The past two days have been difficult. I grappled with myself about whether I should even write this blog entry. Finally, though, I decided that using Xanga and posting a blog is still the best way to say, "good-bye".  The irony, and reason for my turmoil, is that while I consider Xanga to be an awesome product and have never been more pleased with all the new features that they continually roll out, I am completely at odds with the direction that Xanga is taking, as a company and an employer. Since Joe started at Xanga eight months ago, I admit I have a different perspective of Xanga than a normal user. I got to meet a majority of the Xanga team face-to-face and welcome them as my friends. They are no longer just names to me. Therefore, during this stressful time, I want to show solidarity to my friends working at Xanga.

I wasn't always so positive about this matter. I thought about all the vindictive things I could spew out. All the frustration and betrayal and incredible sadness that has been compacting inside me. But I don't want to memorialize those emotions. This entry is about one last hoorah. For four years, Xanga has been a place of solace and friendship for me. The Xanga community is composed of such a proud, strong collection of members. And I think I can say without any kind of qualifiers that Xanga has such strong appeal because of the intimate relationship between employees and members. I respect the programmers that make Xanga run and their dedication to the users. I know that they put so much on the line and I hope that one day, their vision can be fulfilled. I wish everyone the best.

So, I was breaking my back this weekend cleaning up a messy situation at work. When I say messy, I'm not just talking about the finger-pointing, but physically messy. I looked like I chimney sweep and smelled like a oil refinery. I think this seriously crushed my fantasies of ever elegantly breezing into work with skirts and heels. I really should have taken a cue during orgo lab when we were made to don green, plastic goggles that made me feel like a goldfish in a glass bowl. Chemists are not allowed to be chic, and I think some days it wears on me more than others.
What made the labor eventually worthwhile, was validating my initial claim that the fire was not due to operator error. The three beers I kicked back later that night also soothed my indignation and sore muscles.

So, I just got back from my oh so important government meeting in Massachusetts. After sitting in on 16 hours of meetings and long stretches of time chit-chatting to high level scientists, I think I got the jargon down.
- The take away message is = in summary
- To address the issue/question = here is our solution (because there is always a problem)
- We can consider 'A' to be a function of 'B' because = A and B are related
- The main thrust = main focus
- 'C' seems to be the most promising = best result
- With proper optimization = more work.

Also, if there is a tense moment, it is always appropriate to make a crack at graduate students. Aka, "This data did not turn out as well as expected...perhaps my grad student didn't put enough elbow grease into it."

I also had to sit through a ton of powerpoint presentations. Some were considerably better than others. Along with the advice I received before my own presentation, there were a few tips that I took away myself:

Do not read the slide. It makes people feel that you're reading to them and it's bedtime. Also, too much text seems like little ants marching all over the screen; it's distracting.
If you have the choice between a table or a graph, make it a graph. If you have a choice between a lot of words or a cute animation to explain a concept, choose a cute animation.
If you plan on showing a picture or a graph, make it BIG so that the people way in the nosebleed section can see it also.
Explain the graph. If there are certain conclusions to take away from it, spell it out with bullets. Direct people's attention to the labels (eg. scale bar, x-, y- axis).
Know your audience. Never dumb things down too much. Always talk slightly above the level that your listeners are at.
Give an outline of your presentation at the beginning, as well as a summary at the end. As I was told, "Tell people what you will be telling them.Then tell them. Then tell them that you've told them." A powerpoint outline should perform the same function that a paper outline does. It'll help you organize your ideas and form a cohesive story.

I still can't help but sweat insanely before my talk, but atleast I don't get booed.