Group Cycle Training

I fell in love with my group cycle teacher today. She was so good, I couldn't help it. I went to a training program for indoor cycle instructors (I found out I'm not allowed to call it "spinning" anymore because that's a trademark name) and got completely swept off my feet. She was smart, quick, to the point, interesting, inspiring, and most importantly TOTALLY HOT. I didn't think she was as hot at the beginning as I did at the end (although at the end she changed from a big Tshirt to a skimpy little tank top and that may have contributed). I got loads of good ideas, finally learned how to properly set up a bike and why (I won't have to make it up anymore!), chatted with some of my colleagues, wrote down some good song titles, got an awesome workout, and went home totally happy and satisfied. I decided it was well worth the horrifying drive into Uptown at 8 am on a Sunday. Maybe even worth the $50 and skipping lunch. Definitely worth converting to a lesbian.

Cultural Modesty

At my boss' party Sunday night I had conversed lightly with him and his wife about how tough it is for women in our field because we're modest and self-depracating, and it's hard for women to launch into such a doubtful career when she can so easily talk herself out of it (whereas men don't ponder their success potential or the nature of the job itself nearly as much). This was actually originally my boss' theory but I agree with it and have tried to stop myself from letting my womanly nature change my career path (so far none of the women that have gotten a Ph.D. in our lab have gone on to be faculty at a research university, which is my goal... I think my boss is crossing his fingers that I'll make it).

So on Friday my boss told me in all modesty that the chair of my committee (also male) thought I was a little too modest (or even self-depracating) in my 9-month committee meeting on Thursday. They're good buddies and have probably discussed his theory so I don't think they were trying to be critical, they were just watching out for me and trying to make sure I don't ruin my potential by acting too modestly about my previous successes (think: job interview coming up in September). Nevertheless, because I'm a woman, criticism is always hard to take (especially from a respected male authority figure) so it took me most of the rest of the day to swallow it. Now that I've rolled it around my head for a while I've come up with the following conclusions:

To make it in this very male profession (8/28 people in our dpt are female, which is pretty good compared with national statistics) I will need to suppress some of my very female tendencies (particularly self-depracation, but also a little of the nurturing and nesting instincts as well). However, I am female and as such can bring to the table a whole new dynamic that can also be advantageous. For example, women are generally more social than men, forming a community where they will reach out and help each other with anything from the emotional to the technical - I wouldn't want to leave this behind for any job. I think that if there are enough brave females that enter a male profession then that profession will eventually begin to appreciate them (and not just the females that behave like males in order to fit in). I make it sound simple, but really what it comes down to is that there's no easy black and white on this one - as a woman you can't just act like a male without looking like a bitch (ex Martha Stewart) but many professions aren't suddenly going to become female friendly either (they haven't yet anyway).

I have realized recently that my boss is not just my advisor but my career idol; if I can be like him I think I would be happy. Except, I wouldn't want to be exactly like him because I'm not - I'm a woman. In that respect, I will have to be like him as best I can and sort out the rest for myself, and then I will be very happy.

9-month

I did what we call in our program the "9-month" today which is conveniently the same length as human gestation. This "9-month" in our program is a meeting with your committee about 9 months before you expect to graduate, where your committee assesses your progress and sorts out your plans and approves or disapproves in general. They usually approve and it usually goes pretty well but I was a little nervous in general, particularly because I had to give a talk on some stuff I haven't talked about much yet and it was important that I be clear and confident. It was definitely good practice for my interview coming up in September. I got really positive feedback and a few glowing compliments that I think were well time since I was just getting myself all nervous about this upcoming interview.

I had been told through the grapevine that it's a good idea to bring food to all of your committee meetings so I went to a fancy grocery store in town (Lunds) and bought some good stuff and brought it today, and my committee members were all totally blown away and said they never get food except at oral exams (which two of them had been at that morning). It's these societal laws that always get me - to bring food or not to bring food? To cut up all the fruit and make a salad or to serve it separately? To use a fancy serving platter or to just throw it all on the table? These are the questions. I never know when it's appropriate to do what. That's why I like people who aren't offended by inappropriate behavior, like my boss, who didn't even notice a guy in our dpt that got all set up to do a sex-change surgery (before my time) which means he definitely wouldn't notice the appropriateness of my food display.

Bacterial Growth Curve

I just realized that almost everything can be compared to a bacterial growth curve (lag, exponential, stationary), such as:

Undergrad
Grad School
A new job
Preparing a talk
Writing a paper
Conversations

This just proves that microbiology is at the root of everything.

Introspect!

It seems we need some introspection every once in a while on our blogs so I decided to do some introspection myself. Today I'm going to introspect about Chipotle and farting (are these related? perhaps...).

