tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-146569042011-04-21T13:44:00.467-04:00Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.comBlogger251100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-83217784280382666892007-09-17T21:58:00.000-04:002007-09-17T22:05:44.756-04:00

Blogger is encouraging me to update to the new version. Everything will be easier, but I will have to re-load recently added content. So Transcriptions will be discontinued and Transcriptions II will be started.As a transition between the Transcriptions, I'll be posting the last of the window sill pictures shortly.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-31220421770706476042007-07-31T17:34:00.000-04:002008-12-09T19:58:54.210-05:00

(Window work must be genetic.)One of my projects for this summer was to do some maintenance and repair on our window sills. For the most part, this involved a little bit of scraping and sanding followed by application of MinWax Wood Hardener. And once everything was prepped, priming and painting.Everything went according to plan until I started on the window in our master bathroom. I knew this

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-39952428875119726692007-07-26T08:28:00.000-04:002007-07-26T08:41:47.308-04:00

Badgers do a 'fivepeat' to rule 20th concrete canoe eventUW Badger team owns the concrete canoe event. Below is an explanation from a former team member and my fabulous niece:Go Badgers!!!Just the fact that I participated in Concrete Canoe and Steel Bridge is an enormous reason for why I've been hired at great firms in the past.Alors, the UW Madison Concrete Canoe team /*follows the rules*/.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-11459303302933544122007-06-19T15:59:00.000-04:002008-12-09T19:58:54.619-05:00

On Thursday we headed back down to Providence to do some Rhode Island sightseeing, to move the roommates belongings from the basement storage up to the apartment and to stock up on supplies for Abbie's apartment.Providence is a very livable city and Brown University is right next to downtown, so Abbie knows the city pretty well. She was delighted to show off her campus and her town. We walked

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-46947241367928587092007-06-11T21:04:00.000-04:002008-12-09T19:58:55.295-05:00

Wednesday dawned (well, late dawn) another beautiful day. Matt recommended the Edward Hopper Exhibit so we headed to the T station to hop on the Green line which took us practically to the front door of the Museum of Fine Art. The three of us went through the Hopper exhibit, then Abbie left to meet up with a friend from Brown who lives in Boston. Frank and I continued to go through the museum.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-79851782089420811632007-06-06T22:11:00.001-04:002008-12-09T19:58:55.847-05:00

The weather on Tuesday morning promised a beautiful day -- clear and cool. We walked to the Lechmere station and took the T to Boston Common to the start of the Freedom Trail. The Common was busy with tourists and guides in period dress. It was a work day, so the Trail, especially through the downtown area, was busy with regular working people as well. There are several old (very old by U.S.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-18664449270000256712007-06-03T18:14:00.000-04:002007-06-19T15:59:49.986-04:00

Abbie IV had five days of homelessness -- in between getting kicked out of the dorm and before the start of her sublet -- so we headed to New England to help with moving things into and out of storage and to provide housing. We spent Sunday (May 27) on the road and stayed the night in Waterbury Connecticut. We ate supper at Spartan's (moussaka for me, something with seafood for Frank), a great

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-56360418200979660972007-05-21T08:24:00.001-04:002008-12-09T19:58:56.063-05:00

I was sitting in our family room catching up on emails after spending the last three days at the University of Buffalo at the ASM Conference on Undergraduate Education. The patio window drapes were open looking out onto the backyard so I could watch the birds and bunnies. A bunny that was contentedly eating the grass suddenly dashed to the trees at the edge of the yard. About a minute later,

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-70882719006453659412007-05-16T19:44:00.000-04:002008-12-09T19:58:56.133-05:00

We just returned from a great family gathering in Door County Wisconsin. We had many things to celebrate -- a wedding (Charlie and Beth), a new member of a board of directors (Dan), Mother's Day, birthdays (Dan's big 5-0 and Matt), college graduation (Charlie N), a trip to Spain (Madeline), an engagement (Eric and Amber).Here is a link to my Picasa web album.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-79657016025868968672007-04-18T11:44:00.000-04:002007-04-18T11:46:28.864-04:00

Abbie IV will be working in a virtual reality lab this summer. For some reason, I can't come up with an appropriate comment for this.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-1329659297065847872007-04-12T17:24:00.000-04:002008-12-09T19:58:56.375-05:00

In the microbiology class that I am currently teaching, I had the students isolate their own skin bacteria and test their isolates for antibiotic resistance and sensitivity.The breakdown:14/45 resistant to ampicillin 4/45 resistant to trimethoprim3/45 resistant to ampicillin and tetracycline2/45 resistant to ampicillin and trimethoprim1/45 resistant to ampicillin and streptomycin1/45 resistant to

