The "big time"...

This week I got called up to the majors, so to speak. A national parent group asked my supervisor (I need to come up with a fun alias for him - working on it...) to give a talk at their annual meeting in October. He is often asked to give talks like this and I would say that 80% of the time he accepts. This is actually one of the things I like best about him. He feels that since the public funds the majority of his research he should give something back to the public. And because the research that he does has practical applications to many groups - parents, teachers, government - this means giving talks not only at academic conferences but also at annual parent and teacher meetings, etc. Part of the reason I'm working with him is to learn how to do more practical research, and I'd really like to do a better job of translating my results into something that might actually be useful to a non-academic.

Well, it turns out that he is going to be away somewhere else the weekend of the conference (he's basically going to be away for the entire month of October) and so he asked me if I might like to give the talk. Thankfully he made this request via e-mail, so he did not see the blind panic on my face in reaction to this. This is a 90 minute talk, given twice in a row, that touches on a politically charged issue. I was hoping to work my way up to that - maybe watch him give a similar talk, then give one together with and/or one of my other labmates, and then maybe fly solo. Nope - I'm jumping into the deep end. I suppose I could have said no, but that seemed like a bad idea. Oh, and it's three days before I leave for Wales to give my first ever talk at an academic conference. Eek!

I know that this is what I am supposed to be aiming for - the "big time". I should be excited to be giving talks like this. And half of me is happy, and flattered that he thinks this is something I can do. But the other half of me is freakin' out just a little bit. This is a good thing though - I just need to keep reminding myself of that.

me and julio

Honey, I'm home...

I'm baaaaaaack! Did ya miss me? Yeah, I thought you might have.

So I'm hoping to make blogging a regular occurrence from here on in. I had intended to start the blog right back up after I moved from here to here, but in the craziness of moving, starting over in a new city and at a new university, and getting registered as a postdoc (I have just depressed myself by reading the "cons" of being a post doc - for those applying, just ignore that section) I never did. However a recent e-mail exchange with the lovely and charming effamy rekindled the idea and so here I am.

For those expecting a first entry filled with juicy gossip, shocking revelations, and in-depth political analysis you will be disappointed. I am tired and need to go to bed and my lovely co-host Julio is meowing his fool head off because he wants to go out into the hallway. So he can run into the stairwell and cower in fear. And then bite me when I pick him up to bring him back to the safety of his apartment. Good times.

I will end with three recent pictures of Senor Julio. One of him lounging in his chair in a most undignified manner:



One of him having a drink in a most undignified manner:



And a third of him in March - after he was very, very bad. Very, very bad.

Yes my friends, that is a down duvet!

Check back soon!

me and julio