I had these ambitious thoughts when I finished my Ph.D. at the end of July (hooray!) that when I started vet school in August (hooray!) I'd be able to blog each week about my experiences.
Boy did I think wrong. Since I often have to choose between diversions now--do I want to sleep or read email?--my blogging has fallen to the wayside. I want to change that, though. It's already February, so it's a little late for a New Year's Resolution. Instead, I'll call it a goal.
I'm going to start sharing the creative things that come up at school. Yesterday, for example, our class completed our GI Physiology lecture series with the annual Gut Poetry Contest. I had a last-minute entry and won second place, which was a beautiful portrait of a Holstein cow, painted by an artist in PA. You couldn't have asked for a more appropriate prize since my poem was entitled "Ode to Ruminant Stomachs." I hope you enjoy it.
I was tired of being a monogastric.
Becoming a ruminant sounds fantastic!
No one is bothered if I eructate;
there’s nothing like belching in front of your date!
My new roughage diet is super-cheap,
But pasture’s hard to find in Wisconsin’s snow heaps.
I can purchase TMR to meet all my nutrition,
allowing bacteria to multiply by division.
Housing a hardworking bacterial population
provides me with VFAs from their fermentation.
Breaking beta-1-4 bonds is their special skill.
With the enzyme cellulase, they do it at will.
My diet is, quite frankly, a little bland and boring,
But it saves me choosing among cereals each morning.
My muscles of mastication are all well-defined
from chewing my cud, leaving no food behind.
I graze all day, throughout all my classes,
munching on legumes, concentrates, and grasses.
No more buying citrus fruits for vitamin C;
I generate my own ascorbic acid, baby!
Being a ruminant isn’t very hard;
If I get hungry, I’ll have a snack in the yard.
“But,” you ask, “can’t things go horribly wrong?”
Well, yes, my friend, that list could be long:
There’s bloat from gases, rumen acidosis,
volvulus (that’s displacement), or ketosis.
Sure makes me think twice about munching that hay.
Perhaps I’ll save rumination until I can afford to pay—
the vet bill.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
How's the Writing Going?
"How's the writing going?"
That's a question I've heard a lot lately, often with the most innocent of intentions spoken by somebody who cares, yet I don't want to answer. When my dissertation is a complete work that I can sit back and be proud of, I'll let you know. Until then, don't ask. It's safer for everyone that way.
So, I'll do what I do best--divert from that question and instead provide lots of other information that's only tangentially related.
First, I've found that I'm not the only one who struggles with the dissertation writing process. I envy those people who somehow stick to their deadlines and finish writing assignments ahead of time. My personality is opposite. If I by some weird stroke of fate finish writing anything early, it just means that I'll go back and edit more often until the real deadline finally hits. Part of that perfectionistic tendency that I need to avoid. Often I end up waiting until the last minute because a) pressure motivates me and b) if it's all written at the last minute then there is no time left for editing repeatedly.
This is a bad idea. Don't do what I do. I hit panic mode last week when I realized I had one week left to revise and edit prior to the 14-day-advance deadline to give my written work to my committee.
Because so many people struggle with theses and dissertations, there thankfully are lots of folks out there seeking to offer support. Last week when I felt really overwhelmed, I visited PhinisheD where I found a supportive community with some motivational posts. This was a welcome procrastination break.
On a more proactive note, I also discovered some simple tips online from Study Hacks authors. They interviewed several non-fiction writers and found that many of them have to force themselves to write and most of them do it first thing in the morning in isolation. Thus the basis for me getting up earlier to get the writing juices going in the mornings. I've always been more productive in the morning. As the afternoon wears on, I seek out distractions as I lose my ability to focus (note that this blog post occurred on one such afternoon).
