I'm INTERNET FAMOUS

Okay, not really. But there is a vaguely embarrassing video interview from last year's Fulbright Academy of Science and Technology meeting in Berlin, where I gush unreservedly about how cool it is to live abroad and do AD research. It's here, and the video quality is rather over-compressed... at least, I hope I don't look that bug-eyed in real life. Also, I should email them about spelling my name right... sigh.

By way of follow-up to my last post, I'm officially in my new summer lab. And it's awesome so far on all counts, except of course the fact that scientific research in many fields, including mine, is in a funding drought. I'm doing my darndest to find a way to stay in this lab, though. We'll see...

The 5K I'm running is also this weekend, Sunday morning. I'll try to remember to post, if I survive.

A new season.

I need a change. I'm going home for the weekend for my sister's graduation, which is good... but I need something bigger. I need a break from classes, and a new lab.

Basically, I found out in the last week or so that none of my 3 rotation labs this year have the space or funding to take me on as a thesis student. Other than classes, my job this year is to find a permanent home to do my Ph.D. It's not that I haven't had good experiences, but had I known going into it that all three of the labs I worked in were hard up for funding, space or both, I may have made different decisions.

I'm mostly sour because it's the Prof's job to weigh his or her ability to take on students and share that upfront, and one of mine made a misjudgement and then backpedalled after I -- after several students, in fact -- started working for him. We're still expected to come to lab and work on our projects, of course. It's a little disheartening.

Realistically, I'm not the only student in my program right now in this situation (which doesn't necessarily help any of us, but we're not alone.) Summer lab rotations are an option, and I've jumped right on the task of contacting other P.I.'s (that's "primary investigators" for non-sciencey types) with research that interests me and, hopefully, the resources to take me on. I intend to have a summer plan squared away by the end of the quarter. I've interviewed with one promising lead so far, although more options wouldn't hurt.

There needs to be a bulletin board or a personals ad system in science to hook up grad students with researchers. "Student, good pipetting hands and blot technique, seeking Assistant Professor with funds for neurobiology of degenerative diseases. Pref. downtown, new faculty OK, no despots." Maybe I should shop that to matchmaker websites.

Oh yeah: Still running. Still mostly hating it, particularly from the point when I wake up in the morning on running days to the point where we stop running. Although, the realization that I don't have to run again until the day after tomorrow! is a pretty good feeling. Our route has increased to 2 miles, of which I can do about 1.5 without stopping if we take a pretty slow pace. I guess that means my endurance is going up, since I've never in my life been able to make such a statement. I still don't know about 5k, but we've got a few more weeks.

Week 1, so far so good, still hating it

I thought I'd offer an update on the training regimen, since it appears I'm actually sticking with this little project (see previous post if you have no idea what I'm talking about). The protocol involves running a set distance Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (for this week and next it's 1.5 miles, though we do allow a few short walking breaks) and an hourlong walk on Sundays.

We started last Saturday, so today marks the end of the first week. I was noticeably sore on Sunday and Monday, but since then it hasn't been painful. Believe it or not, I still hate running with the burning passion of 10,000 suns. Most of what is going through my head as we go along involves contemplating every single little bodily pain as it arises, listening to the horrific cacaphony of my own breathing, and wishing we could stop. Pretty much every moment.

I went to the campus health center and got a new prescription for an albuterol inhaler, which is likely to help with the wheeziness and feelings of shortness of breath. I was on the medication for reactive airway back in high school when I couldn't shake a chronic cough, and those symptoms seem to be coming back since I got over my last cold, which just makes it that much harder to breathe. I hate taking the stuff since it makes me feel like I'm overly caffeinated all day long, but for now I'm going to try it on the days that we run.

Hopefully I'll be able to break out of these negative mental patterns and enjoy the weather, the scenery (our weekday route takes us right along lake Michigan in Evanston) or *gasp* maybe even the process itself as my body acclimates. We'll see...

Trying new things

Those who know me well: prepare to be shocked and amazed.

