Hello, my loves! It’s been awhile, has it not? Quick re-cap of the goings-on that have made my life quite hectic, albeit rather boring:

• Finals.  Yeah, it happened.  I studied hard for the microbiology class that had so discouraged me and actually walked out of the exam smiling!  It was great!  Then, I wrote the first paper of my college career.  That’s not completely true; I’ve written two-page French lit analysis assignments, but nothing serious like this.  Twenty-two pages on message boards.  Wow.
• Laura’s holiday party.  My linguistics professor has now had a holiday party three years in a row, and there’s always something fun.  This year, I think the Steven Chu stories will hold the most memorable spot, and I will surely share…sometime soon.
• Lounging around.  I may have lied.  It might not have been completely hectic.  But, I had to plan things.  You see, I’m dashing off to France!  I’ll (not) do the New Year’s countdown on the plane, after a small layover in Detroit.  I hear tell there’s a brand-new (ish) Northwest terminal.  Exciting!  (But, they lack Dunkin Donuts.)

In the spirit of planning, I offer here a blogging to-do list:

• Steven Chu stories
• latkes with Stephen (my friend from high school)’s family, and revelations thereof
• Emerald Bowl
• cookies
• France!  Activities!

That about does it.  I need to sleep now, because I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to do two things to become Super Cindy: get enough sleep and only focus on the things for which I have some sort of talent.  Ha.  Right.  We’ll see how that goes.

Note the lowest rating!

Today, I was in lab from 9AM to 11:00PM.  No joke.  I did a big transformation experiment; details will come.  Since I’ve been home, I’ve been able to eat a small dinner, check my Facebook messages (ha…how college is that?  There’s always time to check Facebook!  Although, that might be a more “Facebook” characteristic than a “college” characteristic nowadays…), edit my student’s speech, and check out a blog by the Berkeley Language Center.  And now, I must rush to get my work and research done so that I can go to class and meet with professors tomorrow.  First, though, let me do some publicity…

• Check out Found in Translation.  A regular poster (the originator of the blog, in fact) is competing for a Blogging scholarship, so you can help out by voting for him!
• So, more specifically, go here, click on the “Vote” button, and select David Malinowski!  This seems like a cool contest…maybe, if I’m fortunate enough to be in school next year, I’ll enter, too

As if this didn’t sound like enough of a campaign, let me offer some promises.  I will blog more soon, and these are the upcoming topics:

• Halloween 2008.  I was a GFP bunny, and there are pictures.  They’ll come.  I promise.
• Prop 8.  All of you who are flicking off the camera with a ring.  Don’t worry; I found some friends to participate.  If you’re lucky, they’ll guest post.  If you’re not, you’ll be stuck with me, but you’ll get the picture (ha!) either way.  I promise.
• Acronyms.  You might wonder why GFP is important, or what GFP even is.  Well, never fear.  I’ll explain.  I promise.
• Actually, I gave you two links that will explain GFP and its significance much better than I can, so it would be better for me to tell you how I use it in lab.  Hurray!  We’re not making Franken-foods, I promise.

And with that, I will commence my To Do list.  Holy crap.  It’s a To Do list, but it’s more like Cindy-in-a-pile-of-Do-Do.  *sigh*

Know why this title is perfect?

1. This post is about something BLee taught me, and she loves the song by Lonestar.
2. See my exclamations, below.

Brittany taught me a nifty trick a couple months ago that, until today, I had yet to try.  She learned somewhere that shampoo gets out bloodstains!  And, it does!  It really does!  As I saw a stain disappear in a wading pool of bubbles, I was yelling, “Wow!  This is amazing!” in my head.  And now, my fingers smell good, too, because my shampoo smells good!

That girl is a valedictorian of life, I tell ya.

Hormones is assholes.

In the vein of an earlier TMI post, I am not always very self-aware.  So, about every two months, I think, “Hey, my boobs are bigger!” only to be disappointed yet again when, a week later, I start my period.  I guess it’s at least reassuring to know that my boobs are finally big (ha!) enough to actually feel any sensitivity (as delineated ever so artfully by those sex ed pamphlets…not.) during such times.  Oh, and I’m not on a 48-day cycle or anything.  It’s just that the other months, I actually remember that I’m a woman, and that these things happen.

Sorry.  TMI.  I give you further examples of hormones-is-assholes.  I’ve been picking fights with my family this week.  The biochemistry of hormones is incredibly frustrating to learn (especially if you refuse/forget to do the reading).  Oh, and I think I might be in trouble with the IRS.

That last one doesn’t have to do with hormones, but it is frustrating nonetheless.  Happier post to come soon.  Definitely before Monday, when I will attempt to deal with the IRS.  Oh, and what is a hormone?  A protein, peptide, or small, non-protein molecule, sent as a signal to effect reactions (e.g., a cascade or feedback loop) once it binds to its target receptor.

Aren’t you glad I pay attention in class sometimes?

…Not Carma, though, because it’s not like I was driving or anything.

I recently poked fun at Wes for losing his composure on the El.  While I did not lose my composure, I did sleep past Downtown Berkeley today, and had to switch to the reverse train at the North Berkeley BART station.  Serves me right for making fun of Wes.  Even if he deserves it, and won’t let me talk to his mom about her thoughts on Golden Rice.

Speaking of poke, and get your minds out of the gutter, kids, ’cause there’s only room enough for mine…

Via text:
Me: I can’t believe you’re still up!  Poke Allie for me!
Millie: I know!  I’ll poke her literally and Facebookly.

One last thing: Note how all the tags today start with ‘B.’  B is for Berkeley.  GO BEARS   (And Buckeyes, which also starts with ‘B.’)

This should be the last post of the night/morn.  I told Mik I’d be on Skype until 1:00, and here it’s 1:46 already…

My genetics/genomics professor is causing some worry in my pocket of the lecture hall.  When she first started lecturing, she was very direct and very speedy.  The speed has slowed (ha!), perhaps in response to our request via the GSI, but she has also become a bit scattered.  Sometimes, she’ll lose her train of thought in the middle of lecture.  Also, today, she talked to us about her cold sores.  Granted, it had to do with viruses, our current topic, but the manner in which it was presented seemed a bit overly-personal.  I am hopeful that she is okay.

And now, without further ado, a little punny micro interaction!

Sebastian: Why are we learning this?  What could possibly motivate me to remember this?
Me: Uh.  It could enhance your social life.
Sebastian: Oh, right.  Hey, you’re CI, and I’m CIII.  Let me stabilize you!
Me: No thanks, I can turn myself on.

That was pretty nerdy.  Wiki might help.