Don’t you hate it when you bake a cake and it turns into a dog’s breakfast by the time a few folk have tried to saw through it with plastic knives? I thought I’d preempt that by making lots of bite-sized cakes for that mega-lab party I’m committed to attending tamara. Perfect for buffets and […]
Righty then. It’s only 7 days into my month of daily posting, and I’m already flagging. Work is interrupting my plans for a chilled December1. But it also brings fodder for posting in the form of the mega-lab party. My two labs are having a joint party on Sunday, which kind of interrupts my working […]
Bereft of inspiration for today’s mindnumbingly boring post, I give you… Mini rants: How on earth can I possibly know by webinfiltration of my brain that Ewen MacGregor is Iago in a new production of Othello and not know who is playing the title role1? Does Wendy Alexander really think she can detract us from […]
This post sat as a draft for a wee whiley, with the thought of a new behind-the-scene migration prompting publication before my confessional was lost for good. It was written one slightly tipsy evening in early December. Two weeks ago, I was the happiest I’ve been for a long time. Contrapunctal Bach may be stimulating, […]
Hanukkah, a Festival of Light™, began at sundown, and it would have passed me by if I hadn’t noticed the unusual emptiness of the lab corridors this evening. I must confess an atheist’s ignorance in not noticing religious holidays come and go. There were so many while I was growing up in a multicultural, multi-religious […]
Sigh of relief on behalf of Mrs Gibbons as she returns to the UK relatively unharmed. If I may put the tin foil hat on for a second, I’d suggest that there was a brief moratorium of criticism of the Sudanese government by the British press during negotiations for Mrs Gibbon’s safety and release. Now […]
If not, stop for a moment to consider the latest pail of cold water on this season of gift-giving. It’s happened to most of us, no doubt1. We’ve either bought something for the sake of giving something or received a gift, no matter how well-meaning, that we just have no use for. I don’t just […]
It rained two days ago. The ambient temperature plummeted to 15ºC. The dog was found shivering in our bedroom, whining from the thunderous sound of rain falling on the roof. I didn’t have to water my plants. There were puddles of dirty water on every street corner. On the basis of these meteorological phenomena, one […]
Today is World AIDS Day; a day to raise awareness that Acquired ImmunoDeficiency Syndrome is still around and remains a global problem. That it remains an epidemic is distressing. Education is critical. Knowing that the disease is caused by viral infection is a necessary first step: the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV;in all its nasty variations) […]
Andrew reflects my opinions on the mysterious need of Americans for TWO successive family feasts that almost always end in tears. While I enjoy a celebration to cheer us all up in the darkest days of winter1, it really depends on who you spend it with. Don’t get me wrong; I like spending time with […]
akatsuki ra-ra-ra 