Alchemystress's Blogs

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Last by Alchemystress on Jul 12, 2011, 1:51pm

I was inspired by @scicurious on twitter. (her original post here http://scientopia.org/blogs/scicurious/2011/06/18/on-tattoos-and-personal-space/)
Those of you with tattoos please chime in. Why is it that people touch me when they see a tattoo on me? And why in the hell is it ever ok? I get it that in the summer months some of my tats are visible, and they are interesting and invite questions. But questions are precisely where it should start. I have had people yank my arm to get a look with no hello first. I understand that someone may want to touch the pictures; it’s interesting how the skin looks different and feels the same. But ask first. I sometimes dress a little warmer than I would like because I don’t want people touching me. And I hate the remarks like “Well, why did you get it where people can see if you didn’t want attention?” So that takes away my rights of personal space?! I am sorry - I don’t mind the questions, I get it, but not the touching. They are “hideable,” but that shouldn’t be something I need to think about everyday. In the end, I got them just for me.

This one moment really took the cake. I have vines tattooed acro . . . More

Silent No More: I am BACK!

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Last by Alchemystress on Jun 08, 2011, 10:26pm

Hello gentle readers… or something. So I know I have been very, very quiet as of late, on twitter, on labspaces, etc. Well, I have had a rough few months, and sort of reclused myself from the world to deal with it all. I had to put everything else on hold and take care of business. My physical friends have seen very little of me as well, but I think I have everything under control now, and have time once again to delve into the world. So here is the low down on my insane life:

I’ve been having a hard time in my lab group. Miss Jade has been more help than I could ever say; I owe her huge thanks because she has been a great sounding board for advice, and I am happy to say I took it and am in a much better place because of it. So first, things in my lab group were getting rough. I know there is snide politics everywhere, but - I wasn’t shielded from any of it (to put it lightly). The work became rather uninteresting, and my capacity as PhD student rode on the line of technician. Plus, we did all research on one instrument and there were 5 of us vying for time on it. No data could be done except on that instrument, and each experiment run to set up etc. would take between 8-12 hours… I am sure at this point you are seeing some of the problems we were having.
. . . More

If I were Not a Scientist....

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Last by David Manly on Mar 09, 2011, 9:50am

So the question posed today is “What would I be doing if I weren’t in science?” For me this is a loaded question. I had no intentions of ever being a scientist, though maybe I should have read the signs. When in second grade I told my teacher I wanted to be a paleontologist or an archeologist, and I wasn’t sure which one, because I didn’t know whether I wanted to focus more on people or on dinosaurs. I had dinosaur books, historical paleontology books, etc. Oh, and did I mention – in 3rd or 4th grade I tried to write my own anatomy and physiology book. Tried to illustrate it, too, and discovered I cannot draw to save my life. I wanted to be an artist so badly…

I wanted to sing and dance and act when I was a kid. I took dance classes and drawing classes, joined the drama club, and tried joining the school choir. Let’s just say the only things I could even do at all were dance and act (better for my ego that way, listening to me sing is better done by the deaf). And the dancing is frankly questionable; flexible I am not, not even a little.

I wasn’t a bad actor. Not a good one either, but damn did I have (and I suppose I still do) a clear and precise speaking voice. I went to a Catholic school (yeah, I know), and would always be chosen to read for Mas . . . More

Quick and Dirty Intro to Mass Spectrometry

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Last by Alchemystress on Mar 03, 2011, 8:33pm

I thought I would do a few blog posts here and there about aspects of my research. So I warn you now, it is very possible I may geek out…a lot. There are quite a few things I cover in my work, so piece by piece, quick and dirty explanations will follow. Please feel free to ask questions, and if there are areas you would like me elaborate on and maybe make another blog post about, I will be more than happy to oblige.

The first one that I think is important to understand in my work is mass spectrometry. So what the hell is it, and why is it useful? In this post I will take a stab at introducing you to this powerful instrument, and then I shall write another post in which I will introduce you to the one I use and some things I do on it. First, I think a good base understanding of mass spec. is important.

Mass spectrometry is a powerful analytical technique that is used to characterize, identify, and quantify unknown compounds (here I point out that many people interchange spectrometry with spectroscopy, and that is incorrect: for spectroscopy, think light, and spectrometry, think electromagnetics).It is used in research, medicine, forensics, pharmaceuticals, archeology, geochemistry etc. The applications are endless. This is a very common instrument and tool used in . . . More

Infinity and Tattoos

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Last by Alchemystress on Mar 05, 2011, 5:10pm

A lot of people have been very curious about my tattoos, so I thought that I could start my blogging life by explaining one of my biggest and most important tattoos (I have about 8 in all). I am working on a sleeve, which is also very important, but it is a work in progress. Once it is close to finished, I will delve into the explanation and pictures of that one.

I waited to get tattoos until I was about 22 years old. That was on purpose, as I didn’t think I was mature enough before then to know what it was that I wanted. I am so glad that I waited; my ideas at the age of 18 were vastly different than at 22. I am very happy with what I have chosen at this point.

Nature has always played a huge role in my life; I go to the woods or to the sea, or just outside, to collect myself and calm my thoughts. I have always found this solace in nature, even from a very young age. My family has always been the kind that went hiking and explored the outdoors, and I am very grateful for that. Not only did they introduce me to the great outdoors but, before I could even walk, I was taken to almost every sort of museum you could imagine, where I played with Tesla coils and looked at Rembrandts. To this day I have a great appreciation for art and museums. Art holds a special place . . . More

We Need More Than Our Science

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I am super feminine, but not girly, I dress classic like Audrey Hepburn but have tattoos, and skulls on my keychain, working on a quarter sleeve in fact. I am a chemist that does engineering and biology. I drive a truck and wear high heels almost everyday. I model, I do runways, I build mass specs and nanodevices. I spin fire, and am an honorary part of a fire circus and I teach organic chemistry. I did Burning Man, I did research on a boat in Hawaii. I have a horrid curiosity to the point where I want to know everything even, when I am not interested. I hike and love the outdoors, camping and getting dirty but enjoy a good dance club as well. I drink whiskey and smoke cigars sometimes, and I also like to run long distances.

I think people forget that to be successful doesn’t mean you need one focus, or are one note; we are multi-faceted, all of us, and that one note really is a melody. I used to struggle with this dichotomy that is me. I have learned to embrace it and balance myself between all these things. It’s OK to be many things and yet still one. It took a long time for me to learn that and move forward in life. Science is about creativity and innovation; and I think people have this notion that it is this “stuffy subject” that old men in tweed suits sit ar . . . More