15-20 cm

...of snow. This is what they predict for tomorrow!!!
Craziness. It's not even November yet.
I'm not ready for snow. And for 20 cm... I think this calls for boots. I even don't know where they are... And I will be TAing, so I can't just stay in and enjoy the warmth from the imaginary fireplace.

Otherwise I have a horrible back pain :( and my boss called me and wants to see me...
:(

minu pere ja muud loomad

eng: my family and other animals.
If you are interested in getting to know "the other animals" in my life, you can visit this website:
http://www.medicine.uottawa.ca/research/AltosaarBiotechLab/index.htm

hint: see the people.

Enjoy:)

Feist, crafts and Cat

Another weekend is over... where are they going???
The highlight of this weekend was Feist concert. You can listen to her here. She is a new cool Canadian singer. I just found out that she is from Amherst, Nova Scotia, where even I have been a few times (Ewelina lives there:)). And her first name is Leslie:) Who knew... She has amazing sweet and strong voice. And her music is so calm and pleasant to the ear. She has some spunk too:) And the most amazing this with her shows is that she has this shadow art going on at the background. Really neat.
The warm-up band was Hayden, whose music really hurt my ears. Way too loud. Just noise. I haven't hear them before (I think), so it could be that it was just the live part that made them unlikeable to me.
All this happened at the NAC. It was a little weird to be at this fancy place that is meant for symphonies and modern art to listen/see some folk/indie music concert. And I gotta be thankful to Darren to took me along for this great concert.
I also made it to the gym. But the rest of the day just disintegrated somewhere. Probably due to the crazy rain outside.

Sunday: I went to visit the Christmas craft show at the Lansdowne. Lots of pretty things and jewellary. Too much. So I bought nothing though. I just enjoyed. And I listened to Cat Jahnke, whose music I really liked. Also sweet calm voice. It was just perfect into sunny Sunday morning/noon.
I was also thinking about going to yoga, but due to unbearable backpain I decided to stay at home. I'm not entirely sure, whether yoga is good or bad with the back pain...

I also finished marking the lab reports... Oh, how I do NOT like marking. Students are not particularly smart. And sometimes I wonder, WHY do I care? Why do I check their reports after getting them, to send them the reminder that their rough data is missing, so they could bring it later and avoid zero? Or why do I think, that oh, they did try a bit, I'll give the marks? I think this work is not for me...

I also made dinner. Not the best one though. I have so much noodle-pasta at home. I don't particularly like noodle-pasta. They are so difficult to eat. I even don't know how do I have three packs of them at home. But I have decided to clean up my cupboards, so I need to eat them. If to exclude the accident through what I lost the entire potful into the sink, it went well. And tastes mediocre. I guess it's better than sandwiches. I also wanted to add some mushrooms. I think I didn't have the right kinds. I wanted to make something my mum used to make (Kullionu, mäletad, mul ema tegi, ja äkki me kahekesi tegime ka. Oli mingi seene kübar, siis läbi piima ja muna segu, ja vist jahu ka, ja siis pannile. Ja maitses hea. Ja Reelika, sina sõid neid liha pähe). I'm not sure what went wrong, it didn't taste particularly good. So - when I will promise to make dinner for you, do not opt for mushrooms :P

There are still 5 things left on my to do list... Gotta get to them...
Happy Halloween week:)

zucchini tart with feta and mint

As people demand, I post the other recipe. The one I made on Tuesday. It was really tasty. So tasty, that it disappeared before I had time to take a picture.

