Postdoc Blues

So I've been doing this postdoc thing for about 10 months now.  It's really surprising how different being a postdoc is from being a student - but that's a good thing!  It means I'm learning new things, unlike postdocs who are just data chugging like a cheap tech.  I've written a review, coauthored a few papers some of which didn't get outright rejected, reviewed papers, applied for a few fellowships and even got one, am mentoring students (I currently have an undergrad, a very needy master's student, and a rotating grad student), presenting at conferences, leading committees, am currently writing the skeleton of an R01 and am taking a class as required by my fellowship.  Oh yeah and producing (somewhat kickass) data.  That's a long fucking list and there just aren't enough hours in the day.  I am feeling overwhelmed to the point that I lost control of my normally publicly cool self and swore at the janky-ass lab printer.  Très professionnelle. 

How I feel most days

Of course, it doesn't help that recently there have been two deaths (one a family member, one a family friend) in as many weeks and yet another sinus infection.  Nonetheless, I need to find a way to balance out my responsibilities.  I'm not sure how to do that, but I do know that it's a skill that I will need to be successful down the tenure track.  But all I want to do is take a long nap.

Throwing a tantrum

Why the fucking fuck don't memory foam pillows fit in a standard pillowcase?  I gotta shell out for a special fucking pillow because my neck's so fucked up from years of training-related tension, now I gotta buy special fucking pillowcases that don't match my sheets?  Fuck that noise.

While I'm at it, what's with all this #firstworldproblem bullcrap?  Back in my day we didn't come up with whitewashed fauxronic nonwitticisms, we just called shit like the above paragraph what it was: being a spoiled fucking brat. 

And another thing: YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!

Disappointed

Looks like the Obama administration is backing down on requiring employers to provide contraception coverage in their health insurance.

Looks like when I am searching for a TT job, I will specifically be avoiding Catholic institutions.  As a bisexual woman born and raised Catholic, the Church has continued to do everything in its power to push me out and then push me further and further away, then launches hilarious campaigns like "Catholics come home!" like I just wandered off like an unfenced dog.

Fashion trends I cannot endorse

I work at a primarily undergraduate institution, which affords me great fashion ideas.  There are, however, some trends I cannot understand.

I have been seeing low-volume ankle-height, flat, tan leather oxfords, people.  And not ones with wing-tips or patterns.  No.  I am seeing shoes on 20 year olds that remind me precipitously of shoes I once sold, orthopedic shoes targeted at, shall we say, twilight women.

Shown below are the Frye shoes I've been seeing and, for comparison, the SAS - yes that's right, San Antonio Shoes - that I am familiar with.  If you can't tell the difference I won't tell you.

No.  Just, no.

(However if anyone wants to buy me these in 6.5, I would love you forever)

Oh this is just funny as hell.

"Breastfeeding is a private, intimate moment between mother and baby. And dinner is a private, intimate moment between me and my cheeseburger."

Go read it.  Humor + logic + feminism = QR has a happy

OMG the Fundies were right about something!

May 21, 2011 is Judgement Day, apparently.

Which just so happens to be the day that my degree is officially conferred and I walk/get hooded.  The world begins to end, when I get my Ph.D.

For myself and my classmates, it really is judgement day!

via

I pass! I pass! I pass! I don't fail!

Yeah that's right.  I defended my thesis yesterday.  I kicked its ass.  They were throwing tough questions at me right and left (ohai, I work on brain cancer and development, yeah throw those primary cilium basic biology questions my way), and I slammed 'em right into the outfield.  There was laughing and joking during the exam.  My corrections are very minimal; the department chair didn't even have any corrections for me.  I should be able to finish them in less than a week, which means 3 weeks of vacation time for me!  Booyah!

You can now call me Dr. Queenrandom.  Oh yeah.