now.qmd

# Now

This is a [now page](https://nownownow.com/about), where I occasionally update where I am, what I'm doing, and/or what I'm *trying* to focus on.

## Aug 2024

**📍 Vancouver, Canada**, (updated Sep 2024)

~~I'm finished with conference travel for now and settling into Vancouver until late Oct~~. I added another conference to my trip (SmallDataSF -- which was amazing!), and extended my stay in Vancouver through to the end of Nov. Still working on synthesising various definitions of _provenance_ and _provenance-related tools_ across computer science, applied statistics and data science.

I have some gripes with my past-self for over-packing my travel schedule, but really can't complain about my first-time experiences at JSM, posit::conf(2024) and tidy-dev-day! I connected with so many amazing people in the data science and stats community, successfully delivered two new talks and even got to squeeze in a spot of outdoor climbing while in Seattle thanks to an old friend.

## June 2024

**📍 Munich, Germany**

After jumping through what felt like endless hoops of approval processes, funding changes and decision fatigue, I've finally started my many months long research trip across Europe & North America. Some upcoming highlights include:

- 🇩🇪 Visiting SoDa group at LMU (Jun 13-26)
- 🇦🇹 Presenting on *ex-post harmonisation and the `{xmap}` package* at UseR!, Salzburg (Jul 8-11)
- 🇺🇸 Presenting on *assessing statisical programming skills* at JSM, Portland (Aug 3-9)
- 🇺🇸 Presenting on *Quarto for Knowledge Management* in the *Level up your Data Science Skills* session at posit::conf(2024), Seattle (Aug 12-14)
- 🇨🇦 Visiting the InfoVis group at UBC, Vancouver, (Jul-Nov)

It's hard to express how grateful I am for this opportunity and the support I've gotten, especially from my supervisors, to not only expand my research network, but also to experience so many new cities and countries 🥰.

On great experiences, I may have found one of my favourite Vietnamese restaurants (ever, and that's saying a lot coming from Melbourne) after getting caught in the rain in Amsterdam last week and striking up a conversation with the stranger I was sharing my table with at Saint Jean Deli. The sticky rice Xôi bowl at [bonjour càphê](https://bonjourcaphe.com) is just the perfect blend of textural variety and flavour balance was just *chef's kiss*. I had the fish & dill bowl, and the sticky rice felt amazingly light with just the right amount of bite, while the pickled mango gave the dish a sweet and acidic brightness that just perfectly tied together the slightly saltiness of the fish the aroma of the herbs and chilli. My only regret is that I only found this place on Monday when I was leaving the next morning, and their tasting menu is not available on Monday nights 🥲. I'm seriously considering when/how I might get myself back to Amsterdam to try it.