Oh -- You look like Monster Ma!

As you all know, my birthday was last week, and I haven't posted anything as it's been a slow-developing event. A few musings:

1. Nimue greeted me with the title of this post sometime during the day. It seems appropriate given the comparison of my old drivers licence picture (taken shortly after I started grad school) and the new one I just got. The two pictures are clearly of the same person, but it appears that in the last 10-15 years I have made the transition between looking like Bambi (Sarah's description) to Monster Ma (Nimue's). Chad made a very diplomatic comment about the general evilness of DMV photography, but if I extrapolate from the two existing data points, the next picture will portray me as a demented hag.

No, I haven't gotten a strange dye job, just bad lighting....)

2. Nimue presented me with a lizard flashlight. If you press on its back, its mouth will open and shine light. Monster Ma has a new familiar. (insert cackle here)

3. The planned ride up Mt. Hamilton: You don't need the gory details. Suffice it to say, the tire gods, who had been mercifully ignoring me through the rainy part of the cycling season decided that the morning of April 10 was the time to turn their baleful eyes in my direction. Ride rescheduled to later in the month when it's likely to be warmer anyway. Monster Ma thwarted. Grrrr.
(Chad and I did get a mellow ride into Palo Alto for lunch, where we had delightful panini and cake at the Prolific Oven. Monster Ma mollified.)

4. Cake. Mmmmmm. Monster Ma like CHEESECAKE. Monster Ma HUNGRY!! Monster Ma GET cheesecake !!!!! Monster Ma satisfied :)