Road trips, alcohol, Star Trek, and other joys

Hello.

Life is pretty good around here lately...for lots of reasons. Here are some of the things that are making life interesting and lovely:

1. My bladder is healthy and happy again. The final verdict was YES take a probiotic, but at least 4-6 hours before or after taking the antibiotic. And cranberry pills.

2. I have an iPhone now, and it makes me very happy. Part of me feels like I might have fallen for the ultimate lie of consumerism ("This thing will make you happy!") but so far it's true. Aaaaand it was free, and I can still listen to all 50 gb of my music through iTunes Match.

3. I went to Utah this weekend to visit Carrie, and it was exactly what I needed. I taught her baby where her frontal cortex is and how to Bollywood dance, and Carrie and I sat and talked for about six hours. I love that woman. She is one of the most intelligent, open-minded, funny, creative people I know. It was a short visit, but enough to get a fix of Carrie, and that's what I needed.

4. We had an info meeting for the Playmill on Sunday, and though I am shy and self-conscious in large groups of new people, I'm still very very very excited to get to know them all and spend my summer at the Playmill. And I know that they won't be a large group of new people for long...within a month or two, I'll think of them as a family.

5. I accidentally made alcohol this weekend. Kind of. I've been drinking organic cranberry juice to help my bladder heal, and I dilute it with a little apple juice because otherwise it tastes DISGUSTING. I left a bottle in my warm office over the weekend, and found it again this morning. I took a sip and discovered that it was BUBBLY. I did some research and discovered that my cranberry juice had begun the fermenting process. Ha! So...does that mean I did conferences with my students with a very slight buzz on?

6. Star Trek: The Next Generation is on Amazon Prime Instant Video for Freeeeeee. The whole series. I think I've always called myself a Trekkie for the nostalgia. Like, I love Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and I remember my parents watching TNG when I was little, and the Tribbles episode of the Original Series is awesome. But I was kind of an "ironic" Trekkie...I liked it while knowing how cheesy it was, and kind of scoffing at those who were serious about it all. But after watching about fifteen episodes of TNG over the last few weeks, I've become an ACTUAL Trekkie...not an ironic one. BECAUSE STAR TREK IS SO AWESOME. It's so...philosophical! The Prime Directive creates tricky moral dilemmas, and the show deals with everything from alternate sexualities (Season 5 "The Outcast") to torture (Season 6 "Chain of Command"). Oh, and the end of "Chain of Command"? PICARD IS THE HERO OF THE UNIVERSE. Because THERE. ARE. FOUR. LIGHTS. Seriously. Go on Netflix or Amazon and start watching. That's what I'm about to do.