nopromises
A return to writing in here? We'll see. I feel as though this has always been a good forum for airing my thoughts, opinions, and ramblings, and maybe I should post in here again. So much has changed since I last really wrote anything in here, I feel like a new person doing this now.
Current activities include a new Fuji bike, which I am looking forward to riding tomorrow if it doesn't rain, a soon-to-be reinstated gym membership (got it yesterday, need to make good on it tomorrow), and relentlessly searching for Brand New's new album everyday. A little aside on that matter. It has been quite some time since I was this excited about an album coming out, had such high expectations about said album, and believed that it could even meet or exceed what I'm picturing. I feel as though I used to have so many albums I got excited about being released, would count the days until I could get my hands on it, and then enjoyed it even more than I had anticipated. I feel like this one has that sort of magic about it. End of aside. I really enjoy the atmosphere of this house, and how we've all gelled as a community (this closeness leads to activity, which is on topic, promise). It's been fun to get to know these guys, and especially to just hang out with them. Couldn't have asked for anything better, nor any better group of mouse hunters. I'll post some mouse hunt stories on here, as I already have a quite a few good ones, but they deserve their own entry so the full story can be told as a unit.
More business related, current work includes attempting to crystallize, or rather repeat my crystals, of the protein Human Pellino 3. A few weeks ago I managed to get some crystals, but alas, when attempting to repeat it with a new batch of the protein, no luck. Today saw me finally setting up some more trays in the hopes of crystals, and tomorrow will be the day to find out whether or not that comes through. I feel like I have an idea of why it didn't work on the second go-round, and I am anxious to see whether or not that idea is correct. I haven't actually stated what this is to anybody, because I feel in some weird way that it would just jinx it. Hopefully I am right though, both for my benefit and the grad student that I'm working with. He seems so despondent about this stuff not working out recently (and, from what I've gathered, over quite a long period of time for him before I had arrived), and I'd really love to be able to pull both of our moods up with this one. As for the job in general, I am pretty happy with where I work and what I do. Sometimes I feel as though I don't have enough to do, but then I remember that I'm there to learn as much as I can, and I dig around for things to improve my knowledge on certain areas. Don't know if any of you out there have read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but he has such an accurate assessment of how, when you need to learn something in order to improve your own skills, you will actively seek that knowledge and delight in its acquisition, whereas without that desire, if, say, you would just jump into learning it first, you do not learn and internalize it as well. I feel this way about my decision to put off any further education, if that's the path that comes in a year or so. I think as more time progresses, as has already happened, I will seek knowledge I need more actively and with greater interest, as opposed to having just jumped into it without knowing what I truly wanted.
I guess, sometimes you just need that time. Time in order to learn, to distance yourself from some things, and to really have a chance to assess matters in the best focus available.
Current activities include a new Fuji bike, which I am looking forward to riding tomorrow if it doesn't rain, a soon-to-be reinstated gym membership (got it yesterday, need to make good on it tomorrow), and relentlessly searching for Brand New's new album everyday. A little aside on that matter. It has been quite some time since I was this excited about an album coming out, had such high expectations about said album, and believed that it could even meet or exceed what I'm picturing. I feel as though I used to have so many albums I got excited about being released, would count the days until I could get my hands on it, and then enjoyed it even more than I had anticipated. I feel like this one has that sort of magic about it. End of aside. I really enjoy the atmosphere of this house, and how we've all gelled as a community (this closeness leads to activity, which is on topic, promise). It's been fun to get to know these guys, and especially to just hang out with them. Couldn't have asked for anything better, nor any better group of mouse hunters. I'll post some mouse hunt stories on here, as I already have a quite a few good ones, but they deserve their own entry so the full story can be told as a unit.
More business related, current work includes attempting to crystallize, or rather repeat my crystals, of the protein Human Pellino 3. A few weeks ago I managed to get some crystals, but alas, when attempting to repeat it with a new batch of the protein, no luck. Today saw me finally setting up some more trays in the hopes of crystals, and tomorrow will be the day to find out whether or not that comes through. I feel like I have an idea of why it didn't work on the second go-round, and I am anxious to see whether or not that idea is correct. I haven't actually stated what this is to anybody, because I feel in some weird way that it would just jinx it. Hopefully I am right though, both for my benefit and the grad student that I'm working with. He seems so despondent about this stuff not working out recently (and, from what I've gathered, over quite a long period of time for him before I had arrived), and I'd really love to be able to pull both of our moods up with this one. As for the job in general, I am pretty happy with where I work and what I do. Sometimes I feel as though I don't have enough to do, but then I remember that I'm there to learn as much as I can, and I dig around for things to improve my knowledge on certain areas. Don't know if any of you out there have read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, but he has such an accurate assessment of how, when you need to learn something in order to improve your own skills, you will actively seek that knowledge and delight in its acquisition, whereas without that desire, if, say, you would just jump into learning it first, you do not learn and internalize it as well. I feel this way about my decision to put off any further education, if that's the path that comes in a year or so. I think as more time progresses, as has already happened, I will seek knowledge I need more actively and with greater interest, as opposed to having just jumped into it without knowing what I truly wanted.
I guess, sometimes you just need that time. Time in order to learn, to distance yourself from some things, and to really have a chance to assess matters in the best focus available.