Battle of the Cons

Another week, another con... these are the days of our lives.

I just returned from another convention - no, not a comic con (see my flickr site for pictures), but a science con. This is a rite of spring within the science world. During all those long months of slaving away in a dark laboratory at the tip of the whip from your PI who yells for "RESULTS?!!!" every Friday at 5PM, the doors are unlocked and we flock to various hotel/conference centre destinations to talk about how we spent ten of thousands of tax-payer dollars, attempt to "network" and "socialize" eventhough we're all awkward scientists, and flaunt "our lab is the bestest" posters while fielding "but your data is shit" questions from a disgruntled colleague who just realized that his project has just been scooped.

As I was sitting in this past week's science seminar talks, I couldn't help start a comparison of comic cons vs. science cons (the more honest story is that my mind wandered/eyes glazed over when some Chemist started gushing about NMR peaks). It's like the age old philosophical geek question: if Science and Comic cons were in a fistfight, who would win?

Venue/Location
Comic cons are held either in a convention centre (San Diego, Vegas, Chicago, etc...) or a hotel halls (Saskatoon, SK or Fargo, ND). It really depends on the star attractions that determines the attendee numbers (50K-100K vs 5K). Some cons (San Diego) require you to buy advance tickets YEARS ahead of the convention itself. People are often comment, "I thought it was just a casual gathering." 20 years ago, yes it was. Nowadays, if you are planning on attending a comic con, you plan it like a major holiday trip. Go big or stay home. However big cons attract the more interesting guests... no right-minded Hollywood big shot will fly to Fargo.

Likewise, Science cons vary in size depending on the draw. Each major science field has an annual MEGA con (for my field, it's ASM). I'm not a fan of the MEGA cons (50K+ attendees) as it's usually a free-4-all with overlapping panel talks and poster sessions that forces you to sprint all over the convention centre the entire time. Anyone you meet or want to meet there never has the time to chat with you. Like Comic cons, there are more intimate gatherings (100-300 attendees) in hotel settings. Unlike Comic cons, the location for these MEGA Science gatherings rotate. Although it's the same general stock of people, the venue is a convention centre in some metropolis city. I'm still waiting for ASM to announce Hawaii as their next locale - the isles will sink due to the sheer influx of scientists who descend upon that convention. Most likely this will be my scenario to such a conference.

Winner: Depends on category, so a tie.
Big cons: Comic (you may feel like cattle standing in the lines, but at least you buy 30 seconds of face time with Sir Patrick Stewart!)
Small cons: Science (you actually get to have a beer with a potential co-authour on your next project)

Big Shot Guest List
Comic cons thrive on nabbing the headliners. Calgary Expo managed to pull off the impossible in getting the entire original TNG cast together on stage. First time in 20 years. Can you imagine if some con was able to reunite the original Star Wars cast? Big names = big crowds = many people having geek-out moments (yours truly included).

Do Science cons have headliners? You betcha! They are called Nobel Prize Laureates. Once at a UCLA MEGA Science convention, I was having a geek-out moment when Sydney Brenner was introduced. The entire auditorium went batshit crazy as Sydney* shuffled across the stage to the podium to speak. Of course he didn't have an autograph session during this conference... but it's not uncommon to ask some big shot to sign one of their articles or memories books.

*ego subnote: if I did an Erdos-Bacon number relation between myself and Sydney, it's 3. My Master's advisor was a grad student in a lab from one of Sydney's grad student. Ergo, Sydney is my lab great grandfather. Oh yes. Oooooh yes!!!


Winner: Comic (sorry Sydney, as awesome as you are, I'd rather hang out with Sir Patrick)

Exhibitors
Need I to remind you that the Comic industry is purely an entertainment industry? It should come to no surprise that over 50% of the convention is wall to wall exhibitors trying to make a (big) buck on your disposable income in forms of books, pictures, art, buttons, toys, etc... I actually rarely/never buy anything at Comic cons. My con money is purely for autographs and/or personalized sketches. If I have books to be signed, they are already part of my personal collection.

Science (arguably) isn't entertainment, but it does spend a pretty penny. At the MEGA cons, you'd be surprised at the size of the exhibitor's hall. Every big (and small) biotech company trying to sell you its newest sero electronic pipette filler that comes in 5 fabulous scents! I hide from these sales rep everytime they darken my laboratory's doorway. However at the con, to lure you into their booth for the 15 min sales pitch, they do offer you free goodies.

Winner: Science (I enjoy my free annual supply of pens, highlighters, floatation devices, stress balls, science geek bumper stickers, rulers, T-shirts, boxer shorts, clipboards, calendars, timers, pedometers, wristbands, headbands, plush toys, etc...)

The N word
When I was a young Masters grad student, my advisor sent me to a MEGA Science con sans poster with the instructions "you will network". At the time, I thought this would mean that I would attempt to locate and procure ethernet access for my advisor. I soon found out that this really meant perfecting my social skills among the science population. No problem for me as I can strike up a conversation with anyone. However I soon discovered that it's true what they say about scientists in general... we fair better at talking with our data than people (one of the main reasons why there's an open bar). But so long as you speak science, you can network your way through any poster session. Often you hear about those racy hook-ups between some grad student and assistant prof (different labs... we hope). Yessiree, that's networking for a new collaboration (especially if the condom breaks). This past Science con, one speaker was a grad student who published in Nature and he was good looking. I was intrigued. I approached him during the dinner session, introduced myself, and found out that this boy could publish his data in Nature but couldn't publish his good looks with good personality. Major "full-of-himself". No problem, the next day's panel talk had a very cute biotech post-doc. Although his company's products were really of no interest, his personality was the closing deal with exchange of email addresses (he could darken my lab's doorway anyday).

Like scientists, Comic con fanfolks are equally awkward to be around... at least in the general public setting. However dress them up as a Jedi or a skin tight leather Catwoman, and they're Mr(s). Popularity. There's even geek speed-dating panel sessions; tho, I've always passed on them this far. Again I have no problem talking to people at the con (in and out of cosplay). I don't dress up, but I am very much a social butterfly as I am fluent in geek and very extroverted within the crowds. This past Comic con, I was approached by 2 media groups asking which newsmagazine I represented (they overheard my "interviews" of various people) and I had to break 3 fanboy hearts. Sorry boys, I was ultra busy networking with comic book artists and the TNG cast. Maybe next year, I will take you all up on those coffees (Ron, if you're somehow reading this... email me!).

