All this grade translation is actually pretty cool.
While we're on the subject of academia, something cool happened to me today. Maybe not an
epic win, but ...
I called my friend who works at the university to see if he wanted to go see a movie tonight. The local theater was showing Ghostbusters, and it had already been far too long since I last saw it. While he was trying to work out if he could make it or not, he mentioned that he was attending a lecture at 5. Through conversation, it turned out that it was a talk being given by
Elizabeth Blackburn, one of the three recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine this year.
I am not a biology-minded person, but I expressed my interest in tagging along. You never know what you might pick up, and I'm glad I went.
Afterwords though, there was a bit of a meet-and-greet in the lobby of the building, where there were finger foods. My friend and I stuck around for a bit, because ... free food! We saw people we recognized, chatted a bit, and whatever, and then suddenly I was struck with a strange thought. Dr. Blackburn was about eight feet away, with her back turned, having a conversation with some academics or something. I looked down at my glass of water, and realized that if I was fully capable in that moment, of hurling that glass at the recipient of a Nobel prize.
Later, while I was examining the spread of food, she appeared, reaching in to grab something very close to me. Again, I was struck by the fact that I was fully capable of punching her.
Actually ... when I first thought this, and again when I started to type it, I thought that was kind of funny. But now that I re-read what I just wrote out, I'm actually a little concerned for myself.