One task down

I submitted the Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship application at 9:13 p.m. Central, leaving me 47 minutes to spare. I'm really taking a chance with this thing because their focus is ethnic diversity and working in an ethnically diverse space. I have, and I do. Hell, our lab personnel at the moment represents five countries among eight people. I played up that plus the fact that I'm in a wheelchair and only 30% of PWDs in the US are employed and many of those near the poverty line. I also banged on about how one rarely if ever sees a PWD at a scientific conference. The last lines of my personal statement:

"Rarely are PWDs seen in the classroom or laboratory, and almost never are they seen at scientific conferences. I want to change that. I want to be a researcher who does great work that she presents at conferences. I want to be a professor who helps all her students to learn no matter what their backgrounds are. I want to be a mentor who shows by example of her life that a person can do anything s/he wants. I have worked within my own status as a minority to earn scholarships, two degrees, good employment, admission to a Ph.D. program, and a past fellowship; I want to help others have the same successes."

Hopefully they'll give me one of their 35 fellowships.

Now to finish the prospectus and the manuscript -- the latter of which I still have not gotten back from my advisor who said he'd give it to me last Monday.

Birthday Buddies

Happy birthday to my most wonderful mom who is 55 today. I called her at a little after 0700 this morning to sing "Happy Birthday" in my I-just-woke-up-two-minutes-ago voice. Yeah, it was a Grammy winner.

Welcome to the world, Gabriel Alexander! Jonikka left a message on my voicemail about half an hour ago to tell me her and Erik's son had been born at 1:11 p.m. on 11-11. I can't wait to see that natal chart! ::grin:: You're coming into the world at a very interesting time, little one. I can't wait to meet you in person.

Two days of Halloween

Aaarrrrrr! These are from the 30th. Costume put together with stuff I already had.

Front:




Side, to show off my piratey hair tie:






Look! It's a Hummer! It's a tank! It's Supergimp! From the 31st. Thanks to Sarah for making the shirt and to Kim for loaning me my curtain-cape.

Check it out

You have to have to HAVE TO see this photo.

MEH

And that's all I have to say.