Finding my niche. Possibly a niche that doesn't exist. Yet.

Note: This was originally intended for my science blog but it got a little too "fluffy" so I will save that blog for some hard science and put this here instead :)


I'm convinced that as we get a little bit older and supposedly start figuring our lives out, we all are expected to be comfortable answering the common "What do you want to be when you grow up?"-type questions. I'm pretty sure it's still a difficult question with fairly-naive-to-our-own-future answers, but because we answer it so often we develop catch phrases. We tend to stick with those catch phrases and since they seem to satisfy the general public...voila! We have a planned, believable future. This becomes a little trickier, however, when you are actually working on a degree and people start asking about your quickly approaching future. Upon hearing my answer, they generally begin with that concerned face, along with the "ooooohhhh" sound that means they think I'm in for torture. And then they say.

"So...neuroscience. Hmm. If you aren't going to cut brains open (because I constantly reassure people that I will not be performing brain surgery), what on earth are you going to do with that?"

I have to be totally honest (partly because this is a blog and I'm pretty sure you are supposed to be honest on blogs, but also because I'm a terrible liar)...this is a really difficult question for me.
What am I going to do with my degree?
Well, first I'm going to get it.
And then I'm probably going to be really happy about it.
And then....

My common answer is that I want to do research, likely at the University level. I love coming up with ideas and questions that we can answer in a systematic, detailed way. I enjoy collaborating with others. I like analyzing data because numbers are fun and you can make pretty graphs. I also enjoy teaching and mentoring students.

But sometimes my gut makes fun of my when I answer that question because I'm not sure I can see myself running a lab, analyzing data and having the title of Dr. Clark.  Oh wait, that part I can see. And I like it.

Here's the thing. My gut tells me that in a million years...which is when I'll finally have worked my way through classes, the comprehensive exam, the prospectus and a dissertation to get this degree....I might end up with a career that isn't even invented yet. It sounds like a silly thing to say, but the more I contemplate it, the more I believe it could be true. Technology is moving at such a rapid pace that I know many people who work, for example, with computers, who wouldn't have guessed at age 23 that that would be their future career. Science, as a field, is also moving at an incomprehensible speed. I actually find it incredibly exciting to think that, right now, I cannot even picture the career I might have.

This topic stemmed from a magnet that I have on my refrigerator that reads "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" Someone recently asked me, "So, Rachel, what would it be?"

My immediate answer was "This." I'd do neuroscience, I'd try to get my PhD, I'd research exercise and cognition and I would learn as much as possible. It just wouldn't be as stressful as it sometimes is in real life, where failure sometimes looms ominously over my desk as I read articles, memorize the cranial nerves, revise papers, analyze data and write in my blog.

While that is true, I'd still do neuroscience because I love it, I realized that I'd also do so many other things. I would learn as many cool swing dance moves as possible and then throw myself on a lively dance floor with the best dancers I know so my unfailing self could take over and turn my into a vintage swing dance goddess.

I'd do a triathlon, which I currently contemplate doing because I love both swimming and biking but the running itself is incredible daunting given my weak knees, my pulled hamstring and my annoying asthma.

I'd find all kinds of crafty projects (like artwork and furniture) to furnish my current apartment or future home...and then I'd actually do them because they'd be wildly successful, instead of the flop that sometimes occurs after such an artsy attempt.

Finally, I'd also write a book. Fellow scientists, don't get fiesty about this....but I'd write a popular science book. Because those are my favorite type of science to read on vacation. So I would write the most scientifically legitimate popular science book that I possibly could. And since I could not fail, given the nature of the question I've rhetorically posed to myself, the book would ultimately be incredible. It'd be funny and witty and influential and educational. By the way, "popular science", as a genre, just refers to the nonfiction style of book that discusses "hot topics" in science, in a way that engages even the least sciency person among us.

