The Number One Stunna (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} exknowswhy) wrote,@ 2009-01-01 21:25:00 |
|
2008 in Review
I'll start off by saying that 2008 wasn't horrible but it wasn't great either...
In the start of 2008, things seemed to be going pretty well- I was teaching Intro Bio lab and enjoying it and putting my dissertation proposal together. I really liked my peer teachers and we got along really well. I managed to find somewhere to put my experimental plots and things seemed to be proceeding as they should. We interviewed the potential grad students and it was pretty low key. Things in the lab were also very slow as my PI was on leave and not around a lot.
In the spring, I started to try to germinate my seeds for Diodia teres. I gave my first EEBio presentation. I also started to look for a new room mate. This is probably where things started going downhill. I didn't do well on my orals. My seeds didn't germinate at all. I had to re-design my summer experiment from almost scratch. The only bright spots were teaching and doing the rare grad student activity. LED and I did get elected to be GSPA co-presidents so that was sort of nice but ultimately led to more work for me in the end.
The summer was a series of ups and downs. I would work long days in the sun for my field work on some days and have little to do on other days. I would return to Charlottesville on some days and just recover and try to collect my thoughts. I enjoyed my time at the research station but I bounced back and forth so often that it made me quite tired of driving and not staying in one spot for more than a few days at a time. I spent time trying to think about other systems to use and work with and had to re-evaluate my research questions. I listened to a lot of pop music on the radio. I had a relatively nice but chill birthday. I had a nice time during the last summer session when my lab mate and other grad students were taking classes at the station. My new room mate moved in.
Things went up and down until the end of the year. I lost a lot of sleep and productivity worrying and thinking about my research proposal. I would say that it was by far, the most anxious I have ever been and it was extremely nerve wracking. I ended up giving a second EEBio in the fall and outlined my new study species and re-focused research questions. I didn't TA this semester as I was trying to concentrate on my research. LED told me that she was leaving the program in the spring (very sad). AB and I became friends and then neighbors (very fun). We celebrated MA's 30th birthday. I spent Thanksgiving with David and his family which was very nice. I returned to CA and visited family and friends.
Albums that I enjoyed in 2008 includes CDs by:
Taylor Swift, Josh Radin, TI, Marie Digby, and Lesley Roy.
I will admit that I enjoyed Chris Brown's song 'Forever' and anything by Katy Perry. And Bleeding Love. I did purchase the Lil Wayne album and I'm still not convinced of its apparent greatness.
Secret Invasion concluded in 2008 and it was so so. The Inhumans tie-in was quite good though. I haven't really enjoyed Final Crisis that much. Runaways started the 3rd volume and has been meh so far. I thought the end of Astonishing X-men was OK. I really liked The End League but it comes out so infrequently, it makes me sad. The New Krypton arc in Superman land has been good in my opinion and it seems DC may be putting Supergirl back on the right track. Ms Marvel was not too bad this year and continued to have great covers.
I won 2 out of 3 fantasy football leagues. I did very well in my 2 baseball leagues but didn't win any of them. I am currently past the 20th year in my dynasty mode in Madden 2006. I am currently working on FFXII with Wii games and Kingdom Hearts I and II next in line. I nearly finished a few MTG sets and started to play competitively a bit.
The financial markets crashed and what money I had in stocks plummeted. Luckily, I don't need the money for another, oh... 45 years probably?
All in all, it was a long, stressful year. It was full of ups but probably more downs. However, things seemed to stabilize a bit at the end of the year so heres to hoping that things continue in that fashion. 2009- lets be better than 2008.
I'll start off by saying that 2008 wasn't horrible but it wasn't great either...
In the start of 2008, things seemed to be going pretty well- I was teaching Intro Bio lab and enjoying it and putting my dissertation proposal together. I really liked my peer teachers and we got along really well. I managed to find somewhere to put my experimental plots and things seemed to be proceeding as they should. We interviewed the potential grad students and it was pretty low key. Things in the lab were also very slow as my PI was on leave and not around a lot.
In the spring, I started to try to germinate my seeds for Diodia teres. I gave my first EEBio presentation. I also started to look for a new room mate. This is probably where things started going downhill. I didn't do well on my orals. My seeds didn't germinate at all. I had to re-design my summer experiment from almost scratch. The only bright spots were teaching and doing the rare grad student activity. LED and I did get elected to be GSPA co-presidents so that was sort of nice but ultimately led to more work for me in the end.
The summer was a series of ups and downs. I would work long days in the sun for my field work on some days and have little to do on other days. I would return to Charlottesville on some days and just recover and try to collect my thoughts. I enjoyed my time at the research station but I bounced back and forth so often that it made me quite tired of driving and not staying in one spot for more than a few days at a time. I spent time trying to think about other systems to use and work with and had to re-evaluate my research questions. I listened to a lot of pop music on the radio. I had a relatively nice but chill birthday. I had a nice time during the last summer session when my lab mate and other grad students were taking classes at the station. My new room mate moved in.
Things went up and down until the end of the year. I lost a lot of sleep and productivity worrying and thinking about my research proposal. I would say that it was by far, the most anxious I have ever been and it was extremely nerve wracking. I ended up giving a second EEBio in the fall and outlined my new study species and re-focused research questions. I didn't TA this semester as I was trying to concentrate on my research. LED told me that she was leaving the program in the spring (very sad). AB and I became friends and then neighbors (very fun). We celebrated MA's 30th birthday. I spent Thanksgiving with David and his family which was very nice. I returned to CA and visited family and friends.
Albums that I enjoyed in 2008 includes CDs by:
Taylor Swift, Josh Radin, TI, Marie Digby, and Lesley Roy.
I will admit that I enjoyed Chris Brown's song 'Forever' and anything by Katy Perry. And Bleeding Love. I did purchase the Lil Wayne album and I'm still not convinced of its apparent greatness.
Secret Invasion concluded in 2008 and it was so so. The Inhumans tie-in was quite good though. I haven't really enjoyed Final Crisis that much. Runaways started the 3rd volume and has been meh so far. I thought the end of Astonishing X-men was OK. I really liked The End League but it comes out so infrequently, it makes me sad. The New Krypton arc in Superman land has been good in my opinion and it seems DC may be putting Supergirl back on the right track. Ms Marvel was not too bad this year and continued to have great covers.
I won 2 out of 3 fantasy football leagues. I did very well in my 2 baseball leagues but didn't win any of them. I am currently past the 20th year in my dynasty mode in Madden 2006. I am currently working on FFXII with Wii games and Kingdom Hearts I and II next in line. I nearly finished a few MTG sets and started to play competitively a bit.
The financial markets crashed and what money I had in stocks plummeted. Luckily, I don't need the money for another, oh... 45 years probably?
All in all, it was a long, stressful year. It was full of ups but probably more downs. However, things seemed to stabilize a bit at the end of the year so heres to hoping that things continue in that fashion. 2009- lets be better than 2008.
