#erstwhiletexan

Commission for @erstwhiletexan!

either you all really doubt my commitment to sparkle motion or you REALLY wanted to see steve rogers today so, ask and ye shall receive

nothing surprises me anymore ._.

Well, surprised as in “my brain went !!! when it bumped against this”, because there is nothing left in this world that has not had “but AT HOGWARTS” appended to it. 

THINGS I LIKE ABOUT RESEARCH:

LEARNING NEW THINGS. I know it sounds horribly cliche, but when the research is going well and things are working the way they should and I’m generating data at a good clip, it can be kind of thrilling. Even if it’s just a single experimental result, the sum total of human knowledge has been increased just that tiny little bit, and to be able to do that is pretty amazing. 

The thrill of victory! Yes, science can be very Wide World of Sports sometimes, complete with the agony of defeat. Unfortunately, real world science doesn’t work like it does in the movies. It can be a very long process, and we don’t get the advantage of montages. Experimental failures happen a LOT, and for any number of reasons - a reagent has gone bad, the original protocol didn’t have enough detail and you have to fill in gaps as best you can, the original protocol simply doesn’t WORK with your setup, cultures get contaminated, elephants wreck your research (happened to somebody I knew in grad school), and so on, and so on. Science requires stubbornness. And when you finally figure out what was going wrong and you get things to work? It can be oh so sweet. Like, break-out-the-Final-Fantasy-victory-theme sweet.

 Travel opportunities! My work has given me the chance to travel to new and interesting places, which makes my wanderlust very happy. Typically it’s either to present some of our research or to perform workshops where we demonstrate some of the techniques we use to other researchers. It’s also given me the chance to travel internationally, which I kind of never expected to happen, and it’s given me the confidence that I actually CAN do international travel, which is pretty empowering. It’s also prompted me to pick up Spanish again, so that’s a nice side perk!

Getting to play detective. Sometimes when we get some results from an analysis I have to figure out WHY those results are what they are, and that’s led down some interesting rabbit holes, like looking at import/export records or digging through old herbarium labels. 

Also, herbaria. Herbaria are EXTREMELY cool, especially if you’re a plant nerd. For those not in the know, herbaria are kind of like plant libraries, where collected plant specimens are cataloged, dried, and preserved for future research. When dried correctly, they can last decades or even centuries - I’ve personally worked with samples that date from before the American Civil War. They are veritable treasure troves of knowledge.

YOU ARE VERY ADORABLE. Also I went to the Firebird the same night so apparently symphonies have a theme composer for openings this year.

Apparently ALSO we have a mystical musical connection across time and space!

erstwhiletexan replied to your post “aaaaAAAAAAAAA I’m attending opening night of the Phoenix Symphony’s...”

AHHHH YOU ARE SO CUTE <3

did you get corn tho

YOU ARE ADORABLE <3 <3 <3 <3 <3