Home for the Holidays
So I'm home. Time for some serious relaxation. I should probably be asleep right now, but I'm just starting a game of Civilization Revolution... oh well!
Finally, free time
My second final was Wednesday morning at 7:45 am. It really wasn't as bad as it could have been (both the exam and getting up that early to take it). The exam was definitely hard, but I knew it was going to be and now I'm just hoping I did well enough (I need a B in the class to pass). I got the grade for my other class today and I got a 4.0, so that's encouraging. It's been really nice to have time after work each day that I don't have to use for studying or anything except what I want to use it for. Overall, life's pretty good and it's time for the weekend so I can't complain.
Tomorrow is mainly free time with a Christmas party tomorrow night. Should be fun. Sunday is mainly hangout time with friends, including some ice skating around 6ish. Next week's pretty light and I'm heading home Friday afternoon if all goes well. Looking forward to two weeks at home!
Tomorrow is mainly free time with a Christmas party tomorrow night. Should be fun. Sunday is mainly hangout time with friends, including some ice skating around 6ish. Next week's pretty light and I'm heading home Friday afternoon if all goes well. Looking forward to two weeks at home!
Watercolors
I've been thinking that it's about time I start painting again (I haven't since summer... geez it doesn't feel like it's been THAT long), so I looked around DeviantArt to see what cool stuff is out there. I mainly looked at landscapes because that's what I've been wanting to do.
Here's what I found:
First. This person's been doing small, quick (30 minute or less) paintings and they're pretty cool. I feel like I could do this pretty easily once I got a bit of practice in.
Second. This one's pretty cool too. It's quite a bit different from my style, but that's something to learn from.
Third. Definitely my favorite of the three. The colors are really nice and I really like the overall style too.
That's it for now, but I'll make sure to upload stuff if I get painting this weekend or next week.
Here's what I found:
First. This person's been doing small, quick (30 minute or less) paintings and they're pretty cool. I feel like I could do this pretty easily once I got a bit of practice in.
Second. This one's pretty cool too. It's quite a bit different from my style, but that's something to learn from.
Third. Definitely my favorite of the three. The colors are really nice and I really like the overall style too.
That's it for now, but I'll make sure to upload stuff if I get painting this weekend or next week.
Games
Now that classes are over for a while I've been looking for new games to get into. I still have a bunch of games that I haven't beaten (Metroid Prime 2, Chrono Trigger DS, Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic, probably more that I can't remember) and others that I've started replaying (Pokemon Sapphire, Chrono Trigger counts here too I guess) and World of Warcraft and Dwarf Fortress are always there. Really I shouldn't be looking for more, but I am.
So far I found a few.
First is Combat Arms. It's a free first-person shooter that's actually really good. Apparently my brother's whole apartment plays it, so I should probably get into it more and join them now and then. In the vein of Call of Duty and things like that.
FoldIt is a free game about protein folding! Yeah... that's the nerd in me coming out. Really don't worry about looking into it unless you have some Biochemistry knowledge and know a bit about protein folding. It's pretty fun and you get to fold proteins for points to compete against other people's high scores.
Next up is Galactic Civilizations 2. It's not new or free, but it's supposed to be really good. I downloaded the demo, remembered that I kind of liked it, but that it's a big game that takes a long time to play, which I'm not really in the mood for. I've been on a 4x game kick (like Civilization) and this was supposed to help fill that niche, but it's not quite doing it.
Next is Dominions 3. I think this might be a really good game, but it's having a hard time holding my attention long enough for me to figure it out. Another 4x game that's not quite what I want.
Finally, there's another one that I can't remember.
Also, during Thanksgiving I downloaded and played through World of Goo. It's pretty much amazing. If you like Lemmings and a bit of physics, you'll probably like this. You basically use little goo balls to build structures to get the rest of the goo balls to the end of the level. The fewer goo balls you use to build, the more make it to the end. Plus a pretty cool world that you play through and a neat story to go with it.
Well, that's about it for game for now. Next is art, and then a life and grad school overall update. Whew.
So far I found a few.
First is Combat Arms. It's a free first-person shooter that's actually really good. Apparently my brother's whole apartment plays it, so I should probably get into it more and join them now and then. In the vein of Call of Duty and things like that.
FoldIt is a free game about protein folding! Yeah... that's the nerd in me coming out. Really don't worry about looking into it unless you have some Biochemistry knowledge and know a bit about protein folding. It's pretty fun and you get to fold proteins for points to compete against other people's high scores.
Next up is Galactic Civilizations 2. It's not new or free, but it's supposed to be really good. I downloaded the demo, remembered that I kind of liked it, but that it's a big game that takes a long time to play, which I'm not really in the mood for. I've been on a 4x game kick (like Civilization) and this was supposed to help fill that niche, but it's not quite doing it.
Next is Dominions 3. I think this might be a really good game, but it's having a hard time holding my attention long enough for me to figure it out. Another 4x game that's not quite what I want.
Finally, there's another one that I can't remember.
Also, during Thanksgiving I downloaded and played through World of Goo. It's pretty much amazing. If you like Lemmings and a bit of physics, you'll probably like this. You basically use little goo balls to build structures to get the rest of the goo balls to the end of the level. The fewer goo balls you use to build, the more make it to the end. Plus a pretty cool world that you play through and a neat story to go with it.
Well, that's about it for game for now. Next is art, and then a life and grad school overall update. Whew.
One exam down,
and one to go. The first one went pretty well. It was open book and open note, so t was a lot like just doing normal homework, except a bit harder. Time to get back to studying for the one on Wednesday morning.
Getting there
Yeah I realize I missed Tuesday last week (as well as every other day) but this week has been another push to the end for me. I guess a quick update now will tide me over until Wednesday or later this week.
First of all, Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. Good food and family hang out time was great, especially since it included ice skating (with family plus Maya) for the third time in the 13 years that I've lived in Michigan. It feels like it's been a lot longer than a week since then, though. So far this week I've finished a take home exam that took far longer then it deserved, attended the last 5 lectures of the semester, studied for two finals this coming week, and tried not to procrastinate. For some reason that last one seems to take more energy than it should. Anyway, that'll all be over on Wednesday morning and then I'll have a week and a half of just lab work! Should be nice to not have the specter of classes hanging over me at all times. And then two weeks of Christmas break. It seems so far away right now...
