4 years???

You know you have been in grad school for a long time when:
1. You have to make the font on your CV smaller to keep everything on two pages.
2. You are introduced to a 2nd year vet student and you say "Hi I'm Lindsey!" and he says "I know, you were my undergrad ecology TA."
3. You are so distressed about #2 that you forget how many years you have been a grad student until your labmate reminds you (thanks Katie).

Formulaic Fantasy

I recently have been reading a new-to-me fantasy series by David Eddings (The Belgariad, thanks to Carl and Todd) and I am enjoying it, although it contains the very familiar themes, characters, etc. that can be found in most fantasy series. What I found interesting was that Eddings admits to this, and actually emphasizes it in his new preface (from 2002, the books were written in the 80s.) This is how he describes it:

“The story itself is fairly elemental—Good vs. Evil, Nice Guys vs. Nasty Guys, (or Them vs. Us). It has the usual Quest, the Magic (or Holy) Thingamajig, the Mighty Sorcerer, the Innocent Hero, and the Not Quite So Innocent Heroine—along with a widely vaired group of Mighty Warriors with assorted character faults. It wanders around for five books until it finally climaxes with the traditional duel between “Our Hero” and the “Bad Guy.””

When you think about it, it is striking how many of the fantasy series that I enjoy (Robert Jordan, Terry Goodkind, Robin Hobb, even Star Wars) all follow this formula quite closely. And yet I still can’t put the books down. I wonder what it is about this classic story that so grabs my attention.

Hail to the Victors!

The University of Michigan football team just crushed, smashed, and obliterated a HIGHLY overrated Notre Dame team in South Bend! 47-21! Woohoo! I scared my cat because I was cheering so much. Did I mention I hate Notre Dame? Go Blue!

Also, my hometown West Michgian Whitecaps just won the Midwest League (A baseball) title, so congrats to them too!

To celebrate I am using the new muffin pan I got for my birthday to make some yummy muffins.

Half way to fifty

“I’m excited to be 25! I’ve been waiting, like, 25 years to be 25!” –Giselle, supermodel

Fall Countdown

College Football: Already started!
NFL Football: TODAY!
My bday: 1 day
The Amazing Race: 7 days
Grey's Anatomy: 11 days
Red Wings' Season Starts: 25 days
Griffins' Season Starts: 26 days
Griffins' Home Opener: 34 days
Mexico: 96 days

Feel free to add your own...

God loves evolution!

I would like to recommend that everyone read The Language of God by Francis S. Collins. Dr. Collins is the director of the human genome project (one of the top scientists in the world) and also a Christian (who started out as an atheist). In the book he addresses the interaction between science and religion, explaining how science helped lead him to God and also how science (yes evolution!) is compatible with and even enhances religion! It is very readable, written so that those without a background in science will have no problem keeping up, but also very satisfying to me as a Christian scientist to find someone else who shares my views so completely.

Whether or not you are a Christian, and whether or not you accept evolution, if you care at all about issues of science and religion, this is a book you have to read. I would love to lend a copy to anyone who is interested in reading it.