Holy crap, France was awesome! Aside from some unbelievably lumpy beds, the trip was just about perfect. So much cheese. In 5-7 course meals. With wine. And sunshine. And everyone mostly getting along swimmingly.
I had intended to post some photos tonight, but apparently the camera battery needs to charge first. And I'm way too jet lagged to write anything coherent so instead I'll spend the evening ready the bazillion posts I missed on other blogs.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
Summer is flying by!
It's already time for our France trip! I can't believe it. This trip seemed like something in the distant future until like, yesterday.
For those of you who haven't been hanging on my every word for months, we're going to France for EGM's sister's wedding. She lives there and is marrying a French man. She made our lodging arrangements so I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but I'm pretty sure we're staying near here. Looks splendid to me! Also, I got this dress on sale (but still expensive to me) to wear at the wedding. They had it in petite and it actually fits which is rare so I'm happy.
I'm also pleased with myself because I feel like I left things in pretty good shape at work. I sent another draft of my paper to my advisors and another colleague. I also sent a draft of our symposium proposal to Academic Advisor, who is particularly good at seeing the big picture to make things sound sexy and he makes good general comments on early drafts of text. We let the Society people we're working with know where we are in the process and told them we're pausing work for the next week (Cauliflower will be traveling as well, although probably with better Internet access than I'll have). I feel like I accomplished a lot this week.
I think I'll write a post sometime soon about the symposium stuff. I've had a few observations I'd like to share and a few people seemed interested in the process.
For those of you who haven't been hanging on my every word for months, we're going to France for EGM's sister's wedding. She lives there and is marrying a French man. She made our lodging arrangements so I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but I'm pretty sure we're staying near here. Looks splendid to me! Also, I got this dress on sale (but still expensive to me) to wear at the wedding. They had it in petite and it actually fits which is rare so I'm happy.
I'm also pleased with myself because I feel like I left things in pretty good shape at work. I sent another draft of my paper to my advisors and another colleague. I also sent a draft of our symposium proposal to Academic Advisor, who is particularly good at seeing the big picture to make things sound sexy and he makes good general comments on early drafts of text. We let the Society people we're working with know where we are in the process and told them we're pausing work for the next week (Cauliflower will be traveling as well, although probably with better Internet access than I'll have). I feel like I accomplished a lot this week.
I think I'll write a post sometime soon about the symposium stuff. I've had a few observations I'd like to share and a few people seemed interested in the process.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Turning tables
I'm really excited about the symposium idea I developed with a friend at Big Meeting. We've had nothing but positive feedback on it, so we're going to move forward and propose the idea for next year's meeting. I'm super jazzed about the idea as well as a little thrilled at the prospect of putting together the session -- having a legit reason to interact with famous scientists, getting additional exposure, etc. Of course, the proposal has to pass review, so our chances aren't outstanding, but just making an attempt will be good for us.
This friend needs a pseudonym. I'll call her...Cauliflower. She is a pretty close colleague despite working several states away. We had the same fellowship that required us to attend yearly workshops so we've been seeing each other annually for that in addition to seeing each other at other conferences. Our advisors collaborate, and now Cauliflower is collaborating with my advisor on a dissertation improvement project that had her staying with me while she worked in our lab for a month. She has graduated now, but she will return again during the winter to finish the project. We do extremely complementary work, so I can see us having a very long-lived collaboration.
Anyway, I had an interesting revelation today. It's possible that every speaker we invite to participate in our symposium could be a woman, without us even trying. We've been brainstorming names for several days, so today I started to make a list to organize our ideas. Almost every candidate is female. Since I don't want to be a hypocrite, I will try for better gender balance in our session. Plus, there are a few men who would make excellent contributions. But still, that's pretty cool, huh?
This friend needs a pseudonym. I'll call her...Cauliflower. She is a pretty close colleague despite working several states away. We had the same fellowship that required us to attend yearly workshops so we've been seeing each other annually for that in addition to seeing each other at other conferences. Our advisors collaborate, and now Cauliflower is collaborating with my advisor on a dissertation improvement project that had her staying with me while she worked in our lab for a month. She has graduated now, but she will return again during the winter to finish the project. We do extremely complementary work, so I can see us having a very long-lived collaboration.
