Current reading: Hamlet on Facebook
Current mood: giggly
...Weeeelll, to be honest, I found the link to that little gem on the bottom of this, which was in Annie's LJ. (Hi Annie!)
20081230
T minus
For some reason I managed to forget that the West Valley branch of the San Jose public library has a giant statue of an artichoke out front. You wouldn't think anyone could forget something like that but apparently, put in a few years and I'll be there, goggling at the giant roundish green thing thinking "I completely forgot that this thing's here. I can't believe it."
Went over to Kate's today where, after I professed a desire for French fries, we went out and had burger-type-things and fries for lunch. Then Kate had to go pick out a sandwich at Whole Foods and I was privy to a novel method of testing the proficiency of a sandwich. Namely, by whacking one's arm with it to see how hard it is. (Kids, do not try this at home without proper supervision.) There was, indeed, a sandwich that was of worthy "hurtiness". The store also had giant snake plants in giant purple pots on top of the aisles, which was entertaining (because variegated snake plants -- and purple pots -- who the heck put those in grocery stores? Ask and answered). Mangoes, which are yummy were also involved later today, and the strange alien-snail-rainbow-amoeba cartoon, which was cute in a what-were-they-thinking kind of way.
Serious packing & double checking & list making tomorrow. Need to switch my Yahoo weather's setting back to SD.
Went over to Kate's today where, after I professed a desire for French fries, we went out and had burger-type-things and fries for lunch. Then Kate had to go pick out a sandwich at Whole Foods and I was privy to a novel method of testing the proficiency of a sandwich. Namely, by whacking one's arm with it to see how hard it is. (Kids, do not try this at home without proper supervision.) There was, indeed, a sandwich that was of worthy "hurtiness". The store also had giant snake plants in giant purple pots on top of the aisles, which was entertaining (because variegated snake plants -- and purple pots -- who the heck put those in grocery stores? Ask and answered). Mangoes, which are yummy were also involved later today, and the strange alien-snail-rainbow-amoeba cartoon, which was cute in a what-were-they-thinking kind of way.
Serious packing & double checking & list making tomorrow. Need to switch my Yahoo weather's setting back to SD.
20081229
Unknown logistics
First of all, I have, while rummaging through my books, discovered yet another remain of my social science class days. I have The Pursuit of the Millennium by Norman Cohn. It's the revised and expanded edition, paperback. The inside cover says, underneath the title, "Revolutionary millenarians and mystical anarchists of the middle ages."
Anyone want to adopt it?
The other things is about Christmas wrapping paper. Now, my parents don't often bother with wrapping paper, by which I mean they maybe wrap one thing every third year. However they've stored up on some before, which is what I've been alternating through, since I do the most gift wrapping & uses up the most paper here. This year though, I picked out my own wrapper and everything (I know! I feel Very Adult.) So now the question remains: do I start up my own collection of Christmas paper to rotate through (because I cannot use up one roll by myself in one year)? Do I swap wrapping paper with other people? What do people normally do for this sort of thing?
Anyone want to adopt it?
The other things is about Christmas wrapping paper. Now, my parents don't often bother with wrapping paper, by which I mean they maybe wrap one thing every third year. However they've stored up on some before, which is what I've been alternating through, since I do the most gift wrapping & uses up the most paper here. This year though, I picked out my own wrapper and everything (I know! I feel Very Adult.) So now the question remains: do I start up my own collection of Christmas paper to rotate through (because I cannot use up one roll by myself in one year)? Do I swap wrapping paper with other people? What do people normally do for this sort of thing?
20081228
Zen is creative
The advertisement of which I saw at Fry's today. Look Lucy, another thing that starts with 'z'!
Going ice-skating tomorrow. Am feeling very apprehensive, since the last time I went on skates was in high school and skates always make me feel like full-body coordination will be forever beyond my grasp. But what the heck, the others will be there and I'll bring my camera (though I have not yet purchased a shock-proof shell for it).
Mom marveled at the fact that I have friends who want to hang out with me. I think I feel insulted. Parents have mentioned that I should start packing for Thursday's return trip.
Going ice-skating tomorrow. Am feeling very apprehensive, since the last time I went on skates was in high school and skates always make me feel like full-body coordination will be forever beyond my grasp. But what the heck, the others will be there and I'll bring my camera (though I have not yet purchased a shock-proof shell for it).
Mom marveled at the fact that I have friends who want to hang out with me. I think I feel insulted. Parents have mentioned that I should start packing for Thursday's return trip.
20081227
Insane holiday crowd
Yesterday Anna and I went over to Kate's house in the afternoon and spent some time wandering around Memorial park, which was strange with some of ponds drained and the activities center building closed for fumigation of termites. The weather was very nice and the pearl tea we decided to get as a compromise between tea and ice cream was very cold. There was also what might be called an arts & crafts session at Kate's afterward where I liberally sprinkled her living room carpet with paper scraps (despite of my attempts, I'm convinced that there is still a healthy population left) and Anna and I completely failed to remember how to make those simple origami hats (triangular, and at one part in the procedure you fold two triangular flaps on the front side down part-way to make it decorative looking). Kate and Anna also had an airplane contest that was not much of a contest, since Anna's couldn't fly and Kate's couldn't turn and there was a lot of crash landing involved (where I was occasionally in the way of, so future air traffic control might be needed, or just a simple improvement in paper airplane navigation). Lotus and iris are apparently very similar, except they are not, and a zombie hamster may or may not have been involved at some point in the afternoon.
We went to Bombay Oven for dinner. It was the first time I had Indian food. I discovered that I like samosas better than tandori chicken, even though the chicken was the less spicy of the two (the samosa wrappers are crunchy, Lucy!). The nan was very good and the mango juice made me crave the fruit rather badly. Also: spicy. Unlike some of the other places, spiciness does not appear to be optional here.
...
Today my parents and I went to Monterey. It was originally a bit of "we're sorry we can't afford the cruise this year, where'd you want to go instead?" except it appeared that mom didn't want to go to Monterey very much (dad doesn't care, so long that I'm enthusiastic about it). However I managed to logic her into going too (I could've let her not go as she wished except then I'll be hearing about how I've neglected her for years to come), since her protests were the parking, the walking distance, and the cold and her alternatives (when arguing against my parents, always ask for alternatives) were San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and hiking at San Antonio.
But! Despite of this and her grumbling afterward (and the holiday crowd there, which was insane and very off-putting), I had a really good time today and am feeling uncommonly chipper at the moment! (I am reasonably sure it isn't because of something I ingested.) I've also taken loads of photos of living things in water, mostly of the cnidarian-type because they're so colorful and other-worldly-looking, but there are also several photos of things distinctly piscine. I've taken a moment to skim through the total amount of photos in my camera which have not yet been uploaded, either to my laptop or an online account. There are a lot. I think I might just organize them into zip files at some point in the future and post the links to lj or something and people can load them as they choose. (Don't worry, I'll label what's in each file very clearly. I am the master of over-labeling which, by the way, is not a veritable concept in a lab setting.)
The aquarium remains the best one I've ever been in, and the kelp forest exhibit will never not be awesome.
We went to Bombay Oven for dinner. It was the first time I had Indian food. I discovered that I like samosas better than tandori chicken, even though the chicken was the less spicy of the two (the samosa wrappers are crunchy, Lucy!). The nan was very good and the mango juice made me crave the fruit rather badly. Also: spicy. Unlike some of the other places, spiciness does not appear to be optional here.
...
Today my parents and I went to Monterey. It was originally a bit of "we're sorry we can't afford the cruise this year, where'd you want to go instead?" except it appeared that mom didn't want to go to Monterey very much (dad doesn't care, so long that I'm enthusiastic about it). However I managed to logic her into going too (I could've let her not go as she wished except then I'll be hearing about how I've neglected her for years to come), since her protests were the parking, the walking distance, and the cold and her alternatives (when arguing against my parents, always ask for alternatives) were San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and hiking at San Antonio.
But! Despite of this and her grumbling afterward (and the holiday crowd there, which was insane and very off-putting), I had a really good time today and am feeling uncommonly chipper at the moment! (I am reasonably sure it isn't because of something I ingested.) I've also taken loads of photos of living things in water, mostly of the cnidarian-type because they're so colorful and other-worldly-looking, but there are also several photos of things distinctly piscine. I've taken a moment to skim through the total amount of photos in my camera which have not yet been uploaded, either to my laptop or an online account. There are a lot. I think I might just organize them into zip files at some point in the future and post the links to lj or something and people can load them as they choose. (Don't worry, I'll label what's in each file very clearly. I am the master of over-labeling which, by the way, is not a veritable concept in a lab setting.)
The aquarium remains the best one I've ever been in, and the kelp forest exhibit will never not be awesome.
20081225
A blazing Christmas
First the gingerbread house, now this:
(Sorry Lucy, but I simply cannot resist sharing.)
Mom's got me a Chinese narcissus bulb (Narcissus tazetta v. orientalis), it being a traditional holiday plant and all and me being in SD this year for Chinese New Year's. (poinsettias:Christmas::Chinese narcissus:Chinese New Year, just so you get the idea). It's just like paperwhite, so hopefully it'll be as resilient as paperwhite too, since I plan on bringing it to SD with me, in my apartment that doesn't get enough sun. We'll see what happens. If it blooms I'll take photos.
(Sorry Lucy, but I simply cannot resist sharing.)
Mom's got me a Chinese narcissus bulb (Narcissus tazetta v. orientalis), it being a traditional holiday plant and all and me being in SD this year for Chinese New Year's. (poinsettias:Christmas::Chinese narcissus:Chinese New Year, just so you get the idea). It's just like paperwhite, so hopefully it'll be as resilient as paperwhite too, since I plan on bringing it to SD with me, in my apartment that doesn't get enough sun. We'll see what happens. If it blooms I'll take photos.
20081215
You must remember this
Spotted something similar over at Lusine AND Annie's journal and remembered that oh yeah, I did this before, too.
It's tape-wrestling season again. Cheers!
20081213
In which I am kept occupied
I am making the note to scribble down addresses in my address book as soon as I get them in the email in the future. Going through old emails looking for addresses is annoying. At least I had the sense to star the ones in gmail. I wish I'd thought of flagging the ones in yahoo.
Christmas cheers, everyone!
I went and planted tulips and crocus in the backyard yesterday, having, after surveying the condition of the backyard and my parents, concluded that the low-maintenance wild-flower plan had failed. We got only poppies, calendulas, and alysums and my parents can't weed at all because they can't tell apart what's weed and what isn't, so any of the more delicate species of wild flower is choked out by the likes of bermuda grass before they got over one inch tall.
I fenced off an area in the yard for the bulbs and instructed my parents to pull anything in their that didn't have pointy leaves originating from the marked spots (I planted them in rows and columns, like a matrix).
Dad paid for the bulbs. I think we've established a system where he kills off a few plants that I've left at home, feel guilty, then buys me new plants. It's like a plant trade except with sacrificial plants. ...I'm not really sure what I'm talking about any more so I'll end that thought there.
Finished almost all Christmas shopping today. Going to see Nutcracker for the first time tomorrow afternoon. Still have some cards to fill out and all the stuff needs to be gift-wrapped. And bake cookies. It's the holidays, after all.
Christmas cheers, everyone!
I went and planted tulips and crocus in the backyard yesterday, having, after surveying the condition of the backyard and my parents, concluded that the low-maintenance wild-flower plan had failed. We got only poppies, calendulas, and alysums and my parents can't weed at all because they can't tell apart what's weed and what isn't, so any of the more delicate species of wild flower is choked out by the likes of bermuda grass before they got over one inch tall.
I fenced off an area in the yard for the bulbs and instructed my parents to pull anything in their that didn't have pointy leaves originating from the marked spots (I planted them in rows and columns, like a matrix).
Dad paid for the bulbs. I think we've established a system where he kills off a few plants that I've left at home, feel guilty, then buys me new plants. It's like a plant trade except with sacrificial plants. ...I'm not really sure what I'm talking about any more so I'll end that thought there.
Finished almost all Christmas shopping today. Going to see Nutcracker for the first time tomorrow afternoon. Still have some cards to fill out and all the stuff needs to be gift-wrapped. And bake cookies. It's the holidays, after all.
20081211
Ugh
I keep forgetting how much junk new computers come with. I think I've restarted the new computer five times in an hour or something doing the uninstalls. Also, 07 version of the office annoys me. I'm going for Open Office this time and see how it works out.
20081210
ZMG
My classmate's (worked with him on the malaria project) wife just had a baby!
O_O
...yeah after that, everything else that happened today pales in comparison.
(Baby! My God! And Tamara's -- from the leukemia project -- is estimated to be due in June. I mean yes, there have been other parents in my class as an undergrad but I did't really know them and see /talk to them five days a week.)
[EDIT]
She's named Elizabeth, "Ellie" for short. There's even a baby photo where she's looking straight into the camera with a confused expression.
O_O
...yeah after that, everything else that happened today pales in comparison.
(Baby! My God! And Tamara's -- from the leukemia project -- is estimated to be due in June. I mean yes, there have been other parents in my class as an undergrad but I did't really know them and see /talk to them five days a week.)
[EDIT]
She's named Elizabeth, "Ellie" for short. There's even a baby photo where she's looking straight into the camera with a confused expression.
20081209
Keeping busy
I went to the library this morning and got books, which makes me happy. Then I came back, sat down, and finished a book which was deeply satisfying. I wanted to say that it made me even happier except it really isn't that kind of a book. (Will make a post about it in the other blog.)
Then I went out and started on the not-inconsiderable amount of yard work. It's amazing how much weed such a tiny yard can accumulate in three months. I have, I think, scientifically robust proof that weed growth is exponential and to a high power than the growth rate of plants that you meant to grow. I'm a little disappointed with the wild flower seeds that I put in in September though (with the vague hope that they'll be easier to take care of that they'll live even if I'm not here and my parents still can't recognize most of the plants in the backyard). Apparently, no matter which combination of flower seeds I put in, the only things that will grow from any mix are: poppies, alyssums, and calendulas. I'm not very happy with the calendulas, not because they grew the fastest -- or should I say, not only because they grew the fastest -- but because they are aggressive and give me a rash if I handle them without gloves. They bloom pretty though. Maybe I'll make infused oil with them, though I'm not entirely sure who has the need for calendula-infused-oil (mint, maybe, lavender, definitely, calendula, not so much).
