Here we go again, back from another too-long, unannounced absence. And this time I failed to post a blog carnival, too!

(What happened? One thing: I was sick the days before it was to be posted and hence was unable to complete the carnival post as I only received like two submissions - TWO things: I was sick and only received like two submissions and then I couldn’t get hold of Irradiatus (who’s in charge of the carnival) - THREE things… you get where this is going. A number of circumstances conspired to stop me from posting the carnival, and then I was swept up in a flurry of real life activities precluding me from feeling inclined to blog much. Although I have no qualms about leaving my personal blog unattended, I feel horribly guilty about letting the Carnival of Evolution down. I will not offer to host a carnival again anytime soon, that’s for sure. I clearly can’t be trusted.)

So, what’s up? I’m on the last leg of a course called Molecular Ecology at the moment. It’s been good fun, studying a wide range of topics from population genetics to phylogeography to the use of pheromones in agriculture. It has definitely strengthened my resolve to focus on phylgenetics/systematics and historical biogeography in the future, as nothing makes my science gland tingle like those subjects. Unfortunately, I was handed a pretty dull topic for the last project on the course, so the last week is going to be a bit of a drag.

In other news, christmas has come and gone. If anyone’s curious about how a secular Swedish christmas is celebrated, I wrote about it last year. Also, on December 28 I passed the quarter-century milestone on my life’s journey (this being a very poetic way of saying I’m 25 and hence officially old - of course, if you ask my boyfriend, I’ve always been old, but on the morn of my birthday he upgraded me from “27″ to a “million billion years”). My birthday gift was a bed, which I’m very excited about, and which should arrive in a couple of weeks. Other news on the personal front include the fact that I finally caved in and took up WoW again. At the moment, however, I’m on a forced hiatus due to lack of money… And yes, I have used up my trials, thanks for asking.

On the humanism front, the Stockholm section of the Swedish Humanist Youth Organisation now has bi-weekly meetups at a café on Söder, which is good fun. One would think there’s a risk we run out of topics to talk about, but so far that hasn’t seemed to happen. After all, it’s not like we’re forbidden to discuss things outside of humanism. (Does sex count as on or off topic?) Also on the SHYO front, I co-authored an article in response to a letter to the editor in Kristianstadsbladet. It’s about morals, Darwin and nazis. I may translate it at some point. Tobias has also commented the letter on his brand new blog Yttranden (good luck with it, Tobias!).

That’s it for now. Now we all wait with baited breath to see how long I can keep it up this time…

humanism, biology, christmas