Of the Beholder

Just so you know, eyeballs are awesome.

Photo credits: C. Young Photography and Suren Manvelyan

Bits and Pieces

I haven't had much to say lately. No real reason. But, here are some bits and pieces of things floating around in my head at the moment.

• Cashews grow on trees. I took these pictures a couple years ago on a trip to St. Lucia.

The tree produces these fruits. The top part is called the cashew apple (apparently you can eat it, but I haven't tried it). The bottom part is the business end. One cashew nut is encased in a double shell that contains anacardic acid - a potent skin irritant that's related to the toxin found in poison ivy. No wonder they're so expensive. You only get one nut per fruit and you have to do battle with a skin irritant to get it.

• As I was tucking Harper into bed last night, I said "Where did my baby go?" She responded with "Mom, I'm growing up." But the way that she said it made it sound more like "Mom, seriously. We've been through this before. I'm growing up and you're just going to have to come to terms with it. Now, shut my light off so I can get some sleep. I have a big day tomorrow."
• I found a job that's very tempting to apply for. I've been contemplating it for a week now. I keep seeing references to this particular university in random places. I think it's a sign.

Bad Boys and My Little Ponies

Harper's teachers send a paper home with her every day that reports what she did during the day. Below is part of her report from yesterday.

Yep. You read that correctly. Harper sang "Bad Boys" while doing her artwork. Rob watches a lot of Cops and Harper's brain is like a little sponge. It was only a matter of time before she shared our little secret with the world. And now, I'm sharing it with you.

Preference

I like this view better...

than this one.

I'm Ok With It

I would really like to be a good artist. I'm just not. Sure, I could probably get a little bit better with lessons and practice, but the fact of the matter is that I'm never going to be the kind of artist I want to be. I'm ok with that. I'm good at other things. But, if I could choose to be awesome at something, I'd pick art. What about you? What do you want to be good at that you're not.

Just For Fun

This is the view from the window next to my desk at work. I like my job.

The past two days, I attended a career development workshop that was hosted by my university. It was great. I have all of these ideas swirling around in my head right now. I know without a doubt that I want to stay in the realm of academia. But in addition to that, I would love to do freelance medical writing. There are lots of different jobs associated with medical writing including helping other scientists write papers and grants, writing informational pamphlets, and writing science policy. While I do like writing papers and grants, I get my fill of that kind of writing in my regular job. If I'm going to do something on the side for fun, I'm more interested in what some people might call soft science (ie. writing about science topics for websites, newspapers, etc.). I don't know why I'm telling you this. I guess I just want to put it on the record. I tend to forget about things like this - things I like to do instead of things I have to do.

Catch Up

I've been at a workshop on career development for the last two days. It was awesome, but my brain's a little fried. So... here's a quick bullet list of what's been going on.

• Harper got a new night light. I gave her the choice of these two and guess which one she picked.

To no one's surprise, she picked the princess one.

• My grandma will be 90 years old in October. And yet, she'll still jump on the back of a 4-wheeler. That is the definition of awesome.

• It was inevitable. My husband pulled me over last night. Good thing it was only to say hello and not because I ran a stop sign.

• Harper has a new best friend. A watering can.

They do everything together. She slept with it last night.