Because all the cool kids are doing it...

As seen everywhere. I'd have to take issue with the loner label- I don't think anyone I know would agree with that. However, I LOVE how Dr. Brazen Hussy's blog name is in my results!

Your Score: Loner - ISFP

33% Extraversion, 40% Intuition, 46% Thinking, 40% Judging

Ahh...the sweet serenity. The utter perfection of all creation. The wondrous beauty of nature. The sweet sparrow singing along in the great orchestra we call life...

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? You're the type of person people always love to mock because they don't believe there's anyone ACTUALLY like you.

Do realise that you ostracise people with your behaviour or is it all subconscious? You're so quiet and reserved it's almost impossible to get to know you well, and when someone finally does, all you want to talk about is grace and beauty and harmony!

Ugh. Sure, you "genuinely care for others" and all that rubbish, but when it boils right down to the basics you take life far too seriously.

Throughout the entire test, I bet you were searching for "further clarification and hidden meaning" so that you might improve your pitiful life. And woe and behold if it betrayed your intense values system!

You need to STOP smelling the daisies. Believe it or not, logic does have a place in this world...imbecile.

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If you want to learn more about your personality type in a slightly less negative way, check out this.

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The other personality types are as follows...

Pushover - Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging

Criminal - Introverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving

Borefest - Introverted Sensing Thinking Judging

Almost Perfect - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving

Freak - Introverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging

Loser - Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving

Crackpot - Introverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging


Clown - Extraverted Sensing Feeling Perceiving

Sap - Extraverted Sensing Feeling Judging

Commander - Extraverted Sensing Thinking Perceiving

Do Gooder - Extraverted Sensing Thinking Judging

Scumbag - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Perceiving

Busybody - Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging

Prick - Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Perceiving

Dictator - Extraverted iNtuitive Thinking Judging

Link: The Brutally Honest Personality Test written by UltimateMaster on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

A new car!*

After two years of not having any car payments (because both of our cars were paid off), we bought a new car yesterday:
We knew that our next car would be a hybrid, but didn't know which one. We went with Honda because we like the way the car looks and it's a reliable company. We never got to even try out a Prius, because nobody had them in stock! We traded in our older car, which is the first car I bought all by myself- it was the first semester of my PhD and my old car had been costing me a lot of money. When it required a new transmission, I decided to look into buying one. I had that car before I met H, then it became his car when we bought our second one. It was sad to leave it behind, but it's always exciting to have a new car! We got the one with the navigation system, which looks very fun. I am especially excited about owning a hybrid. I can't wait to see how the gas mileage is. I will need to lighten up my lead foot, however.

So I did nothing else yesterday- I exercised and vacuumed out the trade-in in the morning, then we spent the afternoon at the dealership. I stayed up too late last night, so I am only now waking up (7:15) and D will be up soon. Between the grant and the new car, I've managed to avoid actually writing anything for the paper. And since it's MM's last week here, we are doing extra shopping and sight-seeing, too. I guess I can tell myself that I will get serious next week, but I really need to get a draft of that paper finished AND make some progress on the the other project.

*You must say this in the style of the announcer on The Price is Right.

RBoC: NOT getting to work Monday edition

• It's almost 10:00 and I haven't managed to write a single a word (although I opened the file!)
• We are looking into buying a new car for the first time in over 7 years! It's either going to be a Prius or Civic Hybrid- we still have to go test drive them.
• We are actually going to take a mini-vacation at the end of July. H has a conference way down south and convinced me (& D) to go with him. We'll be beach-going while he's conferencing (or maybe sitting somewhere air-conditioned!) After that we will drive down to Florida to visit some friends. It should be fun and at least the U will pay for part of the trip (since H is presenting at a conference!)
• My mother-in-law goes home next week. I think she is ready to be home- I hope I didn't make her stay too long! We do still need to do a bit more shopping before she leaves, so at least we'll have time for that & one more trip to the zoo (she really enjoyed that).
• I am going to walk on the treadmill now- hopefully I can write something later! Or maybe we'll go test drive cars! fun!
  

One of my new favorite shows

If you have HBO and a goofy sense of humor, check these guys out. Funny!

Sunday Bird Blogging

The peafowl have been visiting quite regularly. We were treated to a show this morning:

I've been tagged

This meme feels stranglely like so many other memes, but since I've been tagged, here goes:

Rules

• I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
• Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
• People who are tagged need to write their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
• At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
• Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Random Facts

1. My mother and daughter are left-handed, but as far as I know, nobody else in my family or H's family are.
2. I have large feet (I wear size 10), even though I'm not tall (about 5'6").
3. I need to clean out my bedroom closet, because it is full of clothes that I don't wear.
   
4. I have one brother, two step-brothers, and a half sister.
5. These siblings range in age from 22 to 40.
6. I only drink decaf coffee (I quit caffeine a couple years ago).
7. H and I have our 8th anniversary coming up next month!
8. I can't wear high heels.
   

