Artiscence

 I went to San Jose, California to attend a conference. But while there, I had loads of fun with my colleagues and friends. After all, " all work and no play .... ". You get the idea. San Jose is not too big and the surrounding area is easily accessible by train. So the first "non-academic" event was simply strolling around the area.  I had to present my work the next day. The presentation was in the form of a poster presentation. I had presented this before and I am quite familiar with my work, so I was not apprehensive. Also my dear friend and (senior) colleague was there and getting feedback from her was definitely good. After the presentations, I enjoyed a well-earned rest sipping drinks at the hotel bar with friends. I do not drink much but the company was divine and I couldn't refuse when the bar guy concocted what looked and almost tasted like lemonade but burns a little while going down the esophagus. :)  The next day...

Grandiose! I've been looking for a word to describe the majestic mansions of Newport, RI. And grandiose fits the bill perfectly. Funny enough, I didn't take as much pictures as I would have love to. I was in Newport for a conference (the New England Society of Toxicology. It was my first NE-SOT conference since joining a toxicology lab) and I was giving a presentation so I didn't exactly gallivant about like a giddy tourist. I have to go back sometime, just to gallivant about like a giddy tourist. ;).                                                      Newport, RI is beautiful.

This is Ochre Court in Newport Rhode Island. The first mansion I ever stepped into. Although it is now used as part of Salve Regina University admin offices and events space, it still hold its grandiose in every way. The inside look rich and formidable. The outside has an expanse that will probably house half a dozen small buildings. It was a windy day, but the view was still very impressive. The court has an amazing garden (if I can call it that). It is well-kept and overlooks the ocean. There's a Cliff Walk along the building and garden. The New England Society of Toxicology (NE-SOT) Conference was held in Newport and the students poster presentation was held in Ochre court. It was quite distracting actually. I spent half the time marveling at the detailed ceiling paintings (you'll see why in a moment) and the other half trying to explain my research to other students and principal investigators. In this amazing room, I was told stories of...

I wake to sleep and take my waking slow . Theodore Roethke's first line of "The Waking" took a whole different meaning for me this month. January has been a very weird one for me. I have been lethargic and lukewarm regarding pretty much everything outside my lab. Maybe because my experiments are finally working and I didn't want to jinx it by doing anything else. Maybe it's the dreary and gray weather. The clouds have barely left the sky this month. No sun peeking through clouds, no bright white clouds beneath blue skies. No. Just a depressing grayness that hangs heavily from the sky. A wintry frosty cold that lingers all day and the dull bleak evening. How can you see sun set when you never saw it rise? I slept, I woke up, I went to lab and the process repeats itself the next day. Even the poor ducks in frozen water along the Eel pond aren't too pleased.

Let me warn you right now, this here is me showing you too many pictures of and gushing about Nigerian Houses. Yeah, I know, of all things to gush about. By the way, if I ever retire and choose to go back to Nigeria, I hope to reside in one of these lovely buildings in Magodo. I have been out of Nigeria for so long that one of the things that caught my interest when I went back were the houses, especially Magodo Estate, a prestigious estate in Lagos state, Nigeria. Aren't these just lovely houses? I tell you, Nigerians don't build houses, they build mini mansions (when they can afford it). As long as you have the money to buy a plot of land (or a few acres), you are at liberty to build on it as you want. In the shape, size, and color that you want.  An Art Shop in Magodo In Nigeria, for the most part, people typically buy lands, rather than houses, and so, when thy build houses, it tends to reflect the taste of the owner. So no two houses ...

I've been to the Annual Biomedical Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) three times now, twice as an undergrad and once (so far) as a graduate student and I think this might be my last (maybe).  The ABRCMS is a conference devoted to the leadership training of minority students. It is largely focused on encouraging higher learning, i.e. graduate school, medical school or something akin to those two.  The first time I went to ABRCMS (2008, Florida), I had just started my Junior year in college, I was still undecided on graduate school or medical school, but I knew it would be one or the other. Also, I had just started independent study the summer before and gave a poster presentation of the lab's work. Again, being a junior, I found ABRCMS very appealing. It was in-fact the first large conference I had been to and seeing so many other students (that looked like me) interested in biology and research was amazing to me. ABRCMS promoted minority students involvemen...

Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, California eat, walk, see the floating restaurant,  buy some trinkets, shop,  ride the Powell-Hyde cable cars,  go to Ghirardelli Square act like a tourist and take loads of photos,  go to/or take photos of Fisherman's Grotto,  Pompei's Grotto and Alioto's, eat more seafood, try the Dungeness crab and clam chowder, watch the time skip by Realize how late it is getting and say goodbye to Fisherman's Wharf.