So, When do you get your Master's?

Things are good all around. I just got back from a poster presentation at the Southeastern Fishes Council--It went really well. I got to meet my prospective advisor at Yale, Tom Near, who was favorably impressed with my work. I also managed to network it up with several other people who encouraged me to apply to their Ph.D. programs too. The one snafu I had was with the competition; I missed the start of it by having dinner with several people from NANFA, including the snorkelmeister. It was probably worth it to mingle with real people--but several of the judges said that they would have voted for me if I had entered. Oh, well. I have a conference to attend Friday and Saturday too, and there's money involved there. Hopefully I can strike a win!

This semester is rounding off nicely. I'm almost done with my Music class. I've got one last big Philosophy essay to do. My Honor's thesis project is ALMOST COMPLETE! Which means I'll have most of my credits for my Honor's certificate and my Tech Writing project will be done. It's been a busy semester. I'm glad its coming to a close.

I've managed to turn my abysmal mood around sometime in the last month or so by focusing on my work. That's good, since I have a lot of work to do. Anyhow, stay tuned!

First Day of Classes

Well I'm out another $4000 and classes started today.
Honors Philosophy looks like it will be a fun game, so does Astrophysics. I'm excited about both--good thing they're on the same day.
Tomorrow I'll have Tech Writing, Honors English Seminar: World Lit, and Intro to Music Lit.
Easy classes, but a lot of them. 19 hours to be exact.

I got my poster presentation and report for my REU Internship done. They both look good. Hopefully people will like them. See what you think! (Click for larger)

A Texual Grasp of Reality...

I've been down the last two weeks. Not sure why. My intership has rounded up and I've got some great results. Cloutman is putting me on his manuscript, and hopefully I have contributed enough to make it believable. I've been working on my poster lately--which a lot of work when you have done good work over the summer. My biggest problem has been formatting it since the content comes easily.

So why the drag?

Perhaps a combination of quite a lot of small things. I've not taken the GRE yet, despite my preparation. Tammy and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye on many things, including the big religion hoax (for which I would have just gotten scoffed at) and the fact that I will be leaving Ala-friggin-bama soon. And..Oh, my friends are all getting married. I can take it when my roommate gets married, but Mary Beth just got engaged. Wowza, what a time shock that was. I can only imagine the feeling I'll get when people start having babies. *shiver* I've also been busy this summer. Something that I'm not really used to. I mean, I've always done stuff over the summer, but I've always had a nice month long break before anything else starts up--not so this summer. I think I'm coming around though.

I even bought a sports car through the whole ordeal. I can see why middle-aged men do it. It sure made me feel better. I got a cat for the apartment too--also perked me up a bit. I've been spending too much money on food and wine--which, in combination with all of the aforementioned items have only superficially attenuated my slightly-depressed mood. Hopefully when school starts back up (Wednesday!) I can motivate myself back up to 100%.

So, enough being depressed.

Quest for the Ultimate Shot of Espresso.

Over the last twelve or so months, I've gained a deeper appreciation for Espresso (Yes, pronounced Ess-press-o. NOT Ex-Press-O). This appreciation has inspired me to recreate this delicious beverage in the comfort of my own home.
Espresso is unlike other beverages. Espresso is a product of the 9-bar sub-steam temperature water extraction of finely ground coffee, tamped into a puck with 55lbs of pressure. Without an espresso machine, espresso would not exist. Yes, you can get close with a French Press, but I daresay that such a device does not produce espresso.
In order to create expresso, one must possess an adequate espresso machine and grinder.
The day I returned from Costa Rica, I stopped by Wal-Mart and purchased myself a GE Espresso machine and a Blade Grinder. Both of these items are considered severely sub-par and inadequate for espresso production. After producing faux-spresso for the last three weeks, I've decided to return my espresso machine to Wal-Mart.
Woot so happened to offer a Starbucks Sireno Espresso machine that retails for $400 for $204 including shipping. Woot.com offered this offer, of course, on my birthday. So I bought it.
My new machine should arrive in the next coupla days. Today I picked up a Cuisinart burr grinder for an additional $50. Many espresso experts reccommend grinders in the $300 range, but this is simply not an option with my current income.
So we'll see how my quest turns out. Will I be rewarded with a hot, viscous, sweet shot of espresso, brimming with crema, or will I fail miserably and recieve black gunk that has only been seen in Organic Lab.
Next Sunday, We'll find out.

Cheers,
Andrew

Blogging during my lunch break

Well... The semester came and went--I came out on top.
I have an apartment now with Nick and Derek.
Went to Costa Rica again and had a great time.
Started my REU Internship, and well.... here we are!

This summer will be my most productive summer yet.
I ate through two GRE prep books during my Costa Rican escapade and am on task to take it in July.
Things are great, especially since I turn 21 in eight or so days and am planning a real party.

Anyhow... Here's what I've been doing during my internship so far:
Tuesday May 26, 2009:
Topped off formalin in several fish collections. Properly labeled all of the fishes involved in the gut-content analysis. Weighed and measured “NTD” fishes. Taught ST students how to perform basic lab procedures, including the removal of brains from telescope shiners. 9am-4pm

Wednesday May 27, 2009:
Performed ten gut content dissections, keying out contents to LPL. Researched for aquatic insects and plant DNA extraction. Attended REU orientation meeting. Sifted through April plankton samples, taking pictures of several specimens for identification. Removed gill sections from six female 2007 Telescope shiners and placed each in carmine stain overnight as a pilot project. Cleaned up. 9:20a-5p

Thursday May 28, 2009:
Began this log. Entered data for NTN (Feb) fishes. Researched gill parasites. Found gill parasites on stained fish! (dactylogyrus?)

Here's a picture of the parasite I found (400x magnification. Specimen is ~290 micrometers in length)

I'll try and update my daily work....but you know just how good my word is about updating things.

Cheers!

Prick and Crick

Okay. So let it be known that my word about updating my blog is nearly worthless.

I've been busy and not so busy at the same time. Some weeks (Specifically those with a Biochem Exam) are particularly arduous, while others (the week after the exam) are fairly bland. They shouldnt be bland--but are, since my way of recovering from my binge study sessions is to do absolutely nothing. Quite counterproductive if I do say so myself. Alas, what more can one do? The problem with the semester is that I'm taking classes I care nothing about and classes that I care the world for. Chemistry and Biology meet in a way that is humbling in biochemistry. I love it. I managed to make a perfect score on our first (four hour) exam. This previous one I know I didn't do as well, but hopefully I still cranked out an A. I love it. Likewise, Speciation and Evolution is pretty much the espresso of biology. Evolution being the core tennet to much that I work torward understanding. These two classes are worth getting up for, and I'd not miss one but for a deceased family member. (May you peacefully return to the earth, Nanny.) Yet this is not the case with Sociology or my Western Civ.
When I manage to attend sociology, I am reading my biochem book whilst semi-paying attention in class. Not only is the class brain dead, the instructor deviates from teaching often enough to make the lecture wholly worthless to attend. It is unfortunate that there is a group project in this class--otherwise I exempt myself from participation at all. Agh!
And History.. I had to miss the first exam for aformentioned reasons, and instead of allowing me to take a make-up exam like most sane proffessors, Dr. Gerberding felt that my final should be worth 65% of my final grade instead. That would be find.. y'know--if he tested on relavent material.

Anywho. I just thought I should post... something
-Andrew

Continue?

I know, I know! I've stopped posting! Okay, I'll get back into the grind!
I'll post very soon. Here are the up-and-coming topics:

• Vacation
• Christmas Break
• Christmas
• REU
• This Semester