Eastern Adventures

As the semester came to a close this year, Eric and I found ourselves with a week of vacation time to ourselves.

Since we're usually confined to a weekend of time together, an entire week is rare. Naturally there was much debate over what we would do with an entire week. But we ultimately settled on a road trip to the south-east coast.

Our first stop was Washington DC, where we got to visit my Mom (just in time for mother's day!)

Eric and I took a trip to DC a couple of years ago, where we made a point to see every monument and museum we could in a single day. 

But there is so much more to DC than monuments, and this time we would be exploring a little more of DC's lifestyle. 

And that started with the Dupont Circle farmer's market... 

The farmer's market provides the Dupont neighborhood with local meat, dairy, and produce. The picture above is choosing which artisanal goat cheese we wanted on crackers later (talk about fancy -- the most I've EVER spent on a cracker spread).

After the farmer's market, we went on a walk around the national mall (only about a mile from Mom's apartment). We took a little break on the lawn. That shadow those people are sitting in to the right was from the Washington Monument.

One of the best parts of DC are the many completely free things to do there. Eric and I rode the metro all day to take a tour of the Capitol building, visit the Woodley Park Zoo, and experience the National Holocaust Museum. 

  

The first panda I've ever seen! They were enjoying the air conditioning as opposed to the outdoor humidity and 80+ degrees.

Favorite statue in the capitol building -- three important women in the history of women's rights in the US. The artist left part of the statue unfinished, to represent unfinished business and progress yet to be made regarding gender equality.

Another great thing about DC living is the food.
We decided to explore Georgetown and found ourselves ordering cupcakes at Sprinkles. These served as appetizers to dinner at a local Ethiopian restaurant, where we sat outside under giant umbrellas while it absolutely poured as the sun went down. Sitting outside, protected from the rain and enjoying fancy cocktails and new dishes made for a gorgeous night in Georgetown.

We also had time to hit up the National Botanical Gardens, and take mom out to dinner before the second leg of our journey.
Look how well rested we looked at church Sunday! ...That was all about to change.

Early Wednesday morning we woke up and packed the car to get on the road to North Carolina. The plan was to spend the second half of the week on the outer banks in Kill Devil Hills (what kind of name for a town is that??) A more recognizable local town is Kitty Hawk. Sound familiar? This was where Wilbur and Orville Wright first took flight.

The outer banks area (and Kitty Hawk in particular) are famous for wind sports, due to the predictably steady winds coming off the Atlantic Ocean. Kite boarding, paragliding, parasailing, hang gliding, and even just plane flying are all common pastimes on the outer banks, and naturally we wanted to be in on the fun.

Those people climbing up those dunes with what look like little sunfish sailboats are gliders. After clipping a harness under the glider, the pilot runs down the hill and into the wind. After a few steps, the wind fills the sails, and the glider takes flight, gently soaring down the dune about 6-10 feet over the sand.

Here's Eric taking off. The pilot brings their legs up by crossing their ankles. Controlling the glider involves small adjustments to the bar in the front. A lot of people make the mistake of griping the bar too much, but the less you hold onto it, the more control you end up having. By the end of the lesson, Eric and I were ready for a 2,000 foot flight! I guess we'll need to wait for next time.

We were both stoked to be staying on such a beautiful beach for the remainder of the week. And that our hotel was great. If you were wondering, the definition of great is the following: 1. complementary waffles 2.  pool and hot tub, and 3. great location.
This was the view from the hotel, and we were relieved to arrive here to sit in the sand and run around in the waves after being in the car all day.

We even got to watch pelicans and dolphins just off shore on the evening of our arrival.
It was a gorgeous area to be staying in.

We also LOVE seafood. But, as lobsters and crabs are in short supply in the midwest, we hardly ever get to enjoy (safe for VERY special occasions).

Naturally, being next to the ocean was like being a kid in a candy store. And the kid has been saving money for a while...and the candy is about a third of the price it usually is. And the candy was so fresh that it was alive 5 minutes before you ate it. This metaphor is breaking down, but you get the idea.

