Earlier this week, I went for a run. I use this website called Gmap Pedometer to see how far my runs are, and you have to type in your town for it to zoom in. So I get back, and I sit down, and I type, "berkeley, ca" into the search bar.
Whoops.
It was actually the first time I'd done that here. When I first moved to Berkeley, oh so many moons ago, I typed "urbana, il" multiple times - sheer force of habit - and it made me a little sad every time. This made me a little sad too, except that I'm leaving for Berkeley today, so mostly it was just a funny little trick that my fingers played on me.
Now I have to sit on planes and in airports for something like 11 hours, but it will all be worth it. I can't wait to see everyone! I am so so so excited!
Monday, November 25, 2013
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Niagara Falls
I'm back!
I'm back because I'm home and don't know what else to do with myself, because I don't want to work tonight --
-- phone call from my postdoc advisor. Turns out I don't have to teach next semester if I don't want to! So now I have to decide if I want to teach. Interesting. --
Anyway, yeah, not working any more tonight because my grant isn't due until Tuesday, and it's actually in pretty good shape. It's not quite there, but I have several days to make what are some relatively minor edits and additions at this point, so I'm just about done worrying about it.
So I might as well tell you about my trip to Niagara Falls!
I didn't drive up with the express purpose of seeing Niagara Falls, of course. I went to go visit my friend!
I'm back because I'm home and don't know what else to do with myself, because I don't want to work tonight --
-- phone call from my postdoc advisor. Turns out I don't have to teach next semester if I don't want to! So now I have to decide if I want to teach. Interesting. --
Anyway, yeah, not working any more tonight because my grant isn't due until Tuesday, and it's actually in pretty good shape. It's not quite there, but I have several days to make what are some relatively minor edits and additions at this point, so I'm just about done worrying about it.
So I might as well tell you about my trip to Niagara Falls!
I didn't drive up with the express purpose of seeing Niagara Falls, of course. I went to go visit my friend!
M is originally from Buffalo, is a current grad student at Berkeley, but is back in Buffalo for this semester. I drove up to visit her a few weeks back, and it was such a beautiful drive. Man, driving through the Appalachians and up into western New York with fall in full swing… not something I ever thought I would experience, but it was absolutely gorgeous, and I'm so glad I got the chance to do it.
So seeing M was wonderful, of course (I really miss her!), and she was super excited to take me to see Niagara Falls, which is like a 15 minute drive from her house. Isn't that crazy? I can't even imagine growing up right by Niagara Falls.
The pictures really don't do it justice. The amount of power behind that incredible amount of water is absolutely mind-blowing. It was surprisingly scary, actually!
So I had a wonderful weekend, and it was a really neat experience, and really nice to catch up with my friend!
I also just downloaded these pictures from my phone, and there was this one from the Color Run, a 5K I did back in September:
It's weird; you can't tell at all from this picture how much weird chalk-paint I had on myself. That… was maybe an experience for another post.
Anyway, Niagara was awesome, I live in a really gorgeous part of the country, and I am really happy to have a car so that I can get out and see it!
Speaking of that, Jevon was here a few weekends ago, and we went back to Fallingwater so he could check it out, and so I could try to get a better tour guide this time! I think the trip was a success on both counts.
Okay, that's probably enough from me for now. Two posts in one day, imagine that!
Que le temps passe vite!
Ohhh the shame. Two months since my last update! No blog posts at all in the month of October! I am so, so slacking.
I don't even know what my problem is. It's not like I don't have things to talk about. I'm in a new town, and I really like it, even! I have some new friends, and we do fun stuff sometimes, even! I had an awesome trip up to Niagara Falls to visit my friend from Berkeley, even! And it's not like I'm working so hard that I never have free time or something. Far from it, in fact.
Let's see, what am I up to these days? I'll do a quick update in the next few minutes, and then I'll try to do a post dedicated to Niagara Falls/Buffalo soon.
- I can't write for too long this morning because I am subbing for a friend/colleague who is at a conference this week, and she needs someone to cover her class. So I have to show up and play a movie for some undergrads, and have them fill out attendance cards.
- Speaking of teaching, I have a meeting tomorrow to find out what class I'm teaching next semester. I have my fingers crossed for Intro to Psycholinguistics, but if there's not enough enrollment, I'll be doing First Language Acquisition. Either would be fine, I guess, but I'm hoping for Psycholing because I've never taught it before and I'm more comfortable with the subject material.
- I don't really know where the time goes. I have lots of meetings, and I do lots of reading. I've been writing a lot lately because I'm applying for a grant (due on Monday), and trying to submit a paper for publication before I apply. I'm also applying for two other grants, and probably a job (all in the first week of December - yikes), but I'm not quite thinking about that yet. Before that, I have to finish the grant I'm working on, plus submit this paper, and submit a short response paper, plus I was hoping to have my dissertation stuff submitted somewhere by the end of this month, but that's looking less likely now. I'm presenting a poster at the ASA in San Francisco the first week of December, so making a good poster is my first priority. And I'm giving two talks that week, so I should probably work on those too! See, it sounds like I should be really busy, but I don't really feel that busy.
