presidential primary participation.......CHECK

after much reading online and a couple phone calls to make sure i was completing the absentee ballot and overseas voting process correctly, i finally faxed AND mailed my paperwork to the board of elections in atlanta. needless to say, barack got my support, and i hope he becomes our next president.

as for the information on the web, it was not as "easy" as they make you think. i can easily see anyone that was not that determined to vote giving up as the information on the web is scattered, incomplete, and confusing. due diligence is definitely a must. the last think i wanted was to not have my vote counted for some technicality after spending a considerable amount of time finding the proper paperwork and getting it faxed and mailed.

an interesting project

i meant to link to this yesterday but forgot. check it out if you haven't seen it already. the ajc ran an article on it yesterday.

african american national biography

an unswerving fidelity

just a random motivational thought for the day. (nothing too exciting going on other than my work. it is still progressing well at the moment, but it gets mundane very quickly with the type of experiments i am running) in reading through the news about sen. obama and his quest to become the first black president, i felt this phrase was appropriate. i could not believe the comments made by former president clinton about sen. obama, but it just made me cling closer to sen. obama as the "change [we need in this country and] we can believe in." i would not describe myself as someone that is dialed into politics in the least bit, but i share caroline kennedy's sentiments in describing the way she is inspired by obama. and yes caroline, i too feel "i have found the man who could be that president."

i cannot begin to imagine the stress and strain running for president would cause anyone. even more so, that felt by a black man with all the chance in the world to make the dream a reality. so to you senator obama, i am cheering for you to continue your success with an "unswerving fidelity," all the way to the white[sic] house.

i hope i can keep this up

it's been a very long first week back in '08, but i am really hoping to continue putting this kind of time into my research. i still need to work on my efficiency, but, in spite of some of my mistakes, i am getting a good bit of work done. i am even planning on coming in tomorrow. can you believe it? it's crazy what energy being able to see the end of the tunnel will give you.

i can see a lot more light now

i had a very inspiring and motivating meeting with my supervisor today. i just wanted to give him a status update and let him know the direction i would be heading in the next 3 months or so. turns out, he really liked what i had to say, and i really began to feel confident that i may be able to finish within the next calendar year (give or take a few months). also, in speaking to my supervisor, i felt a bit more like i was on the "coming-down-side-of-the-hill" as opposed to feeling like there was so much more work ahead of me. let's hope this excitement carries on for a while. i can definitely use the encouragement. i really cannot wait to finish this degree. i have pledged to make sure i put in the hours (actual working hours, not just filling space at my desk) at work to make it happen. i'm curious to see what unfolds.

actual work hrs yesterday: ~7
actual work hours today: ~9.5

same grind, renewed motivation, new year

made it back to the uk this past friday, and it's been hectic since touch down. the holiday break was much needed, and i enjoyed the time i spent with family and friends. my work is almost completely laid out, and the only thing left to do is execute. more to come later.

i had some time to think and have a few separate discussions about my last post. i am still a little fuzzy, but i guess that is to be expected because there is no quick fix or a "one-and-done" solution (or else we wouldn't have this problem right?). the only firm conclusion that i came to was that there is plenty of blame to go around, so everyone responsible just needs to be patient and wait their turns. i feel that somewhere at the top of the list are parents, media, and educators/government. of course this list is incomplete. the best piece of advice out of my conversations was to make sure our generation is prepared to pull the "lost" generation(s) up (as needed) and ensure that we raise and teach our kids how we were taught. hopefully, this will get things turned around. there is just so much uncertainty though.

p.s. - how embarrassing on all fronts