Aww, too much work :(

Like the title says, TOO. MUCH. WORK. That being said, I have gone out and had fun. And I even have a few restaurant reviews coming up (although no pictures, sorry)!
I have been trying, and trying, and TRYING to get this behavioral pharmacology experiment hammered down. But the snails don't want to work and the statistics aren't significant. So I'll give it one more shot. And if it doesn't work this time (AND the snails are actually working, so it can't be animals flaws) then I will cry many many tears and have to completely revamp my research ideas. The snails forced me to go into work last weekend and I'll have to again this weekend. So it'll be awhile before I have a day off from work. But (hopefully) all of this hard work will pay off and I will be able to have some down time where I can write up my research, instead of physically researching.
Since we are on the research path- let me tell you the exciting news! While the behavioral experiments aren't working, the electron microscopy experiment is working BEAUTIFULLY. And my first electron microscope experiment is officially done. I just have lots of analysis and write-up. Then, I get to take my results in different directions which I am VERY happy about! So even though the behavior aspect might fail, I can still make something work with the pathway I've taken.
Besides the actual researching, I had another professional skills course on Monday- which was actually good! They gave me a program to keep track of "employable" skills and examples of them. Its great and got me thinking more long term; it also helped me realize certain skills that are lacking for me. There was another skills course on Thursday for using Zotero, which is a bibliographic tool. I definitely want to use Zotero as opposed to EndNote (which I'm using now). However, I need to actually get everything transferred between programs.
Besides work, last week was quite enjoyable (as I'm expecting this week to be as well!). Last Tuesday was, of course, Fat Tuesday. And while I didn't have any Cajun food ( :[ ), I did celebrate the British version of Fat Tuesday- Pancake Day! A few of my friends got together to have savory crepes for dinner and sweet pancakes for dessert. Delicious and perfectly fatty! I also went out to eat three nights in a row this past week- which was a little ridiculous, but SO much fun. AND SO DELICIOUS!
First restaurant review: Little Bay. It is a baby chain, as in it has a few other restaurants in London. However, since it just moved to Brighton, everything is half price. It is French food, French DELICIOUS food. The interior is swanky-theater with velvet curtains, balcony seats, and paintings of famous people. I had cheese and garlic stuffed mushrooms for an appetizer, cheese stuffed pork in a mushroom/red wine sauce, and french fries fried in goose fat. And OMG was it good. All for under 10 pounds :)
Second restaurant review: El Mexicano. It was the highest rated Mexican restaurant in Brighton and it was... decent and expensive. I had the Chicken Tinga, which was pretty authentic. However, it was really expensive and the portions were small. Plus, and this must be said, Mexican food isn't healthy. But I feel like over here, they try to take a healthier view on it. And that's just not how Mexican food works. Mexican food is meaty and cheesy and saucy. Which is why its SO delicious.
The third restaurant is The Geese, which is the pub that we went to for trivia. The burger and fries were good, especially since they were served with a garlic dipping sauce. The trivia was fun, although there were too many music questions and the science questions were all ecology-based. Which made for a very unhappy me haha. We got second to last place (which seems to be a reoccurring theme). We will continue to try different pub quizzes and have a team goal to move up to third to last place haha.
And on Sunday, I decided to walk into town from the University. It took me about an hour to get into Brighton (I walked through two cities to get there) and it was so nice! I love long walks and it was something I've wanted to do since I got here. There are two parks along the way, pretty close to the University. And I'm looking forward to further exploring them when its springtime.

Don't worry, work isn't completely taking over this week. I'll have interesting things to write about for next week :)

Winning: Having a social life while doing a PhD

First, I'd like to start with a confession. I write this blog weekly (or try to) but often forget what I've done earlier on in the week. So I often consult my Google Calendar to see what it is I've done.... Talk about memory FAIL, which is ironic because that is what I'm researching...

... Anyway.