Time to get back to studying. (and this really only took 5-10 minutes. nice. makes me wonder why I don't just do it more often. the cat keeps yawning and it's making me tired.)
First of all, Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. Good food and family hang out time was great, especially since it included ice skating (with family plus Maya) for the third time in the 13 years that I've lived in Michigan. It feels like it's been a lot longer than a week since then, though. So far this week I've finished a take home exam that took far longer then it deserved, attended the last 5 lectures of the semester, studied for two finals this coming week, and tried not to procrastinate. For some reason that last one seems to take more energy than it should. Anyway, that'll all be over on Wednesday morning and then I'll have a week and a half of just lab work! Should be nice to not have the specter of classes hanging over me at all times. And then two weeks of Christmas break. It seems so far away right now...
Time to get back to studying. (and this really only took 5-10 minutes. nice. makes me wonder why I don't just do it more often. the cat keeps yawning and it's making me tired.)
Almost Thanksgiving...
I feel like if I can just push through until after work tomorrow, everything will be all right. I guess that's not really true because I have a take home exam due the Tuesday after break and two more exams the week after that. But hey, then classes will be over!
Overall, things are going pretty well. I feel like I'm really busy between classes, lab work, and studying, but I'm still getting time to watch some TV and play some games, which is really nice. I'm not really sure how much I've written about the lab I'm in now, so I'll talk a little bit about it. First, the cons: it's definitely smaller and definitely has older/less stuff than the other lab. Also, the lab just moved from a different building, so things aren't as organized as they could be. The pros: nice people, more interesting research, and good enough stuff. Overall, it's getting better as time goes on and as I get used to being in a different place and it seems like it could be a nice place to stay.
Anyway, tonight should mainly be about working on the take home exam so I don't have to worry about it over break. Time to finish up here at the lab so I can go home, get some dinner, and do that.
Overall, things are going pretty well. I feel like I'm really busy between classes, lab work, and studying, but I'm still getting time to watch some TV and play some games, which is really nice. I'm not really sure how much I've written about the lab I'm in now, so I'll talk a little bit about it. First, the cons: it's definitely smaller and definitely has older/less stuff than the other lab. Also, the lab just moved from a different building, so things aren't as organized as they could be. The pros: nice people, more interesting research, and good enough stuff. Overall, it's getting better as time goes on and as I get used to being in a different place and it seems like it could be a nice place to stay.
Anyway, tonight should mainly be about working on the take home exam so I don't have to worry about it over break. Time to finish up here at the lab so I can go home, get some dinner, and do that.
Another late Tuesday!
I think this time I can say 'not a whole lot's going on' and mean it. The weekend was fun, but my brother and I moved hang out time until this weekend, so there's that to look forward to. I'll have a take-home exam at some point that I'll have a week to work on, which means there's a good chance I'll be getting it today or tomorrow. Not exciting.
The new rotation's getting better each day as my mind gets used to being in a different place. I'm getting to where I know where things are and how to do what I need to do, so that's good. At this point though I'm really looking forward to next week being short and having a four day weekend. Although we have class tomorrow night (thursday) for my MWF class to make up for the friday that we'll be missing next week =/.
The new rotation's getting better each day as my mind gets used to being in a different place. I'm getting to where I know where things are and how to do what I need to do, so that's good. At this point though I'm really looking forward to next week being short and having a four day weekend. Although we have class tomorrow night (thursday) for my MWF class to make up for the friday that we'll be missing next week =/.
Tuesday again
Almost forgot today! I should be asleep by now, but oh well. Since the last post there've been two main things: starting my second rotation and my exam today.
So far the rotation's been ok. It's mainly been getting used to the lab and the techniques, so yeah. It's tough to gauge how the rotation's going to be in the first couple of days, so that's kind of all there is to say about it. Friendly people, so that's good.
The exam's put a kind of blah overtone to the past week or so with the studying I've been doing for it, so it'll be great now that it's over. The exam itself went pretty well I think, but we'll see for sure when it comes back.
This weekend's going to be pretty great too. Friday going over to friends' apartment, Saturday visiting my brother, and Sunday going to a Thanksgiving/lab anniversary dinner from my first rotation. And no studying for an exam! Maybe =/ I have a take home exam next week and it would probably be good to get organized for that so I know what's where, but we'll see.
Time for bed.
So far the rotation's been ok. It's mainly been getting used to the lab and the techniques, so yeah. It's tough to gauge how the rotation's going to be in the first couple of days, so that's kind of all there is to say about it. Friendly people, so that's good.
The exam's put a kind of blah overtone to the past week or so with the studying I've been doing for it, so it'll be great now that it's over. The exam itself went pretty well I think, but we'll see for sure when it comes back.
This weekend's going to be pretty great too. Friday going over to friends' apartment, Saturday visiting my brother, and Sunday going to a Thanksgiving/lab anniversary dinner from my first rotation. And no studying for an exam! Maybe =/ I have a take home exam next week and it would probably be good to get organized for that so I know what's where, but we'll see.
Time for bed.
Another end to another week
It feels like it's been a LONG time since Wednesday and I guess quite a bit has happened. Thursday and Friday were mainly spent working on my presentation for lab/giving the presentation and finishing up general lab stuff. I think I got home pretty late both days (9:15 and 7:30ish respectively, if I remember) and since then it's been a lot of trying to study. For some reason it's just been really hard to focus, even when I get myself sitting in front of the stuff and actively reading it. I've still managed to get through a good amount of it, but it would have been nice to get through more (or all) of it by now. Oh well, the test isn't until Tuesday evening, so I still have a bit of time.
The presentation was because I finished my first 10-week lab rotation, so starting tomorrow I'll be in a different lab until early February. Overall positive with the first lab (and only good comments on the presentation, which was exciting), so I guess we'll see how the other two go. I end up choosing my permanent home in one of these three labs, so it's kind of important. Anyway, I'm off to study for a little bit longer and then bed, hopefully before 11.
The presentation was because I finished my first 10-week lab rotation, so starting tomorrow I'll be in a different lab until early February. Overall positive with the first lab (and only good comments on the presentation, which was exciting), so I guess we'll see how the other two go. I end up choosing my permanent home in one of these three labs, so it's kind of important. Anyway, I'm off to study for a little bit longer and then bed, hopefully before 11.
