This Is Beautiful: The Odyssey

 Not a hot take by any means, but Christopher Nolan's film "The Odyssey" is extremely well done. I went to see it earlier this week with a friend and it really did not feel like its runtime. A major standout for me was the music, whoever composed that score had an impeccable sense and control of the tension. The music was really a part of the whole experience instead of something laid on top of it. The best example I have is that Odysseus's bow string is a chord and part of the music whenever he is fighting or hunting and that is used to really great effect. 

The film can feel a little preachy at times with all the talk of Zeus' law (treat strangers with kindness) and how it has been broken. But I think it works for a modern audience, it both makes it feel rather timely and humanizes the characters. Odysseus knows that he messed up during the war and is able to talk about that to Penelope towards the end.

The performances were amazing and the visuals were fantastic. I'm so glad I managed to catch this film in theaters!

This Is Beautiful: Staying Put

 Alright my past post was on Toronto, but now I'm reversing course here. I'm so glad I get to stay at home for the next two weeks and work part-time. I need a break from doing things and I think that this is going to be great! I'm a few days into a course that I'm teaching in the mornings this week and next and so far it's pretty chill and I'm liking it a lot. Hopefully this is just the recharge that I need.

This Is Beautiful: Local Conference

 Over the weekend I managed to self-finance my way to a local conference at a university about an hour away. It was really nice! First of all, I could do whatever I want. I have stopped formal work for a university so I don't need to report back to anyone and can check out as much as I have interest in. And also, it's close enough I just drove up and stayed with a friend. It was lovely and flexible. I got to check out what I was interested and just ditch the rest. So nice!

This Is Beautiful: Moving?

 Alright so I spent this past week moving myself into an apartment in North Carolina and it was surprisingly... not painful? I tried to be smart about it and got the place and had furniture delivered in advance. And then it took multiple big shopping trips to get the rest of the stuff and some food. But overall this wasn't that bad? Which surprised me a lot, I feel like moving is one of the most stressful things you can do. But everyone has been super friendly, and I think after inhabiting multiple apartments I'm used to a no frills life and I know what I need to function. And it's exciting to think of the opportunities here and the things I'll be able to do! So trying to ride that excited wave for the last few weeks before I officially change residences.

This Is Beautiful: Love's Labors Lost

 Ok so this isn't and won't be my favorite Shakespeare play. BUT even though I wasn't in it, Shakespeare in the Arb did this play this summer and I was able to see it multiple times to catch my friends. I then also went back and revisited "Lovely Little Losers" from the Candle Wasters in the hopes of picking up on more stuff from the play. And it worked, I realized a lot of odd things were just direct references to Shakespeare. It's an interesting adaptation since it's the characters from "Much Ado About Nothing"/"Nothing Much To Do" and as a result stuff gets rearranged. But I enjoyed it much more now that I know what it's about!

This Is Beautiful: Wrapping Up At Work

 This is my last full week at work, I'm around until the end of the month so this time next week I'll actually be in the moving process haha. But it's nice to wrap everything up and start sorting things and deleting or storing etc. It helps to really reflect and just feel a sense of accomplishment. It's been seven years here, and turns out that I do have things to show for it!

This Is Beautiful: Job Decided!

 I finally did it earlier this week, I made a decision and I'll be moving to North Carolina in the fall! It mostly feels good to have a plan and have that weight off of my chest. I got very lucky and had to decide between two main options that would have both been fine, but this one was slightly more ideal for my career path. But I will have a job! And it will even be a job that is directly applicable to my skillset and career path! So all good things.

This Is Beautiful: Hysterectomy

 I've been trying to get this surgery for literal years, and I went through like 3 different consultations for it, and third time's the charm because I finally got her done! No more uterus for me! It wasn't the greatest recovery-wise, but now that it's been a few days I finally feel back to somewhat normal. And it's just a mark of how bad grad school is that I'd rather be recovering than working. So hooray for bodily autonomy!

This Is Beautiful: Sheep Detectives

 Oh it has been such a good year for movies that appeal to specifically me. "The Sheep Detectives" was such a fun time! It was heartwarming and funny and really well done. I thought the sheep animations would get old very quickly, but they were nice! The sheep also had distinct personalities and while I thought I would mix them all up I didn't. There is a sheep main character where I expected more of an ensemble, but I guess they had to do that. My only complaint is that I thought there was going to be a sheep romance which would have pissed me off, but in the end they didn't take that route so I guess this is actually a good thing about the movie, haha. 

