Baby!

Well, I finally passed that space on the board where you get kids (or was it a card you draw?). Anyway, I have a baby girl now! She and her Mom are doing very well, and we are all adjust to getting sleep when she decides that we can. For now, we're doing pretty well, actually, and I am only moderately groggy at work. I am back in my office for 4-6 hours a day, and I work at home at least one day a week, for now. This helps K to not get too cagey, I think. She is not working yet, but will return in October.

OK, that's about what is going on here. More from me later!

It's Pop-O-Matic

Wow. Well, just yesterday I wrote about not getting a job, but still having hope for NIH funding. Today, however, the score for my grant came in, and it is clear that my hopes for funding are quite deceased for this granting period. I will not gain funding from NIH before the money in the lab here expires (since it takes so long to get reviewed and all). I will re-apply in the fall for the job at The University, and for the NIH grant. I will also keep applying for other grants and professorships. I think, though, that I'm starting to smell a second post-doc, unless my Principle Investigator (read: my boss) gets her grant funded. Then all will be well for a few years, giving me time to work in a protected environment, publish papers, and apply for jobs. Publishing.. yeah..

back to work

The verdict is in...

I knew that today was going to be a big day. It's been on my mind all weekend that today two separate groups of people would make decisions that would affect my career. I have already heard from one of them: The University will not be offering me the position. They didn't hire anyone for the job, though, and I was encouraged to re-apply in a few months after I have had a little more time in my post-doc (I have only done 3 years, and standard these days is, unfortunately, closer to 5). That stinks, but... well.. that's life. I'll try again when they re-open the position.

The other group considering my fate today is the National Institutes of Health (NIH). They are deciding whether to give me the $1 million (roughly) that I asked them for (I asked nicely), which would get me through the next 5 yrs with flying colors. I won't hear anything at all from them until Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.

So no stress.

Oh yeah, the baby is fine, too, and will come any time in the next 3-5 weeks.

Again, no stress here.

Oh well, it will all be OK, somehow, just like it always has been. Sooner or later.

Playing the waiting game

"Awww, the Waiting Game sucks.

Let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos." - Homer Simpson

As Tom Petty once sang, "the waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa-ayy-ting is the hardest part." Of course, he is correct. He is always correct. Especially in this case.

I am still waiting to hear from The University. I called today and touched base with the chair of the search committee in an effort to remain in their collective consciousness, and to make certain that they understand that I am still interested in the position. The Search Chair is a very kind guy, and he simply told me that he can't say anything until next week, when the person who runs the dept returns from vacation. I choose to take this as a good sign, as I think that they would tell me if they were no longer interested.

It's time to "chillax," though (as "the kids" around here say), and play it cool. I've done what I can now, and I will just wait... somewhat patiently... until I hear a yay or nay.

Back to life. Back to reality.

Well, I am back safely in Chicagoland. The interview went quite well, and I have been told that I am "a very strong candidate for the position." I'll keep you posted.

Busy bee

I have been incredibly busy lately managing travel with K, work on a couple of manuscripts, childbirth classes, taking care of the house, and preparing for my day-long interview tomorrow in Wisconsin (for the assistant prof position that I mentioned before). I am a little stressed about the interview, but I know that I have spent a lot of time preparing, and that I will be able to remain composed throughout while providing good answers and asking good questions. I am spending the night there tonight, so I will leave the lab soon to go home and pack for my journey. I'll be sure to let everyone know when something becomes official (either an official yes or... not).

Changes drive life

DANGER: RISKY POST AHEAD

Christy inspired me to write a bit about myself and reflect on how I am different from when she knew me well.

LGHS and Undergrad:

My late teens and early twenties were much the same, so I will discuss them together. I was, of course, raised in rural Polk County, FL. There, I learned that the world was in black and white. Absolutes prevail. Right? I sure thought so. I was confident in what I believed would save me from my evil self. Since my childhood and adolescence was pretty... dark (I suppose), thanks to the death of my mother and other family and social challenges, I really counted on my strict religion and "faith" (actually, most of it was dogmatic legalism) to find my self worth and elevate myself above others. This pattern of external validation continued for a long time, including into my Florida marriage (which began when I was 23).

