Week 69 - LOI

It never gets old... every time that I look at the abbreviation "LOI" in communications back and forth for my grant, I feel like someone thought something was really funny and then bailed out at the end. But in the grant world, LOI stands for "Letter of Intent". So what is a letter of intent, and why did it absorb so much of my week?

Well, the letter of intent is designed alert a funding agency that you intent to apply for their grants. In many cases, the number of applicants is so vast that the letter also helps sort out some of the applications that will definitely not make the cut either due to poor fit for the request for applications (called an RFA) or because they are not of the caliber or lack the potential to make the final cut. So in two short pages you are expected to tell people who know nothing about your field of work what you will research and how it relates to their funding. It took nearly all week, with normal work in the lab mixed in, of course, to get all the words fit into 2 pages without sacrificing line spacing or font size. So now it is turned in, and I have received confirmation it was received. The next trick is that I have to get my candidacy exams done before February 20th in order to qualify for this fellowship grant. That means in just 2 months, I need to prove that I know enough about dairy nutrition, general nutrition concepts and methane production to deserve consideration for a doctorate. So much for relaxing over Christmas...

Something that has been proving to aid in relaxation is the new bourbon barrel lager. "Home run" fails to adequately describe how well this turned out. So to Colin, thank you very much for loaning me the use of your barrel, this would have made you proud and I am saving a bottle for both you and your lovely wife. Just smelling the beer warms my heart on a winter evening, and it serves great at cellar temperature - bringing out the subtleties of the bourbon. Four months from start to finish, this beer was worth the wait and we will be making a new batch soon. In the meantine, I've put another fifth of whiskey into the barrel to keep the wood happy. The debate now is whether there should be a chocolate bourbon or a cherry bourbon. Too much cherry is a bit more of a risk than failing to capture the soft flavor of chocolate amidst the fermentation.

Once I am rich and famous, I think it would be fun to run a place like the cellar we visited this weekend for a wedding. Stocked with wine and tucking away cold molds with the drippy water, this felt cozy and classic. I tried to capture a panorama to give the idea of how the cellar extended off in different directions and levels, but it doesn't really do the place justice.

Panorama of our cellar-bar wedding this week.

My week has obviously been entirely absorbed by this letter, evident from the lack of photos in my phone this week. Hannah is nearing 6 months old and her interest in Betsy is renewed. Betsy is warming up to her, too, acting more comfortable around her just so long as it doesn't come at the expense of her food or toys.

This week Hannah really enjoyed watching Betsy eat.

I will leave you with just one more thought. A band friend of my wife's shared this with me in good fun after I saw him last week during their loss to MSU. All the email said was "Go Sparty", and I have to agree. If you earn the right to represent your conference, it is your obligation to make good on that and bring home a trophy for the conference. Two great teams clashed and only one could go to Pasadena. Now we have to prove it was the right one. I hope this week that the boys in EL are relaxing before their bowl practices and preparing mentally for one of the greatest games in MSU history. Go Sparty!