First Full Week Is Finished, and I'm Learnin'!

That's right, I have officially finished my first full week of classes. Due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday on Monday, classes didn't start until Tuesday, so my school week started last Tuesday and ended today. So what have I learned so far? Here are a few things:

1. A person can be in constant atrial fibrillation and have little or no noticeable side effects.
2. The Chinese name "Huizhen" means "Jean" in English.
3. A "categorical random variable" is a variable in which observations are categorical responses.
4. It is possible to live fairly normally after a railroad spike has been driven completely through one's skull.
5. Leaving one's student ID in one's dresser drawer at home is detrimental to one's meal plan.

Let's go over these one by one in a little bit more detail...

The person who is in constant atrial fibrillation is my Cell Biology professor. He is probably in his mid-60's and in fairly good health, but apparently has a heart defect of some kind. He has to go in to the doctor every two weeks (I think) and get shocked to get back to normal heart rhythms. Apparently one can live normally with constant atrial fibrillation, and the only noticeable side effect is an increase in heart rate (probably an increase in blood pressure also).

My Statistics professor is Huizhen Guo, a Chinese lady who told us her name means "Jean" in English.

The definition of "categorical random variable" came from my Statistics class. The reason I included it in my list was because it was quite humorous to myself and a couple other classmates. This is because we have been taught not to use parts of a word in it's definition, as our Chinese professor did. She has obviously not completely mastered the English language, in case you couldn't tell.

In my Psychology class, we learned about a man named Phineas Gage that worked for a railroad company that drove spikes into the ground. As he was driving one into the ground with gun powder, it shot up and drove through his skull, starting below the eye and exiting at the top of his head. The spike severed a part of his brain (I think it's called the amygdala) which caused his emotions to be expressed without being controlled by the cerebrum (the cerebrum holds back those emotions to an extent; without the connection within the brain, emotions are expressed fully and can be wild or extreme). He lived a fairly normal life physically, but did not act like himself due to the brain damage. This led to discoveries about how small parts of the brain affect large parts of a person's personality.

And finally, no, I didn't learn about the student ID thing from a book. Unfortunately I learned about it from personal experience. I had taken my ID out of my wallet and placed it in my dresser drawer at the beginning of my break, merely to cut down on the bulk that was filling my wallet at the time (cards, receipts, etc.). However, once it was time to leave, I forgot to take it out of my dresser, and it was left behind. On Tuesday when I wanted to go to dinner (I had a sandwich that my mom bought for my trip that I didn't eat, and I had that for lunch that day), I opened my wallet and my ID was not there. So I had to have it mailed to me, which took about two days, and in the meantime I had to buy my meals with my own money. Thankfully the expense was minimum, and my mom got my ID to me in a very quick manner. Moms are great, aren't they?

Well, now you have learned a few things that you can share with your loved ones! I will make sure to write about my other "pearls" of wisdom as the semester progresses. Y'all have a good week!

Back to School Once Again

Here I am, once again! Before I start into anything else, I hope everyone had a great Christmas and that 2007 will be a great year for all.

I arrived back here at school late last night after three and a half weeks at home. Classes started for me at 9:00 this morning, with Cell Biology. Then after an hour or so break, I walked the long trek to Psychology in the cold and snow. (Let it also be known that I got sick right before I left home.) So, I have been trying to battle this cold as much as I can, drinking lots of water, taking naps, and, of course, the necessary medicines.

My Christmas Break was most excellent, and since there was so much going on, I will just summarize a few key events. Most of my time off was spent with family, in one form or another. I was home for most of this vacation, so I spent a lot of time with my immediate family, and this included baking cookies, decorating the Christmas tree, and just spending time around the house. We attended midnight Mass as we have a couple times in the past, and spent Christmas Day together as a family, which was very nice.

A few days after Christmas, we drove four hours south to see more family in Atlanta. We stayed at my grandparents' house and had lots of opportunities to visit with the extended family (you may recall that Aunt Cheryl and family, and Uncle Duane and family live in Atlanta). We had several meals together, as families do, and one of those meals was made with the assistance of yours truly! Uncle Duane, Aunt Debbie, and I prepared a vegetarian spaghetti dinner that was most excellent (and fun too!). Besides having meals together, we also played lots of games, with Catch Phrase being the favorite. We also played this new game my immediate family got for Christmas called Scene It, which involves movie trivia. We found out that most of us are not avid enough movie buffs for that game, but it was fun regardless. My brother, my cousin Danny, and I did go to see the movie "We Are Marshall" at one point, and it was excellent, but unfortunately not old enough to be in the game. The last day or two was spent talking and visiting (along with a couple of visits to Krystals), and ended with a little football watching, snacking type get-together. We left on New Year's Eve, and got home in enough time to make some snacks and ring in the New Year. All in all, it was an excellent trip, and I really enjoyed all the family events.

Besides spending time at home, I also went back to work a few days a week at Ingles. Since I wrote the book on bookkeeping at Ingles (literally; I wrote a complete guide/checklist for all the procedures we are to follow), the manager had me train a new bookkeeper for a couple days. Training is always a time-consuming chore, but he picked up on things fairly quickly (I give credit to my co-worker who trained him on the first day). I did have to stay a little later than usual on those days, but that's what you have to do to make sure the trainee gets it down flat. In the end I think he should do well, but only time will tell. It took me awhile to get everything down, but "repetition is the mother of learning" or whatever it is they say (my Calculus teacher said it in Latin, but I can't exactly remember: Repetitio Mater...something).