Winner: Science. Although Comic con gives a more interesting flavour of the day, the Science con can lead to a new job offer (at least from a scientist's stand point - much different story if you're within the comic/acting industry).

The attire
Above I mentioned the cosplay at Comic con. About 60% of the attendees are dressed in their regular everyday attire (by which I mean geek T-shirt and jeans). The other 40% are full-metal-jacket decked out in costume. Comic cons provide a generally safe-environment for these people who spend thousand of hours and moolah on their favourite character. I say generally safe because there's always bullies. Although I don't dress up (I am honest with myself enough to know that I don't look good in spandex in public OR in private), I do admire those who do. Some are... what the? But most are hella awesome!

Science cons attire: oh what does one wear among the geeks here? In general, good pair of jeans/khakis and nice dress shirt/blouse. For the dinner session, a jacket/tie or skirt is usually the norm. But of course there's the fashion no-nos... like socks in sandals (facepalms).

Winner: Comic. Com'on, who wouldn't want to be in a hall where the norm is capes and tight leather suits? Ok, you don't have to agree with me on this point.

Seminar/Panel Talks
I have heard the comment from folks outside my science circle that when they hear me give a talk, it's like I'm speaking another language. So at Science cons, I'm certain that the people serving our food/drinks must feel like they are in foreign country. The interests of the talks are really based on what your interest is. I just came back from a carbohydrate conference, which is heavy on the chemistry side. I phail at chemistry-speak, so most of the talks I felt like I was on another planet. However when the talks switched to microbiology, ooooh the interest!

At Comic cons, you don't have to be a hardcore fanboy to understand the talks. You just have to have some general knowledge of the geek culture itself (or willing to learn it). Of course you miss out on a lot of subtle inside jokes. Kinda like watching the Big Bang Theory - all the jokes are funny on the surface and funnier than hell if you know the reference.

Winner: Comic. Yes science talks are intriguing and often inspire new ideas for my own projects. But listening to the comical banter between Brent Spiner and Wil Wheaton or hearing first hand Stan Lee's story on why the Hulk changed from grey to green in the comic books - highly more entertaining than any gene expression analysis.

Final Tally Count: Science con 2, Comic con 3. A squeaker folks!

A Trekkie? You?

Right now, I'm sitting in my living room and in front of me is documented proof of bucket list item #5 completed. Oh Calgary Expo Comic Con, how I love thee. I'll blog about the Comic Con experience in another post shortly, but I wanted to share here about my history about being a long time Trekker as a lot of folks have commented: dude, seriously?

Almost 25 years ago, I sat in front of my family's little 8" screen TV and tuned in to see the pilot episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. I was 10 years old at the time and already a budding geek with interests in science, space, video gaming, and comics. I knew of the original Star Trek series, but (shocker warning) Captain Kirk and Dr. Spock never really appealed to me. Through my eyes, they were outdated and any episode that I watched seemed boring, corny, or both. However I decided that I'd give this Next Generation a try. Besides, the guy from Reading Rainbow had a role in it and I never missed an episode of that show.

So I tuned in and watched this group of nine people try to save their asses, their ship, and humanity itself (as it was on trial  in this episode) from this omnipotent evil guy called "Q". The Reading Rainbow dude was blind (but he drove the ship!), the Chief Security Officer was a chick, there was this "needs more time in the sun" robot... er, android whom I found annoying, single parent families were the norm, and the Captain was this old British, wait French?, bald dude. After the pilot episode, I turned off the TV, marched up to my mom who was in the kitchen, and declared with all regale formality that I was officially a Star Trek fan.

My mom's answer, "That's nice dear."

Over the next 7 years, I never missed an episode and still have all the original VCR recordings from seasons 2 to 7 (season 1 remained elusive as our household didn't own a VCR at the time). Because I replayed each episode over and over, I can still recite the dialogue word per word of almost every episode (much to my friends' weird looks). Beyond TNG (and soon DS9 and later Voyager) I started immersing myself in all things Trek - learning about each character's background, the Gene Roddenberry's story, the process of filming the episodes, learning to love the original series (Whoa! They made movies too?!), and worrying about the characters who seemed like family to me. I clearly remember screaming loudly at that tiny TV as tears streamed down my face in disbelief when they killed off Tasha Yar (that Chief of Security chick), "You CAN'T kill her! YOU JUST CAN'T!!!" Yesiree, I was an official Trekker.

Why did TNG resonate so passionately with me? I felt that of all the TV shows during my upbringing, TNG not only appealed to geek in me with sci-fi, but understood me and here's the top 3 reasons:

1. Being handicapped doesn't limit your position in society. The blind dude didn't remain the helm pilot during the entire series. No, LaForge was promoted to keep the ship from "being blown to kingdom come" as ship's Chief Engineer. If a blind guy can be accepted as a colleague and become senior staff member of Starfleet's flagship, hey a deaf chick could do anything too (like a Ph.D. in microbiology).

2. The Crusher family storyline hit home with me as I deeply identified with the dialogue between the solo parent and child. Sure, the circumstances were different, but the fact that that social status wasn't an issue gave me hope that I did have a chance in life. As a kid growing up, I was branded "at-risk child" in my school system just because I didn't have a dad. If it wasn't enough to be bullied for being the deaf kid in a regular school system, I was also "that deaf chick from a broken home who you shouldn't be friends with because she's a bad influence". In the 24th century, being raised solely raised by your mom was regarded normal and even commended. Plus you got Captain Picard as your father figure role model. How cool is that?

