A veil of doom has fallen over the UCSB campus

Actually, I think it's the usual winter-spring fog that will be here until July, but this morning it struck me as foreboding, especially since it was sunny and beautiful downtown. But nothing much seems to have changed here since I left. It never does, so I'm not surprised. I sincerely think that I could leave for two months and return to find things exactly how they were when I left. That's just the nature of this place.

Well, the interview. I don't have much to say about it because it went almost exactly as I expected. The people were very nice and interesting to talk to. They asked about my background and why I was interested in the fellowship, and then we launched into the topic that I had prepared. I think it went fairly well, mostly because I had prepared notes the night before, which I was allowed to use. Then they asked me the topic that I hadn't prepared for (a question about whether Congress should pass a bill that would grant 5-year visas to senior scientists from foreign countries to work in collaboration with American scientists). That was an interesting question, but I have no way to gauge how well I did, because there was little reaction from the committee. I think since I was first, I might be at somewhat of a disadvantage there, because I bet they were reserving judgment for later. But anyway, I wasn't horribly nervous and I had a good time, and what happens will happen. I would like the job, but if I don't get it, I'll find something else. Several of Matt's future colleagues have already offered to help set me up with contacts in the science policy world, which is encouraging.

So, after the interview I walked back to Meagan's apartment to find on my shoe the most intensely Crayola-red-colored stream of blood that I have ever seen. I guess the euphoria of finishing the interview dulled the pain receptors on my heels because I had no idea that they were in such bad shape. The shoes are actually Meagan's, and I'm afraid I may have ruined them for her because both heels are now stained with blood. Blood that isn't hers, that is. She said I could just have them, but my suitcase was already full and heavy, and frankly, they hurt my feet. So, anyway, we then took the metro to the sushi buffet in Ballston, which was fun and quite inexpensive, considering it was all-you-can-eat. Then we took the metro to Meagan's office, and walked around Old Town Alexandria for a while. It was chilly out and we stopped for some coffee, thinking we could sit for a while. But there was no seating, so we took our drinks and walked back to the metro and went back home. And there we relaxed, watched Pirates of the Caribbean and had a fabulous dinner. Oh, I forgot the part about Supermarket, but you can read Meagan's journal to learn about that. Let me tell you this, though--my sister Meagan pours a mean glass of Pinot Grigio.

So yesterday was my big travel day. I was kind of nervous about taking the metro to the bus to the airplane, but it worked out just fine, was actually quite simple and cost less than $6. And that includes the airplane ride, because that was on the APS! Now I'm not the happiest of flyers in the world, but I have to say that yesterday's flights really were not bad. They were a little bumpy, but it was no big deal, and both flights got in early. Matt picked me up at LAX and we headed north to Santa Barbara, via the Camarillo Outlet Mall. And last night I did basically nothing but sleep while Matt did all of our laundry. And it was a lot.

Hellooooo!

I am back in Washington, DC and having a good time. Matt flew back to Santa Barbara today, and reported that he had to lure the cat out from under the bed when he got home. Oh well. Today Meagan and I drove all over Arlington and Alexandria checking out residential neighborhoods that Matt and I might someday want to live in. There seem to be many options, so I have no idea where we'll end up. We also went to Panera for lunch, which was a first for me. It was very good--Meagan and I split a chicken salad sandwich. Then we went grocery shopping and came back to Meagan's apartment, where she took a nap and I worked on preparing for my interview. Then we had dinner, and here we are now, chatting about which of us should have babies first.

Also, I had a wonderful time in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately I was a bit tired in the evenings, so we never did all the crazy bar hopping that I figured we'd do, but I did get to watch several episodes of season two of the British Coupling. Well, obviously it was the British version because the American version hardly made it to season one. Anyway, it made me laugh and I liked it. And Jess gave me a lovely tour of the Pittsburgh of her childhood, and I met her friend Raana, who was quite lovely. And we did lots of other wonderful things, but right now I'm so tired that I can't describe them, so they will have to wait for another day.