Background story: I fell in love with exercise neuroscience a few years ago when I read a popular science book about "The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain". I couldn't put it down. I didn't even know exercise neuroscience was a field...let alone a flourishing one! I'm convinced that was a major factor in leading me to this line of research. I would receive such enjoyment from being one of those author/speaker/creator people bridging the gap between science and the public. 

This is another part of a career I think I may someday have. I want to help incorporate scientific findings into realistic lifestyle changes. It sounds utopian, but people are currently working toward that goal. Lifestyle trackers (which is a whole topic for another day) are just one way scientific research is pushing its way into everyday life. I want to somehow be somewhere in that movement.

Oh- and of course I'd still blog. Which is kind of like a no-fail situation already because even if you all hate my blog, I never have to see the disdain on your face as you read it or hear the mocking laughter as you poke fun at me with all your friends. I just get to see how many people have visited my posts and ignorantly assume everyone loves it ;)

Ok, I got a little off track but, in conclusion, if I could not fail, I would be a swing dancing exercise neuroscientist and author of a pop-sci book that changes the world.

What would you do? 

Super moon

I suppose I inadvertently made my three blog night come true. My screen froze while I was typing the first post and I didn't want to lose it so I just published it and now I'll wrap it up with this post. 

Moral of the story- I don't think I have enough time or energy to actually put much of myself into all these different online "social medias" but since I am a member of this generation, I'll do my best and that will just have to be good enough. I'm not sure my humor will really shine in just 140 characters, but I'm kind of looking forward to giving this tweeting thing a try. 

On a final and less tech-y note, I hope you all have taken at least one look at this super moon that is hovering over us right now. I'm relaxing on our balcony with the moon at a perfect 45 degree angle to my eyes, with the light of it reflecting a bit off our pond behind the apartment building. It's worth the time and the bugs to just sit and stare at it for awhile. To think about how far away it actually is, but how close it looks. To picture the intense light coming from the sun and reflecting off every part of the moon so that we can see it in its full shape. Yeah, it's worth it to sit and stare for awhile. 

And who knows, maybe I'll have to Instagram it ;)

Goodnight super moon. 

 

It's a two blog night

That was supposed to be funny. But then I realized that the band name is actually three dog night and so my joke suddenly made much less sense. But I hope you at least got a small chuckle out of that.

I just wrote my second post in my science blog (www.clarkonneuroscience.blogspot.com, if you are already bored of this post and want some science), hence the two blog night title. I had to hold myself back while writing it from a few really cheesy jokes and from using too many lingo words. So, lucky you, I'm going to use all of those here! I think that's the beauty of having two blogs. Provided I don't neglect one of them, I will always have a nice place to blow off my blog steam after being all nice and proper.

So now I have to talk about something besides science. Hmmm...I obviously hadn't thought this far ahead. Let's start by talking about how I am now a full-flegged member of the social interwebs. And I don't know how I feel about it. I now have, in no particular order,
Facebook
Blog (obviously)
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn
Facetime

I got an iPhone recently due to the very heartbreaking end of my blackberry. My poor Sprock 2.0 (my first blackberry was named Sprock, but then it broke and when I got my new blackberry, he became 2.0 because, try as he might, he couldn't quite replace Sprock 1.0). Anyway, his battery had been wearing out gradually, such that he'd turn off partway through the morning after only being awake for a few hours. I guess I do that sometimes so I can't complain too much. But the breaking point was when he turned off when his battery wasn't even low and he wouldn't turn back on until I had fully charged him. And even then he was hesitant. So I took him in for repair and the Sprint employees informed me that I was due for a few phone and the iPhone 4 was free so why don't I just get a new one. Well, ok. If you insist.

So now I have Ollie (shout out to Dan for coming up with the awesome name!) And because I haven't quite gotten used to keyboard-less texting yet, I feel as though I constantly have my nose to my phone. I walk down the street and feel the same way I did when I was little and would literally have my nose in a book. But that was way cooler. Now I look up in time to stop at a red light and suddenly I've sent a text that read "How's it king over tree? Having a food day?" (translation: How's it going over there? Having a good day?)

