A few of my favorite passages from the series I've been reading

"Since the time of the Babylonian astronomers, solar eclipses had from time to time caused ominous shadows to fall upon the land. But England in winter sometimes afforded its long-suffering populace a contrary phenomenon, which was that after weeks of dim, colorless skies, suddenly the sun would scythe in under the clouds after it had seemed to set, and wash the landscape with pink, orange, and green illumination, clear and pure as gems. Empiricist though he was, Daniel felt free to ascribe meaning to this when it went his way. Ahead all was clear light, as if he were riding into stained glass. Behind (and he only bothered to look back once) the sky was a bruise-colored void, the land a long scrape of mud. The tavern rose up from the middle of the waste on a sheave of pilings that leaned into each other like a crowd of drunks. Its plank walls pawed a bit of light out of the sky, its one window glowed like a carbuncle. It was the sort of grotesque sky-scape that Dutchmen would come over to paint. But come to think of it, a Dutchman had come over and painted it."
-Quicksilver, page 860, by Neal Stephenson

"'My men think you are dead now, and won't waste balls on you,' Jack said. 'In fact I have let you live, but for one purpose only: so that you can make your way back to Paris and tell them the following: that the deed you are about to witness was done for a woman, whose name I will not say, for she knows who she is; and that it was done by 'Half-Cocked' Jack Shaftoe, L'Emmerdeur, the King of the Vagabonds, Ali Zayback: Quicksilver!'"
The Confusion, page 239, by Neal Stephenson

"Jack, who'd been so alert to Vrej, was blindsided by Eliza. She was on him, and hugged him side-on, and kissed him once on the cheek and leaned her head against his long enough to breathe into his ear: 'Sorry about the harpoon, and sorry about this; but I must do it, lest you end up in the Bastille, and I find poison in my coffee.'
Jack reached out to return the embrace but caught only air, for she'd darted back as quick as any defensing-master. 'I swear before God that you, Jack Shaftoe, shall never again look on my face, nor hear my voice, until the day you die.' Hastily then, before tears came, she turned to the King, who made a little gesture meaning that she was permitted to leave. She curtseyed, spun and got out of the room as if it were on fire."
The Confusion, pages 809-10, by Neal Stephenson

Concert List

I haven't been to a concert in a year and a half and that is a shame.

