Surprisingly, I am a little sad that my classes are over tomorrow. This is probably the first quarter where I truly enjoyed all of my classes, since I am no longer mired in physics and chemistry. Yes, even the mind-numbingly slow geology class was actually very interesting, even though it took about three times longer to get through the material as it should have. Biochem has me all geeked out and excited about Mol Gen next quarter, and plant physiology revealed a whole new fascinating field of science. I discovered that I don't hate photosynthesis nearly as much when I actually understand the biochemistry behind it. (This is where I grudgingly acknowledge that the six quarters spent slaving over chemistry do, in fact, mean something. Physics, however, has yet to redeem itself in my eyes.) And of course, there was my Shakespeare class. Oh, I could wax poetic about it for ages, but I'll spare you my rhapsodizing. Suffice it to say that it made me seriously reconsider graduate study in English. Not that I actually intend to make a career of it, but just for the sake of studying something I really love. And that's what I've realized this quarter, is that I am not stuck doing the one thing I choose to do right after graduating. I could easily teach science for fifteen or twenty years, then, after the kids drive me crazy, go back and get a Ph.D in English and do...whatever it is English Ph.D's do. I am only twenty years old, probably a little over a quarter done with my life. I still have a long time left (God willing) and I can do a lot with the time I have left. For once, the openness of the future is less scary than thrilling, and that's probably a good sign.

Posted by nice_genes at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So it turns out the most dangerous place for me to bring my dollars is not Victoria's Secret, TJ Maxx, or even JoAnn's or Michael's; it is Barnes and Noble. Or Amazon, or Borders, or SBX, or any establishment selling the fruits of Herr Gutenberg. The above picture is all the books I have acquired this quarter, not counting textbooks or gifts bought for others. The plan is to read them all over winter break...

Fat chance, with my list of things to do:
CSO Holiday Pops concert, Holiday Gallery Hop in the Short North, Columbus Zoo Wild Lights, Alum Creek Fantasy of Lights, gingerbread house construction with the roomies, cookie baking extravaganza, ice skating with my small group, and a weeklong trip to Chicago for a Christian conference and to visit my godmother. I'm going to need a vacation from vacation!

Posted by nice_genes at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

You might be able to argue that Columbus is not the model destination for very high-brow arts and culture. (To counter that I offer up the art museum, the conservatory, COSI, the Statehouse, and the zoo, for starters.) But one thing that absolutely cannot be argued: Columbus is a marvelous place to eat and shop. There are three major shopping malls within twenty minutes drive of the city (Polaris, Tuttle Crossing, and Easton) and each mall is really more of a commercial conglomerate of retailers (Polaris Fashion Place, Polaris Towne Center, Polaris Parkway etc.). There are strip malls out the wazoo. And each merchandise mecca has a corresponding retinue of dining establishments, from our locally-based Wendy's to all sorts of ridiculously overpriced places I have not yet stepped foot in (the Cameron Mitchell restaurant family, all the swanky places downtown.)

My mom and went out today around 7:30 am and I quickly discovered that we are Black Friday tenderfoots, for sure. Macy's was busy but they had pretty fast customer turnover. Bought some presents there and picked out my own Christmas present. (I know that kind of takes the "Surprise!" element out of it, but my taste is so vastly different from my mother's that the "Surprise!" element has really rather lost its appeal by now.) Then we stopped by JoAnn's so I could pick up some craft supplies. Now, my mother knows nothing about the world of crafting. So going into the store for her was like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. Add to that the line of shoppers literally wrapping around the store, and she was completely dumbfounded. I didn't have the chance to explain to her, "Mother, these are women who will patiently hand-cut confetti out of holiday-theme paper. There is nothing they won't do for their craft." So I stood in the line (it was really only about fifteen or twenty minutes) while she went to TJ Maxx next door. I made friends with the mother-daughter pair in front of me, who had come down from Marion for an entire day of shopping, and saw my future self pass by in the form of various craftin' mamas. This week I think I will finally cart all of my scrapping supplies to the apartment so I can work over winter break, which is twelve days away...not that I'm counting or anything.

Posted by nice_genes at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I guess "going home" was never a huge deal for me because my parents live twenty minutes away. Things are a little different this year with the apartment, though, and I think I've only gone home three or four times this quarter as opposed to, say, every other weekend in years past. The primary reason for that is actually utilitarian...my room in my parents' house has exactly four pieces of furniture in it: my bed, a bookshelf, a nightstand, and a computer desk that once served as my craft table. And a chair. So when I go home I literally live out of a bag for the 12-36 hours I am there and sometimes it is downright inconvenient. Plus there really isn't all that much for me to do there except eat and study, which I could do here in far greater comfort. But family is family and I wouldn't trade mine for the world. This past weekend I actually missed all the Game festivities on campus because we drove down to Mason to see my cousin's family. I didn't mind, though, because I don't get to see them very often and my cousin has a little boy who is super cute and actually likes me. Tomorrow we're having a few families from church over to our house, so I'll have to help get that ready, but other than that, I'm looking forward to a quiet break with my nose buried in Shakespeare.

