On Sunday I belly danced on London’s Southbank.  The plan was to have a belly dance flash mob–a flash mob is a group of people who have prearranged to arrive at a place at a certain time and do something (have a pillow fight, lip synch to “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music, play dead…) without … Continue reading →

Last night I decided to take an herbal bath.  Sounds deliciously relaxing, doesn’t it?  Oh, think again, my friends. A few days ago I was wandering aimlessly around Exeter and I happened to notice a fair in the Cathedral Green.  Various sustainable, eco-friendly, organic, fairtrade products were on sale.  An herbalist’s stall was selling something called “herbal face … Continue reading →

Here’s a sentence I never thought I’d say: a couple of days ago I punched a man in the face and he began to bleed. We had the following conversation just immediately prior to and after my assault on my opponent’s visage: Him: “Okay, good, but this time, really aim for my nose.”  (This was in … Continue reading →

So now I know what it’s like to use a whistle while laughing.  For the past few days I’ve been on an intensive researcher training/development retreat designed to help PhD students consider career options available to them and to develop skills like leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, those kinds of things. One of the tasks involved some blindfolded … Continue reading →

Dear Dr. Smith?, Perusing the news today I came across a BBC article about your mathematical modeling of possible outcomes of a zombie attack.  I appreciate you also making the full text of the published chapter available through your university webpage, though as I am not a mathematician, much of the statistics admittedly went over my head. But … Continue reading →

I hopped a train on Saturday for a whirlwind trip to London.  This time I was going for the monthly Saqarah hafla, hosted by my friends Eleanor and Nafiseh.  They were celebrating their second anniversary of hosting haflas (belly dance showcases/parties), which meant there was cake for all!  I was most excited to see a dance called … Continue reading →

So I called my mom the other day.  Ah the miracle of Skype for those of us who live far from home.  She asked how I was.  I said I was a little down. “One of my friends kissed me at the Firehouse the other night, and now he says there’s no chemistry between us.  Well why did he … Continue reading →

So did anybody read the Sunday New York Times this week?  My mom sends me a little care package with the comics every week and she always sends the Sunday Week in Review section with it.  (She calls this my OCBs–Only Child Benefits.)  I read Nicholas D. Kristof’s column “Not a Victim, But a Hero” (26 … Continue reading →