I’d like to start the year by correcting an omission in last night’s review of our 2011. Our darling dog Kirin, patiently waiting to be walked this morning, is still very much loved despite my forgetting to post any photos of her!
So to make up for Kirin, here’s one just for her (photos all taken in Morro Bay, Kirin’s favourite beach town):
It’s been manic. My summer disappeared in a haze of work (good) and people throwing hissy-fits at work (not good). Early autumn was devoted to preparing for, attending, talking at, and then recovering from a large science conference in Chicago. Some fortuitous foresight on my part in summer meant that I also had a few days to enjoy Chicago after (more on that later). Post-Chicago, I hit the ground running again on the work front, and also dived into the craziest social season my mega-lab has seen since my first summer in LA. It was great but hectic. All in, this left barely any time to just sit, relax and breathe.
Today is (was, by the time I type this) the great American holiday of Thanksgiving. So, as an honorary resident alien, I give thanks today for the chance to have a wee breather.
And grill a chicken with a beer can up its bum (recipe).
And drink some leftover mango cocktail.
The dog was happy that we were home all day, despite how she looks in the photo. (She’s just shy…)
I even started and finished a new knitting project (’twas a swick… it was only a wee owl…).
And I remembered what it was like to be able to breathe. For that, and a whole bunch of other onions, I am thankful.
It’s 2 years to the Superbowl Sunday when we met Queen Kirinopolophagus. She was, and remains, a super-dominant, passive-aggressive, eternally-shedding, attention-seeking, loveable, loyal, luscious, ludicrous specimen of Canis lupus.
Here she is on her birthday:
And she’s knackered from chasing balls on the beach here:
Here’s her looking a little worried (she remains fearful of all cameras even when I’m holding her favourite chicken):
My dog is ginger, and I love her:
More gratuitous dog photos on Kirin’s Flickr set.
France comes to a standstill, cancer research takes a hit and Aberdeenshire can either get some new jobs or a trashed environment. But I’ve got nothing for you. 12 hours straight at the bench; perhaps all for nothing. Here’s a gratuitous P and dog photo from August to cheer myself up. That post about our Californian outing is still waiting on the dog uploading the snaps to Flickr and getting to grips with the keyboard. She’s not too bright, that dog.
They’re looking to see where my life disappeared to. I think it’s somewhere in the rubbish bin with the thousands of pipette tips and tubes.