2 tbsp butter
2 medium zucchini, sliced into thin rounds (eesti keeles on vist suvikõrvits)
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp chopped mint
salt, pepper
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk (I just used 2 eggs)
3/4 cup of 18% cream
3 oz (90 g) feta cheese (I didn't measure, just estimated by feelings)
one 9 inch (23 cm) tart shell

1 - preheat oven to 180 C
2 - melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add zucchini, and saute for 3 min or until golden. Add garlic and stir to combine. Turn heat to medium-high, and cook for 1 more minute or until zucchini is ready and juices have evaporated. Remove pan from heat, add in mint, salt and pepper.
3 - beat eggs with cream, add salt.
4 - sprinkle feta cheese over tart shell. pour over half of the egg-cream mix. Add zucchini in an even layer, and pour over remaining egg mix.
5 - bake on the lower third for 30-35 min, until set and lightly golden. Let cool for 10 min before serving.

It's really tasty!! And looks pretty and colorful!

Kullionu - ma hakkan nüüd vaatama keetmise ja praadimise retsepte:)

bon voyage

Fab is leaving for France today. Crazy. I will miss him. He's fun and smart and he is the soul of the parties. But - the life goes on. Besides, thanks to him leaving I have a new bike (Fab's bike). A beautiful and powerful bike. I can't wait to go and try it.
So, bon voyage, Fab. I will be visiting soon!

Also - Leslie left for a small trip home today:) So - bon (petit) voyage and happy thanksgiving/family weekend, Leslie.

NYC in a month?

News worth commenting: so on Friday USA stated that about in one month time there will be no visa requirement for Estonians. Which is sweet!!!
I need to go and visit NYC. Before I move to god-knows-where.
Of course, it's not THAT easy. I need to get a new passport before. The one that is biometric, whatever that means. So I gotta go and check out how to do that. Still - new passport - $45; US visa - $130. It's worth the trouble.

The other interesting news: Estonian prime minister announced yesterday, that Estonia is lacking people with doctorate degrees. Estonia needs about 600 PhDs. Apparently there are loads of money to be spent by PhD people. So that's very good news for me. If nowhere else, then Estonia definitely needs me (given, that I do get this degree).

weekend and beyond

My energy and I are not living together anymore. I don't know what happened. So therefore it has been quiet. The saddest part is the quietness on the writing front... but - I'll get to it. Tomorrow:)

In the meanwhile - on Saturday I went to Fabiens last party in Canada at the Honest Lawyer. It was a nice little get together. I had one of these nights when the alcohol didn't do anything to me, so I decided not to waste money and have just 2 beers. I had forgotten how weird the bars are when you are not drunk enough to make everything nicely foggy. But overall good times:)
Leslie and Vanja decided to accessorize themselves with some random necklaces at my place, and later tried to apply them to Fab. We have some good pics.
And I also had a nice talk with Fabien. About life and relationships. He seems to be sure that my day will come too. My problem is that I'm too nice and waste time on randoms (and he is so right about it). I just gotta pick the confident and good one, who is a bit crazy. Fabiens' kind of crazy.

Sunday I felt SO tired and slightly hangover (of these 2 beers? weird). Nicole and I went to pick up the pumpkins for the department. We went to this Avonmore berry and pumpkin farm. It was super nice.

Later I went for dinner at Martins, whom I helped to move some time earlier this month. It was so tasty! Pasta with salmon and parmesan potatoes. Really nice.
And that was my weekend.

Monday found me exhausted. Yet I made my way to the lab, to attend the Work in Progress, where our postdoc was giving a talk and Leslie was making cookies. And later, more than 2 hours of Gairdner laureate talks: Dr. Nahum Sonenberg, Gairdner Laureate 2008, presented “Regulation of Protein Synthesis: From Basic Discoveries to Medical Applications” and Dr. Ulrich Hartl, Gairdner Laureate 2004, presented “Protein Chaperones in the Cell.”
The latter one gave me an idea for my thesis, so it was a successful day.

Later we had our volleyball game. We were only 6 (any of our extras couldn't make it), so everyone played at all times. It was a good workout. Even though - we lost yet again. Did I mention it already, that we have not won a game yet? We even haven't won a set. Zero. Oh well. Tähtis pole võit, vaid osavõtt (Victory is not important. The attendance is.)

