Nostalgia

From time to time I miss living in a house that was cold, dirty, in a eenie-weenie room with no overhead light. I miss having an ambulance bay across the street, with weird hobos hanging around and smoking. I miss running out of money way before the end of the month, but feeling like I couldn't ask my parents (I know, I'm spoiled) for more before the next month, and so living on toast for days on end. I didn't always sleep well, I had a minor nervous breakdown there, but that falling apart house (we called it the Slanty Shanty as you could quite easily propel yourself across the hall between our rooms due to the pronounced tilt in the floor) will always have a dear place in my heart. Because of the girls who lived in it with me.

I lived with five amazing roommates for the quite awesome upper years of my undergraduate career. There really is no dirt they don't have on me (or me on them). We say fairly awful things about each other, but generally to our faces, or terrible jokes and references to their Mom. We once all dressed up as Disney Princesses for Halloween and sing their theme songs at the top of our lungs every chance we get (like driving down the 401).

I had the joy of reuniting with those girls this weekend, in the Tdot and it lived up to all my expectations as being thoroughly hilarious. Watching one of my eeny weeny friends (not a former roomie but was a member of an allied house, no we weren't in Sororities but it's hard to explain), tell a massive guy hitting on our engaged friend to 'F off' is a highlight of my life. Though there were days I would have merrily murdered them for not doing those dishes, those girls have made the last 7 (7!) years of my life so much more fun than they would have been otherwise, and I can't wait to see what's next.

So this holiday season love and adore your family, be nice to them, bite your tongue when they say things you wholly disagree with and appreciate them. But take a moment to tell your friends how much they mean to you too.

It's beginning to look a lot like....

... CHRISTMAS!

Despite us being walloped by a snow storm in the middle of this past week, it wasn't until I was tramping around in a light snowfall this afternoon to buy Christmas ornaments and presents that I truly started to feel the season. Christmas Day is less than 2 weeks away! I then went home and wrapped presents, and after that went to help my Grandparents set up their tree. Tomorrow on the way to work I'm going to be singing Carols at the top of my lungs.

I do however really need to keep moving, I still have a few presents to buy, baking to do and next weekend is basically a wash since I'm heading to the T-dot with my former housemates to party it up. If anyone wants to be my own personal elf for free, do let me know.

If you're not yet in the mood though, check this out, I'm sure you'll feel it right away:

Winter time

It actually snowed today! We had gotten a few little flurries here and there but today was the first day that there was snow on the ground in the morning and it stuck around all day, with even a few additions here and there. I'm finally starting to feel like Christmas is indeed coming.

Unfortunately my cat is really not so happy about this, we're sitting on the couch and she is definitely sulking. She doesn't like snow on her paws and we're not quite crazy enough to buy her booties.

I have new booties - er, boots. I've finally come to senses and kicked the Ugg knock offs I've been buying (and rebuying) every year to the curb. They are just not suitable for winter in places where you get actual snow and salt laid down to try and reduce your chances of slipping and falling in said snow. I might buy a suppppper cheap pair at Old Navy or something to wear on very specific occasions but the boots I got instead are actually quite cute as well so maybe not.

I feel as though I'm settling into work, they've started giving me actual assignments and I'm pretty happy with how its going and the real world. Though of course I spent part of my lunch harassing - ahem, reminding my old supervisor to maybe take a look at the paper I sent him nearly 3 weeks ago? Some things take a little longer to change..... like the seasons.

Whew

This working full time this is exhausting. I worked full time doing my Masters, and even during the summer but as a student, you feel quite free to take breaks, sleep in some mornings (when a grad student), gossip with your friends.... I need to make a good impression now! So I will get promoted and make more money!

Why do I need money? Beyond buying purses and work clothes (less on the cle-vage and more on the office appropriate. Yoga wear/fleece is also not to appropriate alas)? Well, I'm not going to live with my parents forever and so come the spring I need a place to live. Hopefully will buy something, but as those who are near and dear know, I'm kind of spoiled about where I live. I've grown up in the downtown and whine profusely about having to go out to the suburbs, though I will to party. Or if you're going to feed me. So, living downtown I'm going to have a pay a little more for the new yet charming place that I will of course decorate beautifully, with lots of geeky art. Trees! I actually would love to buy this xkcd comic as a print but its not currently available! Le sigh.... Anyways, any one with real estate leads in town, let me know!

I would talk more about work but while I've been geeking out a tad doing research on a brand new but quite interesting field, I've really just been reading. I was excited to get to google stuff to update a report today. Once I get more into things I'll let you know more about it and how I'm dealing with the transition from academia

(My dear x-ine is taking a break from her blog to finish up with academia right now and I wish her the very bestest of luck! Will be there to drink and celebrate whenever you're done!)

Workin' 9 to 5

So I had my first day of work today! I wore nice pants, a collar shirt, a sweater vest (hells yeah) and nice shoes. My feet kind of hurt by the end of the day but I looked pretty cute and fit right in. After years of hanging around academics boasting socks and Birkenstocks (shudder), I am surrounded by people in suits. It'll be a bit of an adjustment but hey, its a reason to go shopping.

I spent most of the day doing HR stuff, signing various documents about being a good public servant (which of course I will be), and enjoying the easily available coffee bar. I'll start researching my issue tomorrow, I am at least incredibly familiar with a whole whack of reading. Will let you know how things are going soon, but tomorrow after work I am gleefully going to go see New Moon. Am way too excited.

Working girl

Well, as I established in my last post, not THAT kind of working girl.

I start my new job on Monday! As much as I've enjoyed these last few months of relaxation, sleeping in, leisurely breakfast and many coffee dates, daytime TV.... I am actually quite ready to get started. I think all my paperwork is all lined up, I have lunch makings for next week, all I have to do is figure what to wear out of my almost completely untouched 'work' portion of my closet (except for that it will involve argyle).

I just want to make clear to you, dear readers, that this is my first job ever. I worked all throughout undergrad during the summers, but a summer job is very different from one that could possibly be the start of a thirty odd year career. Up to now, the jobs I have held include:

• Babysitter (started when I was 13, and actually took it up again this fall)
• Drama camp counsellour (drilling kids in lines and putting up with 8 year old divas)
• Hospital x-ray clerk (putting up with 38 year old divas)
• Political party fundraising clerk (learned quite a bit about how the Canadian political system works, putting up with 24 year old temp divas)
• Research assistant in a University lab (awesome, but for Friday afternoons that neveeeeer ennnnnnnnnded, making bird DNA)
• Research assistant in a government lab (also awesome, watched MTV while cutting up tiny pieces of paper or tiny little flies to make bug DNA)

You may have noticed a bit of a diva theme. I have found while working that the most diva-ish people you work with are those with the LEAST career prospects, and so wield their highly limited power in the absolute worst way. I'm aware that there are difficult people in every office and so perhaps I will have new diva stories to tell but I'm trying to be positive.

I will miss my Regis and Kelly though.

On my not so secret shame

I've been quite intrigued by the news this weekend that the formerly anonymous 'Belle de Jour', who authored a blog and a number of books about her secret left as a call girl, has exposed herself to be a scientist in England. Why exactly she came out now seems to be under debate, but reading articles about her and her perspective on her experience has been really interesting. She started working as an escort because she ran out of money while writing her dissertation, and while acknowledges that she was very lucky to have not had many negative experiences with her clients, seems able to analyse her time as a prostitute and what is means. It's been pointed out that her 'luck' is likely in part due to her being white and middle class, with a strong support network (even though they didn't know what she was doing) allowed her to access a different sort of clientele from women who end up on the streets, who are more likely to be working as a prostitute not because they prefer it to computer analysis (really, she said that), but due to addictions or other calamitous life events. I suppose I'm interested in this both about hearing what some people have to do to get a PhD (!) but also as a moment to think about women and choices.

So I'm obviously not a prostitute. But I have made a choice that some of my friends bewail.

I have read Twilight. I held out for a very long time, until it was lent to me while recovering from surgery last year. I devoured the first book and swiftly after the other three. I saw the movie. I laughed myself silly through a lot of it.

Twilight is really terrible when you think about it, especially from the feminist perspective. As I saw someone point out, Bella starts the series as a cynical girl who likes being different and ends up a teenage mother who names her child Reneesmee, whose entire life is defined by her husband, and will likely never go to college. However much a number of the premises of the books apall me (the evils of pre-marital sex, abortion absolute anathema), I can't help but be so amused by it, and honestly, while working on my own thesis, I was all about the brain candy.

I will definitely be going to see New Moon when it opens next week, but I hope to sneak some rum in to pour into my diet coke so I can get a really good chuckle out of it. Honestly, I'm almost more amused by other people's reactions to it, or their biting analysis (check out this page for the best summaries and responses to Twilight ever, by Cleolinda Jones. She also has a series involving multiple Edward dolls and My Little Ponies.... I can't describe it, just read it!).

