Thursday, January 31, 2008

Question of the Week

Which would you prefer: 1) a wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure -- intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks; or 2) a happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by friends and family without such wide swings of fortune and mood?

(From the very thought-provoking "Book of Questions" by Gregory Stock).

What about option 1) surrounded by family and friends? Would you still choose secure and predictable?

Sunday, January 20, 2008

I'm IT!

Well, things got a little hectic with our recent move from Richland, WA to Evanston, IL. In one bitter twist of coincidence, WYDOT closed I-80, and we were stranded in Evanston WYOMING! for a day (24 hours longer than we wanted to be there). But we finally made it to the little city north of the BIG CITY, and the crazy madness of getting settled in a new place is winding down, so it's about time for a post.

There are a billion things to put up, but before I get to anything else (sometime in the next week or so), I should take care of some URGENT blogging business. I was just tagged by somebody special (thanks Ronni!), so you get to learn a few interesting things about me.

First, though, here are the RULES:

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B. Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog....

6 interesting facts about me:

1. I'm an overeducated chemist with a PhD from Penn State. I wrote my thesis on "CatalyticallyInducedElectrokineticsForMotorsAndMicropumps" (hopefully the space-less title will keep the wrong people from googling my webpage...). After a one year stint at PacificNorthwestNationalLab, I'm now working as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University (more on that later...).

2. I have a thing about telephones. An addiction maybe? I can't explain it, but I think that it is one of the most interesting and poorly appreciated technologies. But my interest extends to technology and gadgets in general.

3. I was once assistant manager at a Kentucky Fried Chicken. I quit my job there for a job at "the Mall" selling clothes. I hated selling clothes more than selling chicken.

4. I bike to work everyday. Okay, most everyday. (I'm kind of a sissy about riding in the rain). One day I just realized that the only exercise I got was walking up and down the stairs at work, so I made it a point to bike as often as I can. Usually that's just to work and back, but I try to hit the trails a couple of times a month. Note to self: find off road "trails" in the big city.

5. I love to read. Usually non-fiction (I'm a news junkie!), but I'll get into a novel once in a blue moon. I have a collection of textbooks for reference in our "library", you know, in case I ever have a question about that one guy you sailed to that one place in 15-something...

6. Okay, I'm not proud of this one, but I have a hard time going number 2 without bringing a little reading material. I mean sometimes you gotta sit and wait, and I get bored without something to read. And I don't think I'm the only one!

I'm going to tag:
Brian
Nick
Chelsea
Kenna
Adam
Bret