I have been concentrating on grant preparation and writing for past three weeks, in addition to a review article on liver cancer genes and revision of a research manuscript.
There is a skill set called grantmanship. As overall funding rate for medical science through the National Institute of Health (NIH) has come down to 18% (or even lower, 8-9% in some fields including cancer-related ones from NCI), skills to write a successful grant proposal are more important than ever.
To get all pieces in position and to propose a solid and feasible proposal, it takes some time. There is about another month until the deadline. I'll be working on the grant proposal for a while, in addition to the research manuscript revision. After all, research fund for 5 years, almost 1.9 million taxpayers' dollars, is at stake. Better be serious on this one.
For record-keeping's sake:
5/8 (Sun) Albaloo Modern Persian full course dinner
5/14 (Sat) idance studio showcase
5/18 (Wed) sent out a review manuscript
5/19 (Thu) Home internet repair
After all, we cancelled 5/14 Tango performance (she is the director of the showcase and obviously there are too many things on her plate. FYI showcase is still on).
Instead of dress rehearsal on Saturday, I got an afternoon time. So I went to Tulsa for Alternative music milonga and dinner.
There, the host asked me something interesting; "do you have any Japanese song that we can use for Alternative music milonga?"
Hmm, I never thought of that.
After a nice afternoon milinga and awesome dinner, I did some research.
In very short,...
Most Japanese songs with "Tango" in title have American Tango beats with them. In some cases it's not tango at all. They are different from (and probably hard to dance with) Agentine Tango.
Black cat tango (Kuroneko no Tango)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS5g69mI2aA
There are several Tango songs incorporating Japanese tunes by Horacio Salgan. He and his band visited Japan, and these songs are the byproduct. But I am not sure they qualify as "Alternative songs".
I search for something Japanese from different angles, searching for movies and animes, and found that some Miyazaki/Ghibli movies have decent Waltz.
Stroll through the sky (Howl's moving castle).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3hnNFlPhe0
Always with me (Spirited away)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT0fIfiw7Sg
Chihiro's Waltz (Spirited away)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0JK43-5azU
(There may be more danceable versions out there somewhere, though.)
I am still looking for ideas and songs. If you know some Japanese (or related to Japan) songs that can be used in Alternative music milonga, please let me know.
[Science]
Today the journal office sent back a manuscript we submitted several weeks earlier and was in review. Their response? "Major revision" (which is quite normal).
Overall the comments were something we can address, perhaps except for that $5000 experiment. Some experiments are just cost-prohibitive.
We spent a few hours to plan the response, and started assigning experiments to revise the manuscript. They gave us 6 weeks for revision, and it is not a very long time.
[Dance]
Although my work is getting busy with the manuscript revision and grant writing (and some other things), I am going to dance a Tango in a showcase on 5/14. It was decided yesterday, kind of last minute, and today we were picking a song and doing some dancing to get to know each other.
She wanted to dance a nuevo Tango. So we picked a nuevo song from Otros Aires.
Now I am listening to the song and imagining how we would dance. The song begins with classic Tango-sounding intro for 35 seconds, then perky rhythm kicks in. 20 seconds later, a bandneon starts playing swiftly-moving energetic tune.The tune repeats twice, then bandneons start playing more dragging chord accompanied by electronic beats. A variation of the swift tune returns, and.......
Just writing down some notes like this helps to know the structure of the song better.
Some dancers practice based on moves and figures. Others dance to counts. But I need music to dance.
Dancers are a part of the band and musicians. In the Professional stage show, the musical score even includes dancers' part (!).
How are we going to dance the song? Are we going to add a storytelling? What kind of choreo would translate what we pick up from the lively song?
To choreograph a dance is a big part of fun that dancers enjoy. In social Tango we choreograph (on the spot) too. But for a showcase, we should do better.
On 4/23 (Sat) the swing dance club was hosting WCS workshop by Ben Morris. Attracting dancers from Tulsa, Wichita, Kansas City, Dallas and Arkansas, the workshop and party was a big success.
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This week in the work site, we've had many budget-related discussions. This state is going through a budget crunch. They blame it on the crash in oil price and this state's dependency on oil industry and their money, but who knows?
I heard that budgets for state Universities would be halved in 2 years. It is not even funny. There are many memos and budget revisions.
Science is not a work that floats up in the air. It is a very budget-constrained business (unless you find yourself in highly prestigious positions such as the Howard Hughes research scholar and equivalents). Writing a grant is basically an attempt to obtain government contract to carry out research and make money for the lab and the University from out of state. Salary component is usually the biggest part in the budget. Although there are some differences from for-profit business, there are many similarities to any other small business. Money matters.
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This month marks 5 months until my Green card expires 10 years after initial issue. So I began renewal paperwork. I am eligible to naturalize, and considering finance (401k, social security, etc), I may have passed the point of no return already. But I decided not to apply for American citizenship as long as my parent(s) live in Japan. They are my attachment to the country. Since Japan does not accept dual citizenship, I got to choose.
It is easy to produce proof of work for my line of work (science, medical research), because publication is a part of the work. I checked out my professional work in past 10 years, prepared CV, collected other papers and filed renewal application online.
The renewal application process seems to be going smoothly. I initiated the process on 4/5, completed the file uploading and paid the fee on 4/7, and got biometric appointment on 4/25. I went to USCIS office to take biometrics on Monday (4/25). I do not think renewal will take too long.
[USCIS OKC office]