After that:

Around 24 or 25, while I was in grad school working on my MS, my inability to use my will to control what happened in my life became more and more evident. I flailed madly, trying desperately to make things work on many levels; trying to be a good husband, grad student, "christian man," etc. I put a huge amount of pressure on myself (and had some help from a lot of other people) to keep everything going "the way it should." That didn't work for very long.

The Break:

In 2002, I experienced a pretty big life crisis, I guess. In the course of a year or so, I had to accept a lot of things about me and my marriage and religion and my family and... The list continues. I faced what had been building my entire life. I broke under the weight of it all. I punished myself for letting me down. It was ugly. Things had to change if I was going to be healthy.

Rebuilding:

After the break, I entered a healing period, during which my then-wife and I faced the facts and decided to go our own ways (we had already done it emotionally years before that). During my "rebuilding" bachelor phase, I finished my PhD and moved to Chicago, where I continued to rebuild and bach for a couple of years, gaining strength and self confidence (thanks to therapy). I suppose it was also a time of "de-programming" and learning to live outside of the dysfunction I had created in concert with my religious and social background. Learning to be healthy again. It took.

Now:

About a year ago, I got married to a wonderful woman from the Chicago area. She gets me. It's Ok that I'm who I am. I am much more world wise and much less willing to try to force things to go the way that I (or anyone else) thinks that they should. I do what I think is right, and I live ethically. I enjoy my work in Neuroscience, and I hope to have a career as tenure-track faculty somewhere. I will be a father very very soon (which is very exciting!). This will change things, too, and I welcome it, even though I used to fear change.

In the last few years, I have begun to feel that I have a new chance to live my life. I try to live day to day, without imposing too many plans for the future (aside from planning for retirement and whatnot). As far as religion: well, I am certainly not a christian (Kathy, my wife, is, although her Lutheranism is quite different from what I had constructed as Christianity, which was a fusion of Southern Baptist, AOG, Non-denom Megachurch-ism, Methodism, and who knows what else). God? I don't think that there is one (for many many reasons), but I certainly can't be positive, which makes me an agnostic. I love to read Buddhist and Taoist texts and I practice Zen meditation, although I am not a strict adherent of Zen (I like beer). In short, I take care of my mind, body, and spirit in ways that work for me. I am most interested in persuing social justice, equality, and personal health.

I am very excited about my future. Things are going very well for me, and, most importantly, I am much much more healthy in every way. I will see where this journey takes me, and I will enjoy the things that I think are important without trying to force things. I am already living this way, although I still face struggles from time to time when "old Joe" shows up. Those times are becoming fewer, though.

----------------------

Well there it is. I have avoided divulging this information for a while because I wasn't sure whether I would be accepted. I have finally conquered that small fear, though, and I am willing to just be who I am despite the risks.

The next step

The phone interview seemed to go well, and it's clear that I fit the description of the person for whom they are looking. It seems likely that I will be invited to the campus to give a talk about my research and have several interviews with members of the search committee. While there, I will also have a chance to ask hard-hitting questions of my own, evaluate the lab and office space, request startup funds to get my lab running (which are standard and these days get up to $250,000+), and survey their crops of grad students.

Timing is a bit of a problem, since they are looking for someone to start in the Fall term (late August!), which is inconvenient for many reasons... Anyway, we have decided to not worry about it and just go with it for now to see what pans out. One good thing is that the search committee realizes that they are asking a lot of someone to start in a couple of months, so there should be some flexibility on their part.

Interview with the Tower

Folks, the ivory tower is not just an obscure "progressive metal" band (thank you, Google, for enlightening me and providing the cover of their 1998 album, seen at left). It's also a pejorative term for the academic way of life. I hope to one day be in the tower for good.

Today (in a few minutes) will be my closest brush so far with securing a tenure-track job in academia. A medium-sized University in the Midwest is looking to hire someone like me, and the chair of the search committee will be calling this morning to conduct a phone interview with me. I anticipate that this could lead to an invitation for a more formal interview on campus, but that's getting ahead.

So, I'm sitting here, waiting, not drinking too much caffeine, putting off some things that I would like to get done today (including a long drive to pick up the poster that I had printed for tomorrow's local conference), getting ready to take notes, composing my questions for the chair, and wondering how things will turn out. I'm pretty sure that I will eventually find a position, but precisely how is one of those things which is incalculable. I will simply have to wait and see. A phone interview, though, is a good start.

