Cons, research, tv and I could be veep
Lots of details...
First of all, I'm debating whether or not to bail on P4 and go to Chevron 7 - JF and JM together at a smaller con. Of course I'd lose the cost of my Wolf ticket (and need to turn my room reservation over to someone else). Then there's the little matter of getting to Bedford since I don't know England that well (and I keep wanting to say Bedford Falls - the fictional town in 'It's a Wonderful Life' and actually modeled on a town near where my dad's family is from). Of course I could simply splurge and go to the con in Vancouver - it's a bit closer and I think I have enough miles to cover my plane ticket. I guess I need to decide soon.
I am excited about the Burbank con - RL, Jason, DH, and Kavan. Plus I'll (hopefully) be celebrating passing my comps (comprehensives - the midpoint in my doctoral studies where I defend my research proposal and initial research). I've actually scheduled the date (Nov. 18th) and am alternating between panic and calm. My proposal is also a grant application, so two birds with one stone. I had to find a substitute committee member (one of my committee members will be in Europe and has threatened to take my proposal along on the plane) and I need to finish the paperwork for the grad college. I also ordered the first cultures I'll be working with, with one small snag - the culture collection will willingly send the human pathogens, but I need a USDA permit for the potential plant pathogens (yes, they require a permit for the more innocuous strain). I may email someone at U of A in Tucson for the strain I need.
Teaching is going ok, although I nearly kicked a couple people out of my lab yesterday - one group wouldn't stop talking despite me pausing and glaring when I was trying to lecture.
Haven't watched much TV as of late. I've tried a few new shows ('Fringe' has such horrible science I gave up, not sure about 'The Mentalist'), 'NCIS' was better than expected, but I expected the initial storyline to be a bit longer. 'House' is up against 'NCIS' so I need to tape one or the other. I also need to tape 'Bones' since I'm usually at the graduate happy hour. I'm not sure about 'Supernatural' this season - it may remind me of all the religious studies classes I had to take in college. "Chuck' starts next week and I can't wait - I think I'm passing on 'Heroes'
As far as Palin's "I can see Russia from my house" comment - I've actually lived in three states bordering Mexico (CA, AZ, TX - and does TX count as a foreign country) and on an island in Lake Erie where the next island north of us was Canada. I think that qualifies me to be veep.
ETA: Well, I checked my calendar. Vancouver is out - I'll just be getting back from a conference and Sunday is Palm Sunday. Now it's a debate if I ditch P4 for Chevron 7....
First of all, I'm debating whether or not to bail on P4 and go to Chevron 7 - JF and JM together at a smaller con. Of course I'd lose the cost of my Wolf ticket (and need to turn my room reservation over to someone else). Then there's the little matter of getting to Bedford since I don't know England that well (and I keep wanting to say Bedford Falls - the fictional town in 'It's a Wonderful Life' and actually modeled on a town near where my dad's family is from). Of course I could simply splurge and go to the con in Vancouver - it's a bit closer and I think I have enough miles to cover my plane ticket. I guess I need to decide soon.
I am excited about the Burbank con - RL, Jason, DH, and Kavan. Plus I'll (hopefully) be celebrating passing my comps (comprehensives - the midpoint in my doctoral studies where I defend my research proposal and initial research). I've actually scheduled the date (Nov. 18th) and am alternating between panic and calm. My proposal is also a grant application, so two birds with one stone. I had to find a substitute committee member (one of my committee members will be in Europe and has threatened to take my proposal along on the plane) and I need to finish the paperwork for the grad college. I also ordered the first cultures I'll be working with, with one small snag - the culture collection will willingly send the human pathogens, but I need a USDA permit for the potential plant pathogens (yes, they require a permit for the more innocuous strain). I may email someone at U of A in Tucson for the strain I need.
Teaching is going ok, although I nearly kicked a couple people out of my lab yesterday - one group wouldn't stop talking despite me pausing and glaring when I was trying to lecture.
Haven't watched much TV as of late. I've tried a few new shows ('Fringe' has such horrible science I gave up, not sure about 'The Mentalist'), 'NCIS' was better than expected, but I expected the initial storyline to be a bit longer. 'House' is up against 'NCIS' so I need to tape one or the other. I also need to tape 'Bones' since I'm usually at the graduate happy hour. I'm not sure about 'Supernatural' this season - it may remind me of all the religious studies classes I had to take in college. "Chuck' starts next week and I can't wait - I think I'm passing on 'Heroes'
As far as Palin's "I can see Russia from my house" comment - I've actually lived in three states bordering Mexico (CA, AZ, TX - and does TX count as a foreign country) and on an island in Lake Erie where the next island north of us was Canada. I think that qualifies me to be veep.
ETA: Well, I checked my calendar. Vancouver is out - I'll just be getting back from a conference and Sunday is Palm Sunday. Now it's a debate if I ditch P4 for Chevron 7....