otherwise engaged

Life has a way of throwing you curve balls occasionally, just to keep you on your toes. Sometimes the twists aren't so pleasant, but then again, sometimes they lead you in an exciting new direction you might not have otherwise explored. Case in point: When I moved to New York City after finishing college in Seattle, I had no idea I'd end up writing about physics and related sciences for a living -- and that it would be the perfect career for me.

Something similar happened when I started a blog called Cocktail Party Physics back in February. Among the many emails I received welcoming me to the blogosphere was a friendly missive from Cosmic Variance's Sean Carroll. Sensing a kindred spirit, we struck up an intermittent email exchange, eventually meeting at the APS April Meeting in Dallas. It was an unlikely setting for love to bloom, but nonetheless, bloom it did.

I now find myself engaged to this very same Sean Carroll -- as in, to be married. (Sean's own blogannouncement is here.) Past dating advice to geeks notwithstanding, my new fiancee status is quite the novelty, and I'm still navigating the unexpected twists and turns of the new fork my Road of Life is taking. But I promise not to turn into Bridezilla: wedding frenzy will not take over the cocktail party. (Jen-Luc Piquant, on the other hand, has been reading far too many back issues of Modern Bride, and is losing her Cyber-cool just  a bit.)

Some may wonder: why Sean Carroll, and not some other bloggy physicist or science type? I could provide a laundry list of reasons stretching into infinity, since one rarely needs an excuse to sing the praises of one's beloved. But I'll spare my readers. Let's just say that the man has his very own bag of plush plagues, stuffed toys that represent the biblical ten plagues of Egypt. There's even a tiny black cube of darkness. With eyes. I covet Sean's bag of plagues, and figure the best way of sneakily appropriating them for my own is to enter into the bonds of matrimony. Community property and all that.

But the real reason is best illustrated by this: On Wednesday, after I'd finished my blogging duties at the Industrial Physics Forum in San Francisco, we drove to his new home in Los Angeles via the "scenic route" along the coast. At sunset, we stopped briefly to refuel and to admire the brilliant orange, red and purple hues stretching across the horizon, and savor the peaceful sound of waves lapping against the shore. It was the perfect romantic setting to cap off a long and tiring several days. Sean is nothing if not romantic. So he put his arms around me and whispered, "Wouldn't it be fascinating to take a Fourier transform of those waves?"

I will never listen to ocean waves or view a beautiful sunset in quite the same way again. He is always doing this, surprising me with an off-the-cuff observation, confronting my too-pat assumptions, challenging me to consider things from a variety of angles rather than the easiest or most obvious, and joyously inviting me to share his passion for discovering as many mysteries of the universe as we can manage in our comparatively short time here on earth. I can't imagine anyone else I'd rather have by my side as I take this new fork in my Life-road. Who knows where it will lead? All I know is -- I won't be bored.

Comments

[Lee Kottner]

Let me be the first to congratulate you and Sean. May you make many Fourier transforms together. Who else would marry a guy for his Cube of Darkness? :^)

[Allyson]

Does this mean you're moving to LA (Sunnydale)? Hooray! And congrats! I once had my very ownes crush on Dr. Carroll, and am so very happy to hear that he's over the moon for a member of the slayage sisterhood.

This is all so lovely!

[TBB]

Congratulations, Jennifer, let me be the second to say best wishes for a happy, healthy, intellectually stimulating, and "physical" life together! And fun...don't forget the fun. :-)

[Louise]

Congratulations! May this lead to a happy future for both of you!

[Rob Knop]

Congratulations! And hooray for the Internet as a way of helping bring people together, in contrast to the stereotype as it being a way of subverting human interaction.

-Rob

[coturnix]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!! What a fantastic match!

[TBB]

Oh, so, did you get a diamond anvil? ;-) (You don't have to answer.)

[Erica]

Words fail me, so I'll fall back on platitudes. Congratulations, Jen - I wish you both a lifetime of joy. (You can get the plushy plagues at Archie MacPhee.)

I'm so very happy for you!

Erica

[N. Peter Armitage]

But what happens to an internet avatar when her meat world counterpart becomes spoken for? Is pauvre petite Jen-Luc destined for a virtual life of old maidhood? You know, I know this very nice avatar over on the Huffington Post...

Congrats to you both!

[Astroprof]

Congratulations!
See, I always tell my students that physics can be phun.

[Jennifer Ouellette]

Thanks to everyone for the congrats... Can't respond to everyone in turn, but I can answer a few obvious questions:

(1) Yep, I'll be moving to Los Angeles, although finding time to actually make the move, given our respective schedules in the first half of 2007, will be a major challenge.

(2) We so could not have made this work without the glories of the Internet! A truly amazing series of tubes!

(3) I didn't get a diamond anvil, but there was a mishap with the ring re-sizing that might just spawn a blog post about the materials properties of gold... and possibly diamond... based on that terrific comment thread a couple of weeks ago.

(4) Jen-Luc Piquant feels a bit betrayed and abandoned at the moment, since she'd always envisioned a nice long mutual spinsterhood for us both. She might be interested in meeting a few attractive avatars... although ideally, she wants a Phil Plait avatar. :)

[Arunn]

Congratulations to both of you...

In a strange coincidence, only two days back, I started a series on Fourier series at my blog... ;)

[Lara]

"Sean is nothing if not romantic. So he put his arms around me and whispered, 'Wouldn't it be fascinating to take a Fourier transform of those waves?'"

Brought tears to my eyes.

[Jenn]

That's awesome, congratulations. I love stories like this... life is crazy for sure but crazy can be so much fun.

[Abel Pharmboy]

Okay, I'm not a physicist but I am a sap for a great romantic story. Hearty best wishes to you both and congratulations!

[The Science Pundit]

CONGRATS!!! I'm sure Jen-Luc will find her own love out in L.A. I look forward to reading all about it.

[Quasar9]

Well I can't be the firt
so I'll join the long q
to wish you both all the best

PS - I sortta guessed, you know. lol!

[Patrick]

*sniff* Congrats. May it last a lifetime.

[SteveT]

Much hearty clinking of foamy mugs to you both!

As someone who has been married to another physicist for 15 years, I will warn you that you are joining a VERY exclusive club of profoundly strange couples. Have I mentioned here before that my wife-to-be and I held hands in graduate quantum mechanics class? Looking back, that weirds even ME out!

And don't even get me started on the kids! Our then two-year-old daughter spontaneously used the phrase "Thermal shock!" when exiting an air conditioned room into the hot CA sun. Any kids you have are clearly doomed from the start!

You have my sincere good wishes for a long, successful, and strange marriage!

[Kristin]

Congratulations again, Jennifer! How about a blog posting about the physical behavior of light inside diamonds, now? ;-)

[Ken]

As one physics geek a long way down the asperger's scale (and I just about manage to function with people suffering "normal social adjustment syndrome" around me) married to another such I can heartily recommend the union. How else could you say things like "Oops, it's spontaneously decayed to the ground state" when you drop something on the floor and have your partner understand? Or better yet, have *her* make that quip to you...sigh.

And yes, the kids are a problem. For other people.

Enjoy. And did I mention congratulations?

[Mustafa Mond, FCD]

Boy, I don't know; Fourier or wavelet analysis?

[dileffante]

:'-)
Felicidades!!!

[Phil Plait, aka The Bad Astronomer]

Hooray!

[Phil Plait, aka The Bad Astronomer]

Hey, wait! Is Jen-Luc still available?