I guess that's a good summary of my Christmas Break, although not an exhaustive summary. If I have time later this week, I will fill in some blanks. But for now, I'll have to leave it at that. I'm back at school now (though I may not be fully ready mentally, it is time) and I guess it's time to get back to the studying thing. I shall talk to y'all later, and have a great week!

Momma, I'm Comin' Home

I know that's a lyric to a song, but would someone please enlighten me as to which song and which artist???

Anyways, I just got finished with my English final (20 minutes of writing about what we learned this semester), so I am getting ready to head for home! All I need to do is load everything in the car and stop for gas, etc. and I'll be ready! Well, I also need to check out of the room (since we all have to leave over Christmas Break) and sell my books back, if they will buy them. Other than that, I'm done!

I will try to blog at least a couple times while I am home, but no promises! I will be sure to update everyone as soon as I can, and I hope you will continue to do the same. So, if I don't hear from y'all before then, Merry Christmas, and have a very Happy New Year!

Three Hours...

That's how much sleep I got last night. I went to bed around midnight, which is early for me, especially considering I had been studying for finals. But alas, I didn't fully fall asleep until after 4:00 this morning, with the majority of the time before then being spent TRYING to get to sleep. I don't know what got over me, but I just couldn't stop thinking long enough to get to sleep! Has that ever happened to anyone else? It happens to me all the time, and I just don't know what to do about it! That's probably the reason why I take naps all the time, which in turn makes it hard to get to sleep at night, which starts the whole vicious cycle all over again. Oh well, I'll be home soon enough and that will hopefully break the cycle.

As I write this, I have just finished my first final, Sociology. I have my Organic Chemistry final at 10:30, and I have just been looking over a few things to refresh my memory. Oh, and the University did something special with the coffee machines, so everyone can get free coffee or cocoa all day today! So, of course, after my final I went and got some hot chocolate (not really a coffee person), and boy was it good! Maybe I'll get another after my next final...

Well, I must be off, as this Chemistry isn't going to do itself (if only it could...). I will be sure to post again before I leave on Wednesday and let everyone know how my finals (a.k.a. Hell Week) have gone.

Last Full Week of Classes

In case you all didn't see my comment on my last post, I finally got the other pictures posted. Apparently I can't post my pictures to the center of the page, so I had to align them to the side. It still works, and it actually takes up less space since the text wraps around the picture so nicely.

This week marks the official end of the Fall Semester, so all my classes are getting ready for that big finish. This week will be filled with reviews and putting together those loose ends in the learning process, among other things. I had the first part of a two-part Calculus test today (the other part being on Wednesday), I have a final Chemistry Lab test tomorrow, and an English paper due on Friday. But even though classes will be technically over, there are still finals to take next week. Here's what my exam schedule looks like next week:

Monday - Sociology and Organic Chemistry
Tuesday - Botany Lab
Wednesday - Botany lecture, Calculus, and English

Yep, Wednesday is going to be a very busy day! But at least I will be going home afterwards, so I will have something to look forward to. The one thing that bothers me about this is that normally you don't take finals for lab courses. Well, my Botany professor thought otherwise, so she decided to create another test to take during finals week. However, the good thing about her exams is that they are not cumulative/comprehensive, so there will not be a whole lot of material on there.

After exams are over, I'm homeward bound! Here's a question for everyone: when is everyone else getting out of school for Christmas? My friends back home are getting out this week after finals, and going back the same week in January as I am (week of the 16th). That means they get out a week early and go back at the same time! What's up with that? There are others that get out this week and go back a week earlier, which I think is more fair. What do you think? Isn't this cutting close to the Christmas holiday?

Well, I need to get to studying for my Chemistry Lab test. Luckily this test isn't cumulative either, so it should not be too hard. I will talk to y'all later!

Krohn Conservatory

I said in my last post that I wanted to discuss with you my Botany field trip to the local Krohn Conservatory, so here it is! Krohn is just about five minutes from here, and is apparently a top attraction in the city of Cincinnati. This is my second visit here; my first was in the second semester of General Biology Lab. However, since Botany is exclusively a class for plants and GENERAL Biology covers just about everything, you can imagine that this visit was a bit different. This time around we were presented with a map/guide and about 60 questions to answer while we walked along.

The Conservatory itself has five major rooms: the Tropical House, the Desert Room, the Palm House, the Orchid House, and the Display Room. There were other rooms that held smaller potted plants such as bonsai trees and the like, but we were not required to look at those. I'll just go briefly through each room with the website's picture of each.

The Tropical House:

The Tropical House, as you can imagine, has a lot of tropical plants and trees. Some noteworthy plants included the vanilla plant, the cacao tree (mmm...chocolate), sugar cane, papaya, fig tree, and lots of hibiscus flowers. Almost all of these plants are only grown in warm, moist climates, such as in Florida and the tropics. There weren't too many flowers in bloom, but the ones that were blooming were vivid and beautiful. The colors ranged from bright pinks to dark reds, and even blue and purple. The plants ranged in size from low to the ground to reaching all the way to the ceiling. Oh, and because these are all tropical plants, it was quite warm and moist in that room. This even allowed us to shed our winter coats!

