda07vFvnKe0aiCFR8GIt_bcREZ1kFlJdYzfJpFSxqJz8/s1600-h/cats+115.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 298px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8f14IwVvvufM0bknRqOpBa3ZyXlshhIInYsIh8PWf3jfL-V1F1kuf4hNoiCF-Vdiw6u18wmAAEBdY6VvOlHXMNpRkrG6ktAfda07vFvnKe0aiCFR8GIt_bcREZ1kFlJdYzfJpFSxqJz8/s400/cats+115.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398602012184011746" border="0" /></a>Oprah, when she first arrived at our house.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGaKfJqGgTuz7t_ksB8ggzemMNff7fpvh3vFu8RMpJ0H87aBSSWsmPvhyphenhyphenOknEOsKUVN_uKvesSpAzsPsqO51WCYF5iPjeL_s7egc2gTOh64sqmY8lfQjSUyX7-X6kPEkAY_zcg78xZPQ/s1600-h/cats.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOGaKfJqGgTuz7t_ksB8ggzemMNff7fpvh3vFu8RMpJ0H87aBSSWsmPvhyphenhyphenOknEOsKUVN_uKvesSpAzsPsqO51WCYF5iPjeL_s7egc2gTOh64sqmY8lfQjSUyX7-X6kPEkAY_zcg78xZPQ/s400/cats.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5398602034287209842" border="0" /></a>Oprah at our pumpkin carving party on Monday night.<br /></div>Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-3056734964794705552009-10-30T22:23:00.000-05:002009-10-30T22:23:32.139-05:00office!You know what rocks about being in a PHD program? For the first time in my life, I have a professional office. Below are pictures of my new PHD level digs. As you can see, I have a desk in the Epidemiology department's Fellow's office. Since almost every other PHD student has an additional desk in the room in the area where their research study takes place (there is usually a room allotted to the researchers of a study for data analysis and grant business) , I am often the only person in the large, well appointed fellows room.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkg5bze6McBTBPuJzzHbz_JGTTk93M4hGPl-T82aIPIiOwef0ANmd0I_vqvkHBFo1mxL2OGsQELysv9zXnHGXUVoMrq0yh2KvnVl8hyphenhyphenJCWs0EjPSQwMeO536bMYmsZ_xIptdUinze6Tqk/s1600-h/2009-08-03+151.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkg5bze6McBTBPuJzzHbz_JGTTk93M4hGPl-T82aIPIiOwef0ANmd0I_vqvkHBFo1mxL2OGsQELysv9zXnHGXUVoMrq0yh2KvnVl8hyphenhyphenJCWs0EjPSQwMeO536bMYmsZ_xIptdUinze6Tqk/s400/2009-08-03+151.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391538118707302770" border="0" /></a>My desk, complete with computer, phone, and lots of file storage space.<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMDkfEwxzJoZuL488LNYlAzLhDIM_VTDfquGvIIKM9hhT-pTwt3apmi7XcxWrEcQUK5JhMaWNKOY0o9NIuD1eiecVXOwONKnvzwozT6syN5pd8mGYNRwgsArlk9vt0kj0L_aqvyzY1yQ/s1600-h/2009-08-03+150.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcMDkfEwxzJoZuL488LNYlAzLhDIM_VTDfquGvIIKM9hhT-pTwt3apmi7XcxWrEcQUK5JhMaWNKOY0o9NIuD1eiecVXOwONKnvzwozT6syN5pd8mGYNRwgsArlk9vt0kj0L_aqvyzY1yQ/s400/2009-08-03+150.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391538108526595794" border="0" /></a>The amazing view from my 20th floor office window, looking out across New Orleans to lake Pontchartrain. (Basically, where the buildings end is the start of the lake.)<br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORUOclwuR0zbfBY7sQplhTGEGraKzCiLXFQbG5t-qzz6DkunoLjLD7rGndjlM37JRAu0lr4YiSiW_Syz0_Du0qwWM4TrrCNtvjTwUtXMRAGZVRU6wKZzLtwUrLBN9Kc4EbS5j_CcN6t0/s1600-h/2009-08-03+149.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjORUOclwuR0zbfBY7sQplhTGEGraKzCiLXFQbG5t-qzz6DkunoLjLD7rGndjlM37JRAu0lr4YiSiW_Syz0_Du0qwWM4TrrCNtvjTwUtXMRAGZVRU6wKZzLtwUrLBN9Kc4EbS5j_CcN6t0/s400/2009-08-03+149.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391538102591406306" border="0" /></a>My office plant, Burrito.