Grad Student Life

Titans vs Cardinals

2009-12-30T08:18:00.005-06:00

My NFL loyalty has always been with the Dallas Cowboys, but since the Titans came to Tennessee, I pull for them. I guess you could call them my AFC team. Anyhow, I usually try to weasel my way into free tickets at least once a year, and this year I couldn't have been randomly given tickets to a better game.

After starting 0-6, the Titans were on a 4-game winning streak playing the Arizona Cardinals at home (11/29/09). Down by 4 with 2:37 left in the game, Vince Young started a 99-yard drive to put the Titans up 20-17 as time expired. Perhaps the most awesome part about the game was our decision in the 4th quarter to watch the rest of the game in the end zone area, to save time fighting the crowds down the ramps from our nosebleed seats. Because of this decision, we got to be at the endzone where the Titans scored their game-winning touchdown. By far the best NFL game I've been to.

where we were sitting

I got a little artsy

Go Titans! Go!

we were so close!

Titans win!

Fun fact: I've seen another NFL team play the Cardinals. In 1994, Dad took me to see the Cowboys play the Cardinals (my only Cowboys game to date actually).

"In Greek mythology, the Titans were greater even than the gods." (Coach Boone, Remember the Titans)

"My Sharona" - The Knacks

Innertube Water Polo Champions

2009-12-02T21:51:00.006-06:00

After two years of losing by one point in the final game, our innertube water polo team finally won a championship. This keeps my streak alive of winning one intramural sport championship each year I'm in graduate school. And of course, this means we get a T-shirt (something I am entirely too excited about). I think my sports will slow down until 2010, as my co-ed flag football team got knocked out of the playoffs on Monday, and we finished soccer a couple weeks ago.

championship!

Things are also off to a good start with my new running partner (Jenn). We've already run a couple times this week, and our system seems to be working well. We are also planning to go back to Paris next weekend for the "Over the River" 8-Miler at Paris Landing (a part of Tennessee's State Park Running Tour).

"It's not whether you win or lose - but whether I win or lose." (Sandy Lyle)

"A Well-Respected Man" - The Kinks

Ain't as Good as I Once Was

2009-11-28T18:02:00.003-06:00

After being called out for my severe decline in blogger posts in 2009 (*Christina*), I decided to kill two birds with one "I should improve" stone.

We all (all two of you that still follow my blog) know that I have reduced my annual posts to an embarassingly low number this year. I mostly blame my qualifying exam followed by grant writing and paper submission (work, work, work), but really, there's no excuse. The last month or so, I've tried to get on the right track (which was also pointed out by my fellow blogger).

I'm not quite sure when it happened, but somewhere in the past half decade, I went from an extreme neat freak (borderline OCD with household organization) to entirely too carefree when it comes to keeping things tidy. This isn't saying that I'm a slob (i.e. actually dirty or disgusting), but I've really slacked on maintaining an organized being - in lab and at home. I guess, over the years, I've learned that I can still get by with minimal tidiness, but I would really like to overcome this vice soon.

I also used to be borderline obsessive about running on a regular basis. Somehow, this too, has slipped through the cracks, with my routine now only to make sure to run once or twice before any "major" event (i.e. half marathon, 8-miler, 48-hour 200-mile relay). I think part of the problem is lack of spare time, but another major factor is a deficit in a running buddy. I hope this will be fixed soon, as my old Parisian running partner (Jenn) is moving to Nashville, and fortunately for me, she found a place to live that is only a couple blocks from my apartment. We currently have a 6am running date set for Monday morning.

I used to also be the biggest anti-procrastinator. I believe I can blame graduate school for this one. I'm on the fence about fixing this though, as I am somehow less stressed by waiting until the last minute, and things are still getting done in time. So...

"Habits are safer than rules; you don't have to watch them. And you don't have to keep them, either. They keep you." (Frank Crane)

"Ain't as Good as I Once Was" - Toby Keith

Flux Capacitors - NSL Champions

2009-11-23T12:50:00.004-06:00

This fall, I finally found enough time to put together a co-ed soccer team to play in the Nashville Sports Leagues. Through playing intramurals at Vanderbilt, I've met a handful of people who are pretty good at soccer, and I was able to recruit most of them to play with us. When I added in a few others I know in the Nashville area (a guy from Paris and a girl I played UTC club soccer with), I had put together a pretty solid team.

We lost two games in the regular season: one was our first game against a good team (we really just hadn't played together before) and the other was against the league's top team on a day when more than half of our regular squad was out of town.

Yesterday, we played in the final two games of the playoffs. We won the semi-final match 3-0, and the championship game 8-1. I'm very excited about winning it all, and our team plans to continue to play together when outdoor starts back up in the spring.

So for those who may be curious, we got our team name basically because I'm a firm believer in teams having "uniforms" (wearing the same shirt). I browsed 6dollarshirts.com looking for a pop culture reference to serve as both a team name and cheap uniform. There were a couple other ideas that we threw around, but in the end, the team voted on Flux Capacitors.

despite how optimistic this picture looks,
I did not score (hit the goal post)

former UTC soccer coaches reunited in Nashville

sweet shirts, right? :)

"The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn't move, kick it until it does." (Phil Woosnam)

"Too Fake" - Hockey

Colorado

2009-11-16T19:09:00.001-06:00

Before my qualifying exam, I was trying to decide if it was a good idea to plan a trip afterward, with the dilemma being that if I didn't pass, I would have wasted my money. I decided to play it safe when Southwest had crazy awesome deals this summer by planning a trip to Colorado in October (two months after my exam). The timing of the flight purchase centered around seeing the Cowboys play the Broncos, but we actually ended up postponing our departure a couple days, as there was just way too much going on.

So we were able to switch our flights (one of the great joys of flying Southwest), which put us driving out of the Denver airport by 9am local time. Since we didn't really think about how early October wasn't the best time to go skiing, we decided to do a mini-brewery tour of Colorado, as Henry and I both enjoy good craft beers, and well, Colorado is the place to find them.

We started off in Golden, CO, where Coors is made. I'm not a fan of Coors, or any of the big three, but we figured we might as well see what all the fuss is about. After touring Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis this summer (hopefully to be blogged about one day), I was very disappointed in the Coors tour. It was self-guided (i.e. no tour guide, just a hand-held speaker), and the brewery itself was kind of plain. But we went anyway, and we can cross it off the list.

sadly this was the coolest thing to me at Coors...
if medical research doesn't work out, I can always give
beer quality control a whirl

We next headed up to Boulder, CO to tour Boulder Beer Company. The tour wasn't anything exciting, but at the end they did let you sample everything on draft, which is really all I wanted to do with our beer tour - sample good brews.

the bottling line at Boulder Beer

we got an amazing deal on this hotel right off the main
area in Boulder... this was our morning view

That evening we were exhausted, and after grabbing dinner we went back to the hotel and just crashed. This was a smart decision, as we got up the next morning and went up into the mountains to get some pictures.

my career as a photographer will blossom later in life

ignore how natural (read: horrible) we look
and just take note of the scenery

We then headed north up to Fort Collins, CO, which had several breweries we decided to visit. The first was Odell, and they probably had the best beer out of anywhere else we went. They don't distribute to Tennessee (closest is Missouri), so I am kind of bummed I won't be having their stuff again for a while.

we racked up on awesome Odell merchandise
(shirts, growler koozie, disc golf driver)

We had to schedule a tour at New Belgium, as it's a very popular brewery, with lots to see. Our tour guide had entirely too much energy, but she did make it fun, and she knew what she was talking about (not always a given on these tours) - and of course, there were samples at the end.

the signature bike for New Belgium Brewing Company

We went by the tap room at Fort Collins Brewery, but I wasn't impressed at all - with either their brews or their facilities.

A fortunate discovery I had when we landed was that Cheyenne, WY was only 90 miles north of Denver. To most, that fact means absolutely nothing, but to me, it was wonderful news, as a good friend from high school (Jennifer) was living in Cheyenne. So I gave her a call, and she and her husband met us in Fort Collins where we had dinner at a local brewpub. I really hope to go back early 2010 and stay with them to get some skiing in.

@ Coopersmith's Pub in Fort Collins, CO

it was great to see Jenn (not something I do often enough)

Wednesday was mostly uneventful, as we had to drive back to Denver to catch our flight. The trip was short, but quite successful - we were able to cram in several different breweries to see how different things are in CO versus here in TN. It was a beautiful state, with tons of things to do. I wouldn't mind living there one day.

the view from the interstate on our way back to Denver

"I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this." (Lloyd, Dumb and Dumber)

"Mountain Music" - Alabama

Back... to the Future!

2009-11-05T16:29:00.004-06:00

This year for Halloween, Henry and I were Doc Brown and Marty McFly.

Great Scott!

if I had the time, I would so Photoshop in
flames from the DeLorean

"1.21 gigawatts? 1.21 gigawatts? Great Scott!" (Doc Brown)

"Back in Time" - Huey Lewis & the News

Chronology is Lost

2009-10-12T12:33:00.002-05:00

After another two month sabbatical, I do plan to begin blogging again. Recent events are obviously going to be easier to write about, so I may have to come back to stuff that happened this summer. I'll do my best. At least I'm making an effort, right?

I've had an extremely busy couple of months, with the last couple weeks absolutely insane. Some of it was by design, while other unexpected turns I could have done without. Either way, I do plan to update soon.

"There's nothing like biting off more than you can chew, and then chewing anyway." (Mark Burnett)

"Time" - Hootie & the Blowfish

Last Semester of Classes

2009-08-13T20:36:00.007-05:00

This spring was my last semester of classes... EVER. As I whined back in January, I had two classes that were mostly annoying for the following reasons:
(1) I had to spend several hours a week attending such courses, which took me out of lab, hampering productivity
(2) I had to give my presentation for both classes on the same day

The classes weren't that bad, but I was just to the point that I was sick of sitting in a classroom (19 years is a long time). My presentations were a pain to get together at the time, but I was glad to have them both done in one day. I was very relieved after being done with my last class ever back in April, only to realize that my summer was going to be miserable (and it was; will post about it soon).

Other notable events of last spring:
- I participated in the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Science Day - basically a poster presentation for the neuroscience department at Vandy. I was uber intimidated by the whole thing, as most people work with mice and don't exactly understand the value of a simple system such as C. elegans. This was why I was surprised to learn the following week that I had won Honorable Mention in Cellular & Molecular Neuroscience for my poster presentation. It was a nice morale booster.
- I played women's intramural basketball again. We topped our one win season of 2008 by being completely defeated this year. The most exciting game was when we (older Vanderbilt biomedical graduate students) played the first year girls... who beat us. *wah-waaah*
- I joined the other UTC club soccer alumni in Knoxville for the annual indoor tournament (this was my 6th year... wow that's a long time). It was great to see everyone again, but I believe that our age is catching up to us. We didn't do well at all, and I'm pretty sure we made the organizers mad - we left after our last bracket game, instead of staying another several hours to be humiliated by the top seeded team (University of Tennessee's actual women's soccer team - not fair at all). So I'm not so sure if we will be going back next year or not, which is really quite sad.

the old gals

- Henry and I went to Memphis for the Sweet 16/Elite 8 games. We got to hang out with a good friend (Nick) while we were there, but the actual games were complete blowouts - not at all entertaining.
- I saw the US men's soccer World Cup Qualifying match against Trinadad & Tobago.
- I joined the Twitter craze, which is good, because that's the only way I was able to come up with this list of things that happened many months ago (just looked at my old tweets).

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school." (Albert Einstein)

"This is the Last Time" - Keane

	Keane - This Is The Last Time

	Found at skreemr.com

Blog Sabbatical

2009-08-13T11:41:00.004-05:00

So, I may have taken a ~7 month sabbatical from my blog. Sorry about that. I hope to catch up on what I've done since January in the next series of posts. Maybe that will at least somehow justify my negligence with the blog.

Forgive me. I will be better.

"I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once." (Jennifer Yane)

"Don't You (Forget About Me)" - Simple Minds

	Simple Minds - Don't You Forget About Me

	Found at skreemr.com

Four More Years

2009-01-16T15:59:00.003-06:00

Yes, boys and girls, my blog has officially turned four years old. Going off of what I posted about last year, my life is both pretty similar and vastly different than 365 days ago.

In January 2008, I was not looking forward to the cancer section of bioregulation (first year course). As with every section of that class, though, I got through it with minimal damage to my ego.

In January 2009, I am not looking forward to my current course load. I have two classes left in my graduate career (a cancer & development course and a seminar-based course). In each, we are assigned to give one presentation. With both course directors assigning presentation dates alphabetically, I'm forced to give both on the same day (02/20/09). I could probably have one of them changed, because it is going to suck to prepare for both simultaneously; but I would honestly rather just get them over with.

In January 2008, I was excited about going to the Maryville/Knoxville indoor soccer tournament with fellow UTC alumni.

In January 2009, there are plans to revisit this tournament and get our annual reunion. I'm stoked.

In a recent chat with my boss, he was kind enough to remind me of the horrible year I have ahead of me. In addition to finishing my last semester of classes, I have to essentially reformat and rewrite this paper that should already be published, take and pass my qualifying exam, and then write a predoctoral grant.

So while each year I'm sure I'll find something to whine about in January, I think the next 11.5 months will be very challenging.

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves." (Bill Vaughn)

"Reelin' in the Year" - Steely Dan

	Steely Dan - Reelin' in the Years

	Found at skreemr.com

Version 2.0

2009-01-12T09:00:00.013-06:00

Instead of formalizing a list of resolutions, I have decided to just focus on some things I need to improve upon. Hopefully by the end of 2009, I will be a better version of myself - Mallory 2.0:

- reading: with the treacherous qualifying exam coming up in 2009, I really need to start reading up on the literature on a regular basis.
- running: I have tentatively been convinced (by my UTC athletic partner in crime, Alicia) to begin training for the Country Music (full) Marathon. I have already signed up for the half, and I have until the middle of March to decide if I want to switch over or not. If our training goes as planned, I should be up to full length by then.
- being green: I live 2.5 miles from my lab, with a bus stop two blocks from my front door. I'm going to make an effort to at least once a week ride my bike or take the bus. This will likely be every day once the weather improves, but once a week when it's 20 degrees outside is a good goal for now.
- thinking: as fundamental as this sounds, it's really something I need to improve on scientifically. I'm a great student - I know how to take notes and what to study for a written exam (which is why I have done so well thus far), but I am quite deficient in the ability to think extemporaneously. I don't ask nearly enough questions in class or lab meeting, which can be directly correlated to my inability to think on my feet. This is something I will have to master by this summer in order to get past the qualifying exam, as that is one of the main things they test you for. I have diagnosed my problem "verbal retardation" - a topic I will most certainly post about in future months.
- budgeting: I think the fact that I don't have student loans to pay back has stunted my ability to spend wisely. This isn't saying that I buy unnecessary items, but I would just like to pay more attention to the purchases I make.
- blogging: [speaks for itself]

"There's only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self." (Aldous Huxley)

"Better Life" - 3 Doors Down

	3 Doors Down - Better Life

	Found at skreemr.com

really.

2009-01-09T17:48:00.004-06:00

So that mock grant I was griping about in November? I finally got it back. To refresh, the assignment was for us to write a 5-page grant proposal on a topic assigned to us that has nothing to do with our research. One would think that after putting in weeks worth of work (reading the literature, drafting specific aims, actually writing the document) we would get gobs of feedback that would be useful since we will be repeating the process this summer for our qualifying exams...

On the hard copy of my grant that was handed back (graded by the PI whose field I was assigned), the following was written, on the right margin of the first page underneath my grade (A): "Good job - it's hard to write a grant proposal when you've never been given instructions for paper formatting, etc. You made a good attempt, and proposed reasonable experiments that could lead to interesting results that advance the field." And that's it. Not one other pen stroke on the rest of the document. Instead of, oh I don't know, commenting on the correct grant format or telling me which proposed experiments were best/worst, I got a PI who preferred to criticize the format of the class.

It just makes me mad because I did put a good amount of effort into it, and I know it's not great. It would have been very helpful to get a professional opinion on how to make it better.

Oh well.

"There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all." (Peter F. Drucker)

"Go Your Own Way" - Fleetwood Mac

	Fleetwood Mac - Go Yor Own Way

	Found at skreemr.com

Vanderbilt Commodores: Music City Bowl Champions

2009-01-06T07:18:00.008-06:00

Since the last time Vanderbilt went bowling was before I was born (1982), I can honestly say I never thought that I would be around to see Vandy win a bowl game, much less be in attendance when it happened.

After a promising 5-0 start this year, the Commodores dropped 6 of their last 7 regular season games, not giving the fans much confidence taking on the #24 ranked Boston College squad. Maybe it was the hometown crowd or perhaps the absence of mental errors that plagued Boston College, but somehow, the Dores pulled away with a 16-14 win.

It's no Rose Bowl victory, but for the private school that's been the joke of the SEC for decades, it's exciting. Like always, Bobby Johnson had quite the roulette of quarterbacks during the game (allowing three different QBs take snaps during the game); the most success was when redshirt freshman Larry Smith was in the game. This kid gives me hope for future seasons.

Matt, me, Henry:
freezing in the upper decks

our view of the action

Bryant Hahnfeldt's 45-yard field goal
to put the Dores up 16-14
(photo: John Russell)

Gatorade shower for Coach Bobby Johnson
(photo: John Russell)

Music City Bowl Champions
(photo: John Russell)

You know it's Vanderbilt football when the punter walks away with the Music City Bowl MVP title.

And I'd just like to throw in there that Tennessee wasn't bowl eligible this year. Go Dores.

"First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." (Mahatma Gandhi)

"Thunderstruck" - ACDC

	ACDC - Thunderstruck.mp3

	Found at skreemr.com

Bad Feeling About 2009

2009-01-05T15:00:00.002-06:00

I can't explain it, but I've got a bad feeling about this year.

I really hope it's just preemptive anxiety about my qualifying exam this summer.

To start off the great year, I had my car looked at this morning. It had been making an awful screeching noise on start-up. The new body shop I took it to (near campus, great reviews) told me that the following was wrong with my car:
- there was a nail in the back left tire, leaving it flat, explaining why it had been a bumpy ride (yes, this is something I should have noticed, but since the screeching sound started I have tried to avoid driving)
- the screech on start-up was due to one of the belts (couldn't tell you which one) that was dry and about to go out
- while on the road trying to find out why the screech was occurring, the mechanic saw the 'check engine' light come on; after getting it back to the shop, it was determined my thermostat was shot, further explaining why my car wasn't holding heat (besides the crack in my radiator that was due to the hit & run)
- my right axel is completely worn out and needs to be replaced

I had them repair all but the right axel, and I will take care of that (which costs as much as all other car faults combined) in a month or so. I don't drive that often, so hopefully it'll be alright.

Yay 2009.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." (Han Solo, Star Wars IV: A New Hope)

"What a Feeling" - Irene Cara

	Irene Cara - Flashdance ..... What A Feeling

	Found at skreemr.com

Followers

2008-12-24T19:01:00.006-06:00

I hope that my reduced post frequency has not steered folks away from checking up on my blog. I recently discovered Blogger's "Followers" widget (see sidebar). I would love if all those who read my blog at least semi-regularly would become an official Follower. It's really easy to do, all you need is a Gmail account; just click on the "Follow This Blog" link in the sidebar. I'm pretty sure if I have a reasonable number of people who I know for certain are checking up on me, I'll be motivated to post more often.

"Accountability breeds responsibility." (Stephen R. Covey)

"Follow You Down" - Gin Blossoms

	Gin Blossoms - Follow You Down

	Found at skreemr.com

Hit & Run

2008-12-24T18:24:00.007-06:00

December 2, 2008 - my car was the victim of a hit & run just off Vanderbilt campus around 1 pm.

completely ripped my front bumper off

my car was displaced about 15 feet and at a 30 degree angle
from where I had originally parked it that morning

the Vanderbilt police officer filling out the
report while I'm on hold with Farmers

A week or so after this happened, I started to draft what quickly became a very long description of the events that followed my car's incident. I'll spare you the detailed narration and just give you the facts.

- Since relocating to my new apartment, I have found a nice place to park just off campus. It's street parking in a nice neighborhood about a mile from my apartment. I then walk across the street to the Vanderbilt shuttle lot and hop on the shuttle that takes me to my lab. On days when it's rainy or cold, this is by far the superior way to get to campus for me, versus riding my bike.
- I didn't find out about my car being hit until 9pm that night (was still in lab).
- I spent two hours in the freezing weather filling out the police report, talking with my insurance company, and having my car towed.
- I wasn't able to give lab meeting the next day, because I had spent that morning filing the claim, getting a rental car, speaking with the adjuster as well as the fools at the body shop.
- For some reason, my insurance company decided to call a towing company from Brentwood (>10 miles from Nashville). To avoid paying for my car to be towed twice, I foolishly decided to let the body shop associated with the towing company work on my car.
- When I asked my insurance company where they would prefer I take my car to be worked on, they said there were none of their preferred body shops in the Nashville area.
- I was given a rental car for the week my car was worked on.
- After braving the icy weather and Brentwood traffic to pick up my car, I quickly learned on the drive back that my heater wasn't working.
- There was a crack in my radiator that the insurance adjuster failed to notice the first time around.
- I had to return my car to Brentwood for another few days while they repaired the radiator.