I am in Pittsburgh, and it's just as great as I hoped it would be. We had uberloaf for dinner, along with some two-buck chuck. Now I am using Jess' computer, which has a very nice keyboard. And we are watching the Daily Show, which is something that I am never up for when I'm at home because there I'm boring. Tomorrow Jess and I are going to a museum to see dinosaurs, and we're meeting Robbie for lunch.

By the way, taking the Greyhound was not at all bad. The people were not crazy and nobody lit any seats on fire. I just hung out and read, and the six hours went by really quickly and pleasantly.

Good night.

I'm here, I'm here!

Today was a fun and tiring day. I slept really late by eastern time zone standards, and then Matt, Meagan and I walked to the National Press Building, where I will have my interview next Monday. We also went to the Borders right across the street from the National Press Building, where Matt bought a map of Montreal. Then we walked around a bit and saw the Washington monument and the White House. Then it was time to walk back home because Matt had to pack for his trip to Montreal. He left at 3:00, and Meagan and I stayed at home and watched TV (Picture Perfect, starring Jennifer Aniston) and ate chips and salsa for the rest of the afternoon. Then something really funny happened, but I'll let Meagan tell you about it. However, I will tell you that the funny thing resulted in our driving to Virginia to eat pizza. And now we're back at Meggie's apartment, where she is collecting information for this week's Sunday Drives with Justin.

Tomorrow I will be taking the Greyhound to Pittsburgh. I'm a little nervous about that trip, but I wasn't before Chris told me that the last time he took the Greyhound, a crazy guy lit his seat on fire. His own seat, I believe--not Chris'. But after six hours I will be safely in Jess' car, or maybe in Ann Taylor Loft, which is also a secure location.

It's amazing.

I'm actually all packed, and not only that, everything fit into one suitcase. And I don't even think I'm forgetting all that much. Crap, I did forget something, I just remembered. That's OK--it's small. And now it's packed. I'm not packing face soap because it's messy and won't fit in my bathroom bag. I'm assuming that I can use Meagan's when I'm at her castle and Jess' when I'm at hers. Oh, crap. I forgot something else. It's small too. I'll pack it right now...OK, check. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this trip. It will be nice to be out of Santa Barbara and out of the lab for a while, and obviously wonderful to see Meggie and Robbie and Jess. I'm sad to leave my kitty, though. As soon as I pulled the suitcase out of the closet, she started staring at me in this horrible, soul-sucking way. It's her way of telling me that I'm deserting her, and she knows it, and she wants me to know that she knows it. Well, she'll be in good hands with Helen and Buebbles, who assures me that he won't spit-roast her this time. He's always threatening to do that, but I know it's just because he has a hard time talking about love.

In 24 hours, I'll be in Washington, DC.

And that is wonderful. I'm not looking forward to the trip, but it won't be that bad, and I don't have to take a taxi to the airbus because Buebbles is picking me up. He loves me. And Meggie is picking me up at the airport and then we will go to her castle and Matt will meet us there. Believe me, it will be wonderful.

Is it still Wednesday?

Why, yes it is. Matt is scheduled to land in half an hour. It amazes me that you can start the day off in California and before the work day (in California) is over, end up on the other side of the country. That's what I'll be doing on Saturday, except that I'll land after the work day is over. But I'm not leaving until 10:00, and I have a two-hour layover. Oh well, considering that I bought the tickets just barely a week before the trip, that's not so bad.

Guys, I'm as surprised as the rest of you.

It turns out that there actually is something to be said for getting to work early. Here it is, 9:00, and I've been at my desk for two hours. And the weird thing is that I've actually been working! Sure, I've been emailing with Jess too, but I had to take advantage of the time we had before she left for her hair appointment.

