This past Monday, I had the honor of attending my sister’s Ph.D thesis defense. She’s been on this path since she was in college, but this hour-long talk was the culmination of six years of serious work. We’re talking late nights and weekends in the lab, lots of experimental failures, and plenty of going back to the drawing board. While I’ve followed her throughout this journey, most of our conversations centered around particular events during a given experiment. Monday was the first time that I heard the narrative behind her research and understood how it all fits together.

Image: LoveIs Wise

The first day back to work after a break can be tough, but it’s even more difficult when it’s subzero out. Sometimes, you just need to add a little sparkle. My office...

When things aren’t going your way, it helps to have a reminder of your strengths. Based on a book by Andy Selsberg, “You Are Good at Things” celebrates the tiny victories: knowing just how high to toss a baby before it gets dangerous, deciding which doughnut you want with briskness and confidence, or trying on cheap sunglasses like you’re in a movie montage. Dan Castro’s animations made me smile on this chilly morning.

Illustration: Liz Climo

House finchnigel. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

One of my favorite books of all time is Love in the Time of Cholera. It was my uncle’s favorite, and my dad gave me an inscribed copy as a gift. Over the years, I’ve left a lot of books behind, and I rarely reread a book, but that novel is a rare gem. So happy to see UT archivists putting in the work to make his writing public. 27,000 pages is no joke!