This whole incident cost me hours of lab time, a few hundred dollars, and completely stressed me out. The horrible triangle between me, the body shop, and the insurance company was just a nightmare.

My poor car is always the victim of someone else's stupidity. In college, someone backed into my driver-side backseat door. After months of fighting with Geico (the other person's insurance company), it finally got fixed. A few weeks later, someone threw a rock at the exact same door while my car was parked on the street in front of my house. The rockprint is still on my door handle to this day.

"Like gravity, karma is so basic we often don't even notice it."
(Sakyong Mipham)

"Paranoid" - Black Sabbath

	Black Sabbath - Paranoid

	Found at skreemr.com

Grad School Trumps Blogger

2008-11-20T16:34:00.005-06:00

I think the title goes without saying. These days it's extremely rare for me to find time to blog. Even now, I am using Blogger merely as a procrastination tactic. Per my usual "I haven't blogged in forever, but I have good reasons for it," here's what's keeping me so busy:

Last week, I had to lead two small group discussions with the first year students. In order to not look like a moron, this required me to read up on a few things.

Tomorrow, I have an outline due for my class's "final" paper. Basically, we are assigned a specific topic in cell & developmental biology (mine is cell motility) and required to write a 5-page mock grant. So this requires countless hours of reading papers on a topic we are not familiar with to determine what research needs to be done next. I also have our weekly Friday 1-page paper to do.

The week after Thanksgiving I am giving lab meeting (12/03). This is the first time I will present my project to the lab, so I want to make sure it is done well.

The following Monday (12/08) our mock grants are due.

On top of those shenanigans, I am diligently working on this paper that should have been published before I even joined the lab. I could spend about a dozen paragraphs describing why this process sucks, but I'll save you all and just say that I'm convincing myself that this is a "learning experience" - whatever that's worth.

"Consider the postage stamp: its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there." (Josh Billings)

"Henrietta" - The Fratellis

	The Fratellis - 1. Henrietta

	Found at skreemr.com

There's Only One October...

2008-11-01T22:28:00.004-05:00

...and I failed to blog during it.

October 2008 will be remembered for three things:
(1) Vanderbilt's victory over Auburn (and the GameDay visit that accompanied that game), giving them a 5-0 start - immediately followed by three straight losses.
(2) Dallas's hopes of a Super Bowl appearance quickly shattered with injuries accompanied by losses.
(3) The Red Sox lost to the Rays in the ALCS. The Rays were then completely embarrassed by the Phillies in the World Series

At least the Titans are having their best start in franchise history. Plus, Vanderbilt basketball is just around the corner.

Besides being disappointed by my teams, I've spent my October working in lab, going to class, and playing lots of sports. Things in lab are going well, but I am working super hard to get data for the lab meeting I will give after Thanksgiving. I'm also working to publish the paper that should have been out before I joined the lab. Class isn't too challenging, but we have our big paper due in about a month that I have put absolutely zero thought into. I have to pick some electives to take for the spring which will be my last semester of classes ever! I am currently playing intramural indoor soccer, flag football, innertube water polo and I am filling in on a Nashville Sports League outdoor soccer team.

"Basic research is what I am doing when I don't know what I am doing." (Wernher von Braun)

"Even Flow" - Pearl Jam

	Pearl Jam - Even Flow

	Found at skreemr.com

Wii Will Rock Mii

2008-09-21T19:21:00.002-05:00

My last post casually mentioned my recent birthday. I have now reached what I consider to be the mid-twenties. I didn't really do anything grand for my birthday, which was fine by me.

My lab did have a little celebration for me one Friday afternoon, and I did take a visit down to Chattanooga the following weekend.

The most awesome thing about turning 24 was the gift I received from Henry. We have begun this trend of giving large gifts for birthdays (he now has an iPod because of yours truly). Anyhow, with the release of Mario Kart Wii, I have been itching to own a Wii. I think you know where I'm going with this. The only game I have so far is Wii Fit (which is awesome, by the way), but I hope to soon get Mario Kart Wii and I will be letting my Discover Card rewards fund close to 75% of Rock Band 2 (debuts for Wii 11/16/08).

"Twenty-three is old. It's almost 25, which is like almost mid-20s." (Jessica Simpson)

"Why Georgia" - John Mayer

	John Mayer - Why Georgia

	Found at skreemr.com

Back that Data Up

2008-09-16T07:41:00.003-05:00

You're probably wondering why I haven't posted in a while. Aside from my normal "I've been busy with lab" excuse, I do actually have a valid reason for falling off of the blogger world.

Last week (the day after my birthday, actually), my Macbook locked up (as it does on occasion when I try to run too many applications). I was working in lab at the time, and I simply restarted it and went on to my benchwork. When I finally return, I am greeted by a gray screen with a folder icon in the center that has a question mark in the middle of it.

To make a long and painful story moderately short, my hard drive died... 29 days after my warranty ran out. I didn't lose my entire life, but the last eight months was not backed up (due in part to my laziness when it came to troubleshooting why my external hard drive wouldn't accept new files). Luckily, most all of my lab data was backed up on the server; for those past few experiments that weren't backed up, I am very thankful that I kept my hard copies of the data. That (losing the last four months of lab work) could have been devastating.

In an effort to find the "half full" aspect of this disaster, I was forced to buy a superior hard drive to replace the one that bit the dust. This thing is massive and fast. The computer guru for our department (who just also happens to be Apple certified) loaded this new hard drive up with the latest versions of some pretty great software. The upgrade I'm most excited about is the new Mac OS, Leopard. I haven't had time to play around with it (since every free moment has been devoted to transferring files to the new hard drive, reorganizing them, etc.), but I am wicked excited about some of the features it has (one of which includes the ability to run Windows from my Macbook). My tragedy also brought on the installation of a program that will back up my entire computer onto the lab server every day at noon. Another "plus" was the brand new hard drive that Apple sent me to replace the one that died.

I'd have to say that I am most bummed about losing my pictures. I have put many of them on facebook, which does provide me with a low-resolution copy. It makes me really wish I had taken the time to get pictures developed. But oh well, there's really no point in griping about it now.

Let this be a lesson/reminder for you all: back up your data... now.

"Computing is not about computers anymore. It is about living." (Nicholas Negroponte)

"Back that Thang Up" - Juvenille

	Juvenile - Back That Thang Up mp3

	Found at skreemr.com

Three Great Weekends: Part 1

2008-08-23T22:07:00.005-05:00

There were three consecutive weekends this summer that were just plain awesome. The first was back when The Dark Knight opened. Trevor and Mary (Henry's friends from Mississippi) came into town, and it gave Henry and I an excuse to go to all of our favorite, unique-to-Nashville restaurants and bars.

We saw the movie in IMAX (which was awesome, by the way) at the mall. Before seeing the show, we spent a few hours at Dave & Buster's (Chuck E. Cheese for grown-ups). My brother & his girlfriend also made the trip to Nashville to see The Dark Knight in IMAX.

we were simply mesmerized by this roulette-esque game

Basically, the weekend isn't really blog-able, but it was super fun, and it gives me an excuse to use a song that was a running joke all weekend in this post.

"You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because... you're just too much fun." (The Joker [to Batman], The Dark Knight)

"Never Gonna Give You Up" - Rick Astley

	Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up

	Found at skreemr.com

Wedding Season

2008-08-20T15:29:00.003-05:00

I've been to more weddings in the last year than I have my entire life. I suppose the whole out of college thing has something to do with that. I've neglected to post about the past three I've been to. Since I'm currently in lab and pressed for time, I'll keep it short and throw in a few pictures.

My good friend from UTC, Laura, got married back in May. She and her husband have since relocated to Nashville, and it's been nice to have both her and Alicia (my two UTC club soccer co-coaches) nearby. We have even started (kind of) attending a free boxing aerobics class!

the club soccer ladies:
Megan, Alicia, Laura, me, Beth

the guy who accompanies me to all of these weddings

A girl in my lab, Rachel, also got married in May.

Cody (labmate), me, Henry

the Miller lab

The wedding I had the biggest part in was that of my best friend from high school, Leighann. She had one of the most unique weddings I've ever been to. The best word to describe it would be "casual." It was in her parents backyard, and everyone just brought their own lawn chair for the evening. It was right around the 4th of July, so they had a very impressive fireworks show after the ceremony.

been through a lot with this one

"...when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." (Harry, When Harry Met Sally)

"White Wedding" - Billy Idol

	Billy Idol - White wedding

	Found at skreemr.com

Worm Meeting 2008

2008-08-20T07:39:00.006-05:00

At the end of June, a good chunk of my lab traveled to Madison, WI for the "Neuronal Development, Synaptic Function, & Behavior C. elegans Meeting." The travel itself was a mess, as our flight out of Nashville was cancelled due to plane malfunctions (we sat on the plane, at the terminal for 45 minutes while they tried to fix the mysterious problem). The five of us (me, Rachel, Sarah, Cody, & David) then frantically tried to find another flight that would get us there by that evening. We ended up flying to Chicago and then renting a car and driving from Chicago to Madison.

Rachel, Sarah, and me
(in the back of the car on the drive to Madison)

Cody, Sarah, me, Rachel, David

The meeting itself was pretty good. This was after I had been in the lab only two months, so I'm still trying to learn the ways of the worm. I did present a poster of my project, which was mostly the work done before me, with one figure that I was able to contribute to. I will brag and say that I made a couple models (graphics) for the poster that are kind of awesome.

my poster

Madison is a great city in the summer. The temperature was perfect, there was zero humidity, it's a super-clean city, and the school is on a lake. If it weren't for the whole blistering cold winter thing, I'd consider relocating there one day.

right outside our conference room

"You learn something every day if you pay attention." (Ray LeBlond)

"Always Something There to Remind Me" - Naked Eyes

	Naked Eyes - Always Something There to Remind Me

	Found at skreemr.com

Thought Too Soon

2008-07-17T22:13:00.006-05:00

Just this morning, I was thinking about how I would come home tonight and write about my great week. I was going to gloat about how this week didn't have any major superb events that would make it so awesome, but rather there were just a lot of little things that put me in a great mood.

Examples of these little things include my pure joy in my ability to simply ride my bike to lab (not burning an ounce of gasoline), my mild success in lab, and my newly recovered will to run (which always puts me in a great mood). Just this morning, I had an experiment that usually takes between 11 and 12 hours to complete (basically, I do something for 15 minutes, wait 4-5 hours, etc). I had the bright idea to get up early this morning (i.e. 5:15 am), run to lab, and get things going so that I could leave at a decent hour this evening. Afterward, I ran home, took a shower, went back to sleep, and was back in lab by 9am. It was a great plan; I ended up running over 5 miles, and I was done by 5:45 pm (which is rare on days like these).

All was going smoothly until this evening. We played our final two intramural softball games. All season long it has been a struggle to not only get enough people to show up but also to keep a positive attitude when we hadn't won a game all year. I've sent out countless emails trying to reschedule games at the last minute that my team suddenly decided to bail on. To put an end to such a crappy season, tonight the other team was rude, and even my own team decided to take an attitude with me. People would drop pop flies or overthrow a play to first, but my inability to turn a double play (while still getting one out, mind you) was apparently worth griping about. While we did win our first game tonight (which was really my only goal for the season: not to lose every game), I still walked away in a foul mood. The real kicker was the balls one of our players had to ask me after the last game why I didn't put them in. I bluntly told this person that since it was our last game and because it was so close (we lost by one run) I let people play who were there for the majority of the season (this person has only been there one other night, and we've been playing for over two months).

Justifiably so, I announced my retirement as the intramural softball organizer tonight. I would like to point out that I was the person to organize nearly every single intramural sport for my entire incoming class (softball, football, soccer, basketball, ultimate frisbee). I've had enough of it. I'm under appreciated, and I really just don't want to deal with that mess any longer. If others want to organize things, I will likely show up. If not, I'm sure I'll find some way to get my intramural fix.

Finally, after a very frustrating evening, I come home only to find my apartment has no power. This means no air-conditioning, and with no lights, I am unable to take a much needed shower. I guess this is what I get for thinking about what a great week I was having. On the bright side, the lack of power has given me a chance to write this amazingly upbeat blog.

"Who'll Stop the Rain" - Creedence Clearwater Revival

	CCR - Who'll Stop The Rain

	Found at skreemr.com

The Eternal Virus

2008-07-14T22:20:00.008-05:00

One day last month, I woke up with a sore throat, knowing that the next day I would feel horrible. By the next afternoon, I had to leave lab early due to this strange sickness that had overcome me. I could barely drive home because of the massive fever and muscle aches I had suddenly acquired (in addition to the persistent sore throat). A mid-evening, desperate trip to Target for some sort of remedy for this ailment had people in the store asking me if I was going to be alright and if I needed anything. Sadly, my purchases at Target didn't include any medication, because I have a severe allergy to dextramethorphan (key ingredient in drugs like NyQuil, Robitussin, etc).

The next morning, I went to the Vanderbilt student health clinic where they were unable to find exactly what was wrong with me. They told me it was "viral" - meaning they swabbed my throat and didn't find any bacteria. This meant they shouldn't give me any antibiotics, and I basically had to suck it up.

Over the next few days, I tried to go into lab and get things done, but by the time I walked/biked to my building, the fever picked up and I would go into a horrible coughing fit. I ended up working half days which progressed into simply not coming in at all.

The Friday before I was going to leave for Madison, WI for the C. elegans topic meeting (to be described in a later post), I revisited the student heath clinic. This time they told me it was probably a sinus infection, and they then gave me Claritin samples and charged me for cough drops and nasal spray. I coughed my way through the worm meeting, and I am just now fully recovering from this mess.

I don't have any idea what I had, but it persisted for right around three weeks. Apparently something is going around, though, because I have heard of several other people who have had similar symptoms.

Not only did the fact that I felt horrible for weeks suck, but I was also unable to get anything done in lab. There was a 10 day span where I was completely unproductive in lab, due to sickness and traveling (I also went to Paris for Leighann's wedding). I'm trying to make up for it now, putting in more hours than usual. I'll let you know if anything good comes from my efforts.

"Sickness comes on horseback but departs on foot." (William C. Hazlitt)

"Bittersweet" - Fuel

	Fuel - Bittersweet

	Found at skreemr.com

What Guy Friends are For

2008-07-12T21:43:00.007-05:00

Back in April, a girl from Paris who's currently a Vandy med student contacted me asking if I wanted to move in with her. Her roommate was leaving, and she didn't want to give up her apartment. I truly hate moving, but once I saw the new place, I was sold.

By far the top two perks are the price (almost exactly what I was paying before) and the location (2.25 miles to my lab - half the distance from the old place). It's also in a great neighborhood, and we even have a small backyard. Because of the stellar location, I am now a bicycle commuter. It's been amazing to be able to just pop into lab when I need to do something quick. Plus, with gas prices as outrageous as they are right now, I'm going to end up saving a ton.

The actual move-in process (which was a few weeks ago) wasn't as bad as I had envisioned it would be. I basically bribed seven of my guy friends to help me move-in with the promise of burgers and beer afterward. The worst part was loading the U-Haul, because only one other person was there at that time. Unloading was glorious, because the rest of the crew had arrived by then. It seriously took no more than 20 minutes to get everything up two flights of stairs. I highly recommend enlisting the help of several guys next time anyone moves.

Mike and Henry climbing the steepest stairs ever

these guys were amazingly quick...

... probably because they wanted to get to the beer

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your blanace, you must keep moving." (Albert Einstein)

"Bicycle Race" - Queen

	Bicycle.mp3

	Found at skreemr.com

Bonnaroo '08

2008-07-04T00:36:00.009-05:00

I've always wanted to know what Bonnaroo was like. I've known several people who have gone and absolutely loved it. I'm not exactly the camp out in hot, humid fields full of tens of thousands of hippies kind of gal, but I do enjoy live music. I also am not too keen on spending hundreds of dollars on a weekend in Tennessee.

Luckily for my Bonnaroo curiosity, the two issues I had about ever going to Bonnaroo (camping and the $$) were resolved, allowing me to go this year. Basically, I was able to join a friend's work crew (work a shift in exchange for a weekend pass). It's a pretty sweet deal, except for the fact that my shift was until 4am. I also got to stay at said friend's house in Manchester.

I saw some pretty crazy things, but what Bonnaroo experience doesn't include a few of those. I got to catch several great shows, and I was introduced to a lot of new music. I had a great weekend, and I definitely would like to go again in the near future.

the main stage

I got creative

our 'Roo crew

my shift buddy Gann (http://www.gannmatthews.com/)
and I, reenacting our pouring skills

"Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?" (George Carlin)

"Daughter" - Pearl Jam

	Pearl Jam - Daughter

	Found at skreemr.com

Fundraising

2008-07-04T00:34:00.001-05:00

Back in April, the fundraising group I had organized, Team ALS, ran in the Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon. We exceeded our team fundraising goal of $3,000, which came as quite a surprise for our first year. Because of the success we had this year, I plan to continue this philanthropic endeavor throughout my grad school career.

some of the Team ALS ladies

Parisian running buddies

a friend took this as I ran by... aren't I fun?

this is proof that I have man arms... gross

I finished with my best time (1:46:53)

"When you learn, teach. When you get, give" (Maya Angelou)

"Jack & Diane" - John Cougar Mellencamp

	John Cougar Mellencamp - Jack And Diane

	Found at skreemr.com

Bad Form

2008-07-04T00:06:00.003-05:00

Yes, well, I know I've been a bad blogger as of late. I'll do my best to fill you in over the next few posts. Topics should include the half marathon, Bonnaroo, moving into my new apartment, the 15-day sickness I'm still trying to get over, the scientific conference I just got back from, as well as the plethora of wedding and wedding-related events I've been attending.

"To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing." (Eva Young)

"Landslide" - Fleetwood Mac

	Fleetwood Mac - Landslide

	Found at skreemr.com

A Different World

2008-05-20T22:00:00.013-05:00

When people ask me about graduate school, I've noticed that it's very difficult for me to explain what all it entails. I've been in this biomedical research bubble for over nine months now, which has me interacting with people that all understand exactly what's going on. I forget, when talking to non-science people, that only a small fraction of the world does what I do. It is for this reason, that I have decided to (attempt to) provide some more detail about what exactly it is that I do (and will do). I'll start off by answering some of the top questions I get from people.

Q: How are classes going? Are you done with classes?
A: As you may recall, last month I finished my second semester of classes. The first year of my program had one major course (bioregulation) that covered all dozen or so biomedical research departments/programs. It was our performance in this course that they kept telling us would dictate if we got on a training grant (explanation to follow). In addition to bioregulation, we were also encouraged to take a few elective hours that would count towards the didactic hours that are required in order to be a PhD candidate (explanation to follow). Some departments require first year students to take summer classes, but fortunately for me, all of my summer classes are optional (and I am opting not to take any). In the fall, classes will resume, but they will be much less intense than bioregulation was. They will be mostly discussion-based courses or simply require attendance at weekly research seminars. Next spring, I will have my last semester of coursework, which will likely include a couple small elective courses. I would like to point out that in this program (and for the graduate school in general, I think) anything below a B is considered failing, but people rarely make a B- or lower.

Q: What is a training grant?
A: Training grants are awarded to students during their second and third years. They are like 'scholarships' in that they provide financial support to further one's education (or in this case, research training). For those that get on a training grant, there is no additional financial benefit (i.e. no increase in pay); however, training grants do remove two full years of financial burden from one's PI (Principle Investigator - aka boss). They cover our tuition (which as you can assume is quite steep at Vanderbilt) as well as pay for our annual stipend. Plus, being awarded a training grant provides one more thing to add to one's curriculum vitae (i.e. CV - resume). We were told when we first started bioregulation that good grades would help us get on a training grant. There are some exceptions to that credo, but for the most part I think that those grades simply made it a little easier for the board members for each training grant to select one student versus another. I made pretty good grades, which is probably why I was able to get on the CBMS training grant. Some training grants require you to take specific courses in order to remain on the grant; I lucked out, because I am only required to attend a weekly lunch seminar (i.e. free meal).

Q: What makes you different from a PhD candidate?
A: In order to be considered a PhD candidate, students must first pass the dreaded qualifying exam (i.e. quals). The exam is slightly different for each department, but I will only describe how it will be for me in my department (Cell & Developmental Biology, CDB). After the second (and final) year of classes, students begin preparing for quals. This consists of both written and oral parts, which for me will span from April to August 2009. Next spring, the department will select my committee (four faculty members - three from CDB, one from outside the department). This will be the committee that I will have through the rest of my grad school career. These individuals will decide whether I pass/fail quals, and after that, they will meet with me annually to follow my progress. They will also be at my final defense to determine if I am ready to graduate with my PhD.

Q: What if one do not pass their qualifying exam?
A: There have been students in the past have not passed their exam the first time. You are allowed one more chance to pass, and if you still are unable to convince your committee that you are ready for PhD work, you will likely leave Vanderbilt with a Master's degree in that department (this route is rarely taken as most pass their quals; besides, there isn't much one can do with a Master's degree in this field). When one passes their quals, they are officially a PhD candidate and will spend the next few years finishing up their thesis.

