The hair color that would not die

Remember how I said I "dyed" my hair "brown"?

It's back to brassy dark blonde again. Did I dye it? Um, no. It just faded that much. People ask me if I dyed it.

I followed the rules and everything ... color-safe shampoo, color-saving conditioner... it's no use. My hair has spoken. Try as I might to have the colors I think I want, ultimately it's just not up to me.

Metaphor for life, really.

The AMNS is currently inducting new members.

Andrea's Marathon Nap Society had an ad hoc meeting yesterday.

In order to be a member of the AMNS, one must take naps that fulfill at least five of the following eight categories each:

1.) Start time: after work or school. End time: past midnight
2.) Total nap duration: >5 hours
3.) Evening plans entirely slept through
4.) At least one missed call/text with message that contains the phrase "call me when you get this"
5.) Frequency of Marathon Nap must not exceed 2 per week. That's too far, dude.
6.) Upon conclusion of nap, bedtime rituals commence and bed is re-inhabited in a time frame not to exceed one hour
7.) Nap taken in work/school clothes (possibly including shoes)
8.) Roommate/family/friends ask if you're feeling okay

Lab Week

It's National Laboratory Week. Or, as we in the industry prefer, "lab week."

Yessir. One week where the country takes a moment to recognize and appreciate the hard work it takes to produce laboratory results. One week where everyone considers the years of hard science, Westergard principles, reagent optimization, reference range memorization, quality control adherence, and beaurocracy-muddled project proposals that all scientists have to trudge through in order to become competent professionals.

BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHA!!!!

*wipes tears from eyes* ... ahh...

More like, one week where we enjoy a group potluck and some free pens and tote bags while we continue to report, with a 99.5% confidence interval, that you, the lucky consumer, do in fact have the clap.

ah, lab science.

ow, ow, OW

I'm tense.

Let's not mince words, here. I get muscle knots in my back and neck all the time.

Know what other myalgic joy working adulthood has brought to me? Muscle knots... in my eyebrows. As in, I use my eyebrows so much (and apparently in such a non-ergonomically friendly fashion) that they're getting knots in them.

That's got to be the stupidest thing in the world. I'm scowling, frowning, squinting, and giving The Eyebrow to people so much that I have a buildup of brow tension. I am, in effect, overusing my eyebrows.

I didn't even know that was possible.

Ridiculous.

It's about time you wrote something... geez

Right. So.... I've been occupied lately. In a good way.

In other news, on Monday I got to visit my best friend. You know, the dentist.

As far as dentists go, I like mine well enough. She's thorough and efficient. Gal after my own heart, really. No lame small talk, yet a pleasant demeanor.

And it's a good thing I like her, because I'm almost singlehandedly putting her kids through college. If she's got any, that is. I don't know, because she's not a Chatty Cathy. And neither am I. Anyway, seriously-- floss, people. Floss. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, FLOSS!!! It's too late for me, but SAVE YOURSELVES!

making do

I really hate to be all Chicken-Soup-For-The-Soul, but I got to enjoy one of my all-time favorite simple pleasures last night: driving at night when the weather is nice-- windows down, music up.

It is then that I have fewer qualms about belting out with Klaus Meine and Simon Le Bon (of Scorpions and Duran Duran fame, respectively).

That's something I miss about where I used to live in Columbus-- there were a lot more open, cruise-friendly roads to do this on. Now I just live in a city where there are stoplights everywhere. What a buzzkill.

aloha

Hey, remember that airline, Skybus? The one that flew me home and back for prices I could afford?

Well, no more of that. They shut down on Friday.

And now I'll never see my friends and family again.

Not really. I'm sure I could manage the eight-hour drive back to Columbus, especially now that I have wild, raging luxuries such as air conditioning and cruise control. It just sucks, big time. Plus, I'm not that anxious to put a ton of miles on my new car, although it's nice to have a vehicle that I know for sure could make the trip in once piece.

(I think the beige wonder is currently rolling over in its grave. er... new driveway.)

Anyway, on to happier events from the weekend. Rebecca, Beth, Sarah, and I went to cheer on our friends who ran the Monument 10K this weekend (And Rob-- sure! Let's run it next year. I'm game). We made signs with most of our friends' names on them (apologies to Melissa) and posted them on trees along the race route. It was fun picking out our people from the 30,000-strong crowd. That's the only time I've ever been thankful for anything that involved matching t-shirts.

And then there was the luau. Best one I've ever been to. I swear, how did they find so many fun people and put them in one city? Must be something in the mai-tais.

mmm, lilacs

Spring comes a little earlier in Richmond than it does in Columbus. So it comes as a tiny little extra packet of awesome that, in the alley behind my apartment, there is a LILAC TREE blooming right now. I love lilacs. I snagged a little cluster of blossoms as I drove by on my way to work this morning.

And I kind of wish I hadn't, because they're not my flowers. I don't know who the plant belongs to, but it's not me. I felt bad the minute I plucked it off, because it was pretty selfish, after all. Now I'm the only one who's going to enjoy that little cluster, and at the end of the day it will have wilted. But I'll still enjoy it in the meantime.

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may; old time is still a-flying,
and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying."
--Robert Herrick

I don't have anything to follow that with. I'm not really in a "carpe diem" kind of mood right now. Like, I would carpe the diem, but ... I mean ... I gotta wash my hair. er. something.
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Lauren's having a birthday luau on Saturday... so that means it's time for MADRAS PANTS! That's what it means to me, anyway. That's as close to tropical as my wardrobe gets. Seein' as how I left my sarong and coconut bra in sunny, sunny Ohio.

Plaid pants: always a win.

Other notable events: This Saturday is the Monument Ave. 10K. I guess it's a really big deal around here. A LOT of my friends are running in it. I was urged to sign up multiple times. And see, that's funny, cause... I don't really do that stuff. Maybe next year.

Finally, someone who doesn't hate their job

Let me tell you about a man I work with.

Even though all the things I'm going to say about him are good, I'll still use an alias just for the sake of privacy. We'll call him Marcus. Hey, that works.

So Marcus is a man from a small South central Asian country who is very enthusiastic about the work he does. He came to this lab from a very cutting-edge and prestigious medical laboratory elsewhere in the United States (and sometimes I wonder why... but I think family is the answer). He is very excited about the nature of his specialty, and gets very involved in things related to the advancement of lab techniques and studies.

Unfortunately this can make his job (as well as others' jobs) difficult, as sometimes, lifetime lab professionals can get stuck in their ways if they're not used to constantly looking to the latest professional developments (and for people who are like that, I wonder why they became scientists in the first place).

Anyway, part of the work I will be doing soon in this laboratory will be in Marcus' lab. I am so looking forward to that. He knows this, and often comes by my cubicle with updates on the project. He's great about getting others (or maybe it's just me) interested in what's going on. How nice is it to work with enthusiastic people?

As a celebration of the project finally coming under way, Marcus is hosting a meal at his home in the fashion traditional to his native country. And he has invited everyone involved in the project to attend. Isn't that cool? Every time I pass him in the hallway he says something about it-- "hello hello-- everyone is coming to the meal. it's going to be very traditional. like nothing you've had before! you are coming, right?" and of course I am. He gave out official invitation cards to everyone, and mine was addressed to Andrea Lorenz, PhD. ha ha! What a sweet talker.

Yay Marcus.