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Spring Semester 2010: * Teaching: Fundamentals of Microbiology - MW 12:00-2:40p Medical Microbiology - TR 2:00-3:15p Colloquium in Cell and Molecular Biology - R 3:30-4:30p Thesis Research - Identification of T Cell Subsets and Immune Response in Colon Cancer Using Immunofluorescence - FOREVER AND EVER Old Journal Entries
Or rather, entries from the old journal, as it were... - An open letter to the College. (August 27, 2006) - Untitled. (July 16, 2006) - Haunted (Part One) (May 29, 2006) - Are we growing up, or just going down? (May 3, 2006) - I had a dream... (March 19, 2006) - ... (March 14, 2006) - Enjoy it while it lasts. (September 12, 2005) - Scene: 3:27 AM. (September 3, 2005) - Untitled. (July 26, 2005) Psst... if you're looking for the academic writings I used to have here, head to my Reading Room. Rented DVDs - The Rage in Placid Lake (2003) - Son of Rambow (2007) - 大紅燈籠高高掛 / D� H�ng Dēngl�ng Gāogāo Gu� [Raise the Red Lantern] (1991) - Au revoir, les enfants (1987) - Chalk (2006) - Le Samoura� (1967) - Empire Records (1995) - The Bank Job (2008) - Le Quatre cents coups [The 400 Blows] (1959) - Love and Other Disasters (2006) - Friends and Family (2001) - Sugar [unrated] (2004) - The Curiosity of Chance (2006) - Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982) - Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) - Death Note [anime] (2006) - Battle Royale (2000) - Le scaphandre et le papillon [The Diving Bell and the Butterfly] (2007) - Extras, Series 2 (2005) - Extras, Series 1 (2005) - Shelter (2007) - Metropolis (1927) - Cashback (2006) - Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay [Unrated] (2008) - The Catherine Tate Show, Series 2 (2005) - The Catherine Tate Show, Series 1 (2004) - Tokyo monogatari [Tokyo Story] (1953) - Akira (1988) - Habuah [The Bubble] (2006) - Prime Suspect 4, including: - The Lost Child (1995) - Inner Circles (1995) - Scent of Darkness (1995) - Like Minds [USA: Murderous Intent] (2006) - La Strada (1954) - Black Orpheus (1959) - Le Notti di Cabiria [Nights of Cabiria] (1957) - Cleo de cinq a sept [Cleo from 5 to 7] (1962) - Det Sjunde Inseglet [The Seventh Seal] (1957) - Prime Suspect 3 (1994) - Funny Face (1957) - Lalechet Al Ha'mayim [Walk on Water] (2004) - Charade (1963) - Yossi & Jagger (2002) - Mists of Avalon (2001) - Blow Up (1966) The *New* Reading List
Since June 2006... - - - - - - - - - - - - - The Dead Emcee Scrolls by Saul Williams [61.3%] - - Junk Science: An Overdue Indictment of Government, Industry, and Faith Groups that Twist Science for Their Own Gain by Dan Agin, Ph.D. [64.4%] - - - - - - - - 1984 by George Orwell [18.8%] - - - | NAILED IT. Thursday, October 2, 2008 @ 11:20 am As right now I am completely unable to feel anything in the complex continuum of emotions between the extremes associated with either failing or acing the test, I'm going to have to go with the subject line. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got Why yes, I do believe I've earned it. Comment! (2) | Recommend! Screwed. Thursday, October 2, 2008 @ 9:52 pm I'm doing that thing where you drink lots of water so you have to pee a lot so you can't sleep. I'm also using the 45 minutes of studying/15 minutes of whatever-the-fuck formula to make it through the night. I don't think the exam will be too difficult, but I thought that way about the physiology exam and I did worse than I thought I would. It was lucky that I still got an A. Where's that water, dammit!? Comment! (6) | Recommend! Relief is in sight! Wednesday, October 1, 2008 @ 2:44 pm Well, at least weather-wise...
