Blog of Bermanism

10 awesomeness points to anyone who can name the source of the title of this post.

UCSF periodically offers short courses and seminars on various subjects ranging from how to perform certain research techniques in the lab to how to get ahead in your career. They are almost always really helpful and I try to go to as many of them as possible. Today, the UCSF BayGenomics group offered a short course on in-situ hybridization. I won’t go into too much detail about what that is, but the bottom line is that it lets you visualize the activity of a gene within the cells of a tissue. If a gene is active in only a certain part of the brain and you do in-situ hybridization for that gene on a brain, then only the part of the brain that has that gene will light up (that’s a lot of brains, BRAAAAIINNNNSSSS!!!). It is a very useful protocol, and it is something that I have never done before but will need to do in our lab sometime in the near future. So, I figured that a short course on the subject would be helpful to me and would familiarize me with the protocol for performing this assay. WRONG! This course was extremely remedial and pretty much covered only the basic theory and usefulness of in-situ hybridization, which I already knew from graduate school. I was able to get one important question answered, but I basically learned nothing and wasted two hours of my (these days, relatively precious) time.

That being said, the fact that I totally wasted two hours and learned nothing from the course wasn’t the worst part of the whole thing. The worst part was that there were several people in the class who have the attention whore personality. I mean, we’ve all had classes/meetings/whatever with people like this. People who sit in the front of the class looking very studious, raise their hands every chance they get and ask the most inane, basic, and usually totally irrelevant questions they can think of. They usually do this just to hear themselves talk and to curry favor with the instructor, or make themselves look like the smartest people in the class. Instead, they usually end up looking like total idiots and wasting the time of the entire class. Well, we had at least two of these people in the class today, asking question after question and never once making a good point that wasn’t already covered or going to be covered if they had been paying attention to the introduction of the class. So, thanks to you, Mr. “I have such an astounding intellect and I’m so self important that I can waste everyone’s time” guy, you managed to make a painful situation infinitely worse than it already was. I was this close to stabbing my eye out with my pen, because it would have been less painful than sitting through any more of that torture. So, what’s the moral of the story?

I’ve been a little overwhelmed lately with the sheer number of things that I’m supposed to be doing for everyone, and I think that the stress of all of this is starting to come to a focal point of mind-numbing, searing energy. Here’s an abbreviated list of crap that I’m supposed to be doing right now:

1. Writing my first grant, due April 8th
2. Planning and starting a three week behavioral study
3. Immunostaining and imaging 60 mouse brain sections
4. Breeding and genotyping my mouse colony
5. Completing the analysis from my graduate research from UT
6. Writing and publishing my two papers from graduate school
7. Updating our lab’s website
8. Writing an ITR management system for Austin Rowing Club’s Learn to Row Program
9. Designing a Volunteer database and management system for the Marin Rowing Association
10. Training my ass off for the San Diego Crew Classic this weekend
11. Trying to figure out which 10 minutes I can use to fly back to Austin to get my graduate work finished up, once and for all
12. Trying (and failing miserably) to keep in touch with all of my friends and family

I’m sure I’m leaving something out, but there you go. I’m about to totally lose my mind, something has to give, and I hope to God it isn’t that aneurysm in my brain (kidding).

So, the way I figure it, I have four options: 1) Succumb to an all-out panic attack and receive a healthy dose of horse tranquilizers followed by prozac, 2) design and activate a time-dilation device so that I can speed up time in my immediate vicinity, thus getting everything done in a shorter period of time, 3) redesign the universe so that our days last for 58 hours, and 4) work every waking moment that I can until I’ve caught up on things. Naturally, number two is the most practical of all of the options. Option 3 is also attractive, but involves the use of God, which he-she-it never really appreciates. Plus, number 3 has the obvious caveat that if we always had 58 hours in our days, it still wouldn’t be enough because we would have adapted to that number of hours in our day and I’d be right back where I started. So, three is out.

*sigh*

I suppose that the only thing I can do is to take a deep breath, get really organized, and get as much done as I can as quickly as I can do it. I suppose I’ll be able to rest sometime. So, don’t get upset with me if I don’t call you as much or I don’t respond to your emails for a week or so. I’ll try to work you in, I promise.

Well, by calculations, I’m officially four posts behind on my thirty in thirty challenge. That means that I need to post two articles per day over four days to make up for being so behind. I’m going to try. I’m so busy right now, that it is hard for me to make it happen, but I have plenty of fodder for blogging after this last weekend. So, I’ll get it together and post twice today. Oh, and, this one counts!

