Love October 23, 2009

Inna and I have been MIA for a while, navigating our 20’s and grad school.  In reality, I agreed to write a blog with Inna as a way to keep in touch with my best friend.  I get to experience what this love of my life is doing, in her own words and pictures.  Grad school may get us down and stretch us to the max where we barely have time to be ourselves.  At this point, I’m just trying to figure out what ‘me’ is.  What are my values?  This crazy work at low pay and delayed gratification is for what?

We are lucky.  We are blessed. We have fabulous family that love us.  We have McGee’s that are by our side every day, no matter the distance.

Last week, a lab mate of mine passed away.  He was 23, and a beautiful person.  He makes me want to be a better person and scientist.  He lived every aspect of life to the fullest.  The vacant space he left behind hurts.

I want to be better at counting my blessings and loving those around me.  I want to appreciate family more, including my dysfunctional workplace family.  I want to spend more time with my close friends and hug them more often.  I want to be a part of continuing the next generation.  I will be a better, kinder person.

We will miss him, and his family will miss him every day.  There’s no sense to be made of a vital man’s passing.

I think that’s why I frequently post my favorite photos.  I’m practicing living in the now, enjoying what I see, and sharing it with those that I love.  It might be public forum, but it makes the ‘now’ bigger and more ‘real’ for me.  On the other hand, the moments of silence at the memorial service today was equally as soothing.  There’s no right way to live life, no right way to grieve, no right way to navigate the irrational.  I do know to begin by caring about my neighbors and giving my loved ones a hug.

~Tanna

Dragon fruit September 22, 2009

This beautiful fruit comes from a hylocereus cactus, and I found my first one in the flesh at Wegmans last weekend.  Here it is posing with McGee#2’s succulents:

As it often goes in our house, I attempted to eat the fruit:

Unfortunately, it had started to mold and wasn't tasty at all.

while McGee#2 kept his distance until I gave the OK to scavenge for seeds.

Only a few spoonfuls of pulp yields tons of seeds, easily separated on a grease splatter screen.

I have no idea how long these seeds will last once completely de-pulped, but dragon fruit is one of the easiest succulents to seed. We don’t have too much room for more plants, but how can I say no to this face:

Do you see all those plants in the background?  And the orchid terrarium? And the sweet vintage tulip table shoved into the fireplace? This apartment is 400 sq. ft.  McGee#2’s face is grinning, “Plant now, find room later.”  To be fair, he’s offered to take even more plants from our Boston apartment for the winter.

Seeding begins next weekend, and I’ll throw up the details on the sidebar when the action begins.  I still haven’t had much success with my avocado!

What’s the strangest item you’ve purchased from the produce section?

~Tanna

What season is it? September 20, 2009

Summer is always too quick, but my newly planted purple cabbage and mums are mixing quite well with my still blooming hibiscus.

Myrtle (a North Carolinan variety)

Black-eyed Susan vine is still going strong.

Meanwhile, Inna is home home celebrating the end of winter (or New Years).  Though Inna’s family no longer has their farm (I think), and Sao Paolo is, well, a BIG city, maybe she’ll bring a chicken back from her trip.  While she’s gone, I’ll try to pick up the slack here at Tanna & Inna, but she has big shoes to fill.  Actually, we’re the same shoe size.

We wish her luck, as I believe even though McGee#1 and she are engaged and live together in a 1 bedroom apartment, they will be sleeping in separate rooms.  Fingers crossed that it is at least under the same roof.  On the other hand, before I visited Denmark for the first time, my MIL asked McGee#2 if she should set up another room, as some Americans are “funny” about that.  Nope, I’m not a ‘funny’ American :-)

Do you have any experience or advice on this topic?

~Tanna

Chicken! September 18, 2009

While Inna is away, I tried and succeeded in cooking up some of my CSA chicken.  Little did I know that the chicken breast was the ENTIRE breast, bones and all.  The Joy of Cooking (aka my bible) has some great pictures of how to de-bone all sorts of animals, but I still don’t know where the wishbone is.  Basically, I took the hunk of meat and pulled it apart with my fingers to find all the bones and managed to cut up the rest with my new fancy sharp knives without cutting myself.

Sate seasoned chicken stir fry. Too bad I didn't have fresh veggies.

(FYI, the cooking time on fresh meat is much shorter than meat from a grocery store.  I’m still working on not overcooking it.)

