cleverly disguised as a responsible adult

My costume rocked. That's all I really can say about it. You can't go too wrong with black fishnet, vinyl, and satin. I love this day.

In one hour and 48 minutes, The Month In Which No Good May Come will be over. Thank the heavens. I'm looking forward to November like you wouldn't believe. Tomorrow is my best friend from high school's birthday. This would be more important if I knew anything about where she is now. I miss her...I wish I knew more.

I feel like I need a break to recover from the weekend. Oy. At least my Cyclones pulled out a win! Yay, two conference wins in a row!! We're only two away from a bowl invite! *happy dance* Of course, our next games are Nebraska, K State, and Missouri. Eesh. I'm not holding my breath.

Tomorrow begins the mad scramble for the last couple pieces of data. I "get" to present lab meeting (hm, need to figure out treats) and get feedback on what I've been doing since my prelim.

I'm gonna need lots of coffee.

My manuscript has been submitted to the journal Gene Therapy. *happy dance* Now, I will have to set about composing a petition to Darwin that my manuscript be not lost in the Limbo of Peer Review and that the editors look kindly upon my work and reward me for the effort with which I have imbued every word.

But for now, Gir and I are going to do the happy dance. *grin*

And, in other news, reports are flooding in from across the country (literally) from people who signed up for the "handwritten letter from me" program. It makes me smile and happy dance to make someone's day that much more surreal.

*happy dance*

So last week Boss had me submit an abstract to the regional ASM meeting that will be held here in November. He told me to do this about 24 hr before the final deadline. Lovely. I prevailed (and mooched off the editing skills of my friends) and decided that I really need to enter a Speed Science Writing Contest.

The problem with submitting an abstract is that I need to have a poster to present. I have to have the poster written about a week before I have to have it in my hands. Maria, our wonderful image processing goddess, has demanded that we give her at least a week for poster-making.

In order to write this poster, I need data. Specifically, I need the data that I claimed to have when I wrote the abstract. I set a realistic goal for myself and have been a good little pipette monkey this week in the hopes that I'll actually be as accomplished as I told Them I was.

This, however, is October: the Month in Which No Good May Come.

( Frustrated ranting to follow: read at your own risk )
And how was your day?

Reformatting done!

Now I just need the other people on the project to read it and sign off on it. And the editor of the journal to accept it. And the readers of the journal to like it. And the offers of fame and fortune to come rolling in.

Maybe I'm reaching a bit. The way the lab procrastinates, I'll be lucky if I get to submit it before the end of the year.

But for now, it's done!

*happy dance*

Perhaps I was a wee bit overambitious this morning. Normally, I'd only be running two, maybe three columns. Nope, I've got six today. Why did I decide on this ridiculous number? I figured that I'll need the protein purified as quickly as I possibly can. That, and Boss has expressed the desire to see me more often at my lab bench. I'm not entirely sure how to explain to him that most of my work is of the "hurry up and wait" variety.

I'm extremely caffeinated in an attempt to convince my body that I can be awake, alert, and involved in reality today. My immune system is currently launching a retaliatory strike against the influenza virus that's attempting to invade my system. One of the rotating students today was concerned that I have meningitis, due to my neck hurting. My neck always hurts, and the "I'm not feeling well" aches are not that localized.

I have this image of my immune system being rounded up by the cellular general. He gets up in front of the other white blood cells. The speech begins by reminiscing about the victories of the past: the bronchitis of '98, the influenza of '02, and the stomach flu of '00. He makes brief mention of the error in judgment that led to overreactions in the form of allergies. He then launches into the patriotic rhetoric exhorting the troops to be more vigilant and confident in their defense of the rest of my body against the microscopic invaders.

As the speech crescendos into its emotional conclusion, the newly motivated troops surge forth to attempt to conquer the enemy. This battle is currently being waged in my respiratory passages. My immune system has seemingly determined that a little collateral damage in the form of inflammation and cell death is an acceptable price to pay for the destruction of the insolent virus.

I think I can justify skipping group in order to go home, hydrate myself, and pass out early. I hate being sick. I really, really hate it.

Oh, and I do know how the immune system really works. Boss is an immunologist, and I actually taught a couple of the lectures in his graduate course last year when he was out of the country. I just like this way of looking at it better. *grin*