you know what irony is?
Irony is being bitten by mosquitoes while working in a wooden shed that has been riddled by termites... a storage shed that is completely full of pesticides.
May 6, 2008
May 5, 2008
also on the web this month
A little less than a month later, and the article is finally published. They really should have retouched the image they used to give it better color depth and contrast.
It is additionally amusing to note their awareness and acknowledgement of Florida as one of the invasive species capitals of the world. It is a state with many ports which see considerable traffic from the world over. This is where the invasion begins - but not with a bang, or a whimper. Just the steady whine of airplane engines or the gradual heave of an unending supply of container ships. When combined with Florida's steady warm and humid sub-tropical atmosphere, it provides a near-ideal home and inevitable point of establishment for some of the many and diverse things which normally crawl or fly through other more alien skies.
April 23, 2008
time
There aren't nearly enough hours in the day to get the things I would like to get done accomplished. Perhaps another reminder to be learned from graduate school: nearly everything takes far longer than you expected. The same could be said for many of the important events of life; if you don't budget for accidents or interruptions, you'll never arrive on time. Of course, it never seems to matter when I plan anything. Reality is resistant to this. On the other hand, having occasionally tried to fly by the seat of my pants, I find that having some form of plan is better than no plan at all. At least then you have something to complain about when everything falls apart.
April 10, 2008
publication?
Greenhouse Canada has requested permission to use your image. This photo will accompany a May feature by Graeme Murphy, IPM specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Well, while I am not certain that this constitutes a traditional scientific publication that will go on my CV or resume, I do have to admit that I am thrilled to hear that someone is making use of the photo. I took them so that someone might make use them. Kudos to the University of Georgia and their Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health for hosting and sharing the images, and kudos to the Creative Commons licensing that helps to make such sharing possible.
All of this just makes me want to take more and better photos.
March 12, 2008
ow, ow, ow
You know what hurts more than you think it would?
Imagine plucking a rosebud, and driving one of those small and needle-sharp thorns that hides just beneath the sepals into the soft and fleshy pad of your thumb, and another just beneath your nail. There is no blood, and at first there is no pain. Now imagine that you have been rinsing these roses in alcohol (you know: to get the thrips off?), and savor the sting for a little while.
Almost better than coffee when it comes to the mid-afternoon wakeup call.
March 5, 2008
now gods, rise up for bastards
"This is the excellent foppery of the world, that,
when we are sick in fortune, - often the surfeit
of our own behavior, - we make guilty of our
disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars: as
if we were villains by necessity; fools by
heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and
treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards,
liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of
planetary influence; and all that we are evil in,
by a divine thrusting on: an admirable evasion
of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish
disposition to the charge of a star!"
February 14, 2008
grad school, lesson #191
When in doubt, speak to your committee.
They are very helpful people who are full of ideas, and they want you to do well.
February 13, 2008
a good day for mail
Well.
Hunh.
I guess it turns out that I am not totally incompetent after all, and that my thesis research has the potential to be interesting to somebody outside of the academic community. It seems that I have recently been awarded the "Dennis Carpenter Memorial Fellowship", sponsored by the Dade County AgriCouncil.
This is kind of odd, and kind of flattering.
I've never really received money for writing up an idea before.
It kind of feels good.
February 10, 2008
a few things
So... I remembered a few things about myself this weekend. I have been housesitting for one of the folks related to the research station, and it reminded me of what I liked about living and working around a real home.
The first is that I really like stereo sound, and I have missed it terribly. I plugged my host's speakers to my laptop, and the improvement in my movie-watching capability was dramatic. Headphones are okay, but nothing beats the freedom a pair of cheap speakers and a small subwoofer can provide. I can only imagine how much better my surround sound system will appear to me when I finally return to civilization and a television that provides more than monaural output.
The second thing I have rediscovered is that I focus better with less white noise. I am okay with music blazing clear, or random nature rustling in the background, but the steady whine of machinery like the incubator beside my desk can be incredibly distracting. It gets inside my head and it grinds against my brain - and it drives me crazy. It makes me want to plug my ears up and go to sleep.
So I just need to find good clear sound for my brain to function right.
Muses, are you listening?
January 31, 2008
BRAGging
It is announcements like this one that remind me why I should take my current graduate studies seriously. While I may not be directly involved with the crafting of said bioengineered organisms, I am examining and exploring the small-scale dispersal of a creature difficult to observe. This experience may prove vital in exploring the consequences of a large-scale release of some future engineered creature.