We didn't stop at soft-shell crabs. I also had my first "raw bar" experience with oysters on the half shell. Despite the nasty surprise of the terrible texture, I learned to love them (provided a large supply of cocktail sauce and lemon).
We enjoyed two days of flying, swimming, and exploring before finding out nightly seafood restaurant and thoroughly enjoyed spoiling ourselves. In no time, we were back in the car for the 15 hour drive back to Michigan.

I think we literally collapsed on the front door at Eric's parent's house on Friday night.
The next day we did nothing but lay on the couch and watch movies all morning. That night however, we were feeling more creative, (and still really excited about flying). Eric's dad allowed us to use his tools and expertise to build our own model hang glider to fly out the window.

It flew remarkably well the first couple of times, and if you're curious, there are Facebook videos. I for one, was pretty proud of our working knowledge of geometry (despite not having used it in YEARS). This little glider meant a lot of fun all evening spent with one of my favorite families :)

I already miss the coast...but now that we're back to the daily grind, I have new memories and maybe even a new hobby. I already can't wait to take flight again, and will be looking for the next opportunity soon!

Grant Update + everything else

So, I've spent the last 4 months being so busy -- I haven't had time to blog. The good news is that I have SO MUCH TO SHARE now that life has slowed to a more reasonable pace.

First things first: I got the grant!!!

of course as soon as I got it, all the time I had turned into major crunch time.
So I really buckled down and took about 6 weeks to write my full thesis proposal.

Which brings me to my second piece of news: I proposed my thesis!!!!
(SUCCESSFULLY!)

...which basically means I did this for 15 minutes...(the "how you're doing it" was a little belabored, but I'm not an expert yet.)

also now I can do it in 3 :)

This semester has been a lot different form every other semester I've ever had so far. I wasn't teaching, I was managing the largest number of research projects thus far (and the largest number of independent study students), and was only taking one class. I tailored this semester to be supportive for my thesis development, so I was grateful for those things.

However, it was also the most difficult semester I've ever had. For the first month and a half of the semester, I was reading and slowly working away at a proposal draft, which took long hours that I didn't really feel very accomplished at the end of...

But at the end of March, I woke up and realized I had 60 pages (1-sided, double spaced, 12 pt font) of theoretical backing and design for a study I actually really cared about! And soon I was on my way to the proposal, and before I knew it, I was collecting data.

This semester was my first taste of what it would be like to be a real "career researcher". I can confidently say that it changed me in the following ways:

1. I am WAY more organized than I have ever been. EVER.
Everything has a folder or a binder, and I know where said folder and binder are. ALL of my computer documents have a folder. I can find lab meeting notes from months ago, it's incredible.

conveniently this has also spilled over into financial organization and home organization. I truly know where everything is (and what I can stand to get rid of).

2. I have better time management

mostly because my google calendar looks like this. I schedule everything. The reminders are obnoxious, but it works.

3. I control my thoughts.... (as much as possible)

I know how weird this sounds. But when you're working on your own thing, with your own deadlines, intrusive and non-productive thoughts tend to creep in and occupy your mind (and lets be honest...scary unproductive thoughts are WAY more interesting than the linguistics paper that's using a whole part of the english language I was completely unaware existed up to this point).

Thoughts like "you're wasting your time reading this paper" "this idea sucks" "you can't understand what this article is about" "you should be better at doing this" and so on, made it their goal to disrupt my goals and ruin my day.
But I imagine every entrepreneur, artist, scientist, or other creative person experiences this at some point. I'm adding "doubt" to my list of things you can always count on (it's right up there with death and taxes).

the only way to get over this, is to ignore them and keep doing whatever you're doing (whether it ends up being a productive part of the process or not). There were a few dark moments this semester.

But.....

And after faithfully "watering" this idea, I can see it starting to bloom.

But the best part is that I get to leave this all behind next week, to go on a road trip with this guy!

 Pictures to follow!

Milestone Moment - First Grant App.

I've been holding in a secret for a couple of months now.

I applied for my first research grant!

ok, so maybe it's not a secret. But with all the crazy that has been keeping me from updating regularly, I haven't had a chance to document the newest milestone moment.