Goings on

Last week K had to fly to Kentucky for work, so I drove down and met her at my sister's house in Lexington. K had never been there and it had been 3 years since my last visit. We had a really nice time, despite the fact that the weather kept us holed up in the house most of the day on Saturday. We did get a chance to drive around a look at the UK hospital facilities, just in case I want to apply there some day. They seem to have a really nice setup. It was very nice to see her and my bro-in-law Russ and nephew Josh (who is now saying he wants to be a scientist "like Uncle Joe," which is somewhat humorous because his father is also a scientist, just not a natural scientist). Josh and I spent some quality time gazing at microscope slides and playing Chronicles of Narnia on PS2 while trying to not let their big dogs eat my little dog, and we all watched the Kentucky Derby together, complete with mint juleps (above).

K and I got up and left KY very early yesterday for our long drive (around 5:30am their time, which is 4:30am in Chicago) so that we could make it back in time to use our tickets for the early afternoon Cubs game yesterday. What a great game! Well, it was mediocre until the bottom of the 9th, but it was great from there on out. Anyway, my sister gave us quite a few things that were left over from her baby (now a 7yo) to bring home with us to use, like a family heirloom bassinet and child's rocking chair, both of which need a new coat of paint and some minor structural love. In addition, they gave us some nice things that will definitely come in handy (bibs, diapering-accessories, etc.).

It has been a busy past week here in the lab as I get ready to submit my abstract for our society's annual meeting (in San Diego this year). I also have a poster to make/print before this Friday for a local conference, so I am collating and analyzing my data to determine what I know and what I know I don't know. So that's fun. It's all good work toward my next 1st author paper, which wants to go out soon, too. Busy is good.

Track Marks

Yesterday I tried something that I've always been afraid of but intrigued by. Other people do it all the time and survive, so how could it hurt to just take a little taste? Many of them are hooked on the sweet sweet drug that is: jogging. Yesterday evening I jogged/ran for the first time since my high school gym class. It was too nice to work out inside last night on the elliptical, so I just had to go outside and indulge my curiosity. I do the usual 30 minutes on the elliptical at least twice a week, but running on the track at one of the Universities by my house last night was way more challenging and more entertaining, though I can watch Cops in the gym while I work out. Anyway, I made it much farther than I thought I might before I had to shift over to a walk: just over 2 miles. I walked about another 1/2 mile to cool down. I am sore today, but I think I may try it again tonight, just to see if I can hack it. One of my buddies from work may join me, as he lives only a few blocks away, too. I usually only run when there is a point (like soccer or football or whatever team sport I am playing at the time), or when chased, but that may change.

It's nice to be forming these healthy individual sport habits. I hope that I can make this one stick. It's easy for me to get motivated to get out of the house and work out in the Spring/Summer, but once the gloom of winter rolls around, I get all broody and stay in the basement until it's time to play Vball or softball with my team of friends. I hope that next Fall/Winter will be different and that I can stay motivated to use the elliptical more often (maybe three times a week). For now, though, I'll enjoy exercising in the sunshine.

Spring

Wow, it is really nice to be in Chicago in the Spring. Summer and Winter really bite, but Spring and Fall are great.

Work is going well. I have been working for a couple of years now to collect data for my main project, and that is all finally coming to a head right now. In the next few weeks, I anticipate completely wrapping this project up and sending out a first author manuscript. I'll update as this progresses.

Great news: I bought a tenor banjo this week! I traded a guitar and fiddle plus a little cash for my new c. 1930 Ludwig Dixie tenor banjo. I ordered some new strings yesterday which I think will really add to the sound, but it plays fine already. Good times! K is thrilled.

Volleyball season is back up and running. We are doing much better so far this season compared to the last one. Most importantly, we have fun and don't get too testy on the court (usually). Softball will also be starting soon (May sometime). Did I mention that Spring is great here?

Not much else going on. I hope all of my friends are well.

Chaos

I haven't posted in a while because things don't seem to be postworthy lately. That is to say that all recent happenings have maintained a status equal to or less than "unremarkable." I think it's important to post regularly, though, so I will just post random thoughts, I guess. You may not notice any difference.

