tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229365552011-05-01T05:16:20.709-07:00Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.comBlogger621100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1158713648279868672006-09-19T17:46:00.000-07:002006-09-19T17:54:08.290-07:00

My qualifying exam is getting very very close. I am beginning to panic slightly as there are still several things I'd like to review before then, as well as re-re-reviewing everything else. I feel good about my research proposal and topics tangential to that. The rest is making me nervous, despite having a practice exam last week that went decently. I have this feeling that I'm going to miss an

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1158107767800501772006-09-12T17:25:00.000-07:002006-09-12T17:36:07.816-07:00

I remember seeing a sign at Harvard, yes *that* Harvard, for a Procrastinator's Club. Actually, it was more of a support group, but it was quite amusing to see that such a thing existed and that the sign wasn't just a spin on the old joke: Procrastinator's Club-Meeting Time to be Decided Later.Every time I find myself with a scary deadline approaching, I ask myself the same question: why do I

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1157124575589615532006-09-01T08:08:00.000-07:002006-09-01T08:29:36.216-07:00

A few days ago ProfGrrrrl wrote a post with a title that matches mine in response to Psychgirl, who seems to be getting royally shafted.At this stage in my grad student-dom I have been a full member of two labs and rotated through 3 others. I left my first lab due to a rather unhealthy working relationship with the PI. He was more about running a science "factory" than actually training up

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1155915939942519982006-08-18T08:35:00.000-07:002006-08-18T08:45:39.956-07:00

I finally went to get my full set of teaching evals from Intro Bio Lab. A few weeks ago I received an email with my averages out of the 5 point scale, and they were quite good. Being a brand new TA though, I was a little afraid at what might be listed under "things to improve."They were really great evals. I'm going to miss the teaching, but not the giant time suck that it was.Under things to

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1155742740372098062006-08-16T08:36:00.000-07:002006-08-16T08:39:00.400-07:00

The first ever Carnival of GRADual Progress is up at StyleyGeek's place! I am a doofus and forgot to submit anything, but there is a TON of great stuff to read anyway! There are several grad student bloggers there that are new to me, so I highly encourage you to head on over and check it out.

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1155049662687674882006-08-08T07:57:00.000-07:002006-08-08T08:07:42.876-07:00

I've been having trouble coming up with ideas for posts lately. Apparently I'm having writer's block in addition to study block.Study block is the phenomenon whereby you know you have a very important exam in the near future but cannot seem to find time, effort, energy or motivation to actually study for it.I've always been averse to studying. I blame high school for being so easy that "studying"

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1153841042659379962006-07-25T08:15:00.000-07:002006-07-25T08:24:02.943-07:00

I'm very excited about some new things starting up in my little bloggy circle.There is a brand new collaborative blog on the block, The Active Academic, and I'm thrilled to be a contributor along with other people I've really come to admire. It is a place for us to motivate each other, post recipe suggestions, have some friendly accountability while we try to change our bodies for the better.

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1153496520234618682006-07-21T08:31:00.000-07:002006-07-21T08:42:00.250-07:00

Let me say first that I really love living here in West Coast University Town. I do. The weather is much nicer than my hometown in the Northeast.I am getting really tired of the arachnids however. I swear, this place has spiders everywhere. The only place I don't remember being so bad was the very nice new house I lived in when I first moved here. The 100+ year-old house I lived in next? 8 legged

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1153234752876535302006-07-18T07:48:00.000-07:002006-07-18T07:59:12.893-07:00

I sucked it up and started going to the gym again. I've discovered that going before work was sabotaging my brain function, but working out at the end of the day that doesn't matter so much. The biggest drawback of the end-of-the-day workout is the crowd. Many many more people, and a lot of them are doing the Show Off method of exercising. It is at this time of day where you see guy after guy

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1152287190778646952006-07-07T08:32:00.000-07:002006-07-07T08:46:30.790-07:00

I saw a former student on campus the other day and it triggered a memory. He wasn't even "my" student as he was assigned a lab section belonging to someone else. I was teaching my evening lab and everyone was worried about the upcoming midterm. The Tutoring Center had been full of anxious students earlier that day. At one point I turned and found an unfamiliar face by the doorway. I immediately

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1151508528883104332006-06-28T08:15:00.000-07:002006-06-28T08:28:48.896-07:00

