PreMDpilot

I have gotten back into it after a long time away and I had forgotten how much I really like it. I really love the feeling of trying something and failing and then trying it a different way or just with a little more determination and accomplishing it. I've only been back for two weeks or so and I'm starting to get stronger. I know this is just the start of the strengthening curve, but it still feels good. I did a bunch of problems that I really wanted to accomplish and tried a few that will go when I come back.

Now this looks like fun.

This is one of the coolest videos I've ever seen. It's a molecular description of what happens when an immune system cell is activated. It starts off with the surface proteins that initiate the signal. It looks like a G-protein coupled receptors. Then it delves into the cell past crosslinking intermediate filaments and polymerizing actin filaments. You get a grand picture of a microtubule polymerizing and breaking down. Then a heroic kinesin molecule carrying a vesicle towards the cell surface. After that comes small mRNA's being ejected from the nuclear pores and being read by ribosomes. You see that finished protein complex with another and head off to the mitochondria. You also see those proteins being injected into the Endoplasmic Reticulum for exocytosis. You get a vision of the Golgi and finally our heroic kinesin has reached the surface and the proteins are ejected onto the cell's surface. These complex to send a signal to endothelium of the blood vessel walls and the immune system cell stops and exits the bloodstream to go do even more complicated battle with intruders.

It's all stuff we learned in intro Molecular Biology, but it's still cool to see an artist's rendition. It's like watching the Harry Potter movies after you've already read the book. Cool Stuff.

There is a chill in the air this morning as I stroll out onto the field and hand my flight instructors a rather sizable check. It's expensive, but instruction is the surest defense I have against killing myself and after two months of training, I realize that I could've never self-taught this stuff. We kite around for a while and then pack it up to head up the hill. Unfortunately, my motor is still broken so I won't be able to motor around today, but I can still go run off the hill.

We start the arduous climb up the hill with our packs and harnesses. There is a new member today. A freshman who has never piloted a paraglider. He doesn't seem nearly nervous enough. We reach the platform that is our launch zone and start to lay out the gliders. I watch as my instructors brief the freshman and he makes a first attempt at the launch. The launching of these is the hard part. You are trying to take what is essentially a pile of nylon and turn it into a structure that will not only support your weight but will also fly controllably. A skydiving parachute really has no choice. You pull the ripcord and it either deploys and catches your weight or rips off entirely. A pilot has to gently coax a paraglider to hold his weight. There is a breathless moment on every take off where you try to put you entire weight on the glider and it will either hold you, or stall and send you crashing to earth. It is finding that precise moment when the glider is ready to hold you that is the really hard part. Usually because that moment doesn't occur until you are traveling very fast over the ground.

The freshman got it on his second attempt and he landed gracefully. I was next. I readied my glider, put on my helmet, double checked my harness, lines, and wind direction. Took a deep breath and pushed with my chest, Pulling the glider up has become second nature now. I run slightly left to get under the center of the wing and I'm ready. I piston my legs and sprint toward the edge of the slope. I feel the glider speed up and take some of my weight. I crest the hill and start to run down. The glider takes more and more of my weight and I feel it's ready. I sit down gently and NOPE, not ready. my butt drops precipitously towards the ground and I have to punch one more leg on the ground to keep myself in the air and WHOOSH, suddenly I'm more than forty feet off as the glider takes over. I slide into the harness, let out a whoop and glide to a gentle landing.

I did a second run much like the first except without any supervision. I actually managed to catch some lift this time and landed very far from my first landing site. I love this sport. If only it wasn't so expensive.

I had my very first interview with a medical school this weekend. Unfortunately, it was with the medical school that I very much want to attend, so I haven't had much interview practice. The day was actually much more tiring than I expected. I arrived at 8am and was given a lecture on how the process was going to work. The admissions advisor told us that most of us wouldn't know whether we got in or not until March. My friend told me not to believe it because he knew a bunch of people who were accepted immediately after they were interviewed, so I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. After that the Dean came and talked to us about the new curriculum. I was salivating as he put the classes the students were currently taking up on the powerpoint. I want to be studying molecular biology and anatomy so much right now (I know...big dork).

After that was my first interview. It was with a neurologist who seemed to want to hold himself at a distance from me. I asked him some questions and tried to pry open that demeanor, but in the end I don't think I succeeded. I think I impressed him sufficiently with my passion for medicine and helping people that he will be able to get over the skepticism. After that, I had a half-hour break where I nervously chatted with the other candidates. For some reason, we were all wearing black suits. Then came my second interview. This one was actually with a former US Air Force flight surgeon, so he totally understood my desire to fly and do medicine. But he was a little more skeptical of my chronology and if I really had the motivation for medicine. I think this is the weakest part of my application, but I was attempting to hide that fact and he somehow managed to tease almost all of it out from me. So that interview was a little more stressful, but I don't think I stuck my foot in my mouth too badly. Overall, I felt ok coming out of interviews, but I felt energized as I toured the school, talked to students, and realized that this is the kinf of environment that I belong in.

So here's hopin'

Dear Senator,
With the Democrats headed towards victory in this important election, I just wanted to take a moment to congratulate you and all Democrats for all the patience, diligence, and fortitude that you have shown in dealing with the Republican Congress. We have hoped and prayed for this day for years, but I would like to urge caution in the coming months and years. There will be a perogative for the Democratic Congress to attack President Bush with investigations and impede his legislative ideas, which I think is fine, but these investigations should be carried out cautiously with as little media involvement as possible.
Though we will benefit from this election, the Democratic party is still seen as a splintered, negative, somewhat unprincipled party. To most Americans, we have no solid platform that can be pointed to. We have to rally around ideas like renewable energy, tax reform for the the poor and middle class, and medical reform. These are the ideas and principles that we can beat the Republicans on soundly, if we just stick to them unwaveringly.
We are being elected because of Iraq, but we must be reelected as the party of principle. I would urge restraint and bipartisan cooperation from your colleagues in the Senate and don't be looking to avenge years of mistreatment. It will not help the party nor the country for the Democrats to lose power because they are perceived as blocking positive reform. We must be the party that generates that positive reform. Again, congratulations and I hope the next few years can be used to undo the damage that has been done to our country, to bring the troops home safely, and initiate positive, lasting reform.

Sincerely

Flightfire

This is amazing if it's true. Now, it may just be the media blowing things way out of proportion, but if this has any shred of truth, then HOLY COW!! Next thing we know, James Dobson will be bursting out of the closet with a queer eye for the straight, Christian guy. Methinks they doth protest too much about gay marriage.

On a more serious note, for those of you who are thinking about going out to vote, just so you can show those gays that you're not going to let them have any of those rights that married people enjoy. Let me be the first to tell you that gay here to stay. My generation is getting to know to gay people and finding out, guess what, THEY'RE STILL PEOPLE. They have all the same hopes, dreams, heartaches, and interests that we do, and they are not going to suddenly abandon being gay just because you pass a law or Amendment. I have an ultra-conservative friend who voted for Bush in the last election and was a staunch marriage protectionist. He spent one summer working for lesbian lab manager and next week he is going to the polls specifically to vote for gay marriage. It may take 15, 20, maybe even 30 years to overturn all the bans, but eventually they will all fall by the roadside like Prohibition, the Jim Crow laws, and slavery. You can't write discrimination into the American heart, it just doesn't fit.