We are having a late snow storm here in Chicago, but the weather is just warm enough to keep it from stacking up. It's not that odd to see snow in April, I think, but the volume has been surprising people. No worries, though. My tomato seeds are happily germinating in the basement, next to the water heater, and should be ready to move to peat pellets soon. Since I have so little yard space (about enough room for an adult snow angel), I will gardening in containers this year. As a result, I have chosen some small heirloom tomato varieties from Victory Seeds. I will post photos of the plants and their fruit as the summer comes and goes, assuming I can get them to work (should be fine).

Nothing new at work, aside from my data, which I won't relay here, as it is not of general interest. I'll save it for the journals. I am still trying to guess what may happen to me after my time in this lab ends (in a year, unless something changes $$$-wise). Toward that end, I am applying for all of the jobs in the Midwest that I think I can compete for, and some that I know I can't. Can't hurt to try. I have been invited for precisely 0 interviews, but that's OK . . . for now. Something will give eventually, if I keep trying. I hope.

Tonight is the second game in my team's Volleyball season. We try to play something all the time, and this Vball season will carry us into the softball season. It's a nice pastime, and it gets me out of K's hair at least one night per week. She is a person who recharges during "alone time," unlike me. I'm more gregarious and draw energy from being around other people. I also enjoy doing things alone, but I have the most fun hanging with friends. Anyway, we are out to win second match in a row, which we have never done. Could be a big night!

Here's hoping.

It's great... to be... a Florida Gator!

Back in "The Land of Lincoln"

We are safely back in Lincoln's stomping ground now. We had a great time in Florida, which always seems to happen, despite my reservations. Below are several photos covering the highlights of our trip. They are presented in no particular order due to this site's inane embedding. Click for larger images.

Tigers vs. Braves at Joker Marchant Stadium

It was great to be outside in Florida watching baseball. We got to see Kenny Rogers pitch (no jokes here). He is now on the DL.

Gators jockey for food at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm

The last thing that we did before leaving St. Augustine was to check out the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. I had been there before, but K had not, and this is the only place in the US to see all 23 extant species of crocodilians, so I wasn't about to let her miss this chance. Here, a curator is feeding alligators in the large swamp area of the farm.

Holler Fountain at Stetson University

While driving from my home town to St. Augustine, I intentionally included DeLand so that I could show K my alma mater. Coincidentally, it was Homecoming Weekend. We missed all of the festivities, however, as we didn't get into town until Sunday afternoon.

Yo Ho, a pirate's life for Joe

Here I am helping to raise the Mainsail on a Schooner. We took a short cruise down the river in St. Augustine while we were there. I highly recommend it. We saw dolphins. Note: On closer inspection, I see that this photo highlights that I am losing my hair.

Cannon Face at Castillo De San Marcos in St. Augustine
We also hit up the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument while in St. Augustine. This is a photo of a face on a canon.

A seemingly content American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) at the S.A. Alligator Farm
A happy croc.

There were other highlights on our trip, like having dinner with our good friends Mike and Robin on quick swing through Gainesville. It was great to see them and spend some time catching up!

Overall, it was a very relaxing vacation.

Back to work!

Florida bound

Well, it's time for a pilgrimage to Polk County (tomorrow). K and I figured that we should get down there one last time before the baby comes so that we can visit family and relax a bit. This is our first trip since our honeymoon last June.

I always fear going home and seeing all of the changes. There are several Floridas, if you will. The urban Florida is the most familiar to people not from Florida. Midwesterners (and Europeans that I have met) think that Florida is all Miami Vice, all the time. Either that or Disney, which I will place in this category.

The next Florida is the retirement community. Places like Sun City and The Villages (the mention of which causes me to think of the M. Night Shyamalan film with a similar name) are just larger versions of the retirement trailer parks I grew up around. These places spring up because of Florida's poor decision to not charge income tax. Their increasing popularity highlights the decline of MY favorite Florida, which is:

Agricultural/Natural Florida: I put these two together because they are often contiguous. These Floridas are located in the middle of the State, where land prices are lower (as are education levels, income, public health, life expectancy, etc). I spent my happiest times in this Florida. I loved roaming the marshes, cypress swamps, lakes, scrub, pine uplands, and oak hammocks of wild Florida. Unfortunately, these areas are being destroyed at a stupefying rate. Farming in Florida has been a good thing for the environment in some cases (cattle ranching, for instance), and a very, very bad thing in others (South Florida Sugar, I am glaring directly at you on this point, jerks). Oranges are honestly on the "sugar" side, because the construction of groves destroys natural Florida, but they are not quite as bad. They are disappearing, though, and being replaced by houses, which is far worse than the groves.