Now that the Google Calendar has been consulted, I'm happy to say that I've been quite social this past week! I'll only recap the highlights:
As we all know, Valentine's Day was this past Tuesday. I got lovely cards from Nana and Dziadziu and Jenna. Thanks guys! On V-Day night, some of my neighbors and I got together for junk food and movie watching. We watched Love Potion 9; a cheesy rom com where two scientists use a love potion to get others to fall for them. It was pretty tragic (although surprisingly entertaining). The deciding factor to watch the movie? My exclamation of "I love science!!!!!" when the synopsis was read out. Besides the corny movie, I ate way to much junk food, and it was amazing :)
Thursday was Caitlin's birthday so a big group of people went out for a pub crawl. We went to pubs in the Hanover area, which I'd never been to before. It was a GREAT time and I met some really awesome people. We also played fun games- Cards Against Humanity (a better version of Apples to Apples) and Eat It. And I do love a good game....

Today I went into Lewes with my friend Sarah. I'd been to Lewes before for Bonfire Night, but hadn't actually gotten around to exploring the town. And I'm so happy I did! Lewes is adorable and old and everything I imagine a British town should be like :)
Lewes Castle:

There was a toy crane. Needless to say, I was ALL over that.

15th Century Bookshop

The Priory

General cuteness/ Reasons why I love Lewes

Now on to the part of the blog post that doesn't have any pretty pictures: work. I turned in my mid year progress report this past week. Haven't heard back on it, but my supervisor looked it over and said that it looked good. So that is one milestone passed! As for the experiments, I had this nice plan of a behavioral pharmacology experiment, followed by a molecular experiment. However, on Wednesday when I did the behavioral testing, I sadly found that the experiment failed. But I changed around the experimental design and am adding a section where I test the animals used. Because part of the failure was that the control animals did not respond appropriately. So the issue may just have been that no learning occurred at all. Anyway, I'm starting my new, revamped version of the behavioral experiment this coming week. If THIS experiment fails... well, lets just say I REALLY hope it doesn't fail. I filled my open days with TEM work, and this time the experiment went right! I SAW THE LABELING!!!!!!!! Do you realize how exciting that is? Probably not, but wow, I'm terrible at using the electron microscope. But I'm finally getting better AND the labeling is coming through! This is good, this means the experiment worked :). One failure and one winner. I'm ok with that.

Well, I'm off now. And I'm excited to have stuff to talk about on the next blog post! (I have social plans this week too. Its only minorly lame that I have to plan social interactions, but that's what happens in a PhD. Or so I've been told)

Confused about life as a PhD student? PhD comics gives an accurate and (sadly) funny description of the life I have signed up for. Enjoy perusing!

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The night of my last post, it snowed. It REALLY snowed, not just a few flakes here and there. By the time I got back to my room that night, this is what I saw:

That's me in the snow!!!!! (For those who don't know, this is the second time I've ever been in the snow. And the walk back to my place was the longest I've ever been in the snow. Quite exciting for me) :D
So it snowed on Saturday and again, only a little, on Thursday. But the snow is still here, hanging around as ice/slush instead of snow.

I'm really terrible at walking in the snow, but I love it! I'm hoping it snows again so I can build a snowman and have a snowball fight and go sledding and so on. Missed the chance last time.

Besides the snow, not much has happened besides work and basic life. I'd taken a small break from research this past week and went to a bunch of professional seminars. Next week, its back to the research. And I'll be starting two new experiments (and hopefully getting results!!!). It'll be a busy week, but it should be rewarding.

I've also tried a new gym class (circuits) which is intense, but great! OH- And I tried a new recipe for  Vietnamese Spring Roll Salad and it was AMAZING.

Happy early Valentine's Day everyone!

Frostbitten!

