On, on, on, on, on! to the breach, to the breach!

So I have been rather negligent with this blog, I’ll admit it, mea culpa. I’ve made up several excuses to myself about this already – why blog when I use other things like Tumblr, Last.fm, etc. ? Is there really any need?

And then I realise, of course there is. This is my scratchpad. I’ll have to preface that metaphor though.

I notoriously vacillate among positions on things. Hesitant to think about decisions, loathe to make them. The track record is pretty clear –  choosing to (not) go to IB, choosing Science over Commerce, etc. And I justify them (the decisions, that is) to myself somehow, someway later, post factum.

It all happens in my head which is often a bewildering and confusing place. So I blog. It’s ridiculously mundane and painfully dull, but I’ve firmly convinced myself (for now) that there is a purpose, a teleology to all of this and I have to compel myself to begin again.

Of course, it doesn’t help that my laptop has broken down. I’ve reformatted a few times but the problem still reoccurs – I love my HP tx2500 but I think it’s on its dying days with some sort of hardware problem. I’ve suspected for a while that it could be the motherboard but my dad reasons that it must be the hard drive. At any rate, the RAM seems fine and it’s 2×2GB so if I can salvage them, I will.

It’s been odd, transitioning back to paper notes for classes. I guess I do listen a bit more, lacking the distractions of the internet but at the same time, I fell as though I’ve been unplugged and am now laying dormant. I’m not as updated with news and when I do find out, I’m certainly not the first. I hardly play any games on Steam anymore, mostly because my desktop is old (but reliable). This technology detox may yet do some good.

Here is hoping that I can keep this writing thing going.

Sunday, January 31st, 2010 Meditations, Technology 1 Comment

Oft him anhaga are gebideð

I will be the first to admit it, I’ve really reduced the number of posts here in favour of easier alternatives such as Tumblr, Google Reader Shared Items, etc. That’s not to say that I don’t see value in this blog, though.

This is a promise to myself (and anyone who still reads this) that this blog will continue, but in a different way. Not as a melange of daily idle thoughts and musings, but as a place to reflect, regenerate and refine.

And for anyone who’s counting, my commitments this term are

  • BIOC 302
  • BIOL 337
  • BIOL 360
  • BIOL 362
  • ENGL 343
  • ENGL 348
  • ENGL 357

I’ll be taking my driving test (N) this coming Monday. Fingers crossed.

Also, I’ve given you fair warning so keep out of Richmond if you don’t want to cross my path!

Saturday, January 9th, 2010 Meditations 2 Comments

Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew

I’d use this post to write an obligatory “year in review” but I actually can’t recall the high- (and low-) lights of this year. It’s probably for the best!

Here’s hoping everyone a very happy new year. Drive safely and always use protection.

Anyone have any resolutions they think I ought to try? (Writing more often, for example?)

Thursday, December 31st, 2009 Meditations 2 Comments

To weave the mirror’s magic sights

Statistics is so ridiculously dull. I’d much rather fill out random quizzes.

I Am A: Lawful Good Half-Elf Wizard (2nd Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-11
Dexterity-12
Constitution-11
Intelligence-16
Wisdom-12
Charisma-12

Alignment:
Lawful Good A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and criminalizes self-interest.

Race:
Half-Elves have the curiosity and ambition for their human parent and the refined senses and love of nature of their elven parent, although they are outsiders among both cultures. To humans, half-elves are paler, fairer and smoother-skinned than their human parents, but their actual skin tones and other details vary just as human features do. Half-elves tend to have green, elven eyes. They live to about 180.

Class:
Wizards are arcane spellcasters who depend on intensive study to create their magic. To wizards, magic is not a talent but a difficult, rewarding art. When they are prepared for battle, wizards can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. The wizard’s strength is her spells, everything else is secondary. She learns new spells as she experiments and grows in experience, and she can also learn them from other wizards. In addition, over time a wizard learns to manipulate her spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. A wizard can call a familiar- a small, magical, animal companion that serves her. With a high Intelligence, wizards are capable of casting very high levels of spells.

