Wordpressing it up

The reena/princess diaries has officially changed location to: Wordpress! Why? Well, I feel bad listing all the reasons why on a blogger blog (for fear of revenge, obviously), so check it out yourself to see why. Hopefully you will like it better as well! Click here to get to the *new page* :)

Las Meninas

VELAZQUEZ, Diego
Las Meninas
1656
Oil on canvas
10'5" x 9'1"
Museo del Prado, Madrid

Last summer, I had the opportunity to travel around Spain with my aunt. It was absolutely amazing to go for so many reasons: 1) I hadn't gone to Europe in a really long time, since I was probably too young to enjoy it, 2) It was Spain! I could practice Spanish, 3) Culture, culture, culture. I could go on and on, but I am going to hold myself back for the sake of a short-ish blog entry :)

One of the many famous paintings that we saw was "Las Meninas" by Velazquez, while visiting El Prado in Madrid. I can't say that I had heard of it before going to Spain, but once stepping into the museum its reputation precedes it...and it's popularity was evident in the crowds of people standing before it. I managed to get this picture - for some reason in El Prado they let you take pictures of the paintings, as long as there was no flash (Most of the other museums we went to completely banned it. I wasn't going to complain though).

First thing to notice: The painting is HUGE (!!), I couldn't get it into one picture. So as a disclaimer, I'm not going to pretend to know anything about art history for the sake of describing this painting accurately, because really...I know nothing about this stuff. For a very art-history-oriented description, check out this review or this one, with more of a focus on Velazquez. From the audioguide, this is what I remember: This painting describes a scene that actually took place - a painting being painted. Velazquez is seen on the left hand side, paintbrush in hand. The focus of the painting is the infanta Margerita, who has come into the room while her parents (the King and Queen) are being painted by Velazquez (you can see their reflection in the mirror hanging on the back wall). She is surrounded by two of her 'Meninas', which basically means handmaid or lady-in-waiting. On the lower right-hand side are two entertainers of the court: the dwarfs.

Insert here: moment of dramatic silence.

I always thought that the dwarfs were randomly chosen to entertain the Spanish aristocrats, and disturbing as that is, just left it at that. According to Dr. Taylor (one of my favourite professors in the Faculty of Medicine and U of T!), the King selectively mated the dwarfs to propagate a population of dwarfs for the sake of their entertainment. Just a little disturbing, no? Maribarbola, the female dwarf standing closest to la infanta Margerita, had achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism where they have a normal size trunk with short limbs. Apparently this is the most common type. The other dwarf (introduced as the court jester in the audioguide), Nicolasito, had a growth hormone deficiency as his limbs and features are in proportion with the rest of his body. Just another example of how science can define itself in so many different disciplines, and also how Velazquez lives up to his reputation of the ultimate realistic painter :) I love it.

Must...blog...more...

Ah, sweet procrastination
The temptation of knowing that I shouldn't be blogging makes it extremely irresistable...I feel like such an addict. To satisfy this blog-craving I am resorting to posting small mini-entries. Today I'm positing about a recent entry written on the blog of a friend aka my european informant. He recently posted a video of a musical duo Rodrigo y Gabriela performing one of their songs...and I'm completely in love. First of all, I'm a total musical instrument junkie. I go to those campus performances of students who play piano or trumpet to raise money for some charitable organization...and yes, I get goosebumps while listening. I went to band camp. I have an acoustic guitar sitting around my condo (currently collecting dust, but soon enough I shall become like Gabriela...ah, I can't lie! She rocks). Anyways, basically I'm stealing his blog entry because I've become obsessed with it, so here you go. Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! I've got to give the guy credit, it was a good post.



Memories...memories...
Secondly, I'm going through a nostalgic phase (I always seem to have excess time to reflect on the past and debate the true meaning of my existence...etc...when I have work to do) so here's a classic video, which first made it's debut here.

Watch the video
Maybe I should put it into context, so we don't look like complete fools. (1) We were on a road-trip in NYC, therefore had a whole weekend of being insane and crazy while running around the city. (2) Our room was really ghetto...see the wall. It was a jail cell in disguise. (3) No, we hadn't been drinking. We're just naturally hilarious. (4) We're singing about doilies, because Court bought a shirt that looked like a doily. Obviously.

Wow, this blog entry is so stolen :) On another note, I have internet at home FINALLY! Thanks to my roomie and her excellent router-configuring skills. Soon to come: an original blog entry. Soon.

Benefits of working in a lab

The Buff Scientist
You know you need to go to the gym more often when: your only source of that post-workout lactic-acid muscle burn is a long day of pipetting in the lab.

