Tales from the Microbial Laboratory

Annabelle Lee and Blue (aka Dog-with-the-Unruly-Ears)

~a rare pause in the life of a Pointer and her Coonhound Admirer~

~~~~~

Many of you who have followed this blog for any length of time are familiar with Annabelle Lee, one of the infamous members of the The Pointer Sisters duo.  Annabelle Lee was a "birthday gift" from a good friend - an 8 or 9 or 10 year old English pointer who had most likely (due to her injuries) been a hunt club dog, used for breeding since she was scared of loud noises.  She is now at least 12, maybe 13 (God-forbid 14) - and in amazing running shape (and curled up beside me as I type this).

Annabelle Lee has a new admirer, the long-bodied, long-earred mostly blue tick coonhound, Blue.... aka Puppy.  Blue was my 'test' dog for whether I was capable of 'fostering' a dog.  I failed the test, needless to say (and to no surprise for those who know me).  Puppy is no longer very puppy-like:  he can outrun the Pointer Sisters and well, he adores them. Unabashedly.

I've always loved hounds - and while Blue is a lover of pointers, he is quite different from them, starting with...

...his unruly ears.

They're always in the way, almost always flipped over, and, well, goofy-looking.  His right ear is particularly goofy, and often seems to be a bit... off.

When they are not flipped over, however, Blue is quite the handsome, Pointer-Sister-admiring, three-legged-cat-pestering, ball-fetching, mostly-coonhound failed foster puppy - meaning, he fits in just fine.

~~~~~

~Annabelle Lee and THE DAN, with their hound~

~~~~~

~a curled up pointer~

Annabelle Lee, aka one of the infamous Pointer Sisters.  A ball of pure sweetness.

~sweet Airstream-dwelling pointer girls~

Patient wild dogs, waiting for the rain to end - surprisingly prissy for such crazy things - waiting for blue sky and sunshine to resume their usual tomfoolery.

Me?  I have a list of things to write here, updates about what is blooming that is new and fun, what looks happy and what doesn't - but here it is, again, almost midnight and I have no update prepared.  But I did manage to weed some of the vegetable garden... that's worth quite a bit, don't you think?

"Pointer Brand"

~~~~~

A college friend, who moved to Charleston two weeks ago, has been having alot of fun going out to the many restaurants we have in the area.  One of the places she and her husband went to was the Market Cafe at Boone Hall Farms - and while she was there, she spotted a Pointer Brand sweet potato box.  She left after dinner, but then returned and asked for the box - which they graciously gave her and then she graciously gave to me!  How perfect.  I think it needs to be framed (and the Pointer Sisters agree). 

 ~~~~~

  
~the Pointer Sisters~

~~~~~

The Pointer Sisters...watching Squirrel TV.

 

surprising friends.

 
~A crazy Pointer Sister and her three-legged cat friend~

A bored Pointer is a pathetic-looking Pointer, don't you think?

 
Sweet little Dan, obviously exhausted after a long day reading grant proposals (aka Sweet little Dan, obviously BORED TO DOG TEARS after I spent a long day reading grant proposals).

sweet Dan

 
~~~~~

THE DAN, obviously not laboring on Labor Day weekend.

~~~~~

The List, Updated.

~Annabelle Lee~

~~~~~

I doubt that Annabelle Lee has a list of any kind, unless it's a mental list of snakes that she hopes to wrangle in her lifetime.  I can see her 'bucket list' now:  (1)  catch black racer snake that has thus far proved elusive, (2)  if black racer snake is caught, obtain the courage to kill it (and not just bark and jump around, which will entice Handsome Stanley to saunter over and kill the snake without all of the silly Pointer Sister drama), and (3)  parade the black racer snake around the garden, and show it off in front of THE DAN.

I'm thinking that's a pretty nice bucket list for a Pointer Sister.

~~~~~

My list is a little different.  And even amidst the craziness of the past year, we've been slowing slogging through it, sometimes modifying it as we go, adding another paper as new data presents itself - a team effort for a lab that has had a challenging year.  We're smaller in number now (the eclair-baking postdoc has accepted a position at  non-profit in Maryland) but we're no less determined - our numbers will soon dwindle even more, with both of my doctoral students slated to defend their dissertations in December.  But new students will appear, new scientists will wander into the Microbial Lab and decide to stay.  The ebb and flow of the lab, something that I still haven't fully gotten used to, but recognize as the natural ryhthm of an academic life.

~~~~~

I haven't been spending much time here.  At the end of the day, when I often want to write, I simply haven't felt like doing so.  I suppose it's the ebb and flow of blog life, or perhaps it can be explained better by inertia brought on by a long, hot summer and a difficult year and a Nikon that is shedding it's last images.  Work has been a constant though, as has the garden - and through it all, some positive things are beginning to happen, and I'm slowly, but surely, washing myself of the dysfunctional situation that I was in.  A new wind is beginning to blow.

~~~~~ 

The List first emerged in August of 2009, just a few days after my termination from my job of 15 years - and more recently here, in April of 2010.  It's a nice list, considering the circumstances, and I'm proud of what my lab has accomplished (more or less since June of 2009).  The truth is that everyone has been working their asses off.  Posting The List helps to keep me focused, helps me to prioritize what I need to work on next.  There is still much to be done, much to write, edit, proofread and celebrate.

~~~~~   

THE LIST

1. work describing a coral pathogen and the role of motility (led by our collaborators in Israel): Published.
2. work describing metabolites produced by a coral pathogen (led by local collaborators): Published.
3. work describing genes involved in nutrient cycling in coral microbial communities: Published (and take a look at the journal cover photo).
4. work describing the bacterial communities in the upper respiratory tract of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins: Published.
5. work describing the phylogeny of a globally-distributed coral pathogen (collaborative with colleagues from Australia):  Published.  
6. work validating the presence of a coral pathogen in the Caribbean and the pathogen's antimicrobial characteristics: Published.
7. work describing a method to detect and quantify a coral pathogen in environmental samples: Published.
8. work describing culturable bacteria and fungi in gastric, upper respiratory tract and fecal samples of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins: In Press.  
9. work describing the genome and proteome of a coral pathogen, with a specific focus on temperature-dependent virulence: In Preparation.
10. work describing the genome (full description) of a coral pathogen at two different temperatures: In Preparation.
11. work describing the proteome (full description) of a coral pathogen at two different temperatures: In Preparation. 
12. work describing the antimicrobial resistance and susceptibility profiles of coral-associated bacteria: In Preparation.
13. work describing the anti-microbial activity/properties of coral-associated bacteria:  In Preparation. 
14. a review focused on the urgent need for coral diagnostic approaches:  In Preparation.
15. work describing the effect of pH on membrane vesicle production and composition in a Gram negative bacterium:  In Preparation. 
16. manuscripts 9-15 are all close to submission - in addition to these 7 manuscripts, we have ~10 additional manuscripts where the data is collected, some writing has been done, but they are not yet close to submission.

Annabelle Lee and her 'Kong'

 

She's a crazy thing.

Runs like she's being timed, sleeps like she's never slept, dreams of being a snake wrangler, and curls up into a tiny ball when there's thunder.

She's wonderful.