And then I feel ridiculous.

ANYWAYS, back to me and my social interwebs, because I'm a newly addicted iphone-addict I've jumped on the apps bandwagon and got myself connected to the world in more ways than necessary. I'll admit that I'm already enjoying instagram because it gives me more reason to take fake-artistic photos and pretend that every view of my life looks like that. But to best honest, I don't know how to link in, or twit or...I guess that's it. I know how to do everything else.

The point of this is that I don't know how I feel about it. I do love staying connected with people through facebook and I think I chose good people to follow on Twitter because the two times that I've checked it since I got it I've seen posts about science, swing dancing and the Veronica Mars movie. What more can I need?






fds

Final destination: Barcelona

Rick Steves' calls Barcelona a lovely place to visit either first of last because of its coastal and far Eastern location. For me, it was my final destination. Michael still has Paris to go (he'll head there tomorrow) but I'm now on my way home :(
I was super excited for Barcelona partly because I had been there before and partly because we had rented this super cold apartment. We first found the bed and breakfast that owned the apartment, we were going to book just one of the rooms, but then we also saw that they owned an apartment nearby and...it was super grey! And modern. And it wasn't actually that expensive so we decided to go for it. It had its own kitchen, a huge tv, a great speaker system. This allowed us to cook dinner two of the three nights, which was really nice after all the eating out we'd done recently.  And nice because Michael is a pretty good cook :)

Our first day in Barcelona was a Sunday so we kind of took it easy. We had breakfast with the owner and other guests at the bed and breakfast. He helped us buy our tickets for La Sagrada Familia and gave us some other advice. We walked to the two of the famous buildings by Antonio Gaudi, La Pedrera and Casa Batillo.
They are both really crazy buildings. Hannah and I went in one of them when we visited previously but they are pretty expensive so Michael and I decided to just admire the outside. We then went to a park, per my request, because I just wanted as much time outside in the wonderful weather as possible. Barcelona actually has many "green lungs" (parks that provide some fresh air in the midst of city living). This one was focused on water and had multiple ponds and some interesting architecture. We also found the recreational sports area where we napped and then played hacky sack. Add that location to the list. Michael says I should also make a list of places I've napped. Honestly, it would largely be similar to the one of places I've hacky-ed.

Our second, and my final, day in Barcelona was our 'best tourists ever' day. We woke up early and got to La Sagrada Familia for our 9 am appointment to go up the tower. It was as beautiful as I remember. And we did the audio guide so we actually learned a lot as well. The church is already huge but compared to the model of what it should look like when its done, it has a ways to go. Supposedly it will be finished within the next 40 years. It was started in 1889. But, as we learned, Gaudi knew it would be a work of the centuries, so he was not expecting it to be even near finished by the time he died. It's quite amazing how many people have come together to design it and how they all try to be true to the Gaudi style even though many of his plans were burned during a Spanish war.

After spending a few hours at the church, we walked down to la rambla, one of the most famous streets in barca. We perused the central market and enjoyed some food, as well as suuuuper expensive chocolate. Nothing bad had even happened so I guess that chocolate was just for fun. We finally made it down to the water, which we enjoyed before taking the metro up to Parc Guell, also designed by Gaudi. It was there that we discovered that if both our careers fail, we can just got to a European city, play hacky sack and put a hat out and we'd probably make at least a few euros everyday. That was a fun realization. One more place on the lists of both napping and hacky-ing.

That evening we went to a tapas bar I had found for Michael's early birthday celebration. He'll be 23 on Friday, when he's in Paris, so I wanted us to celebrate while in barca. We enjoyed delicious tapas, some of the best sangria I've ever had and traditional Catalan deserts.