Now, I come to the same realization every time I get to work early, but it isn't enough to motivate me to do it on a regular basis, and I'm surprised every time. Part of the reason that I don't try all that hard on most days to get to work early is that no matter what time I get here in the morning, I usually can't leave until a particular time in the evening, which makes for some unreasonably long work days. On some days that's because I have aerobics on campus after work. On other days it's because Matt and I drive in together, and he's actually a hard-working person who has something to accomplish on a given day, and I can't leave until he's ready. Now, I'm not just putting myself down--I was the same way my last year of graduate school. But now I'm a postdoc, and Will (the Thrill) once told me that if I worked thirty hours a week, I'd be the hardest-working postdoc in the world. I think he was exaggerating, but it's true that I do feel justified in taking a more leisurely approach to work now that I'm no longer a student. But anyway, today Matt is en route to Washington, DC, where he is going to give an excellent job talk for his potential future boss. And that means that I am on my own, with my own set of wheels, which, as you know, are not parked behind the Bren School.

Some campus parking information

I dropped Matt off at the airport this morning and got to campus by 7:00 and already the parking lot behind the Bren School was full. Can you believe that? And now here I am with four hours and eighteen minutes until lunch.

Tonight I'm going to a St. Patrick's Day dinner at the Mission with Buebbles and Helen. It's not the kind of thing that I would normally find myself tempted to do--I'm antisocial, after all--but they were kind to invite me and Matt (they didn't realize Matt wouldn't be here), and I don't much like cooking for myself. This way I'll pay $5 and not have to, which seems worth it to me.

Ah, four hours and seven minutes until lunch. Who knew it would take me eleven minutes to write this short post?

And now it's Monday.

I'm sure you're all dying to know how my shopping trip went, and I'm disappointed to report that it didn't go all that well. I found absolutely nothing, but Matt found a jacket and a shirt for his job talk, both of which look quite nice on him. I have to admit that I didn't try too hard to look for suits. The really pretty ones at Ann Taylor were ~ $300, and the ones on sale at Robinsons May made me look like a little kid dressing up in my mother's nun costumes. (No, to my knowledge, my mother does not own a nun costume.) So I think I will stick with the one that Meagan has offered me. Based upon what I tried on, I'm sure it will fit. And I think that's all the news for now.

Well, it's Friday.

And somehow I feel like that entitles me not to work. At all. And Jess is off to Washington for the weekend, so she isn't around to email chat, which is how I spend most of the non-working hours of most days.

Today is feeling particularly long because I'm excited about the weekend. My plans are to finish up the layout for the newsletter that I edit, work on my issue brief and shop for vacation clothes. I might find something to wear for my interview, but Meagan has a suit that she has offered to lend me for the occasion. I'm just slightly worried that I'll get there and find that it doesn't fit or looks horrible, in which case I'll wish that I had bought something to wear. But I am arriving more than a week before the interview, so if it comes down to it, I can probably find something to wear in D.C., where I assume the shopping options are more plentiful than they are in Santa Barbara. Here, I think I'm limited to Ann Taylor, which is a nice store, but if they don't have what I want, I might be in trouble. We'll see.

As for the interview itself, I'm a little nervous, but I think it will be all right. They sent a list of example issues that I can choose from for my brief, but I think I will make up my own. What worries me the most is that the committee is choosing a topic to ask all the finalists about, and I'm afraid that they will come up with something that I've never heard of. So I'm taking the next week to read up on all science policy topics that I can think of, especially those that have been in the news recently and pertain to physics. This is the part about giving talks that always scares me--the idea that somebody will ask a question that I absolutely cannot address. That actually happened at last year's APS March Meeting. I didn't feel too upset about it because I didn't think the question was particularly relevant, but it was the only question that I got. What that says about my research, I don't know, but I'm beyond caring at this point. (Except, of course, that I'm still addressing referees' comments on research that I did four years ago, but that's an entirely different topic of discussion.) Anyway, the interview. I'm supposed to give a ten-minute presentation on my brief issue. I asked the program coordinator if I'm supposed to prepare transparencies and the answer is no. They're trying to make the interview experience representative of the actual job, and apparently Fellows rarely get much time to research what they present, and they never have time to prepare slides. I was not surprised to hear that because I watch the West Wing. I know what it's like. You dress well, think fast and talk faster.

