Passion

*I got a package from my secret pal last week! It's amazing!

So, this is a combined picture with stuff from both packages she's sent--the book and the big blue wool are from this package, and the cotton, needle case, and virus notepad are from the first package. There were some other things, too, but they seem to have wandered off and/or been consumed....

The cotton is still unfated, but I think the wool is screaming out to be a scarf. It's gorgeous hand-dyed thick and thin yarn (and it's in what are probably my favorite shades of blue), so I want to find a pattern that will show it off (there's a card around here somewhere that may or may not have suggested one, but I think I left it in my car...?). Any suggestions?

*Here's a picture of the birthday presents Megan sent me!

Not a terribly good picture, but since I already posted pics of the knitted womb I won't worry about it. She also knit me a strand of DNA, which several people have threatened to steal from me, and made me some stitch markers and a bracelet (which I had to take off to photograph)! This package, much like my secret pal package, happened to come on a morning when I was extremely tired and frustrated with the world, and just totally made the rest of that week bearable.

*I lost my cell phone again last week, and realized how really dependent on it I am. I couldn't do ANYTHING. I was crippled. I'm not sure how to resolve that issue (it does kinda bug me to be so dependent on a piece of technology), but I'm gonna go get insurance on my phone sometime this week so that I can get it replaced in case it doesn't find its way back next time as quickly as it did this time.
Also, someone found the phone I lost on the Genetics retreat back in October, and will mail it to me this week. Weird.

*I went to New York on Saturday with a bunch of friends, and we spent a couple hours wandering around in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I LOVED it. I spent half an hour taking pictures of French Renaissance sculptures, and got wonderfully and horribly lost (alone, without my cell phone) in the Medieval and Oceania exhibits, which was totally cool. My favorite part of museums is wandering through them lost and alone (I dunno why, but for some reason I think I have a really hard time going to museums WITH people; I always want to spent way more or way less time on an exhibit than they do.). I'm considering taking another trip down to the city sometime in the next few weeks, by myself, to wander around the Met or another museum, by myself. Could be a fun day.
I have a lot of pictures of sculptures, but there's really no point in posting them. Google Andromeda and the Sea Monster (of which I am posting a small detail photo), or Rodin, or Raphael, and you'll see most of the things I really got excited about.


*I am recovering nicely from what could have turned into a fatal crush on a boy who is extremely emotionally closed off. I have also redone my Match profile, but am considering taking it down again, because ugh, meeting people is such a bother, and who has the time? And maybe I'll just spend the next six weeks knitting, and not worry about relationships. Sounds healthy.

*Susan accepted both Emily and me into her lab yesterday, so today we both made it official and joined. ... !!! This means I am now officially getting my Ph.D. in genetics, and I have a home and a PI and will shortly have a thesis project! Also, I decided not to bother with the whole fourth rotation thing, so after a record 11 hours in the Breaker lab, I quit (well, it wasn't quite "quitting," and everyone was very nice and I think it was a friendly parting; I think they understood what the deal was). So life is awesome!

*I need to get my wisdom teeth out this summer, and my mom volunteered to fly out and take care of me. I'm ecstatic--as she said, it's really more of an excuse for her to come visit and go shopping with me. All the other kids' mommies have come to visit THEM, and I was starting to feel a little left out. So I'm really excited and will probably finally have the motivation to call and make an appointment with the oral surgeon.

*I've been exhausted and overworked and just basically totally overwhelmed lately. I mean, all in a (mostly) good sense, as things are going really well, but still--overwhelmed is overwhelmed. Sorry to be neglecting everyone; I'm hoping that now that I've joined a lab and am NO LONGER A FIRST YEAR, my life and schedule will settle down and I can start carving out niches of time to be a good friend again, both on lj and in real life.

( I saw Jamie online last night and impulsively said hello. )

( I made it to the post office yesterday (just in the nick of time before it closed), and picked up my package from my secret pal. )

Also, I have a date this weekend. I think.

So, there's this thing called Secret Pal (http://secretpal10.blogspot.com/), where you sign up and they match you with someone and you send that person a couple of gift boxes over three months, while someone ELSE is sending YOU gifts over three months. It's all anonymous, and I think so far it's usually just knitters (I haven't seen any non-knitting Secret Pal thingies). I first heard of it last year and thought, "Gee, that would be fun, if I was a knitter." Well, now that I am....

I'm supposed to fill out this questionnaire thingy about my interests, so if you're not a knitter most of this is probably boring.

( Secret Pal Questionnaire )