春風の
花を散らすと
見る夢は
さめても胸の
騒ぐなりけり
-- 西行
the Spring wind
scattering blossoms
I saw it in a dream
but when I awoke the sound
was still rustling in my breast
-- Saigyō, translator unknown
ねがはくは
花の下にて
春死なむ
そのきさらぎの
もち月のころ
-- 西行
Let me die in spring
under the blossoming trees,
let it be around
that full moon
of Kisaragi month
-- Saigyō, translator Burton Watson
Welcome to my salon pour une. Enjoy the cherry blossoms.
Thinking back, I have definitely had better birthdays.
Ones that don’t involve babysitting reactions which look like chocolate soufflé but smell like concentrated vinegar.
Ones that don’t involve cleaning up said reaction after the oil bath overheated while I was in a meeting.
Ones that don’t involve said reaction mixture splashing onto my pristine lab coat and arms.
As my lab mate kindly pointed out: “Hey, at least you got a story for your birthday.” Thanks, R—.
(My lab mate is really good at chemistry puns, actually…)
Anyway. I’d like to think I totally rocked the conference–my presentation even picked up a prize, and I met some really awesome people (how could they not be awesome? They’re chemists!) Despite my misgivings about the small town of K—, it turned out to be irrelevant: We chemists know how to drink. And enjoy board games. Especially drunken board games.