<br /></div>Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-62913132873691928832009-10-18T22:40:00.002-05:002009-10-18T23:13:01.955-05:00Hooray for Drew BreesTWo weeks ago, the NYTimes Sunday Sports section gave us a wonderful article about New Orleans Saints quarterback <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/sports/football/04brees.html">Drew Brees</a>. It's a very light piece, starting with Brees's arrival in the city shortly after the storm. Saints fans immediately took to him, and he immediately took to the city. He has since had a child, and appears to be very dedicated personally to the city. The team is well-loved in the city, almost to the point of becoming a religion. The organization returns the favor, often putting together charity and city spirit events. The spirit in the city for the team is very infectious, particularly when they are doing as well as they are now. I've even started listening to the games on the radio while studying for my qualifying exams; they are scary good. <br /><br />As an aside, I find it a bit amusing that I am now so enthusiasticaly cheering for Brees. I've seen him play in person once, during the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Rose_Bowl">2001 Rose Bowl</a> (following the 2000 season). Brees was playing for the Purdue Boilermakers, and lost to the Washington Huskies during their <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marques_Tuiasosopo">Marques Touiasosopo</a> years. I don't remember Brees being particularly brilliant in that game, but he wasn't awful. Touiasosopo ran the option, and was personally responsible for something like 80% of the Huskies offensive yards that season. But I guess Brees got the last laugh, as he went higher between the two in the 2001 NFL draft, and Tuiososopo now plays for the Raiders.<br /><br />But anyway, go read the NYT article. It's fantastic. Even more fantastic given the rediculous game he had today against the Giants.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-49888232314785888092009-10-16T09:30:00.000-05:002009-10-16T09:30:00.918-05:00Campus cats<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><span style="font-family:georgia;">Monday afternoons </span>I run a TA session for Epidemiology 101. The TA session is on the uptown campus, because this particular class has a fair number of undergraduates who are public health majors. Since undergraduates spend most of their time uptown (even those who are public health majors, and take some classes downtown with me) that is where the TA session is. This does not particularly bother me, since we live right next to the uptown campus, and it gives me a chance to walk through the Tulane campus quads during the lovely early evening hours. Often on my walk to the TA session, I get a chance to see some of the <a href="http://tulane.edu/news/newwave/021809_cats.cfm?RenderForPrint=1">fabled uptown campus cats</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">Here were some beauties I spotted recently:<br /></div></div><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQwbYPHAwbU6-yJMof4ecIIYtxVB836jxasjziIXZJhg59eCUt1zU8O5vPrTK4SDWmhvNv20Bhj8n96L7UHA-871vJ1UR7jVvKhoBjeNprJN8yy-U_g8W4mcUwKWgxQHuGI-RT3RGf4U/s1600-h/2009-08-03+022.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWQwbYPHAwbU6-yJMof4ecIIYtxVB836jxasjziIXZJhg59eCUt1zU8O5vPrTK4SDWmhvNv20Bhj8n96L7UHA-871vJ1UR7jVvKhoBjeNprJN8yy-U_g8W4mcUwKWgxQHuGI-RT3RGf4U/s400/2009-08-03+022.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391536963449741554" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">This fellow was staked out under this tree waiting for the squirrel above him to have a mishap</span>.<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1OupUkOXNq8CtncE73LRxPtg3N77fovJzOWgHqT_3a0eAAYCyq7BsIEat93YXccv0WyaexZFbhCoOnQIg2LTWNfIAZaFncWCr0tV5GkBw7Een6R2rJ_Z5FkJ1xc_eIs6IGizvEe7q0w/s1600-h/2009-08-03+027.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW1OupUkOXNq8CtncE73LRxPtg3N77fovJzOWgHqT_3a0eAAYCyq7BsIEat93YXccv0WyaexZFbhCoOnQIg2LTWNfIAZaFncWCr0tV5GkBw7Een6R2rJ_Z5FkJ1xc_eIs6IGizvEe7q0w/s400/2009-08-03+027.