O Chipotle why are you so yummy to me? Is it because you are spicy and tasty and cheap and fast all at the same time? Perhaps it is because the delicious herbs on your rice trigger my neurotransmitters like heroin and keep me coming back again and again. Maybe it's the tables outside that are so hip and happenin and groove with my beat. Maybe I like that there is one of you everywhere I turn (except Roseville) and I can get to you whenever I need you. O Chipotle why aren't you in Roseville? And for that matter why aren't you in Iowa or on the road to Iowa so I can eat you all the way to Iowa and whenever I go to Roseville? O Chipotle! I love you!!

My studly hubby once told me that the thing that surprised him most about me was how much I fart. I was so taken aback I farted. But as a microbiologist I know that each individual has their own farting risk level so perhaps mine is higher than average? But how would I know other than my studly hubby's perspective, which is compared to what? So I'm the first woman to fart in front of him, does that mean I fart more than other people? Actually, I probably do. I'm proud to be able to fart in front of my husband, I wouldn't have it any other way (that would just be uncomfortable). But, the problem with that is once you get used to farting in front of one person, you might accidentally let down your guard at work and have to figure out a way to cover it up because farting in public is a whole different story. At my work it's easy, you just open a bottle of something smelly and drop something noisy and nobody knows what happened (or so you tell yourself). But then it happens again the next day and the next because you do it all the time at home and can't remember the difference. Then suddenly you're known as The Farter and people are joking that your chair is going to get a big hole in it from all the fumes... no I wouldn't want that to happen at all so maybe I should reign it in a little.

Momento...

I better explain the very lewd comment my husband posted today. It was in response to a comment that was posted by a porno BLOG spammer. Yeah, that's right, they've reached a new low.

That comment had been removed by me as soon as I discovered it, which was unfortunately at the mass spec facility on a computer with a sign above it reading "DO NOT USE THESE COMPUTERS FOR ANY PURPOSE OTHER THAN MASS SPEC ANALYSIS." Clearly when the porno site came up on the computer my immediate response was to quickly close the viewer, remove the comment, and remove all evidence that I had been there, then move to the other side of the room.

I was on this illegal mass spec computer because I was a little shaky from a hard fall I made on the way to the facility and needed an excuse to sit down. I blasted past some dude and tore up the concrete steps, then tripped over my sandals and pitched forward onto my face at the top. The dude stepped over me and kindly said "are you ok?" I punched him in the face, picked myself up and launched off so I could make my appointment at the mass spec lab on time.

It wasn't my fault I was late to the mass spec facility. I had been previously distracted by a yo-yo craze that had overtaken our lab just prior. These yo-yo's were really cool and lit up when they spun, and it turns out my boss is an expert yo-yo'er and even knows how to "walk the dog." I had only ever seen that once before, when my yoga instructor - a former professional yo-yo'er (you better believe it!) - demonstrated for me in response to my doubt at his career claims.

The yo-yo craze was the fault of the New Girl in our lab, who wrote a nice sweet letter to the company that does iTRAQ, telling them how cool it is. In thanks, they sent her a bag full of glowing yo-yo's and she passed them all around the lab.

iTRAQ is a new mass spec technique that I was learning how to use down in the mass spec lab today.

... Wish it were Sunday...

I survived another Monday, this one was particularly brutal due to a late-night party at my boss' last night (late night is midnight these days, ah I do grow old...). He was throwing a goodbye party for my naked co-worker, who ships out this week but will be back briefly for a conference in Madison and one last week of partying.

I'm meeting with my committee this week to see whether they'll let me graduate someday and it's surprisingly hard preparing a list of what I want to do before I finish. I feel like there's a lot and not enough all at the same time.

I will leave you with some interesting things to do... my dad's ESL students have been exploring celebrity blogs and put up reviews of them, which I found very appealing. The whole blog-to-get-fans idea is interesting. It seems you have to make your blog, and your website, pretty freaking awesome to get people to talk enough to spread the word and get you more fans. It's worth a try though, especially if you don't mind the process in the first place. I have found blogging to be surprisingly refreshing. Another thing that's surprisingly refreshing is iced peppermint tea. Mmmmm! Here's another wild thing to check out: the Body Worlds Tour (in Cleveland right now!). This crazy German guy plasticates freshly dead people in interesting positions so their organs, blood vessels and nerves are totally preserved for your viewing pleasure. It was originally for education but now has become art. By boss' son was required to see both shows when they were in LA as part of his fancy art school program. I guess it's a little freaky but fascinating nonetheless.

And last but not least, Mohitos really are good drinks! Try one today. Immediately! I don't care if you're "working"!