The Oddity Effect

Say goodbye

2011-03-27T12:54:00.001-04:00

While I doubt anyone actually reads this anymore, I needed to post one last time, just for some personal closure.

Blogging was a really great (cheap) therapy for me while I was in grad school. It helped me express my frustrations and recognize the joyous moments in my life, which made the frustrations seem not so bad! I wrote for myself and truly enjoyed it.

For various reasons, blogging has no longer provided me that outlet. Mainly, some of the things I am struggling with and some of the things I have celebrated are just too personal to share on a public blog. So, it's time to leave the blogosphere for now.

I've always felt like the odd-one. I still do, but I am still convinced it's not such a bad thing to be "odd".

Thanks all!

Will return?

2010-12-13T10:55:00.000-05:00

Obviously, it's been a crazy bunch of months!

Since May, I have:

Finished my PhD
Started a new job
Moved to a new apartment
Enjoyed a long commute to and from work everyday
Made it through my first semester as a professor (almost ... have till the 22nd!)
Planned a wedding (almost ...)

Somehow, that leaves little time for blogging!

Maybe I'll be back soon ... or maybe we'll start a new blog after the wedding!

I'll keep ya posted ... eventually!

It's test week

2010-09-30T11:57:00.000-04:00

And I am amazed by the students. The audacity, the excuses, the poorly written emails.

Also amazed that one of my classes did really, really well. And the others weren't totally horrible.

I am sure next week will be full of tears from students and emails from "higher-ups" about me being so mean.

Oh well.

Inevitability

2010-09-26T13:06:00.000-04:00

Sickness is pretty much a guarantee for all teachers. That many hours with that many kids ... you're gonna catch something.

You think as a college professor, I'd be less likely to get sick than a kindergarden teacher. But college students are probably a lot more likely to show up to class sick than 4-year-olds. There isn't a mommy to tell the college kid to stay home.

So, just 2 weeks in to my first semester as a college professor and I got a head cold. Lame.

Monday = Payday

2010-09-13T22:01:00.000-04:00

Nope. I don't mean I get paid on Mondays.

I mean I pay for the fact that I didn't do work all weekend. With a 9:30am-4:50pm solid block of teaching. That's right, over 7 straight hours of teaching.

Not that I can really do work on the weekends to reduce my Monday work load. But I will definitely further enjoy my work-free weekends knowing what is going to hit me on Mondays!

Work-less weekends?

2010-09-12T20:52:00.000-04:00

I have hardly ever worked less on a weekend.

I only did about an hour of work this weekend.

And not just because we were busy with family and friends (we were), but because there wasn't too much work that I HAD to get done by Monday morning. Sure, I could have prepared ahead, but I didn't HAVE to.

This is in stark contrats to my life as a grad student. I usually worked a whole lot every weekend. Either in the lab (because fish don't know the difference between Saturday and Wednesday), or writing at home. Or doing some stupid thing that I got roped in to doing that wasn't really required of me.

I like my new job.

And I figure next year will be even easier than this!

Yay!

New (school) Year Resolution!!!!

2010-09-08T08:33:00.000-04:00

Stop putting so many exclamation points in professional emails!

(I find that I punctuate far more with exclamation points than periods or question marks!)

First day!!!

2010-09-07T09:19:00.000-04:00

I might have been working here all summer, but I feel like today is my first official day!

It's the start of my first fall semester as a professor!!!

This morning's 7:15am conversation with Boss:

Boss: "Good morning. You excited?"

Me: "GOOD MORNING! Yes, I am soooo excited."

Boss: "Oh, yeah, me too. So excited. Wait .... you really are excited aren't you?"

Me: "Yes!!! I really am!!"

Boss: "Sigh."

Me: "I baked you an apple pie."

And so the semester begins ......

New Niece!

2010-08-05T12:51:00.000-04:00

Just thought I would post up a quick picture of RyGuy with our new niece Sophie (Sophia Ryan) and her sister Hannah! We're so lucky to have such cute nieces (and a cute nephew in Buffalo too!)!

Ry had a great time in China, but he seems pretty happy to be back home!

Now that he is back and my summer classes are winding down, we're set to finish up the apartment and have some friends come visit!

Pictures of the new place soon!

So much for blogging ...

2010-07-13T07:04:00.000-04:00

Well, Ry leaves for China in 2 days, I am finishing up the last 2 weeks of this summer session and getting ready for the 1st week of the third summer session ... which someone else will be teaching for me because I will be at a scientific conference in Virginia ... during which I need to give a 30 minute presentation that I have barely thought about ... plus we're still not all unpacked at the new apartment yet and we'd like to be soon so that we can start having some guests over .... and don't get me started on the lack of wedding planning .....

So maybe more blogging in a few weeks?

Re-connected!

2010-06-29T21:56:00.001-04:00

To the internet, that is.

The move is over & we've finally got some internets!

Maybe that will lead to a bit more blogging ....

Pictures of the new apartment soon!

Tomorrow ...

2010-05-22T15:34:00.001-04:00

I get "hooded" and officially, officially, officially become a doctor!

And drink lots of champagne!

Yay!

Just so you know ...

2010-05-19T22:26:00.002-04:00

I love my new job! Yay!!!!!

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go!!!!!!!!

2010-05-03T09:00:00.000-04:00

Today is my first "official" day of work at the new job (yes, they hired me after the weirdest interview day ever)!

I am so thankful to get a job! There were some dark hours when I thought about how many years of school I went through and the multiple times that I sold my soul for research and how I might be unemployed despite all of my efforts!

And the great part is, I am excited about this job! It's not just some paycheck, but could turn out to be a real adventure!

So far, during every visit to the new job, I have mainly drank beer. I am thinking this week will be full of real work! At least, I hope so!

Wow!

2010-04-18T12:44:00.000-04:00

You can now call me Dr. Sneks.

Awesome!

Just one more day!

2010-04-15T12:23:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that I defend my dissertation tomorrow.

5 years went by so quickly!

Already, I am almost forgetting all of the crappy parts and missing all of the wonderful parts.

Let's just hope tomorrow goes well!

Signs that an academic interview went well:

2010-04-11T21:34:00.000-04:00

the committee laughs so hard during your presentation that they can't breathe
you drink beers on the rooftop of the science building
you arrive home after midnight

Interview Today!

2010-04-09T10:08:00.002-04:00

Wish me luck!

Already forgotten

2010-04-05T10:42:00.000-04:00

I have been working on my PhD for 5 years now. And if all goes well, I will "graduate" on Sunday, May 23rd.

For PhD students, "graduation" is actually a Hooding Ceremony in which the advisor hoods the new PhD. It's very pompy and circumstancey.

I enjoy the champagne.

I realized a few days ago that my advisor was planning to be out of the country that day (starting field work with the rest of my labmates). The really crazy part is that HE was the one that insisted on his students going to the hooding ceremony!

When I realized his scheduling mistake, I was really upset (perhaps exacerbated by lots of rum & diet coke). And my wonderful labmate quickly emailed and notified him of the mistake. And he is working on changing the travel dates.

But I am still upset about it. After 5 years of total dedication to working for him, he doesn't even look up the day of my most important event? Or have one of his 3 secretaries do it? Or have his RA or TA look it up?

I'll get over it eventually (with more rum and champagne).

And tack it on to my list of "Things I will never do as an advisor".

A date!

2010-03-31T14:30:00.002-04:00

I officially have a defense date!

April 16th!

Yay!

A chance!!!!

2010-03-18T22:32:00.002-04:00

YAY!!!!!

I got a job interview!!!

Yay!!!!!

Wearing of the green!

2010-03-17T10:54:00.000-04:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Or, as it should be known, Happy Sneks' Day!

I mean, a whole day devoted to wearing green and drinking beer. Might as well be my day!

Hope you enjoy your day!

Getting there!

2010-03-16T09:55:00.000-04:00

I finally had a meeting with my advisor and things are looking good!

We actually talked about science. Eventually. After I said "Fine, I will answer your personal questions about the other miserable grad students in your lab. But then you will answer my questions about science." The compromises that fill my life!

The dissertation is growing (pretty much exponentially) and I am hopeful that I will get a full draft out to the committee by the end of next week. I hope!

