Bright Woman Blog

It’s been months since I have had the time to sit down and right something here … and, alas I have found time as I sit fumbling through all of the material for my first comprehensive exam on Monday morning. It’s funny how easy it is to find time for other things as I prepare for what appears to be my largest academic milestone to date. At UT, comprehensive exams come in fours so I will be whittling away my time preparing for them for the next four weeks, or until my last one on August 13th. By all accounts, it is going to be a both interesting and exhausting process. I can’t wait to be finished!

In other news, the last five months have proven to be both trying and exhilarating at the same time. I taught my first solo class in the Spring (Advertising on the Internet), secured my first journal publication (due out next year), managed to make it to several conferences, both for presentations and just to attend, and was able to secure three fellowships that will pay my way as I complete my dissertation next year. I flew back and forth across the US several times, to San Francisco, Las Vegas, Panama City Beach and Burlington, and came home relatively unscathed, minus the cracked rib from a nasty fall down a rain-drenched flight of stairs in the Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. I hadn’t experienced that degree of physical pain in quite some time and have since made an effort to slow down, especially when dealing with stairs. Oh, the things PhD students do to get more presentations on that vitae!

This summer has been good so far … some how we have reached the end of July without breaking 100 degrees in Austin which has to be some kind of record. It has been raining on an almost daily basis, bringing to life plants and fungi that I have never seen in Austin before … it truly is a jungle out there. In addition, it has brought all sorts of rodents and insects out of the woodwork which has proved to be interesting and slightly revolting at the same time. It will be nice when the water subsides and all of the little creatures can find their homes again … which are hopefully not inside my house.

For now, I am making it my job to enjoy the rain and cool weather while I try to prepare for my information science exam on Monday. I’ve managed to flip my mental switch into getting things done mode, finally, so I believe I am ready to sit in a cubicle and write for four straight hours on how user-generated content is impacting both usability and advertising life cycles in the interactive environment. Sounds pretty interesting, eh?

Just think, by the time I am done with these exams and the oral defense of them, I will be well on my way to turning 30 and getting my dissertation underway. Boy am I ready for a new decade … this one is getting a little old … no pun intended!

Btw, if you are reading this and have something brilliant to contribute to my thoughts for Monday, don’t hesitate to send me an email ;). My horoscope has advised that I beware of gaining knowledge without character … so, if you’ve got a good usability story, please pass it along for me to add to my collection!

After spending a week in San Francisco for the AEJMC conference, I am finally back to the land of the living. Although I love the big city and everything it has to offer, I must say that it was nice to get home and hear the crickets singing in my yard and the wind blowing through the trees … if only it weren’t so blasted hot while enjoying such things.

Since returning home, I have been making a valiant effort to enjoy what is left of the Summer before the Fall semester onslaught of work, classes, and running the media lab begins. For me, this means hunkering down somewhere with air conditioning and working on websites, crafting projects, reading old J.D. Salinger books, spending time with long lost friends, and watching all of the movies that I missed during the school year. So far, it has proven to be a fruitful effort … many scarves and trivets have been knitted, countless beads have been strung, many movies have been checked off of the list, and I am well into my second reading of Frannie and Zooey, a book that is far more interesting than my fourteen year old mind could have known during its first reading. I suppose reading a book about a family wrought with tragedy is more freeing than sitting around worrying about your own family, equally engulfed with stories of love and loss. Sounds pretty ‘pure and complicated’ … just as Salinger let on.

With that in mind, I will set out to live a pure and simple life for the next two weeks as the Summer winds down. To do this, I will continue being a crafting goddess, will change authors once this book is through, and will head to Florida for a nice vacation with my husband and girl dog … and, in true Bright fashion, will return from that vacation the night before school starts with the road on my mind and not a care in the world.

Come Wednesday the 30th it will be back to that whole pure and complicated way of life again.

On a somewhat breezy yet hot night in late July in Austin, I am writing from my new office setup at the house. It was a much needed change and I am quite content in my new, decidedly girly southern gothic surroundings. Much has happened since my last post … a cousin’s wedding, my grandmother’s funeral, a summer school stats class, the completion of two very long papers, several excellent concerts, countless dog walks, a few dips in Barton Springs, and many delicious meals. To say the least, it has been an interesting couple of months around the Bright family … here are a few things I have learned along the way:

1. When going on a family “vacation”, pack an extra since of humor … or two, or three … you will need to start unpacking them by day two.
2. There is something magical about a tumultous thunderstorm on a hot Summer day and I absolutely never tire of them.
3. If you’re having a bad day and all else fails, have a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and a fizzy drink to make yourself feel better.
4. When reason doesn’t work, kill them with kindness.
5. The phrase ‘Life is for the living.’ is one of the most comforting things to think of when someone passes away.
6. Some mistakes are too fun to only make once.
7. Watching the World Cup with a Brazilian soccer fan is hilarious fun.
8. Sometimes the best thing to do is just sit back and watch your brain work out all of your fascinating contradactions and see what wins.
9. The only thing consistent in life is change so it is a good thing to know how to manage.
10. The Clash really is one of the best bands of all time.
11. And, last but not least: how to conduct experiments, analyze data, and interpret results for experiments containing more than 2 groups :).

So, we know for sure that Summer school paid off … as for the rest, we’ll just have to see. For now, I must prepare a presentation for a conference in San Francisco next week. Grace and I are presenting and my Mom is coming to join us so it should be a fabulous time. We’ll get to see Greg and Beth Anne, shop, eat good food, and drink wine … sounds like just what I need right now. To boot, my horoscope has advised that it’s high time for me to untame myself … (insert cat noise here) … woohoo!

I woke up late Monday morning, after a long flight in from Reno, Nevada on Sunday night, thinking that I might have dreamt the last four days of my life. The smokey haze of the casino and constant ‘Ding Ding Ding’ of the slot machines has left me in a weird state. For the most part, the trip went well. The presentation went off without a hitch and we had 30 people in attendance which was a remarkable amount if you ask me ;). On the flip side of that, the mauve velvet bedspreads and room of mirrors that Grace, Katherine and I stayed in left much to be desired. I had Katherine photograph the railyard and scrap metal pile outside of our room … just in case any of us had any thoughts of ever returning to Reno again! For now, we have Burlington, Vermont to look forward to for next year’s AAA conference. In the meantime, I’ve got a few papers to get together.

If I’ve learned anything about casino towns it’s that no matter how much you win, you always leave with empty pockets.

And … a side note … who knew I was playing in Reno this weekend?

http://www.waldenscoffeehouse.com/performers-JKL-LauraBright.shtml

Well folks, tomorrow I head to Reno, Nevada for the American Academy of Advertising Conference where Grace and I will be presenting a paper. It is a presentation on racial portrayals in Brazilian advertising and has gone over well during our two practice rounds in front of faculty and students at UT. I’m looking forward to presenting on Friday and then enjoying a weekend in Reno!

For now, I am going to hit the sack since I have to be on a plane at 6 AM. I’ll post more from the conference …