Miscellania

Quick post from the road.... The conference last week in Iowa was great, and it turns out Iowa City is shockingly nice (no pun intended, really). It is green, and the campus is pretty hilly and kind of stately. I was pleasantly surprised-- if you are thinking about becoming a Hawkeye, go for it. A life-size cardboard cut-out of Charles Darwin figured prominently into many of the photos taken at the meeting, including this one of my former lab, with whom I was so happy to catch up after 6 months away from Bloomington. Can you believe it? 6 months! That's a lot of time in blog years (that isn't a pun either; I'm not sure if it could really be mistaken for one).Left to right: (back) Melania, Mike, Chuck D., Wenli, Ignasi, Abe, (front) Francesco

After the meeting, I drove GP's car (Bessy) to Batavia, IL (thanks GP!) and hung out with my best friend from high school, Tricia, and her daughter, Dorothy. Dorothy is a walker (for pictures of her doing that and all sorts of things, you can read her blog). If she wants something slightly out of reach, say 4 inches away, she will get up, walk there, plop down, and grab the desired item. It is hilarious. A girl after my own heart. She has know idea what kind of trekking her aunt Sarah has in store for her.... you're all smiles now but we are gonna hoof it one day! Thanks to you both for such a fun visit, hope to see you both in the schaackmobile hall of fame one day! It is perfect for babies because it is so tiny.

Last but not least, I arrived in Chicago on Monday to visit my aunt and uncle (who own an antique business called Miscellania, hence the name of this post) and cousin, and spend a few days with my dear friend Britt. The first night we arrived, we introduced Britt into the bosom of our family by ignoring her jet-lag and playing a game of Scrabble. The first night visit "playing of the scrabble" is a tradition in our family that goes back many, many years, and it has now become an indispensable way for us to catch up, tease, maybe learn a little something, and, of course, compete. This game was no different-- my cousin Brian and I joined forces early on against my Aunt Linda who was clearly trying to take an early lead with an unplace-able 7-letter word. Throughout the game, we were neck and neck, but solidly beating her, until she pounced from the depths of mid-100 point purgatory and ended the game with a scrabble-- catching us with our pants down (a full rack of high point tiles). She celebrated her victory with an impressive attempt at the cabbage patch, shown below-- all in all, a masterful win from the woman who taught us all how to play the game, and so many other things. More on the chicagoland portion of the trip soon....