Life's Little Victories May 2007

Summer is here, and it is time for May's Life's Little Victories:

• Watching the Can West Spelling Bee on TV, and you can spell some of the words

• Beautiful weather after months six months of rain

• Going for a walk after dinner and buying an ice cream cone

• A picnic at the beach with homemade sun-brewed ice tea

• Pulling on last summer's skirts and they still fit

• Getting a compliment about your cute handbag

• Stopping for coffee and a donut in the middle of the workday

• Cheap limes at the produce market (perfect for margaritas)

• Beautiful morning sunlight in your bedroom, bathroom and kitchen

• Being at home with all the windows open and the radio on, playing poppy summer tunes
  

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ten Years Later

It's been ten years since I graduated from college.

Quantitatively speaking, a lot has changed. I have been at three other universities since graduating from Purdue. I have lived in three states and two different countries. I held eight different jobs. I have had two Toyotas and one Pontiac. I attended at least ten weddings. I was a bridesmaid four times. I've been to India three times. I trained for and completed two half marathons. I published two scientific papers. I've knit three baby blankets. I attended one funeral. I've flown over 60,000 miles on United Airlines alone, that's more than twice around the world.

Qualitatively speaking, a lot has changed. I got married. I became an Auntie. I paid off my student loans. I've studied bacteria, plants, invertebrates, non-human mammals, and most recently, human subjects at one of Canada's largest hospitals. I have traveled across North America; East to West from Atlanta to Hawaii and South to North from Zihuateno, Mexico to Vancouver, Canada. I learned how to read and write Hindi हिंदी. My hair turned gray and I gained ten pounds (despite the running). I learned how to flip an egg and not break the yolk (although I broke it this morning, whoops). I extracted my own DNA by gargling with Gatorade and collecting the cells. I learned how to swing dance. I learned how to make a homemade pizza, entirely from scratch. I made lots of friends and no enemies (that I know of).

One thing has stayed the same during these ten years, the pursuit of knowledge. Curiosity has motivated me ever since my days in undergrad. I am still doing science and wondering how the world works. I'll never have the answer, but the pursuit keeps me busy.

My College Years

Watch Your Head, by Cory Thomas, May 19, 2007

Pretty much sums up the music scene during my four years in college!

My Price Is Right

After 35 years on television, Bob Barker is finally retiring from The Price Is Right. In honor of his tenure, I have a confession to make...I play the Price is Right.

All. The. Time.

I don't mean I watch the show everyday or play the board game. What I mean is that I am always estimating the value of things. If I overestimate, I lose. If I am close, I win.

For example, on Sunday I was in a boutique supermarket when a new brand of lip gloss caught my eye. The display had no price tags. I made a guess at the price ($3.00) and asked customer service to run a price check ($4.39). My guess was pretty far off, but I didn't go over, so I won! (But I didn't buy the lip gloss).

My Price is Right obsession extends beyond the price tag. When I get in my car, I make a guess of the current temperature in Fahrenheit and Celsius. Then, I toggle the dashboard thermometer to check if I was correct. My husband and I have made a game of this, who ever has the estimate that is closer to the dashboard temperature (without going over) wins.

I don't know why I play the Price is Right, except that maybe its a fun distraction. When my grocery cart is jammed full and I am waiting in line, I entertain myself by examining the items, and summing up their value. Next, I add on taxes. Then, I add on a margin of error for the items which I have no idea what they actually cost, because I always buy them regardless of their price (milk, eggs, tortillas, yogurt, etc.) I find that I am pretty good at this ritual, coming as close as $2.00 below the final price.

I also have a fondness for Plinko, but that would be a far more embarrassing obsession.

Congrats to Bob Barker for being a pop culture icon and for encouraging Americans to fix their pets. Bob Barker, come on down! See ya at the Showcase Showdown!

Pearls Before Swine

Pearls Before Swine by Stephen Pastis May 9, 2007.

Bead Shop

I snapped this in a bead shop in Vancouver, it made me happy they even sold American flag beads!

Canada's Three Nations

When I found out I would be moving to Canada, I thought I was moving to another country. But in fact, I was moving to three new countries.

It has taken me about nine months to understand that Canada is in fact three nations. In America, we are raised to believe "United we stand, divided we fall." There is only one America, the United States of America.

But here in Canada there is an official recognition by the Canadian government that there are three distinct, definable cultures in Canada and that these three cultures have rights. Canada's three nations are:

1. The Quebecois, or French-Canadians.
2. First Nations, also known as Aboriginal peoples (or Native Americans as we call them in the USA).
3. Multi-cultural Canada, which includes just about everyone else. From the decedents of early English settlers to new immigrants to biracial people and multiracial families, this is multi-cultural Canada.

The three nations and their presence in Canada is subtle in everyday life:

1. Official government communications are in French and English. Families can choose to have their children educated in French speaking schools.
2. The currency has First Nations art on it. The mascot for the 2010 Olympics is a First Nations symbol.
3. There is a plethora of choices for ethnic food, shopping, television, radio, and representation of many races and cultures in government and the media.

These are just a few examples, and the currents of these three rivers run deep. After just nine months in Canada, it is hard to judge whether these three rivers reach a confluence.

My impression is that a respectful recognition of these three nations by the government of Canada has brought peace and equality to more Canadians (but not all Canadians, as conditions for many First Nations people remain unequal).

The drawback is that there is no sentiment of patriotism or unique identity in Canada. The strongest evidence for this statement is the fact that I have been searching for a Canadian samosa for nine months and haven't really found anything. I'm hanging on to my original hypothesis that every culture has it's own version of a samosa, and I hope to find Canada's samosa soon. If Canada doesn't have a samosa of it's own, then it doesn't have a distinct culture. So, here's to sixteen more months of samosa searching.