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Schedule
Spring Semester 2010:

* Teaching: Fundamentals of Microbiology - MW 12:00-2:40p
Medical Microbiology - TR 2:00-3:15p
Colloquium in Cell and Molecular Biology - R 3:30-4:30p
Thesis Research - Identification of T Cell Subsets and Immune Response in Colon Cancer Using Immunofluorescence - FOREVER AND EVER
Old Journal Entries
Or rather, entries from the old journal, as it were...

- An open letter to the College. (August 27, 2006)
- Untitled. (July 16, 2006)
- Haunted (Part One) (May 29, 2006)
- Are we growing up, or just going down? (May 3, 2006)
- I had a dream... (March 19, 2006)
- ... (March 14, 2006)
- Enjoy it while it lasts. (September 12, 2005)
- Scene: 3:27 AM. (September 3, 2005)
- Untitled. (July 26, 2005)

Psst... if you're looking for the academic writings I used to have here, head to my Reading Room.
Rented DVDs
Netflix

- The Rage in Placid Lake (2003)
- Son of Rambow (2007)
- 大紅燈籠高高掛 / Dà Hóng Dēnglóng Gāogāo Guà [Raise the Red Lantern] (1991)
- Au revoir, les enfants (1987)
- Chalk (2006)
- Le Samouraï (1967)
- Empire Records (1995)
- The Bank Job (2008)
- Le Quatre cents coups [The 400 Blows] (1959)
- Love and Other Disasters (2006)
- Friends and Family (2001)
- Sugar [unrated] (2004)
- The Curiosity of Chance (2006)
- Blade Runner: The Final Cut (1982)
- Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)
- Death Note [anime] (2006)
- Battle Royale (2000)
- Le scaphandre et le papillon [The Diving Bell and the Butterfly] (2007)
- Extras, Series 2 (2005)
- Extras, Series 1 (2005)
- Shelter (2007)
- Metropolis (1927)
- Cashback (2006)
- Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay [Unrated] (2008)
- The Catherine Tate Show, Series 2 (2005)
- The Catherine Tate Show, Series 1 (2004)



Blockbuster

- Tokyo monogatari [Tokyo Story] (1953)
- Akira (1988)
- Habuah [The Bubble] (2006)
- Prime Suspect 4, including:
    - The Lost Child (1995)
    - Inner Circles (1995)
    - Scent of Darkness (1995)
- Like Minds [USA: Murderous Intent] (2006)
- La Strada (1954)
- Black Orpheus (1959)
- Le Notti di Cabiria [Nights of Cabiria] (1957)
- Cleo de cinq a sept [Cleo from 5 to 7] (1962)
- Det Sjunde Inseglet [The Seventh Seal] (1957)
- Prime Suspect 3 (1994)
- Funny Face (1957)
- Lalechet Al Ha'mayim [Walk on Water] (2004)
- Charade (1963)
- Yossi & Jagger (2002)
- Mists of Avalon (2001)
- Blow Up (1966)
The *New* Reading List
Since June 2006...

- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
- High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
- Travesties by Tom Stoppard
- The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner
- The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
- Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
- The History Boys by Alan Bennett
- The Dark Child by Camara Laye
- Movie-Made America by Robert Sklar
- Diary by Chuck Palahniuk
- Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey by Chuck Palahniuk
- Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
- The Dead Emcee Scrolls by Saul Williams [61.3%]
- Atonement by Ian McEwan
- Junk Science: An Overdue Indictment of Government, Industry, and Faith Groups that Twist Science for Their Own Gain by Dan Agin, Ph.D. [64.4%]
- So Yesterday by Scott Westerfield
- Lucky Wander Boy by D.B. Weiss
- The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
- Doctor Who: The Key to Time: A Year-by-Year Record by Peter Haining
- Why Buffy Matters: The Art of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Rhonda Wilcox
- When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- 1984 by George Orwell [18.8%]
- Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
- Intuition by Allegra Goodman
- V for Vendetta by Alan Moore and David Lloyd (Yes, I realize it's a graphic novel but it still fucking counts!)
ClustrMap
So THAT'S where all the people reading this come from...
Woohoo, no more teaching until fall!
Thursday, April 23, 2009 @ 8:13 pm
We still have class--people need to finish up their oral presentations--and I still have to write them a quiz and grade all of the stuff they turned in... but I don't have to give another lecture for another few months!

Today was an interesting day in class. First, one of my students, Austin, decided to give me a massage in an effort to get some extra credit. I told him no, but he started massaging my shoulders anyway. Alright--he was good at it, I'll admit that--but the entire time I had to keep telling him, "No, Austin. No, Austin. No, Austin. Inappropriate." So he stopped after like 20 seconds. Later in the class, Austin decided to ask me who the big-tittied Asian TA was--because he decided that she had a crush on me. That TA is Jenny. And no, she does not have a crush on me. She's just one of my best friends in the program and we hang out together a lot. She knows that I'm not interested, and I know she isn't either. So again, I had to start with the "No, Austin." That kid, I swear... he's a hoot, but sometimes he gives me a headache.

I also got a round of applause for delivering an impassioned speech about how I don't care if their identifications of the unknown organisms are wrong, as long as they can tell me how they came to their conclusions based on their results. Sometimes, in science, it's more about the process and not the end result. This exercise is an example of that. If they perform all the biochemical and physiological tests correctly, and they interpret those results correctly, but they get the actual identification wrong, it might not be their fault. Some of the tests were acting funky this semester anyway--some looked ambiguous in that they could not tell if the test was positive or negative--so it might be the prep room's fault for preparing shitty media. Of course, they could have screwed up, too--maybe they didn't follow aseptic technique, or maybe they mixed up their media, or... something. But assuming everyone did everything correctly, the results they get are what they get--and the subsequent identifications are logically valid, even if wrong. So I told them this--that it is far more important to cultivate critical thinking skills than to get the "right answer" for this exercise... and so they started clapping. It actually touched my heart.

Another thing that warmed me was that a lot of my kids actually honestly thought I was the best TA they'd had. They were shocked to learn that they could nominate their TA for an Outstanding TA of the Year award--something I probably should have told them... or at least, that the department should have told them--because they would have totally written nomination/recommendation letters for me. That makes me happy because I want to be a professor eventually, so it's nice to know that I don't suck balls at teaching... which was one of my greatest fears at the beginning of the semester.

Anyway, no one ever reads these long entries, so I'm cutting it off now.

Can it be Saturday yet? ;)
2 Comments.


I read the long entries, if only because I have no life.

Austin sounds funny. :P
» randomjunk on 2009-04-24 12:02:02

I read them. :)
» Zanzibar on 2009-04-24 10:17:56

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