Also,
it was just pointed out to me that I've failed to talk about what the rest of the internet is talking about (the American part of it anyway), so here we go.
Go Obama! Go prop 2 in Michigan! Go prop 1 in Michigan (maybe? hopefully it'll be good)! Boo prop 8 in California!
I think that's basically the opinions I had to express. I haven't heard the speeches that McCain and Obama gave last night, but I heard they were both quite good, so I guess that's another thing to be happy about.
Go Obama! Go prop 2 in Michigan! Go prop 1 in Michigan (maybe? hopefully it'll be good)! Boo prop 8 in California!
I think that's basically the opinions I had to express. I haven't heard the speeches that McCain and Obama gave last night, but I heard they were both quite good, so I guess that's another thing to be happy about.
Missed by a day.
Hmm well looks like I missed Tuesday this week. My guess is that it's mainly because I'm really busy again. I have a presentation to give on Friday at my lab group meeting (it's the last week of the rotation, so I'm telling people what I did for 10 weeks) and I have a test next Tuesday, so I get to study for that. Plus I had a relatively big project for class yesterday and some more homework for the same class due tomorrow. Busy busy. After Tuesday, though, life should be back to relatively normal (although in a new lab).
A second post?!
Wow! When I started the blog this was a pretty common occurrence, but recently it's been tough to update once a week. However, funny things warrant posts.
"Scientists are an independent lot who find success and professional advancement by successfully overturning established ideas and through vigorously debating the evidence supporting scientific interpretations in scientific conferences and journals. The thought that anyone could herd them together to conspire against anything – even intelligent design – is laughable. One may as well conspire to herd a roomful of cats."
-expelledexposed.com
(a site poking holes in Ben Stein's "Expelled" movie about evolution. As a biologist I'm a firm supporter of evolution, but that's me. You're welcome to your opinions.)
"Scientists are an independent lot who find success and professional advancement by successfully overturning established ideas and through vigorously debating the evidence supporting scientific interpretations in scientific conferences and journals. The thought that anyone could herd them together to conspire against anything – even intelligent design – is laughable. One may as well conspire to herd a roomful of cats."
-expelledexposed.com
(a site poking holes in Ben Stein's "Expelled" movie about evolution. As a biologist I'm a firm supporter of evolution, but that's me. You're welcome to your opinions.)
Let's keep this going.
So it's Tuesday again, and here I am again, so maybe this'll work out after all. I'm still in the lab, but it's also still relatively early, so that's good. Class was entertaining today, unfortunately for reasons unrelated to the subject matter though. Life as a whole is pretty darn good at this point. Yesterday I managed to spend about $80 on the way from campus to my apartment. Basically I filled up the gas tank and stocked up on essentials, so it was $80 that I probably won't get a lot of enjoyment out of, but it's necessary stuff. Also, I sent an email to my second rotation professor to figure out what I can expect for breaks (Thanksgiving and Christmas) so I guess we'll see what happens when she responds. My car's been making a weird noise since the weekend before last (somehow I didn't mention that last week) and I got that fixed on Friday (for free under warranty... woohoo!) so that's good. The cat got her stitches out yesterday and she's been her normal self recently, so I guess she's recovered. She holds her right paw off of the ground when she's sitting, but she walks on it, jumps on it, and lets us poke around on it and it doesn't seem to hurt, so I think she's just trying to make us feel guilty. I guess my roommate gave her treats initially after the surgery to make her feel better, so maybe she got conditioned to show 'pain' and get treats. Who knows. Now, after that string of random thoughts, here's upcoming stuff.
Upcoming stuff: next week is the last one in this rotation, then I'm off to rotation #2. At the end of next week I have to give a 15 minute presentation on what I did during this rotation, which might be a bit tough. At this point it's trying to make sure I only put what I need into the presentation... I could probably go on for an hour if I just went through my lab book. This rotation's definitely been a good one, but I do feel ready to move on. The week after next is my second exam in one class (maybe two?), so I'll be brushing up on stuff and studying as time goes on. Hopefully I can avoid the rush of cramming this time. Halloween's Friday. Not sure if I'm doing anything. There's a party on Saturday that one of the guys in the lab is hosting, so that could be cool. I guess we'll see what happens as the week goes on.
Overall, mood is still good and life is following the lead.
Upcoming stuff: next week is the last one in this rotation, then I'm off to rotation #2. At the end of next week I have to give a 15 minute presentation on what I did during this rotation, which might be a bit tough. At this point it's trying to make sure I only put what I need into the presentation... I could probably go on for an hour if I just went through my lab book. This rotation's definitely been a good one, but I do feel ready to move on. The week after next is my second exam in one class (maybe two?), so I'll be brushing up on stuff and studying as time goes on. Hopefully I can avoid the rush of cramming this time. Halloween's Friday. Not sure if I'm doing anything. There's a party on Saturday that one of the guys in the lab is hosting, so that could be cool. I guess we'll see what happens as the week goes on.
Overall, mood is still good and life is following the lead.
The beginning of a pattern?
In an attempt to get more regular posts, I think I'm going to start making sure I post at least every Tuesday. Why Tuesday? Why not?
So, yesterday I figured out that most of the work I've done in the lab so far is more or less useless. I can't use any of the products I made, but the techniques are still useful I guess. Also, now that I know what I'm doing and now that I'm doing it on the right things, I should be able to get through redoing a good chunk of it before my rotation period's over. Needless to say I'm not nearly as depressed about it as I probably should be, but I prefer being happy anyway.
Other than that not a whole lot's happened since Sunday. The cat seems to be doing well so that's good too. Oh and I replaced a light bulb that'd been burned out since... last Wednesday maybe? So that made me feel disproportionally accomplished as well. All in all, a pretty good couple of days even with a large black spot from the lab work.
So, yesterday I figured out that most of the work I've done in the lab so far is more or less useless. I can't use any of the products I made, but the techniques are still useful I guess. Also, now that I know what I'm doing and now that I'm doing it on the right things, I should be able to get through redoing a good chunk of it before my rotation period's over. Needless to say I'm not nearly as depressed about it as I probably should be, but I prefer being happy anyway.