Q: What do you need to do in order graduate?
A: This is a difficult question to answer, so I am going to mostly avoid it. I will say that a first-author paper (i.e. primary author - person who did the majority of the research) published in a scientific journal is required by the department in order to receive a degree. Aside from that and the standard "been here for 5 years" thing, it's an ambiguous issue that I don't feel I am prepared to address.

To go along with part of that last answer, I will say that a good publication record is something that we all strive to obtain during our graduate school careers. It's what will make us stand out from others when we finally look for a job. I'm getting an early jump on my publication record this summer: I will be presenting a poster at the Worm Meeting next month, and we hope to publish the first paper on what my project is based upon in the next few months (I will be the third author for both of those publications).

Q: What can/will you do once you graduate?
A: There are many options after graduation, with the most common including the following: taking a couple post-doctoral fellowships before running one's own lab, being a professor at a university (which can include research as well), or joining the biotech industry (non-academic route). And no, I'm not sure what I want to do yet.

Q: What do you mean when you say you're "in lab"?
A: When most people hear "lab," they think of their college chemistry lab that had a set experiment outlined each day, a teaching assistant on-hand, and only took a few hours to complete. When I talk about "lab," it is a completely different situation. I decide what experiments I am going to do and when I'm going to do them. I have to be the one to figure out why something isn't working and find a way to fix it. I have to read up on the current scientific literature to plan out my next experiment. I'm not completely on my own: I meet weekly with David (my PI), we have a weekly group lab meeting, and I bug Joseph daily with questions that I have. I have until August 31, 2008 to establish myself as a fairly independent student, because Joseph is leaving for another post-doctoral fellowship (i.e. post-doc) at UNC in the fall.

Q: How many hours do you work a week?
A: Here's the real trick to this whole grad school thing: self motivation. I work as many hours as I want, and I come in/leave when I want. Some people consistently work 8 hour days, 5 days a week (~40 hour weeks); other people work 10 hour days and come in for a few hours on the weekends (~55-60 hour weeks). The running theory is that the more work you do now, the sooner you will graduate. I am currently abiding by this theory: I regularly put in 8-10 hours a day during the week, and I usually come in either Saturday or Sunday for 2-4 hours to set things up for the next week. Once every two weeks or so, I have to do an experiment that takes over 11 hours (today was one of those days). I hope I can keep up this motivation (which older grad students scoff as being the honeymoon period) over the years.

I doubt I was able to answer all of your inquiries about my program, but I hope this at least partially explains what I'm up to these days.

"Depend not on another, but lean instead on thyself. True happiness is born on self-reliance." (The Laws of Manu)

"Long Day" - Matchbox 20

	Matchbox 20 - Long Day

	Found at skreemr.com

Miller Lab

2008-05-12T16:02:00.006-05:00

Since I will be in the Miller lab for the next undefined period of time, I figured I would provide a picture of the people that I will inevitably mention in my posts.

back: David, Cody, Jud, Clay, Joseph
front: Rachel, Sarah, me, Becky

"Opportunity is missed by most because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work." (Thomas Edison)

"Take it Easy" - Eagles

	The Eagles - Take It Easy

	Found at skreemr.com

Rat

2008-05-11T22:31:00.004-05:00

I make no excuses for a month without blogging.

Today, I had one of the most productive weekend days I have had since I've been in Nashville. My lab routine has me up early every day, which explains why I was wide awake at 7am on a Sunday. I spent nearly four hours in lab today getting things done that will make my week go a little more smoothly. I spent the better part of the afternoon cleaning out my room/closet. It may not sound like much of a task, but after spending far too many hours sorting through all of my junk I am reminded just how much of a pack rat I am. I have Tim & Terrie to thank for that :)

The first few weeks in the lab were frustrating, because it felt like a fifth rotation: I didn't know where anything was, how to do anything, or much about the project. This is because I am working on an entirely different project than I did during my rotation (which was back in September-October, by the way). I'm slowly picking up on how things are done, and I'm starting to get into a rhythm. The post-doc in the lab who has been working on my project for the past few months is leaving this summer to go to his next job. I've got to learn everything I can from him while he's still here, because after that, this project is all me. As if my days of apprenticeship weren't already numbered, his wife is pregnant and due in the next couple weeks. He will be taking about two weeks off for paternity leave after the baby is born; hopefully I can take a little vacation during that time (most people in my class took time off after our last rotation, before starting in their thesis lab; I didn't because I want to overlap time out of the lab with this post-doc). There is a slight chance, however, that I will be taking a summer class, which would likely interfere with any vacation time in the near future. Anyhow, I'm gradually accepting my life as a lab rat.

To bring this rat post full circle, I was born in the year of the rat.

"Punctuality is the virtue of the bored." (Evelyn Waugh)

"I Want You" - Savage Garden

	Savage Garden - I Want You

	Found at skreemr.com

Serendipity

2008-04-14T17:55:00.006-05:00

It's official. I am joining the Miller lab. I made my decision last week, and I will start in a week or so (once my current rotation ends). The lab in general works on neural development (synaptic specificity). I will be working on a neurodegeneration project that I won't attempt to bore you with.

What I will spend the bulk of this post on is how entirely serendipitous I find this outcome to be. You may recall that David's lab was my second choice for the first rotation. I had wanted to rotate in a biochemistry/structural biology lab, but a more qualified student got the spot over me. A couple of days before our decisions were due, I went to talk to David (merely as a backup plan) because I had seen his lab's poster at one of the many poster sessions we attended in the fall. His lab is in both the cell & developmental biology and neuroscience programs, and the neuroscience was what drew me in. After completing that first rotation, I had a feeling I would end up in that lab, because I loved the environment/people so much. The project available then (what I worked on during my rotation; the synaptic specificity stuff) wasn't my ideal area of research, but I still found it interesting, and graduate school is really just meant to give you the training and experience you need to one day run your own lab.

The most recent graduate from the Miller lab left in December. She accidentally stumbled upon the basis of her project (mislabeled tubes; thought she was working on one gene, later found out it was another), which is the neurodegeneration project that I will be continuing. Aside from her work these past few years, the lab has not done any work in that area. I find the timing behind her departure and my arrival into the lab (to take over a project that is right in line with what I would ideally want to work on in graduate school) to be very fortuitous.

I spoke with the post-doc today, who has been working on this project since the other student left, about where I needed to pick up when I joined. I am really quite excited to get started and see where this project goes. Wish me luck these first few months, because if things don't progress early with this project (because it is such a novel finding and because it is new to the lab), then I will likely have to switch over to something else within the lab.

I guess I just find it to be extremely fortunate that I happened to be overlooked for what I thought was a better lab/department/project only to have my second choice (and first rotation) be exactly what I want to work on, in a stellar department (cell & developmental biology), with people I genuinely enjoy being around.

Bioregulation (the course I have been tortured by since August) officially ends this week. We took our last exam last Friday; the section was neuroscience, which mainly focused on the mechanisms behind drug addiction. I'm pretty sure that every time they said "cocaine" I got that Clapton song stuck in my head, which explains its presence in this post; I haven't let grad school send me off the deep end just yet, haha.

"Serendipity: Look for something, find something else, and realize that you've found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for." (Lawrence Block)

"Cocaine" - Eric Clapton

	Eric Clapton - Cocaine

	Found at skreemr.com

Team ALS

2008-04-06T18:28:00.006-05:00

Since January, I've been working to organize an ALS fundraising team for Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon (April 26, 2008). I have set up a website where people can donate online and track offline donations. Please check it out, and throw in a donation while you're at it! :)

Team ALS homepage: http://www.active.com/donate/team_als
My Team ALS site: http://www.active.com/donate/team_als/malhack

It's been stressful this week, because we have to get our shirt order in last Friday to make sure they are ready for the race. We're getting sleeveless, moisture-wicking running shirts to wear during the race (team logo on the front, charity information or inspirational quote on the back). Kasey Fitz (graphic designer friend from Paris) was kind enough to design a logo for us to go on the front of our shirts:

I need your help for ideas of a good quote/saying to put on the back of these shirts. I need to let the guy printing them know something in a day or so.

"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" (Hebrews 12:1)

"Imagine" - John Lennon

	John Lennon - Imagine

	Found at skreemr.com

There's Only One March

2008-03-24T15:28:00.010-05:00

Ok, so it doesn't have quite the ring that Dane Cook's MLB playoff commercial did, but it's still true. March Madness is in full swing, and like every year, I can't believe some of the upsets.

I didn't have Vanderbilt getting past Clemson in the second round... but losing to a practically unknown team in the first round by 20 points is just pathetic. Oh well, there's always next year; and luckily for me (depending on how you look at it) I'll be a Vandy student for the next five seasons.

So when I titled my last post ("The Dance") referencing the Big Dance, I immediately thought of the Garth Brooks song, but I didn't see any correlation between this basketball season and a song about losing a loved one. Upon closer inspection, however, I can definitely identify with this song as a Vanderbilt basketball fan.

I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end
The way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have miss the pain
But I'd have to miss the dance
-- "The Dance" - Garth Brooks

Henry and I went down to Birmingham Friday/Sunday for the 1st/2nd rounds of the NCAA tournament. Friday's games were fun to watch, but the real treat was to see the Tennessee vs. Butler game go into overtime. Sadly, Tennessee won, but it was still awesome to see a March Madness game go into overtime.

the St. Joseph's mascot was this bionic, creepy hawk
that flapped its wings before, during, and after the game...
without stopping once

Upon including the above link, I just learned that the student selected to be the hawk gets a full scholarship - whaaaat? Henry and I did a quick calculation of approximately how many times he flapped his wings (similar to a heart rate calculation; we weren't THAT bored). Anyhow, we predicted 3,500 times. That's insane. I can't get over it.

Bulter trying to pull the upset against Tennessee

I'd like to progressively go to each round of the tournament. Which means next year, I'm shooting to attend the regional games (sweet 16 and elite 8). This puts me on track to see a national championship in the next couple of years... riiiight.

"Being a sports fan is a complex matter; in part irrational but not unworthy a relief from the seriousness of the real world, with its unending pressures and often grave obligations." (Richard Gilman)

"The Dance" - Garth Brooks

	Garth Brooks - The Dance

	Found at skreemr.com

The Dance

2008-03-18T15:53:00.003-05:00

If I had posted a few weeks ago as I had intended, I would have raved about how awesome Vandy was playing, beating both Tennessee and Mississippi State (best game I've ever seen) at home. But my laziness kicked in, and since then we have lost three games (Arkansas, Alabama, Arkansas -in the SEC tourney). The 'Dores are going dancing this year, with a 4th seed in the Midwest region. I see Vandy getting to the second round (beating Siena), but it will be tough to beat Clemson.

Speaking of the SEC tourney, this year has got to be the the most insane in conference history. To sum it up, Arkansas upset Vanderbilt and then Tennessee; a tornado came through, which forced the postponement of the Georgia-Kentucky game; this meant that Georgia had to play two games in one day, beating both Kentucky and Mississippi State; Georgia (4-12 in the SEC during the regular season) then went on to beat Arkansas (winning 4 games in 3 days) and earn a bid into the NCAA tournament. Whoa.

Over a month ago, Henry and I ordered tickets to the 1st/2nd rounds of the NCAA tournament in Birmingham, Alabama. There are three sessions (with two games per session) over the weekend: session 1 - Friday morning; session 2 - Friday evening; session 3 - Sunday afternoon. I knew when we bought the tickets that I had an in class exam Friday that would prevent me from going to the first session. So assuming that Vandy or MSU didn't play in Birmingham, we were just going to try and sell our tickets to the first session. We waited until selection Sunday to see which teams would be playing in Birmingham, and as luck would have it, Tennessee's playing the first game. This made selling our tickets super easy. We made a 60% profit with the sale, which should cover our gas for the weekend.

"Some people want it to happen, some wish it to happen, others make it happen." (Michael Jordan)

"Big Casino" - Jimmy Eat World

	Jimmy Eat World - Big Casino

	Found at skreemr.com

Coasting

2008-03-15T16:43:00.003-05:00

Lately, I've been pretty lazy regarding many things: school, lab, blog, half marathon training, etc. I am absolutely sick of our bioregulation course, with the countdown to its completion down to five weeks. We did turn in our final take home exam on Monday, and now we have two in class exams that stand between us and freedom. The first of these exams is Friday (more on this in a later post).

I'm already two weeks into my final rotation. To change things up a bit, I am now in a lab that focuses on Wnt signaling. Specifically, the guy I'm working with has done a small molecule screen to find inhibitors of this pathway (which has been linked to colorectal cancer, among other diseases). He has identified the most potent Wnt inhibitor to date, and my project has started off by trying to screen through structurally similar compounds to see if any have the same affect on the pathway (the solubility of the original compound poses a problem for therapeutics). Anyhow, this rotation is in a joint lab (the PIs are married), so there are a ton of people in there. I'm slowly getting to know them all. The laziness lies in the fact that this is my last rotation, and there never seems to be much for me to do (which is fine by me).

The blog laziness explains itself.

I am already signed up to run the Country Music Half Marathon on April 26, which is only six weeks away. Granted, I know I can run 13.1 miles without training and get by; but I actually think I want to beat my old time, which will require some effort on my part.

I'm also a huge slacker on the whole 'reading scientific papers in my field to stay on top of the research' thing. This is due, in part, to the fact that I do not know what project I will be working on just yet. That really isn't an excuse, though. I need to step it up.

"If you're coasting, you're either losing momentum or else you're headed downhill." (Joan Welsh)

"Standing Outside the Fire" - Garth Brooks

	Garth Brooks - Standing Outside The Fire

	Found at skreemr.com

Sports Debt

2008-02-25T13:44:00.004-06:00

Back in the fall, Megan hooked me up with two free Titans tickets with the promise that I would take her to the Lady Vols game when they played at Vanderbilt this year. Last weekend, I kept up my end of the bargain. Not only did she get to see the game, but we were also front row, center court and they were giving away free "Beat Tennessee" T-shirts. UT won, but it was still pretty exciting; especially since we got to see Candace Parker before she heads off to the wildly exciting world of the WNBA.

you're welcome Zip; I'm sure you can count
on seeing this game for the next four seasons

ah-mazing seats

Speaking of Tennessee, the mens biggest game of the season is this Tuesday. Coming off of their win at Memphis, Tennessee is now the #1 ranked team. Vanderbilt has not lost at home this season. When you consider the fact that these two schools are in-state SEC rivals, you know it's going to be a great game. Check it out on ESPN (Tuesday 8pm CT), and be sure to look for me!

"We have a great bunch of outside shooters. Unfortunately, all of our games are played indoors." (Weldon Drew)

"Learn to Fly" - Foo Fighters

	Foo Fighters - Learn to Fly

	Found at skreemr.com

Brad Paisley

2008-02-16T23:08:00.007-06:00

Last night, two chicks from my class and I went to the Brad Paisley concert downtown. This was my first country music concert that I've been to since moving to Nashville. I tried to get into the country music spirit by borrowing a friend's cowboy boots and rocking my cowboy hat.

Lauren, Nicole, me

The opening acts were actually pretty good (Chuck Wicks and Rodney Atkins), and Brad Paisley was awesome. I knew more songs than I thought I would from each of the three artists, which I attribute to spending the last several summers at the pool listening to Froggy (local country music station). The best part for me was when Alison Krauss came out to sing their duet, "Whisky Lullaby," with him. I'm going to bet not every city gets to have her come out and sing, and I'm going to take it as one of the perks to living in Music City USA.

not a bad view from our nosebleed seats

I just learned I could embed my songs directly into my posts. I think it's neat, but I'll get your opinion with a new poll.

"If you're going through hell, keep on moving." (If You're Going Through Hell, Rodney Atkins)

"Alcohol" - Brad Paisley

	Brad Paisley - Alcohol

	Found at skreemr.com

Busy Disorder

2008-02-14T14:22:00.008-06:00

I complain on here frequently about how I never have any free time. While this is true 90% of the time, I think part of this dilemma is my fault. Usually, I'm pretty good about creating 'me time.' Lately, though I find myself taking part in numerous activities/events that really aren't necessary. This isn't saying that I don't enjoy what I fill my time with, but I wouldn't feel like I never have any free time if I opted out of these events every now and then.

For example, I spent the better part of the last two days cranking out my final exam for one of my electives (class is only a month long; 1 credit hour); I was given this exam a week ago, but I was unable to do this weekend because of the soccer tournament in Knoxville. Tonight, I am meeting some IGP kids for dinner at this Mexican restaurant before we take advantage of dollar mania at the nearby bowling alley. Tomorrow after lab, I am going downtown for dinner with Nicole and Lauren before we head over to the Brad Paisley concert. I will definitely attend both the Vandy mens' game vs. Florida (Saturday) and the womens' game vs. Tennessee (Sunday), and I am pondering whether or not to go disc golfing Saturday morning before the Vandy-Florida game. Like I said, it's not that what I'm doing with my time isn't fun; it's just that when I factor in the take-home exam I will be given Friday afternoon, due first thing Monday, I wonder when I'm going to have time to relax. It all goes back to getting to May (no more exams eating up every weekend of my life).

One set of extracurriculars that I refuse to eliminate are my intramurals. You might be wondering what's wrong with me lately for not posting about my current intramural endeavor. As you continue reading this paragraph, you will soon realize the reason behind my hesitation. I'm currently playing womens league basketball. We are once again the Model Organisms, composed of first-year IGP females with a couple of third-year chicks to round out our roster. We registered for the league with the lowest skill level (because as hard as it may be to believe, female science grad students at Vanderbilt aren't really known for their jump shots). Not enough teams signed up to divide the womens league into different skill levels, so there's just one league. So while we belong in a "C" league, we are playing with girls in the "A" league. We met one of these "A" teams in our first game as we lost 10-58 (yes, I typed that correctly). We've played two other games with teams that are more on our level, though we still lost them both (by less than 10). The kicker to this whole thing is that not only am I considered to be our "coach," but I am also the point guard.

* I'll give you all a moment to recover from your laughing fits. *

Basketball is the team sport that is by far my least favorite. I played until 9th grade, where I sat the bench the entire season and decided it wasn't the sport for me. My intramural days at UTC required me to be one of the "big girls," because I was one of the tallest on our team. So what recent basketball experience I have was at forward, certainly not at point guard. I'm just hoping to win once... just once.

"Get busy living, or get busy dying." (Stephen King)

"Loser" - Beck

Wildcat Slaughter

2008-02-12T23:08:00.006-06:00

For those who didn't see, Vanderbilt absolutely embarrassed Kentucky tonight (93-52). The win felt great after losing in double-overtime at Kentucky earlier this season. A decent sized chunk of my IGP class got there early enough to snag great seats (just behind the media section).

Vandy grad students
(I was giving my KY friend thumbs down,
in case you were wondering what I'm doing here)

my view of the wildcat slaughter

The Dores have been playing well lately, compensating for our horrible SEC road showing this season. The Kentucky game was the first of four consecutive home games, with the remaining against Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee. I will be planning my take home exams around each of these games. It's wonderful to finally take part in SEC sports.

"The trouble with being punctual is that nobody's there to appreciate it." (Franklin P. Jones)

"Rock You Like a Hurricane" - Scorpion

UTC Alumni Team

2008-02-10T22:04:00.000-06:00

For the fifth consecutive year (2005; 2006; 2007), I played in the Maryville indoor soccer tournament (my blog didn't start until 2005, so there's no 2004 post). With the recent graduation of Alicia, Laura, and myself, we finally had enough to get a UTC alumni team together.

We had been talking since last year's tournament about getting an alumni team to go this year. We joked about how we'd tie-dye some shirts as our uniforms. Last weekend, Alicia came over to help tie-dye enough shirts for our team. I've never tried to tie-dye before, so I was really quite nervous about messing up everyone's shirts. As you'll see in the picture below, however, they turned out really great.

these shirts are amazing, I know... :)

We all met in Maryville last night to stay with Leanne's parents. The tournament was actually in Knoxville this year, but the commute wasn't bad this morning. Our first game was against the Maryville alum, and we pulled out a solid 3-1 victory. The day went downhill from there...

We had 1-2 hours between each game, which is just enough time to get good and tight. So with each subsequent warm-up session/game, we each could just feel our muscles tightening up. Add to this the fact that many of our players hadn't played soccer in years, and we hadn't all played together since my freshman/sophomore years (these were the older girls on the team back when I was just a young'un). In case you aren't picking up on the foreshadowing here, we lost our next three games.

Another disadvantage was what we had to play on. Every year prior, this tournament was inside the Maryville gym (hardwood floors and square corners). This year was at an indoor arena (turf and rounded corners). My tennis shoes were a complete hindrance as I tried (and failed, with the bloody knees to prove it) to stay on my feet. None of us had played on an arena that shape/size either. Despite all that was working against us, though, I think we did really well; I'm so glad we went. I really hope we can all make this an annual event.

It was also really great to see the current team. These are the girls I spent last year really getting to know. I hope to take a trip down to Chattanooga in March (really, I just need to get out of February so I can have my weekends back) to see them all, but at the very least I'd like to come down at the end of the semester for another whitewater rafting trip.

"Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional." (Chili Davis)

"Let It Happen" - Jimmy Eat World

New Tunes

2008-02-07T23:09:00.000-06:00

I've been in a music rut for quite some time now. I haven't really gotten anything new, which could easily be detected by my old school music selection these past few months. I've had enough of this. It's time for some new tunes.

I have rediscovered Jimmy Eat World with the acquisition of both their newest CD, Chase the Light, and one of their earlier albums, Bleed American. I loved Futures (source of this post's song), so I have high hopes for these two albums. I'm going to see Brad Paisely at the Sommet Center next weekend with a couple of chicks from my class, so I have his latest CD. On the acoustic side of things, I'd like to get Jack Johnson's newest album (released this week), Sleep through the Static. I'm also up for any recommendations you have. I am really quite desperate for some new music in my life, so help a girl out!

I noticed how bad things had gotten with my music lull while listening to my Blogger Jams 2007. It's not hard to figure out what I was listening to during each month, because that's what I put on my blog. Hopefully, the next few posts will include songs from the last year or two (not the last decade or two).

"Music's the medicine of the mind." (John A. Logan)

"Work" - Jimmy Eat World

May Please

2008-02-07T22:39:00.000-06:00

I'm ready for May to get here. With the month of May comes many great things. For one, I will be done with our bioregulation course. Yes, everyone always looks forward to the end of classes, but this one I am especially ready to be rid of. They assign take home exams whenever they want (without much prior notice), and just the level of control they have over us with this one class makes me ready to be rid of it. Don't get me wrong, I am actually learning things, but some of how this course is run doesn't sit well with me.

The second great thing about this May is that I will finally get to settle down in one lab and start my project. While I am enjoying my current rotation, I am kind of tired of being thrown into a new lab/environment/subject every eight weeks. Our fourth rotation choices are due next week, and I'm really not sure where I want to end up for this last round.

With the end of classes/rotations, I will hopefully be able to take a mini vacation before I get started in my lab. Considering I got twelve days off at Christmas, didn't get a fall break, and won't get a spring break, I am really hoping that things work out to where I can maybe see a beach and relax for a few days before getting things rolling in lab this summer.

Hopefully before May, we'll start to get see some great spring weather. But that's something else I'm looking forward to: nice weather again. I miss being able to comfortably run outside. Also, I hear that there's summer intramurals, which of course has me excited.

Oh yeah, there's also be a certain aerospace engineer moving to the Nashville area after his graduation this May. I might possibly be looking forward to this.

"Science has never drummed up quite as effective a tranquilizing agent as a sunny spring day." (W. Earl Hall)

"Zombie" - Cranberries

It Pays to Discover

2008-01-23T14:51:00.001-06:00

My current pair of running shoes were purchased right after the Country Music 1/2 Marathon I ran in April 2006. They were a great pair of shoes, but after more than a year of wear and tear, it was time for some new ones.

Last week, my $50 Nike gift card (a product of my Discover card's rewards program) arrived. I went down to the Nike store at Opry Mills in search for a new pair of running shoes as well as another Nike+iPod sensor (mine finally died).

To my surprise, they had the exact same pair of shoes I purchased nearly two years ago. At first, I thought it was kind of silly to buy the same pair of shoes twice. Then I realized the following about these shoes: they were about half the price of the newer model (which I did try on; didn't fit right), they had my size, and the shoe was upgraded to have the Nike+ sensor holder in the shoe (a feature which came out two months after I bought the previous pair).

Anyhow, I decided to buy the shoes ($60) as well as a new Nike+iPod sensor ($30). When I go to checkout, they scan some 20% off thing that I had no idea was going on and then they scanned my gift card. This brought my grand total (with tax) to just under $28. I got a new pair of running shoes (which I already know I like) and a new Nike+ sensor for less than what the sensor costs.

I'm obviously very proud of my purchase. I spent the couple days after I got the shoes excessively talking about it to my roommate. And now, I'm still bragging about my amazing deal via Blogger.

Speaking of running, these past couple of weeks, I've been trying to get back into the swing of things. Saturday I am doing the Zoo Run (5K given by the Nashville Zoo). I haven't run outside since about October; so this should be fun.

I have no idea why, but I am pondering whether I should run the full Country Music Marathon this year. I think it would be a horrible experience at the time, but to say I've run a marathon would be just plain cool. My only problem is finding the time to train for it. I have run a half marathon without training, but I'm pretty sure my body would literally fall apart if I tried that for a marathon. There's an 85% chance that I will wuss out and just run the half marathon.

"Marathon running is a terrible experience: monotonous, heavy, and exhausting." (Veikko Karvonen, 1954 European and Boston Marathon Champ)

"Juke Box Hero" - Foreigner

Tres Años

2008-01-16T12:43:00.000-06:00

Today is my blog's third birthday (first post: 01/16/05). I can't really think of anything I've kept up with as much as I have with this blog. Aside from the decline in the number of posts, I think I've done a pretty good job updating it over the years. I don't see me stopping this thing anytime soon. However, in three more years, I will still be in grad school.

Speaking of grad school, I am not so happy with the Cell Divison/Cancer section of Bioregulation. I checked the newly updated schedule this morning only to find out that they are giving us three weekend take-home exams during February. The one weekend where Bioregulation isn't bombarding us with an exam, I have my end of microRNAs take-home exam. This means that every single weekend in February, I will be working on an exam. My iCal shows graphically how horrible February 2008 will be:

as you can see, I only have 8 days the entire month

where there's no exam or presentation due (non-black boxes)

As you may have noticed in green for February 9-10, I will be traveling to Maryville/Knoxville for that indoor soccer tournament that the UTC club team goes to every year. For this first time, we have enough alumni to actually get a team together. We plan to tie-dye blue/yellow T-shirts to be our uniforms, and needless to say, we are all really excited about playing again!

"If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough." (Mario Andretti)

"Peace of Mind" - Boston

Embracing the Hamster Wheel

2008-01-15T21:53:00.000-06:00

As you may have noticed by the lack of activity on my Nike+ widget, I haven't really been working out lately. I have a number of excuses for this: 1) it's cold outside, 2) there's no where to run around my apartment, 3) I hate running on treadmills. Also, my Nike+ sensor died, and I am in dire need of new running shoes, whose purchase is pending the arrival of my Discover Rewards card to the Nike store.

With the new year, of course I have made the ubiquitous 'healthier lifestyle' resolution, which includes getting back to a regular exercise routine. Two of my three excuses don't really have a solution, but I can suck it up and embrace treadmill life.

I have found that I can kill two birds with one stone by watching my primetime television shows or sporting events while spinning that hamster wheel. I'm also taking more of a cross-training approach to working out, spending time on the treadmill, stationary bike, and elliptical machine. It's been working well so far this year, but we'll see how the other 50 weeks pan out in 2008.

I'm also putting wheels in motion for a fundraising ALS Team for the Country Music Marathon & 1/2 Marathon this April. I've been toying with the idea for a few years, and today I took the first steps to making this happen. Hopefully within a few weeks, I'll have the basics covered and all that will be left to do is train and raise money.

"I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon." (Ellen DeGeneres)

"Wonderwall" - Oasis

Soup, Honey, and Zinc

2008-01-14T22:52:00.001-06:00

At the end of last week, I woke up with a sore throat and knew that a cold was in my future. Since then, I have done everything in my power to combat the pending sickness. I've had gobs of chicken noodle soup (best feel good food ever). Henry recommended his mom's tea + honey recipe to soothe a sore throat. Alicia told me about Cold-Eeze, a zinc-containing lozenge that supposedly reduces the duration/severity of the common cold. These tricks plus plenty of fluids will hopefully keep me functional until I get over this cold.

"Health is not valued till sickness comes." (Thomas Fuller)

"Paralyzer" - Finger Eleven

Little Giants

2008-01-13T18:56:00.000-06:00

Over Christmas break, I noticed the VHS version of my favorite childhood movie (Little Giants) in my room. This inspired me to purchase the DVD online. It took them over a week to ship it, and it arrived to my Nashville apartment last week.

Between the time I purchased the DVD and the time it arrived, the NFL playoffs panned out so that my Dallas Cowboys would face the New York Giants in the divisional round. As soon as the little yellow envelope arrived, I set it aside, refusing to watch it until after the game. Apparently, not watching the DVD before the game wasn't enough to keep my Boys in the playoffs. Once again, a great season was shattered by one playoff game.

this was the first time these two

teams had ever met in the playoffs

With this loss, my ultimate sports trifecta for the 2007-2008 year was shattered. The Red Sox had done their part, and I just needed the Cowboys to win the Super Bowl and the Vanderbilt mens' basketball team to bring home the NCAA championship (least likely of the three, but still).

Speaking of the Commodores, they ended their 16-game winning streak this weekend with a tough, double-overtime loss at Kentucky. I am so ready to see these big games at Memorial Gymnasium.

"Put a fork in 'em. They're done baby." (Kevin O'Shea, Little Giants)

"Hold On Loosely" - 38 Special

Something Fishy This Way Comes

2008-01-11T14:16:00.000-06:00

I'm over a week into my 3rd rotation, and I can assertively say that it is an improvement from where I was last. This lab studies at left/right asymmetry in the brain (using zebrafish as a model system). Oh yeah, and the following sign was up at my lab bench when I walked in on day 1.

my PI went to MIT and is
apparently a huge Sox fan

This semester they make us sign up for 1-4 hours of electives in addition to our bioregulation course. Initially, I just signed up for an easy one hour course whose subtitle is "How to Win a Nobel Prize." We basically just take turns presenting on people who have won the Nobel Prize. We give the presentation with a Vanderbilt faculty member who has some affiliation with that particular Nobel Laureate (i.e. worked with them in their lab, worked at the same institution, worked in the same field). However, I felt like a tremendous slacker taking just one hour when others had three and four hour electives. Yesterday, I added another one hour to my work load. I'll be taking one of the three modules of the molecular development course. It's only a month long, and the topic (microRNA) is a very cool, very new area of research.

"Nothing shocks me. I'm a scientist." (Inidiana Jones)

"Black Dog" - Led Zeppelin

Sayoonara, 2007

2008-01-10T15:04:00.000-06:00

After my week in Paris over break, I came back to Nashville to meet Henry, Trevor, and Mary (Mississippi State kids) at my place. We had an eventful few days leading up to the end of 2007, most of which included watching the college football bowl games.

One night, we four went downtown to the Sommet Center to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra perform. We had heard it was a great show, but until you see it for yourself, you just don't even know. The first hour was kind of mellow, but the last half of the show was crazy. In addition to the strings that one would expect in an orchestra, they had several electric guitars, a few keyboardists, and a guy on the drums rocking out. I should probably also mention the laser/light synchronization... and the flames.

at the TSO concert

The next day, we were joined by Matt and CG (UTC friends) at the Music City Bowl. We got upper level tickets cheap - before the teams were announced. It was Kentucky (SEC) vs Florida State (ACC). We came in thinking it would be a blowout, because of the suspension of a few dozen Florida State players (11 starters). It turned out being (at least the first half) a crazy game that had the teams tied at half-time. Kentucky finally started to play in the second half and ended up winning 35-28.

Henry, me, Mary, Trevor
[freezing at the Music City Bowl]

the sea of blue, with a couple of garnet spots

a nice shot of the Nashville skyline

I gave a poor blogger-showing in 2007, and I hope that my fourth post in four days is a sign that I will do better this year. To start things off, I've included a poll (see sidebar) which I hope to change weekly. It's an anonymous poll, so there's really no good reason not to participate.

"Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it's twice as onerous a duty." (John Selden)

"Low" - Flo Rida

5 Year Reunion

2008-01-09T23:47:00.001-06:00

My last night in Nashville before they let us loose for the holidays Christina flew into Nashville from DC to catch a ride with me back to Paris. During the ride back, two simply phenomenal observations were made:

(1) the Paris/Camden exit off I-40 has a
"Country Hooters"

(2) my car hit 100,000 miles
[you know you love the token 100K photo]

I spent a little over a week in Paris over Christmas break, and during that time I managed to see quite a few folks from HCHS. The older we get, the less we see each other, but it's nice to know that at least once a year we can get together and catch up on life (and Paris gossip).

guys' night out
(Nick, Chris; Josh, John)

girls' night out
(Holly, Jenn, me, Estella, Katy)

"It takes a long time to grow an old friend." (John Leonard)

"Small Town" - John Mellencamp

Ventilator Issues

2008-01-08T23:27:00.000-06:00

At the very end of last semester, Mom told me that Dad wasn't taking well to his anti-depressants or any of the new medications they were throwing at him (which included Valium and Xanax). He wasn't himself (i.e. not lucid) sometimes, even scaring the nurses at night when he would have his 'fits.'

It got so bad one evening (the eve of Alicia's wedding, in fact), that they decided to take him into the emergency room at Henry County to see if they could figure out what was wrong. After a few hours there, they noticed his carbon dioxide levels were elevated, possibly explaining the mental problems he was having. Someone suggested that his ventilator probably wasn't doing it's job as well as it should be, because it was calibrated for 16-month ALS Timmy, not the much more degenerated 34-month ALS Timmy.

Early the next morning, he was taken to St. Thomas in Nashville so that a pulmonologist could fix the problem; we wanted him to go back to Vanderbilt, but their ICU was full. He was there for a few days, and they finally reset his ventilator which seemed to fix the symptoms they were seeing.

Neither of my parents were pleased with how Dad was being treated at St. Thomas. They hadn't seen many (if any) ALS patients before, and simply did not know the level of attention that he needs. Next time he has to come to Nashville, he will go to Vanderbilt.

At the time, this whole ordeal really stressed me out (the one thing ALS isn't supposed to affect is the brain). Not only was all of this going on, but I was in Alicia's wedding the day he was transported to Nashville and the following week we had an exam due. It was not the best timing, but at least they fixed the problem.

This is a perfect example of why I am very glad that I am at grad school in Nashville. Last year, when Dad was at Stallworth for those weeks in the summer, Mom had no where to sleep, shower, or relax. This go-round, she could come to my place at any time to get a good night's sleep, take a shower, wash her clothes, or just watch TV. In addition, I got to be with him without it being a huge inconvenience to my daily schedule; granted, I did take time off from my lab rotation, but at least he wasn't 2+ hours away.

The mental problems have gone away, so it would seem as though they fixed the problem. He's tired a lot (sleeps most of the day), but besides that, he's doing as well as to be expected.

"When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on." (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

"Carry On My Wayward Son" - Kansas

12 Days of Christmas (Break)

2008-01-07T13:16:00.000-06:00

No, my title isn't referring to the Christmas song; it describes exactly how much time off I had between semesters. I'm used to one month off at the end of every year, and it was just plain sad not to have that much time to relax this year. Welcome to grad school.

Forgive the short post, but since I've been MIA for two weeks, I have a lot to cover. I'll spend the next few posts recapping the past few weeks. So much for keeping up with my pre-New Year's resolution.

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." (Oprah Winfrey)

"Rock the Casbah" - The Clash

Music to Your Ears

2007-12-25T14:53:00.000-06:00

Back in my early blogger days, I tried to provide a link from Amazon.com with a sound clip for each song at the end of my posts. That didn't work out the way I wanted, so I eventually stopped doing it. After being recently referred to SkreemR (an internet Mp3 search engine), I think I have come up with a great new way for my loyal few to enjoy the songs I select for each post.

Simply click on the song and you will be taken to a new window with a Quicktime player that should play the entire song. Not only that, but if you right click the song at the end of my post, and select "Save Link As," you should be able to download the song to your computer.

Consider this new feature of my blog to be a Christmas present to my readers (a product of having too much free time in Paris, Tennessee).

"Christmas is a time when you get homesick - even when you're home." (Carol Nelson)

"Don't Look Back" - Boston

Mrs. Durham

2007-12-21T20:57:00.000-06:00

Last weekend, the chick I've known at UTC since freshman orientation (Alicia) got married in her hometown of Athens, TN. The ceremony was short and sweet, and the happy couple are currently on a Caribbean cruise for their honeymoon.

at the rehearsal dinner

an ode to Alicia with "Baby Got Back"
at the bachelorette party

Henry and me, at the reception

the bridesmaids leading some line dancing at the reception
(who knew I could pull off purple without a tan)

Mrs. Durham and me

Alicia's family made a donation to the ALS Foundation
in honor of my dad instead of buying party favors

"When you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible." (Harry, When Harry Met Sally)

"God Blessed the Broken Road" - Rascal Flatts

Frequency

2007-12-12T13:39:00.000-06:00

Each new year, at least in my little blogger world, means a new Blogger Jams CD (an MP3 CD compilation of all the songs I put in my posts each year). Last weekend, I decided to sit down and really crank out a complete, highly organized version of both Blogger Jams 2005 and 2006. In doing so, I discovered that the frequency of my posts is rapidly declining.

2005 - 165 posts
2006 - 100 posts
2007 - 59 posts (with less than three weeks left in the year)

I've reasoned that the issue is not that I don't post as much information as 2005; instead, I am waiting too long to post, which leaves me with the same information but less posts to show for it. While this is not only bad for the quality of my Blogger Jams CDs, I'm quite certain it makes reading my blogs a pain; instead of short posts every few days, one now waits a week or two and has to read half a novel. As a pre-New Year's resolution, I'm going to try and increase the frequency of my posts. Case in point: two posts in the past two days.

"I shall never be ashamed of citing a bad author if the line is good." (Seneca)

"Keep Your Hands to Yourself" - Georgia Satellites

A Tale of Two Labs

2007-12-11T13:50:00.000-06:00

I have strategically avoided talking about my second rotation on my blog... until now. I have had a very trying experience these past two months, and needless to say, I will not be joining this lab. I'd like to put a positive spin on this rotation, though, by revealing what this lab has taught me about how I want to spend my graduate school years. Some of this list comes from me actually seeing how good things can be (first rotation), but most of it has arisen because I have seen the other side of the coin (second rotation).

1. Show me. I have forewarned every potential PI when meeting with them that I do not have the most laboratory experience (especially in a biological setting). That being said, if you show me once, I'll know how to do it, and then I won't bug you again. I'm really quite good about picking up on things once I'm shown how. I have had to pry people away for every single experiment I have had to do. A big reason why I haven't gotten much done this rotation is because I've either tried to figure out how to do this procedure (without a protocol) by myself or there hasn't been anyone around to point me in the right direction. Just show me how to do it!

2. Talk to me. Spending 8+ hours at a lab bench can make anyone go crazy (especially when you don't know what you're doing - see #1). It's nice to have people you can joke with or even just talk to when you need a little break. I have basically spent eight weeks in isolation (it's a challenge to even have the radio on once a week). I need some sort of social interaction with fellow lab mates, or else I just don't think I will be fully functional or content in a lab.

3. More genetics. Maybe it's the chemist in me trying to adapt to a biomedical research world, but after my first rotation (genetics-oriented) as well as our current bioregulation section (genetics & development), I really like using genetics. It's hard to explain, but just know that compared to other scientific approaches, genetics offers a very methodical, ordered way to attack biological questions (which I love).

4. No mice. I've never been good with blood and guts (a big part of why medical school was never an option). There are many other great model systems available to use that do not require me to kill a mouse, cut out her babies, and then dissect out their spinal cords. No thank you.

5. Department. In addition to every other important factor to consider when joining a lab, the department the PI is associated with is just as crucial. I think I want a department that is more involved in their graduate students (offering journal clubs and seminars to update people with current research). There is nothing close to that in the department this current lab is in.

6. Mentor. Maybe it's just me, but I kind of thought the whole point of grad school was to get the training we needed to one day do this stuff on our own. If I could do these experiments now and knew everything already, then I really wouldn't need to waste five years of my life, now would I? Basically, I need a mentor: someone to guide me along the way, show me how to do things, and teach me how to be the best scientist I can be (cheesy, but true). That's not happening where I am now.

7. Stellar lab notebook. You're always told to keep a very organized, thorough lab notebook but few people actually follow through with that concept. For this rotation, I was literally handed someone's lab notebook from 2002 and expected to figure out what to do (this someone is long gone, by the way). Having to decipher person X's cryptic experiments and results has led to my personal guarantee that my future lab notebooks will be so stellar that any person could pick it up and know exactly how to do any experiment or why that experiment is being done. Thank you person X for showing me the importance of keeping a good notebook.

8. Organization. When one deals with hundreds of different chemicals for various experiments, it's nice to have everything organized and labeled. I've had to search through countless freezers, boxes, and drawers to find items that even current lab members have no idea where they are. I shouldn't have to waste lab hours looking for reagents when it doesn't take that much effort to keep things organized.

9. Funding. This one pretty well speaks for itself. New technology, while amazing in what it can do for the scientific world, is expensive. After going from a lab that was well funded to one that, uhm, wasn't, I now appreciate the luxury of using machines that aren't older than me.

10. My project. Another reason why I haven't gotten any data this rotation is because I don't have a project of my own to keep me motivated to get things done. When this is paired with the fact that I don't know what to do next (see #1), it becomes very clear why I have zero results. I really cannot wait to have a project to call my own (not two months to work on someone else's project).

