Semi-frequently, Brady will require the group to attend events together where we eat mostly fried foods and drink a responsible number of beers. Such events are called “mandatory fun”. Here are some photos of the mandatory fun that we are having. Attendance and fun are mandatory.

Science demos at Primrose School at Colorado Station (07/15/2024) - It was in the works for a longggg time, but I finally made it out (with the help of my lovely assistant Dr. Brian Donovan) to my daughter’s daycare to do some science experiments. It was hotter than hell outside in mid-July, but they had a shady spot for the kids, not so much for me… full sun, baby. I did a lot of different experiments but mostly I was attempting to show that the periodic table of elements contains different elements that make different molecules with different properties. I showed them balloons filled with helium (floats, lighter than air), air (semi-floating, semi-sinking, keepy uppy style) and sulfur hexafluoride (sinks, heavier than air). I took a big hit of helium and had a high voice, I took a big hit of SF6 and had a crazy low voice and a headache for the rest of the day to boot, LOL. We also froze a banana and a racket ball with liquid nitrogen, hit those with a hammer. We made slime. And for the grand finale, we did an elephant toothpaste which had a big pop. Despite me having all of the things to do a thermite reaction, everyone talked me out of it, wah. Maybe next year…. I finished it out by giving everyone 3D printed fidget spinners, they loved them. Thanks to Primrose for allowing and enabling my demos for the kids.

Team cobalt goes abroad (07/02/2024) - Our collaborator, Prof. Dave Haddleton, invited me out to give a talk at IUPAC Macro conference at the University of Warwick in the UK, I happily accepted. Meredith and Nick came along to give posters. It was the first time in a long time that I’ve traveled or have done anything without kids in tow, was feeling weird, but I made it through. With all the free time I had on my hands, which was wild, I mostly went to talks, caught up with friends, and walked or jogged around the extended campus area - which was beautiful. Coming from Colorado, where summer is hot and sunny, it was refreshing to get some overcast, mid-70s temps with intermittent showers. My talk was well-received and Nick/Meredith’s posters looked great. Caught up with Abby Knight and forced her to do a long walk in the rain, sorry, not sorry. Hung extensively with the homie Josh Worch, always good to chat and have a couple of beers with fellow Hoosiers. I took Nick and Meredith out for a fish and chips lunch and some cask conditioned beers. So strange that cask conditioned beers will come out of the tap pretty warm, but don’t seem to get warmer as a function of time while sitting at room temp. They aren’t my favorite, but they are also not my least favorite. Met Dave Haddleton in person for the first time and he even came to my talk! Meredith and Nick did an extended tour Europe following the conference before heading back state side. Overall, great trip!

Lab ski day at Arapahoe Basin (12/15/2023) - Despite us talking about doing one of these for years and years, we finally did it! I’m pretty lazy, and therefore, needed a kick in the ass by my colleague Allegra Aron, who helped with organization and brought her group. It was a bluebird day at A Bae, not a cloud in the sky, and barely any snow on the ground either, haha. I spent most of my day with the first-timers Ram and Riya trying to teach them how to ski (but did skip out for a few runs down from the top [no turns]). Ram put up a good effort and, true to form, kept a great attitude throughout. The yung gun Riya was linking turns by the end of the day! I cooked lunch for everyone consisting of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and smash tacos. I couldn’t figure out why the pancakes were coming out so weird, I make pancakes like 2 times a week for Zola and Iris, I KNOW HOW TO MAKE PANCAKES! WTF. Got home and realized… yeah, I forgot to melt 2 sticks of butter and add to the batter. That would have fixed things. I brought that Le Creuset kettle and I know Meredith was jelly, haha. Newcomers Thadius and Zac helped out with the cooking, the eggs turned out weird yet edible, thanks dudes. I determined that cooking for ~20 people on the side of a mountain using two camp stoves was horrible and I must have got Mckenna’s camp stove so dirty, my bad. I think everyone had a good time, Allegra and I tried our best! Maybe we will do it again next year, it made me tired. I was very touched by other members of the team joining in and helping out the new skiers (Mckenna, Meredith), great teamwork! Thanks Allegra for the super group ski day, many good vibrations across groups.

Group get together at Brady’s house (9/8/2023) - Well, summer went by fast, didn’t it? You can really smell the allergens in the air as winter fast approaches. I decided to have everyone over to my house again for a cookout, luckily, Brianna obliged. The whole crew came over on Sunday and we had a great time! Despite me never being to Venezuela, having no particular connection to the cuisine outside of going to Quiero Arepas on South Pearl like 2 or 3 times and only getting the same thing off the menu every time, and only vaguely looking in to arepas on YouTube, I decided to make arepas and all the fixins for 20 people. It was, of course, a smashing success. P.A.N. pre-cooked white corn meal is pretty cool and a nice product, quite literally you just need to add water (and salt), mix it together and start making arepa. I also prepared Reina Pepiada (which is just fancy chicken salad), some vastly under ripened plantains that I fried (Platanos Maduros), and a whole bunch of other stuff. People were sucking down the Montuckys and you know that app spread was on point. Some star guests were: Hope (Meredith’s mom), Ram’s two kids, Lola and Ted, and B. Donny and Kat! Evidently the times are a changin’, I remember the last two times I had the lab over to my house, only 3 people were there, now 20? Crazy. Oh well.
Strangely, I was very concentrated on Jeffe eating a lot of food. He obliged, haha. You polish that off with 4 or 5 Snickers(TM) ice cream bars, Jeffe?

Group hike at Bald Mountain (6/26/2023) - The quarter is finally over and summer has begun. The group is growing fast and we’ve had some recent successes. That means it’s time to play hooky and go outside. After I (Brady) had to stop for drinks, gas, and got the wrong trailhead (thanks Meredith, lol) we got started an hour late. I’m always late, so whatever, I didn’t care. Nice hike. We used to go dispersed camping in that area many moons ago before I/all my friends had kids and we no longer have fun. Anyway, beautiful day. Had lunch at Upslope brewery where they now apparently serve burgers and fries (also not been in many moons). The Mighty Burger was decent, prob like 7.1. Dr. Matt McBride of Tynt fame joined for a brew and burg. Frankie and the other dogs (Lola and Taffy) were loving the loose leash laws and some fresh air - hell, I was too.

Group get together at Brady’s house (2/27/2022) - After several weeks of brutally cold weather, the sun came out and it warmed into the high 50s over the weekend. Everyone got together to eat a bunch of stuff I (Brady) made. I freaked out 10 minutes before everyone arrived thinking that there might not be enough food. There was way too much food. We ate a lot of pizza and the weather was very nice. The Ooni pizza oven is a good product, works very well. 70% hydration, 3% salt. Brianna made several pizzas and they were very “taste” as Zola commented. Very nice app spread, if I do say so myself (I am saying it myself).