30 By 30: Monument Walk

After 11 years in D.C., it was really, truly hard to say goodbye.  I know I will still continue to see my amazing friends, and I hope they will all come to visit here for weekends (one already has!), but it will never be the same as meeting up after work for happy hour or kickball or trivia nights.  While we certainly added to the group over the years, my core group of D.C. friends were all from undergrad, so for my going away festivities, I decided to go back to our undergrad roots with a drunken midnight monument walk. 

Midnight monument walks are certainly up there on the list of things I will miss the most about D.C. 

Sober, there is an unbelievable sense of peace and awe walking around the empty monuments lit up at night.  I remember freshman year, wandering down to the Lincoln Memorial shortly following September 11th with a new group of friends and lying down on the floor, reading the Emancipation Proclamation, etched in giant marble letters, out loud to each other.  My senior year, struggling with the decision of where to go to grad school, my best friend suggested an after-dark monument walk to just chat about pros and cons while we strolled through the city. 

Drunken, that sense of peace and awe is still present… with a little bit of laughing and inappropriateness on the side.  As undergrads, it was an inexpensive source of entertainment (and perfect for underage participants) – pack up a portable beverage of choice (traditionally a 20 oz bottle of diet coke, half he diet coke poured out and filled with rum) and set off for an evening of mischief.  Sometimes, it would be a big group and we’d sit along the tidal basin and laugh for hours; other times, only two or three of us, and we’d talk about big life experiences and our goals for the future.  Either way, I’d always return home in the wee hours of the morning wondering what I did to deserve such amazing friends.

I didn’t take too many pictures at my farewell monument walk, mostly because my dSLR has a sensor broken beyond repair leaving me with just a point and shoot, and after buying a house, there is no money in the “camera replacement” fund… but thankfully, memories last a lifetime, and I can’t think of a better way to say goodbye to some of the very best friends I will ever have.

Bad Decisions (with a view)

I am at that awkward age in life where I am too old to stay up drinking Friday night and not pay the consequences when I have to be in lab early Saturday morning, but still too young and immature to turn down the invitation to spend the night playing flip cup on a friend’s roof.

Rehearse after me:

“Thank you for the invitation, but I have to be in lab by 7am Saturday, so I must decline.”
“Thank you for the invitation, but I have to be in lab by 7am Saturday, so I must decline.”
“Thank you for the invitation, but I have to be in lab by 7am Saturday, so I must decline.”
“Thank you for the invitation, but I have to be in lab by 7am Saturday, so I must decline.”

But really, who could pass up good beer, great friends, and a perfectly chilly fall night with this lovely view of the city I am fortunate to call home?

4th of July

Even before I moved to DC, July 4th was probably my favorite holiday. I'm not super patriotic or gung-ho American, but I am thankful to live in a country where I have so much freedom (mostly, I love summer gatherings with friends and fireworks). This is my 10th year living in DC, and yet I've only been in DC on the 4th for three of those years -- mostly thanks to weddings dragging me across the country. I am sad to report that once again I am missing out on the fun, since I am still recovering from surgery and taking a temporary hiatus from my life in DC.

I am super bummed to miss out on the tradition of gathering for food with friends beforehand and walking down to the mall 15 minutes before the fireworks start. You sure can't beat living in DC for that kind of convenience -- tourists sit out all day to claim a spot, and we sneak in right as the first firework goes off. And then, while everyone elbows their way back to the metro, we just walk right down the street, back to a friend's apartment, and pass around the tequila.

In the meantime, these pictures from last year will have to suffice since I can't make it in person this year. My secret superhero alter-ego is The Human Tripod -- I love taking fireworks and night photography, because I can hold still enough to not need a tripod. I've read so many articles stating how a tripod is necessary when photographing fireworks, but I'm pretty content with my hand-held pictures. So, what's your superhero alter-ego?

Spring in DC

Things have been a little down around here lately, between discussing my unhappiness with where my life is right now, my grandfather's heart attack, my mother-in-law's chemo, and the death of my cat. So, it's time to brighten up the blog with a few pretty pictures.

