A quick summary to reassure everyone this site is still active:

1) The people in grad school are wonderful and one of the prime reasons I've had an awesome two months so far. I spend a wildly varying amount of time with my bio classmates, but everyone is friendly and intent on getting to know each other. (Nine of us camped out for basketball tickets together last weekend, and after 36 hours we emerged with seven passes and many shared stories of suffering.) My labmates are sharp, supportive and accessible; I'm the youngest one by several years and soaking up their collective wisdom. Finally, critical to preserving my sanity are the people I've met from an interdisciplinary group on campus. No danger of burnout with them around...though I did realize from meeting some freshmen that I'll still be here by the time the incoming class graduates. Oh. Man.

2) I'm working with fruit flies this semester as part of my rotations�not quite the same as studying birds. For one thing, my study subjects have suddenly become dispensable. After a successful mating session, the male gets catapulted into a beaker of ethanol; after a second mating session a week later, the female is autoclaved in her vial. I suppose it's easier to come to terms with when you have a sample size of one zillion. Still, though, the same thought occurs to me as when I picked out the mice to feed the pet snakes in Florida: I don't like playing God.

3) Know who does play God? Places with money. I've resigned myself to writing grant proposals for the rest of my career, but they still suck. Please fund me, NSF.

4) I'm on fall break now (actually, my first fall break ever) and hanging out with Stan in Minnesota until Tuesday. I won't get a sense of the city before I leave, but it looks like a strange mix of Laramie, suburban Maryland and the set of "Pleasantville," depending on where you are. It's very odd to observe a city built around a hospital; all the hotels advertise free shuttles in addition to breakfast and wireless.

Tomorrow I have the day to wander the city while Stan's on call. And write another sentence of my proposal before going back outside. The leaves are changing here, and I can't wait for fall to come to Durham.