Why do all my vacations involve rain pants?

Well I'm super excited because today is the first day of my vacation!!! I feel like it has been a long time coming - I can't wait!

And what do geophysists and consultants do for vacation you ask .... well, nothing says summer vacation like going to see where techtonic plates divide! Yes, we are headed to Thingvellir, Iceland.




A few reasons for going to Iceland aside from the extreme excitement of seeing the techtonic plates move at 10cm / year:
- Eric's lab went last year, but he missed out because of a wedding and our move to Boston
- It's only a 5 hour flight from Boston, and I was booking our trip right after flying 6 hours to San Francisco for work for the day! So this seemed like an attractive flight option.
- It's pretty cheap to fly to compared to the rest of Europe or South America (which were our other likely options)
- I want to try walking on glaciers in crampons

And so now we have started packing for the trip. We're planning on camping for most of the trip so the packing is a little more intense than usual. And this is when I started to ask myself .... why do all my vacations involve rain pants!?!??!



Rain pants aside, I'm still super excited - so stay tuned for some sexy rain pant photos from me and Eric scaling glaciers!

And you thought we couldn't get nerdier.....

As Eric's PhD qualifier gets closer and closer, I've started to notice that our "nerd"-dom has been increasing. Here are a couple of instances that I think you might find very amusing (and/or incredibly nerdy)



1. Eric and I were mulling over the fact that we are complementary opposites on something (although I can't remember exactly what we were talking about) - a ying-and-yang some might say. But instead of going to this classic adage, Eric said, "I'm like Cosine and you're like Sine; square us and add us together, and we make one!"

2. Eric was on the couch practicing deriving first principles of various geophysics equations, while I was busy making myself a drink. I asked him if he was interested in a drink, and he said no. I responded with "Good thing, I don't want you drinking and deriving!" Badda bing!

Conquering fears and wearing skirts

This week was our first sea kayaking course and it was fantastic! Now we've taken kayaking before.... about 5 years ago, we took a white water kayaking course; but I must admit I am not really an extreme sport kind of person, so it wasn't really for me. Also, that was when I discovered my fear for being stuck under a kayak. Basically, we were practicing T-rescues, and instead of being rescued I ended up stuck underneath my kayak flailing about, gasping for air, yelling when I could, and basically panicking. Since we were practicing rescues, it didn't occur to me that I could simply take of my kayak-skirt and get out of the kayak. Needless to say, once I was actually rescued I was very shaken.

Here's a pic from 2003 of Eric and I white-water kayaking.


So, when I read that intro to sea-kayaking involved practicing rescues, I was somewhat worried that I would have to flip myself upside-down in my kayak. I was resolute that they couldn't make me, and I wasn't going to do it.

And so of course, after a mere 10 minutes of paddling, our instructor decided that the weather was perfect for learning how to exit and rescue. Eric, our fearless leader, volunteered to go first (such bravery!) I was still firm in my decision that I would not flip myself upside down in my kayak, until the instructor told us that we weren't allowed to wear our skirts if we hadn't practiced getting out of our kayaks with the skirts on. (For those who are unaware, the skirt basically protects your lower body from getting wet as you kayak - a fair amount of spray occurs when kayaking and you can get quite wet)

And so I did it. In lieu of getting wet in the future, I flipped my entire body (and kayak) upside down into the water (and didn't drown - another positive for the evening). Yes.... I'm a hero! ;-) I was proud of myself all night!

So all it all, it has been most fantastic! To make it even better we get unlimited kayaking for three weeks with our pass - so look for us if your strollin' down the Charles River!

Druid inspirations

Tada - here's my druid creation!





As I was putting the last few stitches on the hood, it occured to me that if he was red, he would look a little bit like little red riding hood.... and well .....






Not sure what I plan on making next ... probably slides... many many slides ....

Also upcoming this week, our first sea kayaking course - antics likely to follow!

Ninja's Attack!

I must admit I am quite proud of my ninja toy adventure. My first ninja came out quite successfully.


Then I thought, well if I can make ninja's, I bet I could make teenage mutant ninja turtles. And so I did. Here is Raffaele. I also made little tin-foil weapons for him, but later decided to throw them out as they weren't very child friendly.




Then I thought, well if I can make mutant turtles, I could probably make mutants. And so I did. This cycloptic alien looks a bit meager on his own, but I think with some other alien friends he could feel quite at home.


And so at that point I decided that I needed to get some more yarn to make sets of ninja toys for kids. So I bought some colourful thread and got to work. This however was when I discovered that I had actually messed up the original pattern I was following on my first ninja (which also explains why my ninja turtle is larger than my ninja). I then spent many ninja-attemps at trying to repeat my original ninja size. Here is my ninja graveyard of failed attempts.


But I finally have it down to a science and here is my first set of ninja toys! Ideally I wanted buttons for all of their eyes, but unfortunately, Micheal's did not have a bag of small black buttons, so I have had to move to felt eyes - which is probably more child friendly.



I also managed to find on-line some of the free patterns from the creepy cute collection. Next up, I'm thinking of making the druid! (see needlenoddles link below)

http://needlenoodles.com/home/?q=node/134

The army begins .....

My friend Jamala is currently taking a knitting course, which amazed me because it hadn't really occured to me that one could sign up for such a course. I mentioned that I also knit (mainly mittens) and that we should get together for drinks, cheesy movies and some knitting. And so we did.....

Of course this meant that I needed to find something to knit, and since it is not really mitten season, I decided that maybe it was time to branch out in to something else. When I opened my knitting bag, a two-needle sock pattern fell out and I decided that maybe it was time to take up sock knitting. Now I must say I'm not terribly inspired by knitting socks, especially since I don't really like wool socks - too itchy and bulky. But it was a nice exercise, and I was forced to learn a few new stitches. I made a concept sock (see below) .... it is oddly shaped because I didn't bother to follow the proper proportions, I just wanted to practice the hard parts.

Test Sock




But all this got me to thinking, maybe I should find something new to make. Somewhat inspired by my friend Catherine who has been posting pics of baby toys she has been making, I decided I should look at fun rather than functional things to make. And that's when I came up with ninja toys!!! Here's what I am now trying to make,



...but of course I'm too cheap to buy the pattern and too crazy to actually follow the pattern if I did breakdown and buy it, so I am creating my own ninja warrior designs. Stay tuned for upcoming results....

BTW - In case you were wondering, Jamala and I decided to watch "The Net".... lets just say, the internet has come a long way since 1994!

An oldy but a goody .....

I must say, I am extremely happy with the fervour with which people have latched on to 80 Postcards to Adolph. It has been a success from many standpoints so far - not only has it created a renewed interest in checking the mail for my parents, it has also allowed them to connect with people that they have not heard from in years.

Olive Schurek - Dad's cousin - sent through these fantastic postcards from 1920! Yes 1920! And to add to the excitement, the postcards are of pin-up girls! So as you might expect, at this point I will have to issue a warning - the following content is for mature audiences only, parental discretion is advised.


This first one is a little racy - she's showing some serious mid-calf, and look at how she teases the audience by putting her fully clothed toe in the water.



This next one is very saucy with some significant mid-thigh showing. The photographer taunts the audience here by using the table to almost cut the girl in half.



Definitely a fav, this one shows a private moment in the life of a pin-up girl.



Probably the most provacative of the bunch, this postcard has a nice ariel view of her bossom.



And finally, the best for last - this girl pulls out all the stops; she flaunts her body, showing full ankle!!!!



Hope you enjoyed these as much as we did - they are truly a fantastic find!