Florida weather

The tropical summer weather is starting in earnest. I've started to notice my glasses fogging up when I step outside and we've started having sudden cloudbursts. Last night when I went to the grocery, the sun was shining and there were few clouds. By the time I finished my shopping, it was pouring too hard to even consider dashing to the car. And then 10 minutes later the sun was shining again.

Congratulations to my friend Katherine for successfully completing a marthon last weekend! And get this - she did it with no special training program. She headed to San Diego with the intention of cheering on one of her friends and then decided at the last minute that she would run too. And then the next day she ran the marathon.

Several years ago my good friends Anne and Rick Lainhart recommended George R. R. Martin's "Song of Ice and Fire" book series, for which I will be forever grateful. The series, though not yet complete, is wonderful. It's technically a fantasy series, but it is also full of political drama and intrigue with wonderfully complex characters. For awhile, there were 5 of us in my lab at UCLA who were reading the books and we had so much fun discussing it. Well now I have convinced my officemate here at UF to read it. I loaned her my copy of the first book and she was hooked after one night. I am excited about vicariously experiencing the books again through her and recommend the series to anyone who enjoys books that require thought and attention.