I am a social klutz

I never know what to do when you see someone a distance away, that you recognize, walking towards you. Do you stare at them for five minutes? Do you look away, and then pretend to be surprised when you look up and pass them? We have a lot of long hallways at work, so this happens to me alot. And, the situation is really only awkward when it's someone you are only on a smile and nod level of familiarity with. Again, this is work, this describes the majority of people in the building.

My tactic: I look up, then I stare at my feet for a bit. I feel awkard. I look up, I bite my bottom lip in embarresment, I look down. I look up, mouth "hello", and am now aware that I am blushing. Great.

The result: The other person smiles back at me in a mixture of what I am sure is amusement/pity.

*sigh*

Intelligent Dreams?

I remember when I was in undergrad and studying for big exams, I would go to bed, thinking I could get some respite from chemical structures and biological pathways. Unfortunately, I was sorely mistaken. My dreams were haunted by the very things I was hoping to forget about for a few brief hours. And, with the haunting came the paranoia, "am I dreaming correctly, or am I dreaming misinformation?".

The misery has returned to me. I go to bed, but I am still writing my grant in my sleep. At least now it is potentially helpful, and, as it does not involve memorization, the only harm it does it make my nights less blissful.

Hamlet said "to die, to sleep; to sleep perchance to dream; ay, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death who knows what dreams may come?" He did not know the half of it. Who needs death to dread their dreams?

The Big Exam

I have officially started my candidacy exam today. Basically, this is a test to prove my worthiness as a Ph.D. student. In different departments, at different universities, this exam takes a variety of forms, but the purpose remains the same: to determine if each student has what it takes to continue their doctoral studies. But, no pressure, of course.

At my department, it takes the form of a writing a grant. A grant is how scientists beg for money. You tell people how wonderful you are. How wonderful your ideas are. Then, in detail, describes your experimental plan for the next three to five years. And, in detail, how much money everything will cost, so the granting agency knows how much to give you.

Here's the kicker for the exam: The experimental plan should be enough work for two or three Ph.D. students. I haven't even finished my (one) project, I'm supposed to come up with ideas for two or three?! Oh yeah, and the other caveat: the topic cannot be related to what the individual is currently studing. So, big learning curve. I have a month to become an expert in a field that is not related to me.

I picked Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the causitive agent of the STI gonorrhea. Why? I like STIs. To study, I should add, not to personally have.

Santa Fe - Post 4

Today we spent the day in Albequerque. First stop was their aquarium - very fun. We also visited the botanical gardens, which featured a larger than life vegatable garden (not real veggies). SOOOO COOOL. I sat inside a pumpkin. Next, the zoo, where we got to watch gorillas - they were about ten, so there was lots of interactions.

After lunch, we saw petorgraphs - drawings on rocks. Pretty neat, and involved some fun hiking, so by the time it was done, my feet were pretty sore.

We ended our tourist activities by riding a tram - the longest in the world - 15 minutes each way (up and down the mountain).

For dinner - we hit Sonic, and I had a green chili cheeseburger. I now love green chili, which sucks, because it's kinda a New Mexico thing, and I don't live anywhere close to there. Apparently green chilis are the same thing as the red ones, but the green ones are roasted right away, wheras the red ones are dried (i.e. a green chili, when dried, turns red). Maybe I'll learn to make my own!

Santa Fe - Post 3

Tuesday night Janis' Aunt and Uncle made us a home cooked Mexican meal - enchiladas. I have had them before at Carlos and Murphys in Winnipeg, but you know...they were nothing like each other. The meal was soooo tasty.

Wednesday (yesterday) we drove three hours out to Roswell and checked out the alien/UFO museum. It was pretty cool. Mostly unbiased, it tried to present the facts as they are known, and then let the visitor decide for themselves if it was a weather balloon, a UFO, or something the military was involved in. Other than the museum, the towns only other main attractions are the myriad of tacky tourists shops. So, after about an hour and a half in Roswell, we made the three hour drive back to Santa Fe. Another highlight though, was temperature. Roswell, out of the mountains unlike Santa Fe, was a balmy 17.

In the evening, we went out to a yummy Mexican restaurant. So yummy, in fact, that we passed country star Randy Travis in the lobby. Apparently, he's a regular there. There is even a dish named after him on the menu. I had Sopapillos, which again, were nothing like I had in Winnipeg. But tastey!

Santa Fe - post 2

Today we went to the Bandelier National Monument, located just South of Los Alamos. Highlights include dwellings of Pueblos, including cave dwellings. Some of them we were allowed to crawl up into. That was really neat. The following pic is one of the mountain dwellings. Most of them were really just caves, but this one looks like a real house.
The various views available from the park were awesome, too. Here is a view.

Santa Fe - Post 1

We made record time in the drive down - we made it from Winnipeg, MB to Santa Fe, NM in about 24 hours. The weather was a little wonky though. South Dakota was foggy and Nebraska was rainy. Other than, pretty okay. Fun memories included seeing a tumble weed - an actual tumble weed - dart across the highway in Kansas. Another fun moment was Janis looking at the driver Caitlyn and saying, why are you passing? There's cars coming towards us - and they're really close! That woke up the sleeping Christina and I really quickly. However, it turned out that we were on a divided highway. The opposing traffic was safely on the other side of the meridian.

Upon arriving in Santa Fe yesterday morning, Janis' Aunt and Uncle fed us breakfast, and then dinner later on that day. It's really sweet that to have a family to hang out with, and to be able to eat home cooked meals. They have a four year old daughter, who painted my nails. Lets just say it looks like my nails were painted by a four year old.

Yesterday in the afternoon we went shopping in the plaza. This is the old Santa Fe downtown. It is filled with tourist and craft shops. There are an amazingly large amount of stores, all selling similar things. That's tourism!

Our hotel is okay. We have two double beds. I am sleeping with Christina - she's a good person to share with - neither of us move much, and we both sleep near the edge. And - there's free internet! Hopefully that means I keep posting!