Word of the Day: splanchnocranium - facial region of the skull
Try to work it into conversation. You'll definitely get some funny looks.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Meet Bucky: The Friendly Classroom Skeleton!
So last Thursday we had our first test in my osteology class. For those of you keeping track at home, that was in fact the 4th day of class. Welcome back to classes kids! I had pretty much resigned myself to getting a lowish grade but did a lot better than expected and pulled off a rather respectable A. Hurrah!
Also last Thursday after the test, we started playing with actual bones (class up to that point was strictly lecture). We are starting with the skull and have to learn every single lump and dip and hole in every bone of the head. To give you an idea of how much stuff that is, in 2 and a half class periods we gone over only 4 bones. We still have to go over the facial area, part of the base of the skull, and the jaw. This would not seem quite as daunting if we were given an entire skull or at least entire bones for the upcoming tests. Instead, we will be given little chunks lovingly smashed and sometimes burned by our professor. We will have to figure out what bone it is part of, what side it belongs on, and whatever feature a magical arrow is pointing to. Oh, and did I mention that some of these pieces of bone will be in a black bag and we will have to identify the bone by touch alone? Looks like I'll be spending a lot of my free time in the lab feeling bones with my eyes closed.
Today's Random Act of Professor: Dr Pope came over to help a classmate and myself identify a chunk of bone. While she was examining it, she sang a little song. The entire lyrics of the song was repetition of the word "meow." For a good five minutes.
I definitely have to admit that the class would be very dull and extremely overwhelming if the professor was not so much fun. Though I am finding it hard not to just burst out laughing in the middle of class.
Also last Thursday after the test, we started playing with actual bones (class up to that point was strictly lecture). We are starting with the skull and have to learn every single lump and dip and hole in every bone of the head. To give you an idea of how much stuff that is, in 2 and a half class periods we gone over only 4 bones. We still have to go over the facial area, part of the base of the skull, and the jaw. This would not seem quite as daunting if we were given an entire skull or at least entire bones for the upcoming tests. Instead, we will be given little chunks lovingly smashed and sometimes burned by our professor. We will have to figure out what bone it is part of, what side it belongs on, and whatever feature a magical arrow is pointing to. Oh, and did I mention that some of these pieces of bone will be in a black bag and we will have to identify the bone by touch alone? Looks like I'll be spending a lot of my free time in the lab feeling bones with my eyes closed.
Today's Random Act of Professor: Dr Pope came over to help a classmate and myself identify a chunk of bone. While she was examining it, she sang a little song. The entire lyrics of the song was repetition of the word "meow." For a good five minutes.
I definitely have to admit that the class would be very dull and extremely overwhelming if the professor was not so much fun. Though I am finding it hard not to just burst out laughing in the middle of class.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Drunk Donuts and Other Lessons From Class
Quote of the day:
Student: Is it bad to crack your back?
Dr. Pope: Well...It feels good. Is it bad to do heroin? I don't know.
Class was definitely interesting today. We learned that bone cells called osteons look like donuts on acid and these cells were then referred to (by the professor) as drunk donuts for the rest of class. We also learned that bone formation is much like the war in Iraq: America (osteochondral progeitor cells) lands on Iraq (cartilage) and calls their friends Great Britain, etc (blood vessels) to aid with the invasion. Soldiers show up with flame throwers (osteoclasts) to take over the interior. Once Iraq has been sucked dry of oil (forming the medullary cavity), America then turns its focus to places like Iran and North Korea (epiphysis/growth plates) to expand its war on terror. See? A lesson in current events and biology all in one post. Don't you feel smarter?
On a class related note, I have textbooks! The bookstore told me they were on back order until at least tomorrow. Hurrah UWF Bookstore!
Student: Is it bad to crack your back?
Dr. Pope: Well...It feels good. Is it bad to do heroin? I don't know.
