i had a bit off a rough commute home today. it was gorgeous outside and a lovely day to be on bike. and then i almost got taken out by a women in a white suv (and she realized it too when she finally bothered to look). i was experimenting with a new idea of taking the sidewalk the last ~0.3 miles to my apartment (you have to cross a highway and then make a left into my apartment complex which is trickier than it sounds given the hill also there). two cars (one right after the other) both with drivers on cell phones blocked my way as i was trying to cross the side (usually not busy) entrance to a plaza...then the guy immediately behind then, not on a cell phone but who did appear to see me, also pulls up and blocks my path. i decided after all of this that i would stick to riding in the bike lane and making all the traffic slow down so i can turn left into my complex.
the point of this is that i got home and was rather annoyed. so i decided to look up articles about commuting and how to practice being zen when commuting and the drivers around you are impatient (and clearly not paying attention). well, i happened upon some very fun links (see for example: riding pretty or chic cyclists). that made me happy about bicycle commuting again and provide the additional challenge of doing it in style...maybe even in heels!
i'm excited to get to explore a new city on a bike soon. i was reading this article, which highlights some of the differences between cycling here versus in europe, including the difference in driver-cyclist relationship. i am wondering if i could maybe explore brussels by bicycle in july (even if for only a day) when i'm there for my conference.
happy cycling!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
passed!
its been a busy last month! the most recent news is that i passed my dissertation defense last friday...and it wasn't because my committee members were playing an april fools joke on me! the defense went well. after getting over a fear that began the morning of that i would have a brain dump of everything i had learned in the last 4 years 5 seconds into my talk, every thing went smoothly. there was some good discussion with my committee members and then the asked me to leave the room so they could discuss amongst themselves whether i should pass or not. about 5 minutes later they invited me back in to tell me that i passed!
now i have to wrap up odds and ends--get a few forms signed and make a some corrections to the text of my dissertation...and then there's that whole bit about getting all the knowledge in my head about lab equipment bequeathed to other people. i'm the only one who knows how to use some things!
eric and i decided to move to the washington dc area. i'll be starting a postdoc in june at the university of maryland and am very excited about it. i'm extremely excited to be closer to family too. since college, i've never lived within a few hour drive of so many aunts, uncles, cousins and even a sibling! i'm looking forward to seeing people more often and getting to know everyone better. i'm also looking forward to exploring the dc area more. i only visited museums and such as a kid and eric has only passed through for a brief period as well...there's a bike trail that goes 187 miles from dc to cumberland (?)...i could do a point to point 50 mile training run on a (paved--maybe there's dirt on the side?) trail--multiple times!
this past week, the weather in texas finally hit the mid- to upper-90s in temperatures. its summer folks. i am writing this morning as my run has been temporarily canceled due to a rather large thunder and lightning storm. its weird though because i can still hear birds chirping just outside the window.
now i have to wrap up odds and ends--get a few forms signed and make a some corrections to the text of my dissertation...and then there's that whole bit about getting all the knowledge in my head about lab equipment bequeathed to other people. i'm the only one who knows how to use some things!
eric and i decided to move to the washington dc area. i'll be starting a postdoc in june at the university of maryland and am very excited about it. i'm extremely excited to be closer to family too. since college, i've never lived within a few hour drive of so many aunts, uncles, cousins and even a sibling! i'm looking forward to seeing people more often and getting to know everyone better. i'm also looking forward to exploring the dc area more. i only visited museums and such as a kid and eric has only passed through for a brief period as well...there's a bike trail that goes 187 miles from dc to cumberland (?)...i could do a point to point 50 mile training run on a (paved--maybe there's dirt on the side?) trail--multiple times!
this past week, the weather in texas finally hit the mid- to upper-90s in temperatures. its summer folks. i am writing this morning as my run has been temporarily canceled due to a rather large thunder and lightning storm. its weird though because i can still hear birds chirping just outside the window.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
focus
the last sections of my dissertation were due to my advisor on monday. this week i've been working on edits to the next to last section and beginning to prepare slides for the seminar i'm giving next friday at the university of maryland.
life has definitely slipped quietly into workaholic mode. i expected this. my defense is 4 weeks from tomorrow and the dissertation itself is due to my committee one week from monday. i'm actually really looking forward to spring break because i will have just submitted everything to said committee. writing has actually been enjoyable. it has stopped me from doing more and more and caused me to pause and reflect on the data i have, what it means and where its moving my field. its also caused me to realize how much i've matured (and how far i still have to go!) as a scientist.