Grant applications provide an opportunity for researchers to propose experiments and projects (some long term with specific end goals, others simple pilot experiments that lead to more ideas and extensions) in order to get funding to fuel the project.

For me, this grant application provided the additional experience of crafting an idea into a tangible proposal that forced me to think not only about how my proposed project would be carried out, but how it was going to impact the field (and the real world). Luckily the application was calling for experiments like mine! So even though I will have some serious competition, it's nice to know that people care and have an interest in what I want to conduct research on.

Because...

Wish me luck!

The Power of Cheese

Over the Christmas break my mother directed my attention toward an issue of the “Food Network Magazine” (to which my Grandma subscribes) and I got a chance to use all the heard earned science-y knowledge that I’ve gained over the past couple years of psychological research.

If anyone subscribes to this magazine, you’ll remember the “cheese issue” (an unforgettable issue for anyone like myself who finds themselves in a love affair with cheese). Now I can get on board with a magazine issue devoted to cheese. The culinary attributes of this delicious food are too numerous to detail here. Indeed it takes an entire magazine to document all the wonders of what cheese can do for your meals. In my personal opinion, cheese makes just about everything better.

But what about the attributes of cheese that aren’t related to flavor, texture, or richness?

Are there health attributes of cheese?

The following claims are made in the Food Network’s Cheese Issue:

1 It MAY stop cancer.

A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that vitamin K₂ found in Gouda might help fend off cancer.

2 It MAKES you smarter.

Those who consumed dairy products daily scored higher on tests of mental ability, according to new University of Maine research.

3It SUPPORTS your heart.

Research published in Nutrition, Metabolism, & Cardiovascular Diseases shows pecorino romano may lower levels of inflammation.

  

I It MIGHT prevent diabetes.

In an American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, people who ate 55 grams of cheese a day (about two slices) were less likely to get type 2 diabetes.

These are direct quotes from page 16 of the “all cheese” issue of the Food Network’s Magazine.

Where to begin?

Perhaps a good place to start is a short lesson in causality and the use of tentative language in science.

In grad school (or really, any time you intend on publishing something), an important skill to develop is using tentative language – this is the appropriate language one uses to describe different types of relationships in science. It refers to avoiding claims that are too strong for what the data actually imply.

The Food Network article does this for a few claims up there. It MIGHT prevent diabetes. It MAY stop cancer!

As we know, a “causal” relationship and a “correlative” relationship are quite different. The words denote separate concepts. Things that are correlated to one another are sometimes also causally related to one another, but just because two things are linked does not mean one assumed component of the relationship causes the other.

Of course, I’m referring to the second claim in the magazine.

“It MAKES you smarter!”

Does it? Well, maybe. Lets look at the evidence. Of course, to validate this claim you need CAUSAL (experimental) evidence that cheese actually causes better performance on a cognitive test of some sort. That means you will need defined groups individuals randomly selected to receive cheese or not and then test them using the same test of “mental ability” (cognition). And preferably include a proposed mechanism as for why cheese would improve cognitive ability.

Spoiler alert; the magazine predictably includes neither.

Instead, the evidence for the claim that cheese makes you smarter is supported by some University of Maine research (what kind, the world may never know, since the journal isn’t cited…come to think of it, we can’t even be sure that peer review was involved at all, as the citation of a journal would indicate that the work had been published, and the lack of one seems telling…)

Furthermore, the research finds simply that people who consumed dairy products score higher on tests of mental ability. Compared to who? Questions abound.

This statements smacks of correlation at best, and terrible research interpretation at worst (but who knows, there aren’t enough details here).

But I’m not really writing this to talk about correlation vs. causation. Because this isn’t an undergraduate research methods class. And for most of you, I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir.

I’m writing this, because frankly – I’m annoyed.

The claims made by Food Network in this particular article generally use tentative language. At the very least, they cite research that has been peer reviewed. All except that which implies benefits of cheese from a cognitive perspective. Apparently, claims about cognitive benefits don’t require peer reviewed research, or appropriate scientific language.

And the deeper problem with this is that being lazy about the language surrounding cognitive science undermines its credibility. After all, if there was a definable way to determine what actually impacts cognitive ability positively, the author of this article would be under more pressure to use tentative language (the way it is for cancer and diabetes). But there isn’t.

