Moment(s) of truth…

Lots of stuff going on, folks, so here goes:

1). Tomorrow, I’m turning in my 8-page research proposal. Assuming it’s approved (sometime next week), I’ll expand it to a 25-page NIH-style research grant and then, once that’s approved, I’ll orally defend the research proposal in early December. So yeah, this is one of those things you’ve gotta do to get the Ph.D. and, for the most part, is the absolute hardest thing I’ll have to do to get through this thing. So, if I’m studying a lot over the Thanksgiving holiday, that’s why… ;-P

2). I’m going to San Diego, CA. on Oct 31 for the annual Parkinson’s Society meeting and the Society for Neuroscience meeting. I’ll be gone until Nov. 7th, so it’s going to be a long trip! We’ve been getting our plane flights, hotel reservations, reimbursement shenanigans, etc. in order for the last few weeks and I think we should be ready to go, but I’ve still gotta get my poster done. These meetings typically involve “seminal presentations” from the big names in the field (i.e. Nobel Prize winners, etc…smart peeps, yo…) and then “poster presentations,” of which I’ll be presenting my research with pretty pictures and graphs. All told, it should be a good practice time for me to answer questions about what I did to others in the field that know infinitely more about the subject than me, which is really good in preparation for my oral defense a month later. Either way, it’s a paid-for trip to California, so I’m not complaining… 😛

3). We’re holding Grounded again this Sunday. Check out the website that I set up (should look familiar, compared with this one…) and stop by if you’re in the St.L area at 6:30 on Saturday night!

I think that’s about it for now? Sorry for the list… I’ve been kinda busy… 😛