Dad dragged home a lot potted plant while I was in SD, which turned out to be one of those braided fig things (boring and reminds me of every single office I'd sat in while waiting for people to straighten out my paper work) (admittedly, I'm happier in a room with a plant in it than one without). Having inspected it today, I've concluded that I can possibly save the dying plant but I'm not sure if I want to (see parentheses above). The pot is just the right size for Mikey, besides, and that avocado's due for a transfer to a larger pot.
Dad also wanted to know why the strawberry was dying. Current hypothesis: the bugs living on the roots. Will wash and transplant to see if condition improves.
There were also lots of weeding (surprise!) and some pruning (mom once commented that she can try to do it if I don't want to, "because it's just cutting off things and should be easy", and since then I've refused to let her prune things without supervision). Then I went in and did some Christmas shopping and filled out a few cards (academia encourages "networking", I'm already sick of the concept after hearing the song and dance three times), discovering that I should avoid glittery cards in the future as the glitter sheds like mad. It's like cat hair and has the same magical property of being able to get into the most improbable places.
That concludes today's post. Now I must go and apply stamps!
Then I went out and started on the not-inconsiderable amount of yard work. It's amazing how much weed such a tiny yard can accumulate in three months. I have, I think, scientifically robust proof that weed growth is exponential and to a high power than the growth rate of plants that you meant to grow. I'm a little disappointed with the wild flower seeds that I put in in September though (with the vague hope that they'll be easier to take care of that they'll live even if I'm not here and my parents still can't recognize most of the plants in the backyard). Apparently, no matter which combination of flower seeds I put in, the only things that will grow from any mix are: poppies, alyssums, and calendulas. I'm not very happy with the calendulas, not because they grew the fastest -- or should I say, not only because they grew the fastest -- but because they are aggressive and give me a rash if I handle them without gloves. They bloom pretty though. Maybe I'll make infused oil with them, though I'm not entirely sure who has the need for calendula-infused-oil (mint, maybe, lavender, definitely, calendula, not so much).
Dad dragged home a lot potted plant while I was in SD, which turned out to be one of those braided fig things (boring and reminds me of every single office I'd sat in while waiting for people to straighten out my paper work) (admittedly, I'm happier in a room with a plant in it than one without). Having inspected it today, I've concluded that I can possibly save the dying plant but I'm not sure if I want to (see parentheses above). The pot is just the right size for Mikey, besides, and that avocado's due for a transfer to a larger pot.
Dad also wanted to know why the strawberry was dying. Current hypothesis: the bugs living on the roots. Will wash and transplant to see if condition improves.
There were also lots of weeding (surprise!) and some pruning (mom once commented that she can try to do it if I don't want to, "because it's just cutting off things and should be easy", and since then I've refused to let her prune things without supervision). Then I went in and did some Christmas shopping and filled out a few cards (academia encourages "networking", I'm already sick of the concept after hearing the song and dance three times), discovering that I should avoid glittery cards in the future as the glitter sheds like mad. It's like cat hair and has the same magical property of being able to get into the most improbable places.
That concludes today's post. Now I must go and apply stamps!
20081208
Clearly a test of fine motor coordination
I'm on the new netbook right now, which is tiny and cute and has a keyboard configuration that is subtly different that is vastly annoying to my wpm count. However, aside from that and the bunch of junk that it comes installed with (it's like hardcore software advertisement on my desktop) it appears to function normally at a speed equal to Daemon and has the potential to go much faster once I tweaked it a bit. It is currently slower than Zen, but that may be that Zen has no junk on it of whatsoever and only the skeleton software (Lucy can attest to the emptiness of the desktop) (it's the black one that we played sims on).
Have installed firefox because IE annoys me. The first thing I did, however, was turn off the system sounds because the pinging and clicking every time I did something on the computer tend to drive me insane faster than the guy who sat behind me in math who jiggled his leg a lot, with his foot on my chair. (I was ecstatic when we changed seats.)
Hm. I might also need to make the font size on screen a little bigger.
Mailed in project this morning. Both PI and project scientist have received their copy of my report. Bay area's cold and requires both sweater and jacket indoors.
Have installed firefox because IE annoys me. The first thing I did, however, was turn off the system sounds because the pinging and clicking every time I did something on the computer tend to drive me insane faster than the guy who sat behind me in math who jiggled his leg a lot, with his foot on my chair. (I was ecstatic when we changed seats.)
Hm. I might also need to make the font size on screen a little bigger.
Mailed in project this morning. Both PI and project scientist have received their copy of my report. Bay area's cold and requires both sweater and jacket indoors.
20081207
Home
Back in the bay area again. Still working on assignment as am stuck on the biochem problem and cannot solve the ligand concentration. Have I mentioned how much I despise enzyme kinetics lately?
20081206
Still on the assignment
Whoa, phenylephrine's in Dayquil. I didn't know that.
(Phenylephrine acts on g-protein coupled receptors of the alpha-1 variety and increases your blood pressure. Usually by a lot.)
(Of course it does other things too, but mostly it's in for blood pressure.)
(Phenylephrine acts on g-protein coupled receptors of the alpha-1 variety and increases your blood pressure. Usually by a lot.)
(Of course it does other things too, but mostly it's in for blood pressure.)
Breadth != depth
Here's a list of what one of my classes have covered this quarte in its nine modules:
The final thing is due on Monday, to be turned in electronically, though the profs wanted us back on Tuesday for a debrief on the class, which they only told us about yesterday and so I am fully excused to beg off. Right now I'm trying to finish the Monday thing today so I won't end up working next to the frazzled couple with the screaming kids at the airport (small airport == you're always within six feet of a frazzled-looking couple with at least one loud kid). I had to change the connection setting to using the proxy (autoproxy setting's not quite right, so I have to do manual, which was annoying) so I can access online articles, which are more reassuring at this point than specifically helpful. At least I am still on the "design an experiment" part with the chimeric proteins and I get to use "theoretically" a lot.
(Many things are possible in theory. I like theories.)
1Inflammation; innate vs. adaptive immunity
IRF8 and leukemia
2ubiquitination, canonical vs. noncanonical; ubiquitination in cell signaling
ubiquitination in immune response signaling
3microbes and infectious diseases
malaria and protein trafficking
4protein kinases & phosphorylation sites
5kidney and physiology
nephrology and homeostasis
4tyrosine kinase & diabetes
protein phosphatase & Ras signaling pathway
6hematopoiesis and stem cells
stem cell niche and developmental biology
7genetics and macular degeneration
genetic analysis and methodologies
8GPCR types and function
GPCR signaling and cardiac hypertrophy
9glycosylation and vesicular trafficking
COPII transport and sialic acid in human diseases
The final thing is due on Monday, to be turned in electronically, though the profs wanted us back on Tuesday for a debrief on the class, which they only told us about yesterday and so I am fully excused to beg off. Right now I'm trying to finish the Monday thing today so I won't end up working next to the frazzled couple with the screaming kids at the airport (small airport == you're always within six feet of a frazzled-looking couple with at least one loud kid). I had to change the connection setting to using the proxy (autoproxy setting's not quite right, so I have to do manual, which was annoying) so I can access online articles, which are more reassuring at this point than specifically helpful. At least I am still on the "design an experiment" part with the chimeric proteins and I get to use "theoretically" a lot.
(Many things are possible in theory. I like theories.)
20081204
In which I resort to list making
To-do before next Monday:
1. Turn in rough draft of my report to both my PI and the head scientist for my project.
2. Turn in data CD containing both my laptop and the lab comp files to one of the two persons mentioned above.
3. Mail both of them an electronic copy of my report for editing.
4. Mail Lucy a copy of my report for editing, since experience has taught me that the scientists cannot be counted on to correct my verb agreement.
5. Clean up files on lab computer so that the person who will need it / look for stuff on it can access everything in a timely & organized fashion.
6. Finish my biochem problems which are due on Monday.
7. Attend seminar and discussion on Friday at noon.
8. Make sure all my paperwork & bills that get mailed here are taken care of, all the way till the first week of January.
9. Check flight for Sunday.
10. Pack.
11. Clean up files on laptop & create backup files in the external harddrive.
12. Throw away anything that will rot in three weeks.
I will need another list for things after Monday, no doubt, but I haven't gotten any further there than "plan out next quarter's schedule" (our core class schedule just got finalized), "mail out Christmas cards", and "go to library."
Mmm library.
1. Turn in rough draft of my report to both my PI and the head scientist for my project.
2. Turn in data CD containing both my laptop and the lab comp files to one of the two persons mentioned above.
3. Mail both of them an electronic copy of my report for editing.
4. Mail Lucy a copy of my report for editing, since experience has taught me that the scientists cannot be counted on to correct my verb agreement.
5. Clean up files on lab computer so that the person who will need it / look for stuff on it can access everything in a timely & organized fashion.
6. Finish my biochem problems which are due on Monday.
7. Attend seminar and discussion on Friday at noon.
8. Make sure all my paperwork & bills that get mailed here are taken care of, all the way till the first week of January.
9. Check flight for Sunday.
10. Pack.
11. Clean up files on laptop & create backup files in the external harddrive.
12. Throw away anything that will rot in three weeks.
I will need another list for things after Monday, no doubt, but I haven't gotten any further there than "plan out next quarter's schedule" (our core class schedule just got finalized), "mail out Christmas cards", and "go to library."
Mmm library.
Discount in bulk?
Just saw a giant truck carrying lots of nitrogen canisters (think five feet tall steel cylinders that normally would have to be chained in a lab)drive up to one of our buildings.
It's a little frightening, actually.
It's a little frightening, actually.
20081203
Some thoughts on the Lunatics story
I will have about four weeks this holiday break, which is an anomaly that, I'm convinced, will not happen again for the rest of my graduate career. So, I said to myself, four weeks, what should I do?
Of course, my thought inevitably wandered back to Lunatics Story, which is still tagged "work in progress." In all honesty, I have not touched the story since October has started, even back when I do have all the guys in my head (still sounds weird). All the articles and science-y type stuff caught up and sort of made the rest of my brain go silent. Drawing doesn't count. You can give me a paper, a pencil, and ten minutes with nothing to do and I'd be doodling on the margins (just in case you gave me the paper with something specific in mind, such as taking notes with it). Writing doesn't come so naturally. It never has. Not even crafts came that naturally. Essentially, from October to now, I've produced nothing outside of class besides a few doodle-type-things. That's how quiet it is. (And trust me, this is quiet for me.)
Then, of course, I started thinking about the story, because it's the sort of story that you can't think about without thinking about it. I started to wonder if it'll actually get anywhere, now that the guys are more like a vague presence than an active voice (or should I say, voices? Heh). That immediately led to me wondering if it was going anywhere to begin with and then, before you know it, I'm at the OMG it doesn't have an actual PLOT how does that work but it's based on real life and does real life have a plot because sometimes / most times it doesn't should I change that should I change the structure I have no idea what I'm doing and they're interesting characters but what do I DO with them? Before you know it I'll end up at the "Oh my gosh, my LIFE doesn't have a plot" and "I wonder if banging my head against this desk here a few times will make me feel better."
(It usually doesn't.)
(Though it always looks so tempting, it usually doesn't.)
But how do I take pieces of something, even if the pieces have potential, and put them together into something whole when I don't have a blueprint? It's like a kaleidoscope, where I turn it and peer at it every once in a while to see if the new pattern looks any more promising. (Dubious. The word is Dubious.) It's kind of fun. It also makes me wish for a kaleidoscope manual.
I'd wish for someone else to take the guys off of my hands and do something with them, except if that does happen I'd be incredibly jealous, because I'm possesive like that.
Okay now to bed, because I'm already in my PJs and it's freaking cold.
Of course, my thought inevitably wandered back to Lunatics Story, which is still tagged "work in progress." In all honesty, I have not touched the story since October has started, even back when I do have all the guys in my head (still sounds weird). All the articles and science-y type stuff caught up and sort of made the rest of my brain go silent. Drawing doesn't count. You can give me a paper, a pencil, and ten minutes with nothing to do and I'd be doodling on the margins (just in case you gave me the paper with something specific in mind, such as taking notes with it). Writing doesn't come so naturally. It never has. Not even crafts came that naturally. Essentially, from October to now, I've produced nothing outside of class besides a few doodle-type-things. That's how quiet it is. (And trust me, this is quiet for me.)
Then, of course, I started thinking about the story, because it's the sort of story that you can't think about without thinking about it. I started to wonder if it'll actually get anywhere, now that the guys are more like a vague presence than an active voice (or should I say, voices? Heh). That immediately led to me wondering if it was going anywhere to begin with and then, before you know it, I'm at the OMG it doesn't have an actual PLOT how does that work but it's based on real life and does real life have a plot because sometimes / most times it doesn't should I change that should I change the structure I have no idea what I'm doing and they're interesting characters but what do I DO with them? Before you know it I'll end up at the "Oh my gosh, my LIFE doesn't have a plot" and "I wonder if banging my head against this desk here a few times will make me feel better."
(It usually doesn't.)
(Though it always looks so tempting, it usually doesn't.)
But how do I take pieces of something, even if the pieces have potential, and put them together into something whole when I don't have a blueprint? It's like a kaleidoscope, where I turn it and peer at it every once in a while to see if the new pattern looks any more promising. (Dubious. The word is Dubious.) It's kind of fun. It also makes me wish for a kaleidoscope manual.
I'd wish for someone else to take the guys off of my hands and do something with them, except if that does happen I'd be incredibly jealous, because I'm possesive like that.
Okay now to bed, because I'm already in my PJs and it's freaking cold.
Education is important
Mom send me a link about the moon + stars specialness that was last night, which I didn't actually get to see since the sky was overcast when I was out and by the time it cleared up I was more than ready to go to bed. But see, the sky is smiling! (Note: the link is to CReader, do not click if you don't have your firewall & antivirus software handy, because CReader tends to install junk on your computer when you aren't looking--and sometimes even when you are looking.)
Which reminds me that mom showed me a manga-styled illustration the other day and told me "See? Just like your drawing style!" (She'd seen some of the doodles I have around, mostly of Alice & the Lunatic Guys because those doodles tend to show up on the margins of random documents / envelops.) To which I said "Uhhhh, no, not really." (I mean yes, there're some similarities except no, I don't really think what I draw is manga.)