3. Women can be strong leaders. This aspect of TNG has been mentioned over and over. At the time that the series was airing on the networks, the women's movement was still a huge issue. Except for Kate Mulgrew's Mrs. Columbo (where Mulgrew went on to become Capt. Janeway of the Star Trek Voyager series) and Kate Jackson's role in Scarecrow and Mrs. King, I didn't have many strong female role models to watch on TV. But with TNG, I saw Yar, Dr. Crusher, and Troi every week tackling various issues. I especially admired Crusher - not only being a single mom, but also a scientist. Often when I'm in the lab and suddenly realize that I haven't had lunch or supper, I can hear Dr. Crusher saying, "Sometimes I get so busy with research, I forget to eat!" (Lower Decks, Season 7)

Two years later after TNG premiered, I convinced my mom to drive me 3 hours to another city to attend my first Star Trek/comic con. She dropped me off at the door to the hotel lobby and I found myself with 500 people that loved Star Trek not as much as I did, but way, way, WAY more. Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) was the main (and only) guest star at that con 23 years ago. She graciously answered throngs of questions, sang for us, and signed my very first autograph picture! Although I was surrounded by strangers, I felt at ease and comfortable with them. They understood me and I understood them. After that experience, I made a point to visit any convention nearby and bucket list item #5 was written: to meet and thank the entire TNG cast in person. Thanks Calgary Expo for "making it so".

My Green Thumb & I

Something shocking happened over this weekend: I found myself in a garden center getting excited over which annuals I'll bring home with me.

Now despite the mice ordeal (which I just realized that I've yet to blog about that... soon people, soon), I've been thoroughly enjoying my townhouse. Yes, it's a rental, but it's been amazing how much my mental state o' mind has improved with windows and greenspace. I enjoyed the wood burning fireplace over the winter months. Last summer I indulged in hammock naps. And year-round, my hockey gear dries out in the basement in peace without smelling up the entire place. It's not that I'll be living here forever (I do want to own a place), but even mice can't stop me from enjoying my townhouse.

Apparently living in this place has tapped into the gardener in me. Growing up we had gardens, and every spring/summer I'd watch my mom attempt to tackle every weed and plant what would call herself "beautiful" plants. As a kid, I could care less. It was beyond my logic why would people spend hundreds of dollars for plants that don't really grow well in Canadian environments. Fruit/vegetables I understand, but trying your darnest to grow some orchid or lilly in forever sun (no shade) or forever shade (no sun) conditions, plus the neverending "chance of overnight frost" never resulted in successful gardens.

But my mom seeing my distaste in gardening would kindly tell me: when you're older, you'll develop an interest in all of this. Standing for 3 hours in the greenhouse debating on several flowers and legumes to grow in my tiny garden space in my townhouse probably means that I'm officially now older.

And poorer - spending $110 on plants. I bought a variety of flowering plants including asters, salvia, and others which I forget the names. I'm also trying a mini vegetable garden of peas, green beans, tiny tom tomatoes, blackberries, and strawberries. I'm not expecting to reap anything. But the chance of it growing in my lil' niche I'm looking forward to.

And sorer - after an afternoon on my knees in the dirt and lugging around potting soil and mulch, I found I had new unused muscles. Apparently goalie knees aren't gardening knees.

So it's all weeded, tilled, and planted. And now the water & wait game commences. I probably did everything wrong in planting and choosing the best combos to plant together. But I think that's part of the fun, an experiment if you will - the trial and error of gardening. If I eat three beans or a half of a strawberry or just witness tomato flowers, I'll consider it a success.  (I'll post pictures soonish... blogger is being silly slow with uploads atm).

Sky of Blue, Sea of GREEN

Green is the colour
Football is the game
We're all together
And winning is the aim
So cheer us on through the sun & rain
Saskatchewan Roughriders... that's our name!

Above is a chant I learned along with "itsy bitsy spider" and the alphabet song.  Often the word "sun" would be appropriately replaced with "snow".

Whilst hockey is a dear sport of mine, I am a bigger fan of Canadian football. Specifically, a fan of my home province's team: the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Any Canadian would tell you that the biggest, most hardiest team fanbase of any Canadian sport (yes, shockingly this includes hockey teams) is Rider fans.

An example of the pockets of Roughrider green among
the hosting team crowd (Calgary).
Yes, this isn't a home game.

The evidence is in the stands. No matter where Saskatchewan plays their away games, almost half of the stands are the team colours: Green n' White. I thought this was untrue until I first moved to Vancouver. When the Roughriders were visiting the first time I was there, I hesitantly put on my Green n' White jersey and went to the stadium, thinking that I'd be outnumbered. To my surprise, I found myself sitting with a pocket of other Rider fans which riddled the entire stadium evenly between the Orange n' White (BC Lions colours).

I wondered and asked the people sitting around me, "Are you visiting from Saskatchewan?"

General answer: Oh no, we've lived here for the past 5 (10, 20, 30, etc...) years. Once a Rider fan, always a Rider fan.

The huge fan base is very ironic considering that Saskatchewan is a large (600K km²) small (population lingers around 1 million) province. However, due to the continuous emigration from the province (myself included), the RiderNation population is probably 5x that. We breed Rider fans. I don't know where my future husband's home roots are, but our children will bleed green (sorry, dear).

This past weekend, "my boys" (as I tend to call them) were in the Western Final. Another nail biter game, but we emerged victorious! Onto the Grey Cup final (for my American friends, that's the SuperBowl of Canadian football)! Where? Right here in Edmonton! Although I don't have tickets to the game (they go for $500/pop now, it's sold out, plus it's -35oC outside), I'll gather all my RiderNation fans around the TV to scream "GO GREEN".  Win or lose - I'm still proud of my team. It's Grey Cup week in the city. Awesome place to be!

Oh Canada!

The party's over in Vancouver. I did catch Olympic fever throughout the entire 17 day competition. In the lab, people were constantly refreshing their web-browsers for up dates on the daily results. At the start of the competition, Canadians were moaning about the lack of performance from their athletes. Team Canada organizers made a very boastful prediction that Canada would take home the most medals. I love Canada (natch), but to put that expectation on our athletes is just unfair. Especially when you're competing against powerhouses like USA and Germany. The "Own the Podium" program is a good thing, as Olympic athletes are severely underpaid for what is expected of them (hmmmm, that sounds familiar). Well, everyone except NHL players. But let's not go there. When I was living in Vancouver, I befriended a lot of people from Team Canada Field Hockey. From them I admired the commitment to their sport. Especially when they were expected to train for 6-8 h/day and be paid only $50/day. How could anyone live on that? In Vancouver no less! I'm not sure what "Own the Podium" has now done for the athletes pay-wise, but at least it's bringing to light that if we Cdn taxpayers want the golden glory - we better be ready to dish out the funds to support those who compete.

