Essentials

While we all personalize our living environments to suit our individual tastes, there are some things that function in our humble abodes as the little black dress does in our closet. No matter the day, they seem to be the perfect choice, and never go out of style. Style At Home just published a list of the top ten essentials for a home, and I've got to say, the list is somewhat eerie (but maybe that's just because I'm a boring, pearl-wearing scientist).

The full list:
• A leather club chair - when I make a spare room into a study, this is top on the list.
• A decorative throw - Check. It's cashmere.
• An ample sofa - Haha. If you've had the pleasure of watching campy tv at my place, you've been sucked into the giant sofas. Quite possibly, it was difficult for you to get back up again.
• A wool area rug - Check. It's chocolate brown.
• Quality stainless steel flatware - Check. It's Wedgwood, and was purchased for 75% off (oddly enough, because it's a very simple pattern). I have received many, many complements on my silverware.
• A crystal vase - Check. My mother is best described as a Waterford whore.
• A 48-inch round pedestal table - Check. Crate and Barrel. Love it. My favorite thing downstairs.
• Crystal or fine glassware - sort of . . . I have a set of Waterford, but it's at my parents' until I have a real place to live (aka not graduate student housing).
• 500-thread-count cotton bedding - Check. From Costco, naturally.
• White dishware - Check. Pottery Barn, and it holds up like steel. Really. It doesn't even get scratch marks from angry knives.
• A pharmacy lamp - Yup. It's nickel, and I rescued it from the clearance rack of Restoration Hardware. Provides some great light at my desk, which I sadly don't use much because I mostly stay camped out at my desk in my lab.
• Original art - Absolutely. Well . . . they're prints hand-created from seaweed and kelp. They're gorgeous, and I adore them :) And they're much prettier than they sound.

What on this list jumps out at you?

Current Yays and Nays

Thumbs up:
Decluttering your apartment
Bath and Body Works Vanilla Bean Noel handsoap
Homemade gingerbread
Phone calls from the boy who is in D.C.

Thumbs down:
California wildfires (the photo below was taken from my balcony last night)

Alright, alright!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago

1. Learning to drive
2. Taking pre-calc through extention
3. Being really atrocious at soccer
4. Taking piano
5. Was on student government

5 things on my To do list today

1. Unpacking my shipment from Pottery Barn (Christmas decorations!)
2. Make and eat carnitas with Greg
3. Take nap
4. Make list for Target
5. Go to the midnight showing of the new Bond movie!!!

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire

1. Buy a wonderful house outright. Not a McMansion and not a super old house with plumbing problems, but just a great house. Preferably on the beach.
2. Buy a new car. Mine is nice enough, but it does have some issues.
3. Buy Manolos
4. Buy a washer and dryer to go in my house. Damn, that would be nice.
5. Travel Europe

5 places I have lived

1. Santa Barbara, CA
2. Westwood, CA
3. Irvine, CA
4. Nope, that's it
5. I want to move to San Diego after grad school - does that count?

5 jobs I have had

1. Sales Clerk at Trinkets 'N Trims, Hallmark
2. Sales associate at Express
3. Intern in a breast cancer lab
4. Grad student extraordinaire (ok, not really)
5. TA

Confessions

So . . . I hate to admit it, but I like the theater. I love dramatic performance, and I love comparing scripts to original novels, and seeing words play out on the stage. However, this is not to say that I am a huge fan of musicals, by the way.

I dragged my good friend Nick (an investment banker who was petrified of anything Broadway) to see Doubt in New York in the spring of 2006. It has now been made into a film, and I couldn't be more excited to see it, and compare it to the stage version. I sincerely hope that they maintain the sterility of the play (and I mean that in a good way), because it leaves you focusing on the words, and room to play with the intentions of the characters. It's worth noting that we both left the play with very different interpretations of what the actual conflict was (the work revolves around whether a character is guilty or not guilty). I hope that the film doesn't choose sides, but in fact leaves it up to the audience.

What's the best film adaptation of a play or novel you've seen? Why?

Good Intentions

NO REALLY, I have magnificent plans to become a great blogger! Really I do. The problem is, my graduate program is sort of all-consuming, as I am trying to write a paper and hopefully get it submitted before I turn 92 and they kick me out of the program.

But, on a more pleasant note, some people from our department are having a pumpkin carving party on Friday, and I have decided that I want to bring gingerbread. Does anyone have a particularly fantastic gingerbread recipe?

Happy Fall!

Beauty in the Breakdown

I had a conversation with my father the other day regarding the number of forclosures on homes where I live. Too many people felt that even though they didn't have the money for a down payment, even though their credit score was worse than the week-old yeast cultures in my lab, felt that they were owed something - a piece of the American dream, a chance at becoming a homeowner.

Too many people these days have an incredibly sick sense of entitlement. "I deserve to own a home." "I deserve to be married." But in my schaudenfreuden-rich bystander position, I've gotta say, it's rather interesting to watch all of these people who thought they deserved a house, who thought they deserved a marriage after just months of dating have a rather brutal confrontation with reality.

Just because you feel like you want it, like you need it . . . good luck holding on to it. Why are so few people I know actually making sane life choices (*Helen, you are included in the sane group*)?

Gettin' All Twitchy

This weekend, I successfully completed a request for two friends of mine - I swam a mile in the ocean. What I actually did was half-assedly train for 4-5 weeks in order to not drown during the first leg of a relay triathlon (two other grad students on my floor took the bike and run). I was pleasantly surprised to finish the swim leg in 20th place out of 40 swimmers (including the men), and beat my "goal" time for the event. I wasn't aiming for first (after not swimming an intense workout since the age of 17, my cat would sooner begin speaking in complete sentences), and I didn't want to fork over $200 for a swimming wetsuit, but I am pleased.

For those of you who aren't completely up on your exercise biology, here's some useful tidbits. As a 10 year old, I dominated in the 50 meter freestyle. It was also the only event in which I made a not-embarassing time in high school varsity. Described by Olympic broadcasters as a "frenetic splash from one wall to the other," it's the ultimate shake 'n swagger of those boasting a preponderance of short twitch muscle fibers. Muscle is made of bundles of myofibrils (composed of actin and myosin) which together form myosin. These strands of muscle proteins grab onto each other (as if they are rowing), contracting and releasing. Fast-twitch muscle fibers tend to work anaerobically, firing more rapidly for a shorter duration, while slow-twitch muscle fibers help athletes over longer distances, and use oxygen to fuel their motion.

Here's to (temporarily) conquering your genetic destiny of muscle fate and embracing something new! And above, we have unequivocal proof that I did not come in last :)