I don’t know if I’ll get the job, of course, but it’s been an interesting experience — the first time I ever auditioned for a job. Thanks to Hugh Casey of http://www.hughcaseyphoto.com/ for doing a superb job of filming and editing. My audition video, if you should be interested in such things, is on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFBaDo6SCHw.
Posted by: rebeccajrobare | August 17, 2011
I applied for a job with National Geographic!
Posted in Archive, Uncategorized
Posted by: rebeccajrobare | August 8, 2011
Sick
I hate being sick.
Everyone hates being sick, I suppose, but I have a particular passion about it. Being sick in bed reminds me of when the migraines were so bad I couldn’t hold down a job, and every time I get sick, part of me believes that it will be long-term again.
I was sick last week with some sort of respiratory infection, sick enough to see a doctor, sick enough that she put me on antibiotics. I’m feeling much better now, but dismissing my fears isn’t so easy. The specter of sick still haunts me. Maybe it always will. Maybe I’ll always be afraid that every day’s illness, momentary weakness, or lapse of energy is a sign that I’m becoming sick or depressed again, that I’ve accidentally eaten some gluten, that I’m being punished for not taking better care of myself.
And to some extent, this is a fear I have to live with. I can’t let it keep me from eating out, or seeing my friends, or doing things sometimes that aren’t the best health decisions. But I also have to make the effort to take good care of myself – to eat well, to exercise, to meditate. And I hope that all these things will help me build up some resiliency, so that the next time I’m sick, I’ll know it’s temporary.
Posted by: rebeccajrobare | July 13, 2011
Concluding a contract
My first contract as a science writer is officially ended. I can report that my supervisor is very happy with what I produced, and I have a good writing sample (Writing Sample II on the site) and a reference. It feels good to be finished with something on such a positive note — to have a real success in my professional life and to know there is something I can do really well, that draws on my education and skills, and doesn’t make me ill. On the other hand, I am very nervous about being unemployed again, and I’m going to be making a push to find work, in this field, as fast as I can. I do have some solid plans to help with this, including joining the National Association of Science Writers, which has its own members-only job board. I’ll also be eligible to apply for government-sponsored insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, come August 1. That will help – it will be a big relief to have insurance again, especially if I end up freelancing, which isn’t particularly what I want to do but may be the reality of the situation. But my goal is full time science writing work, if I can find it.
Posted by: rebeccajrobare | July 12, 2011
Visio
This morning, for my current writing assignment, I conducted an experiment in Visio, or rather, OpenOffice Draw, which is similar. I made a diagram of some brain areas, which needed to be drawn by hand, scanned in, modified as a jpeg in Paint, and then finished in Visio. This was entirely too complicated, and I wish I’d been able to find a public domain image with the information I needed. Maybe I’ll look some more later (for the moment, done was taking precedence over perfect). My other diagram, a timeline, came out rather well, I think. A timeline is composed of straight lines and text, and Draw seems to be much better at those things than, for example, making connecting arrows the exact length they need to be. I’m obviously not a power user, but I can now claim to feel comfortable doing simple diagrams in Draw/Visio and that’s a useful skill.
Posted by: rebeccajrobare | July 11, 2011
Site Update
I’ve added some new pages to the site, to show my resume and some samples of my writing. Writing Sample I is a short section from my dissertation. Writing Sample II is from the document I’m writing for my current contract. I’ve also posted my essay “Cognition in ‘The Naval Treaty,'” which was originally published in this winter’s Serpentine Muse.
In other news, I’m officially on the market, looking for science writing work. It’s frightening to be unemployed again, but I’m excited about my new career path and I hope that I will find work swiftly.
Posted by: rebeccajrobare | June 26, 2011
Chifa
I did not know that my second blog post would be a restaurant review. However, it is warranted by the amazing experience I just had at Philadelphia’s Chifa. I went with my boyfriend and his parents as a sort of late Father’s Day celebration.
Chifa is Latin-Asian fusion, and the menu was full of things I had never heard of. So in a first for me, I identified myself to the waitress as having a problem with wheat. She excused herself and came back with the restaurant’s gluten-free menu — which had on it at least half of the regular menu. We looked at the gluten-free menu and the regular menu, which included the option of a chef’s tasting menu. The waitress was pleased to inform us that we could have a gluten-free tasting menu, so we chose to try that.
A wonderful gastronomic experience followed. First we had bread made of yuca flour, which was warm and tasted wonderful with the spicy butter served with it. We had a salad made of green beans, edamame, and quesa fresca, followed by Peruvian-style ceviche. Then there was an oyster with tomato and avocado for each of us, and wonderful mussels that had been steamed in coconut milk and Thai spices. We had grilled rock octopus, spicy cantonese eggplant, humita (a corn tamale served with mushrooms), and some beautiful chicken. When the rest of the table was brought pork belly bao buns, I was given a thai sausage in tamarind sauce. When anything came to the table that had gluten in it, such as plantain chips, they were served on the side and I was told clearly what the gluten-containing item was. For dessert we had pannacotta served with grapefruit, and when my boyfriend mentioned that he can’t eat grapefruit (not expecting to find it here, we hadn’t mentioned it at the start of the meal), they swiftly brought him a plain one. The other dessert, a chocolate cake, did contain gluten, but I was given as a substitute passion-fruit ice cream, which tasted like fresh passion fruit.
Throughout the evening, the service was accommodating and pleasant. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a waitress smile so much. Every consideration was given to my dietary need and equal attention given to my enjoyment of the experience. You can be sure I thanked the waitress a number of times, and asked that my regards be given to the chef who was going to such effort. This was an A-plus experience on all levels. I highly recommend Chifa to anyone living in or visiting Philadelphia, especially if you need accommodation for celiac disease or food allergies.
Posted in Archive, Recovery | Tags: Chifa, food, Philadelphia, recovery, restaurants
Posted by: rebeccajrobare | June 23, 2011
Hello world!
Hello, world! I’m a blog!
All right, that’s a bit silly. But this is a blog, and I hope you’ll enjoy reading it. You’ll find my professional information here, along with a portfolio of things I’ve written. You’ll also find my personal blog, which will be about science, writing, and recovery, since those are my three major activities.
Science: My PhD is in Psychology/Cognitive Neuroscience. I love science and try to keep up with the various sciences as much as possible. In this blog, I will write about some science topics and the way that science is presented in the media.
Writing: My current employment is as a Science Writer, and I adore it. I’m redacting my actual work, because it’s proprietary to the company I work for, but I’ll talk about the activities surrounding that work. I also work on my own projects, and you’ll see information about those here as well.
Recovery: Much of the past few years of my life have revolved around my struggles with migraines and depression. Recently I discovered that I am gluten-intolerant, and this has been a major turning point for me. I’m healthier, more energetic, and have been dropping the weight that I’ve added in the last five years or so. I don’t expect all my problems to go away, but excluding wheat from my diet has been closer to a panacea than I ever hoped to find. The third thing I will write about on this blog is my journey through these illnesses and, I hope, back to health.
I’ll have more for you shortly. In the meantime, welcome to my site. I hope you find something of interest here.
Making It So 