soundtrak: silence
the week's list:
- the week started off quick, but then slowly ground to a halt around tuesday evening. it was too hot to do anything, even work (even though it feels like i work in the north pole, lab is so cold sometimes)
- there was a major dilemma in lab today. i'm not going to go into it because it involves other people, but it ended up that our summer student (who is in high school, mind you) became very upset. i went to go use the bathroom, when one of the biologists from the other lab stopped me and asked, "is that girl in your lab?" "huh," i was throughly confused. "she's crying," she continued. i was about ready to turn around and head to the other bathroom down the hall (i really wasn't trying to deal with somebody i don't know crying), but then i realized that it was probably the summer student. i found her and we went and talked for awhile. she just had to get alot of things off her chest. i can say from experience, working in a lab as a high school student and now as a graduate student, sometimes it's easy to forget that the person is so young. sometimes, people just need to know that they have support; that somebody cares. after she finished, i told her that what didn't kill her would make her stronger. i know it sounds kinda harsh, but it's true. the science world is not a nice place, especially as a young, african (minority) woman. i really had to form a second skin and let stupid comments (made by stupid people)) roll off my back. i mean, it was so much other stuff too, but that's all i'll share.
- other news from lab: my experiments worked this week, i ended up not doing my presentation this friday (again! ugh!), i finished most of my paperwork for work and school (trust, there is always paperwork to do) and today (i'm so proud of myself)... today, i made my first genuine hypothesis, all by myself. it's amazing to see all my training, all the classes i've taken and all the information i've learned and just *use* them. you always think it's going to be harder before you get to that point, but you're surprised at how *effortless* it all is. i don't know; it was a pretty cool moment.
- i have recently discovered pandora, a music discovery service/program/project created by the music genome project. you give them an artist, which they have already characterized by type such as "drum n' bass rhythm" or "use of modal harmonies", and they play music similar to the types picked. they rely on feedback from all users so that they can make new suggestions. i didn't think that they would be too good, but i'm really surprised. i like the songs that they picked derived from london elektricity, blue six, high contrast and ian pooley. they also have a link that takes you directly to the song on itunes or amazon or to even ask why they picked that song.. i have already downloaded a couple of new songs... you know i'm a d'n'b girl by heart. highly recommended.
- i don't know what's going on with this blog template. the site looks fine on firefox on my pc, but on my mac, it looks a hot mess. and then it was all messed up for a week or so. i couldn't figure it out. i feel like changing this template, but i'm too lazy. i think i want to buy a domain, but i wonder if i'll even have time to update it. i already need to be working on my church's website and we don't even have webspace for that yet. ugh!
- i'm (kinda) reading a really cool book; it's called indecision; i picked it up randomly at the bookstore (not before putting it back down first; i picked it up again, so i had to have it) and tried to read it in florida. even though i haven't gotten far (time, i tell you, no time), i just really like the way it's written. the first three chapters already have great quotes to quote. maybe when school starts back up and when i'm taking the train, i'll find the time (if not sleeping or reading something science related... ugh!)
- actually, despite the fact that i went to florida, my finances have been really good this past month. i really avoided the bookstore, so my credit card bill this month went waaay down. i need to be saving money.
anyways, i need to go to sleep. have a great weekend. only half of my weekend will be great: i gotta go into lab this sunday. fab-u-lous!
peace.
the week's list:
- the week started off quick, but then slowly ground to a halt around tuesday evening. it was too hot to do anything, even work (even though it feels like i work in the north pole, lab is so cold sometimes)
- there was a major dilemma in lab today. i'm not going to go into it because it involves other people, but it ended up that our summer student (who is in high school, mind you) became very upset. i went to go use the bathroom, when one of the biologists from the other lab stopped me and asked, "is that girl in your lab?" "huh," i was throughly confused. "she's crying," she continued. i was about ready to turn around and head to the other bathroom down the hall (i really wasn't trying to deal with somebody i don't know crying), but then i realized that it was probably the summer student. i found her and we went and talked for awhile. she just had to get alot of things off her chest. i can say from experience, working in a lab as a high school student and now as a graduate student, sometimes it's easy to forget that the person is so young. sometimes, people just need to know that they have support; that somebody cares. after she finished, i told her that what didn't kill her would make her stronger. i know it sounds kinda harsh, but it's true. the science world is not a nice place, especially as a young, african (minority) woman. i really had to form a second skin and let stupid comments (made by stupid people)) roll off my back. i mean, it was so much other stuff too, but that's all i'll share.
- other news from lab: my experiments worked this week, i ended up not doing my presentation this friday (again! ugh!), i finished most of my paperwork for work and school (trust, there is always paperwork to do) and today (i'm so proud of myself)... today, i made my first genuine hypothesis, all by myself. it's amazing to see all my training, all the classes i've taken and all the information i've learned and just *use* them. you always think it's going to be harder before you get to that point, but you're surprised at how *effortless* it all is. i don't know; it was a pretty cool moment.
- i have recently discovered pandora, a music discovery service/program/project created by the music genome project. you give them an artist, which they have already characterized by type such as "drum n' bass rhythm" or "use of modal harmonies", and they play music similar to the types picked. they rely on feedback from all users so that they can make new suggestions. i didn't think that they would be too good, but i'm really surprised. i like the songs that they picked derived from london elektricity, blue six, high contrast and ian pooley. they also have a link that takes you directly to the song on itunes or amazon or to even ask why they picked that song.. i have already downloaded a couple of new songs... you know i'm a d'n'b girl by heart. highly recommended.
- i don't know what's going on with this blog template. the site looks fine on firefox on my pc, but on my mac, it looks a hot mess. and then it was all messed up for a week or so. i couldn't figure it out. i feel like changing this template, but i'm too lazy. i think i want to buy a domain, but i wonder if i'll even have time to update it. i already need to be working on my church's website and we don't even have webspace for that yet. ugh!
- i'm (kinda) reading a really cool book; it's called indecision; i picked it up randomly at the bookstore (not before putting it back down first; i picked it up again, so i had to have it) and tried to read it in florida. even though i haven't gotten far (time, i tell you, no time), i just really like the way it's written. the first three chapters already have great quotes to quote. maybe when school starts back up and when i'm taking the train, i'll find the time (if not sleeping or reading something science related... ugh!)
- actually, despite the fact that i went to florida, my finances have been really good this past month. i really avoided the bookstore, so my credit card bill this month went waaay down. i need to be saving money.
anyways, i need to go to sleep. have a great weekend. only half of my weekend will be great: i gotta go into lab this sunday. fab-u-lous!
peace.
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