Random enough? I don't know who has already been tagged, so I'll tag: Seeking Solace, ScienceWoman, Elli, JustMe, Ianqui, Chaser, Eddie, and Twice. If any of you have already been tagged, you haven't done it yet (I checked). Enjoy!

More reflections on *the* grant

I hope that am not making my blog boring by only talking about this grant, but I am still coming to terms with what this all actually means. H doesn't think that I am acting nearly excited enough about it. He keeps calling me the "new star of the department", although only a few people have heard the news so far. I am starting to realize that it is even more significant than I first thought, too. My collaborator (who just made full professor) has had a grant from the same program, but never for this much money (almost $400K). Another colleague who has had several grants has also never had one for this much money. I was shocked to hear this and assumed that they routinely received grants in the half million range, but apparently I was mistaken. Of course, the kind of research I do requires more money, so that is probably the biggest factor in the dollar amount.

I had a phone conversation with my collaborator yesterday and he told me that we need to make this project a priority and not expend a lot of time and effort pursuing other projects for the next few years. Once he said that, I knew he was right, but I hadn't really thought of it that way. Now I really need to finish this paper and get it submitted before the grant officially kicks in.

I've been through the grant proposal process MANY times in the last five years, so I am familiar with the procedures and paperwork. All of the procedures and paperwork for an award are new to me. I'm glad my colleague is the PI and has already dealt with the forms and bureaucracy of this agency! We're also scrambling to revise our budget since they didn't award the entire amount we requested (although it's 95% of what we asked for).

A colleague (who is on the P&T committee) shook my hand and said that I had guaranteed myself tenure. Really? I guess it would be ridiculous of them to dump me after I've gotten a big grant (which isn't even required for tenure in my non-PhD department), but I never really thought of it that way.

The other side of all this is that this also puts a LOT of pressure on me. I am in charge of significant parts of the project, I need to recruit a graduate student, purchase large quantities of expensive data, carry out the research, and get published. I am excited about this and don't feel that I've gotten in over my head, but I am also a bit freaked out about it. I should have lots of blog-fodder for the next few years as I struggle through all of this. It should be great- I am excited about the research and I'm going to be working with some great people.

I think I should go update my CV for my web page!

My brain is going to explode

I just found another free online file storage site. They also have free public storage where you don't have to register. Within those files, they post which are popular and this one is making my head hurt!

I'm feeling the love

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations on my totally gratuitous post below. I am feeling so pleased about the grant being funded that I want to stand on the roof and yell about it. All the nay-sayers who thought it was a waste to spend time working on proposals can just shut up, now. Of course, I'm sure that someone will think that I am just riding my colleague's coattails (which I am not, but you know how some people will criticize anything). I also wish that I could tell those Mountain U people that I would have brought three years worth of RA funding with me- damn them! We have to cut our budget (of course) and I'm reluctant to give up any summer salary (it's very little to begin with), because I need the money! Hopefully, we can trim elsewhere.

Another awesome thing about this grant is the way H is so proud of me, too. I really need to appreciate him more sometimes- he is never jealous or threatened when I succeed- he's just proud and excited for me. I'm sure there are plenty of spouses out there who would not be that way- he's just the best.

OK, I"m off to continue my laziness. I need to work on the paper tomorrow and figure out how to trim this budget! Thanks again, everyone.

Well, I feel boring now!

The only red flag that I raised was one use of "shitty".

As seen at Jogger's.

Hooray for me!

After all of my rejections, I am finally co-PI on a federally funded grant! I just got the news from my collaborator. This could not have come at a better time either, with my tenure package going up for review in the fall. I think I'm in shock. I'll be having a beer or two tonight to celebrate! I'm so excited!

Summer Research Question...

To all you big grant-getters out there, I have a question. If you have one month summer salary for a project, how much of your actual time do you think should be devoted to said project? I realize in many cases, the time is just an estimate and you work on it as much as required, but if you were collaborating in a consulting sort of context (but NOT budgeted in an hourly way), would you consider it worth four weeks of full time work (160 hours?) or half time? or would you figure it another way? Please post your interpretations and experiences in the comments.

Thanks!

Ew.

Despite her dramatic reactions to seeing a spider in her bathroom, D was quite happy to hold this Madagascar Hissing Cockroach at the Major City Natural History Museum yesterday.

What a difference a day makes...*

Wow. I. Am. Tired. Yesterday started out perfectly nice (sort of). I got up early to take a walk because I knew it would be hot (and our treadmill is out of commission until we get a new belt), so I did a fast walk to park and back between 6:00 and 7:00am. I did some work in the morning, a few other things around the house, then took MM to Costco in the afternoon. On the drive home, the migraine set in. I took my meds when I got home, but it was too late. I spent the next few hours in bad shape (read my other blog if you want any more details), finally slept at 8-something and with minor interruptions, slept until 5:00am. I have been lounging around the house today and feeling soooo tired. I have taken several short naps, even! I hope I never have a migraine like that again. I kept wondering if that is what is feels like to have malaria- I sure hope not.