I've been pretty cranky with grad school this year, but now that I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, I am almost enjoying it again.

Of course, that light at the end of the tunnel is unemployment. But I'm not going to think about that for now ....

Lockdown!!!

2010-03-13T20:40:00.000-05:00

I am in the final stretch of this whole PhD thing.

I hope.

I don't actually know for sure, because I have had little feedback from my advisor.

But I am just in the mind set that I will be graduating come May! As I have been for the last year!

If I just keep saying it, it will eventually be true, right?

Anyway ... this finally push has led me to be on "lockdown" to get all of the writing done. I decide that this Wednesday - Sunday would be solely dedicated to dissertation stuff.

It's Day 4 and I am starting to go crazy, but it's getting done!

I spent Day 3 at Panera, in a quasi-old-school writing day scenario. It went pretty well, so I am thinking I will be spending Day 5 there too. Despite the fact that I know RyGuy will be a little annoyed that I will go there and leave him alone all day. But I just need to be DONE and am willing to do what I need to in order to finish!

Wish me luck!!

Gold Medal for Hannah!

2010-02-28T23:00:00.004-05:00

In honor of the Olympics, we took Hannah out for her very first skate around the rink!

It started out with extra socks so the too-big ice skates would fit and the cutest ever pink panda helmet!

The first laps were basically me & Uncle dragging her around. When I asked if she wanted to go around for a third time or take a break with Nana & Poppop, she said "Around again!!"

After I held her up for a while, she started to stand up straight on her own!

And then it was just Hannah & Uncle!

She liked sitting "in the box" and watching the other skaters, but never for very long.

She wanted to get right back out and skate!

There were a few falls, but no tears! Just a snowy butt!

She had so much fun with Mommy, Uncle & me!

But refused our help at the end!!!

Here are some videos of her skating all by herself!

Everyone is just so proud of her!

Birthday & Football!

2010-02-26T16:56:00.004-05:00

Yet again, I had a wonderful birthday weekend at the beginning of February that included the casino, some yummy food, roses, a beautiful cake and lots of friends!

BF Kimmy, the BF in-law & little Ally came to visit! We went bowling and they stayed to watch the Superbowl! It was so nice to have a little football party (with turkey chili and buffalo chicken dip!!)! I am so happy that they moved to Albany and are only a 2 hour drive from us now!!

Here are a few pictures of the cutie pie! We just adore her! (Especially Uncle Ry ... we're pretty sure she said "uncle" at one point!)

Ally's first bowling experience!

Ally & Daddy are trying to pick up the spare!

We're ready for some football!!

Winter break in Buffalo 2

2010-02-26T16:46:00.003-05:00

In addition to Snow Fun, my mom and I took Nephew to the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. I haven't been there in years! It was fun, but I think Nephew enjoyed the gift shop the most!

Here are my 2 favorite pieces:

(1) Giant card table. Mom & Nephew for size. The 4th chair is actually propped against the wall a few yards away!

(2) Best. Painting. Ever.

Winter break in Buffalo!

2010-02-26T16:36:00.004-05:00

After Christmas, Ry & I traveled to Buffalo to visit with the family! As usually, we took Nephew out for some fun! Here's our day at the Snow Park in Niagara Falls on New Year's Day! -- it's actually open 365 days a year, and Nephew is already looking forward to another trip there this summer!

Here's the snow tubing hill!!

Uncle Ry at the bottom!
The boys going down in a double tube! Nephew's first time "Ice" Skating.
(It's not really ice ... it's some weird frictionless surface)

Taking a break in the snow piles on the "Ice" Rink

Uncle Ry, Nephew & Aunt Kel "playing hockey"

I think he had fun!
(Even if Aunt Kel did threaten to make him sit in the car while we had all the fun!!)

Snowed in!

2010-02-26T16:20:00.002-05:00

Yep, we're snowed in.

Well, not really.

We got about 2 feet of pretty fluffy snow here in NJ.

But I am from Buffalo ... so we got Ry's car out of a snow bank and went shopping! Half the stores were closed, but we managed to go to BJs and Walmart!

I decided to take this snowy day and learn how to get pictures off of my camera and on to my new computer!

So here's a few photos of the snow! And I'll post a few more pictures from the last few months in the next couple of posts!

Here are our cars AFTER we brushed them off and shoveled a bit!

Crash, Burn, Recover

2010-02-16T16:17:00.002-05:00

Last Wednesday my computer finally crashed. I had anticipated it (because my computer was 5 years old), but it still was horrific.

Because I was trying to back up pretty regularly, I only lost 2 weeks of work. Unfortunately, I was pretty busy during those 2 weeks, so I lost a whole bunch of data and documents and a seminar. The seminar I was supposed to give the following day.

I spent 3 hours on the phone with Dell customer service (in a foreign country) and I hate them now and will never buy a Dell again (despite having a Dell for 10 years and actually liking the computers). Customer service is so important ... why be rude?

Anyway .. I then spent 5 hours re-making my seminar powerpoint with Ry's computer and my external hard drive. I was ready for it, but, thankfully it was cancelled due to snow. So, I have a bit more time to make it so much better.

I was pretty upset for a couple of days, but have now accepted what I lost and have moved on!

I have a new computer now. Thank goodness. RyGuy bought it for me as an early graduation gift. He is the best!! I supposed I have to graduate for sure now ....

It's a pretty Toshiba. I named it Beluga.

Too much to do!

2010-02-09T11:34:00.002-05:00

I enjoyed a wonderful birthday weekend with Ry & friends (pictures to follow if I ever find my camera cord).

But now I am realizing how much work I must get done!!!!!!!!

Ideally, I will get a draft of my dissertation to my committee by March 1st!

To do that, I need to:

watch 14 hours of video for Chapter 3
get all data from Chapter 3 to statistician (crazy hard stats need to be done)
re-write Chapter 3
watch 30 hours of video for Chapter 5
analyze all data for Chapter 5
write ALL of Chapter 5
write Chapter 1 (intro)
write Chapter 6 (conclusions)
make dissertation look pretty

Oh, and I have to give a stupid departmental seminar this week ... which has taken up too much of my time.

Wish me luck!

Too much?

2010-01-31T17:25:00.003-05:00

Is it too much that I backup my computer (i.e. dissertation work) and lock the backup hard drive in the fire proof safe?

(PS -- Thanks Mom & Dad, for the the fire proof safe!)

More fabulous advisor track-change comments

2010-01-29T11:08:00.002-05:00

I write:

"Based on [X] and [Y], we predicted that [Z would happen]"

He highlights above sentence and comments (and this is a direct quote):

"you must explain why we are predicting…"

Sigh.

Censor-less

2010-01-28T13:34:00.003-05:00

Lately I have felt really annoyed at work. When I walk into the building, I just feel anxiety (and I am not an anxious person). I try to avoid many people and just hide in my office or the lab.

When I am forced to interact with people, my annoyance is multiplied. Throughout my life, I have been annoyed by people who "don't get it", but I can usually be quietly annoyed. And then just complain about it later to someone who shares my view of the world. But I am finding it more difficult to not let things get to me and just sit quietly.

This week, at 2 different meetings, it was impossible for me to just sit and smile. At the first, large meeting, I was called on and said something a bit snarky. Not too rude, but not something I would normally ever say out loud. Especially at a large meeting.

Then, at a lab meeting, I totally snapped at a lab mate. This lab mate has become my least favorite person over the last 18 months, and she said a few things that rubbed me the wrong way. So I snapped at her. In a very sarcastic and condescending tone.

I immediately felt bad and apologized.

I felt bad because of the way I reacted. It was mean and I did not like that I have gotten to the point where I feel that it is OK to maliciously snap at people. Especially this girl, because she is so pathetic, and does not "get it" at all. I feel like I kicked a slow puppy dog.

Of course, I really believed everything I said. I just don't like that I have lost all ability to censor myself.

I think that this is definitely a sign that I need to move on!!

All aboard!

2010-01-26T16:16:00.002-05:00

Yep, all of my committee members are officially on the "May 2010 Graduation Train"!! Woo woo!

Now I just need to keep chugging along!

Mandatory Meeting of the Minds

2010-01-25T10:37:00.003-05:00

I thought I would take a moment to complain.

