Great trip!

A few weeks ago Sean and I took a trip to Paris. We figured it would be a good time to go before I couldn't walk or fly anymore. We left on a Tuesday evening from Portland to Newark then to Paris. It was a little tricky leaving from Portland because we were delayed about three hours so we were very nervous that we wouldn't make our connection in Newark. Luckily, we got into Newark just as our plane was boarding so we made it. After breathing a sigh of relief once on the plane, out flight was fairly uneventful and we arrived in Paris around 12:30 pm on Wednesday. We bought our train tickets to get into the city and got to our hotel around 3 or so. That afternoon we went to the Louvre since I knew it was open late on Wednesdays.
It was really cool. It is an amazingly huge museum with lots of stuff you've seen in movies and in books, but to see it in person is really cool. Even the Mona Lisa, which, even behind glass, has such a quality to it, you can't help but stare at it for a while. That night we had a crappy dinner as some bistro near our hotel.

Our hotel was great. It was near the Arc de Triomphe. It was nice to see the Arc every day on our way to the metro. The next day we went to Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower. It was a great day and we did lots of walking. Notre Dame was beautiful. I think it was my favorite thing we saw while we were there. It has such an amazing history and such beautiful architecture. Notre Dame has wonderful stained glass windows, cool gargoyles and a huge bell called "Emmanuel," (the one that Quasimodo rang in the story) and it weighs something ridiculous like 3 tons.

The Eiffel tower was also a cool building with amazing architecture. You get great views of the city from the tower and you get to be 900 feet high.








The next day we went to Versailles. It too was spectacular. The space of it is huge and the paintings and architecture of it are beautiful. We saw the Hall of Mirrors, the doors which Marie Antoinette escaped through to safety for one night, her Hamlet with a mill and farm. The gardens are extravagant, there are statues everywhere.

The next day we went up to Sacre-Coeur in Montmartre. Another beautiful church and area, although there were a lot of annoying street vendors. We also saw Moulin Rouge and ate at a nice little cafe for brunch.

All in all, we saw a lot of great stuff, walked a lot and had a nice relaxing trip (except for the start of the trip when we were delayed). The food, honestly, wasn't that great. We went out to one nice dinner, but mostly, we just ate bistro food. We also finally made it up to the top of the Arc de Triomphe - on the third try. Each other time we tried to go there, it was closed, and finally on the last night, we made it. I liked going up the top of the Eiffel tower, but going to the Arc at night, was really worth it. I would highly recommend it if you ever go. We had a great time!

Jerry Remy day at Fenway

Yesterday, the Red Sox organization and NESN celebrated Jerry Remy for his time playing with the team and his 20 years as a broadcaster. Remy is also the president of Red Sox Nation - a group of "citizens" (aka fans) of the Red Sox who pay a minimum (or maximum) fee to have a special entrance at Fenway, their own day at the park, discounts at the store and free MLB radio on the computer. A lot of people think that Remy and Orsillo don't pay enough attention to the game at times, but I think it's their entertaining broadcast that makes the Sox games more fun to watch. Especially when this happens:

Summer movies

There really haven't been very many blockbuster summer movies lately. Sure, there was the latest Indiana Jones - which was perfectly entertaining. But it seems they are either so stupid they're funny (Zohan), remakes of old TV shows (Get Smart), or horror (The Happening). However, on July 18, The Dark Knight will be released. I wasn't a huge fan of Batman Begins, but I am excited to see The Dark Knight. Just watch the trailer.

Today's trivia

What flavor is a mixture of wintergreen, peppermint, vanilla and cinnamon?


Answer: Bubblegum!

Go Green! (Another one for the ages)

Last night, the Celtics handily beat the Lakers 131-92 to win the NBA Championship. The largest point differential in a finals winning game. I only watched the third quarter, but it was ridiculous. The Celtics played amazing defense, and just in the few minutes I watched, had something like 6 steals. This is the Celtics 17th championship - the most won by any NBA franchise. This stat would normally make me wish they didn't win and give someone else a chance, but because of how poorly they did last year, the fact that they haven't won in 22 years, and that they are a Boston team, I am happy for them. Paul Pierce won the MVP, deservedly so - he had an average of something like 22 points per game in the finals and even though he got injured, he came back in the same game to play his heart out. Plus, he put any ego he had aside this year when the Celtics got Garnett and Allen and learned to play well with others to get this team to the championship. They won with Bill Russell and John Havlicek watching - two of the Celtics greats of all time. They won it with Doc Rivers as their coach and with Red Auerbach watching from somewhere smoking a cigar.

