Two weeks left at Hopkins...

Happy weekend!

It is so beautiful outside today! Unfortunately, I'm stuck inside working on my poster for our final poster session that's coming up on August 4th. It's hard to believe my time at Hopkins is coming to a close. Especially because my research is no where near complete. I'm trying to create a master co-expression vector that has the ability to produce two proteins at once when transformed into the amoeba cells that we are working with. If I finish in the next week and a half, then I will have created a great tool for learning about chemotaxis. So I'm hoping I can pull it together. So far, all of my cloning steps are working out very well, but there is still a long way to go.
Please please please wish me luck!

On a less nerdy note... I've got some advice on where to go if you're ever in Baltimore. So my family came to visit me last weekend and on Sunday we went to brunch at this restaurant called the Rusty Scupper. It's right on the waterfront at the inner harbor and it has fabulous food and a great view:


















It was really nice to see my family and I can't wait to go home in 2 weeks! Then I'm off to Cape Cod for a nice vacation. This summer has definitely gone too fast, so I want to enjoy the rest of it as much as I can.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! Let me know if you have any questions about the Hopkins program I am in, Baltimore, or about Siena.
:-)

~Bianca

P.S. Nice "Anchorman" quote, Mike.

Just six work days left? What the heck happened?

Wow time flies by! I was just looking at the calendar and, evidently, the end of the month is fast approaching, which means, the end of my internship down here in Fordham (or up here, depending on your perspective) is coming to a close. For better or for worse, these last few days are also going to be some of my busiest days as I work to wrap up the projects I've been working on.

One such project involves research into Emeritus Rules. Emeritus Rules, enacted in several states since the early 1980's, allow retired lawyers to continue to give free legal services, or pro bono work, even though they are no longer registered members with the bar association. For whatever reason, Emeritus Rules have never been enacted in New York State, supposedly one of the more progressive milieus in the country. In any case, I, along with a colleague, will be presenting a proposal for enacting Emeritus Rules to the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals, Johnathan Lippman. The Court of Appeals is the highest court in New York State (why they don't simply call it the "Supreme Court" escapes me), and Lippman is the Chief Judge. In the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, you could say that he is "kind of a big deal."

This last weekend I did something I had never done before. Its probably not the most exciting of things in the eyes of most, but I went to a Catholic Church in downtown Manhattan that celebrated Mass in Latin. I have to admit, the whole experience was quite extraordinary and moving. To draw an analogy of how unfortunately rare this is in America, it would be like going to a school dance where the DJ played Baroque music. Just goes to show you that you can find anything in New York City if you try.

I will definitely miss aspects of NYC, but, like any extended time away from home, its good to leave, but its good to return too. Write to you when I return to scenic Mechanicville, likely returning from a fishing expedition.

-Mike DiSiena

"I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal. People know me. I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany." ~Ron Burgundy

Sir. Paul McCartney

Hey Everyone!

I made it back from Cabo, and it was such a great vacation. I'm very tan, which is great because I was unusually pale prior to my trip. I also bought a t-shirt that says "I survived the Swine Flu"... just to commemorate the event :). My first week back in America has been quite hectic though! I had to go to work Monday, and there was a lot to catch up on when I got back. I finally caught up by Friday, but tomorrow starts a new day of excel sheets, and inventory.

But, this post isn't about that. This post is about how incredible my day yesterday was. As some of you may know, Sir. Paul McCartney is on tour- and rumor has it that this tour is his last one. Now, I have been a huge Beatles fan since I can remember, and I was pretty bummed I was missing this concert. But, that all changed at around 9:30 am yesterday morning. I received a text from my friend Patrick (a fellow Siena Blogger) asking if I wanted to go to the Paul McCartney concert Saturday night. I, of course, said yes, and he miraculously got tickets that morning for the concert! Now, this is a particularly momentous event because it was the first concert at Citifield, and, incase you didn't know, The Beatles did the first concert at Shea Stadium. We got to the Stadium a little early, but, since this was my first time at Citifield we went on a tour of the stadium before the concert. I saw the old infield of Shea, since we parked right next to third base. Inside the Stadium was just gorgeous. My favorite part of the new stadium is the outside Promenade right under the "Citifield" sign. After the tour, we took our seats in Section 130, Row 24, seats 3 and 4. (Yep, not only did we get the tickets that morning, we had phenomenal seats... Luck was on our side). The opening act was actually one of my favorite bands, called "The Script" (download them- you'll love their music), and when they came on both of us sang along to every song. People actually thought we were with the band, and we had to explain that we were just huge fans. Paul McCartney came out at 8:52, and performed for exactly 2 and 1/2 hours without one break. He started the show with "Baby you can drive my car", and the crowd was so excited. (It was the first time Citifield sold out all season, you know, because the Mets are horrendous). The set list included favorites like "Band on the Run" "Let it be" "Calico Skies" " Back in the USSR" etc. My favorite performance of the night was definitely "Blackbird". The band left the stage, and it was just Paul. He explained why he wrote the song, and how far we've come since then. For such a large venue, he really made that performance quite intimidate. My second favorite performance (now, these two come close) was "Hey Jude". I have always wanted to experience that moment when the whole audience sings "Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na, Na", and I did. It got to a point where Sir. Paul left the piano, and just stood at the front of the stage "conducting" the audience. His "final" song was "Live and Let Die", which included three separate sets of fireworks. He then came out for two encores, which he sang fan favorites like "I saw her standing there" "Lady Madonna", and after his second encore, his last song was "Sgt. Pepper's Reprise/The End" (rather fitting, dont you think?) It was such a great show, and it's still so surreal that I was there last night!