This evening, I am required to go to a "mandatory" meeting for all of the grad students in my department. The topic of the meeting is "professional development".

Here are a few reasons why I'd like to complain about this (here, on a blog, rather than to the grad advisor in charge, whose signature I need in a few weeks) :

It's until 7pm, and I have an hour drive home.
The woman in charge of the whole thing is hardly the model of professionalism.
The students that actually need help with the whole grad school thing don't realize it and will not take this seriously.
Perhaps too little, too late.
How is it "madatory", if there are no consequences for not attending?

Thanks, I feel better now.

2010 already? It's gonna be a CRAZY year!

2010-01-17T23:09:00.004-05:00

I haven't blogged since LAST year!

While I haven't been updating my goals, I have been working very hard towards them.

Ry & I spent a very nice holiday with his family and then traveled to Buffalo for a week to hang out with my family (maybe, someday, I will get around to some photos on here). We spent time with the niece & nephew, hung out with family and friends, and even managed to do a few things for the wedding (officially less than a year now!!!!)!

As soon as we got back home, I went into crazy work mode, preparing for a BIG committee meeting. While there was an opportunity for it to be an amazing success, it did end pretty well. But resulted in lots of work that I need to do NOW, NOW, NOW! If I want to graduate in May ...

While freaking out about graduation, I am still waiting to hear about a job. I have applied to a few dozen places now and am just hoping to hear SOMETHING at some point! I will soon start looking in to other types of work!

So the next few months will be busy, busy, busy, with a dissertation, finding a job and getting ready for the wedding!

Good thing I like to be busy!

Yikes! Mid-December Update

2009-12-15T20:50:00.002-05:00

The month is half-over, and here is how the goals are coming along:

Finish draft of Experiment 1 paper and get it to advisor (ASAP!)
Done! The draft is complete and it is off to the advisor. He told me yesterday that he "forgot" he was supposed to be reading it. Sigh.
Collect HALF the data for Experiment 2
I have started collecting data .... but have a LOT more to go!
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2 (just 1 or 2 more!)
If my fish would just ... lay eggs ... I would be a happier person.
Start draft of Experiment 2 paper
It's in my head, just not written down yet!
Finish getting replicates for Widow paper (3 more!)
Again ... if my fish would just f...
Get CR field paper from co-author, edit & submit
This is really starting to annoy me. I wrote up this paper on data from another scientist ... and got it to him 6 weeks ago ... and he hasn't even bothered to look at it yet. If I don't get a response about it in the next week, I am going to have to get on this guy!
Apply for 1 more job (until post doc season starts)
Actually managed to apply for 2, but hope more will be posted and will be able to apply to those too! I am really hoping to hear something good about all of these applications soon!

Here's hoping I have a super productive week and get a crazy amount of work done before Christmas and traveling to Buffalo for New Years! I have a committee meeting in 4 weeks and have to convince my committee to let me graduate in May. So I gotta get my ass in gear!

My current life ...

2009-12-07T21:29:00.001-05:00

... Exactly.

(**Except exchange the peaceful walk to work with a peaceful 1-hour commute)

Chatterbox x3?

2009-12-04T12:07:00.003-05:00

The chair of the graduate committee just informed me that I "owe" the department 3 seminars next semester. That's 3 hours of talking about my research.

Now ... I love me some powerpoint presentations.

But does anyone really want to hear about fish behavior for 3 hours? Really??

December Goals

2009-12-03T14:49:00.003-05:00

It's only 3 days into December, but I am totally distracted by Christmas and other non-work things! It is time to get serious!!

Here are this month's (far too ambitious) goals:

Finish draft of Experiment 1 paper and get it to advisor (ASAP!)
Collect HALF the data for Experiment 2
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2 (just 1 or 2 more!)
Start draft of Experiment 2 paper
Finish getting replicates for Widow paper (3 more!)
Get CR field paper from co-author, edit & submit
Apply for 1 more job (until post doc season starts)

I need to have a committee meeting in January and give a seminar in February, so I need to stay on track! And avoid the distractions of Christmas and wedding planning!

November is over!

2009-12-01T09:36:00.002-05:00

I blinked and November is gone!

Here are those goals I set for myself:

Analyze ALL data from Experiment 1b
Write significant draft for Experiment 1 paper and send to advisor
Collect HALF the data for Experiment 2
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2 (just 1 or 2 more!)
Start draft of Experiment 2 paper
Finish getting replicates for Widow paper
Assist old advisor in finishing & submitting Pesky Thesis Paper
Edit & submit CR field paper
Give two guest lectures
Apply for 2 more jobs (until post doc season starts)
Apply for fellowship for Spring semester
Write 10,000 words for InaDWriMo (as part of the above goals)!

I'm giving myself a score of 57.167%. Not great, but I am giving myself 10 extra bonus points for each of two goals: (1) Not only did the Pesky Thesis Paper get submitted, but it was accepted! and (2) Not only did I apply for the fellowship for the Spring semester, but I was awarded the fellowship!!! Yay! With those bonus points, I am at 77%, which I think is outstanding!

Let's see how December goes!

InaDWriMo2009 = failed

2009-12-01T09:27:00.002-05:00

Well, the month is over and I did not accomplish my writing goal of 10,000 words. But, reading over at Brazen Hussy, I see that I am not the only one.

I would have liked to finish, but I don't feel too bad about it. This month was full of some personal things that decreased work production. So, I feel like I accomplished a lot, given my distractions.

Hopefully, I will get my writing done this month! I'm gearing up for my December Goals post, so you'll see what I want to get done before Christmas!

'Little' 10!

2009-11-22T22:51:00.004-05:00

I am so happy about science write now (which is not something I have been able to say lately)!!!

I just got a paper accepted!!! YAY!!

I am even more excited because it was the Pesky Thesis Paper that has haunted me for more than 4 years!!

The paper is on the behavior of every scientist's favorite fish, so I thought it just had to be published at some point. But this paper has been rejected so many times that I actually lost count (I am not being cute ... I really lost count ... it has to be 4 or 5 times now ... in various forms). But now, after my old advisor got asked to be part of a special issue in an international journal, and he re-wrote some stuff, and his student did some more tests ..... it was accepted for publication! Without revisions!!!!!! YAY!!!!

And, as a milestone, this is officially my 10th paper!

It doesn't count toward the Big 10 that my current advisor challenged me to get, but it is still 10 for me!! And I am very happy!

InaDWriMo2009 update

2009-11-22T19:30:00.003-05:00

I am at about 44% for my November writing goal. It is quite obvious that I won't hit 100%, but it was a pretty busy month in terms of non-work things, so I am not too upset about it!

My first chapter of my dissertation is almost done. Half of it is written, the majority of the statistics are complete, half of the figures are made, and it's shaping into a nice paper that I am thinking of sending to a decent journal. It is my goal to get a draft to my advisor in 2 weeks!

I'm also waiting on a paper from my co-author who has yet to look at it, despite the fact that I sent it to him at the very beginning of November. It's the field data from a decade ago, so I suppose he is in no real rush to get it out after 10 years. But I would like to get some things in review! Let's get going people! Before Christmas!

Those were my 2 main contributions to InaDWriMo2009. Hopefully I can get the writing really going in December and January!

Reason why I work from home, #42

2009-11-16T21:22:00.003-05:00

Today my advisor sent me a "report" to edit for him.

I spent 30 minutes fixing typos, making the punctuation and formatting consistent, and deleting half-sentences (because he likes to randomly start sentences and never finish them).

While I enjoy a good edit, I was annoyed by this editing for a variety of reasons:

The minor changes I made would have been fixed if he actually re-read what he wrote.
The content wasn't fabulous, nor that clear. But I did not put in the effort to fix it because this report is not something that is peer-reviewed, nor is my name on it.
My name is not on it.
My labmate's name is on it.
My labmate's name who is on it did not (to my knowledge) read nor edit it.
Last year, when this report was due, my name was on it, I was my boss's RA and I spent 2 incredibly late nights in my boss's office writing the entire thing and making many of the figures.

The only positive to this is that, because I am working at home, I didn't have to actually meet with my advisor to discuss this report. That would have been far worse and I doubt I would have been able to hide any frustration.

Mid-month goal post, November!

