lemonlament, you have inspired me to post an update: what I did over my summer “vacation.”
I gave my first ever professional talk at a national/somewhat international conference last week, and I KILLED IT DEAD. People have been emailing my PI to tell her how well I did. I zoned out during the whole thing; I was talking, and words were coming out, but I couldn’t tell you what they were except probably what I practiced for two weeks beforehand?? idk, it was really weird. Labmate R and I rode back together (labmate C rode with us on the way there, but her fiance met her at the end of the conference and they enjoyed the city another day). We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch and bought a Mad Libs book (travel edition!) and laughed most of the way back. :D
I’m rereading Spillover by David Quammen and it’s still really good. The Ebola chapter is a bit outdated in terms of outbreaks (it was published in 2012 before the latest epidemics in western Africa and DRC started), but I think we still haven’t confirmed the reservoir host. I’ve also been watching a lot of Scooby-Doo Where Are You! and the original Addams Family TV show (while working on my talk and reading papers to prep myself). I have yet to watch Daredevil or Sense8, which was my goal for the summer. -_- The stars just haven’t aligned yet. I did finish The Musketeers S1 and bought S2, but I’ve only watched the first ep so far. I saw Jurassic World in theaters (wow that was gruesome; I was cheering for the dinosaurs and was really glad when that one dude got eaten). I still need to see Mad Max: Fury Road and Ant-Man.
I’ve read some other books this summer (starting in May): Special Topics in Calamity Physics (Marisha Pessl, fiction), The Shining Girls (Lauren Beukes, fiction), The Devil in the White City (Erik Larson, nonfiction), The Girls of Atomic City (Denise Kiernan, nonfiction), The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons (Sam Kean, nonfiction), The Remedy (Thomas Goetz, nonfiction), The Little Friend (Donna Tartt, fiction). ...I think that’s it? Except for the book club (see below). I enjoyed all of them, although my favorites are probably The Shining Girls and The Devil in the White City. Violence warning for both: The Devil in the White City is nonfiction about the World’s Fair in Chicago and the serial killer who used it to lure victims (very simplified, but it’s reallly good); The Shining Girls is a novel about “shining” young women (women that glow with purpose and energy; we’ve all known at least one) who are stalked through history by a serial killer who uses a house in Chicago to travel through time. A lot of the attacks are from the women’s POV, so it gets really disturbing, but is still a really good book.
Two of my friends/labmates and I have been doing a book club for the summer. We started with Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor, which I probably have not read since 5th grade. We couldn’t decide among ourselves if being from Mississippi makes it more or less potent; it was a bit defining for me as a ten-year-old. (The other two are from Indiana and Washington state.) Reading stuff like that about your own state, and then realizing that a lot of it still happens, packs a powerful punch. We then read Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (my pick, and more lighthearted) and Stephen King’s The Gunslinger (Labmate C’s pick). We’re going to finish up with Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder (chosen by Labmate R). We actually discussed The Gunslinger while driving to the conference. I might have bought the next book in the series. >.>
I’ve gone to four weddings so far this year with one more at the end of August. I was a bridesmaid for the first time ever in May (former roommate) and then for the second time a week later (Labmate R). That was interesting. Fun but very tiring. My favorite cousin (don’t tell the others) and his wife (whom I also adore) had a baby last week. She is precious, and I am now an aunt by their request! ^^ Labmate R is going to teach me how to make a baby blanket. She’s much more crafty than me, especially with a sewing machine. Which I don’t know how to use. But she is going to teach me some basics! Baby blankets are supposed to be really easy.
