Okay. Probably should give you folks a little bit better idea of what that means and what happened and all that.
I was working on my talk until the night before. My last run-through sucked pretty bad. I was pissed, but I gave myself fifteen minutes before giving it another go. In that time, it clicked. I went to bed, and worked a bit on the intro in the morning. 12:30, and my advisors are showing baby pictures of me(THANKS MOM) and then I'm up there blabbing about the vocal repertoire of the white-throated magpie-jay (Calocitta formosa). Then I was done, with about five minutes for questions. No serious flub-ups. Apparently I switched some words a few times, but no biggie, right?
The talk was a departmental seminar, in front of about 40-50 people from my department, as well as friends. For a dissertation defense, you do the public talk, which gives your committee (the bastards who decide your fate) a chance to hear it as you see it, rather than as a series of disjunct chapters. Then, after peeing and freaking out about how good/bad you did in the talk, you go and talk with them for a while. It's their chance to ask questions, and if they're still on the fence, make the final decision.
My defense, then, went swimmingly. I think they'd already decided they liked the whole thing, so the questions were fun. They wanted to hear what I thought about various implications of my research, so not much direct criticism. Then I got out and we popped champagne and ate snacks and schmoozed with other departmental friends. There's a cool tradition in my dept - you pop your champagne bottle into the ceiling, and then sign the dent. I GOT TO DO THAT. AUGH!
There are still a few minor revisions to do, and spelling to be check, etc. Not too bad, though. Then I need to publish them as actual papers, although one of them will be out in February. So, that's the breakdown. Finished, just need to hand it all in. Wow.
Currently I'm in Minnesota, where it's AWESOMELY cold and snowy. Spent today walking around town Christmas shopping with my girl, who was a trooper in this weather. Damn Californians. They wilt. It's SO NICE TO NOT HAVE TO BE DOING SO MUCH!!! And to just breath. I need a massage, though. Maybe later this week.
I will try to get out and post in y'all's blogs tomorrow, but if I don't get to it... Merry Christmas.
I was working on my talk until the night before. My last run-through sucked pretty bad. I was pissed, but I gave myself fifteen minutes before giving it another go. In that time, it clicked. I went to bed, and worked a bit on the intro in the morning. 12:30, and my advisors are showing baby pictures of me(THANKS MOM) and then I'm up there blabbing about the vocal repertoire of the white-throated magpie-jay (Calocitta formosa). Then I was done, with about five minutes for questions. No serious flub-ups. Apparently I switched some words a few times, but no biggie, right?
The talk was a departmental seminar, in front of about 40-50 people from my department, as well as friends. For a dissertation defense, you do the public talk, which gives your committee (the bastards who decide your fate) a chance to hear it as you see it, rather than as a series of disjunct chapters. Then, after peeing and freaking out about how good/bad you did in the talk, you go and talk with them for a while. It's their chance to ask questions, and if they're still on the fence, make the final decision.
My defense, then, went swimmingly. I think they'd already decided they liked the whole thing, so the questions were fun. They wanted to hear what I thought about various implications of my research, so not much direct criticism. Then I got out and we popped champagne and ate snacks and schmoozed with other departmental friends. There's a cool tradition in my dept - you pop your champagne bottle into the ceiling, and then sign the dent. I GOT TO DO THAT. AUGH!
There are still a few minor revisions to do, and spelling to be check, etc. Not too bad, though. Then I need to publish them as actual papers, although one of them will be out in February. So, that's the breakdown. Finished, just need to hand it all in. Wow.
Currently I'm in Minnesota, where it's AWESOMELY cold and snowy. Spent today walking around town Christmas shopping with my girl, who was a trooper in this weather. Damn Californians. They wilt. It's SO NICE TO NOT HAVE TO BE DOING SO MUCH!!! And to just breath. I need a massage, though. Maybe later this week.
I will try to get out and post in y'all's blogs tomorrow, but if I don't get to it... Merry Christmas.
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hope all is well.