"A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary." (Thomas Carruthers)

"Hard to Handle" - Black Crowes

Ringer

2007-12-06T23:10:00.000-06:00

My inner tube water polo season has come to an end. With only four teams in the entire league, the playoff system was simple: semis and then a final match. The team we were supposed to play in the first round didn't show up, so this placed us against the only team that beat us during the regular season. We had the lead for most of the game, but with about a minute left we went from being up by one to down by one; we were unable to counter their final goal, and we lost by one point.

our team warming up

2nd year med students + me

I mentioned how the 2nd year medical students brought me in to play for their inner tube water polo team. Well, today I got a random email from a graduate student asking me to play co-ed flag football for their 3rd year IGP team. Apparently, a guy in my class is in his lab, and when the 3rd year mentioned they would be down a girl, my name came up as someone to contact. In a close playoff game, I managed to score a touchdown, helping 'our' team to pull away with a victory. They all asked me to come back for the next round on Monday, but I told them I'd go only if they needed me (which I hope they do).

I got a somewhat unexpected visit last weekend from Mom and Brian. Over Thanksgiving I got my dress altered for Alicia's wedding (which is next Saturtday, by the way). I wasn't around to pick it up, so I asked Brian to bring it to Nashville for me. Dad's nursing situation worked out so that Mom was able to come as well. We went to get dinner and did a little shopping before they had to get back. It was good to see them, and I'm glad they got to see my apartment.

Last weekend, I went down to Chattanooga for a tacky Christmas sweater party with my crew. In addition to having fun with my Nooga peeps, I was also able to pick up some free furniture. Carrie's neighbor moved out and gave her a coffee table, two end tables, and a sofa table (all matching). She was going to take them to Goodwill, but when I told her that I desperately needed living room furniture, she gladly gave them to me.

it doesn't get much tackier

Bethany (my roommate) brought home her family dog after Thanksgiving. She's a good dog (unless she doesn't know you, and then she goes crazy), and it's fun to have her around the apartment.

our new roommate, Cassie

we were bonding

While every undergrad I know is basically done for the semester, I still have two weeks left. Next week I really need to try and get things done in lab so that I actually have something to present. Yes, I have to give another end-of-rotation talk (12/18/07). The last week of school they're giving us an extended take home exam. A lot is going on that week, including two Vandy-related holiday parties (one for the biochemistry department and one my current PI is having for just his lab). Let's all hope I can give that exam the attention it needs.

Speaking of exams, we finally got our entire gene expression grade (I rocked it). It's looking like last section (cell biology) is less impressive; my grade is right about average, which is really all I need. For next semester of IGP, we still have to take bioregulation, but they also make us take an elective. I'm having a difficult time selecting what class to take. On one hand, it'd be nice to take a class like molecular genetics or neuroscience so that I can have a better understanding of what's going on and take some pressure off of my second year of classes. On the other hand, those are both specialized, difficult classes that I may not even need (depending on what department/project I select). Not to mention I will have to take this class on top of bioregulation and my lab rotation. I still have a couple weeks to figure that one out.

"Take care of all your memories. For you cannot relive them." (Bob Dylan)

"Your Love" - The Outfield

Anti-Orange

2007-11-22T13:43:00.000-06:00

Guess who's a Vanderbilt intramural champion? That's right, our co-rec and mens indoor soccer teams advanced to the finals and ended up winning the whole she-bang. The shirts we got are really neat, and for once, I got a shirt that fits. I just loved that we beat kids who were four years younger than us.

science nerds getting it done

You may recall my Team United days at UTC. I really miss that team, but I'm happy to report I've left the dynasty in good hands. They continued our womens flag football streak, making it four consecutive years holding the title. Apparently, everyone at UTC knows about Team United, and they either want to be on the team or hate us because we win so much. I love it.

The UTC club soccer team came down a couple weeks ago for the Vanderbilt tournament. Back in my first couple years on at UTC, I recall playing Vandy and just getting obliterated (losing by at least 10 goals). This was because they had a real coach and obviously practiced way more than we did. I'm proud to say that this year (when Vandy was sans real coach), UTC swept the tournament, beating Vanderbilt 2-1 and Northern Kentucky 1-0. It was great to see everyone, and I even got to play a little bit. There's an indoor tournament in Maryville in the spring that UTC always attends. This year we're going to have an alumni team, so the current team had better watch out! :)

I've been to a few football games these past few weeks:

- Henry came into town for Halloween, and we scored two free tickets to the Titans vs Raiders game (thanks Zip). The Titans barely pulled away with the victory.

this was also the same day the Red Sox won the World Series

- A good friend of mine from UTC (Andy) came to town for the Vanderbilt vs Kentucky game. Like so many other games this season, Vandy should have won that game. The final score was 20-27, and we lost 7 points in the kicking game (two missed field goals and a missed extra point).

Andy and Charles (UTC alum, current Vandy med student)

- Speaking of painful Vanderbilt football losses, I was able to come across a free ticket to the Vanderbilt vs. Tennessee game at Neyland Stadium. I went to Chattanooga last weekend, and one of the new soccer girls just happened to have a ticket. I didn't really know the chick, but I couldn't pass up a free ticket to this game, especially since the last time Vandy played at UT, the Commodores upset Orange Nation. For 80% of the game, the Commodores were in control (at one point we were up 24-9). UT came back, making the score 22-24 and kicked a field goal to give them the lead (24-25). With 33 seconds left in the game, Vandy missed a 49-yard field goal. Game over. Prior to attending that game, I was indifferent about Tennessee; however, after being one Vandy fan among literally one-tenth of a million orange rednecks, I can now see why many people hate UT.

pretty sweet lower level seats

giving you an idea of how nauseating the orange was

three great quarters of football couldn't match
UT's fourth quarter comeback

my new pal, Mary Beth, and me when things were going great for Vandy

My undergraduate research director, Dr. Santiago, is also an army colonel. He recently got called up to take command of the 2154th Garrison Support Unit (out of Nashville). He will be heading to Iraq early in 2008. He's a great professor, and it's sad that UTC students won't have him there as a teacher or adviser for the next couple years. Alicia and I went to his change of command ceremony last weekend.

the guy who helped me get through my DHON

I'll be seeing a lot of this one in the
upcoming weeks (her wedding is December 15th)

Last Thanksgiving, a small group of the Inman Middle School class of '99 decided to get together. We continued the tradition this year, and I hope to keep this up for many years to come.

JoEllen, Christina, Josh, Chris, Nick

"Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence." (Erma Bombeck)

"Hold On" - Wilson Philips

Personal Update

2007-11-14T16:15:00.000-06:00

When I went home last month for my mom's birthday, I got an ALS-sized jolt of reality.

Dad's voice had been scratchy, and it was hard to tell if it's because he has a sore throat / cold or if it's ALS-related. Dad said it was just a sore throat, but it still scared me. While all ALS symptoms just plain suck, the whole not being able to talk to my dad thing takes the cake. He's fine now (sounds much better), but it definitely freaked me out at first.

An even more disturbing Tim tidbit is what exactly that ambiguous "pretty band infections" that I posted about in September means. He has a respiratory infection that is a result of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic pathogen that is resistant to most antibiotics and is fatal in 50% of the cases.

His compromised immune system, the trach (open hole in this throat), and his presence in various hospitals made him an easy target for the bacteria. The infection started at his trach and has since colonized and spread to his lungs. The doctors told him that he will always have this infection; it won't go away. After the first wave of the infection, they took him off the antibiotics (to prevent overexposure which can result in the bacteria developing a resistance to the antibiotics). A week ago they put him back on the antibiotics, because it was starting to spread again.

"Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple." (Barry Switzer)

"Sweet Southern Comfort" - Buddy Jewell

Sports Update

2007-11-05T16:39:00.000-06:00

In my last post that addressed sports, I was excited to play in the intramural softball championship and all of my teams (Red Sox, Cowboys, Vanderbilt) weren't doing so well. Oh how things change.

We ended up getting creamed in the softball game. We started out great, but after one bad inning (which turned into two), it was over. There's always next year.

nerds who play softball

We are in the playoffs in soccer after finishing 4th place in the regular season. We won our first playoff game because the other team didn't show up, and the team we play this week is in 1st place. It'll be amazing if we can actually beat them.

Last week, a chick from Paris who's a 2nd year med student at Vandy asked me to help fill out their roster for their innertube water polo team. That's just way to random to decline, so Wednesday night we met in the indoor pool for an intense game of innertube water polo. 'My' team lost, but I attribute that to the fact that no one had ever played before (who has?). We'll do better this week.

The UTC club soccer team is playing at Vanderbilt this weekend, and I'm so excited to see everyone! Not only will I get to hang out with my old team, but since alumni can play, I may just get to play in one of their games on Sunday.

Unless you've been under a rock these past few weeks, you know that my boys, my Red Sox swept the Colorado Rockies in just four short games. After things turned around against Cleveland, I knew that once we got to the Rockies it'd be a joke. It was. GO SOX!

So aside from that one meesely loss to the Patriots (a team that I can't stand, by the way), the Dallas Cowboys are en fuego this season. I've been a Cowboys fan for as long as I can remember, and I have the old school Aikman jersey to prove it. I'd love to see a rematch of the Pats vs Cowboys game on February 3rd.

Vanderbilt upset South Carolina (#6) a couple weeks ago. They are currently 5-4 which has them on pace for a winning record, which would result in going to a bowl game (though apparently this year there aren't enough bowl spots for bowl-eligible teams). Vandy basketball starts soon. I already have my student ID validated for basketball games: I'm ready.

"Twelve of the best years of my life. It will never be forgotten." (Troy Aikman)

"I'm Shipping Up to Boston" - Dropkick Murphys

Acadmic Update

2007-10-30T20:59:00.000-05:00

I have another take-home exam due in less than 12 hours, and I am not close to being done. However, I feel as though an update is in order. Expect more themed updates to follow.

Last week kind of marked the end of the first quarter of my IGP year. Despite the highs and lows that naturally come with grad school, I'd say this first part went decently well for me.

We got part of our gene expression exams back, and I did really well on each part. I was kind of surprised at how well I did, because I have never had any gene expression before. I'll take it, though, and I'm glad all those hours I spent on it were worth it. Cell biology is the current section; we have one exam due tomorrow and another due Monday.

Last week, I had my end-of-rotation presentation that I had to give at lab meeting. This talk was longer than my DHON defense presentation, and I was presenting material to a room full of "experts" on the topic. I was warned by other grad students in the lab that my PI likes to stop people during their presentations to ask questions (basically to make sure they know their stuff). I was able to get through all of my background information before he stopped me. He only stopped me to ask about my data slides (which is to be expected). Anyhow, after it was all said and done, not only did I feel good about it, but everyone said I did a great job. One grad student said it was "one of the best rotation talks" she's heard. My PI later called me into his office to say that I did a good job both on the presentation and in the lab during my rotation. I know this post so far seems like I'm bragging, but I really am just happy to be doing so well both in class and in lab (because I have been feeling as though I was behind everyone else in my class).

So it turns out that being rejected by my first choice for this past rotation was one of the best things that could have happened to me. Apparently, that PI is notorious for having students working up to 90 hour weeks... like they have cots that they sleep on (seriously). It's not necessarily because he's a slave driver, but his work involves purifying membrane proteins which is very difficult to do. Also, the lab I ended up rotating in was amazing. I love the people in the lab, and as the rotation progressed, I really started to enjoy the science more and more. I think that's because I came in with zero knowledge about genetics or development, and I was able to pick it up as I went along. Overall, I am very happy with how things ended up for my first rotation. I hope the next three aren't disappointing by comparison.

I have no idea how the rest of this year will turn out, but I'm happy with the first quarter. Yesterday, I started my second rotation. I am working with a biochemistry/neuroscience PI. My project involves proving that a certain transcription factor binds to DNA and trying to identify what sequence it binds to.

"Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday." (Don Marquis)

"Start Me Up" - The Rolling Stones

Avoiding SportsCenter

2007-10-14T18:05:00.000-05:00

This weekend has been pretty depressing if you're a fan of Vanderbilt, the Red Sox, or the Cowboys. I'm a fan of all three. It's been a sad, sad weekend in my sports world.

Leighann came into town on Saturday, and I took her to Oktoberfest and then later to the Vanderbilt-Georgia game. A small group from my program were going to Oktoberfest, because one guy's grandmother lives right in the middle of the festival. Parking was a nightmare, but it was fun, and I even bought a really neat poster that will end up in our living room.

part of the "Spirit of Nashville" collection
(I plan to own a couple more in the near future)

We then went over to the stadium for Vanderbilt's homecoming game against Georgia. Everyone expected the Bulldawgs to stomp the Commodores, and that was hardly the case. If it hadn't been for a Vanderbilt fumble 7-yards from the end-zone, it would have been yet another upset in the 2007 collegiate football season. But with 0:03 left on the game clock, Georgia hit a field goal to win 20-17.

I snuck Leighann in with my roommate's ID

moments before fumbling at the 7-yard line

While the Red Sox did embarrass the Indians Friday night (10-3), they lost in the 11th inning last night. Now they travel to Cleavland for games 3-5 of the series. Tonight, the NFL match-up everyone's been talking about (New England vs. Dallas) ended with a comfortable Patriot victory over the Cowboys.

Needless to say, I will avoid watching Sportscenter for a few days.

In completely unrelated news, I randomly check Nashville craigslist for their "free stuff" because you never know what you'll find. I saw an add with "Paris, TN" beside it, so of course I clicked on it. Someone was giving away a decently nice black leather sofa and loveseat set. I called my brother to see if he'd be interested, because this furniture strikes me as very 'guy' and I know Brian loves to have people over to play video games. He loved the idea and within the hour he had picked them up. They're currently in a friend's garage while they clean it up, but eventually, they should go in his room. You're welcome, bro.

keyword: free

it just screams 'guy' - don't you think?

"It's not whether you win or lose - but whether I win or lose." (Sandy Lyle)

"You Don't Know How it Feels" - Tom Petty

Sleep-Class-Lab-Exam

2007-10-13T10:10:00.001-05:00

So that's pretty much been my life for the past week or so. Remember how this section of my course was about gene expression - a topic I have never really been exposed to? Well, since last Wednesday, they have given us take home exams from four different professors about different aspects of gene expression. The ones last weekend were unbelievably time consuming (I did nothing fun last weekend; exam, exam, exam). The ones this week aren't as bad, and we did get a whole week to do one of them... but still. My week days are spent in class or lab until 5 or 6, and my weekends are bombarded with "design an experiment to test your hypothesis" questions. We have next weekend exam-free, but after that, the cell biology section gets its turn to pummel us with take home exams.

Last weekend, my sleep schedule was modified to get that exam done. Since then, I hadn't gone to bed before 2am any night this week, except Monday when I crashed at 9pm or last night where I was asleep around 11pm. Going to bed at 11 on a Friday is just sad.

I've noticed that my weeks fly by here. I feel as though Monday through Friday barely exists, and every time I look up, it's the weekend. And while normally, that's a great phenomenon to experience, my weekends (as of late) haven't been much to look forward to. It doesn't feel like I've been here for two months already.

All that complaining aside, I must say that I am learning a lot. Though, I guess when you come in with a minimal biological background and minimal laboratory experience, you have a lot to learn. My theory is that there will be a point where I catch up to the fundamental level of knowledge they expect you to have in grad school here. Once I reach that plateau, I'm hoping things will be easier. Right now it's challenging mainly because this is all new to me. Compare that to kids who took countless courses that covered these topics. As much as everyone tries to deny it, this is a very competitive program. I can sense people looking at me like I'm 'dumb' because I don't understand all of this immediately. I can catch up. I will catch up. Just give me time.

We only have two more weeks in our current lab rotations, and then we're off to another lab until Christmas [speaking of Christmas, I get a grand total of 12 days off; last year, I got an entire month]. Our choices are due Monday, and I'm pretty sure I'll end up in my first choice (who, in fact, was my third choice from last rotation). He has a project lined up for me (and I'll wait until I get in the lab to bore you with the details).

I haven't been home in a month, so the plan is to go home next weekend. My mom's birthday is on Thursday, so that works out quite well. I really want to go to Chattanooga and visit the old crew, but I have a feeling it's going to be a while before I have the time to do so.

The biggest news I have to report is that I finally got a new camera. After four months sans camera, my Discover rewards card finally arrived (a month after I requested it; after I asked them to reissue it). I got an amazing 3-year replacement warranty on it, which has me covered for "everything outside of fire or theft." Since my little Kodak bit the dust in month 13 of my 12-month limited warranty, I decided a longer warranty period might be a good idea.

Intramurals are going pretty well. At first, I was playing softball, volleyball, and soccer simultaneously, but I have since dropped volleyball from my list so far because (a) I'm not great at it, and (b) they always have so many people that I rarely get to play. Soccer is going well, we are 2-1 so far with a few more games left in the regular season. The softball regular season ended Sunday. We somehow came out with a 5-1 record (1st place). Of these six games, we only played three (the others were due to forfeit). Our 1st place position got us a bye in the first round of the tournament; as a result, we will be playing in the championship game Monday night.

I'm either about to smoke these girls...
... or get smoked - I don't remember which happened.

rounding the bases

keeping the books

"Men are not against you; they are merely for themselves." (Gene Fowler)

"Crazy Train" - Ozzy Osbourne

Floater

2007-09-30T21:28:00.001-05:00

When you take ~80 people (my incoming IGP class) and put them together, it won't take long until the groups start to form. I talk to just about everyone, and I don't really have just one set 'group' that I hang out with. I didn't realize this was the case until I was called a "floater" by someone else in the program. I like being thought of this way, because I enjoy being able to hang out with several different groups. Recently, I've been hanging out with one of the larger packs of peeps within the class. They're fun, and I'm looking forward to future nights out.

This past week was chock full of arrogant guys saying things to piss me off. I haven't ranted in a while, so here it goes. (a) Monday at the volleyball game, I was on the front line with another guy, I went up for a ball, and I didn't get it over the net. He turns to me and says the following: "You're not six-feet tall, Mallory; from now on just set it to me so I can spike it over." ::: I will never set it to him - ever. (b) Wednesday, at our intramural softball game (we're in the men's league, because not enough girls signed up for a co-rec team), the opposing team's pitcher told his players to move in when I got up to bat. ::: This infuriated me; I ripped a single to left field and got on base nearly every time; we beat them 18-9 - fockers. (c) I have spent a lot of time organizing our intramural teams, and this has involved placing a T-shirt order for 40 people (getting correct sizes, colors, logos, etc). Two guys had the nerve to comment on the shirts. One didn't like the color (I sent out several emails asking for input, and once the decision was made, I announced that as well). The other had the gonads to complain to me that he didn't get the number he wanted. When I told him that I didn't have time to keep track of 40 people's number/size combination, he proceeded to tell me I wasn't doing my job as a coach. ::: Ungrateful people suck. (d) We had our co-rec soccer game on Thursday. I asked where some of the guys who said they would play were, and I was then informed that they weren't coming because they "didn't want to play with girls." ::: Are you kidding me? --- That's just a sample of the arrogance I'm seeing in these guys. It's sickening.

Last weekend, I ran that half marathon in Murfreesboro with Meredith and Alicia. I hadn't trained at all for it, but I somehow managed to run the entire 13.1 miles just under 2 hours (1:58:46). Alicia smoked me (1:45:07), and Meredith (who's never run a half marathon before) finished with an impressive (2:03:17). I was extremely sore until about Wednesday, but I'm very glad I ran it. I'm definitely in for at least the Country Music Half Marathon this year. Alicia is trying to convince me to run the full marathon in April, but after that half, I'm quite certain that my body couldn't take it. Her strategy includes taking various forms of pain medicine before/during/after the race to trick the body into thinking it's ok - sketchy.

pushing through the pain

me, Mere, Al

showing just how much I didn't train for this race;

my longest run before Saturday was 4.08 miles on 9/15

Over the next two weeks, I will have to complete three take home exams. These tests are designed to take an entire weekend to finish. This basically means that for the next two weekends, I will be having zero fun.

After 23 years of relying on good old Dr. Pepper to provide me the caffeine I need to function each day, I have finally switched over to the world of coffee. Unlike undergrad, where I would go to class for a few hours, and then spend the rest of the day lounging or napping; graduate school is a whole different ball game. I am up every day by 7:30, and I get home between 6:00 and 9:00 depending on lab and intramurals. Then I get to study or read papers for class. It was only a matter of time before I made the switch to coffee.

picking worms in lab

(I make it look way more fun than it actually is)

My sports weekend was pretty amazing. The Red Sox clinched the division. Vanderbilt won their game this weekend (they're now 3-1). The Cowboys won, giving them a 4-0 start. Baseball playoffs start this week. October is going to rock.

