#35 Boston - Lymphotropic Superparamagnetic Nanoparticles - Feb 3, 2005
Aaaahh, the grant is in, and I can again attend scientific lectures and meetings where I do hear about exciting stuff like the lymphotropic superparamagnetic nanoparticles (they are involved in staging techniques for prostate cancer, you know...). Everyone has been recuperating, decompressing, hiding under the biggest rock in the neighborhood, drinking heavily - who knows. Some people have stopped answering their phones, and still get tremors upon hearing the "G" word. My work responsibilities have definitely taken a more interesting turn as the grant has stopped to dominate my every waking minute, some very exciting projects have come off the back burner and work life is exciting, albeit very busy. At some point I will have to face reality and the fact that the NCI (who hands out the grant money) will come in June for a site visit, and that there are loads to prepare for that, but I will live in grant-free la-la land for a while.
My work will take me to Europe again at the end of this month, where I will be attending a conference in Amsterdam (of course with the obligatory detour to Germany to visit the folks); another trip to Orlando, Florida in May is also planned. I am working with a doctor here who is organizing a conference in San Petersburg, Russia, and while I might not get to go, it is a very interesting program to work on.
After finally calming down a bit from the high the snow-related euphoria evoked, I am sad to see the snow melt away little by little - initially we were promised some more snow, but the forecast is austere, with a "wintery mix" and some flurries promised for tonight and tomorrow. Today was an absolute dogged day - with rain, dirty skies and nothing merry to it. We had some sunny days over the past week, cold, but some day light is good, I was told.
As promised, last weekend turned into the quintessential winter sport weekend, and with the blue-sky-powder-snow conditions all around, it was phenomenal. Saturday morning I headed out of town to Weston, about a 15-minute-drive on the pike, to do some snowshoeing with the Boston Ski and Sports Club. Phenomenal, the snow was exceptional and we waltzed all over the place. I headed home in the early afternoon, and then met up with my friends Josephine (hi Jo!) and Nan (Happy Birthday, Nan) at Frog Pond for some ice skating. We ended the day with some good Thai food at "The King and I" on Charles Street.
Then it was off to bed, as Sunday was a day to get up veeeeeeery early, 4 AM to be exact. Ruth and I joined the BSSC on their day trip to Stowe, Vermont. By many considered the best of the ski resorts here in New England, Stowe lived up to its reputation big time (http://www.stowe.com/). Great snow, azure blue skies with not a single cloud in sight - a magnificent day. Stunning Mountainside, too! We arrived there around 9 AM, which in itself was a small miracle as our bus driver, Calamity Joel, experienced some left-right dyslexia and seemed to have other plans than the 45 folks in the bus.
As I am new to this skiing stuff, I first headed up the bunny slope (also known as the "idiot hill" in certain circles) just to get myself warmed up. Now, friends, the part about skiing that I have the most trouble with are the chair lifts. As a seasoned acrophobic I initially thought that it might be better to have some company going up the lift. I made the discovery though (and I could have certainly figured this one out ahead of time), that on the beginner's slope the people sitting next to you are equally challenged when getting off the lift, and might grab onto you in ways that you did not authorize. From then on it was every woman on her own, and off I went. I did try my skills a bit on a green trail in the Spruce area, but somehow did not do too well, and decided to head for lunch.
Ruth and I had agreed to meet up on top of Mt. Mansfield at the Cliff House, a restaurant only accessible by gondola. A bit of a challenge, but the view up top is spectacular and certainly makes up for it. Despite some encouragement from my gondola mates on the way up (who were all black diamond skiers) to ski down the mountain, I did take the gondola back down. Ruth, who is a much more experienced skier, had promised to do some green trails with me and so we headed up one of the lifts to start at the Toll Road trail. The Toll Road was completed in 1870 to accommodate horses and buggies on the mountain. It is an absolutely beautiful trail with very nice wide turns, and ideal for a beginner like myself. We then crossed over via Chapel Lane to the Lullaby Trail and on to Crossover Lane, according to the Stowe Interactive Trail Map on the web the "mack-daddy" of all crossover trails. I did much better, thanks to Ruth's patience and instruction, and really started to get the hang of it a bit better. I am still going down the hill in wedge formation, but my next ski trip will definitely be more lessons where I can hopefully graduate to parallel skiing. All in all, it was a really fun day. Only one of our skiers, Jack, got injured during a pretty good spill and he dislocated his shoulder, but the rest of us all did well. Our trip back was slightly delayed as the rear tires of the bus were frozen solid, and thanks to the innovative efforts of our trip leader Josh, who climbed into a dumpster to hunt for a 2 by 4, we did make it out at a decent time. There was of course the issue of the directionally challenged bus driver, but we all managed to watch him closely, and warn him of upcoming exits a couple of miles ahead.
I was so bloody tired on Monday that I could hardly see straight. Went to bed at an insanely early time and felt like I could sleep for the next hundred years. The week has been quite busy at work, but I did manage to get to the gym on Tuesday for my first ever Power Yoga class. Kind of a strength-based yoga that gets taught in a heated room (http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/styles-of-yoga/power-yoga.asp). Loved it!