Tuesday: I had to peel myself off my bed at 9, to be at the lab at 9.15. I distributed pumpkins...
We had a lab meeting... And then I made zuccini-feta cheese-tart. It turned out quite well. I'll try to type up the recipe too.
And then I had the lab. These students. They just don't listen. Why do I even bother?

let the fairytale come to live

I went to see the Cirque du Soleil today (ülemaailma kuulus tsirkus, mis on pärit Montrealist)! Their show called "Corteo".
I am amazed!
I am speechless.
I am fascinated.
Lihtsalt lummatud!
I don't know how to describe it. But I LOVED it. It's REALLY like a fairytale. The angels, the godly beauty and strength. And the music. I sat there, mesmerized, and the world didn't exist.

I went with Piret, who is visiting from Estonia. When our ride arrived (also an Estonian), she inspected us and said: so Estonians are going to see the circus and forgot they are in Canada.
Which means, that in Canada no-one dresses up for events like this. Perhaps for a gala. But I like to use these few occasions I have to use my better clothes. I think to myself that I'm European, and this is how we do.

I made a mental note that one day, I will take my kids to see it. In the meanwhile, if I'm lucky, I'll dream about taking my little friends (Rebekka, ma mõtlen, et Sa oled just sobivas eas:).

And I also decked myself up with foreign feathers (ehtisin ennast võõraste sulgedega), and that literally! Isn't it pretty? :)

Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Honey Walnut Crust aka What happened on Monday

On Monday the thanksgiving replacement dinner happened at Leslies. And it was amazing. The lentil stew! Thank you, Leslie!
I was in charge of the dessert. I eagerly volunteered myself, after my fingers got itchy to make something new I found from the Food and Wine magazine.
It was a Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Honey Walnut Crust. It sounded very intriguing. It's essentially an alternative for the traditional pumpkin pie. I have never made it. And I'm also not really a friend of pumpkins. Even though the pickled pumpkins made by my Mum used to be delicious. Anyway, why start with traditional, if you can start with level up?
It was full of spices, which is new to me (I usually use salt and sugar and cinnamon as spices). Plus the biggest spice of them all was love, of course.
It turned out really well and it was tasty. So here is the recipe:

Crust:

1 1/2 gingersnap cookie crumbs

3/4 cup walnut pieces

3 tbsp honey

1/3 cup unsalted butter

Filling:

1 cup pureed sweet potato (about 2 ½ cups diced and cooked)

225 g (1 pack) of cream cheese, room temp.

3/4 cup light brown sugar (I put half a cup, and it was more than enough)

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp (5 mL) ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground allspice (I didn't have ground allspice and cloves, so I put the big particles into the blender and used "ice crush" option. It worked:)

1/8 ground cloves

Dash salt

2 large eggs

1 – preheat oven to 350 F (180 C)

2 – pulse cookie crumbs and walnut pieces in the food processor (I used the blender) until nuts are ground.

Heat honey and butter over low heat until butter has melted. Add to crumb mixture and pulse to blend (wooden spoon works great too). Press crust into a lightly greased 9 inch (23 cm) pie plate and bake for 10 min. Cool crust before filling (make sure to protect from passing by squirrels!).

3 – for filling, beat sweet potato puree and cream cheese until smooth. Add brown sugar, honey, spices and salt and beat well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, scraping well after each addition. Pour filling into prepared crust. Bake on centre rack for 30 min. Garnish with walnut pieces, if desired.

4 – it’s best to serve pie chilled or reheated (15 min 325 F/160C).

After the amazing food we had some more wine, chatted, and one point learned (or tried to learn) how to make the swans in japanese style.
On the picture you can see Troopy, who became Roskilde after a small corrigative surgery, and Hildegard, who was slow to come to life, but made it with no extra creases.

a picture of Her

Saa tuttavaks!
Here She is!
My new best friend:

She is here!!!