I miss teaching. I really do. By the end I was pulling out my hair and counting down the last minutes, but mostly due to the fact that the last 3 weeks are the most time-consuming. Teaching gave me a good steady routine for the week. There were places I had to be at a certain time. I couldn't blow off my students like I can blow off doing DNA preps. I have yet to see my evals, but at least on my

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1150471631725800372006-06-16T08:22:00.000-07:002006-06-16T08:27:11.740-07:00

It's been a bit quiet around here. I'm trying to get back into the research groove. The days seem to draaaaaag on now that I'm not running in eight million directions for teaching. In a single day I can accomplish what I would get done in a week during teaching. Which is good, because the PI is strongly hinting that I did not get enough done during the teaching stint. So now I'm busting my ass

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1149965202911893282006-06-10T11:29:00.000-07:002006-06-10T11:46:44.536-07:00

The teaching is just about over. One last requirement to proctor the final exam and my obligations are complete. I churned through grading last weekend up through Tuesday and was happy with how quickly I finished up.I really enjoyed teaching. My worst fears never did pan out. There was no mutiny and a surprising lack of apathy. I never wound up being a confidant, but I think I came close to being

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1148566210753915212006-05-25T07:02:00.000-07:002006-05-25T07:10:10.790-07:00

I am so ready to get out of here! The last few weeks have been insane. Being 3000 miles away and not thinking about all the teaching and research stuff will be fabulous.In total it took me 14 hours to grade all my lab reports. Ugh. I should have started on them earlier. I spent 5.5 hours on Monday in a cafe with a stack of them, went home and spent another 2 hours. And still wasn't done. Now I

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1148308732504946552006-05-22T07:32:00.000-07:002006-05-22T07:38:52.516-07:00

I haven't been writing much lately. Part of the problem is that I'm still not entirely sure what I want the content to be here. The other part is that I'm being run around in approximately 900 directions at once.For instance, what did I do this weekend?Saturday:-Went into the lab and took measurements-Analyzed and otherwise played with a bunch of data to make pretty graphsSunday:-Began grading

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1147792902513740182006-05-16T08:08:00.000-07:002006-05-16T08:21:42.533-07:00

Ah yes, being a TA for the first time has really opened my eyes to the crap students try to pull. To my credit, I don't think I ever did this in college. High school maybe, but not college. Let's see who the winners (losers?) are for classroom etiquette. (Note: these may not be students in my lab sections, but word gets around. Also, certain details have been altered to protect their stupidity).-

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1147361071110452132006-05-11T08:14:00.000-07:002006-05-11T08:24:31.123-07:00

-When I asked you, "Where should I put the allergy medicine so you remember to take it?" I did not mean you should literally take the entire box with you to work. What am I supposed to take?-Part of lab this week featured food products made from various types of algae and plants etc. One of my students mentioned that it was making him hungry. I looked up at one of the posters and said the first

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1147312273189186772006-05-10T18:45:00.000-07:002006-05-10T18:51:13.190-07:00

I am slowly churning my way through my list for the week. I'm done teaching for the week, though I must still proctor the lecture exam tomorrow and then grade it en masse with the other TAs.I did get their lab midterms graded today, which I am quite proud of. They did well overall. The first one I graded was a perfect score and had me wondering if it was too easy. Unfortunately several other

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1147101290894664392006-05-08T08:09:00.000-07:002006-05-12T08:07:45.000-07:00

Things that must be done this week:1. Attend review session for lecture exam, co-lead review session for lab exam 2. Office hours 3. Write the lab exam for my students 4. Teach my two lab sections5. Give a tour of one of the facilities6. Proctor both my lab exam and the lecture exam7. Grade both exams8. Teach my students how to write their lab reports properly9. Try to find time to attend at

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1146842547306653522006-05-05T08:19:00.000-07:002006-05-05T08:22:27.316-07:00

I don't usually do the random ten, but I'm in the mood to play for some reason.1. "Take Me Out" -Franz Ferdinand2. "Special K"- Placebo3. "Blue"- A Perfect Circle4. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" -Green Day5. "A Favor House Atlantic"- Coheed and Cambria6. "Keep it Together"- Guster7. "Under My Umbrella" -Incubus8. "Breathe Me" -Sia9. "6 Underground" -Sneaker Pimps10. "So Right" -Dave Matthews Band

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1146755044548787912006-05-04T07:25:00.000-07:002006-05-04T08:04:04.620-07:00

