Tales from the Microbial Laboratory

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~a petal-less zinnia~

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I was never a big fan of Gone with the Wind, but right now, one memorable quote (by Scarlett) comes to mind:

I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow. 

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~summer~

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The crinums are blooming.

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I was thinking tonight about how much I crave a childhood summer.  As an adult I feel like summer creeps up on me, as if I was asleep for a few months and awoke to a hot and humid day in mid-summer thinking 'Wait!  Stop!  I'm not ready yet...It couldn't possibly be summertime!'

I crave those years when summer stretched out in front of you like an ocean - when days went by in waves of 'what do you wanna do?' and an itinerary was unheard of and the need to be productive was considered pure foolishness.

I crave one of those summers again.

 

~cannas, my friend Candice and Britney Spears~

  

~Canna americanallis var. variegata 'Pretoria'~

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A few days ago I posted a grayscale image of the variegated foliage of 'Pretoria' - I like the striking pattern on the leaves, and for many years I've cut off the flowers.  This year I didn't, and I must say that the bright yellow and orange flowers in combination with the variegated foliage is...something that I never thought I'd hear myself say that I like.

But I do.

I mean, striking is striking.  This canna is not shy about having it's presence known.  In fact, it's screaming about as loud as a plant can scream.

(Do you think Britney Spears would like this canna?  I'm guessing so.)

And while I'm on the topic of unusual combinations, I laughed for much of the day over something a friend from graduate school told me yesterday.  We both worked in labs in the same building - she was working on her doctorate in horticultural - and she's now at Kansas State University on the faculty.  Well, it seems that a few months ago, she was quoted in an article about Britney Spears and her new-found love of gardening.

From a piece in the UK's The Sun titled 'Why Britney digs getting dirty':

 BRITNEY Spears is getting down and dirty in the garden to overcome her health demons.

The troubled star, who has battled booze and drug problems, is a fan of flower therapy.

A source close to the star says: "Britney has tried every kind of therapy going. This time seems different though. She's committed to learning as much as she can about horticulture and how it impacts your well being."

And there are plenty of studies confirming the health benefits of digging the beds.

Researchers at Kansas State University found gardeners have better overall physical health, self-esteem and hand strength.

Candice Shoemaker, professor of horticulture at the university, says: "If we had a larger sample I think we would see more health differences between those who garden and those who don't, including in areas like sleep quality and life satisfaction."

I'm guessing Candice never imagined that she'd be quoted in an article about Britney Spears.

And I never imagined that I'd like bright, crazy-orange flowers on top of such spectacular (and loud) canna leaves.

The world is indeed an interesting place.

~Canna americanallis var. variegata 'Pretoria'~

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~a canna~

~Canna americanallis var. variegata 'Pretoria'~

~a dream of a defense~

~I suppose one insect's bad day is another's jackpot of a day~

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Has anyone noticed all of the spiders this year?   Golden Silk Orb Weaver - Nephila clavipes, and the jewelled spider - Gasteracantha minax, seem to be the most prevalent ones.  They're everywhere.  A few days ago one started a web between my car door and a camellia - I guess they're running out of places...

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Things are busy.  And tough.  I'm feeling really drained and I'm fighting it - which is what alot of us have to do sometimes, just hopefully not all of the time.  That is the hope, isn't it?  It's all of the crazy background drama - as for the science, it couldn't be more interesting.  Today there was some discussion of how a bacteria senses changes in temperature - and something that the eclair-baking postdoc read clicked and I think that some real progress was made intellectually for all of us.  This is what I like so much about science - the data drives you, you don't drive it (or at least you shouldn't).  And then every now and then you have some data, in this case genotypic and phenotypic data, that seems to support some studies in the literature, all of it coming together into a hypothesis that just might work.  Now, regardless of the background drama - that is indeed a good day!

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But the day started out funny.  I had one of those crazy, vivid dreams that stayed with me for awhile - and fortunately had me laughing.  I don't often dream about something science or lab-related, but last night I dreamed about the lab's senior doctoral student and his dissertation seminar and defense.

Now, let's just say it wasn't your typical defense...

In the dream I showed up at where he said he had reserved an auditorium for the seminar - and it ended up being a church.  Without air conditioning.  When I arrived the place was packed - and as I looked around, I realized that I didn't recognize anyone, except for a few folks from the lab.  The senior student, aka defendee, hadn't arrived - and I just stood on one side of the church waiting for him.  Finally he did arrive - wearing gym shorts and no shirt like he had just worked out.  He was carrying a bunch of random papers in his arms, and he rushed up to the front of the church.  He first apologized for not remembering to bring his powerpoint presentation and just started randomly talking about his research.  I was just standing there - in the church - in shock.  I didn't know what to do.  It got even stranger when the defendee asked someone from the audience to talk for awhile, and then another person - who walked up to the front of the church and started looking for a nanoparticle that he said had fallen on the floor.  The defendee them but a shirt on - and came back up and started talking some more - then said he was done.  Next in the dream, we were in a room with a conference table for the closed door, defense portion of the 'ordeal' - and suddenly I noticed that not a single committee member was present.  I asked the defendee, and he realized that he had forgotten to tell them the defense date.