Anyone else have a secret or not so secret shame they want to share?

Well, that lasted.... or not

I clearly have the attention span of a gnat and so forgot about this blogging thing again. Oh well. I wish I could say I have something exciting to report but I'm back in the lab here in town, finishing up a few things, back editing the thesis and enjoying my last weeks of freedom. Mtl was awesome though, hanging with my peoples, meeting adorable babies and spending too much money. Until I have something more exciting to report, ta ta.

Back in the Mville

I have so far had a lovely visit back in Mville, hitting my favourite spots, despite an inauspicious start to the weekend.

I take the train a lot and have a very set routine, I show up half an hour early, get my ticket, buy a magazine, wait a few minutes and board. Yesterday, I showed up half an hour early for what I thought was my 3 o'clock train, only to find out that the train I had booked back in August had changed schedules as of November 1st and had left 5 minutes beforehand! I was aghast, but what was I to do but book tickets for the next train and settle down for a long wait. However, the train people took pity on me, and upgraded me to first class because I was inconvenienced! This meant I could sit in the special lounge with free soda and free dinner and wine on the train. I was so tipsy by the time I got to Montreal I was no longer mad. Hm, that may have been their plan all along.

In any case, I've had cider at my favourite bar ever, truffle mac and cheese at one of the best burger joints ever, and accomplished a lot of important shopping. Very important. I bought more argyle, a proper sweater vest, hooray!

Tonight I put on a pretty dress and hit St Laurent to party hardy for my dear x-ine. Will tell you all about it tomorrow, so long as I make that train (I'm about to double check the schedule).

Woohoo weekend!

I'm currently tidying up and packing to spend the weekend back in Mtl. I'm very much looking forward to it, returning to my favourite bar for the best cider ever, celebrating dear x-ine's birthday and seeing some recently born babies. There may also be some shopping on the schedule, for more argyle as I mentioned earlier this week (although, update, I actually already have 4 sweaters). I'll do my best to post over the weekend and keep you updated on all the good times!

On music

It snowed today. Not a lot. It didn't stick. But, there were big fat fluffy flakes drifting down from the sky, and almost compulsively, I turned on Hawksley Workman's 'First Snow of the Year'. It's a very Canadian song, talking about first enjoyment of the sight of snow, but knowing you will soon hate it. I also went and bought a pair of snow boots (and new heels to wear to work).

Later on this evening, trying to figure out what shoes to toss to allow the new ones to come in (it's a system I'm trying. Emphasis on the trying, it's really hard), I came across a whole box of CDs that I made, from the latter half of high school onto part of first year of university, basically when I got an mp3 player and no longer had to burn playlists to take them with me. Really, I should just toss the whole box, but instead, I put it back underneath the bed to listen to when I have a chance. I know that some of the songs won't have the same pull they once did, but I'm sure I'll rediscover some absolute gems. I also just want to listen and remember what those songs meant to me at the time.

While in Florence, my father and I were wandering around one evening, looking for a bar, and we happened into one that was kind of dirty but was named after one of my aunts, and so we thought it was funny. They were playing the first Killers album in its entirety (whose name is escaping me). I still hear a few of the older Killer songs here and there, but some I hadn't heard since I was sitting in my room in my undergrad town, embroiled in biochemistry notes (likely in tears), but singing along HARD because I was also angry (about being in tears). I loved those songs, and despite that time being one of the more miserable in my life, I still do, and that now when I listen I can realize that I persevered through that, thanks in part to Brandon Flowers. I may have to go look them up on You.Tube.

(My current most favourite tracks are insanely poppy by Britney and 3OH!3, about threesomes and chasing after girls. I wonder if I listen to those in 4 years, how I'll feel about them.... besides slightly embarassed.)

An ode to argyle

I went for a run today, definitely not one of my best but I powered through. I came home, peeled off the sweats, showered and was very happy to pull on one of my favourite sweaters, pink with purple and green argyle. This sweater is quite warm so I'm actually okay with the nip in the air as it offers excuse to pull out some of my closet faves.

I'm very comfortable in argyle. Last count I had three argyle sweaters. I bought an argyle polo over the summer but it didn't fit right and so I returned it. While today its paired with earrings carved of moose antler, I often pair argyle with pearls.

Argyle is simply amazing. It often involves several colours, allowing for a whole rainbow of coordinating outfits. It evokes traditional styles but done the right way is also very modern. it goes with everything from heels to my shiny pink adidas sneakers. Have I mentioned my style is rather preppy?

However, my closet is not wholly preppy and actually may be seen as a tad schizophrenic. I have the preppy clothes, the sporty clothes (t-shirts from various universities, numerous yoga pants), the biologist/outdoorsy clothes (fleece, fleece and more fleece), work clothes (well, the blazers are a little preppy I guess) and either schleppy student or going out clothes (both of which often involve low cut t-shirts).

I find it interesting that as I wear the different parts of my wardrobe, I express different characteristics of myself. It's true that a good suit is akin to a suit of armour and when I'm wearing a fairly revealing top.... well... But on the whole, especially if you asked my friends, I'm fairly preppy in dressing and also in attitude. I can out complicated Starbucks order the best of them, and while I have a fairly strong social conscience, i can't quite bring myself to buy only organic cotton. If it's cute, absolutely. If it's a straw colour baggy tee..... no.

A few days ago I teased this entry asking how you all felt about sweater vests. I got one response, from my fabulous former roomie, who is almost as ardent a prepster/argyle/sweater vest lover as I. Sweater vests are almost as dear to me as argyle. Again, I currently have 3. I briefly had four. as I bought one last weekend but also bought something expensive (and put in an order for an even more expensive purse), I had to return it. I didn't love it though. I am way too excited to return to the Mtl this weekend to do shopping and maybe buy one I like even more. You know, for work. To be sure that they know exactly who they're dealing with from the first, I really want to wear an argyle sweater vest my very first day. I'm thinking bright purple.

It's really good I have some fancy sounding degrees otherwise people might never take me seriously, huh....

Warm pasta on a cold night

Hey! This is my 100th post! Pretty cool. Appropriately so, this post is about carbhydrates and alcohol, something anyone following this blog will recognize as highly important to my life.

I was walking home from the Glebe today with one of my nearest and dearest, laden with groceries, chatting away, when to our dismay did it start to hail! I've heard rumours of snow or frozen precipitation here and there but this was the first time I actually saw it. I have noticed the nip in the air, especially on my fingers as I try to send many messages on my blackberry, but I guess I do have to acknowledge that winter is coming. Sigh. At least I have a cute new coat to ward off the chill!

It was thus a good night to make PASTA. Since moving home, my parents have strongly suggested that I should make dinner at least once a week, but its actually not so bad. I've blogged about cooking before and I do enjoy it really, especially as it gives me a chance to make stuff that I really like, or even bid to expand my parent's horizons. Today, I decided to make something that I often order in Italian restaurants and it both seemed fairly straight forward and involved vodka.

I adapted this recipe from one devised by the Pioneer Woman (one of my online faves, I just got her cookbook as well and its both beautiful and delicious) and other recipes I found online.

Vodka rose sauce with penne, prosciutto and mushrooms

Ingredients:

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, diced and pressed

3-4 large mushrooms, sliced

100 g prosciutto, diced

28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 cup half and half

1 cup vodka (anything but Russian Prince)

Parsley, basil, red pepper flakes, salt, sugar and pepper to taste

2 cups penne

Parmesan

Instructions:

1. Dice the onion, garlic, and saute in a large sauce pan with olive oil, on high heat.
2. Slice the mushrooms. Take strips of prosciutto and slice width wise for somewhat bite-size pieces. Once the garlic and onion has started to go golden, toss in the mushrooms and prosciutto.
3. Pour in vodka and allow everything to simmer for 2-3 minutes.
4. Pour in tomatoes, and add seasonings to taste (I probably added at least 1 tsp of each. The sugar is only if you're finding the sauce somewhat acidic), allowing to simmer for 10 minutes.
5. Get the penne cooking just as the sauce is getting to simmering.
6. Turn down the heat in your sauce pan and pour in the half and half. Stir around, and add more seasonings as needed (I like hot dishes, added more red pepper flakes here), on a continuous low heat, just on the edge of simmering.
7. When the penne is cooked, drain, and pour into your sauce pan. Mix in the pasta and serve immediately in bowls, with parmesan to garnish. Offer either wine or vodka if you've been tippling that while cooking. Enjoy!

The stupidity. It hurts.