Back to the Vancouver 2010 games. So then, Canada didn't win the most medals. But quality over quantity people. Canada did take home the most gold medals and broke records doing so (most gold medals in any Olympics and most gold medals by hosting country). If we complained about a gold drought on home soil, I think it's safe to say that we've got our fill now. And what a finish! Gold medal in both women's and men's hockey. I think that is probably the only thing that matters to Canada. We acknowledge that we're not perfect in many things (even trying to get the cauldron up), but when it comes to hockey - that's our game you're playing.



So congrats to the ALL the athletes. You did me proud along with the rest of Canada. Someone asked me whether there would be a holiday on the following Monday. I said "no, but whenever you see a Cdn, you'll note a small satisfied smile." People will carry that feeling around for a long time. Like the '72 summit. "With Glowing Hearts" indeed.

Let them begin...

Following up a previous post regarding me playing hooky from work (for 30 min), today is the opening day of the 2010 Winter Olympic games. It's been a long road for these games in Vancouver. In fact back in 2003, I remember being in LA at a science conference when we heard that Vancouver won the bid to these games. Someone rushed in and yelled, "VANCOUVER 2010!!" And surprisingly I was part of a large chorus of cheering people in the lecture theater.

As a personal tradition, I've always watched the opening ceremonies. In fact as I write this, Portugal's team just entered the stadium. I am a fan of the Olympics, the idea of these games is a noble one. But just like anything with good intentions, there will always be some dark spots. Today is no exception, just within hours of the opening of the games, a Georgian luger was killed on a training run. Georgia put on a brave face tonight walking into the stadium.

Oooooh: now USA entered.

This will be Canada's 3rd time hosting the Olympics. Montreal hosted the summer Olympics in 1976. I wasn't around for that one, but I remember Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics vividly. What I remember the most is the theme, simply called "Winter Games". For these Olympics, the current theme plug is "I believe". I'm not sure if it'll be more popular as David Froster's Calgary theme.

I work in a multi-nation lab. We have a good mix of counties: Canada, Argentina, Swiss, Japan, Spain, and Ireland. All countries are competing in this year's Olympics, so it'll be a subject of talk (and ribbing).


Oooh ... I hear cheering: Yep, it's Canada! TV shots of people cheering in Whistler, cheering in Khandahar... and me cheering right here. Go Canada Go!

Watching the ceremonies more. I really enjoyed the fiddler/tap dancing segment. Beautiful Cdn maple leafs everywhere.

Nice Olympic flag bearers choices, including Terry Fox's mom and a famous UN Cdn peacekeeper (now Senator) Romeo Dallare.

Amazing Measha Brueggergosma's operetta was breath-taking.

Oh, this is better - 5 people lighting the cauldron...

...O - M - G... they flubbed the opening lighting of the cauldron! I can just see it now with Americans ribbing that Canada can't get it up. And then what? Watching a hockey player in a pick-up truck for 10 minutes to light the external cauldron? Well, I guess that's uniquely Cdn. Great show... poor finish. I hope this isn't foreshadowing Canada's performance at these games. Rated E for "effort"?

Oh snap!

Last week was an interview for a possible post-doc position. The research is awesome! Just the timing is crappy. I'm not giving up the ghost with this lab as of yet, and play the wait n' see game. In the meantime, sending off more emails to more labs for more possible positions. So nothing fruitful so far in the job hunt. But the trip to the city was a fruitful one on a personal note. I got to visit three set of friends in 36h. If anything was successful it was the laughs over the table chats.

Hockey wise, I had my first injury of the season. There was a scuffle in the cease which resulted in a pile of women on top of each other, with me at the bottom. The picture here isn't from the night, but it's a close approximation. Most times this is alright, providing that everyone lays pancake-wise. But this time, an opponent's elbow dove right onto my spine and I swear I heard a "crack". We did end up winning the match, however afterwards I did required a few chiro appointments, a bottle of muscle relaxants, and 8 days of no hockey. This meant 4 games I was sidelined. But all the recoup did me some good as I can play pain free (knock on wood).

In other nuances... I started to play with Wii again. I'm slow on gaming consoles and current hot games. Me, I'm just happy playing Legend of Zelda:Twilight Princess, which came out 4 years ago (Yeah, I'm THAT slow). It's a good game being the level of slash n' dash is equally balanced with logic n' puzzles to solve. I haven't found a game that brings back memories like Super Mario Bros 3. Man, I played that game morning, noon, n' night. A lot of my childhood was spent/wasted learning jump sequences and the gaming soundtracks are embedded in my head for eternity.

Speaking of music, a lil' Moby with his "Honey" classic. I rewatched the video for this one, it's how I feel these days, just wandering around trying to figure out where my life is going.

Laterz!

Good Ripples

I've been getting a lot of emails/phone calls from friends and family from everywhere over the past 5 days. I think I'm experiencing what's known as the "thesis high": the euphoria of completing something that you'd thought could never be completed (ask any grad student if they ever felt that they'd never graduate, you'll get a resounding YES!!!).

I'm kinda overwhelmed with the response so far. For some reason, everyone's going over the top about this one. I could ramble on how great the accomplishment of completing this degree is impacting a lot of people, but honestly everytime I start writing about it, I feel that I'm gushing too much. And it's just in my nature not to gush. Vent, yes. Gush, no.

But one thing that has been on my mind, this whole hoopla has started me thinking about "good ripples" effects with completing this degree. I'm seeing that completing this degree has connected a lot of folks and ultimately producing good ripples. I'll admit that I'm a fan of the Joan of Arcadia TV series and good ripples was something that just kept with me from that show, along with various other meta-philosophical or quantum physic theories. I felt that the show pulled it off in not such a sappy "Touch by an Angel" way (I don't even want to link that series... ick).


So good ripples are already being felt from the thesis completion and hopefully for many years to come.

Update of current activities, I am working in the same lab as I've been for the past 6 years working away on the same project. On my bench is 6 copies of the thesis riddled with revisions before it can be officially accepted. My bench itself is choked with various papers and textbooks in which need to be cleaned out as someone has already called my bench. So deadlines still in need to be met, things still need to be written, desk/bench to be cleared out. It sounds stressful doesn't it? But everything seems a lil' brighter somehow as the dark ominous thesis cloud isn't following me around. So next few weeks are busy making the final finishing touches of the degree before I plunge finally into the "REAL WORLD" (eeeeeeeeeek!).