I just thought of something.

It might be kind of awkward to explain to the interview committee that I'd really prefer for them to call me Crap Bag.

I'm a finalist, I'm a finalist!

Yay! I'm going to Washington, DC and the American Physical Society is paying for it! Yay! I have to prepare a "one-page issue brief such as a Fellow might be expected to prepare for a Member of Congress." Any suggestions?

So, this is the first weekend that has passed since I started this blog. Am I supposed to write some sort of recap? I'm feeling the pressure since Jess advertised me in today's entry of her blog. But as she pointed out, my style is different from hers. I don't have a blogging groove yet, and maybe I never will. For now I write things that either amuse me (like CNN's grammar blunder) or that I would tell a whole bunch of my friends about anyway (like a bird pooping on my head on my way to Rob Gym). I'm definitely more shy than my brilliant and beautiful sister Meagan is, especially since I know that actual grownups read this blog, but I suppose I could change.

But anyway, here's the thing: I have friends and family who live very far away from me, and these days, most of what I know about them I know from reading their blogs or journals or webpages or whatever they call them. And sometimes I do things or think things all the way out here in California that make me particularly happy or sad and I wish that these people were here to share the experiences. For example, Matt and I made this amazingly incredible pizza this weekend, and as I sprinkled the olives on top all I could think about was how much I couldn't wait to make this pizza for my parents because I think they'd really like it. Now that 's kind of a bad example because I can't share a pizza through the internet, but you get the idea. I can share the story about the pizza. (Not that it's an interesting story, of course.)

And here's another thing: I really, really, really like to write. I like it better than most things that I do. I think I might like it better than all things that I do, but I'm not sure--I do watch quite a lot of E!, after all. So I'm giving it a shot. I can't promise to update as faithfully as Jess and Meagan do theirs, and I certainly can't promise a lot of substance. I'll tell you what I can promise, though--appropriate use of the words "this" and "which."

Sooooo, here's the weekend recap: It was another gorgeous, awe-inspiring Santa Barbara weekend. We slept late on Saturday, made blueberry pancakes for breakfast, went hiking in the afternoon, made pizza for dinner, watched LA Story and went to bed early. As a result, I was up this morning before 7:30, something that never happens on a weekend. And as a result, I'm really tired. And although I can't begin to tell you how much I dread the start of a new work week, I hear Matt setting the alarm clock, and I'm going to bed.

Comments?

Due to popular demand, I have added comments to this page. I think they work. Actually, I have no idea if they work. It seems a little bit like voodoo to me, this "paste the code between this thing and that thing" stuff. I'll check.

Aw, hell. Don't even bother with the CNN link. They already fixed it, those consummate professionals. It used to say, "NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - A jury found Martha Stewart guilty on all four counts against her in her obstruction of justice trial Friday and is expected to serve prison time."

Big News!!

All the information you need is in the first paragraph. They're sending the jury to prison! As Jess pointed out, you don't mess with Martha.

Last night I watched the Friends episode that I taped last Thursday. Would you all please call me Crap Bag from now on?

Finally, something that I consider officially blog-worthy happened to me. And let me tell you, it was disgusting. I was walking to pilates, completely minding my own business, when a nut fell from a tree and landed on my head. Either a philosopher or statistician (I'm not sure which) at heart, I marveled at the chances of that one nut falling from that one tree and landing directly on top of my head as I happened to walk by. Then I stopped and considered the circumstances more carefully.

There was no tree nearby.

Awestruck, I marveled that that one nut fell from no tree and landed directly on top of my head as I happened to walk by. Then reality started to surface, and I ran my hand through my hair. It was sticky. I never saw the hideous creature, but it left its mark--a mark that persists even though I rinsed my head in the bathroom sink before pilates. I'm going home to take a shower.