Untilted

I haven’t come up with a reasonable model for how to separate tumblr and twitter (thus far,...

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 10:44:53 -0400

I haven’t come up with a reasonable model for how to separate tumblr and twitter (thus far, it’s been to not use tumblr at all…

So I’ll just whine about schoolwork here.

Update on the entry 2 previous from this one - my final grade on my biochemistry exam was 175/200, and I think she gave me more points than she should have on several questions.

My end of year projects this year:

~~20 minute organic chemistry presentation~~
perform and write up self-designed locomotion experiment for biomechanics
15 page paper about Twitter for anthropology
1 hour organic chemistry oral exam
biomechanics final written exam

Apparently this still works. Microblogging kills my urge to macroblog.

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:03:30 -0400

Apparently this still works.

Microblogging kills my urge to macroblog.

I got an A- in Biochemistry. But I have no idea what my numerical grade on the final was.

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:36:42 -0500

I got an A- in Biochemistry.

But I have no idea what my numerical grade on the final was.

Last year I took organic chemistry with a very nice professor. She’s in the department of...

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:45:44 -0500

Last year I took organic chemistry with a very nice professor. She’s in the department of biochemistry, so naturally she encouraged all of us to take biochemistry. As a biology major, I don’t need biochemistry for my major. I’m not even particularly interested in biochemistry - the closest I could see myself getting would be molecular biology. But because I had done well in organic chemistry, one of the dreaded difficult classes, I figured I would challenge myself. I knew that doing well in biochemistry would make me feel academically accomplished.

So of course the class is at 8:35 am, which makes our relationship strained from the start. It’s tough to learn material when one is dozing off in many of the lectures. But I persist. I went into the first exam in a bad headspace and did not do as well as I would have liked - an 84, 4 points over the mean.

For the second exam, I resolved to study hard and do well. I walked into the exam feeling prepared, wrote the exam feeling calm, relaxed, and confident, and left the exam feeling like I had kicked its ass. And I got a 75. However, I was still 4 points over the mean.

When the third exam was approaching, I was in sheer panic. I started studying 10 days beforehand, but I had a lot of trouble motivating myself to study. I felt like I had studied so hard for exam #2 without any payoff. Furthermore, the topics for exam #3 were vastly discontinuous, so it was very hard to mentally parse. But I studied. I don’t even remember how I felt while taking the exam, but I remember that when I had answered all the questions that I felt immediately confident about, there were still 26 points of questions left. So I dredged up as much as I could - totally bullshitted some. When we were getting our exams back, a friend got a 75 and said “I’ve never been so proud of a C in my life.” I got more and more nervous. She handed me my exam and I flipped it over and looked at the grade. I got an 81. The mean was a 68. I’ve never been more shocked and pleased by a grade in my life.

The final exam starts in 75 minutes. I didn’t start studying soon enough because until Thursday night, I was working on my final biochemistry lab report. I studied some over the weekend, all day Monday, Tuesday evening, and a little this morning, but I’ve had to triage at least 25% of the material because I am still trying to hammer down some of the basics. I’m trying to stay calm. I’m going to try to arrive in the exam room right when the exam starts so I don’t feed off everyone else’s nervousness too much.

Anyway. The moral of the story: don’t take biochemistry unless you like memorizing piles and piles of confusing, complex information AND it’s required for you to graduate.

It is December and it was in the 50s today. I really don’t understand this weather business....

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 20:20:10 -0500

It is December and it was in the 50s today. I really don’t understand this weather business.

9 more days of class. 1 lab report. 1 final paper. 2 final exams.

My friend Justin writes a program called Today. Basically it’s a lightweight floating window...

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:31:45 -0500

My friend Justin writes a program called Today. Basically it’s a lightweight floating window that interfaces with iCal.

I keep it on the right side of my screen so I can glance over to see what I have to do today, both events and to-do list items.

It allows you to create both events and to-do items from the window, but more complex stuff requires opening iCal.

Today 1.5 just came out. Maybe you’ll find it as helpful as I do. http://secondgearllc.com/today/

I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier.

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 20:57:52 -0500

I’ve got soul, but I’m not a soldier.

A few years ago, while I was in high school, I was taking belly dancing classes. My grandmother, in...

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:42:47 -0400

A few years ago, while I was in high school, I was taking belly dancing classes. My grandmother, in the grandmotherly way of being interested in a grandchild’s activities, invited me to a talk by two belly dancers at her church’s triennial meeting.

They were identical twins and very beautiful. They were talking about the corruptness of Hollywood - one night they were at a party and the male host came up to them and said “I choose you two,” then walked away. They asked his secretary and she said, “Oh, that means he wants to sleep with you tonight.” They refused, and the man threatened that they would never work again.

They do seem to still be working, but it should be noted that they were making an appearance at a conference of 60 year old women in the midwest.

Just had lunch with Nipam Patel, from UC Berkeley. He’s giving a talk today about genetics - I...

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:38:27 -0400

Just had lunch with Nipam Patel, from UC Berkeley. He’s giving a talk today about genetics - I may post more on that later. He was a really nice guy - made me really excited about grad school.

