The semester ended and I just barely got my grades in on time. (Well technically I turned them in a minute late, but who's counting?) I even had zero grade complaints this semester, which is incomprehensible to me. Then I headed home for the holidays. Those days were busily filled with family parties and seeing friends. I had a party on the 30th (because people want to be more chill on New Year's Eve) and got to see a bunch of college people. It was really nice to catch up with everyone.
Then my friend Alex came down from New Paltz for an impromptu visit on New Year's Eve, and I guess I will now make it internet official that my friend Alex is now my boyfriend Alex. How's that for interesting news?! We have been friends since I moved to New Paltz and know each other really well, and we just recently took our relationship to the next level as one would say. We have been a little quiet about it at first as we figure out for ourselves what is going on, but now our mothers are friends on facebook and talking about us behind our backs, so I guess that makes it official. Plus, people in the town have seen his car in my driveway and made their own conclusions. Small town life is hilarious. Now we'll just see how long it takes for the students to catch on (he is a geology professor). So yes I am very happy and optimistic and all that. It feels a little weird to write about online though. Fortunately I saw so many old friends over break that many of you have already heard all about it from me anyway!
After we came back to New Paltz we hung out for a few days up here, then I went off to Austin for the American Astronomical Society annual conference. It was super fun to be back in Austin and to see so many old friends again. People came from all over the world and I got to see almost everyone that I would have hung out with in grad school. I love that the AAS meets in Austin every 4 years. I also totally OD'ed on mexican food and tequilla. Actually, I was really a glutton for all foods and alcohol, period. Austin has such good food. And so cheap compared to NY! The conference drinks were about the same price as bar drinks in New Paltz. Just when I was feeling all happy with NP I had to go and see how awesome Austin is. Sigh. I suppose I should mention the conference as well. I find I am going to fewer and fewer talks, but there were a few interesting ones. In reality the most useful interactions I had with people were at the bar late at night. I have at least one paper idea and maybe another collaboration born out of those conversations.
Yum, I can't believe I ate all that!
Mmmm, Mexican martinis.
Pretty tower.
UT's special collection library put out an exhibit for us. This is an original Galileo:
And Newton:
And Copernicus:
After coming back from Austin I got to move my office across campus this past week. I had packed everything up the few days before leaving and came back to a new office in a new building filled with all of my boxes. It took me a few days to get everything unpacked and settled. Then I had planned to go visit my friend Heather's high school physics class up near Albany for the day, and Alex's parents live nearby, so we made a trip of it. We met them for lunch Thursday (the official parent meeting!), then I went to Heather's for the night to wake up before the crack of dawn to spend the day at her school. It is fun getting to talk to all the kids and see some of them get really into it. But man those are long days! Afterward I went back to Alex's parents and had a yummy home cooked meal there, before heading all the way back to NP.
The next day (yesterday) I again woke up at the crack of dawn, this time to head to NYC to give a workshop for NASA's Center for Astronomy Education at the American Museum of Natural History. It was a really great opportunity, and it went well, but I was totally wiped out by the busy week. I was most pleased that Neil deGrasse Tyson attended the workshop and even asked me questions about teaching astronomy. He escorted a few of us to the AMNH cafeteria (tip: he says he eats there all the time, so fanboys/girls know where to look) and I had lunch with him. I realize he is a normal person and people at the museum know him and are not excited by his celebrity or anything, but I still think it is pretty cool to be able to say that I taught him how to teach astronomy!
NdGT at the workshop.
Now I am in my pretty new office attempting to get back to work because tomorrow is the first day of classes! Whew! I teach tomorrow, but not Tuesday, so I have been looking forward to Tuesday for quite some time now. I have grand plans to sleep all day and clean my house. But for now I instead have to finish writing my syllabus and making hundreds of copies (if I can find a working copier in this mess of a building!).
And that is my whirwind of a winter break!
