Typical Tuesday

I was planning to blog the continuation of my banking saga today. However, I'll save that for tomorrow after I go back to the bank and hopefully have a conclusion for the story (if not, I'll vent tomorrow!). I'll write about my day instead.......

I had St.Lucia's Day rehearsal today. All of the new people in the neuroscience department are required to perform in the St. Lucia's Day celebration on Dec 13th.

I get a different story about who St. Lucia is from every person I ask. Apparently, she was Italian (an no one's quite sure why Swedes celebrate her day - other than, according to Wikipedia, some believe she visited Sweden once). The basic story is that some guy loved her but she didn't love him. He ordered her to be burned at the stake. However, her miracle was that despite the fire that surrounded her, she was never burned. So, the guy slit her throat with a sword. I've also heard something about her eyes being gauged out (and so she's patron saint of the blind) - but I don't know where that fits in.

Anyway, on St.Lucia's day, someone dressed as Lucia (white robes and a wreath of candles on her head) leads a "train" (procession) and Lucia's maids and starboys follow behind. There are a whole bunch of tradional songs (all in Swedish, of course) that are used to celebrate. There's also some special bread and cookies that she gives out.

So, back to rehearsal.......Yes, they take this seriously (well, semi-seriously - a guy in a blonde wig will be our Lucia!) but we've already started song rehearsal in preparation for the 13th. And, we're meeting 2-3 times a week between now and then. Luckily for me, two whole labs joined the dept this year so there are 25-30 people in it this year (there are usually around 10 people).

I'll post more about this after it actually happens. I'll ask someone in my lab to take pictures. If they take video, I'll try to post a clip.

I did spend most of the day in lab (rehearsal was an hour and a half). I've been putzing around, trying different things out for the past two weeks. Things are starting to fall into place. I'm almost ready to do real experiments - probably later this week!