Comments on my last post have inspired a new one. It seems I'm far from being the only person who feels the same way, that pressures push us to go for the grades instead of the knowledge.Tiesha said "My priorities are usually staying in the program with the required B or higher and hope I learn something in the process. It's disappointing. "Tiesha is a nursing graduate student (right?). Her

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1146495963665860942006-05-01T07:47:00.000-07:002006-05-01T08:06:03.690-07:00

I've always been a "good" student. The main problem was that I cared about the grades more than the learning. I didn't realize this was a problem until recently. Usually doing well and learning go hand in hand, but not always. How exactly does a C- in Calculus translate into knowledge gained? If I could do the easy problems but nothing with fractions or square roots, for example, did I really

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1146236247684621302006-04-28T07:47:00.000-07:002006-04-28T07:57:27.700-07:00

I haven't participated in the blogger poetry Friday yet. I've never thought of myself as much of a poet. I'm not well-read in poetry. However, jo(e) has chosen an interesting word for this week:Muddy. So here's a little five-minute freewriting...Funny,as a child Ihated to get dirtydisliked sitting in the grass,picking the dandelions,getting my sneakers muddy,hands gritty.I much preferredthe

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1146149201748237902006-04-27T07:32:00.000-07:002006-04-27T07:46:41.763-07:00

There were some murmurings as we graded exams last week that perhaps two of the lab sections got screwed over. They had lab after the in-class exam, and some of the material we went over was directly related to the short answer questions. As I told my own students: "You've covered all of this material in lecture, except for these small experiments. It's fair game."So when the grades were combined

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1145975658266394052006-04-25T07:17:00.000-07:002006-04-25T07:34:18.276-07:00

My students had their first exam recently.Certain aspects of the whole thing could have been handled much better. Such as the procedure for turning in the exams. It wound up being a flurry of people at the front of the room. I went on autopilot: check to make sure they bubbled the correct exam form (four separate tests), names on both sheets, TA's name on both sheets, go! Repeat. Repeat. 450

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1145974604627786402006-04-25T07:00:00.000-07:002006-04-25T07:16:44.653-07:00

I was out of town this weekend and then Blogger refused to behave yesterday morning. Sorry for the lack of posting.26. Blue has been my favorite color ever since I was a little kid. I've never been a fan of pink.27. I don't mind walking on the kitchen floor in bare feet. It used to give my dad chills to watch me. I never wear slippers.28. We got our first home computer when I was twelve. It was a

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1145458858590021612006-04-19T07:53:00.000-07:002006-04-19T08:00:58.593-07:00

The hardest part of teaching my Bio 101 labs?-3 Hours on my feet with no chance to go pee!-Getting them into groups of five. If we move to a different room it's easy because they self-sort. If we're staying in the same room and they're already seated, it's like pulling teeth. I assign groups, they grumble. I tell them to arrange their own groups and they look at me blankly and don't move. Argh.-

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1145458381194265302006-04-19T07:49:00.000-07:002006-04-19T07:53:01.223-07:00

25. When I was a kid, probably up until about sixth grade, I was always one of the tallest, if not THE tallest kids in the class. Then the boys started catching up and I stopped growing. I'm about 5'8", which is the exact average height of American women, last I checked. Not that tall, really. But I still think of myself as being tall. I'm also the tallest one of all my sibs, though my brother is

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1145372490382500482006-04-18T07:47:00.000-07:002006-04-18T08:01:30.423-07:00

On Sunday I wound up taking an impromptu nap for about 3 hours. Call me Rip Van Winkle. Sleeping for 100 years would be fabulous, though I don't think I could pull of the beard. When I woke up, I had this oddly unsettled feeling that I couldn't shake. It took about an hour until I figured it out.I had a dream that one of my friends found this blog and knew I was the author. And he was angry at me

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1145371629576936172006-04-18T07:44:00.000-07:002006-04-18T07:47:09.603-07:00

23. My favorite chocolate is dark chocolate with mint. The good stuff, not Hershey's. A close second is orange chocolate, though really I don't think I've ever met a chocolate I didn't like.24. I love Peeps in all their incarnations, though the original chick-shaped ones are the best. When they started making those sugar-coated marshmallow delights in other shapes for Halloween and such, I was

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1145205698465463262006-04-16T09:33:00.000-07:002006-04-16T09:41:38.476-07:00