Ok, ok, ok. So I know that I've been bad about keeping this updated. I'm off to a bad start for 2012, but I'll try and get better as the year progresses!
I have been REALLY busy with work. I've finished molecular training and will start my LONG list of molecular experiments in two weeks. The behavioral pharmacology experiments will start in two weeks as well. And the TEM experiment is still going strong; I'll soon be good enough to continue working on my own. The past two weeks have been intense, so this coming week I've signed up for a lot of "Transferable Skills" courses. These are basically professional seminars that offer a wide range of research-based skills. I'm looking forward to getting into the classroom and out of the lab for a little. I haven't even been back a month and I'm already ready for another vacation! Haha
My midyear progress report is coming up on Valentine's Day, so wish me luck! The mid year should be easy, its the year progress report that's more intense. But that's not until June, so I'm avoiding thinking about it until then.
I've been surprisingly good about being social, considering how busy I've been with work! Some highlights- My floor got together for a DELICIOUS potluck two Fridays ago. I brought Zucchini Brownies, but they really ended up as Zucchini Blob. The taste was there, but it didn't cook correctly AT ALL because our ovens are so bad. I will no longer attempt baked goods in this oven. Another highlight was getting reindeer with a few friends. It was SOO delicious. I think I like it more than beef. If you haven't tried reindeer, do it! And lastly, a highlight was going to pub trivia this past Thursday. We got second to last place, but I love a good game of trivia, so I was perfectly happy (it also helped that I had a goats cheese and caramelized red onions grilled cheese with rosemary french fries on the side).
So, Superbowl Sunday. The Pack didn't make it AND the 49ers didn't make it. Boo. BUT! One of the bars on campus will be showing it live, so I'll be going to that (until I'm too tired and need to sleep).
Now, for my whiny Californian complaint. ITS SOOOOO COLD :(. Its literally freezing. LITERALLY. It snowed while I was walking to work, but not enough to pack up on the ground. But it seemed like California after the wildfires with all of the ash in the air. I was quite confused. With it this cold though, it needs to snow. Snow would make it worth being this cold. Although, I can't complain too much during the day because it has been quite sunny!

Talk to you all later, as long as I don't freeze!

Welcome, 2012!

2012- The last year of the rest of our lives. The supposed end of the world is coming up. ...Even though the same people said that the rapture was supposed to occur on my birthday, but people didn't suddenly start dying then either. Can I still use this year as a final hurrah, even if I don't believe the world is ending? I'd like an excuse for extra fun in my life, regardless of how ridiculous the reason. I'm actually quite looking forward to the hype that will be coming up towards the end of the year. However, its just the beginning of 2012. And I already know this will be a good year. How, you ask? Well, because it will be my first full year living in another country. And that ain't small potatoes my friends!
The beginning of my English year:
The trip back to Brighton from my Christmas vacation started out with a fizzle- I got back, I got sick, it got worse, and I was out for a week. After some much needed antibiotics, I've recovered. However, not only was it a lame start to my English year, but it leaves this week's blog post begging for more substance than I can really offer.
However, the beginning of this week was better. Yesterday, I gave my first talk as a PhD student. And according to some of the professors who attended, I did well! Although, I don't remember what happened- I was so nervous that its all just a blur. The presentation was about the research I will be doing and I gave the talk to a small group of researchers who are interested in Alzheimer's between University of Sussex and University of Brighton. I was the only presenter who was a PhD student- everyone else was a professor. It was extremely nerve-racking. However, it allowed me to be part of an advanced discussion between people who's intelligence I greatly respect.
Besides that talk, I've been doing more training. I've also gotten brain sections set up on to slides so that I can soon start imaging using the electron microscope and doing my TEM research. Very exciting stuff for me, very boring stuff for you to read. So lets move on...
This weekend is the annual free entry to the Royal Pavillion day! And I'm quite excited to go back.
Honestly guys, at this point I'm grasping for straws for something to talk about. So I'm going to end with a nice little set of pictures that my friends have given me from past adventures.
Tah!

Amsterdam, Utrecht, and Zaanse Schans. Oh my!