we still have no idea where we'll end up later this year or even this summer. the only thing on the schedule is august 20-21, when i will be running 100 miles in the rocky mountains during my second attempt at leadville.
life has definitely slipped quietly into workaholic mode. i expected this. my defense is 4 weeks from tomorrow and the dissertation itself is due to my committee one week from monday. i'm actually really looking forward to spring break because i will have just submitted everything to said committee. writing has actually been enjoyable. it has stopped me from doing more and more and caused me to pause and reflect on the data i have, what it means and where its moving my field. its also caused me to realize how much i've matured (and how far i still have to go!) as a scientist.
we still have no idea where we'll end up later this year or even this summer. the only thing on the schedule is august 20-21, when i will be running 100 miles in the rocky mountains during my second attempt at leadville.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
calla lilies
Friday, February 11, 2011
april 1
will be a day to remember. my dissertation defense is now officially scheduled for 1p on april fools day. i hope my committee will keep the jokes about not passing to a minimum!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
exciting week!
my advisor gave me the go-ahead at the end of last week to email my committee this week to set up my dissertation defense. i sent out the email earlier today and am waiting on one more committee member to email me his schedule. its looking like my defense might fall on april fools day. mentally i will have to begin preparing myself for april fools jokes involving failing my defense.
the job search is going well otherwise. i've had a phone interview with one university about a postdoc and am heading out there to give the department seminar talk on march 11. i was contacted last week by another university and asked for permission to call my references. they said they would be in touch about a phone interview soon. that is for a tenure-track faculty position in a department of health and human performance. i'm leaving out details (such as university names) for now until i'm a bit farther along in the process. it is amazing how quickly being faced with real jobs will change your perspective or awareness of what you do. all of a sudden i need to be prepared to answer questions about how much money and space i would need too set up a lab. that's not really something you learn in graduate school, but are kind of expected to know to start your own lab.
i feel like i'm going to be giving lots of 45 min to 1 hour long talks about my research in march though between interviewing and being "voluntold" to give a talk in the kinesiology department movement science seminar here. practice for my actual defense is good! an abstract i submitted for a conference in late april also recently got expected for a talk as well. i was pretty happy about that as they had something like a 32% acceptance rate for talks (that's not very high) because they had so many submissions for the conference.
in running news, i finally went and got checked out by a pt. she's actually another phd student in the kines department here but her "real job" is being the director of physical therapy at the austin branch of a sports performance center. she thought it was cool that i did 50 mile races, which is a much appreciated clinician characteristic that i find rather infrequently. on a completely unrelated note, it was rather amusing when two of the other pts who worked there took one look at my legs and commented about how i must be a triathlete. after a week of not doing anything (and i mean anything) because of my knee (oddly, not doing anything made it feel worse) and feeling rather out of shape, their comments were appreciated. back to the injury assessment though, cp, the pt, started by asking what was wrong. i told her and then added that i had been reading a book about back pain and realized that a lot of what i might be experiencing in my leg might be psychosomatic (i.e. anxiety manifesting itself physically). after checking me for everything from arthritis to meniscal and labral tears to lack of muscle flexibility and i tested negative for everything. she then looked at me and said, i think you're right. she recommended someone to do a couple sessions of deep tissue massage to make some of my muscles stop tensing up and then warned me that it would probably make me cry. i'm waiting to hear back from the massage therapist about setting up a time. i ran last night and this morning though for a bit and felt great. so the bottom line is that i'm fine, just a little tense...possibly with the few other things that are going on in my life right now. go figure.
i think it is (more than) worth mentioning the book i talked about above. its called 'healing back pain' by dr. john sarno. i picked the book up because it was referenced in another book i was recently reading, and remembering the back pain i had in college, thought the book might be worth a read if only to tuck the knowledge away in my head for a rainy day. the book does talk about back pain, but more importantly it talks about the variety of ways anxiety and anger can "appear" in us physically when we choose to ignore them--back pain, headaches, stomach issues and various other muscle and tendon related afflictions--and how these manifestations tend to not respond long-term to treatment very well, namely because the treatment is for symptoms not cause. the book is about 185 pages and a very quick read. i would definitely recommend it in general and specifically to anyone who has weird muscle pain and can't figure out what's causing it. the ideas in the book will, at the very least, give you another aspect of wellness to consider when treating injuries.
i'm hoping for another snow day tomorrow, but i'm not sure that it will happen this time. either way, i hope everyone has a great friday!
