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

Category: Life

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

  • Blotting My Dismay

    After many days of work and waiting through long incubations, I have now screwed up not only the first, but the second Western blot I have ever done in my life. Granted, the problems are relatively minor considering the number of things that could go wrong in such an extended process, but both of my…

  • Vindication

    Wonderful article from Ars Technica that supports what I (and countless others) have been contending for ages. A brave new world: the music biz at the dawn of 2008

  • I Love Gloves

    Working in a lab means I have to wear exam gloves for just about everything I do during the day. Since it’s a global policy that gloves cannot be worn outside the lab (for safety reasons), I am constantly gloving and de-gloving. One of the coolest things about wearing exam gloves is that you can…

  • Guitar Hero 3

    Kyle recently purchased Guitar Hero 3 for the PS3 and it’s been keeping us occupied for the past few weeks. The final song that you play over the credits is “Through the Fire and Flames” by Dragonforce, and is by far the most difficult song in the game. I was finally able to beat it…

  • Ready to Cure Cancer?

    Even before I began my research position, I have frequently heard people of many different areas of focus, science majors included, talk about “curing cancer.” The implication is that somehow, it would be possible to find a treatment or technique that would be able effectively eliminate the phenomenon. This assumption is extraordinarily frustrating to me…

  • Things that make me feel dumb: Unlabelled Doors

    In general this problem is pretty simple, right? All I have to do is look for the visual cues—be it a sign with clear directions to “push” or “pull,” or more physical attributes like the presence of a handle (pull) or crash bar (push). What gets me are the handled doors like the one shown…

  • Another Lazy Sunday Morning

    Lately when I have spent the night at Rachel’s house, I find myself waking up at 6:00 AM with her, ostensibly for reasons ranging from taking her to work in my car to studying. This particular week I have been doing some preparation for the MCAT, a task that has been considerably hindered by my…

  • Whiteout

    My day has included some rather interesting and unexpected turns of events and it’s barely afternoon. I’ve been struggling with my torrent client for weeks trying to figure out why I suddenly went unconnectable. After almost haphazardly trying a few things this morning I finally stumbled upon success, which happily coincided with my acceptance into…