Seemed like your usual day of "recover from the weekend" - especially when that weekend was being busy working on the basement the whole time (parents drove up to help again - not yet done, but we have a few lights and electricity at last!). Also had a short get-together with some family for my cousin's HS graduation in Lincoln, had a good trip for a talk I gave in Atlanta last Friday, but got lousy sleep (arrived there after midnight and the meeting started at 7am, arrived home at 3am on Sat since my flight was delayed 3+ hours).

But today may beat all. First, was told one of my coworkers in NDB in Wichita died (she had been fighting cancer for a while), then was told that the fellow I helped recruit last year and who was to be our new "research star" now has little interest in research (a big blow), then after returning from an hour of more basement shopping at Menards, I find my car has been dented and scratched along two doors from a parking lot hit and run (easily $1K+ damage), and tonight while doing my finances I discover 8+ purchases of $600+ made fraudulently on my credit card from the past two weeks.

I'm ready for tomorrow!

I have a big presentation to work on and my mind isn't there, so here's what I've picked to be of greatest interest these past few days instead. Shoulder is still very distracting, plus I made cookies tonight!

Gen.Vang Pao's Last War - Communism in Southeast Asia - Hmong People - Laos - New York Times

Why Emotional Memories Of Traumatic Life Events Are So Persistent

Kung Fu finger calls it a day | Video | Reuters.com

The World’s First Zero-Emissions City…In the Middle East?

The 6 Most Frequently Quoted Bullsh*t Statistics | Cracked.com (many of these I've been exposed to and taught were the truth!)

Fotos Tormenta eléctrica en erupción del volcán Chaitén - TERRA (Amazing photos of lightning storm caught up with volcano eruption)

XBMC For Mac: XBMC Turns Your Mac into the Ultimate Media Center (remember how I wanted to do this with my xbox, well, since that was stolen, looks like the future of HD movies on my hard drive is with the mac!)

LiveLeak.com - Strange Clouds Mesmerize Japanese Airliner Crew - (apparently this is a specialized form of Mountain or Gravity Waves (not THE gravity waves, but the horrible name given to these types of cloud formations))

SCIENCE AND SOCIETY: Talk Nerdy to Me -- Heyman 320 (5877): 740 -- Science - I'm not a big fan of "The Big Bang Theory" TV show (not really a fan of any current TV show), though I always wanted something to show the reality and silliness that is/was physics grad school. Maybe I'll give it another try.

When shoulder pain has you down, look to the web for distractions!

YouTube - Title Of The Song (fun a cappella generic romance song)

What to do when you're pulled over by a cop while driving (mostly obvious stuff)

I'm a fan of this - making a game out of protein folding. Use human brain power to do what computers can't.

A woman who can literally remember everything (really a curse?).

This one hit home a bit: 30 years of Man's Life disappear in Mysterious 'Kansas Rectangle' - at the Onion

New free album from Nine Inch Nails: The Slip

Barenaked ladies have a new kids album that just came out - actually really fun, it's called Snack Time and you can listen to it free here, temporarily (scroll over to it). I like "The Ninjas" and others - all very short, but here's the first video (cartoon) called "7 8 9".

To my friends getting married this year, a toast from xkcd (an eclectic online comic)

Has anyone used the software SuperMemo? You can get it here. Read a lot about it in Wired and will use it to learn/remember something useful (like French for when I go to Paris next month?). You can practice/learn anything with it, just needs a library to learn from.

Ars technica article entitled "Evolution: what's the real controversy?"

This Scientific American article got me a bit sentimental. The LHC will finally get activated this summer at CERN (in Geneve, Switzerland). Here's initial pics of it on the initial internet web page - something I was using at Fermilab back in 1994 and I actually worked on simulations of the hadron calorimeter in 1995 - only 13 years later it'll finally get activated!

What a difference a week makes! Last Monday I was playing ultimate (the frisbee football game), going for a long catch in the endzone, tripped hard on the long grass and fell with all my weight on my left shoulder. I heard and felt it snap. I was stunned for a bit on the ground (and I think I swore some, too). Shortly I opened my eyes to find myself surrounded by all of the players (~13 others) - felt like I should be giving orders in a football game or something. I said that it was dislocated and when asked if I could move my arm (ouch, hell no!), I told them to slowly move it up and over my head to pop it back in (which caused several to turn their heads away). What's funny is that only 3 days earlier I was on a flight to Dallas and read a short blurb in Wired magazine about what to do if you dislocate your shoulder - good timing!