Class was definitely interesting today. We learned that bone cells called osteons look like donuts on acid and these cells were then referred to (by the professor) as drunk donuts for the rest of class. We also learned that bone formation is much like the war in Iraq: America (osteochondral progeitor cells) lands on Iraq (cartilage) and calls their friends Great Britain, etc (blood vessels) to aid with the invasion. Soldiers show up with flame throwers (osteoclasts) to take over the interior. Once Iraq has been sucked dry of oil (forming the medullary cavity), America then turns its focus to places like Iran and North Korea (epiphysis/growth plates) to expand its war on terror. See? A lesson in current events and biology all in one post. Don't you feel smarter?
On a class related note, I have textbooks! The bookstore told me they were on back order until at least tomorrow. Hurrah UWF Bookstore!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
"Let's Dude It Up!"
Today was the first day of classes. I have to say, the beginning of a new semester was less painful when someone else (ie the State of Florida) was paying for it. Before class I bought a new parking pass, paid my tuition, and bought an expensive parcel of air since they were sold out of my textbooks (though it will feel like getting free books when they come in since I have already paid for them).
The class I am taking is Human Osteology and should be as interesting as I was hoping it would be. The professor, Dr Pope is very amusing (ex. singing about passing out the syllabus while doing so, constant use of the word "dude" such as in the quote used as the above title). This class will be my first lecture class since heading back to school. I have already taken double the notes that I did last semester in Disease and Culture which was a more discussion based class and my hand is still a little sore. Lectures were pretty much the only class style available to Bio majors, so I'm pretty used to it and I'm sure my hand will eventually stop cramping mid-class.
The only downer of the class so far is we already have a test coming up a week from Thursday. This is a problem since I currently own only a promise of textbooks, not the actual physical pages. Hopefully the books will show up very soon making the class nothing but goodness.
The class I am taking is Human Osteology and should be as interesting as I was hoping it would be. The professor, Dr Pope is very amusing (ex. singing about passing out the syllabus while doing so, constant use of the word "dude" such as in the quote used as the above title). This class will be my first lecture class since heading back to school. I have already taken double the notes that I did last semester in Disease and Culture which was a more discussion based class and my hand is still a little sore. Lectures were pretty much the only class style available to Bio majors, so I'm pretty used to it and I'm sure my hand will eventually stop cramping mid-class.
The only downer of the class so far is we already have a test coming up a week from Thursday. This is a problem since I currently own only a promise of textbooks, not the actual physical pages. Hopefully the books will show up very soon making the class nothing but goodness.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Testing My Patience
In the process of applying for grad school, I of course had to take the GRE. I have been dragging my feet to take this for several years now. 2 things were worrying me about the test:
1. Writing section. While I always do well on research papers for classes, I have never tested well on writing standardized tests. In prepping for the test, I realized the reason I don't do well is that there is usually no choice of question, you have to write about the topic they give you. I don't do well because I get offended at having to answer such a dumb topic. Fortunately, it turns out no one seems to care about this section, as least as far as applying to grad school goes, so I decided to not worry about it.
2. Computer based. The test is computer based and assigns you questions based on correct or wrong answers to previous questions through some fancy statistical algorithm something or other that seems pretty complicated. Basically, if the computer decides you're stupid, it treats you as such and you can't score well. I had made peace with this fact by test time and was prepared for whatever the computer threw at me.
I did a little better on the test than I hoped to and was pretty pleased with myself. UNTIL a week after getting my scores I receive another letter from the GRE people saying they think there was something wrong with the computer algorithm on my verbal section and had it been working properly, I may have scored higher. WHAT! That's exactly what I was worried would happen!! The verbal section is what I did the best on and now they think I should have scored even higher?! Couldn't I just retake the math instead? They are nice enough to allow me to take the verbal section again for free but upon looking into it, no matter what I score the second time, even if it is lower, that is my new score. I have six months to decide but for now I think I'm just going to keep my current scores and think smugly to myself that I am in fact smarter than a computer.
