My Old Stomping Grounds

Just a quick post from beautiful southern Indiana... I am back in Bloomington after a couple of years away and it is absolutely lovely. Forget the grey skies, the 30 degree temperatures, the pouring rain-- it feels great to be here. I am going to be at my post in the Daphnia lab (everyone remember Daphnia?) for the next four weeks doing a fitness assay and trying to keep my head above water on things for my upcoming semester back in Portland. I promise vignettes, not updates, later in the weekend.

SoCal

I just got back from a trip that marks a major milestone in anyone's adult life, although it is usually a milestone experienced at 18, or 22, or maybe 27 for most other people: I just got back from my first job interview. I don't want to go into too many details here because, surprisingly, right after I finished my job talk, a member of the audience came up to say hello and that he enjoyed my talk, and then said "So, if you get the job, is the Schaackmobile comin' to LA?" I was kind of caught off guard, and a little bit terrified that my trailer, and my blog, were colliding with my attempts at professionalism. The answer, of course, is yes! But I am just hoping that the faculty don't hold my unconventional living situation against me in their deliberations. Suffice it to say, the interview was really fun and the school was awesome. I will leave it at that for now, and will keep ye devoted reader updated on any news, probably via regular human interaction and not blogpost.

While in LA, however, I didn't just interview. I also seized the opportunity to meet up with an old friend from grade school-- Joe Daniel. I hadn't seen Joe since the day we graduated from eighth grade, in June 1989 (so more than 21 years ago, when he went by Joey). Although we were good friends, we were only friends at school and never once had visited each other's house or met each other's parents, or hung out outside of school. So when school ended, so did our interaction, until earlier this year when we were united by the wonders of Google (remember? before there was Facebook? You could google people?) Anyway, when I found out I had the interview in LA, I gave Joe a call to see if he wanted to get dinner and see some music, and it turns out that, just like back in grade school, he is still a reliable co-music lover (he gave me Appetite for Destruction on tape, probably sometime in the 7th grade, so he knows good stuff when he hears it). We ended up going to a great, small, old venue in Hollywood called the Hotel Cafe and saw a fantastic performance by a band called Ragnar. (I have to say, I took it as an auspicious sign when I saw a poster for Todd Snider's next show in LA as we were leaving the theatre-- it is always nice to see a familiar face when you are nervous about something and it gave me a great sense of calm before heading home to continue prepping for the big day). Ragnar was charming, and they played all kinds of funny instruments like the chalkboard and a children's Playskool xylophone, in addition to accordion and more mainstream instruments like piano and bass guitar. It was excellent, and made me feel like I was making the most of being in LA, even though I was really not there to explore the city. We talked about our impressions of 3-6th grade before it got late, and I am looking forward to continuing the parade of memories next time we get the chance to hang out (you know, things really start to get cookin' when you hit 7th grade and, frankly, after hearing Guns 'n Roses, life got a lot more interesting...) Great to see you Joe!

October's End

I realize Halloween has become a big deal, but the end of October has always been special in our family (even before being a 'sexy tollbooth operator' or 'sexy walrus' became all the rage). In our house, the end of October is special because it is my sister's birthday. This year she celebrated the big 2-9 and came up to Portland for the day so I could share some of it with her which was so fantastic. Here is her look of surprise when I finally got my butt down the mountain, back to the state of Oregon, and into the seat in the restaurant booth, next to her, which is where I belonged. It is framed by the Schaackmobile's attempt at Halloween decor, and flanked by a pretty amazing waterfall on Mt. Hamilton that gives you a bit of an idea how much it is actually starting to rain around these parts. Thank you so much for driving up Gen, bringing your peeps, hanging out, and sharing an awesome meal with me to celebrate the day of your birth! It was a great day (that day, and this day!) I love you!The other event that falls around this time of year is Spiderfest-- an annual open house held by the Binford lab here at Lewis and Clark. What began as an innocent "lab warming" party has now turned into a widely anticipated annual event for students and folks from off campus, especially kids, who can come learn about spiders, see spiders milked for their venom, and eat lots of spider-shaped foods. Here you can see Greta at the scope milking one, and the image that appears on the big screen TV in the lab so the throngs of onlookers can all see. Very fun, and a very good idea to de-scare kids early about an amazing group of organisms. Next year's costume-- sexy spider! I jest.