"The purpose of the USDA Biotechnology Risk Assessment Grants (BRAG) Program is to assist Federal regulatory agencies in making science-based decisions about the effects of introducing genetically modified organisms into the environment. Investigations of effects on both managed and natural environments are relevant. Applications to the USDA BRAG Program must seek partial funding for a conference or address one of the following areas:
- Identify and develop practices to minimize risks associated with genetically engineered organisms;
- Research methods to monitor the dispersal of genetically engineered organisms;
- Research to increase knowledge about the characteristics, rates, and methods of gene transfer that may occur between genetically engineered organisms, and related organisms;
- Perform assessments to provide analysis which compares impacts of organisms modified through genetic engineering to other types of production systems;
- Other areas of research designed to further the purposes of the USDA BRAG program."
I need to keep my eyes on this money, because I would like to work with whatever labs become more directly involved in tackling this project.
January 27, 2008
weekending
Adult Geiger beetles aggregating on the underside of a leaf on a Geiger tree just off of US1 on the road to Key West. The beetles are precinctive to the area, and the Geiger tree is their only known host. A friend of mine is working on some of the interesting defensive behavior that the beetles' larvae display.
January 17, 2008
wild yeep
Folks who have known me entirely too long for their own good might be amused to take note of the following lab vehicle:
It is almost as old as my old yeep, and has just as many problems with the air conditioning, power steering, brakes, windows, engine, and oil - but it is also just as responsive as my old warhorse once was. In fact, when I first made its acquaintance, I was not completely certain that it was not my old beast. It would have been fitting and appropriate for us to have found one another thousands of miles from where we last parted ways.
For such a lunker of a car, it handles pretty well - and could probably manage any exit that the highway might provide.
Ignie Ferroque
You know, there is something to be said for striking while the iron is hot. Lately, I've been entirely too distracted for my own good. This leaves me full of ideas and potential... that are sadly often left incomplete. I am trying to put the pieces back together into the semblance of a human being, but there are fits and false starts. It is going to take a lot of personal effort to finish this degree while simultaneously trying to figure out where I am going next, and why I will be going there - all while trying to retain or manage the ghost of a personal life that might give greater meaning or purpose to the whole process of human existence.
There is also something to be said for productive slacking. Yesterday evening, my roommate and I tore out of here to see a concert. I did not get anything degree-related accomplished last night, but I have been remarkably productive thus far this morning. I may be easily distracted, but if I am at peace, I can focus on completing even a distasteful and uninteresting task.
I obviously need more slack in my life. As always, I am open to suggestion.
January 4, 2008
just for chuckles
While searching for recent publications on my research creature of focus, I stumbled upon the UniProt database entry for the two sequences used to develop a phylogeny for family Thripidae. It is almost enough to drive me in search of the ITS1 and ITS2 sequences for the species, because I am sure it would further illuminate the phylogeny for the family as a whole.
Maybe later, when I am not supposed to be working on the dispersal ecology of the critter?
December 18, 2007
why I came
Christmas came early this year. Not by much, but still early. My textbook for next semester's course in "insect molecular genetics" arrived in the mail today, and it basically contains every reason I went back to graduate school.
I can only hope that the class as a whole follows the preface to the text. Evolution, expression, parasitism, development, transmogrification... everything a budding young scientist out to create an army of transgenic monsters could want to begin his plans for world domination. It isn't the hands-on manual that I need just yet, but it is a good review of the literature as a whole, and a starting point for the direction I would rather have had my graduate career travel.
There is even a section on the value of negative and positive controls in an experiment, which implies that I am not alone in assuming their importance to a study.
So I hope to continue to be happy about these developments. If nothing else comes of it, the book is a good fun read. Which I think says a lot more about me and what I'd like to be working on and working with than it does about the text.
December 15, 2007
open ended
This weekend, some lucky cads found out quite by accident that the UF graduate student insurance information listserv had been left open and unsecured, and that anyone replying to it could be heard and read by all recipients. This security failure eventually resulted in an amusing series of postings from the very diverse graduate student community. It certainly resulted in an undue amount of what could be considered "spam" in many persons' mailboxes, but it also showed a strong desire among the graduate student body for some sort of forum or mailing list where we could find common cause and to try and connect with one another as just another oppressed minority outside of our own departments.