Other than that not a whole lot's happened since Sunday. The cat seems to be doing well so that's good too. Oh and I replaced a light bulb that'd been burned out since... last Wednesday maybe? So that made me feel disproportionally accomplished as well. All in all, a pretty good couple of days even with a large black spot from the lab work.
Wow too long.
Just realized yesterday that I hadn't posted anything in a very long time. And so I waited another day.
Not a whole lot new to report, things have calmed down now that I don't have to be studying 24/7 like I did last week. I'm keeping up better this time though, so hopefully the next round of exams won't be as bad. I actually got good results in the lab this week, which is always a good thing, especially after about 6 weeks of kind of 'ehh' results. Also, I got back in touch with a friend from high school who is apparently living in East Lansing with a significant other (geez, what's with everyone my age already having serious relationships/weddings...) and we hung out today, so that was pretty cool. Other than that, really not a whole lot happened. The big event for the week was the cat getting spayed and declawed in the front. I hear it's cruel to declaw, but she seems to be completely recovered from it (she doesn't react like her paws aren't sensitive at all) although she's less active than she used to be. My guess is it's because she's still recovering from the spaying though. Not a big fan of seeing the sutures poking out of her, but I guess they come out in about a week. I also realized that I don't have any new entries with the 'art' tag. I should change that...
Not a whole lot new to report, things have calmed down now that I don't have to be studying 24/7 like I did last week. I'm keeping up better this time though, so hopefully the next round of exams won't be as bad. I actually got good results in the lab this week, which is always a good thing, especially after about 6 weeks of kind of 'ehh' results. Also, I got back in touch with a friend from high school who is apparently living in East Lansing with a significant other (geez, what's with everyone my age already having serious relationships/weddings...) and we hung out today, so that was pretty cool. Other than that, really not a whole lot happened. The big event for the week was the cat getting spayed and declawed in the front. I hear it's cruel to declaw, but she seems to be completely recovered from it (she doesn't react like her paws aren't sensitive at all) although she's less active than she used to be. My guess is it's because she's still recovering from the spaying though. Not a big fan of seeing the sutures poking out of her, but I guess they come out in about a week. I also realized that I don't have any new entries with the 'art' tag. I should change that...
So tired.
I am very, very tired. And it's not even 10pm yet. I think I'm getting old. Especially since I've been getting enough sleep. Maybe focusing mentally for the entire day for 5 days in a row is what's doing it more than a lack of sleep. Hmm I think that's the first time this has happened. Neat.
By this time tomorrow (hopefully several hours BEFORE this time tomorrow) I'll be home and happy. Yay.
By this time tomorrow (hopefully several hours BEFORE this time tomorrow) I'll be home and happy. Yay.
Mmmm candy
I was talking to my mom a few minutes ago and remembered that yesterday after my midterm I went to Kroger and Meijer and bought myself $8 worth of candy and a $1 piece of lemon pudding cake. I ate about 3/4 of the cake and started some of the candy, but it was a lot of candy (box of sour nerds, 2 bags of sour orange slices, sour skittles, twizzler nibs and I think one more thing) so I'm in no danger of running out before the weekend. This makes me happy, since I'm still at the lab and will be studying when I get home later. Lots of candy and some cake for dessert after some soup that I made on Monday. Making that soup makes dinner for the week so much easier.
Mid-week
Well, one midterm down and one to go. The first one was last night at 7:30 and it went much better than I expected. There's always the chance that the professors will find ways to mark me down, but I have high hopes. The next one is Friday at 2:30 in the afternoon, which means that between that, class in the morning, and a lab meeting, I'll have about two hours to be in the lab or cramming in the last little bits of information that my brain can hold. Fortunately it's an open book test, so most of the studying will be making sure I know where things are in the book and having a basic understanding of what's what. Basically it's just less to memorize and more to know than the other midterm, since this class covered more while the other one (yesterday's midterm) went more in depth with less stuff.
Basically I just want it to be about 4:30 on Friday and be on my way home for the weekend.
Basically I just want it to be about 4:30 on Friday and be on my way home for the weekend.
This week
So I got a new battery for my laptop in the mail on Friday and now I can use it without worrying about the power cord. A friend from Hope came to visit for the weekend, which was really nice, except I have midterms next week, so I had to study for them instead of going out and doing things with her and my roommate. Oh well. Hopefully it'll be worth it when I have to take the tests.
Around this time on Sunday I always get the feeling that there should be one more day in my weekend. I check the calendar on my computer to see if there is and it tells me it's Sunday and that I only have 3 or 4 more hours before I should be asleep. Now it's happening again and I have to spend most of that time studying. Not fun.
Around this time on Sunday I always get the feeling that there should be one more day in my weekend. I check the calendar on my computer to see if there is and it tells me it's Sunday and that I only have 3 or 4 more hours before I should be asleep. Now it's happening again and I have to spend most of that time studying. Not fun.
Gah... my computers hate me!
I have a desktop and a laptop, both PCs. My desktop's been acting up a bit lately (crashed/blue screened three times the last time I tried to use it) and I've been telling myself, "Hey at least I still have my laptop!" Then the battery for my laptop decided today would be a GREAT day to fully die. Now my laptop is completely reliant on its power cord instead of just mostly reliant like it used to be. Oh well at least I have a source of income now if I need to get a new computer. The highlight of the issue was the realization that the battery for my laptop has a 1.3/5 rating on the Dell website. You'd think they'd do something about it, but I guess as long as it takes the computer through the warranty period that's all they need.
Lab work
I've been working on getting a gene out of one plant and into another so we can see what it does and to get it in the other plant I have to change it a bit first. This is apparently a problem since the regular old methods don't want to work. As of now I'm just hammering at it and hoping it'll work eventually while testing along the way to make sure each step is doing what it's supposed to be doing. The controls are more or less working and the other gene that I pulled out to try at the same time is working, but the one that I actually have to get to work for my project isn't. grr.
Anyway, now that I've gotten to know the lab a bit better I realized that everyone that I thought was German actually isn't. Most of the lab is German, but (as I've been told recently) there's apparently Danish, Polish and Macedonian representation as well (1 lab member each).
Who knew?
Anyway, now that I've gotten to know the lab a bit better I realized that everyone that I thought was German actually isn't. Most of the lab is German, but (as I've been told recently) there's apparently Danish, Polish and Macedonian representation as well (1 lab member each).
