Textless Thursday (22)

It's Halloween!!!
Source.

A book haul

I might have mentioned before that I am sort of a book hoarder. I tried resisting for the longest time, but then The Strand happened and that used book fair in that small Connecticut town on that trip , and yes, I stopped resisting.

And bought all of those:

Book haul

I can't wait to spend weekends with my dear friends: the always funny Julian Barnes, abrasive Jonathan Franzen and weirdo David Foster Wallace.

                         

So now, my bookshelf finally looks something like this:

The collection is still tiny compared to the one I used to own in my previous life, but I'm trying to be practical here.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go read me some Steinbeck on the kindle. 

Jules

Fall. New England.

A couple of weekends ago, a coworker invited me along for a road trip through New England. We did what seemingly every other person on the East coast did: checked out the foliage. 

M: I know you're about to roll your eyes at me for yet another cheesy post, but hey, I like cheese. And I miss you, girl!

Foliage was in full swing in Vermont and New Hampshire; cheddar cheese, maple syrup and pumpkin-flavoured everything were what kept us going; good music and plenty of chit-chat filled the car while we were driving through some seriously beautiful scenery. 

We visited little towns, a civil war re-enactment (no, I'm not kidding!), a book fair and a pumpkin patch, a cool maple syrup farm, the Norman Rockwell museum, and a bunch of places in between. Our Garmin took us on some pretty remote backroads and I will be forever grateful for that. 

We stayed at a very cliche B&B with a chatty owner and elderly guests and a totally weird son/cook and had dinner at a restaurant with the craziest waitress - she drew a pumpkin on our bill. Good times.

We returned to the city on the third day. A little tired, a little nutrition-deprived (as we completely relied on junk food and desserts), and with our batteries completely recharged. It was good to trade New York for the woods for a couple of days. 

SOTD: Green Day - Hitchin' a ride. 

The weirdest part of all was when we first caught a glimpse of Manhattan's skyline on the way home. I felt excited and warm. I felt I came back home. It was the first time that I felt this. I am at home in New York. Cool!

But: Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, you all look adorable in the october sun and I liked you very much. I am just a tiny bit biased towards Gotham, that's all.

Jules

Anže is adorable!

Anže Kopitar, hockey superstar, on Ellen. Being awesome. And cute.

Textless Thursday (21)

Midnight walk around the block. Sometimes, the UES rocks.

Why, oh, why?

Science is awesome. When things work and you find what you are looking for. Then again, sometimes a funny result opens the floodgates and you just WANT to find out more because you're curious, although it might not be exactly what your project was about. Then again, sometimes you feel like banging your head violently against the wall. 

When that happens, it's time to bring out the lab jokes. And rum.

Source.

Because, technically speaking, rum is a solution.

Jules

June in October

This lovely, lovely video became quite famous last fall. Made by the awesome Jamie Scott and posted on Vimeo.  It is a beautiful time-lapse that meticulously recorded the changes Central Park goes through in the fall. Magical does not even begin to describe it.

I first spotted it on Colossal, one of my favourite blogs, almost a year ago. Right around the time when I received official news about my new job. So pardon me if I am a bit biased...

A perfect October Saturday in the Park.

New York is absolutely beautiful this time of year. The light is just amazing, the air is crisp and although we are being treated to balmy temperatures (hello, indian summer), it DOES smell and feel like autumn, despite the fact that I'm still rocking breezy dresses and bare legs like it's Midsummer. If you ask me, we can carry on like this until December. Fine with me (as long as you don't take away my pumpkin pie).

SOTD: Vampire Weekend - Run. Just because.

This past Saturday was especially beautiful. I took Stan out for a loooooooong spin in the Park, then treated myself to a picnic, a pumpkin smoothie and some reading (in the Park) and resumed the looooooooong spin in the Park after lunch. 

Stan AND New York magazine. Perfection.

The leaves have started changing their colors a few weeks ago. The views are not as dramatic as in the video yet, but we are definitely getting there. The ONLY complaint I have is that days are noticeably shorter and I'm stuck in the lab for most of them anyway. Bummer. 

Let the magic begin!

Keep cozy.

Jules

Textless thursday (20)

... Let the countdown begin.

Pink post for Pink October

Pink!

Eveything should be pink today and for the rest of the month*.

Why?

Because October is the pink-ribbon wearing, breast-cancers-awareness-rising, girl-boob-power enhancing month. And it shall be acknowledged.

Source.

Breast cancers are there, their incidences are rising, both in women and in men. But luckily, gals of all shapes, colors and ages are able to speak about it. 

And thanks to being so loquacious, we are increasingly more able to catch the disease early. And breast cancer research is neatly funded, also thanks to the loquaciousness of some incredible women and widespread support, meaning that today we know a lot more about it and can fight it with pretty darn good weapons. 

That does not mean that the fight is over. Or that other (neglected) cancers should be jealous of all the attention breast cancers get. But hey, who doesn't love boobs!

SOTD: Aerosmith - Pink. It couldn't have been more obvious

Having something evil growing in your boob is becoming less and less taboo, it's not shameful anymore. I simply wish that stigmas would disappear when it comes to other cancers, too. I wish people would stop immediately assuming that, when somebody gets diagnosed with one of the lung cancers, "they brought it on themselves, since they were probably smoking". There are many kinds of lung cancers, a lot of them have nothing to do with smoking or other risky behaviours. Or if somebody gets skin cancer, it might not be exclusively because they used to broil themselves on the beach without appropriate SPF. Nobody "deserves" cancer, regardless of how badly they conduct their lives. 

In honour of all the awareness and pinkiness, and just in case you didn't get enough pinkiness reading this pinky post, here is some more pink from New York. 

Ms. Westwood's wisdom - sounds apt.
Pink sandals I wore A LOT this summer, like I wore A LOT
of SPF.
Ladurée's Rose macaroon.
Cava rosado in Madrid last April.
Blueberry, raspberry and yoghurt ice cream at 
Grom back in August.
Tom Wesselmann's Mouth 7 at MoMA.

I'll be wearing a pink ribbon today. And I'll think about all the people in my life that have been affected by breast or any other type of cancer. And I'll probably go to sleep wearing this cool tee. 

You girls and boys, think about boobs today, spread some awareness and, if you can, donate. Not just for breast, but for prostate, colon, lung, skin, cervix, brain, throat, pancreas, liver... There is plenty of choice in the cancers department. And there will be millions of fundraising options, I am sure. 

Awesome card = sweet surprise in the mail = pinkiness galore.

Cheers to healthy breasts and the gorgeous women attached to them. And the men, too.

Jules

*Maybe not the WHOLE whole month...Worry not, dears, this awful pink font will be gone soon :)