Back on-line!

Wow! So much has happened since we last spoke, I'm not even sure where to start. ...Well, first of all, I can now say, with all certainty, that moving does suck (as per the comment made by anonymous) no matter how few posessions you own and no matter how short the move. Do you know what really sucks? It's those last straggling boxes that you just stuff things into from your 'junk drawer' or from the piles that were lingering on your desk and that you don't really feel like you can toss away but at the same time, they don't really have any obvious place to go in your new home. Those boxes suck, packing them and then unpacking them.

But, we're all settled in now, and loving our new place. It's positively palatial compared to our last apartment and still close to the beach and right across the street from Gus' school. In fact, our view is of the chooks (that's aussie for chickens) that his school recently acquired. (sidenote: isn't Gus' school so amazing? they continue to delight me with their innovative teaching styles. Gus recently reported that if you're really good you get to take an egg home with you and all the kids are very excited about that. How unbelievably sweet is that?)

In other news, I am proud to say that I have been spectacularly productive on my thesis lately: I've acquired the funding that I'll need for my research, submitted one application for ethics approval, drafted up a second one that I'll be submitting at the end of the month; and have gotten support for my research from the three needle and syringe programs in the area where I'll be conducting my survey. In other words, for the past few weeks, I have been winning the battle with my Getting Started Monster (I hate that guy, I fight with him all the time!).

One last thing, remember that post where I wrote about the scary Aussie public health messaging and how they try to scare you into being good? Well, that's nothing compared to this new German ad about the dangers of unprotected sex and HIV. CRAZY!!! Have you seen it yet? I tried to find the video on youtube to show you, but it's been pulled. So here's a link to an alternate site that's showing it. If you follow the link, make sure there aren't any kids around - it's pretty graphic! Apparently, it's causing quite the hubbub in Germany and elsewhere. Understandably.