Where, oh where, have I been?
I know everyone's been concerned. What with the, oh, four people that read this? ;]
So. Where have I been? New Haven, mostly, with a little Alexandria mixed in. What have I been up to? Knitting, studying, experimenting (lab), knitting, train riding, train riding some more (seriously, 5 hours turned to 10 on the way back up to CT Sunday evening), knitting, and hanging out with the cats. It's been pleasant, for the most part.
Schoolwise, things are moving. I took two tests last week, in my two (and only) actual classes, Reaction to Injury, and a neurobio methods course. Did respectably on both, I think. Studying for and taking the biology one had that familiar "holy shit there's so much to learn" followed by "wow, i know a lot" outcome. Hopefully I learned enough of the right things to convince the TAs that I deserve a good score. Convinced me, sure, but no one's asked, yet.
Lab is keeping me pretty busy, these days. The senior essay is constantly nagging at my not-so-subconscious (as well it should be), and I just spent awhile going over stats with Tim this afternoon. Statistics hurt my brain. Doing a new experiment this semester, separate from my senior project, and really interesting. Basically, we're comparing levels of a specific phosphorylated (activated) protein in regions of the brain after the animals are conditioned or simply exposed to various stimuli. On a really grand scale, we're checking out the proteins involved in learning. It involves a lot of hours of somewhat repetitive work, but it's a much higher dose of neurobiology than I've gotten previously.
Bored yet? Then let's talk about knitting! :]
If you head to my flickr stream, you'll see several new yarny pictures. Particularly of my Knitting Olympics project, a first sweater. Of the squishiest yarn that may exist (90% merino wool, 10% nylon). In my stash, at least. Anyway, I've got 16 days (until Feb 26th, the duration of the Winter Olympics) to finish this thing, and I've got a damn good start. It's a good way to do a first sweater, as I can see how I'd get bored pretty quickly and want to get back to sock making. If it'll just cool down a little more, and at least pretend to be February, perhaps I'll have reason to wear said sweater.
On a not-often-discussed music note, I just purchased a bit of jazz music from iTunes, 25 songs lumped into a "Jazz 101" collection. I've been craving jazz lately, and had no idea where to start. If you haven't noticed, there's a lot out there. So, I went with the trusty iTunes (plus it's a much faster turnaround than amazon...and usually cheaper). Seems so far like an impressive collection. I've got Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and Nat "King" Cole among a bunch others. Those are the ones I've heard of...doesn't mean I know anything about them. I'll get there. Anyone have jazz recommendations? Ashish? Uh, don't know who else might listen to jazz...but even if you've just got one album you like, let me know. I'm curious.
All right, that'll do. Perhaps now I can get back to random thought updates. Perhaps.
(oh, and emily, my legs are growing numb right now because pumpkin's been lying on my lap for so long. just so you know...he's far from neglected.) ;]
So. Where have I been? New Haven, mostly, with a little Alexandria mixed in. What have I been up to? Knitting, studying, experimenting (lab), knitting, train riding, train riding some more (seriously, 5 hours turned to 10 on the way back up to CT Sunday evening), knitting, and hanging out with the cats. It's been pleasant, for the most part.
Schoolwise, things are moving. I took two tests last week, in my two (and only) actual classes, Reaction to Injury, and a neurobio methods course. Did respectably on both, I think. Studying for and taking the biology one had that familiar "holy shit there's so much to learn" followed by "wow, i know a lot" outcome. Hopefully I learned enough of the right things to convince the TAs that I deserve a good score. Convinced me, sure, but no one's asked, yet.
Lab is keeping me pretty busy, these days. The senior essay is constantly nagging at my not-so-subconscious (as well it should be), and I just spent awhile going over stats with Tim this afternoon. Statistics hurt my brain. Doing a new experiment this semester, separate from my senior project, and really interesting. Basically, we're comparing levels of a specific phosphorylated (activated) protein in regions of the brain after the animals are conditioned or simply exposed to various stimuli. On a really grand scale, we're checking out the proteins involved in learning. It involves a lot of hours of somewhat repetitive work, but it's a much higher dose of neurobiology than I've gotten previously.
Bored yet? Then let's talk about knitting! :]
If you head to my flickr stream, you'll see several new yarny pictures. Particularly of my Knitting Olympics project, a first sweater. Of the squishiest yarn that may exist (90% merino wool, 10% nylon). In my stash, at least. Anyway, I've got 16 days (until Feb 26th, the duration of the Winter Olympics) to finish this thing, and I've got a damn good start. It's a good way to do a first sweater, as I can see how I'd get bored pretty quickly and want to get back to sock making. If it'll just cool down a little more, and at least pretend to be February, perhaps I'll have reason to wear said sweater.
On a not-often-discussed music note, I just purchased a bit of jazz music from iTunes, 25 songs lumped into a "Jazz 101" collection. I've been craving jazz lately, and had no idea where to start. If you haven't noticed, there's a lot out there. So, I went with the trusty iTunes (plus it's a much faster turnaround than amazon...and usually cheaper). Seems so far like an impressive collection. I've got Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, and Nat "King" Cole among a bunch others. Those are the ones I've heard of...doesn't mean I know anything about them. I'll get there. Anyone have jazz recommendations? Ashish? Uh, don't know who else might listen to jazz...but even if you've just got one album you like, let me know. I'm curious.
All right, that'll do. Perhaps now I can get back to random thought updates. Perhaps.
(oh, and emily, my legs are growing numb right now because pumpkin's been lying on my lap for so long. just so you know...he's far from neglected.) ;]