Henry came to visit this weekend

(at the Vandy - E. Michigan game)

"Decaffeinated coffee is kind of like kissing your sister." (Bob Irwin)

"Float On" - Modest Mouse

Vandalicious

2007-09-19T23:06:00.000-05:00

So about a month ago, I stumbled upon Vanderbilt's intramural website. This prompted me to send an email to all 70+ people in my class to see if any of them wanted to play softball, soccer, or flag football. My innocent, initiative-taking email has snowballed into me becoming basically the intramural director of the newest IGP class. I have full rosters (which was difficult to organize with 30+ responses for multiple sports) for not only the sports I wanted to play but also for any other sport that people wanted to get together. I'm the one who walks over to campus recreation to sign up each team. I'm the one who has to go to the coaches meetings. I'm the one who emails everyone to make sure we have enough to play. There were a couple people who offered to help out (and I took them up on it), so it's not that bad anymore. I have delegated coaching responsibilities to various people for each of the sports going on right now. Also, unlike UTC (who had one sport at a time), Vanderbilt thought it would be cute to overlap most of their sports. We currently have a softball and two volleyball teams with active schedules, and soccer should start up in the next week or so.

I have experience as an intramural leader (Team United), so I guess it was only a matter of time before this happened. Despite the extra stress this is causing me, there is a bright side to it all. Vanderbilt's BRET office (which runs my program) will pay for any entry/forfeit fees we may have, and they are buying us T-shirts! We cleverly named ourselves the Model Organisms.

our custom-designed T-shirt logo
(done by one of the guys in my program)

I took my first grad school test. I studied a lot. This studying landed me 10 points higher than the class average. I'll take it. This section was the biochemistry portion (my area), and the rest of the year will all be things that I know very little about. The next topic: gene expression. I'm already lost.

Speaking of genes, I now have a better idea of what my rotation project is going to be. I won't bore you with all of the details (yet), but basically I'm taking mutations linked to a certain characteristic that the lab is interested in, and I will be doing some genetic mapping (finding where on the chromosomes these mutated genes are located). Right now it's all Greek to me, but I have six weeks to learn all about genetics and C. elegans. At the end of my rotation, I have to give a 15-minute presentation on what I've done. Yikes.

Leighann told me a few weeks ago that Guster was playing at Vanderbilt in October. Last week, I got an email sent out by Vanderbilt about the homecoming concert featuring Kanye West and Guster. While I did think it was an odd pairing to have Kanye West and Guster at the same event, I really didn't think much else of it. Tickets went on sale last Friday at 10 a.m. and my class let out at 11. I strolled on over to the student center looking to pick up a few student tickets before going to lab. Tell me why the student center had people lined up throughout the entire building. It wasn't just 30 or so people in one room. There were hundreds and hundreds of Vandalicious undergrads in line. I overheard one girl who got there at 9 and didn't get her tickets until 11. Kanye West has ruined my chance to see Guster on October 12. Well, Kanye and the take home exams I have to complete by the following Monday.

I went home to see my family last weekend. It was nice to be back home, where it's easy for me to relax. Dad had some pretty bad infections a few weeks ago that forced him to go to the ER. Apparently, had he not gone when he did, he may very well have died from pneumonia. He's getting better (regarding the infections). He's had to have a night nurse come in during the week to roll him on his side every few hours to avoid getting bed sores. It was too much for mom to have to wake up every two hours when she works 10+ hour days.

So remember that half marathon I was bragging about a few months ago? Well, that's this Saturday. Have I trained? Why heck no. Normally, this would majorly stress me out; however, given the other things going on in my life right now that are very efficiently stressing me out, I think I can just take this to be a fun experience and not worry about it. It's ok if I walk some. I know I can run one with a good time. That's all that matters. My 'solution' to not training is simply to detoxify and super-hydrate myself before the race. That's got to count for something, right? Also, they have banned the use of headphones during the 13.1 mile race. NO MUSIC FOR 2+ HOURS?!? WHAAAAT?

"If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions? (Scott Adams)

"Champagne Supernova" - Oasis

Lemonade

2007-09-08T21:01:00.000-05:00

Since my last post, I turned 23. Aside from studying like it's going out of style, 23 hasn't been much different from 22. Except now I hesitate to tell people my age, because I can't believe I'm really 23. I inherited Henry's old 27" TV for my birthday along with a mighty mouse and case for my Macbook.

a decent-sized group from my program went out
for my birthday... there were cupcakes!

The insane studying is because our first exam is on Wednesday. I have a 1" thick binder full of notes (front & back; 2 slides per page). This is our "proteins & DNA" section of our bioregulation course. The depressing part about it comes from the fact that this will be the only information I have at least heard of before. Everything else will be new (read: more difficult to learn). I'm wasting my weekend away studying, because as of Monday morning, we officially start our first lab rotations. So far, I've gotten home around 3:00 every day, relaxed, and then got around to my studies. Now, I'll be in lab until 5 or 6 (if I'm lucky) and then have to come home and look over things. I'm sure it's all a matter of getting into a routine, so that's my #1 priority.

For our first lab rotations, I thought I had it all planned out. We are supposed to submit our top three choices, and then the principle investigator (PI) would select the student they wanted (if multiple people chose the same person). I talked to a biochem guy whose work deals with the molecular mechanisms that control neuronal survival. I liked him alright, but he said he didn't have the money for a student first rotation and to simply put him down for any of the other three rotations. Next, I talked to another biochem guy who I really want to work with. He's investigating both structure and function of various membrane proteins that have been linked to various diseases. I really enjoyed talking with him, so I knew I would put him down as my first choice. I needed a backup in case my first choice couldn't take me, so I spoke with a guy from developmental biology (also associated with the neuroscience program) who was looking at neural specificity of motor neurons in C. elegans (check out this link to see how cool this organism is). He was also nice, so I had my top three (even though the last one couldn't take me on the first rotation). We submit our choices Thursday morning, and by Thursday afternoon, my first choice emails me a rejection letter with the following sentence: "there is another student for whom it is logistically important for me to host for rotation 1." Now I'm no moron (more on that later), so I take this to mean that he has a student who is already trained in his area who can do a certain project that he needs done now. I overheard a couple girls in my program during one of the poster sessions talking about how they were going to have Chuck (this guy) for first rotation and how they had already talked with him about their project.

The point of that last paragraph is that I did not get my first choice (in a field I'm at least moderately comfortable with); instead, I will be working with genetic mutations and neural development. It's not the end of the world that things worked out this way, though. First of all, I get an early taste of something unfamiliar to me. If I happen to like this field, then I may not want to waste all of my rotations on biochemistry PIs. Secondly, my lab skills are not only rusty, but they are quite primitive when you consider all of the different techniques being done on this campus. Spending 8 weeks in this developmental biology lab will allow me to get back into the swing of things in the lab, as well as get accustomed to full days in the lab. This way, I can make a better impression on the people that I (at least think I) really want to work with. So basically I'm making lemonade out of C. elegans.

My academic performance prior to arriving at Vanderbilt was anything but mediocre. This is why I am slightly disturbed that on at least a weekly basis, someone, somewhere makes me feel like a moron. Whether it's not knowing what to say to a PI (due to mere lack of exposure to their field of study) or the fact that I take notes like a mad-woman (which I have always done and will always do; professors tell you what they want you to know; it's not that hard) which no one else seems to do, I keep getting tested on whether I should be here or not. I've had a few minor freak outs since I've been here, and after not getting my first choice lab, I had a medium-sized freak out. I see thousands more in my future, but that's just the nature of the beast (grad school).

Bethany and I went to the Vanderbilt-Alabama game today. We left from the same apartment, rode in the same car, and went to the same game, and yet this is how we both looked on the way out the door.

it beautifully describes the two of us...
no complaints though!

In non-school related news, I may be just a few days a way from a new camera. To cut a long story short, I'm taking full advantage of some of my Discover Card rewards which should result in a new digital camera. I can't wait.

I've wasted enough study time writing this post. Wish me luck on my first grad school exam (which I have to make at least a B on to avoid academic probation).

"When fate hands us a lemon, let's try to make a lemonade." (Dale Carnegie)

"23" - Jimmy Eat World

Jean Splicing

2007-08-24T20:56:00.001-05:00

I hate shopping. In fact, I hate shopping to the point where I have owned the same five pair of blue jeans for at least five years. They are the same brand, same style, same everything. I have a few other pair that I wear, but they just don't compare to this one (er... five) pair of blue jeans. Why did I buy five pairs of the same pants? I knew, back in high school, that they would stop making this particular pair of blue jeans. You're thinking, they're just jeans... buy another pair. It's not that simple. My distaste for shopping as well as the fact that they just aren't making jeans the way the used to resulted in my persistence with this issue. I don't like stretch, skin-tight jeans, I don't like the super-duper low rise jeans, and I don't like jeans that have the "worn" look about them... all of which are currently in-style to the point that no one manufactures anything else.

Over the last few months, my jeans (one by one) have started to get huge rips in them. This week, I ripped my last pair of those sacred jeans that are no longer being made. This resulted in two things: (1) I had to go and buy new jeans [I'm not in love with them, but they'll have to do] & (2) I got to use this post's title, which is fitting when you consider the world I stepped into a week ago.

In other news (literally), yours truly made the Vanderbilt Medical School's paper, The Reporter. I expect you all to check out the article, not only to see me rocking that kayak, but also to read about how my incoming class is insanely over-qualified this year. I have hard copies of the paper for those who want them (mom & dad).

Jessi and me kayaking

School officially started this week. This included our bioregulation course (MWF 9-11), our flex times (MWF 11-12), and the first set of departmental orientations and poster sessions (12-3). The course isn't too bad just yet, mainly because we started with biochemistry (which I actually understand). The flex times basically give us scientific papers somewhat related to the current coursework that we have to read, understand, and be able to present the figures to our small groups. I'm not to fond of current flex time group (they change every few weeks). The group is lead by a post-doc and current grad student, and the post-doc is very condescending towards us (which isn't the most productive way to teach). On top of that, my group isn't organized at all, which resulted in me looking like a slacker (long story). The departmental orientations are a chance for each of the 11 departments/programs associated with IGP to give us their best sales pitch as to why we should join their program. The poster sessions allow us to see the current work being done in the 200+ labs available for us to rotate in. Our first (of four) rotations starts September 10 (the real day my life ends, because I will then be spending all of my free time during the day in lab). I have a few ideas for my first rotation, but I haven't made a decision yet. We haven't even seen half the departments yet.

I could say much more about Vandy so far, but I'll pace myself.

"Competition is a painful thing, but it produces great results." (Jerry Flint)

"A Whole New World" - Aladdin

Little Fish, Big Pond

2007-08-19T11:07:00.001-05:00

I know you all are just dying to learn about how my first three days at Vanderbilt turned out. They were all orientation days, chock full of biosafety lectures and plagiarism seminars (read: almost too much fun to write about). Aside from that, it's been interesting to say the least.

They make it a point to continually remind us all about how our lives are basically ending upon entering grad school. We're not on the academic calendar (read: no fall, spring, or summer breaks of any kind), and this year's two-week Christmas vacation is merely because it's between lab rotations (and subsequent years will not have a break, which will result in very little holiday time). I knew all of this going in, but it's just fun to hear it coming directly from them. Their justification on this matter comes from the fact that we are getting paid while we are here.

At UTC (my cute little public school), I was at the top of my class. Well, everyone here was at the top of their class, and most of them went to a more prestigious school than I did. One guy already has his M.D. and has decided that clinical work isn't for him, so he's now pursuing his Ph.D. My point is only that I realize upfront that I am just a tiny little state-school fish in a big privately-funded school's pond.

With all of that being said, I have met a lot of the kids in my program, and most of them are pretty cool. It's different to be one of only a handful from the south, with the majority coming from up north. There's a decent number of international students as well. Basically, we're quite diverse.

I love my apartment, and so far [knock knock] the traffic hasn't been hellacious. I live a little less than five miles from campus, and I have to park a few blocks from my building; so with traffic it takes me a little more than 30 minutes to get door-to-door. That sounds like a lot, but about half of that is me climbing up to my floor (7th) of the parking garage and walking around all of the lovely construction going on around my building. But as far as the actual drive to Vandy, it's really not that bad.

An extreme makeover (blog edition) seemed appropriate.

"Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." (Dorothy, The Wizard of Oz)

"Nothing Lasts Forever" - Maroon 5

AC-DC

2007-08-14T19:20:00.001-05:00

I am no longer a lifeguard. I am now a Nashvillian. I start grad school tomorrow.

Thursday afternoon, I had Brian and mom help me pack up (because I was physically unable to do so myself), and I moved the rest of my junk to my new home in Nashvegas. The pre-DC plan was to have everyone (Trevor, Mary, and Henry) rendezvous at my place Thursday evening and then leave early Friday morning (6-ish). An hour before Trevor and Mary arrive to Nashville, I get a call from Trevor asking if there was an auto service place near my apartment (not what you want to hear from the guy brining the car for the trip). Apparently, his air-conditioner broke down when he was about an hour from my place. The 100 degree temperatures and 11 hour drive did not make a trip without AC sound any more appealing. No where would see him Thursday when he got to town, so we had to wait until 7 a.m. Friday to even get it looked at. At the time, bumping the trip back a couple hours in order to get whatever minor problem fixed with the AC seemed well worth it.

Even though Trevor and Henry were there before they opened, it still took until 8:30 before we knew what was wrong. It wasn't a shortage of freon or a busted fuse; it was the compressor. They said it would take about three hours, and cost a lot of money. Trevor (and his father) opted to just get it fixed, and we would just get to DC later than expected. Well, that three hour task ended up taking over six hours. We left Nashville at 3 p.m.

So what if we arrive in the middle of the night... we have AC, so it can't be that bad, right? We barely get across Nashville and notice that the air is still cold, but the fan isn't blowing near what it should be. After several successive pit stops, we come to the conclusion that they didn't do something right. Trevor did discover that you can run the AC with decent power for about ten minutes until it gives out, and then give it a ten minute break, and then it works again. This cycle at least gave us some cold spurts on occasion. It still wasn't the most comfortable ride, but at least we had our AC intervals to look forward to.

Trevor investigating the situation

me and Mary less than enthused about the lack of air-conditioning

We pulled up to Richard and Carolyn's apartment in Arlington, VA right at 3 a.m. (ET). They were really great about the entire change of plans (we were initially going to eat at their place, with Richard cooking something fabulous for everyone), and they were up when we got there. We stayed up a few more hours with those two before deciding it might be time to catch some Z's.

Saturday, after only a few hours of sleep, we picked up Christina to go and see the Red Sox play the Orioles in Baltimore. The original plan had us driving to Henry's brother (John)'s house to take a train to the ballpark instead of messing with traffic and parking, but our late night, which translated to a late start, prevented this plan from being carried out. Despite fighting game day traffic, we made it to the game in plenty of time to grab lunch, and meet up with the rest of our group. The Sox won, but it was painful to watch Josh Beckett come out in the 9th to complete his then-shutout game, get two outs, two strikes, and then lose the shutout with two base hits.

our view at Camden Yards

Trevor, Mary, Christina, me, Henry

After the game, John (and his girlfriend Jamie) took us into Baltimore to this little pizza place for dinner. It was a small, quaint place that had some of the best pizza I've ever eaten. Afterward, we made the trek back to Arlington to rest up for Sunday's game.

Sunday, we once again grabbed Christina on the way to Camden Yards. This time, we did take the train to the game, and it made for a much more enjoyable experience. Sadly, the Sox gave up their 3-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th inning and would later lose in the bottom of the 10th on a walk-off homerun by former teammate, Kevin Millar.

our seats for Sunday's game

Christina and I blog like what

We showered and got ready for dinner in DC at this Tapas restaurant called Zaytinya. With everyone ordering something different, we got to sample several amazing dishes. We all ate too much, but it was well worth it.

Monday morning we started our journey back to Tennessee. After the first hour on the road, we stopped for gas only to learn that there was a leak in Trevor's radiator (which had resulted in his coolant leaking, bad news). It's unclear when this started, but a trip to AutoZone was necessary to find a quick-fix for the problem. The remainder of the trip was sans-AC (read: very uncomfortable until sunset), but it really wasn't that bad of a drive (Trevor drove the whole way, there and back).

This is the first post from the Macbook. Expect many more.

"I'm not the dumb one, that's Carolyn... because she's the girl." (Henry's foot-in-mouth quote of the trip)

"Highway to Hell" - ACDC

Back to Reality

2007-08-08T22:40:00.001-05:00

This is my last night in Paris. Tomorrow, I will go to work for a few hours, and hopefully by mid-afternoon, I will be at my apartment in Nashville. Henry, Trevor, Mary, and I are all crashing at my place before heading out early Friday morning for DC.

Work this week has been a less than pleasant surprise. The gloriously relaxed week I had envisioned was dramatically put to rest with both Monday and Tuesday being exceptionally busy. So while everyone claimed that school started on Monday, it really started today with Monday being a registration day and Tuesday being a day off. Today was much better, and I was able to get a lot done (oil change, car wash, sun tanning). In just a few hours, I will be a retired lifeguard. It's time to hang up the swimsuit and grow up... I guess.

A fun little twist to my move-out week includes my trip to the walk-in clinic today. I had been really sore from the HCHS alumni soccer game (Saturday), but it was mainly my legs and a little lower back. I had been moving things around this week, in preparation for the move to Nashville, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Then, today, the constant bending down to pick up the hose and sponge while washing my car must have triggered something horrendous to happen to my lower back. Immediately after I was done, I could tell I had really messed up my back. I suffered through most of the work day, and then decided I needed some drugs, because this is not the way to take a vacation. The doctor prescribed some muscle relaxers and an anti-inflammatory drug for me to take over the next week or so. I haven't really felt a difference since taking them, but I'm hoping that it kicks in tomorrow sometime. I cannot bend at the waist... at all. It's bad. I've never had back problems before, and given my dad's back history, this can't be good.

After months of anticipation, the Macbook has arrived. My comatose state after taking the muscle relaxers in addition to my desperate need to pack hasn't given me much time to test it out. I predict the 12 hour drive to DC will provide plenty of time for me to become a Mac whiz.

One week from now, I will have begun my first day as a grad student at Vanderbilt. I must say that my anxiety about such a prestigious program heavily outweighs my excitement. It'll be a complete change of pace from the undergraduate cake walk that I'm used to. I can do this, though, right?

"The net is a waste of time, and that's exactly what's right about it." (William Gibson)

"Baby Got Back" - Sir Mix-a-Lot

L-Shaped Adventure

2007-07-30T23:10:00.000-05:00

In less than two weeks, I will move out of my Paris residence for the last time. It's weird to think that I will never live here again, only the staying here for holidays and visits. I know Nashville isn't far away, but I guess I'm used to the undergraduate routine of nine months of school and then three months of summer in Paris.

Henry and his current roommate Zach moved my furniture into the apartment this past week, making my weekend much easier. I pretty much have my room set up how I want it. I have been stalking craigslist lately searching for a good (cheap) desk for my room. I have a simple aluminum desk that my parents gave me, but it's not exactly what I was looking for (which was something with a lot of work space, several drawers, possibly even L-shaped). Driving back from Target this weekend, I saw a free desk in this church parking lot. We quickly made a U-turn, and I walked away with a pretty decent desk for the price. The only downfall of this desk was it's enormous size. Matt and Henry had quite the time trying to get it up the stairs and into my bedroom. I may never move out of that apartment, simply to avoid having to move that desk again.

uhm, yes please!

moving in: it's what guy friends are for...

not pictured: Henry, Jennifer, and me pushing with all of our might

a pretty awesome desk, though, don't you agree?

Henry got me a great house-warming gift. It's a framed photograph of Lou Gehrig's farewell speech. For obvious reasons, this moment in baseball history has significance to me. Of course I hate the Yankees, but this is bigger than baseball.

this is going to look great in my room

This Friday I will be ordering my Macbook. I hope it comes in early the following week, so I can play with it / transfer files the last week at work. In the many years I have worked at the pool, I don't remember a year where I worked the final week (I usually go on vacation that week). It's a glorious time when all of the kids are in school and about a dozen people show up all day long.

"...pelipipetides..." (Henry, during Catch Phrase, completely butchering polypeptides)

"Mahna Manha" - The Muppets

Goals

2007-07-26T23:37:00.001-05:00

I guess the ALS plateau my dad has been on for the past year distracted me from the fact that this is a terminal disease. In the past week, there have been many new (read: not good) developments with dad. As previously mentioned, it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to swallow, which obviously results in eating less. The feeding pump came in this week, and it seems to be working out just fine. I saw a new machine in the hallway tonight (an oxygen concentrator). His blood-oxygen levels had significantly dropped, so they had to bring in a machine to feed oxygen in with his respirator. On top of all of this, he keeps saying how he keeps getting more and more tired as the days go by: not good.

My grandmother's dog (which she's had for 17 years) died this week. Needless to say she's pretty bummed about it. This dog (to the rest of us) used to be a loud, obnoxious little pooch (before he got too old to pester us anymore). While talking with dad tonight, he told me how he's gotten past another one of his goals. I didn't understand what he was talking about until he explained that he wanted to outlive grandma's dog (haha). Then he said his next goal was to make it to Christmas. This didn't sit well with me at all. I have become accustomed to him at his previous state (June 2006-June 2007). This past week has been a major reality check; this is a progressive, terminal disease that will only get worse.

