Welcome to the world little Hannah...

.....Hannah Elizabeth Engels Holdt.....yay! 

 7lbs 13oz born at 2.45pm - congratulations to Jenny, Doug and Auntie Mary! 

Emmy Seren

Talking of cute babies, isn't my cousins babe Emmy Seren adorable! Got to love the full head of hair. Photo totally stolen from Elen's facebook account, but i'm hoping she won't mind me wanting to show you all her little bundle. 

In other exciting baby news, I just got a phone call from my friends Jenny and Doug, they're off to the hospital, so wishing them a ton of luck today for an easy birth! 

Hibiscus Half Marathon

One of my goals for this year was to run a half marathon, to help me get back into shape and to really try out running, a free exercise that i've never really taken off with before. Well, i've done it, i've signed up for the Hibiscus Half Marathon, which runs on the 14th June here on Oahu. 13.1 miles around Diamond Head. 

The main reason I signed up for this particular event is that it's a low key half marathon - runners, walkers and jogging strollers are all allowed, so I figured a good event for me to try and get my feet into and not kill myself. My goal is of course to try and run as much of it as possible, to enjoy the event and to get some good motivation. A second major reason I signed up for this one, is that all the proceeds of this event go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and what better reason to go and run in the sun than making some money for a good charity. And, of course, i'm participating in honor of my little blog buddy Mollie who is doing an awesome job fighting leukemia right now. 

Anyone else in Hawaii want to run/walk/stroller or volunteer with this event? Check out the Team in Training webpage to see how you can join in. I'm off for a swim....

Happy Weekend!

Following NEA's floral friday....here's a hibiscus for the weekend....have a good one. 

On the Origin of Species

This year marks 150 years of the 'Origin of Species', by Charles Darwin, which is why stories like a school in Texas wanting to start giving out Masters of Science in Creationism disturbs me oh so much. This year also saw Darwin's 200th birthday, and you really wonder if he's turning around down there seeing what is going on in parts of the US. 

Though Darwin made his major discovery during the five year Beagle Voyage (1831-1836....now there's a long cruise!), he put off writing the "Origin of Species' until 1859 because of his worry about how it would be taken in a very religious England at the time. The view in the 1800's was that God was the selector of all things great and small and so the thought that the world itself was selecting, causing extinctions and creating new species was just too anti-religious, and he worried about his family and the effects it would have on him. But he eventually was persuaded to finish his book and publish it, and although religious attacks were made in force, the book was a hit and the field of Evolution began. 

So where are we 150 years later? I admit until I hit the US five years ago I didn't realise how big creationism was in certain places here. Although I have no issues in creationism being taught (I feel it's good for children to be taught many sides to a story), when it's taught in exclusion of evolution, or they start talking about a Masters of Science in creationism, now that really does get my goat. I am not religious, but I do respect religion, it just needs to stay in the religion category, not science....

"I am a strong advocate for free thought on all subjects, yet is appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against Christianity and theism produce hardly any affect on the public and freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds which follows from the advance of science. It has therefore, been always my object to avoid writing on religion and I have confined myself to science. I may, however, have been unduly biased by the pain which it would give some members of my family, if I aided in any way direct attacks on religion'. A letter written by Darwin in 1880

Gecko....

My camera has an awesome zoom........

......I totally wouldn't have known Gecko is molting! He would have skittered away before I could get close enough......

Anybody else lose a day of the week?

Well I did this week. It's thursday today and i'm not sure how it happened. I was so certain it was Wednesday today and just figured out to the contrary. And I have no idea how it's suddenly thursday, which makes it all the worse. I have no recollection of tuesday. None at all. 

This happens at sea all the time, you pretty much accept you have no idea what day of the week it is or even the date - why does it matter when you're at sea, all you know is you have 30 days out there and you're on day X. It's not happened to me quite this badly on land before though (as in I have no recollection of a whole day), could be up there with me trying to drive on the left the other day too, i'm either getting old or i'm losing it....or both......

Manoa, some pictures

Feed me....

Alison, Les and Jenna's kitty. They're all off in various places this week, so I have Dongwa feeding duty. He's a cutey! 

Quote

"Out of clutter find simplicity,

From discord find harmony,

In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

Albert Einstein

Tiffin-tastic!

This is what was in my box from Kate - a tiffin tin! I love it! Made by To-Go-Ware, Kate also sent me a set of bamboo cutlery in a pouch, which was already in my desk at work when I took these photos, but i'll catch them on camera another day! 

Three containers all fit together in a neat little stack........very compact and fits in my lunch cooler nicely, plus being stainless steel cleans up easily. 