The Desert Room:

The Desert Room was quite a change coming from the Tropical House. In contrast, it was quite dry and stuffy in that room, but these plants flourished just as well as those in other rooms. The typical desert inhabitants such as cacti were in there, but also some plants with very elaborate leaves. The only different between these and other leafy plants is that the leaves are stiff and thick in order to conserve water. Also, a lot of the plants had spines or "pricklies" as leaves to prevent water loss in the dry environment. There were some flowers present, and they were just as bright and vivid as those tropical plants. It really was surprising that such beauty can grow in such harsh environments.

The Palm House:

As you can probably imagine from the name of the room, the Palm House contained those trees you in Florida and California are familiar with: the palms. However, this room also included flowering trees and non-palm trees that grow in similar habitats. The tallest tree in there was the Florida royal palm, which practically touched the 45 foot-high ceiling. There were fern palms, "pine" trees, begonias, coffee trees, a coconut palm, and even a banana tree with REAL bananas growing! These plants are some of the species found in the tropical rain forests, so there was also some information about the rain forests themselves. We found out that they only habitate 8% of the earth's surface, but contain 50% of all plant and animal species. This is only one reason why the rain forests are so important, and why conservationists are so adamant about saving them. At the end of the room there was a giant waterfall, which really was spectacular. Some of the plants had to grow near the water, and there were even some of the plants that grew IN the water. This really shows how important water is in these ecosystems.

The Orchid House:

I don't have a picture of this house since it's pretty new to the Conservatory, but I'll try to describe it for you. Orchids are some of the most numerous flowering plants, so there were dozens of different plants. There were different colors everywhere, almost covering the entire visible spectrum: red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, and white. These plants also require a lot of water, so this room had running water in it. One interesting fact that we found out was that the Conservatory is a storage center for endangered plants for the government. They even collect confiscated plants from airports, etc. when people try to bring them illegally into the U.S. It was a really colorful room, and even smelled good, too.

The Display Room:

The Display Room was another of the rooms we didn't have to look in, but we were encouraged to view it anyways. They change it from time to time depending on the time of year, and although I don't have the current picture, I'm sure you can imagine what is in there now. Any takers? Well, it was decorated with Christmas-related plants like poinsettias and lilies, and not to mention a Christmas tree or two. It really was very nice and along with the music in the background, got me into the spirit of the season.

Well, that concludes our trip to Krohn Conservatory. If you want to find out more (and why wouldn't you?), just click on the link I placed in my first sentence of this post. That's really all I have to say for now, but I'm sure I'll have plenty to talk about at the end of this week. I hope everyone is doing well, and looking forward to Christmas like I am.

Back to School and News from Home

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back on here, but I just haven't found enough time until now to sit down and write for awhile. I got back here in Cincinnati on Sunday night, and it was fairly late, as usual. Plus I have had two tests this week and a paper due, plus some major homework, so I have been spending most of my time with school, as should be expected. But I'm always glad to be back here talking to y'all!

I won't go into too much detail about my trip home, but I will summarize some of the high (and low) points. To start, I wanted to talk about the drive back home, which normally wouldn't be something to write home about... This was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, but I didn't expect too much traffic, since I hardly found any last year. But lo and behold, right through downtown Cincinnati and about a half an hour south of Lexington the traffic was at a dead halt. I was only in downtown Cincy for about five minutes, but in Kentucky I sat in traffic for more than an hour without moving more than two miles. By that time, my car started to overheat and as I looked over, I saw a cloud of white smoke start to puff out. Naturally I started to panic and really didn't know what to do. So I tried to leave room in front of me so I could speed up and get the air moving again. But that didn't help enough. Thankfully there was an exit coming up in a few hundred yards, which of course I took. It just so happened to be a Highway 25 exit, and this just happens to run into Knoxville. So I took the exit in an attempt to remedy the problem, and then ride the highway until I got home.

After I got off at the exit, I drive around for another ten minutes, but at least I was moving and getting air through the engine. My coolant light flashed on and off, which solved that problem. So I stopped at the first service station I found in "Podunkville" to add some coolant, which I just so happened to have in the car. When I opened the coolant intake cap (after letting the car cool down of course) I found that there was not a drop of coolant left...AHHH!!! Well it's a good thing I stopped because who knows what would have happened next? So I added the coolant (after needing to purchase some more) and got back on the road. I took 25 just to stay away from that interstate, and there was absolutely no traffic. Plus, since 25 runs close to parallel with I-75, I looked over and the three lanes had gone down to just ONE (what idiot thought about doing that crap close to the Thanksgiving holiday???). But after awhile I ventured onto the other local highways to check the interstate and it was back to normal. So, my 3.5-4 hour drive took more than five and a half hours; I was very tired when I got home.

Once I got there, I was very happy to see my family and finally get out of the car. I spent as much time as possible with my family while I was home, but because it was a reasonable amount of time for a break, I also worked a few days at the grocery store. As you can imagine, Wednesday night was quite busy, so that was hectic. But I also worked Thanksgiving morning so I would be able to have dinner that afternoon, and surprisingly it was still busy. By the time I left, however, it had died down significantly and I was able to go home right after my shift ended (unusual, since we usually don't get out right on time). When I got home, dinner was being prepared, and boy did it smell good!