18. I moved far away from home mostly because my graduate program is great, but also because the weather is much more fabulous out here. The constant, record-breaking rain is really pissing me off now.19. I started biting my nails in third grade and I still can't stop. Or don't want to. Or both.20. When I go on vacation I buy either a t-shirt or a keychain as a souvenir. As I've grown older,

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1145027661022779252006-04-14T08:00:00.000-07:002006-04-14T08:14:21.036-07:00

-My landlord is driving me insane. Lease renewals start up around February because this is a University town and all the students will be gone by Juneish. I have told her via email twice and in person at least once that we want to renew our lease. Wednesday I got a very terse email saying "we don't have your renewal form yet, but here's another copy. send ASAP."Funny, we never had the form in the

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1144768258287197362006-04-11T07:37:00.003-07:002006-04-11T08:11:01.896-07:00

Yikes! It's been a week since I posted new facts. Well, here we go. More Facts About Me:10: Part of the reason I was so quiet over the weekend was due to back pain. I was hobbling around like an arthritic man 50 years older than myself. I pulled the muscles doing lab work; I didn't actually 'throw it out' like usual. I blame this on my father's side of the family. My dad is very inflexible and

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1144713388948350282006-04-10T16:39:00.000-07:002006-04-10T16:56:29.283-07:00

I've seen several posts lately alluding to the fact that the academic year is nearly finished. My fellow bloggers are giving finals and looking forward to glorious "free" time outside the classroom.We're just getting started. Again. I can't explain fully lest I give away my Uni, but we have an extremely odd schedule. Fall classes start very late, which pushes everything else back. We're not on

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1144378950371285602006-04-06T19:54:00.000-07:002006-04-06T20:02:30.460-07:00

I know there are several academics in the blogosphere, and I direct this question to you.Suppose you have a lecture class with 500 students. You meet 3 times a week for 50 minutes a session. In this case, the class is an introductory science course, which is semi-relevant. Probably 90% of your students have never had any of this material before: all new terminology, images they don't recognize

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1144249877063128602006-04-05T08:05:00.000-07:002006-04-05T08:11:17.076-07:00

I am the oldest of four kids: 3 girls and one boy. I think my parents were holding out for a boy. Artist Sister is 2 years younger, Equestrian Sister is 4 years younger, and Boy Wonder is 7 years younger than I. (Those pseudonyms were tricky: hard to figure out which of many interests to highlight. Boy Wonder is a family nickname). I'm closest to Artist Sister, but we're a pretty tight bunch all

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1144165141825852912006-04-04T08:19:00.000-07:002006-04-04T08:39:01.866-07:00

Things are a bit crazy around here; I'm literally buzzing around like a bee trying to get things done. Here are some good links from around the blogosphere:Alex at The Daily Transcript has an interesting piece on the 3 types of experiments. Be sure to read the comments as well! I think most of my work falls squarely into category B: did it fail or did I set something up wrong??DeanDad has an

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1144130927622870332006-04-03T23:04:00.000-07:002006-04-03T23:08:47.646-07:00

In elementary school my worst grade, on a consistent basis was...Penmanship.I had horrible, horrible chickenscratch handwriting. I distinctly remember being in second grade and having a handwriting assignment, one of those "copy this phrase" on the paper with the 3 lines kinda deals. I royally screwed it up. It was something about a jaguar, I remember. The first few words should have fit on the

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1144078842917457382006-04-03T08:35:00.000-07:002006-04-03T08:40:42.916-07:00

Our featured item for today is: Yet Another Cold and Rainy Day Uncharacteristic for this LocaleBlergh.On my agenda for today:-Get to work without getting too wet-Check on suspicious growth chamber-Lab meeting-Read the paper I'm presenting for journal club on Wednesday-Prep samples for microscope work tomorrow-Time permitting: collect tissue for DNA preps-TA Meeting-Time permitting: collect more

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1144001263190071732006-04-02T11:02:00.000-07:002006-04-02T11:07:43.203-07:00

In high school I played on the tennis team with several friends and my younger sister. It was a small school, so we didn't have to be great to make the team. Not that I was bad, but I lost quite a few matches. The most embarrassing thing was that my younger sister wound up being better than I was, so she played the 1st singles slot and I played 2nd singles. Mortifying. One match we got to play

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143913838127349762006-04-01T09:50:00.000-08:002006-04-01T09:51:04.796-08:00

