Lab Life & Oysters

Ok, so the blogging from Sweden plan is currently failing, mostly due to the fact that a) I've been busy conferencing, shopping, and enjoying Stockholm and b)I forgot my camera cable, so I can't post many pictures. Doh!

Instead we bring you the usual cool links! First up, Olivia Judson has a fascinating brief article about how evolutionary pressure creates major differences between lab animals and wild types. Second, nice Slate article on why eating oysters is awesome. Mmmm, oysters. At some point I will get around to posting pictures and stories from Sweden. Stay tuned!

In the Old Country

Hola, amigos and amigas. or as they say in Swedish: actually I have no idea how to say hello in Swedish. May need to remedy that. Looking back over the last two years, I realized that I actually have had some fairly interesting experiences while traveling recently. The airport girl in China, the awesome students and the crazy historical revisionist in Japan, the fat man in the river in Switzerland... it's a shame not to keep a record of these things. So, mostly for my own remembrance, what will follow over the next two weeks will be a series of self-indulgent narcissistic posts chronicling my adventures in Sweden. This will mostly consist of sitting through incredibly boring conference talks. You have been warned.

Initial impressions upon arrival in Sweden:
- Europe hates visible street signs. This is not helpful to idiot foreigners trying to find their way to their hotel based on google directions.
- It is not cool to wear a bike helmet.
- Stockholm loves sushi. Passed at least 6 sushi places on the one mile walk from the train station.
- "Elite double room" means one bed in a room slightly larger than the trunk of my car. This may be a long two weeks.