We ate around 6:30 or so (that turkey took longer than expected), and we were all very hungry. Our table included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, corn, cranberry sauce, rolls, and, of course, pumpkin and pecan pies later for dessert. Let me tell you, it was an excellent meal! And I helped! (Does anyone else remember that Shake 'n' Bake commercial?) Since I had taken the traditional Beauregard nap before the dinner, we just spent the time after dinner talking and relaxing, followed by the scrumptious desserts. All in all, it was a wonderful holiday.

After Thanksgiving day, I worked a little more and spent more time with my family. I didn't really get out much, since I had spent so much darn time in the car. So, as you can imagine, I wasn't in a hurry to drive back up here on Sunday. I didn't end up leaving down until after 7:00 (yes, I know that's kind of late to leave), and I was definitely not ready to go. But, I just kept in mind that I would be home again in less than a month, so I tried to stay positive. So I got back here around 11:30, which given that I stopped to eat, was good time. After bringing all my stuff inside and finding a parking spot, it was almost midnight, and time for bed. And since I had class at 8:30 the next morning, I had to sleep fast, and I was quite tired throughout the day. But, everything worked out all right after I got my nap, and I was quickly back into the routine of school.

Since I'm sure some of you are wondering, I just wanted to let you know that everyone is doing great at home. Work and school keep everybody busy, but that is to be expected. We all had a great time while I was home, and it was very nice not to have to run at such a fast-pace as I do here. There was some bad news, however, when I got home. My uncle Bob, my dad's oldest brother, passed away about a week before Thanksgiving, and this was quite a shock to all of us. He had been driving a truck through Texas and had died while he was there; my aunt Bonnie didn't find out until a couple days later, and it was very unexpected and emotional for her. They held the funeral the Friday after Thanksgiving, but we didn't find out about this until late Thursday night and were unable to attend. I could tell that my dad was very sad about that, and it was quite depressing to think about such things over what's supposed to be a happy holiday. But that also gave us the opportunity to be thankful for family, and, for my dad, to remember all the good times he had with his (favorite) brother. So although this dampened our holiday significantly, we still managed to enjoy the time spent with one another.

Well, that's really all I wanted to report for now. On top of the tests and such this week, I also went on a field trip to a local plant conservatory here in Cincinnati. I wanted to tell you all a little bit about my adventures in the plant world, so I'll make sure to write about that tomorrow if I have time. Anyways, I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday, and that you were able to spend time with the ones you love.

Uneventful Weekend

Nope, I didn't do anything exciting whatsoever. I did watch the UT-Vanderbilt game (or part of it) and got some things done around here. The big thing going on around here was that game between Ohio State and Michigan, since most of the people here are from those two states (Ohio and Michigan). I couldn't have cared less, but don't tell that to diehard fans!

As you may have noticed from the graphic on the top of my page, I will be going home for Thanksgiving break on Tuesday. I will be leaving here after my one class (Botany Lab) which will hopefully be over by 3:00, if my professor is feeling festive. (Observant readers may notice that normally I have Chemistry Lab on Tuesdays. Well the labs were cancelled for this week, since they didn't want the Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday sections to get behind.) The drive will take about 4 hours, since I know I will be hitting some rush hour traffic AND holiday traffic. This puts me at being home around 7-7:30, depending on if I have to stop, and factoring in the traffic. I will be home from Tuesday night through Sunday afternoon, and will be arriving back here Sunday night.

Besides the family traditions of Thanksgiving, I will also be working some during this break. I plan on working a couple of nights and one day shift, just to have some extra money. My boss at Ingles is more than willing to work this out with me, so that really is a good thing. However, I had to fill out paperwork again to go back to work, which was another thing I did last night. It will be good to get back to work and earning that almighty dollar again.

As for the rest of this school week, it should go along fairly well. Last week I had one test and a paper due, but obviously there isn't enough time this week to do anything like that. Mondays are relatively short, and since I won't have Chemistry Lab on Tuesday, I can sleep in! Oh, and some of you may be interested in hearing that the University has already decorated for Christmas. They have put lights on all the lamp posts and decorated a tree with lights on the Residential Mall. Many of you know already how I feel about all that, but I'll enlighten you again if you have forgotten. I think people should at least wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate and think about Christmas. (The Church doesn't start until Advent; why can't society behave the same way?) So, as Aunt Monica so eloquently quipped, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Well, that's really all I wanted to report. I was just sitting here and felt like writing for awhile, since I really don't have much to do today. I will probably leave one more post before I leave on Tuesday (maybe Tuesday morning). As you can probably imagine, I will not be blogging like normal while I'm away, but you can be assured that I will fill everyone in when I get back. Talk to y'all later, and have a great rest of your weekend.

In Memory of Sharon

As many of you know, Sharon Selby passed away one year ago today. If you want, you can go back to my former posts a year ago and read all I had to say at that time:

Sharon Selby Part I - November 18, 2005

Sharon Selby Part II - November 21, 2005

I have been struggling with accepting her death for some time now, yet I think I am finally getting to that point of acceptance. It was especially hard considering I hadn't seen her in so long, plus she had been suffering so much up to her death. I had been communicating with her via e-mail just a month or so before her passing, and yet, I didn't even see what was right in front of my face. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, so now as I read that final e-mail she sent only days before her passing, I can see what I had missed back then. At first I felt guilty, but eventually this turned into anger and sadness.

