5.03.2009

What?? Is it really May already??

To get back in the swing of things*- bullets!
  • I finished all my data collection on time. It is so good to be done with that portion of the project. Up next, my deadline to analyze all that data is the end of May.
  • I had to give a journal club presentation about a topic that I really don't like. I was volunteered for it against my will. It went alright, I think. This journal club is so weird. There is never any discussion. It is really just a space for students to practice presenting by presenting other people's papers. My topic required discussion and was far removed from the theme of the journal club. I think this made it more enjoyable for the students but it all made me very unsure of myself. I didn't know if the profs would dislike the sudden change in format. It was the last meeting of the semester so at least we ended with some fun discussion.
  • There is another presentation coming up this week. My big, 5 months late introduction to the department by way of research seminar! I am really, really excited to share what I did for my diss with this department. It is very different from what I do here and no one really does anything similar. Hopefully that will make it a fun talk. I am planning on giving my dissertation defense talk with a few slides added to tie in how I got to the lab I am currently in. Can't wait for Wednesday! Oh, and my PI is coming in for the first time since she had her baby! 
  • The Grackle is currently in the deep south doing work. A 100 lbs dog, two cats and I are all smooshed into my tiny apartment for the week. My downstairs neighbor doesn't hate me yet, but let's see how she feels by Friday!
  • The circle of friends from work that I have fallen into continue to amaze me. They all do so much more stuff than I ever did as a student. Pretty much every day that I am in town, someone is doing something. Be it potluck dinner parties (once a week), rock climbing (once or twice a week), crafting (usually weekends), meeting up for certain TV shows or this mornings' farmers market there is always something to do. I am enjoying the company and doing new, fun things but I have no idea when these people get work done! 
  • So many postdoc-ing things going on in my head. Please, stay tuned!


* I really need to figure out how to blog regularly or give this up. I hate the cycle of not posting, then feeling guilty for not posting then postponing posting even more. Ugh. It sucks. I'm going to try to post everyday this week. Hopefully that will snap me back into things here.

5 comments:

Julie @ Bunsen Burner Bakery said...

There are a few labs here that have students that constantly meet up for things practically every night. I don't understand, either -- I mean, I've hit a wall for the time being and I'm working a bit less, especially knowing that Husband is moving in 6 weeks so when he's home I want to spend time with him -- but when I was a 2nd and 3rd year student, I was working 80+ hours/week. I can't figure out how they have time to can't their labwork done and spend so much time out of the lab doing fun things.

As far as blogging - no need to feel guilty. That's why there are RSS feeds - so we don't forget about you if you take a month off! I used to be lucky to squeeze out a post a month, and that's why now I started doing my once a week recipe so I have something to write about on a weekly basis!

Seeking Solace said...

I can't beleive it's May. Pretty soon, it will be summer.

Amanda@Lady Scientist said...

I can't believe it's May already either! I feel like everything is going by so quickly. And, yet, I'm still far behind.

Discussion at journal club is always a good thing, IMHO. A good presentation should make people think about the paper and what it implies (or fails to imply). Our journal club is sort of like yours. We present papers on other people's research to practice presenting. It's also supposed to help us think critically about the paper and learn something outside of our immediate dissertation topic.

Unbalanced Reaction said...

Don't feel guilty! Everyone gets busy or just plain doesn't feel like blogging. We've all been there!

And I'm with ya on the puzzlement: I'm in awe (jealous? hate?) of grad students who actually have...um...LIVES. I could barely make time for a shower when I was in grad school.

Albatross said...

EtBr- I can't even figure out if I had more time at the beginning or end of my program. It seemed like there was never much time! Your recipe posts are great. Good food, more blogging. It is a win-win =)

SS- It sure will be. You are going to have a very different summer to get used to as well!

Amanda- We have both types. There is very little overlab (me and 1 student) between people at the discussion type and the presentation type.

UR- Thanks =) Hopefully I'll learn from them and share their secrets with the world. Unfortunately, They probably include not blogging in the middle of the afternoon!