And open with my lunch in it! Perfect for a cold lunch of salad, sushi and fruit, with some toffee popcorn in the smaller tin as my snack. This is really the coolest lunch box ever! 

Stem Cell Research......unlimited blood supplies....

Article by the BBC

One of the most exciting scientific research stories i've read in a while. I would argue with anyone who could read this and not see the enormous value in stem cell research.....

Sunday Sushi...

Ahhhhh, a nice, low key sunday. Today I went into work and unpacked some of my cruise boxes, changed out the water in the coral larvae and moved the starfish larvae into a tank. Then came home, had lunch and napped on the couch, unpacked all my travel bags then went for a swim at the pool. Topped off by my first solo sushi session! Alison showed me how to make sushi once in Woods Hole, and while shopping on friday I decided I wanted to try it myself, with great results! It's so easy and so much cheaper than buying, have to do this more often, maybe with wilder ingredients than I did today! And as I have a new camera, I of course documented the entire process.....:0)

Ingredients at the ready! 

The main ingredients - vegetables! And some crab sticks, which I love....:0)

My overstuffed roll......

A cut up roll.........reminds me I need to sharpen my knives! 

And the end result - yum! And left overs for tomorrows lunch too! 

Look below....

I'm sorry, but isn't that the cutest baby you've ever seen! Not that I'm biased or anything, but damn she's cute. Thanks Grant for the photos, keep 'em coming! 

Day one.....

Day one at home and I did something today I didn't expect to have to, I bought a new camera. This bites on more than one level as my old camera is only just over a year old, and I loved it and really liked the photos it produced. Yet, it is only working intermittently after it's salty-mud bath and the lens has salt crystals on, so a new camera was on the cards. Frustrating as I really wanted to get a digital SLR, but hadn't planned to for at least another year, so today was a bit of a compromise - a Canon SX10 - not an SLR, but larger and better zoom and functions than a regular point and shoot, as well as being in the same $$ range as a good point and shoot, rather than the SLR price range. 

Why so soon after getting back? Well, i'm off to visit the little lady Lucy (above) in 2 weeks and don't want to miss taking good photos of my little niece (isn't she adorable!), and want to have the time to test out the new camera and to make sure it all works before I go away. Pain in the butt, but I also used up 2 gift cards for Best Buy in the process, so it wasn't as bad on the bank balance as it could have been (and if not for the gift cards, I definitely would have come away with a lesser camera).

So I went and took a bunch of photos of the things I like to see and do when I get home from sea........still playing with the functions, but it definitely takes as good photos as my old Canon, and I love the zoom.....

Flowers........these bleeding heart vines are right outside my front door, and go from white and red to this beautiful pink/purple......

The mountains......

Making sun tea in my new glass jugs.....

My garden, though the picture of neglect right now, I love that I can grow a few things..........these are the papaya leaves.....

A good crunchy salad with lots of extras like bean sprouts, pineapple and bacon sausages, pumpkin seeds, cucumber and peppers.....

Fresh fresh fruit........pineapple is my favorite fruit, mixed in with some gorgeous smelling strawberries......

The importance of stupidity in scientific research

Great essay by Martin Schwartz in the Journal of Cell Biology. 

Day one......moving onwards.......

Back in Hawaii and going solo. Getting back from cruises always makes me feel like "i'm back and lets get on with life", as all seems to stand still when you're at sea sometimes. Stian and I have parted company, though still friends, and hopefully good ones, it's been obvious for a while that this had to happen. We've had a lot of fun together, but hopefully we'll still sneak in another adventure here and there in the future. I miss him, but i'm fine with it, over it, and it's where it had to go, was fun while it lasted, and i'm not going to dwell on it, way too much of life out there to dwell. Moving onwards.........and because i've been asked a bunch of times, no I haven't heard a peep from Fairbanks, and it's driving me crazy!  

And home.....

First things I did on getting home.....

1. Walked in door and opened present from Kate B. LOVE IT! 

2. Drank a pineapple and guava soda....mmmmmm

3. Took shower

4. Walked into work.......was awesome to walk the 3 miles....

5. Unloaded the coral babies into my lab

6. Met Jenny and Doug for pizza, G&T and picked up my car

7. Listened to the Rolling Stones loud in the car on my way home

Now time to tuck up in bed. Tomorrow will be a low key day, unpacking, food shopping, catching up with work emails and mail, maybe even try and sneak into the ceramics studio......

Santiago Airport....

Just took a shower, had some lunch, uploaded some photos......ready to get on this plane.....

Heading home......

