Lucky and Dusty, what have you done?

Well, their names are Lucky, Dusty, and Ned, but something terrible has happened. This morning, Ned is dead at the bottom of the tank and Lucky and Dusty are swimming around triumphantly. Was it Lucky? Was it Dusty? Did the cats somehow kill the fish with their brains?
I'm going to be watching these murderous fishies more closely today. I have to say, I suspect the more aggressive Lucky. Poor dusty is looking ragged this morning. I hope he's not next.

More beasts than people

Well, we've had a week to come to terms with the death of Black Bart. While we still miss him, we decided our family needed new fish, so we got three guppies. Two are kind of orange and the third is really pale yellow with a fancy tail. They don't have names yet. I sort of want to see if they make it through the night and then we'll invest in names.
I was thinking that a set of names in threes might be fun. We could do Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Or Koltho, Lakhesis, and Atropos for the three fates. Or Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar for the three kings. The ones I'm really liking the best are Lucky, Dusty, and Ned for the three Amigos. Don't those sound like great fish names? Especially Dusty, that cracks me up.
anyway, here they are:
Our three new fish
...and the cats who will someday eat them.

Blackout!!!

I want Mark Richt to be my boyfriend.

Is it too early?

Okay. I know that we have a little while yet, but my mind has been on Thanksgiving. I wait all year for Thanksgiving. This is my favorite holiday by far. there's nothing not to like about Thanksgiving. The decorating is minimal and voluntary (you better believe I put up cheesy turkeys all over this place), there aren't any presents to buy, you eat all day, the entire day is based on a good happy feeling, instate rivalry football, and, most importantly, the pie!
The pie is the subject of this post. You see, I may have a problem when it comes to pie. Every Thanksgiving I find myself baking 8 jillion pies. When I'm at my parents' house, this is no big deal since I come from a family of hearty pie-eaters. In fact, it is only since I got married that I learned that most people don't consider pie a breakfast food. Can you imagine?!
This year, Rob and I are hosting Thanksgiving at our house (yay!). We're having Rob's parents, his grandma, two uncles, an aunt, an uncle in-law? (not really sure how this person is technically related), and Dana and Caitlin. Last year, our crowd was great about eating seven helpings each of turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, and rum. They did not, however, eat their fair share of pie. Now, true to my heritage, I can handle a good amount of pie by myself, but that was too much and it went bad before I could eat it. (am a failure to my family).
I've been doing some careful figuring, and I think I can make five (read: six) pies and count on them being consumed within a reasonable period. What should those precious five pies be? Any suggestions? We know there has to be pumpkin, apple, and cherry. Probably some kind of berry pie for Dana. What should I double up on? Should I make any others?
ahh. a delicious dilemma.

R.I.P. Black Bart

We had some bad news at our house last night. I was sure that Black Bart was feeling better yesterday because he wasn't so covered in the white scuzziness and he was swimming a little higher in the tank. Unfortunately, last night at about 10pm, Black Bart joined the big fish tank in the sky. We said some words over his burial at sea and Rob gave a beautiful eulogy.
Black Bart, I'm sorry that I brought you home on my bike and I'm sorry that our house got a little cold that first night you were with us. I hope that where you are now there is a pirate chest that opens and closes and that you are swimming through the bubble-blowing thing that you loved so much.

Fishiness

Yesterday was homecoming at the U of A. (We won our game, yay! so did Georgia- double yay!).
I was walking down University Blvd. and these people had a fish pong booth! It is the most genius thing I've ever heard of. It works like beer pong, but instead of drinking when you lose, you get a fish! You make a small donation to UNICEF and they give you three ping pong balls to throw at solo cups floating in a baby pool full of fish. I got a ball in a cup, so I got to pick out a fish.
Meet Black Bart:
Black Bart is a goldfish with a black stripe down his back. He has survived two days so far, which is better than I expected given his species and the two predators that live with me. Today, though, Black Bart is having some issues. He's covered in white fuzz and is swimming sideways. I know that listing is really bad for fish, but in case he doesn't die today, does anyone know anything to do for fuzzy fish? Or, um, any fish that are more long-lived?

p.s. Congratulations Diane and Damian! I'm sure it was a beautiful wedding, you are a wonderful couple.

Trip to Denver

I'm back from a busy trip to Denver. I went to present a poster at the Geological Society of America's annual conference. I can't get over how huge that meeting is. There are 10,000 people there and they're all giving papers or posters. The program for the week was like a phonebook. My poster presented some new data about Lassen Volcano in California. People asked some good questions and had some good criticism, so all in all it was a successful conference. This is my poster. I know it's too small to read, but trust me, it's only exciting to me. The graphs are tree-ring chemistry and the rest of the figures are mostly maps. I observed something else in Denver. Archaeologists aren't particularly famous for their fashion choices, but next to Geologists, we look like supermodels. The standard uniform for men seemed to be faded jeans, a blue collared shirt, and a tweed-y blazer with elbow patches. Most of the time, this was topped off with a field hat. On women, I saw a lot of long skirts with tights, fleece jackets, and white white sneakers. Next year, I might propose a session called " how to not look like a field scientist" or "how to be taken seriously outside of your lab". do you think anyone would come?
A cool thing happened on the plane on the way to Denver though. These fighter planes were taking off from the Tucson airport and they kept flying right over our plane. Neat, huh? The guy next to me thought I was a dork for taking pictures outside the window. Okay maybe I was being a dork, but I had to get ready to meet the rest of the dorks in Denver didn't I?
I went to the conference by myself. I met a bunch of friends the first day for dinner and drinks and then I shared a hotel room with them that night. It's great to be able to meet old friends from all over the place at the same conference. I really look forward to it, sometimes, the GSA's are the only time I see those people all year. I got to see Joe, Nikki, Kathy, Lori, Chris, and Christian all on Tuesday. The second night, they all left town and I moved to a different hotel by myself. I know it probably sounds weird, but I've never stayed in a hotel room alone before. I was excited about it- keeping the temperature just how I like it, watching whatever I want on the TV. I also resolved to go out to dinner all by myself. That was the hardest part. I don't know how people do it. I hesititated a little at the door of the restaurant, but I was brave and got a table for one and ordered my dinner (resisting the temptation to order it takeout). It was kind of fun- being alone, I could eat wherever I wanted and not worry about impressing anyone- so I got Lasagna and a shirley temple. yum. Then I just sat there. by myself. What do you do when you're alone at dinner? I should have brought a book. I got lonely and called Dana who kept me company over the phone. I still feel like I've overcome a scary obstacle- staying alone and eating alone. Ha!
Still, I'm glad to be back with Rob. Busy week ahead, I'll try to post at least a few more times.
Happy November and Happy day of the dead!