Who knew?
What a week...
This week has been bizarre so far. Monday went pretty well, but I when I got to Tuesday I forgot what day it was and somehow it felt like it was Monday again. Also, I felt like crap on Monday, so maybe that's why. Then Tuesday and Wednesday happened, both of which were pretty normal, except that I felt like I was missing a day (I kept thinking Tuesday was Monday and Wednesday was Tuesday). And now it's Thursday. I woke up with a ridiculous headache behind my eyes and it hurt to have them closed (weird and backwards of normal). Then after I showered I felt nauseous. Fun times. I had a fairly big breakfast and felt pretty normal by the end of it, but I'm still a bit out of it. Hopefully I'll be good after lunch.
Update: After lunch I am mostly better. Good deal.
Update: After lunch I am mostly better. Good deal.
Free time? What free time?
Post-posting Note: I haven't updated in a long time, so I did two long (really long... whoops) posts to hopefully be up to date.
Actually working an 8 hour a day job/class schedule makes me realize why people complain so much about not having enough time! It really, truly sucks when you can't even get to places to do errands when you work past when the close. Fortunately that's only happened once or twice so far, but I keep hearing stories of it happening to other people in my classes, so I guess it's pretty common. One thing I've decided for sure is that my ideal is an 8 to 4 schedule instead of a 9 to 5. You get to work before the parking lots are full and you get home before the lots there are full. You also avoid a LOT of traffic, even if I got home late. Now this definitely hasn't been happening, but that's how I've managed to come to this conclusion. Once I get home I just want to sit and do nothing, but if I do that I'll fall asleep and lose the time I have, so I've been keeping busy, sort of.
Made some soup on Friday and just finished the last bowl of it today, so that's pretty amazing and it tasted really good, so that's a plus. I've been jumping from game to game and reading Harry Potter books and that's pretty much consumed my time. I should be reading class stuff but it's hard to motivate myself when I'm getting so much of the same information from three sources AND it's all covering stuff I've heard at least three or four times before, albeit in different levels of detail and with different emphases. Dwarf Fortress now and then, Metroid Prime 2 (not new, but I've played 1 and 3 and somehow missed 2 so I got it cheap and brand new online), and FINALLY Spore. It came out Sunday, but there's a little story to go along with that.
They were allowing you to 'predownload' it if you bought an electronic copy, so I did and I had the predownload on Friday or Saturday. Then I couldn't find when the predownload would unlock and let me install it. For some reason I had 12, 12:30, 1, and 1:30 in my head, so I just kept checking the file starting at 12 and at 1 it let me unlock it and install. Then I played until about midnight. It's definitely a really good game and it'll be known as a good game. It's also definitely not as good as the hype made it out to be, but with 2+ years of hype on a game made by the guy that made all of the "Sim-" games (including the 'Simcity's and the Sims 1 and 2) there's no way any game could actually live up to it. It's got an immense amount of replayability and pretty much anyone's playstyle's compatible with it. Also, I think it'd be a pretty good game for non-gamers, which is always cool. There was something else I wanted to say but I completely forgot, so it must not have been important.
On a different note, I was talking about the weather with Jacob last week and said that it would probably be another week or two before fall really started settling in (and the weather forcasts supported me at that point) but fall has apparently decided to spite me. Instead of going back up to the 80s like it said it was going to, it stayed in the low 70s and 60s. Luckily that's my favorite type of weather. So hah! Take that fall.
And now that I've rambled enough to hopefully be fairly up to date, I'm going to get to bed I think. I'm really tired and I have a 9am class tomorrow morning and PCR products waiting to be run on gels when I get to the lab. Oh and a book to buy.
AND Governor Granholm is apparently coming to MSU on Friday and is making a visit to some labs in our building because we're part of a Department of Energy biofuels initiative. Joy. I still don't know if I have to dress up a bit or if I just have to not look like a geek while obeying every safety rule. Oh well.
Actually working an 8 hour a day job/class schedule makes me realize why people complain so much about not having enough time! It really, truly sucks when you can't even get to places to do errands when you work past when the close. Fortunately that's only happened once or twice so far, but I keep hearing stories of it happening to other people in my classes, so I guess it's pretty common. One thing I've decided for sure is that my ideal is an 8 to 4 schedule instead of a 9 to 5. You get to work before the parking lots are full and you get home before the lots there are full. You also avoid a LOT of traffic, even if I got home late. Now this definitely hasn't been happening, but that's how I've managed to come to this conclusion. Once I get home I just want to sit and do nothing, but if I do that I'll fall asleep and lose the time I have, so I've been keeping busy, sort of.
Made some soup on Friday and just finished the last bowl of it today, so that's pretty amazing and it tasted really good, so that's a plus. I've been jumping from game to game and reading Harry Potter books and that's pretty much consumed my time. I should be reading class stuff but it's hard to motivate myself when I'm getting so much of the same information from three sources AND it's all covering stuff I've heard at least three or four times before, albeit in different levels of detail and with different emphases. Dwarf Fortress now and then, Metroid Prime 2 (not new, but I've played 1 and 3 and somehow missed 2 so I got it cheap and brand new online), and FINALLY Spore. It came out Sunday, but there's a little story to go along with that.
They were allowing you to 'predownload' it if you bought an electronic copy, so I did and I had the predownload on Friday or Saturday. Then I couldn't find when the predownload would unlock and let me install it. For some reason I had 12, 12:30, 1, and 1:30 in my head, so I just kept checking the file starting at 12 and at 1 it let me unlock it and install. Then I played until about midnight. It's definitely a really good game and it'll be known as a good game. It's also definitely not as good as the hype made it out to be, but with 2+ years of hype on a game made by the guy that made all of the "Sim-" games (including the 'Simcity's and the Sims 1 and 2) there's no way any game could actually live up to it. It's got an immense amount of replayability and pretty much anyone's playstyle's compatible with it. Also, I think it'd be a pretty good game for non-gamers, which is always cool. There was something else I wanted to say but I completely forgot, so it must not have been important.
