Long overdue update

It's quite possible that I am the worst blogger there has ever been. Perhaps that's a big dramatic, but since my last post I have had quite a few life changing events. 

1. Finished my PhD

2 Got engaged!

To this guy of course. He was full of surprises on his last visit. First he showed up almost a week early and then gave me a ring! It was such a great summer!

3. Finished my time in the ANG. (I didn't take a picture of the last day, so here is a throwback photo to the early days! Halloween 2003 in Qatar… I think 2003 at least.)

4. Then I packed up the car

Drove for many many miles with my Dad. (Two days, 1,979 miles)

and at one point saw the great salt flats. I was VERY skeptical this was salt and the chemist in me thought that it was so impressive and needed to be studied closer. So we stopped to take a look.

And in my excitement I slammed my fingers in the car door… on my own… and so I never got to touch the salt.

But in the end we arrived in BERKELEY! Where I have since started my postdoc!

Oh I also forgot. Since the last post, I ran my first half marathon. Sorry. No photos this time. I can't seem to find them! So now that I have given that long over due update. Now for part 2 of this post! 

Initially one of my main motivations for starting this blog was to record my various knitting and crocheting projects. I have been knitting since I was in middle school but this last year I began to learn to crochet, mostly via youtube and patience. I have fallen in love with it and so far it has been pretty successful! 

My first project was a Festivus present for Pere last year. I made the Greenway Afghan (Greenway Pattern) and it was really fun although all the color changes required a lot of time finishing and weaving in the loose ends (my least favorite part of any project). I learned my lesson that I should stop every so often and do this instead of waiting until the very end!

Greenway Afghan

Then after arriving at Berkeley with only one carload of possessions I realized that I didn't have a small throw blanket so I set out to make one! I had recently bought the book that includes the Greenway pattern so I found one that I liked (Simplicity Afghan). I thought the title was very appropriate and it was exactly what I was looking for. So off on the bus I went (I'm car free for the first time since I learned to drive. It's an interesting experience to say the least) to the local Michaels and bought some mustard colored yarn that matched these awesome paintings I have that my friend Christy made (You can see the paintings here along with more of her work: Christy Schwartz). Then I started working and realized that the pattern is for a baby blanket! Back to the store I went and bought more yarn and doubled the pattern. In the end it turned out to be the right size but the lesson of this one was to read the dimensions of an afghan before you start making it!

Simplicity Afghan (doubling the pattern)

More projects are in the works here. I am about half way through another afghan and am also working on a baby blanket for a friend. Hopefully I will post something again before four months have passed!

On a more personal note, I am really enjoying the environment here at Berkeley, both for research and the general lifestyle. The weather is unreal. I am actually not quite used to it and not entirely sure how to fill the time that I usually spend thinking about and discussing Minnesota weather. Anyway I will just throw some photos out at the end of my adventures out here so far. It's easier than trying to write about them so much after the fact.

In SF at the Bay Bridge

View of SF from on the Berkeley Hill

Another view more less from where I live. It's hard to see but the golden gate is in the way background and on a nice day you can really see it.

At a vineyard. You can see that Pere wasn't with me to help with my photo taking skills. He really loves it when I take pictures from moving cars. I think the reflexion in this one makes it more realistic.

At a Cal Football game.

There and back again

About a year ago, Pere wanted to do a whole bunch of 5Ks. I decided that I would join him in most of these races but I was always nervous about it. I wasn't in very good shape and I certainly wasn't running on a regular basis. Over the last year, I have been slowing increasing the amount I run and am signed up to do a 10 mile run in April and a half marathon in May. Yesterday was the first time I had to go 10 miles. I was pretty nervous but since the weather is getting better every day, I had a lot of fun with it. Of course after stretching, I fell asleep for two hours almost immediately!

Long overdue update

After quite awhile traveling (Germany and then Charleston, SC), I have been happily back in Minnesota for the last couple weeks. I guess it's time to get back on track with the blogging thing. So this one will be more of a recap of the last few weeks.

1. Germany:

I had a great time in Germany visiting Pere. At the end of the trip I had a post-doc offer in Berlin for the fall and knew I would be seeing Pere again in April. The only bad part about the trip (aside from the depressing weather that is Bremen in the winter) was my trip home. My flight home was cancelled and I was stuck in an airplane, then airport, then crammed in a bus and sent to a hotel for the night. I did meet some pretty nice people who were on my plane and I was really impressed with my fellow traveler's attitudes. I was neat that by the time we got on our flight the next day (after many long lines and cancelled arrangements) that the faces on the plane had gone from strangers to people. Nevertheless, I was happy to land in Minneapolis and say goodbye to all of them.

2. Charleston, SC:

After only one week in Minnesota I was off to Charleston with the guard. Work aside, I had a great final two week tour and enjoyed spending time with my friends. We ate amazing food and ran a lot. The weather was so nice that I became really excited for "running season" to start again back home.

3. Running

With my inspiration from Charleston, I got home and promptly signed up for the Goldy's 10 mile on April 13th and the Minnetonka Half Marathon on May 5th. This will be my first 10 mile and half! So far the training has been going pretty well. The run I did this morning was one of those were you just continue but never really get into a groove, but I guess that's bound to happen every so often.