The messages received contained humor, a request for volunteers at the local homeless shelter, the complete text of Beowulf, an offer for a slightly used Suzuki Bandit, suggestions for Christmas presents, and a recipe for baked potatoes that I will now share with you:
"This baked potato has a crisp, golden skin, and is light and fluffy on the inside. Great comfort food!"
PREP TIME 1 Minute
COOK TIME 1 Hr 30 Min
READY IN 1 Hr 31 Min
INGREDIENTS
- 1 medium baking potato
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons butter
- 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
DIRECTIONS
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Scrub the potato, and pierce the skin several times with a knife or fork. Rub the skin with olive oil, then with salt.
- Place the potato in the preheated oven, and bake for 90 minutes, or until slightly soft and golden brown. Slice the potato down the center, and serve with butter and black pepper. Sprinkle shredded Cheddar cheese over the top, if desired.
Variation
For a treat, try slicing the very top of the potato off rather than slicing it in two, forming a 'lid'. Scoop out the fluffy contents of the potato, keeping the skin intact. Mix the potato in a bowl with butter, grated cheese and black pepper, then spoon the mixture back into the skin. Replace the lid and serve.
December 8, 2007
cautiously optimistic
So... late last night (early this morning?), I finally met with my advisor to discuss the current status of my research. At midnight. Just as I was starting to fall asleep at my desk, just outside her office. I'd been sitting on standby since at least eight. On a Friday night. The job comes first.
Whatever it takes.
The good news is that I have convinced her that at least two of the major planks of my project are well underway and producing interesting and publishable data. I can say a thing or two about when a chili thrips might decide to fly, and suggest the environmental factors that might be necessary to satisfy their internal air-traffic controller, and which members of the population appear to be more prone to flight under particular conditions. Now I just need a third stable plank to complete the story, and we both suspect that experiments I have already launched looking at the reproductive biology of the thrips might be enough to satisfy the conditions set for my Master's.
Time will tell, but until then I will remain guardedly and cautiously optimistic.
December 5, 2007
keeping a positive attitude
(but only for now...)
December 4, 2007
chickens don't eat pizza!
December 3, 2007
just for reference
I often find that knowing the answer to a question is not nearly as important as knowing how to find that answer.
October 9, 2007
an inconclusive phylogeny for family Thripidae
Inoue and Sakurai's 2007 paper represents some excellent work, but as the figure simplifying some of their results demonstrates, it also shows how little effort has been placed on sequencing the genus Scirtothrips when compared to other genera of thrips. One of the obvious conclusions that the authors reach from their results is that sampling more sequences from broader populations and different species of genus Scirtothrips (which inspired the figure above, having "an ambiguous phylogenetic position in this study") would help to better establish the position of the clade in relation to other groups. Curiously enough, a much larger sampling of genus Scirtothrips already exists (Rugman-Jones et al, 2006), but it focused on sequencing samples for ITS1 and 2, and not COI or EF-1a. Furthermore, the Rugman-Jones et al laboratory were using RFLP to establish a standardized amplification protocol, and had not yet attempted to construct the inevitable phylogeny that is sure to follow for the group. I am uncertain as to whether species of genus Thrips or Frankliniella have already been sequenced at these alleles, but given their economic importance, it would not surprise me and those observations should be compared to the work that is sure to come from the Rugman-Jones lab.
Moreover, these experiments show precisely why taxonomy and phylogenetics remain critical tools relevant to modern management programs. As both teams of authors clearly demonstrate, phylogenetics can be turned to tasks beyond what some critics have derided as "merely academic interest in the evolutionary history of a group". The primary aim of Inoue and Sakurai's research was to compare the evolutionary phylogeny of the pests to their competence as a vector for several different strains of Tospovirus (Bunyaviridae). Determining the evolutionary relationships between the groups should allow one to predict the suitability of other species within that group as potential vectors for various strains, and perhaps provide a better explanation as to how the Tospovirus made its evolutionary leap from a virus that infected insect-tissue to one that could also invade a plant. The primary goal of the Rugman-Jones project was to provide a quick and dirty molecular solution to the occasionally painful task of taxonomic identification and its reliance on a few trained specialists sometimes using highly variable morphological characters.
The USDA has already launched a similar project, using phylogenetic information to document family relationships and the associated pesticide resistance profiles for several reproductively incompatible demes of whitefly. They are alleged to be in the nascent stages of a thrips-based project which hopes to resolve and establish the missing characters for these groups so that a true phylogenetic comparison can be established...