On a different note, I was talking about the weather with Jacob last week and said that it would probably be another week or two before fall really started settling in (and the weather forcasts supported me at that point) but fall has apparently decided to spite me. Instead of going back up to the 80s like it said it was going to, it stayed in the low 70s and 60s. Luckily that's my favorite type of weather. So hah! Take that fall.
And now that I've rambled enough to hopefully be fairly up to date, I'm going to get to bed I think. I'm really tired and I have a 9am class tomorrow morning and PCR products waiting to be run on gels when I get to the lab. Oh and a book to buy.
AND Governor Granholm is apparently coming to MSU on Friday and is making a visit to some labs in our building because we're part of a Department of Energy biofuels initiative. Joy. I still don't know if I have to dress up a bit or if I just have to not look like a geek while obeying every safety rule. Oh well.
Rotation lab
So. Now that I've finally managed to get in front of a computer that I'm allowed to use for my own personal stuff and I have more than a few minutes, I'm going to update! I'm really not THAT busy, but I HAVE been in the lab until at least 5 or 6 every weekday for the past week or so if that counts. I'm working on a project that has gotten exponentially more interesting as I work on it which is really nice. I've also gotten a lot more interested in science in general (I'm actually interested in seminar topics that aren't related to what I want to do. weird.) and I'm not sure if that's because of classes, lab, or both. I've also noticed a complete and utter inability to remember where I learned something. I'm doing the same thing in both classes I'm taking (they both start with DNA, RNA, and protein basics) as well as doing the practical side of the EXACT SAME THING in lab, so I'm learning bits and pieces in each and quite a bit of overlap. All in all it's a good time and the only thing I have to worry about is finding a textbook for one of my classes tomorrow. I hope I can find the bookstore and they have what I need!
The lab I'm working in is kind of funny, because I think everyone there is German or Danish. Well, the main people in the lab anyway. I've been working with the Danish guy, Jacob. He's pretty nice and laid back but really knows his stuff and wants me to understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. We've had some good conversations about lab stuff and non-lab stuff, so it makes me feel pretty welcome in the lab. I think the other people in the lab are getting used to me being there too, since they're acting like I exist now. That's kind of a mean way of saying it and I don't mean it like that, but it's the best way to describe it. I don't really have to interact with them and I'm trying to understand my own stuff and Jacob's so I haven't put much interest in theirs yet. Everyone's handling different parts of one big problem, like labs tend to do, but it's pretty cool to see how everyone goes at it from a different angle.
And now, pictures.
First of all, I have my own pipets and a spinning rack to put them on! I'm sure I'll take the labels off and leave them in the lab when I'm done with my rotation, but it's kind of cool to have something sciency to call my own.
Next are some pictures of my lab space. They gave me a laptop to work on while I'm at the lab and Jacob had an extra monitor that he got that doesn't work with his computer, so he gave it to me. so far it's just sitting there and looking pretty, but I might end up using it when I have a bunch of stuff to keep track of. The main bench is off to the right of this.
And it looks like this. I don't know if you can really tell, but it's probably about 8 feet of counter space and a bunch of shelves. Pretty nice and the only problem is that there's no place to put my legs if I'm sitting, but I don't sit often, so that's really not too much of a problem. Also, when I was working at Hope I didn't have leg room in one of the lab areas and I'm pretty used to it by now.
Finally, just a view from the other side.
And here's what the view from my window looks like. It was pretty gray when I took this, but it's a pretty nice view of the biochemistry building =D. (Please forgive the picture quality, they're taken with my phone which is, first and foremost, a phone.) All in all, it's a pretty nice place. All right, time for a second post on other stuff.
The lab I'm working in is kind of funny, because I think everyone there is German or Danish. Well, the main people in the lab anyway. I've been working with the Danish guy, Jacob. He's pretty nice and laid back but really knows his stuff and wants me to understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. We've had some good conversations about lab stuff and non-lab stuff, so it makes me feel pretty welcome in the lab. I think the other people in the lab are getting used to me being there too, since they're acting like I exist now. That's kind of a mean way of saying it and I don't mean it like that, but it's the best way to describe it. I don't really have to interact with them and I'm trying to understand my own stuff and Jacob's so I haven't put much interest in theirs yet. Everyone's handling different parts of one big problem, like labs tend to do, but it's pretty cool to see how everyone goes at it from a different angle.
And now, pictures.
First of all, I have my own pipets and a spinning rack to put them on! I'm sure I'll take the labels off and leave them in the lab when I'm done with my rotation, but it's kind of cool to have something sciency to call my own.
Next are some pictures of my lab space. They gave me a laptop to work on while I'm at the lab and Jacob had an extra monitor that he got that doesn't work with his computer, so he gave it to me. so far it's just sitting there and looking pretty, but I might end up using it when I have a bunch of stuff to keep track of. The main bench is off to the right of this.
And it looks like this. I don't know if you can really tell, but it's probably about 8 feet of counter space and a bunch of shelves. Pretty nice and the only problem is that there's no place to put my legs if I'm sitting, but I don't sit often, so that's really not too much of a problem. Also, when I was working at Hope I didn't have leg room in one of the lab areas and I'm pretty used to it by now.
Finally, just a view from the other side.
And here's what the view from my window looks like. It was pretty gray when I took this, but it's a pretty nice view of the biochemistry building =D. (Please forgive the picture quality, they're taken with my phone which is, first and foremost, a phone.) All in all, it's a pretty nice place. All right, time for a second post on other stuff.
Update today
So... I haven't updated this in over a week I think. That needs to change. Unfortunately, for that to happen I need to not be at work. That should happen around 4 today (hoping), so big updates will follow after 4.
Rotation... Spore... and Chrome?
Started my rotation today. Went in at about 9am, saw some research talks, got oriented in the lab and actually started my project for about 15 minutes before I had to go to class. I guess we'll see if I know what I'm doing starting tomorrow after class. The lab I'm in offered me a laptop to use while I was there (they game me a choice of a Mac or a PC) and when I said I'd like the use the PC one because I was more familiar with it, the professor said something like, "Aww man, that's the only computer I can play Spore on!" I have to say that pretty much made my day.
Finally, I'm using a new browser! Google is coming out with a browser called Chrome that seems to be really cool. It's simple but quick and it's basically everything that Google's been doing right in its other stuff, so it looks like it should turn out well. There's a comic explaining how it works that's linked to on the download page. It's a bit long, but it tells about all of the cool little things as well as a lot of the "how it works" stuff that can be interesting to the right people.
