In my internet wanderings I found a couple of vids I think are worth sharing.

The first one is the music video for Johny Cash's cover of NIN's Hurt.   Somehow all the autobiographical footage he uses in the video makes it all the more powerfully depressing. 



The second is a fun pick me up... "I'll Be Back" ...for your love.  A Terminator monster ballad.
Pure cheeze right down to the wacky guitar face. 



enjoy!  ^_^

I've been having to go to the hospital a lot lately... no big surprise as I'm getting ever closer to the big delivery.
But my having come down with Gestational Diabetes has made the need for trips even more frequent.

I have three visits a week now... and they are taking up increasing amounts of time... twice a week for non-stress tests to keep an eye on the baby's activity and heart.. once a week for regular meetings with the OBGYN's... once a week for parenting classes... once a week for the dietitian. 

Unfortunately the diet alone method ended up not working for me... I just couldn't manage to clear my night time blood sugar.
(the body produces a rush of sugar late at night / early in the morning to compensate for fasting, in case you didn't already know.)

So now I have to shoot up with insulin, right before bed.

I'm such a coward when it comes to sharp and pointy object and my own flesh and blood....

Now I'm jabbing myself with needles several times a day... it's a strange thing to get used to.

anyway, I had hoped that today would be my quiet day... my day to get a few things done and maybe go visit friends who are long overdue for a visit...

yeah... that plan fell through.  My lappy has started acting buggier than normal.  It's having powering up issues, sometimes needing to be told to turn on as many as five or six times... and waking it from sleep mode is impossible.  So I had to spend the day trying to back up all the data on the hard drive... and transfer it to the desk top.
Then the screen went all bonkers and turned to total visual gibberish... it almost looked like one of those 'hidden picture' posters... but no matter how cross eyed you stared there was no hidden fun.

It seems to be working again... but for how much longer remains to be seen.  On the plus side, we talked with the company and they are going to take a look at it for us, as this model is known to be buggy hardware wise in this area.  With any extra luck they will fix it and not try to charge us for it.

Here's hoping tomorrow goes just a bit smoother...  maybe I can get some work done towards my "summer research" / independent study?

I had such plans for this semester... like actually posting regularly...

Two guesses how my semester went.  -_^

One class frustrated me so much that I wasn't able to keep up with the rest.   As a result my overall performance tanked this semester.  The semester is over and I'm still trying to catch up with the work I needed to do for the classes...

Good teachers are wonderful things... Knowing your subject and being able to effectively transmit that information are a vital skill and one that should be cherished. 

Anyway... best to look forward.  The next semester is going to be the real doozy... I have to get ready for GRE's  and get applications for schools done... (and hope this semester doesn't muck up my GPA too much for getting in)
Otherwise I'll need another year to build up my grades again....  -_-

Needless to say I'm a bit nervous about that

Otherwise, things are looking good going into the summer... I got my independent study approved and I'll be starting that in the next few weeks.  I'll be studying the effects of pH on the growth of freshwater algae and its impact on their nutritional value.  Basically I'm growing algae at different pH's and feeding it to snails to see if it changes their growth and reproduction.

The first step is going to be seeing if the algae will grow and reproduce itself...  If I can get the algae reproducing enough then I can start feeding it to the snails. 

In more personal news:  The baby is growing like a weed (or like I hope my experimental algae does)... I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that it's only a couple of months away from the estimated due date.  We are now on the once a week visits to the doctor and twice a week visits for 'non-stress tests' to check the babies activity and heart rate...
Once a week visits for the parent/birthing classes... once a week visits to the dietitian....

I'm going to be very busy.... ^_^

I've been diagnosed with gestational diabetes... I'm doing pretty good so far with just diet changes, hopefully that and some more exercise will do the trick.  If not, I may need insulin for over night sugar. 
Have I mentioned I don't want a giant baby? 

Anyway... I'm back.. hopefully with a bit more regularity than previously.

So the snow is coming down pretty hard, masking the world with a haze of white.  I can just make out the buildings beyond Rounds from my view point in Boyd. 

Still, PSU is the one hold-out against the weather as we tough out our walks to and from classes.  Hopefully it won't be all that slippery when I finally get to go home after 5pm.  Whee!