She arrived today around 1 pm.
My new buddy.
She is so pretty. Red. And shiny.
She smells so good.
She is really elegant.
She is sassy too.
And slim and oh so fast.
Her name is Leslie.
She is helping me to write this post right now.
I will post pictures later, once I figure out how She can help me do that.

I am so happy.
Such a historical moment!

punk in choir setting

In June this year the World`s first Punk song festival was held in Rakvere, Estonia, where approximately 1700 singers sang together punksongs. There were conductors and classical music instruments and everything. Through some random links I found a few fragments from this day. Very neat!
The first one, Insener Garini hüperboloid is such a good old times song. On ju, Kullionu?



Another favorite song, also from Trubetsky - Pille Riin:


Tere perestroika



Disko pole oluline, punk on põhiline/Disco is not important, punk is mainstream

Piibeleht või Vestman peal? aka who won?

Kord Vestmann all ja Piibeleht peal, siis jälle Piibeleht all ja Vestmann peal (Sometimes Vestmann is down and Piibeleht is up, sometimes Piibeleht is down and Vestman up). It's one Estonian saying that reminds me Canadian elections at the moment.
Yesterday Canada held its 40th Elections. The final counts still need to come in, but general idea is clear. Nobody won.
My political background is not the strongest, but this is how I understand it:
Before Canada had the Conservatives on the lead, but they had a minority government. So they decided to call new elections to fix this (and that was shortly after they or the parliament decided that this kind of halfway through called elections are not favored).

Now the results show that no majority government was formed. But the picture in general is the same as before. Conservatives did get just a few more seats. Before the seats were: Conservatives 40%, Liberals 33%, Bloc Quebec 16%, NPD 9%. New distribution: Conservatives 46%, Liberals 25%, Bloc Quebec 16%, NPD 12%.

I would have liked Liberals to do better. And the main reason is that Liberals have been good to science and research. And if I would like to stay in Canada, it would have been better.
But Conservatives cut the funding to research by close to 50% (I think) as soon as they established themselves on the Hill on 2006. They also fired the Science Advisor. The only good thing they did (that I am aware of) is the reduction of the federal taxes.

It's probably the crazy economy situation, that influenced a lot. The Liberals were really advertising the "green shift" and carbon tax, to save the environment. But probably during the crisis people want to save themselves before the environment.

TA tales - drama

Poor first-yearers... They manage to make school into such a drama.
Today their first formal lab report was due. At 9 pm. At 8.55 I had one crying student, who wasn't ready with her report and she didn't know what to do. Yet she was pretty much done. So dealt with her. Then, at 9.05 I have another student storming in, cheeks red and obviously stressed. He talked so much and asked about his report and whether it's good and how good. Yet at the same time I had to take care of my this weeks students in the lab. The student nr 2 was quite done with his lab, but he was missing the raw data. I tell them EVERY week, how important this is. I even sign it - so it would be proven that they collected the data. If no raw data is attached, the lab is zero. Oh, this didn't help his stress case. He sent his buddy running to get the raw data for him. At the same time he was counseling his lab partner over the phone to finish the lab and bring it in. I got done with the lab, picked up my 10 lab reports (instead of expected 18), and then we started walking toward the library - so Student 2 could get his raw data and so we could meet the Lab Partner for his report. The raw data arrived half way to the library (poor buddy, he deserves a drink). And the Lab Partner, he just came to apologize, that he's not going to make it.
Wow... people... first year students...
Why make so much work and drama...
Was I like this one day?
Maybe I was... I just can't remember.

So I e-mailed everyone today to remind them about the late report policy and to remind about life - that they should breathe and enjoy life too. That the school does not run away.
They probably think I'm an alien.

promises from the past

"Luban, et jään kindlaks endale ja oma sisetundele. Püüan jääda igas olukorras iseendaks ja mitte kaasa joosta halli massiga, kes pimedas usus pooldab valskust ja ebasiirust. Tahaksin alati teiste jaoks olemas olla ,tõeliselt kuulavana ja ehtsa sõbralikkusega. Ja veel luban, et seisan alati näoga päikese poole, sest siis jäävad varjud selja taha. Kaval-eks, ole?"

