One Does Not Cage the Crow

I love my bike, but it's slowly killing me.  The year has not been kind to it.  It's rusted in weird places, and as I pedal, sometimes I can feel vibrations rumbling through my foot.  It squeaks, clacks, and sometimes produces this grating noise that seems to penetrate my very being.

So soon, I came to the realization I needed a new bike.

Some of you might remember how I obtained my current bike.  I woke up at the unholy hour of 4:30 am to stand in the cold with my friend and several other bike-less people to enter the city's auction of abandoned bikes.  So, since I need a new bike, I decided to try this again.  This time, however, when I woke up, it was raining, and I seriously considered going back to bed.  But something kept me awake.  An evil something...

So I headed down to the bike auction, alone this time, but better dressed, and completely warm.  I brought a book, a book-light, and a muffin.  The wait did not bother me.

And I ended up finding a pretty awesome bike - it was green, aluminum (meaning no rust and super-light) and even had gears!  It was one of the better bike brands.  I purchased my new find and rode it home.  It was like riding on air.  Amazing.

I chained it up outside, right next to my old bike.  I even admired my new bike from my window.

The next day I looked out the window.

It was gone.

I ran outside to where I had left my bike.  My old bike was still there, slowly rusting away.  My new bike, along with the chain, were nowhere to be seen.

I spent the next several hours running around - around the neighborhood looking for my bike, in case some drunk students moved it as a prank.  To the place I bought the bike where they politely told me it wasn't their problem.  To the police station where they had me file a report, but said there was little they could do.  I spent the afternoon wandering the main part of the city, looking at the endless seas of parked bikes, looking for my own.  I found several that looked very similar, but always there was something that let me knew it was not mine.  After all, there are a lot of bikes in this city. 

Days past.  Every time I passed a bike rack, I would look for my lost bike. 

Will I ever find you?

I don't know if I'll ever stop looking, but chances are, I'll never see my bike again.  One of my (Dutch) friends consoled me by saying, "Congratulations - you are now officially Dutch."

If those evil bike thieves could glimpse the grief and sadness that they caused me, having only been able to ride my new bike a grand total of 5 minutes, perhaps they would have reconsidered stealing that bike.  Or perhaps there really are soulless and heartless people in the world.

You may have noticed, my old bike wasn't stolen, although the evil bike thieves certainly walked right by it.  After conveying my anger, one of my friends told me a story - he and his wife left their bikes chained together to a tree.  One day, when they returned, the chain was cut.  Her (nicer) bike was taken, but his bike, the old trashy bike, was still there.  He said, "Happiness is low expectations and a trash bike".

One does not cage the crow... he is free.    

The Defense

Getting your PhD is a serious business in the Netherlands.  A formal, serious business.  A good friend of mine, Chiara, recently defended her PhD.  Here's an idea of what it was like.

The defense itself is in an amazingly fancy room - an "academic chapel" if you will.  On one side are tall stained glass windows...

And on the other is "balcony seating".

The entire thing is officiated by "the man with the staff".  In his formal attire, he leads the committee in, and then the PhD candidate.

Chiara is accompanied by "body guards" - two friends who technically can answer any questions for her, but in reality escort her around, dressed nicely, looking tough.

The three of them process to the front of the room, and bow to the committee members, who sit at tables on either side of the room, dressed in black robes.

The "main" committee member, in addition to his black robe, gets to wear a chain and carry a bell.

Chiara's two advisors peruse her thesis as questions are asked.  Each committee member gets one question, and they are addressed in turn.

Chiara answers each question, starting out with the phrase "I thank you for your question" or something similar (in Dutch), then proceeds to answer the question (in English).

The front of the room is quite elaborate as well, with a huge mural that the audience, of grad students, postdocs, and family members, can stare at when they can no longer follow the questions.

When time is up - time is up.  The man with the staff walks back in and demands an immediate cessation of the questioning.  It lasts precisely 45 minutes, which means that sometimes, a committee member doesn't get their question answered.  (Much unlike the system for my defense, where the questioning period went on for literally hours.)

The committee processes back out...

... followed by Chiara and her bodyguards.

After a little while, a much more happy and relaxed Chiara processes back in...

and is presented with her diploma (yay!)

Her PhD advisors take the time to give moving speeches.

Her parents look proudly on.

Afterwards, the tradition is to present the new PhD with gifts that have to do with their time in Groningen. 

First a bunch of flowers (to remember the beautiful Dutch flowers).

One of the gifts I suggested was a stuffed cow... Chiara had an encounter with a big scary Dutch cow and now she is scared of cows - so we gave her a sweet stuffed cow (immediately commandeered by her younger cousin).

Of course, espresso cups for the Italian who loves a good coffee.

And since she plays basketball, a basketball we all signed.

Something in the Grass

When in Pittsburgh, my brother also took me to the conservatory - a series of greenhouses filled with all sorts of plants, that can be visited any time of year, even in the winter.

There were some strange things growing in the grass.

Some very interesting plants.

And aliens!

They had an orchid room - filled with unique orchids.

This one sort of looks like Gandolf, don't you think?

The funnest place to visit was the butterfly room, where hundreds of butterflies flitted around.   It was fun to stand among them, trying to photograph them with my brother.  Butterflies are shy, so they don't stay in one place long enough to be photographed.  It takes a lot of skill to catch them - luckily, I have that skill.

This one looks like a crunched, dry leaf!

Joey tries to photograph the butterflies.

This giant flower is nicknamed the "corpse flower".  It rarely blooms, but when it does, it smells just like rotting flesh, attracting all sorts of flies and other unsavory insects to come and pollinate it. 

Time for lunch.

My brother enjoys playing in the conservatory.  Here he is, inside the tiny fun-house for kids.

And pushing a cart through India.

Next up - the bonsai room, including this unstable specimen.

An amazing flower - made of glass.

Outside, we find this furry creature, and have fun following him through the bushes trying to get a good shot of him.

Brothers and Bikes

Recently, I was very lucky to be able to visit my brother in his home in Pittsburgh.  While I was there, he and his girlfriend decided to give the Dutch side of me a treat - a long bike tour of the city. 

Joey suits up for the bike ride.

We start by a lot of going downhill.  Living in the Netherlands, where almost everything is flat, I'm not used to these speeds - and I look forward (with dread) to the uphill return trip.

Descending into the green.

We turn along to follow the river.  Do you know that Pittsburgh has more bridges than any city in the world?  Riding along the river it's no surprise - that city sure loves its steel suspension.

We leave the river and turn into downtown, filled with jagged skyscrapers...

and... dinosaurs?

Shaped like a ketchup bottle?

We reach "The Point" - the confluence of three rivers.  A point if you can name any one of them (no google!)  

Here we stop, park our bikes, and look out over the river, watching the people enjoy the warm summer day and the sunshine along the rivers.

Bram and I pause at the fountain, with all of Pittsburgh laid out behind us.

Now we turn to follow the other river, and pass under this bridge, covered in quilts.

Yes, quilts.

Finally, we turn to pass through a tunnel, with blue waterfalls on either side.  We didn't actually need to go through the tunnel, but decided it would be a nice way to cool down.