While living in Italy for a year in the ’70s, my mother made a Thanksgiving dinner starting with feathers and all.  My in-laws no longer keep chickens, and McGee#2 kept his birds alive.  When I told my MIL about my chicken de-boning difficulty, she said that’s why she cooks most of her chicken bone-in.  She also offered to buy a chicken from the neighbors next time we visit to show me how it’s done!  I’m a little concerned about the de-organing.

What culinary skills do you want to learn?

~Tanna

Who’s Humane? That’s me all right September 14, 2009

Last week Marinka had a Caption This! contest which I couldn’t refuse. So I participated. And guess what? I actually won!

I know, I know. You don’t care. But here’s the thing. Tanna and I have told our mothers about the blog and therefore Tanna has prohibited me from talking about penises and probably vaginas (but I haven’t gotten complete confirmation on that one yet). So instead, I thought I’d share with you how I won the contest. Well, that’s it, I won.

Oh, you wanna know the prize? Well, I got to nominate a Humane Society which Marinka will donate to in my name.

So I called Tanna and told her the great news. And I asked what charity I should pick. I mean I already do a lot of knitting for the NICU, so maybe a charity of that nature?

Once Tanna stopped laughing (yes, you can laugh too) she explained what a Humane Society was. And since I don’t know any, I emailed Scott (because he knows everything). I picked the Hartford Dog Pound from his list because they accept PayPal and you know, support furry animals.

Thanks Marinka for your generosity and really, for thinking I’m so funny.

I leave you with a new sunflower pictures. They are just sprouting up everywhere now!

Sunflowers!

Oh, and did you vote yet? Voting ends tomorrow!

~ Inna

Zucchini Cookies September 13, 2009

If you haven’t already, please don’t forget to go vote at Aunt Becky’s Traveling the world contest. While I would love it if you voted for me (NUMBER TWENTY-TWO) you are more than welcome to vote for someone else (well, obviously).

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If you are like me and somehow always come home from the farmer’s market with too many zucchini’s, this recipe is an easy way to get rid of them. I found it in an allrecipes cook book but they are also online here.

cookies and cranberry juice

you can even see the zucchini flecks

They are perfect with a nice glass of cranberry juice.

I am writing out the recipe below for convenience and because I made a few modifications.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter (at room temp)
• 1 cup sugar (can do 1/2 brown 1/2 white)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup grated zucchini (comes out to about 2 medium zucchinis)
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup chocolate chips (1/2 semi-sweet, 1/2 milk) – the original recipe calls for raisins

1. In medium bowl cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs, stir in zucchini.
2. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves.
3. Stir flour mixture into zucchini mixture, mix in chocolate chips.
4. Cover dough and chill for at least an hour or overnight. (I’ve done over a few days and they were fine as well.)
5. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C) and prepare 2 baking sheets with baking liners or parchment paper. (You could also grease a baking sheet instead)
6. Drop dough by teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto prepared baking sheet.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until set. Be careful not to overcook and take them out when they look slightly doughy in the center but spring back slightly to touch.
8. Let cool on baking sheet before removing to wire rack to cool completely

Enjoy!

~ Inna

remembering 9/11 September 11, 2009

Today marks the 8-year anniversary of my 2nd week of college. I know its a strange way to count, but I remember that day very hazily and very vividly all at the same time.

I had just moved 4,800 miles from a foreign country to come to college in nyc. And I was in heaven. NYC was exactly as I imagined it, bustling with energy, and tons to do.

8-years ago today I woke up and went to my early-morning tai chi class. It was going to be an uneventful day. I remember leaving my class and thinking  how quiet the school grounds were. I headed back to my room where my roommate told me a plane crashed into the WTC.

A plane? Really? Yes, it was an accident.

You may recall that when the news first broadcasted this tragedy, everyone assumed it had been an accident. It was only when the second plane hit that people realized what was really going on. A classmate across the hall was crying. “My mom is down there, I can’t reach her on my phone.” I tried to call my mom to tell her I was ok. I assumed as soon as news reached home that a plane had crashed into a building, she would be worried. As many of you probably also experienced, the phone lines were too busy. So I sent her an email instead.

If you hear about a plane crashing into a building, I’m ok. It was further downtown.

I waited for a response. But mentally, I was very confused and a bit scared. It would have been nicer to actually talk to my mom on the phone. I had just left an extremely violent city and this act of violence shook my core. I had to think of something else, I didn’t think I could cope with worrying about something I had absolutely no control over and there was nothing productive I could do about it. Our classes had been cancelled and a vigil was set-up in front of the library. In the room across the hall, my classmate was setting up an air mattress for her mother who had just come uptown fleeing the disaster area that was ground zero. I calmed down, her mother was ok.

