I cure cancer. It's good.

Warning: this post is full of stereotypes. 

I was asked the other day about my job and when I gave the short answer of "good", he asked why I don't want to talk about it. Which seems like a good question because, I love my job. I love going to work and I want to talk about it. My job makes me feel unique, and productive within society, and makes me happy. 

So why don't I talk about it? ....

After some thought, I came up with three reasons. 

Reason number 1** is: 

I don't to talk about my job because, most men (but not all), usually, well, don't ask. I assume its because I am female since they do ask Nate about his job. Then, when Nate is finished talking (about his job) they will look at me, pause, then move to the next question*. Usually sports and directed at Nate. This absence of conversation usually gives me a lot of time to think while trying to give the look of no thought at all (because, I assume that a man, who does not think a woman can say anything of interest, only wants her to look pretty). 

*OK this only happened once but, still.... 

Reason number 1:  men think girls are pretty.

Reason number 2**: I don't talk about my job because, usually when I tell most woman (but not all), that I work, they give me head tilt (HT****) and then apologize for my husbands inability to make enough money. Which makes me a blubbering idiot as I try to convince them of my happiness.

****HT also occurs when one hears of another's illness or sees a puppy, baby, or baby item.

Me: "No! I love my job. I want to work." 

Woman: *look of disbelief*

Reason number 2: Women think working is lame.

Then there is reason number 3**: If someone does ask, and they do not respond with "I am sorry", I like to keep it simple. Otherwise, I will have to deal with glazed eye expression response (GEER), or watch as they become easily distracted (BED, perhaps a genetic response since this runs rampant within the Branch family), or I get stuck trying to teach them biology with a stick and some dirt while wishing I had more alcohol (@#$%@!)***. 

** these are generalizations and do not reflect ALL the people in my life. 

***Part of me loves this response because if they can get past the biological responses of GEER and BED  that means they really want to learn and find what I say interesting.... right?

Me: "Do you know what a lipid is?"

Person: "No"

Me: "Do you know what a cell is?"

Person: "No"

Me: *sigh*"OK. Your body is composed of tiny objects called cells......... (hrs later)" ***

Which brings me to this. 

Shown at AAAS (An organization who claim they are "the worlds largest general scientific society") and describes 6 different ways to explain your research at a party. Apparently, this is a real issue within the science community. But, since they did not explain my method I added it below.

Reason number 3: Keep it simple to
avoid GEER, BED and @#$%@! responses.

And that is all I have to say about this but, for those who actually want to know what I do, here it is (a bit) simplified:

I manage a small group of scientist who design and manufacture regents for drug discovery for, but not limited to, Cancer, Diabetes, and Autoimmune diseases. These scientific tools are based around lipids (fatty molecules), the enzymes that work on them, and the proteins that bind them.

Or over simplified:

I cure cancer. It is good.

Do you see Me?

I have been thinking about how girls view the world.

I, guess, I kind of always think about this. I am a girl after all. And I have a (not so) little girl so I guess, it makes sense that I would. 

I think that is why this book bothers me (not that I have read it. I have only heard the author speak a few times on NPR and what ever else I heard it on.).

When listening to the author one thing stood out:

"A researcher told me that when she asks teenage girls how a sexual experience felt to them they respond by telling her how they think they looked."

How they looked? They could not tell her how they felt even when asked again.

Which makes me wonder, Do I feel by my appearance?

We're big Dr Suess Fans!

I won this lovely card and See's candies gift card on Teresa's blog "Happy Thoughts" (here). 

 It always surprises me when someone can write stuff, with a non computer like item, and it's legible. Thanks Teresa!

Two hearts: a DIY project

Nate learned this on some DIY show. We think its the next best thing to a high five.

My arms say "No"

Casi and I had a little competition.

She beat me in number of sit-ups.

Then, I won in number of "man" push-ups.

We then repeated the sit-up contest due to a disagreement on the rules but, I made her giggle with  my serious competition face.

Then, I showed her something that caused flames to shoot out of her eyes. Burning the memory of this moment from her mind forever.

And, I won the contest!

****Proceed with caution****

I liken lichen

Thanks all for listening to my rant last post. I think I just needed to get that all off of my chest. Now for something a little lighter.

Thanks to my B-tit-E friend, I have become a huge fan of lichen. One day, I plan to take a class so I can learn more about it. Lets just say (as lame as it sounds) its on my bucket list.

Lichen: growing on my very own Gambel Oak!