Poor mom, she tries so hard. I don't think she can recognize my handwriting, still.
... ...
For everyone who goes to a UC, apparently the consortium-whatsit purchased a bunch of licenses so now we can download a bunch of database stuff (including software), such as the Merck Index, from CambridgeSoft. It's a ChemBioDraw thing, which I don't entirely understand but still think might be handy.
Link: http://scistore.cambridgesoft.com/sitelicense.cfm?sid=734
... ...
On the glycosylation and vesicular transport module this week, doing something about diseases that have names too long to remember: Carbohydrate-Deficient Glycoprotein Syndromes and Cranio-lenticulo-sutural dysplasia. Have five papers to read, finished two and a half. Am currently on the ninth page of lab report which contains three pages of citation and about five pages of figures / tables. Thank you Lucy for agreeing to edit. I think you'll enjoy looking at the docking figures. They're very shiny.
Which reminds me that mom showed me a manga-styled illustration the other day and told me "See? Just like your drawing style!" (She'd seen some of the doodles I have around, mostly of Alice & the Lunatic Guys because those doodles tend to show up on the margins of random documents / envelops.) To which I said "Uhhhh, no, not really." (I mean yes, there're some similarities except no, I don't really think what I draw is manga.)
Poor mom, she tries so hard. I don't think she can recognize my handwriting, still.
... ...
For everyone who goes to a UC, apparently the consortium-whatsit purchased a bunch of licenses so now we can download a bunch of database stuff (including software), such as the Merck Index, from CambridgeSoft. It's a ChemBioDraw thing, which I don't entirely understand but still think might be handy.
Link: http://scistore.cambridgesoft.com/sitelicense.cfm?sid=734
... ...
On the glycosylation and vesicular transport module this week, doing something about diseases that have names too long to remember: Carbohydrate-Deficient Glycoprotein Syndromes and Cranio-lenticulo-sutural dysplasia. Have five papers to read, finished two and a half. Am currently on the ninth page of lab report which contains three pages of citation and about five pages of figures / tables. Thank you Lucy for agreeing to edit. I think you'll enjoy looking at the docking figures. They're very shiny.
20081202
Sec23 has lots of friends
Seeds magazine has a link to some amazing photographs in the portfolio. I've seen the x-ray ones before, but everything else is new and shiny.
Struggle with lab report continues. It was a tie yesterday but I fully intend to emerge victorious by the end of the week.
Also, while cleaning up my files, I've found the link to the very nice malaria video clip that my group members and I used in our presentation:
Enjoy. This is one of the prettier moments of the whole project.
Shrub Monkeys (the webcomic) is celebrating the anniversary of Anne of Green Gables. Cheers! That's one of my favorite books.
Struggle with lab report continues. It was a tie yesterday but I fully intend to emerge victorious by the end of the week.
Also, while cleaning up my files, I've found the link to the very nice malaria video clip that my group members and I used in our presentation:
Enjoy. This is one of the prettier moments of the whole project.
Shrub Monkeys (the webcomic) is celebrating the anniversary of Anne of Green Gables. Cheers! That's one of my favorite books.
20081201
Program fail
What the utilities bill for my apartment says:
Payment amount: $37.20
Fee amount: $0.00
Total payment amount: $0.00
Oh Ista, you lose.
Payment amount: $37.20
Fee amount: $0.00
Total payment amount: $0.00
Oh Ista, you lose.
Gah
I often remind myself to put in the citation information in the footnotes as I'm typing up the report, so I won't have to go back and drag out all the references at end. Except, somehow, I still manage to forget it about half of the time and then at the end of the paper I always have to shuffle through all the .pdf files and hate myself. I really, really do.
[edit 12:58]
Is anyone willing to edit the grammar on my final lab report for me? It'll have to be done between the 5th and the 12th. The paper's 1.5 spaced 12pt font, may be over 10 pages but at least one of those pages will be citation and the data will take up more than two, three pages, which can be ignored since I'm looking for a writing editor to make sure all my tenses agree. I've officially read enough research articles with bad grammar (as in, enough to make me wince) to know that I don't want to be one of those scientists.
[edit 12:58]
Is anyone willing to edit the grammar on my final lab report for me? It'll have to be done between the 5th and the 12th. The paper's 1.5 spaced 12pt font, may be over 10 pages but at least one of those pages will be citation and the data will take up more than two, three pages, which can be ignored since I'm looking for a writing editor to make sure all my tenses agree. I've officially read enough research articles with bad grammar (as in, enough to make me wince) to know that I don't want to be one of those scientists.
Temptaris
Back in the quarter when I took plant genetics, during the discussion role-call, I used to say "Present!" when everyone else said "Here!" I'd like to think that the TA for that session remembered me slightly longer than he otherwise would have.
I didn't bother to check. The odds that any TA would remember me two quarters later is about 5%, less if it's not a class from my department.
... ...
So: Thanksgiving. Due to reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, neither Anna nor Victoria made it, so it was just Kate, Christine and I. Kate wanted to look at the bright side or, how it's much easier to find seating in food court with only three people. I pointed out it's even easier with one person and was accused of being a non-supporter of optimism. See, Lucy? That's why we need you here. Next time this situation comes up I should just dial LA.
The Christmas decorations are up, needless to say, and though my parents have noticed that the crowd at certain stores is smaller than it usually is, Vallyfair was still fairly packed (read: parking lot insanity). I brought a hat so we could draw lots for the Secret Santa lottery, and envelops so we can seal & mail them without opening the slips if we decided that was was we wanted to do. Except there was the risk of a person drawing her own name, which we decided not to risk, which meant that aside from Kate and Christine no one else got to experience the full lottery-drawing experience. I'd say that it was just like what you'd expect of drawing names out of a hat, except while I was writing down names on the slips of paper Christine had decided that the normal square-fold is boring and that she wanted the slips in paper-crane. So we spent some time before lunch making paper cranes while Christine muttered "This plan is flawed" over and over again, due to the fact that 1) she forgot how to fold one and needed to be reminded and 2) paper cranes are a lot harder to unfold than a double-folded slip of paper. But as we agreed, it was fun, so what the heck.
...
I got my diploma which, by now, involved less "yay-ness" and more "it's FINALLY over, thank goodness". I got it via personal delivery and it did not end up in Brazil, as Kate did not end up in Brazil, Christine as my witness. (Yay!)
...
Poked around in the backyard on Saturday. Re-discovered that my parents are definitely not cut to be gardeners, as the weeds are taking over the yard. Everything needs trimming, and parents' attempt at seed harvest meant a box of seed pods that have already split (which meant that the seeds are already in the ground and things will begin taking over the yard when they germinate in a month or so). After some thought I decided that I'm just going to stop and leave the yard, as it clearly required me to dedicate at least one full day to it, and that was not going to happen this weekend.
My parents decided to get me a netbook for Christmas, as a "Thank you for saving us a year's worth of college tuition, especially this year" present. It's an Acer and weights about half the mass of my current laptop, which makes me happy because some days, by the time I get home, my back hurts.
...
Plane was at 8:05 on Sunday, but we'd really bad fog in SD, so we held position over the airport for half an hour before flying over to Burbank, LA, to refuel and wait until it cleared up. Soniya was on my plane.
We finally got off the plane at 11:20 and I saw Soniya again on the bus (the 30, which I transferred to from 992) though she was taking the holiday shuttle to campus and the bus from there. I think I talked with her more this weekend than any other point during this quarter except for the days Lucy visited. She was Not Happy, since she took the early bus so she could study for the final (which is today) but the delay made it so that she lost the entire morning.
On that note, it took me two and a half hours to reach home via public transit, with no traffic and all the buses arriving on time.
I didn't bother to check. The odds that any TA would remember me two quarters later is about 5%, less if it's not a class from my department.
... ...
So: Thanksgiving. Due to reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, neither Anna nor Victoria made it, so it was just Kate, Christine and I. Kate wanted to look at the bright side or, how it's much easier to find seating in food court with only three people. I pointed out it's even easier with one person and was accused of being a non-supporter of optimism. See, Lucy? That's why we need you here. Next time this situation comes up I should just dial LA.
The Christmas decorations are up, needless to say, and though my parents have noticed that the crowd at certain stores is smaller than it usually is, Vallyfair was still fairly packed (read: parking lot insanity). I brought a hat so we could draw lots for the Secret Santa lottery, and envelops so we can seal & mail them without opening the slips if we decided that was was we wanted to do. Except there was the risk of a person drawing her own name, which we decided not to risk, which meant that aside from Kate and Christine no one else got to experience the full lottery-drawing experience. I'd say that it was just like what you'd expect of drawing names out of a hat, except while I was writing down names on the slips of paper Christine had decided that the normal square-fold is boring and that she wanted the slips in paper-crane. So we spent some time before lunch making paper cranes while Christine muttered "This plan is flawed" over and over again, due to the fact that 1) she forgot how to fold one and needed to be reminded and 2) paper cranes are a lot harder to unfold than a double-folded slip of paper. But as we agreed, it was fun, so what the heck.
...
I got my diploma which, by now, involved less "yay-ness" and more "it's FINALLY over, thank goodness". I got it via personal delivery and it did not end up in Brazil, as Kate did not end up in Brazil, Christine as my witness. (Yay!)
...
Poked around in the backyard on Saturday. Re-discovered that my parents are definitely not cut to be gardeners, as the weeds are taking over the yard. Everything needs trimming, and parents' attempt at seed harvest meant a box of seed pods that have already split (which meant that the seeds are already in the ground and things will begin taking over the yard when they germinate in a month or so). After some thought I decided that I'm just going to stop and leave the yard, as it clearly required me to dedicate at least one full day to it, and that was not going to happen this weekend.
My parents decided to get me a netbook for Christmas, as a "Thank you for saving us a year's worth of college tuition, especially this year" present. It's an Acer and weights about half the mass of my current laptop, which makes me happy because some days, by the time I get home, my back hurts.
...
Plane was at 8:05 on Sunday, but we'd really bad fog in SD, so we held position over the airport for half an hour before flying over to Burbank, LA, to refuel and wait until it cleared up. Soniya was on my plane.
We finally got off the plane at 11:20 and I saw Soniya again on the bus (the 30, which I transferred to from 992) though she was taking the holiday shuttle to campus and the bus from there. I think I talked with her more this weekend than any other point during this quarter except for the days Lucy visited. She was Not Happy, since she took the early bus so she could study for the final (which is today) but the delay made it so that she lost the entire morning.
On that note, it took me two and a half hours to reach home via public transit, with no traffic and all the buses arriving on time.
20081129
20081127
20081126
Hi
SD airport the Wednesday before Thanksgiving is all kinds of insane. The plane ride is like a bus-with-wings ride except with offerings of juice and peanuts. The weather in Santa Clara is dismal after SD and I'm back!
20081125
In the basement torture chamber
Just had another one of those lab-lectures and oh. My. God. I just watched a mouse being intubated before a catheter's inserted into its carotid artery while another tube is inserted into its jugular vein for direct intravenous drug administration. It's like open-heart surgery -- you can't look away even if you're squeamish. Not to mention the data for systolic pressure and EGM and such was scrolling across the giant screen in front of the room and the ventilator was pretty loud. We got a crash course on AV blocking because apparently too much acetylcholine will cause the heart to stop beating. In order to insert the catheters the blood vessels have to be sutured both proximal and distal to the site of insertion and my god, I would like to take a moment to express my admiration of the lab tech's mad skills, given that this is a MOUSE and everything is in the millimeters range.
Then we watched the demo for echocardiography on the normal, hypertrophic, and transgenic mice. It is much less invasive but the mice still have to be knocked out since the fur in front of their chest needs to be shaved.
The room came with over-head surgery lights and everything. My God.
Then we watched the demo for echocardiography on the normal, hypertrophic, and transgenic mice. It is much less invasive but the mice still have to be knocked out since the fur in front of their chest needs to be shaved.
The room came with over-head surgery lights and everything. My God.
Insanities
It's approximately 8:37 in the morning and I, for some reason that I failed to understand at this point, have the DNA song stuck in my head.
Tuesday before Thanksgiving is always interesting. In college that seems to be the day when people starts leaving, and grad school is no except. There is a fraction of my classmates who are going to depart for one place or another after class today (ending at 11am). I, and the remaining fraction of people who are leaving (we do have a few who are either from some place too far to travel or are native) (hah native), will be going tomorrow. Emerald's said she can give me a ride to the airport, and I fully intend to take advantage of this by getting the stuff I mean to take back to the bay area for the holidays packed up. The next two trips from and to the air port are going to involve me, tangling with the public transit. I plan on traveling light. It's a good thing that it's already (mostly) a habit with me, anyway.
I will have my laptop with me. I will not have a book, because most of the leisure reading I own at this point are not light. But I will have my laptop and the first three pages of my lab report on it and a folder that contains at least five separate folders' worth of notes and data that I'll have to continue to sort into it so, provided that I don't a) forget to charge up the battery the night before and b) don't slump into a pre-Thanksgiving stupor and spend the entire time at the airport staring at people and scribbling with a pencil, I will also be productive! Productivity and Thanksgiving has ceased to be mutually exclusive my freshman year as an undergrad when the professor assigned us something right before it that was due right after it and then told us "Happy Thanksgiving!"
...and I just forgot the rest of what I was going to say. Well, it ends here then.
Tuesday before Thanksgiving is always interesting. In college that seems to be the day when people starts leaving, and grad school is no except. There is a fraction of my classmates who are going to depart for one place or another after class today (ending at 11am). I, and the remaining fraction of people who are leaving (we do have a few who are either from some place too far to travel or are native) (hah native), will be going tomorrow. Emerald's said she can give me a ride to the airport, and I fully intend to take advantage of this by getting the stuff I mean to take back to the bay area for the holidays packed up. The next two trips from and to the air port are going to involve me, tangling with the public transit. I plan on traveling light. It's a good thing that it's already (mostly) a habit with me, anyway.