He also said that re: taking time off, most companies want a commitment of 2 years - so my plan to take 2 years off may be a great one. Now I’m starting to freak out a little bit about graduate school - choosing one, getting in, etc.

Single

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:36:17 -0400

Single

Fencing has been going pretty well. Last week I was fencing for 6 hours, plus an extra hour of...

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:37:07 -0400

Fencing has been going pretty well. Last week I was fencing for 6 hours, plus an extra hour of workouts (running, 300 crunches). It’s weird; sometimes we’re doing a drill and I’m like “I DON’T KNOW HOW TO FENCE! I DON’T KNOW ANYTHING!” and sometimes we’re doing a drill and I’m like “Goddamn I’m good at this.” So, you know.

I can’t remember when our first tournament thing is.

Who the hell invented these goddamned “no damage” hair ties? I never had problems with...

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 16:39:51 -0400

Who the hell invented these goddamned “no damage” hair ties? I never had problems with the metal ones, personally, and the no-metal kind break way too easily. Like this one broke the second time I used it. It still more or less works, but seriously?

Sigh.

I dropped the Theater class. It was a hard decision, because I was really enjoying it, but the...

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:47:33 -0400

I dropped the Theater class. It was a hard decision, because I was really enjoying it, but the add/drop deadline was coming up and I was fairly certain I wouldn’t be able to handle the workload.

I talked to the costume head about coming in and using the sewing machines. She said the theater chair has decided that she doesn’t want students who aren’t working on the play to be coming in when it’s not class time. But she said I could sneak in on Fridays when the chair isn’t here :D

So…maybe less sewing than anticipated this semester.

On the other hand, fencing seems like it may be a decent de-stressor. Compulsory exercise is good for me.

I remember what it was. I don’t think I was hallucinating. I heard geese flying south and I...

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 18:21:38 -0400

I remember what it was. I don’t think I was hallucinating. I heard geese flying south and I said “Oh shit winter is coming.”

In other news, how the fuck does creative commons attrib function if you don’t display your name in your flickr profile? Way to go, internet.

I thought of something last night and I was like “Oh I should tumble that.” But it was...

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:11:53 -0400

I thought of something last night and I was like “Oh I should tumble that.” But it was probably a feverish hallucination.

In other news, I’m still sick and I’m freaked out about getting all of my work done for the next week. Noes.

Went to my first fencing practice of the year. Didn’t feel like fencing when I got there, but...

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 23:08:54 -0400

Went to my first fencing practice of the year. Didn’t feel like fencing when I got there, but I ran around the track as fast as I could and when I fenced, it felt good.

Although it hurt. I haven’t fenced since December. Gotta get in shape, kick some ass, stab some people.

I really think that every designer of automatic flush toilets has never actually used one. I mean,...

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:59:27 -0400

I really think that every designer of automatic flush toilets has never actually used one. I mean, they either flush while you are still using them or don’t flush until you’ve been done for 10 minutes. I mean, I’m not the only person who stands up a little bit to wipe and then the toilet flushes, right?

If they want to make it touch-free, why not have a thing you wave your hand through to say “I’m done”?

Sigh. UI is so critical.

My problem with blogging or blog-like things is that once the moment is over, it’s kind of...

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:28:15 -0400

My problem with blogging or blog-like things is that once the moment is over, it’s kind of anticlimactic to talk about it.

I was going to write about my first day as TA and maybe about my theater class, but they seem like distant memories now.

Plus…I think like 4 people read this.

Currently making two decisions: Should I take biochemistry lab Tuesday night instead of Tuesday...

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:30:00 -0400

Currently making two decisions:

Should I take biochemistry lab Tuesday night instead of Tuesday afternoon? It’s a smaller group, and I would like having my afternoon free. On the other hand, it might conflict with fencing etc.

Should I take theater ungraded? I have 2 weeks to decide, but it would make it so I could focus more on enjoying the course and less on whether or not it will destroy my GPA.

We went to see Saltimbanco by Cirque du Soleil last night. The first adventure of the night was...

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:59:48 -0400

We went to see Saltimbanco by Cirque du Soleil last night.

The first adventure of the night was getting to the venue. Gustav was passing through, so the torrential downpour deterred all other cars from the road, except people who were also trying to go see Cirque du Soleil. So there were thousands of cars trying to park.

Once we finally got parked, some 10 minutes after the show started, we had to scurry down a hill, still raining.

The show itself was amazing. The pattern sort of alternated between multi-person general spectacle and then showcasing of spectacular individuals. A guy who danced around on two or fewer wheels of his bike. Trapeze twins. A pair of male acrobats, one of whom balanced on the other’s head. Amazing costumes, amazing music.

We got even more soaked dashing back to the car. Then, because of concerns that roads might flood and to avoid the traffic jam, we took a circuitous home that involved a considerable amount of guesswork.

I had wanted to see Cirque du Soleil live since I was 12, and it definitely lived up to my expectations. I was only disappointed when the show ended.