Spring seems to be everyone's favorite season in D.C., though I can't say that I agree (I'm partial to fall around these parts -- beautiful weather, minimal rain, and far less humid), but that doesn't mean that I can't still enjoy the cherry blossoms in bloom. I thought for sure I would be doing a post-doc in Philly by now (ha, ha) so last year, my parents came down to visit for "one last" day of enjoying the cherry blossoms before I moved away.

Of course, I'm still here. Which means I have had three more "one last" trips down to check out the cherry blossoms in springtime.

Mark my words, if I'm STILL HERE, STILL A GRADUATE STUDENT come next year, my annual cherry blossom visit will end in drowning myself in the tidal basin.

My first visit was with some of Husband's fellow radiology coworkers, about a week before the cherry blossom prime. We walked and walked and walked and did a great tour of the "highlights" of D.C. I don't think I've ever popped by the tidal basin so early in the year; all the blossoms were still pink!

Then, I went back again on a beautiful Sunday evening with Jenny when the blossoms were just about at their perfect peak. The temperature was ideal, the sun setting was lovely, there was hardly a crowd since all the tourists from the weekend had returned home -- one of those very rare moments when I understand why everyone here loves spring so much.

A few days after that, my parents made a spontaneous trip down to D.C. for another "one last" visit. Most of my lab was off at a conference so I snuck out for an afternoon at the National Gallery and a walk around the tidal basin. There was a torrential downpour the night before, so most of the blossoms were scattered across the ground. It was also kind of an ugly day; cold, cloudy, and windy, with some rough water as far as the normally motionless tidal basin goes!

I absolutely love D.C. and the opportunities I have in my backyard... but.... I sure hope I'm not around to see the cherry blossoms bloom again next year!

The Snowpocalypse

We disrupt our regularly scheduled blogging (hahaha… I wish I had the dedication to blog regularly) due to digging out from under three feet of snow.

People, there’s a lot of snow out there.  And, aside from the minor detail that the melting snow freezes and turns to ice and I am certainly going to slip, fall, and break something next week walking to lab, I am LOVING it.  Of course, I say this as someone with no sidewalk to shovel and no car to dig out.

 

My all-time favorite childhood book was Joe and the Snow, and these past few days have really been like the book coming to life (hopefully, however, as the snow melts my condo building won’t float away…).

 

After a bout of food poisoning last week and three days out of the lab, a week off seemed to rejuvinate me and helped to get over my frustrations in the lab.  I also learned, however, that I can spend a full week trapped inside… and never once be bored.  I knitted.  I caught up on TV.  I read four books.  I organized and cleaned like crazy.   If this whole science thing doesn’t work out, I’m pretty sure I could cut it as a housewife without feeling cooped up.  What can I say – all those years of learning to entertain myself as an only child are paying off.

The last time D.C. had a worthwhile snowstorm, I was a sophomore in college.  My roommate and I woke up early, walked down to the Ellipse and made snow angels in the pristine snow.  This time around, I didn’t have anyone to “play” with, but was thrilled to have several days to explore various areas of D.C. within walking distance, all of which were even more delightful than normal buried under three feet of snow. 

More pictures of the snowiest winter in D.C. history can be found here.

Delightful Day in D.C.

I absolutely love living in D.C. (if it weren’t for Husband moving away for residency, I’d be content to stay here permanently!), but after living here for almost 8 full years I’ve discovered that I’ve just started to take everything for granted.  Whereas we once used to seize every opportunity possible to enjoy all that the city has to offer, over the past two or three years, Husband and I have just been so overworked and exhausted that if we happen to have a free weekend, we either spend it running errands, having a low-key night in with friends (or once in a rare while a not-so-low key night out, with appropriate recovery time the next day), or the most likely scenario – we each sit on our respectable couches, and he relaxes with his Playstation and I do some data analysis from home and then catch up on reading blogs and do a little knitting.  That’s not to say that we don’t get out at all – over the past several months, we’ve made it to the new location of the Newseum and to the Portrait Gallery, but if we are able to have a day off, chances are that we don’t do anything with it at all.

