I got blood draw this morning to make sure I don’t have a bunch of painful diseases. 5 tubes! I’m not sure if I have any blood left. I got lucky with a skilled phlebotomist that didn’t have to go poking around. I can tell if they are good by their stick and aftercare. You do not bend your arm up after a blood draw! I don’t know how many years I was told to do that and would end up with massive bruising. Keep your arm straight and apply pressure. So I thought I would get lucky when I peeked under my bandaid and didn’t see a bruise. I pulled the bandaid off and it really pulled the inner elbow skin up when coming off. So now I have a tiny mark near the needle hole and a big bruise where the bandaid was. I can’t win.

I felt very knowledgeable at work today. I emailed the NIH contacts on the research program announcement my agency might submit an application for. The CEO wants to use this as a chance to revive an old HIV prevention program. I’m not so sure HIV prevention is what NIH is looking for with this program. Being sponsored by two different centers having to do with alcohol abuse kind of leads me to believe they want it to be a “Drinking is bad, kids!” program. Rather than be snotty about it, I took the learnin I gained at the research conference I attended and emailed the contacts listed to ask them. I hope I am right so I can go all RTFM on the CEO.

And now it is time for baking!

I’ve been getting a lot of “where have you been?” lately. I have (purposely) been busier lately and I guess my ninja quick email and text replying have been missed.
I went to a research seminar last week. I am all sorts of educated about NIH research and grants. So now I just have to get my snail moving workplace to get on this grant stuff. I also learned that the NIH has a program to repay 25% of doctorate level loans as long as you promise real hard to stay in research.
I’m still working on the proposal that I should have been finished with last week. I have until Wednesday to make something pretty. It only has to be 15 double spaced pages. I should be able to do this without a problem but my head has not been in the office lately. I don’t know where my head has been. It feels like it’s been off racing cars somewhere.

I went to wedding 2 of 4 last night. High school friend, saw lots of people I haven’t seen in years, got weepy and emotional, drank too much, greeted thorny bushes outside, terribly hung over today. So I guess I was wrong about weddings make you feel grown up.

Much more going on than tube mangling!

The boy and I went to the opera this week. We saw Falstaff for cheap with our student ID’s. I read a synopsis of the opera beforehand like the Lyric’s site tells you to do. It helps to know what is going on so you don’t have to stare at the surtitles the entire time. This was my first opera so I was impressed by everything, the costumes, the set, the cast were all beautiful. The last scene was pretty amazing and I was really surprised when people started bailing early. Some people walked out before the scene finished, some jumped up as soon as the curtain went down. Stay and clap, bitches! You just spent 3 hours at an opera and now it’s so important to jump in your car? You wouldn’t have to wait so long for valet if you just parked a couple blocks away in the garage, lazy.

I just got an email confirming that I am going to start on my big back tattoo when the boy and I go out of town. I’ve been emailing back and forth with the artist and he says the Julia set I picked out is do-able but he is booked up for months. He’s going to be super nice and squeeze me in and do the outline now and then I will return for the fill in. He would like to do it in multiple sessions even if he had time now so it works out nicely. This tattoo is really detailed so its going to be big. I’m nervous about having a big piece but I really like this artist, I think he will do a good job.

And the last thing that’s been going on this week-my brief proposal got rejected :( It’s my first proposal so I guess this is a learning experience or something. I’m still upset because I think that the topic was really good,substance abuse treatment for people with developmental disabilities. My boss still wants the next proposal to be about substance abuse but dual diagnosis MI and substance abuse just isn’t as much fun!

Lots of music related stuff going on.

-Boy played a 2nd show at a lovely dive bar and he has a 3rd show scheduled for a less divey bar.

-I’m going to the opera next week! I feel very fancy.  I’m not sure how I feel about Falstaff being 3 hours long but I have a flask ;)

- I’m going to see Chuck Berry next month. The boy really wants to see him and the guy is in his 80’s so he is not going to keep playing for long. I may use this opportunity to get a tattoo I’ve been wanting since an artist I like is in the same city as Mr. Berry.

-Marilyn Manson, back with Twiggy Ramirez, is playing a show soon. I feel kind of lame for wanting to go but I saw Manson before and he is really good live. And OMG an old band member?

I think that’s all the music stuff.

I’m feeling more focused at work. We chose a grant to pursue and I’m starting my lit search for it. My boss reminded me that I don’t have to focus on only one thing at a time. I guess I am still working in deadline mode like I was the first few months of my job. So I try to work on a few things a day so I don’t get frustrated with one problem. And I started acupuncture again which should help me sleep better and reduce anxiety. I fix me!

“My Christmas was great! How was yours? That’s good!”

Repeat X Infinity

That’s been my week at work so far but Christmas really wasn’t bad. I saw the relatives I like and just happened to miss the relatives I don’t like. I got a chance to see my rapidly changing teenage nephew. He has a Myspace profile now so he must be all growed up! I played Rock Band with my cousins and nephew and it was confirmed that I’m terribly uncoordinated. Too uncoordinated to play fake video game drums.

My big brother found Jesus this year so he told me all about Jesus showing him the way and Satan trying to lead him astray and I gave him logical explanations for all his Jesus/Satan arguments. But like a good Christian, he didn’t listen to what I was saying and just kept jabbering about god.

I saw the movie Juno a couple weeks ago but I don’t think I wrote about it. It’s great, go see it. Don’t tell me you don’t like indie movies. Go see it, snob. It’s like Knocked Up but good. It fully addresses the option of abortion and doesn’t pull a shmashmortion like Knocked Up.
I think I just don’t like Judd Apatow. Knocked Up, 40 Year Old Virgin, Superbad-didn’t really like any of them. And it’s not because I don’t like stupid comedies. I still watch Billy Madison way more than I should.
I’m looking forward to There Will Be Blood mostly because I’ve never seen critics circle jerk around a movie like this. Magnolia made me want to die a little but I liked Boogie Nights and Punch Drunk Love.

I’m going to be applying for a small research grant soon as I figure out what to do for my project. My agency is pretty awesome in that it treats many populations in multiple settings but it doesn’t help me narrow down what I want to study. I lean toward substance abuse treatment because it’s pretty straightforward but I personally have an interest in HIV prevention. The one population my workplace does not target is GLBT so maybe I should get some queer research going!

I’ve been thinking lately about exploring my own semi-professional interests. I’ve always wanted to write a book having to do with sex/gender/feminism but have trouble coming up with a topic that I feel is new or at least not beaten to death. I’ve been doing some research on tubal ligation because a medical professional claimed it was “almost obsolete” due to new IUDs and I wanted to see if her claims are valid (not really).

The two things that IUDs and tubal ligation have in common is that they’re a pain in the ass for young, single, childless women to get. Some doctors say you have to have a child or an IUD is impossible to insert. Studies claim women who get their tubes tied in their 20’s are more likely to change their mind but Essure, a new permanent method of female sterilization, is growing in popularity. (Same concept as tubal ligation but non-reversible.) And from my own experience, doctors are reluctant to sterilize single, childless women. So I think I have my topic.
Another thing that is motivating me to explore this topic is the number of religious, natural family planning and marital books that come up when I search “birth control” on Amazon.