Well, as you might have guessed - he didn't pass the defense.

(And yes, I did tell my student about the dream today.  He laughed - and then went back to writing.  He needs to have his dissertation into his committee by mid to late-August at the latest.)     

~a soft bed of Crocisma~

~a flattened bed of Crocisma~

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Dogs in the garden...what more is there to say?  I can't blame this on the wildly insane Pointer Sisters.  I caught the culprit in the act.  Yes, handsome Stanley is responsible for this flattened clump of Crocisma - he was caught, sound asleep, cool...and happy.  

Help Geoff

From Help Geoff:

For those of you who don’t know Geoff Marshall, he’s a Londoner who moved to Charleston, SC, in 2006 and recently set out to shoot a documentary film about a 48-state roadtrip across the U.S.  And on the morning of June 29th he awoke in Greensboro, NC, to find that roughly $6,ooo of computer, video and photography equipment had been stolen from his car while he slept.

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It seems that folks from the Lowcountry and beyond are determined to help Geoff stay on the road - and at the same time redeem his frustrated view of this country.

So...... let's help Geoff and follow along with him on his roadtrip~

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~Tall Ships, heading out of the Charleston Harbor~

 

~Spirit of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina~

Late this afternoon, I went to the point at Ft Johnson and watched the Tall Ships head out of the Charleston Harbor - it was a hot day, one of those where the sky is almost colorless.  Thankfully there was a breeze.

I thought you might like to see some of the ships - two years ago (in 2007) I showed images of them leaving the harbor as well.  This year I've attempted to name them - some are pretty obvious, others less so - but I used this site as a guide.  I got to go aboard some of these ships on Friday evening - you can see some of those images here.  Update, 1 July 2009:  Go and take a look at Joan's photos too - she was out on the water as the ships left the harbor.

I think that they're heading to Boston next (here's a list of the ships confirmed to be there).

They really are magnificent - even on a colorless day. 

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~U.S. Coast Guard Barque EAGLE~

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~Spirit of Bermuda~

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~Mircea~

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~Kruzenshtern~

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~Jolie Brise~

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~Europa~

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~Capitan Miranda~

~high drama~

~banana leaves~

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I had no idea that Michael Jackson still had so many fans.  At a gathering I was at last night, the host said that a young boy in his neighborhood had been walking around with one glove all weekend.  The boy was no more than eight or nine.  But frankly, I'm glad that the situation in Iran has taken over the top news story once again on the CNN website - the fact that Jackson took over that slot for the past few days just blew my mind.  And I can't help but think about the events of last week - a week that a friend said was characterized by 'high drama' - and how well it reflected on women:  I think that Farrah Fawcett's recent documentary about her cancer struggles was brave, and I am in awe of the women in Iran.  And finally a politicians wife didn't stand by her husband's side, and was even quoted as saying something like 'I'm not concerned about his career.'  The whole incident has generated another phrase in the Urban Dictionary.

A busy week begins tomorrow.  I'm hoping it will be one described as 'low drama' - but I wouldn't bet on it.   

~an evening spent wandering Tall Ships~

But O the ship, the immortal ship! O ship aboard the ship!
Ship of the body, ship of the soul, voyaging, voyaging, voyaging.

from Aboard at a Ship's Helm by Walt Whitman

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~U.S.C.G. Barque EAGLE (with what I think is the Schooner Virginia in the background)~

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Two years ago, I posted images of several Tall Ships leaving the Charleston Harbor (here and here) - for those of you not familiar with Tall Ships, you might want to look here.  It was wonderful then, watching them leave the Charleston Harbor - but last night I attended the International Tall Ships Soiree.  It was a beautiful evening - there was a nice breeze, plenty of food and drink - and I had the opportunity to walk around three of the Tall Ships for a long evening.  The evening was part of Charleston Harborfest 2009 - and if you ever want to plan a visit to Charleston, this would be a wonderful weekend to visit the city.

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~U.S.C.G. Barque EAGLE~

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When we first arrived, it was still light - although the sun had just set.

I think the first thing that I noticed was how large these vessels were - for example, the EAGLE's sparred length is 295 feet.

You can see a list of the Tall Ships that visited Charleston this weekend here - with some information about each ship listed. 

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~looking out towards the Capitan Miranda~

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~the festive Capitan Miranda~

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I think the most festive boat of the evening was the Capitan Miranda - it not only had raised a decorative, brightly-colored sail, but it was also brightly lit - and as darkness fell, it definitely stood out.

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~looking out over the deck of the Kruzenshtern~

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I really liked this blurry view of the event from one of the decks of the Russian ship, Kruzenshtern.  There was quite a crowd for the whole evening - and you could still see the tents of the food vendors lined up along the walkway (these were open during the daytime events). 

If you've never gotten a chance to see these ships - either under sail or docked - it is something worth seeing.   I've always thought there was something primitive about large sailing vessels - oh, even small ones I suppose.  Perhaps Whitman had it right - we're all on a voyage of some kind, and under sail.