4. Crafts

I have been really bad at taking pictures of the things I have made so hopefully I will get better at that going forward. Leading up to my trip to Germany I made Pere and Rose each a blanket for the couch. Then during the trips I made an infinity scarf and matching hat set. I gave the hat to Rose but I have been wearing the scarf. Now I'm working on another square afghan and knitting another hat.

5. Thesis

I haven't really started "working" on the thesis yet, but I did turn some of my papers into thesis chapters. This was more a formatting task than a writing thing, but I felt good to have a folder on my computer called thesis that wasn't empty. Now I'm just working on finishing the rest of the projects taht I have to go into the final document. More on this later.

Germany: Week 2

Well first of all, I interviewed for a postdoc job in Berlin and I got it! So it looks like sometime in August I will be moving to Germany. Should be an adventure!

But back to the present:
After spending a little over a week in Bremen and experiencing exclusively cloudy weather, I was REALLY happy this Saturday when the sun came out. And it stayed that way for almost the entire day! I was especially glad that Pere got to see the sun since for all purposes I'm just a tourist. But the timing couldn't have been better. We went to the city center again and this time the stores were open and people were out and about.

Roland and Me

Exploring Bremen in the rain

Today was my first chance to explore the city center in Bremen. As we wondered around on a typical cloudy and rainy morning, we got to see the cathedral and all of the old town hall type buildings in the town center. I had a great time despite feeling a little chilly! And I got to see the Bremen town musicians and touch the feet of the donkey for good luck!

To Write A Wrong - Book Review

As I sit eating my cereal (Chex if you are wondering), I'm thinking about the book I most recently finished called To Write A Wrong by Mr. E. Mann. Well Mr. E. Mann is the "author" since this fictional story is an "autobiography", but the real author is my brother Eli Vlaisavljevich. Of course, I'm just a little biased based on my relationship with the author but I really enjoyed the story and I will do my best to explain why without giving away spoilers.

It seems to me that the main question the reader should ask themselves throughout the book is the following: can murder ever be motivated by love? The main character in this book would argue that it can and should be. He is a famous author who takes his writing a little too seriously (in my opinion) and who lives his life trying to make the world a better place. In his view, he is the ultimate humanitarian and philanthropist. This book reveals how he is inspired to write his novels and allows his fans to see his secret life. It also introduces you to the authors closest friends who also do not know his secrets.

The main struggle I had while reading was that I really liked the guy while simultaneously being really angry at him (well he is a murder...). The book posses many deep philosophical questions interspersed with plenty of plays on words and jokes so it's easy to read yet thought provoking. Overall, I found it very entertaining. I would like to write more details about my favorite parts but I'm afraid I'd end up introducing too many spoilers! I would definitely recommend that you check it out.

A Beginning

There must be a first post before there can be anything more. I guess like all first time bloggers, I have an idea of what this will ultimately become. But how do you describe something that doesn't exist yet?

I'm a pretty straightforward person so I am taking an obvious approach. First, they make you pick a title. After choosing something adequately vague and perfect (for me) at the same time, I added some descriptive keywords as an afterthought to avoid being entirely cryptic. Guess I'll start with expanding on those words and see where the road leads from there.

Crafts
I spend a decent amount of time knitting, crocheting, and stitching.  I love working on a project and seeing things come together. It's like a relaxing version of a research project in some ways. I also love to give them away at the end. Over the holiday break I was trying to remember some of the more significant projects I've finished and I realized I have done a pretty bad job of keeping photos of them. This is what really drove me to write this thing in the first place. I don't quilt or really sew at all but I hope to learn in the future. You know, some day when I can dedicate a whole room to it! It may also have something to do with the amount of yarn in my storage locker.

Chemistry
I'm a graduate student studying computational chemistry. I love research and it's a huge part of my life. I will talk about it any chance I get and I think about it all the time. However, I don't intend to write about science but I make no promises that it won't creep in from time to time (especially considering my thesis defense is coming up relatively soon). I see chemistry as a part of my identity and I didn't think it would be fair to exclude it from the list of words that describe who I am.

Travels
I live in Minnesota. My boyfriend is a Catalan living in Germany. We like to travel and eat things he considers normal and I consider strange.

Running
I like riding a bike. Always have and probably always will, but until recently I hated running but it turns out I was wrong. I didn't know that I just had to keep it up for a few months for it to stop being a chore and become really fun. I'm really happy that running has become an important part of my life. It took me a long time to feel like I could call myself a runner. Even though I have always thought that isn't how fast or how far you run but the fact that you do it that makes a person a runner, it's easier to see it in someone else than in yourself. I'm really glad that I've discovered a hobby that provides the perfect opportunity to clear your mind, think about current chemistry questions, or just listen to a good song.

Reading
The title of this blog is obviously inspired by my love of The Hobbit so it's probably not surprising that I'm a fan of J. R. R. Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Twain and more. I probably spend more time rereading my favorite books than I spend reading new ones, a fact I always regret when I discover a new author. Recently my brother has become a writer and I'm really happy to add him to the list of authors whose works I will read over and over again. His first book is called To Write A Wrong (a subject of one of upcoming posts). Here's his website.

I also think penguins are adorable.