This is the post before I leave for California, the last post of 2011, the post about the Netherlands. Are you excited? Because I sure am :)

On the 8th, Caitlin and I flew out of London Gatwick and arrived in Amsterdam at 6. The hotel, to our great surprise, was a pretty lengthy walk from the train station (Amsterdam Centraal, to those who've been there). However, we eventually got checked into the hotel and I popped back out to meet up with Jeff, Dawn, and Megan (all friends from Santa Cruz). We wandered around some of the popular sites of Amsterdam; the three leading the way, as they had all been there for longer than me. One of the delightful places we visited was Febo. A store that only consists of vending machines with fried food in them. Which is hilarious, given Amsterdam's notoriously loose laws. Which takes me a bit off track... The main things that really stuck out about Amsterdam: The amazingly beautiful architecture, the canals, and the rows and rows and rows of munchy-food-themed restaurants. Anyway! Sadly, I don't have any blog-worthy pictures of the night. If any of the other three post pictures that are of decent quality (it was night, afterall) then I will post some in a later blog.
The 9th started with a four hour walking tour of Amsterdam. I believe the tour group was run by New Europe Tours. I highly recommend. The tour guide was knowledgeable, it was fun, and it was free!

And then we feasted on Dutch pancakes

You need only to look at the pictures to see how delicious they were. Oh, I should also mention that at this point in the trip, I was FREEZING. It was SOOOO cold. I was wearing more layers than I ever have before.
That night, we took the train to Utrecht to visit Jeff. He showed us around the town and we went to multiple bars. It was in this moment that I realized- I'm not a giant after all, I was just living in the wrong countries. 7 foot tall men? Hello Holland!
The next day was a full Utrecht day. The beginning of the day started off with a bang- fresh, hot stroopwafel. If you don't know what stroopwafel is, you need to go to an international grocery store IMMEDIATELY and buy some. Then, enjoy the hours of bliss that follow. Honestly, if everyone in the world could eat stroopwafel, there would be peace on Earth.

The highlight was climbing to the top of the highest church in the Netherlands. The view was breath taking

I forgot to mention something that the Netherlands is heavily linked to- bicycling. And holly cow, were there bicycles EVERYWHERE. And yes, I almost got ran over by one about 5 times. Another point worth noting- they do not give tap water. Maybe, if you are lucky, they will give you tap water if you buy a drink as well. Ridiculous.
The next morning we were off to Zaanse Schans, a traditional Dutch village. We saw windmills, a cheese factory, and a clog factory. It was adorable!

Later in the day, we returned to Amsterdam and went to the Van Gogh Museum. Honestly, I didn't think the Van Gogh collection they had was all that impressive. I didn't get to see Starry Night :(. Although, they did have some AMAZING Monet paintings.
The next morning we flew home.
And then life went on, outside of the Netherlands.
My verdict:
Would I go back? YES, I didn't get to do an Amsterdam canal tour or see the tulips in bloom. And I could always go for some more fresh stroopwafel.
What would I do differently? Bring a water bottle with a built-in filter. And eat more fresh stroopwafel.

The Days are Speeding By

Thanksgiving was a huge success, which I'm actually quite surprised about. The food turned out SO good and the turkey actually worked! Our lovely floormates, who live in a 7 bedroom flat and thus get a real oven, let us bake at their place. So our Thanksgiving had turkey. Hallelujah! And the mix of people worked out perfectly.
Such a good night full of good food and good people :)

Research is FINALLY gaining some speed. And it actually might be snowballing a bit out of control... I;ll let you know if I suffocate. But really, things are moving along nicely. I'm still getting training with the electron microscope, since at least two of my first experiments will heavily involved the TEM. My last training session, I looked at neuroblastoma cells. Have you guys looked at mitochondria and Golgi super close up? Because its AWESOME. I might be able to put up some of my TEM pictures once they aren't just being taken for practice. I will continue along with telling about my research in a moment, but I thought I'd break up this thread of thought with my adventures last weekend with....
DAWN AND MEGAN! Two good friends from UCSC, who I lived with me junior year.
They arrived in Brighton on Saturday, where we strolled around the Royal Pavillion and The Lanes before stopping at Seven Stars (a pub) for a bit. Caitlin and Chad joined us.

