Ready for the break…

Yeah, had a test today…went alright, generally… I had that presentation last week, which could have gone better, but is otherwise done… And, I’ve got an exam next Friday…

But…Spring Break awaits. And I’m going backpacking with Nathan again. Likely, we’re going to Mt. Sterling, which is close to Cherokee, NC. The interesting thing is that, as you may note from the link, there are bears at campsite 39. That should be fun. Nathan, bring your handgun.

Anyway, I’m more than ready for these next two weeks to be over so I can take a little break. Then, I’ve “only” got two more exams before the semester is over and I have summer vacation. On the other hand, I start lab work this summer, so I really don’t get a vacation…

Is it too early to be thinking of summer vacation?

Under pressure…

So, I’ve got that presentation on Wednesday…and I’ve got to pre-present it for Dr. Samson tomorrow to make sure I’m on the right track…which I hopefully am. I’ve been working on it a lot today and, no doubt, I’ll continue working on it until late tonight…

This thing worries me. Not because of the material. Not because I’ll be presenting it in front of Ph.Ds who will ask me questions. Not because the grade for the semester is made up of this one presentation. Nope. Because, for the most part, this is the first presentation that I have where anyone can attend and see how I do. If I do a great job, then the professors who are watching will think that much more of me. If I don’t do well, then it could very well set the tone for the remainder of my graduate career.

No pressure…

Hehehehehehe…

“The Vice President is standing by his decision to shoot Harry Whittington. Now, according to the best intelligence available, there were quail hidden in the brush. Everyone believed at the time there were quail in the brush. And while the quail turned out to be a 78- year-old man, even knowing that today, Mr. Cheney insists he still would have shot Mr. Whittington in the face. He believes the world is a better place for his spreading buckshot throughout the entire region of Mr. Wittington’s face.”

— Rob Corddry, “The Daily Show”

That one’s for you, Liz… 😉

A milestone…

So, for those who have ever sat next to me in class, you know I have Solitaire on my Sony Clie (a Palm device, for those who don’t know…).? Finally, I “won” $100,000, which means that the game no longer keeps count, since it can’t go over 5 digits.? Therefore, I must restart the game at $0.? But before I do, I mark the occasion with some stats that have been recorded since beginning the game over a year ago:

Games played: 1227

Games won: 500

Games Lost: 727

Percent Won: 40.75%

Longest Win Streak: 6

Longest Loss Streak: 12

Average Game Time: 1:59

Total Time Played: 1d 16h 52m

Shortest Win Time: 1:20

Highest Score: $100041

…time to reset…

The absolute worst song

So, I defy you people to come up with a worse song than “Summer Girls” by LFO.? Yes, this is the worst song ever written.? I only bring this up because I heard “Hey Ya” by OutKast yesterday…which is a close second…but “Summer Girls” is, by far, the single worst song ever written.? Please…try to find a worse one for me…

Here are the lyrics.? I recommend taking a few shots of tequila before reading them…

————————————————-

Yeah…I like it when the girls stop by.. In the summer
Do you remember, Do you remember?
…when we met..That summer??

[Chorus]

New Kids On The block,had a bunch of hits
Chinese food makes me sick.
And I think it’s fly when girls stop by for the summer,for the summer
I like girls that wear Abercrombie and Fitch,
I’d take her if I had one wish,
But she’s been gone since that summer..
Since that summer

[Verse 1]

Hip Hop Marmalade spic And span,
Met you one summer and it all began
You’re the best girl that I ever did see,
The great Larry Bird Jersey 33
When you take a sip you buzz like a hornet
Billy Shakespere wrote a whole bunch of sonnets
Call me Willy Whistle cause I can’t speak baby
Sumthin in your eyes went and drove me crazy
Now I can’t forget you and it makes me mad,
Left one day and never came back
Stayed all summer then went back home,
Macauly Culkin wasn’t Home Alone
Fell deep in love,but now we ain’t speakin
Michael J Fox was Alex P Keaton
When I met you I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch

[Chorus]

[Verse 2]