"Don't deny the diagnosis; try to defy the verdit." (Norman Cousins)

"Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" - Creedence Clearwater Revivial

Hydration, Heat, and Humidity

2007-07-22T21:30:00.000-05:00

Today I learned firsthand what a delicate balance running is between hydration, heat, and humidity. I've been running 3-4 miles pretty frequently lately despite the ridiculous heat index and humidity combination. I attribute this to me being well hydrated prior to each run. When I'm at work, I drink 24 oz of water every time I go on the lifeguard stand, which is several times a day. So luckily, despite the raging heat and unbearable humidity, I have been able to squeeze out some decent mileage.

After a weekend of not running and not working, I noticed before work that it was much cooler than it has been and the humidity was relatively low. The fact that I hadn't had a full glass of water in two days wasn't enough to stop me from going for a run before work. I couldn't even finish two miles on such a beautiful day, because I was so poorly hydrated. It was embarrassing to say the least. While at work, I made sure to drink lots of water and Powerade to make sure that my run with Jennifer tonight went a little more smoothly. She and I ran just over 6 miles, and I felt wonderful the entire time. I could have (and wanted to) run more, but I was afraid I would be too sore tomorrow to do anything. The point of all of this is to illustrate how much hydration outweighs heat and humidity as a determining factor for a good run.

I'm so desperate to have pictures on my blog again...

I went last Thursday to sign my lease for the new apartment. I really like the place, and I can't wait to get settled in. I had to make a quick run to Target while I was there, and door-to-door, it took me literally 5 minutes to get to Target (which is also next to Dick's Sporting Goods and Best Buy). On top of being mere minutes away from my three favorite stores, I am about 7 minutes away from Wal-Mart. For some reason, Nashville doesn't really believe in Wal-Mart. Chattanooga, which is several fold smaller, has more Wal-Mart stores than Nashville. It takes me more than 7 minutes to get to Wal-Mart in Paris. Talk about location, location, location! I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune each morning trying to get to class, but maybe it won't be that bad.

This past weekend, I made my first visit to the lake of the summer. The weather was beautiful, and I had a blast just chillin' on the boat, catchin' some rays.

enjoying the lake

"The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised." (George F. Will)

"Any Way You Want It" - Journey

Immunization Woes

2007-07-15T10:45:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I received a new student packet from Vanderbilt full of forms that needed to be filled out. One of these was my immunization history, which is required before I can sign up for classes. Since I had to go through the same thing at UTC, I figured they would be the best people to call for my full immunization record. I called a couple weeks ago and listened to a voicemail informing me that they would be closed that entire week. Okay. I called the Henry County Health Department (where I got all of my shots, who should have my full record as well), and they said they had my records through 1996. I didn't completely understand, but since they threw out that "1996" (the year I moved to Paris), I figured they knew what they were talking about. I called UTC's clinic this Monday to ask for a copy of my records, and I was told they they "did not have access to" any of the student records because they are closing down. I'll save you the play-by-play, but know that this doctor told me that there was nothing he could do for me. How did I feel about this? Well, the man told me he could tell I was angry by the way I was talking to him. Angry was an understatement. These are my medical records; what do you mean you can't give them to me. I called my dad about the whole debacle who then called the chancellor. Apparently, the clinic is closing down, and the doctor who was running the clinic is withholding the records from UTC until they pay him some amount for something he thinks he's owed. They hoped it would all be straightened out by Friday. I called the folks at Vanderbilt, explained my situation, and asked what I should do. They gave me a few suggestions of how to handle things (basically saying I'm not just totally screwed). Later that afternoon, I went up to the Henry County Health Department to get a copy of what they did have. I must have misunderstood what they said, because they had my full immunization record. I mailed it off the next day. It's taken care of. Thank goodness.

Dad went to Vanderbilt last Friday. He's been having trouble chewing and swallowing food sometimes, and he's lost his appetite quite a bit. They told him that the insurance wouldn't pay for the feeding tube pump until he was only getting 5% of his daily nutrition (via eating). What? 5%? I couldn't believe it when my mom told me. I guess they had a change of heart, though, because this week, the insurance company decided to let him have the pump; so he's good to go. It's not going to replace his meals, but he will use it in addition to them (to make sure he's getting the nutrition he needs). Things have been going so well with him (this past year), and I'm not used to things starting to stop working again. I hope this is it for a very long time.

Tony (old Civic Center boss) called me a couple weeks ago and asked me to help out with a project the city's parks & recreation department has been working on for several months. Basically, there's some paperwork the city has to submit to the state in order to be considered for certain grants. The format for the paperwork has been modified since they started the project, and a whole other section has been added. They brought me in to basically organize this project so that it is easy to follow and navigate through these hundreds of documents. I'm getting paid decently for my time, and it's not something I think I'll have much trouble with.

I'm going to Nashville Thursday to have a look at our apartment before we both sign the lease. It just makes sense that we make sure the place isn't for some reason crawling with rodents or missing a wall or something crazy [not that we expect it to, but just in case]. I'll take a load of my stuff up with me to make the moving process a little easier.

The height of my summer, purchasing a Macbook, originally had me driving to Nashville to pick up my new child. However, after learning how crazy Tennessee malls get on tax-free holiday weekends, I have since decided to order it online (free shipping). Not only will I be saving myself the hassle of fighting through crowds, but I will also be saving gas money. The only drawback is that I will have to wait an extra 3-5 days to play with my new toy.

I got my diploma in the mail last week. I don't have a frame for it yet, so it's just been sitting in the packaging roll in my room since I got it (how sad is that?) I found it interesting that "Chattanooga" is on my diploma only once (very small, at the bottom of the diploma).

Here's a little rant concerning my Nike+ widget. Unless you run the miles I do... at the pace I do... as frequently as I do, you have no place to criticize me for anything you see on my Nike+ profile. Just because you see that my last run was less than 3 miles, don't assume that I'm slacking. Sometimes I run more than once a day or I have to stop my Nike+ workout in the middle of my run and restart it (if I see someone I know and stop to talk to them). So to the one person I am specifically addressing, I'd think long and hard before ever commenting on my running habits again. Have a nice day.

"Ma'am, I can tell you're angry by the way you're talking to me." (Dr. Jenkinson, to me)

"Bad Moon Rising" - Creedence Clearwater Revivial

Punk'd

2007-07-06T20:20:00.000-05:00

I was off at the pool for a grand total of two days. When I returned to the pool today, I learned of four guards having to go in since I had been gone. Good gosh. Some summers we only have four saves all year. Surely four saves in 48 hours is enough to last us a while, right? No, no... let's make it five.

Anyone who's been a lifeguard for any reasonable amount of time can easily detect the kids who can't swim without actually seeing their skills in action. Today, there was a group of kids who would stand in the shallow end and just watch the kids on the diving board for a good 20 minutes. One of these guys (who was probably 12 or 13 years old) got up twice, headed over to the diving board, and then decided to go back to the shallow end both times. All signs very obviously point to "he can't swim." So when he decided to actually get on the diving board while I was guarding the diving area, I (as any smart lifeguard does) asked him if he could swim. He very confidently said that he could, and because he was at least 12 years old, I had to take his word for it. Immediately after hitting the water, the fool starts flailing his arms (that's what we lifeguards would call a distressed swimmer). I signal to the other guards that I'm going in (three whistles) and dive in after him. I had to swim around a kid who decided to jump after I was in the water. By the time I got to him, he had found his way to the wall.

The fact that I had asked him seconds before his plunge if he could swim or not resulted in my first question to him not being "Are you ok?" Instead, a disgruntled "I thought you could swim?" was muttered in his direction. But, whatever, it happens; it's what I'm there for, right?

When I get down, I quickly learn that he had told my boss that he could in fact swim and that he was just holding his nose trying to get something at the bottom of the pool. Ok, first of all, dude was drowning; he was no where near the bottom and both hands were flapping. The other two guards who were up fully back me up on this one. Secondly, if that's his story, and he really could swim, then his actions would have been some joke straight out of The Sandlot. So the staff that didn't actually see him in the water thinks I got punk'd by a 12-year old. However, I know that kid couldn't swim. I knew it before he jumped in. Either way, dude's a liar.

My good deed didn't go unnoticed, though. One kid said "man you sure swim fast" while another shook my hand and said he appreciated me doing my job so well. It was funny, and it took some of my anger away from little Ashton.

I went to Nashville for the Fourth of July. Henry and I stayed with his brother's girlfriend (Andrea), who lives right next to Vanderbilt. Wednesday we saw Ratatouille (I liked it) and then met up with Leighann, Daniel, Joe Pat, and his current girlfriend. The fireworks were way better than last year's. The Nashville Symphony performed during the show, and I loved having the fireworks set to orchestral music (the opening number was the Star Wars theme if that gives you any indication of how neat it was). I was impressed; good thing I'll get to spend the next half-decade's worth of Independence Days in Music City. [Nashville is ranked no. 3 in the nation by the American Pyrotechnics Association for their Fourth of July celebration.]

If Kodak (my camera; yes, we are on a first-name basis) wasn't dead, I would have some great pictures of my Nashville trip. I would also love to reassure you that I will be buying a new camera in the very near future, but it's not on the top of my to-purchase list. After learning that nearly all of Lammy's pictures were recently lost after her computer crashed, I entered panic mode, went to Circuit City, and came home with a 250 GB hard drive. After transferring all of my photos, music, and school files, I had only used 32 GB. I guess it's always good to have room to grow.

"Can you swim?" (what any intelligent lifeguard would ask)

"Born in the USA" - Bruce Springsteen

Music to my Memory

2007-06-27T23:43:00.000-05:00

In an effort to make my summer at least partially productive (read: not lying around watching old seasons of Gilmore Girls each night), I have decided to reorganize / update my MP3 CD collection. The reorganization arises from the fact that for some reason my CD player only plays a certain brand of CD (when on long trips); so I'm just copying those CDs to the right brand. The updating part is taking my massive book of regular CDs and transferring them to my computer (iTunes) and then compiling them onto MP3 CDs. Basically, it's just something I won't have time for after August, so why not do it now?

The fun part of this new task has been making my Blogger Jams 2005 & 2006 CDs. The concept is simple. I obviously put a song at the end of each post. Over the course of a year, this gets to become well over 100 songs. Since I have the capacity to make CDs with more than 18 songs on them, it only seems fitting to make one of my blogger tunes. The songs for each post are either those that are relevant to that day's event or just songs that I enjoy listening to. I'm going the extra mile with this project, and I'm putting them on in chronological order. Here's what I love about this: I can simply pop in this CD and go through my year (via music). I'm either listening to a song that was popular (to me) at the time, an oldie (but a goodie), or it's one that reminds me of something I did. For example, whenever I hear Neal McCoy's "Wink" I will automatically think of spring break at Snowshoe (because Alicia's winking was what got us such an amazing price)... every time I hear Bone Thugs 'n Harmony's "Crossroads" I will be thinking about our crazy road trip to MSU this past winter... I'll be reminded of the intramural domination I had at UTC when I hear Queen's "We Are the Champions" ... Green Day's "Good Riddance" will remind me of graduating UTC. Ok, you get the picture. Bottom line is that I will now have a couple of awesome CDs that are chock full of musical entertainment.

"In memory everything seems to happen to music." (Tennessee Williams)

"Makes Me Wonder" - Maroon 5

200 Miles

2007-06-25T22:17:00.001-05:00

A few posts ago, I outlined my future expenses. To this list, I must now add a new digital camera. In Atlanta, my Kodak v530 (after 13 glorious months of service) died. I have a backup digital camera from two years ago, and while it is an excellent camera, it's bigger than I'm used to. Hopefully by August I'll be able to afford a new camera (I'm thinking a Canon SD 700 or 800 IS; it's been recommended by several people, and the image stabilization it offers seems simply amazing).

My whining about not going on a trip before grad school has paid off. Henry, Trevor, Mary, and I will be hitting the road August 10-13 headed for Washington, DC. Henry's sister (Carolyn) and brother-in-law (Richard) live there and so does fellow-blogger (Christina). As if a free place to stay wasn't incentive enough, the Red Sox just so happen to be playing the Orioles that weekend in Baltimore. Also, it's perfect timing for me: the pool closes August 11 and I start my IGP orientation August 15. This way I'm not losing too many easy hours at work, and I'll be back in time to get things settled before starting school.

As you may have noticed from my Nike+ widgets, I've been a running machine lately (40+ miles just this June). Today, I broke the 200 miles barrier (since July 19, 2006). Considering I didn't really run during the winter and had a broken toe for a while this spring, I'm quite happy with my progress so far. I didn't get to do the marathon (or even the half-marathon) this past April, so when I learned of the "The Middle Half" (a half-marathon in Murfreesboro, TN), I had this overwhelming urge to run it. It's at the end of September, so it shouldn't be too hot outside, and hopefully Alicia, Meredith, and/or Jenn will run it with me. Also, Nike+ is offering a virtual half-marathon in October. Basically, on the day of the Nike Womens Marathon in San Francisco, any Nike+ user who has registered for the virtual half-marathon and completes the 13.1 miles by 11:59 p.m. will be considered a finisher and receive a "Nike Dri-FIT t-shirt and official finisher keychain designed by Tiffany & Co." I'm pretty excited about it, now I just need to find someone to run with me.

I officially have an apartment in Nashville. Bethany and I settled on the one closer to campus (~5 miles from Vanderbilt). We have a 2 BR / 1.5 BA townhouse that's actually quite massive. So for the location (~ 1 mile from Target, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Wal-Mart...) and the price for such a large apartment, we couldn't resist. The only real drawback is that we have to start paying rent on July 19, but to have an apartment I'm pretty sure we'll love, it's worth it. I'm hoping to move the majority of my stuff in the weekend of July 28. Another plus to this apartment is that if I can somehow get a mini-ramp built for the three steps leading to the front door, dad could easily come in and relax before/after his visits at Vanderbilt.

"Running is like mouthwash; if you can feel the burn, its working." (Brian Tackett)

"Ticks" - Brad Paisely

Sweet Rejection

2007-06-21T21:00:00.001-05:00

After a weekend in Nashville (went to a Sounds game, hung out with Matt, had dinner with Henry's parents and godparents), Henry and I took our second annual trip to Atlanta for the Red Sox vs. Braves series. Before Monday night's game, we decided to hit up the Georgia Aquarium (the world's largest aquarium). On our way out, we stopped to get a caricature. I don't know why, but the guy drew Henry and I pretty much exactly the same. I would like to point out that the night before Henry's godfather's wife said we looked like siblings. Will it ever end?

I'm the one pointing to the massive whale shark

identical

Despite some slight geographic confusion, we managed to get to the stadium early enough to go see batting practice. Being the seasoned veterans that we are, we know exactly where & when to go for autographs. Last year's signatures from Terry Francona and Jonathan Papelbon (as well as my new baseball case) had me yearning for more Sox sigs. We got a spot right next to the Red Sox dugout during batting practice. When the team started to file out, I pulled out my secret weapon (the following sign): "Youk, marry me! -- I'll settle for an autograph." Our proximity to the dugout made it impossible for the object of my affection (Kevin Youkilis) not to see me. Other Sox saw the poster and started to tease him about it, which prompted him to reply "I'm just looking." Once they started warming up, I put the sign away until the team was all together stretching. I whistle at them, throw up my sign, and then start to hear the laughter. David Ortiz sees my request and replies, "Are you CRAZY?" When they all got a little closer, Papi asked me, "How much??" [So yes, folks, I did have a conversation with David Ortiz.] I kept my sign up, though, hoping that Youk would head my way soon. At one point, he was warming up next to Terry Francona; once Tito saw my sign, he took the ball they were using to warm up with and threw it to me! A few moments later, Youk came over and signed it for me. Mission accomplished. It's never felt so good to be rejected. The Sox would go on to lose that night (L 4-9), but the next two days were chock full of payback (W 4-0) & (W 11-0).

YOOOOUUUUK!

there may not be a wedding, but I got what I came for

we had great seats all three nights

we neglected to bring our ponchos to game 1

Tuesday morning, we were treated to lunch by Henry's aunt (Dottie) and her husband (Russell). Before game 2 we were able to get some players sigs as they entered the stadium (Kyle Snyder, Mike Timlin, and Doug Mirabelli). We had ponchos ready for the downpour we experienced during game 2. Once they declared the rain delay (Sox were up 4-0, top 7th), we decided to head out early to spend time with Henry's cousin, Thomas (where we were staying).

relief pitcher, Kyle Snyder

relief pitcher, Mike Timlin

catcher, Doug Mirabelli

As you can see, I think it is very important to photographically document any autograph. When that sharpie fades, I'll still have these pictures.

I was very autographed out by game 3, so we just decided to take it easy before the game Wednesday night. We went to one of Atlanta's malls and just walked around for a few hours (we actually saw Kyle Snyder there). Afterward, we decided to get a tour of Turner Field (why not?). While waiting for the tour to begin, we hung out by the players entrance and were able to get Brendan Donnelly and Eric Hinske to sign for us. The tour was pretty neat, and my favorite part was where we got to go on the field and sit in the visiting dugout! We saw this old guy walking around without a shirt on when we got down to the field. A closer look revealed it was Terry Francona. Let's just say some people shouldn't walk around without a shirt on.

relief pitcher, Brendan Donnelly (currently on DL)

Eric Hinske, 2002 Rookie of the Year

my camera broke moments after taking this picture
[no, seriously, it's dead; I need a new one... thanks Tito]

inside the dugout at Turner Field

no, really... inside the dugout at Turner Field

After the tour, we ate dinner at this restaurant right next to the stadium. Game 3 was simply a massacre, and since we had to get back to Tennessee for work Thursday morning, we left during the 7th inning stretch. We got back to Manchester around 12:30, I took a quick shower (to wake up), and I drove to Nashville to stay with Alica (to avoid Nashville morning traffic). I had planned on getting up around 6:30-6:45 Thursday morning to head back to Paris so I could have time to unpack before work (10 a.m.). However, getting only 5 hours of sleep had me shut off my alarm. I somehow woke up at 7:23 a.m., hopped out of bed / on the road, and drove straight to the pool. I wasn't late, but man I could have been [today at work sucked, by the way]. I now get to work the next 9 days without a break. I'm hoping for rain.

My life would be complete if I lived in a town with an MLB team.

"Are you CRAZY?" (David Ortiz, to me)

"Won't Go Home Without You" - Maroon 5

Cash Flow

2007-06-13T22:20:00.000-05:00

Maybe the knowledge that I will soon have a little extra cash (read: Vandy stipend) is the reason for my sudden overwhelming desire to purchase many big-ticket items. Maybe it's just been too long since I've bought a new, uber-expensive toy. Either way, there are lots of goodies that have me eagerly anticipating my first few checks next semester.

(1) I have had my current computer (Dell Dimension 2350) for over four years. In computer years, the old gal is approaching menopause. While she has had several tune ups (additional memory, a second hard drive, an LCD monitor), I do believe it is time to upgrade. The highly mobile world of today has me impatiently waiting for the opportune time to purchase a new laptop. After lots of thought, I think I have decided to make my next computer a Macbook. This will be a huge transition. First, I have never owned a laptop. Despite the many perks of their mobility and size, I have still become quite accustomed to desktop life. It will be an adjustment. A second, and even bigger, adjustment will be the transition from a PC to a Mac. I hear it's not that bad to get used to a Mac, and everyone always brags about how it's superior to a PC in every way. We'll see.

my future love

(2) I'm pretty sure that Charlie Sheen is to blame for my next craving. Media today is rapidly transitioning to high-definition, and I think it is almost time I jumped on the bandwagon. I have owned my current TV for as long as I can remember. While the 19" gets the job done, I would like not only to fully experience movies in widescreen and have a few more inches for my viewing pleasure, but I truly do want to see what that bruise looks like in HD.
(3) I'm not entirely certain why, but I also would like to own a black & white laser printer. This new office supply need may stem from seeing that all of my notes for my graduate classes are available online to be printed. Let's just say that I would be going through several inkjet cartridges per semester. Not only can this become expensive in the long run, but the quality of laser printers is far superior to my little HP injket. This item is not a necessity (I already own two printers, both inkjet), but I want it. Gimme, gimme.

(4) Since my entire life is on my current computer (photos, music, every note from every college class I've taken, etc), I feel as though I should invest in an external hard drive. This will not only backup my current files, but it will also make the transition over to a new computer much easier.

(5) These past four items can all be purchased and enjoyed after I actually have money to spend. This does not apply to my fifth desire. As mentioned in the previous post, I really do want to take a trip somewhere before starting school this fall. Financially, however, this just does not seem possible, which is depressing when you consider the fact that I will have the money for the next several years (when I won't have the time). Woe is me.

But Mal, what about all of your summer earnings at the Paris City Pool? Well, I have already purchased nearly all of the furniture I will need in my apartment ($$). I also had to buy new tires for my car ($$$$). I need to save up money for a deposit and the first month's rent in Nashville ($$). Basically, I'm spending it quicker than I can make it.