Anyway, I had an interesting revelation today. It's possible that every speaker we invite to participate in our symposium could be a woman, without us even trying. We've been brainstorming names for several days, so today I started to make a list to organize our ideas. Almost every candidate is female. Since I don't want to be a hypocrite, I will try for better gender balance in our session. Plus, there are a few men who would make excellent contributions. But still, that's pretty cool, huh?
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Meeting notes
Oh my, have I been dragging my heels about posting my experience at the Big Meeting last week. I have been thinking about all the things I want to share, so this post is a little rambly and I might write more later. Plus I'm so excited about some of it that I've wanted to work rather than blog. So out of character!
First of all, thank you for all the well-wishes before I left. My talk went reasonably well, I think. Not outstanding, but not a flop. I felt very lucky because I was in one of the few rooms that was an appropriate size for the attendance at my session (most sessions were in rooms that were pratically empty or had people sitting on the floor in the aisles). While I was speaking, I noticed that the audience was very still and quiet. I took this as a good sign, since people tend to get fidgety if they are bored during a 20 min presentation (rather than falling asleep in that short time).
As for the science, I saw some good talks and posters, but no standouts that really blew me away. There a few clunkers, but mostly what I saw was solid but not ground breaking. Where I really benefitted was the networking.
When people asked about my timeline, I was able to say I'd be graduating soonish and I am starting to think abut post doc opportunities, so hopefully I'm on the radar for some labs. I think a few people might be interested, but it's still a little far off. I also tried to talk up a new experiment that my research group has recently established, the kind where we do the most central aspects of the research and others come from elsewhere to use the study site to perform related work in a somewhat synergistic way. I think at least one person will be contacting Research Advisor about a possible collaboration. I also had an idea for a symposium that I think I'm going to propose with a grad-student friend. Everyone I have suggested it to has encouraged us to pursue it, so I feel really excited. It will be a lot of work and it will probably get rejected, but it makes me feel really good to have come up with something that people think is a good idea.
This meeting is by far the most fun of all the big meetings I typically attend (it's rivaled by a small, biannual meeting that's my favorite). I always come away feeling super exhausted, yet energized by the connections I make both to new people and to new ideas. I ended up staying out till between 12 and 3 am every night, then getting up between 7 and 8 am each day. I have made some good friends with people I see at meetings year after year and then we introduce each other to new people each time. It has become easier for me since it doesn't take as much effort to meet everyone new for the first time, but it remains fresh. Still, I was postively wiped out by the end and pretty much slept and slothed all weekend.
One thing I have learned about myself is that although I'm pretty outgoing, I'm not really an extrovert. It takes a lot of energy for me to interact with so many people so intensely. I really enjoy it and the experience invigorates my work, but I don't feel like I obtain energy from the people time. I often think how difficult meetings must be for really shy people. It would really be a challenge to get the most out of a meeting if it was hard to talk to new people.
Oh, and I got to briefly meet Addy N. We didn't make a plan for meeting up, but she had told me her name when we emailed about the possibility of meeting, so I checked out her website for a photo. I was just standing talking to a friend when I looked up and recognized her. It was very cool to meet her and D., but too bad we didn't get to hang out more.
In other news, I had a great meeting with Academic Advisor about that paper I blogged about months ago. He suggested some relatively straightfoward changes, some of which I did right away and get this: he commented on my changes right away too! He says he thinks it's nearly ready, so cross your fingers that Research Advisor will agree when she reads it.
First of all, thank you for all the well-wishes before I left. My talk went reasonably well, I think. Not outstanding, but not a flop. I felt very lucky because I was in one of the few rooms that was an appropriate size for the attendance at my session (most sessions were in rooms that were pratically empty or had people sitting on the floor in the aisles). While I was speaking, I noticed that the audience was very still and quiet. I took this as a good sign, since people tend to get fidgety if they are bored during a 20 min presentation (rather than falling asleep in that short time).
As for the science, I saw some good talks and posters, but no standouts that really blew me away. There a few clunkers, but mostly what I saw was solid but not ground breaking. Where I really benefitted was the networking.
