I'm still not eating chicken, but...

This bit of good news reminds me of how much I miss eating my mom's lemon pepper chicken wings. They're heavenly.

Yesterday morning, as Dave and I loaded up the Explorer for a day of exciting ecological fieldwork, a University custodian commented that he appreciated what we were doing because it was people like us who were going to fix the mistakes that his generation had made. Nice thought, I guess (and I'm glad that more and more people seem to be thinking like him), but it's sometimes hard for me to see how whatever little things we do fit into the bigger picture. Of course, scientists could figure out solutions for every pressing crisis under the sun and it still wouldn't mean jack until those who make the big decisions decide to listen. These days, I seem to be vacillating between utter despair for the future of humanity and the planet and hope that maybe things will change.


Oh, and I also finished another pair of socks.

This and that and the other thing

Rafael Nadal is a pretty man. So it's especially unfortunate that he looked like a starving lunatic during Sunday's award presentation, chewing on the French Open trophy like an overexcited puppy:

Heinz Kluetmeier/Sports Illustrated

Um, Rafa? It's real. Seriously, you don't need to do that. Please stop.

On the other hand, I really like this shot:

David Vincent/Associated Press

In other French Open news... I don't fully understand what's going on here, but I suspect it's pretty awesome:


Take a look: Roger Federer and Serena Williams gave similar performances.


"So, Allison," you may be wondering, "I couldn't really care less about tennis. Or French television, for that matter. Do tell, what have you been knitting lately?"

Well, first of all, French television is quite entertaining, especially their game shows. Giant floating skulls asking trivia questions! Cheap Survivor ripoffs! But that's another discussion for another time. As far as knitting goes, I'm so glad you asked.

Here are the Monkey socks I finished a few weeks ago using Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino and #2 double-pointed needles:

I'm now working on a pair of socks for Paul, but before I started those, I took a couple of days to make myself a hot pink beer bottle cozy using some stash yarn (something cotton, maybe on #5 DPNs -- I really can't remember):

I plan on knitting up a few more of these using various yarns and colors; I'll probably change the pattern up a bit, too. They'd make good gifts, I think.


I have little nerdy content at the moment, mostly because it's summer and I'm spending more time in the lab than I would like and less time in the field. The lab work isn't exactly thrilling, though maybe I'll describe my study in more detail some other time. I'll definitely have more to say when I start teaching in the fall; I'm looking forward to that.


One more thing -- dried strawberries are crazy delicious. I'm just sayin'.