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More Keynotes, videos …

Posted on April 19, 2012
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No matter what I do, my life just stays busy… Keynote presentations. Spreadsheets. Video editings. In addition to reading for a bunch of finals, I have been busy as a beaver with writing my thesis and preparing presentations for Behavioral Science Conference of North (BCSCN) at UAA this Saturday.

I have been working on a couple of research projects this year, one concentrating on parents’ preparedness to talk about traumatic events to children, and the other one studying social rewards  associated to alcohol consumption using hamster models. While all the writing means tons of work, and sometimes I’m running out of creativity when building the presentations, I still love the research. It truly is my passion.

Almost as much as speaking in public occasions.

I am already dying from the excitement and enthusiasm although the conference is a couple of days away. I love sharing my findings with colleagues, as well as hear their feedback. Standing at the podium simply makes me feel alive.

Lastly, here is one of the videos that will be part of my presentation. In the first part of the video hamsters are intoxicated, and wobbling around. They have been injected with alcohol for one of the experiments. In the latter part of the video a hamster is in the conditioned place preference chamber, and we are measuring the preference whether hamster likes the dark or mesh side better. Enjoy the hamster backflips!

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Information Overflow

Posted on March 28, 2012
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 What a busy week! Husband is still in the field, and I am struggling with the schedules. Full-time work, full-time studies, trying to keep the house in order…. Oh boy, this has been a handful!

Meetings at work, emails are coming faster than I can reply…. about a zillion papers due at school. Monday night I stayed up till midnight, writing one of my biology papers, crawled to the bed and got up at 0430 to finish up my paper. After dreaming about an inhibiting neurotransmitter called GABA, benzodiazepines, and the receptors where these two substances can bind. Pathetic.

It looks like there will be endless piles of papers and books in my near future but the bright side of this Information Overflow will be over in about four weeks. I will make it. And the hard work is already paying off: one of my research project articles is getting published in near future….

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Little White Ball

Posted on March 7, 2012
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 It has been another crazy-busy week. Getting ready for Spring Break (that is more than welcome right now) means hectic times with both work and studies. I have three midterms lined up for this week, and already got two done – pretty successfully. I think. Midterm #3 should be pretty easy, so I can start to relax.

While we are drowning in the snow here in Anchorage, I am daydreaming of chasing little white ball on the fairways. Golf. One of my passions for a decade already. I keep wishing Alaska was a bit more golfer friendly but snow golf doesn’t sound too tempting, and hitting balls in the indoors training facility gets old quickly too… hopefully next duty station takes me to a golf paradise.

Even in rainy Seattle I used to play a few times a week, practiced with my golf coach weekly, and was able to keep my USGA handicap low…. fingers crossed that next week’s golf trip turns out to be successful. Although the handicap is nowhere near single digits anymore.

More updates to follow but now it is time to start to choose outfits for golf courses, hiking trails, and sunbathing.

Golf is so popular simply because it is the best game in the world at which to be bad. ~A.A. Milne

 

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Melting Brain

Posted on February 11, 2012
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It has been such a busy week…. sometimes the professional life and full-time studying are getting the best of me. Meetings and all regular work stuff have kept me working very, very long hours, spending way too much time on phone, and being glued to my email 24×7. Especially this week. But I do love it. Although a few extra hours a day would be highly appreciated. I would need more time for working out: I have run only 8 miles this week – what a slacker and loser. I would need more time to hang out with the hubby and puppy. I would need more time to do this and that.

Then the school keeps me reading at nights. Sometimes the dreams of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups, and impact of mutations in a protein’s tertiary structure on person’s brain wake me up when I am trying to escape to the la-la land. And I have to pull out my iPad, check the important details online or on my notes. Or write my thought down so that I can figure it out in the morning. Yes, I think my brain is melting.

I finished my week by taking two mid-term exams, back to back at the end of the day on Friday. With a mega headache. That makes me wonder if poor neurons can overheat so bad that it leads to a headache? Well, it is a lovely hypothesis… although more than likely the headache was just caused by long week. And tight back/neck muscles that are screaming for a massage. Massage that I have been putting off since I really haven’t had time. Maybe after this coming week’s business trip to California. Hopefully.

In any case, exams are now done. They went okay, not perfectly, but luckily there are still two more exams and some papers left on both courses so chances for A’s are out there. Work stuff is waiting for Monday. Saturday night, and time to take a deep breath and relax, before starting to pack my stuff for next week, and getting mentally prepared for redeye flights. Ten hours of traveling in front of me. Again.

They say I live a fast life. Maybe I just like a fast life. I wouldn’t give it up for anything in the world. It won’t last forever, either. But the memories will. ~Dennis Wilson

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Headbands – A Customer Project

Posted on January 29, 2012
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I find knitting so very relaxing, especially when reading or watching TV. Yes, I admit, it is hard for me to sit still and just stare at the television…. Knitting has become a great way to be productive while chilling on the couch.

Just like I stay sane while running on the treadmill by watching (or listening to) movies or iTunes U lectures. This January seems to be one of the coldest in Alaska for years – the official stats will be revealed soon, and we will know for sure. However, it has felt pretty darn cold! So cold that I have logged 20-30 miles on the treadmill on weekly basis this month.  And it is a lot for someone who seriously dislikes long-distance treadmill training. But running in -20F weather is way too freezing even for an outdoorsy chick like me.

However, back to knitting. So thanks to encouragement on one of my knitting posts, I decided to do some customer projects. And here is my first custom-ordered headband ever…. delivered it to the client on Friday. She will also receive a matching pair of glittens, a combination of gloves and mittens. Stay tuned for the pictures! Of course I was so excited about getting the headband to hear that I forgot to take pictures at home, and was snapping a few while I was stopped at the traffic lights.

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