2009-11-15T11:13:00.003-05:00

How is it mid-month already??? Jeez! I need to stop thinking about Christmas shopping and Wedding planning and get back to work!

Here's how I'm doing so far this month:

Analyze ALL data from Experiment 1b
I swear, this will be done THIS week! Or I will die trying.
Write significant draft for Experiment 1 paper and send to advisor
It's half done! Once I get the data analyzed (above) this will get finished and contribute to my final goal of the month!
Collect HALF the data for Experiment 2
OK ... haven't even started yet
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2 (just 1 or 2 more!)
Sigh ... still waiting for my fishies to ... spawn
Start draft of Experiment 2 paper
Will start soon ...
Finish getting replicates for Widow paper
Down to the last 3!
Assist old advisor in finishing & submitting Pesky Thesis Paper
Submitted!!! Finally!!!! Woohoo!!!!
Edit & submit CR field paper
Out to my co-author ... as soon as he gets around to it, I will work like crazy to get it submitted!
Give two guest lectures
Done!!
Apply for 2 more jobs (until post doc season starts)
Done!! (Though I should apply to at least 2 more before the end of the month)
Apply for fellowship for Spring semester
Done!! (Please keep your fingers crossed for me! If I get this fellowship again, my final semester will be so much easier!)
Write 10,000 words for InaDWriMo (as part of the above goals)!
It looks like this is only minimally started, but I swear the numbers will jump in the next week or so!

Overall, I think I am doing OK this month, but I need to have a very successful week this week! Because then we have a weekend full of holiday fun and in 9 days we head to Buffalo for Thanksgiving!

400 posts!

2009-11-12T17:38:00.002-05:00

That's correct!

This is post number 400!

From the girl, who, 4 years ago, would say "I'll totally have to write about that in my blog". Even though I didn't have a blog. Just because I thought I was hysterically witty.

Here are a few facts about 400 to brighten your day!

The roman numeral for 400 is CD
400 is a self number in base 10, since there is no integer that added to the sum of its own digits results in 400
400 is a Lebanese card game
The year 400 was a leap year
On Thanksgiving day (just 14 days away), it will be 400 days until RyGuy's and my wedding!

Nephew in NYC!

2009-11-11T22:32:00.002-05:00

It was a few weeks ago now, but it's taken me a while to upload some photos to my computer!

Nephew, my older brother and my sister in law came to visit Ry & I at our new place for the long weekend! We hung out, watched a movie, went to NYC and then carved pumpkins during football! It was lots of fun and we can't wait until they come visit again!

Here are some photos for you!

We love to ride the (staten island) ferry!

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Because it has a great view of the Statue of Liberty!!
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Nephew was sooooo excited to ride the subway ....

...then he rode it and it wasn't that exciting!
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We checked out ground zero and then made it to the Central Park Zoo before it closed!
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It was such a beautiful fall day and we had fun running in the park!
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Nephew and Uncle Ry got the same socks at the Zoo gift shop!!
Who doesn't love puffins??
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PS -- Nephew started reading Twilight!

November's Goals!

2009-11-01T14:47:00.005-05:00

Here's what I want to accomplish this month!

Analyze ALL data from Experiment 1b
Write significant draft for Experiment 1 paper and send to advisor
Collect HALF the data for Experiment 2
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2 (just 1 or 2 more!)
Start draft of Experiment 2 paper
Finish getting replicates for Widow paper
Assist old advisor in finishing & submitting Pesky Thesis Paper
Edit & submit CR field paper
Give two guest lectures
Apply for 2 more jobs (until post doc season starts)
Apply for fellowship for Spring semester
Write 10,000 words for InaDWriMo (as part of the above goals)!

November is also full of non-work things (like Ry's big birthday and a trip to Buffalo for Black Friday ... I mean Thanksgiving!), so I need to really work my butt off this month!

Where did October go?

2009-11-01T14:31:00.005-05:00

My goals for October were:

Collect & analyze ALL data from Experiment 1b
Write significant draft for Experiment 1 paper
Start collecting data for Experiment 2
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2
Finish & submit pesky Thesis paper
Write significant draft of CR field paper and get it out to co-authors
Get together some lectures for a bunch of classes I agreed to teach the first week of November
Finish applying for jobs (until post doc season starts)

OK ... so, if I again calculate out a possible 100% completion score for all goals, I am only at 68.667%. That is slightly better than September's score, but still not good!

Totally bringing down my average (with a 0% completion) is the Pesky Thesis Paper. I have sent it to my co-author and old advisor a while ago, and hope to hear back this week about getting it out SOON! I am sick of the paper and have no desire to work on it anymore, so it better get accepted this time!

The rest of my goals were a bit closer to completion. And I am hoping I'll have a much higher score for November!!! Stay tuned for new goals soon!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T14:26:00.002-05:00

Happy Halloween from RyGuy's family!

(With it being Hannah's first Halloween, Ry's sister has requested that we begin a new family tradition -- family photos every halloween!)

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-01T14:16:00.002-05:00

This halloween we decorated quite a few pumpkins with our niece & nephew!

Ry painted a vampire Mickey pumpkin for Hannah & Hannah painted a very pretty little pumpking that she was very proud of!

When Nephew came to visit, he carved his very own pumpkin (on the left with the awesome purple glitter!) and he helped Ry & I care some too!

Hope you all had a nice halloween too!

InaDWriMo 2009

2009-10-28T08:40:00.002-04:00

Many of my monthly goals (as I work toward graduation) involve lots of writing. So I decided to take part in InaDWriMo 2009. I have heard about this many times and one of my favorite bloggers (Brazen Hussy) inspired me to make my pledge!

Basically, I just set a goal for the number of words I want to write in November (10,000) and then I track that number on the cute little meter on the right side of this blog. At the end of the month, I hope to have 10,000 words written (basically a whole chapter and a half of my dissertation)!

Stay tuned, because it will surely be a thrilling month of writing!

Try not to laugh!

2009-10-19T11:32:00.000-04:00

Reason why I work from home, #82

2009-10-16T15:31:00.004-04:00

Here's my friend that comes to visit me throughout my at-home work day!

He always stops by with a nut that he carries up on to the corner of the railing of our deck. He sits up there and happily crunches away on it. He does this 2 to 6 times a day (depending on weather and the loudness of my neighbors). He definitely sees me and will tolerate me unless I step completely out on to the deck. But watching from the deck door is fine with him.

It just makes me wonder why this specific corner of our deck is the best place to dine.

I also wonder his name ... any suggestions??

Mid-Month Goal Post, October!

2009-10-15T17:07:00.003-04:00

Here's my mid-month goal update!!

Collect & analyze ALL data from Experiment 1b
This is started ... but only just ...
Write significant draft for Experiment 1 paper
Also started! Intro & Methods written, and half the graphs and results done!
Start collecting data for Experiment 2
Not yet ....
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2
I am getting there ... keep your fingers crossed and I might actually finish this soon!
Finish & submit pesky Thesis paper
Well ... I sent it to my co-authors and my old advisor sent an email 2 days ago that almost seemed as though he was looking at it (since he asked me a question about what tests we actually did). Hopefully it will be out to review by Halloween!
Write significant draft of CR field paper and get it out to co-authors
Done! Advisor read it, suggested I re-write it, I re-wrote it, he re-read it and liked it, and it has been sent to co-author down south! Hope he likes it too!
Get together some lectures for a bunch of classes I agreed to teach the first week of November (hmmm... not even sure what these are about really...)
Had a 3 minute conversation with the instructor about this and he made some vague noises and jumped on my suggestions for lecture topics ... so I guess I will get together some lectures?
Finish applying for jobs (until post doc season starts)
Most applications are out! But I am still waiting on some other things before I can get the final ones out!

OK ... looking better than September so far!

Cutest Commercial Ever!

2009-10-14T09:06:00.002-04:00

I love this commercial so much!

The bunnies in the teacups!

The slide bunnies!

The cow bunny and the farmer bunnie that falls over!!

It makes me want to buy a lotto ticket!

A weekend visit!

2009-10-09T09:39:00.002-04:00

Even though I suppose I should be working this weekend ....

