Vacation! Sort of.

I've been durn busy getting my stuff together for a vacation to the warm, sunny exotic locale known as... Washington DC! Wow! My fourth visit in less than a year!

Remember that media fellowship that I did and discussed on here -- oh, I don't know -- once, twice, or, perhaps fifty million times before? As a part of that deal, I can attend the AAAS conference on a press pass, so I decided to ask for some time off to check it out. Then I learned that the NASW conference is one day earlier, and extended my trip to include attending that as well. So, it is a vacation, but a "working" vacation of sorts. Just seeing what's out there job-wise in the science writing arena as well as other science-related fields.

As I was planning this trip, I realized that while I have been to a few conferences as a scientist, I didn't know what a "real" journalist did at scientific meetings. Happily, I applied and got a slot in a mentorship program which places clueless folks like myself with "real" journalists, so I can shadow someone for a day, and learn a bit about how to navigate such a huge event as a member of the media. Pretty neat, I think.

Besides that, and all the seminars and workshops, there's a few dinners/socials for networking... so I think it will be fun. I'm also looking forward to meeting up with editors I worked with this summer, and other fellow fellows ("fellows" as in "participated in said fellowship program with me.")

*And* I get to see Blake, (former-)Roommate Amy, and (former-)Roommate Amy's husband Michael... as I will be sponging off all of them in lieu of shelling out bucks for a hotel. Thanks!

And just like in our college days, Blake -- birthday planner extraordinaire -- will be helping me transition into the ripe old age of twenty six. Yay!

So, there you have it -- the scoop on my week ahead: to DCA on Tuesday, and back on Monday.