This is what I promised 10 years ago, when our highschool class was writing a historical record or something along these lines, so we could read it years later. My class got together this summer in my hometown. I couldn't make it. But yesterday I got an e-mail from my Teacher, and she sent me the quote with my promise as well.

In English: "I promise that I will stay true to myself and my gut feeling. I try to remain myself in every situation and not to run along with the gray crowd, who, in blind belief, hold with spuriousness and insincerity. I would like to be there for other people, truly listening and with genuine friendliness. And I also promise to always stand facing the sun, so that the shadows will stay behind my back."

It took me quite an effort to translate this fragment. It's quite poetically said, using all these "colorful words". I used to LOVE the colorful words and using them in my writings. And this is one of the main things I miss in English, because my vocabulary is not up to my standards set in Estonian. If I wrote my graduating essay in the same colorful style, I'm not surprised I got 10 out of 10. It would be quite interesting to read it one day... I wonder how long do they keep these essays in some special vault in some special place.

This promise is also fairly philosophically said. So I don't even know how to evaluate this. Have I kept my promises? I don't know. I think I have stayed true to myself and my beliefs. So that's good. I also think that I am a little bit different from the main crowd. However, my opinion of the general crowds has changed a little (if I really thought that they are so on the road of falsity). I think they are not that evil and insincere as I used to think.
And I think I have tried my best to be a good friend. To listen and understand.
The sun part is the tricky part. I think I have lived with this promise in mind as well. I have had some smaller, some bigger shadows in my life, but I have managed to battle them and continue going forward. Toward the sun, as it turns out now:)

So interesting...

Canada won gold because ...

...of Estonians. Or an Estonian I should say.
I'm a little behind, but I just realized that Canada won a gold medal in Men's 8 Rowing in Bejing Olympics. And guess who was one of the lucky 8? Yes, an Estonian is a correct answer. His name is Adam Kreek (his father is Estonian). If I were to be in Toronto, I could go and say "tere" to him on Oct 17th. But I know someone, who is going to be in Toronto that day... coming all the way from Estonia.... maybe he should go....

Eh, what would be the world do, if there would be no Estonians?
The world is SO lucky!

happy thanksgiving

I'm so full at this moment, that I'm afraid I might break. I had a Thanksgiving dinner at my supervisor's place, and it was amazing! The food was super tasty including turkey, stuffing, potatoes and cranberry jam and pumpkin pie (the food is always extremely delicious in this house) and the company was great. And the weather was amazing. It was close to 20 degrees today. So after we had the welcome wine that was made by Larissas' father's winery in Moldova and then brought all the way here by Larissa, we went outside to have some welcome bubblewine. And there were strawberries. It was perfect.

Thanksgiving is this very popular holiday here in North America. In Canada it's on the second Tuesday in October, and in States it's on the fourth Thursday in November. It's essentially about eating turkey (and lots of it) and spending time with the family. The Monday is a day off, so nicely extending the weekend to fir more turkey in. The deeper meaning of Thanksgiving is to celebrate the harvest and be thankful for making it so far (that's my interpretation). The tradition started already at 1500 or so, when one dude called Martin Frobisher went to look for the way to get to the oriental part (China and co) of the world through the North. I'm not sure whether he found it or not, but nevertheless he returned alive and well, and he threw a formal dinner at 1578 to be thankful over surviving the long journey. And actually the native people in North America had been celebrating something like harvest celebration way before that.

Also, already old estonians used to celebrate something similar to Thanksgiving. And we continue to (sort of) celebrate it - it's called Lõikuspüha (Harvest Holiday). I don't know too much about the history though.

