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.
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