One year later, I think I am finally getting to that point of acceptance. It has not been an easy "journey" but it is happening. It has taken a lot of prayer and meditation, which, ironically enough, were things Sharon took heavy stock in. I finally came to the conclusion that there was nothing I could do, so guilt was not necessary. I should not be angry or sad, but joyful. Sharon has been freed of her pain and suffering on Earth and received her reward (hopefully) in Heaven. It is kind of odd that this has taken me so long to accept this, but I'm glad I finally am. I have realized that all I can do is "let go and let God" as they say, and that's what I have been doing. I just got back from Mass and lighting a candle in the Church for Sharon. Prayer really works!

Well, that's really all I have to say today. I'm sorry to vent all my feelings into this blog, but that just so happens to be my outlet. Let us thank God for the gift of Sharon in our lives, and ask Him to watch over her now and forever. Let us also ask Sharon to intercede for us and watch over us. We miss you and we hope to see you again in Heaven.

One Helluva Week

What would you call it when you had FIVE tests, a project, and a paper due, all in the same week? I would have to call it HELL WEEK!! That's exactly what happened to me this week, and thank God it's finally the weekend. I had a Sociology project due on Monday, a Botany Lab test and a Chemistry Lab test on Tuesday, an English paper due on Wednesday, and a Botany test, a Chemistry test, and a Calculus test on Friday. WHEW!! That was most definitely the busiest week of my life... Not to mention that the three tests on Friday were back-to-back with no breaks!

On top of all the tests, etc. was registration for classes next semester. My time was at 1:00 yesterday afternoon, so I jumped on my computer and started choosing. I got closed out of one of the classes I wanted to take, so initially I was only registered for five classes (12 credit hours). Later that night, after my last class of the day, I looked around for other classes to fill it's spot, and now I have 15 credit hours. Here are the classes I will be taking next semester:

BIOL 360 - Cell Biology
CHEM 242 - Organic Chemistry II
CHEM 243 - Organic Chemistry II Lab
ENGL 205 - Literature and the Moral Imagination
MATH 156 - General Statistics
PSYC 101 - Introduction to Psychology

That's two fewer credit hours than this current semester, so that should work out very well. But I obviously don't want to dwell on thoughts about next semester, since the current one is more important right now!

Other than that, I really haven't done much. I just got back from Wal-Mart and getting a little snack, and tonight I will have laundry (and perhaps some homework). I hope this post finds everyone well, and I'll talk to y'all later!

Death Penalty, Anyone?

We had a discussion in Sociology Monday morning about that very topic: capital punishment/death penalty. It started out fairly innocent, but as it usually does with controversial topics, it gets fairly heated. However, there were quite a few good points, for both sides of the issue.

The main reason I wanted to start this post was to start a discussion. I know what I believe, which will not change drastically based on others' beliefs, but I wanted to hear the opinions of real people out there. It is difficult to have a discussion like that with other teenagers, since they are hasty to accept someone's opinion when it is different from their own. Also, it tends to get more heated, and personalities (and words) tend to clash. I figured that an online discussion involving more mature individuals would be more civil. So, what do you think?

Just to start the ball rolling, I'll give my opinions on the matter. Killing doesn't justify killing. What kind of message are we sending if we kill people? It's saying that the government can kill people, so it can't be all wrong. It all comes down to the Law of Non-Contradiction, which states "something cannot both be and not be at the same time, in the same way, and in the same respect." We can't say that killing is wrong and then kill someone, even if they are murderers. Plus, for these people, death is WAY too easy. Death is instant, and in today's world, virtually painless. A life-time jail sentence is much more drawn out, and can be painful depending on the prison. However, as my Sociology professor pointed out, some prisons treat the prisoners more like royalty than murderers. I think the prison system needs to buckle down and make prison more like boot camp; we can't torture these people, but we should at least be more firm with them. Maybe if our prisons were more like that, we wouldn't have the problems with overcrowding (and a 90% return rate of prisoners after release). What do y'all think about all that?

So anyways, that's all I have to say about that. Now I want to hear from you. Agree or disagree, let's keep it clean! We are (mostly) family here, so I hope we can keep that in mind. We are all adults and are quite mature, and I don't anticipate any problems, so let your voice be heard! Talk to y'all later!

Nothing Much Is New, But Thank God It's Friday

It has been a long week, as you can probably tell from my title. The fact that it's been cold and rainy for much of this week probably put me in this dumpy mood, but thankfully it's Friday... I don't have anything planned for the weekend (except catching up on some homework and studying), but I will definitely take advantage of the extra hour of sleep Saturday night. Remember the old mantra for Daylight Savings Time? "Spring forward, Fall back." I will enjoy that extra hour.

One of the few interesting things that I did this week was go on a Field Trip with my Botany Lab class. We went to a local park and walked through the woods during our scheduled class time. We looked at the levels of forest organization (overstory trees, understory trees, shrubs, and herbaceous layer) and also identified the different kinds of plants we saw. This particular forest is made up primarily of maple and beech trees, but also contained oak trees and buckeye trees, among others. The understory was made up of pawpaw trees (does anyone know the song about the Pawpaw Patch?), and we could see that there were many young trees growing in patches (hence the song). Shrubs included the invasive honeysuckle bush and herbaceous plants included small grasses and other wild plants.