Please enjoy the irony of this next crisis (which occurred after the previous part of this post was drafted). So I got my first big check this summer, and I went to deposit it Monday morning. Being the good little banker that I am, I always keep ready-to-go deposit slips in my glove box. I pull up to the drive-thru, grab a slip, fill it out, get my deposit receipt, and drive on my merry way. Yesterday, I checked my Regions online account to see if the transaction had gone through yet. It hadn't. I got out my deposit receipt and noticed that the account number didn't match my savings account number. I started to enter panic mode, because it had just hit me that I managed to deposit a large amount of money into someone else's account. After 45 minutes of talking with a Regions representative, I learned that the account number that I put the money into didn't exist (read: they don't know where my money is). The lady said she'd call me today to see if she could figure out what was going on. The whole time I'm trying to figure out how in the world I could have gotten the wrong number on those deposit slips (they're not even close, by the way).

This afternoon, I head up to the local Regions to see if they can help me out. After many phone calls and half an hour with the teller, a little more light is shed on the situation. You may recall me whining about having to switch banks a few months ago (the Amsouth in Paris became FirstBank, so my Amsouth account got dropped and moved to FirstBank). Well, the deposit slip I grabbed was an old Amsouth savings account slip. Since Amsouth and Regions have merged, Regions simply sent the transaction over to Amsouth. So I deposited money into an account that no longer exists (Amsouth dropped me as a customer, deferring me to FirstBank). One would think that the money would then just go to my FirstBank account, right? Well, I canceled my FirstBank savings account when I joined Regions. Basically, they still don't know where my money is. I have been assured that I will get it back; it just might take a while. So I'm not completely dumb (I didn't just make up an account number), but I need to pay more attention to what I'm doing. I guess I won't be going back to get a finance degree anytime soon.

Despite all of my financial woes, I think I made up for it with my latest yard sale purchase:

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" vinyl record - $1

"Waste your money, and you're only out of money; but waste your time, and you've lost a part of your life." (Michael Leboeuf)

"Bills, Bills, Bills" - Destiny's Child

Apartment Hunt

2007-06-09T19:48:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I met Bethany (future roommate) in Nashville on our quest to find a place to live next year. I actually came up Thursday night and stayed with Alicia. She's already living in Nashville, because her physician's assistant program (at Trevecca) started a few weeks ago. It was good to see the old gal. She doesn't really know anyone in Nashville yet, so she was quite thrilled to have company for once. It really is going to be nice having her just a few miles down the road for the next couple of years.

Anyway, Bethany and I both did our research before meeting up, and we spent the entire day looking at various apartment complexes. After seeing a few places that were anything but impressive, we found two apartment complexes that seem perfect for us. They're both the same price, but there are a few differences with each. Our #1 choice is closer to campus (big perk), while choice #2 has a few more features along with better availability. We're going to try and pick one early next week, and hopefully, we can just fax them our applications to avoid another trip to Nashville.

As summer marches on, I keep thinking about how I wish I had taken a post-graduation trip. I'm really just not going to have time for a nice, big vacation these next several years, which is making my lack of a post-graduation voyage very depressing. Oh well, at least I'm saving money, right?

I hate to disappoint those of you expecting the excitement of the pool's first week to carry on throughout the summer. Things have finally died down, and I no longer dread going to work each day.

You may have noticed something different about my blog. I just added the Nike+ widget so you all can see my running progress this summer (174 miles since July 19, 2006). Since work started, I have done my best to run each day before (or after) work. I kinda like having it up there, because now it will motivate me to keep running (knowing I have people monitoring my progress).

You may have also noticed how I haven't mentioned how dad's doing recently. Well, with ALS, no news is always good news. He is basically the same since he got his tracheotomy (a year ago). Please continue to keep him in your prayers.

Now I know I have a few readers out there. Would it hurt for some of you to leave me a comment every now and then? :)

"Life is short. Running makes it seem longer." (Baron Hansen)

"Teardrops on My Guitar" - Taylor Swift

Brave or Dumb

2007-05-31T21:07:00.000-05:00

One would think that after finding a gun at your job, things couldn't get much more stressful. Follow along as I describe the most intense ten minutes I've ever worked. Once again, I'm on my break in the basket room, when one of the guards looks out into the parking lot and says, "Hey, that guy's holding something metal outside of that mustang." We then all look outside to see a young man holding a gun in the parking lot. He's waving it around, not being discrete at all about it. This puts us in panic mode (especially after what happened yesterday) as we all quickly get away from the window. One guard calls the police department, one runs away to the concession stand, another calls Mr. Howard (who was at Wal-Mart), which leaves me in the basket room to take money from the half a dozen other people trying to get into the pool. I saw him put the gun in his bag, and then he and his crew came up to the gate. There's more than just this one guy around, so I can't simply head for the hills and abandon everything. Since it's in his bag, and because I don't want to make him mad, I just take his money and let him in.

He walks over to the deck with his friends, when the phone rings. Since I was the only one left standing, I answer the phone (it was just some guy asking about pool parties). While I'm on the phone, I hear three whistles (signal that someone's going in after someone). When we hear this, one of us is supposed to go over and help with the rescue. I dropped the phone, ready to run out, but Leighann had beat me to it. So they save this chick in the deep end, and an officer comes up to the window. He points to the guy and asks if that's him (yes). He asked me to go call him up to the basket room (to prevent everyone from getting freaked out seeing a cop come in and check someone for a gun). Well, I don't know this guy's name, so guess who gets to walk over to the guy with a gun and ask him to come up front. I march over there, and very politely ask him to come to the front for a minute. At this point, one of the guards (who ran away earlier) was back, and another officer was there. This new officer didn't realize the guy standing next to me was who we had called about. He kept asking me if he was in trouble, and I said I wasn't sure while I went around to go back inside. Finally, the two officers took him back out of sight to search him.

Minutes later, all three of them walk out and the guy starts walking to his car. As he's leaving, the cop tells me that it was a toy gun. I can, for the first time in ten minutes, breathe again. I would like to say that the gun looked very real, especially from a distance. We had to ask the guy to leave for the day, because what idiot goes into a public place and waves a gun around?

Looking back on it all, there's a fine line between whether what I did was brave or dumb. In defense of my decisions for the whole ordeal, I couldn't just leave the basket room along with everyone else (especially now that we know it was just a toy gun). As far as letting him into the pool, I had no desire to stand between him and whatever he wanted (which at the time was to come swim). Going out on the deck to get him didn't seem too dangerous, because I knew his gun was in the bag, and there was an officer watching the whole thing. Despite all of my (what I thought were calm, cool, and collected) decisions, several of the guards just thought I was crazy. One such guard (the one who made the phone call to the police) had locked herself in the girls bathroom. Another coworker was in the concession stand (locked in) watching me walk across thinking I was insane. I'm going to defend my actions, while also realizing that if that hadn't been a toy, things could have been very dangerous.

I'm not sure I can handle this type of stress on a daily basis.

Yesterday's incident made front page headlines (the Paris Post Intelligencer): "Handgun found in pool locker room." The article went on to say that it was a Sterling Arms .25 caliber handgun; it was unloaded but had six bullets in the magazine. Something I hadn't even thought about until one of the guards mentioned it was what if a child had found the gun thinking it was a toy?

I'm not sure what affect this publication will have on the pool this summer. We might have very few people come, because when parents read about this, they are not going to be happy about it. We might have some copy cats who got the idea to bring a gun to the pool from the newspaper. Then again, it might just all blow over. I heard that they are going to have an officer come and walk around the pool a few times each day. Once again, I am going to need something to change, because I just can't handle all of this mess.

"A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

"Holding Out for a Hero" - Bonnie Tyler

Heat at the Pool

2007-05-30T18:22:00.000-05:00

Being a Paris City Pool veteran, I'm used to the first few days being crazy. We open on Memorial Day weekend, and everyone's excited about the pool being open for the summer; so I wasn't too surprised to have a huge crowd the first week. In the past, it takes us about a week or so to kick out the kids that cause trouble, and after the initial "it's summer" wears off, things usually die down. This year, however, seems to be worse than before.

I won't go into all of the little problems we've been having, but there are far more delinquents coming to the pool this year there has ever been before. Basically, parents of these kids will simply drop them off at the pool, leaving us to serve as their 8-hour babysitting service for the bargain price of $3.00 (admission). With no one to watch over these kids, they think it is alright to disobey the lifeguards on a regular basis. It becomes hard to catch them in the act, because there are just so many causing trouble. I have now worked five days this summer, and I can honestly say I am miserable working there right now. History has shown that it will get better, and I really hope it does.

As if the severe lack of respect these kids have for us and other patrons wasn't bad enough, things went to a whole new level today. I was on one of my breaks when this guy brought a large T-shirt up to the basket room. He places it on the counter and tells us he found it in the boys' locker room. As he says this, he opens it up and reveals a small handgun inside the T-shirt. At this point, I just stare at it, in disbelief. Our head guard sees it, quickly puts it out of sight, and calls the police department. He then calls Mr. Howard (boss, who was off today) who just basically says to call the police department. A cop comes up there, asks where it came from, puts it in the back of her car, and drives away.

Hold up. That's all you're going to do? Someone brought a gun to the swimming pool. Not only am I a lifeguard, but I'm a pretty good one. By that, I mean that I will get on to kids when they act up and sit them out or even kick them out if necessary (a role some guards refuse to do). These actions usually result in the kid being very angry with me for disciplining them. Seeing a gun at the pool is not really going to encourage me to do my job to the best of my ability, for fear of... um... getting shot. I'm not quite sure what is going to be done about this, but I am going to need something to change. Either hire a cop to stand there all day or we're going to have to start checking bags at the gate. There is absolutely no reason why I should be worried about my own personal safety at a public swimming pool.

"I love mankind; it's people I can't stand." (Charles M. Schluz)

"Changes" - Tupac

What I Do

2007-05-28T21:15:00.000-05:00

It only recently occurred to me that most all of you have no idea what I will be doing for the next stage of my life (grad school). This is why I have decided to dedicate an entire post to this topic. And while you may encounter some large words and lengthy paragraphs in this post, it will provide you with just about anything you could possibly want to know about my future at Vanderbilt. Kudos to any who make it through the entire post.

First, let's begin with my DHON research at UTC. Even though I whined about it incessantly at the time, this project helped me on so many levels. Grad schools I applied to were able to see that not only do I have in-lab experience, but I was also completing a master's level thesis. I am very confident that this project sealed my admittance into Vanderbilt. Also, I did gain experience working in a research environment (mixing chemicals, working with bacteria, running enzyme assays [tests]). Unlike others with only lab experience, I took my work a step further by analyzing the raw data and then formulating and writing my own thesis about my work. Many grad students are not exposed to these skills until working on their doctoral dissertation.

Next, I'll describe the program I've been admitted into at Vandy. It's called the Interdisciplinary Graduate Program in the Biomedical Sciences (IGP). Basically, the IGP has brought ten biomedical departments (biochemistry, biological sciences, cancer biology, cell & developmental biology, human genetics, microbiology & immunology, molecular physiology & biophysics, neuroscience, pathology, and pharmacology) together under one umbrella program. During the first year, we are exposed to each of these departments through one mega class entited "bioregulation." This survey course will be MWF for half a day and will cover material from each department to introduce us all to information contained in each of those fields. In addition to our bioregulation course, we will also complete four different lab rotations with various faculty members. We select the faculty who we want to work with for these 2-month rotations, with the ultimate goal of finding an advisor that we can see ourselves working with for the next four years. Selection of advisors can be competitive, because they cannot afford to take on every student that wants to work with them (more on that later). I will also have these small group sessions known as "flex time" each week that will allow us to become familiar with reading literature. Flex time is essentially a way to train us to know how to ask the right questions in research, how not to become overwhelmed with scientific articles, and how to work productively in a group setting. The final piece of an IGP student's first year is known as "methods" every Tuesday/Thursday. Methods covers many of the techniques used in research today. So when I'm not in bioregulation, flex time, or methods I will most definitely be working in the lab with one of my rotation advisors.

If you'd like to catch a glimpse of the rest of my IGP class, click here.

At the end of my first year (May 2008), I have to select a thesis advisor. At this time, we are technically no longer a part of IGP anymore; instead, we are a part of whatever department our advisor is in. This is one of the reasons why I don't know what my degree will be in yet, because I don't know what advisor I will work best with. So next summer will be the first time I have to work on my project. The next fall (year two), I will finish up the required coursework needed for whatever department I choose, while also continuing work on my thesis. After the second year, I should be done with classes and I will have to then apply for doctoral candidacy (May 2009). This will more than likely be an oral examination in front of a faculty committee. Take my DHON defense and multiply it by 100. I will have to know not only my current research, but also anything about my field (department) that they want to ask me. It is their way of seeing if I am ready to begin serious work as a doctoral student.

Assuming I pass that oral examination, the next 2-3 years of school will be solely devoted to full-time research. This time is variable, because there are many things that can happen in research. If my project is going well, and things are working as planned (experiments getting great results, data is quickly obtained), then I might be lucky and graduate in only four years. However, if the experiment I thought was brilliant turns out to be impossible, then I may have to redesign my entire project. This is why it might take me more than five years to graduate [the average time to graduation for an IGP student is 5.3 years]. It is also during these years between obtaining candidacy and graduation that I will hopefully present at several conferences (nationwide) and publish a few articles. These are all things that employers look for after graduation.

Graduating will only come after I have written my doctoral thesis (100+ pages) and defended it in front of a faculty committee. Take my DHON defense and multiply it by 1,000. If I pass my dissertation defense, then I will go on to get hooded and receive my Ph.D. in (insert one of those 10 departments).

That's the education part of my grad school experience, so here's everything else. My tuition as a grad student will be paid in full by Vanderbilt. In addition, I will receive an annual stipend as well as health benefits. IGP covers the stipend during the first year. After that, it is the responsibility of the advisor to pick up the tab. Having to foot the bill for all of their students forces advisors to only take as many students as they have funding for. The faculty receive their money through the grants they receive from various sources. I won't ever have anything to worry about, though, because no matter what, someone will be paying me (even if my advisor can't, IGP will help out). This stipend is only paid for the first six graduate years. This prevents some students from staying in grad school for 6-10 years.

What about free time as a grad student? Well, I no longer get fall or spring breaks. I get a grand total of two weeks off over Christmas, and summer vacations are spent in the lab. Also, most grad students come in on weekends to work on their projects. Those who don't put forth the extra effort (late nights, weekends) are the ones who are pushing 6 years to graduate.

As scary as all of this sounds, hopefully it won't be that bad. Unlike undergraduate life, which included general education courses, such as western humanities and economics (which have nothing to do with what I want to do), I will be focusing all of my brainpower on biomedically related subjects. During those years where I am solely working on my project, one can only hope that I will essentially be the expert on said topic. [Note: this last paragraph is more to convince myself I will be alright than to convince the reader.]

Having said that, grad school is still hell. No matter how you twist it, it will be five of the most challenging years of my life. Grad school is competitive by nature (competiting for advisors, fellowships, equipment, etc.), but the fact that I am going to one of the nation's top biomedical research schools only means that it will be that much more intense.

For all three of you that made it this far, I bet you're wondering why on earth I would choose to go through this (especially when you consider the fact that my future salary as a research scientist pales in comparison to other graduate degrees and even to a few bachelor's degrees). I could (and probably will) write an entire post just on reasons why I feel this is what I should be doing. But I've said enough, so I'll save that for another day.

"Being a graduate student is like becoming all of the Seven Dwarves. In the beginning you're Dopey and Bashful. In the middle, you are usually sick (Sneezy), tired (Sleepy), and irritable (Grumpy). But at the end, they call you Doc, and then you're Happy." (Ronald T. Azuma)

"Taking My Life Away" - Default

The Summer of Thirds

2007-05-26T22:11:00.000-05:00

Since being done with school, I have already seen three 'third' movies. Before graduation, we went to see Spider-Man 3 at the I-MAX in Nashville. Last weekend, Henry and I met up with Matt-Bach and Lamilton to see Shrek the Third. Tonight, the madre and I saw the third Pirates of the Caribbean. While I enjoyed all three movies, I must say I was most impressed with Pirates (followed by Shrek and then Spidey). Ocean's 13 is due to release next month, and I will surely follow suit for summer '07 and check it out. Also, I saw Georgia Rule this week with the high school crew, and it was awful. They don't include the child molestation portion of the movie in the trailer.

Last weekend's furniture venture from Paris to Manchester went smoother than I had anticipated. As fun as it was, though, having to make several trips down I-24 to various locations with gas + $3 / gallon (forced to go the speed limit due to the overwhelming fear of some furniture flying out of the truck), I've decided to let Henry repay my generosity by allowing him to rent a U-Haul to get all of it to my new Nashville residence. Speaking of said residence, my future roommate (Bethany) and I will meet up in Nashville in a couple weeks to do some apartment hunting.

Lynchburg, home of Jack Daniel's original distillery, is a short drive away from Manchester. We decided to take the free tour and learn all about old Jack. Being a chemist who's heard far too many physical chemistry lectures about distillation, I was quite fascinated with the whole process.

me, Jack, Henry

Today was the first day at the pool. I'm having the same time warp feeling I had last summer. I think it will be a good year at the Paris City Pool, and I'm hoping to cherish every bit of it (considering the rest of my life will not include summer vacations).

As a result of the broken pinkie fiasco of 2007, I had a follow-up appointment with the local bone doctor yesterday. My appointment was at 4:00, so I decided to be a good little girl and show up ten minutes early. After an hour in the waiting room, I called Dad to make sure he told me the right date/time (he did). After an hour and a half, I went up to the desk to make certain it was right (it was). At this point, I had already wasted 90 minutes of my life, which would make leaving that much more painful when I had to reschedule and do it all over again. This reasoning along with my stubbornness kept me there until nearly 8:00. Apparently, they were running two hours behind (which they failed to tell me when I signed in). I almost walked out numerous times, but I kept thinking that if there is something wrong with my finger, and I didn't fix it now, I'd forever be mad at myself for not waiting a little longer. Upon approaching the four hour mark, I just left the exam room. On my way out, I saw the doctor, he took a quick look at my x-ray and told me to just work on my range of motion. Basically, it's been nearly five months, so the bone has obviously healed. I will have a janky pinkie forever, but hopefully with time, I can get it to bend normally. Oh yeah, and I don't think I'm ever going to the doctor again as a result of spending 1/6 of my day in a doctor's office.

"How much of human life is lost in waiting." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

"Whiskey Girl" - Toby Keith

Blogger Negligence

2007-05-16T17:10:00.000-05:00

After moving back to Paris, it shouldn't surprise anyone that I haven't really done anything truly blog-worthy. For example, I spent the first four days I was back sleeping and watching movies. I still haven't unpacked completely. My laziness after finals resulted in a horrible, last-minute packing job. I am now in the process of organizing everything I own so that my move to Nashville in August is as easy as possible.

I did take a random trip to Nashville on Tuesday. I found a nice, used bedroom set on craigslist for a price I couldn't turn down. In addition to my sofa and loveseat (purchased over spring break), I now have a night stand, a tall dresser, a long dresser, and a full bed frame. I came to the realization that I will spend much more on my next computer than all of the furniture in my apartment. This either speaks well for my ability to bargain shop or painfully illustrates my need for great technology.

We started to clean the pool this week. We don't open until Memorial Day weekend, but there's more to get done this year, which requires two weeks of cleaning. They opted not to drain the pool over the 9 months it wasn't being used. This will make the task of cleaning the pool exponentially more difficult this year. Thank you City of Paris.

Last night, something that's been a part of my life for seven glorious years abruptly came to an end. It was the series finale of Gilmore Girls, my favorite show of all time. Unlike other TV shows (Seinfeld, Friends, etc) that I have seen come to a close in the past, Gilmore Girls was a show I had seen from start to finish. I religiously watched every Tuesday to see what TV's fastest talking mother-daughter duo was up to this time. I essentially transitioned into adulthood with Rory Gilmore. She graduated high school when I did (also as valedictorian), entered college when I did, and this season, she graduated college when I did. I hope someone else finds it amusing that the most lengthy paragraph of this post is about a fictional TV show. I really could ramble on much longer about my deep affection for this series, but I'll refrain. Just know that I might enter a mild depression every Tuesday at 7 p.m. for the next few years.

There's not much going on in the photography department now that I'm home. However, I do have a fun billboard that I see every time I journey from Chattanooga to Nashville. I find it to be strange and downright disturbing. What do you think?

the thought walking around where men died
shouldn't have this kid that excited

At graduation, they took pictures as we crossed the stage. The proofs came in the mail last week, and I refuse to pay those outrageous prices for a picture that should be on the house. Through the use of Paint Shop Pro, I have managed to remove the watermark on both of the pictures, making them at least moderately presentable.

stellar eye-contact, I know

blingin'

This weekend I will be delivering all of the furniture I purchased to Henry's summer residence in Manchester, TN. I need somewhere to store it all, and he needs some furniture for the summer. In theory, this will all work out well for both of us. Let's just hope there aren't any complications with moving any of these things across the state.

Future posts may include my thoughts on artificial sweetener as well as my list of things to do before I die. I've been drafting this thing for years, but it's not quite done yet. I'll see what I can do.

"Is it raining?"
"No, it's National Baptism Day. Tie your tubes, idiot." (Paris, Gilmore Girls)

"Where You Lead I Will Follow" - Carole King