Currently, in my northern North American country, we are very concerned about swine flu. It's a reasonable concern as since it emerged back in April, it has actually killed people, children, in this country. It is very sadly affecting some of the most under-served people in this country, especially Aboriginals who live in areas with poor infrastructure, the worst. Our government has guaranteed that everyone in this country who wants it, can be immunized against swine flu, beyond the usual flu shot. There are huge line ups for people who are at risk (pregnant, small children) that are shortened by people who actually are not at risk but want the shot. Or even line up to sell their ticket for a later immunization. I actually belong to one of the 'at risk' groups due to a long term chronic condition, but because I actually don't see many people in my usual hermit like existence and feel other people need it more than I, I'm waiting to get mine. But I will, just as I always get the usual flu shot because I both don't have the time to get sick, I also don't want to deal with possible complications.

Our society seems to work in extremes. There are so many people worried about getting the disease and going to quite extraordinary measures to get their shots, while there is a still small but very vocal group of people who refuse to do so. I actually posted around this time last year on my utter dislike (I could use stronger words but I do try to remain civil) for people who are anti-vaccine protesters. No matter if they think it causes autism (no), PTSD (no), are a means for the government to control you (Really? Okay then...), they seem bound and determined to disregard all the good that vaccines have done in this world. So many diseases have been nearly eradicated, so many children's live have been saved but if people bought into the hype that vaccines are dangerous, those diseases very easily could (and have) return. And a hype is indeed being created, creating the illusion that we're not sure how good vaccines really are.

Somewhat alike to climate change however, a lot of people are actually unaware that in the scientific and medical community, there is no debate. Vaccines save lives. There is a very small risk of an adverse reaction, but there numerous studies have completely dismissed any idea that vaccines can actually cause the syndromes it has been linked to. Yet, when this issue is reported in the news, a lot of journalists feel as though they need to present 'both sides' for it to be a true investigation. This however just creates more undue confusion. Wired recently published a great article on vaccines and the fear around them (check it out), and the author of that piece, a woman named Amy Wallace, presents the actual scientific perspective and even offers a handy dandy guide for winning an argument about vaccines. Unsurprisingly, she was immediately attacked for drinking the 'Big Pharma' juice and um, ACCURATELY, depicting the anti-vaccine lobby as one filled with reactionaries who are quite keen to ignore actual facts. Some of the leading voices in this field have also done a wonderful job of raising the level of debate by calling her a number of misogynistic names. I had my attention drawn to this by the ever wonderful Dr. Isis and one of her colleagues at ScienceBlog (which I spend waaaaaay too much time on), has commented (again)waaaay more intelligently on this subject than I can here.

I'm aware that this post is a wee bit more serious than usual but if I'm going to make it through a month of blogging I can't just complain about living with my parents, drinking and accessories.

A preview of upcoming posts though:

Tomorrow: making vodka pasta sauce

Wednesday: how do we feel about sweater vests?

On life transitions

Since moving back home, at time I have felt some confusion as to what life stage I actually do exist. There are moments when I whine about when dinner will be ready, pout about turning down the TV and sigh when am told to clean up my room, despite having thought to myself just that morning that I really do need to tidy. Clearly, I am still a child. Then, I pour myself a glass of wine with dinner, which I picked up most of the ingredients for while running errands. I appear to be a young adult. Over dinner with the wine, we can sometimes discuss real estate I am considering buying, my full time job I am about to start, and I also this weekend attended a party in the suburbs where people my age have houses and babies. Could I actually be a REAL grown up? I don't know if I like this.

So I make up for maybe being a grown up by going shopping in holey genes and perusing expensive purses that I don't need but will buy anywise thanks to my real job. I also really appreciate the fact that the fridge is generally filled without much effort on my part and that I did NOT have to write a rent cheque today, despite it being the first of the month.

On the thesis front, I have received all my reviews, everyone passed me (yay!). I'm currently working on the not too difficult suggested revisions and hope to have everything totally complete by the end of the week. Wish me luck!

(P.S. as it is indeed November, I'm going to try this NaBloPoMo thing, we'll see how long my attention is kept so maybe see you tomorrow!)

On travelling with your parents

This is my dear daddy and I at the Spanish Steps in Rome. Throughout the trip I had been trying to teach him the art of the 'self-taken photograph', and this was the best of the bunch IMHO. So it had been a while since I had taken a real trip with my parents, going all the way back to second year of my undergrad, nearly 5 years ago (Ah'm getting OLD). I've certainly

grown up since then, my parents have changed as well but it was a bit of an experience nonetheless.

I first realized how things had changed when we were just in the airport. I've actually done a fair amount of flying this year, and have gotten pretty good at the airport rigamarole. My liquids were already stored in a clear bag, I could remove my electronics and coat in less than 30 seconds, all the while being unfailingly polite to all the security people. It seems that I've also gotten very accustomed to being on my own while I travel, and so often had to slow down from my usual pace to let the parents catch up.

Speaking of catching up, above is one of the many pictures I have of my parents being about 50-100 metres ahead of me on the street (or in Piazza San Marco in this instance), I having stopped to take a picture, appreciate a vista, buy a cannoli. While I'm the more high strung one in the airport, once I'm at a site or place I try to take it all in, while my parents.... we near jogged through parts of the Vatican (budding lines left and right, I've never seen my Dad so pushy in my life) while my parents ignored thousands of years of artefacts to be sure we saw the Map Room.

Of course we saw it. Everyone saw it. IT'S ON THE WAY TO THE SISTENE CHAPEL. *Breathes*

Before I left, my dear friend Anja gave me the advice to just breathe from time to time if my parents were making me crazy, which was excellent advice. While I can soak in a view or architecture for ages, by day 8 of the trip both my Dad and I were a little arted out. We were happy to go to such wonderful museums as those as Villa Borghese in Rome, but weren't studying every single picture in every single room.... unlike my mother. Pictures and plaques, you cannot tear her away. But I managed to keep my tongue and when I was done the tour half an hour before she was, I generally found either the gift shop or cafe for another cappucino.

Despite a few tense moments here and there, I do have to say that travelling with my parents was pretty fun. Did I mention they paid for the trip? And bought me gelato and cocktails? It's sad, but I can be bought with hazelnut gelato or another spritz (Venetian cocktail of white wine, sparkling water and Aperol bitter) and am very happy to be so. Between the three of us, we covered a lot of ground and saw lots of amazing things, and even had stuff to talk about at the end of the day. I shopped with my Mum and went for late night walks to the bar with my Dad. I also don't think that there were really many moments where I felt like the kid, I held my own, did my own thing here and there and we all had a good time. Just, it may be a while before we do it again....

Home safe, sick

I have arrived home from an absolutely wonderful 10 days in Italy. Venice honestly didn't seem real for a while, Florence was a marvel and I think I am still processing Rome. I however managed to pick up a cold in the last few days, blew my nose through the Vatican and hopefully didn't infect the nice retired medical anthropologist I sat next to on the plane (9 hours may be a bit too long for me). I have very many photos but I am finally getting tired so will retire to bed with some TV I've missed and will start some better updates tomorrow! Hope you had fun while I was gone!

Sunsets

I think the sunsets over James Bay may be the most beautiful ones in the world. Here is just a sampling. I am posting mainly pictures right now as I am too busy editing papers, writing

reports, putting out fires and hoping my inbox doesn't explode while I am Italy next week

(NEXT WEEK!). Anyways, was pretty. I am very lucky to have been able to spend my time in the field in such lovely places.

Back again to the North

I just spent a really wonderful week back north, in one of my favourite Cree communities, Waskaganish. Waskaganish is perched on James Bay, where the Rupert River comes to meet the bay and is really lovely. It's a smaller community, with around 1200 residents, and they are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.

I was up there to run a program I had come up with last year, of bringing some of the things we've (the scientists who I

work with) have learne

d about the medicinal plants of the Cree, to students there. Very few kids in these communities spend much time in the bush anymore and often haven't learned much of their elder's knowledge regarding plants' use and I wanted to try and bridge this gap. I've been working on th

is project on the side basically since last fall, with a fabulous collaborator from the Cree Board of Health (who contributes to a pr

etty cool blog herself all about Montreal, who also talks about going up north, check it out here). My collaborator had first run it in another community but I was still feeling a great deal trepidation to try out the idea that I've been mulling over for so long.

Luckily, I wasn't on my own, I was accompanied by my very dear labmate x-ine, who had lived in Waskaganish for 6 weeks this summer doing interviews for her Masters. She was

returning to do some follow up work and help me out with the program.

From the first day we arrived we had a blast. Fall is an incredibly busy time for the Cree, there is fish to catch, and both geese and moose to hunt. Our first afternoon in town we went

to an area known as the Gravel Pit where a number of elders live year round, and where they had set

up an area to catch and prepare some of their traditional fish. The river from which they fished however, the Rupert, has been recently dammed by Hydro Quebec and the doors are due to be closed the first week of November. This is the last season to catch fish as they always have and understandably, the community is nervous a

bout whats going to happen. However, they are also resolved to preserve as much of their traditional life as they can, and teach their skills to the next generation. At the camp I visited, there were both elders and younger people there to learn how to clean and c

ook the fish in traditional ways.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of whitef

ish cooking and prepared (it's delicious by the way) and will tell you more about my visit to Waskaganish tomorrow.