Along the way, we also got to see mosses, lichen, and fungi, which were found mostly on tree trunks (dead and living) and in very moist areas. We also saw limited animal life (it is cold after all), which consisted mainly of insects, a few birds, and a baby salamander. We witnessed what happens when an overstory tree dies and falls over (can anyone guess?) and also what happens to the dead log (another guess?). We also got to see a lot of colorful leaves right near the end of the leaf changing season. Here's a good question: why is it that leaves change colors in fall? What causes these colors to be expressed instead of the typical green?

After about two and a half hours of walking in the cold, I was very ready to get warm. I jumped in the car (we had to drive to the park) and blasted the heat until I was nice and toasty. My professor had suggested going to a Graeter's for ice cream, but it was much too cold. (Graeter's is quite popular around here as it is a local company, but apparently it is world-famous ice cream. I have been there on two occasions, and it was excellent. Look it up online for more information.)

Since that field trip, the only other event that I would like to mention was another activity in my Botany Lab. We are practicing the art of plant propagation, where we take parts of plants to grow a new plant. We practiced about six different techniques, including using different parts of leaves and the stems. We will have to see what the results are later in the semester, and ultimately we will get to take home our new plants.

Other than these few things, my life is fairly uneventful as usual. I am already looking forward to Thanksgiving break, since there have been lots of tests lately. AHHH!!! Anyways, I hope everyone else is having a good weekend. Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour on Saturday night, and enjoy the extra sleep!

Back to School

Well, I am back from my Fall Break. Let me just say right now that it was not nearly long enough! I got back really late last night (around 11:30) and it took a three-hour nap to catch up on the lost sleep. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day sleep-wise...

As for the break itself, I had a really good time. However, not all of it was spent resting, since I had ulterior motives for this trip. It was again time for my elementary/middle school's Fall Festival, and I once again was in charge of the Alumni Booth. I don't want to get into all the details of the day, but suffice it to say I spent quite a few hours setting up, running the booth, and taking it down. I will try to go into more details later this week, when I have more time.

As I said, I arrived back here at around 11:30 last night. Today I finally got my Sociology project back, and I got an A!!! Thanks again to everyone that helped me with the study. I really appreciate it, and you helped me to do well. Oh, and I also got my first Sociology test back, and I got a B+! It was kind of disappointing, since it was only 2 measly points away from an A; with the test and the project, I should have an A for the class so far.

Well, I've got a little bit of homework to do tonight in preparation for class tomorrow. I have a Chemistry Lab to look over, as well as a Botany Lab test to study for. Thanks again for your participation, and also thank you for all of your comments to my last post. I really found them amusing, and I learned something, too! Until later...

Accents and Colloquialisms

Before I start into the topic at hand, I just wanted to thank everyone again for helping me with my Sociology project. I turned it in Friday, so we shall see how well I did. All the information you gave me was very helpful, but ultimately it will be my analysis that will get me a grade.

Now to the discussion at hand: accents and colloquialisms. We have been studying culture and societies in Sociology, and one of the topics we discussed was language. Everyone who speaks English in the United States speaks it a different way. Most people have some hint of an accent, or even a full on noticeable one. Then there are some people that don't have an accent at all! In particular, we watched a movie in class that went around to different regions to compare the accents. They visited some of the typical "accent headquarters," such as New York, Boston, Texas, and Louisiana. I think most of us would be familiar with these accents, and would be able to pick them out of a crowd. (The most prominent one to me was the Boston accent since it's so distinguished. "Pahk the cah in the yahd. I sar it! Dachesta." In case you didn't get any of that, "Park the car in the yard. I saw it! Dorchester.")

So, I thought it would be fun to see what kind of accents everybody thinks (or knows) they have. And if you are one of those people that doesn't really have a distinguishing accent, you probably still use the language of a certain part of the country (colloquialisms). I will use myself as an example, since this is, of course, my blog. I am from the South, born and raised. I don't have the Southern drawl that is commonly stereotyped, but I do use some of the language and mannerisms. One of my favorite "words" to say is "y'all." In case you don't know what that is, that is simply a contraction of the words "you" and "all," when referring to a group of people.

Does anyone want to share their accents and colloquialisms? Or, would anyone like to comment on the stereotypes of certain people of certain regions? My comment on stereotypes would be that they are merely exaggerations and are not always true. Take the South for example, since I know a great deal about it. If you only watched programs like "Hee Haw" and "The Beverly Hillbillies," you would assume that all Southerners talk really slow with that recognizable accent, and would be relatively simple and uneducated. Of course, that stereotype is clearly untrue, since I am defeating it as we speak...

Well, that's really all I wanted to comment on for today. As you may have noticed on the top of my page, I have a Fall Break coming up this week, and I will be going home for a long weekend. I will probably be away from my blog during that time, so please forgive me. Be assured that I will be back to blogging once I get back to school. Thanks again for you help, and have a great week!

Why Oranges and Lemons Taste Differently

I know what you're all thinking, "They're different because they grow on different plants." Well, it's not as simple as that. It's not even as general as genetics. It's much more basic: it's because of molecules and their shape.