I haven't posted music for sometime now. I've thought about what songs would be appropriate during this time. One of the grad secretary's was humming the Rocky theme and said I should run up the steps in Rocky-style... so, who am I to argue with the masses?

Deep Breath...

Haven't been blogging this week that much seeing that tomorrow (Friday the 12th, hmmm, there's a new spin on the horror genre) is the d-day. It's been a long time coming (6 1/2 years for this day). I've been reading over my thesis, making corrections (80% mostly typos), thinking about things my examiners could ask me about. There's four levels of questioning that I'm expecting:

1. why did you do that?
2. what would you do next?
3. tell me about (science word/technique/system/something that I should know, if not gawd help me)?
4. why is the sky blue?

The first level is the basics and generally I'm not too freaked about them. There's always "better" ways to do any experiment. Also it's nitpicking about your writing style and/or data presentation. You just need to defend why you chose the way you did, but be humble to admit that you could do things another way.

The 2nd level is more testing whether or not I have the cajones to sport that Ph.D. title. We are trained to think about the next step, the next experiment. No project is ever truly finished, there's always one more experiment you can do to forward the knowledge from it. Sometimes I falter with this level, I think it's more to do with self-doubt of my own expertise. I usually overthink the experiment or not think about it enough. So I'm fearful of these questions. Depends on the day and whether my brain is connected to my mouth.

The 3rd level is the part where you study for real. I've been going over methodology and systems like crazy this week. It's all vaguely familiar, but I often need a refresher course for the finer details of the exact chemical equation of how a bacteria makes light. These questions, ehhhh... it all depends on what I studied right? There's always a few questions on systems that I didn't spend much time on reviewing, so it's the luck of draw. Like on any written exam.

The last level, these are the "WTF?" questions. Totally out of the ball park, no way to prepare, you just simply dance for them. Often these are the "BIG PICTURE" questions, but they are just "Let's watch her pupils dilate more for fun" questions. I remember one past defense question was: How did you feel about working with GMO? I'm thinking, "GMO... GMO... acronym for what chemical compound... guanine mono... WTF?"

He rephrased, "Are you okay with working with genetically modified organisms?"

I blink.

My advisor blinks then rolls his eyes.

Yeah... and these folks are the ones with the Ph.D.s

Back to reading... deep breath.

Seeing the Sound

Over on Twitter, Marlee Matlin is starting to make noise about close captioning everywhere. I've followed Marlee's career ever since her breakout role in Children of a Lesser God. In fact, I remember sitting on my living floor when I was 9 watching her accept Hollywood's top nod for her performance and thought, "Wow, she's getting the highest award in her profession - that means I can do anything too." Fastforward 22 years and here I am defending my Ph.D. thesis next week (sidenote: EEEEEKKK!). Most folks know about Marlee with her on-screen roles. But honestly, asides from inspiring me to achieve any dream, I thank her more for her tireless efforts to have close captioning made a law in the television industry. About 10 years ago, my hearing deteriorated (I have progressive hearing loss) to the point that I can't enjoy watching TV without the captioning. So Mad Beaker award to Marlee for being a strong advocate for Deaf and hard-of-hearing rights.

However that was only one mountain to overcome and there's many more that lay in the path. One that I've mentioned before that has bugged me: movie captioning. It's true, in order for me to enjoy a movie fully, I have to wait for the one theatre in this city with RWC. Yes, that's right. There's only ONE theatre, in fact, ONE RWC box in the entire city of over a million people that I live in. This means that in order to watch the latest blockbuster, I usually go twice. Once with my friends at the regular time in the evening or weekend. And another time, usually in the morning on a weekday, to (re)watch the flick to actually understand the dialogue. I try to see the movie with captioning first before watching it with my friends. It's not that they wouldn't watch the show with captioning with me, just that who can get off work at 11AM on a Tuesday? Yeah, I know it isn't right, not to mention expensive. So Marlee, I'm with you - you start a petition, my signature will be on it.

Other things... working on my seminar slides today. The defense is in a week. Feelings about it: restlessness (let's get it over with) and fear (OMG I'm soooo not prepared yet!!!!). My boss has been prepping for the aftermath party already. Apparently she believes that I'll actually pass this thing (apparently she isn't the only one as well... there's like a chorusline movement regarding me passing this thing). So let's get to it and hammer out impressive slides. It's always nice to put up one slide that represents 5 years of work (yeah, I actually do have one of those). Of course tunes are following me with this, but a nod to Jules who asked me yesterday (I quote) "WTF are you listening to??!" while doing some experimenting. See, being Deaf means that my mp3 player volume and headphones are cranked to the maxed so almost everyone can enjoy my music. The song she was inquiring about, Freddy Martin and "H'ove got a lovely bunch of coconuts" (much more fun if you sing along with a Brit accent!). Of note, yes, Monty Python is often miscredited to this song, but they actually never sang it.

Does this mean I need to buy a Stetson?

So five days in the hometown, it was a pretty jammed packed weekend. It was mostly a blurr of eating food. Tons. I just moved from plate to plate over the past few days. Maybe a lot of folks thought I was malnourished while writing the thesis or something. So on that elliptical tomorrow. And bonus there's a ball hockey game on Tuesday too.

After so much unknowns with job, school, etc... it's now official. I become an Albertan today. I start the process with getting my driver's license. In three months, I'll be able to get the Alberta Health Card (for my non-Cdn readers, yeah, Canada has medicare, but you still need be living in a province for awhile before you can transfer your healthcare card eventhough you're still Cdn... see, out govt can be annoying too!). After that, not much to change. Next year I get my license plates. My Greek mom gave me a perfect idea. Since I have a new shiny Saskatchewan plate from the fiasco last month, I'll affix that plate to my front bumper while sporting the Albertan license plate on the back. That should confuse a few cops at least. Hee hee. But yeah... an Albertan. Thank goodness this is only temporary (sure, since I said that, now I'll be stuck here for the next 40 years!).