After class
Ok, now that class has been over for a little while and dinner has been had, time to finish the update. I've been rereading the Harry Potter books in my free time and I've gotten through the first two so far. Other than that, just looking forward to this weekend. I get Monday off, so I'm going home for a good chunk of it.
In other news, Spore comes out a week from Sunday and if I didn't already have other things eating all of my time, it would. I'll need to find time to put into that. Also, the game currently eating my time: Dwarf Fortress. It's graphically pretty basic, but the game itself has amazing detail. Someone described it as a digital ant farm and they got it pretty close in describing the detail. Anyway, I'm going to go play or read or something.
In other news, Spore comes out a week from Sunday and if I didn't already have other things eating all of my time, it would. I'll need to find time to put into that. Also, the game currently eating my time: Dwarf Fortress. It's graphically pretty basic, but the game itself has amazing detail. Someone described it as a digital ant farm and they got it pretty close in describing the detail. Anyway, I'm going to go play or read or something.
Fourth Day of Classes
Hmm... been a few days. Not a whole lot's happened since Monday. I had a few more meetings with professors and got my first rotation worked out. I think I have the other two as well, I'm just waiting on confirmation for the second (the third is worked out). Anyway, class is starting, so I'll post more later.
First day of classes
Today is the first day of classes and my first class is already over. I have an appointment with a professor at 12:30 to talk about doing a rotation in their lab, so I'm just hanging out on campus waiting for that. I also have a seminar to go to at 4 or 4:30, so I'm not sure whether to go back to my apartment in between. I need to have a lab to do a first rotation in by the end of this week, so I'm hoping the professor I'm going to talk to is going to have room. So far I've talked to three and they all said something like, "come back for second or third rotation, first isn't so good for me." That makes it difficult to find a first. =/
On the other hand, I hear the dairy store right next to the science buildings has $2.50 grilled cheese and soup on Mondays, so that's something to look forward to.
Hey look! It's where I am! And this post being made on my computer!
On the other hand, I hear the dairy store right next to the science buildings has $2.50 grilled cheese and soup on Mondays, so that's something to look forward to.
Hey look! It's where I am! And this post being made on my computer!
Tired...
I'm kind of tired. Not mentally or physically, so it's hard to say why (or describe it much at all, really), but I think it's just because I've had to focus for the entire week and I haven't had to for most of the summer.
Anyway, on to what matters. My mom and brother came up to visit today after they dropped some stuff off at his apartment. It was really cool to see them and they brought me some things that I had forgotten. I'll get to see them again next weekend too for Labor Day weekend, which will be nice.
I've been talking to professors about doing rotations in their lab and so far two have said, "I'd be more than happy to have you for the second or third rotation" and one said, "I'll sign you up for the third one!" While it's nice that they're open to having me, it's getting frustrating to not have a FIRST rotation, which is the one I really need. I still have two more to talk to and I can scavenge for more if I need, but I don't even know where I'd start with that if I had to.
I also have a retreat to go to this weekend with the genetics and CMB (cell and molecular biology) program, so there's a chance I could talk to professors about rotations then I guess. I'll be there from 11 tomorrow until about 3 or 4 on Sunday, so most of my weekend is kind of shot. It should be fun for part of it, though, so hopefully that'll make up for it. I know I'm going to have to work a lot in grad school, but my main life philosophy revolves around having fun while you're doing what you're doing, so it's going to be hard to work if I don't get free time. Hopefully that won't be too much of an issue though.
Anyway, on to what matters. My mom and brother came up to visit today after they dropped some stuff off at his apartment. It was really cool to see them and they brought me some things that I had forgotten. I'll get to see them again next weekend too for Labor Day weekend, which will be nice.
I've been talking to professors about doing rotations in their lab and so far two have said, "I'd be more than happy to have you for the second or third rotation" and one said, "I'll sign you up for the third one!" While it's nice that they're open to having me, it's getting frustrating to not have a FIRST rotation, which is the one I really need. I still have two more to talk to and I can scavenge for more if I need, but I don't even know where I'd start with that if I had to.
I also have a retreat to go to this weekend with the genetics and CMB (cell and molecular biology) program, so there's a chance I could talk to professors about rotations then I guess. I'll be there from 11 tomorrow until about 3 or 4 on Sunday, so most of my weekend is kind of shot. It should be fun for part of it, though, so hopefully that'll make up for it. I know I'm going to have to work a lot in grad school, but my main life philosophy revolves around having fun while you're doing what you're doing, so it's going to be hard to work if I don't get free time. Hopefully that won't be too much of an issue though.
Safety
So now I apparently know what I need to know to not kill the world with radiation or biohazards, which is nice. Also, I forgot that my mom has painting stuff for me to pick up the next time I'm home, so I have that to look forward to. In case anyone doesn't know I'm living in an apartment with one of my friends from Hope and she has a cat that I'm responsible for when she's not here. Basically that means I put food in her bowl in the morning and make sure she's not dead before I leave and when I get home, so it's really almost no work. And now the cat is trying to play with (and eat I think...) the light coming in through my blinds. Hmmm... Good news is that she doesn't seem to shed, so I don't have cat hair all over me when I leave. I think I'm going to go make dinner and figure out what to do with my afternoon/evening.
On a (not so) completely unrelated note: it's a little too fun to make juvenile/adolescent cats think they're doing something wrong, if only to see the look on their faces.
(crappy pictures taken with my phone... haven't put batteries/memory card in my camera yet)
On a (not so) completely unrelated note: it's a little too fun to make juvenile/adolescent cats think they're doing something wrong, if only to see the look on their faces.
(crappy pictures taken with my phone... haven't put batteries/memory card in my camera yet)
Need... Hobby... lobby...
I heard from the Genetics program director and admin. assistant that there are 2 options on campus for art stuff and a Hobby Lobby on Grand River nearby.
I need to get painting stuff.
I need to get painting stuff.
Schedule!