Let me explain this a little more. In my Organic Chemistry class, we discussed shapes of molecules, and my professor gave us the example of a molecule found in both oranges and lemons. Both molecules have the formula C10H16 (or CH3C6H8CH2CH3 in the expanded formula). The only difference between the molecules is that the groups found at the bottom of the carbon rings are in different positions. Here's a graphic to explain that a little better:

If you can't tell, the groups are pointed in different directions. You have to imagine this in 3-D, which let me tell you can be quite difficult. The group on the orange molecule is coming out of the picture, as referenced by the dark line. Conversely, the group on the lemon molecule is drawn back into the picture, as referenced by the dashed line. Now does that make a little bit more sense???

Now, the main part of this lesson was to explain why oranges and lemons taste different to us when we eat them (or drink their juice). The enzymes and taste receptors in the body are chiral, meaning they are not symmetrical and read things in a certain direction. Because these molecules are also chiral, they are read differently by the taste receptors and enzymes in the mouth. The fact that the bottom groups are in different directions gives the molecules different tastes. This also shows that even changing the shape of a molecule can dramatically alter it's properties, in this case, taste.

So, there's your Organic Chemistry lesson for today. I hope at least part of that was interesting to you, since I really thought that was cool. But anyways... Thank you to everyone out there that has sent in their survey responses. I have gotten almost 100% participation only one day after sending it out, so that is very good. I thank you...

Well that's really all I wanted to share tonight. If I can think of anything else to post about, I'm sure I will have ample opportunities to post this weekend. Enjoy!

Computer Woes and First Tests

As some of you may have noticed, I have been away from blogging for the last two weeks. This is not because of laziness or lack of time; unfortunately it was because of computer problems. Two weeks ago Friday, my screen went completely black, and I was unable to see the desktop. I could see some specks of light breaking through the darkness, but not enough to do much of anything. I called Dell immediately, and they proceeded to ask me lots of questions, and to see what the problem was. The giant box came a few days later, and I sent it away that same day. About five days later, I picked it up from the post office, and it was back to normal. Apparently they had to replace the screen, which, mind you, is not very cheap. My warranty had expired, so none of it was covered. But, I don't mind, since I really wanted my laptop back. So, there's my story.

As for school, this week and last week are the weeks for tests. I had a Botany Lab test on Tuesday and a Calculus test on Friday, and then I have a Chemistry test this coming Wednesday. I also had a paper due last Wednesday in English, and another one is due is a couple weeks. And, finally, as most of you already know, I am working on my Sociology project, which is due in two weeks. Speaking of which, I am ready to begin communicating with my participants, so if I could have your e-mail addresses, I would be most appreciative. If you don't want to leave your e-mail addresses on here, you can e-mail me at monroes@xavier.edu and I'll get back to you within a day or two. I'm really looking forward to this project, and I thank all of you again for participating.

Well, that is all for my short update. I will blog more about my classes later this week, so I hope you all are looking forward to that. And, as I get results to my first tests, I will make sure to update you on that also. That's all for now, and I hope everyone has a very productive week.

Sociological Study

Hello all! I just wanted to write a short note about a project that I will be doing for my Introduction to Sociology class in the near future. The interesting part of this project is that I will be involving you, if you wish to do so. The project is called a sociogram, and I will explain more about it later, as soon as I find out more information. The main idea of this is that I will be asking a couple of questions, predicting your answers, getting your actual answers, and compiling data for the sociogram. I need to have at least six (6) people for this study, so are any of you out there willing to participate?

I can assure you that the questions I will ask will not be deep, personal questions. And even if they were, I am supposed to interact with each person individually (ie. not sharing answers with others, and communicating with one person at a time). And it would also be best to keep this within a social group, such as a family. So, since most of you readers out there are family, that would be a pretty simple task. Any takers?

Remember I need at least six of you, and it would help me out tremendously if you could participate. If you could just leave me a comment or an e-mail if you are interested, I will communicate with you later with the questions and other details. Thank you in advance for your help, and I hope to hear from some of you all very soon!

My French-Canadian Ancestors Would Be Proud!

I'll explain the title momentarily, for all those that are puzzled right now. First, I wanted to give a little background on a project I am doing for my Botany Lab Class. Since this class is dedicated entirely to plants, naturally part of that class would be identifying different species and types of plants. Well, that's just what we have been doing!

Part of the process includes using a dichotomous key. Any takers as to what that is?! Instead of making you wait in anticipation for another post, I'll just fill you in now. A dichotomous key is a written device used by scientists to identify organisms and objects. "Dichotomous" refers to the fact that there are two lines or phrases identifying a trait of the organism. The purpose is to describe the organism or object in a series of steps to narrow down the possibilities of what it is. In Botany, this is done by separating out different kinds of plants into groups and eliminating the erroneous possibilities. For example, a typical dichotomous key could start out like this:

1a. Leaves deciduous (fall out in winter) - step 2
1b. Leaves not deciduous (evergreens) - step 20

In this instance, you are eliminating several steps just in the first lines. The purpose is to follow the steps until you know with a great level of certainty what a specific plant (in this case, tree) is. We practiced this around campus, and used the key with great success. Of course, when it comes down to different trees in the same family (oaks, for example), it becomes more difficult to differentiate due to cross-breeding or similarities in tree features. But, this key would be useful in determining the family or genus of a particular tree.

Next, my professor gave us a mini-assignment of our own. After using a key she provided, she gave us the opportunity to create our own key. She gave each person a unique print-off that had images of leaves from around the campus. Each person had five leaves on their paper, and had to create a key for those particular leaves. I have scanned the paper I received into this post. Can you find anything in that image that might explain the title of this post?