A Mad Beaker award to Dawn and Mike for taking care of my cat. I always dislike loading my cat onto someone while I go away more than 3 days. Just giving others the burden of cat-sitting makes me feel guilty. But apparently my cat behaved and they enjoyed the time in my flat. I hearby give thee full future rights to cat sit!

Since I'm now an Albertan, might as well throw in the traditional moosic (ew, bad pun bad pun). Cows with guns is an oldie, but I figured it's probably the most appropriate thing... being a resident in a beef province n' all. Y'all come back now ya here.

Money for something...

Last blog I was weighing the choices between two job offers: good project/unsure work environment vs. ok project/good work environment. The interview of option A left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. Just soooo many red flags with the project and people. This made option B much more likable before the interview, but I was hesitant still as to what project was available. After two hours of chatting with the head advisor about option B, the projects (yes, plural) were upgraded from "ok" to "wow, this is really cool". Also, it was probably the most honest interview I've ever done. We were frank, we were direct, and we joked. I know that some folks like to keep things professional with their boss, but honestly, I'd rather have a good professional AND personal rapport with my advisor. The former is essential as their reference letter follows you for the rest of your life. The latter helps those long long hours in the lab. Really, would you want to work in any environment that the head boss doesn't even respect your input/dedication? I'm not interested in my boss being a close friend (that is kinda creepy), but I do want mutual respect and overall someone that I don't feel I need to avoid because of the odd-chance that he/she might bite my head off for no apparent reason.

So bottom line: I'm employed! With options even! I start in July in the new lab (which is just a few doors down the hall) as a casual employee until the end of August. This period is a trial time to learn the lab, the projects, and ultimately decide whether I'll be a lab tech for a year or sign-on as a post-doc for 2 years. It's nice having options within a job itself.

Other ramblings, I'm hearing groans from the majority of my Californian friends. So surprisingly (cough, cough - sarcasm, sarcasm) the top court upheld the vote decision on proposition 8. I know that it's against the Christian teaching, but honestly, I believe equal rights for all. The world isn't going to end just because lil' Timmy or Sally has two moms or two dads. But I guess the residents of California were only ready to take the step forward with electing a black president. Apparently electing a black president AND letting gays marry - well someone has to draw the line SOMEWHERE! (the link is a nod to Char and our inside jokes) The good news, I guess, is that all who were married before this final outcome are able remain in wed-lock. Just new same-sex couples aren't allowed to marry in California. Yeah, right, sure, make perfect sense. Only in America...

Other things, personal note, I'm heading back to my stomping grounds this weekend. The trip is on a somewhat somber note as the real reason for the trip is to attend a memorial service for a close family friend. But overall, I'm glad to have the time spend it with family.

Since I have a job a lil' retro and Dire Straits for all.

The road less traveled?

So some interesting developments in the past 72 hours: two interviews this week, both in science, both in microbiology, both in my current city. Sounds perfect right? Well, let's not put the cart before the donkey. They are interviews, not offers, so there's still that hurdle. But it's given me much food for thought (oooh I'm cliche galore today). One is with a lab familiar to me, I like the advisor, I like the lab, and the research is totally what I'm trained for, but it's not *exactly* what I want to do. The other, I'm not so sure of the advisor, I'm not so sure of the lab, the area is totally brand new to me (which can be both good and bad things: good being that I learn new techniques, bad being I'm totally clueless of what I'm doing in the first 6 months), but it's a post-doc position and I'm kinda keen on learning the ropes in this field.

I've worked in 4 labs so far in my lifetime and experienced the good, the bad, and the very ugly aspects. No lab is a nirvana, though I swear in some labs I see sunshine, rainbows, pastoral fields, and lil' bunny rabbits hopping happily about, it's like nothing goes wrong! Then again, I might just shoot myself more readily in a happy-go lucky lab - too much sweetness can be just as deadly. But on the flip side, some labs can be pure hell.

As a scientist, you're supposed to go for the project, as that is the number one driving force of your work. I don't begrudge any of my projects, each in its own I have found rewarding. But I've found that projects alone doesn't make your job blissful. The work environment (the people, the place, the funding) are essential ingredients as well.

So my choices are: good project/unsure work environment vs. ok project/good work environment. That's my first assessment going into these interviews. That outlook might change by Wednesday when everything's said n' done. Plus again the little issue whether the offers are there. So stay tuned... more to come on this soon.

Other things, I had a great weekend. Supper with a good friend on Friday. A brilliant bellydance recital on Saturday (followed by drunken singing in an Irish pub), and ball hockey on Sunday with aftermath drinks with the team. Busy-bee I was! Bigger woot as I did no work. I'm kinda getting used to this idea of weekends! Later this week I'm off to my stomping grounds for a few days. It'll be nice to spend time with the family and see some old friends. To start the week, some Tracy Chapman for everyone. She's on my short list of people who I want to see perform in person. "Mountain O' Things" has always been one of my top favourites of hers. Laterz folks.

If I only were a Goth...

I think I've developed an addiction: coffee shops. Of the past 4 months I've frequented a total of 5 different coffee shops to write the thesis. But with the tome finally handed in, I've been missing my cozy cafe corners. Literally. Most seats I've taken were next to a wall to plug the laptop for 8 hours of pure powah. So here I am. Back in a coffee shop. This time instead of making tables or writing why I believe this data means that, I'm writing up cover letters for more job applications.

It's been stressful of late. Oh wait, clarify: it's been stressful personally not JUST academically! It's been nagging my mind constantly, but I figured deal with the thesis first, then focus on job hunting full time. The irony is that with the current recession everyone is recommending that you go to grad school. Of course I've never been one to follow the trends. As you already know I have been applying for jobs for the past 8 months now. Only two nibbles of interviews, but both I was passed over. I've been trying to keep things positive, but with the looming unemployment status and the need keep a roof over my head, my nerves are getting frayed. Something will come. I know that. Just I'd rather have it much sooner than later. Anyways, I keep casting a wide net. If things get too bleak I might be doing MORE in a coffee shop other than typing.

