Last night of freedom

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig
So I've made it back to Ithaca and have myself more or less settled back in. But allow me to back up a week or so.
My last couple days in Des Moines were spent in last minute visits with friends. Shame on me for not contacting people sooner. In particular I had a wonderful long visit with Tony. He introduced me to a great irish pub in downtown that actually has Strongbow on tap. I just wish that I'd known about it sooner.
Saturday morning, in the sleet and cold, Andy and I headed east. Fortunately the temperature rose the farther we drove, and the sleet turned to rain. After one last dose of familiarity (lunch in Iowa City), we continued through eastern Iowa and into the entirely unremarkable state that is central Illinois. But then a miracle occured...



yes...it's true. We found gas under two dollars a gallon.
Eventually we escaped Illinois and entered Indiana. Now the only thing Indiana has going for it that Illinois doesn't, is that it's narrow and takes almost no time to cross it. Oh and the amateur race car drivers in Indianapolis.
Finally at 11 pm we arrive in Columbus. Ya!
Sunday we explored Columbus. Marcy introduced us to her lab at a big group lunch. Afterwards we went to the Franklin Park Conservatory. Here are some familiar faces under some orchids.



After eating a huge breakfast (ok, more like lunch) it was time for us to continue up north. The trip was dark and rainy and not even remotely exciting.
The last week has been spent unpacking and spending altogether too much money. Sleeping, reading, watching DVD's. For those of you keeping track of such things, I finally found shoes.

It's hard to believe that this is my last night of freedom. On one hand I'm looking forward to classes starting, so that I'm not quite so bored, but on the other hand, I know this will be my last chance to be bored for four months. Tis the way of things and what I get paid for.
Rereading this I realize how cynical I'm being. I have not lost touch with the fact that I am being supported to do nothing other than learn cool stuff, and we all know that I do enjoy, ever so slightly, working myself to the bone.
And on that note, I'm off!

New Year's Greetings

Guten Abend meine Damen und Herren! How is everyone this evening? Good? Good.
Things here in Des Moines are good. Been keeping myself busy with sleeping, reading, watching movies, watching football, playing with the pets, some traveling.
I've been working my way through the Dune series over break. I highly recommend it if you like sci-fi. The first book is "Dune" by Frank Herbert. The next two are "Dune Messiah" and "Children of Dune".
The highlights among the movies have been "Cars", one of the new animated films from Pixar, and "V for Vendetta". Both of these have been out for a while, but I'm kind of behind as far as movies go. "Cars" is cute. It's no "Finding Nemo", but if you laugh when someone says "Git er Done!" or are a fan of auto racing, then you will like this movie. All I have to say is tractor tipping. "V for Vendetta" is a bit more serious, ok, a lot more serious, but if you're in the mood to think then I recommend it. I'm a huge fan of the end. Not only from the point of view of the plot but also the cinematography.
Last night the college football season ended in an upset. All in all most of the bowl games did not go in my favor. First off there was (unranked) Iowa's two point loss to Texas (18). Given Iowa's piss-pour record this year, I'm proud and not really all that disappointed by the game. Their hard work during the downtime payed off. They played really well and surprised most of the talking heads who were expecting a slaughter. Now a team which could have probably used their downtime between the regular season and bowl game better, was Ohio State. Given how unstoppable they were all season, to be walked all over by Florida (Florida! Arg!) is just embarrassing. I mean they couldn't stop Florida's offense at all. I've never seen a team, especially in the championship game, throw so many consecutive 1st downs. Oh! And don't forget Michigan and USC! The later being one of my least favorite teams (second only to Italy's national soccer team ::shaking fist::). The excuse (reason, whatever) that always comes up is the fact that the Big10 schools' seasons tend to end sooner because up here in the North it gets cold, where as those schools in the south can play more games because they don't know what snow is. Furthermore, the bowl games are usually in the south where it's warm and sunny and by the time the end of December, our northerly teams are acclimated to temps at or below freezing. Clearly we can't do much about the temperature difference. (Although with this warm-winter trend that may change. Global warming? What global warming?) But maybe something should be done about evening out the number of games each conference plays. Or maybe the northernly conferences should strive to play more games. Perhaps another argument for playoffs. I don't know. In the end it's just football, but just now and again I'd like the Midwest to not be humiliated by California and Florida. Ok. End rant.
Let's see. Last weekend Andy and I headed over to Iowa City for a couple days. I really love Iowa City. Even with most of the students gone, Iowa City has a vibrancy that I haven't felt in Ithaca. (Though when it comes to natural beauty, Ithaca blows Iowa City away.) Don't forget the coffee shops! How Ithaca has no classic, college-town coffee shop I really don't understand. Where are all these aspiring world leaders supposed to meet to discuss life, the universe, and everything while playing scrabble and drinking organic, fair-trade coffee? I mean really. Anyho!
Saturday night we went to a Wylde Nept concert (Shlego!). It was fantastic to see them play again after two years or so. The next day and a half was spent seeing people, places, and trying to eat at as many of our favorite restaurants as possible. Sadly I didn't get to see everyone as much as I would have liked and didn't make it all of my favorite places.
Now I'm back in Des Moines for a couple days before heading back to New York via a short stop in Columbus, OH. I have several more people to see, things to pack and what not. And then in a little less than two weeks, classes start up again. Aaaah! Es kann aber nicht wahr sein!
Mach's gut!