October 2014

Jack O'Lantern with a cheeky Tui photo-bombing in the background

It has been an exhausting few weeks here in Berlin. Wisdom teeth removal and recovery, tiny pumpkin carving, Berlin had a public holiday to celebrate the anniversary of the reunification of Germany, and I slept through the Berlin Festival of Lights, because bed is better. There was some excitement as the Nobel Prizes were announced and the prize for medicine went to three neuroscientists.

I have a big presentation coming up that I have been working like a mad woman for. I have a Ph.D. progress report the day after the presentation- so it had better be good!!

I haven't been running since I came back from California, I have just been working so hard that by the time I get home from work the realization that I have to have a shower is exhausting enough - without even considering running beforehand. 

In less than three weeks my Love and I will be meeting up in Washington D.C. for the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting. I am so excited!! My first big conference, I'm excited to meet some peers and some bigwigs in my field. I usually hate the idea of networking, but I have been a bit socially deprived lately, so I am actually excited to meet some humans. I feel like it will help that the horrendous introductory questions that always seem to trip up people I meet randomly ("what do you do?", "what is neuroscience?") will be less awkward to navigate at this particular conference!

Work is going well, my data is looking pretty sexy- if I do say so myself, and I am nearing the end of my first project and working on setting up projects two and three. So it feels like this Ph.D. might just sort itself out in a timely fashion. I'm excited to have a break over Christmas though, I'm getting pretty rundown.

I've been listening to a bit of MS MR, you should check them out! I recommend Hurricane, BTSK, and Think of You. I've also been feeling a touch homesick for New Zealand - so I have been smashing the Nature's Best albums while I've been doing my analysis. Kiwi music rocks!