As everyone will tell you, the hardest part is forcing yourself to sit down and get it done. Break the big mountain up into small pebbles. At first you might feel as though you're using a spoon instead of dynamite, but one morning you will wake up and see the other side! Set small manageable goals. Reward yourself often with breaks and don't beat yourself up in the shoulda-woulda-coulda game. If you fall behind, don't stress. Just take a deep breath and keep plugging away. It will get done.
I am so excited for the day when I can say I'm Phinally Done! PhinsheD. Piling it higher and Deeper.
That goal is keeping me going. Stick with it.
That's a question I've heard a lot lately, often with the most innocent of intentions spoken by somebody who cares, yet I don't want to answer. When my dissertation is a complete work that I can sit back and be proud of, I'll let you know. Until then, don't ask. It's safer for everyone that way.
So, I'll do what I do best--divert from that question and instead provide lots of other information that's only tangentially related.
First, I've found that I'm not the only one who struggles with the dissertation writing process. I envy those people who somehow stick to their deadlines and finish writing assignments ahead of time. My personality is opposite. If I by some weird stroke of fate finish writing anything early, it just means that I'll go back and edit more often until the real deadline finally hits. Part of that perfectionistic tendency that I need to avoid. Often I end up waiting until the last minute because a) pressure motivates me and b) if it's all written at the last minute then there is no time left for editing repeatedly.
This is a bad idea. Don't do what I do. I hit panic mode last week when I realized I had one week left to revise and edit prior to the 14-day-advance deadline to give my written work to my committee.
Because so many people struggle with theses and dissertations, there thankfully are lots of folks out there seeking to offer support. Last week when I felt really overwhelmed, I visited PhinisheD where I found a supportive community with some motivational posts. This was a welcome procrastination break.
On a more proactive note, I also discovered some simple tips online from Study Hacks authors. They interviewed several non-fiction writers and found that many of them have to force themselves to write and most of them do it first thing in the morning in isolation. Thus the basis for me getting up earlier to get the writing juices going in the mornings. I've always been more productive in the morning. As the afternoon wears on, I seek out distractions as I lose my ability to focus (note that this blog post occurred on one such afternoon).
As everyone will tell you, the hardest part is forcing yourself to sit down and get it done. Break the big mountain up into small pebbles. At first you might feel as though you're using a spoon instead of dynamite, but one morning you will wake up and see the other side! Set small manageable goals. Reward yourself often with breaks and don't beat yourself up in the shoulda-woulda-coulda game. If you fall behind, don't stress. Just take a deep breath and keep plugging away. It will get done.
I am so excited for the day when I can say I'm Phinally Done! PhinsheD. Piling it higher and Deeper.
That goal is keeping me going. Stick with it.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Catching Up: Reading and Writing
This is for my one follower out there. I'm finally writing again!
I've been writing several things since my last post, just not publishing them online: DVM program applications and essays, the first draft of my dissertation, and the first draft of my first manuscript about chondrogenesis. I am long-winded enough that those topics must be saved for future blogs. In the meantime, I've found a million ways to let myself be distracted as I procrastinate about writing. I now have a fake farm on FarmVille (since the week before Christmas), a Mafia Wars family (after my mom's persuasion in January), and a zoo on Zoo World.
I've been working on my to-read list on www.GoodReads.com. Their FirstReads program is awesome. Authors or publishers can post a drawing for a free copy of their book and if you're the lucky winner, you receive the book in the mail for the easy exchange of writing a review. I highly recommend checking it out. If you ever needed a recommendation for the next book to read after The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, for instance, that's the place to go to find the author, reviews, and similar books you might enjoy. For all you Twilight fans, just wait until you see all the other vampire books that are out there!
I absolutely love the fact that the Alachua County Library District (Gainesville, FL) has their book catalog online so I can place a hold for a book from any of their libraries to be delivered to my closest library branch. Every county's libraries should have such a system. I no longer have to be disappointed when my longed-for book or movie isn't available. I can place a hold and know where I stand in the hold list. It's silly how excited I get when I'm number 1 on there.