So yesterday, I managed to get up and shuffle my way off to class.  Only to get there as a sign was being put up saying the class was canceled.
After that I got to try to stay awake until my next class which was awesome.  Trying to doge 'the nemesis" kind of helped. 
"The nemesis" if you don't remember, is a particularly annoying student who has chosen to follow me around as much as possible.  Indeed yesterday she was very literally following me around the building.  No matter how much I try to ignore her, there she is!

Thankfully the poor weather has kept her at bay today and I have a blessedly quiet break.

well, its just about time to get ready for Chemistry.  Stay warm everyone!  ^_^

And I'm off and running. 

Today between classes I made sure to stop by and try to wheedle work out of the Professors.  I'm now going to be helping with the Biological Science 2 Lab.  That should be a blast, Kerry always has lots of fun experiments for students to do.  Including more outdoors time in Fox Park. 

Speaking of labs.... Next semester I go from humble lab assistant to lab teacher!   I'm getting one of the Bio Sci 1 labs to call my very own and I'll even be getting my own undergrad assistant.  How wicked is that!  ^_^

I'll be an undergrad teaching undergrads.  

Dr. R. suggested (jokingly) that I guest lecture for his Vertebrate Zoology class and if he didn't already have a Grad Student snipe the position he'd be glad to have me help with his lab.  I've got the job next winter essentially.

So, I guess I don't have to worry about work in Boyd.  I'm pretty set for the rest of my time here. 

Except the summer.  I'm still unsure how much and what sort of work I'll be able to get.  Maybe I'll finally start working on that experiment I dreamt up my first semester.  It won't be work, but I'll get credit for it as an independent study.

Otherwise classes went well, I felt like a bit of a deer in headlights in Chem but that should fade as I get back into it.  I'm going to spend the night studying up and dusting my brain off.  Evolution is going to be a lot of writing and presenting, but I enjoy both so hooray! 

Tomorrow I find out how I handle Genetics at 8 AM.  O.O

Or I will be in a few hours. 

It should be a great semester, I've got plenty of open room to make sure I eat lunch regularly.  (A nice switch from last semester!)
It's all science all the time, which goes a long way toward filling my degree requirements.

I'm just waiting for my books for Evolution and Genetics to come in.  Hopefully I'll only be a week before they arrive.  The first week should be fairly low key anyway.  Not that you tend to get any real 'book work' in science classes, but they are invaluable for studying and keeping up.

My work in the museum room is just about done for now.  We have to get together and go over what I pulled out and give it the final "heave ho" order, but I'm confident that won't take long.   Then I just have to touch up the arrangement on some of the groups so that you can find specific things easier and ta-da.. done!

I'm totally not touching the buckets of dissection specimens, the smell is way to much for me right now.  Oh, I have an oldest confirmed collection date on some of the specimens.  1965.  I suspect that some of them are much older than that, but I don't have a way to verify that right now.

Anyway, I should try to sleep before classes.  I have to start getting used to being a morning person again, and I don't have coffee as a crutch anymore.  Sweet sweet caffeinated bliss, oh how I will miss thee.

Well, here I am again. 

It's been a pretty decent winter break so far.  I've finally made it into the museum room to sort through the backlog of invertebrate specimens.  I'm about halfway done and I've seen things... things that should never be seen!

Ever wonder what happens to a jellyfish after its been sitting for forty years in evaporating preservative?  Yeah, neither did I... but now I know.
I also know what an octopus that has mummified looks like.  o_O

I took a couple of days off after that to steel my reserve (and my much more touchy stomach) for round two.  It's almost embarrassing how techy my stomach has been in the past week or so.  I suppose that comes with the territory,  I hope it passes soon.

I've also seen a lot of beautiful things, like delicate shells of tropical snails and wonderful fresh specimens of sea pens.  (that look almost like mushrooms at a quick glance in their jar)

Most of my "to-do" list for the winter break has been accomplished.  Though I do need to brush up more on Chemistry! 

Anyway, so far so good and one week to go... egads, I have to order my books!

Ok, so I just got home and the first thing I saw was that there was a Full sized box spring in my hallway.  Then I noticed the rest of the mattress and the frame in the bedroom... brand new, with tags!
Naturally I thought Jamie had something to do with this so I scooped up my phone to call.  Jamie was just as shocked as I was. 

