ASV Conference Part II

So if somebody had only told me how beautiful the Cornell campus and surrounding city (Ithaca) is, I would have taken their pleas (begging*, really) to attend and offers of full-ride scholarships more seriously. Oh well, USU is practically Ivy League.

There are three gorges that pass through the campus, and several bridges offering lovely views. Right through.

I was relieved to learn that Rachel (my boss) and I have similar conference philosophies: the human brain can only retain, digest, and assimilate so much information during a given day. We went to the talks we found interesting and enjoyed the wilderness-turned-institution-of-higher-learning during talks we spent less palatable. I walked around this lake (Beebe: right on the d&%* campus) and the neighboring river and falls several times (per day). Erin (who was not a huge fan of Ithaca) went to 16 hours of talks per day and scribbled furiously throughout them all. I’m pretty sure she did this just to make me look bad, but I can't prove it.

I was excited that our meals were included in the conference registration fee until it became clear that the food was comprised primarly of grease. Even the water. Here, Rachel, Sarah, and I are pretending to enjoy creamed corn on the cob. I didn't know it was possible either.

I believe this talk had something to do with stem-loop structures.

Erin presented a poster about her super dangerous mutant virus. I came to the conference san poster (horray!).

This is the lovely and severely underappreciated bouquet of wildflowers I picked for Erin on my last walk around Lake Beebe.

Dinner at Simeon's, where we finally ate food that seemed to contain those things called nutrients, amino acids, flavor granules, etc...

*with tears

Krason, Kylene, Krodie, and Kavanna

I found this utterly amusing (probably only to readers of Mormon blogs?): http://seriouslysoblessed.blogspot.com/2008/07/here-ya-go.html

P.S. Because least three people have asked: the blog is satirical.

Lake Cayuga

Part of my obligations as a quasi-scientist include keeping up with the latest research pertaining to my field. Since I am part of a lab that studies a virus (RSV), I recently attended a conference for the American Society of Virologists (I not-so-secretly like bacteria better, but duties are duties). My good friend Erin, our advisors, and fellow labmates enjoyed a science-heavy week at Cornell in Ithaca, NY.

Our first grueling day was spent kayaking Lake Cayuga. Erin and I (above) took kayaking lessons from Chris before the trip.

John is Erin's boss, and Sarah (the one who looks like she is of the feminine persuasion) is a British post-doc in my lab who enjoys the out of doors.

Ewan is a Scottish post-doc in Erin's lab who enjoys making fun of us.

You might think this doesn't look like Top Science, but you could be wrong. As far as you know, we spent the entire kayaking trip discussing polymerase interactions with host cell factors (especially if you are my boss Rachel).

Plum Island (read: Green Hateful Fly) Beach

As seen previously on Cami's blog, I took a day off of doing Top Science in order to be lazy with my sister and her posterity. We took our bikes to Plum Island beach, rode through some wilderness conservation areas, and then watched the waves crash on the sand. We tried to swim a bit, but there were strong undertows so we stayed close to the shore in response to those pesky 'will to live' pangs.

Calvin was deeply disturbed by the waves, and told me several times, "Laura, I don't like the ocean." He even let me sit very close to him and hold him - behavior that isn't generally tolerated during less oceany times.

Cami and I are a little, shall we say... morbid, and have a tradition of taking photos of ourselves walking into the ocean al a Edna in Awakenings (right before she drowns herself).

The green flies that grace the Northern Massachusetts beaches are no friends of mine:

Bryn and I ran up and down the beach several times and saw a seal swimming. It was awesome, but I didn't get a photo.

Move over, San Diego

Ahhh, Willow Park. When I was a child, I thought it was a bona-fide zoo (only those from Logan will understand how humorous that is). In its defense, it houses several undomesticated species, including monkeys, porcupines, and... let's see... turtles? Oh yeah, and lots of peacocks. Noisy, beautiful peacocks, and kids dig it. We picked up Cafe Rio takeout, had a picnic, fed the fish, and swallowed a thousand tons each of cottony pollen dripping from the park's namesake trees. Overall, it was a very lovely afternoon (minus the allergy-related suffocation situation).

Bryn was tired of walking, which is not surprising given the enormous nature of the park. Eli had to be constrained because he insists on running in directions contrary to logic and/or adult wishes.

Bryn is holding the willow weepings. There was so much in the air and on the ground that it looked as though it were snowing. Alas, it was 126 degrees, at least.

Makeover by Dani

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
~ Robert Frost

I've been thinking about this poem. Is it true?