no surprise here

it's no surprise that i suck at blogging. huge, major life events, and i haven't taken the time to document them.

- my first first-author paper (aka my ticket out of grad school): rewriting it, resubmitting it, it getting accepted, going through the proofs. most of this sucked. the only good feeling was hitting the "submit" button, and seeing my name in "print". the rest, sucked. i am not completely happy with how it turned out; i guess that's the perfectionist in me. it was a struggle with my adviser on how to rewrite it; i won some battles, he won others. he probably does know best... still attempting to write up a second paper...but that's been hard.

- giving my first talk at a conference (during the super bowl!): realizing i was giving it only a week before, practicing like crazy, being super nervous, getting some stupid questions, but overall doing a good job. way more rewarding than writing the paper. i didn't handle ALL of the questions well -- didn't realize how hard/impossible it is to prepare for them (i guess all you can do is just know your project really really well) & how unpredictable they can be -- i got one two days after my talk that i totally bombed. argh, oh well.

(aside: both of these experiences, plus witnessing many of my friends defend recently, have colored my perspective on academia. I'm still leaning towards doing a post-doc, but i am still not convinced i am "cut out" for being a professor: i have a hard time taking criticism; my motivation waxes & wanes more than i feel it should; i still don't feel like i see the "bigger picture" well enough (that's where not handling the questions well comes in); the competitive aspect of it could be overwhelming. besides, i enjoy free time, weekends, relaxing evenings -- i.e. a lifestyle that is not compatible with academia. i just don't think i want it badly enough. sigh. we'll see...but i feel like that's what i've been saying for months...time to make a decision already!)

- being elected captain of Slow White. still hasn't quite sunk in, since frisbee isn't really in-season. but we're gearing up to recruit and are starting a fitness program, so it'll all become real soon enough. i'm have some trepidations of the increased pressure this will put on me (at least, that i'll put on myself), but i am trying to see this as (1) a great opportunity to develop my leadership skills, (2) a natural progression of my role on the team. i've already been a leader; this is just putting a more formal title on it. besides, i still have sean & frank as my support team :)

other not-so-major things, but important things nonetheless:
- being named Regional Coordinator of the Year for College Women's
- being told my old car is dying (more on that later, hopefully)
- deciding to buy my friend Shannon's car

other not-really major, but still memorable:
- lei-out 2008 with hurt locker. i am sold on southern CA weather in january. also sold on how awesome everyone on the team is: andrew brown (AMAZING ultimate player and hilarious when drunk), ryan carrington (like a big, friendly, loud teddy bear), tyson park (possibly the angriest asian i've ever met), hector valdivia, adam "chicken" simon (i was so excited he remembered who i was from nationals!), josh "richter" ackley, ted tripoli, anna schott, georgia & anne bosscher, betsy calkins, lori nacious (coolest last name ever), and sam kennedy (when he wasn't working the VC tent). i hope to make lei out an annual trek. especially if i get invited back to teddy's dad's house & their hot-tub...

- february b-day party. i was very proud of how i managed my alcohol consumption. i was coherent enough to have meaningful conversations with several groups of people i don't normally get to chat with....and then i passed out. perfect evening.

that's about it. i'm sure i'm forgetting some things, but the benefit of only blogging once every 3 months is that you really focus on the major things :)