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391536957072551810" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">While this group of feral cats were waiting to be fed their daily meal.<br />In exchange for this meal they help to keep the rat and mouse population down. </span><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7BYWzOsDasvD7tcdLtZbEHlHqi4FoDUbyAETZHIWewyt6EujQtB98ckCySGyFbt30FvFntQZ_4pqMke_HuwkRxJVExF3n33WIv6EMcAXFJHmG26mS-wt23b60SMom36z7Yu7fozHaJU/s1600-h/2009-08-03+025.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid7BYWzOsDasvD7tcdLtZbEHlHqi4FoDUbyAETZHIWewyt6EujQtB98ckCySGyFbt30FvFntQZ_4pqMke_HuwkRxJVExF3n33WIv6EMcAXFJHmG26mS-wt23b60SMom36z7Yu7fozHaJU/s400/2009-08-03+025.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5391536934127529394" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:85%;">This is about how close any of them will let you get before they realize<br />you are not their evening meal ticket. </span><br /></div>Norahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04964803538893963804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-20522267315530025182009-10-02T14:46:00.002-05:002009-10-02T14:50:45.754-05:00Friday Cat BloggingThis week's Friday Cat Blogging says goodbye to Poggibonsi, who left us last week. We had picked him up at the shelter for a few weeks ago, and were fostering him until Nora's father was in town to take him to Pasadena. Here we show the two men sharing a moment together in the library of their house.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLDXVp9Uxqs6chQ71CZRSP1GaB6SCPf1HwHrXsjNkxfVDPIGguwcyPv_jL3MZwPAZmbjlBc44-srk0HCKLq2mlWlD8qQUqHzIadWyix3PclzH5hSg4Q9Ushy_p3nbSq83Ahl3OVjTt9E/s1600-h/poggibonsi+home+001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNLDXVp9Uxqs6chQ71CZRSP1GaB6SCPf1HwHrXsjNkxfVDPIGguwcyPv_jL3MZwPAZmbjlBc44-srk0HCKLq2mlWlD8qQUqHzIadWyix3PclzH5hSg4Q9Ushy_p3nbSq83Ahl3OVjTt9E/s400/poggibonsi+home+001.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388091561251569218" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgJ2L_LlrmiBzhqy7IOIpg8j4cswPQ-dkGeJrEApldlYuDgyDiOS3Pm6dOr4Jm-eADmwFnfnySRIAaJX5d2kOKpKHRYwu-2Tqn5hdd-mVZhtMXLDJlhgrosOJdCb2NKm0kYFaJ1TVnD0/s1600-h/poggibonsi+home+002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidgJ2L_LlrmiBzhqy7IOIpg8j4cswPQ-dkGeJrEApldlYuDgyDiOS3Pm6dOr4Jm-eADmwFnfnySRIAaJX5d2kOKpKHRYwu-2Tqn5hdd-mVZhtMXLDJlhgrosOJdCb2NKm0kYFaJ1TVnD0/s400/poggibonsi+home+002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5388092359020417666" /></a>colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-39626070269527752972009-10-02T09:41:00.002-05:002009-10-02T09:51:27.330-05:00DonorsChoose Social Media ChallengeInspired by <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/principles/">ScienceBlogs</a>, we will be competing in the DonorsChoose.org Social Media Challenge, a friendly month-long competition between blogs to see which can do the most to help low-income classrooms on DonorsChoose.org. In addition, our friend Sara works as a teacher in New York, and has funded a project through DonorsChoose. We chipped in a bit to that, and shipped her a box of Mardi Gras beads to give to her class.<br /><br />By way of background, DonorsChoose.org is an online charity connecting individuals, like you, to classrooms in need. The average public school teacher spends $500 - $700 on classroom supplies out of his/her own pocket, and students still go without critical supplies they need to learn. This website provides an easy way for everyday people to address this problem. Public school teachers post project requests that range from a $100 classroom library, to a $600 digital projector, to a $1,000 trip to the zoo. People like you can choose which projects to fund and then get photos and thank-you letters from the classroom.