Christine and I taking pictures of each other taking pictures of each..... you get the pic

ture (ha!).

The Rupert River on a cloudy day.

Whitefish!

Cooking in a traditional meechwam.

Delicious fried whitefish, side dish of fried fish eggs and liver.

Back to the north!

Sorry for the severe lackage of posts. I've only been back in the O-town for a few weeks and they have been busy. I've been trying to purge a bunch of stuff as I absolutely cannot fit it all into my room at my parent's house, editing papers, hanging with people.... it's really nice to be home though.

I had a quick sojourn back to Mtl to give my quasi defense and it went really well I'm pleased to report! Now we're just waiting for the university to find an external reader and get my thesis processed, hopefully in time for me to start my job.

As of tomorrow though I return on my way up north, to Waskaganish, one of my favourite places in Eeyou Istchee. I'll be both trying to report on the results of my Masters, do a few interviews and run a class in one of the schools teaching kids about medicinal plants, how both their own culture and science can study plants. I hope it goes well! I'll be going up with the lovely x-ine and so am sure I'll be having a great time, and will do my best to keep you updated!

And..... done (well, kind of)

I realized today that I hadn't posted here for a while (checks Blogger) - since August 8! Hm, what could have been occupying my time since then..... hm.... oh right. MY THESIS. WHICH HAS BEEN SUBMITTED. ZOMG. Ok, that's enough caps for now but be sure that I am VERY excited. There were a few days where it did not seem like a sure thing, but with enough persistence and a few late nights, until I couldn't look at it anymore, I got it in on time.

The last few weeks in M-ville really were fantastic. I threw myself a little going away shindig and lots of the people who've made my time in doing my thesis so much fun showed up. I drank even more sangria to truly cement 2009 as the summer of sangria. I kept running and kept the whining the next day to a minimum. I presented results of my thesis to the team I work with and had one of the most truly ridiculous nights I've had in a while with a bunch of my fellow students. And then definitely paid for it the next day. My lovely roomie and friend J got me a thesis cake, and we managed to open a bottle of wine to drink with it. The next thing I knew, my father had shown up to move me home. (I did somewhat feel it was time for me to leave academia mainly because the froshies were pissing me off WAY more than usual).

So I am now back in my hometown, O-town, where I will attempt to organize all of my life's posessions which are currently packed into my bedroom, re-establish myself a life here and try to get some relaxing time in along with getting manuscripts from my thesis published and other projects moving forwards. The relaxing started very well by my heading up to my familial cottage. It was rainy, so I plunked myself down on one of our couches and read utter trash, in between making hemp bracelets and schooling my cousins at Scattegories. It was awesome. This week I do unfortunately have things to accomplish, and my parents are renovating our downstairs so that means HAMMERING! starts promptly at 8:30 AM. However, I'm getting excited to head back to the M-ville next week for my kind of defense, hang with my peeps who I already miss dearly, and will also be heading back up north soon. And then I go to the Italy! My heart is aflutter.

Speaking of aflutter, I'm a total nerd, and am thus already hooked on 'Defying Gravity'. If you haven't checked this show out yet, you really should, and can even download the first 3 episodes from iTunes! (I managed to almost fry my computer doing this until I realized how little free disk space I had but thats just another part of the saga currently known as 'Anna needs a new computer') It was an interesting episode last night, all about choices and living with our choices and they were kind of hitting us over the head with the concept of CHOICE, but I digress. For some reason, by 2052, abortion seems to be illegal in North America and one of the characters (Zoe) has a secret abortion to stay in the space program (because this show is 'Grey's Anatomy' in space if you hadn't heard). She has the opportunity to meet a former candidate who left to have children, who assures Zoe that she has no regrets. At the end of the episode we see Zoe (whom we had learned had to have an emergency hysterectomy due to the abortion going wrong) looking at pictures of this woman and her children in a longing way. That's fairly standard, but interestingly we also got to see the one who left looking at pictures at Zoe and the other astronauts, likely feeling some regrets of her own. Often women in the media are painted as so happy to have made sacrifices for their families, that it was quite refreshing to see someone reflect the likely more accurate picture that women deserve every choice we have, but it doesn't mean that we'll often wonder about the path not taken.

As I am currently finishing one path and setting out on another, one that I would hope will include a family in a few years (BUT NO BABIES YET!), but realizing that if I ever shifted back towards academia it could be hard, I appreciate every blog I read by those who have already tried to find their paths, who can offer me some wisdom in the eternal struggle of life balance. This post may seem a little confused because I am still confused. I am in a much better position than most, better educated, with better prospects ahead, but that doesn't mean my life is easy or uncomplicated, its likely even more complicated! Ugh, I can't deal with both life questions and unpacking, I think I need more sangira. Ta for now....

3 weeks to go

This week was both highly productive and rather frustrating, and I would have told you about either state with great enthusiasm if you had happened to speak with me. There were days that my roommate seemed to eye me with some concern and pointedly did not comments on the number of fudgsicles I was eating (which I had bought to prevent myself from buying a bottle of wine to serve a similar comfort function). Other days, I found going for a run to be exceedingly effective at ridding myself of some anxiety. The, um, one day this week that I found productive and got great news and fairly bounced home, I think I was fun to be around. Sorry roomie!

In my grand scheme which I scheduled (I oh so love to schedule) in Google Calendar in early June, I would have submitted my thesis for pre-review yesterday. That didn't happen. I have relatively come to terms with this, its not my fault, I'm still waiting for one last batch of comments from one of my supervisors, I then have to revise and show it to my other supervisor who will then approve it to go on for pre-review. Unfortunately, the latter supervisor (having two supervisors always makes telling stories about my thesis SO much more complicated, rather like how they've made the whole process more complicated, but in a better way I think) is unavailable through the end of next week and so its unlikely pre-review will start before the 15th or 17th. Which is cutting it a little tight but I've spoken to who will do that pre-review and have been assured I will make the final University deadline. So I've been doing my best to take a few deep breaths, and find other ways to occupy my time so I'm not just sitting and stewing.

I've started packing up my samples and lab supplies, to either relocate in my own lab or find people who could use them now. I tossed a whole bunch of serial dilution samples and was impressed with myself for doing so as they represented a lot of work, but I actually don't need them anymore. The end is nigh. It's time for me to move on, and while I will be indeed quite sad to leave this town and my friends, I'm looking forward to whats coming next. Especially the whole making actual money part (so I can go on trips, not my round the world trip quite yet but the UK is looking highly attractive for next summer).

Off now to go and work through a few more comments at Starbucks, then a fun party ce soir. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

The semi-domesticated grad student

In the course of my career as a graduate student I have learned a reat number of things. Things including the molecular genetics of polyploidy, real time PCR, botany, the history and culture of Canada's Aboriginal peoples, how to give academic presentations, how to write academic papers and how to drink wine with your supervisors. All very important things. However, my learning has not been limited to the classroom, lab, or ahem, bar.

The roomie and I have learned quite a bit about cooking in the past two years. In the course of our undergrads, neither of us were exactly culinary mavens. I bought a lot of prepackaged salads and pasta dishes. The roomie only grocery shopped at Shoppers Drug Mart for a while. We were somewhat better than some of our roommates however, one of whom who shall remain nameless, lived on white rice and Dr. Pepper, for about six weeks at one point.

Going from sharing a kitchen with six girls to just the two of us, and realizing the economy of sharing groceries and meals, we have became quite the budding chefs. We whip up nutritious pastas with veggies, omlettes, discoveries such as naan-wiches, and just last week make gazpacho for the first time for the roomie's parents. We're pretty awesome. We've also found that when we combined our shared grocery shopping, usually with more veggies than usual, it has a positive effect upon our waistlines, if we manage to restrict the beers as well.

Inspired by Julie, on Friday we cooked up some stuffed peppers. We were left with extra pureed tomatoes and beans however (we used another recipe that involved meat, we are both currently trying to upour excercising and thus need MOAR PROTEIN) and decided to make chili. We managed to rouse ourselves this afternoon from our comfy spots on the couches, braved the rain and did groceries.

Our chili will include carrots, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, ground beef and jalapenos to name a few lovely healthy things.

The beer we've poured to accompany it is kind of healthy right? Hops and such?

I also whipped up a batch of homemade iced tea this afternoon, rich in lovely antioxidants and delish for what is shaping up to be another sizzler of a week.

In any case, I'm much savvier in the kitchen than I was two years ago. I learned that rather than cooking from scratch being a chore, its a lot cheaper, healthier, and a lot of fun when you do it with one of your best friends. I'll miss this kitchen in a few weeks....

