behind the watershed

The last 10 days or so has definitely been a watershed period in my life. It started with attending a retreat put on by the Woodhull Institute (www.woodhull.org) for young women in ethical leadership. Though there's certainly a lot I could share about my experience that weekend, I will keep it short and say that I was forced to deal with things I'd put aside for sanity's sake -- like reflecting on the three years I worked with UCSA -- and I met some truly amazing and inspiring women. I then had to return to the lab and write a "progress" report for my fellowship (I am particularly proud of my carefully crafted phrase: "The locus for my gene of interest is apparently resistant to standard molecular cloning techniques" or something like that), due at Fort Detrick Tuesday at 2:00 p.m. - gulp. The next morning I presented my research -- focusing on the positives -- for a mammary gland group here at UCSF and received wonderful feedback, interesting questions, and a new perspective on my project. That night, little brother's band performed and I drank a few too many vodka collinses. Ah well...visit You Tube for a low-tech clip of Goodbye Matt's take on an ol' favorite, dedicated to Dani for her birthday.

The next night, I hung with Chris and the lovely woman he's dating at the Warriors v. T-Wolves game...hardly invigorating game-wise but it was nice to spend some "down time" with the little bro after the frenetic show the previous night. Friday I drove down to San Jose for Korean food with Hannah and friends (fantastic tubu and kimchee) and to see "V for Vendetta". I have to say all the "current administration parallels and endorsement of terrorism" hype is, in my humble opinion, way overdone. I did enjoy the movie, though; its blatant (and some more subtle) references to one of my favorite works of childhood, "The Count of Monte Cristo", were appealing and the performances well-executed (in particular I have renewed love for Stephen Rea). I saw it more as a cautionary tale along the lines of "1984" with a splash of "12 Monkeys" and even "The Phantom of the Opera".

Off and on these last several days I've been aiding Hannah in pre-wedding planning -- humorous attempts at cake decorating and wedding band buying and such. And as my clones are wending their way towards Davis to be karyotyped (analysis of chromosome number), I am attacking my lab work with a new vigor; alas, jaded soul that I am, I know that can't last....