I’m SOOOO excited about the coming July 2nd release of The Last Airbender!!! I own the entire cartoon series and watch it religiously, and now we’re getting a live action film. I’m sure it will be incredible! Also, today marks the release of Endless Ocean 2: Blue World for the Wii. I’ve really enjoyed the first Endless Ocean, so I’m definitely getting this one. It doesn’t quite makeup for actual scuba diving, but I’m sure I’ll be back in the water this April.
I’ve been watching the Olympics and it seems the hottest guy so far is definitely J.R. Celski, age 19 (American speed skater, but Filipino by heritage). Apolo Ohno, age 27 is kinda cute, too. It’s really cool that this is the first year in which gay and lesbian Olympians have a place to socialize, just for them. Pride House Vancouver is offering their location to Olympians for the Winter Games. It’s really cool because there are more and more Olympians coming out as gay or lesbian, some of whom play in the Gay Games. Wiki has a list of GLBT sports professionals who are out. I think it’s important especially for gay and lesbian youth to know about this in order that they might have good role models to identify with. I know such individuals were very important to me when I came out back in middle school at age 14. I don’t know about Celski’s and Ohno’s orientations, but they both look really hot in recent photos! Matthew Mitcham, age 20, Olympic diver who won the gold in the Beijing diving competition, is openly gay.
Apolo Ohno – American Speed Skater, age 27
Matthew Mitcham – Australian Diver, age 20
I’ve really been loving my microbiology class this semester. We’re constantly identifying bacteria and looking at various other microorganisms. A couple weeks ago I recorded a Vorticella feeding under one of our lab microscopes, using my camera (see bottom video below). Tonight I got out my video microscope and went on a treasure hunt around my apartment, mostly looking for microorganisms. I photographed a salt crystal, a strand of my hair, and an Arabidopsis seed (I’ve just begun working with Arabidopsis in my lab). You can view those still images in my Flickr account.
I didn’t find any organisms until I took a sample from some standing water beneath one of my orchids. There were a whole bunch of protozoa swimming around at high speed! I had to wait about half an hour for the water drop to mostly evaporate and therefore shrink the perimeter of movement for the protozoa, basically herding them into a smaller area that I could track with my microscope. However, as the water began to evaporate, some of the protozoa lysed and then they were all completely destroyed when the water drop completely evaporated! Check it out below…
Hope everyone had a fun Valentines Day! I wanted to share this PSA, which is one of the best I’ve ever seen. Very creative…
NYC Fashion Week starts today, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz. I just watched a cool film about Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue Magazine. It’s a very interesting, real-life look into the fashion world, sort of a true life documentary version of The Devil Wears Prada. You can check out the trailer for The September Issue below.
UMaine is sponsoring a professional seminar about breaking into the fashion industry on the 17th. They’re having several guests who already have their own brands. Check out the Student Innovation Center FMI. It might be cool to talk to these people – I’ve always thought fashion was a really unique artform, though I usually end up modeling it, lol. I’m sure it will be fun.
Nah, these days are mostly filled with plant genetics, microbiology, and endless graphic design and computer programming. I’ll stick to what I love – science, but I have lots of hobbies and could always add one more. I already know how to sew well and I have a good sewing machine (hint, hint, if you need anything mended.) I can’t believe only 2 weeks left until SPRING BREAK! Not sure where I’ll go.
Some preciousness to make your day…
