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!)