On the research front, I didn't write a thing on Thursday or Friday. Instead, I spent time finishing up some analysis (which I need for the results!) and met with a grad student Thursday afternoon. I should able to get back to writing on Monday- oh yeah- I also got some page proofs yesterday morning, so that gave me something else to work on yesterday.

The weather has dramatically improved (although we are still not getting any rain and our grass is turning brown). Yesterday was so muggy and gross and today is nice- it was in the 50s this morning! That's all for now- just checking in. I really feel like I was not here last night and that I have returned to the world of the living!

*Anyone else remember those mens clothings store ads with the really good looking fireman and construction worker, where they would show them in their work clothes all sweaty and dirty, then show them in their suits "the next day" with that song playing?? "Twenty-four little hours..."

#301: RBoC

Oh no! I missed my 300th post and just did a silly quiz! Oh well. #301 is just as reflective. Here are some random bullets about my early summer lazy day:

• My allergies are really driving me crazy. This time last year was also awful and this year is continuing the trend of having terribly itchy eyes that make me want to scratch out my eyeballs (see this if you don't remember my whining last year- they haven't been that bad here at home, but still pretty awful)
• Our treadmill needs a new walking belt. I discovered this today when I went down to the basement, started an episode of the X-files, pushed start, and heard a really loud friction kind of sound that made me turn it off! I'm wondering whether I should brave OUTSIDE tomorrow (see previous bullet). It is also going be 90 here tomorrow, so I'll have to go early.
• D had a end-of-year picnic at school today, so I packed her lunch with a veggie dog so that hers would match everyone else's. She said it was good- I love Smart Dogs.
  
• It's hard to see my LCD screen here on the porch & I have it turned all the way up. Maybe newer laptops have better screens for sitting outside(?)
• I'm inside now. I wrote again this morning (just over 400 words), so my paper is over 2000 words now. I will have to finish that last analysis step soon, so that I can write up the results. I also need to write about the literature. I have to go to the office tomorrow to meet a grad student, so I will have to be productive in the morning.
• I got H a really lavish father's day gift this year. He probably spent close to that on my mother's day gift, so I guess it's OK! They came today, so I am hiding them in MM's room. I'm excited to see how cool they are!
• D went to play at a friend's house after school, so I watched the last 1/2 hour of The Empire Strikes Back. I love Star Wars- especially the old school movies. I was actually kind of bored this afternoon! I didn't feel like working any more, MM was upstairs in her room, H was teaching, and I didn't want to start any new cleaning projects (I've been gradually cleaning out closets since the semester ended- I only have our bedroom closet left!)
  
• I think we are going for a family walk in a bit. I hope my eyes aren't too excruciating tonight!
  

I think my score would be different during the semester!

As seen at Dr. Brazen Hussy's...

You Are 44% Misanthropic

You're somewhat misanthropic, but you're not willing to write off the human race (yet!). There are a few people you like, and even them you like at a distance.

How Misanthropic Are You?

Writing

I have such a hard time starting new papers. At this stage in my career, I have published several papers, but not so many that the first pages just roll off of my fingers into the keyboard. I really enjoyed reading about Chaser's process and hope to use some of her techniques in my own writing.

One thing I have always done is start with an outline. For me this is usually quite straightforward: Intro, Background, Study Area & Methods, Results & Discussion, Conclusions. There are often minor variations, but this is the general structure. Once I have that skeleton, I start filling in the sections, which later can be adjusted and modified. It's always nice if I have a proposal that I wrote before doing the work (to "borrow" from), but given my luck with external funding, I don't always have that. For my current paper, I am writing up the second part of some research that I've already had published (the first part of the work has been published). I had a proposal to help start writing the first paper, but I can't go back and "double dip" from that one.

So yesterday I started with the very general skeleton and started writing sections and outlining further details within others. During this process I remembered how I have such a hard time writing the introduction. A lot of my work is in the same specific topical area and I struggle with writing different introductions to the topic. I find that the methods are easiest- it's just recounting what I've done (which I always record in a notebook or journal) and explaining why I used a particular methodology. I also struggle with the background- am I including enough references to previous work? Maybe I'm missing an important paper? How long should this section be? I refer to the target journal for guidance, but never feel I have a good sense on my own.

Maybe these struggles are typical, but I find thinking about them and writing about it helps me understand where I get hung up. I see many people tracking word counts on their blogs and like that as a way to monitor progress (at least by counting words). I wrote about 600 words yesterday and I'd like to write at least that much today. Another problem I have with writing is that I tend to do research in "spurts" because my time is so occupied by teaching during the semester. Now that it's summer, I am trying to be consistent and write at least something every day. Wish me luck...

Friday Cat Blogging

Hey Addy, shouldn't you be working on that paper that is supposed to be written in two weeks?

Scientiae #7

The latest Scientiae Carnival (on women in science, technology, engineering, & math) is up over at FemaleCSGradStudent's place. Check it out! My contribution is here.