I’ve moved, I’m employed. How are you? More soon.

Planet45 was once a farm. Rumors swirl: horse farm, goose farm. Maybe pasture. Certainly at some point in the last few hundred years something was planted and grown and harvested, this the conclusion of the conservation agent who dug deep trenches in order to determine the line for the encroaching (and human-produced) wetlands.

Peonies bloom shortly before the solstice. I have fantasies about growing lots of peonies. Not being a gardener I find the presence of such exotic flowers in my yard to be proof of divine intervention, because I have no idea how one plants them and grows them. They are just here, blossoms the size of softballs, wildly fragrant. If I smelled like these flowers I would lose my reputation, what there is of it, but on these flowers it is gorgeous and sensual and tropical.

It’s time to talk about one of my favorite subjects again, and that would be this big old Red House. It looks old because it is: at one time it was the only residence out here on Rocky Nook – and that was in 1857. It’s a center chimney four-square, two stories- actually, 2.5. It’s hard to say if the original structure was that size. One of my favorite things to do is to research the history of the property, and part of what I hope to determine eventually is the age of the current structure, which may very well have been built over the cellar hole of a preceding structure.

The first people to live on the Nook settled here in the mid 1620s. Not on this site- up the road a piece, and you’d never know that there use to be a house and barn there. The site has undergone some archaeological examination, but mostly it’s just a lovely green hill with very old trees and a rock with a plaque on it. The inhabitants were John Howland and his family. John came over on the Mayflower (yep, that one), married fellow passenger Elizabeth Tilley, lived in Plymouth town for a while, but eventually purchased 20 acres of land with a dwelling house and barn from fellow pilgrim Mr. Jenney,  and started to build a life here.

Rocky Nook in those days was a peninsula of pastures- and probably forest, but that forest would have been demolished in order to build and heat homes. The Nook juts out into a well-protected bay and, as you would expect by its name, its coast is lined by rocks. A time traveler arriving on a cold winter night would think it a bit of a boondocks- isolated, wind-swept, perhaps the sound of a few cattle lowing, because many, many more cows lived here than people. It must have been little better than camping  on a cold night, but I’d bet things were very sustainable. Elizabeth had ten children. Ten.

The Howlands farm was lost to a fire, as was, I think, the homestead of John Howlands’ son, which was later built just West of his parents’ place.

More soon.

It’s spring and the farmhouse (AKA Planet45) is alive with socializing and romancing birds, knee high dandelions and buttercups, woodchucks, mice, ants, bees, and a hundred thousand other things stretching wings, legs, fronds, pistils, and what have you. It’s an exciting time to be on Planet45. It’s a stirring, daunting, and exciting time to be embarking on new ventures too.

Unlike the shrubs blasting into bloom around the house, I take tentative steps to establish a little business. In an economy like this, one searches for gigs and full-time employment at the same time, which in the abstract ought to require the same sets of skills. Identifying prospects might be the same for gigs and employment, but going after those prospects is different. Positioning oneself for employment requires a level of visioning and strategizing that is different from that required for landing small projects. Establishing a pattern of business with a client requires long-term thinking that takes time away from job-hunting.

It’s hard to maintain that balance. I’ve picked up bits of advice here and there on the internet (and I am sorry that in some cases the attributions never made it into my head). Here’s one I like when I get overwhelmed: do the revenue-producing work first thing. For example, I get an occasional paper to edit or grants research to do- those earn income and help me to “live another day” to do the longer term work. Having that essential, well-defined task to complete puts structure into days that can deteriorate quickly into amorphous blobs. Invariably I learn something or pick up a nugget of inspiration as well. And knowing a little income is on the way helps the focus on more creative or visionary tasks later in the day.

Growing things require care, nutrition, structure. What do you do to help grow new patterns of behavior in your professional life?

So lately this old dog has been looking into funding opportunities for three organizations: a small biz dedicated to sustainability, a biotech, and a non-profit. This research could blossom into grant-writing.

It’s fascinating.

Helping individuals to develop professionally is very rewarding. Helping an organization grow and succeed is fulfilling. Helping lots of organizations do so could be a fine way to pay my bills, and have a great time meeting interesting folks who deserve to do well. So stay tuned.

The world is too much with us; late and soon,
Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers  – William Wordsworth

When was the last time you really focused on something? If it was ever easy for you to focus, is it getting more difficult lately? There are some tasks that are inherently painful to focus on- like job-hunting for example. And we are told too that if we wish to keep an edge we should be tapping the powers of the internet, blogging, twittering, searching. These are good things. But it is possible to be washed overboard by the attention-spamming power of Twitter– possible to become self-absorbed blogging– and exploded into pieces by the process of searching for jobs or information.

Sometimes one has to step away from the keyboard. Forced absences. Refraining from jumping on the computer first thing (this is hard to avoid, but I am working on it). Spending time outdoors – yes, outdoors where you really can’t use your laptop fruitfully when the sun is up! My favorite antidote to a long day of fractured thinking: taking the dog for a run someplace beautiful while the sun is setting. Try it. Your attention span will thank you for it.

to finish with the Poet’s lovely sonnet:

Little we see in Nature that is ours;
We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon!
This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon,
The winds that will be howling at all hours,
And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers,
For this, for everything, we are out of tune;
It moves us not.–Great God! I’d rather be
A Pagan suckled in a creed outworn; (1)
So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, (2)
Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn;
Have sight of Proteus (3) rising from the sea;
Or hear old Triton (4) blow his wreathed horn.

You know, as I have worked hard poring over twitter and linkedin and job sites these past few months, I’ve felt a fragmentation of message and purpose. And I’ve figured it out, I am attention spamming! There is only so much we can do with our cognitive resources. They are ours to protect and deploy carefully, not promiscuously. Have you focused yourself today?  More on this soon, from me and others.

Here’s a website worth your while if you are jobhunting: www.linkup.com. I discovered it recently thanks to twitter, and I think it’s a great tool- no login, and it scrapes over 19,000 quality web-sites for job openings.

and here are some reasons why!

A super tool for networking is the informational interview: Science on Informational Interviews

I saw a terrific seminar by Tory Johnson, CEO of WomenforHire.com. She emphasized getting out there, not just on the internet but virtually as well. Her website is chock full of great tips for everyone – not just women.

Harvard has an amazing Office of Career Services (big surprise there, eh??) and with it, a website jammed with solid information that is well-presented. I am especially fond of materials that can be found under non-academic careers for graduate students - this section has some very helpful information on networking, resume preparation and interviewing.

I hope these help! Good luck!

What do you think of when you hear the term “scientist”? Chances are that unless you know a scientist or two, your first thoughts center around lab coats, beakers of hot bubbling potions, eyeglasses and nerd-speak. But of course the reality is both more fascinating AND a bit boring. I know this well because I have met and worked for and with hundreds of scientists.

Scientists are in general very passionate and focused people. The best scientists combine their passion and dedication with a gift for communication and – business. You see, the engine of science needs money to keep cranking. Money for equipment, materials, payroll, postage- just like any other business. The best laboratories and companies require a lot of administration- financial oversight, personnel issues, facilities and operations. The best scientists have to balance their work and management tasks. They also have to find money, which means grant-writing or other forms of fundraising (some political, for example when raising money from state funds, or advocating for internal funding in a university situation).

I have fifteen years of experience helping scientists with their business needs. I’m a trained scientist myself, PhD, post-doc and all. But I have done more for science by helping other scientists than I ever could as a scientist myself. Because I love working to advance the work of scientists, engineers and other technical people, I’m sketching out plans for my own consulting business. It’s got a name: Raven Science Services. Stay tuned!