Saturday was nice too! I did some baking, and made two "poppyseed pastries" or (moonikringel). And I had invited Eve and Jakov and Samuel to visit. I always visit them and now for a year or so I have had the idea to invite them over. So finally I made it. And it was really, really nice! We had tea and kringel and wine and fruits and chatted. And Samuel really liked my fish and superhigh bed. In the beginning he asked, why is my bed so small, which I didn't understand, because my bed is a meter off the ground, plus it's a doublebed. But perhaps they have different measures at this age.
After I went to Mikes/Natalies to feed Audi. She was in a crazy mood - she kept dropping herself on the side on the carpet and then stretch and roll around. And so over and over. Some sort of interpretative dance that I don't know how to read. Yet. So I decided to go for a swim. The swim was NICE. Nobody else there, and the water doesn't have chlorine (I think they use ozone to kill the evil). Supernice. And then - I went to the womens changeroom to change. I considered going up just in a towel, but then thought that perhaps it's not the best idea. And in the change room - first I saw one indian woman who came out of the sauna and asked whether I wanted to use it. I said no, it's too cold for me. And then, a guy jumped out from the sauna. And then the indian woman says, oh, I wanted to warn you about my husband. And then they disappeared back to the sauna. Thankfully I'm Strong Eastern European Woman, and one indian guy doesn't interfere with my inner peace too much, but I was still a little confused. Was I supposed to change? Were they planning on leaving any minute? I thought for the moment, and then, after double checking that I was in womens change room, I thought that what the hell, it's MY territory, therefore I can be naked here if I want to. And he needs to deal with the consequences (from the wife?), if he doesn't like it.
I didn't see them again.

Later I invited Leslie over to also have a share of the kringel and fruits and wine, and we had a nice quietish evening.
Oh, and this morning (Sunday) we (that is Leslie and I) went for a nice market venture! To catch some shiny zucchinis and giant leeks and enjoy some pastries at the Market Hall. I should visit the market more often!

Such a good times! I like!

Happy World Egg Day

Did you know it was the international Egg day today?
Now you know:)
It's the day to spread the word and raise awareness about the goodness of the egg.
Celebrate well - have an egg:)

some days are better, some not so much

Yesterday (Monday) was a catastrophe day. I overdid on thinking (and work), as it happens sometimes.
I worked all Saturday (and for what? On Monday I found out that my antibacterial drugs helps Campylocbacter to grow compared to the one that has no drug. What the h... ?). All Sunday I was sitting in front of my computer, waiting for the "writing gods" to give me the green light. The light never came, or I just missed to notice. But so I was sitting here, forbidding myself all the fun/life before I write.
First my goal was to finish my paper (I like to set huge (day) goals. Such as: Finish PhD - $yeap, I should be done by 4 pm:P $). Then I thought - ok, at least work on the paper a little bit. Perhaps one sequence alignment?? NOTHING happened. I just couldn't do it.
And then, because I didn't rest, didn't work, only thought about having to work, my mind got overheated. At midnight I was done. Kaput. But no, the sleep couldn't come either, because my mind had thoughts running by 1000 thoughts per minute. So... there I was. Stressed and awake - I couldn't work and I couldn't sleep. Until 5 am.

So Monday was not pretty. I was way too overstressed (and stressed over what??? ...nothing too serious!). Ok, I had to meet my supervisor.... And guess, what I ended up doing? I just avoided him. Horrible.
Overall - no productivity for yesterday either.
This comics is SO me on Sunday and Monday: www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=1079

The other big thing was that I lied yesterday. And I felt terrible (and even more terrible today, when we had a lab meeting). I saw a paper presentation (sort of like a draft, but sort of ready to be presented). It was not by my taste really (to put it softly). But there seemed to be SO much that needed changing (by my standards), so I thought, ok, I will give a few suggestions to fix the bigger things, and the rest could potentially stay. And I said "good job" (because I believe in encouraging attitude). Because it was a good effort that was put into it. It just needed some (arguable amount) work (but who am I to tell people what they should do? Maybe I have too high expectations? Maybe I would be too harsh to undergrads?). Anyway... the presentation today was ... long (2 h) and "slightly" painful. I felt bad... I had an opportunity to ease it a little, and I didn't (even though, I did suggest a few things that would have helped, if they would have been taken into consideration).
On the other hand, my first presentation in Canada was a disaster. I felt horrible squared. But I learned quite a bit from this one presentation.