Except that there IS. We DO know what improves cognitive ability. There’s a whole field of science that looks at what sort of interventions impact cognitive ability. None of them to my knowledge involve cheese.

I haven’t read this research from the University of Maine. Who knows, maybe someone who loves cheese as much as I do devised a study where they randomly assigned people to eat cheese and then perform some sort of problem solving or comprehension task. But somehow, I sort of doubt it.

Cheese is great.

If you want to be smarter, read a book. 

The Scholar's Cat

You probably didn't know this, but yesterday was a random arbitrary national holiday celebrating cats!

Happy (belated) National Cat Day!

The holiday actually lines up perfectly with a new little addition to my home life...

This is Gracie.
My family got her when I was 9, and she has been with us ever since.

I can still remember the night she became ours. Our other cat Maggie had recently died in the most dignified way possible. Out in the woods behind our house, alone. Cats often leave their homes to die peacefully by themselves when they sense their time, which I imagine is part of their solitary nature. And in a way I think it's kind of nice she didn't subject me and my six year old sister to finding her corpse somewhere in the house. Yet, my sister and I were still holding out hope that she had merely gotten lost, and that she'd be back. Which is exactly what we thought was happening when, two weeks later, we heard a meowing in our garage.
Before my Dad could stop us, Caroline and I leapt up from the coffee table where we were playing Yahtzee and opened the door to see a slightly timid and very beautiful cream and grey cat with ice-blue eyes and a raccoon-striped tail. Not exactly a kitten, but clearly very young, the cat we came to call Gracie tentatively entered out family room and accepted some of the food we'd been feeding Maggie before she died. For some inexplicable reason, my parents gave into our begging, and let her stay in the house overnight. That night she slept on the foot of my bed all night long (something Maggie had NEVER done, no matter how much I wanted her to). Although we made a concerted effort to find her true owners (giving her a stray period in the local shelter and asking all of our neighbors) from then on, she was really our cat.  

Gracie was a better cat than Maggie. Maggie was NOT a fan of the kids in the house, and avoided  us to seek her quiet boring lifestyle on the couch instead. She would not play with us, didn't like being pet by us, and was quick to snap if we pushed her too far (I can remember being hissed at on more than one occasion). It's no wonder that around this time I was begging for a dog, who could withstand our rough-housing and could learn actual tricks. But Gracie more than tolerated our antics. She caught mice and chased birds for our entertainment on more than one occasion, catching them and letting them go. She was always ready to play, and loved attention from us of any kind. When I went to college, my Mom reported her sleeping on my bed while I was away, and she always remembered and recognized me when I came home.

When my Mom moved away from Michigan however, she made the decision that driving across the country wouldn't be so great for a 15 year old cat. Thus, Gracie needed to find a new home. We were lucky to find a new "mom" for her, in a friend of mine whom I worked with in the cognition lab over the summer.

Gracie adjusted pretty well to the new development, and was a pretty big fan of Caitlyn (as you can see).
However, more moving and new developments required yet another home for Gracie...and this time I didn't have any more options :(
Now, I'm personally a big fan of pet shelters (particularly no-kill shelters) for pets. However, after having volunteered at one, I have a pretty good idea of what kind of cat gets adopted, and which ones end up living out their lives in the shelter, never really getting the attention they need. The fact of the matter is that there is no short supply of adorable kittens. And unlike a puppy, kittens and grown cats need about the same level of attention. So naturally, older cats get the short end of the stick.

So after having a serious conversation with my roommates and landlord, I decided to permanently adopt her myself.

Cats are said to be sort of unintelligent when compared to other animals (like dogs). But after having Gracie, I'm just not sure that's true. She made the adjustment to the new place beautifully, and seemed genuinely grateful and relieved to be there.

She has also adjusted extraordinarily well to having three human roommates (something she has never been accustomed to). Immediately upon meeting each of them, she has actually run up and very politely introduced herself, before flipping over on her back so they can pet her. This has been a shockingly easy adjustment for both of us. And she seems very happy to be back with her original family.