P.S. The kitchen post-chili. I said SEMI-domesticated, we're still working on the cleaning aspects...

Oh my....

Today was a pretty fabulous summer day. I got up at a reasonable hour (gooooo me!) and went for a jog in a bid to beat the heat. It didn't really work but I still plowed through a half hour jog/walk. I'm following the Couch to 5K program, which says I will be able to run 5K (hence the name, I'm smart huh) in 8 weeks. We'll see, but I'm liking it so far. I'm just not liking doing it in the heat.

Anyways, I went home, had a shower and then the roomie and I went out for a totally delish late lunch. We went to one of our fave places in Montreal, Los Tios on Crescent Street, which has an awesome $10 lunch menu, as well as great pitchers of sangria to split. This summer has been the summer of sangria and I am not complaining.

This was followed by browsing around a few stores (am still on the hunt for the new laptop, likely to be a Dell 13' Inspiron, let me know if you have any views). I had a slightly less enjoyable run in with Via Rail over a ticket they owe me a refund on, but I have resolved to forget about that until tomorrow when I can call and yell at someone.

In any case, returned home, had a nice light dinner and are now having a relaxing, chill evening. This is likely a good idea as August is already looking to be crazy busy! I can't get over that its August and that my thesis is supposed to be done this month. ACK! Since my last, ever so chill post, things have gotten a wee bit more stressful but I am still optimistic that everything will get worked out and submitted in time.

One of my activities this evening has been perusing several travel blogs online, first for any ideas for going to Italy, but then in general. And something terrible has happened. I've developed a travel bug. I want to go to South Africa and Australia and Turkey and Dubai and Russia and..... already have a full time job lined up in November, and despite being completely excited for Italy, want to do MORE. But I guess it's a good plan to save up some cash and really plan a great trip to take, hopefully next summer. Until then, I'll have to dream.

Off to drink some rather anachronistic but still wanted hot tea! Will definitely miss Montreal, for both exciting days and relaxed evenings....

Balance

It's getting to crunch time here, I am trying to submit my thesis before August 31st so as to avoid registering for another semester, and also as that's 2 years exactly for my degree completion. If I can pull it off, it means I can spend September up north, conducting a few final interviews that would really help our publications and running the school program I developed, as well as trying to push all my papers for publishing. Then, I head to Italy and a few precious weeks of relaxation before I start my *gasp* grown up job.

I am shocked about how calm I'm managing to be through all of this. There haven't been many panic attacks, nights up fretting and I'm managing to take pretty good care of myself. I took last weekend off after spending the last work week going through draft after draft and making some really important progress, and enjoyed sleeping, cooking yummy (and healthy!) foods and hanging out with my friends who I really am going to miss when I move. Last night I got home and decided to make use of a lovely evening by continuing my slow progression into becoming a jogger.

Balance has always been a bit of a struggle for me. I've always tended to throw myself into work to the detriment of my health, both mental and physical, and one of the things I'm really proud about as to my time in graduate school is that I seem to have taken some important steps forwards into making myself a priority. Right now, this thesis is the most important thing in my life but I can now recognize that in a few years, there will be many more important things, and this will be a significant part of my life, but not nearly as significant as so many other things in making me a good and rounded person. I feel very lucky for having finally managed to figure that out yet still hope to continue this as I start a new and what I think is a pretty exciting portion of my life.

It hasn't been easy getting this thesis written, and the fact that both of my supervisors have been away (ie. in the furthest reaches of the province with no internet, or in Africa) hasn't made it any easier. But they both should be back next week and hopefully can dedicate just a bit more time to helping me make this thesis the best it can be. I still have a lot to get through but it seems to be doable and I am quite confident that I can indeed do this. It's been a challenge, but a good challenge and I've risen to it, with just a bit higher to climb. Wish me luck!

Summertime academia

Despite the great deal of rain we've had this summer, I've been greatly enjoying the time as the campus has shifted from the regular portion of the school year to this time of relaxation that comes May-September. As the last undergrads filter away, either hungover after partying to celebrate final exams, or partying to drink away failing exams, the campus takes on an entirely different feeling. I'm hardly the first to remark on this this summer, but today especially I've had time to drink in the atmosphere. I stayed downtown to work on the main campus of McGill, where you really feel the lack of undergrads. At Mac, we've lost a good part of the student population but nowhere near the proportion that undergrads make up downtown. During the school year, I often didn't bother trying to work in the libraries downtown because I knew they would be crowded, noisy and towards the end of term, filled with a sense of DESPERATION. Today, I wandered in at 1:30, got one of my favourite spots right away and settled down to work. If I had gone to get a snack, I wouldn't have had to wait in line for 15 minutes while overprivileged 18 years old use their Daddy's VISAs to pay for their 5 dollar coffees while screeching over their oddly decorated smartphone about their exploits from last night... Ahem, sorry. Though, with the undergrads gone some cafes close down so I would have to be careful when I go.

In any case, when its just grad students, staff and professors on campus, I think we all become somewhat cheerier and relaxed. One way this is reflected is in clothing choices people make. Just this afternoon I saw a number of different categories of summer academic dress represented:

Nerdy grad student (either sex): T-shirt from a conference/with an equation on it, ratty shorts, Tevas.

Hipster grad student (female): T-shirt from American Apparel over leggings without any sort of skirt or something. Odd gladiator sandals that do nothing to improve the look of their pasty legs. Accessories include 80s sunglasses and cigarettes.

Hipster grad student (male): Tight pants, Vans, Obscure t-shirt, same accessories as above.

Reasonable grad student (female, AKA me): Cute jeans, flip flops, bright tank and coordinating scarf to complement the designer bag currently holding most of my life.

Reasonable/cute grad student (male): Nicely fitting but not TOO fitting jeans, polo shirt, aviators, messenger bag.

I need a few categories for professors:

Geeky science prof (co-ed): Very close to the grad student (ie. hasn't changed their style in at least 10 years), but usually are wearing the tevas with socks (shudder).

Humanities prof (male): Inexplicable brown cordoroy jacket, mustard yellow shirt and black pants. I am not joking. I wish I were.

Humanities prof (female): Hippie skirt with button up shirt that don't quite match. Birkenstocks.

Sporty prof (co-ed): Waaaaaay too tight/ short jogging/biking outfit. Seriously. No.

Awesome prof, either science or business like (female, AKA who I would want to be one day): Nice chinos with a very cute bright button up blouse. Comfortable yet stylish sandals paired with a discreet yet designer bag.

I'm sure there are more but these are the ones I noticed today. If you have another category do let me know. Now for another great part of summer, Friday beers!

Erm.... hello

Sorry for the long lapse in posts. I think that most of my mental/writing energies have been so directed towards the thesis, of which there is now a DRAFT, that I just haven't had the ability to come up with witticisms for this as well.

I read a comment somewhere that a lot of blogs are languishing while their authors have become Twitter fanatics and I had to completely agree. With Twitter, I only need a short, hopefully funny/interesting statement and boom! Here, I feel as though I need a point, pictures, etc.

I have actually been quite busy since the last update. I attended a party for my dear friend Chantal's housewarming, and we rejected our pending adulthood (houses! weddings! jobs!) by having waaaaaaaaaaay too many jello shots, really early in the evening. I was quite tipsy around 10 but mercifully, almost totally sober when we left around 1! That weekend also included some great hanging out with former housies and checking out my dear friend Zu's new apartment! I've also had lots of fun in M-ville with my peeps there, seeing Stevie Wonder in concert, drinking lots of beer, almost winning at trivia.... I really can't complain. Am currently back in the O-town for the last real set of lab work and enjoying seeing my peoples here, eating my parent's food, etc.

But back to the thesis front. We are moving, I'm currently waiting on comments on the whole draft from my supervisors, so am even relatively on track! I'm still going to be doing a lot of writing/editing once its September but the prospect of having a completed thesis is JUST SO EXCITING. It's Sunday evening and I was in the lab this afternoon so am now rather dozy and so that is all for me.... Ciao!

Summertime!

Oof. I've had a lot of sangria this weekend. What was supposed to be a weekend of working, tidying, some low key hanging out kind of exploded into a whole bunch of awesome times, so its hard to complain about not getting much accomplished. I did do laundry, and install my a/c. Even took out the garbage! That's something, right?

In any case, the weather has finally taken a turn for the fabulous and the whole city seems to have gone summer mad. One of the great parts about living in Montreal are all the pedestrian areas, including streets turned into pedestrian areas. You can just amble, soak up the ambience, people watch and chill out. I have a lot of work to do in the next two monthsbut weekends like this are what will help me keep my head in the game. As I excited as I am to be moving home come September, I really will miss this city and will be back a lot!

Now for some good couch hanging time...