When people asked about my timeline, I was able to say I'd be graduating soonish and I am starting to think abut post doc opportunities, so hopefully I'm on the radar for some labs. I think a few people might be interested, but it's still a little far off. I also tried to talk up a new experiment that my research group has recently established, the kind where we do the most central aspects of the research and others come from elsewhere to use the study site to perform related work in a somewhat synergistic way. I think at least one person will be contacting Research Advisor about a possible collaboration. I also had an idea for a symposium that I think I'm going to propose with a grad-student friend. Everyone I have suggested it to has encouraged us to pursue it, so I feel really excited. It will be a lot of work and it will probably get rejected, but it makes me feel really good to have come up with something that people think is a good idea.
This meeting is by far the most fun of all the big meetings I typically attend (it's rivaled by a small, biannual meeting that's my favorite). I always come away feeling super exhausted, yet energized by the connections I make both to new people and to new ideas. I ended up staying out till between 12 and 3 am every night, then getting up between 7 and 8 am each day. I have made some good friends with people I see at meetings year after year and then we introduce each other to new people each time. It has become easier for me since it doesn't take as much effort to meet everyone new for the first time, but it remains fresh. Still, I was postively wiped out by the end and pretty much slept and slothed all weekend.
One thing I have learned about myself is that although I'm pretty outgoing, I'm not really an extrovert. It takes a lot of energy for me to interact with so many people so intensely. I really enjoy it and the experience invigorates my work, but I don't feel like I obtain energy from the people time. I often think how difficult meetings must be for really shy people. It would really be a challenge to get the most out of a meeting if it was hard to talk to new people.
Oh, and I got to briefly meet Addy N. We didn't make a plan for meeting up, but she had told me her name when we emailed about the possibility of meeting, so I checked out her website for a photo. I was just standing talking to a friend when I looked up and recognized her. It was very cool to meet her and D., but too bad we didn't get to hang out more.
In other news, I had a great meeting with Academic Advisor about that paper I blogged about months ago. He suggested some relatively straightfoward changes, some of which I did right away and get this: he commented on my changes right away too! He says he thinks it's nearly ready, so cross your fingers that Research Advisor will agree when she reads it.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Off again
Well, I'm off. I could stand some more practicing, but I think the talk will go well enough. I didn't manage to look through the program yet to figure out what I want to see when, but I can do that tonight. I saw enough when I skimmed through last week to know that the meeting should be awesome. Not sure if I'll have internet access or time for blogging, so it might be quiet here for a little bit.
Have a great week!
Have a great week!
Saturday, August 2, 2008
List
First of all, the new Scientiae is up at Faraday's Cage is Where You Put Schroedinger's Cat. Cherish did an excellent job putting it together in a most creative way, so go see it. Second, Silver Fox has an explanation for why many blogs aren't loading right today (if you're lame like us and use Internet Explorer).
Anyway, I'm wound up tighter than a tick (as my dad would say) preparing for Big Meeting, mostly because I'm not settled with my talk yet. So, a list.
Anyway, I'm wound up tighter than a tick (as my dad would say) preparing for Big Meeting, mostly because I'm not settled with my talk yet. So, a list.
Finish talk (nearly there).Email talk to Academic Advisor.We had a great meeting on Thursday; he made many helpful suggestions to improve the structure and flow. I want to send him the completed presentation so he can make any last comments if he wants. Research Advisor, who knows the work I'm presently much more intimately, has been away on vacation without her computer for the last week and a half (good for her!) so I haven't been able to benefit from her guidance.Practice,practice,practice. It's the only way to reduce nerves.Obtain quarters for laundry, do laundry,iron.- Review the meeting program so I can figure out what I want to see and when I'll have free time.
Visit Walgreens.Need toilet paper (the cats have shredded some of my stock); clear-ish nail polish (to try to prevent biting. It's unbecoming in so many ways, not the least of which are annoying the person seated next to you by making disgusting chewing sounds and offering to shake someone's hand with a hand that's just been in your mouth.); travel size hairspray and toothpaste; gel inserts for the cute shoes I really want to wear but are just slightly too big and rub blisters.Pack suitcase with clothesand backpack with proof of registration, bus ticket, supporting info for my talk in case people want to discuss it later, etc.Cat stuff.EGM won't be back from Canada until Wednesday, so I need to leave them with enough supplies for a few days alone.Tidy up.But not very well.
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