Sarah's Mullings and Musings

Monday, April 30, 2007

Best Day Ever!

For a Monday, today's been pretty great.

First off, today is my last day of classes. EVER. That's a pretty great feeling right there, because I'm sick to death of school. After I came back from my morning class, I noticed that the little light on my phone was flashing red. That means that somebody tried to call me and left a voicemail, b/c reception sucks in the dungeon, so my phone never actually rings. I check the message and it's somebody from the Photo Lab at CVS, asking me to call them back. I immediately think something is wrong, because I haven't had photos developed since February. Since I've been in my office alot, I've probably gone to CVS like every other day for the last 2 weeks, for snacks or a caffeinated drink (the Coke machine is sold out in our building). So I figured I just dropped my license or something, but no, everything is in my wallet. I call back and learn that I won a $100 digital camera!!! When I got my photos developed in February, it was just one of those things you throw your name into and know you'll never win. But I did win! I'm excited, since I've never owned a real camera, I always just buy disposable cameras. :)

In addition, I had to email a researcher in Virginia who is doing similar experiments for research because he's using tonometers. Basically, a tonometer is just a pear-shaped flask that you can put blood in and run experiments on. Brad and I have been looking for some, but they quit making them decades ago. So I asked where he got his. Apparently, I can just order them from Strathkelvin, they're just not called "tonometers," they have some different name. Anyways, if I can get this equipment, it shouldn't take me 18 hours to do one experiment! I'm excited about that. Sitting in a chair staring at a computer screen and vial of blood sounds exciting, but it's not all it's cracked up to be. Oh, plus one of the secretaries who has been here for 33 years (amazing, right?) retired today, so I got a free lunch with cake. And I just got back from my last physiology class and got a 100 on the last test I took. Today rocks! Like, does anybody watch CSI? Anybody see the one where Hodges was having a lucky day (he found $20, got the attention of a pretty girl, got 2 free bags of chips from the vending machine) and he decided to look over some evidence from serial killer crime scenes? He found a clue that had been overlooked that linked all the victims together. Well, today is my super lucky day, steer me towards some troubling evidence!

Friday, April 27, 2007

Disgusting Knowledge

I have to do a little research on the excretion system, and I ran across some rather disturbing facts about urine. Being a scientist and all, I thought I'd share these odd facts with my friends:

1) Ancient Romans used urine to bleach their clothes and occasionally, to whiten teeth
2) To communicate with spirits the Koryak people would drink the urine of a person who had consumed a certain kind of mushroom
3) In England, stale urine was used for cleaning and to flavor ale
4) Historically, urine has been used as an antiseptic when no other antiseptics were available.
5) The urban myth that urinating on a jellyfish sting relieves the pain is incorrect. At best, it is ineffective, and may actually make the injury worse.
6) The yellow color of urine was thought to come from gold, and alchemists spent a lot of time trying to extract gold from urine
7) Pregnant mare urine is the source of estrogens, namely Premarin
8) Historically, urine has been used to clean wounds, prevent infection and prescribed as a drink for those suffering from stomach and intestine problems. People who have supposedly benefitted from the "urine cure" include Mohandas Gandhi, Jim Morrison and Steve McQueen

Is everybody sufficiently grossed out now?

Friday, April 20, 2007

Inspiring Thought of the Day

I know, I said I wouldn't update for a couple of weeks, but I'll be stuck in the office working tonight anyways, so I consider this a study break.

This morning, one of my friends asked me if I was happy (I am), and how I was able to stay happy. That may sound like an odd question, but not if you know the circumstances. The friend is in her first year of grad school, and is very far away from home. In addition to that, most people here get very angry, bitter, and /or depressed. I don't know if that's because of New England weather (it Finally hit the 50s today, and April is half over!), the fact that our office is a dungeon (no windows) in a giant, ill-conceived bomb shelter (oh if you could only see the building in which I work...), or if it's just that juggling all the committments of grad school can be challenging and frustrating (I'm a student! A teacher! And a researcher! And you people expect me to live on how much a year?!).

I was often depressed and bitter my first year at URI. I'm pretty sure I called home at least once a month near tears, thinking about quitting. And those are the times when I really needed to hear my Mom's voice. There were many other days when I was equally depressed but refused to let anybody see it. There was even a point last April when I told my mom that maybe the whole reason I came to grad school at URI was to discover that grad school was not at all what i wanted to do. I'm a firm believer in the whole "there's a reason for everything / what doesn't kill you makes you stronger / don't have regrets because all the decisions and events in your life affect others and you never know which ones led you to happiness" school of thought (actually, I rambled a lot in that sentence. I doubt such a school exists. But if it did, I'd be enrolled in it). After the disaster that was my first year of grad school I realized I had to make some changes. And I reminded myself of a realization I came to in undergrad, when I was away from home for the first time : you have to make your own happiness. Don't count on other people to make you happy, you have to do it yourself. And I've made changes this year. I make sure I'm always reading a book for fun, so that all the science I shove in my brain doesn't completely overwhelm me. I rent classic movies from the URI library (TCM, how I miss you!), bought season tickets to performances of various musical groups (jazz, celtic, classical) in the URI fine arts center, and I've made a lot of cross-stitch stuff. I've also really made an effort to keep in better touch with friends. I really suck at keeping in touch in general, but thanks to facebook I've been able to bug people more often. Once summer starts I'll have time to go running and join my church choir too. Basically, I have to be busy to be happy, otherwise I just start thinking about all the problems with my research, the uncertain job future in the real world, and a million other things that I don't need to worry about yet, because I can't control them.

Anyways, the whole reason I posted this is because I was looking at my planner and noticed a quote (there's a quote for every week at the top of the page). This week's quote is "Learning to live in the present moment is part of the path of joy." That seems like good advice for everybody to take. Most people I know are currently in a state of transition, be it moving their residence, bouncing around in the job market, or just trying to figure out what the hell to do next. So I thought I'd put this out there, in case it makes someone feel better. Oh, by the way, the quote is by Sarah Ban Breathnach. I have no idea who she is, maybe a famous writer I've never heard of? If anyone knows, post it, I'm curious. :)

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Hooray for Money!

I got my tax return in the mail last night! Woo Hoo! Extra income, always a plus. I haven't updated in a while because I've pretty much just been doing lots and lots of schoolwork, which is boring to talk about. I've gone out a couple times for meals with friends, "grad prom" and a brass band concert, but never got around to writing about them. The concert was awesome. The band, Proteus 7, consists of 7 members playing drums, trumpets, trombones, tuba, and the last guy played like 8 instruments, all winds (diff kinds of saxophones, oboe, penny whistle, english horn, etc.). It was pretty amazing, because they played classical music they arranged for horns (a Bach fugue), jazz music, Spanish music, musicals (West Side Story with "Maria" soloed by the tuba) and spy music (James Bond, Secret Agent Man, etc.). Pretty cool to be able to play so many different genres so well. And it gives classical and musical selections a new, different sound when you play them with instruments that nobody would expect.

Alright, gotta get back to work. Maybe I'll update again in two weeks, when classes end and I only have to focus on research stuff. Hope everyone's doing alright, and that stress levels aren't too dangerously high.