P-P-P-PLASMA

I haven't had a REAL post since early January. Not too much has changed in my life since then, but still, news is news.

The biggest news is that I chose my thesis advisor! HOLY CRAP LIFE DECISIONS. This is basically the biggest decision I've made since choosing to be a physics major. And I think it was a far more difficult decision to make. All fall semester I met with professors. I started out looking at research groups that worked with carbon nanotubes, graphene, nanoparticle science, and just generic nanotechnology. The research was interesting and the professors were great advisors, but I couldn't see myself working in those fields for the rest of my life..not to mention some of them didn't have funding. I started to branch out a bit and looked in the bioengineering department. It is important to consider here that I didn't take a single biology course in college. Needless to say, meeting with those professors was awkward because they would talk about weird shit like chondrocytes. I didn't even know what a protein was (its a sequence of amino acids)! So I met with them and they loved the fact that I was a physics major and I'm pretty sure they assumed that I could easily learn (memorize) all the biology I needed to. At this point I was determined to work in the bioengineering department because I really liked the idea of my research helping to improve people's lives and health. Unfortunately, the two professors whose research interested me most did not have funding so I couldn't join their group. I was very close to working with one of them to apply for a fellowship, but we stopped because we didn't think we would have enough time to complete it. This was all last semester.

Then, one day about a month ago, I got an email from a professor who had taught a course I took the previous semester. He studies plasma-surface interactions. His email basically said, "(obligatory hello sentence). If you haven't found an advisor, I have a very exciting research project I'd like to discuss with you." I was intrigued. How exciting could it be? I had nothing to lose, so I met with him. Turns out that his new project was about how plasmas interact with biological surfaces! It was a great combination of amazing science combined with the ability to increase public health! The best part is that the groundwork for this area has yet to be laid out. It would be so exciting to be a part of the foundation of a brand new field. I talked with his current graduate students and they all said that he was a very good advisor and that his lab has a great reputation in the plasma world. Also, it seems like I'll be learning a lot because I'll be getting into the nittygritty of how the equipment works; I won't just be turning giving my samples to a technician. In case you couldn't tell, I joined his lab and now I work in the Institute for Electronics and Applied Physics. I really like the two other grad students in the group. There are also two post-docs that I don't know well yet, but I'm going to be working closely with one of them and he doesn't speak english too well. What we'll be doing is creating a plasma at atmospheric instead of at low pressure. One thing we'll be working with has been called a plasma needle and it looks like a mini-lightsaber

Other than that, I've been just livin-n-shit. I went to a party with my sister and my friend Will in DC that was straight out of a movie. We parked the car and walked up to this loading dock where a big dude patted us down for weapons. The place was called "the warehouse loft" and when we walked in there was hardly any lighting and extremely loud music. At one point I was waiting in line to go to the bathroom and these people were taking forever so I started banging on the door. Then this guy and two girls come out and I was thinking to myself "wow, did that guy just have a threesome?" I was impressed until later on my friend told me that they were probably snorting coke. Sheesh! Anyway, my sister introduced me to her very attractive friend who had beaten final fantasy 13 before I did...such a rare breed of woman.

Last weekend I went to a party at a grad students house. It was the first time I had partied with the older graduate students. It was a shitload of fun. The two guys from my lab were there, and it was really nice to see them let loose. Perhaps the strangest part is how hard these grad students party (mostly physics majors I might add), but I guess it shouldn't be that weird to me considering the ocho had 3 physicists.

My brother has a new show that will be airing on USA. It's called Covert Affairs and stars the girl from Coyote Ugly who also happened to be the pink power ranger. I've seen the pilot and I think its pretty good. You can watch the trailer online. It's sort of like Alias...but I've never seen Alias so I don't know. I've just read the comparison.

For those who don't know, Liz is moving out here in late July. I'm really excited for that. The long distance thing is such a pain in the butt. I'm moving out of my current place on May 31st and moving back in with my parents for a couple months. I don't think it will be too bad. I already go back home once a weekend anyway. Plus I'll be saving a lot of money.

LATER ALL. No fun websites, hilarious videos, countdowns, or raps.