Yes, I'm starting a blog

I know that some people are probably a bit a surprised to be reading this, but yes I am serious about doing this :)  Why a blog, you ask?  Well, there are a couple of reasons such as:

• I've been using Gchat for quite a while a now, but my schedule has changed significantly this spring and I won't be on there as much as I was before.  So, to keep in touch my friends and family, I thought that this might be a fun way to share what's going on with me.  I will still use Gchat so you may catch me on there every now and then.
• I like the idea of adding this to my Facebook page as a way of expanding on topics I find interesting.  I think it complements my Facebook page well. 

Basically, I'm just trying out a new way to share things with you.

The way I think I'm going to do this is make posts with different topics listed in their own sub-section.  So, here we go:

Professional Pursuits and Academics

This is coming first because it's probably the biggest news in my life at this point.  I am bucking my established work-a-holic reputation by scaling back work hours to focus on school this semester and finish a degree in biomedical engineering.  It's true - it's all part of an overall concerted effort to get some things off my plate so that I'm not so tied up all the time.  Shocking eh?  Trust me - it took a LOT of deliberation to get to this point, but I think it's a positive change.  The plan is to graduate in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering.  I am a graduate student in Computer Engineering as well (due to my enrollment in a joint-degree program), but I'll be taking that slowly (finishing probably in late 2012 - only 10 classes and I'll have 2 done by May 2011). 


Some of the topics I'm studying this semester include the following:

• Medical imaging modalities
• Quantum mechanics
• High-performance processors (parallel computing)
• Java programming, specifically data structures

The ones I'm most interested in are the medical imaging modalities and quantum mechanics.  Medical imaging is a fascinating topic - I think it's incredible how we can look inside the body in a non-invasive manner.  Quantum mechanics I think is interesting not so much because I'm interested in theoretical physics (though I am a bit interested in that yes) but rather because it's the basis for the operation of quantum computers.  I really believe that quantum computing will be the future of information processing, and I think that technology will also make its way into things like medical instrumentation because the hope is that it will be able to process massive amounts of data (like that gathered from living creatures) more efficiently.  Essentially, this semester I'm taking courses in topics that I am really interested in, so I think it's going to be interesting.  Just hoping my head doesn't explode...

The Bodacious Tour 2011: Life in Full Bloom

A quick glance at my or Casey Van Camp's Facebook page will probably be littered with images from the nine volumes of photos from the Bodacious Trip.   Well, our little Bodacious Trip has grown up to be a Bodacious Tour, and very soon the Tour founders (and maybe some good friends of the Tour) will be posting some of the proposed events for 2011.  Stay tuned - because there's some cool stuff on the way :)


Politics


Ah politics. Always something to talk about right? haha


My only comment this week is my condolences and prayers for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) after the terrible tragedy at a townhall gathering in her district.  I hope she makes as much of a recovery as she can.


Interesting


This month, Ridley Scott's Life in a Day project will make its debut at the Sundance Film Festival.  It just so happened that the day in question (July 24, 2010) was also the day of one of our Bodacious Trips, and we actually submitted some video from our Go Ape! experience to the project.  Whether we made it in or not, the project is really interesting and you can learn more about it here:


Life in a Day


I think that's a good start :)  Until next week!