REFERENCES
- Inoue, T and Sakurai, T (2007). "The phylogeny of thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) based on partial sequences of cytochrome oxidase I, 28S ribosomal DNA and elongation factor-1a and the association with vector competence of tospoviruses." Applied Entomological Zoology 42(1): 71 - 81.
- Rugman-Jones, PF; Hoddle, MS; Mound, LA; Stouthammer, R (2006). "Molecular Identification Key for Pest Species of Scirtothrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae)." Journal of Economic Entomology 99(5): 1813.
October 5, 2007
this is not an atypical guide to the genera of thrips
"The only reported difference between these two species is the length of the pronotal posteroangular pair of setae (Mound et al. 1995)."
- from Held et al, 2005
The differences between the Cuban Laurel Thrips, Gynaikothrips ficorum, and the Weeping Fig Thrips, Gynaikothrips uzeli, are minimal. This seems to be a typical problem with many of the genera of thrips, and is a strong motivator for other means (Brunner et al, 2002) by which to identify individual species.
REFERENCES
- Brunner, PC; Flemming, C; Frey, JE (2002). "A molecular identification key for economically important thrips species (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) using direct sequencing and a PCR-RFLP-based approach." Agricultural and Forest Entomology, 4: 127 – 136.
- Held, DW; Boyd, D; Lockley, T; Edwards, GB (2005). "Gynaikothrips uzeli (Thysanoptera: Phlaethripidae) in the southeastern United States: distribution and review of biology." Florida Entomologist, 88(4):538 - 540.
- Mound, LA; Wang, CL; Okajima, S (1995). "Observations in Taiwan on the identity of the Cuban laurel thrips (Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae)." Journal of the New York Entomological Society, 103: 185 - 190.
October 3, 2007
just another statistic
Okay... I am now convinced that I am reaching the correct conclusions for the wrong reasons. Just a little more tinkering to convince the software that I really do want it to run a multiple regression testing for interaction between my two factors, and eventually I'll get there.
gather ye rosebuds while ye may
As you can see, I am making as much of Time as I can. The thrips seem to be making better use of such time, as their populations are recently rebounding on my rosebuds.
on becoming a statistic
You know, I spend almost as much time fighting with and relearning new software packages just about every other year as I do actually using said programs for statistical analysis. I need more familiarity with the basic practice of statistics before I feel truly comfortable tearing apart any application and actually convincing it to do what I want it to do.
And then I need something heavy to drop on the computer until it magically produces the graphical depiction of the data that I want it to.
September 22, 2007
nature, red imported mandible and stinger
Ow.
The problem with stopping every now and again to appreciate nature and to smell the flowers is that sometimes you stop on top of a fire ant mound.
In flipflops.
Ow ow ow ow.
Cue profanity.
Ow.
September 1, 2007
gator bait
That was quite the experience, shared with approximately ninety thousand of my close personal friends. It was good to see the game in the flesh, and such a thing could prove habit-forming if I had the time and the money to attend. I was constantly amazed at how much better the picture was in reality when compared with watching the game on television. Well, almost any television - and that problem and my scratched glasses should be repaired by Wednesday. It was still fairly disconcerting to be looking for and never see the handy lines that most networks overlay on the video, directing your eye to the ball or to the first down or even the most recent slow-motion replay. Whatever did people do before the creation of the Jumbotron?
The Florida Gators were rather loud and enthusiastic. And orange and blue, apparently. Not quite as crazy as some universities, but still... very enthusiastic. The Gators were also victorious - which was actually somewhat disappointing. I'd rather have seen an amazing game between two equally matched opponents, but while Western Kentucky provided a few amazing feints and a good short passing game, they never claimed the yardage they needed, and their defense might as well have been made of Kleenex for all the good it did them. The game was called with eight minutes remaining in the fourth quarter "due to rain", but it was a mercy-killing for the drowning Hilltoppers.
While the Gators walked through this game without much effort, it will be interesting to see how well they respond to a real challenge. On the bright side, Tebow continues his extremely promising career as quarterback. I am surprised that the University did not rely on him more last season, as he actually knows how to pass and run when the opportunity strikes him. I expect this year's successes will be harder earned, but also more worthwhile.
Time will tell.
August 25, 2007
Hmm. Upgrades?
I have officially moved into new digs.
In some ways, they aren't much of an improvement. The walls are still choked with mildew and mold, and my allergies are just as outrageous every morning.
