September 2004 Archives
Now into day four of a particularly nasty little bug, I think I may have seen it all; there has been sore throat, high fever, mild chills, neck and joint pain, wracking cough, phlegm and nausea. Also three sleepless nights, two laid waste by streaming eyes and nose, and pain when swallowing, and the third by four rounds of violent vomiting, each episode one hour between, keeping me up and shivering in anticipation of that wretched feeling, the special, bitter taste of bile for company. And then, in the early hours of today, my intestines turned into the Rio Negro (which is appropriate since I've just seen the touching and beautiful Motorcycle Diaries).
And so I feel haggard and exhausted and desperate to take a little time off work -- I've been stealing the odd nap, but really can't be away at the moment -- and yet when I looked in the mirror this morning, I saw nothing of that in my appearance. I had to laugh; if even a body can pull off a facade without the effort of a mind to guide it, then it's no wonder people still think I'm cheerful during the occasional times when I'm fucking miserable.
Roll on, weekend, roll on.
This is where I tell you all how wonderful the London Open House weekend -- an annual event where various private buildings and features in many London boroughs are opened up to the public -- was, except that I wasn't in a position to go.
I'm hoping that a few of the people that I'm chained to post some pictures; though vicarious living isn't quite the same as doing it yourself, there's still something to be gained from sharing other peoples' experiences.
The one I wanted to see the most, besides the inaccessible 30 St. Mary Axe, was the Kingsway Tram Tunnel at Holborn... but these pictures take a little of the edge off my disappointment. All said, it really has been a fun and relaxing weekend; there's always next year.
I've finally prostituted myself to science in a bid to make some money; things are becoming increasingly strained financially, and since students in my position are forbidden from working whilst at the University, they invariably end up doing all sorts of things to make up the shortfalls.
This is the first time that I've done something more than teach, and I've certainly given it my all. Only two more days of this in the week ahead; it's an interesting study to be a part of, but in some small way, it makes me feel sad that I'm having to do this just to feed and house myself for a few more weeks. I guess that I should be grateful that I don't have more serious things to worry about, but a little security would really feel good right now.
A view through the confocal microscope; the protein tubulin has been tagged with GFP, a fluorescent marker, which fluoresces under laser excitation to reveal, in this instance, the expression pattern of the protein within the region of the apical meristem of an Arabidopsis thaliana seedling.
Gathering in London Soho for Soho Pride.
This week, a titan arum, Amorphophallus titanum, came into flower in the Cambridge Botanic garden; this is the first time that the species has flowered in the United Kingdom outside of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. The specific epithet amorphophallus refers to the central spadix of the arum, and essentially means amorphous phallus, or shapeless penis. It is the largest unbranched inflorescence in the world, but is not the world's largest flower.
Fortunately, no human penis, shapeless or otherwise, will ever smell quite so unpleasant as this one does. Unless you really do know of a man whose groin attracts carrion flies.
A birthday party is held in London; it is among the most memorable I've ever been to; there are few things more wonderful than being cooped up in a room containing almost all of your dearest friends; relaxed, fun, no agendas, no awkwardness, no playing of emotions; it can only be happy and comfortable, and makes a nice change. (collage size 720 kb)
