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

Category: Short Reads

Updates that are comfortably bite-sized.

  • Number Sixteen

    Perhaps more interesting than the construction on my road is my small mishap in one of the animal facilities the other day. Unbeknownst to me, the welding on one of the rat cage lids had partially separated, loosening the seal and enabling the cage to be opened from the inside. Inquisitive creatures that they are,…

  • Miscellany

    I got accepted at Penn State University! This means that I now have choices for where I begin the next phase of my education this fall. On a more trivial note, I live off of a road that desperately wants to be gravel when it grows up, and thinks that if it just accumulates enough…

  • Hurry Up and Wait

    I had my final med school interview this week and (independently) collected my twelfth rejection. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the remaining three schools I interviewed at to get back to me. The uncertainty of waiting creates considerable emotional drag, not only because a rejection could arrive at any time, but also…

  • Kiss Me, I’m Irish

    Seriously, I am. The Italian is just in greater proportion. This morning when I got into my car to go to work, I discovered a surprise indubitably left behind by a mischievous fairy. The festive container was crammed with verdant confections that will most certainly be a source of tasty delight for days to come. Have…

  • Returned Envelope

    The Flyleaf show I went to last November definitely rates as one of my top concert experiences. At the time I got a picture with Lacey Sturm (née Mosley) and an autographed iPod. But after getting the picture printed out at Walgreen’s I decided that the only thing cooler than a picture with Lacey would…

  • Yes, the Flyleaf concert was amazing.

    My ears are still ringing from the concert last night, but it was most definitely worth it. Flyleaf played in the smallest room of Sonar (warning: flash), and Rachel, Kyle and I were right against the barrier. We could practically touch the performers from where we were in what was the closest possible approximation to…

  • Silly AMCAS

    Remember how the AMCAS med school application website doesn’t work with any modern browsers? How I can’t upgrade Firefox past 3.0 on my Mac at work because there are no other supported OSX browsers, and at home I can only use IE 8 in compatibility mode? They haven’t fixed it yet.What’s even more frustrating is…

  • Occupational Hazards

    Aside from the occasional mishap, my colleagues and I do rather well managing the ever-present hazards of working in a research laboratory. Every so often, though, something happens that’s particularly interesting. We have some neat little stitch scissors for detailed snipping activities that I needed to use today. While I was cleaning them off, they…