torsdag den 25. oktober 2018

Symchronized drowning

It is not very often that I ever do much outside home on weekday nights, where the endless cycle of dog-walking, children-feeding, and laundry-folding often ends up just swallowing my time. But last night something amazing (or so I thought......) was happening. Ulrik’s school had a visiting movie director who is working on a Titanic project. Something about re-filming it with more focus on the female story (well, in the movie it isactually Rose that survives because there is no space for Jack on the raft. I guess that is as female as an ending can get!). The custom design line had worked on costumes and props and teamed up with the synchronized swim team from university of Michigan. And it all took place at the Natatorium aka the big university pool.
I made sure Teresa and I were there super early. Totally not necessary, which she made sure to let me know repeatedly throughout the evening. And first there were costumes such as the chimney (????) and a lifeboat:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
And then they started filming. One of the scenes were “the death of the captain”. A tragic death by bellyflop from a diving board:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
And finally everyone started drowning:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
It is by far one of the weirdest things I have seen ever seen. And not necessarily in a good way. The best part was the water polo team practicing in the neighbor pool. Water polo is a violent sport with big hunky dudes, who were the exact opposite of all the artsy art students. It seemed like they used their whistles a bit extra that night to disturb the filming going on. LOL

søndag den 21. oktober 2018

About the birthday

So...... it turned out that our elaborate plan to kick the 10 rowdy boys outside for at least some of the evening got completely ruined:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
By thunder, hail, rain and slush. Seriously! The worst weather in months on that one night where we could really have used something better.
But it was a good night:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Where the strawberry syrup filled “bloody syringes” were a big hit
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Where most of the pizza was gone relatively fast, and where at least some of the kids were up for the pumpkin face challenge, where you apply Vaseline to your face and have a contest about how many cheese puffs you can stick on there without using your hands
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
But I also felt a lot better after I brought a bottle of red wine to the upstairs neighbors apologizing for all the noise. Because these kids were anything but quiet. And it didn’t help that we just have too little space in general. Still Luca thought it was the best night EVER and already asked for a similar birthday next year😬
Lucky for me I had planned ahead and spent the rest of the night in the company of this:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
With a generous splash of gin of course. The best G&T in quite a while! And what tasted even better was the leftover birthday cake. Nothing like a chocolaty sweet reminder that it will be another year before next time.
Today I slept until 8AM, which is the longest I have slept for months. And after church we decided to take the dog for a hike in the beautiful forest near Hell (yes. That is a place in Michigan - google it and see for yourself):
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
I guess I am ready for next week to begin

lørdag den 20. oktober 2018

Party prepping

Finally. For the longest time I have wanted to throw a halloween kids party and this year we decided to have Luca’s birthday this way. He kind of ran out and invited ALL his friends before I could stop him, and I have to admit I have been a bit stressed about the thought of having 11 excited and dressed up preteens and teens in our apartment, but things are coming together and our living room is now party ready
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Luca and I have been busy all morning. We have been at work to check on mice, that just came out of brain surgery:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
We have gotten dry ice:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
And we have been shopping the last bits in Meier:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
So we could go home and make cake and witch hats:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
We have prepared bloody syringes:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
While Kristian has been busy making spooky pizzas:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Birthday Dino and his family are about as ready as they can get!
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.

lørdag den 13. oktober 2018

Gettin’ chilly with it

Back in Ann Arbor. And it’s cold. Well not “winter is upon us and it hurts to step outside” cold, but that raw wet dark fall cold that does feel quite depressing and makes you want to bundle up inside.
My trip back to the US went well. I even met a robot in the terminal
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
And had amazing Vietnamese food for breakfast and got to spend my last wons on special edition coffee Chocopies to bring back to the lab. And things went fairly smooth in customs - except that scientist now earn an additional luggage screen at the customs because some researchers are dumb enough to try to hide biological samples in their bags when they travel. Sigh. I actually told the screening agent that I was not that stupid and then I started thinking about what people in these professions think we actually do at conferences........
I stayed awake most of the flight so by the time I went to bed around 9PM I think I fell asleep before my head landed on the pillow. That’s my trick to avoid prolonged jetlag, because it gives a good nights sleep immediately.
And I am trying my best to be chill about next week, which will require a certain amount of “do not panic” attitude to get through with a bunch of surgeries that I had not planned for, but which needs to be done ASAP. And with Luca’s halloween birthday party where we have to find a way to stuff 11 awkward, excited, dressed up, hungry middle school boys into our apartment😳 (Luca did invite a bit more friends than we had anticipated......) and hope for the best!
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.

torsdag den 11. oktober 2018

Goodbye Seoul

Time’s up. Well technically I could stay up all night and still do stuff, but I am too old for those things and I have a long flight ahead of me tomorrow.
Goodbye Seoul tower with your amazing views and fun colors (and hello kitty store, and souvenirs, and glitter sidewalks, and Korean noodles, and all these other things inside you I was so surprised by, that I forgot to take pictures):
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Goodbye metro stations with cute decorations and the little “hey - a train is approaching! Now is the time to RUN” melody playing:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Goodbye crazy cat at the cat cafe:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
And goodbye DMZ with all your barbed wires and soldiers and weird auditoriums:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
And goodbye Anna. I can’t believe that when we finally met again it was pretty much on the other side of the earth for both of us:
Image. Double tap this image to view it full screen. Double tap and hold to show sharing options.
I hope I will see all of you (and more) again some day❤️