Very impressionable

Pinterest has this weird ability to convince me that I like things that I really don't. For instance, I hate oatmeal, and inexplicably I am making "overnight oatmeal" in my fridge right now. Because there is a small chance I will wake up tomorrow liking oatmeal.

I know. It's a problem.



Update: Sunday morning, 8:30 AM. Surprise! I still don't like oatmeal!

Little things

Here are some little things that have been floating around my brain for a while.

+I've been making Lena eat at least one vegetable per dinner, and the faces and the attitude that this kid makes is just astounding. She's going to be the most awesome teenager in the world based solely on the dramatic sighs I get from her when forced to eat half a slice of cucumber. Half a slice. And cucumbers don't even taste like anything!

+We're lucky to grow up with a diverse amount of families around us. It's making me more confident that there will be less scrutiny in her future for not having a d-a-d around. Also, L had play date the other day, and they were playing 'house', and L said to her friend, 'you can be the daddy', and the friend didn't want to, so Lena said, 'ok, we can both be mommy's.' I know it's not ground-breaking stuff here, but I just love that their family could have two mommies, and that was perfectly ok.

+I need to work on my elevator pitch of what I want to do in grad school. I'm really used to telling non-scientist people, so I end up just saying 'molecular biology!' really enthusiastically and that gets the point across. Have just realized that this does not fly with, oh, actual scientists.

+I'm about to start reading The Fault in Our Stars, which I've heard really great things about. I even requested it from the main campus library, and it's coming to the health sciences library, which is closer to my work. I'm inordinately excited about this.

Not-guilty-at-all

I've got a new thing. I'm going to stop apologizing for my guilty pleasures. In fact, I'm going to start owing up to all my not-guilty pleasures. Starting with this first wonderful one.

Bunheads.

Bunheads on ABC Family. It's first season is almost over (season finale Monday at 9!), but it is awesome.

Why is it awesome, you might ask?

Because it's created by none other than Amy Sherman-Palladino, creator of those crazy fast-talking Gilmore Girls.

So Bunheads is basically Gilmore Girls reprised. Amy Sherman-Palladino apparently excels in writing the I-don't-want-to-grow-up woman in her mid thirties, positively ebullient with aging pop culture references, but who am I to complain?

The best thing about Bunheads is that AS-P is keepin' it in the family. So many actors that populated Stars Hollow have come back in Paradise, CA (p.s., it's also a quirky small town).

First up, Emily Gilmore. Starring in basically the same role except she's more edgy because she's in an interracial friends-with-benefits relationship. Oops spoilers.

To be fair, Emily Gilmore in real life really was a dancer. or something. Credit

Gypsy makes a few appearances.

Bonus feature, town meeting! credit.

Gosh I'm completely embarrassing myself with the amount of Gilmore Girls knowledge I have. Because I'm pretty sure that the guy in the previous picture was also on GG, as the pizza guy that makes Lorelai's birthday pizza that's supposed to break the Guinness book of world records for pizza and I swear that just came to me out of nowhere and if I could free up those brain cells I would in a heart beat.

And next up, Jason, playing the same fake-self-deprecating quasi-romantic love interest.

He even has the same voice. credit

And finally, best of all, the one and only...Kirk.

Also appearing with: the coffee obsession. credit.

Not pictured, Zack, as a one-eyed plumber (not kidding!)

Ok, I've got to go give my kid a bath and read The Odyssey and pretend like I am a grown up.

All in all Bunheads is a satisfying show if you enjoy quirk, kitsch, and pop-culture references. And ballet. If you like Gilmore Girls, and have nothing else to do on a Monday night and/or own a DVR, there is no reason why I would not recommend this show to you.  

Although if Jess and Luke show up on the season finale of Bunheads there will be squealing.

And since apparently I am feeling very confessional open (confessional implies guilt, and I will not be ashamed!) about all of these things, I will say that I just recently started watching Supernatural pretending that it is a spin-off show about Dean after he and Rory break up. Poor Dean/Sam, they got some tough breaks. 

Smells like teen spirit

The other day I realized that when it comes to choosing shampoo scents for kids it's really all about what smoothie flavor you want them to smell like. Orange crush? Mango tango?

This side of August seems a lot closer to a lot of things. Grad school, L being almost five. Things.

I've been busy and happy and you can find me at the pool almost every weekend. It's been good.

Sorry I haven't been writing here a bunch, but don't worry (I know you were worried) I have been writing.

I've been working on more science writing stuff. I've been guest blogging on Nature.com's Scitable blog, Student Voices. (I talked about principle components! And then a more asinine post on coffee.) I've also been working on things like personal statements. And thinking about short stories.

We've had crazy storms here, and a tree fell on my car: but my car was ok. :)

And Lena and I have been great. In the following picture, only one of us had been crying only minutes before!

Seriously. Ok. Smell you later! (Orange crush for L, I've been in a more savory shampoo mood: rosemary and mint.)