Well, no, probably not. That one is a toss up between Heroes and Battlestar Galactica for me. But, 24 is definitely among the most suspenseful shows on TV, and damn, Kiefer Sutherland has come a long way since Flatliners and The Lost Boys. I don’t know if you’ve been keeping up with this season, but the plot so far is basically that terrorists who hate the country (as they all do) have gained control of some suitcase nukes from the Russian military and have detonated one of them in Valencia, CA, killing thousands of people. This event, naturally, kicks the US into a major stir and the government scrambles to point fingers, fight against each other, assassinate each other, make policy, scratch their heads and basically get as little done as possible while the Counter Terrorist Unit in Los Angeles figures everything out and tries to avert an international disaster as best they can, lead, of course, by Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland).

While the plots in the show are a tad bit inflated (by a little, I mean exponentially, and by exponentially, I mean infinitely), the situation would likely never escalate to the level it does on the show, and I’m quite sure that the center of every terrorist plot does not occur in the Los Angeles area, the show does a good job of drawing you deeply into the conflict and keeping the plot going no matter what is going on. When the concept first came out, that the entire season was going to take place over 24 hours and that each show would be one hour of that nightmarish day, I thought that there would be no way to keep it all going. But, they manage to cover their time holes with so many subplots and so many divisive characters, that downtime in the main plot is easily filled by switching to a sub plot or trying to assassinate the president, or watching some sinister plan unfold in the mind of the terrorists. The writers of this flick also go a really long way towards making a deafening, but subtle enough political statement that you political anti-whatever mongers out there will all get your fill. They’ve got enough democratic and republican rhetoric in there to make everyone happy, though they lean a bit to the democratic side of things and make a strong point against bigotry in the government, restriction of rights, war without need, and other such hallmarks of our time. Either way, unless you subscribe to the Kill Your Television movement, you get nauseous at the sight of Kiefer Sutherland, or your just a boring person, you should definitely tune into this show. It will keep you coming back for more.

Last night’s episode hit home with me a little bit, since the terrorists directed one of the nukes toward my home, San Francisco. Since I’m writing this post, they obviously didn’t succeed, but it was a little scary seeing the landmarks of the city through the eyes of a tactical nuke. It made me look up this site, the Nuclear Weapon Effects Calculator, which allows you to select your favorite city and look at the damage radius of a nuclear weapon of various strengths and delivery methods. It is a little frightening, and great fodder for fearmongering. But, it is also interesting. So, check it out, watch 24, and don’t forget to tell your mom that you love her.

So, I forgot to post yesterday. I was so busy that I went to bed without even thinking about it. So, in an effort to maintain my thirty posts in thirty days idea, I guess I’d better post twice today. So, since it is early, I have nothing interesting to say yet, and I have a crap load of work to do, enjoy this picture of some penguins with some sound advice.

Ha, ha! Thought I forgot to post today didn’t you? Well, I just had a really busy day, which included my computer at home totally freaking out on me and me thinking that all of my hardware had gone completely awry. Well, it turns out that it was just an old IBM deathstar that I forgot I had plugged into my machine that was wreaking havoc on my system. Unplugging it from the Matrix seems to have done the trick (crossing my digital digits).

Anyway, since I’m really tired, the whole point of this post is that I’m curious who actually reads this blog. So, if you read it in syndication from LiveJournal, you have an RSS reader that grabs it all for you, or you actually read it from the site, come to the blog page itself, make a username for yourself and post something, anything. Just say howdy-ho. For you syndicators out there, come to http://www.bermanism.com/blog. It would be such a boost to my ego if more than just Clark posted here (you fascinate me Clark). More tomorrow, promise.

I feel like this:

We went out to a place called The BItter End last night for St. Patrick’s day, and it was really fun. It was packed! So.many.people! But, really fun. As we are all rowers and our bedtime is usually 10pm at the latest, we all pooped out at around 11:30 and came home. Like an idiot, I volunteered to help run a junior’s regatta this morning at the Marin Rowing Association, which meant being up and at the boat house by 7am. I woke up feeling like crap, still don’t feel right, and I’m tired as hell right now. Oh well, it is my own damn fault.

I’m supposed to work out with Ken this afternoon at 4pm, doing 10×500 meters on the erg with 2:00 rest. It is a seriously hard workout. I’m just not feeling up to it and I actually feel a little sick, so I’m going to have to hold off on that workout. Instead, I think I’m going to jump into a 1x and just roll up and down the creek. If I’m feeling better tomorrow morning then I’ll do that workout. If not, I’ll take the opportunity to sleep a little bit and catch up one afternoon this week. Blah! I hate feeling like this. I guess I just stretch myself too thin sometimes. Gotta stop doing that.

