Hello from Toronto, ON

Yes, it is true! I have left the US for the first time, and it has been a good choice of location. It is a bit chilly, but beautiful. The city is pretty cool, very modern and clean. We actually heard our first 'Eh?' last night at a convenience store. It was cool. There is a lot of French here, which was unexpected (yes, I am probably not as informed about the country I am visiting as I should be), but still neat. I figured it was all in Quebec, but I am admitting here that I was wrong. This may not happen ever again, so take note. :-)

Well, I must be going, things to do, Canadian things to see!

Pics of the baby

Okay I am going to attempt to put in some pictures here if I remember how. Maybe it has something to do with the little picture button on the toolbar up there. Who knows, we will seeBy jove, I think it worked. This is Kali and Nala playing with their Kongs ( I seriously think we should get some kind of sponsorship, we have like 5 of these. Insane, I know, but they love them!)

I will try to add one more and see how it goes. Ok, I have no idea how this will actually work, but here goes!

Rainy Days Always Make Me Smile

I love the fact that it is raining, except the small fact I don't have an umbrella. Fortunatley I am only parked a not even half a block from work. And soon it will be much closer with all of the undergrads gone. Yay! Fun as always here at work, killing a bit of time before I run home to get the dog and go to the vet. They are making so much money off of us right now. If Nala's not getting vaccinated then Kali is having some weird skin thing going on. This time it is sticky bald spots under her front legs that she keeps licking. I mean really! How did it get sticky? Dogs are amazing at getting into weird crap. It must be an art for them. So I will be posting some more pics on here, especially since it has been so long since I put anything up here. Hopefully Rosie will be able to check my blog since they blocked my webshots album. The nerve! How else will she keep up with all of the doggies changes and kitty escapades? I also want to figure out how to post some video as I have been taping the aminals lately. Some of it is too funny. Well, I must set up my ligations now, I have to be convincing that I am actually accomplishing something today. :-) Later.

Wow, this thing still works!

I can't believe this is still here, and heck, probably no one will really read this much anymore, but I am here any-hoo. Lots of fun stuff going on lately, especially since my last post. Ok, I lie, it has been supremely crappy and very hard to get through. But none the less I am still here, and it just so happens that we are one puppy happier than before. That's right, there are two cats and two dogs. I think the menagerie is complete for now. Travis is having fun finishing up his first semester with a student teacher and is trying to get his b-day present scheduled (in case you don't know I got him a 20 lap racing experience so he can experience crazy driving in a relatively controlled environment). I am getting ready for ASM, an international microbiology conference, which is in Toronto this year. This is very exciting for me seeing as I have never left the confines of the USA. EVER. I even flew approximately half way around the globe to depart the plane and STILL be on American soil. Yay manifest destiny, yada yada. So I get a passport, and wow did I do the 'Don't smile look serious' command for passport photos justice. I am hoping that pic never escapes my passport and that the customs people don't feel bad for the people I am traveling with cause I look grumpy. Actually it is more like murderous. But grumpy sounds nicer.

The Dandys are Dandy

Thanks to Bethany and iPOD sex I have been listening to the Dandy Warhols today. It is the first time I have listened to an entire album, although a couple of their tunes are quite catchy. I think I like them, I like them a lot. They have a great beat, can't say I've listen to the words much as I have been slaving away at the bench, and in general their music kicks it. Yeah! I also listened to Ben Folds Five, 'Song for the Dumped' is an awesome fave. Although Bethany and I may not have identical music taste, and at times it is quite polar opposites, we are finding more that we actually have in common, which is nice. I'm not much of a seeker of indie groups, or even underground stuff, but seeing as that is Bethany's passion, I benefit from her explorations and subsequent 'You're listening to this if it's the last thing you ever do!' comments. Otherwise I may not have ever fell in love with OKGO (and if you haven't yet, get on it! They are going to be huge!). Well, that is my tiny comment for the day, my digest is almost heat inactivated. I must be going to set up my ligation. This time the cloning WILL work, it must, seriously.

Simplicity

Thanks to Steve's comment on my last post, I have been doing some thinking. Not too much, I am very preoccupied at work, but thinking none the less. I appreciate Steve's ability to point out assumptions that I make when speaking of myself that may misrepresent what I am trying to say, or that may make people think I am an idiot nutcase (more so than I actually am).

When I think about my philosophy on life, it doesn't take much time. My views on how to live life are very simplistic, and for the most part I have a very concrete ideas about right and wrong. The grey areas only really creep in when I am trying to avoid conflict at all costs, so actually I run into grey areas all of the time. Just not in my head. Maybe it is my gifting in wisdom (I didn't say it, it was the class) that helps me to not have to struggle over knowing what the right thing to do is. Doing it is another thing, but knowing is usually not an issue.

The more time I spend with other believers, the more I see that I am not necessarily the norm in the status of my faith. I don't seem to be a seeker so much about what God is or how he fits in my life, but more so what God has planned for me. Whether this is good or bad I am completely unsure about, but I am different from most of the people in my peer group. Usually I don't struggle with questions about why this happened, or about how God fits with science, despite my past struggles and my current chosen profession. Things are just the way they are, God is just the way he is, and that is that. Occasionally I struggle intellectually with some aspects of the bible and science, but it has NEVER ONCE shaken my complete faith in God, so it becomes a moot point to me. Does this mean I am not intellectually curious enough? Or maybe it means I hold too much blind faith and don't think enough for myself. Is there something I am missing, some greater truth that hasn't occurred to me yet so that I can't even think to ask the right question? Am I really that intelligent, or am I a poser in my world trying somehow to validate my existence by the company I keep/the degree I hold? What makes me so special (in either meaning of that word) that I don't deal with the same issues and questions that it seems everyone else is dealing with? Most importantly, why am I not content with what I have been given, and why must there always be something more to everything?

I am sure there are a few people now that are thinking I am mentally unstable, and why that may be true this is not the reason why. And I most certainly don't want anyone to think that I think I am anything special by what I am saying here. I know I am probably not unique in my situation, I just don't know of anyone I know that feels they are in the same boat. I am merely trying to tease out the roots and significance of my simplistic view of life, despite my inability to find satisfaction with it. I am of course open to constructive comments, and sorry if you took a lot of time to read this then regretted it immediately.

Someday Life Had Better Get Easier

Seriously. I mean, why is it always so stinking hard? I know we have to have challenges and overcome hardships to become better people, and prepare ourselves for the afterlife, and acheive greatness. But personally I am not planning on some sort of reality altering greatness to come along anytime soon, if ever, so why all the stress? Aaarrrggghhh. If I was a pirate I bet life would be easier. Except for scurvy. And the apparent need to be missing a body part to be a really awesome pirate. Otherwise, cake.