I am excited because Nephew, my older bro and his wife are all coming to visit this weekend! They haven't visited me since Nephew was a baby (less than 1?) and now he is almost 6 (his birthday is in a few weeks and we won't male it home, so I might even attempt some birthday cupcakes today)!

We're going to head to NYC for some fun in the Park! And who knows what else!

Hope you have a fun weekend too!

Reason why I work from home, #157

2009-10-05T19:46:00.006-04:00

Today I had a conversation with another grad student that is currently in charge of the bio-grad-student-club. He was angry because the graduate student coordinator wanted him to explain an upcoming event to new grad students. These students must present their work at the event and have never done it before. But grad student-in-charge thinks that it is insulting to actually explain to the new students how to do new things. I mean, they should just know what to do.

I tried suggesting that it wouldn't be a horrific idea to just briefly mention the process at the meeting, as both a refresher to old students and an explanation to new students. In a nice, quick non-condescending way. We agreed to disagree and he decided that he will start the discussion with "The graduate coordinator thinks you're all stupid ..."

2 hours later, I get an email from the secretary (also new) asking me what she should tell one of the new students .... because the new student doesn't know what to do.

Really??

It's tough ...

2009-10-04T19:04:00.000-04:00

being a dedicated Buffalo Bills fan.

Sigh.

October Goals

2009-10-01T09:05:00.003-04:00

I know it is probably very boring for you to read my list of monthly goals. But it is a great help to me! I always have lots of lists taped to my office walls or on a post-it notes in my planner that I gleefully cross-off as I accomplish goals.

But those little notes to myself do not hold me accountable. Posting my work goals on the Internet makes me feel a bit more pressure. Which I definitely need if I am going to graduate in May!

So, thank you all (4 of you) for putting up with my "goal posts" (haha ... sorry).

Here they are for October (let's see if I can be more successful than September!):

Collect & analyze ALL data from Experiment 1b
Write significant draft for Experiment 1 paper
Start collecting data for Experiment 2
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2
Finish & submit pesky Thesis paper
Write significant draft of CR field paper and get it out to co-authors
Get together some lectures for a bunch of classes I agreed to teach the first week of November (hmmm... not even sure what these are about really...)
Finish applying for jobs (until post doc season starts)

Oh ... and everything else that I need to do on a daily basis!
Hmmm ... too ambitious?

Damn. It's October.

2009-09-30T15:23:00.003-04:00

Seriously, where did September go?

Here's my goal review for the month. Originially I wanted to:

Present data at lab meeting from field study in Costa Rica (collected by others). Figure out how we're going to write the paper and how much of it I am actually responsible for.
Finish collecting data and analyzing data from Experiment 1a and Experiment 1b.
Get a draft of the paper for Experiments 1a & 1b to advisor.
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2.
(Bonus Goal 1) Apply to many, many jobs.
(Bonus Goal 2) Finish re-writing old Thesis paper.

Let's just say ... out of a possible 100% ... I calculate that I completed 56.667% of my goals.

Hmm... if 65% is failing, then it looks like September did not go so well. Darn it.

Tomorrow I will post October's goals and I will definitely have to try harder! (Or I will never graduate and I will be stuck here forever)

A blast from my library past

2009-09-23T17:53:00.003-04:00

Today I went to the local NJ library with RyGuy. We go every couple of weeks (on the day our books are due).

In addition to borrowing books, we always check out the "Friends of the Library" bookshelf that's full of books that people donated. It's $1 for hardcover books and 50 cents for paperbacks. I have never seen anyone else buy books there, but we ALWAYS do. Today, as you might have guessed, I found some good ones:

The Babysitters Club!

Oh, that's right. The Babysitters Club! This is a series of over 100 "young adult" books that I was obsessed with as a kid! I mean, obsessed! I got all of them out of the library. And then I owned the first 100 books. And my friend Steph and I tried to start our own club at least twice! And there was a movie and a bad TV show too! The series is actually horribly written in terms of continuity and content ... but, hey -- we didn't have Harry Potter!!

I bought the 2 books from the series that were there and can't wait to get a few free hours to read them!

Also on the goals list ...

2009-09-21T21:03:00.003-04:00

... re-write a manuscript for the thousandth (?) time. It's from my Masters thesis (which I originally wrote a long 4 years ago). We've sent it out in many forms and I am hoping this one is the best (i.e., gets accepted for publication).

Would like to get it out to co-authors within the next 24 hours.

Done:

Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Figures
Tables
Legends
Acknowledgements

Still to do:

Totally new Discussion
Update References
Format (very tedious and important)

Hmm ... I have writing about work a lot lately.

Maybe my next post should be about something that non-academic people do. Fantasy Football?

Keep piling it on!

2009-09-21T12:50:00.003-04:00

How am I supposed to fulfill my monthly goals if I keep getting more stuff to do??

And, what's more, I dropped my computer off to have it checked for viruses and cleaned up (because the service was FREE on Saturday) and I still don't have it back!!!!! Luckily Ry just bought a new laptop AND his old one is working AND he has 2 laptops for work ... so I have an overabundance of laptops (did I mention we also have a brand new one that belongs to Ry's dad?) but I am floundering without MY computer! I am going to go call the store ... again ... for the third time ....

September Goals: Mid-month update!

2009-09-16T16:15:00.002-04:00

My updated goals for September (previously posted here):

Present data at lab meeting from field study in Costa Rica (collected by others). Figure out how we're going to write the paper and how much of it I am actually responsible for.
Data presented and was told I am basically responsible for writing the whole project up. I will be first author, so that's cool, but that means I have a lot of work to do. Have 1/2 of this paper done and hope to have a full draft by the end of the month.
Finish collecting data and analyzing data from Experiment 1a and Experiment 1b.
Finished collecting data for 1a, but just realized I coded it wrong when I entered it in to a computer program so now I cannot analyze it. This means I need to figure out how to re-code it OR I have to collect all of the data over. As it is 27 hours of video (which will take about 50 hours of work to get through) I'd like to take a few hours to consider how to re-code and then analyze.
Get a draft of the paper for Experiments 1a & 1b to advisor.
Since I could not analyze ... draft is looking grim ....
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2.
I have the least control over this and am therefore still waiting ....

Additionally, I need to add to the list:

Complete and submit at least 6 (maybe more??) applications for jobs by October 10th

Wish me luck!

hypersensitive to hypersensitivity?

2009-09-09T22:00:00.003-04:00

If I think a co-worker is being so hypersensitive about eveything that it actually creates an environment in which I feel as though I cannot properly do my job (because of a fear of saying something or doing something that will cause him/her to react), am I being hypersensitive by telling my boss?

Hunter's Hope

2009-09-07T15:05:00.002-04:00

This weekend, my wonderful Nephew will again be walking in the Hunter's Hope Every Step Walk. This is a walk that raises money to require universal screening for newborns. It was started in honor of the son of Jim Kelly (former Buffalo Bills Quarterback). Nephew participated last year too -- read about it here!

If you'd like to make a donation to support Nephew's walk, please go HERE! Even $5 would help!

Thanks friends!

Sometimes ....

2009-09-02T22:34:00.001-04:00

... I feel like I am surrounded by Dementors while I am at work.

Hunting Season for Jobs!

2009-08-31T22:21:00.002-04:00

That's right! It's hunting time!

I am hunting for the only thing I would actually hunt for (other than a good deal!) -- a JOB!

I want a job next fall. Dream job would be a tenure-track professor position at a school with a little bit of research (not dependent upon external funding by the federal government). Within my very specific field of biology. Somewhere between my family's and Ry's family.

And the time to look is now. Unlike other jobs, it takes 6-8 months for the whole application process. Right now, jobs are being posted. Applications are due between October 1 and December 1. Then they are reviewed and a limited number of applicants are interviewed in January and February. Then second interviews are in March. And offers follow those. For jobs that start July or August of next year. It's a long process and I need to get with it NOW!

Of course, I could just get lucky like Ry! Last year, he applied for a job in July, got an interview a week later, was made an offer the following day and started his job within a month of applying! And it's a great job that he loves! Some kids have all the luck!

wow, kids!

2009-08-31T17:58:00.003-04:00

We spent the morning with niece Hannah (because Mama and Nana had some appointments to attend), and boy, am I tired!

