Potpourri:

Went out collecting with a bunch of UR people yesterday. Generally a successful enterprise, except that I fell heavily while climbing up a small embankment and bruised my right thumb very badly; one of my field companions, who didn't realize I was maiming myself in the process, commented that I looked like a very scary swamp thing while staggering up from the aforementioned abyss. Later in the evening, I got a nasty paper cut on the same thumb. And, this afternoon, my lower back went into hard spasm while I was doing some light housekeeping in and around the upstairs bathroom. My body is really starting to feel like it's off warranty again.

We have several cute little water boatmen (Corixidae) living in the swimming pool here at our apartment complex. If you've ever played Bugdom, you'll recognize them; the Water Taxi driver belonged to this family. Hope they continue to do well; I'm rather fond of this taxon.

Our copies of the fifth and sixth Harry Potter volumes have both arrived. (Borrowed Book 5 from a friend when it came out, but we'd never owned our own copy before.) Unfortunately, I'd forgotten how depressing and unenjoyable I found Book 5; in fact, after Book 2, I've liked each one less than the one that came before. I suppose at some point I'll get around to reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but at this point, it's unclear whether I'll stay up for several nights running to get through it, or instead postpone reading it for some period of time between a few days and fifteen to twenty years. The shorter time period is much more likely, but we'll see. I've been known to put off watching movies for similar stretches of time; I think I finally saw Bull Durham in 2002. Watch this space.

And, finally, some great news: Rick has been accepted to a preventive medicine residency here at UR, and will start the program next month. This was confirmed the day after Rick's 49th birthday. It's definitely fun for both of us to be in postdoctoral training programs approximately as many years past the traditional age as it usually takes me to get organized enough to watch a film or read a book that has piqued my interest.