This Is Beautiful: Exploring New Places

 One of the highlights of the past week has just been checking out the new city I'll likely be at and looking through what's in the area. It's a real city! With multiple options for things to do! And they're all relatively close to each other! It's probably my favorite part of moving (the rest kinda sucks tbh), just thinking about the possibilities in a new place. I'm having a lot of fun just doing that instead of packing.

This Is Beautiful: Job Offer

 This has been a rollercoaster of a week, to the point that I'm not sure this counts to write this post, but I did get a job offer earlier! I will not be unemployed! And thankfully it isn't any job, I really wanted to get a postdoc and it is a postdoc position doing education research, which was my moon shot of a goal! So I am very excited about that. I keep going back and forth for different reasons, but I think I will take it in the end. And it just feels good to have a plan and keep moving forward.

This Is Beautiful: Traveling

 I've been hopping around all over for interviews lately. I have now done two weeks with multiple interviews, and a few weeks with only one interview as well. I am exhausted and ready to be done, but it does remind me that I like traveling. Seeing new places is exciting to me, and hotel beds are so nice (when there aren't bright clocks in the room). So it is nice that I'm getting a sneak peak of different places that I could be living next year!

This Is Beautiful: I Graduated!

 Took the weekend off for celebrations, but I walked at graduation! I'm a doctor! It's just about no different from the week before, but it's important to celebrate things and this was a weekend full of celebration. And that feels really good.

This Is Beautiful: "Project Hail Mary"

 I honestly really and truly cannot stop thinking about this movie. To be clear, I haven't read the book, but the hype around the movie coming out and Artemis 2 launch recently forced me into a movie theater for the first time in a while. And it is so good, it is worth all of the hype.

Ryan Gosling's performance is nothing short of incredible. He is acting alongside a puppet for most of the movie and it is so good, he cries multiple times and it's gorgeous how open he is able to be with his emotions. And he's funny! The puppet also deserves its own mention, the design is incredible and the emoting from the design of the puppet is so endearing and amazing. You feel so much for this little guy.

I also just loved how hopeful it is, the story is sad and my partner cried multiple times, but at its core it's a story about hope. No one is really the "bad guy", we are all trying to figure it out, and working together we can do it. It's just what we need right now.

Also special shoutout to the fact that Gosling's character is widely agreed to be aroace, I love that representation. I hope someone tells Gosling that he did that for us.

It's such a good movie, it'll save your love for humanity. I can't stop thinking about and being fascinated by it, I'll probably pick up the book sometime soon.

This Is Beautiful: Peddlebus

 Alright so in the town I live there's this thing called the peddlebus which is a group of people on a small vehicle with peddles and they're usually blasting music and drunk and partying down the street, being kinda annoying. My lab mate decided to do this for her graduation celebration and I was skeptical, but it was surprisingly fun! Turns out that it's great to be the annoying people in the middle of the road haha. We both also wore our regalia and I kept getting like wholesome cat calls where people were yelling crongrats out of cars at me. I kinda think that's awesome. :) So yeah, peddlebus was a good time! I'm glad to be celebrating graduation so much!

This Is Beautiful: Travel

 I haven't taken a vacation in a while, but I just traveled for my first in person interview for a job. I tried to treat it like a mini vacation, get some rest in and some me time. And it's honestly really nice traveling by myself. I get to do what I want, eat more quickly in restaurants, and have a nice time. I love solo travel so much. And it isn't that long of a trip so I get home and back to it rather quickly. It's a nice mini-break which is what I need.

This Is Beautiful: Warm Weather

 I forget this every year, but it makes such a difference when it starts to warm up outside. I get to drive with the windows down, not bundle up every time I lead the house, and just soak up some sun. It fixes like the vast majority of my brain chemistry haha. Anyways we have had a few false springs, and I think we are actually in the clear now. It's so nice out!

This Is Beautiful: Done with lab work!

 Alright so I thought I was done with experiments, and then we heard back from the journal, and then I was back to doing experiments for the past month. The unfortunate part is that I didn't have my undergrads that I trained to help me so I was doing everything entirely on my own. But I wrapped it up last Friday and I'm done again! And it's far too close to me leaving for me to pick up more things on this project. So that's exciting! I can finally check this off of my to-do list for graduate school!

This Is Beautiful: Interviews

 So I haven't had much, but I've now had 2 virtual interviews, and one of those is now leading to an in person interview for a teaching position! I just got the details this week for that, and it's really exciting that I'm at least getting a few nibbles on my applications! I will get out of here and get a job haha.

This Is Beautiful: Celebrations

 I've been trying to take time to celebrate my PhD, setting up events that I just find fun and all that. And also I've had friends defending, lab mates defending, and it's an exciting time in general with the summer coming up. It's just nice to take time to celebrate our accomplishments and spend time with each other rather than constantly working and whatnot.