- I'll be in Berkeley really soon, and I can't wait! I get in on November 25th and am staying until December 9th. Two weeks! Lots of time to hang out, see friends, check out the old haunts. I. can. not. wait.
- But before that, I have a conference in Toronto… a week from today! Whoa! A week from today I will be driving up to Toronto with some folks from my lab group. It's only about 5 1/2 hours (isn't that crazy?) so we're carpooling to save some money. I don't have to present anything at this conference, either - I'm just supposed to hang out and check it out, so that will be pretty fun, I think!
- Umm, I did a half marathon the weekend before last. It was great, actually, but sort of… unceremonious. I finished in two hours even, so I basically met my goal, which was unexpected and awesome. I've been trying to up my running, because I freaking love fall, and I love to be outside enjoying the crisp fall air, but it's been sort of hard when we don't get that much daylight. I've been having a horrible time waking up in the morning… it's a little better now that the time has changed back, and it gets light around 6:45 instead of 7:45. I could conceivably go running in the mornings now, I suppose, but I haven't gotten my act together enough to actually do that.
Well, I'm getting antsy because I have to get ready to head to campus. But I will do a Niagara Falls post soon! And maybe I will talk about my new friends, too. The super short version is that I have three postdoc friends, and they're totally awesome, and I've also gotten a bit closer with my neighbor (whose class I'm covering this morning). So, life is good!
I don't even know what my problem is. It's not like I don't have things to talk about. I'm in a new town, and I really like it, even! I have some new friends, and we do fun stuff sometimes, even! I had an awesome trip up to Niagara Falls to visit my friend from Berkeley, even! And it's not like I'm working so hard that I never have free time or something. Far from it, in fact.
Let's see, what am I up to these days? I'll do a quick update in the next few minutes, and then I'll try to do a post dedicated to Niagara Falls/Buffalo soon.
- I can't write for too long this morning because I am subbing for a friend/colleague who is at a conference this week, and she needs someone to cover her class. So I have to show up and play a movie for some undergrads, and have them fill out attendance cards.
- Speaking of teaching, I have a meeting tomorrow to find out what class I'm teaching next semester. I have my fingers crossed for Intro to Psycholinguistics, but if there's not enough enrollment, I'll be doing First Language Acquisition. Either would be fine, I guess, but I'm hoping for Psycholing because I've never taught it before and I'm more comfortable with the subject material.
- I don't really know where the time goes. I have lots of meetings, and I do lots of reading. I've been writing a lot lately because I'm applying for a grant (due on Monday), and trying to submit a paper for publication before I apply. I'm also applying for two other grants, and probably a job (all in the first week of December - yikes), but I'm not quite thinking about that yet. Before that, I have to finish the grant I'm working on, plus submit this paper, and submit a short response paper, plus I was hoping to have my dissertation stuff submitted somewhere by the end of this month, but that's looking less likely now. I'm presenting a poster at the ASA in San Francisco the first week of December, so making a good poster is my first priority. And I'm giving two talks that week, so I should probably work on those too! See, it sounds like I should be really busy, but I don't really feel that busy.
- I'll be in Berkeley really soon, and I can't wait! I get in on November 25th and am staying until December 9th. Two weeks! Lots of time to hang out, see friends, check out the old haunts. I. can. not. wait.
- But before that, I have a conference in Toronto… a week from today! Whoa! A week from today I will be driving up to Toronto with some folks from my lab group. It's only about 5 1/2 hours (isn't that crazy?) so we're carpooling to save some money. I don't have to present anything at this conference, either - I'm just supposed to hang out and check it out, so that will be pretty fun, I think!
- Umm, I did a half marathon the weekend before last. It was great, actually, but sort of… unceremonious. I finished in two hours even, so I basically met my goal, which was unexpected and awesome. I've been trying to up my running, because I freaking love fall, and I love to be outside enjoying the crisp fall air, but it's been sort of hard when we don't get that much daylight. I've been having a horrible time waking up in the morning… it's a little better now that the time has changed back, and it gets light around 6:45 instead of 7:45. I could conceivably go running in the mornings now, I suppose, but I haven't gotten my act together enough to actually do that.
Well, I'm getting antsy because I have to get ready to head to campus. But I will do a Niagara Falls post soon! And maybe I will talk about my new friends, too. The super short version is that I have three postdoc friends, and they're totally awesome, and I've also gotten a bit closer with my neighbor (whose class I'm covering this morning). So, life is good!
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