It is this conflict between my love for natural Florida habitat and my inability to do anything about its destruction and poisoning that make it so easy for me to not live there any more. Also, it is this conflict that makes me cringe when I think about visiting Polk County and Orange County and Dade County and Palm Beach County and Pasco County and Volusia County and Hernando County and . . . etc.

Anyway... Less rant, more trip info. OK. Breathing deeply. Serenity now.

While in Florida, we will drive up to St. Augustine for a few days. K has never been there, and it's one of my favorite cities in Florida. On the way, we will pass through DeLand/Daytona, and then follow A1A all the way up the coast so that K can see some of what the beach looks like without huge hotels on it. Yet.

Anyway, as you can tell, I am always reluctant to go to Florida, for many reasons (I'm not even going to go into the politics and religion of the region, other than to say that our presence there will at least double or triple the number of Buddhist/agnostic scientists and Lutheran nonprofit fundraisers; the county's political "color" will shift to a slightly bluer shade of red for a bit, although two can only do so much), but I always enjoy my time there, seeing things and people that just can't be seen anywhere else. Better take it all in while it's still there.

I'll be sure to post pictures on my return.

Back from the maze

Having slain my Minotaur, I now return from the NIH's labyrinth, triumphant... for now. I won't hear anything back regarding the merit of my grant proposal for at least 3 months. In the mean time, it's best to just forget it and move on, I think. The same with the grant I wrote for my boss. It's out, and now we're playing the waiting game, which is way less fun than, say, Hungry Hungry Hippos.

My brain is not quite back to normal, yet, but it is getting there. I plan making blog posts more often now that my time will be more normally used (I didn't work either Saturday or Sunday this weekend! This is the first time in months that this statement can be made).

A life's end

Well, K's grandpa passed away today. He was 100 years old. K and I heard he wasn't feeling well and went to see him on Sunday during our trip home from the Twin Cities. Not exactly a direct route, but now we are very glad that we did so that he got to see Kathy while she is pregnant (and now showing some). He was a little sleepy when we were there, but he definitely knew us. He was sharp as a tack right up to then end, although I hear he did a lot of sleeping during his last day or so, due to the pneumonia. He was a farmer for his entire life.

I asked him Sunday if he missed his farm; if he missed his pigs. He said "Oh yes, I miss a lot of things." Even though I don't believe in a religious-themed afterlife, at times like this, it's nice to think he's out there somewhere with his pigs.

Joe in the house

I am in the house today. No, really. I am working at home. I have been doing this for a few days now (actually, I should say weekdays, as I have been in the lab on the last two weekends). The idea is to avoid interruptions from the otherwise fine people at work. I get way more done here, but it is a bit isolating, as I am a very social person by nature. Really. Anyway, it's just me and the K9 unit and the cat and Sergei Prokofiev in the basement, hacking out an NIH grant (two, really) for a March 5 (and 12) deadline. Also, we are washing clothes, burning incense, and thinking about lunch.

Kathy is travelling for work, which she does about 30%-40% of the time. She was in Baltimore this week (still is) and last week was South Car'lina. This coming weekend we are heading to Minneapolis (first time! yay! Wait.. it's colder there than here.) to see the Minneapolis Opera's production of a new opera: The Grapes of Wrath. Our friend is an administrator with the opera, so we scored sweet tickets. In the back.

Snowing here today. We are supposed to get somewhere between 2" (which we already have) and 12". Kathy is supposed to be coming home tonight, but we shall see if her airplane stays on schedule. Her birthday was yesterday, so it will be nice to have her home and take her out to celebrate tomorrow night (reservations as the French bistro a bit down the road).

Ok, I feel like I have talked to someone now and I will return to typing for the seeming entertainment of my mammalian menagerie.

Clearly cold

Today is a clear, sunny, freezing day in Chicago. Right now, my thermometer says -3 degrees (F). Coupling that with the wind, it feels like -15 or so outside. You know, I never had this problem in Florida. I'll be sure to cover all of my skin, except, perhaps, my eyeballs, as I find those useful for navigation.

All is well in the lab, aside from pushing like crazy for two grant deadlines (have I mentioned that?) which are coming up in March. I am on my way in this morning to meet with my mentor regarding one grant (her grant), which she is too busy to work on much during the week.