*POP* Back it went. It hurt, but felt like I could use it. So I got up, walked off the field and sat and whimpered. My friend Michelle took me to the ER, did X-rays and confirmed the dislocation. Was told that most folks don't pop it back themselves, but they come to ER, get tons of pain pills and get a team of people to pop it back. Made me feel like a tough guy. Sent me home and I've been semi-useless for a lot of the week. First night I awoke after 3 hours screaming in my sleep and then couldn't sleep for 3 more hours. Pain was too much. Discovered later that I fractured my coracoid process - just means it will take longer to heal. I see an orthopod on Wednesday (happens to be a research collaborator). Still very uncomfortable, but we'll see. I've gotten behind with work again due to it. Can't type for long. Was told by doc that I can't play ultimate for many weeks and am at high risk for new dislocation.

In good news, I got my first grant this week! It's from the Arthritis Foundation - a career development award for two years. I'm very pleased. I'm also off to Atlanta to give a high-profile talk (which I haven't started due to April abstracts and the shoulder injury). Had a few folks over for games/food last night - good way to cheer myself up and enjoy the coming of spring. Absolutely gorgeous outside! So many flowers and my house is surrounded by lilies - the entire neighborhood is awash in colors. Truly can appreciate the entire city during this time of year.

The ceiling of the basement is almost finished, but I'm unable to do much on it for a while. Electrical work is next, then carpet, then almost done! Very behind on email - hard to type for a while - still a bit slow. Appreciative of the kitties cuddling...

This time I'll keep them organized by theme since there are so many good ones!

Science:
Scientists Unveil High-Res Map of the U.S. Carbon Footprint | Wired Science from Wired.com (go Omaha! )

How Deja Vu Works (seemed appropriate with this month I've been having)

Scientists Now Expect to Find Gravitational Waves (part of LIGO - was once recruited to help with this 11 years ago!)

Physicists model how we form opinions

The $25,000,000,000 Eigenvector (ie. Google's)

Stephen Hawking calls for Moon and Mars colonies

Does the Earth's magnetic field cause suicides?

Recent Events (ie. politics/tech/misc):

NPP INCOME TAX CHART | National Priorities Project (good to be reminded where the US taxpayer money goes)

Expelled Exposed (it's the new Intelligent Design documentary - haven't seen it, but not happy of the messages it's portraying and I've lost all respect for Ben Stein)

On topic: YouTube - Why do people laugh at creationists? (part 22)

Was disgusted by the questions asked at the Penn Democratic debate. Guess I wasn't the only one: MoveOn.org Political Action: Enough Distractions

From friend who recently returned from Africa: Islamic schools lure African boys into begging

Banks meet over £40bn plan to harness power of Congo river and double Africa's electricity

Sub-prime fallout metrics US map (NYTimes)

Nebraska High School Project on Genocide Was a Portent of Real-Life Events - New York Times (similar to my reaction in college when studying Weimar republic of Germany - couldn't we have predicted and done something to prevent the travesty?)

How to Win the War on Global Warming (Time magazine)

Superheroes in Real Life - City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul)


Game related:

Mr. Jack. Wonderful 2-person board game that you can play for free in your browser. Feel free to invite me to a game - I'm "Kadorus".

The Best Videogame Stories Ever (not that I fully agree with this, but it does highlight some amazing games from the 90s and more recent - especially loved Planescape: Torment).

Ikariam - The free browser game - haven't played it, but friend recommended it (she's on planet Iota) and says it's similar to a massive multiplayer Civiliation

Grand Theft Auto IV: Dystopian Liberty City - New York Times (don't know if I'll ever play any of these games, but this one definitely has had the buzz the past week/year!)

Humor:

YouTube - Flight of the Conchords Ep 4 If You're Into It - Hilarious short song on this HBO tv show, very catchy!

An Engineer s Guide to Cats on Yahoo! Video (can't forget the always entertaining kittehs!)

Funniest Valedictorian Speech Ever video - probably funnier when thinking back to high school. Ah, those were the days... of mental incarceration.

Sex, Pop Culture, and Misc:

WNYC - Radiolab - back for another wonderful season. Listen to these podcasts! (I know, belongs more in Science)

ABC News: Christian Sex: Holy and Hot!

BBC NEWS | Health | Masturbation 'cuts cancer risk'

Men, women, sex and confusion : Booster Shots : Los Angeles Times - my friend was amazed at this, but every guy told her it was true.