Yes, it sounds super geeky, but I'm attempting to gloss over that fact with my heading...yup, I'm buff now after working in a lab. At least my right arm is.

The quick fix for neuroglycopenia*: alcohol

Ah, life after undergrad. I've only been offically registered as a M.Sc. student for a couple weeks now, but I sense a pattern. Work hard, play hard. I like it (for obvious reasons). I can come in at 8pm or all day on a Saturday and people will be in lab (= work hard). Okay, so it seems a lot like undergrad in that sense, working insane hours towards a goal (edumacation or some letters after your name = goal). However FINALLY in grad school there is a payoff. To ease the pain of this excessive brain usage, every other day there is an event luring us with 'subsidized wine' or 'cheap beer'...and I'm not complaining. I have a total weak spot for red wine. It's really a great atmosphere - I think everyone is affected by the lack of social contact (no more hours in the library surrounded by everyone stressing out = social contact in undergrad) and so we've been on this mad hunt for the parties. For example, today there is a wine & cheese on campus. Tomorrow there is a cheap beer/wine networking party in one of the hospitals (yes, in a hospital, it's where we hang out). As the new official Social Coordinator (yay! capitalized on purpose...denotes importance) of GASP (Graduate Association of Students in Phyiology) of course it is my responsibility to be informed of such events, and as well to organize and attend such events...you know, I'm just fulfilling my responsibility. Well, at the very least there is the promise of making a few more friends and having some fun :) Not a bad deal at all.

*Neuroglycopenia: Your brain and you have been working overtime, depleting your glucose (aka energy) stores and therefore you need to either (1) eat, or (2) drink something. Alcohol does have a lot of sugar in it. I had to put this in the title because it was one of our favourite words to use during the summer when we could use a Tim Horton's break - "I'm feeling a little neuroglycopenic" (followed by all of us cracking up).

Big cities can be dangerous

To illustrate my last post about the Creepy people (those ones that make unnecessary extraneous contact), here's a video about Juan Mann, a guy that walked around with a big sign "FREE HUGS"...offering up the obvious. It's cute, I have to admit, but inspirational? Still thinking about that one.



Notice how at the beginning everyone thinks he's kinda weird and avoids the man who attempts to make PHYSICAL contact, nevermind just attempting to talk to them. First he can only get the trusting old ladies to hug him. Eventually it moves on to a few touching group hugs (I'm a big fan of the group hug), and even some hugs-with-stunts (see the skateborder).

This is an excerpt which was posted with the clip:
As this symbol of human hope spread accross the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED.

Banned?! For HUGGING? Yup, them group hugs are pretty dangerous to society (I've had experience)

The Creep vs. The Friendly Guy

There are those people that are definitely creepy. Those strange smelling ones with greasy hair that hang around excessively staring at you (= creep). But there sometimes can be a very fine line between those people that are creepy and those that are just trying to be plain friendly, and often I find myself choosing the more cynical path. I think it's a big-city phenomenon - people just do not interact with each other (See"The monkeys are scared of each other"). I know I posted a while back about how nice it was to meet someone friendly in the elevator - this really only applies in a safe environment, like the workplace. If the same encounter occured in some random building it would be totally different and I would be counting the seconds until I escape from this person would be possible.

Last night I took the subway home to avoid the weirdos on Yonge St., but apparently it was inescapable. After exiting the subway, this random guy smiled at me and said hi - feeling sorta mean if I didn't reply, I said hello back. BAD IDEA. I won't go into details, but I think it could be classified as C-R-E-E-P-Y. Actually, now that I think about it, this random guy on Yonge St started talking to me the other day as well, and turned out to be a little creep-o as well. Hmmm....I think this deserves a list.

Reena's Guide to Social Interactions

1. Always listen to your mother: Don't talk to strangers.
2. Appearances can be decieving (Yonge St man looked pretty clean cut).
3. Appearances can be indicative of character (Subway guy looked weird).
4. Cynicism should be the default outlook on life.
5. Eye contact should be avoided at all cost. Wasn't there some monkey-movie about this? If you look them in the eyes they will kill you? Something like that.
6. No smiling either.
7. Okay, okay. Some people are nice. But they should have to pass a test for insanity (or sanity?) before getting this designation.


Is it just me, or do other people find this as well?! Does anyone else actually look these guys in the eye, and therefore incite the weirdo interaction? Feel free to post any additional advice you might have, I could definitely use it.

These wonderful, educational experiences remind me of the good ol' Sex and the City episode, The Freak Show, where Carrie wonders: "Are all men freaks?" I couldn't find a clip of it anywhere online, but here's the official episode guide.