Book love....

Revenge Wears Prada (sequel to The Devil Wears Prada).

Power Plant....

As part of the NZ Festival we attended a light/sound show in the Botanical Gardens called Power Plant. We've walked through the gardens several times but never at night so this was an interesting perspective on something familiar. In short, the organizers of this event sectioned off a path through the gardens and along this pathway were a variety of lighting and sound elements. The overall effect was intriguing, eerie in places, and we found ourselves stopping in several sections trying to take in the dramatic effects projected on the back drop of leafy silhouettes. In lieu of attempting explanations I will let the images below tell the story. We took the cable car up to the gardens and realized that we had already entered the exhibit when we boarded the trolley. During its ascent the car travels through a tunnel that was decorated with racing LEDs that created an Alice-in-Wonderland-down-the-rabbit-hole effect. 

Grilling.....

As a "thank you" for serving as tour guides, chauffeurs and chefs the family decided to give us our very own BBQ! Ever since we moved to the slightly larger studio apartment in August 2012 we've wanted to get one to take advantage of our little patio area. And we are loving it! With a butcher just across the street we've been preparing burgers topped with cheese, pineapple and a range of sauces (ketchup, mustard, sweet chili). In addition, we've found kebabs an easy and delicious dinner, alternating pieces of chicken, bell pepper, mushroom and pineapple. Yum! :)

Saag swap.....

It's no secret that Tim and I enjoy spicy food. And since moving to Wellington we've found what's become our spicy staple: Indian curry. We're crazy about two in particular; tarka dal (yellow lentils) and saag paneer (paneer cheese cubes in a spinach gravy) and have found a place just down Cuba Mall that consistently serves up good curry. Admittedly, we get their takeaway (takeout) every week. So tonight after taking in the flick, Cuban Fury, we decided to head down to Tulsi and get some saag paneer takeaway for dinner. They asked us how hot we would like our curry to which we always answer "Indian hot". Now in Kiwiland  people don't tend to enjoy spicy food so they specify two levels of "hot" - Kiwi hot, that is not so hot, and Indian hot if you want some spice. After ordering we sat down at the bar to wait for our curry. Various people came in to pick up their curries while we were waiting and 95% of those, I kid you not, were butter chicken, mild, with garlic naan. Come on people, live a little. Soon our curry was ready and we toted it home and when Tim was spooning it onto plates he realized something was amiss. Somewhere along the line a mistake had been made and they gave us saagwala (chicken pieces in spinach gravy), mild, instead of saag paneer, Indian hot. A little disappointed we ate it anyway and it had pretty good flavor but no spice whatsoever. We giggled and wondered about the people who got our saag paneer, Indian hot. Yeah, they may never eat Indian food ever again.

Year 3.....

What? What? So six weeks ago, on February 9, 2014, we started our third year in New Zealand. This is astounding. The time has screamed by and all of a sudden we're looking at the last stretch of our PhDs and thinking about what we'd like to do next. Granted we still have a tremendous amount of work to do for our respective programs it seems insane to be considering the end of this season in our lives. When we first arrived in Wellington we spent time trying to get oriented and find our way in a different country, at a different school and in new programs. I remember thinking that three years is not enough time to do a PhD and I still believe this to be true. There simply isn't enough time to conduct sufficient research to fuel several publications. And while many students take longer than three years our scholarships end after thirty six months so we will finish as close to that time as possible. Throughout the first year of the PhD things were going along, there was data collection and reading and writing. But all of a sudden I feel blind sided by the fact that time seems to have sped up and now I'm staring down the final stretch. No wait! I feel like I'm just starting to get the hang of things. :) This seems to be what a colleague of mine calls "PhD time". It differs from regular time in that in expands and contracts as you go along. In short, one minute you feel like you'll never finish this process and then things shift to feeling like you're incredibly busy but don't feel like you're making progress. It makes you feel like you're losing your mind because you vacillate between these extremes while time continues to slip by and soon dissertation defenses will be looming. While I never expected the program to fly by so fast I cannot fathom walking to into my defense. What an incredible day that will be! Until then we'll continue to log hours in the lab, read articles, write chapters, and put in hours volunteering. Here's to the grind that is a PhD program!

Inaneness...

After my family departed NZ for the US six weeks ago I embarked on what will be the last HUGE experiment of my PhD. While I still have a good deal of data to collect this experiment represents the last stretch of time where I work seven days a week, six of those starting data collection at 6:30am, for several months straight. In truth it's exciting to be acquiring so much data but right now I'm three weeks in and am starting to run on empty. Timmy and I make a concerted effort to go to bed at a decent time but the days become insanely long when you leave for work at 6am and sometimes don't get home until after 6pm. Now I've really been trying to escape the lab after working eight hours like a normal person but, for the most part, that has proven impossible. There's always some additional lab work to be done and I never would've guessed that all these preparatory tasks would take as much time as they do. When I start collecting data in the morning I barely get things set up and do some other small tasks and eat breakfast but before I know it it's time to break down my experiment so the next student can use the equipment. In addition to collecting data Tim and I have both been participating in the Postgraduate Student's Association (PGSA) here at Vic. And while we've worked on numerous projects that are resulting in truly positive outcomes for students it takes quite a bit of time to prepare. As of October last year Tim took over the presidency and has done an amazing job coordinating work for the Executive Board. I sit on that Board as well as participate as a postgrad representative for Academic Board, Academic Committee and the Animal Ethics Committee. Over the past three weeks I've had long meetings with ridiculous amounts of reading for Academic Board, Academic Committee and Ethics. So with data collection getting us to campus early in the morning PGSA work often keeps us on campus until 5pm or later. And for that reason we are starting to feel the strain. In discussing how to manage our fatigue, because I will have this schedule until at least the beginning of May, Tim made a fantastic suggestion. A prescription for all things inane. In an effort to escape work, even for short periods of time, we have decided to pursue activities that require no brain power. I've realized that I don't have any to spare anyway. :) Therefore, in our limited free time we play video games and read mindless fluff books or watch TV that we stream from the US. I never thought these things would help to bring balance to overworking but they do. Here's to not using your brain!

Book love....

Takedown Twenty.