Ok, so here's how the rest of my week's going to go:
And that table should have been a LOT easier to make, so be happy for it. 'Professor talks' means 15 minute spiels from different professors talking about their labs and their research, so interesting and easy to sit through, but potentially brain melting (see previous post). Also, over the weekend is a retreat with Genetics and Cell and Molecular Biology at the Kellogg something or other bio research station. I guess it's kind of fun and there's more talks (probably a good and bad thing) and a bonfire and some tours, so that should be a bit of a good time anyway. Monday starts my classes. MWF from 9:10 to 10:00 is biochemistry, which is apparently really freaking hard and about 20% of people who took it last year didn't get a 3.0 or above average, which is passing (and also a B, for those less familiar with the GPA scale). But we'll see. TR from 2:40 to 4:00 is Microbial Genetics and I have no idea what to expect from the course (what it's about or the difficulty) since all discussion was overshadowed by the biochem class. Meh. My first rotation starts the week after that, so I should probably get going on picking someone to do that with. I have one idea and I should probably e-mail her to make sure she has a spot for me so I know whether I should be scrambling for another one in the next few days.
Finally, if people are actually reading this, could you leave a comment? I'll keep posting regardless, but it helps keep me going if I know someone's looking at this now and then.
| Tuesday | |
| All day(10:45-4:30) | Professor talks |
| Wednesday | |
| All day(9:00-3:30) | Safety training |
| Thursday | |
| All day(8:45-3:30) | Professor talks |
| Friday | |
| 3:00pm | Meeting with Plant Sciences people |
And that table should have been a LOT easier to make, so be happy for it. 'Professor talks' means 15 minute spiels from different professors talking about their labs and their research, so interesting and easy to sit through, but potentially brain melting (see previous post). Also, over the weekend is a retreat with Genetics and Cell and Molecular Biology at the Kellogg something or other bio research station. I guess it's kind of fun and there's more talks (probably a good and bad thing) and a bonfire and some tours, so that should be a bit of a good time anyway. Monday starts my classes. MWF from 9:10 to 10:00 is biochemistry, which is apparently really freaking hard and about 20% of people who took it last year didn't get a 3.0 or above average, which is passing (and also a B, for those less familiar with the GPA scale). But we'll see. TR from 2:40 to 4:00 is Microbial Genetics and I have no idea what to expect from the course (what it's about or the difficulty) since all discussion was overshadowed by the biochem class. Meh. My first rotation starts the week after that, so I should probably get going on picking someone to do that with. I have one idea and I should probably e-mail her to make sure she has a spot for me so I know whether I should be scrambling for another one in the next few days.
Finally, if people are actually reading this, could you leave a comment? I'll keep posting regardless, but it helps keep me going if I know someone's looking at this now and then.
I'm melting!!!
Sort of. Not really though. Orientation started today, which means I listened to about 8 or 9 different people tell me about MSU and various aspects of it. The first few were about the Genetics department, what goes on there, and what I'll be doing since I'm part of it. The other 6 or 7 were telling us about their research in order to let us know that they're there for us to do rotations with. One of them was pretty interesting and I'll keep watching a couple of others because they're interesting people and what they do is pretty cool, even if I'd never want to do it myself. However, the fact that they were interesting doesn't detract from the melting quality that science has on a brain that is still in vacation mode. And so, until about 7pm I was more or less useless for complex thought. I managed to cook myself a really nice omelette, though, so maybe I've overthought them in the past. But that's not all! That's right, folks, after I felt like I'd recovered considerably (about 8pm) I tried to do some transcription of a class that my mom's been working on to help her out. I though it'd be fun so she sent it to me to give it a whirl. I started in on the last 30 minutes of an hour and 45 minute lecture on Buddhist philosophy thinking, "Oh this shouldn't be too bad. I mean, I've listened to recordings of this guy before and it's not completely intolerable so I should be able to crank through this in an hour, tops." 40 minutes later I felt like there was even less of my brain left and it somehow takes me 10 more minutes to put notes on the times that I started and ended (less that 5 minutes of the lecture transcribed over the course of that 40 minutes, by the way) and write up an email to my mom saying I quit. And then my Gmail stops working. So, after 3 or 4 more minutes of me trying to make my brain work and tell me what to do, I end up just closing my Gmail and going to a couple of other websites. When I come back, it apparently sent and looks completely normal. Bah. Heaven forbid it works when I click send, but at least it worked when I closed the window. And now it's taken me 20 more minutes to rant it out here even when my full intention when coming here was to post the rest of my schedule for the week for whoever cares. So... I'll do that in another post.
Free days
I get a few days off and start orientation on Monday. It kind of makes me feel like I'm in a sort of limbo though. Still nice to have more time off.
Paperwork time...
So I got to go to campus today. Apparently streets that I needed to use are under construction, but I didn't realize until I got where I was going that they weren't under construction where I needed to use them, so I avoided them for no good reason. Oh well, learn and move on. Filled out some paperwork, got my ID and parking pass, got a little tour of the Plant Research Lab facilities, and now I'm back home. I was told I had to fill out some tax forms and that I could set up direct deposit, so I was going to be productive and finish those now, except that the website told me my employee paperwork wasn't processed yet. Oh well again. Looks like I'll have to play some games instead.
Oh and...
For those that may not be as familiar with the blog interface, at the bottom of each post it says "# comments" and if you click that you can leave a comment. A page will come up that will let you type the comment and then pick how you want to be identified. If you have a google or blogger account it'll let you use that, or you can click Name/URL to just use a name. It looks like there are some other options, but I don't remember what they are and they should be pretty easy to figure out if you want to use them.
test
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(This started as a post to test out posting from my phone, but I'm using it to store pictures now)
(This started as a post to test out posting from my phone, but I'm using it to store pictures now)
Moving Day
So... today's the big day -- sort of anyway. I move in to my apartment for real today and I get to go fill out paperwork tomorrow. I think orientation starts on Saturday, maybe Friday. I'll have to get my emails organized before then so I know what's going on. Moving almost makes me wish that I didn't have so many games/computer things/computers. Almost.
First!
I've talked to so many people that said something along the lines of "Keep me up to date!" or "Keep in touch!" that I figured I actually should and this is likely the easiest way to do that, so here we are. Hopefully I'll update this on a regular basis and upload pictures and other stuff. Blogger actually used my google account to create this, so I may be able to get some really cool interaction between my google account stuff and this blog, but I'm not sure how much interaction they actually have built in. We'll see I guess!