Find out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You Be?, courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

Sunday, December 20th, 2009 BIOL 300, Meditations 2 Comments

Scatter, as from an unextinguish’d hearth

Another term has come and gone at jolly UBC and I’m surprised to find that I’m still standing. Time for another unceremonious, ad hoc course evaluation – done, of course, before my exams so that I won’t be biased by how difficult I found the courses.

ENGL 304 (Advanced Composition)
This one felt pretty touch and go for most of the way…the professor really knows her stuff (she should – she wrote the textbook after all) and there were definitely some innovative teaching methods. However, I never really felt like I ever got into the rhythm of things and when I did, it was short-lived. I’d recommend anyone to take this course if they feel that their writing is a bit on the weak side; this course should help you polish up your composition skills. However, the title of the course, “Advanced Composition” is a bit of a misnomer – most of the course is spent on persuasive essays, not expository.

ANAT 390 (Introduction to Microscopic Human Anatomy)
This one’s definitely a rite-of-passage for most and it’s reasonably tough. Because it’s a survey course, you cover a lot of ground very quickly, leaving students who haven’t taken advanced biology scratching their heads. If you are, however, a biology senior with a good number of cell biology courses under your belt, you really ought to be fine; it won’t be anything you can’t handle. It’s taught by a variety of different professors, each of whom is an expert in the material that s/he teaches – this is great because you get instructors who really are experts at what they are teaching but you never know the level of instruction you’ll get. Some are great and some not so much.

BIOL 361 (Introduction to Physiology)
I can’t say I ever really wanted to take this course – I took it because it’s mandatory for my program. Nevertheless, it was enjoyable, largely due to the efforts of my two wonderful instructors. The course material itself is accessible and not too onerous; all evaluations were open-book so it was really a test of getting enough down on paper to show that you knew what you knew. The topics are, at times, dry but I guess I can see why the course is mandatory for all biology majors. Regular study should lead to success in this course quite easily.

BIOL 304 (Fundamentals of Ecology)
Co-taught by two instructors, this course was in its first run this year after being revamped from the previous BIOL 302/303 program. Deceptively breezy in the beginning, many students learned the hard way that this course stressed critical thinking (for long-answer problems) as well as rote memorization (for definitions) on the midterm examination. The labs were fun if labour-intensive; they were generally mark-boosters. I’m sure, with time, that this course will become more refined but all I can say is that the course was still a bit rough around the edges when I took it. It was, however, interesting enough that I’m considering taking BIOL 306.

BIOL 300 (Biometrics)
Absolutely dreading this course, I walked in with the lowest expectations ever. I felt that I had been deceived – I thought that no math was required after first year if I wanted to do the Biology program! Nevertheless, the math involved is quite basic if laborious at times (ANOVA, anyone?) and the examples provided are compelling and interesting. I can see why this course is mandatory for all biology majors and I found, in spite of myself, that I enjoyed this course and saw how it would be relevant to research. The evaluation is straightforward and fair, if comprehensive. Regular study and practice should serve you well.

BIOL 360 (Cell Physiology Laboratory)
This course was a blast from beginning to end! It’s structured far more casually than those formal chemistry labs and you get to pick and choose among the experiments that interest you. There’s not a strong emphasis on the acquisition of laboratory techniques, though, aside from centrifugation and micropipetting, which was very disappointing. The TAs were helpful and the director was always open for questions, though. Marking is rigorous and more difficult than you might imagine.

BIOL 240 (Experimental Design in the Life Sciences)
This review might be moot seeing as how this was the last year that BIOL 240 will be running (for now) but I thought it was wonderful. It’s extremely time-consuming, however, and required much more attention than I had previously imagined but what you put in is what you get out. I learned a lot of valuable laboratory techniques in here, as well as figuring out that scientific research is not as romantic as I might have once imagined (I have so much pity for people who work with Neurospora crassa). Still, this course was just so rewarding and so great! I took so many pictures and they’ll always have a cherished place in my heart.

Next term is almost certainly going to be hugely different; a huge influx of ENGL courses will shake up the balance of things while BIOL 337 will either break me or make me. I’m excited!

Now, not to get ahead of myself, time to commence studying!

Sunday, December 6th, 2009 ANAT 390, BIOL 240, BIOL 300, BIOL 304, BIOL 360, BIOL 361, ENGL 304 2 Comments
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