Lots been going on.

Writing academic papers has left me bereft of expressing emotions or writing like a normal human being about anything non-specific. That sentence didn't make much sense. So there. So in bulleted text, I will summarise my past few weeks.

1. Anu dropped by from Buffalo for the Neuroscience conference in Washington DC. We were meeting after 4 years, and the Lucknow gang along with respective better halves went to Silver Spring for a Tex Mex Lunch.
2. Vishnu gave a press conference at the Neuroscience conference and likened it to the Kumbh Mela. The Dalai Lama spoke at the beginning of the conference about meditations effects on the brain. That's Lama with one L.
3. Went to a bunch of book signings. First, Jorge Cham dropped by to promote his book "Life is tough and then you graduate." I won a PhD mug (lucky me! the event had a p-value of roughly 0.01) It was a very entertaining talk with a kernel of wisdom in it. . .that it's ok to let your mind wander and procrastinate. . .sometimes great things have come out of procrastination. There is always something you should be doing, but it is ok to do other things. Usually.
4. The grass only grows where it is watered. The Dalai Lama might have said that. Or Jorge. Or someone wise.
5. Vikram Seth gave a great introduction to his new book "Two Lives" at Politics and Prose. He is one of my favourite authors of all time. This particular book seems more like a memoir about the life and times of his Indian uncle and German aunt in England. His Golden Gate turned me into a poet. That rhymes.
6. Amrit wrote wonderful things about everyone in the band in his website.
7. Here is a photo of Nandini and her baby Anika. Who turned three months yesterday. I haven't blogged about this earlier, (or have I?) but Anyesha and I went to the hospital three months ago. . .when she first arrived. So we are watching the baby grow in front of our eyes. Which is interesting because time seemed to have slowed down in many other aspects of my life.
8. I just finished writing the first draft of my second paper. It is 2:00 AM. I should go to bed.