Poor Oyster’s Garter, languishing away while I slave in the tunicate mines and Eric gallivants off to Tahoe for his annual ski vacation. Soon I will supply you with my take on the Great Marine Invertebrate Wars (Down with molluscs AND echinoderms! Up with urochordates!) along with XXX Adult-Only Red Hot banana slug photos. In the meantime, here’s what I’ve been up to instead of supplying your science-blogging needs:

  • I am learning how to grow the golden star tunicate Botryllus schlosseri in the lab. It is quite a fetching creature with lovely orange or blue zooids arranged in a flower shape. It’s also invasive all over the temperate world, so it’s quite handy as a model organism. More on the awesomeness of tunicates later.
  • Last Thursday, the debonair Mark Powell of blogfish took me out for a fine Thai dinner. Mango coconut rice, career advice, and science blog gossip…what more could a grad-student blogger desire?
  • Over the weekend, I went backpacking near Pico Blanco in Big Sur. Being the nice Jewish girl that I am, I even packed out hamentaschen for a proper backcountry Purim celebration. Even though I’m a die-hard East Coaster, I could get used to this combination of stunning scenery and no mosquitoes. Also, I LOVE BANANA SLUGS!!!! (even though on principle, urochordates are way better than molluscs. but OMG, the big yellow slugs with the adorable little oral tentacles that they waved so cutely…wudda little slug!)

Next on The Oyster’s Garter: sexy banana slug pics and why urochordata is the BEST PHYLA EVAH.