Caution: Tchotchkes at work
Origin: Yiddish tshatshke trinket, from obsolete Polish czaczko
First Known Use: 1971
- — Merriam Webster Unabridged
On my office windowsill I have a plastic margarita glass full of paper umbrellas, a small pot of succulents, a pottery jar wearing a scarf and hat, a plastic butterfly ring, a fidget spinner and a sign that reads “Crazy cat lady.”
These are my office tchotchkes. They’re usually more spread out, but I wanted to pose them:
We all have these things, right? The random objects that accumulate in our workspaces and make them our own. Look around your desk/office/lab. What do you see? You can probably tell a story about where each of these non–work-related things came from.
I didn’t even own a cat when I got that “CCL” sign; my boss got excited after I visited the animal shelter and ordered it for me. Now I’m branded.
Why am I writing about this?
Regular readers might recall that we devote our August issue to the topic of careers. We invite you to submit essays and articles related to your career path, sharing what you’ve learned. We want to know what works (and what doesn’t) as ASBMB members seek and find the jobs that fit.
We still want those serious, useful articles and essays (deadline: June 15), but we also want your tchotchkes.
Take a picture of the knickknacks in your workspace (bonus points if you’re in the photo too) and then tell us their story: Where did you get them? How long have you had them? What do you think about/feel when you look at them?
You don’t need to write a lot. Keep it under 100 words. Then send your picture (as a jpg file) and words to ASBMB Today by that June 15 deadline. We’ll share them in our August 2020 issue.
Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?
Become a member to receive the print edition four times a year and the digital edition weekly.
Learn moreFeatured jobs
from the ASBMB career center
Get the latest from ASBMB Today
Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.
Latest in Opinions
Opinions highlights or most popular articles
Scientists around the world report millions of new discoveries every year
Science is a collaborative endeavor, and international teams have contributed to a huge rise in scientific output.
Who decides when a grad student graduates?
Ph.D. programs often don’t have a set timeline. Students continue with their research until their thesis is done, which is where variability comes into play.
Redefining ‘what’s possible’ at the annual meeting
The ASBMB Annual Meeting is “a high-impact event — a worthwhile investment for all who are dedicated to advancing the field of biochemistry and molecular biology and their careers.”
Molecular impressions of water as cuneiform cascade*
Inspired by "the most elegant depiction of H2O’s colligative features," Thomas Gorrell created a seven-tiered visual cascade of Sumerian characters beginning with the ancient sign for water.
Water rescues the enzyme
“Sometimes you must bend the rules to get what you want.” In the case of using water in the purification of calpain-2, it was worth the risk.
‘We’re thankful for our reviewers’
Meet some of the scientists who review manuscripts for the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Lipid Research and Molecular & Cellular Proteomics.