The District and I have a slumber party

It's no less true the more I say it: I have really amazing friends. And it's sad when the course and drift of our lives makes for diaspora more than continued life in the same circles, but, by that same token, it's really wonderful when we get to reunite.

I needed badly to get out of NYC for the weekend, and I'd been talking for a long time about heading south to visit Elizabeth McQueen in DC. Liz is a former U of M cheerleader who decided to do some theatre when we were in college together, and appeared in Information for Foreigners. She has since gone to grad school and now works redesigning airspace (no, I'm not kidding). She is ridiculously smart and curious and funny and I really miss spending time with her.

The train ride to DC is about 3.5 hours, which flew by (courtesy of my nintendo DS and Professor Layton and the Curious Village; I love that game so hard). Once I got to DC, Liz and I had dinner and went out dancing (followed by a dance party in the car on the way home, to such wonderfully bad dance songs as "Relax, Take it Easy" by Mika and "World, Hold On" by Bob Sinclair).

Saturday we spent lazing about at Liz's in Maclean, Virginia, (which I don't have a picture of but, is in the same city where the CIA is headquartered), and went to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum so I could see some dinosaurs. Then we met up with her friend Sarah and Heather and saw "Be Kind, Rewind," which was gorgeous in a typical Gondry fashion but not so well acted. Then we headed into DC with Liz's friend Mike to meet with my friends Drew and Isabelle for salsa dancing at this tiny club. Liz and I stayed up until something like 6 (which was just like old times) talking about everything. Sunday was spent hanging out in Dupont Circle (pictured here). Voltaire's is gone - replaced by a new Thai place, sad as that is. We returned home and I jumped on the train and headed back.

I had forgotten how much I love DC. I'd happily move there (and maybe I will when it comes time to look for postdocs) and seeing Liz was really good for me. With so much instability and craziness in my life over the last year, it's great to spend time with people who are characterized by being consistently great, even as they grow and change.

I am indeed the future Dr. Science

I've held off talking about this online not only because I respect the jinx more than most, but also because I've heard horror stories about applicants' online words finding their way to interviewers' eyes - but at this point it's looking more and more like the matter is settled, so...let me start by saying: The application process for phds in neuroscience/genetics is really long and complicated. There are an awful lot of pieces that have to be compiled, you have to take the GRE, and then you have to battle the labyrinthine university bureaucracies who will try to tell you that what you've submitted never actually arrived/was in the wrong form. Several hundred dollars later, though, there's some fun to be had in the form of interview trips.

Of the schools to which I've applied, I was fortunate enough to get interviews at the top two. Which is a mystery in and of itself, I guess: Why would the top two programs in the country want me, but not the safety state schools to which I applied? Odd, that. Anyways, the program that's not in NYC, a neuroscience program, flew me out, put me up in a hotel, bought me every meal at fancy restaurants, and basically fawned all over me to get me to go there and it was AWESOME. Everyone should have that experience at least once in their life, that's for sure. The program in NYC, in genetics, was not so splendid, but still kind of cool with more subdued fawning.

That difference is really indicative of the contrast between the programs, though: the latter is unquestionably the most important school in the history of genetics, but seems to be resting on its reputation and laurels in the expectation that students will still want to attend. The former is making a real giant-size move for science, is already ranked #1 for behavioral neuroscience, and clearly wants to assemble the resources for a bright future. And their students get paid to fly all over the world for conferences and to give lectures; I met students who'd just returned from China and London. And they called me a day after the interview to tell me I was in (which both programs sort of unofficially told me on my interviews).

At this point I still have to hear from a few more schools, but these two were, at the outset, my top picks. I'm really surprised by the program in NYC's shabby present state, given its pedigree, but folks I talk to tell me that's not the first they've heard of it. I'm definitely leaning strongly toward the neuroscience program, but though the location is not ideal (exactly how much that should matter, I don't know).

I'll keep you posted on what I decide (which will have to happen soon, whether or not I hear from my remaining schools).

Blogging is not like this...

...so feel free to get excited for updates from grad school interviews, science, freemasonry, a birthday message for Alan Trammel, and notes from this weekend's super-awesome trip to DC. Coming very very soon!