And now I'm 30

I just had a lovely time celebrating a big birthday. Last weekend Ecogeomom, S1, S2, and S4, and S4's little baby came to visit. There were only here for about 24 hours but we had a lot of fun. We don't make a big deal about adult birthdays in my family unless they end in zero, so their visit made my 30th really special. Ecogeoman, who typically f's up my birthday, had a thoughtful present (wrapped even!), a book to organize all the loose recipes I have floating around the kitchen, ready in advance and he took me out to dinner on my actual birthday. Awesome Technician made brownies, which she knows are the signature birthday dessert in my family instead of the much-less-delicious birthday cake.

I have many friends who look at 30 as some major milestone. They say it marks the time when one should be married, have a house, finished a Ph.D., whatever. Or it defines adulthood. I have never looked at 30 this way, probably because there are other ways I think those life events should be defined. For example, I considered myself a full adult when I graduated from college because that was the time when my parents stopped contributing to my livelihood; I had to get a job, fund my own life, pay my own debts, and thus they ceased to have a say in my decisions other than offering advice that I could either take or leave. I don't feel like an old maid because I'm not married yet; EGM and I will do that when the time is right for both of us and our families. I don't feel like a failure for not owning a house; I'm quite comfortable renting for the time being given both our personal circumstances and the shitty market.

On the other hand, I feel a little disappointed with myself for still being in grad school. I remember swearing up and down that I would be finished before I was 30. This had less to do with a particular age and more to do with thinking it was ridiculous for grad school to drag on and on. Yet here I am, approaching year 7. To be fair, I've been held up by some things out of my control, like an "act of god" that drove me to shift the focus of my project and probably cost me a year, or the slow manuscript reviewing that held my attention on one aspect of my project for too long. But really, I want to get on with my life. I'm tired of knowing there are still hoops to jump. I want a real salary. And a 401(k). And the peace of mind that comes from knowing that if the shit hit the fan, I could quit without losing everything I've worked toward for the last dozen years.

So 30 is fine. But I really want to graduate.

Egg pie

I love Sciencemama's idea for a weekday recipe carnival. I don't mind cooking, but it can be so hard to come up with what to make, especially through the week. I like to make meals that are very simple (i.e. complete enough in one dish that I don't need sides), inexpensive, and take <30 min.

I whipped this up last week when I had a frozen pie crust, eggs, cheese, and not much else. It's not my best work ever, but it was pretty good. One of Sciencemama's requirements is high nutrition; I'm not sure this qualifies, but it's not bacon and tator tots either. Since I don't know what defines a quiche, I'm calling this dill and asparagus egg pie. Please don't judge me for using asparagus when it's terribly out of season.

Ingredients: splash of olive oil, 2 gloves minced garlic, 1 bunch asparagus (~ 2 c after trimming?), dash of salt, 8 eggs, 0.25 c grated Parmesan, 0.5 c mozzarella, 1 T (or more) dry dill weed, 1 pie crust (I buy it prepared but you can make you own).

1. Preheat oven to 350F or so.
2. Trim asparagus and cut into ~0.5 in pieces. Saute with garlic and salt in the olive oil until not quite tender.
3. Whisk eggs, cheeses, dill, and half-cooked asparagus in a medium bowl.
4. Position the pie crust in a pie pan. Pour in the egg mixture.
5. Bake for 30-45 min, until the crust is golden and the center is set and a little puffy.

The grass is always greener

Why is it that every task looks better than the one I'm doing? I would almost always prefer to be working on something else. It happens at all scales. For example, when I'm processing a sample, I'll be itching to work on a different part of the same sample. Or I'll wish I to be processing data when I'm at the bench. Or longing to be in the lab when I'm writing. I'm never satisfied.

Currently, I'm torn between two writing projects and I fear it's developing into a log jam. I had been working on my next paper/dissertation chapter. I had gotten kind of stalled by some difficult yet very relevant papers, but I was making good progress of taking notes on them. I was just about to begin working the notes into text when I learned I should drop everything to work on a complicated fellowship application. I spent most of last week reading up on a new subfield so I could put together a proposal. Now I want to work on both. Or not on either of them. Or both.

I'm hoping that writing this post will help be refocus. I need to just decide what I'm going to do today and break it down so I get something done. Not really want I want to do on a Sunday (especially after having worked 27 hours last weekend), but I'm feeling so much anxiety right now that I think only some progress will give me any relief.

Natural deodorant sucks

One of my new year's resolutions was to conduct my daily life in a little more environmentally friendly way. One of the changes I've made is to replace personal care products with natural versions; as I run out of my preferred brand of something, I buy a greener option. For example, I bought Tom's of Maine (ToM) bar soap, Trader Joe's hand soap, and ToM deodorant. The soaps are fine, but the deodorant sucks. I will be returning to Degree when the ToM runs out or the weather gets hot, whichever comes first.

Anyway, I now need some advice, Dear Readers. I'm about out of face lotion and scrub. I've been using Aveno Positively Radiant lotion and St Ive's Apricot Scrub and I love them both. But this website (h/t Nina) tells me that they aren't such green choices. I have oily, break-out prone skin that needs to have the top 5-10 layers scrubbed off twice a day if I want any hope of keeping the acne controlled. Any recommendations?

RBOANTM

• Seriously, I think Tyra Banks' inner monologue doesn't stay in. Pretty soon she'll be singing the entire deliberation.
• Fo needs to get over it. The short hair looks awesome. Suck it up.
• Why did they make the tanned girl look just like Lindsay Lohan?
• The Girl With The Eyes looked better in her photo than real life, but it was not very nice of them to say she looks like an alien.
• Piss that there's not a new Lost tonight.
  

In other news, there is a postdoc fellowship that I really, really want. I thought the application would be due in several months, but it turns out that it's due much, much sooner. Yikes.

Whew!

I was, unfortunately, at work for ~15 hours today and have to go back for another long day tomorrow. However, the cannon is just about one of the fucking coolest things I have ever seen. The data are so awesome that it's totally worth it to spend my weekend at work. Totally HOT science, yo.

RBOGood Enough

• I have been mildly sick for the past several days, but it hasn't turned into a full-blown anything.
• I get to do some super cool science this weekend using a really cool instrument. Let's call it the cannon. We've talked about doing work with the cannon for years but never made it happen. Until now. The downside is that I have to be available to work 24/7 for the next four days.
  
• I am this close to finishing the lab work for Chapter 3. Or was I calling it chapter 2 here? This last bit has been dragging on, but it's getting close.
  
• Lost is still interesting. Will the love quadrangle be resolved?
  
• Our symposium proposal was accepted in a revised form.
  
• We still love our tv.