She's a great kid and pretty well behaved, but we were up at 5:30 to drive to her place and then ran around playing with her until lunch time! After she ate and fell asleep in her highchair, Ry & I spent the afternoon running our own errands and then got home exhausted!!!

How do you parents do it?

September Goals

2009-08-28T21:08:00.003-04:00

As I am trying to graduate this May, I am setting monthly goals for myself. And by "goals", I really mean "If I don't get this certain thing done this month, I am screwing myself and won't be able to graduate".

For September, I just need to:

Present data at lab meeting from field study in Costa Rica (collected by others). Figure out how we're going to write the paper and how much of it I am actually responsible for.
Finish collecting data and analyzing data from Experiment 1a and Experiment 1b.
Get a draft of the paper for Experiments 1a & 1b to advisor.
Finish getting replicates for Experiment 2.

That's all!

Well ... if I do end up unemployed next year ...

2009-08-26T12:13:00.000-04:00

So long sweet summer ...

2009-08-26T12:04:00.003-04:00

The "crazy" summer is now over, so I hope to get back into blogging!

Life is going OK here!

With the start of the new semester, I was granted a fellowship, which means I don't have to teach or be my boss's bitch. I get to focus on my own research!! My contract/letter even says that because this fellowship is a gift "no work is required". So cool! If I can get A LOT of stuff done this semester, I will actually get to graduate in May! So here's hoping the fellowship is a big help and I actually do get to focus on my own research!

Of course, with the "fellowship freedom", I was already asked by 2 different professors to lecture for them while they're out of town. This week I took over Evolution and in November I am doing a week of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology. In truth, I don't mind much. I like to give lectures and I like the topics I have been asked to cover. But it just makes me laugh that I have managed to be roped in to teaching when I am not getting paid to do so!

So, this semester, I hope to keep you up to date on my progress towards graduation! I hope to finish my dissertation, submit lots of papers (and make my Big 10) and find a job!

Wish me luck!!

Time is flying!

2009-08-18T20:42:00.002-04:00

Stopping by to let you know ....

just 500 days until the wedding!!!!!!!!

Yay!

(To check out the webpage, go to www.mywedding.com and type in one of our names in the "find a webpage" area!)

So much going on ...

2009-07-26T22:24:00.002-04:00

I know that my audience has been checking daily for updates about my exciting life .... and let me tell you, life has been busy!

But soon ... so very soon ... I will post about:

4th of July celebration in Buffalo
Vegas, baby!!!!
leaving the Little Town ...
... and moving to NJ!

So much fun in such a short amount of time!

A Virginia Visit!

2009-07-07T09:28:00.004-04:00

Many weeks ago (before my trip to Brazil), RyGuy and I traveled down to visit BF Kimmy, my BF-in-law and their daughter Ally! We were so excited to go see them (we haven't seen them since Christmas!) and celebrate Kimmy's 28th Birthday! And it's lucky we went to visit -- they will actually be moving soon because of a new job! We are excited because they will be much closer to us, but we will miss their cute VA home!

As always, below are some pictures for your enjoyment!

Uncle Ry showing Ally how to blow some bubbles!
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Ally liked the bubbles ... but maybe the stick a bit more!
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So cute!
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We spent a great day at the pool! Ally is so cute!
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I think she had a great time! We did!
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Ally trying to play video games with Daddy & Uncle Ry!
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Happy Birthday BF Kimmy!
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Seriously, ridiculously cute!
Can't believe she is ONE already!!
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Can't wait to visit you at your new place, Miss Ally!
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Dick Dawk likes soup

2009-07-02T12:54:00.007-04:00

The conference I went to in Brazil turned out to be really great!

Great stuff: Awesome famous keynote speaker (who likes soup a lot!); cute resort; great pool; caught up with lots of people I haven't seen in a while; lots of fun conversations with scientists; free alcohol at nearly every event; old labmate (DancingFish) gave a great talk in a little competition; Joe gave the best talk ever (on one of the papers I am first author on) and got tons of questions from super famous people; met lots of new fun grad students; got some more post doc advice; listened to lots of great science talks; was brave enough to ask questions at a few talks; only a few bug bites; had an overall great time!

Not-great stuff: Traveled at least 22 hours each way (many planes and airports and buses); my talk was on the very last day, and the stupid clicker broke and my slides went away for a while, and I looked like an idiot; pretty sure I broke my toe while walking the streets of town one drunken evening; my undergrad advisor was there and it appears that he still hates me, making all interactions totally awkward; did not know Portuguese at all!!; got yelled at twice by a semi-famous scientist's wife for being too loud at night; perhaps have swine flu (though not as bad as Joe).

I think the Great stuff list totally beats the Not-great stuff list, so I declare the Brazil trip a success!!

Here are some photos for your enjoyment!

Beautiful weather in Newark!

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Beautiful weather in Brazil!
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Real poinsettias. Not like the Christmas plants in the US!
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DancingFish finishing the FunRun!
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Joe after his 4th place finish in the Fun Run!
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View from our balcony!
(Dick Dawk stayed on the bottom floor!)
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Pool!
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Such fun!

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Umm ... yeah ...

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Cow, the goat, and his Mommy

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Attempt at a photo of Dick Dawk's crack

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Joe ... with some famous science guy???
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The Caipirinha!
(Never accidentally ask for a double!)

Leaving on a jet plane ...

2009-06-20T10:42:00.002-04:00

I leave today for Brazil!

A week long conference in the middle of a giant South American country! I am very excited about the work and also hope to get in some time at the pool! My tan is definitely suffering with the 28 days of rain we have endured in The Little Town!

I plan to blog from the pool, so stay tuned!

This is the start of our busy, busy summer! RyGuy leaves for London this week, then we're both off to Buffalo, then Vegas!, then moving in together! Crazy good times in the next few weeks!

A plea to my friends -- Relay for Life 3!

2009-06-08T16:03:00.003-04:00

Dear friends,

As many of you know, my dad was diagnosed with cancer about 6 years ago. He has been doing well and is currently trying new treatments to stay healthy. There is no "cure" for multiple myeloma, a blood cancer that affects the immune system.

In his honor, I am again taking part in the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. This is a great event that raises money for cancer research and cancer survivors. For 24 hours this weekend, my BOGS team will walk the track at a local high school to raise awareness!

This is my third year participating in Relay for Life. With your help and support, the last two years I have reached my goal of $500 donated in honor of my dad! Thank you all!!

I urge you to visit my webpage and make a donation. Both in support of my dad and in honor of everyone that you know that has been affected by cancer.

Every little bit helps! Just a few dollars really does make a difference!

Thanks so much for your support and contribution!

Go to my Relay for Life webpage by clicking here!
or cut and paste this into your browser:
http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLFY09PA?px=6186164&pg=personal&fr_id=16833

THANK YOU!!

Memorializing with Hannah!

2009-06-05T08:54:00.007-04:00

It's been a few days since I last put of photos of our niece Hannah, so I thought I'd share some of the cutie from Memorial Day Weekend! We had a great time with her -- a BBQ at her house, playing in the rain, going to the local fair (where I totally beat RyGuy TWICE in the watergun game and won 2 giant prizes for Hannah), and (the next day) dinner out (Hannah's Favorite) and some more fun! Enjoy this little cutie!!

Hannah at the restuarant -- she loves dining out!
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Uncle Ry teaching Hannah how to ride a tricycle
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Hannah & Mommy on the Carousel!
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So cute!!
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Trying hard to blow BUBBLES!
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"Say Cheese"!
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Dancing in the rain!
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Aunt Sneks had to join in the fun!
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She's ridiculous!
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A video of her favorite Uncle Ry activity!
(I just love her laugh!!)

Benefit for Heather!

2009-06-03T21:02:00.005-04:00

Our friend Heather was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) on March 13, 2009. This is a very rare disease, especially for a 26-year-old. Heather is an extremely happy person and has kept a positive attitude as she has undergone many bone biopsies and doctor's appointments! Luckily, Heather can be "cured" with a bone marrow transplant! In preparation for her transplant at the end of June, Heather has also undergone fertility treatments (to freeze embryos, since it is unlikey her eggs will survive the chemotherapy she has to undergo). Needless to say, Heather and her boyfriend Matt (my officemate) have racked up a whole bunch of medical bills already!