Then, early the next morning, we hopped on a train to London. Megan had never been, so we got to do all of the touristy stuff, which I love! We went to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park (second week in a row for me haha) because of its FANTASTIC display of Christmas cheer. We also saw Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, Soho, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge (and we crossed it), Regent Street, and the Covent Garden market. I think I named everything haha. Its amazing how much you can see in one day when you know your way around the city. And I'm getting a pretty decent handle on zone 1 of London. And of course, the cuisine we had paralleled their time in England. Chips (french fries) as a snack, fish and chips for Dawn and Megan (Sunday roast for me), and Indian food in the City of London. And of course, we went to another pub at the end of the day. Then on Monday, I took the day off from lab and we attacked Brighton again, this time the pier and the North Laine area. We stopped off at a pub, the White Rabbit, which is now probably my favorite in Brighton. There, we had a vegetable pie with veg sides and it was DELICIOUS. Again, just another show of the great British food you can get over here. Then on Tuesday, I said good bye to Dawn and Megan after a traditional English breakfast as they continued on their journeys around Europe. Their next stop was Dublin. Needless to say, I'm totally jealous.
BUT, I get to go to the Netherlands in 5 days, so I can't complain too much.
And now I bring us back to research. I will continue with my TEM training by learning how to make my own grids (which is the sample I will be looking at). After that, I can delve into my first experiment! I'm far more excited about it than I care to share haha. I also (finally) get training on how to handle amyloid peptides! So once I have that training as well, a whole door of opportunities for experiments opens up. I have molecular training coming up after Christmas break, but that can wait until I have my first few experiments under  my belt. The first three I need to do include behavioral and TEM use. They aren't molecular biology heavy. But the next steps will be. I'm still kicking around the idea of using electrophysiology as a means of research. However, its not really my area of interest. BUT it doesn't hurt to have even more specialized training to put on my resume. I think I might wait and see how my experiments are going and then I'll decide if electrophys is the right choice for me. Right now, I'm leaning towards learning it. I'm ALSO brushing up on my statistics and will soon be learning how to use statistical programs on the computer. I've currently got at least 7 experiments that I will definitely be doing being mapped out. This week was great for my research; I all of a sudden knew what I wanted to do and could create experimental designs.
So much to do, only four years to do it in. And the days are speeding by. NO. TIME.
Besides that, I've kept up with the gym classes. I tried three new classes this week (HIT, Dynamic Bodywork, and Metabolic MixUp) and continued with Yin Yoga. HIT was a nice mix of cardio and weight lifting, I'll definitely be going again. Dynamic Bodywork CLAIMED to be a mix between yoga, pilates, and dance. However, it really just wasn't my cuppa tea. I won't be returning to that. Metabolic Mix Up was AMAZING. Again, more cardio and weights mix, but this was a little more focused on getting cardio while weight lifting. Whereas HIT was a cardio session and then a weights session. And Yin, well, I love Yin Yoga. I already raved about it in my last post.
Now for a little less exciting news- I have the nastiest sounding cough. Seriously, it even grosses me out. But the weird thing is, I don't even feel sick. Sure, my nose is a little snuffly. But really, this cough is just gross. Its deep in my chest and super husky sounding. Dear family- Any idea on what I could/should do to make this cough go away? Please and thank you :)
Lastly, but definitely not least in my mind, the university gave a talk about moving off campus for next year. And now, I'm already thinking about rent comparisons, good places to live, living with others or on my own, public transport options, finding a furnished flat, NEEDING a washer and dryer, etc. My friends in lab have been really helpful as far as utilities prices and good places to live. A friend with a car has offered to help me house shop and move in. AND I have housemate options. Of all the bad situations that can come with housing, I think I'm in a pretty good spot right now as far as finding accommodation for next year. I'll probably begin looking around online during Christmas break.

Next time I update you will be after the Netherlands. I may even be back in California.
Until then :)