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!)