ideas, ideas, ideas

i had a good meeting with Quentin Stafford-Fraser today, and i came away with some ideas that i feel could lead to some interesting work/projects, if not a phd, for me. it's hard not to get too excited after meetings and talks like this where you feel so positive and energetic about a particular topic, but you have to look past the personal bias/interest and really decide (or find out) whether the work is relevent, novel, already been done, or worth the time and effort. my biggest fear is that i waste time researching and workiing on a project that will not have anything to do with my phd. that waste of time (although the knowledge and research experience is good) is a pothole i would like to avoid. however, it is different types of projects along your phd that can "enlighten" you to a wonderful phd topic that you would have never thought of without the so-called "wasted" project in the first place. it can be so confusing juggling what you think/want to do for a phd with all these ideas and projects that may help you reach your goal. the wierd part about it is that you never know how, or if, things will tie into what you really want to do.

p.s. - happy birthday JJ (Ace Klub, Krimson T.K.O.)