Archive meme

Oh dear, I've fallen a long way behind on my memes. Apologies to people who've tagged me, I haven't forgotten!

The Archive meme came from Mad Hatter and ScienceGirl. Here are the instructions:

Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you've written. ... but there is a catch:

Link 1 must be about family.
Link 2 must be about friends.
Link 3 must be about yourself, who you are... what you're all about.
Link 4 must be about something you love.
Link 5 can be anything you choose.

I think this is a great way to circulate some of the great older posts everyone had written, return to a few great places in our memories and also learn a little something about ourselves and each other that we may not know.

Post your five links and then tag five other people. At least TWO of the people you tag must be newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better....and don't forget to read the archive posts and leave comments!

This has been a really tough one for me. I don't really tend to blog about my friends and family, although there have been a couple of recent exceptions. But surely the point isn't to link to recent posts...

Hmm, to solve this dilemma I think I'm going to have to cheat a bit!

1: Family
Here come the cheating! Our biological family is Hominidae, which includes humans, chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, and orangutans. So here's a Primate Party post about bonobos, which are awesome. Check out the blog the post links to - Vanessa's gone quiet now, but it's definitely worth reading her archives.

2: Friends
More cheating! Here's a post on my Nature Network blog about the friendships I've made during my career, and what happened to them when people moved on to new cities and countries.

3: Myself, who I am... what I'm all about
This one's a little easier! Here's one of my first posts, describing why I got into science. I think it says a lot about who I am!

4: Something I love
I love men in kilts, but you already knew that. I also love clever wordplay and geeky science humour. Here's an example; I just wish I could take credit for it.

5: Anything...
Hmm, I really should have saved the rehash of the ERV triumph for this meme. I may as well complete the theme that I started with #3, so here's the post that originally followed it. The subject is "Why I got out of research".

Phew, that was tough! This post took me ages! Hopefully the next one will be easier. Sum up your life story in 6 words, yeah, piece of cake!

I won't tag anyone because this is such an old meme and I think I've read it just about everywhere already. I am not exactly an early adopter!