I'm back from LPSC now. It was a good week, but very exhausting. The thing about LPSC is the parties every night of the week, hosted by major universities. So I think I'm going to be dry for a week or two.

Anyway, my poster went well Thursday night. Too well, I might say. There was a constant stream of people who wished to talk to me, which is a good thing when I'm trying to get my name out there fishing for possible postdocs. On the other hand, there were a number of posters that I wanted to see that night, and I didn't really get a chance to see them. But after the poster session, my week was pretty much done. Time to cut loose! That night the big party was at a local bar, hosted by the University of Arizona. I met some very cool people there and had a lot of fun. I hope my horrible dancing didn't scare off too many people, though.

By the way, I think I had one of the best ideas of my life this week. A large portion of the oysters in the US come from the gulf coast of Texas, so I always make it a priority to have oysters at least once a week. And to tell the truth, I do get a craving for them every now and then, but I know they'll never be as good as the one's in Houston. But what if you're vegan? My solution is SOYSTERS! You can start with some silken tofu in a plastic shell on ice. Since the best oysters don't have much of a taste (except that they taste "fresh"), I don't think flavor would be much of a problem. The big obstacles are texture (probably not much of a problem) and appearance. Real oysters are gray and have a black rim, which might be hard to replicate. But I think soysters would be a great appetizer for more hip vegan restaurants like Green (formerly Veggie Fun) and Mandala Tearoom. And you'd never have to worry about having rotten raw shellfish! I'm welcoming comments on this idea, especially if it is actually a horrible idea and I'm just fooling myself!