They f*$k you at the drive through....

Name that movie? Today I got up a little late so I went to DD for some breakfast. I had to wait forever and they got my order wrong - dammit!

Also I received a call from Anonymous today - I am pretty sure I know who it was, but they didn't leave a message. Leave a message people! How hard is that?

I think I am being tricked - today must be Monday all over again.

New Metallica

The new album (which was promised three years ago) is finally supposed to come out in September. I can't wait!

Bull Durham

Apparently, yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the release of Bull Durham. This is a great baseball movie. If you haven't seen it, see it - even if you don't like baseball. To see interviews with the actors and other movie memorabilia check out this article.

Bad smells, b-cups and babies, oh my!

So, I think the two people who actually read this blog already know my news that I am pregnant! About 20ish weeks along in fact. We are very excited about this new adventure that we will be embarking on. So far, my experience has been great. I wasn't sick, I haven't had any weird food cravings (yet), and in general, haven't had any pregnancy "symptoms." (I hate to use the word symptom as it makes pregnancy sound like a disease or something.) It's bad enough that insurance companies see it as a disability - if you want to get some paid time off to have your baby, you need short term disability insurance, and even then, it's only at 80% of your current salary for 6 weeks, after that, you're SOL.

A few short, funny stories to share:

A few weeks ago, the lab next to me was thawing and dissecting about 20 large cod. Needless to say, this created a big stink - literally. Even with my office door and the lab doors closed, the smell still got to me so I went home to work. Pee yew!

A few days ago, I bought my 1st ever B-cup bra. (Yeah, yeah, bring on the jokes). I think it still might be a little small, but I know the C will be too big.

I've also bought a few maternity items: a pair of jeans, a pair of capris and a couple of dresses. I also got a few things from my sister in law which will be a great help. The jeans currently keep falling down, but I'm sure I'll grow into them (how many times will I be able to say that and be happy about it?). The capris are great and at least one of the dresses is as well. It's weird how certain clothes definitely show off the fact that I am pregnant and others hide it fairly well. The dress, for example, is empire waisted, black and it is fairly obvious what is going on - as witnessed by the man in front of me at Versailles (more on that in another post) who asked if this was our first child (Bold!) - but he was very kind and told me his two daughters have 4.5 kids between them, so I figured he clearly knew what a pregnant lady looks like. I also bought this weird elastic band thing that I can use with my regular pants without having to button them. Who knew pregnancy came with gadgets too?!

I've told a few people at work, but I don't think I'll make a big announcement. I figure I'll just let people figure it out themselves and make them squirm a little if they ask me (hee, hee). Today I am actually wearing a top that makes it fairly obvious - we'll see if anyone says anything.

So I think we make the 10th or 11th couple I know this year who is expecting among our friends. There was one in Jan., two in Feb., one in April, there will be one this month, 3 or 4 in July, one the end of Oct and one the beginning of Nov (me).

Bring on the babies!

In Plain Sight

I usually leave the TV blogging up to LB, but this new show on USA, In Plain Sight, may not be on her radar. There have only been two episodes so far and it's quite a good show. It's about Mary, a US Marshall, and the jobs she takes, her family and relationship. It's on USA so it's not in HD, but the writing seems solid and I think it will be a nice break from summer reruns. Starring: Mary McCormack (Coyote Ugly), Frederick Weller, Lesley Ann Warren. Check it out if you're so inclined.

500!

Manny hit his 500th home run on May 31! Yeah for Manny! Last night, he hit his 505th home run. Go Sox!

The Plastic Ocean Part II

A while back, I posted about how there is a huge amount of plastic out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It turns out, a few people decided to go out with the man who has made this tragedy public, to film the grossness that's out there. From reading the articles, it seems like you would get to the gyre and there would basically be a floating plastic dump. It turns out, the gyre is full of broken down bits of plastic, so at first look, it doesn't look that bad. It's when you trawl with a small mesh net that you see the real problem. Check out this video of their trip (Warning: bad language on the video). Each segment is between 4-5 minutes long, but if you just want to see the problem, segments 9-12 are the ones to watch. As a scientist, I am always skeptical of things people seem to be blowing out of proportion. It's especially hard for me with the video because there are no times or dates on the actual tape. However, due to the passion and expressions on these people's faces (who are clearly NOT actors) makes me believe what they are seeing is real.

Bo Diddley

Today, Bo Diddley, famous rock musician passed away. I must admit I am not too familiar with his music, but I do know that he was a great influence on many of the classic rock artists. Read this article about his music and life.