"Peas, can I have some more?"

This morning at work, a friend opened up Google to search for something, and the Google icon was made of peas.  I said in passing: "Peas? Is it Mendel's birthday or something?"  Indeed, it is the anniversary birth date of Mendel, aka the Father of Genetics.

It is an apt day for me to take notice, as in the future I will probably most likely be getting to know Mendel, his work and legacy quite extensively.  This fall will be the start of my forays into the world of genetics, officially as a PhD student in Human Genetics.  Sound fancy, eh?  Fancy schmancy... what it really means is that I will dive headfirst into a 4-6 year program (if not longer) that will consist of classwork and a massive amount of lab work.  I will need pick a topic that no one has yet to explore, form testable hypotheses, do extensive experimental research to test such hypotheses, produce conclusions that somehow make my results interesting to the whole of science, and then write up the entire process in boring esoteric language that only other nerds in the field can decipher.  If I am successful at performing all those steps, I will earn three letters at the end of my name.

I must be a glutton for punishment, yeah?  That thought has crossed my mind many times.  Even as I am writing this I think I'm absolutely mental.  But then the nerd inside reminds me of how long I've wanted to be in this position, to be able to study genetics in depth, to play with DNA, to have the opportunity to discover something new... and I get excited all over again.

Oh Baby!

Delinquincy

My name is Xuan, and I am a delinquent "blogger."  Yes, it seems that the more things I have/want to write about, the less time I have to write.  To compound the issue, as the frequency of posts decrease day by day, the energy that I must summon to write a new post increases exponentially.  All blames aside, I have been just too lazy to articulate my thoughts into meaningful words.  It is sufficient to conclude, then, that my new year's resolution list has been thrown out like yesterday's news?  ....Or has it?

My resolution list as of January 3, 2011:

1.  Write more often, at least 1 post per week.

2.  Spend less!!! no more spontaneous shopping sprees, no more impulsive buys.

3.  Keep organized: no more hoarding of junk, give away more stuff, thin out closet

4.  Use up more products

5.  Keep up with friends

6.  Drink more water

7.  Procrastinate less

8.  Pictures: take more, learn PS skillz, make prints

9.  More tree-hugging.

10. More nerd.

Safe to say that #1 (Kate who?), #2 (while the spontaneity factor is somewhat under control, my money has been dissipating faster than dry ice on a hot day) , #4 (negated by # 2), #6 (popcorn with water just ain't right), #7 (who am I kidding?!), and #8 (dust has collected on my camera) have been circling the drain, if not flushed away, for a while now.

But, I've not completely fallen off the treadmill... at least not yet anyways:

#3 More organization, less hoarding: I've managed to declutter my life quite a bit, showing no mercy to useless junk that I've held on since middle school; the shredder became a good friend and the guy that works at the receiving dock at Good Will knows me by name.  I've bought nifty carts and containers in an attempt to stay organized ... it's mildly better than before, but the jury's still out on my organization skills.

#5 Keep up the friendships:  Phone calls count, right?  Right.

#9 Tree hugging: Reduce, reuse, recycle... I remember it most of the time.  I've stopped to smell the roses a few times, literally. 

#10 More nerd:  This is the one thing that I can say with an absolute, 100%, positive, unequivocal YES, I DID!  It may or may not have been entirely deliberate since January, but it's the only thing that I've kept to and the only thing that's keeping me from flying off my treadmill of a resolution list.  

I'll admit, 40% is pretty miserable, but with a little more than four months left, there is still hope for us all.