I am looking at a somewhat more low-key weekend (well, you know me, but at least no big bus trips) - Tomorrow night I am volunteering through Boston Cares at an event in Cambridge - the 2nd Annual Helping Hearts Masquerade Ball at MIT's renowned Morss Hall at Walker Memorial (http://www.breadandjams.org/ball2.html), a fundraiser for homeless and people in crisis. I have to somehow come up with a mask by tomorrow, which might provide an interesting challenge. Saturday I have signed on with the Appalachian Mountain Club for a local walk in Winchester and the Middlesex Fells, a 2000 acre natural reserve just miles outside of Boston (http://www.fells.org/fells.html). There might be some ice skating on Sunday at MIT, and of course Sunday evening it is Superbowl time! Not to be repetitive, but Go Pats!
Until next time!
pet:)
My work will take me to Europe again at the end of this month, where I will be attending a conference in Amsterdam (of course with the obligatory detour to Germany to visit the folks); another trip to Orlando, Florida in May is also planned. I am working with a doctor here who is organizing a conference in San Petersburg, Russia, and while I might not get to go, it is a very interesting program to work on.
After finally calming down a bit from the high the snow-related euphoria evoked, I am sad to see the snow melt away little by little - initially we were promised some more snow, but the forecast is austere, with a "wintery mix" and some flurries promised for tonight and tomorrow. Today was an absolute dogged day - with rain, dirty skies and nothing merry to it. We had some sunny days over the past week, cold, but some day light is good, I was told.
As promised, last weekend turned into the quintessential winter sport weekend, and with the blue-sky-powder-snow conditions all around, it was phenomenal. Saturday morning I headed out of town to Weston, about a 15-minute-drive on the pike, to do some snowshoeing with the Boston Ski and Sports Club. Phenomenal, the snow was exceptional and we waltzed all over the place. I headed home in the early afternoon, and then met up with my friends Josephine (hi Jo!) and Nan (Happy Birthday, Nan) at Frog Pond for some ice skating. We ended the day with some good Thai food at "The King and I" on Charles Street.
Then it was off to bed, as Sunday was a day to get up veeeeeeery early, 4 AM to be exact. Ruth and I joined the BSSC on their day trip to Stowe, Vermont. By many considered the best of the ski resorts here in New England, Stowe lived up to its reputation big time (http://www.stowe.com/). Great snow, azure blue skies with not a single cloud in sight - a magnificent day. Stunning Mountainside, too! We arrived there around 9 AM, which in itself was a small miracle as our bus driver, Calamity Joel, experienced some left-right dyslexia and seemed to have other plans than the 45 folks in the bus.
As I am new to this skiing stuff, I first headed up the bunny slope (also known as the "idiot hill" in certain circles) just to get myself warmed up. Now, friends, the part about skiing that I have the most trouble with are the chair lifts. As a seasoned acrophobic I initially thought that it might be better to have some company going up the lift. I made the discovery though (and I could have certainly figured this one out ahead of time), that on the beginner's slope the people sitting next to you are equally challenged when getting off the lift, and might grab onto you in ways that you did not authorize. From then on it was every woman on her own, and off I went. I did try my skills a bit on a green trail in the Spruce area, but somehow did not do too well, and decided to head for lunch.
Ruth and I had agreed to meet up on top of Mt. Mansfield at the Cliff House, a restaurant only accessible by gondola. A bit of a challenge, but the view up top is spectacular and certainly makes up for it. Despite some encouragement from my gondola mates on the way up (who were all black diamond skiers) to ski down the mountain, I did take the gondola back down. Ruth, who is a much more experienced skier, had promised to do some green trails with me and so we headed up one of the lifts to start at the Toll Road trail. The Toll Road was completed in 1870 to accommodate horses and buggies on the mountain. It is an absolutely beautiful trail with very nice wide turns, and ideal for a beginner like myself. We then crossed over via Chapel Lane to the Lullaby Trail and on to Crossover Lane, according to the Stowe Interactive Trail Map on the web the "mack-daddy" of all crossover trails. I did much better, thanks to Ruth's patience and instruction, and really started to get the hang of it a bit better. I am still going down the hill in wedge formation, but my next ski trip will definitely be more lessons where I can hopefully graduate to parallel skiing. All in all, it was a really fun day. Only one of our skiers, Jack, got injured during a pretty good spill and he dislocated his shoulder, but the rest of us all did well. Our trip back was slightly delayed as the rear tires of the bus were frozen solid, and thanks to the innovative efforts of our trip leader Josh, who climbed into a dumpster to hunt for a 2 by 4, we did make it out at a decent time. There was of course the issue of the directionally challenged bus driver, but we all managed to watch him closely, and warn him of upcoming exits a couple of miles ahead.
I was so bloody tired on Monday that I could hardly see straight. Went to bed at an insanely early time and felt like I could sleep for the next hundred years. The week has been quite busy at work, but I did manage to get to the gym on Tuesday for my first ever Power Yoga class. Kind of a strength-based yoga that gets taught in a heated room (http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/styles-of-yoga/power-yoga.asp). Loved it!
I am looking at a somewhat more low-key weekend (well, you know me, but at least no big bus trips) - Tomorrow night I am volunteering through Boston Cares at an event in Cambridge - the 2nd Annual Helping Hearts Masquerade Ball at MIT's renowned Morss Hall at Walker Memorial (http://www.breadandjams.org/ball2.html), a fundraiser for homeless and people in crisis. I have to somehow come up with a mask by tomorrow, which might provide an interesting challenge. Saturday I have signed on with the Appalachian Mountain Club for a local walk in Winchester and the Middlesex Fells, a 2000 acre natural reserve just miles outside of Boston (http://www.fells.org/fells.html). There might be some ice skating on Sunday at MIT, and of course Sunday evening it is Superbowl time! Not to be repetitive, but Go Pats!
Until next time!
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
5:46 PM
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