What else could we do, but get together a Benefit for Heather? At the local bar, of course! The professors in my department agreed to be "Celebrity" Bartenders and collected lots of tips for Matt & Heather! We had a fabulous turnout and lots of support! I hope Heather looks back on the night and has a good laugh while she's recovering in the hospital!

An amazing turnout! THANKS everyone!
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Dr S. says "Show me your tips!"
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How many tenure-track PhDs does it take to pour me a Diet Coke?
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Dr B. flosses his teeth ... with a thong?!?

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Celebrities always wear their pearls, like Dr C.
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Showing off some postdoc skills
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Dr M. is apparently a D-cup............

.....with manly muscles.
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Dr S. is ready to work ... at Schnooters?
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I was so proud to present Heather & Matt with our contribution!

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Good Luck Heather!

Mom's Day in B-lo!

2009-05-26T11:15:00.005-04:00

Ry & I shuffled off to Buffalo over Mother's Day weekend, for no special reason except to visit the family!

We had a great time! My parents, lil bro' & Kel have purchased a new house and Ry & I broke in to check it out! It's awesome and I still can't believe my parents will be moving from our childhood home this summer (but I am very happy for them!)! We also saw Nephew sing in the choir at church and my sis-in-law made an amazing Mother's Day dinner for all of us! Oh, and Nephew gave me plenty of beautiful Mother's Day drawings and paintings and a plant! There's no official "Aunt Sneks Day", so I appreciated the thought! :) Our final visit was to Anna & Gorgeous to visit their new "baby" (AKA, Ziva the dog!)! SO CUTE!!

Can't wait for our next visit to Buffalo in July!

Nephew singing in the choir (he's the littlest guy in front!)!

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Ziva the puppy, biting my knee right after she peed on me!
(What is with creatures peeing on me??)
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Ziva!
(So when is the real baby coming, Anna & George???)
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Submitted (x2) !

2009-05-15T09:48:00.003-04:00

2 papers submitted in one day! Woohoo!

I think I accomplished enough work this week!

One paper was submitted to a BIG journal and I sort of doubt it will be accepted there, but my advisor thought it was worth a shot! It's some data that I collected my first year of my PhD (like ... 3 years ago), so I am pretty excited to get it written and out to the world! It's been a long writing processes with my advisor (my only co-author on this one) and I am excited to be done with it! Also, it counts toward my "Big 10" goal, so please keep your fingers crossed that the reviewers like my ideas as much as I do!!

The second paper is even "older". It's data from my Masters work that has been written in various forms and submitted multiple times. But I really think it's in the proper context now, so I am hopeful that the mid-to-low-level journal that we sent it to will like it! And it would be nice to be DONE with my master's work (except one more little bit of data, but my old labmate is now in charge of that paper and some more data is being collected this summer by my old advisor ... so it's pretty much out of my hand except some editting!)!

Overall, a pretty good week! And a busy weekend/week coming up!!!

Less than 600 days!

2009-05-11T23:33:00.000-04:00

Oh my! Time is flying!

Luckily, we're not too stressed yet! We have the church, reception hall/hotel, dj, and photographers all lined up. I have bought a few favor/decor/gift sort of things. And the rest ... I feel like we still have time for!

We have set up a wedding webpage too! If you want to check it out our webpage, go to http://www.mywedding.com/. Then, on the rightside of the page, in the middle, you can type in my name or RyGuy's and you'll find us! We're going to try to update it often as we get more info about wedding related events! In case you're curious!

Next wedding goals: limo, semi-finalized guest list, save the dates, and loose some weight before dress shopping!

Yay wedding!!

All in a weekend of work ...

2009-04-27T19:16:00.005-04:00

Last weekend, I attended a local symposium to give a little talk about some of my research. This was my 4th time presenting at this and I look forward to it every year, because it is just a few local folks, mostly some professors and some undergrads.

This year's highlight's included:

RyGuy came for the day to hang out with me (his 3rd appearance at this symposium that is totally NOT related to any of his research interests)

An old labmate came back to give a talk about her field research and brought a student who did a little poster (and she won Best Undergrad Poster!)

My advisor actually came .... for half the day ....

The final speaker of the day gave a 1.5 hour talk on field work on insects in a foreign Asian country ... in which he included many videos ... one of cattle crossing his field site ... one of his colleagues dancing to "Who let the dogs out?" ... and TWO of his van driver singing in a foreign Asian language that none of us know. And I almost lost it near the end when he said something about something "going on and on and on and on and on" (it was like trying not to laugh at a funeral!!!)

6 slides into my 15 minute talk I realized ... I was giving the WRONG TALK!!!! (as in, an old version of the talk that still contained many slides that I thought I had deleted and planned to not talk about ....)

Despite giving the WRONG TALK ... I still managed to be awarded "Best Graduate Student Talk" (Sorry Joe, but 2nd place ain't bad!)

Best part of the day ... the most awesomely horrible hairclip I have ever seen a female professor wear. I only wish I had a good photo of it. Here is my attempt below. I know it is hard to make out ... but there is (in order) a bunch of bananas, an eggplant, an artichoke, an orange thing (squash?), asparagus and a tomato (or apple?). So amazing ... in the truest sense of the word.

Two life lessons learned:

Always, always, always check the PowerPoint presentation after it is loaded to be sure the right one is waiting for you!
Accessorize like nobody's watching!

Take me out to the ball game (part 2)

2009-04-24T08:33:00.002-04:00

Ry & I also (spontaneously) decided to head to the local AAA ballpark for opening night! I LOVE minor league baseball, because you can spend the night outdoors, enjoy some entertainment, have a drink (although it was too cold in April to drink Bud Light Lime!), and yell a whole bunch for less than $15 a person! (We sat behind home plate for $9 a ticket!) Good times!

We hope to make a few more games this year! (Especially when the weather is nice!)

Take me out to the ball game (part 1)

2009-04-20T21:53:00.006-04:00

If you don't know yet, RyGuy loves baseball! He used to play and he loves going to games! (Someday, we'll make it to all of the major league stadiums!)

We started out the baseball season a bit early this year! My good friends Anna and Gorgeous were somehow able to get us $1 tickets to a "preseason" game at NEW YANKEE STADIUM!! I was very excited (being born a Yankees fan) and we got there early to check everything out! It is AWESOME!

Below are some photos we took! THANKS Anna and Gorgeous for coming to visit for the weekend and for a great time!

Here's the field!
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Yum! The 297 calories were delicious! So were the 1236 calories!
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One of the first to use the bathrooms at NEW Yankee Stadium!
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Practice!
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Monument Park was awesome!
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The view from our seats .... at the very top ... the farthest you can be from homeplate and still be in the Stadium!
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Anna & Gorgeous! True Yankees fans!
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A bit chilly! But we had fun!
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Easter Cuteness!

2009-04-14T09:16:00.004-04:00

We had a wonderful Easter with Ry's family and I just had to show a bunch of cute pictures of Hannah, because her princess dress was so adorable! She also had a cute pink bonnet, but she didn't feel like wearing it at that moment! She did like wearing my bunny slippers (a gift from Nephew!)! And seems to be very excited about the sidewalk chalk we got her (Can't wait for summer)! Enjoy the cutie pie!

Pondering a poster ...

2009-04-13T20:02:00.004-04:00

A quick post on work (because it makes me feel better) and then I'll get back to some more pictures and the fun in life.

While my dear advisor was away doing field work, it fell upon me and my fellow grad students to work with His undergrads on a poster presentation of their research. That meant one of my labmates (Joe) and I had to teach these 3 ladies what their research results mean and how to present that in a poster. How the DATA is all we can talk about and not what we FEEL might be happening. How LESS words are better and how MORE pictures and figures are helpful.

We spent more than an hour with them last week giving specific suggestions on their poster and suggested that they send it to us sometime over the weekend to look at, since the poster symposium is tomorrow (Tuesday).

Have we seen the poster yet? Take a guess.

I am annoyed that they haven't sent it to us. But there are many reasons why I should NOT be annoyed:

They don't have to answer to me. I am not their advisor.
I can not demand that I see their work. Only their advisor can.
If they do poorly, it is not my fault. It is their advisor's fault.