08.11.2002 - Dave Matthews Band @ Deer Creek
opener: Doyle Brammhall II & Smokestack
12.14.2002 - Dave Matthews Band @ Assembly Hall, Champaign, IL
opener: Karl Denson's Tiny Universe
04.03.2003 - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds @ Purdue
opener: (none)
04.24.2003 - String Cheese Incident @ Purdue
opener: (none)
06.28.2003 - Jack Johnson & Ben Harper @ Deer Creek
opener: (none)
06.29.2003 - Dave Matthews Band @ Deer Creek
opener: The Iguanas
06.30.2003 - Dave Matthews Band @ Deer Creek
opener: The Iguanas
07.23.2003 - Phish @ Deer Creek
opener: (none)
12.22.2003 - Dave Matthews & Friends @ Allstate Arena, Rosemont, IL
opener: Spyboy
Emmylou Harris
03.24.2004 - John Mayer @ Purdue
opener: Guster
06.20.2004 - Dave Matthews Band @ Deer Creek
opener: O.A.R.
06.21.2004 - Dave Matthews Band @ Deer Creek
opener: O.A.R.
07.30.2004 - Maroon 5 & John Mayer @ Deer Creek
opener: (none)
08.07.2004 - Dave Matthews Band @ Alpine Valley
opener: Jem
Guster
08.08.2004 - Dave Matthews Band @ Alpine Valley
opener: Jem
Guster
10.10.2004 - Howie Day @ IU Auditorium
opener: Nickel Creek
11.03.2004 - Bob Dylan @ Purdue
opener: (none)
02.12.2005 - Ben Kweller & Ben Folds @ Wabash University, Crawfordsville, IN
opener: (none)
03.11.2005 - Jason Mraz @ Millikin University, Decatur, IL
opener: (none)
03.22.2005 - Jason Mraz @ Marian College, Indianapolis, IN
opener: Mieka Pauley
03.31.2005 - O.A.R. @ Purdue
opener: Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers
Ari Hest
04.17.2005 - Matt Nathanson & Ben Kweller @ Depauw University, Greencastle, IN
opener: (none)
04.20.2005 - Guster @ Purdue
opener: The Zambonis
04.27.2005 - Jason Mraz @ Illinois State University, Normal, IL
opener: Tristan Prettyman
05.09.2005 - U2 @ United Center, Chiacgo, IL
opener: Kings of Leon
06.12.2005 - Dave Matthews Band @ Deer Creek
opener: Yonder Mountain String Band
06.13.2005 - Dave Matthews Band @ Deer Creek
opener: Robert Randolph and the Family Band
07.12.2005 - Howie Day @ The Murat, Indianapolis, IN
opener: Missy Higgins
08.12.2005 - Coldplay @ Deer Creek
opener: Black Mountain
10.01.2005 - Jason Mraz @ Congress Theatre, Chicago, IL
opener: Raul Midon
Missy Higgins
10.21.2005 - Jason Mraz @ The Rave, Milwaukee, WI
opener: Bushwalla **
10.22.2005 - Jason Mraz @ Northrop Auditorium, Minneapolis, MN
opener: Bushwalla **
06.02.2006 - Dave Matthews Band @ Deer Creek
opener: G Love & Special Sauce
06.03.2006 - Dave Matthews Band @ Deer Creek
opener: G Love & Special Sauce
08.09.2006 - Dave Matthews Band @ Ford Ampitheatre, Tampa, FL
opener: Pat Green
05.12.2007 - Guster @ San Francisco, CA
opener:
06.01.2007 - Chris Cornell @ Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH
opener: (none)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DMB: 15
Mraz: 6
Guster: 5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deer Creek: 13
Purdue: 6
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In State: 24
Out of State: 13
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Total: 37

Science?

Today while I was looking up my old boss I found a couple of papers that came out of the research I helped with:

Strain-Ecotype Specificity in Sinorhizobium meliloti-Medicago truncatula Symbiosis Is Correlated to Succinoglycan Oligosaccharide Structure

Flavonoid-Inducible Modifications to Rhamnan O Antigens Are Necessary for Rhizobium sp. Strain NGR234-Legume Symbioses

The research dealt with Nitrogen fixing soil bacteria and their symbioses with certain legumes. Not specifically a topic I was interested in, but it was a great job with a great atmosphere. I credit that mostly to my graduate supervisor, who put alot of trust in me and gave me the responsibility of doing alot of actual experimental lab work while I was there. There's no evidence that any results I actually acquired ended up in the papers since science like this involves so many trials, but just in scanning the papers I can see results from experimental processes that I performed many times.

I would've liked to have my name on some of this research, but the whole process of submission and review took place after my supervisor had graduated and I had subsequently left the lab. Being a lowly undergrad, my name wasn't all too important to that process. I don't feel too bad because there was a graduating senior in Biology working specifically on the genetic portion of the first paper and her name doesn't appear anywhere either.


For those that may be wondering, I won't be graduating this year. I may need upwards of another whole year (I've had my troubles, hah). At that point I'll be looking for grad schooling options, hopefully for a Ph.D. My interests would lead me towards Bioinformatics or some sort of Biomedical program or, if I'm feeling cool, nanotechnology. My strongest interest, or at least the one in which I feel I have the most knowledge, is Ecology and Evolution, but I don't know how well that would translate into a career.


Also, my new music bin has run dry and I am in desperate search for more music.

What the hell is a blog?

I don't know what I'm doing. Um. I probably won't post here very much and it will probably cater to my own thoughts which is ok because no one is going to read it anyways. I guess this will serve as organizational for myself; perhaps the fact that its online with the possibility that other people will see it will serve to motivate me.

First thought:
I need to decide whether or not to get an apartment next semester (since I'm currently living at home) and, if so, I need to find one.

Pros of apt.- privacy, probably closer to campus

Cons of apt.- money, the cycle of moving all my stuff begins again (I have alot of stuff)

I guess its pretty much privacy (or independence) vs. money. I should decide soon.