I'm good enough to what now?

So a couple of months ago I wrote something about how reputation is kind of the king of determining how good a scientist you are. This reputation malarky is founded on presentations, posters, conferences and that great oracle, journal articles. I'd always wondered what it's like to have your first article published. Would it be a warm and fuzzy feeling? Would one want to go and get trashed to celebrate this joyous ocassion? Would there be a great sigh of relief to know that you didn't cock up as much as you thought? Well, now I get to know. Well, waiting... waiting...

Ok the verdict was a warm fuzzy feeling initially. But now there's the other feeling. That feeling you get when you realise that someone might take what you've written and use it in another project. Now that's the scary feeling. Little Jimmy (or Big Jimmy) will look at this paper and go... "Ah hah! Exactly what I was looking for! Let's go from here." and then will start work. And then... it might go to shit. Or it might go awesomely, and then I'll get cited or some shit like that. Now there's an awesome thought, someone saying "Citation needed!" Then some dude picks up a copy of that paper and says, "Ok." Fuck yeah!

Ok, calm now. Ok, somewhat less bizarre I also find it quite comical that despite currently working in accelerator physics that my first publication is in materials science/chemistry. For work I finished over a year ago now. If nothing else it tells you that yes, you really can change your field of research if you put you noggin to the grind stone. Alternatively, kangerooes have eaten my feet. Damn hopping swine.