I will have my laptop with me. I will not have a book, because most of the leisure reading I own at this point are not light. But I will have my laptop and the first three pages of my lab report on it and a folder that contains at least five separate folders' worth of notes and data that I'll have to continue to sort into it so, provided that I don't a) forget to charge up the battery the night before and b) don't slump into a pre-Thanksgiving stupor and spend the entire time at the airport staring at people and scribbling with a pencil, I will also be productive! Productivity and Thanksgiving has ceased to be mutually exclusive my freshman year as an undergrad when the professor assigned us something right before it that was due right after it and then told us "Happy Thanksgiving!"
...and I just forgot the rest of what I was going to say. Well, it ends here then.
20081124
Accoustics in class
Today we had our paper discussion for the current module: GPCRs (G-Protein Coupled Receptors) and cardiac hypertropy (enlargement of heart due a variety of reasons; can lead to heart failure). The PIs for this module (and we have four) decided to split the class to discuss each paper, and then swap half way through to discuss the other paper (and I win a point for recognizing what methylxanthine is). (It's caffeine.)
It happens that the PIs are also as fond of calling on random people as waiting for volunteers, so in a brief segue to why the transgenic mice had faster heart rates, the guy who is my sort-of lab partner (as in we have different projects but use almost the exact same protocols and about half of our results overlap, leading a great deal of "hey, so what're you doing for THIS" on our parts) got called on.
"What makes the heart rate go up?" asked the PI, obviously fishing for an answer.
"Adrenaline," said the guy.
And somehow the PI managed to hear "treadmill" instead of adrenaline and said "Treadmill? Good, good, that's the right answer" while the poor guy tried to explain that no, he said adrenaline, really. "But what does the signals act on?" continued the PI, blithely ignoring the protests.
"Uh," said the guy, "adrenaline receptors."
"Good," said the PI, "and what acts on adrenaline receptors?"
"...adrenaline." Said the guy.
"Great!" Said the PI, clearly pleased that he had led one student toward the light.
Meanwhile, those of us sitting near the guy had a brief outbreak of hilarity. The PI didn't get it, of course. He thought we pleased as punch because the guy got the fact that heart rate increase in this case is also due to adrenaline. (Well, and also the over-expression of receptors, but that's not relevant to the story.)
...
Gmail theme in Firefox is interesting. I tried the space one first (of course) except it made my inbox look like someone's flipped off the light switch. I wonder why anyone would care whether or not the inbox theme is location-based.
It happens that the PIs are also as fond of calling on random people as waiting for volunteers, so in a brief segue to why the transgenic mice had faster heart rates, the guy who is my sort-of lab partner (as in we have different projects but use almost the exact same protocols and about half of our results overlap, leading a great deal of "hey, so what're you doing for THIS" on our parts) got called on.
"What makes the heart rate go up?" asked the PI, obviously fishing for an answer.
"Adrenaline," said the guy.
And somehow the PI managed to hear "treadmill" instead of adrenaline and said "Treadmill? Good, good, that's the right answer" while the poor guy tried to explain that no, he said adrenaline, really. "But what does the signals act on?" continued the PI, blithely ignoring the protests.
"Uh," said the guy, "adrenaline receptors."
"Good," said the PI, "and what acts on adrenaline receptors?"
"...adrenaline." Said the guy.
"Great!" Said the PI, clearly pleased that he had led one student toward the light.
Meanwhile, those of us sitting near the guy had a brief outbreak of hilarity. The PI didn't get it, of course. He thought we pleased as punch because the guy got the fact that heart rate increase in this case is also due to adrenaline. (Well, and also the over-expression of receptors, but that's not relevant to the story.)
...
Gmail theme in Firefox is interesting. I tried the space one first (of course) except it made my inbox look like someone's flipped off the light switch. I wonder why anyone would care whether or not the inbox theme is location-based.
20081122
Possibly same family
Dear Diary,
Today the potatoes I bought produced a jalapeno pepper while they were sitting in my car trunk on the way back from Henry's. This is clearly a miracle of plant genetics. I wonder if I should do DNA fingerprinting but, more immediately, I wonder what I should do with the lone pepper. Put it up for adoption?
Lost,
-S
Today the potatoes I bought produced a jalapeno pepper while they were sitting in my car trunk on the way back from Henry's. This is clearly a miracle of plant genetics. I wonder if I should do DNA fingerprinting but, more immediately, I wonder what I should do with the lone pepper. Put it up for adoption?
Lost,
-S
20081121
No one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition
Once every other week my mother inquires about whether or not I have a boyfriend yet. I'm starting to seriously consider the logistics of developing a teenage crush. Logically it seems fairly simple: crush = someone you like + physical attraction. Liking people is easy for me, even if trusting them may not always be. Considering that I spent most of my formative years being trained on how to notice the details of anything attractive around me and transferring them into 2D media, the case should be simple enough -- I find someone I like, pick out all the things that are attractive about him, and think about it enough until physical attraction develops.
On the other hand, I think I just used the word "logic" and "teenage crush" in the same paragraph and that may have just invalidated my entire hypothesis by default.
The other option is starting to go to bars after lab. Considering we just had three rape/assault cases at my school in the past month and that my female classmates who live near campus have taken to forming groups while leaving lab (or calling up escort service), and considering the fact that I get home by myself via bus after dark each day, I feel like I shouldn't push my luck too much. Also, I need to take into account the fact that I'm not sure if bars are the right place to start a long term relationship such as the ones that mom seems to have in mind. Add to that mix that I've never been in a bar before and I don't even drink alcohol and...oh dear, what would I be doing in a bar? Drink water and stare at ESPN?
On top of that (worrisome note: I'm proud of my patience, but it's not infinite and I'm not sure how long it'll last at the current rate) mom told me, cheerfully last night, that she'd prepared a list of questions she wanted to ask me and that I should set aside some time during the week that she has off so she can go through that list with me. She is my mother. I find the entire list-of-questions idea, quite frankly, terrifying. She means well. It's still terrifying. The chances that the experience will be traumatizing are just too high.
Help.
On the other hand, I think I just used the word "logic" and "teenage crush" in the same paragraph and that may have just invalidated my entire hypothesis by default.
The other option is starting to go to bars after lab. Considering we just had three rape/assault cases at my school in the past month and that my female classmates who live near campus have taken to forming groups while leaving lab (or calling up escort service), and considering the fact that I get home by myself via bus after dark each day, I feel like I shouldn't push my luck too much. Also, I need to take into account the fact that I'm not sure if bars are the right place to start a long term relationship such as the ones that mom seems to have in mind. Add to that mix that I've never been in a bar before and I don't even drink alcohol and...oh dear, what would I be doing in a bar? Drink water and stare at ESPN?
On top of that (worrisome note: I'm proud of my patience, but it's not infinite and I'm not sure how long it'll last at the current rate) mom told me, cheerfully last night, that she'd prepared a list of questions she wanted to ask me and that I should set aside some time during the week that she has off so she can go through that list with me. She is my mother. I find the entire list-of-questions idea, quite frankly, terrifying. She means well. It's still terrifying. The chances that the experience will be traumatizing are just too high.
Help.
20081120
On the socratic method
Teachers spend considerable amount of their time trying to get us to learn things. They aren't always successful.
For example, in some of the science classes, where concept is emphasized over details, when the professor starts flooding us with too much detail the automatic result is that, of course, the student tuning out, missing not only the details that are spewing out of the professor's mouth but the concept behind them as well. This is, I presume, why I'm encountering more and more alternative learning methods, specifically of the "problem-based-learning" kind. The idea behind it is encouraging: making sure the students have a good grasp of the concepts by giving them problems to solve that will force them to think about and use the knowledge taught in class. But as is the case with so many things in life -- the idealism simply doesn't hold up in the face of practicality.
A part of this (but by no means all) is due to the professors, who are, I have reasons to believe, no more familiar with this whole problem-based-learning shebang imparted by the higher-ups than the students are. For instance, they may forget that we're supposed to be applying the knowledge covered in class. Extra research is all and well in its own place, but each person does research differently and will narrow down different queries, so in the overall chase for information, the main concept of the lesson that is meant to be learned is often lost. The other part of the professor-induced headache is simply: please, please, PLEASE, read over the problems you wrote before you mail them to us. I've read riddles that are clearer than some of the instructions I've seen.
On the student's part there is always the question of work load and procrastination. Say that we're assigned a project as a group. The professors are often stumped at trying to get the work load distributed evenly within a group instead of either having a) one person doing all the work or b) one person whose lack of...um...let's call it "dedication", will impact the group as a whole.
The most fundamental problem, however, remains the fact that though you may lead a horse to water, you can't make it drink. Browbeat the students all you want, if we aren't interested, no amount of powerpoints will get us to think about the topic in anything more than a superficial level.
It is a good method. Personally I find it more enjoyable than the "memorize everything method" that persisted through most of high school and half of undergrad. However, it isn't perfect (nothing is) and I wish the people who're in charge would remember that.
Yes the feedback isn't as great as you would like, but take it with a grain of salt 'cause nothing's perfect and keep in mind that you have an unfortunate tendency to poll the students when they're at their worst (right before finals and post-project-panic slump).
For example, in some of the science classes, where concept is emphasized over details, when the professor starts flooding us with too much detail the automatic result is that, of course, the student tuning out, missing not only the details that are spewing out of the professor's mouth but the concept behind them as well. This is, I presume, why I'm encountering more and more alternative learning methods, specifically of the "problem-based-learning" kind. The idea behind it is encouraging: making sure the students have a good grasp of the concepts by giving them problems to solve that will force them to think about and use the knowledge taught in class. But as is the case with so many things in life -- the idealism simply doesn't hold up in the face of practicality.
A part of this (but by no means all) is due to the professors, who are, I have reasons to believe, no more familiar with this whole problem-based-learning shebang imparted by the higher-ups than the students are. For instance, they may forget that we're supposed to be applying the knowledge covered in class. Extra research is all and well in its own place, but each person does research differently and will narrow down different queries, so in the overall chase for information, the main concept of the lesson that is meant to be learned is often lost. The other part of the professor-induced headache is simply: please, please, PLEASE, read over the problems you wrote before you mail them to us. I've read riddles that are clearer than some of the instructions I've seen.
On the student's part there is always the question of work load and procrastination. Say that we're assigned a project as a group. The professors are often stumped at trying to get the work load distributed evenly within a group instead of either having a) one person doing all the work or b) one person whose lack of...um...let's call it "dedication", will impact the group as a whole.
The most fundamental problem, however, remains the fact that though you may lead a horse to water, you can't make it drink. Browbeat the students all you want, if we aren't interested, no amount of powerpoints will get us to think about the topic in anything more than a superficial level.
It is a good method. Personally I find it more enjoyable than the "memorize everything method" that persisted through most of high school and half of undergrad. However, it isn't perfect (nothing is) and I wish the people who're in charge would remember that.
Yes the feedback isn't as great as you would like, but take it with a grain of salt 'cause nothing's perfect and keep in mind that you have an unfortunate tendency to poll the students when they're at their worst (right before finals and post-project-panic slump).
20081118
Negative infinity
After an invigorating day involving raising 0 to the 0th power, limitations, and diabetic E. coli, it has come to my attention that I may be expected to work straight through spring break. I may be able to do shorter hours, depending on the PI, but lab time is pretty much a given.
Frankly, at the current conjuncture, this sucks.
Frankly, at the current conjuncture, this sucks.
Whooosh
That's what the whiteboard in my lab says. It may be symbolic.
Finished the project, which may turn out to be only half of the assignment for this module (everyone's expression when the PI announced this was...well about what you'd expect really, after a one-night group project involving extra reading and presentations). Doing G protein stuff next I think. Lab involves lots of annotating right now. I for some reason started craving cake about one hour ago.
Finished the project, which may turn out to be only half of the assignment for this module (everyone's expression when the PI announced this was...well about what you'd expect really, after a one-night group project involving extra reading and presentations). Doing G protein stuff next I think. Lab involves lots of annotating right now. I for some reason started craving cake about one hour ago.
20081117
Too much good intentions
Today we received a project on genetics (specifically disease mapping in genetics). It includes a problem set and a powerpoint presentation. The PI pointed out that he's making it a group project so that each of us has to do less work and he's making it due tomorrow so we can get it over with and not have to worry about it over Thanksgiving. Given that we already have a project that's due tomorrow, all of us are in lab rotations all around campus (and some off campus in research institutes) with different schedules, and we have to read additional papers in order to complete this project, most of us did not appreciate his thoughtfulness.
Online meeting in an hour. If I can managed to locate everyone.
Online meeting in an hour. If I can managed to locate everyone.
20081116
Sand everywhere
I went exploring this morning, taking the car with me through downtown La Jolla to Mission Beach. The downtown is cute (think Davis + Sebastopol at the edge of a beach), even if the roads made no logical sense. The beach-side walk is a little like 17 miles near Monterey, except with fewer trees. (SD as a whole has fewer trees.) I found the SD museum for contemporary arts which is decorated with a cluster of what appeared, on closer inspection, to be canoes, at one of the top corners of the building. There's a St. James church across from it and I could hear the choir singing inside while I walked by. I stayed for a few moments until the people who were sitting in front of the church started looking at me funny. I am happy to report, Lucy, that I did not fall into anything today, pits in the sand or otherwise.
Originally I meant to stop at Pacific Beach, but I was going down Missions and driving alongside the beach, through the beach-side communities, appears to be very hypnotic. Which was how I found myself in Mission Beach and had to take a u-turn to get back to the area that I drove through without blinking. (There are a lot of churches and a lot of liquor stores. I wondered if this is indicative of the type of people who lived there.) Going to the beach has apparently replaced baking as my Sunday morning activity. I suppose it's healthier, given how far I walked.
Facebook has too many additional applet things added. Instead of being helpful, now it just looks over-crowded.
[edit 13:04]
Wanted to add that I have just checked the weather and we're in the 90s down here.
Originally I meant to stop at Pacific Beach, but I was going down Missions and driving alongside the beach, through the beach-side communities, appears to be very hypnotic. Which was how I found myself in Mission Beach and had to take a u-turn to get back to the area that I drove through without blinking. (There are a lot of churches and a lot of liquor stores. I wondered if this is indicative of the type of people who lived there.) Going to the beach has apparently replaced baking as my Sunday morning activity. I suppose it's healthier, given how far I walked.
Facebook has too many additional applet things added. Instead of being helpful, now it just looks over-crowded.
[edit 13:04]
Wanted to add that I have just checked the weather and we're in the 90s down here.
