Cody and I have made it through our first anniversary apart now, which was a little weird. When people have asked me to describe it, the only word that I can come up with is anticlimactic. Not that if we were together it would be a whole day celebrating with extravagant gifts or a big vacation or something, but spending the day at work, and then going out to Chipotle with my dad for my anniversary was a little odd-- not exactly what I would have envisioned before making plans to spend the summer in Minneapolis. But, my parents anniversary is tomorrow, and my mom is in Tennessee, so I think that my dad and I will be celebrating his anniversary much in the same way that we celebrated mine.
This whole spending the summer apart thing is getting old by now. I am usually pretty good about not getting all emotional and such (after all, I hadn't shed a tear about this until last night), but I am realizing that this just kinda sucks. It's difficult to have meaningful conversations over the phone, particularly when we have been working fairly opposite shifts most of the time, meaning I am pretty sleepy by the time Cody finishes work. And, sometimes, there are simply conversations that you want to be present for, but that isn't going to happen for another several weeks until Cody comes to visit. I know it is going to be fine, but at times my optimistic view point dims a little.
On the plus side, my internship is going really well-- I have been writing several grants over the past week-- three for a program in the Philips neighborhood that I am pretty excited about, and one for a major international conference that the Foundation is hosting in 2009. And I'm learning all sorts of cool medical terminology that makes me sound like I know what I am talking about, but mostly it has been lots of research on wikipedia to give me definitions to terms like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
--brianna
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Return to Minneapolis
It has been an adjustment moving back here. Not that I expected it to be incredibly easy, but it's taking some work to get back into things here. The internship is going pretty well, though I am realizing that perhaps it would have been better if I started next week rather than last week. My boss has been incredibly busy hiring new staff members over the past several weeks, and hasn't been completely prepared for a new intern that reports directly to her.
The trip to New Ulm went well, and I managed to stay awake in the car, which felt like a major accomplishment (I was sitting in the back seat, it was gray and rainy, and we were driving through farm land, which isn't exactly anything new for me). But, because I was in the car with the president and my new boss, the vice president, I felt like potentially doing something embarrassing while sleeping wasn't what I was going for on the first day. Instead, I pinched myself when I felt like there was nothing else to distract myself with.
I have been assigned several projects to work on over the course of the summer-- looking at women's health, community health, a children's book on heart health, and potentially working on some professional education projects/documents for the medical community. But, for right now I am doing a lot of background/generic work, because none of these projects have a particular direction yet. I have been working on ideas, and sending them to my boss, but it looks like this week's meeting has been pushed back until next week, so it could be awhile yet until I have a better sense of direction.
On the plus side, this has meant that I can leave the office early every day to read articles/do research from coffee shops. I have been getting into the office between 7 and 7:30 in the morning, and leaving around 2 or 3, doing research from whatever coffee shop I feel like working from after that (and this has been a great way to avoid rush hour traffic). I even convinced my boss to let me take Friday off so I could go cheer my cousin on at the state track meet in the morning, and work from home in the afternoon.
It's been weird to realize that Cody and I will be celebrating our first anniversary apart though next week. I think that isn't going to be very much fun. My dad jokingly suggested that we call each other on skype while eating dinner as a mini-celebration. Oh well, I guess we can celebrate together next year!
But, Cody will be in town a month from today, and that is giving me something to look forward to. It also helps that I am making lots of plans to spend time with various friends that I haven't seen since last summer or Christmas. It's keeping me distracted (unlike last week, when I was bored out of my mind every night).
Now back to the research.
The trip to New Ulm went well, and I managed to stay awake in the car, which felt like a major accomplishment (I was sitting in the back seat, it was gray and rainy, and we were driving through farm land, which isn't exactly anything new for me). But, because I was in the car with the president and my new boss, the vice president, I felt like potentially doing something embarrassing while sleeping wasn't what I was going for on the first day. Instead, I pinched myself when I felt like there was nothing else to distract myself with.
I have been assigned several projects to work on over the course of the summer-- looking at women's health, community health, a children's book on heart health, and potentially working on some professional education projects/documents for the medical community. But, for right now I am doing a lot of background/generic work, because none of these projects have a particular direction yet. I have been working on ideas, and sending them to my boss, but it looks like this week's meeting has been pushed back until next week, so it could be awhile yet until I have a better sense of direction.
