update on my life

So, I haven't posted since late September. Since I try to write meaty posts that explore research papers and other topics not talked about elsewhere, rather than writing fluffy chatter on something someone else has gotten to first, the result is that these things take me a long time to write. Hours. So what I'm trying to say is that fall semester turned out to be killer, I decided to spend my time writing for my science journalism course assignments and doing a million other things required for academic survival, rather than writing for the denizens of the internet. So, for my three fans, I apologize. As we speak, I'm seriously pursuing a career in science journalism, working as an intern at the Kojo Nnamdi Show, a daily talk show on Washington D.C.'s local NPR station, and applying for a couple science writing internships. I just finished a mock-news article for my AAAS Mass Media Fellows Program application on a recent journal article of my choice, and I thought it might be interesting for people to read. It follows.

The Darwin Particle

My father works with the particle accelerator at Fermilab in Illinois. As a child, when I would visit him at work and we would walk through the underground tunnels where the beam-control equipment was kept, the towering machines on each side of the walkway would terrify me: they thundered, blinked, screamed "Warning: Radiation" to me at every turn.

Now CERN has built an even bigger, scarier accelerator. And all I have in my lab is jars of termites.

Fortunately, we biologists now have our own accelerator to terrify our progeny with. At last, the final secrets of evolution are within our reach.

I'm Back!

An apology to the myriad 3 fans who missed me while I was gone. Expect the posts to keep rolling with the same pace as they did before now that I am back at home and in my old routine. Although I may have to alter that pace once classes start... I've still got a good week and a half though until that point to get some good posts in though.

I'm actually taking a science journalism class this fall semester, so I'm hoping to be able to get some good stories through projects for that class that I can post up here. At the very least it should give me some tips to improve my writing.

In any case, keeping reading for a brand-new post on a brand-new research article.

A Bold Foray onto the Internet

I'm a little behind on this whole "internet" thing. Not because of any purposeful luddism, just because of--oddly enough--the timing of my Peace Corps service. Turns out I happened to be gone just as blogging, social networking, and the like were just picking up their swing, and so I kind of missed the trend. It took me a year to find Facebook to be less than completely creepy, and now almost another for me to get used to the idea that I might post something online that anyone and their trollish mother might read. I like to think of this as "charmingly antiquated," as opposed to the more not-nice "hopelessly backward."

In the meantime, I'm still a terrible nerd, and blogging seems to be the best way for me to get out my enthusiasm for science, public health, music, and interesting miscellany, as well as my general irritation with the world's occasional imbecility.

Enjoy!