Of communicators and musicians

Currently snowed in in Sudbury - blizzard conditions on and off here, and the highways north are closed due to an accident and white-out conditions. Conditions headed east to Ottawa are not much better and snow squall warnings are in effect in North Bay. Thus, I'm spending one more day in Sudbury, catching up on email and reading.

The last two days have been a completely cathartic experience, in a good way. I spent the entire day at Science North yesterday, once again sitting in on the lectures for the science communications program. This time, a lecture on values given by Dr. Dave, which raised alot of interesting points and I've come away with a pile of reading. Lunch again in Landings, this time surrounded by staff scientists who I've known for years - Alan, Jennifer, Nicole, Franco, Chantal. It was a homecoming experience! I was trying to calculate how long I've known these people for - about 15 years. Time flies. I took the opportunity after to visit Andy at the university after being at SN - a common link between Sudbury and Ottawa, the one person who has followed me through that transition.

My talk in the afternoon, all 1.5 hours of it, was partially for the students' benefit, partially for my own benefit in needing to get Banff out in the open, sharing my experience with other science communicators who understand, who can appreciate the topics and knowledge gained. It was an excellent way to set everything straight in my mind as it forced me to step back and summarize the main messages that we learned. My method of doing this was taking our manifesto and creating three main sub-manifestos: Be a scientist, Evoke emotion, and Be aware of your audience. Within those three subgroupings, I was able to stress individual points and give examples. I very much enjoyed having the opportunity to present not only to the students, but to Chantal and Dave as well. I'm very glad that they invited me and look forward to working with them in the future.

In the evening, I switched gears entirely and went to Lasalle Secondary to the Brass Choir practice. Talk about a time warp!! I haven't been into my old alma mata in many, many years. I walked into the upstairs music room to find Roger there (who now conducts the Brass Choir) and it evoked a whole slew of emotions, all good, all comforting. I'm not going to gloss anything over and say that highschool was the most amazing experience, as it wasn't - I was a pretty messed up kid in highschool!! But the music department saved me, it was home for me, with students and teachers alike as close friends. 15 years later, both Dick and Roger are the ones who I still see, still talk to, and last night made me realize how much I miss being around both of them regularly. It comes back to realizing how important close friends are to me, and these two have been with me through good and bad for many, many years and I feel a great deal of affection and emotion when I do see them.

More later.