Well, its certainly been awhile since my last post, and lots of things have happened since then. But, probably, if you are reading this you already know all about them. Basically, I moved back to Ohio for a month before heading to Missouri to start my new (old) job. I'm very happy to be back on the crayfish crew, leading brave crustacean hunters on various adventures in southern Missouri. The person who is leaving my position and I went out this week to do some recon and collect some crayfish for Wash. Uni. in St. Louis. It was wonderful to be out in those beauuuuutiful Ozark streams...catching crayfish!

And now, to begin what will certainly be an ongoing feature:

Things I miss about England
-Public transit...around the entire country!

Things I am so glad to get back to
-Very few diesel cars means when I am riding my bike I can actually, you know, BREATHE freely. The difference is...very pleasing.

Quick, let's get to the coast!

Today some friends and I from work went to the Scarborough Sea Life center! There were lots of RAYS, and CRABS, and even a LOBSTER. Also some penguins, seals, loads of fish, some sharks, and a SEA TURTLE! We all had a fun time. Unfortunately it was not at all well-lit, and flash photography was prohibited, so I didn't get any photos except of this turtle:


Also I made some videos of some other turtles, I'll try posting them on youtube later. Here is a lego sculpture that was by the ticket desk. Apparently a new lego fun centre of some kind is opening in Manchester, but not until I leave.


At the centre, I got a little stuffed blue lobster, which will feature in later photos. Here, we had gone to a restaurant, and Lobbie is trying to escape. Into the grey, grey outdoors.


The restaurant had this great drawing up on the specials board!


It took awhile to get our food, someone at the table got a little bit over-eager.



Make that more than one person.


The food was great, I had a dish made with potato, cheese, leek, and some kind of fish. And some salad. Yum! With Yorkshire Tea, but of course. Outside, this seagull had found something tasty, too.

Avatar film

And we thought it was futuristic science fiction! Or a remake of Pocahantas or Fern Gully!

"Avatar's secret history lesson recalls Bougainville war"
http://pacific.scoop.co.nz/2010/02/avatars-secret-history-lesson-recalls-bougainville-war/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Bougainville
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Singirok
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Ona

Also:
"Tribal people appeal to James Cameron"
http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/5529

Pie

Found this video floating around my hard-drive after my compy got repaired:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_8YbyM1eEo

Note: not for those with slow internet connections!

Crayfish Cake

It was my labmate's birthday awhile ago, and I made her a crayfish cake. Not sure if she likes crayfish alot. But she'd better get used to seeing them! The cake was tasty, at least.

And now, police officers sledding on riot shields:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/oxfordshire/8458822.stm

Most excellent. I hope they didn't get into any trouble.

Crayfish slave

Well, here I am, back in Leeds for more WORK! Its as if I cannot get enough of it!

Here's what I have to do:
-Lots of lab work, ideally one PCR per day, once I get started.
-Write two pages of thesis per day.
-Survive.

It seems like a do-able amount. Plus, I am HIGHLY motivated to finish the lab work as soon as I can. Finish labwork = go back to America, my family, my Pie! Woo hoo!

*goes back to work*