Anyway, only five more weeks until I go back to Siena. (August 24th for me). I'm excited to go back, not going to lie. (Even though I will be missing the Jimmy Buffett concert on the 26th at Jones Beach to go back). I can't wait to meet our new freshman class. It'll be nice not to be on the bottom of the totem pole anymore ;). Don't forget- I'm one of four coordinators for the club called "Pathfinders" (remember the kids in the yellow shirts that you spoke to? That's Pathfinders), and we're definitely looking for interested freshman, so, if you're interested e-mail me at la08geli@siena.edu.

Keep enjoying your summer, and keep applying that SPF (I used SPF 50 most days in Cabo and I'm still ridiculously tan).

Talk to you soon :)

P.S- Attached is a picture from my phone of the fireworks during "Live and Let Die".

It's July Already?!

Phew! It has been an incredibly long day.
I had to get up super early to develop my amoeba in the lab. It's a 4-7 hour process... and that's all BEFORE the actual experiments take place.
On top of that I had to go to lab meeting, where a bunch of labs get together and one person does a presentation of their work. AND I went to a lunch meeting with the director of BCMB, a Ph.D. program at Hopkins. Then I wrapped the whole day up with a really tough ballet class at the Peabody Institute.

I'm definitely ready for bed.

But the day did give me a lot to think about...
I'm really unsure about what I want to do when I graduate. I'm 90% sure I want to go to graduate school to get my Ph.D. in some field of Biology. But I have no idea what field, and no idea where to go. Cell biology is all I've ever known, but I kind of want to explore Botany. I know in the end I want to teach as a professor at a small college (hopefully Siena will hire me :-] ), so I'll have to get a Ph.D. in order to get there. It's definitely going to be a long road though. I'm so undecided! And then there is the question of where to go! I really wish Siena had a graduate school... that would make my decision so much easier. *sigh*
Does anyone have any suggestions or advice???

So I'm probably going to ponder my future a little bit more tonight, study for the GRE, and sleep like a rock.

Happy almost weekend!

~B

If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain...

Buenos Dias!!

As I wrote in my last blog, I was going on vacation with my family to Cabos san Lucas....well, I'M HERE!!! If you ever envisioned paradise... it's here.

**now, before we go any further please excuse any typos... the keyboards are different here.. to get an @ sign i have to press the plus sign alt and 64.. so complicated, lol

Alright, so we landed here lunes at around 230, and this is my first time out of the sun since. We're at an all inclusive resort called Royal Solaris and it's just so beautiful here. The pool is huge, the staff is so much fun, the food is actually really good (mexican salsa is the best thing ever, it's all ive eaten)...It's been such a blast. Tuesday night me and my three cousins sang three karaoke songs infront of over 300 people!! We really had the crowd dancing though, let me tell you. Our rendition of I will Survive was a real show stopper! Today, we're going to this ancient rock formation on a water taxi in exactly 13 minutes. I can't wait to take pictures of it! Tomorrow I'm getting a massage, and maybe going ATVing, which should be a lot of fun.

Currently, my family is sitting around me, and my brother would like me to say "I received a nice base tan and am on my way to getting bronze

Okay, they're all mocking me now, so i'm going to go! I'll write soon when I'm back in New York

Have a great day!

NYC Update!

Over six weeks into my internship, I think I can say I have finally gotten a hang of the rhythm of city life. When I first arrived, I waited for traffic lights to signal 'walk' before I actually crossed the street. Now, like all other city-dwellers, I randomly cross the street with a 50% chance of getting beeped at by a caravan of taxi drivers. When I first got on and off the subway, I stared dazed and confused at a city map. Now, I breeze by the entrance and exit, actually cognizant of where the heck I am. When I first got here I figured that, if it rained, I could take a cab to where I had to go. Now, after paying $15 for a cab ride, aka, the closest thing you’ll ever have to a near-death experience, I’d rather walk in a downpour thank you very much.

I continue to learn very much here at the Feerick Center at Fordham Law. The main focus of my work continues to be consumer protection in debt collection cases. Very recently, I attended a training session for lawyers interested in offering pro bono services for individuals being sued for their alleged failure to pay debt. At this point, having done such a great deal of research into the issue, and particularly the legal matters surrounding debt collection, I feel as though I myself could competently give legal advice on the subject. The major piece of legislation that regulates debt collection is The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. The legislation, signed into law in 1977, controls the instances and manner in which debt may be lawfully collected. The FDCPA is a powerful tool that helps consumers to repel abusive debt collection practices. Frequently, individuals being sued for owing debt will be able to remember somewhere along the process when there was an instance of abusive debt collection practices.

On the cultural front, I again ventured to Avery Fisher Hall to listen to the New York Philharmonic. For the record, they performed Gustav Mahler's 8th Symphony which is one of the most impressive compositions in musical history. If you think that’s overstating it, check it out. Also, I have spent some time (although you could spend days and still not see everything) in the Museum of Natural History. I’m not sure what exactly “natural history” is, but the museum was incredible. I have just over three more weeks here in NYC and so far, I have been enjoying every minute!