If I were going to Chicago...

If I were going to Chicago, I'd probably be inspired to post something a little more imaginative.
I've been working on a research proposal (read: reformatting references) all week. My brain hurts.

It won't surprise anyone who knows me that I'd want to attend talks that walk the chemistry-biology tightrope. (Read: Jon Clardy, Dale Boger, Laura Kiessling, Sam Gellman, Carolyn Bertozzi, Anna Mapp, Xiaowei Zhuang, etc.)
Here are some of my less obvious go-to talks.

Sunday all day (intermittently): AGFD: Natural Products, Diets and Cancer Prevention. A friend from my last lab always made time to go to the talks from the Ag. and Food chemistry division. I like them, too, because, to me, they have a more "generalist" vibe, and sometimes there are some really interesting chemical structures that they throw up on a slide. You never know where the inspiration for the next target will come from. Not too long ago, there was a postdoc in my group who spent part of his Ph.D. synthesizing a molecule found in Roquefort cheese.

Monday AM: MEDI: Drugs from Academia: Marketed Drugs Discovered in Academic Labs
I'm curious what Bob Holton's going to do with the taxol $$. That, and I have to cheer on Princeton's own Edward C. "Ted" Taylor.

Monday lunch: CHED: Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Organic Chemistry
Mad props to Mike, my little bro, for being the first in the family to present a poster at an ACS meeting. I should probably have gotten more work done.

Monday PM: CHED: Research in Chemical Education
My friend Angie is a teaching postdoc and she's giving a talk about how to keep a lecture hall's worth of sophomores engaged in the organic chem course's subject material. My favorite quote from her teaching experiences is on my Facebook wall. "Sigh....I'm introducing the concept of "backside attack" to 260 college sophomores today. Pray for me." At her postdoc interview she had a week's notice to prepare a lecture on her assigned topic for another ~300 students.

Tuesday AM: PHYS: Xiaowei Zhuang's talk in ACS National Awards in Physical Chemistry
I know I said I wouldn't discuss an obvious one, but I've always really been intrigued by the idea of single molecule imaging studies. I was too afraid of math to take the plunge in a group like that, though. I like to think that one day we'll be able to make movies like this one. I don't think I've linked to that movie yet.

Wednesday AM:
9:55-10:35 ORGN: Biomimetic Natural and Unnatural Products Synthesis
Not a surprise that I'd go here. :)
I think the boss is talking about some new alkaloid-related work, but I'm not sure.

Wednesday PM: INOR: Coordination Chemistry: Characterization and Application
I want to listen to my friends Karl and Eli give talks about their work (or at least, my rudimentary, pop-science understanding of their work, judging by the link).

At some point: run up to Lincoln Park to get breakfast at The Bourgeois Pig, followed by research on, um, surface science at the Bliss Spa, paid for by my imaginary money.

Thursday PM: Nanoparticles: Synthesis, Passivation, Stabilization, and Functionalization
Nanotubes, biosensors, and a talk from someone in Chad Mirkin's group. What's not to like?
Chad Mirkin was here at Princeton a while ago and I regret skipping his talk because of labwork. His science reaches in so many directions.