Song about relativistic plasma jets (plus trippy visuals!) Blogs Scientific American - again, another not quite science link

YouTube - We_Are_The_Strange - Don't watch this here, it's trippy and doesn't work in small Youtube format, but you at least get an idea about the fuss. I think this will make a great backdrop to game night.

Six Diseases You Don’t Want - humor and medical science

Guillermo del Toro Chats with TORN About ‘The Hobbit’ Films! - Yes, I'm very excited about the upcoming movies!

Life-changing books: Recommendations from 17 leading scientists

And lastly, the one I've been saving for several of you: Carl Zimmer's Science Tattoo Emporium - yes, look on in surprise, envy, awe and disgust!

That's it for April - let me know what you think!

I've been uber negligent again, but this is usually the busiest month of the year for - the ACR abstracts were due tonight and they're done for another year! Unfortunately I didn't create any at the last minute as I needed, but I did help with 27 other ones (yes, a new record!). Just means I'll be busy helping with them again next Sept/Oct preparing them for the meeting in SF, but maybe I'll have more time to enjoy SF since I won't be presenting any of them.

So I'm still on the nasal sinus rinse and liquid prednisolone for my sinuses. I'm curious as to how much of an effect this will for the long-term use (my research often looks at steroid-induced osteoporosis) though it's been worth it to breath easily and be able to work without headaches.

I finished painting the last of the 2x2' ceiling tiles last night and tonight I began on round 2 with them - going with 2 coats. Woot! Also made headway on basement - done painting the walls (April 5-7), insulation in ceiling (April 22), speaker cables all wired in walls (April 20-tonight), and started on the ceiling grid panels (April 29-next week). Carpet comes in on May 12th or so, which means all should be operating in time for the weekend of the 17th! It's exciting as it gets closer, but damn it's been a lot more work than I thought it would be! (now I understand why people hire out)

Stacie & Mike visited the weekend of April 12 (yes, they win for flying out to visit me more than anyone else!) and we had a quiet 2 days of conversation, food and fun. Always memorable and appreciated. It was miserably cold then and off and on all month. Seemed like The Longest Winter that was 2008 didn't want to end in March like a lamb after all.

Last weekend was our annual RAIN meeting - I gave a 50 min talk on the RAIN database that I and Kate, my talented grad student, had been working on. It's not finally live, but is now publicly viewable here. Also spent a full day learning how to write better grants last Tuesday. Likely will work on another "new investigator" award this summer as well as a 5-year NIH K-award. One could spend so much time writing these... and probably should, though I'd rather write papers and do new research. Who needs money?

QBert got the plastic cone of silence placed on her head for the past 10 days. Had an ear infection again and had scraped her head up rotten (see camera-phone pic in Cats section - my camera broke 2 months ago so apologies for no nice new pics in a while!). She's much better, but not sure she's forgiven TB for hissing and attacking the cone-head so often (though it was sad and funny to watch her bump into things with it). I still have to give her meds every morning and night. I'm thinking of putting the cone-head on TB so she can be teased/tortured and may lose some weight.

Still much to do with and at work. Trying to sleep earlier - nice when I have more of a nice day to get things done. Wrapped up season 3 of Battlestar Galactica and wondering about catching up with 4 (the last). Still my fav show on TV, even if I don't watch TV. Have had active de ja vu of late, too, with bizarre and wonderful dreams. And speaking of bizarre, check out Southland Tales, the movie. Definitely enjoyed it, even if overly ambitious (just like the same director's Donnie Darko, but very different).

Still doing the weekly game night (we had 14 this week!) and finally started weekly ultimate games, though only made 2 so far (too many Mondays were freezing!). When the basement is done, will host regular showings. About time I had something nice for the multitude of flicks at home - though the next question, how many bean-bag chairs to get?

There's a lot more I'm leaving out (my private life stays private it seems), but it was a full and exciting month. The flowers I planted last Nov are blooming and I had crocuses, tulips, daisies and now roses blooming. I love my yard!

Next up, trips to Dallas, Atlanta, parents visit, graduations, more work work - then only 1 trip per month for the rest of the year (so far). Also, I had lunch with coworkers and Warren Buffett sat next to us again. Twice in one year - such nice neighbors! He says that the recession will be long and deep... what a perfect time to go to Europe while the dollar is down. ugh. (Paris in June)

Thanks for not giving up on me - I'm baack!