So ... I am not going to be annoyed with them (as they are all sweet girls). Instead, I will be annoyed with this silly grant proposal that I am still working on ...

Happy Birthday Hannah!

2009-04-10T17:46:00.004-04:00

Our niece Hannah turned 2 a few weeks ago, and we had a fabulous time at her Mickey Mouse Clubhouse birthday party! There were so many family members there to celebrate the first birthday that Hannah celebrated with us! We can't wait for next year's party!

Here are a few photos of the exciting day:

"Mama" dressed as Mickey!
(The rest of us had cute Mickey ears ... but I will save those photos for blackmail)

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So many presents!

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She's so good at looking at the cards! She loves them!
(Our's played the Mickey Mouse song!)
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I hope everyone liked the Mickey-shaped cake I made!

(And Ry carried on his lap for the whole 30 minute drive)
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And Hannah had her own cookie-brownie-cake with a giant "2" and Mickey!
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HAPPY 2nd BIRTHDAY HANNAH!!

Long-distance Annoyance

2009-04-06T19:21:00.006-04:00

I was really looking forward to this week (Last Wednesday - This Wednesday) in terms of work because my advisor is off on his tri-annual visit to the desert for some field work. And, as I have been recently annoyed with Him (due to his inability to function the day Rex Manning came and his snarky comments), I figured this week-long break would allow me to get over my petty annoyances and focus on work and be refreshed upon His arrival.

As you might have guessed (from the mere fact that I am actually blogging about this) :
I am still annoyed with Him.

Here's a few reasons why:

Still not over the Rex Manning thing (why, I do not really know)
Spent MANY hours re-analyzing data in order to start a complete re-write of a paper (You know, the one that was "perfect" a few weeks ago and ready to go out for review but now that He actually sat down and listened to me, he decided we need a completely new paper (thus, my feelings that he is not paying attention to me are again confirmed)). This will take weeks. In which I should be actually focusing on dissertation work.
Spent / should be spending many hours working on a grant proposal that I am pretty sure (let's say 99.99%) won't get funded (because it doesn't actually come close to fitting the descriptions of what the money is for, not because the science is bad). If He even spends any time on it when He gets back and actually bothers to submit it.
Did not get fish that are desperately needed in order to work on dissertation projects. This was due to a glitch with money on His part that has not yet been fixed.
Have to spend hours working with Undergrads on a poster of a project that they are doing with Him, but He doesn't have the time to help them.
Still annoyed with someone else, but this is mainly due to His inability to deal with someone else (I know, it doesn't make sense to you, but trust me, it's annoying).

End Rant.

I have 2 days to get lots of work done and get rid of this annoyance. Wish me luck!

Goodbye Mojo

2009-04-02T09:37:00.003-04:00

Nephew is pretty much the sweetest kid in the world. Among other things, he loves animals. Especially his bunny, Mojo. Unfortunately, Mojo passed away this week. Nephew took it pretty hard. Mojo was his best friend and watched over him when he slept at night.

Fortunately, the local SPCA has some bunnies and Nephew will go find a new friend this weekend! I just wanted to wish Nephew luck on his search for a new bunny!

( Here he is with the bunnies at the Science Museum this past Christmas!)

Hannah!

2009-03-29T22:54:00.003-04:00

Have I shared pictures of my cutest-ever niece? Ry & I have loved every moment with her since she came here!

She turned 2 this week, and I'll share photos of her amazing birthday party soon! But until then, here are a few from about 3 weeks ago!

How can you not LOVE that face?

Sitting in her tinkerbell chair (from us), enjoying some reading!

What cute little pig tails!

So Cute!

Love that smile!

Buffalo = small, large city

2009-03-26T13:31:00.003-04:00

Yes, I am a Buffalo Girl, and proud of it! Being a Buffalo Girl means many different things, all interesting, and will surely be the topic of a post in the near future.

One thing I love about being a Buffalo Girl is that everyone in the world has some sort of Buffalo Connection. Seriously. I kid you not. And this has helped me out in many (little) ways, as I have traveled through this life. The Buffalo Connection, at the very least, allows me to always be able to make good conversation.

Two examples from the last week:

~When "Rex Manning" was in town, I brought him to breakfast. In conversation about undergraduate college, I mention that I went to a small, private college in Buffalo that no one has ever heard of. He says "Wait, you're from Buffalo?" and laughs. Despite now living in a southern town, he is a huge Bills & Sabres fan (he went to Syracuse for college) and is currently dating a Buffalo Girl!! We talk for a few minutes about T.O. and how this is the year for the Bills and then I make him tell me his Buffalo Girl's name, because I swear I know someone who knows her (which I am sure I do, somehow, but I haven't figured it out yet). Later in the night, after a few drinks and a 13-hour day, he laughs again and smiles and tells me he's not surprised I am a Buffalo Girl (surely meant as a compliment). Apparently, there's just something different about us!

~ Today, I am at lunch with a super nice local scientist who will be giving this week's seminar. She is very enjoyable, easy to talk to and the lunch goes on without any awkward moments or embarassing situations (as is usual at a science-people lunch). I really enjoyed the lunch and this great woman scientist! Then, I offer her a ride in my car to the very top of the mountain. She notices the dealer sticker on my car and says "Wait, are you from Buffalo?". Well, of course, I am a Buffalo Girl! So is she! She grew up in a neighboring town, her folks live around the corner from the place Ry & I are getting married, her dad teaches at the big university, her mom teaches at a Buffalo high school (my old "rivals") and we both are positive that we definitely know someone in common (though we haven't figured it out yet! But we will!)!

The Buffalo Connection just always amuses me and makes my day! These are just this week's stories, but there are many more! I know that my friends and family who live in Buffalo and have spent their whole lives there don't always realize just how special the place is! But Buffalo is a great city and I will always be proud to tell people that I am a Buffalo Girl!

Earth Hour

2009-03-24T23:09:00.003-04:00

I am sure you heard about it in passing sometime in the last few days ...

Earth Hour is a movement by the World Wildlife Foundation to encourage everyone to save energy by shutting off your lights for 60 minutes on Saturday, March 28th, starting at 8:30pm local time!

Everybody (in the world) is doing it, so why don't we?

I am sure you can think of something fun to do in the dark for an hour at 8:30 on a Saturday night! Umm ... I meant watch a movie! What did you think I meant?

Another great afternoon of work

2009-03-24T15:03:00.003-04:00

Is it weird that when my boss annoys me with a snarky comment about my productivity (which I consider relatively high), instead of blowing off work, I just want to work harder and prove him wrong?

Some people think that is weird.

Successfully finished

2009-03-20T10:37:00.002-04:00

Yesterday's invited seminar went extremely well! (Except for the multple delayed flights, fire alarm, the rain, one grad student not showing up for lunch and still not letting me know what happened, multiple things scheduled for the same day resulting in a less-than-full seminar room (but not too bad, considering), and my advisor pretty much being MIA the whole day because he can't handle being chair of the department!!)

I really enjoyed hanging out with Rex Manning*! He's awesome, does amazing research, is super-super smart, is young and ambitious and is a really nice guy. And he offered to have labmate Joe and I travel down south to do an AWESOME experiment with him this summer. The experiment is really cool, relates to my dissertation (wow!) and would allow me to learn a totally new technique that I am dying to learn and that I would be able to use for the rest of my research career! How great is that???!!??

And now that his visit is over, I am done with this silly "grad club" and can get back to work! YAY!

*obviously his name is NOT Rex Manning.

Rex Manning* Day

2009-03-18T18:04:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow, I am in charge of hosting a guest speaker for the grad student organization in my department.

Because the majority of grad students seem to be unable to do much (despite wanting much to happen), I have been in charge of:

choosing our lone guest speaker
contacting him and discussing the topic of his seminar
arranging his travel with the administrative assistant
setting up his schedule for the entire visit
begging other grad students to meet with him to give lab tours, have (free) lunch, and have (free) dinner
picking him up at the airport and being his chaufer for the entire 3 day visit (which has been a mess of cancelled flights thus far!!)
generally making it seem like the grad students are glad to have him here!

Now that I have complained, I feel better and can get through the next 2 days!

But this is it. I am done!

*don't tell me you don't know who Rex Manning is!