the job search is going well otherwise. i've had a phone interview with one university about a postdoc and am heading out there to give the department seminar talk on march 11. i was contacted last week by another university and asked for permission to call my references. they said they would be in touch about a phone interview soon. that is for a tenure-track faculty position in a department of health and human performance. i'm leaving out details (such as university names) for now until i'm a bit farther along in the process. it is amazing how quickly being faced with real jobs will change your perspective or awareness of what you do. all of a sudden i need to be prepared to answer questions about how much money and space i would need too set up a lab. that's not really something you learn in graduate school, but are kind of expected to know to start your own lab.
i feel like i'm going to be giving lots of 45 min to 1 hour long talks about my research in march though between interviewing and being "voluntold" to give a talk in the kinesiology department movement science seminar here. practice for my actual defense is good! an abstract i submitted for a conference in late april also recently got expected for a talk as well. i was pretty happy about that as they had something like a 32% acceptance rate for talks (that's not very high) because they had so many submissions for the conference.
in running news, i finally went and got checked out by a pt. she's actually another phd student in the kines department here but her "real job" is being the director of physical therapy at the austin branch of a sports performance center. she thought it was cool that i did 50 mile races, which is a much appreciated clinician characteristic that i find rather infrequently. on a completely unrelated note, it was rather amusing when two of the other pts who worked there took one look at my legs and commented about how i must be a triathlete. after a week of not doing anything (and i mean anything) because of my knee (oddly, not doing anything made it feel worse) and feeling rather out of shape, their comments were appreciated. back to the injury assessment though, cp, the pt, started by asking what was wrong. i told her and then added that i had been reading a book about back pain and realized that a lot of what i might be experiencing in my leg might be psychosomatic (i.e. anxiety manifesting itself physically). after checking me for everything from arthritis to meniscal and labral tears to lack of muscle flexibility and i tested negative for everything. she then looked at me and said, i think you're right. she recommended someone to do a couple sessions of deep tissue massage to make some of my muscles stop tensing up and then warned me that it would probably make me cry. i'm waiting to hear back from the massage therapist about setting up a time. i ran last night and this morning though for a bit and felt great. so the bottom line is that i'm fine, just a little tense...possibly with the few other things that are going on in my life right now. go figure.
i think it is (more than) worth mentioning the book i talked about above. its called 'healing back pain' by dr. john sarno. i picked the book up because it was referenced in another book i was recently reading, and remembering the back pain i had in college, thought the book might be worth a read if only to tuck the knowledge away in my head for a rainy day. the book does talk about back pain, but more importantly it talks about the variety of ways anxiety and anger can "appear" in us physically when we choose to ignore them--back pain, headaches, stomach issues and various other muscle and tendon related afflictions--and how these manifestations tend to not respond long-term to treatment very well, namely because the treatment is for symptoms not cause. the book is about 185 pages and a very quick read. i would definitely recommend it in general and specifically to anyone who has weird muscle pain and can't figure out what's causing it. the ideas in the book will, at the very least, give you another aspect of wellness to consider when treating injuries.
i'm hoping for another snow day tomorrow, but i'm not sure that it will happen this time. either way, i hope everyone has a great friday!
Thursday, February 3, 2011
why, hello winter!
i had forgotten what you were like. my husband was teasing me the other day, reminding me that i grew up in ohio and then lived in boston and that because of this the current 20 degree temperatures in austin should not bother me too much. well, regardless of wear you live, 20 degrees is cold. i haven't ridden my bike to work all week because its been in the upper teens and low 20s at the time i leave for work. i haven't yet figured out how to keep my hands warm with these temperatures, though apparently i haven't forgotten too much about layering otherwise though.
one of the faculty positions i applied for is in montana, and out of curiosity, i have been watching the weather forecast there lately too, just to see what winter temperatures are like. today, the windchill map of the country on weather.com indicated that it was warmer in montana than in most of texas, and the forecast for parts of montana today are actually warmer than the forecast for austin. we were on rolling blackouts yesterday for electricity and today the university is sending out emails informing us that they're watching the weather but to keep checking the webpage for updates on whether or not the university will close. kind of crazy.
one of the faculty positions i applied for is in montana, and out of curiosity, i have been watching the weather forecast there lately too, just to see what winter temperatures are like. today, the windchill map of the country on weather.com indicated that it was warmer in montana than in most of texas, and the forecast for parts of montana today are actually warmer than the forecast for austin. we were on rolling blackouts yesterday for electricity and today the university is sending out emails informing us that they're watching the weather but to keep checking the webpage for updates on whether or not the university will close. kind of crazy.
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