Chicago is all excited about the Super Bowl, which is happening this evening in Miami (Bears vs. Colts, in case you've been under a rock for the last month or so). People here who normally don't care about anything regarding football are now rabid Bears fans. I'm sure the same is true in Indiana. I won't get started on how we're only interested in these competitions because they mimic war (of which we have way too much already). I'll just take a chill pill, metaphorically, and sidle up to the "pick and pay BBQ smorgasbord" being held at a local club, where they will be showing the game in HD on a 16' by 9' screen (no cover!). After I get back from the lab, that is.

OK, I need to leave here in about 15 or 20 minutes, so I had better go try to start the car.

Brr.

Taking lab work for granted

Well, today we began revisions on our NIH grant proposals in preparation for the upcoming submission deadline in March. This may seem like a long time to work on something, but we are actually going to be quite busy up until the deadlines. One grant is for my mentor, and though I'll be doing most of the actual writing, she will be guiding the experimental designs. The other grant is mine, and I get to call the shots to a large degree, although my mentor's input will be formative.

Both grants did well in the last round of reviews, but not so well that they received any of the limited, precious NIH money. Our scores for both grants were mediocre. This time, I hope that at least one of them will be funded. It would be terrific if both of them could be.

Our revisions will focus on addressing the concerns of the scientists who reviewed our last submissions. We will make most of the changes that they suggested to improve the grant, and will add some changes of our own to spice it up a bit.

For the next few weeks, I will be all work and no play (well, not much play, anyway).

Let's talk about brains, baby

So, what do I do during a typical day in the laboratory? This is a question I often get, and I will attempt to define my responsibilities in this post so that my friends who read this will understand a bit more about me.

I am a Neuroscientist. Neuroscience is a large field. "Neuroscientists" can address anything from the smallest working components of a specific portion of a cell to the way in which the touch receptors in your toes talk to complex circuitry in the highest processing centers in your brain, so the term requires further subdivision. I consider myself to be a Neuroanatomist first and foremost. I am most interested in the normal neuroanatomical structure small anatomical changes that occur in the brain in response to injury (in vertebrates), and how we can guide those changes to enhance recovery. To study these topics, my work involves not only neuroanatomical techniques, but also behavioral assessment (limb movement, grasping, etc) of rodents.

My work differs from one day to the next. One day may involve working with the animals, cutting brain tissue for study, or performing an experiment to examine the structure of the brain. Other days are spent writing about the results of my experiments, preparing grants for submission, or revising manuscripts based on comments from anonymous peers.

I like science for many reasons, but the most salient is the following phenomenon: every time I set out to test a hypothesis ("answer a question," if you will, although it's not always an answer), the data that come from the experiment raise several more questions. Therefore, my work never gets old or dull. There's always a new hypothesis to test, and many times a novel experimental design is necessary, which winds up taking me in directions in which I have never gone before. Always, however, my results lead to one place: the complex labyrinth of the brain and it's fantastic workings. No matter how hard I work and how many questions I ask, I'll never fully understand our brains. It will be fun to try, though.

Jobs, grants, and the next generation

Several things to cover in this post.

First, Kathy and I are expecting a baby! She is 12 weeks along now. Her due date is July 28, 2007. We are very excited about our potential offspring, but we're just taking it all one day at a time right now. It was fun to tell our familes at Christmas time.

Second, and not unrelated: I am still looking around Chicago for academic jobs (professorships). I have applied in several places, but not been called for an interview yet. Honestly, it's probably a year too early, but it's been good practice. I'm getting more used to the idea of not hearing anything, so it's fine to keep sending out applications (CV, research and teaching statements). I am funded in my current position until 4/08, but I decided to try for these jobs while they are open. Every day I hear rumors of new jobs opening at my current University, so I'll keep trying for those.

Third, and not unrelated: My research is going along well, but I need to keep pushing hard to get everything done. My findings are good, I think, but it may be tough to make the paper stress the importance of the data. I hope to get this paper out soon, but with impending grant deadlines (2 due to NIH in March; which seems a waste of time, as they are only funding the top 5% right now - Haliburton is getting the rest of the $$$) I may not get it done. Here's hoping.

Mostly, I'm just happy about the baby right now, and I'll let the rest of the details work themselves out.