Libido-licious

This is a pretty entertaining read on women's libido (or lack thereof). I especially like the part about Doritos and pizza. 2640, you know what I'm talkin' about!! :)

Um, also, with regards to chocolate, didn't I propose a similar solution once to effect world peace??

I'm in awe.

This morning, Erin and I went to watch the ING Georgia Marathon and support Cami and Charles in their first-ever marathon run! We set up shop at the end of my street and felt incredibly lazy sitting around, drinking coffee while cheering on the hundreds of bad-ass people who were running their hearts out on a HOT Georgia morning. Ah, it was a tough job. :)


When Cami and Charles ran through, they stopped for a second for a quick drink, and then were off again... I could tell they were feeling it (mile 18!), but they were looking great! (Nice tat, Cami -- I didn't even notice while you were there!)


Erin and I then headed over to mile 20 and were able to give them some more support as they ran through -- you guys ROCK!!


I am SO impressed with you both for your devotion over the last four months and for kicking some serious ass today!! You are amazing. Congrats! :)

Update: Fun

I've been doing more than just work lately... A couple weekends ago, I went to Wilmington, NC to visit with my college girls. It was the first time all six of us were together in 5 years! :) It was great to have the whole group together again, and we had a fantastic weekend of eating, going to the spa, eating, talking, some more eating, lazing around, out to dinner and drinks, and riding a mechanical bull. And eating. :) And I even got to throw in a biochemistry lesson on the evils of trans-fats (shown here, surrounded my mountains of food that contain trans-fats).


I can't believe we've known each other for 14 years. Its so cool to "grow up" with a group of great women, through all of life's ups and downs. Long live 2640 -- I love you guys!

Then last weekend, Michael and Bill came to the ATL for a weekend visit. Much fun was had again, late nights and too much alcohol (of course), but also discourses on the philosophy of yoga and brain imaging, the trouble with women, the personalities your genitalia would have if they were a different ethnicity or religion than you, and the finer points of the difference between jihad and fatwah and how exactly one declares fatwah (which we did, in the club later that night). :) Always a great time with you guys! There was one pic, but its on someone else's camera, which is just as well cause I think I looked ghoulish.

There was also the Explosions in the Sky show last week, which was incredible. Its already been well reviewed here and here, so I'll spare you the repetition, but suffice to say if they ever come through your town, its definitely worth checking out. Ethereal and transcendent.

Along musical lines, there was another attempted show last night, but it was pretty much a bust. Let's just say, if Mutemath ever comes your way, save your money. But do check out The Cinematics, who opened, and were fantastic! I only got to see three songs by them, but I would see them again on that only. I'm no good at describing genres or musical styles, but they were kind of lovedrug-esque.

Hmm, what else? After Colorado, I'm off to Tybee Island and Savannah, where I'll meet up with my dad and his wife for a long weekend over Easter. Hopefully, the weather will be warm and there will be much beach-sitting! Oh, and speaking of my family, my nephew is still adorable. :) So far, a red-head!

Update: Work

First off, work. Things have gotten much better for me in the "attitude-toward-science" department lately. I don't think I ever really posted about my worst feelings back in the fall, but somewhere there's a half-written post entitled "10 things I hate about science." It was pretty damn negative... seething? Scathing? Vitriolic is the word I'm looking for, I think. Just bitter, and perhaps a bit over-indulgent, which is why I never posted it. Anyway, lately I've been branching out and am starting to find areas that excite me again (for example, brain plasticity after therapy, meditation, etc -- see my previous post), and it feels great to be truly excited about anything science-y, even if its only in theory for now. But it gives me some potential future direction and has inspired me to tackle the daunting task of beginning to learn neuroimaging.

We have an imaging study going on in our lab, but we're collaborating, so there's no real in-house expert I can sit down with... but I'm working with a few colleagues and getting plugged into the Emory imaging community, so it looks promising. I've only been at it for a week or two, and I've come a long way, but imaging is SUCH a huge field, I'm not foolish enough to think I'll do anything more than scratch the surface before I leave this job. But so far, I like it a lot. Its almost like being back in school -- learning something totally new. I've missed that. And an added bonus is that the new positive energy towards science has somehow lit a fire under my ass and I've been cranking out papers at a pretty good clip -- submitted 3 in the last 5 weeks! Whooo-aahhh! Only one is really my own work; the others I just helped put together and they've been tabled for a while, needing to be written up, etc. But I really enjoy writing, so that's been fun and I feel productive. Its so nice to feel like I'm finally DOING something! :)

Another random thing about work is that more days than not, when I leave the building, there's this guy out in the back parking deck playing the trumpet. I guess he's practicing in there (great acoustics!)... its such an odd and other-worldly feeling to emerge from the building and hear these notes and melodies floating out of the massive concrete structure. I can't explain it. But it makes me thankful, somehow. And with the weather so beautiful these days, the whole experience is a spirit-lifter, just the simple act of walking out the door.

I'm off to Colorado Springs next week for the International Congress on Schizophrenia Research. This will be my first smaller, focused conference. I'm going by myself, and won't know anyone there, but I'm looking forward to it a lot. Hopefully I'll have time to explore the area a bit while I'm there -- I've never spent time in Colorado and hear such good things. Plus, I'm staying at this pimp-ity Resort where the conference is held: The Broadmoor. From the online info, it looks AWESOME. And maybe I will meet some cool peeps to hang out with for the week. But even if not, I think I'll be happy living in the lap of luxury. Check out the pool that kind of seamlessly merges with the lake, or something! (Yes, of course I checked out the pool situation.)



Oh yeah, and the science, too. That should be good too. :)

Ketchup

I find again and again that there's some resistance to blogging if you fall out of it for a while... like there's so much to catch up on, it becomes a daunting task and you might as well leave it for another day when you have more time. It the same feeling as when you need to catch up with an old friend, but you want to make sure you leave enough time for a proper chat, and you never end up calling. Anyway, such is the case at the moment, but I'll do my best to chip away at the notables...

Life's been busy the past few weeks. I think separate posts might be in order.

Dr. Backes!

Congrats to E-rock, who successfully defended his dissertation this morning and is officially DONE DONE DONE with grad school! He did a great job performing, presenting and defending some complicated and elegant work, and now its time to celebrate. This particular defense truly marks the end of an era for those of us who shared in the... the... well, I don't really have a word here. Let's just say, the "experience" of our lab and all that came with it. We all thought many times that the day would never come for each of us, but now it's OVER. For all of us!

HALLELU! Bring on the red-headed sluts! (And yes, for clarity's sake, I do mean the drinks, although what Eric may choose to do to celebrate later is his prerogative.) :)