Cherry Pez,cold crush,rock star boogie
Used to hate school so I had to play hookie,
Always been hip to the B-boY Style
Known to act wild and make girls smile,
Love New Edition and the Candy Girl
Remind me of you because you rock my world
You come from Georgia where the peaches grow
They drink lemonade and speak real slow
You love hip hop and rock n roll
Dad took off when you were 4 years old
There was a good man named Paul Revere
I feel much better baby when you’re near
You love fun dip and cherry Coke,
I like the way you laugh when I tell a joke
When I met you I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch

[Repeat Chorus]

Bridge In the summertime girls got it goin on,
Shake and wiggle to a hip hop song
Summertime girls are the kind I like,
I’ll steal your honey like I stole your bike

[Verse 3]

Bugaloo shrimp and pogo sticks
My mind takes me back there oh so quick
Let you off the hook like my man Mr. Limpet
Think about that summer and I bug,cause I miss it
Like the color purple,macaroni and cheese,
Ruby red slippers and a bunch of trees
Call you up but whats the use
I like Kevin Bacon,but I hate Footloose
Came in the door I said it before,I think I’m over you
but I’m really not sure
When I met you I said my name was Rich
You look like a girl from Abercrombie and Fitch

[Repeat Chorus][Bridge]

In the summer girls come and summer girls go
Some are worth while and some are so so,
Summer girls come and summer girls go
Some are worth while and some are so so,
Summertime girls got it goin on
Shake and wiggle to a hip hop song
Summertime girls are the kind I like
I’ll steal your honey like I stole your bike

[Repeat Chorus]

More reasons why Republicans are dumb…

As reported in the February 9, 2006 episode of The Colbert Report, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez said the following to the senate judiciary committee regarding President Bush’s wiretapping shenanigans:

“I gave in my opening statement, Senator, examples where President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt…have all authorized electronic surveillance of the enemy on a far broader scale…”

— Atty. Gen. Alberto Gonzalez
“I can’t believe he said that!? Those are precious state secrets!? No one’s supposed to know about George Washington’s covert electronic surveillance program!”

— Stephen Colbert

Seriously…who the hell appointed that guy?? Oh yeah…the Republicans…what a big surprise…

So, I was sitting in class…

…and Dr. Ryerse was talking to us about Gap Junctions. Basically, these are connections between cells that are made up of proteins. Think of them like connecting two pieces of cloth with a hollow rivet… They are very important in a variety of cellular functions, but perhaps most importantly, in synchronizing all of the cells in the heart (and muscle in general) to make one single contraction and pump our blood.

Anyway, in talking about these, he brought up a few points (most of which I can’t remember…) that got me thinking about how much of ourselves we know nothing about. In the physical sense, our bodies “just work”…but how and why? I mean, we go walking around every day and the general public doesn’t know (or care…) about how the cells in our heart know how to contract at the same time and pump our blood.But we’ve been working on “science,” in the general sense of the word, for thousands of years yet we’ve only scratched the surface.
Shouldn’t we care about these things? Shouldn’t we be more interested in learning all that there is to know about our bodies, so we know how to fix the problems there, rather than the problems between bodies in foreign countries? If I remember right, Bush plans on cutting a variety of programs, generally social, educational and scientific interests, in favor of more money to finance his Iraq vendetta. Does this make sense?
I guess it’s just human nature, but here’s the point: people don’t care how something works, only that it continues to work. People don’t care about science until it affects them. Funding for scientific endeavours is only readily available to people working on health-related fields, while funding for other research (such as ecology, sociology, etc.) is harder to come by. We save the minimal amount of funding to pay for “important” things like helping fix lung cancer (caused by cigarettes) or funding faster propulsion (so we can blow up other countries) or funding research into lower emission vehicles (because we have to drive big SUVs rather than using the smaller vehicles we already have).

Seriously, I think if the USA just saved a third of the money being poured into Iraq and other worthless ventures (congressional salaries, military stockpiling, tax cuts for the rich, etc.) and instead put it into general scientific (physics, biology, chemistry…) and social (arts, humanities…) research, the world would get a lot better really quickly.

At the very least, we, as a culture, would be seen as less hypocritical in the eyes of our enemies…’cause that’d solve a lot of other problems…

…it’s amazing what thoughts can come out of a discussion on gap junctions, eh?