20081115
This may be a problem
I have discovered that I'm quite abysmal at reviewing articles. I have no idea what to say and I am half one and a half paragraphs from finishing my assignment and I have no idea what to say.
The parts that I've already done felt like pulling teeth. By the time I found myself using terms such as "admirably methodological" parts of my brain wanted to die. Namely the part that, after all this time, has finally decided that hey, maybe writing can be fun. Not to mention that increasing the number of articles I have to read per week means that I'm increasing my exposure to available literature which, in turn, means that I get to encounter more of the badly written ones as well as the good. Right now I am seriously considering if it'll be possible for me to write all my future reports in bullet points which, of course, no respectable scientific journal would ever accept but since only the PI's going to be reading my current work anyway...
...he probably would still tell me to put it in a report format for possible future chances where things might get published. (Current chances of that happening fails the p-value cut off.) Darn it.
Still in the 80s. SD weather bizarre. Want iced tea.
The parts that I've already done felt like pulling teeth. By the time I found myself using terms such as "admirably methodological" parts of my brain wanted to die. Namely the part that, after all this time, has finally decided that hey, maybe writing can be fun. Not to mention that increasing the number of articles I have to read per week means that I'm increasing my exposure to available literature which, in turn, means that I get to encounter more of the badly written ones as well as the good. Right now I am seriously considering if it'll be possible for me to write all my future reports in bullet points which, of course, no respectable scientific journal would ever accept but since only the PI's going to be reading my current work anyway...
...he probably would still tell me to put it in a report format for possible future chances where things might get published. (Current chances of that happening fails the p-value cut off.) Darn it.
Still in the 80s. SD weather bizarre. Want iced tea.
20081113
Ha
This week's Protein With Too-Long Names award goes to:
Betaine-homocysteine S-Methyltransferase.
Congratulations, little protein.
[edit 16:03]
Nevermind, just found something named "NAD-dependent methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase-cyclohydrolase."
Betaine-homocysteine S-Methyltransferase.
Congratulations, little protein.
[edit 16:03]
Nevermind, just found something named "NAD-dependent methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase-cyclohydrolase."
20081112
All things being equal
I have taken the time to print out the 15 page article that I have to read and, in the process, gave myself a paper cut on my knuckles.
I can't remember the last time I got minor injuries. It's a strange feeling. Logically, I know I might've collected a bruise or two while moving because I never was very careful with corners and edges when I'm lugging things around but I don't remember anything from that. I have not actually gone out in the field at all and despite of what the signs say, I don't consider it to be a trail if there is cement involved. It's just wrong. There's no falling into creeks or stepping into gopher holes or finding mysterious cuts/bruises every other time that I shower. My apartment does provide the bugs though (have found a giant almost-cricket like thing -- same genus, probably -- by the garbage can the other day and had no idea where it came from) so I am not totally out of touch with nature. Though I admit that I would much prefer to remain in touch via the more appealing aspects and not, as the case appears to be, via the crawly critters. (Though if I keep my celery for much longer I may also establish connection with the saprobes.)
I will set a new record for talks/seminars attended per week tomorrow (four), and attempt to show interest in the evolutionary constraints of protein structures.
I can't remember the last time I got minor injuries. It's a strange feeling. Logically, I know I might've collected a bruise or two while moving because I never was very careful with corners and edges when I'm lugging things around but I don't remember anything from that. I have not actually gone out in the field at all and despite of what the signs say, I don't consider it to be a trail if there is cement involved. It's just wrong. There's no falling into creeks or stepping into gopher holes or finding mysterious cuts/bruises every other time that I shower. My apartment does provide the bugs though (have found a giant almost-cricket like thing -- same genus, probably -- by the garbage can the other day and had no idea where it came from) so I am not totally out of touch with nature. Though I admit that I would much prefer to remain in touch via the more appealing aspects and not, as the case appears to be, via the crawly critters. (Though if I keep my celery for much longer I may also establish connection with the saprobes.)
I will set a new record for talks/seminars attended per week tomorrow (four), and attempt to show interest in the evolutionary constraints of protein structures.
20081111
Kid me not
I have one article and its article review due next week. I have one huge article to read for tomorrow's class, another one for tomorrow's journal club, and then this morning I received an email from the PI who'll be teaching the next module (looks like I get to learn all about macular degeneration, what fun) (translation: loss of eye sight), and attached to the email is one article and the list for two books that I'm supposed to read for Thursday and Friday. Not page numbers in the books, nor chapters, just the books.
Now, I don't know about you, but even when I have nothing else to do but read (see: two weeks in the middle of summer) I still average about a book every three days. And I take a break in between the books to do other stuff. Two is beyond me. Especially at the same time. And I've been told that I read fairly fast so I have no idea what that PI's after, since I'm fairly sure that it's an improbable demand and I'm left wondering if I should even attempt to get my hands on those books because, com'on, each module lasts a week and a day at the most, and spending a hundred dollars on books that you'll not have time to read, that you will probably never read again afterwards seems kind of silly.
Those crazy crazy PIs. I wonder how the infectious diseases people are dealing with our size 11, single-spaced papers that they've asked us to write.
...
The lab building is mostly empty. It's strange.
Now, I don't know about you, but even when I have nothing else to do but read (see: two weeks in the middle of summer) I still average about a book every three days. And I take a break in between the books to do other stuff. Two is beyond me. Especially at the same time. And I've been told that I read fairly fast so I have no idea what that PI's after, since I'm fairly sure that it's an improbable demand and I'm left wondering if I should even attempt to get my hands on those books because, com'on, each module lasts a week and a day at the most, and spending a hundred dollars on books that you'll not have time to read, that you will probably never read again afterwards seems kind of silly.
Those crazy crazy PIs. I wonder how the infectious diseases people are dealing with our size 11, single-spaced papers that they've asked us to write.
...
The lab building is mostly empty. It's strange.
20081110
Heavy and light
We had to cover hematopoeitic stem cells today (translation, stem cells that make blood cells) and unfortunately for us, we get the stuff on B cells, which involved a lot of very dense text about immunology that most of us didn't care much about. (We have a grand total of two immunologists in the class.) As a result, I spent two hours contemplating which is worse -- structural biology or immunology? In the end I decided it's structural biology. Immunology, if I went insane (more insane) one day and decide to dedicate my life to understanding it, can actually be interesting. I can see how it can be interesting. Structural biology still fills me with dread. Therefore, structural biology wins. (Or loses, depending your perspective, I suppose.)
I have discovered today that a piece of information someone in my lab has found could mean that I may have to back and re-do everything I've done in my current lab, in terms of in silico experiments. As the PI pointed out, "Such is science." So now I'm sitting at home, drinking hot chocolate as a consolation of sorts. It's Swiss Miss, which is better than the Safeway brand, but still a bit too sweet for my taste. The coffee cart in front of one of the biomed buildings, where I got my cocoa last week, had surprisingly good chocolate. I wonder if I can inquire about the source of it, since I haven't really seen many other brands in stores. My other option is to say "heck with it" and get cocoa to make my own chocolate. It always grows more appealing as I drink more of the store-brought kind. Admittedly, some of them aren't too bad. Though the orange hot chocolate that Lucy and I tried over Halloween doesn't count. It's not only orange, but also tastes nothing like chocolate. Therefore it doesn't count.
Going into the lab tomorrow, though hopefully I won't stay the entire day. Cheers.
I have discovered today that a piece of information someone in my lab has found could mean that I may have to back and re-do everything I've done in my current lab, in terms of in silico experiments. As the PI pointed out, "Such is science." So now I'm sitting at home, drinking hot chocolate as a consolation of sorts. It's Swiss Miss, which is better than the Safeway brand, but still a bit too sweet for my taste. The coffee cart in front of one of the biomed buildings, where I got my cocoa last week, had surprisingly good chocolate. I wonder if I can inquire about the source of it, since I haven't really seen many other brands in stores. My other option is to say "heck with it" and get cocoa to make my own chocolate. It always grows more appealing as I drink more of the store-brought kind. Admittedly, some of them aren't too bad. Though the orange hot chocolate that Lucy and I tried over Halloween doesn't count. It's not only orange, but also tastes nothing like chocolate. Therefore it doesn't count.
Going into the lab tomorrow, though hopefully I won't stay the entire day. Cheers.
20081109
Dear Diary
Dear Diary,
Today a spider crawled down my shirt. I considered the merits of wearing shirts that are less baggy. And the merits of short hair. (Eight more inches to go.)
-S
Today a spider crawled down my shirt. I considered the merits of wearing shirts that are less baggy. And the merits of short hair. (Eight more inches to go.)
-S
20081108
Just in, from my inbox
Are you someone eager to embark on a highly exciting and exacting new venture expected to make a significant impact on the Life Sciences community?
Are you willing to risk following an atypical career path where what really counts is how much you contribute to knowledge discovery and propagation?
Are you interested in working with the people who are behind world-renowned resources such as Swiss-Prot, PROSITE and ExPASy .
If you answered yes to these three questions, keep reading!
...I didn't know that exciting and exacting can be mutually inclusive. Also -- "knowledge propagation" makes me think of propaganda.
The Recruit-A-Scientist people sometimes scare me when they get all gung ho about things. I mean yes, science is exciting, but their enthusiasm always seems to have a faintly maniac feel to it for some reason.
Hot fuzz
The dryer did something to one pair of my socks and now the socks are staticky (and fuzzy, but you get shocked if touch the fuzz). Just that one pair. All the other pairs are fine. How is that even possible?
Capisce?
In my experience, generally the MDs are better lecturers than PhDs because they keep track of the bigger picture throughout the lecturer and are less likely to flood you with a deluge of the nitty-gritty that you won't remember and that they don't expect you to remember. The PhDs do, however, have more diagrams and are generally less likely to have photos (read: clinical case profiles) that make you want to hurl. Therefore, on the whole, it balances out. It also gives me the inspiration to try to make my future talks more MD-like in terms of structure. I keep all my shiny CGIs, of course.
...
I don't know if it's Do Your Laundry Day or what, but it was hard to find an empty washer this morning! Normal people are not generally known to do their laundry before 8am on a Saturday. Yet, in inexplicably, I find all of the washers filled and one girl standing ready to use the washer that I had used as soon as I emptied it (before you say anything, I slept all the way until 7:30 this morning so see? Adjustment). Such a thing has never happened to me before.
...
Weather here still beautiful. It's finally gotten cold enough for me to put away (most of) my t-shirts. There's something decidedly strange about my ability to wander around in my shirtsleeves in the middle of November. I don't think I've ever gone so long in a year without wearing a sweater before. It's a novel experience. I can feel my horizons expanding already.
...
I don't know if it's Do Your Laundry Day or what, but it was hard to find an empty washer this morning! Normal people are not generally known to do their laundry before 8am on a Saturday. Yet, in inexplicably, I find all of the washers filled and one girl standing ready to use the washer that I had used as soon as I emptied it (before you say anything, I slept all the way until 7:30 this morning so see? Adjustment). Such a thing has never happened to me before.
...
Weather here still beautiful. It's finally gotten cold enough for me to put away (most of) my t-shirts. There's something decidedly strange about my ability to wander around in my shirtsleeves in the middle of November. I don't think I've ever gone so long in a year without wearing a sweater before. It's a novel experience. I can feel my horizons expanding already.
20081107
I think about crayons
Yesterday's lecture was pretty neat: for the second half of it we got a tour into the lecturing professors' labs. There was this one microscope demo where we got to look at a fish embryo (which can live temporarily in jello -- well it's got a fancier name than that, but it's still, in essence, jello -- just fine) that has had all of its red blood cells labeled so that they glow in the dark (and the microscope room is a bit like a dark room). When you zoom in you can see the little glowing cells as they are pumped through the embryo's beating heart.
Way cool.
It's my opinion that our lecturers should do things like this more often, instead of setting us up for more rounds of problem-based-learning (which never fail to remind me unpleasantly of the physics 7 series at Davis). Speaking of which, I just sent in my nephrology homework (bye-bye Liddle's syndrome, I wash my hands of you) and so now I only have two more projects pending. If I'm very good I'll get both done on Saturday and wander off somewhere Sunday that involves no more reading of scientific articles.
Cheers.
I dreamed last night that everyone -- that is, to say, all the Lunatics -- was at Great America, at the funnel-cake place. Lucy wanted to go on the giant pirate ship and Anna wanted to buy a muffin. I was almost nostalgic when I woke up. Then I realized that it was only 6:30 (I will adjust, before April comes around, too) and decided to try to go back to sleep.
Way cool.
It's my opinion that our lecturers should do things like this more often, instead of setting us up for more rounds of problem-based-learning (which never fail to remind me unpleasantly of the physics 7 series at Davis). Speaking of which, I just sent in my nephrology homework (bye-bye Liddle's syndrome, I wash my hands of you) and so now I only have two more projects pending. If I'm very good I'll get both done on Saturday and wander off somewhere Sunday that involves no more reading of scientific articles.
Cheers.
I dreamed last night that everyone -- that is, to say, all the Lunatics -- was at Great America, at the funnel-cake place. Lucy wanted to go on the giant pirate ship and Anna wanted to buy a muffin. I was almost nostalgic when I woke up. Then I realized that it was only 6:30 (I will adjust, before April comes around, too) and decided to try to go back to sleep.
20081105
This page will always be under construction
When you reach the personal webpages for the open-source programs written by eclectic scientists, sometimes you encounter all sorts of things.
So: Obama won! (Part of my brain is still stuck on the "It happened! It really happened!" stage.) Prop 3 passed, 6 and 7 and 10 didn't, which made me happy. 8 and 9 passed, which I'm not very happy about. However, recalling what fragments I can of history and societal progression, I can make the analogy to evolution -- aside from moments of frenetic, catastrophic activity, progress, most of the time, is composed mostly of a lot of little changes for better or for worse that don't add up to much in terms of overall directionality. It's like a march through a lake of molasses or something. Progress and evolution are hard work. If we're lucky, natural selection is our friend and not the force that wipes our species off of the planet.
On that note: current program most frustrating, file conversion failures abound, not to mention lack of clear directions as to why the the connectivity between atoms are not recognized. At least I got a few pretty CGI from yesterday. I'm not sure what I'll get from today aside from, apparently, a seminar on the theoretical structural effects on proteins arising from genetic polymorphisms.