It's time to get back on the plane......woo hoo! Not really, as it involves over 24hrs of travel, but good to get home none-the-less and get on with the next adventure. Last night was the cruise party, a little subdued compared to other cruise parties, but we arrived in port a day early and people went to town the night before, so there were still a few hangovers from there.

Sad to say goodbye to people (though as it's 7am i'm suspecting there won't be too many people around to say goodbye to, and most are on different flights tomorrow and the day after), it's been a fun one.

Must be time to go home......

Some random cruise photos....

In no particular order.....

Iceberg with seal tracks....

And the seals to boot.....

Over the stern...

Ari and me ready for a trip on a zodiac...

Describing the Megacores, one of my main jobs on deck (writing down which ones worked, what they looked like, any biology in there, and issues, measuring how much mud). Yes, the box i'm sat on does say "I love Mud"....

Photo by Brian......no, I have no idea what I was doing.....

My and Andrews feet after sorting through a trawl....

The clean up, getting hosed off by Dave....

Sorting through the trawl....

My hard hat at the end of the cruise....

Iceberg up close...

Fossil Hunting Photos

Launching the zodiacs.....

Headed towards Cockburn Island (photo by Victor)

Enroute - Dave, Kim and Maggie

Going past a shag rookery

Looking down onto the Zodiacs from the slopes of Cockburn

Kim and I doing our hero poses....

This one is for Bella - thats the protein bar you slipped into my bag back in CA - came in handy as a tasty snack while hunting fossils - thanks! 

Some fur seals hanging out on the beach...

On the way home.....

Last few days have been busy, but fun. The day after the Ross Island pickup we went to Cockburn Island, just a few hours away from James Ross, for the paleontologists to look for fossils (the paleontologists from Livingston who were blown out by weather - so it was a chance for them to salvage something from the field season). I was one of a lucky few to be invited along to help search, so got to go on a short 4hr hike and even find a fossil coral, which was really neat. They unfortunately didn't find the mammals they were hoping for, but we did find lots of fossil shells.

Then yesterday we were involved in a Medivac from the other boat, the Nathaniel B. Palmer. They had a sick person onboard who needed picking up for us to take back across the Drake. They were pulled into King George Island where there is an emergency hospital, where he wasassessed as not critical enough to be flown home, but still needed to be taken off his cruise. So in a fun turn of events Stian came to visit the Gould for half an hour bringing the patient over, as well as a bunch of other people we know from over there. It was really good to see him, he looks well, they've only just started their cruise though, so he's still got a long way to go, whereas I'm ready to get off the boat now.

So now we're in the Drake, rolling around like crazy, so few faces at breakfast this morning........

The Nathaniel B Palmer, pretty cool seeing it from this angle. Stian was in the zodiac....

Stian was met with a muddy goodbye from the mud cruise. Everyone was happy to see him (and Ethan sitting next to him) and decided he needed to take a little mud back to his cruise to remember us by. 

And it's gone again......

....my camera that is. The low battery light came on, so I changed the batteries and now it won't start at all, no matter what. The ET on here is going to try and take a look, but all is not hopeful, last time it at least sounded like it was trying to start, today there is not a peep.....:0(

Today we've been busy picking up the field camp from James Ross Island, it's been a little chilly, but after 4hrs we're just about done. Tomorrow we're swinging around another island to drop off a field party for a 3hr recon (to check out a site for a field program next year) and then into the Drake Passage.

Today my larvae experiment finished too, so i'm ready to pack up. Had a minor disaster yesterday too (minor only because I believe the bad weather has already majorly affected the experiment). The CO2 tank i've been working with froze up and leaked all it's gas into the coldvan. Into the enclosed cold van with no vents. I had one of the MSTs come and say there was a funny smell coming from in there. So I went to check it out. Indeed it was a funny smell, and after less than a minute in the van we started to feel lightheaded and realised what itwas. So us out of the van, big fan in the van and open door for ten minutes to extract all the CO2. The problem is it had already taken it's toll, all the larvae I have been working on sat in very acidic water for over 12hrs (because the CO2 had incorporated into all the water in all the tubes in the van, not just the CO2 tubes I had wanted it in), meaning the experiment was a little bust, at least for the last 24hrs.

So it goes......

Crunching through the ice at night. The ice got too thick at one point and we ended up going back and around a different route. The Gould is not an icebreaker, it is just ice-strengthened, so it cannot break through thick ice.

The team hauling in the zodiacs to James Ross Island. I got the supervising position, as i'm still unable to lift with my wrist.

Forming the chain and tossing the bags into the zodiacs...

Ice off the bow.