<br /><br />DonorsChoose is definately good people. The page I've put together currently lists all the urgent projects in Louisiana; I plan to select a few specific projects in a bit. I'm going to try to keep it to projects of interest to us (New Orleans, DC, Baltimore, Chicago, science, and public health), but feel free to also give to projects that aren't on our list (or request that I add them to our list). <a href="http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/viewChallenge.html?id=24357">You can contribute to our Challenge here.</a>colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7979419145443451410.post-13501657981869225062009-09-30T15:37:00.002-05:002009-09-30T17:46:53.147-05:00Busy Busy BusyWe've been pretty busy the last few weeks, so we haven't had time to keep up. Classes have started. Nora has officially begun her PhD program, so she has lots of new classes to keep up with. I don't have to formally take any more classes, but I am sitting in on the undergraduate Organic Chemistry because it's useful for my research. My major goal for the semester is to pass my qualifying exams in about a month, so I'm studying for that while doing everything else.<br /><br />Both of us are teaching. I have three labs this semester: two sections of 101, which I've been TA'ing every semester; and one section of 131, the calculus-based intro class for science majors. The 131 class is a very interesting challenge, both because I haven't done it before, and because it intrinsically requires more. I'll have more to say on that soon (working title, "The Kids are All Right"). Nora was offered a TA position at the last minute because her department needed another TA. It's not officially a full TA position, because she only has to run a recitation section (ie, doesn't have to do any grading). I'll let her discuss that more as she wishes.<br /><br />We are also both doing research. I'm continuing with my research project. We hope to hear back from our grant submission in November or December. Nora's TIGRE grant just started paying her, so she is trying to get started on her research for that. Things are starting slow as you might expect, but one of her advisers is trying to pay for her to go to Martinique sometime this semester to study dengue.<br /><br />As if our academic responsibilities weren't enough, we've been working on several extracurricular projects. Tony has now been fully acclimated into the family. He was very skittish while Poggibonsi was staying with us, but is settling down now that Nora's father has taken the kitten home to Pasadena. Hodag is also happy to have more of our attention as well. They are getting along quite well with each other, and appear to greatly appreciate having a friend/wrestling buddy. For just over two weeks now, we've been going to the gym 5 days a week, at 7:00am. We mostly do weights and swimming. The main goal is general fitness, but the specific benchmark we are aiming for is to get me into shape enough that I can take surfing lessons when we are in Hawaii in December. And finally, we have become the official University of Chicago alumni representatives for the New Orleans area. In that capacity, we co-hosted (with our counterparts in Baton Rouge) the first ever Send Off party for Louisiana. It was a brunch affair at this cute little restaurant in Mandeville, right on the north shore of Lake Ponchartrain. Ben, the alumni representative for Baton Rouge, knows the owner, so it was very convienient.<br /><br />The past few weeks have been particularly full of extracurriculars, and have gotten stressful at times, but that seems to be passing. So hopefully we can get back into a more normal routine soon.colinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11266629198292478860noreply@blogger.com0