In other ways, there has been a vast improvement in my quality of living. I now have twice as much floorspace in my room, taller ceilings, and carpets. I also have one less roommate to share the main living space with. Not altogether unreasonable. I mean, aside from the purple carpets and the pink curtains.
Photos forthcoming.
August 13, 2007
read it... again
If graduate school has taught me nothing else, I now read the "materials and methods" sections of papers with far more scrutiny than in the past. I make too many assumptions about how sensible a scientist might be while performing an experiment.
August 11, 2007
Homestead
There are a few things about Homestead worth noting:
- At night (so long as you are not facing Miami, and it is not raining) you can see the stars.
- There are moments and spaces here where the grounds are actually quite pretty. Exotic tropical plants help.
- There sure are a hell of a lot of critters crawling around in the undergrowth to entertain an amateur naturalist.
- There are still sunsets every evening.
- I always did say I wanted a job where I spent half the day outside, and the other half inside the lab analyzing data. Almost the right job, but nothing in the world beats data.
- Every day, I have more data.
July 26, 2007
got no strings
I was just given the go-ahead to set up my wireless in the lab.
Zing!
I am writing this from the other side of the room, away from my desk. Now I'd like to see how much of a signal I can leapfrog back to the trailers. If I were to do so, I might become an immediate hero to my peers.
Next stop? Networked printer.
July 19, 2007
optimism?
Hey, I have data.
Nothing feels better than data!
Of course, it turns out that my thrips may actually have made the jump from infested host-rose to Schefflera far faster than I'd initially imagined, and I may have to repeat the experiment with a higher resolution for data collection in the initial stages. Whatever! This is still great news for me because it means that at heart, the basic experimental design is functional and valid, and I might actually get some real results that I can interpret.
Of course, this is provided that the few chili thrips larvae I spotted on leaves aren't just statistical flukes, or that my assumptions about thrips-damage on host leaves turn out to be true... and then I still have to develop a host-damage profile for Schefflera, and to try and correlate plant damage levels to thrips population levels... but who cares? Right now, the project might be working, and that is really all that matters.
July 1, 2007
probable cause
I am not sure that my roommates and I have the same understanding of the word "hygiene".
June 15, 2007
meshing around
Scirtothrips dorsalis is small even by thrips standards. A large female chili thrips is pictured above with a distant cousin, Frankliniella occidentalis, the "western flower thrips", on a sample of "thrips proof screen". While this screen is usually sufficient to keep all but the most persistent and determined of flower thrips off of your plants, you can see that a chili thrips could potentially squeeze between the gaps offered by the nylon, and sneak inside. This is an important finding because some rose growers use this screen to protect their precious flowers from thrips, and it turns out that chili thrips also like to feed on the buds of growing roses. If growers are faced with an infestation of chili thrips, they will have to find and use other methods to protect their flowers.
On the other side of the coin, I may be able to use this mesh to create an exclusion barrier for flower thrips to determine if they in turn are excluding chili thrips from adult flowers through competition (and possibly predation!), or whether my thrips just like the growing buds of flowers and leave them once the flower matures.
June 3, 2007
derksen in the lab
It is a good thing I like scope-work, because lately - I've been doing a whole hell of a lot of it.
May 15, 2007
face of the enemy, redux
Another look at the thrips I will be working on, Scirtothrips dorsalis Hood.
This time, the photo credit is mine.
May 12, 2007
saturday morning cartoons
One of the advantages to my new home is that the sun peeks in through my window as it rises, and very little will keep its persistant determination from lifting the lids of my eyes for very long. As a result, I was up at what might normally be considered an unnaturally early hour of the morning for myself - especially on the weekend. Lacking anything better to do with my time, or failing to want to do anything more than get some breakfast and go back to sleep, I watched my version of Saturday morning cartoons on Google Video.
I put a bagel in the toaster, spread some peanut butter on it, and sat down to watch Craig Mello give a talk at Google corporate headquarters on his Nobel-winning research on RNAi as part of their continuing seminar series on emerging technologies. The tech talks are interesting because they give you a look into what the almighty Google is thinking about buying and turning into their next cash-cow. Dr. Mello's talk is interesting because he is a good speaker and does an excellent job of translating highly technical jargon into plain english that the layperson might understand and appreciate without feeling condescended to. That, and he is talking about RNA interference, one of the single most interesting and important topics to hop along through molecular biology in the last ten years. To say that I am excited by its potential application in various subfields of biology and chemistry would be something of an understatement.
If you have an hour and ten minutes to kill, I highly recommend that you check it out...