I'm baaaaaa-ack

So I have returned from South Carolina!

It was gorgeous. Seriously. Usually I am not a hot weather girl but when its hot and the palms are swaying and there's a candy coloured city to expore I seem to be OK with it. Especially if the exploring includes shopping, ESPECIALLY especially if it includes shopping for hilariously preppy sandals at stores that we do not have in the Great White North. Stores that sound like Cay Drew. I could've spent a lot of money there, I should get a prize for restraining myself.

But hey, I did get a prize! For best student presentation! I must admit to being quite shocked, there were many wonderful talks, including many by PhD students. The advisor told me that it was quite rare actually for a Masters student to get it. So I was quite humbled and am very appreciative of it. Both of the moolah involved and the encouragement it provides. 

All week, especially post talk, people asked where I was going to be doing my PhD after finishing up my Masters. For the most part, they were quite understanding when I said I was going to be stepping away from academia for the forseeable future, even saying it was a really good idea. But almost all encouraged me to return. When I decided last year that I was going to step away it was during a time that I now admit I was quite ill, quite stressed and quite sick of being in the lab when I was mainly running troubleshooting. A year later, when I have some really interesting data in hand, I am less certain of my previous statements that I will never return to the Ivory Tower. I do still have my concerns, namely about teaching and the impact it would have on me having a family at some point, but I now feel more certain that if this bureaucracy thing doesn't work out, the PhD is a very doable option.

So yes, Charleston was hot and beautiful and awesome. Though I was a little nonplussed by the cars driving around with 'JESUS SAVES' flags on them.

I am however happy to be back and especially sleeping in my own bed again. While I didn't mind all the travelling this week, I was not impressed with the fact that the airline almost lost my bag on the way down and actually did on the way back. Further, upon recieving my bag today it seems it had something heavy on it, for my shampoo and conditioner bottles are rather smushed and there is stuff all over some of the pockets. I have been meaning to jettison this bag for a while however and so this seems to be a sign. I'm going to get some in fluorescent green this time, I'm tired of peering at seemingly indistinguishable black roller bags. 

Slept in this morning, went for lunch with another runner in the race towards finishing a MSc by August, shopped (am looking for a small bag that will go across my chest to take to Italy, any ideas?). Then had coffee with the roomie on a lovely patio, made dinner and saw the Hangover with roomie and J. HILARIOUS. You must go see it. It made me want to go to Vegas.... and not to any of the things they ended up doing, silly boys. So a pretty great day, another relaxed one tomorrow and then back to the lab on Monday - will finish the last assay this week and then write write write!!

P.S. Have I mentioned I'm going to Italy here? I AM! In October! So excited. It's a very generous graduation gift by the parentals, it's a definite motivator to get this done. If you have any advice/stories about going to Venice/Florence/Rome, do let me know!

Pure, actually dumb, luck

So I overslept thi morning, I think I must have forgot to set my alarm last night due to being really really tired. I slept like a rock though, but woke up a little after 8 (when I should have been on my way to the shuttle that goes out to the other campus) to my cellphone ringing. It was my dear friend and fellow plant lover J, who was calling to tell me that the power was completely off on that campus. Sweet! I then went back to bed.

The stress, it cometh

Things have been going really well recently, I completed another assay and even managed to analyse motst of the data already (though I've heard through one of my labmates that I may need to change some of my equations). I got to go home and have an extra long, long weekend (for us Canucks, though its been rather wet and cold so not exactly a time to celebrate summer) and even got some work done here! Despite the weather, its been a great weekend, seeing people, including a newly significant person (we saw Star Trek in IMAX - geek squee! squared!). I'm currently sitting in my PJs and making cupcakes for my Daddy's birthday.

However, this relaxation shall not last. I basically need to have all my data in hand in 2 weeks, along with preparing them to go into a presentation I'm giving at a conference in slightly less than 3 weeks. Cue the freak out. I've so far avoided a total breakdown and as things are seeming to be working should be able to do so. I'm bribing myself with the promise of a massage once I get through a particular annoying set of results, which should help as well. But even once I've gotten through this presentation it still means I'll have less than one month to have a draft of everything in hand to have it ready to be pre-reviewed by my department for early August. As I've said before, it'll be tight. 

However, the promise of getting to move back to the O-town, along with a trip I'm now planning to Italy in October, there is a lot motivating me. I will definitely miss Montreal though and I will be definitely taking the time to enjoy it and all my friends while I can. I am resolved to make my days productive and my nights/weekends a ton of fun. Wish me luck!

(P.S. if anyone has any MUST SEES in Rome/Venice/Florence, please let me know!)

Busyness

Since returning to Mtl things have continued to be crazypants! (My word of the month btw)
I was welcomed back to town with a fabulous soiree organized by the equally fabulous x-ine (check out her blog on the side if you haven't, she's my labmate in arms!) which involved me drinking a hella lot of wine rather early in the evening. Topped off with almost wholly liquor cocktails at the next party I attended that evening, it was a good night. The rest of the weekend was just as great, its really nice to be back.
Not only have I drank hugely since getting back I have also been really productive! Draft of my thesis intro is done and today I started the next part of the chemical work for my thesis, with quite encouraging results.
But I know that I am also about to be rather distracted as today the next book by one of my very favourite authors is out - Jen Lancaster's Pretty in Plaid! According to her description its all about the eighties and CLOTHES! Since the eighties was that glorious decade in which the world got ME and I also really like clothes, I am terribly excited. I would bring it with me on the bus out to Mac these days but considering I usually cannot read her books in public as I snicker too much, I won't. In any case if you've never read one of her books you simply must. Go now. Like right now. You can catch up with me later!

I'm actually now about to eat too much pizza and giggle at Idol, a good end to another busy day!

Whoops

So April has rather flown by hasn't it? Or was that just me? It may just be me....
I've had a lot of fun working in Ottawa, learning stuff that I've never done before and making great progress! I seem to have impressed all the people there with my swiftness but they do not know what I can do when I am FOCUSED. I will be done lab work soon - I MUST.
But in my zeal to be all efficient and stuff, I've ended up working really quite hard, all day, with many fewer blog reading/writing breaks. Once I get home, since I am back with my parents, there's more conversation and a hell of a lot more tv to watch. Thus I have rather neglected this, sorry.
But in any case, am returning to the Mville this week with all my prepped samples, though will have to return back here to do some analyses that we will not have time for in the near future.
Returning is something I am quite cool with though as living with the rents is pretty chill, especially the whole not buying groceries bit. I don't think it will a problem to move back for a while next year. I am also really looking forward to getting to see my friends in O-town more, even just being here for a bit has also led to improvement of my personal life on the boy front :). Things are looking up! Ta for now...

Whew

So after a slow start to the week, writing at home punctuated by doctor and other appointments (oh coming home is fun, dentist time!) my Wednesday and Thursday were crazy. I started the extractions that I'm doing here, and so spent two days grinding up bark and swallowing enough of it likely that I think I have drastically reduced my chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Or increasing my chances of lung cancer, whatever.
But progress is being made and that's whats important! We've also already farmed out part of my analyses that aren't going to be part of my thesis but will likely be part of a big paper afterwards, and hopefully will do the same for at least a few of the others. The good part of being part of a big interdisciplinary research project such as I am is that there are many different techniques you can learn, along with PIs you can talk with and get advice from. The downside is that many PIs creates many more people who have ideas for the thing that will just MAKE your paper, and you start to panic when you think of all of the different tests that will require, and time is getting tight to finish your thesis. However, we are also lucky enough to be well funded and can often to hire people to do some of those analyses.
In any case, it's really quite pleasant being at home again. Free food, both in grocery form and being taken out to dinner, seeing the fam, seeing my friends who live here. I think coming back here to live once I start working will be A-OK, especially if my mom keeps buying me cute sweaters. What? I need to expand my professional wardrobe, I'm told that my pilly fleece pullovers which are SO comfy are not office appropriate *pout*.
Update on the computer front: is still acting whacko, may actually need to buy a new once but am hoping to get through all my analyses on this one and then finish the writing on the new one, which will likely be a Mac and I am afraid of learning new software while writing a thesis.
Update on hockey: Habs are in the playoffs! Yay! Sens are not, but at least finished ahead of the Leafs! As I just jeered to my father across the dining table, 'We may both be losers but we're better losers than YOU.' Sometime I wonder how I made it out of childhood without being murdered by one of my parents, I'm sure I deserved it a few times....