On the plus side, this has meant that I can leave the office early every day to read articles/do research from coffee shops. I have been getting into the office between 7 and 7:30 in the morning, and leaving around 2 or 3, doing research from whatever coffee shop I feel like working from after that (and this has been a great way to avoid rush hour traffic). I even convinced my boss to let me take Friday off so I could go cheer my cousin on at the state track meet in the morning, and work from home in the afternoon.
It's been weird to realize that Cody and I will be celebrating our first anniversary apart though next week. I think that isn't going to be very much fun. My dad jokingly suggested that we call each other on skype while eating dinner as a mini-celebration. Oh well, I guess we can celebrate together next year!
But, Cody will be in town a month from today, and that is giving me something to look forward to. It also helps that I am making lots of plans to spend time with various friends that I haven't seen since last summer or Christmas. It's keeping me distracted (unlike last week, when I was bored out of my mind every night).
Now back to the research.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
"Signs of the Time" or "My Own Personal Apocalypse"
Ok, so maybe the title of this post is a little over the top, but for those of you who have followed along with this blog, you know my feelings about going to New York City. In the past there have been events that made me wish that I could suck it up, make the trip down and enjoy such rarities as the debut of Sufjan Stevens' first orchestral composition, the premier of Sigur Ros' movie, and even tapings of the Daily Show/Colbert Report. In the end, it turns out, all it took to actually get me down there: boredom.
As some of you may know, Bri flew out last week Saturday to move back to Minneapolis for the summer. After having Monday and Tuesday off from work, I was about ready to lose my mind with boredom, so when my work schedule opened up for Thursday, and a friend asked me if I wanted to drive down and see a Yankees game, I think I temporary blacked out and said "YES!" When I came back to my senses, I realized that I had just committed to waking up before 6 AM, driving 4+ hours, (culminating in driving across Manhattan) and then driving back to the same day, all in the name of watching a team that, in my mind, represents all that is evil in the world of baseball. Call me crazy, I will simply defend that boredom does strange things to people. Add to that the fact that I have only ever seen pro baseball in the Metrodome and you will understand that it was my duty as a lover of baseball to see the game played the way it was meant to, outside, in a truly historic stadium that is going to be torn down at the end of this season.
So, that said, I woke up bright and early Thursday morning and began my great adventure. To give a little context, the real purpose of this trip was to drop my friends wife off at MOMA for a conference. (To all of you who have never been to the "City", MOMA is the Museum of Modern Art.) My friend Peter, our driver/instigator for this trip had never actually driven in Manhattan, and had only been to NYC once before, but assured me that all would be well thanks to the onboard navigation system, and his understanding that you have be ok with a little vehicle to vehicle contact.
I managed to keep my rising fear, and questions of sanity in check for the better part of the drive. As we came up on the George Washington Bridge, my only thought was, "Huh, so this is the place they get all the EZ Pass information from to determine if somebody was in the City to commit a murder on all those Law and Order episodes I have been watching recently." Ironically, I began to realize that most of my reference points for the city were actually from Law and Order episodes, and my old family tradition of playing Monopoly.
We made it to MOMA without incident, then proceeded to head north. I began recognizing street names: Broadway, Park Place, Lexington Ave, 5th Ave (I could have made that last one up, I don't remember if I actually crossed it, it just sounds right.) Finally we parked near 87th st, hopped the #4 express to the Bronx and found ourselves outside Yankee Stadium.
Our seats were up high, but behind home plate, and let me tell you, there is nothing quite like seeing a baseball game outside while you are being dive bombed by pigeons. I am not kidding, the first time one of those suckers dove down from above my head towards the field, I jumped out of my seat a little bit. I am used to only paper airplanes and the occasional beach ball in these settings, not birds.