I am 10% Idiot.I am not annoying at all. In fact most people come to me for advice. Of course they annoy the hell out of me. But what can I do? I am smarter than most people. Take theIdiot Test@ FualiDotCom

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143822875007847502006-03-31T08:31:00.000-08:002006-03-31T08:34:35.010-08:00

I first got contact lenses after I lost a pair of glasses on an amusement park ride. It wasn't a coaster, it was one that spun you round-and-round. My glasses had been a bit loose, and off they flew into the air, and probably under one of the carts. "Lost" is exaggerating. We found them later, quite mangled. I had wanted contacts for a while, and this was my opportunity! My parents made me pay

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143822555036770532006-03-31T08:20:00.000-08:002006-03-31T08:29:15.060-08:00

Something weird and unsettling is going on with Thursdays. Thursdays are apparently very bad for my emotional state. Who knew? Two weeks ago ThursdayI had myself convinced that I wanted to escape my grad program with a MS and never look back. Several discussions and some soul searching have convinced me to go all the way to the PhD. I doubt it will be the last time I look for an out though.Then

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143684068339459872006-03-29T17:58:00.000-08:002006-03-29T18:01:08.350-08:00

I have two holes pierced in each ear (the lobe, not cartilage) but I rarely wear earrings. Mostly because earrings now make my ears itch when I wear them.

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143601311998633002006-03-28T18:49:00.000-08:002006-03-28T19:01:52.000-08:00

Today I revealed my grace by dropping an entire tray of plants I'm screening. In front of Bossman, who was there to help me score some ambiguous potential mutants. Very embarrassing! I managed to catch the tray in mid-air, but the catch itself dislodged some onto the floor. What a mess!Thankfully the Bossman didn't say anything critical; he just mentioned it was lucky that the few unlucky ones

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143562513967729492006-03-28T08:11:00.000-08:002006-03-28T08:15:13.990-08:00

I started drinking coffee my sophomore year in college in an attempt to stay awake during classes. I couldn't stand drinking regular coffee: too bitter! I had to work my way up from instant cappuchino served from a silly machine on campus. I think it took 3 or 4 months for me to start drinking actual coffee. Now I have to have my cup with breakfast.

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143517837429568052006-03-27T19:44:00.000-08:002006-03-27T19:50:37.443-08:00

Due to transportation issues, I got to the lab at 6:30 am. I was quite sleepy, however managed to be very productive today. The early hour allowed me to catch up on the things I never accomplished on the weekend. I meant to go in, but life interceded. It happens.I ran a gel with two complimentary reactions, one for WT and one for the genetic insert I'm interested in. At worst I'd expect this

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143327652487451332006-03-25T14:59:00.000-08:002006-03-25T15:00:52.500-08:00

Though I was reluctant to try it at first, Vanilla Coke is my favorite soda, followed closely by Wild Cherry Pepsi. I despise all diet sodas. Bleh. (On a side note: in French, NutraSweet is NutraSuc. Pretty much sums up my feelings about it.)

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143214044055151602006-03-24T07:25:00.000-08:002006-03-24T07:27:24.066-08:00

I got my first alarm clock when I was eight and my sister was six so that we could get ourselves up for school. Even at that age we were fiercely independent I guess! I've used an alarm clock every school/work morning from that day on.

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143172305375886632006-03-23T19:43:00.000-08:002006-03-23T19:51:45.376-08:00

I was sitting at my desk when I heard one of our tech's mutter behind me:"There's no way I'm an extra small!"I turned around and found that she was trying to order a new type of nitrile glove. The manufacturer had sent a handy-dandy insert that you can use to measure your hand, lining it up with the correct glove size. I glanced at the insert briefly, and then did a double-take."Does that say

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1143172324384718072006-03-22T19:51:00.000-08:002006-03-23T19:57:52.700-08:00

I am shamelessly stealing an idea from BrightStar in an attempt to let my three readers get to know me better. One hundred facts about me in (approximately) one hundred days. The trick will be figuring out one hundred things that do not completely give away my identity! Or drive my audience away, instead of drawing them in...Fact #1:I eat cereal for breakfast every day (except weekends), even

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1142914073392187002006-03-20T20:02:00.000-08:002006-03-20T20:07:53.393-08:00

As I was leaving my house this morning, I thought to myself "I have a case of the Mondays." (Bonus points for getting the reference).I was running late, didn't remember to pack a lunch, and as I walked out the front door with my bicycle I realized it was raining quite hard. I had a cold and wet and miserable ride in. I should have gone straight after my shower; my hair was drenched when I got to