Other things... I'll give a few Mad Beaker awards to some websites that deserve some kudos. First, I'm a long time fan of Katy Towell and Childrin R Skary. Her art and mentality are just brill. My fave movie is "When Genevieve Ruled the World" Char knows one reason why I chuckle to this one so. You may wonder, with a lot of other folks, if I am a closeted goth. I'm sure my fellow gothic friends would shout, "Hell no!" with much affection. This is also obvious during the moments when I'm standing in a goth store (yes, they do exist) in which I stick out like a sore vanilla thumb. I think the main reason would be that I go easy on the eyeshadow. But truth be told, I enjoy the dark humour, very dark. Katy's childrin are portrayals of my mind state often, just misunderstood souls with a dash of arsenic. Yes, do try my cookiez...

Another Mad Beaker to my good friends Matt and Roz with their geek blog/forum/franchise: Squirrels of Doom. This is a good dose of the geekiness to my personality. WoW, Joss Whedon, Star Trek, comics, zombie/horror/B-side flicks (though Matt, Roz... why no mention of MST3K?). The "Squirrels of Doom" title isn't some catch phrase coined during some offbeat convo (on second thought... yeah, I can see this the true story of SoD), it's actually part of the title of their movie script. I have a personal revelation with this script. One evening in the "luuuub", I went to print something off the communal lab printer. I plugged the printer cord into my trusty laptop, hit the print button, and suddenly pages upon pages start printing off of some script called "Squirrels of Doom". I'm alone in the lab, it's night, and wondering how did my three graphs turn into this now prophecy of killer mutant squirrels (cue twilight zone theme). Of course there's always a "scientific" explanation to these events, turns out that the script was just in the spool as my co-labrat Dawn was previously trying to print (she's in the cast as a sexy scientist who meets an undesirable end). Anyways, I'm anxiously awaiting the first episode or even maybe a trailer... yes Matt n Roz: TRAILER! Tease the geeks!

Alrighty, enough ramblings for today, moar cover letters to write on why they should hire me without sounding desperate. Musicwise... since I've been talking about my demented gothic humour, it made me think of Voltaire (no, not THAT Voltaire... this Voltaire!) and "If I only were a Goth". Enjoy folks!

All I ask is for a tall ship and stars to steer her by...

So after that rollercoaster week (thesis in YAY!! car vandalized GAK!!), I decided to end things on a more upbeat note and take in Star Trek on Friday afternoon. The bonus point was that the theater was FINALLY showing it with Rear Window Captioning so I could get ALL the dialogue and not just parts of it. It's true that all movies at ALL times should have this feature. But like everything else I learn with having a disability, change takes time.

Anyways, Star Trek. I confess that I'm a closeted Trekker. I've attended conventions AND thoroughly enjoyed myself (no, I didn't dress up, I'm not THAT a fanatic). I own 3 complete series and all the movies (whether I like them or not, seriously... ST5? It's just there to fill the gap between Voyage Home and Undiscovered Country). My closet houses a toy tricorder and phaser. And give me a quote and I'll give you the series, episode, who said it, to whom, and the importance of it (if any).

So I'm well vested in the Star Trek universe and was happy to hear that JJ Abrams was heading up the latest installment. I like JJ, he has a good vision as a writer and a director. Although I never was able to get into the series LOST, I was an avid fan of Alias. But I did hear that the 11th movie steers away from the Star Trek Universe canon, which I was weary of. Indeed while watching the film today, it profoundly changed the history of Star Trek. But the writers did make a loop hole that can explain things to satisfy the die-hard Trekker like me. However I WAS left wondering, is this movie a TRUE prequel? Hmmm huh? Oooh I can just FEEL this topic being debated upon in a few fan forums.


Aside from that quip of continuity, my gawd did I have fun with this show. The actors got the characters down to a science (pardon the pun). DeForrest would've been proud of Karl Urban. And I was LMFAO with Chekov and Scotty. I'm happy with this one, it breathes new life into the Star Trek franchise and that always means that more is to come. I give this flick 5 mad beakers out of 5 for entertaining me so. But truth be told, I'm still waiting for a DS9 story. They left too many questions unanswered from that series. Yeah, I know it wasn't a fave series of them all, so the probability of seeing a DS9 flick will be nil (man, I'm sounding like Spock).

Other news: on the license front, my car now sport a shiny new plate. Snaps to my mom for being a dear and promptly sending me out a replacement plate. This weekend is the May long weekend in Canada. And oddly enough, I'm going to take the full three days off. Strange but true. I think the past 6 years of hell and even the past 6 months of writing hell warrants a three day week-end... don't you?

Dealing with deadlines... kinda

It's funny how some sentences just stick in your head. Technically this thesis is due this Friday, but I'm thinking that no one will see the final version until Monday. Two more days can mean all the difference in the world!

While I'm in the midst of this madness, I am remembering a line told from a fellow high school student at my International Baccalaureate graduation. She was giving one of her valedictorian speech (she gave various, this girl had like a 99.89% average) and what stuck me was that from this seemingly perfect academic, she showed that she was still human afterall. She was talking about the course load, the long nights, the gut wrenching exams, and then, "we learned about meeting deadlines... kinda." Of course it was meant as a joke, but that line has always stayed with me. When you're working on a deadline, you feel utterly alone and that the entire weight of the world is on your shoulders. Not meeting a deadline is a horrid feeling. But since that speech, that one line, I realized that even 99.89% avg students also can't meet all deadlines (though it's probably only 0.11% of the time with this girl).

In my ear, an old one (and often looked over) from Savage Garden, "Violet". Why I like it? The catchy beat for starters. And like the voices inside my head, there's "the disco inside your head". It may not be always "disco", but there's definitely a beat in my brain.

Tick... tick... tick...

Alright, off to write something brill this hour... kinda.

Finish line in sight!

Alrighty folks, this is the week! Thesis revisions aren't going smoothly as I'd like and there's a lil minor detail that I'm going to need to fetch a signature out of province to get this thing off the ground. You know when it's truly time to finish your degree when your committee members start to retire or run away. Which is this case for me. One is on sabbatical and won't be back for the defense (no hard feelings, she definitely deserves this break!). The other one has migrated to greener pastures and moved to his retirement home. But because he's a great guy (really, he's been a wonderful committee advisor), he's coming back in June JUST for my defense. Awwww... how sweet. But that still doesn't solve the small dilemma on how I'm supposed to reach a secluded town in rural BC. Oh well, I've been able to pull off other miracles in the past...