I'm disappointed I didn't have more time to explore the city, because there is so much to see there, but I am also antsy to get back to work. This was a lot of time off. I thought about reading articles and doing some work while away but there really wasn't time for it. Im pretty sure I won't get another vacation like this for a long time so I decided to just focus on the vacationing, which I did. I'm now on the way home- I can hardly believe it. It feels like forever ago that I was just arriving in Denmark. I'm very grateful for this adventure and so glad I had a great travel buddy. I never would have gone all those places if Michael wasn't set on having a massive Europe trip.

We just started the descent over Chicago airport, where we'll land in 40 minutes. I fly from there to Des Moines. I can't wait to see my mom!

All of Nice in one post.

Our host in Nice was a spunky woman who had lived pretty much everywhere, speaks at least Italian, French, English and Spanish, and baked the most delicious fresh bread for breakfast each day. She sat with us and other guests at breakfast each day so we learned her story a bit and also got expert advice on the city. The first day, upon Josephine's advisement, we went to the main market in Nice in the morning and then visited one of the fanciest hotels I've ever seen. The market was a few city blocks of tables filled with fresh fruit, dried fruit, fresh fish, meat, cheese, flowers, paintings, ect. We also found an Italian market on the promenade near the water, so we bought a canoli and some cheese and a sandwich and ate while sitting on the beach. One thing that really surprised me was how many people were laying out in bikinis (or less) at 10 ish in the morning.  I though it was still as bit chilly for that but it was good sun, I suppose. I just trout that'd be more of an afternoon activity but apparently not. And it turned out to be smart of them, given that a storm rolled in that afternoon, while we were riding bikes that we had rented. Thankfully we rode away from it so we only got a little wet.  Nice, as Josephine told us, is sunny 300 days a year because there are mountains/hills surrounding it and so the clouds rarely come all the way to the city. They did come in a little that day. We had to abandon the bikes a little early and take refuge in various souvenir shops and one very expensive candy shop while we waited for the restaurant we wanted to eat at to open. Michael and I have a habit of getting candy whenever we get in a tiny argument or something semi-unfortunate happens. It's similar to my "get hurt, get froyo" motto. Because of the rain, we ended up with some rather expensive biscuits, chocolate covered almonds, caramels and fruit flavored chewy candies, basically just fancy starbursts. Fun fact, in Denmark and many other European counties, food coloring is illegal so all of their candies are flavored naturally, which keeps them white, rather than the bright colors our candy is.
Anyway we finally had some pasta and afterward, again upon Josephine's recommendation, visited what she claimed was the best gelato place. She swears by it. And I see why. It had the best pistachio gelato I've ever had and every other flavor we tried (which was a lot - the worker was very generous with samples) tasted exactly of its fruit/candy. Pistachio, dark chocolate, peach, white chocolate, chocolate raspberry, cinnamon, mango, strawberry, dark chocolate baobab, salted caramel...I'm hungry just thinking about it.

Our second day was our most adventurous. We walked up a big hill full of fancy mansions and hotels to the Matisse museum and roman archeological ruins, which was pretty cool to see. I kind of didn't realize that Romans had lived there but it is very close to Italy so it makes sense. They had excavated public baths and a neighborhood in an area surrounded by modern city, so it's likely there are even more ruins underground in the surrounding area. The Matisse museum was fun because t was small enough we could really read through everything and tent lot know Henri Matisse's life and work. I had no idea he designed a church and he considered it his life's main piece of work. It was no La Sagrada Familia (more on that to come) but it was pretty neat.

We walked back to the city to catch a train to a beach town about 10 minutes away. Have I mentioned how beautiful the water near Nice was? It was the best blue. So clear, and when it foams from the waves it basically sparkles. We spent the afternoon beach-ing, which I loved. It wasn't super warm but laying in the sun was nice and we both got brave enough around 5 pm to swim in the sea enough to make us completely numb from the cold.