The game itself was quite good, the Yankees took and early lead, then the Blue Jays came back, then the Yankees made a mistake and the Jays took a decent lead. It all came down to the 9th with two outs, one man on and Jason Giambi at the plate. Caveat, I can't stand Jason Giambi. He may be the player I most despise in baseball. Some of it has to do with the team he plays for, some of it has to do with the way he carries himself, a lot has to do with that wicked creepy mustache he is sporting right now. Anywho, Giambi steps to the plate and proceeds to crush a ball to right field that manages to stay fair. A walk off home run. Many of you may criticize me for what I am about to say, some may never speak to me again, all I can say is this. When you are in Yankee stadium, watching one of the last 50 games that will ever be played there, understanding all of the history involved in that building and you see a walk-off home run with 2 outs, you stand up and cheer, not necessarily for the players involved, or the win, but for the fact that you just got to see one of the coolest things in baseball in a truly historic place.
We made it back down to Manhattan without much incident, and back to Ithaca before too late at night. I survived. And to top it off, I didn't hate it and the world didn't end. Now I have to face the fact that I have to go there again, because Brianna says that if I survived it once, I can survive it twice.
As some of you may know, Bri flew out last week Saturday to move back to Minneapolis for the summer. After having Monday and Tuesday off from work, I was about ready to lose my mind with boredom, so when my work schedule opened up for Thursday, and a friend asked me if I wanted to drive down and see a Yankees game, I think I temporary blacked out and said "YES!" When I came back to my senses, I realized that I had just committed to waking up before 6 AM, driving 4+ hours, (culminating in driving across Manhattan) and then driving back to the same day, all in the name of watching a team that, in my mind, represents all that is evil in the world of baseball. Call me crazy, I will simply defend that boredom does strange things to people. Add to that the fact that I have only ever seen pro baseball in the Metrodome and you will understand that it was my duty as a lover of baseball to see the game played the way it was meant to, outside, in a truly historic stadium that is going to be torn down at the end of this season.
So, that said, I woke up bright and early Thursday morning and began my great adventure. To give a little context, the real purpose of this trip was to drop my friends wife off at MOMA for a conference. (To all of you who have never been to the "City", MOMA is the Museum of Modern Art.) My friend Peter, our driver/instigator for this trip had never actually driven in Manhattan, and had only been to NYC once before, but assured me that all would be well thanks to the onboard navigation system, and his understanding that you have be ok with a little vehicle to vehicle contact.
I managed to keep my rising fear, and questions of sanity in check for the better part of the drive. As we came up on the George Washington Bridge, my only thought was, "Huh, so this is the place they get all the EZ Pass information from to determine if somebody was in the City to commit a murder on all those Law and Order episodes I have been watching recently." Ironically, I began to realize that most of my reference points for the city were actually from Law and Order episodes, and my old family tradition of playing Monopoly.
We made it to MOMA without incident, then proceeded to head north. I began recognizing street names: Broadway, Park Place, Lexington Ave, 5th Ave (I could have made that last one up, I don't remember if I actually crossed it, it just sounds right.) Finally we parked near 87th st, hopped the #4 express to the Bronx and found ourselves outside Yankee Stadium.
Our seats were up high, but behind home plate, and let me tell you, there is nothing quite like seeing a baseball game outside while you are being dive bombed by pigeons. I am not kidding, the first time one of those suckers dove down from above my head towards the field, I jumped out of my seat a little bit. I am used to only paper airplanes and the occasional beach ball in these settings, not birds.
The game itself was quite good, the Yankees took and early lead, then the Blue Jays came back, then the Yankees made a mistake and the Jays took a decent lead. It all came down to the 9th with two outs, one man on and Jason Giambi at the plate. Caveat, I can't stand Jason Giambi. He may be the player I most despise in baseball. Some of it has to do with the team he plays for, some of it has to do with the way he carries himself, a lot has to do with that wicked creepy mustache he is sporting right now. Anywho, Giambi steps to the plate and proceeds to crush a ball to right field that manages to stay fair. A walk off home run. Many of you may criticize me for what I am about to say, some may never speak to me again, all I can say is this. When you are in Yankee stadium, watching one of the last 50 games that will ever be played there, understanding all of the history involved in that building and you see a walk-off home run with 2 outs, you stand up and cheer, not necessarily for the players involved, or the win, but for the fact that you just got to see one of the coolest things in baseball in a truly historic place.
We made it back down to Manhattan without much incident, and back to Ithaca before too late at night. I survived. And to top it off, I didn't hate it and the world didn't end. Now I have to face the fact that I have to go there again, because Brianna says that if I survived it once, I can survive it twice.
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