Gracie isn't really my "kitty" anymore. Her coat had gotten dull with age. Her eyes don't see as well as they once did, and are less vivid. She's fatter, slower, less agile, and even a little less playful. But she's a great cat. She's social, she loves people, and I've loved coming home to her every day this week, and having a little company while studying at night.

Happy cat day!

Colorado Part 3 -- Pike's Peak and Mt. Princeton HotSprings

Welcome to more vacation pictures :)

Last week I shared the mental war that happened in my brain before jumping off a rock into the Arkansas River. At the time I didn't have any pictures to show you, but recently the rafting pictures were uploaded, and now I get to display my experience in all its glory...

It's so awesome!

For my final Colorado post I wanted to share my first official mountain climbing experience.

Pike's Peak is also known as America's Mountain -- apparently this is because it is was the inspiration for the "purple mountain majesty" lyric in America the Beautiful, but I happen to think it's America's mountain because instead of hiking and climbing the mountain, Pike's Peak is accessible by car :)

That being said, the harrowing journey up Pike's Peak is not for the faint of heart. There are almost no guard rails, and the road is very close to the edge of the mountain, making the trip up look as though you are perpetually about to fall over the edge at any moment. In fact, due to the inherent lack of safety during this drive, you are required to have your breaks checked before getting on the road! It is also recommended to go as early in the morning as possible...this is to avoid the bad weather that typically rolls in around noon. 

Despite our fear of the road's edge, we braved it a few times to step out of the car and walk around (capturing some pictures along the way). This is my favorite one...

covered in mountain dew! 

Before we knew it, plants like these dissipated, and we were closer to clouds than the tree line.  once we were at the top (and got accustomed to the major change in elevation) it was time to explore a few of the slopes extending from the peak. Those slopes consist mostly of piles of red boulders like these... 

While climbing on the slopes, I lost my footing and caught myself with my knee, bruising my knee and calf so badly, it took about a month to heal property and for the knot in my leg to smooth out. Although I wasn't in any real danger, falling down a mountain isn't fun, and I'm pretty thankful we weren't on the side of the mountain where loose footing would have resulted in a much worse accident. 

After my accident, Eric and I decided to head back to the summit and grab a picture for a little more proof of our mountain adventure...

And we indulged in some Pike's Peak homemade donuts (they are apparently a tradition -- I was unaware of this). I'm just going to assume that an major increase in elevation doesn't do wonders for the deep frier. They look a little wonky, but tasted great. 

Another highlight from this trip involved finding a colorado gem that wasn't in colorado springs.
On the night we climbed Pike's Peak we had dinner at a very nice restaurant called Rocky Mountain Brewery. There we had a waitress who told us to check out Mnt. Princeton hot springs at some point on our trip.

Mnt. Princeton was a bit of a drive from our campsite (about an hour and a half) but it was a drive we were willing to make for more awesome natural mountain treasures.
The hot springs are owned by the Mnt. Princeton resort, so unfortunately you have to pay a handsome sum to experience magma-heated water. But because they are privately owned, they are beautifully kept, and the resort engineered a couple of ways to enjoy the water.

The resort built several large pools near the river housing the springs. They fill these pools with water from the river and water from the hot springs to create the perfect temperature. The water is constantly flowing in, so it doesn't need to be heated and it doesn't need to be treated by chemicals...it's essentially a very slow moving river.

The other way you can experience the springs are to visit the river itself.

The faster, shallow river itself is very cold. But on the bank of the river are shallow pools constructed from rocks (pictured above) and these pools serve as mini natural hot tubs. Some of the cold river water seeps between the rocks, making the temperature of the magma-heated water manageable to the touch. The result is the perfectly calm natural hot spring. The temperature is even semi-adjustable! Different parts of the pool are different temperatures depending on how close you are to the river, and digging yourself deeper into the sand will make the water warmer.

It was a perfect night to close our Colorado adventure.

I hope someday I'll get the chance to go back. I would be lucky to stay in the shadow of the Rocky Mountain range again, swim in the rivers, ride the horses, hike in the gorges and look out for bears. Until next time...