When we got back to Nice, we walked through Old Town to a hill called chateau hill, where a castle used to stand. Now it is a park with a cemetery, a waterfall, great lookout points and a tower at the very top. We got there  a few minutes before 8 and watched the sunset from a lookout point and then visited the waterfall. We were surprised there weren't more people enjoying the same view. Wen we got to the bottom of the hill and realized one of the main gates was closed and locked, we realized why we had been so alone. It was closed. And there was a wall we could have scaled...except it dropped at least 30 feet to the busy road below. No thank you. Some French girls on the other side of the gate laughed at us and repeatedly told us "it's closed". Thank you, we know that now. We speed-walked toward another exit and assed some delinquent 14-year old French boys who also told us, "hey! Is closed!" And had only laughs in response to my "yes, but how do we get out?" Just as Michael and I were near panic state (where are both excellent, calm travelers but when you think you are going to be sleeping in a French park all night, you tend to get a little worried) we found the other locked car gate, which was next to a little pedestrian door that was unlocked. Phew! And so we went to a little restaurant that Josephine suggested for a lovely, very late dinner. When almost locked in a park, buy yourselves a nice meal of veal and pasta and some pannacotta for desert.

Because our meal had ended around 1130, we ditched the getting up early tradition. W slept in a little, packed our stuff, walked to a nearby market, got a final gelato from that amazing place, and then walked to the station for our bus to the airport. That was it for nice and it was soon Hola Barcelona!

To Nice

The first of our 3 legs of the train ride to Nice is gorgeous so far, at least the parts I've been awake for. Which is probably like one tenth of the actual ride. I keep falling asleep and waking up when my head bobs all the way to my chest, and Michael is laughing at me from his seat. He's actually reading about Nice, being productive. At least one of us will know what is going on when we get there.

I'm very sad to have left cinque Terre. I can't wait to write about it. It was unlike anywhere I have ever been before. A wonderful place to relax and enjoy a few lazy days. We did do some hiking, but the conditions weren't good enough for us to do quite as much as we wanted so instead we went in shops and, when the sun finally came out, we laid out on the rocks and dangled our feet in the Mediterranean sea. Which is beautiful. And when the sun shines on it, it's my very favorite color of blue. And even when the sun doesn't shine on it, it's a nice grey. Again, win-win.

Cinque Terre: Corniglia and Riomaggiore

The last full day in cinque terre, we visited the two other towns, Corniglia and Riomaggiore. It was a rainy day so we umbrellaed around Corniglia after walking up the 400 some steps to the town. We took many Panoramic photos, shopped a little and took the train to Riomaggiore. The sun came out just in time for some shopping ;) and then a picnic lunch on the rocks.


We had a bit of a tradition of getting up extra early on our last day in a place and walking somewhere. Innsbruck, it was to the garden. Florence it was around the olive grove. But the most impressive, and scary, was the morning we left cinque Terre. We wanted a good view of the sunrise so we left the hostel at 615 and headed up a trail towards this hill town called volastra. It was overcast, with a chance of rain. The path was steep and less protected than I expected. It would have been a great view of sunrise. If there had been a sunrise. We got about 20 minutes in to the supposedly 35 minute hike to volastra when I chickened out and made up turn around. I just figured better safe than sorry and we were not really prepared to face rain on the muddy hillside. As Michael said, the clouds were ominous and better safe than sorry.

We safely made it back to town, picked up bread and Nutella and fruit from the little co op grocery store in town and packed up all our stuff in time for our 10 am train.
Our route took us to Genova and Ventimiglia and lastly to Nice, where we stayed in an adorable bed and breakfast called Chez Josephine.

I believe I have a post already written about the ride from Italy to Nice so I will post that at some point but for now I'll just say that it was amazing. Upon arrival in Nice we had pasta for dinner and gelato for dessert and we watched a 4 man dance group on the street, which was very entertaining even though they actually were not very impressive dancers. It all almost made up for having to leave the wonderful Cinque Terre behind.  Almost.