DC luppie update

Well here I am in DC being a Luppie rockstar and during the first two day I've already got a number of observations:

1. Most Lupus researchers are short, tiny little Asian men, whose names I cannot pronounce. I'm not even going to try either.
   
2. LL tall white lady with short Asian men = AWKWARDness
3. Lupus researchers are some serious people, they don't laugh, and they don't smile. If I was that serious about my disease I would have killed myself 3 years ago...
   
4. There are a number of foreign dudes who I swear can talk without opening their mouths. They would be amazing puppetry people. This one guy has an France accent and even though I am listening very hard I'm about 2 sentence behind on comprehending what he is saying...
   
5. So not only do these people mumble, they also talk fast and by using very big words. Seriously, I am sooo dumb. Not only am I bringing down the average age but also the IQ range in that room...
   
6. There was soooo smrt talk happening for 11 hours today that at lunch I had to run back up to my hotel room to read celebrity gossip and watch ET lunch edition. One of the little asian men asked me if I ate lunch and I was like "yes, but in my room" hahahaha, away from you people.
7. We worked for 11 straight hours today discussing 19 proposals and my emotions ranged from "I think I'm going to cry" to "I'm mad as hell" to "This totally sucks my balls." As always with these Lupus-related events, I'm on the fence whether I am doing something meaningful versus pushing me into a deep hole.
   
8. I don't know if I'm needed. Anything I have to say about how this idea would help Lupus patients, it is always trumped by the poor science. And on top of it, the Lupus research is so in its infancy that rarely things are actually getting to the patients.....SO FRUSTRATING!!! I have to just sit there and discuss my own humanity.
   
9. I did talk. I did tell one of them how I didn't appreciate him making fun of the sun symptoms--he said "Well this idea isn't novel, we know there is sun exposure problems" and I said "Well yes but because we know that is common doesn't mean we have solutions for it. It is one of the most common symptoms and one which affects alot of patient's lifestyles" and he goes "It is not like the army folks are going to be sun bathing in Iraq" and I said "Well no one with Lupus goes to the beach or sun baths" What is your damn point????
   

Done with this all tomorrow and maybe in a week I'll feel like it was worth it.