So I don't know who you are, or how you did it... But thank you!  Thank you so much!

This is a drawing I did of an elderly Mastodon bull.



Mastodons used their tusks - which are modified teeth - for a variety of purposes, including fighting with members of their own species.  This fellow is nursing a particularly battered tusk. 

Occasionally Mastodons have been found that have died from wounds inflicted in these battles. 

The first few snows of the winter are always nice.  This morning we had big fluffy flakes that drifted slowly down.   And quite a lot of too, so much that with the slow fall it almost looked like the snow was suspended in place.
It was beautiful.... mostly because it was still sunny and calm so it gave it a sort of ethereal quality.
The snow didn't stick around either adding to the unreal feeling.

Anyway, midterms didn't go quite as well as I would have liked them to.   But I still have another exam to pick things back up.  I'm not doing bad, just not as good as I'd like.

I can't wait to actually get back to science classes. 

Female Gorilla.  I can't remember if this a lowland or mountain gorilla... let alone which of the six subspecies it is.
Gorillas are amazing animals.  Males can reach height of 5'9" and weigh a mighty 450 pounds.  Females are much smaller, being around 4'7" and 220 pounds. 
They are herbivores and spend much of their time foraging for leaves, shoots and fruit.  To deal with the tough food they have a bone crest on top of the skull called a sagittal crest.  This anchors massive jaw muscles that allow them to crush bamboo and woody stems.
On females the sagittal crest is much smaller, giving them a more rounded head.
This is called sexual dimorphism, and it is quite common among species... including humans.  (though in humans its actually rather reduced.)


some other quick facts about Gorillas...

-They have been seen using rough tools in the wild. 
-The name Gorilla come from the Greek word Gorillai  or  "a tribe of hairy women". 
-Some populations of Gorillas have sex face to face, making them, humans and the Bonobo the exclusive "wiling to look one another in the face" group of land mammals.
-Human ancestors and Gorilla ancestors diverged from each other about 7 million years ago.
-Humans and Gorillas share between 99 and 98% of our DNA.
-Individual genes differ by as little as 1.6% (what a difference a tiny change makes!)
-Gorillas, like all great apes, are endangered and may be extinct in the wild in as little as a decade.

Ok, so this won't likely be exactly daily... but in an effort to get back into the swing of things, I've decided to give this a shot.

I'm going to attempt to post a doodle (nearly) every day. 
Today's doodle is a dragonish cattish thing that I did while at Carnage.



No he's not finished, yes that is a lame attempt at some sort of background. 

enjoy. ^_^

I don't generally do memes... but this one for some reason caught my attention.

Go to urbandictionary.com and type in your answer to each question in the search box, then write the FIRST definition it gives you.

1. Your name:
Katherine:

Well I managed to get signed up for all the classes I need for next semester! 
Finally!  ~insert happy dance here~

I get to start my mornings off with Evolution... which I'm totally looking forward to.  Doubly so since I've already got an invite to T.A. the class!
I had to get signed into this class specially as Genetics is a pre-requirement for the class.  I'm taking them at the same time and as the professor already is confident I can T.A the class, she has no problem with me taking them at the same time. 

Next is Genetics.  I get to mess with fruit flys!  How cool is that?  Now I totally have to re-read "Endless Forms Most Beautiful" by Sean B. Carrol.  (Like I really needed an excuse, its an amazing book.  If you ever want an easy way to learn the basics of Genetics and how they influence evolution check it out!   I can't say enough good things about it.)

Then its General Chemistry II... which will be interesting as I now have a full year gap between it and Gen. Chem. I.  I'm taking it with the same professor as I had for Gen. Chem. I and I've been keeping in touch with her over the past year, so she knows my situation.  

Last but not least is Biology Seminar... which I should have taken as a freshman... but hey, I'm not exactly a freshman.  So I've saved it for when I needed a fluffy filler to make sure I have enough credits.

It puts me at a modest 13 credits but other than the Seminar they are all 4 credit courses with labs so I'm not too worried about taking it too easy.  -_^

So I'm sure everyone is familiar with this map of the election.



But is this a good map? 
For a broad overview of the information it is effective.  But as we all know no state is made of all Blue team or all Red team. 
A more accurate map shows the blending of red and blue to indicate the percentage of each in each county of the United States.