P.S. Anyone taken the GRE lately? There are no less than 8 screen pages telling you how to operate a mouse (the cord points away from you!) and 5 screen pages teaching you how to use a scroll bar.
1. Writing section. While I always do well on research papers for classes, I have never tested well on writing standardized tests. In prepping for the test, I realized the reason I don't do well is that there is usually no choice of question, you have to write about the topic they give you. I don't do well because I get offended at having to answer such a dumb topic. Fortunately, it turns out no one seems to care about this section, as least as far as applying to grad school goes, so I decided to not worry about it.
2. Computer based. The test is computer based and assigns you questions based on correct or wrong answers to previous questions through some fancy statistical algorithm something or other that seems pretty complicated. Basically, if the computer decides you're stupid, it treats you as such and you can't score well. I had made peace with this fact by test time and was prepared for whatever the computer threw at me.
I did a little better on the test than I hoped to and was pretty pleased with myself. UNTIL a week after getting my scores I receive another letter from the GRE people saying they think there was something wrong with the computer algorithm on my verbal section and had it been working properly, I may have scored higher. WHAT! That's exactly what I was worried would happen!! The verbal section is what I did the best on and now they think I should have scored even higher?! Couldn't I just retake the math instead? They are nice enough to allow me to take the verbal section again for free but upon looking into it, no matter what I score the second time, even if it is lower, that is my new score. I have six months to decide but for now I think I'm just going to keep my current scores and think smugly to myself that I am in fact smarter than a computer.
P.S. Anyone taken the GRE lately? There are no less than 8 screen pages telling you how to operate a mouse (the cord points away from you!) and 5 screen pages teaching you how to use a scroll bar.
Monday, December 29, 2008
The Grass Is Always Greener...
My cat Jinx (the black one in the sink) has a problem: she is addicted to plants.
Any plant or bouquet of flowers to enter the house is fair game for dinner, her favorites being baby's breath and anything green. The problem lies in that almost immediately after eating these enticing treats, she throws up. Which of course makes more room in her little tummy for more delicious plants, which leads her to throw up again, and the cycle continues unless she is chased away from the plants or the plants are removed. We go through this every winter when the outside potted plants are brought in from the cold (last Monday it was 42 degrees all day but as I'm writing this, it is a frigid 68 degrees outside, winter in Florida, what can you do?).
How to remedy this addiction? Cat grass! I had seen it in pet stores and Target and it promises to give a cat the greens it wants while keeping the cat away from house plants. Perfect! I thought. So for Christmas that is what Jinx received (yes, I get Christmas presents for my pets, they're part of the family too). I managed to grow the grass (normally I drown plants but this one survived) and Jinx was thrilled when shown the grass. She rubbed her head all over it and then started chewing away. Unfortunately, she later threw up. I had reasoned that since it was for cats, cats could eat it without getting sick. No dice. After a couple of days of being obsessed with the grass, she has avoided the potted plants. However, she is now avoiding the cat grass too. Maybe she figured out the connection green=sick? I'll leave the grass where she can get to it for a while longer, see if she starts liking it again.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Hello!
Hello! First post, very exciting! I'm starting this blog to stay in touch better with folks from college and such who I don't get to see very often. Hopefully, it will serve as proof that I have not completely dropped off the face of the Earth.
What have I been up to you ask? Well....I had been working for an Optometrist but left there in August and started a grad class out at UWF. This past week I sent out an application to Arizona State University to hopefully start on my MA in Fall 2009. (While applying, I discovered I really, really hate writing about myself and here I am starting a blog, so we'll see how long this lasts.)
I guess that is all for now. I'll write more as more comes up.
What have I been up to you ask? Well....I had been working for an Optometrist but left there in August and started a grad class out at UWF. This past week I sent out an application to Arizona State University to hopefully start on my MA in Fall 2009. (While applying, I discovered I really, really hate writing about myself and here I am starting a blog, so we'll see how long this lasts.)
I guess that is all for now. I'll write more as more comes up.
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