May 10, 2007
my new home?
Well, I guess it is official: I am now trailer trash living at the University of Florida's Tropical Research and Education Center.
 |  |
Ironically enough, the University has these trailers as FEMA leftovers from the last time an Andrew visited town. They maintain them because Homestead is an hour south of Miami, and even renting property in the ghetto is prohibitively expensive for graduate students. Of course, "maintained" is a term subject to qualitative observations, and it has been more than fifteen years and a few more hurricanes since these trailers were new. That, and apparently many graduate students do not take very good care of their living space. My share of the trailer is a 7x7x7 cube that I can almost turn around in. Thank god it holds the fishtank in a corner on top of a dilapidated dresser - but I miss my old kitchen (and my dishwasher!) already.
May 6, 2007
with a little help from his friends
Once again, as I prepare to leave Gainesville for Homestead, I find myself indebted to my friends. I'd never have been able to thrive and survive here without the lot of you, and I certainly would not have been able to move out of here without your aid and assistance throughout the process.
You were an unlooked-for bonus in this town, and you kept me sane and you kept me from dropping out. You emphasized that I could survive this program and this project so long as I found a way to make it mine, and that there was always time to prepare for a superior doctoral experience. You reminded me that there was more to research than reading, and that one's interactions with one's colleagues will inevitably prove more valuable in the real world beyond the Ivory Tower. You also knew how to throw a wild party, and I found happiness in your company.
Thanks.
May 3, 2007
done!
Well, then. As of approximately a quarter past noon today, I was done with this semester. Now I just have to assemble my graduate committee for a meeting discussing my research project based around thrips dispersal, and to finish packing.
One final look at the apartment before I begin to disassemble it?
I dislike moving, and I will miss this place. I have actually become somewhat fond of this apartment, as it suits many of my needs and my desires in a home. It could have used newer appliances, and the roaches were an occasional annoyance, but it had excellent counter-space, an open kitchen, and reasonable storage space for the size. This was a home I was proud to welcome friends into. As always, I will miss the people more than the place - but it was a good location to set down roots for a while.
March 26, 2007
plot points
My goals for graduate school were as follows:
- To familiarize myself with a broad array of modern molecular techniques and technologies, and to expand my direct experience with those tools while exploring a project of both significance and utility to the society that produced me.
- To enhance my knowledge of the processes underlying evolutionary biology, and to contribute something to our understanding of the science.
- To increase my teaching experience, and to focus on pedagogy aimed at college undergraduates.
I am not certain how many of these needs have truly been met, or whether my current program will ever satisfy any of them. On the other hand, this program has given me a whole new foundation with which to explore my interests, and in that aspect, this Master's degree has served admirably to prepare me for furthering my graduate education at the Doctoral level.
March 16, 2007
suggested writing
My friends are always so helpful:
[We] came up with a proposal in haiku format:To my professors:
I'd like to do bugs and stuff.
All for now, Andrew.We were thinking about replacing the final line with something deep like:
"My soul screams in vain"but figured that was putting too much effort into it.
My thanks as always to the family Ketcherside.
March 15, 2007
Maude's
Sun, iced and spiced coffee, David Bowie on the radio, and another four hours of hammering at my proposal. I've managed to refine it to three major topic areas, but defining specific questions to answer and hypotheses to test has proved somewhat difficult. I am a creature prone to wandering from one idea to another as part of an interconnected whole, but science is better written when it is focused and addresses particular details instead of drifting aimlessly across the map. It does not help that at least two of my major topic areas experience some significant overlap, and extracting the effects of particular variables is either going to require a lot of little experiments or one massive multivariate mess that may not be able to extract the significance of any particular element. In this light, writing my proposal has been a bit like biking uphill: you'd best switch major gears before you get there, because changing topics in the road is likely to slip your chain and find you going nowhere.
March 2, 2007
think about the future
You know, after considerable thought on the subject and some reflection on the desires of my past, I have arrived at a conclusion of sorts: if I could say something about the future trajectory of my life based on where I have been and what I would like to be doing, I would like to be responsible for developing and releasing genetically modified organisms into the environment for specialized functional purposes.
February 28, 2007
many long nights ahead
Just for the record, while pulling an all-nighter gets easier with practice and caffeine, they haven't gotten any easier with age. The worst part is learning just how much longer the recovery period takes. Still, it is amazing what a few carefully placed cups of coffee and just a few earnest cat-naps can do to pull you through to the weekend.