I met up with my new friends. I don’t remember what we talked about, was there anything any of us could say that would coherently express the sadness and fear of the situation? The winds had changed and were at that moment blowing uptown. Smoke billowed into the windows and I could smell the smoke and the burning. It smelled like hair burning. I didn’t want to think about what was actually burning as well.

I truly don’t think I had completely understood the impact of the events until much later. I had just moved to this country, I was out of the loop when it came to politics. Coming from Brazil where violence and tragedy are common-day occurrences, you learn to shield yourself and only see the violence in places where you can make a difference. But I had never expected to encounter a day when 3,000 people lost their lives, and it was on purpose. Not only that but there was even less I could do about it.

The vigil, was the first I had ever participated in. We all sat on the steps in front of the library. Candles were handed out, a few speeches were made, and then we started to sing. We sang the same songs over and over again. America the Beautiful, the National Anthem. We sat, we listened and we grieved for all those that lost their lives.

It was a chilly night. I wore my Eeyore sweater, quite fitting for the events of the day. In all that grief I also felt the community that surrounded me. People that came together to do things. A vigil to remember the lives of those that were lost. To commemorate the lives gone too soon and to stand together, United. That’s what those first few weeks had already taught me, we were many in a whole, a community, and those many could mobilize to remember and to grieve.

That day was also the day I met McGee#1. Through a mutual friend. I ran into her on our walk through the vigil. She waved and we congregated for a few minutes. Usually, I leave out the fact that I met the man of my dreams on sept 11, 2001. We just met through a mutual friend, a girl we both know. Its too hard to explain meeting someone at a vigil. Someone who memorized your number, and called you the next day. Someone who made our mutual friend join you and your friends and follow you around all night while we sang and grieved. Someone who was just as shocked and upset as you were about that day but who also took time to notice you and flirt with you. Lighten the mood of a day in which happiness was so hard to find.

That day has so many meanings to me. I wonder if other people also remember the few good things about that day.

~ Inna

Pretty please with a cherry on top? September 10, 2009

As you may have noticed I had a very strange story with Aunt Becky in my last post. I entered this contest with the best things to do with her business cards. And while mine may not have been the greatest of them all, would you please head on over there and vote? I’m number #22, you hear me??? Twenty-TWO.

If you don’t want to vote for me, then vote for one of the other amazing contestants? I personally liked the Dolly post the best.

Thank you!

~ Inna

ps – voting ends on Sept 15th.

Aunt Becky learns how to be a MAD SCIENTIST September 7, 2009

If you haven’t already heard, Aunt Becky has been traveling the world (seriously, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, click on that link and check out where else she’s been). She was kind enough to make a stop in NYC.

You know how she always talks about being a scientist? And she’s all scientific and shit? Well, I thought I give her a look into the life of a graduate student.

Disclaimer – No graduate students or bacteria were harmed in the making of this story. Nor was Aunt Becky harmed. Please be warned to not try any of this at home unless under the supervision of a Mad Scientist. They can be found in many college centers mumbling to themselves about some solution or other and usually have crazy hair. I must attribute a lot of pictures and use of her body (it’ll make sense soon) to my good friend Z.

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We start off by waking up really early. Well, I usually wake up early and since Aunt Becky was having some trouble sleeping (quite a few trucks drive by at night around here), she woke me up even earlier than usual. Not to worry, I’m a morning person.

GOOD MORNING!

First off, was proper attire. A lab coat is required at all times, as well as closed-toe shoes.

Closed toe-shoes required

(Apparently exposed legs are fine – at least when we are just working with a little bacteria.)

So we got Aunt Becky all set up, we even got her some protection goggles. (See, this is what I mean about using Z’s body. You pervert, what did you think I meant?)

Aunt Becky in Full Lab Attire

And then we were all ready to go. Well, after I take a spin on my super cool stool.

round and round we go

After being a little woozy we got down to business. I wanted to show Aunt Becky how we grow up bacteria in the lab. We wrote out the protocol so we could easily follow what we were doing (always good lab technique).

the protocol

We then took out the plates for the first part of our experiment. We were going to compare the amount of bacteria we each had on our hands. Aunt Becky helped me label the plates.

Labeling Plates

Then we each put our hand (or card) on the plate and let those grow overnight at 37°C (we have an oven in the back).

Aunt Becky in the plate

Inna's fingers in plate

In the mean time, I also wanted to show Aunt Becky how to grow up some bacteria. The first thing we needed to do was pour plates (like the ones you see above) with food for our wonderful little creatures. We put some Agar in these (kind of like gelatin) so that they solidify and we can grow bacteria directly on the surface of the plate.

