oh, women.

This evening, I offer to you a smattering of excerpts from my reading for Neuroscience. They are from a review of Principles of Mental Physiology, with their Applications to the Training and Discipline of the Mind and the Study of its Morbid Conditions by William B. Carpenter, M.D., LL.D., F.R.S. From 1874. That's kind of important.

"It is always wise to try the simplest explanation first, and in women the capricious is certainly more common than the biological temperament, even if the author's statistics of the latter be correct."

"The writer well remembers when going with Dr. Conolly through one of the wards on the female side of the lunatic asylum at Hanwell, Dr. C. remarked to him, 'It is my belief that two-thirds of the women here have come to require restraint through the habitual indulgence of an originally bad temper.'"

overheard

...while I was on the bus and my driver was taking a break outside. (Side note: Even though I was pretty frustrated that the first bus just blew past me while I was waiting at my stop, maybe it was worth it to hear this.)

He was on his cell phone with, I'm guessing, his wife, so the conversation below is only one half. His half was all said with an amused, with touches of incredulity, intonation. You can also imagine his great, thick southern accent.

"Wuh'd you baby?!?!"

"You got to stop!"

"Naaoooh! You just got to stop!"

"When he puts on his lights, you just got to stop! Stop in the middle of the road -- it don't matter!"

"You can pull over if you want to, but you got to do it fast! You can't just keep on driving!"

"Did you tell him you're from Russia?"

intensives

I am now five days down in the 13 days during which I will complete two classes (2 credit hours each). It feels good to have one week done, although it was pointed out that we have only had one project due during that time, so I think the second half(-ish) will feel quite busy. Overall, it has not been as bad as I was anticipating. But enough about the work side of things.

The other -- and more important -- thing that comes along with these intensives is that we get to meet and get to know the rest of our cohort! We are now a class of 32, I believe, which nearly triples our class from last year. I can't definitively say I have talked to each person, but I think nearly. We have already taken two opportunities for socializing out of class, which I have greatly enjoyed. Good times, good people, good pizza, good limoncello margaritas (really good -- they lived up to their legend!).

this weekend sent summer off in style

I know. I've been not good at posting this summer. I have had no responsibilities but have found myself to be quite busy. A very good kind of busy.

This weekend we had a mod reunion. For those of you who are not familiar with my undergrad school, a mod is a housing option with five bedrooms, a living room, and a communal bathroom. I was fortunate to live with my best friends for two years (and some of them for a third). Great times. I would say we have done amazingly well at getting together in the seven years since graduation. I'm impressed. I have not always made it, which is regrettable, but I am already looking forward to the next time I can.

However. I did not even get out my camera once this weekend. For a wonderful and entertaining overview of our weekend, please see my friend's blog. People: This post includes a baby in a mullet wig. You do not want to miss this.

On either side of the mod weekend, I (and sometimes Brian) hung out with my brother (and most times his gf). This was also a great part of my weekend. Love them. We spent some time searching for the 90s nostalgic drink Orbitz, watching some MST3K riffs, and eating some excellent food. Yum to Mi Ranchito (Ranchita?) and Orange Leaf.

Thanks again to all of our wonderful hosts! It was a blessing to spend time with so many important and loved people in my life.

what's the most trying part of mennonite cooking?

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Dealing with all the bierock-racy.*


This photo isn't really my favorite example of my bierock adventures because this batch got more brown than I like my bierocks (first time making them with this oven and at this altitude), they've been smashed in a Ziplock in the fridge for almost a week, and, shame, the three that are left are embarrassingly mismatched in size. I'm just willing to sacrifice my pride for a good (that's debatable) joke.

Here's a snapshot of the first bohne beroggi I've ever made.


The resident Swiss Menno in our household did give his stamp of approval on the taste but suggested that they don't look quite right. I've never been taught how to make bohne beroggi. I've never even witnessed them being made. I was just going off of what the end product looks like. We hope to get some instruction in shaping them this summer. Hey, at least I didn't just make them in the shape of a bierock, which I was somewhat tempted to do.

Speaking of the shape of a bierock, what shape do my readers know them to be? One of my grandmothers made square bierocks, which I have never seen any place else, nor do I know exactly how she did that. Did she roll out the dough and cut squares rather than pinch off buns? It seems more difficult and more labor intensive to make square ones. Who knows. I should ask her.

*It's very possible I thought up that pun and then spent a few days trying to come up with a good joke to use it in...and I still may not be entirely pleased with the results, but it's as good as I got.

cherries 'r' luv

The post title says it all, albeit in a horribly annoying way. Cherries 'r' luv even more when they come at $1.27 per pound. Have I mentioned how much I love the price of produce here?

visitors: part 1

At the end of May and beginning of June we were blessed with an abundance of visitors. We were really excited with anticipation and very thankful that we now occupy a space that allows us to host visitors.

Our first set was my parents and brother. Mom and dad arrived on a Friday. We spent Saturday at Rocky Mountain National Park. Trail Ridge Road had opened the day before, so we took that drive. However, between the time it opened and then, there had been quite a bit of snow melt that had eroded away the road in some parts, so the road was closed at about 11,000 feet. We drove as far up as we could and got out to take in the view.


The rangers at this point on the road thought reconstruction would be finished and the rest of the road would open in about 20 minutes but that it would be one-way traffic and you would have to take the entire road. This is not something we were interested in anyway, so we retraced our path and headed on to Bear Lake. There is a nice trail around the lake that I enjoy walking. We had done this trail in October when Brian's parents visited: the lake was frozen and the trail was snow packed. Not much had changed by the end of May.

Bear Lake with Long's Peak in the background

There was evidence of some melting of the lake and some muddy areas of the trail, but a lot of it was still snow packed. In places we could tell that the trail still had five feet of snow on it. We were able to get right down to the lake at one area an could see that the ice was really thick -- couldn't see the end of the ice.

On our drive back, we encountered heavy rain and some hail, at one point taking refuge in a parking garage. Supper was made and eaten, the rain cleared and we took a walk up on campus, and later that evening Mark arrived!


On Sunday we did the classic visit to Celestial Seasonings and got our fill of the Mint Room (my favorite part of the tour). Many teas were tasted, and we cashed in our coupons for a free box of tea. Mom & dad took us out to celebrate May birthdays, and we all ate way too much at Islands.

We again took a nice walk up on campus, this time with a stop at the entomology part of the museum collections (the collections that are not on public display). Surprisingly, I had not even been there yet, so I was really glad to get to go. They have some amazing stuff.

We took everyone out to Beau Jo's for some tasty pizza, and then mom made us brownies and homemade fudge sauce for ice cream for dessert. Yes, we ate quite well over the weekend.

We are really grateful that everyone took the time and resources to come visit us!