Colorado Part 2 - why your brain hates heights

You didn't think I'd forgotten that I hadn't shared every last one of my vacation pictures with you yet, did you??
And yet, that'll have to come later, because this post is going to be exclusively about how weird the brain is, and why it doesn't want you to jump to your death.


(remember how scary it was when Jenny is about to jump to her death in Forrest Gump, then panics and climbs down??)

Colorado changed my perspective on the United States -- I really do think it's one of the most beautiful places in the country and I would be so lucky to get to live out there for a while (I hear Boulder actually has some important cognitive research currently going on right now :)..just kidding...for now).

Speaking of cognition, the brain is an extremely interesting organ, which if you read this blog I'm sure you already knew.
Have you ever tried to navigate a frightening or difficult scenario and noticed that even if you can rationalize it, your body still has a visceral reaction to the event? It's easy to delineate the feelings -- the visceral reaction is felt in your body (heart racing/sweaty palms) while the rational part is clearly taking place in your head. However, if you've ever taken bio or anatomy 101, you know that the panic and fear you feel during in a haunted house, or a horror movie is still coming from the same organ that rationalizes why you shouldn't have the fear in the first place. Weird!


seems a little two-faced, really...

A particular event in Colorado caused me to think about this a little more.
Our gang found ourselves rafting in the Arkansas River on the second day of our trip. About half way through the journey, we stopped at a spot where the river was a bit slower than it had been so far. This was our "break", where we were given a chance to swim across the river and climb up the rock formation on the other side. I was unaware of the rules associated with this rock climbing, so it came as a bit of a shock when I prepared to climb down and was prevented from doing so by the rafting instructor, who was yelling up to me that in fact, to exit the rock formation in a safe manner, we were all going to need to jump off. Into the swirling, churning river below.

Two things are happening at this point in my mind. The first is happening in the more "primitive" non-rational part of my brain: it's telling me that I'm 15 feet (or more) above the surface of the river, and really NOT interested in jumping. This is the part of my brain responsible for making sure that I don't perform motor actions that will kill me cannot be any clearer in its strong "anti-jump" chemical signals rushing to the rest of my bodily organs. However, the rational frontal cortex doesn't want me to hurt myself climbing down slippery rocks, which the messages from my visual cortex are telling me look fine, and not that unsafe. The rational part, however, understands that sometimes you need to trust the people with the best opinion (i.e. the instructor in this case). Needless to say, a mental battle is raging inside my head, with serious physiological consequences (mostly panicked crying and the strong desire to throw up and/or curl up in a ball).

The place where the instructor is pointing me to jump is an area of relatively calm water right next to the rocky place where we climbed out. This is where some of my experience shaped my more primitive brain's panic about jumping. I grew up in Michigan around lakes. Everyone knows that when you jump in a lake, you need to jump off of a dock or boat. Why? because the water is typically most shallow where it meets land (the shoreline), and jumping from any height to 1 inch of water is going to hurt. Years of experience have shaped my own visual perception and what certain images mean for the decisions my brain will allow me to make. In other words, we aren't born with a fear of heights, or a fear of jumping next to dry land, but after experience our non-rational brain learns to make associations with visual images and danger (among other things), and this results in the unease that we feel in these situations.

My personal experience with the world drives an instinct is to jump to the middle of the river, where I "think" the water will be deepest (and therefore most safe). Our instructor assures me that the place he is indicating is safest in this river because the entire thing is all roughly the same depth, including the parts where water meets land, but this area is the calmest. The tissues initially responsible for dealing with signals coming from the visual cortex are not convinced. So who wins?

Well, eventually the rational side wins. I jump to what part of my brain is convinced is my death. Which is why, I imagine, its panicked protests are silenced as soon as my feet leave the cliff. It was really amazing, as soon as I leapt off the rock and began plummeting toward the water, all the fear brewing in my mind was gone. It felt like flying.

And naturally, I landed safely in the very deep and safe river, surfacing almost instantly to find Eric helping me into the boat.

The visceral reactions you feel in your body are there for a reason. Your mind has a vested interest in keeping you alive -- but sometimes, a rare scenario comes along in which it's ok for the reasonable side to win the fight every once in a while.
It leads to come cool experiences :)