Subtitles from Angewandte...oh dear.

Angewandte = Applied (in German)

Angewandte Chemie = Applied Chemistry....and also a chemistry journal that along with crazy graphical abstracts also contains subtitles that feature puns, movie titles, and other silly phrases.

Its only fitting that I share some of them (from the past week) with you. 

I didn't have to search hard for these they are ALL from the last 7 days!

Now without any further ado....

1. Gettin’ a little sugar—no alcohol required (<-- My personal favorite!!!)

2. Pincers do something for U that sandwiches don't

3. A click by any other name

4. Unstable? We’re Able!

5. Al together now! (This is not misspelled)

6.  Strike while the iron’s hot

7. Getting their feet wet

8. Water molecules doing time

9. Going fishing!

10. 2009: A boraanthracene odyssey (Seriously, this is what it said. The pic to go with it is great too! It'll be up later this week!)

So maybe these aren't haha funny, just dorky funny, but I still enjoyed them immensely!

(All subtitles from Angewandte Chemie. Int. Ed. early view)

Science Consultant? [CHECK] yes please!!!

So people ask me (especially when I'm home in Ohio) what I want to do with my life once I'm done with graduate school. I always give the same type of response "Well...Idk, not teach right away" and then go onto say something about industry and possibly the government, but I had an epiphany today:

I want to be a Science Consultant for television/film

(How one goes about doing this, I have not a clue...but I am willing to learn)

Now you might ask yourself, how is she qualified? And I would have to say that, maybe I'm not quite qualified yet, but I could give a pointer or two:

Case in point my newest addiction: Fringe (Fox, Tuesdays @ 9 pm)

For any non-chemistry people out there (my mom), this is a rotary evaporator, but this is not how you use it.  (See this is where I could help).

Google tells me the science consultants are Rob Chiapetta and Glen Whitman and let me tell these two do a fine job, but if anyone knows how to contact them comment away (below). I am close to Boston (where I believe filming takes place) and would be so excited I'd probably pee my pants (which probably won't go over too well)

An Ode to Sheena...

Our beloved undergrad Sheena is graduating in a few weeks, and so this post is dedicated to her. 

Oh Sheena, how two people could ever have the EXACT same taste in TV/Movies is beyond me, but I will certainly miss you coming into lab saying "Did you watch ____ last night?" with ____ being filled in with LOST, Fringe, DWTS, or AI (and "High School Musical: Get in the Picture", yes, we both watched it!) 

I'm glad you took my (and others) advice to read Twilight and then fearing the movie would be all out at Blockbuster renting it on demand, watching it twice, and then buying it for real the same week. 

What other college senior throws an HSM3 sing-a-long to commemerate the video release? Yes, that would be Sheena.

Congratulations on your Graduation!!!!

Sheena getting ready for her presentation

Opening her HSM card with Dharma logo drawn on that sang "You are the Music in Me"

(perfect for gradation?...not so much, but those cards were boring)

Champagne to celebrate!

And after the celebration (complete with ice-cream cake) we talked about new LOST theories,  looked up Dharma patches and jumpsuits ($7 and $90 respectively), followed by DWTS and SYTYCD videos on YouTube.

Needless to say it was a fun day, and I'm totally going to miss you!

*PS, for anyone who is wondering, she did real lab work too, we didn't just talk about TV all the time*

A Good Day In Lab!

Why you ask? Well the reasons are multi-dimensional (we'll start with the most important!)

1) A passed her orals (with flying colors I might add)...so that means were are going out to celebrate tonight!

2) I was attempting the synthesis of 4'4[[(Trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]oxy]-2,2':6',2"-terpyridine from the pyridone and triflic anhydride (JOC, Vol. 56, No. 15, 1991), so basically you add the reagents, stir at RT for 48 (!!!) hours and then pour into ice-water and filter. So you were supposed to get a light brown solid....and mine was white....usually in chemistry you want a white solid and you get light brown. So,  I dissolved in hexanes and then evaporated and took an NMR....and this is what I got:

(What is this you might ask? Well, it is terpy-triflate!!)

3. It was so B-E-A-UTIFUL here today!

My least favorite picture of the day, but pretty clouds out of the lab window!

A pretty, pretty tree I pass everyday into lab

A B&W of said tree

And with that...off to celebrate! Happy Thursday!

2 months and 15 days?!?

Really? 2 months and 15 days since I've last posted?!?

Some people thought that I had given up, but no-sir-ee, I've just been planning THE BEST BLOG ever! (Ok, so probably not the best blog ever, but certainly a full-packed blog on what life has been like in the past 2 months and 15 days comeplete with pictures!!!)

Oh orals, you consumed my life...but now that I've qualified has life really been any different? Let's look at the evidence:

N and McB before my Orals (above)

N and McB (and G!) after my orals (above)

See, besides the fact that N might have an evil master plan and B is somehow trying to attack him (Notice, G is the only one actually working, thank goodness no more MOFs!) everything is back to the way it was.

I'm not saying life was all sunshine and rainbows during this hiatus, but all in all the whole ordeal left me with a greater understanding of my project and was a good motivator to get back into lab!

So, let's look at this by numbers:

• 28 days stuck in CRB 218
  
• ~56 fast-food meals (oh yes, 56 meals of McDonalds, Wendy's, and Subway for dinner, and Carts, Manna and Nica's for lunch....can we say a heart-attack waiting to happen?!?
  
• ~84 cans of Pepsi 
  
• 3 meltdowns (1 major, 2 minor)
  
• ~15ish hour days
  
• 1 poster presentation
  
• 2 Ten page papers
  
• 1 qualifying exam
  

So what was it like might you ask? Oh there were definitely hard-at-work study days, there were, I think we have all lost our mind days, there were a few meltdowns (3 to be exact), loads of laughs and CHEMISTRY of course! Let's go through a photographical journey shall we?

NO2-Phenyl-Terpy Synthesis (above)

G's new hat (notice the Pepsi endorsement)

Yummy, Yummy Bar salad for dinner one Friday night!

A brief glimpse at the room (and K8) soo many papers!

So I'm sure you are asking yourself, what has changed since then? Well for one, no more fast food for breakfast and dinner everday, just every-other day, J/k, but fast food has become a rarity, also, one huge change for me has been:

During Orals (above): Let's count them: 10 Pepsi cans, 1 Coke, 1 Cherry Coke (although I think that is K8's)

After Orals (above): 7 Pepsi One's, 1 DD coconut coffee (w/Splenda) and 1 Nalgene of water

That's right, after rotting my teeth for a good 20ish years, I have made the move from Pepsi to Pepsi One, and let me tell you it has been a smooth transition, I will even drink Diet (gasp!) if no Pepsi One is available. For y'all that don't know, Pepsi One is sweetened with Splenda instead of Aspartame and it is has every bit of caffeine that this body needs....but occasionally DD coconut coffee is just calling my name!

Another change?!? PRIMETIME TV!!!! (Can I get a "Reunited and it Feels So Good"?) Oh yes my dear followers (all 4 of you) I am indeed back to watching a full line-up of awesomely awesome and awesomely trashy television shows! 

Quick Run-down:

• LOST (Duh....)
• DWTS
• Gossip Girl
• 90210
• American Idol (sometimes)
• Lie to Me (new fav.)
• Dollhouse (new fav.)
• The Mentalist
• ANTM (sometimes)
• Biggest Loser (sometimes)
• The Unusuals (I'm giving it a shot)

....and I think that just about does it!

(It feels good to be back)