BioBeer!

http://www.technologyreview.com/biomedicine/21628/

I wish MIT had come up with this. :)

Violation Notice

http://tech.mit.edu/V128/N43/ranade.html

http://www.photoshelter.com/gallery-show/G00001EXCtEjML7g

Sometimes, I'm really proud to be a student at this school.

And that's all I think I need to say about this, especially on a public forum. This hack speaks for itself.

Any questions, leave 'em in the comments or email me.

One year's perspective

It's always strange for me to read through the old entries on my blog, because at least to me, they seem very different than the sort of things I post now. I think that's mainly because I've shifted most of my serious thoughts and entries to my admissions blog, so it's really just the random observations (and YouTube videos :D) that get posted here nowadays.

But, still. I almost wish I could go back to last year, when I was simultaneously so excited to head to MIT and Boston yet also incredibly sad to leave South Bend. And I still feel that way, usually, whenever I come back home for a break (like I am now). But I feel much more torn - caught? - between Boston and South Bend than I used to. I think it's partly because many of my friends have also moved on to their respective colleges and new cities, and there's less tying me here than there used to be. After all, while the physical place you live is always important...I can't help but feel that it's the people in that place who really make it home. And now, the vast majority of my friends are also in Boston. (But maybe that too will change, once I graduate - who knows?)

I'm also becoming less dependent, I think (and hope). I relied on my parents for a lot...but, well, part of college is learning to live by yourself, and I love having more freedom. Sometimes I use it less responsibly than I should, to be sure...but I'm working on that. :)

Finally...I think a large part of me simply loves Boston. South Bend is a fantastic city - but it's a small city, and it's incredibly different from Boston. In the physical sense, South Bend is much more stratified than Boston: here are the subdivisions and the residential zones, there are the strip malls and the shopping centers, out there are the factories and the farms...whereas in Boston, everything is mushed together, apartments and bars and stores, Fenway and the Common and Skullhouse all within walking distance, and it's seemingly so random but so beautiful at the same time.

I don't know, yet, if I'm destined to be a Bostonian for the rest of my life. It's far too early to talk about that...but it is an incredibly city, and I'm proud to live there.

And I love being able to call MIT my home.

YouTube Addict

So at family brunch today, my dad brought up the famous "Barack Roll" that's been all over the intertubes lately...and I was aghast to discover that the rest of my family had absolutely no idea what it was like to be rickrolled.

A problem which I have now corrected. :)

"Sad little king of a sad little hill"

Some of you may know that I am mildly obsessed with the TV show Firefly, which is a fantastic mashup of the sci-fi and Western genres. I've watched the entire series now (some episodes multiple times), but this scene remains one of my favorites. Just thought I'd share. :)

Reflections on a MITblogs Entry

Ben's Final Farewell

In retrospect, it's fragmented as heck and I nearly cried writing it. But I still think it's one of the most important entries I've written this entire summer. Certainly the most meaningful.

Enjoy your weekend, everybody!

Delicious

I am currently devouring reheated steak and lobster left over from when my parents and I went out this weekend. Mm, surf and turf. Reminds me of Rush. And of family.

Surprise Visit

I just found out that my parents are coming in to Boston tonight - with tickets for the Red Sox game on Sunday!

I am pumped. :) (Perhaps I will even see Snively there?)


And now, off to my lab to do a little weekend research. Because science, like justice, never sleeps.

Heaven in your mouth

When you guys get to Boston, you have to experience Dim Sum in Chinatown on a Sunday afternoon. It is heaven in your mouth. Trust me. :)

Social plans

Wednesday: Firefly at Skullhouse
Thursday: Dennis' birthday party at Ginza in Boston (7 pm)
Friday: Fourth of July! Sleeping in and fireworks

In the meantime, my pet projects currently include continuing to learn LaTeX (with the eventual goal of making a few important documents - my resume, Skullhouse's bylaws - into .tex files), playing around with PostScript and Python, and catching up with summer reading. Not to mention blogging, of course (the third installment of "In Their Words," something about Guildcamp, etc.)

Should be a good week.

Guildcamp

I hereby declare Athens, the game, a success!

What am I talking about, exactly? Full story to follow on the MITblogs shortly. But now...sleep...

(Also, OMG DIABLO III!)

And there were eleven...

...in all the time I've been on the blogs, this page has never looked so empty.

So strange to think that the blogs Ben created now list him as an "alum." :(

Baseball and I...

...do not always get along.

For instance, I just confused the White Sox (a Chicago team, quite inferior to the Cubs of course) with the Silver Hawks (South Bend's local team). Oops.

I'm not this nonsensical all the time, really!

SO CUTE

Tempus fugit (et frangit)

I started this blog just over a year ago, now.

Things have changed a lot, since then...in more ways than even I probably realize. I think, though, that most of them are good. :)

Hogwarts, Harvard, and Azkaban...

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/gallery/hogwarts/

You owe it to yourself to at least read #10.

I'm going to go die of laughter now.

And so the weekend begins...

Off to Steer Roast.

Should be fun!

RNAi

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2008/rnai-0427.html

I love the photo.

WANT

http://xkcd.com/413

Pillow Fight!

Going home for spring break means I miss all the fun stuff.

http://picasaweb.google.com/amalwan/PillowFight

Pictures courtesy of Allison '12.