I've been working on some classic literature for children that I never read while growing up. I just read The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl, which inspired the movie. Clever Mr. Fox and his family find ways to outsmart the chicken, duck, and turkey farmers who are out to kill them for their thievery. Next on the list by Roald Dahl: The Witches and BFG.
Last week I finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I grew so attached to the characters, especially the protagonist, Francie Nolan, that I hated when she grew up and the book had to end. We meet her when she is a young girl of 11 growing up on Brooklyn, NY, and as the book progresses, she becomes an "adult" at 14 years of age as she works at a job where they think she is 16, WWI begins, she finds ways to pursue a college education, and she says good-bye to the neighborhood she loved so much. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reminiscing about those days when you were twelve and limitless possibilities lay before you. This book was also a learning experience for me: I loved reading about the ways of life in Brooklyn in the early 1900's, when you could go to individual stores to buy a cent's worth of greens or a dime's worth of meat and when a dollar really stretched pretty far.
Today as I was searching for new things to read, I noticed how many books talk about going green. I found The Green Bible, which is one where all the passages of the Old and New Testaments that relate to caring for the earth and God's creation are highlighted in green. I think I might just have to check it out. Additionally, with all my friends who are having babies, I couldn't resist checking out The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down to Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet by Joy Hatch and Rebecca Kelley. If you have seen all the expensive "stuff" that accompanies the arrival of a baby, then you know there has to be a simpler way to welcome and protect a little bundle of joy. I think this book might offer some great solutions. (Don't worry; it's not happening in my life anytime soon!) Besides, it's way easier for me to recommend this to others than it is to implement the ideas myself.
Finally, I'm going to finish David Zinczenko's book The Abs Diet for Women soon. I really like all the strength, stretching, and yoga moves that are recommended and demonstrated near the end of the book. These are things I could do in the gym or at home to help my body stay fit, even on days when there's not time to exercise.
Stay tuned for the fitness results and for more great books to read.
I've been writing several things since my last post, just not publishing them online: DVM program applications and essays, the first draft of my dissertation, and the first draft of my first manuscript about chondrogenesis. I am long-winded enough that those topics must be saved for future blogs. In the meantime, I've found a million ways to let myself be distracted as I procrastinate about writing. I now have a fake farm on FarmVille (since the week before Christmas), a Mafia Wars family (after my mom's persuasion in January), and a zoo on Zoo World.
I've been working on my to-read list on www.GoodReads.com. Their FirstReads program is awesome. Authors or publishers can post a drawing for a free copy of their book and if you're the lucky winner, you receive the book in the mail for the easy exchange of writing a review. I highly recommend checking it out. If you ever needed a recommendation for the next book to read after The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, for instance, that's the place to go to find the author, reviews, and similar books you might enjoy. For all you Twilight fans, just wait until you see all the other vampire books that are out there!
I absolutely love the fact that the Alachua County Library District (Gainesville, FL) has their book catalog online so I can place a hold for a book from any of their libraries to be delivered to my closest library branch. Every county's libraries should have such a system. I no longer have to be disappointed when my longed-for book or movie isn't available. I can place a hold and know where I stand in the hold list. It's silly how excited I get when I'm number 1 on there.
I've been working on some classic literature for children that I never read while growing up. I just read The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl, which inspired the movie. Clever Mr. Fox and his family find ways to outsmart the chicken, duck, and turkey farmers who are out to kill them for their thievery. Next on the list by Roald Dahl: The Witches and BFG.
Last week I finished A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. I grew so attached to the characters, especially the protagonist, Francie Nolan, that I hated when she grew up and the book had to end. We meet her when she is a young girl of 11 growing up on Brooklyn, NY, and as the book progresses, she becomes an "adult" at 14 years of age as she works at a job where they think she is 16, WWI begins, she finds ways to pursue a college education, and she says good-bye to the neighborhood she loved so much. I'd highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reminiscing about those days when you were twelve and limitless possibilities lay before you. This book was also a learning experience for me: I loved reading about the ways of life in Brooklyn in the early 1900's, when you could go to individual stores to buy a cent's worth of greens or a dime's worth of meat and when a dollar really stretched pretty far.