Posted by nice_genes at 7:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Remember my list of ten things to do before graduating? Unfortunately, item #1 is now impossible. On November 9, 2007, the albino squirrel of South Campus was taken to the big oak tree in the sky by a damnably gutsy hawk that actually swooped down in the middle of a crowd of human admirers. They even got pictures, but I prefer to remember him (her?) in happier, more alive times.

There is actually a Facebook group dedicated to "Whitey's" passing, which I find strangely touching and puerile at the same time. (Really? They have nothing better to get upset about? It's not like an endangered panda or something...) Despair not, however: there is at least one other albino squirrel scampering around the off-campus neighborhoods south of 9th Avenue...I frequently see it on my way to ghetto Kroger on King Avenue. The South Campus Squirrels shall rise again...

Update: Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. The Lantern published an article about Whitey's demise, which isn't surprising as it is a campus publication and this was a very big deal on campus. What I did not expect, however, was to see Whitey on the front page of the Columbus Dispatch yesterday. Surely--surely--the representative paper of Ohio's capital has better things to write about than the circle of life continuing as it should. Whatever respect I had for the Dispatch just went down a few notches.

And why is everyone so het up about one squirrel being eaten? 1) It is part of the natural ecosystem and evolutionary process--Whitey should never have survived long to begin with; 2) There are hundreds of erstwhile pets killed every day in overcrowded shelters and pounds, to say nothing of the homeless strays that starve or freeze to death. Why isn't anyone joining Facebook groups when those animals die? And [CAUTION: VEGETARIAN RANT PENDING] what about all the animals who are raised in inhuman conditions and killed for food? Now excuse me while I eat some non-albino tofu...

Oh yes, and here's a self-plug: I am quoted in an article in today's Lantern. Apparently I am one of the more popular blogs...thanks kids! Look forward to the possibility of a vlog entry over winter break, perhaps...

Posted by nice_genes at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today I got to hear a lecture by Francis Collins, director of the Human Genome Project and author of the book, The Language of God. In his book and today's lecture of the same title, Collins makes the case that faith and science are not irreconcilable and that they in fact enrich each other. I won't say that I disagree with him on principles of faith, but I guess some of the ways he presents his information are different from what I personally think. I am okay with that, though, because he has put a great deal of thought into his beliefs and made a strong effort to cogently articulate that for skeptical, and sometimes hostile, audiences, which is infinitely better than bellowing fire and brimstone out on the Oval.

I remember wanting to work on the Human Genome Project when I first learned about genetics in sixth grade. Alas, the project wrapped up early and under budget in April 2003, so that dream was nixed, but my interest in genetics has endured. (And is responsible for the name of this blog!) So I leave you with a mol-gen joke:

If I were an enzyme, I'd be DNA helicase so I could unzip your genes.

Posted by nice_genes at 8:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

So after yesterday's inglorious defeat, I feel obliged to say that I am still proud to be a Buckeye, and that my identity does not rest on the performance of a few dozen men pounding the snot out of each other. On the other hand, I was still pretty bummed out that we lost. I'm no sports expert, but I've watched most of the games this season and I know they worked hard and wanted it bad...but it just didn't happen. Still looking forward to Michigan this weekend, except I will be in Mason, OH visiting my cousin Nancy because her dad (my Uncle Howard) is only in the States for that one week. :( I guess I will just have to get my share of festivities in during the week.

In other news, I went home yesterday and had a grand old time paging through my high school yearbook and watching home videos from, oh, fourteen years ago when my brother was first born. It was altogether surreal to imagine that the gawky fourth and fifth graders prancing around at Chinese summer camp are now married and/or mothers, or more likely, given current cultural norms in the Asian-American community, in medical/law/some form of graduate school. Even weirder was the delayed realization that I am, in fact, no longer a teenage girl.

Posted by nice_genes at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We had the head of the English department at Greenwich University visit our English class today to promote OSU's summer study abroad program there. For whatever reason I felt an inexplicably strong yearning to go to England, despite the fact that it is incredibly expensive and would not actually help me progress in my degree whatsoever, since I would already have credit for English 596 and 575 by the time I went, unless I were to swap out one of my classes next quarter. I went to London with the London Honors Study Abroad program my freshman year, and though we were only there for ten days, I really loved it. It was a bright spot in what would turn out to be a darker year for me. And I keep thinking to myself that this may be the last time in my life I can fully indulge my love of literature; once I enter "the real world" of teaching high school biology, who knows when I will have time to crack open a great book. Maybe I'll just fly to London on my own and camp out in the Globe Theater with my complete works of Shakespeare. Oh, London, how I love thee...

This picture is actually in Oxford, I believe, but close enough!

Posted by nice_genes at 9:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)