Hockey still sucks for me. I can't get a break and my team is 0-3 so far in the season. Today, the team we faced were literally bitches. It's not often that I get angry. In fact as a goalie you have to maintain your cool the most. But today I almost hauled off and hit someone - like, manslaughter slash. Sure there's a crowd in my crease, I deal with it. But if I've trapped the ball and the whistle is blown, there's no legitimate excuse to either A) slash my legs, B) slash my head, C) charge and run into me well after the tweet, or D) push me further down in hopes that the ball will come loose. Today I had all four things happen with 10 minutes of play. My D-wings commented that smoke was coming from my nostrils. After a nice "chat" with the ref and a major penalty against them, the other team didn't touch me. Tsk tsk, don't they know the goalie shouldn't be touched... ESPECIALLY a goalie who is writing a thesis? That's like whacking a hornet's nest in an isolation room with a hungry tiger pacing about.

In my ear, (don't worry Char, no moar Ting Tings!) the incredible Brit artist, Joan Armatrading. I love her guitar chords, bittersweet voice, and slow love lyrics. Countless other female singers over the years have done renditions of most of her songs. Here's my ultimate fave, "Weakness in Me".

Back to sorting through data lists for me...

Tick tick tick tick...

So another chapter belted out, still I have two left to write in 7 days. I'm staring at the Hitchhiker's logo and motto in the previous post and trying to obey. Ugh, I know it's my own fault for procrastinating writing. But truth be told, I've never finished any paper/essay/thesis with ample time due. I work better under pressure (morely because I have no choice).

Swine flu this, swine flu that. I've already talked to you about why a pandemic makes sense. But now I'll talk to you about the ridiculous over-the-top coverage of the media. As always the media is making things much worse than it really is. It enjoys to cling onto something negative and beat the hell out of it. Times that I remember where all you saw on the TV was: the Challenger explosion, OJ trial, Iraq invasion (part one), Princess Di's death, 9/11 events, and now the swine flu. Noticed that almost all of these have a major American component? Coincidence right?

Anyways my trusty editorial comics proves the point. Click on comic 15 and 16 (I can't post these pics since they ARE copyrighted). So yeah, common influenza kills almost 1/2 a million annually. Do you hear THAT on the news? Of course not. Because it's "boooooring". The flip side of this outbreak, it gives the media people something to do rather than report on Britney Spears recent weight gain...

Okay, the thesis doomsday clock continues to tick, so I'm going to head back to another coffee shop and type away. In my ear... I'm a fan of Blue October, especially their "X Amount of Words". This is a good song to cruise to or mosh pit dance (ahhh, those were the days), good beat with a slow hypnotic rap.

Don't Panic! Relax!

So in the news, you've no doubt heard about the swine flu. Yes, here we go again. I'm always amazed that people are shocked when this hits. In fact I'm even MORE amazed that these outbreaks don't hit more often. You see, as a microbiologist, I've been expecting a pandemic for years. This isn't to scare people, but just the knowledge that we're due for something big. It's in the history books, but often overlooked, every 80 years or so the influenza takes a joyride into the general population. Here's an actual graph from a science journal article showing the "blips" when pandemic influenza pops up.

So the fact that we have these types of outbreaks isn't news really, it's been happening all the time. Plus our overpopulated Earth is just primed for something to wipe a good chunk out. Yeah, I'm talking about people here and being utterly morbid about it, but honestly my opinion is like to those who build their house on the San Andreas Fault and OMG! Earthquake! SAVE US!!! I like San Francisco and would enjoy living there. But to be surprised when a major earthquake hits... that's just plain ignorance.

So like the inevitable earthquake due, there's an inevitable pandemic due folks. Don't Panic! Relax! And wash your hands...

Three chapters down...

Okay, if you have to ask "what's new?" I'll have to answer with a facepalm. Three chapters officially done. So that leaves JUST three more plus the appendices. Did I mentioned there's less than 3 weeks to go? Hmmm, the threes are definitely happening today. The good news, is that seriously the first three (there it is again) chapters are going to be the longest. How long do you say? Well without the references combined, we're talking over 200 pages.

I could've went for 333 pages, but then that would be just scary and besides 333 x 2 = 666 and that would be just mental (yeah, I'm all conspiracy theory today).

A few things outside the thesis I've been following. First, it's gone viral over the net but it's really moving. I'm not a fan of reality talent shows. I was bored of the first American Idol. But leave it to the media to take something and beat it over our heads. Now we've got "So you think can dance/sing/chew-gum-at-the-same-time!" all over. Talent shows are nothing new, but really, now it's like every country "Got Talent". So yawn... whatever. However earlier this week while reading my trusty Cdn news wesbite, I was directed to Ms. Susan Boyle. If you haven't heard of this story yet, go watch the video then come back.

Wow, hmmm? That's something rare: a honest moment of truth in this harsh judging materialistic labelling world. So many people can identify with Ms. Boyle. It'll be interesting how far she'll go now. I wonder if the makeover shows are now fighting over the rights to re-invent her. Regardless of what may come for Ms. Boyle, a golden Mad beaker award to thee.

Other things on the net chatter. Twitter! Yes, I've recently became another follower of this micromessenging fad. But of late it's becoming "who's more popular" war. Like the number of "friends" in your facebook profile. More recently, it was Ashton Kutcher vs. CNN for a million followers. I hear now Oprah is wanting in on this too (oooh I hear the Rocky Anthem). I do agree with Ashton saying that Twitter is democratizing media and removing filters between celebrities and fans, big media companies and their customers. There's always this wall between celebrities and fans. It's honestly in place for a good reason. But the strange thing is that it's the media that governs this wall. Now Twitter punches a hole in it, allowing some singer/writer/actor/activist/your mom to communicate freely with their group base. Of course you've got to be careful with what you believe. Hell I could start a twitter site as Heath Ledger or Albert Einstein. So if I follow anyone "famous", I'm a lil hesitant to believe it's actually them. It's just some harmless fun. There's the flip freak side of twittering: suddenly unknown people are following you. Most were companies trying to get me on board with their product. See that's a scary thing, next thing I know that ShamWoW dude will be following me. Or maybe Billy Mayes. Yeah... scary indeed. With all this following, I suspect Twitter will give birth the next schizo generation.

Okay, in my ear... a cult classic by Warren Zevon Aaaaahhhhhwoooooooooooooo!