Love the Nerd Within

This is what I have been thinking about lately:

Necrotizing Fascitis and nuclear transmutations.

This is the story my teacher told us today in Microbiology:

He's from Canada where everybody plays hockey so his friend was at his son's hockey game and while picking up his son's skate, sliced his hand on the blade. He didn't think much of it till the next day he noticed it was swollen so put some anti-biotic ointment on it. The following day it was so swollen and throbbing that he went to the hospital where they told him he had a streptococcos pyogenes infection and they AMPUTATED HIS ARM... but it was too late. The next day he died!

Ok this was my professors personal friend. He died of a tiny cut on his hand!?!?!? Isn't that insane!?!? Do a google image search of this it will blow your mind.

This is one of the milder ones:

And nuclear transmutations... do you realize that scientist can change one element to another by bombarding it with alpha particles... and that they are actually creating new kinds of elements!?!?!? How science fiction / something out of a Dan Brown novel / seemingly contradictory to the laws of thermodynamics is that? I guess I'd heard of it, growing up by Fermi-lab, but seriously Rutherford converted Nitrogen to Oxygen in 1919. That sort of blows my mind.

I used that phrase twice in this post and I feel that it was warranted.

Hibernation

The mountain has died.

Autumn's vivid conflagration

has burned to a smoldering, grey-brown mantle

cast over this giant's rocky shoulders.

Now the last rays of a sleepy sun

splash glowing memories on its shadowed slopes.

Reminders of the life that made this view a canvas

only a few days ago.

A dull stupor settles over the valley.

It's time to sleep.

Halloween Polygamy!

It really is amazing what you can learn how to do on the internet. Among other things: polygamist braids!

Be offended. I dare you.

Starring:

Lyndsey Mica as Abraham (the husband)

Carissa Clive as Ruth (Wife #1)

Abigayle Monson as Abigail (Wife #2)

Nate Nead as Delilah (Wife #3)

Some of My Favorite Quotes from Work

So I work at a network of online dating websites taking inbound customer service calls. As you can imagine, there have been some unforgettable experiences. I will soon be bidding the world on online dating a tearful adieu so I can focus more on my studies but I wanted to share with you a couple of the gems that I got to deal with on a daily basis.

1. A woman speaking about a date she went on,
"He didn't talk at all. He was very verbal."

2. Me-"Can I get your email address?"
Customer-"Sure, 123 Mill St. Apartment J. Brooklyn, New York."

3. Customer- "It's too bad you don't live in New York or I'd take you out for some coffee. You sound nice."

4. "I always try to be really nice to Jewish women because of the holocaust."

5. "This dating site has caused me emotional distress. I want to take a polygraph test."

6. "I don't care if you didn't charge my card. This is the only phone number I have and I want to yell at someone."

7. "I was wondering if you could help me set up iTunes on my computer."
Me- "Um, you've called *name of the website*"
Customer- "Yeah, I just wanted you to help me set up iTunes."
Me- "..."

8. Me -"K, I need you to refresh your page"
Customer- "What's that?"

9- Customer- "Why is a Jewish website run out of Utah!?!?"

10- "Can you do me a favor? Ask your supervisor if he's ever considered self-immolation."

Vibrio fischerii senses cell density using a small diffusible molecule that binds to an activator

I just wanted to share this. This is the title of the chapter from my Microbiology text that I have to read today and I'm just thinking, Ok, I know this is a microbiology text, but seriously, who is this guy's editor?
I suppose titles like this do get certain people foaming at the mouth in excitement to read such a scintillating piece of literature as this, and I suppose those are the people who get into the U of W MEDEX program, but for us mortals, I'm really thinking they need to spice up the titles of these chapters.
Simplifying it would be one thing. How about "Cell Density Determination: Vibrio fischerii"
or... "If You're Reading This For Fun You Have No Friends" or something like that?
Just a suggestion for the folks at Lulu publishing.

This looks like a David painting

Like a bare-chested lady liberty should be wielding a flag in the background. Isn't the concentration and passion just so intense you can taste it?

To my everlasting dismay and hilarity this photo was recently posted on facebook and I thought I should post it on here since many of my blog visitors don't do facebook and this is really in relation to a previous post.

I just have to say that when I saw this photo I honestly laughed so hard that I started hitting my roommate (which anyone who knows me well, knows that means that I was dying laughing). It took me about 5 minutes before I could calm down enough to post this.

It really is sort of artistic in some ways. The color combination, the arrangement of the figures rising to the pinnacle focal point of my inhumanly long limb stretching over all of these people with my broken Monson elbow. (Thanks mom) The shocked faces of on-lookers in contraposto, craning their necks to see the action. It really captures something. Let me know if you figure out what it is. If you say desperation I'm kicking you off the blog, and that would be really unfortunate because then we'd be down to like 5 readers.

Wait, What's Your Major?!?

Ok... I know this is a difficult concept. It can be a little confusing. Somehow, whenever I start explaining it, I start blushing. I don't know why. What am I ashamed of? Can't a girl enjoy a myriad of intellectual pursuits without having to justify herself over and over? Even my roommates, (in the French house, no less!) ask me this question repeatedly.
So I'd just like to clarify once and for all.
Yes, I served a mission in Estonia.
No, they don't speak French in Estonia.
They speak Estonian. No, that's nothing like French. Nothing.
So wait, what does this have to do with pre-Med classes?
Almost nothing. I'm hoping the PA school accepter people will somehow find this fact endearing or "unique" or cute something.
Am I the only French major in Microbiology and Chem 106?
Most likely in the history of the world. Well, except Pasteur. He was pretty good at that stuff.

This is when they just look at me in confusion and politely say, "oh, cool."
Is it really that confusing? Really?
I would do the more traditional routes of Nursing (not really into bedpans) or MFHD (not really into all girl classes) but I'd like to graduate before I hit menopause, so this is my plan. I hope that you can try to understand that different isn't always a bad thing.
Vive la France.