So, I was thrilled when the absolutely delightful Preppy Chemist, Ph.D. moved on up to D.C. and I had the opportunity to take her around on the standard monument tour two weekends ago – a reason to head out on what turned out to be a beautiful afternoon (once we waited for the rain to pass), visit some old sites I used to frequent back when I was in undergrad, and even catch the tail end of the cherry blossoms, which I would have otherwise missed in my typical “I live in D.C., I can see them any year” attitude.  We took the typical tourist route: Vietnam War Memorial –> Korean War Memorial –> Lincoln Monument –> Tidal Basin –> Bench where Husband Proposed (what do you mean that’s not a standard tourist location? it is most certainly a Very Important Spot!) –> FDR Memorial –> Jefferson Monument –> Washington Monument –> White House and back to where we started.

We had a lovely time, and I am looking forward to more adventures with Preppy Chemist (perhaps the zoo on another nice day)?  And of course, should any of you other blogfriends happen to make it to the D.C. area, certainly come give a knock on my digital door beforehand – showing people around reminds me of how much I love this place!

D.C. Autumn

In lieu of actually writing anything, I thought I’d post a few pictures instead. My parents came down to D.C. yesterday, so we spent the day enjoying the wonderful weather and walking around the new National Garden for the afternoon. It was nice to actually get outside for a bit and do something non-cancer oriented, and we were even able to intercept my boyfriend on his way back from the hospital and convince him to come along for the afternoon to actually breathe some fresh air (he is a hostage of internal medicine and only ever sees the inside of the hospital or the inside of his apartment – no time for anything else). Of course, since we took the afternoon off, we’ll both be spending the day working like maniacs trying to catch up and hopefully having time to take a break to watch some football (Eagles for him, Steelers for me). My goal for the day is to stop in the lab to do a bit of cell culture, finish up a paper due tomorrow for ethics class on animal research, try to understand this paper I’m presenting in journal club on Wednesday and start to put together a powerpoint presentation, and catch up on reading a few articles… and I think I also promised my boyfriend to work on a patient write-up for him if he would take the afternoon off to spend time with my parents yesterday. It will be a stressful day, but it was definitely worth taking the time off yesterday. And allow me to stress the point -- if you ever want to come to visit D.C., do try and come in the fall -- it is so much nicer than the swamplike summers.

If I were an Enzyme...

It’s a beautiful day out today, it’s Friday afternoon, it looks like I’ll only have minimal bench work to do this weekend… things are really looking up for a change. Maybe my fantastic mood is some strange inverse Friday the 13^th luck… but whatever it is, I’ll take it! I think it’s more a combination of this week flying past and the sudden change in the weather. I’m not sure why, but the weeks when I’m in the lab the most really fly by, and considering my Monday-Thursday hours spent in lab total comes to 46, this week has been zooming. It definitely feels more like a Wednesday than a Friday. And as for the weather… Happy Autumn, everyone! After starting out in the 80s this week, it has finally dropped into the 50s, and I couldn’t be more pleased. I love fall weather. Today was officially the day for the First Sweater of the Year (I decided to give the honors to a cashmere/angora mix navy blue, light blue, and green argyle v-neck sweater from J. Crew) and when I left my apartment this morning, I could see the condensation of my breath in the air. Walking across the Key Bridge, the Washington monument stood out in the distance and the Potomac River glistened under the bridge. Really, I could not ask for more perfect weather, and hopefully I’ll be able to do something outdoors and touristy this weekend (my parents will be down to visit for the day) like the zoo or checking out the newly opened National Gardens.

Also thought I would pass along the lab humor for the day… I woke up this morning and found an email from my best friend containing the image below (Thanks, Mark!).
My research deals with helicases (although more specifically I work with RNA helicases) and I’ve been doing a lot of helicase reading lately in preparation for a journal club which I am presenting next week. I showed this to a friend in the lab who also got a kick out of it, and we printed out a copy and hung it between our desks. I guess there is no requirement that Ph.D. students have to be mature, just hard working (and as I type this, there are jokes cracking in the background my friend’s attempts to grow spermatocytes in culture… suggestions along the lines of ‘play them some Marvin Gaye’ and ‘just be gentle and caressing’ – further proof that scientists may be intelligent, but just don’t mature – at least in this lab).

On that note, I am going to finish up working on this presentation for journal club, work a bit on an ethics paper, maybe take a look at a take-home cancer genetics exam – and try to leave the lab a bit on the early side this afternoon so I can enjoy the evening and this fabulous mood!