lab talk

Mr. Daybyday used to cringe at the thought of heading to the bar with me and some of my grad school buddies. He doesn't seem to worry much about that anymore.

As a non scientist he was often put-off by the amount of shop-talk that some of my friends did while at the pub. I can't really blame him, because even I would lose my buzz during some of those conversations. But it just happened that some of the people I hung around with absolutely LOVED talking about science. It didn't matter where they were.

A post over at YoungFemaleScientist inspired me to write about why I don't personally do much science blogging here.

One reason is that to maintain some form of anonymity, I try not to reveal too much of my own area of expertise. But that really only accounts for a very small part of the answer.

I would say that the major reason why my posts tend not to be about science is because I just haven't felt the need to blog about science. I think about and do science for a large part of my day, and frankly, my brain needs a chance to rest and consolidate the information or else I start feeling as though I'm pulling an all-nighter and cramming for an exam at the last minute. That, and there is more to life than science.

I used to talk about scientific musings to friends and family who seemed interested. I don't seem to do that as much anymore. I think the change that produced this shift was becoming a full time scientist rather than a student (although, we scientists are always pseudo-students). Now I am surrounded by and have the resources at hand to muse about science to my hearts content - while I am at work. I just don't often feel the need to do that anymore at home (or in blogspace).

I still know lots of people who love talking about science all the time, and blog about it regularly - I'm just not one of them. I used to wonder if maybe that meant I wasn't cut out to be an academic. But now I think that there's room for people like me in academia too - as long as I am productive in the time I spend in the lab, why shouldn't I have a life outside of science too?

So this blog is my outlet for all the other things on my mind. I like to think that dealing with all the other aspects of my life on here helps clear my mind so that when I am in the lab I can be a better scientist. And hey, if readers find my blog entertaining, or helpful, that's a bonus!