This is not good. I have a couple of students anxious to get to work (I’m anxious to get to work), and we’ve been prepping my lab zebrafish facility for an influx of new fish that we expected to arrive this week, and then I check into the Zebrafish International Resource Center, the source for all of our lines, and get this message.

Due to a fire, ZIRC services have been temporarily disrupted. We are unable to provide fish or accept submissions at this time. We sincerely apologize for this delay and hope that it does not seriously disrupt your activities. If you have an order pending at ZIRC, we will be in contact with you as soon as possible. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Yep, that’s us. Order pending. Expected to ship tomorrow. That’s not happening now. Most of my summer research money got spent on something essential that is indefinitely delayed.

Oh, well, I can’t blame ZIRC for a problem beyond their control, that I’m sure they’d rather hadn’t occurred either. I’m going to have to scavenge up some healthy, fecund experimental animals somehow. So my plan is to drive into Minneapolis today and visit a few quality aquarium stores (not Walmart) and scrape together a bunch of mongrel fish that will at least let me and my students do some preliminary practice. Which means my entire day is sort of demolished right now.

At least I can double up — I’m also taping some shows with Humanists of Minnesota this evening, so I’m making a long day of it.

Ophelia tells you the important stuff about our get-together last night: the view from the Olympic Sculpture Garden was spectacular.

If you think I was cute in that last picture, here’s an even better one: me and my mother in 1957.

Notice: no beard yet.

I love the pearls. Very Jackie.

I’m neglecting the blog because I’m hanging out with my mother and sisters, which means…getting all sentimental and going through the old photo albums. I’ve now got a whole series of photos illustrating the evolution of the beard. I thought you might be amused to see what I looked like in my teens going on twenties.

I used to be adorable before I got all grizzled and homely.

We’re meeting clandestinely on Friday, but the Humanists of Washington have also organized a meetup after my talk at Town Hall on Thursday. Join everyone here:

Elephant & Castle
1415 Fifth Avenue
Seattle, WA

I’m heading off to Seattle today, and I’ll be speaking at Town Hall on Thursday. I’m also planning on a get-together with Ophelia and other interested parties on Friday evening, somewhere in the city, but I’m not announcing where in public — intrusive trolls are even worse in the world of meat than they are in the world of the internet. If you’re in the area and interested in joining us, you’ll have to email me, say a little about yourself, and maybe I’ll reply with the top secret location. Maybe. If you sound nice.

Or if you know Ophelia, you can talk to her. We’re being cautious because I’m expecting a quiet evening of friendly conversation, and there actually are assholes in Seattle, as nice a city as it is otherwise, and they’re not invited. And if they show up, we’ll just be ignoring them.

In August, I’ll be speaking in Edinburgh, and the details of the event are emerging. I’ll be speaking at The Banshee Labyrinth at 7:50 on 14 August. I like the name.

I think that if you get lost looking for it, all you have to do is scream.

Right after my fun weekend at the World Humanist Congress, I’m heading off to Hebden Bridge. It’s somewhere in England, I hear.

I just looked it up: north of Manchester, about a 4.5 hour train ride from Oxford. And Edinburgh is 4 hours north of that; I’m hoping to pop in there, too.

I expect you all to show up, except for that one goofy English wackadoodle on twitter who always calls for everyone to boycott my talks. There’s the remotest chance he could show up, so his personal boycott might actually mean something, for a change.