Hooray for the cooldown! Dare I say I might be able to wear a sweater (finally) this weekend? Comment! (0) | Recommend! Back on the caf. Wednesday, October 1, 2008 @ 8:29 am I think today might be the day I buy a grande quad anything. Well, no. That day's probably going to be tomorrow. Today might just be a double day. I need to wake the fuck up. I just remembered I have some Kona I brought from home! I hope the milk hasn't gone bad yet, because I want a cappucino... It's going to be an inordinately long next-two-days. Comment! (2) | Recommend! Sliding by. Tuesday, September 30, 2008 @ 1:35 pm I feel like I've been sliding by lately, but it seems to be time to kick it into a higher gear. I've been spoiled by how much I've been able to sleep lately and I think that, as long as I don't accumulate another massive sleep debt (the likes of which nearly ruined my college career), I should retrain my body and mind to operate efficiently on less sleep than I've been getting. The tricky part is not knowing where that breaking point is. How much sleep can I get without going into the danger zone? Is it even possible to gauge at this point? This is dangerous territory I'm about to enter, but things are already getting a little hectic. I don't want history to repeat itself because that would suggest I haven't learned anything from past mistakes, but I don't want to risk nothing only to gain nothing either. I also want to see how much of this I can accomplish without resorting to caffeine or nicotine. I've been excellent on that front so far, but I might give into the temptation of the former... hopefully not the latter. Comment! (6) | Recommend! Dumb it down. Monday, September 29, 2008 @ 6:37 pm So there's this chick who's a first year grad student along with me. She's a little older than I am--maybe 27, 28?--and she is doing her thesis research at the place she worked at before coming to SDSU. She makes sure to tell everyone all the time: "I'm doing my research at the Scripps Research Institute" (in such a tone that implies that since her research is being done at a rather large, private institution, it will be much, much better than everyone else's, who has to do research here at an under-budgeted state university). I do not like her one bit. She dominates conversations, thinks she's always right about everything, and--did I mention she's snooty? Right. So anyway, today before class, we're all talking about the little writing assignment we all had where we had to describe the discovery and function of a drug called Gleevec, which is a treatment for a very specific type of leukemia. The professor had expressed that he would appreciate it if what we wrote were on the shorter side, so everyone tried to keep their writing to a minimum. So another girl comes in and she didn't know we had an assignment. Scripps chick interjects and goes, "Do you want to look at mine?" before shoving the paper in her face. So no-homework girl takes a look at it and hands it back. Then the girl sitting in front of Scripps chick asks if she could read it, too. Of course she obliges. "Wow, that's really good--and short!" So Scripps girl replies, "I know. I want to teach, so it's good practice because I have to dumb things down." And at that point I lose whatever little respect I have left for her. It really bothers me when teachers think they have to dumb something down to make it intelligible. My belief is that you just have to present the material better and more understandably, but not necessarily strip the material down into a mere skeleton of what it was to make it understandable. If you have to resort to that, that just means you're an uncreative teacher. I will be the first to admit that sometimes you might get a student (or a handful of students... or a classful of students...) that you think is more than a little "mildly retarded." But that just means you have to work harder to present all of the material in all of its complex glory. If you don't do that, that just means you're a horrible and lazy teacher. I hope this girl never gets to teach a class because she might turn off an entire generation of students from the sciences. Like we need any more of that. And I hope she stops toting that sanctimonious attitude around class, though I really do not think that's gonna happen. Comment! (1) | Recommend! So lovely. Monday, September 29, 2008 @ 9:10 am One of the best things in the world is when it's raining and sunny at the same time. Comment! (1) | Recommend! More applications!? Sunday, September 28, 2008 @ 10:11 am I've filled out an application for an advanced certificate program here at SDSU: the Certificate in Community College Teaching. This certificate only requires 4 classes to complete, so it won't interfere too much with my pursuit of the M.S. These courses will expose me to teaching strategies specifically geared towards post-secondary students, and it includes an internship teaching an actual community college course for an entire semester! Like I'm sure I mentioned before, I'm not sure whether I am going to apply for a Ph.D. program directly after I graduate or if I'm going to take a year or two off to work before applying. On the one hand, if I take time off, I will likely work at a biotech company, but I also want to be able to teach a course at a community college in molecular biology or something like that. Having taken community college classes before, I have experienced first-hand how important it is for community colleges to have excellent instructors who are able to adapt themselves to whatever type of student they have in their classes. I like sharing my knowledge of my field with other people--I think it's fun!--and I would love the opportunity to teach people to at least have an understanding of molecular biology, even if they aren't going to use that knowledge or those skills professionally. Earning this Certificate provides an excellent opportunity for me to hone my teaching skills and to gain practical experience teaching in community college. On the other hand, even if I apply to a Ph.D. program straight away, the experience in teaching post-secondary classes will undoubtedly be beneficial. If I were to ultimately become a professor, knowing how to teach effectively would definitely be a plus. Even if I abandoned academia for industry, I'd still want to teach part time, so really it's a win-win situation. I think I'm going to go for it. I need to check when the courses are offered so I can try to plan out when to take them, but I definitely want to try for it. Even if I take a class or two but ultimately don't complete the certificate requirements, I think I'll still be better for it... Comment! (5) | Recommend! |