Someone has turned on the heater in my lab building. It is strange, since SD's in the 70s right now. My "office" is slightly cooler but out on the sunny lobby area it's vaguely like summer.
So: Obama won! (Part of my brain is still stuck on the "It happened! It really happened!" stage.) Prop 3 passed, 6 and 7 and 10 didn't, which made me happy. 8 and 9 passed, which I'm not very happy about. However, recalling what fragments I can of history and societal progression, I can make the analogy to evolution -- aside from moments of frenetic, catastrophic activity, progress, most of the time, is composed mostly of a lot of little changes for better or for worse that don't add up to much in terms of overall directionality. It's like a march through a lake of molasses or something. Progress and evolution are hard work. If we're lucky, natural selection is our friend and not the force that wipes our species off of the planet.
On that note: current program most frustrating, file conversion failures abound, not to mention lack of clear directions as to why the the connectivity between atoms are not recognized. At least I got a few pretty CGI from yesterday. I'm not sure what I'll get from today aside from, apparently, a seminar on the theoretical structural effects on proteins arising from genetic polymorphisms.
Someone has turned on the heater in my lab building. It is strange, since SD's in the 70s right now. My "office" is slightly cooler but out on the sunny lobby area it's vaguely like summer.
20081104
First election!
I didn't receive my notice for voting (the one that tells me I'm registered and where to go) until yesterday. Given that I didn't get home until around 6pm, I was in a state of mild anxiety about it all day. However, I did receive it, and immediately afterward I spent two hours reading about the props on the ballot. (Let it never be said that I don't make an effort to be an informed voter.) The first hour was fun, the second hour, less so. Partly it was because by that time the conflicting information was starting to annoy me (I tried to read something unbiased about the prop, and then something for it and something against it, before finding out who's backing it/opposing it -- in that order, because I was trying to reduce possible bias on my part). (Legal speak is worse than science speak, because at least science speak I can sympathize with and understand at some level, even if the technical details don't make much sense.) The other part was that by that time, either my internet or some of the info sites were starting to crash, and waiting for the site to load got very old very quickly. By the time I got to prop 11 -- which I didn't exactly know what it was and three sites failed to load consecutively -- I was contemplating calling Kate up for a crash course. The smartvoter site finally loaded though, followed by an SF site, so it all ended well.
(Though for some of the props I just -- it sounded so good at first until you get to the details and then -- hire some scientists, people. We don't bite. Except for maybe some of the physicists but physicists are a strange bunch on the whole and shouldn't be held accountable as a valid representation of the scientific community. It was awful. I wanted to vote yes on the idea but the reality was less than idealistic.)
Got up at 6:50am this morning to vote (don't know when I'll be home tonight and I just know the after-work crowd will be bad), which was exciting since this's my first election and a potentially history making election at that (though if McCain wins I may have to take a leaf out of the book of my high school teachers and wear black). The prop 8 guy out front told me that the line was only about 20 minutes, except for the part where I had to wait over 45 minutes and I missed a bus by a second (as in I was standing in front of the bus door when it pulled away) and so ended up spending a while out of breath and dripping in the rain. But I didn't mind and you know why? Because it wasn't cold. (SD weather = love.) At least not until I got to my classroom, which is always cold and can possibly be used as an icebox in emergencies.
Emerald was telling me about how it felt vaguely like Christmas this morning. I thought about my sense of anticipation and admitted that she had a point, and went to get a hot chocolate after class because a) it's a Christmas thing and b) after sitting for two hours in the Icebox in damp clothing, I was really cold.
Will be obsessively checking the results later today in google news. Fingers crossed, everyone!
(And now that I've had the whole wait-in-line experience, I think I'll vote absentee the next time.)
(Though for some of the props I just -- it sounded so good at first until you get to the details and then -- hire some scientists, people. We don't bite. Except for maybe some of the physicists but physicists are a strange bunch on the whole and shouldn't be held accountable as a valid representation of the scientific community. It was awful. I wanted to vote yes on the idea but the reality was less than idealistic.)
Got up at 6:50am this morning to vote (don't know when I'll be home tonight and I just know the after-work crowd will be bad), which was exciting since this's my first election and a potentially history making election at that (though if McCain wins I may have to take a leaf out of the book of my high school teachers and wear black). The prop 8 guy out front told me that the line was only about 20 minutes, except for the part where I had to wait over 45 minutes and I missed a bus by a second (as in I was standing in front of the bus door when it pulled away) and so ended up spending a while out of breath and dripping in the rain. But I didn't mind and you know why? Because it wasn't cold. (SD weather = love.) At least not until I got to my classroom, which is always cold and can possibly be used as an icebox in emergencies.
Emerald was telling me about how it felt vaguely like Christmas this morning. I thought about my sense of anticipation and admitted that she had a point, and went to get a hot chocolate after class because a) it's a Christmas thing and b) after sitting for two hours in the Icebox in damp clothing, I was really cold.
Will be obsessively checking the results later today in google news. Fingers crossed, everyone!
(And now that I've had the whole wait-in-line experience, I think I'll vote absentee the next time.)
20081103
And then for irony
When I clicked on "bug reporting" for this program that I'm running (at the prompt of the program, no less), I got:
"Error occurent while retrieving help page. Please contact your administrator."
"Error occurent while retrieving help page. Please contact your administrator."
Baaack
And it's good. I like the basic html thing and the way the post page is organized. The lack of lj cut will be missed but this is familiar, and this blog and I have history.
I woke up earlier than usual this morning of course, the end of daylight saving having not affected my circadian rhythm in academia yet. Consequently I had almost an hour this morning that was open. Needless to say I was very productive -- I went to school early, sat down in the biomed library, and finished half of the project (nephrology and sodium transport this time) that's due this Friday.
It was excellent timing, since we just got another project on diabetes mellitus today. (Type II, I think, though it'll have more to do with the specific molecular signaling downstream and the type of diabetes shouldn't matter as much then.)
We had a seminar in the lab today. It was more computer programing than structural biology and so I understood slightly more than I otherwise would have. A very good feeling all around.
Ah yes, I went to Lucy's over the weekend after I figured out that I have nothing immediately due (the lack of syllabus made things unpredictable and annoying). The traffic between SD and LA on the Friday That Is Halloween is pretty spectacular. In the bad sense. There were lots of cops around the LA region too, which I had plenty of time to observe.
LA has weather, but now SD does too: it rained this morning. (Admittedly now we're back at the blue skies again, which is nice and will perhaps make my apartment less damp and depressing.) (Damp apartments depress me.)
Lucy and I made The Pie That Is Supposed To Be Filled With Peach, But Perhaps Isn't, Really. It was still pretty good though, and now we both know what to do if we want to make a genuine peach pie. We also took photos, which Lucy will post some day before December, and toasted to Kate Not Dying, as Lucy got a call from her during pie-time that made us think the toast should be in order.
Anna, we have a photo for your to prove your good influence on our dietary health.
Also started Christmas shopping. Not the whole presents/mailing list, though, which I will work on sometime this week after the kidney thing and before the diabetes thing.
Unrelated:
This comic is completely true, by the way.
I woke up earlier than usual this morning of course, the end of daylight saving having not affected my circadian rhythm in academia yet. Consequently I had almost an hour this morning that was open. Needless to say I was very productive -- I went to school early, sat down in the biomed library, and finished half of the project (nephrology and sodium transport this time) that's due this Friday.
It was excellent timing, since we just got another project on diabetes mellitus today. (Type II, I think, though it'll have more to do with the specific molecular signaling downstream and the type of diabetes shouldn't matter as much then.)
We had a seminar in the lab today. It was more computer programing than structural biology and so I understood slightly more than I otherwise would have. A very good feeling all around.
Ah yes, I went to Lucy's over the weekend after I figured out that I have nothing immediately due (the lack of syllabus made things unpredictable and annoying). The traffic between SD and LA on the Friday That Is Halloween is pretty spectacular. In the bad sense. There were lots of cops around the LA region too, which I had plenty of time to observe.
LA has weather, but now SD does too: it rained this morning. (Admittedly now we're back at the blue skies again, which is nice and will perhaps make my apartment less damp and depressing.) (Damp apartments depress me.)
Lucy and I made The Pie That Is Supposed To Be Filled With Peach, But Perhaps Isn't, Really. It was still pretty good though, and now we both know what to do if we want to make a genuine peach pie. We also took photos, which Lucy will post some day before December, and toasted to Kate Not Dying, as Lucy got a call from her during pie-time that made us think the toast should be in order.
Anna, we have a photo for your to prove your good influence on our dietary health.
Also started Christmas shopping. Not the whole presents/mailing list, though, which I will work on sometime this week after the kidney thing and before the diabetes thing.
Unrelated:
This comic is completely true, by the way.
20080909
A last clean up?
We'll see what happens to my yard between now and November.
Meanwhile:
Susan's List of Plants That Are Easy To Grow
-geranium
-mint
-alyssum
-peas
-morning glory
-lavender
-calendula
Meanwhile:
Susan's List of Plants That Are Easy To Grow
-geranium
-mint
-alyssum
-peas
-morning glory
-lavender
-calendula
20080907
Hm
Jasmine got spider mites. Went over the plant with a cotton swab and will spray it down & prune off diseased areas tonight.
20080903
20080901
I've nothing against CAM
Cacti, I've concluded, are, on the whole, very fun plants to look at and to poke (very carefully). They are, however, also DEAD BORING to grow. Mine grows at around one centimeter each year and of course, cacti aren't exactly well known for their ever-changing appearances. They don't even need to be watered regularly. In many aspects, unless you get one that is old enough to flower and bear fruit, it's just like owning a green, spiny rock that you water once every three months.
I like...peas. They grow fast, they flower pretty, and you can eat them afterwards.
I like...peas. They grow fast, they flower pretty, and you can eat them afterwards.
20080831
What on earth
Blogger, you are strange.
Too much morning glories! (Not too many, because I think there're only four plants.)
I will be leaving the backyard again soon. This is the point where I wonder why I'm keeping a gardening journal if a) most of the gardening activity tends to occur in, unsurprisingly a garden-like place, such as the backyard and b) I will not be around the backyard for most of the year, and certainly not during the fun times (February in CA bay area in my personal opinion). That is, of course, not to mention c) that I want something where I can post photos easily and blogger ain't it. LJ is easier in that aspect and I often find myself, when I want to update this, consider the load time for the photos and thinking "Nah, maybe later" which inevitably leads to this: no update for a very long time.
Blogger is meant to be a log. It is a very good log. I obviously need to use it solely for something that requires a lot of words, but no images (maybe my personal life, but that's over at the other place right now and well...I've become very attached to the interface if not the actual codes).
Too much morning glories! (Not too many, because I think there're only four plants.)
I will be leaving the backyard again soon. This is the point where I wonder why I'm keeping a gardening journal if a) most of the gardening activity tends to occur in, unsurprisingly a garden-like place, such as the backyard and b) I will not be around the backyard for most of the year, and certainly not during the fun times (February in CA bay area in my personal opinion). That is, of course, not to mention c) that I want something where I can post photos easily and blogger ain't it. LJ is easier in that aspect and I often find myself, when I want to update this, consider the load time for the photos and thinking "Nah, maybe later" which inevitably leads to this: no update for a very long time.
Blogger is meant to be a log. It is a very good log. I obviously need to use it solely for something that requires a lot of words, but no images (maybe my personal life, but that's over at the other place right now and well...I've become very attached to the interface if not the actual codes).
