Matter, Energy, and Life of Michaela A. Castello.

Category: Life

Short (and long) reads extracted from my personal life.

  • The Wise Man’s Fear

    I first heard about The Name of the Wind from a post on Penny Arcade, and I was quickly impressed. Perhaps more telling is that I excitedly shared it with Rachel and she was impressed, reading it at a pace at least double mine as is her fashion. A while back I finally finished reading…

  • Easter Weekend

    Easter Weekend

    In the past, Easter has been a rather quiet holiday for Rachel and me. Since we usually spend the “major” holidays with our parents and siblings, Easter became the holiday we spent having dinner by ourselves or with a friend or two. This year we had a bit more excitement over Easter weekend, beginning with…

  • Thesis Planning

    The lab I decided to stay in is just getting started at LLU, so right now it’s just me and the PI, Dr. Salvador Soriano. Since there wasn’t any ongoing research in the lab when I got there, the experiments we’re planning out are going to be my thesis. While the opportunity is tremendous, it’s…

  • Grad Students Hard at Work

  • Kernels of Devastation

    I have been allergic to peanuts my whole life. A food allergy is a major pain—it’s like a weakness, a Kryptonite that renders me helpless at even a small dose. Unlike Superman, I don’t have remarkable powers to fall back on when things are good. Peanuts contacting my mouth rapidly initiate a multistage anaphylactic reaction…

  • Residential Recycling

    Back before caring about the environment was a fad, my family was recycling: Taking care of cans, jars, and various other recyclable materials was one of my household jobs for a long time. In those dark ages, I had to fully rinse everything and peel of the labels before we could haul our amassed bags…

  • Spring, I Hardly Knew Ye

    Having lived here less than a year, I’m not entirely confident that I’m qualified to comment on the Southern California environments. However, I would imagine that it is in these first months that the differences between “here” and “there”—that is to say, Maryland—are the most salient, and are thus a fine source of raw material…

  • Pi Day! (with pictures)

    This week included March 14th, or 3/14, the holiday in commemoration of a certain special number celebrated by geeks and nerds everywhere. The homophony with pie provides instructions on how said day should be observed. Our Pi Day party featured a spread of six delicious pies: Blueberry, apple, peach praline, key lime, chocolate pudding, and…