We made some media. Watch out! Its very very hot! We autoclave the media to make sure its completely sterile and then wait for it to cool enough for us to handle. Thats what that magnet is doing, stirring until its cooler.

media - bacteria food

The next step was pouring the plates. Aunt Becky was quite helpful

pouring plates

continuing to pour

When that was done, we had to leave them on the bench to solidify. You should note, it is very important to have a flame on at all times to ensure your plates are not contaminated. See that blue flame on the right of the plates?

the plates

Now we had a few hours to kill, I thought it would be a good time to feed Aunt Becky. She was getting kind of restless with all this lab stuff and I wasn’t sure what to do. (The mask is for funny purposes only, no masks are gloves are necessary during these experiments with Aunt Becky.)

what do we do now?

Lemon Poppyseed bread muffins would work right? We also had some Diet Dr. Pepper but I don’t want to advertise on this blog (unless I’m getting paid of course – Dr. Pepper, call me!).

lemon poppy seed muffins

Once we had our fill of muffins, it was time to go back to lab and check on the plates. We still had to streak out some bacteria and let those grow overnight as well. To do this, I took a plate that already had bacteria,

those little whitish blobs are colonies of bacteria

picked some up and streaked it onto the Aunt Becky plate with some very colorful toothpicks. They really make all the difference. Not to the bacteria, but to my sanity, all scientists should have colorful toothpicks.

we pick, we streak, we streak again

We then put the Aunt Becky plate in the incubator at 37°C and left only to return the next morning.

At this point (I don’t have any pictures) I don’t really remember what happened next. All I know is that I woke up later that night with a pounding headache and a weird aftertaste in my mouth and a note from Z. She has great handwriting but I had drooled all over it, so you may have to go ask her what it said and what exactly happened to me! But wait, finish reading this story first because you know, we actually grew up bacteria.

The next morning we returned bright an early (Aunt Becky still couldn’t sleep and woke me up). She looked a little battered, but I wasn’t one to question things since we had work to do!

The first plate we looked at was the one of bacteria Aunt Becky helped me streak out. See how nice the lines look? They grew right over the card in the nice lines the toothpicks made.

Aunt Becky streaks out bacteria beautifully!

Then we had to compare who had more bacteria on their hands. Turns out that my hands were much much dirtier than Aunt Becky’s hands. (I must admit I purposefully didn’t wash my hands before we began that experiment.)

Only a single tiny colony on the bottom (see that white spot?)

all the bacteria on my fingers grew very nicely on the plate (you can compare where I laid my fingers down is exactly where bacteria grew)

So that was the end of the experiment. Now you know, wash your hands because we have lots and lots of bacteria. And for those scientists out there, I highly encourage hand washing before starting any experiment. You wouldn’t want any results skewed by your contaminating specimen.

I think Aunt Becky was a bit tired of it all (she now realizes how much work grad school is and how exhausted us grad students get sometimes – I also don’t know what Z did to her because Aunt Becky confessed she’d been up all night because she had been sequestered from my grasp.). Anyways, we have weapons for just the thing at my house, courtesy of McGee#1.

But I convinced her to stay away from the weapons and drink some vodka instead.

mmmm Vodka

And that was the end of our weekend as a MAD SCIENTIST!

Thank you Aunt Becky for stopping by, I had a lovely time, I hope you did as well. Maybe next time Tanna will teach us some cool exploding chemistry tricks.

~ Inna

Sunday Randomness September 6, 2009

I have been MIA and have a few things I wanted to write about but didn’t really fit into a coherent post. Therefore, I give you my sunday randomness. Bear with me while I sort my thoughts and promise to write more coherent posts next week.

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First off, I finally did it, I grew my first ever flowers from miniature sunflower seeds.

I knew you would all be very impressed. Now, I just don’t know what I should do with them. Do I cut them off and put them in a vase? Do I just leave them be? These are very pressing questions.

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Helly directed us to the the most awesome music video (on my post about Humans and Pigeons and Hawks (Oh My!)). In an effort to contain the pigeon population and do NYC a favor, you will find me every weekend from now on, Poisoning the Pigeons in the Park. Say that fast 5 times, I dare you.

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You may be aware that September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness month. If you want to make a difference for the 22,000 women who will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer this year, Seventh generation will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund for every person that signs up. You should head on over and watch the hilarious Jessica from BernThis as “Aunt Flo”— and go to letstalkperiod.com to sign up. It only takes a few minutes.

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Hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend!

~ Inna