20080810
Inventory, take 2
Indoor plants inventory
bee balm [Monarda didyma] - marshall's delight
jasmine [Jasminum sambac] - maid of Orleans
dill [Anethum graveolens] - Long Island mammoth
garlic chive [Allium tuberosum] -unknown (the package doesn't say)
feverfew [Chrysantheim parthenium] - unknown (GW trade)
chamomile [Anthemis nobilis] - unknown (GW trade)
ficus [Ficus rubinginosa] - variegata
cactus
[Echinopsis 'Barber pole'] - paramount hybrid
[ -- ] - unknown (from the cactus round-up kit)
lemon balm [Melissa officinalis] - unknown (GW trade)
avocado [Persea americana] - unknown (Mike ate it)
bee balm [Monarda didyma] - marshall's delight
jasmine [Jasminum sambac] - maid of Orleans
dill [Anethum graveolens] - Long Island mammoth
garlic chive [Allium tuberosum] -unknown (the package doesn't say)
feverfew [Chrysantheim parthenium] - unknown (GW trade)
chamomile [Anthemis nobilis] - unknown (GW trade)
ficus [Ficus rubinginosa] - variegata
cactus
[Echinopsis 'Barber pole'] - paramount hybrid
[ -- ] - unknown (from the cactus round-up kit)
lemon balm [Melissa officinalis] - unknown (GW trade)
avocado [Persea americana] - unknown (Mike ate it)
Inventory
plants in the backyard
calendula [Calendula officinalis] - mixed colors
Madagascar dragon tree [Dracaena marginata] - unknown (2 different cultivars, one mom got from Home Depot I-don't-know-when, the other she picked up at a garage sale two years ago)
California poppy [Eschscholzia california] - wildflower variety
chrysanthemum [Chrysanthemum indicum] - butterfield
sweet alyssum [Lobularia maritima] - carpet of snow
carnation [Dianthus caryophyllus] - giant Chabaud mixed colors
hen-and-chicks [Sempervivum tectorum] - unknown (a lady from a garage sale gave it to my mom in a plastic bag when mom mentioned that I liked plants -- this was about nine years ago)
rain lily [Zephyranthes candida] - unknown (it's grandma's cultivar and that's what I'm going to call it)
French lavender [Lavandula dentata] - unknown (Lowe's labeled it as "Spanish lavender")
zonal geranium [Pelargonium hortorum] - red? (grew from cutting back at my old apartment when they were trimming the bush in front of the apartment sign)
dill [Anethum graveolens] - Long Island mammoth
four o' clock [Mirabilis multiflora] - pink? (was here when we moved in)
European columbine
[Aquilegia vulgaris] - McKana's Giant mix
[Aquilegia vulgaris] - music mix
basil [Ocimum basilicum]- sweet basil
narcissus
[Narcissus papyraceus] - paperwhite, unknown (dug it out of the ground during volunteer day a year ago)
[Narcissus pseudonarcissus] - wild daffodil, unknown (dug it out of the flower bed my coworkers and I were preparing two years ago)
iris
[Iris, sub-genus iris, species unknown, possibly germanica] - unknown, yellow and white; looks like something between "Joyance" and "Baby Blessed" (darn it; I should've kept the packaging that year)
[Moraea grandiflora] - African iris, butterfly iris
green onion [Allium fistulosum] - white Libson bunchinig
tomato [Solanum lycopersicum] - large red cherry
potato [Solanum tuberosum] - unknown (grew from the russet potato that sprouted in the fridge)
garlic chive [Allium tuberosum] -unknown (the package doesn't say)
airplane plant [Chlorophytum comosum] - unknown (picked up an escaped plantlet from the side of the road eight years ago)
spearmint [Mentha spicata] - unknown (rescued dying plant from when I worked in green houses)
calla lily [Zantedeschia elliottiana] - white? (one of mom's coworkers divided the plant and gave her a clump)
rose [Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland'] - peace
morning glory [Ipomoea purpurea] - giant mixed colors
sweet pea [Lathyrus odoratus] - Renee's garden mix
pea [Pisum Sativum] - little marvels
celosia [Celosia argentea] - tall plume mix
amaryllis [Amaryllis belladonna] - pink? (given by girl from BIS 101)
campanula [Campanula medium] - Canterbury bells cup and saucer mix
blue flax [Linum perenne] - lewisii
parsley [Petroselinum crispum] - Italian flat-leaf
bronze loquat [Eriobotrya deflexa] - unknown (greenhouse rescue)
strawberry [Fragaria ananassa] - unknown (OSH labeled it as "strawberry")
pothos [Epipremnum aureum] - golden
+ 2 mystery plant that I have no idea, both rescued from greenhouses
forget me not
[Myosotis dissitiflora] - blue bird
[Cynoglossum amabile] - blue bird (may be mis-labeled)
calendula [Calendula officinalis] - mixed colors
Madagascar dragon tree [Dracaena marginata] - unknown (2 different cultivars, one mom got from Home Depot I-don't-know-when, the other she picked up at a garage sale two years ago)
California poppy [Eschscholzia california] - wildflower variety
chrysanthemum [Chrysanthemum indicum] - butterfield
sweet alyssum [Lobularia maritima] - carpet of snow
carnation [Dianthus caryophyllus] - giant Chabaud mixed colors
hen-and-chicks [Sempervivum tectorum] - unknown (a lady from a garage sale gave it to my mom in a plastic bag when mom mentioned that I liked plants -- this was about nine years ago)
rain lily [Zephyranthes candida] - unknown (it's grandma's cultivar and that's what I'm going to call it)
French lavender [Lavandula dentata] - unknown (Lowe's labeled it as "Spanish lavender")
zonal geranium [Pelargonium hortorum] - red? (grew from cutting back at my old apartment when they were trimming the bush in front of the apartment sign)
dill [Anethum graveolens] - Long Island mammoth
four o' clock [Mirabilis multiflora] - pink? (was here when we moved in)
European columbine
[Aquilegia vulgaris] - McKana's Giant mix
[Aquilegia vulgaris] - music mix
basil [Ocimum basilicum]- sweet basil
narcissus
[Narcissus papyraceus] - paperwhite, unknown (dug it out of the ground during volunteer day a year ago)
[Narcissus pseudonarcissus] - wild daffodil, unknown (dug it out of the flower bed my coworkers and I were preparing two years ago)
iris
[Iris, sub-genus iris, species unknown, possibly germanica] - unknown, yellow and white; looks like something between "Joyance" and "Baby Blessed" (darn it; I should've kept the packaging that year)
[Moraea grandiflora] - African iris, butterfly iris
green onion [Allium fistulosum] - white Libson bunchinig
tomato [Solanum lycopersicum] - large red cherry
potato [Solanum tuberosum] - unknown (grew from the russet potato that sprouted in the fridge)
garlic chive [Allium tuberosum] -unknown (the package doesn't say)
airplane plant [Chlorophytum comosum] - unknown (picked up an escaped plantlet from the side of the road eight years ago)
spearmint [Mentha spicata] - unknown (rescued dying plant from when I worked in green houses)
calla lily [Zantedeschia elliottiana] - white? (one of mom's coworkers divided the plant and gave her a clump)
rose [Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland'] - peace
morning glory [Ipomoea purpurea] - giant mixed colors
sweet pea [Lathyrus odoratus] - Renee's garden mix
pea [Pisum Sativum] - little marvels
celosia [Celosia argentea] - tall plume mix
amaryllis [Amaryllis belladonna] - pink? (given by girl from BIS 101)
campanula [Campanula medium] - Canterbury bells cup and saucer mix
blue flax [Linum perenne] - lewisii
parsley [Petroselinum crispum] - Italian flat-leaf
bronze loquat [Eriobotrya deflexa] - unknown (greenhouse rescue)
strawberry [Fragaria ananassa] - unknown (OSH labeled it as "strawberry")
pothos [Epipremnum aureum] - golden
+ 2 mystery plant that I have no idea, both rescued from greenhouses
forget me not
[Myosotis dissitiflora] - blue bird
[Cynoglossum amabile] - blue bird (may be mis-labeled)
Sowing information
I just realized that this is the perfect place to archive all the sowing information for the different seeds, for after I've thrown away the seed packets. (Not in the habit of keeping empty paper packets around, though sometimes I wonder if I should.)
Today I have:
Carnations
Carnations are grown from seed. Carnation seeds can be directly seeded into your flower garden, or started indoors for transplanting later. If planting outdoors, sow them early in the spring. But, make sure the soil is not too wet.
When sowing seeds, cover lightly with 1/4 inches of fine soil. Space seeds or seedlings 12" apart.
If you are growing perennials, you can propagate them from cuttings or by division. Once your plants have been established, they can be propagated by separation in the fall.
From: here.
Bellflowers aka Campanulas
The seeds are small and require some light to signal germination, so be sure to press them lightly into the soil without burying them. The most reliable method is direct-seeding outdoors, which should be done in late spring or early summer, after the last frost date. Perennial species can be sown late in the summer, allowing them to establish before winter for earliest bloom the next year.
From: here.
Blue flax
SOWING ... Sow Blue Flax seed outdoors in spring or early summer. For best results loosen soil with rake or hoe. Cover flax seed with 1/8 inch of fine soil, well pressed down. Keep soil moist until seedlings appear.
From: here.
Forget me not
Requires no vernalization to initiate flowering, from sowing to flowering in 9-13 weeks according to growing season. Seed does not require covering.
From: here.
Bee balm
Sow seeds 1 inch apart at a depth of 1/8" to 1/16". Start seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before the last spring frost. Thin seedlings to 12" apart. Avoid powdery mildew by keeping good air circulation around plants.
From: here.
Today I have:
Carnations
Carnations are grown from seed. Carnation seeds can be directly seeded into your flower garden, or started indoors for transplanting later. If planting outdoors, sow them early in the spring. But, make sure the soil is not too wet.
When sowing seeds, cover lightly with 1/4 inches of fine soil. Space seeds or seedlings 12" apart.
If you are growing perennials, you can propagate them from cuttings or by division. Once your plants have been established, they can be propagated by separation in the fall.
From: here.
Bellflowers aka Campanulas
The seeds are small and require some light to signal germination, so be sure to press them lightly into the soil without burying them. The most reliable method is direct-seeding outdoors, which should be done in late spring or early summer, after the last frost date. Perennial species can be sown late in the summer, allowing them to establish before winter for earliest bloom the next year.
From: here.
Blue flax
SOWING ... Sow Blue Flax seed outdoors in spring or early summer. For best results loosen soil with rake or hoe. Cover flax seed with 1/8 inch of fine soil, well pressed down. Keep soil moist until seedlings appear.
From: here.
Forget me not
Requires no vernalization to initiate flowering, from sowing to flowering in 9-13 weeks according to growing season. Seed does not require covering.
From: here.
Bee balm
Sow seeds 1 inch apart at a depth of 1/8" to 1/16". Start seeds indoors 8-10 weeks before the last spring frost. Thin seedlings to 12" apart. Avoid powdery mildew by keeping good air circulation around plants.
From: here.
20080722
A few more days
The rose bush is blooming and I'm getting a second flush of carnations and columbines (though I'm not sure if that's supposed to happen, but no one's also told me otherwise...). My parsley's also decided that it wants to be a biannual (despite of the fact that I PULLED IT UP MONTHS AGO --which begs the question: what's it growing from right now?), possibly a perennial. I'm thinking that maybe I should name it, because it's a lone parsley that's surviving by itself from the side of a laundry detergent bucket. One has to admire its tenuous existence.
I've now had this yard for going on three years, and the watering has washed away most of the soil, exposing (because I'm not going to put in new plants until rain season comes again)lots and lots of rocks. I think one of the previous owners (must be before the tarp thing happened) may have had a rock garden / border here, because I came across many pieces of white, sparkly quartz. Yesterday I finally got fed up with the rocks and took a large bucket to the yard to collect them. There were a lot. I wonder, if I don't collect them, ever, if my backyard would come to resemble the rocky shores of Bodega Bay, where BIRDS was filmed. Since we don't have an ocean in our backyard, I can only conclude that it'll have the gloominess of the place, without the actual scenery.
It's just as well that I went rock-collecting.
I've now had this yard for going on three years, and the watering has washed away most of the soil, exposing (because I'm not going to put in new plants until rain season comes again)lots and lots of rocks. I think one of the previous owners (must be before the tarp thing happened) may have had a rock garden / border here, because I came across many pieces of white, sparkly quartz. Yesterday I finally got fed up with the rocks and took a large bucket to the yard to collect them. There were a lot. I wonder, if I don't collect them, ever, if my backyard would come to resemble the rocky shores of Bodega Bay, where BIRDS was filmed. Since we don't have an ocean in our backyard, I can only conclude that it'll have the gloominess of the place, without the actual scenery.
It's just as well that I went rock-collecting.
20080714
Quick update
Didn't plant the bell flowers. My jasmine plant arrived in the mail! It's not the vine type commonly seen around here, but a proper Arabian tea jasmine that I remember from when I was a kid. ...and yes, it did come in the mail because that type of jasmine isn't common to this region, so I had to order it online.
Jasminum sambac "Maid of Orleans" was planted in the pot of soil originally intended for bell flowers. I can't just stick it in the ground. It's a none native, so it'll more even more fragile than the stuff that normally grows around in this climate, and the soil in my backyard will probably kill it.
All the seeds have germinated, including all eight peas that I planted. I have a mutant pea. It's about the same size as the others except it has abnormally small leaves. The plant biologist in me wants to submit to a lab for genetic screening. The rest of me is more lax and will be content to let it grow and see how it turns out.
Weeded. Again.
Fed worm bin this afternoon. All my worms have NOT died, despite of what my mom kept on telling me. The roses have started blooming again, same with the calendulas, after my round of trimming. We've an orange rose and a pink one both blooming on the same bush right now, and it's very pretty to look at.
Jasminum sambac "Maid of Orleans" was planted in the pot of soil originally intended for bell flowers. I can't just stick it in the ground. It's a none native, so it'll more even more fragile than the stuff that normally grows around in this climate, and the soil in my backyard will probably kill it.
All the seeds have germinated, including all eight peas that I planted. I have a mutant pea. It's about the same size as the others except it has abnormally small leaves. The plant biologist in me wants to submit to a lab for genetic screening. The rest of me is more lax and will be content to let it grow and see how it turns out.
Weeded. Again.
Fed worm bin this afternoon. All my worms have NOT died, despite of what my mom kept on telling me. The roses have started blooming again, same with the calendulas, after my round of trimming. We've an orange rose and a pink one both blooming on the same bush right now, and it's very pretty to look at.
20080703
The limiting factor
I think I have enough potting mix for one more pot, and so now I'm trying to decide whether to go ahead and plant basil or try the campanula (bell flower) seeds (pretty sure I traded for a double-tiered type, so it should look spectacular when it flowers).
Basil has the benefit of being edible (v. good with tomato or as pesto), but I suppose if I plant it here I'll have to lug it to SD with me, since there is no point otherwise: my parents don't eat basil.
I guess that decides that I'm sowing campanulas today.
[Edit 9:21]
Found it! This is the kind I have, the cup & saucer Canterbury bells.
Basil has the benefit of being edible (v. good with tomato or as pesto), but I suppose if I plant it here I'll have to lug it to SD with me, since there is no point otherwise: my parents don't eat basil.
I guess that decides that I'm sowing campanulas today.
[Edit 9:21]
Found it! This is the kind I have, the cup & saucer Canterbury bells.
20080701
Something else learned
The approximate time for weeds to reappear in a zone 8 garden in the summer is: one week.
20080630
Planting
Lemon balm, feverfew, and garlic chives that was sown right before I left for SD have germinated. I think the lemon balm and feverfew are pretty much done germinating, but the garlic chives are still...thinking about it. (I KNOW that I put in more than just two seeds). Both lemon balm and feverfew are surface-germinaters, but chives need to be covered. Maybe that's a reason for the slight delay.
Today I put in: chamomile and bee balm. I think both of these need light to germinate also (well, we'll see). By the way, all the seeds, except the chives, are traded from GW. I'm also going to be putting in blue flax, celosia, and more forget-me-nots, but I need to look up sowing info for flax and celosia because I've never grown them before. The results so far has celosia covered (one to two inches of soil), and the same for flax. If I still have any soil (and pots) left I'll try marigolds too. I think they'll do better in pots because the snails congregate less, so hopefully it means that less will get eaten when they germinate.
Why do cultivated lupines look so much uglier than the wild ones? Ditto (I think) for larkspur.
Today I put in: chamomile and bee balm. I think both of these need light to germinate also (well, we'll see). By the way, all the seeds, except the chives, are traded from GW. I'm also going to be putting in blue flax, celosia, and more forget-me-nots, but I need to look up sowing info for flax and celosia because I've never grown them before. The results so far has celosia covered (one to two inches of soil), and the same for flax. If I still have any soil (and pots) left I'll try marigolds too. I think they'll do better in pots because the snails congregate less, so hopefully it means that less will get eaten when they germinate.