(Hint: Look in the lower left-hand corner.)

Do you see it? For those who could not, it is a Sugar Maple leaf, the leaf on the Canadian flag! Being of French-Canadian ancestry, as I am, and as many of you readers are, it was very fitting for me to get the Sugar Maple leaf for my project, the symbol many Americans associate primarily with Canada. Wouldn't my Beauregard ancestors be proud?

So, my task by Thursday is to create a dichotomous key for these five leaves. I can take any approach I wish, but the recommendation of my professor was to separate the leaves into simple and compound leaves. Simple would be, for example, the Sugar Maple leaf. Compound, for example, would be the long branch with several leaflets in the middle of the page (the Golden-Rain Tree). By differentiating between simple and compound, I would be able to eliminate one of the leaves from my possibilities, since there is only one compound leaf. This would also allow me to not differentiate between mundane characteristics like leaf margin or apex shape, which would be harder to differential than the difference between simple and compound. Do you get the idea?

Well, that's the end of my lesson tonight. I hope I didn't utterly confuse everyone in the process! Oh, and by the way, to answer the question posed by my grandfather on my last post, yes, I do know what that is. I believe you mean "apical meristem," and that is the tip of a leaf, root, or stem where the plant continues to grow. Anyways, that's it from me! I hope everyone is having a good week, and had an enjoyable, long Labor Day weekend.

First Week of Classes and Answers

Well, my first week of Fall classes is now over. There's not really much to report about those, so I will just leave it at that. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed my other classes and that I think it's going to be a very good semester for me.

In other news, I have been battling a cold since I got here on Sunday. I figured that by now it would have subsided, but alas, it comes and goes. I have been taking antihistamines and Tylenol since the onset, not to mention plenty of rest and fluids. However, the rain and fluctuating temperatures in Cincinnati are aggravating this illness. Hopefully within the next couple of days I will discover what to do to successfully rid myself of this cold. For now, I'll drink my OJ and get plenty of rest.

Oh yeah, and I guess you all would like to know the answers to the questions in my last post. To date, I have only had one person (Uncle Tim) attempt to answer my questions, and that is a bit disappointing... Is this something that we want to continue in the future? I promise that other questions won't take as much research involved! But anyways, just let me know if this is something you wish to see again in future posts. (Remember that I have several courses from which to find material!) Here are the answers to the previous post:

1. roots, stem, and leaves
2. Chlorophyll, green
3. Xylem and phloem
4. dermal, ground, and vascular
5. petiole
6. node

Did anyone get close to these answers?

Well, I guess I should get back to treating my cold and watching my tennis. I just watched another amazing match by Agassi; I'm not sure what round it was, but it was against James Blake, and he beat him in the fifth set tiebreak. I hope to hear from all of you soon, and wish me luck on defeating my nemesis. Have a great Labor Day weekend!

On Completing the First Day of Classes...

Well, the first day of classes is now over, and believe it or not, I learned something on the very first day! I only had two classes: Organic Chemistry Lab and Botany Lab. Organic Chemistry Lab just started out as every other Chemistry Lab, in that we went through safety procedures and made sure we had all our necessary supplies. We did get an assignment on the very first day, which I wasn't exactly thrilled about, but since that class only meets once a week, it won't be due until next Tuesday. So, as usual, it looks like my Chemistry Lab will be interesting, and at times, fun!

When it came to Botany Lab, I really didn't know what to expect. I knew we would be studying about plants, but I really had no idea how the class would be structured. Well, it turns out that it will be a fairly laid-back environment, since according to my professor, lab is supposed to be more fun and interesting. I can tell that she is a very friendly, genuine person, and she really tries to connect with her students. I know already that I will enjoy the lab part of this course, so I will probably be talking about it a lot in the coming months.

Okay, now here's where I want to try something new. My grandfather suggested that I shouldn't only discuss what's happening in my life, but to ask questions and involve the reader. Well, here we go! Like I said before, I learned something today from my Botany class, so let's see how much you all know about plants.

1. What are the three organs that make up the vascular plant body? (Vascular plants are the ones we usually think of: trees, bushes, flowers, etc.)

2. What is the pigment that plants use in order to perform photosynthesis? What color is this pigment?

3. What are the two pathways of the vascular system of plants? (Vascular = transporting water and nutrients)

4. What three types of tissues make up the internal structures of plants?

5. What is the part of the plant that grows as a stalk from the stem and forms a leaf?

6. What is the name of the portion of the stem where one or more leaves are attached?

Well, there you have it! You might need to do a little research to find these answers, but see if you can come up with any of them on your own. I knew a few of these before today's class, but a couple of them (namely, numbers 4-6) I learned, or re-learned, today. Hopefully you enjoy this type of reader involvement, and if you do, I intend to do it more often. I will still talk about my life both in and out of school, but I think this type of involvement can be fun and different.

Well, I should really be getting to bed soon, since I have classes all morning tomorrow. Here's where I'll be tomorrow: Sociology, Botany lecture, Organic Chemistry lecture, Calculus, and English. It'll be a very busy day, but I think I can handle it. Of course, I will report to you any major events that occur, and maybe even some more questions to ponder! I hope this post finds everyone well and enjoying their week, and I hope to hear some answers to my brain busters soon!