False Images

Fresh off of my high from Austin, TX was two of the most emotionally straining weeks in my life. Aside from a stressful (and beyond anyone's control) Thanksgiving where I waited at a train station for nearly 2 hours thinking my dad was in a car wreck and then suffered through a loss of power shortly after dinner, two people I was "very close" to wound up hurting me tremendously. I think the quotes are very appropriate here because up until now I think I was throwing the term, as well as the term "friend," around like they grew on trees (are we all really friends with all the people on our MySpace pages?...this one's for you Mike).

Now I'm not going to pretend that you can go through life not hurting other people. I love my parents dearly and I know I've hurt both of them over the years and they've given their share of hurt back at me. However, beyond all of that lurked something tremendous to which I was totally unaware, or maybe I just took it for granted. If you genuinely care for someone, consider and accept who they are and what they need, and are honest with them (and by necessity yourself) you have laid the foundation for a true relationship.

I think perhaps that over the years I have been naive. I've always had a select group of close friends, but I don't think I ever gave them the credit they were due; I never realized what they had or, more importantly, what they gave of themselves. So during these past two weeks when I was destroyed by what ultimately were false images I had of others, the silver lining was that among the shattered glass stood my true friends, as if I was seeing them for the first time. They were there all the time offering me advice (though I didn't always see to take it), supporting me as I went down the road (though they knew it would mean suffering), and standing up for me when the time was right. Thanks guys and gals. I hope I can be such a positive force in someone's life if I haven't been already.

ICCBMT Austin

I'm back from the ICCBMT which was held in Austin, TX. This was hands down the best conference I have attended in my research career. The science was great, the topics were relevant, and the attendance was small - which was intentional. It promoted interaction among attendees (breakfast, lunch, and dinner were included) and I made some great contacts. I was also lucky enough to win a New Investigator Award, which meant I gave a talk and got a nice check to offset the cost of the trip. The one downside was that the conference was at a resort about 30 minutes outside of Austin proper, so I didn't get to see the city's nightlife, but well, the resort had a hot tub outside overlooking the lake. Good times.

Off to Austin, TX. Yee-Haw!