Why do cultivated lupines look so much uglier than the wild ones? Ditto (I think) for larkspur.
20080624
Three day absence
After my three day trip to SD (involving three days without watering for my poor plants) I have lost:
1 strawberry
1 mint
1 strawberry
1 mint
20080619
The reminants
After much searching, what is left of my veggie garden can be summed up as:
3 green onions
3 potatoes
2 tomatoes
1 basil
7 chives
Vegetables don't take to neglect well.
3 green onions
3 potatoes
2 tomatoes
1 basil
7 chives
Vegetables don't take to neglect well.
Harvest time!
I've been up since 7:30 this morning which, yes, is a bit sad considering that this is summer and I'm taking the time off. ("Just relax," mom said, while I was busy trip-planning last night. "Didn't you say you're taking the time off?" "Um," I said, "I am.") But -- it's round-two of the garden clean-up after a quarter (well almost, I did come back once, in the beginning of spring quarter) of neglect, and it's really hard to stop a work already in progress, especially if it's something that you enjoy and you're getting really into it.
In fact, this morning's round of digging up weeds (three piles yesterday, two more piles today) has left me positively bouncy. There's nothing like weeding to make you feel productive, because afterwards you get to see a giant pile of weeds that you dug up. Nothing like a cleared path of garden plot, with a pile of weeds beside it, to give you the warm glow of a job well done.
Picking bugs off of myself, on the other hand, is the less appealing aspect of gardening. That's what warm showers are for, right?
I harvested loads of seeds today. The columbines are pretty much spent at this point, though way in the corner of the garden I did find a late blooming plant. Or maybe it's just one that has a really long blooming period. In any case, it's this gorgeous double-tiered dark blue-purple flower from the McKana's giant hybrid mix. I took a photo of it and collected a bunch of seeds of it. Then I remembered that columbines are notorious for not breeding true to parent, but well --! Purple and white ones are pretty, too.
Have giant amounts of calendula seed now. In another month or two I should also have a healthy load of butterfly iris and carnation seeds. The dill seeds are drying still, and I will have a lot of those again. This year's dill is somewhat shorter than last years (a reassuring 4ft instead of last year's giant 6ft tall monsters), but they seem to be sturdier, so there's less chance of them falling over half-way and losing all the seeds. I might have lavender seeds, but I haven't actually checked yet. Alyssum seeds are...well I've given up on harvesting them. They spread. They eat other plants. My goal in foreseeable future is just to keep them contained enough so that they don't end up devouring my entire garden.
We're getting strawberries now! After I divided the plant (into 3) in the ...spring? there was a pot kept in the shade, one in the sun, and one directly in the dirt. The one in the pot/sun environment did best (pot/shade died due to over-watering, dirt/sun is recovering from being under-watered while in poor soil) and it smells fantastic. Store-bought strawberries don't smell like that...it's a little bit like an almost sticky-sweet scent of honey and strawberry mixed together. Too bad the fruit is really small and the plant produces about three ripe strawberries at a time. Oh well....
In fact, this morning's round of digging up weeds (three piles yesterday, two more piles today) has left me positively bouncy. There's nothing like weeding to make you feel productive, because afterwards you get to see a giant pile of weeds that you dug up. Nothing like a cleared path of garden plot, with a pile of weeds beside it, to give you the warm glow of a job well done.
Picking bugs off of myself, on the other hand, is the less appealing aspect of gardening. That's what warm showers are for, right?
I harvested loads of seeds today. The columbines are pretty much spent at this point, though way in the corner of the garden I did find a late blooming plant. Or maybe it's just one that has a really long blooming period. In any case, it's this gorgeous double-tiered dark blue-purple flower from the McKana's giant hybrid mix. I took a photo of it and collected a bunch of seeds of it. Then I remembered that columbines are notorious for not breeding true to parent, but well --! Purple and white ones are pretty, too.
Have giant amounts of calendula seed now. In another month or two I should also have a healthy load of butterfly iris and carnation seeds. The dill seeds are drying still, and I will have a lot of those again. This year's dill is somewhat shorter than last years (a reassuring 4ft instead of last year's giant 6ft tall monsters), but they seem to be sturdier, so there's less chance of them falling over half-way and losing all the seeds. I might have lavender seeds, but I haven't actually checked yet. Alyssum seeds are...well I've given up on harvesting them. They spread. They eat other plants. My goal in foreseeable future is just to keep them contained enough so that they don't end up devouring my entire garden.
We're getting strawberries now! After I divided the plant (into 3) in the ...spring? there was a pot kept in the shade, one in the sun, and one directly in the dirt. The one in the pot/sun environment did best (pot/shade died due to over-watering, dirt/sun is recovering from being under-watered while in poor soil) and it smells fantastic. Store-bought strawberries don't smell like that...it's a little bit like an almost sticky-sweet scent of honey and strawberry mixed together. Too bad the fruit is really small and the plant produces about three ripe strawberries at a time. Oh well....
20080618
Propinquity helps
Spent the entire morning weeding today and I still haven't finished yet. There are a lot of weeds. Carpets of wood sorrel are going to seed but luckily I got to them just before the seeds are dispersed (after which there is NO HOPE). I also dug up a bunch of something probably closely related to miner's lettuce (family "Portulacaceae" -- forgot what it'll get merged into), which is edible, but still weedy. There's also loads of something from Polygonaceae and, of course, invasive grasses. On the bright side our backyard is still bermuda-grass-free. Once THOSE things get established removing them is impossible.
Finally torn down the dead sweet peas (as in yellow-and-dried dead), I'm not entirely sure why my parents kept it there for so long, since keeping dead plant material, when they're not in a compost heap (I miss my worm bin; mom doesn't) tends to breed diseases. The four o' clocks are semi-bolting and so I trimmed them a bit too. Next on the list is getting ALL the calendula seeds harvested (still going to have a giant row of them by the door next year, though) and pull up some sweet alyssums. They've gone and ate my daffodils & paper whites again.
Carnations are blooming though. We have white ones and pink ones. I'm not sure how harvesting the seeds will work out, but we'll see.
Finally torn down the dead sweet peas (as in yellow-and-dried dead), I'm not entirely sure why my parents kept it there for so long, since keeping dead plant material, when they're not in a compost heap (I miss my worm bin; mom doesn't) tends to breed diseases. The four o' clocks are semi-bolting and so I trimmed them a bit too. Next on the list is getting ALL the calendula seeds harvested (still going to have a giant row of them by the door next year, though) and pull up some sweet alyssums. They've gone and ate my daffodils & paper whites again.
Carnations are blooming though. We have white ones and pink ones. I'm not sure how harvesting the seeds will work out, but we'll see.
Plant of the day
Plant of the day is eucalyptus, of genus Eucalyptus from the family Myrtaceae:
They are actually not native to CA, but to Australia. However, back in the railroading days enough of them were introduced that they've successfully naturalized into the Cal landscape. A particular south Cal campus comes to mind.
The plant is characterized by oil glands in the leaves (little black or transparent dots if you hold a leaf blade up to the light) and showy stamens. Yep, the pink stuff is all stamens. The petals and sepals fuse into this odd cup-like little thing that falls off when the flower blooms.
I like the way they smell.
They are actually not native to CA, but to Australia. However, back in the railroading days enough of them were introduced that they've successfully naturalized into the Cal landscape. A particular south Cal campus comes to mind.
The plant is characterized by oil glands in the leaves (little black or transparent dots if you hold a leaf blade up to the light) and showy stamens. Yep, the pink stuff is all stamens. The petals and sepals fuse into this odd cup-like little thing that falls off when the flower blooms.
I like the way they smell.
20080617
Discovery and predictions
I've discovered that mom has left a lot of plants go to seed and didn't harvest most of them in time. By next year we're probably going to have this giant thing of sweet peas and the doorway to the backyard will be swallowed by calendulas. The hen-and-chicks will probably quietly wither away somewhere beneath all the sweet alyssums (they're carpeting again). I wonder where I can put the peas. They're the only vegetable that I'm planting this year but I need somewhere to put them where they won't be completely swamped by other things.
Gardening day tomorrow! I got a lot of basic paperwork and stuff done today and the rest will either need to be done over a period of time or will be done two weeks later, because they'll take that long. I expect I'll have a seed list up soon, though.
Gardening day tomorrow! I got a lot of basic paperwork and stuff done today and the rest will either need to be done over a period of time or will be done two weeks later, because they'll take that long. I expect I'll have a seed list up soon, though.
Plant of the day
I'm starting to clean up my data and going through my floristics photos. There is a lot of stuff:
Common name is, I believe, "catch-fly". The family Caryophyllaceae is generally identified by having opposite leaves, swollen nodes, and claw-and-limb petals in multiples of five (usually lobed, sometimes to the point where it looks like there are ten petals instead of five). Silene in particular has sort of ribbed calyx tube and hairy stems.
Common name is, I believe, "catch-fly". The family Caryophyllaceae is generally identified by having opposite leaves, swollen nodes, and claw-and-limb petals in multiples of five (usually lobed, sometimes to the point where it looks like there are ten petals instead of five). Silene in particular has sort of ribbed calyx tube and hairy stems.
20080607
20080601
I miss my garden
Floristic course is at an end. Our last lab is the "fern lab" and here is my favorite fern:
The back (Pteridaceae members have false indusia):
Also went to Ernesto's talk on South Africa plants this week and he had some really awesome photos. Here's one of them, with an endangered flower:
My jasmine is dying. Or maybe I should say "dead" since the chances of it recovering at this stage is statistically insignificant. I over-watered the week before, when the temperature dropped suddenly, and the soil didn't have a chance to dry, ever. This week's not hot enough for it to drain. I kept meaning to stick outside in the sun for a very long time, which would've helped but I kept on forgetting, so now the water-logged soil has killed the roots that I've painstakingly germinated and I have lost my jasmine.
Plant fail.
The back (Pteridaceae members have false indusia):
Also went to Ernesto's talk on South Africa plants this week and he had some really awesome photos. Here's one of them, with an endangered flower:
My jasmine is dying. Or maybe I should say "dead" since the chances of it recovering at this stage is statistically insignificant. I over-watered the week before, when the temperature dropped suddenly, and the soil didn't have a chance to dry, ever. This week's not hot enough for it to drain. I kept meaning to stick outside in the sun for a very long time, which would've helped but I kept on forgetting, so now the water-logged soil has killed the roots that I've painstakingly germinated and I have lost my jasmine.
Plant fail.
20080525
Pine cones!
The grey pine that I saw on my trip to the Sierras yesterday:
They are common in CA foothills, kind of droopy looking pines with 3 grey-green needles per bundle. They also have main branches located relatively low on the main trunk and compared to other pines, they are sparsely leaved.
Coulter pine, which has really cool cones that have curved scales:
Common in Bay Area and southern CA, 3 needles per bundle with stiff green needles. It's cone is of a lethal size. By which I mean you really, really don't want one to land on you.
Lodgepole pine, with HUGE cones. As our herbarium curator told us: don't eat lunch under this tree!
This thing only has 2 needles per bundle. It's common to mid and upper elevation pine forests in Seirra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. That lab manual next to it is just about 8.5 by 11 inches, so you have something to scale it to.
Another one of the cool coulter cone. (See? Alliteration makes everything better.)
They are common in CA foothills, kind of droopy looking pines with 3 grey-green needles per bundle. They also have main branches located relatively low on the main trunk and compared to other pines, they are sparsely leaved.
Coulter pine, which has really cool cones that have curved scales:
Common in Bay Area and southern CA, 3 needles per bundle with stiff green needles. It's cone is of a lethal size. By which I mean you really, really don't want one to land on you.
Lodgepole pine, with HUGE cones. As our herbarium curator told us: don't eat lunch under this tree!
This thing only has 2 needles per bundle. It's common to mid and upper elevation pine forests in Seirra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains. That lab manual next to it is just about 8.5 by 11 inches, so you have something to scale it to.
Another one of the cool coulter cone. (See? Alliteration makes everything better.)
20080522
20080519
I am convinced
Asteraceae is very diverse. There are gazillions of taxons out there and THEY ALL HAVE YELLOW FLOWERS.
Gah.
Gah.
20080517
The joys of floristic courses
20080504
Manzanita
They're pretty neat looking. The manzanita has these urn-shaped flowers and can be confused with Arbutus, or madrone. You can tell the two apart because manzanita has leaves that are rounder and gray-ish on both sides and madrone has leaves that are shiny/darker on one side.
20080430
It's prickly
Wild cucumbers. We covered these in the lab the other week and their fruits are hecka fun to play with.
Let's see, current update on the state of my No, I Don't Have A Garden But I'll Do My Damnest To Pretend pots in my room has that everything that is ready to be planted in the backyard has been taken back by my parents last weekend. Hopefully they'll get planted correctly in the backyard. Hopefully they'll get watered correctly. Hopefully they'll live. Now, that's a lot of hoping but hey, dum spiro spero. If all else fails I can spend the first few weeks of my days off (oh God I HOPE I get some days off) frantically trying to replace everything with whatever seeds I have left.
I can always tag people in GW for more seeds. The people there are nice that way.
What's left in my room are, currently, two pots of snapdragon shoots that have gone off and died because they went past the planting stage, became too leggy due to inadequate lighting, and lost too much water in our recent Hot Again, Cold Again weather. I have seven pots currently covered with shrink wrap in an effort to minic green house, only one of which has germinated (I have really good luck with forget-me-nots, it's rather surprising because I always imagined them as really temperamental flowers). I have: 1 beebalm, dehydrated and wilting because the last few 80-something degree days have not been kind to it, and it's only two centimeters long. I have: one feverfew, 1cm tall and determined to stay that way despite of the fact that's it's a couple of months old and should be taller. I have: black dragon coleus, leggy, green and kind of strange. I'm not quite sure what to do with it.
I also have, two jasmine cuttings currently rooting. In an old newspaper bag and a zip-lock bag, with wet paper towels. I am very high-tech that way.
I still miss the backyard, which I do, in fact, refer to as "my backyard" in my head.
20080428
Really cool plant
Something from the mustard family. I've seen this out in the vernal pools. Isn't it awesome?
20080420
Last of the yard photos
Three front yard plants that I don't actually know the name of, and I planted the first one.
Mikey. Still growing.
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