My rowing team at the Marin Rowing Association is in the process of training very hard for one of the most competitive races in the United States, the San Diego Crew Classic. This regatta is comprised entirely of 8+’s, which are one of the fastest boats that you can row. As the name implies, there are eight people that row together, each with one oar on alternating sides of the boat, so that four people have a oar on one side (starboard) and the other four have one on the other side (port). These boats can be very fast and were featured heavily in the 2004 Olympics in Athens when the US men’s 8+ won the competition, the first time since 1964. Anyway, rowing these boats in competition is a really exciting thing to do, and to win against some of the people we’re competing against in San Diego, takes top notch physical conditioning and superb rowing technique.

In the last six weeks, we’ve been training really hard for the race and I feel more physically fit than I’ve felt since I rowed for UT in college in 1995. I may actually feel better now, I’m still not as light as I was then, but I’m holding at 168, which is the lightest I’ve been since my junior year of undergrad (I plan to lose more weight after San Diego). I’m rowing in the open category at the SDCC, which means that the race is largely made up of college teams and seriously young and fit rowers from all over the US. In fact, we get to row against every University of California Crew out there and we get to hold our own against Trident and Stanford. It will be very interesting. I’m actually really excited about it though. I’m the oldest person in the boat for sure. The four of us in that boat that are at practice all the time, really have phenomenal rows together when we take out a 4+ or 4-. So, I think we’re all really excited about it. Since we’re racing against 17 other crews, and there are seven lanes, there will be three heats to get to our finals. That also means that only the top two boats advance. It will be a tough race, but, no matter what the results are, I’m just glad that these guys are letting me row with them.

Anyway, I’m really looking forward to this race. It will be an amazing experience and I get to row with some younger whipper-snappers who will definitely keep it real with me. Rach is racing too, in the Club race. She’s also excited since it will be her first time racing there (me too, btw). So, since I’m doing this whole thirty in thirty thing, you’ll probably read a lot about the training for this regatta, since, other than work stuff, there isn’t much else that I have to talk about. Ok, I have to get to work or else I may never get home in time for the festivities tonight. Hope everyone is having a festive St. Patrick’s day. Drink some green beer for the Gipper.

Saint Patrick’s day is once again upon us. I say that like it’s some huge deal to me; it isn’t. In fact, the holiday usually involves a healthy mixture of my iconoclastic defiance to wear green and me actively running away from pinching fingers all day long (I hate that). However, when the crowd is right, it is a great reason to drink a lot of alcohol with friends. This year will be no different. However, this will be my first St. Patrick’s day that I won’t spend quietly at home with my wife in San Francisco. We’re actually going out to do something! It’s amazing! Actually, our upstairs neighbor suggested that we get together and go out for large amounts of alcohol, and the group just grew from there.

Anyway, I’m not Irish, I have no idea why St. Patty is significant, and I don’t really care all that much (no offense to any Irish bloaks who would take offense to that). But, I’m more than happy to make an evening of it with some friends and some good drinks. That being said, I was perusing the annals of Fark and came across this article, which tells a tale of the shortest St. Patrick’s day parade in the world. It is, in fact, only 100 yards long, from one pub to another! This kills me, and would be something that I would thoroughly enjoy taking part in. Apparently, they were even outdone, says a user on Fark:

While 100 yards is certainly respectable, I believe the world shortest St. Patrick’s day parade is actually held at O’Gara’s Bar in St Paul mn. Out the front door, down the sidewalk and in the back door, a distance of about 100 feet.

Brilliant! Usually, parades are long and huge and full of all flavors of ridiculousness, mainly because they are such a pain-in-the-ass to plan and execute. But, doing a parade for the sake of getting from one pub to another is just awesome. I love it. Anyway, I had to share. Check out that article, then read the comments on Fark. They’re pretty hilarious.

Here’s something that will never happen, but it is worth a shot.
Since my frequency of posting to this blog has been seriously lackluster in the past year or so, I’m going to attempt to at least post SOMETHING everyday for 30 days. That’s right, no bullshit this time, I’m actually going to try to do it.

This inane challenge was posited by a blogger by the name of Shane Nickerson and was referenced in Wil Wheaton’s blog at typepad. I always feel motivated to write after reading one of Wil’s posts, but the duration of that motivation is usually subatomic in scale, and I quickly get distracted by everything else going on in my life and never seem to get back to my original writing. So, since this is a challenge, and since Wil and a whole host of others are trying it, I will post something everyday from today (3/15/07) until 4/14/07. Can I do it? Probably not, but the challenge may make it happen (I’m a little competitive for those that don’t know me that well). God knows what you’ll see here if I post everyday, but I guarantee that it will be at least bemusing (2). So, there you go. I hope you enjoyed my first post (hint: the fun is in the links).

Peace, love, and tacos.