As you can see Red states aren't as red as they would like you to think , nor are Blue states as blue as they seem.  This notion that the nation is strictly polarized between the parties is disingenuous. 

I love maps.  There is a non-standard type of map called a cartogram.  In a cartogram the image is skewed to represent additional data, in this case its population.  So you are looking at the first map, adjusted so that the colors are scaled to the states population.  Not surpizingly this called a population cartogram.  ^_^



There are several more of these fantastic maps that will give a much clearer view of the election here.  I highly reccomend checking them out as they may give you a new perspective on the election and something to think about.  The election results by county just may surprise you. 

Ladies and gentlemen.... you're new president



Barack Obama

He's just passed the 270 point with 297 points!   And there is room still for more!  

I haven't posted for a while...   I'd like to say it was because I was just too busy to do so, but that would be disingenuous.
Not a lie per say... I have a lot on my plate right now. 

Classes are going well, if not stellar.  I can still improve.

I'm really enjoying being a Teachers Aid, even if it does mean I have to get up early and stay up late.  I get to help answer questions and while I'm not doing that I get to surf the web and chat.

Being a tutor is... I'm not sure about it yet, to tell the truth. 

I'm woefully behind on my work for Brad... between loosing some of my files and having a couple of the original images damaged... It makes me feel like a total shmuck.

My summer high is long gone and the back to school high has yet to kick in.  So for now I'm coasting, hoping to keep moving in the right direction at least.   Nothing worthwhile is easy.

And that is as emo as I'm going to let myself get honest.  :P

I found this and just had to share, especially with chenoachem .  It's an advertisement for the Eppendorf automatic pipette machine: epMotion . 
For those of you who aren't science buffs and want to understand a little more about what all the musical fun is about...
( Read more... )

epMotion Song

Pipetting all those well-plates, baby, sends your thumbs into overdrive
And spending long nights in the lab makes it hard for your love to thrive

What you need is automation, girl, something easy as 1 2 3
So put down that pipette, honey, I got something that will set you free

And it's called epMotion (whisper: 'cause you deserve something really great)
Girl you need epMotion (whisper: yeah girl it's time to automate)
It's got to be epMotion (whisper: no more pipetting late at night)
Only for you epMotion (whisper: girl this time we got it right)

DNA
RNA
Proteins
Cell Cultures
Less reagents
Faster workflow
Saves you money
Well, well, well

And it's called epMotion (whisper: 'cause you deserve something really great)
Girl you need epMotion (whisper: yeah girl it's time to automate)
It's got to be epMotion (whisper: no more pipetting late at night)
Only for you epMotion (whisper: girl this time we got it right)

Hilarious!  You know women are a major force in science when you start to get ads like this.

So m'friend Kelly invited me two months in advance, to help her kick off the first annual Meridith Chalk Festival. 
I have to say I'm really happy I went... really sore, but very happy.

I've never done sidewalk chalk art before (well, not since I was a young child anyway).  So ciliandis suggested we get together and practice.  Thank goodness we did too, because it gave a much needed crash-course to both of us! 

I was my typical unprepared self and didn't actually decide what to create until crazy early that morning.  I wanted something that would be bright and high contrast, to show up... and fairly simple design wise.  So I chose to do a Tiger head. 

My favorite part was doing the eyes... I love eyes and trying to make them look as alive as possible.  Eyes really are key to any image of a living thing.    Oh and seeing what other artists were working on... all four of us.  Sadly the fifth artist was a no-show. 
Everyones work was totally amazing!

My least favorite part was my chose to be "number one"... The sun was hidden behind clouds during the early part of the morning but after just a couple of hours I was baking on the asphalt. 

Still I had a wonderful time,  and who knows, maybe I'll actually get to hang out with Kelly next time I see her.  ^_^

Today was also my last official day of work.  I may go in to help Doc C. clean up and get things ready for classes.  I can't wait until classes start up again... and ironically have a little more time for friends, family and who knows... hobbies?

If it wasn't for friends hunting me down and making me do stuff, I would never have gotten out at all this summer!  (So thanks to those of you who forced me to be social after work, or gasp gave me a reason to take a break!)

The Phoenix lander has found traces of water in its latest soil sample!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7536123.stm

This has been your totally cool science update for the decade... ^_^