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-77245597046123518672007-04-07T19:25:00.000-04:002008-12-09T19:58:56.569-05:00

This might be a better picture. It is more dramatic to see the whole tree at once, but I wasn't able to capture it.Abbie IV reminded me of a story I heard on NPR about untapped exploding sugar maples. This makes that story look not quite so unlikely.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-30138745162660227062007-04-07T14:22:00.000-04:002008-12-09T19:58:57.060-05:00

Our neighbor across the street had a couple of big trees in his yard trimmed last week when we were having seasonal weather (in the 50's). We had a cold snap over the past couple of days, with the temperatures dropping into the 20's overnight and barely making it into the 30's during the day. Apparently the cold caused the sap to be extruded from the cut ends of the branches, which then froze

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-82158574996000602562007-04-06T18:21:00.000-04:002008-12-09T19:58:57.265-05:00

My last full day in Louisiana was a day full of fun. We went to cousin Karen's beautiful house for the birthday party for adorable and headstrong 6-year old Alison. Karen and Jason had fantastic food and a houseful of family and friends gathered for the celebration. Ree and Quinn especially enjoyed the giant balloon slide. I especially enjoyed the chicken salad sandwiches (no crusts),

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-35913404645443044562007-04-06T17:54:00.000-04:002008-12-09T19:58:57.409-05:00

After our delightful and delicious meal at The Yellow Bowl, we took a drive through the Sovereign Nation of the Chitimacha. We stopped in to visit with cousin Kathleen and take a director's tour of her state of the art child care facility. Very, very nice.We visited at AA and UT's and waited for the arrival of Ree and Quinn, who were driving in from Houston. After they got in, we visited a bit

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-90325497301639118322007-04-06T08:01:00.000-04:002008-12-09T19:58:57.579-05:00

Last month I made my first trip to Louisiana in over 15 years. I had never been there in the spring and found that my hot, humid summer memories did not do the state justice. It was beautiful. Of course some of the joy of re-discovery was re-connecting with family members that I see too seldom.I was rescued from the Lafayette airport by cousin Judy, who led me to her beautiful home where I

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-7868686867711730402006-12-15T07:52:00.000-05:002006-12-15T07:55:11.415-05:00

New York Times article discussing the dramatic drop in breast cancer rates that is linked to the decline in HRT.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-1161702941696797632006-10-24T11:14:00.000-04:002006-10-24T11:11:57.143-04:00

PL4 Reason and Religion CG1 Intro to Cognitive Science MA17 Advanced Calculus CG10 Computing as Done in Brains and Computers

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-1159638419092339762006-09-30T13:38:00.000-04:002006-10-24T11:11:57.086-04:00

Abbie appears to have settled quite happily into college life. We hear from her about once a week, only because we asked for that level of communication. I have heard about some of her new friends and get a little -- very little -- information about her classes. This is the same pattern as when she was in high school when seeing her report card every quarter was pretty much all we knew of her

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-1157081201036899762006-08-31T23:05:00.000-04:002006-10-24T11:11:56.967-04:00

Here's Abbie in our loaded up Hyundai Santa Fe as we're starting off to Rhode Island. We spent the night in Bloomsburg, PA then rolled into Providence late the next afternoon. Abbie picked up her dorm room key, we unloaded all the stuff and she settled in. Here is a link to our trip album.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-1156597935554901142006-08-26T08:56:00.000-04:002006-10-24T11:11:56.850-04:00

In one of the classes that I teach, the students do some preliminary characterization of phages (viruses that infect bacteria) that they have isolated from soil or fecal samples (collected from plant-eating animals only -- deer, rabbits, horses).This is an electron microscope image (courtesy of Tom Harper, the excellent director of the electron microscope facility) of a purified sample of one of

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-1156596654112676742006-08-26T08:49:00.000-04:002006-10-24T11:11:56.793-04:00

An essay from the New York Times on making sure our children are scientifically literate.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-1156196941535290102006-08-21T17:46:00.000-04:002006-10-24T11:11:56.736-04:00

We'll be taking our daughter off to college next week. Here is a link to our college visits album.She will be attending Brown University in Rhode Island.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-1156196213074710752006-08-21T17:33:00.000-04:002006-10-24T11:11:56.684-04:00

This is the last activity that we did as Scouts. It was a great trip.

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14656904.post-1121865213257404352005-07-20T09:13:00.000-04:002006-10-24T11:11:56.630-04:00

The cute little boy in front in the white shirt and tie is my third brother. His blog can be found here.The adorable baby that I'm holding is brother number four. His website is here.Christmas 1963

Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14381863090071855046noreply@blogger.com0