Today as I was searching for new things to read, I noticed how many books talk about going green. I found The Green Bible, which is one where all the passages of the Old and New Testaments that relate to caring for the earth and God's creation are highlighted in green. I think I might just have to check it out. Additionally, with all my friends who are having babies, I couldn't resist checking out The Eco-nomical Baby Guide: Down to Earth Ways for Parents to Save Money and the Planet by Joy Hatch and Rebecca Kelley. If you have seen all the expensive "stuff" that accompanies the arrival of a baby, then you know there has to be a simpler way to welcome and protect a little bundle of joy. I think this book might offer some great solutions. (Don't worry; it's not happening in my life anytime soon!) Besides, it's way easier for me to recommend this to others than it is to implement the ideas myself.
Finally, I'm going to finish David Zinczenko's book The Abs Diet for Women soon. I really like all the strength, stretching, and yoga moves that are recommended and demonstrated near the end of the book. These are things I could do in the gym or at home to help my body stay fit, even on days when there's not time to exercise.
Stay tuned for the fitness results and for more great books to read.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
My First Blog
This is my first blog, and thus, my first blog post. It feels good to start something new. Brand new haircut, check. Renewed confidence in who I am, check. New outlook on life, well, almost a check.
In trying to define the purpose of this blog, as more than just a place to share introspective thoughts and personal quandries, I plan to share updates from my various hobbies and preoccupations. I dabble in gardening, am finishing my Ph.D. in biomedical science research, am applying for my DVM, and grew up around a huge menagerie of animals. If nothing else, this blog will be a journal, an outlet to reduce stress, and a chance to put my new digital camera to work to entertain you with great images of pets, travels, plants, and all the other little things that make me me.
Join me on my quest to learn how to cook more flexibly, without following recipes line by line. I'm learning to be more creative in the kitchen, and I'm always on the look-out for additional bread baking recipes (which I do follow to a T).
Help me stop procrastinating when it comes time to write serious things. Why is it so easy to write emails but I stare at the blank Microsoft Word document for an hour before a good thought comes along? Why does scientific writing have to be so dry?
In just two weeks, I'll begin my 12-week 1/2 Marathon training plan from Hal Higdon's website (www.halhigdon.com/#half) and you can follow me through the ups and downs this year, hopefully injury-free!
And you can follow along as I seek to add a good man to my life while still keeping up with my hobbies and maintaining the things that make me unique.
As Charlie the Unicorn's "friends" would say, "It'll be an adventure!"
In trying to define the purpose of this blog, as more than just a place to share introspective thoughts and personal quandries, I plan to share updates from my various hobbies and preoccupations. I dabble in gardening, am finishing my Ph.D. in biomedical science research, am applying for my DVM, and grew up around a huge menagerie of animals. If nothing else, this blog will be a journal, an outlet to reduce stress, and a chance to put my new digital camera to work to entertain you with great images of pets, travels, plants, and all the other little things that make me me.
Join me on my quest to learn how to cook more flexibly, without following recipes line by line. I'm learning to be more creative in the kitchen, and I'm always on the look-out for additional bread baking recipes (which I do follow to a T).
Help me stop procrastinating when it comes time to write serious things. Why is it so easy to write emails but I stare at the blank Microsoft Word document for an hour before a good thought comes along? Why does scientific writing have to be so dry?
In just two weeks, I'll begin my 12-week 1/2 Marathon training plan from Hal Higdon's website (www.halhigdon.com/#half) and you can follow me through the ups and downs this year, hopefully injury-free!
And you can follow along as I seek to add a good man to my life while still keeping up with my hobbies and maintaining the things that make me unique.
As Charlie the Unicorn's "friends" would say, "It'll be an adventure!"
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