October 31, 2012
Peerage
So, after more wrangling than strictly necessary, this happened:
Method for Estimating the Tip Geometry of Scanning Ion Conductance Microscope Pipets
Stupid spelling courtesy of the journal. I'm pretty sure "pipet" isn't even proper American, but what do I know? I now have a first-author publication. Go me.
This, in the eyes of the American Chemical Society, makes me a peer. Accordingly, they have already given me something to review. No names, obviously, and no pack drill. I have approached this task with a positively sanctimonious sense of duty. I was hoping the paper would be a nice cut and dried affair that I could magnanimously pass with the barest of cosmetic comments; alas no. I now find myself in the position of being that twat reviewer who tears your paper to bits while pretending it's for your own good. Irksome, but that's genuinely the case. You know I wouldn't make comments for my own aggrandisement; mostly because of my keen moral purpose, but also -- let's face it -- because there's not actually any aggrandising to be had. Unless you're an odious prick who takes pleasure in belittling others, reviewing is basically a completely thankless task. It's a miracle anyone does it at all.
Otherwise, there have been all manner of entertainments, including Amanda Fucking Palmer at KOKO; Dara O'Briain at the Hammersmith Odeon Apollo; finally catching up with Homeland and Breaking Bad and Community; birthday celebrations for David, Mike, Dorigen, Ed, etc; and -- still up in the air but an intriguing prospect -- invitation to a colleague's top-tier wedding in Bangladesh, a country I would have a fairly low probability of visiting in the normal course of events. They take their weddings seriously there -- four huge parties spread over more than a week. It's in March next year. I can't pretend I'm not tempted.
Upcoming: Philippe Decouflé, Al Murray, Rosas, fireworks, some kind of TBA meetup with WT stalwart flerdle, etc, etc. Busy time, autumn. One almost doesn't have a moment to notice how fucking dark and cold things have gotten around here.
Also, it's Halloween: BOO!
Posted by matt at October 31, 2012 10:24 PM