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1142616079383141752006-03-10T09:03:00.000-08:002006-03-23T19:40:43.786-08:00

I was having a rather horrible day yesterday. By the time the mandatory meeting for new TAs rolled around, I was quite convinced that I wanted to quit science altogether or throw myself into traffic, or both. I was miserable but trying to put up a good front for the nice people I'd (mostly) never met before.About halfway through the meeting, we reach the topic of Things TAs Don't Have to Worry

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1141366911981603572006-03-02T22:13:00.000-08:002006-03-02T22:21:51.983-08:00

This is a great article on getting back from what the author, Mary McKinney, describes as being "academic AWOL". We've all done this at some point or another. The graduate students avoid our PIs because the experiment didn't work, or the cultures all died, or the paper isn't written yet. The PIs avoid looking at paper revisions out of fear of what the reviewers said.I myself am prone to going

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1141366279021957362006-02-26T20:15:00.000-08:002006-03-02T22:11:19.023-08:00

I have been without a laptop for a few days. Not because of a problem, per se, but because I let the computer guys get a hold of it.I wanted some software that I cannot afford. Hey, the university has a site license for it! So I bring my handy-dandy laptop over to the computer guys to get the software. To make a long story short: they noticed I didn't have a domain login and that I still had the

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1141365440149255762006-02-19T22:28:00.000-08:002006-03-02T21:57:20.150-08:00

It's that time of year: fresh young faces appear on our campus, eager to attend graduate school here. Yes, it's Grad School Interview weekend. The top twenty or so applicants get flown out here and shown a grand old time. Some of the current students are always on hand to answer questions about what the program is *really* like here. I love participating in the whole thing. It reaffirms my love

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1141364909440795852006-02-15T18:36:00.000-08:002006-03-02T21:48:29.446-08:00

I often eat lunch at the campus union. My first year here I diligently packed a lunch every day. Ultimately it became the exact same lunch every day, because it was efficient, and then I grew tired of it. Now I'm at a loss as to what to eat in the middle of my day. I typically bring an assortment of fruit and a granola bar, but lack the "main" portion of food. As I forage for edibles in a rather

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1141364187662716792006-02-06T21:34:00.000-08:002006-03-02T21:36:27.666-08:00

I'm having trouble getting into the habit of writing here. I love reading the blogs of others; thinking of a topic to explore on my own has been tricky. Plus, the lab has been really busy lately. Now I'm going out of town to visit family for a week or so, and they have very limited internet access. Blog withdrawl! Should be a good opportunity to clear my head.

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1140974183748991762006-02-01T21:08:00.000-08:002006-02-26T09:16:23.750-08:00

Our lab got a new postdoc today. I always find it interesting to see how the addition or subtraction of one person alters the dynamic of a working group. Our lab is fairly small: 2 grad students, 3 techs, and now two postdocs. The addition of a new person with more expertise will be very useful.I find myself wondering about the day when I start a postdoc. The postdocs I've known have always

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1140973378114051092006-01-20T13:50:00.000-08:002006-02-26T09:02:58.123-08:00

In theory, my job once I finish school will be that of 'scientist'. Part of being a scientist, in any of its incarnations, is explaining research: how you did it, what it means, what importance is has?This is an area I need to work on, as exemplified by my reluctance to talk about my work to my parents. My parents are both quite intelligent; both have BS degrees in their fields and work full time

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1140761311417104972006-01-12T15:02:00.000-08:002006-02-23T22:08:31.416-08:00

There are several milestones in a science career. Graduating with your BS degree. Choosing a graduate school. Picking a major professor. Qualifying Exams. Writing your first paper. Writing your first grant. Writing a thesis. Graduating with an MS or PhD. Finding a postdoc position. Finding a tenure-track position.One of my good friends recently had her first paper published. I'm very excited for

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22936555.post-1140760728712403592006-01-01T09:54:00.000-08:002006-02-23T21:58:48.720-08:00

I have been considering starting a blog for quite some time, and what better opportunity than the turning over of a new year?Welcome to Life Science. I love reading blogs, especially those from fellow scientists. I hope that this adventure will blossom and grow and evolve.All that I write here is my vision of the world, though I strive for truth and honesty. Though I plan to remain anonymous, the

Honeybeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08018341313990685242noreply@blogger.com0