at the AAS meeting
welcome to Texas! the weather here is obnoxiously reminiscent of California, plus HUMIDITY, minus the stuff that makes California cool, like being environmentally friendly and hippie-esque.
and now for a proper update, not of the "here is a compilation of tidbits from 2007 that took WAY too long to compile" variety...
so, I'm sitting in the lobby of the Hilton Austin, in the small area in which free internet is available. they couldn't bring it upon themselves to provide free internet in our rooms, so there are some 20 astronomers all sitting here with laptops, clicking away. I heart astronomers. one of them joined me at this table, commenting that if there was free alcohol this would be a truly quintessential astronomer gathering. so true. :)
finally, I can relax about my thesis for...like a week. more like two. my poster session is done!! and like all things of a similar nature, it was most certainly more stressful to think about and anticipate than it was to actually experience.
let's back up a step. I'm in Austin, TX for a five day American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting. there are some 2,500 astronomers here, most staying at the Hilton like Laura and me, and all the events take place at the ginormous convention center that is literally across the street. there is a HUGE room of posters and various exhibits/displays, plus tons of large to smallish rooms upstairs used for various talks and oral presentations. if you're presenting a poster, you're assigned a space on one of the multitude of boards for one day, and today was my day. (Laura's was yesterday.) so I spent the better part of 5-6 hours standing in front of my poster and explaining it to various passers-by. on top of that, it was judged in a contest and I forget if there are prizes or just recognition, but the winners will be announced tomorrow night. (undergrads and grad students can choose to enter the poster competition in separate categories if they so choose.)
so anyway, the last few days have been spent here at this conference! astronomers are awesome, and oh-so-geeky at times, but in a very different way than, say, CS majors. Laura believes that astronomers are, on average, more attractive than the other scientist-types. I find this amusing, but do not disagree. it's just great how, for instance, you can go to a restaurant with some other undergrads from the meeting, and a group of people walk in and it's like *ding ding ding* group of astronomers!! (of course this is aided by the fact that some of them forget to take off their nametags, but still.) overall, I am able to follow an amazing amount of the proceedings, though certainly not everything. it's surprising how many people I know/recognize, whether from Carnegie or as other Mudders or other random people. and even those I haven't met I'm not too afraid of talking to. after all, everyone's just people, and that is the most obvious to me when dealing with other astronomers. I guess I believe that whatever group of people you feel most comfortable with, the most "we're all just people"-ish around, is the group you should associate with.
there are lots of little tidbits I could relate, but it is getting late. the days are long, but at least they are during the day. Texas is humid and strange, but I still think I would do well at U Texas Austin. every person that I talk to could potentially determine my future. but I'm trying to think less and less like that. we'll see how it goes. I want to spend next week with Mike in a mixture of Seattle and Ellensburg, but Dad wants me to come to Richland on Wednesday and help him clean out more of the old house. he also wants to discuss my future and backup plans for if I don't get into grad school...oi. not something I want to actively think about. because I suppose the answer is take a year off to do something and try again? but I'm not really sure. all these astronomers somehow made it, therefore I want to believe I can, too. then again, that's kind of like saying all the cancer patients at the hospital are still alive. guess what - the dead ones aren't at the hospital anymore. sigh.
so on that happy note...I'm off to call Mike and get some sleep. the beds here don't use fitted sheets, and it's really annoying because you can't tuck things in properly. that is one of my pet peeves, beds that are not made properly. right, so let's end with something happy. all the free random stuff I'm getting from the conference!!! such as this sweet plastic softball-sized ball that is all geometric looking and mechanically changes pieces around in order to change color when you throw it and spin it simultaneously! (ok so it's a lot easier to see than to explain in words.) :) that is all.
and now for a proper update, not of the "here is a compilation of tidbits from 2007 that took WAY too long to compile" variety...
so, I'm sitting in the lobby of the Hilton Austin, in the small area in which free internet is available. they couldn't bring it upon themselves to provide free internet in our rooms, so there are some 20 astronomers all sitting here with laptops, clicking away. I heart astronomers. one of them joined me at this table, commenting that if there was free alcohol this would be a truly quintessential astronomer gathering. so true. :)
finally, I can relax about my thesis for...like a week. more like two. my poster session is done!! and like all things of a similar nature, it was most certainly more stressful to think about and anticipate than it was to actually experience.
let's back up a step. I'm in Austin, TX for a five day American Astronomical Society (AAS) meeting. there are some 2,500 astronomers here, most staying at the Hilton like Laura and me, and all the events take place at the ginormous convention center that is literally across the street. there is a HUGE room of posters and various exhibits/displays, plus tons of large to smallish rooms upstairs used for various talks and oral presentations. if you're presenting a poster, you're assigned a space on one of the multitude of boards for one day, and today was my day. (Laura's was yesterday.) so I spent the better part of 5-6 hours standing in front of my poster and explaining it to various passers-by. on top of that, it was judged in a contest and I forget if there are prizes or just recognition, but the winners will be announced tomorrow night. (undergrads and grad students can choose to enter the poster competition in separate categories if they so choose.)
so anyway, the last few days have been spent here at this conference! astronomers are awesome, and oh-so-geeky at times, but in a very different way than, say, CS majors. Laura believes that astronomers are, on average, more attractive than the other scientist-types. I find this amusing, but do not disagree. it's just great how, for instance, you can go to a restaurant with some other undergrads from the meeting, and a group of people walk in and it's like *ding ding ding* group of astronomers!! (of course this is aided by the fact that some of them forget to take off their nametags, but still.) overall, I am able to follow an amazing amount of the proceedings, though certainly not everything. it's surprising how many people I know/recognize, whether from Carnegie or as other Mudders or other random people. and even those I haven't met I'm not too afraid of talking to. after all, everyone's just people, and that is the most obvious to me when dealing with other astronomers. I guess I believe that whatever group of people you feel most comfortable with, the most "we're all just people"-ish around, is the group you should associate with.
there are lots of little tidbits I could relate, but it is getting late. the days are long, but at least they are during the day. Texas is humid and strange, but I still think I would do well at U Texas Austin. every person that I talk to could potentially determine my future. but I'm trying to think less and less like that. we'll see how it goes. I want to spend next week with Mike in a mixture of Seattle and Ellensburg, but Dad wants me to come to Richland on Wednesday and help him clean out more of the old house. he also wants to discuss my future and backup plans for if I don't get into grad school...oi. not something I want to actively think about. because I suppose the answer is take a year off to do something and try again? but I'm not really sure. all these astronomers somehow made it, therefore I want to believe I can, too. then again, that's kind of like saying all the cancer patients at the hospital are still alive. guess what - the dead ones aren't at the hospital anymore. sigh.
so on that happy note...I'm off to call Mike and get some sleep. the beds here don't use fitted sheets, and it's really annoying because you can't tuck things in properly. that is one of my pet peeves, beds that are not made properly. right, so let's end with something happy. all the free random stuff I'm getting from the conference!!! such as this sweet plastic softball-sized ball that is all geometric looking and mechanically changes pieces around in order to change color when you throw it and spin it simultaneously! (ok so it's a lot easier to see than to explain in words.) :) that is all.