Rejections… And a Silver Lining

Dang - did anyone else get rejected today? :)

I am so frustrated, because I have this fantastic project and no one wants to fund it. Of course, I need some publications out there to back up the preliminary data, but I want funding now! OK, there was my temper tantrum.

On a happier note, I recently gave a talk at my Super Famous alma mater. It was fantastic, and it made me so thrilled. All the faculty remembered me, and talked to me like a peer. They told me that they were proud of me, and that my work was good. (Isn't that what we all want to hear once in a while?). I nailed my talk, and got lots of great questions from faculty and students. The whole experience was like a great trip off into an alternate, happy reality. One faculty even said that the stuff I presented, would change my (tiny, little) field. Aw, contented sigh.

A funny thing happened during that trip. I went to the university shop to buy t-shirts for my family, when I saw a familiar face: it was my ex-fiance??? WTF? I quickly ducked behind a clothing rack and peered out between t-shirts to spy on him. He was there with another woman - who looked just like me. Then he saw me crouched behind the clothes rack. I panicked and ran to the back of the store and called my friend. What do I do what do I do? She said to me, "Go downstairs and hide in the text book section!" I did so and waited 15 min. By then, he had left. The most embarrassing part: I was wearing a coat that his mother had bought me 10 years ago, and I know he saw it.