So today (Tuesday) was disasterous too... This two hour lab meeting. Plus another meeting, where after half an hour or so the conclusion and to-do list was exactly the same as at the previous meeting (am I crazy to expect progress?). Something has happened to my patience recently. I used to be able to tolerate almost anything. Now I need to remove myself physically from the situation (if I want everyone participating to remain scratchless to say the least).
But the good things were here too:
I located one super difficultly accessable paper. I just need to go and get it. Tomorrow.
I had a nice TA experience (I prepared well! See this comics): everyone seemed to listen and comprehend, no one complained, I had an amazing meal during the TAing, and I was done and done by 9.20. Good!
After I went to the Cafe Nostalgica and had some beer. Add in some dancing and it was an amazing night.
Tomorrow it will be even better!

and then there was October

Uhh... October already...

* I had a long and quite productive meeting with my supervisor about my paper (from 10 am to 3.30 pm)

* I made a decision to expand my family and acted on it (no, I'm not or planning to be pregnant). It's a "She". I think her name will be Leslie. Unless there will be competition. Ideas?

* I went to the amazing concert with Julia, Vanja, Kristin, Teodora and her fiancee. It was Bossa Nova 50th anniversary Celebration concert with Marcos Valle and Roberto Menescal. It was AMAZING. There is some of their stuff on Youtube - I warlmy recommend (especially the ones that they Bossa Nova 50 anos). We liked a lot "Balansamba", "Samba de Verao", "Os Grilos", "Que Bandeira".
You could check some here (just skip the intro part ~1.22 min) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21vjGucXSu8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bVKxKw7euU
The two guys were real characthers on the stage. Lots of fun!
And one of them, Roberto, reminded me Reza a lot (4 - I haven't told him yet, but I will).

* after the concert we saw lots of mysterious white tents at the Major Hill Park. It was an art installation to bring awareness for intellectual disabilities. So there were lots and lots of tents, each of them having light and piece of art in them. It was 10.30 pm. The grass was wet. And the big curious clouds were in the sky.
Very neat!

* and then we had dinner with Julia, Leslie and Fabien.
Unbelievable, that Julia is going back to Estonia. Of course, she is Master Julia now, and she can. And I still need to be patient and wait....
I put the pictures together for her (since Jan 2006), and there's so much we have done. Lot's of "crazy" and "fun". I can see my life changing into more boring now. Or who knows...
Bon voyage, Julia! Hopefully we'll see in December!
The topics covered that who we are and where we are and who we want to be and who we might become. And we had unanimous understanding that we could all call ourselves the "head retards". It's a good thing.

* I also managed to spend an entire Saturday at the lab. Working. Wet-lab-working. I think I'm out of my mind. I'm fixed on this idea, what I want one more piece of information for my paper and thesis. But if this trial will be as inconclusive than the first one, then I should just ignore it right now and move on with REAL stuff - that is writing.

explanation

Perhaps you figured that the last post was not written particularly in my style. And you are correct - the last post was not written by me. Just that you know.
It was written by two true fans:)
And they were reflecting the funness of the night!
Yesterday was Julias last night in Ottawa. So Leslie made a supertasty dinner, I made the salad, and Fab came with wine. It ended up being really really nice quiet night. Just happy talking. I wish there were more nights like that.
I thought I would post a pic or two from last night, but my computer doesn't seem to like this plan. Next time...

Yo Bitches!

Hey beee-yatch, I having a big heavy time with my homies right here rocking da house!!!! Now we plan on getting all naked and stuff and shit!