Laura, another student in my lab, has convinced me to sign up with her to run a 5K in June. We are going to train together, which involves a regular weekly schedule of waking up early and running before work.

That's right. Running. The bane of my athletic existence, such as it is. And I'll be waking up extra early, and paying the $25 race entry fee... just for the privilege of engaging in one of my least favorite activities of all time.

Exercise for its own sake has never been a part of my life... it's something that happens occasionally in the pursuit of other things. I don't really count my stint as a ballroom dancer at Kenyon because my practice attendance was pretty sporadic, and I did it for the fun and social interaction more than for working up a sweat. Biking to get around last year came pretty close, but for me it was primarily about transportation and I rarely rode around for exercise purposes, and I've barely used my bike this year (I did ride to work and back yesterday for the first time since the weather changed, and got a flat tire for my effort!) Sticking to a regular schedule with this is going to be a challenge.

The one nice thing about all of this is that Laura hates running too, so we can commiserate the entire time. There will be LOTS of commiserating. But hopefully also support and bonding. Wish me luck!

Celebrate!

I had been hoping to organize some kind of group event for my birthday tomorrow (24! whoa!) with my classmates... but instead, we have a big class assignment and a midterm this week. So, my celebrations will consist of a class debate and attending a talk by scientist and author Jared Diamond on the evolution of world religions. Dr. Diamond gave a really good talk at Kenyon after his book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed came out, and I'm pretty pumped about the topic as well.

From the on-campus advertisments:

How can religion be defined in such a way as to encompass all of the customarily recognized religions, while excluding other things not normally considered religions? Does religion require belief in God, the supernatural, or eternal moral principles not of our own invention? What do traditional Catholics, atheists professing themselves to be members of organized liberal religions, and tribespeople believing in spirits share with each other that they don’t share with believers in ghosts, astrology, and non-religious moral codes? Dr. Diamond shall argue that religion has encompassed at least four independent components that have arisen or disappeared at different stages of development of human societies over the last 10,000 years.

I'm anticipating a pretty cool evening. Happy birthday to me!

Spring Break!

My second quarter of grad school is over... I'm halfway through year one! More than halfway, even, if I can find my thesis lab without adding a fourth rotation this summer. I met with my Spring quarter advisor this morning, and so far it looks very promising. That's all I'll say for now, because of course I'll need to get into the work and the lab dynamic first.

St. Patrick's Day weekend is very green in Chicago, and it was made even more so by my sister Kara's visit... our main goal was to get $25 front-row seats to see "Wicked," the musical, in the ticket lottery. We had four chances to try for it over her three days in the city, but we were super lucky and her name was the second called on our very first attempt, Thursday night. I've owned the soundtrack for a couple of years, so finally seeing the show was fantastic! We even had time between the lottery and the show to check out nearby Millennium Park:

























We spent Friday downtown, exploring Michigan avenue's finest chocolate stores, the Lincoln Park Zoo, and dusk at the Sears Tower Skydeck:



The fact that Kara looks so much taller than me next to the Sears Tower is probably some kind of optical illusion:



You can't see the stepstool in her picture. Yeah, that's it. The stepstool. I swear.

Saturday was the annual dyeing of the Chicago river and then the St. Patrick's Day parade:





Kara even got kissed on the cheek by a passing leprechaun, though sadly I didn't turn my camera on in time to catch it. That's what she gets for being a redhead on St. Pat's, I guess!

Speaking of hair, it was one of my goals this break to get a haircut, so I tried out a place in Evanston this morning. It's probably not short enough for Grandma Jean's taste, but I'm very happy with it!



Now to write my second rotation report and enjoy the rest of spring break!

wow.

So Kenyon has lost another first-year student... and apparently he did the same thing I did freshman year, vasovagal syncope early in the morning in the dorm bathroom. I, however, came out of it merely concussed. I just read the Collegian article and it shook me up a bit.

I don't really know what else to say... there's an even stranger connection, because his last name is Gottinger, which is almost certainly derived from the name of the city in Germany where I lived last year.

I never met this young man. He sounds like a wonderful person. He and his family will be in my prayers.