Rainy days

Ugh, if you're a reader not from the fair north, you are probably not experiencing our current streak of DAYS and DAYS of rain. It's rather depressing but is actually likely better for getting work done in the long run.
So I am now in Ottawa, we had a very productive team meeting Thursday, Friday. I got a little concerned at one point, because everyone was very excited that I had collected a lot of samples along a geographical gradient last summer and 4 other labs wanted some of my extracts. I am NOT prepared to do all my samples, and to the scale that there will be enough for someone but luckily got my supervisors to agree to me doing a quite reasonable number and if someone else wants to extract and run analyses on other samples, they are welcome to so long as I am on the paper.
Sidenote, I've come to referring to the difficulty of getting both of my supervisors in the same place via a number of metaphors. I previously have said it's like Polkaroo, once one arrives the other has often just left, or yesterday I compared it to two magnets that you're trying to put together. It's not that they don't like each other, they are just both very busy. At the meeting yesterday there were a number of people who wanted to talk to both of them, so I would get one in one place only to see the other get pulled away across the room.... le sigh. Like herding cats. See - another metaphor! Cats with beards, glasses and proclivities for beer - I at least have something to lure them with.
Now hanging at the parental's and am soon off to go shopping with the Mumster! I love being in Ottawa. I'll be doing a lot of work while I'm here, I may do a few extra analyses if we have time, but I intend to enjoy having fewer responsibilities for a time. Everyone have a great weekend, stay dry!

Off to the O-town!

I'm taking off to the O-town today, we're having a team meeting with other scientists and community members for 2 days, and then I'm going to stick around to conduct some new lab stuff with one of our partner labs. It's actually the first part of my Master's work which is completely outside my realm of experience, so I'm quite excited. I will get to hang out with a bunch of people I know as well.

A major benefit of this of course is that I get to go home and chillax at the parent's house for however long I'm there (which had better not be more than 2 weeks or I will not be pleased. I have a SCHEDULE to keep). I get along quite well with my parents, probably due to the whole only child thing, and plan to living at home for at least a while once I return for good to take up the job in the fall. 

It's an absolutely gorgeous spring day here and despite being currently trapped at my desk dealing with editing papers, I'm in a pretty good mood. The video below only added to it - so amazing, you must watch! I'm in such a good mood that the post I was going to write today, about dealing with many co-authors, which is really a rant, will have to wait for another day. 

Oh how I love weekends

This weekend is already off to a fabulous start. I slept in, listened to a bit of CBC, had a healthy breakfast and after chatting with the parentals, took off with the roomie to enjoy the beautiful day. I don't think that many cities are quite as lovely as the M-ville on nice days, and you could tell everyone was so happy that it was so mild today, and got out to celebrate the end of the winter. It's likely going to rain all day tomorrow, but that's Canada for you. We take advantage of all the good weather we can get.

I am somewhat ashamed to admit that today was the first time I've gotten to the Atwater Market since moving to town, despite it being a 10 minute walk away. There was so much nice veggies already and I picked up some super fresh maple syrup. Typical Canadian much? I can't stand the fake store stuff. Roomie and I made plans to return with a grocery cart sometime soon, though there is a bit of steep hill on the way home, which may require a cab ride for big trips. They also have a choclatier, flower shops, fromageries.... I can see a lot of money being spent there over the summer. 

I was quite upset to realize, while walking to Atwater, that my sunglasses had broken, but I found an awesome purple pair at the mall for only $5!

Roomie was shopping for a new top to wear out to dinner this evening, found a very cute one at the mall. I tried on a sweater that I thought would work, but rather than emphasizing my waist as it should have it just looked weird. I've come to terms over the years that my genes are just not those of someone who is ever going be a size 4, and have learned to dress to suit my assets. Those include a pretty awesome bust and a cute posterior. Even when I was going to the gym 3-4 times a week very little changed so it's not a matter of not being fit, this is just the way I am. Some stores are better than others for dressing those of us in between teeny weeny and plus size, realizing that tents almost never look on anyone and structure is a friend to most women. I have gotten better in time at not taking something not fitting right as a personal affront, more likely a store's limited imagination. The places that get it right can certainly profit from my money. This post from Jezebel on the total anachronism of magazines trying to put us into little 'groups' as they advise us how to dress made me laugh, and hope it will too. 

Anyways, am now chilling post shopping and will likely have a relaxing evening. The next few weeks are going to be crazy so I think  I will need it! Hope to do Earth Hour, need to find enough candles to read or something.... Ta for now!

Writing

So it seems it's time for me to write. Start writing my thesis that is. I was advised so by my supervisor in the 25 minutes or so that I've managed to finangle with him in the last 2 weeks, despite still having about a month of lab work to go.

I recently had an abstract accepted to an awesome conference at the end of May though, and I've told them that I'll be presenting the cumulative results of my whole damn thesis. In 15 minutes. That could be interesting..... In any case, I need to finish the lab work soon and get to the writing.

I must admit to feeling a bit daunted. When I did my honours thesis I had finished the lab work close to 5 months before the final thesis was complete, and so had OODLES of time to ponder and meander my way towards completion. It'll be a fair bit tighter this time, between the necessity of good results for the end of May for both the conference and to get my work approved for publication by the Aboriginal group I work with, PLUS absolutely positively having to be finished by the end of the summer so that I can take up the awesome NEW JOB.

I wish I was one of those people who could write well in short bursts of time, ie. when waiting for a reaction to complete. However, when faced with less than 3 or 4 dedicated hours to write I find I am more likely to use that time wandering the internet, going to chat with people, etc. So I really can't get this process moving intensely until I am complete with lab work. 

I'm currently working on the intro/literature review for what will be a manuscript based thesis with (Hopefully! Fingers crossed!) two articles making up the body. My department says no more than 100 pages in total for the whole thesis, so how long should this be? Anyone got any tricks for writing a kick ass introduction? I also must admit to having a love affair with commas due to my long standing addiction with long sentences (which I hope you've picked up reading this blog). Any tricks for cutting that bad habit down?

Despite a few set backs in the lab this weekend (AKA I am an idiot and should not be trusted to be able to read labels before 9AM or without coffee in me), I won't have to truck out to the lab this weekend and will still be able to complete this section of work in the next week. I will likely be having a staring contest with my Word though, looking for academic inspiration, so please do spread some my way! 

(P.S. Am way too excited about recently being put on the blog rolls of both the fabulous Dr. Isis (I hope some day to combine science and hot shoes like she does. Today's status, comfy sneakers) and Julie at Ethidium Bromide (who puts my dedication to science to shame). I so look up to both of these awesome women in science, so if you haven't checked them out before do so. Or if you've arrived here though them please drop me a note and say hi!)

Upcoming post: ye olde laptop of which I am lady has started to become a jerk. The process of working through the guilt of buying a new one....

Countdown

Approximately 11 PCRs to go.... give or take a couple for later analyses. I am so excited. As I was setting up one this afternoon, my friend J wandered in, to look for a hairdryer to dry her pants as she had poured coke all over herself while we were having lunch with a job candidate for the department, making her my favourite person of the day, and asked what I was up to. I replied "PCR, what else do I do?!". I'm getting a little tired of lab work in case you can't tell. Just a month and a half to go - after this I move on to some phytochemical stuff for a bit.

Last night, J came over to join the roomie and I in watching Twilight. AMAZING. I had not seen it yet, and laughed myself silly. We're working on a drinking game, including taking a drink whenever an ironic line is uttered, such as Bella telling Angela she is a 'strong, independent woman', despite that basically being the antithesis of the message of the whole series (I cannot live without my looooooooooveeeee........ I will kill myselffff for my babbbbbbbbyyyyyyy......). My inner feminist cries but I just can't turn away. It's just such a nice alternative to the mountains of papers I am currently slogging through, or editing my own stuff. In further escapism, almost time for Grey's!

Fridays

You can tell that you've had a productive week when come after 4 on a Friday afternoon, your brain starts to grind...... to ...... a..... halt. I'd give up but am waiting for my carpool buddy to get out of class. Instead, am working on powerpoint slides for upcoming presentations (playing with the colour schemes is WAY too much fun) and ruminating.

I've had a pretty productive week and actually found some really good sources today. Am still on track to be finished the second third of my lab work by the end of the month. WOOHOO! I have a mound of editing/writing to slog through this weekend though, and at least part of Monday. However, am reaching a part of my thesis when I have more and more questions about a variety of subjects, and my supervisors are being rather difficult to get hold of. *Sigh* I know it'll get worked out, I just get frustrated with the waiting around I often have to do.

Anyways, don't want to end the week on an annoyed note, despite have a boat load of work to do I have so many fabulous plans for this weekend! Drinking with a lovely former quasi-roomate (she hung out in my room in 1st year to avoid her rather smelly and odd actual roomate), shopping with a great discount card (thanks x-ine!), dinner with another undergrad friend who is also slogging it out here, Battlestar marathon on Sunday..... it just goes on and on. I figure, I have less than 6 months of living in Montreal left (ZOMG!) and so I should take advantage as much as I can. 

I would also like to note here how much I really am going to miss Battlestar but currently have no idea how this whole end business is really going to go down. Anyone have any thoughts?

