blessings abounding

really I should be asleep at this point in the evening. but if I had gone to sleep 10 minutes ago, I wouldn't have seen one of the most exciting emails come in:

I was awarded an NSF Fellowship!!!!!!!!!

After waiting for over 4 months, finally got word that my proposal was reviewed favorably and that I have funding for at least the next three years. I'm still waiting on the other 7-ish fellowship programs to get back to me, but it is incredibly relieving to have a secure funding option. And it might solve my summer funding issues - apparently I can start receiving the grant money as early as June 1st. Need to discuss this with my advisor, of course :)

Getting this is so affirming in many aspects - that I can write a decent proposal, that my science is innovative, and that people other than me,  my advisor and my friends believe that investing in me as a scientist is a positive thing. (I'll be honest though, no scholarship/fellowship notification has yet to top my NASA MUST email. That was seriously one of the best moments ever. Could be that I'm just tired now and all my excitement chemicals are suppressed....)

I'm still waiting expectantly to hear back from some solar/tech companies I applied to for the summer (the one Seattle company turned me down), but this NSF news is just so wonderful.

because it's 1am and I don't have any 'excited face' pictures on my computer (though this might suffice), please enjoy this adorable kitty:

{usually my eyes get all squinty when I have a large smile....}

MORE exiting news from the past week - I was accepted into the UW Nanotechnology PhD program! Which, yes, means that I'll kind of have two doctorates at the end of the day :) I'll be honest - the program seems more like a 'certification' or 'specialization' than a whole second PhD - but who am I to complain?). My full degree will be a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering and Nanotechnology. Isn't that a mouthful?!

oh yes, and I passed my solar cells class with a way higher-than-expected grade! 

and my lab is basically now set up! (yay for lab work!)

and I get to go to a climbing comp saturday! 

wow wow wow. so blessed. 

dance. dance.

one week left until I get to take dance class again. though I've tried filling the space with rock climbing, cycling, golf, and now - ultimate frisbee (though my new teammates don't believe me when I say I have NO hand-eye coordination. Oh well, they'll find out soon enough, I guess) - nothing has yet to give me the satisfaction that find in dance.

dance is more than just art.

dance is more than just exercise.

dance is more than just performance.

dance is more than just pain.

dance is more than just structure.

dance is more than just expression.

dance is an experience.

{via}

photo from the PNB performance I saw last week. favorite piece I've seen so far in 2012.

inspiration

dreaming

This video has been floating around the internet lately, but I thought I'd post it here for all my friends who might not generally watch NASA/space-inspired videos. yes, I know that if you're in my g+ "NASA Friends" circle, you've probably already seen it :) (also, this is so I can remember it later...)

watch is as you prepare your taxes. watch it with anyone you know who is thinking about being a scientist. who wouldn't be inspired by that incredible imagery? even though my goal in life is to build solar cells for people here on earth, I still dream of exploring space.

the only thing missing in the video? more women in science. there was one, did you see her in the orange flight suit? 

pink and scented

earlier this week, I purchased some new razors. while this is not something I'd usually announce to world - really, who cares? - but I was struck by the fact that my only real options were a pink colored, raspberry-scented 4-pack or a single teal colored (probably scented as well) razor for roughly the same price.

I, of course, being the grad student that I am, opted for the less-expensive-per-unit pack of 4, but as I was walking to the register, I thought to myself, "why can't gillete make non-pink, non-scented razors for women?" I'm sure I'm paying extra for those 'features' and I really really really hate scented handles. I actually have to open the package and them them sit out for a few days before I'll use them. (probably could just buy guy's razors, but I have yet to investigated the differences between the engineering behind them - not sure I want razors made for men's faces for my legs...)

anyways, all this to say, that when this article, Sex Discrimination and Gender Bias - Why Do Women Pay More Than Men, popped up on my fb newsfeed, I found it quite appropriate to my feelings about gendered products. I always hear guys complain about having higher car insurance costs (but, lets be real, there is some decent science behind that), but you don't hear women complain about the costs of just being a woman. True, I could buy things like razors that are marketed to men, but I can't change the way a car salesman interacts with me (on average, women pay $200 more for the same car as a man) or the way I am treated at the dry cleaners (sometimes the shirt cleaning deals apparently only work for men's button downs, not women's).

really, go read the article. it's enlightening. and frustrating.

on a slightly related note, as I was reading the above article in Marie Claire magazine (which, by the way, I've watched to many episodes of project runway to say that title mentally without Heidi Klum's accent in my head) - I was struck by the 'what's hot right now' sidebar. Just look at the list of what people are reading:

granted, I know that marie claire is not geek girl, but still, it is slightly disheartening to to continually see that 90% of what people are looking at concerns appearance. The description in wikipedia seems to contrast sharply: 'the United States edition focuses on women around the world and several worldwide issues. The magazine also covers health, beauty, and fashion topics.' it would seem that the 'worldwide issues' should be prevalent, but instead the fashion, beauty and 'skinny' topics dominate. At least their tips for career-minded women were decent, but looking at their list of topics initially does not make me want to trust their way of advancing my career as woman. It looks like I should try to manage my perfectly-cut hair, diet correctly while weighing myself on my 'best' scale, and make myself over with the best beauty products of all time to make make myself 7 years younger even though I'm lazy about they way I look, just so I can succeed at the next job interview. I'm a fan of looking sharp at work and for interviews, etc, but I'm not fan of our culture's obsessive desire to change the way we look to fit a certain mold of unrealistic beauty and being judged severely based on the way we look. that kind of seems paradoxical, but oh well - I live in the real world where life can be muddy and my philosophies are not perfectly rational or explainable or complete...

{wanderlust}

It's spring break (finally!) but I'm staying in Seattle this year. While finally getting to set up my lab and enjoying the campus without the 30,000 undergrads is fantastic, I came across this web magazine the other day that just makes me want to hop on the next flight somewhere and have an adventure: 

Wayfare is full of beautifully locations and cultures. I want to visit them all! (well, except maybe the truffle hunting in OR, as I'm not sure I'm a fan of truffles...)

click here to directly read the magazine, but you should also check out the blog on their website!

hair.

for the first time since 2009, I'm itching to change up my hair. I haven't dyed my hair since that summer, and I'm pretty happy with my natural color (surprise!) but the one-length thing is starting to get boring.

also, it gets fluffy in the rain and falls all over my face when I'm trying to study. and no, I can't pull it back - I easily get dull headaches from pulling my hair back too much :(

right now: the longest it's been in probably 6+ years?

         

I've had my fair share of short haircuts and non-traditional colors during college:

{one of my favorite looks, kind of hard to maintain and hard to grow out. did not look all that great when just left curly}

{summer before freshman year - red, blonde, black and a little natural brown left :) }

{fall freshman year of college. I was water for Halloween. I still love this cut and color combo.}

{I rocked the under-the-hair blonde streak for a solid year}

 {this one was probably the worst. never ever try to go blonde from being a brunette redhead with a home-blonde kit. worst hair decision ever.}

 {at one point in time, it was really red-ish. also note that I can't keep my eyes open when it's sunny outside....}

 

{shortest it's been in the last couple of years, I kind of really liked that haircut. It was great curly and straight! And yes, this is a NASA picture in a really messy lab. somehow it turned out cool. maybe the blue light?}

and now it's just been fairly mid-length and curly and brown for what seems to be forever....

but I'm just not sure what to do. I'm bored with the status quo, that's for sure.

{side note: watch how this girl's hair changes over the years! such a cool project!}