The real world.... dun dun DUN

So I seem to have a job. I got an offer from the competition I participated in last week today! I am quite excited, I squealed and managed to freak out my lab mate. While it made working this afternoon a little bit more difficult, knowing that to accept said job, with its nice pay and benefits, I need to finish my degree will hopefully continue to spur me on. The fact that stuff in the lab seems to be working is also helping.
So in a few months, I may be lady of the laptop, but not so much all day. I guess it is important to move on from time to time, and learn to go through a working day without compulsively checking e-mail, Google Reader, Twitter, Facebook, Jezebel, the major newspapers, rando blogs..... hm, this might be a good required change in my life. It's actually fairly impressive that I've gotten anything done in the past year and a half (OMG, I've been doing my MSc for a year and a half. How time flies). It will be a change to go from running my own day, coming in late and leaving early as I feel like it, but I know that I've done it before and actually quite enjoyed getting a bit more direction than I currently do.
It will definitely require a revamp of my wardrobe. I no longer can put off the purge that is SO REQUIRED as evidenced by the constant bulging of my wardrobe despite having two closets. Going to do some shopping this weekend to spend some of the prize money from my conference (on some classy jewelry methinks) and will start to ponder the puzzle of professional wear (say THAT 10 times fast)
Here's me in my last incarnation as an employee of ye old feds, I'll show you the next one sometime in the late fall....

Crazy times in Mtl-Van-Mtl

Sorry for the long delay in posts. As you knew, I took off to Vancouver for 5 days last week for a conference. It was awesome, easy flights, Vancouver was BEAUTIFUL! I can't imagine not having snow to deal with, and such lovely, lovely views wherever you look. The conference was really interesting, I knew some people but also got to hear about work completely beyond my own. We also got to hit the town, drink some yummy cider and also met up with my wonderful friend Lauren, with whom I had gone to Mexico two years ago. In fabulous news, I won the poster contest for graduate students! Here I am in my fab poster (if I do say so myself), with my fab professional wardrobe.

I have to say though, I was happy to come back to school and get to wear jeans all week. Between my interview and then the conference, I was all slacks'ed out. The fact that working will require effort on the clothes front is currently the only thing that makes this transition less than completely appealing. 

(As I'm writing this post, I'm watching the Amazing Race and am laughing my ass off at people get frustrated with eachother, especially as its usually the person completely in the wrong which is most insistent that THEY ARE RIGHT DESPITE LACKING ANY REASONING BEHIND THEIR HUNCH.)

In exciting job front news, I had a good interview with someone from a part of the government very close to my current research (closer than the department for which I had previously interviewed). He knows a lot of people I know, and was impressed with my CV. He would love to hire me, but due to government restrictions against hiring without competition (ie. nepotism, which is so sad considering the number of contacts I could milk), I could only start on a contract or temp basis and hope for a position to open up. So it's something to be considered but I will stll be keeping my options and eyes open. 

This month is going to be BUSY, I really hope to finish up all my genetic stuff by the end of the month and then move onto.... the FINAL STRETCH. I'm also just waiting for final approval on my abstract from up north before I can submit it to a conference to go to in June. The conference looks awesome, its in South Carolina and I am so excited. (I'm also kind of happy its the same weekend as a high school anniversary/reunion thing. I feel no need to go back quite yet, maybe at 10 years.... thanks to facebook there is almost no reason to go to these things anymore). 

(Amazing Race update, when you're crying because you're stubborn and being mean to your sister, I have no sympathy for you).

So that's about it. My life has been rather boring this week due to having to go on antibiotics, which make me feel not so great, to clear up some final skin issues, but I can tell its working so I'll put up with it. But from here on will just work as hard as possible to get my work done, yet hopefully will have slightly better health so I'll want to do more of other stuff in the off time. 

(OMG! This boy on the amazing race is incredibly stupid! I want to hit him! He's so condescending to his sister!!! Gah. Just GAH. Ha ha, they went from 1st to second last in one leg, that'll show you.)

Ta for now.

Update: THIS is hilarious.

Happy Valentines from a not so bitter me

Tomorrow is Valentine's day and around the world there are single women (and men) prepared to raise the bitter flag and rail about this over materialistic, over promoted, manufactured holiday. A few year's ago, I would have been right there but this year, despite not having a boyfriend (though with one or two prehaps prospects on the horizon), I'm not feeling the usual bile rising. 

I don't know if its because I've recently decided that freaking out about being single has really accomplished nothing over the past few years, that I'm spurring myself on to be a bit braver when it comes to matters of the heart, or the fact that I'm really bloody tired, with another few very busy weeks ahead of me still. 

I am extraordinarily lucky after all. I have a wonderful family, fantastic friends, and my PCRs are working! (My priorities are awesome). I am looking forward to this weekend as one of my besties is coming into town, and then I get to go explore Vancouver next week. Of course having someone special in my life would be great, and I am looking, and open, but I think I need to take some time to count my blessings. 

I could also just be extraordinaly charmed by this, perhaps the cutest story EVAR (Koalas fall in love post rescue). In any case, I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day, whether you celebrate it with roses or ranting. 

Oh February

Not even halfway through ya, and I feel as though you are speeding by like a bullet.

I am currently in Ottawa doing some very intense exams/interviews for what could be a really good opportunity. I'm trying not to get too hung up on it, there are offers to be made to 45 people and there are 120 people being interviewed for them. Not terrible odds but not a sure bet either. I've had to wear the suit and other professional clothes my mother bought me over Christmas, a definite adjustment from my usual garb of jeans and t-shirts, perhaps with a nice cardigan thrown into the mix from time to time. 

I'll have to haul out the professional wear again next week as I'm jaunting off to Vancouver for a conference. I'm really excited for this as it's my first opportunity to visit B.C., and hope to do lots of looking around. I'll do my best to keep you all updated. It's also my first time presenting my work at a real conference so we'll see if I'm really as smart as I hope I am (I am currently hoping I'm smarter than 80 other people.... there are some pretty smart people here). 

Anyways, in between that we're having a lovely former roommate to visit and at some point I guess I should keep with the actual working on the thesis huh? Oh lab work.... I will not miss you (the e-mail I got today about some not so great results is not being terribly encouraging in terms of wanting to get back to it. Sweet salaries and contributing to my country seem a great deal more interesting right now).

I should get off to bed, have another round of interviews tomorrow so night!

Unabashed nerdiness

I should so be asleep right now but I had one of those days today (run to school, run gel, work on poster, have graduate society meeting, wait for supervisor to appear, meet with supervisor, run back to lab, set up plate for sequencing, run home, watch Battlestar....) that has left me still feeling a little buzzed. So I thought I'd write a post about being both a nerd, and a scientist.

Being a nerd: 

• it's Darwin's 200th birthday next week! I am such a nerd when it comes to Darwin, its rather like Schroeder and Beethoven. I just really the love the guy. I'm a little sad as I currently haven't heard of any events for it going on at my current university, while I know my former supervisor is part of a big panel at Undergrad U and also at one of the universities in my home town. Without evolution, without Darwin, I am a firm believer that nothing else in science really makes sense. So I'll celebrate on my own a bit this weekend by reading a book about him I recently found at the library at school. 
  
• Am really loving 'The Big Bang Theory'. Very few shows on TV make enough science jokes for my taste so this one, about geeky scientists trying to deal with the real world/their pretty neighbour, absolutely tickles me. 
• I've been following debates on a couple of websites, including on Dr. Isis (whom I adore for not only sending me get better wishes on Twitter, but also advocating for looking hot while doing hot science) about Jill Biden -AHEM, DR. Jill Biden asking that she be addressed as such on official invitations, announcements from the White House. Some people seem to have a problem with this, that it seems 'pretentious', as only medical doctors should use this title. It has also come out that many journalists will not refer to people with ONLY a PhD as Dr. Sorry about the caps emphasis, I seem to get more self-righteous after midnight. This just bugs me. I am currently not studying for a PhD partly because its incredibly intimidating to me! It takes a lot of work, I would almost think more work than medical school, in part based on the sheer number of partying photos that friends of mine in medical school have posted on Facebook in the past few years. She earned it, she should damn well use it and be proud of it.

• I mentioned briefly that I have a job interview coming up with the government of my fair country. If I was hired, it would be because of my background in science but I would no longer be a scientist per say. I have to admit to developing mixed feelings about this. I was quite sure it was the shift I wanted to make, but as my mother starts insisting I only purchase 'professional/work appropriate clothes' now, I am more and more drawn to the hoodies and yoga pants I can wear to either the lab or the field. However, based on my sheer nerdiness for science (such as my extreme love for David Attenborough going through the animal tree of life, here,)(he is another Darwin lover!) I know I will never really leave it.
• (P.S. Way to go Steelers not letting me down!)