Here goes nothing

I have always been attracted to the idea of keeping a blog, but never pulled the trigger until now. I have had more free time lately than I am used to, and given all the interesting things going on in the world at the moment I thought I'd go for it. I hope to improve my writing, meet people with similar (or radically different!) views on the world, learn some things, and have a bit of fun.

Some background-
I am a third-year undergrad studying biology (specifically, genetics) at UC Berkeley. I, like many bio majors at Cal, consider myself to be pre-med. I will begin applying to medical schools in the summer of 2009. I participate in two very different research endeavors at Cal, one within my major and one completely outside of it. As a student that focuses on genetics, I work in a lab on campus that studies a very particular kind of inheritance called paramutation, using maize (corn) as a model organism. My other research is in the Astronomy Department on campus. I work with a robotic telescope called KAIT (check out the link on the right) that scans the sky every night looking for evidence of exploding stars called supernovae in other galaxies. Both of these research positions are on a volunteer basis, and I do them because the subjects interest me.

Right now I am one month into a semester abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. As much as it kills me to be out of the country during the meat of the general election, the internet keeps me pretty well on top of everything going on. I plan on posting all about this wonderful city sometime in the future, but for now I am loving every minute. Last night I saw The Faint at Vega, a great venue with a lot of character. A few weeks ago I saw The Flaming Lips at Tivoli, an amusement park that serves beer.

As you may have guessed, I love politics. This upcoming election will be the first general election where I am old enough to vote, and I have been keeping myself on top of the news every day for months now. Some of my favorite places to stay informed are listed on the right. This must be one of the most interesting match-ups in recent American history, and I am really glad I get to be involved. The last eight years have been really tough to get through; I have watched my country lose its footing and its standing in the world. I couldn't be more excited about Barack Obama, and when he gets elected on November 4th, I will literally dance in the streets. I am planning on being in D.C. for the inauguration, to witness the culmination of a movement I have been following since St. Patrick's Day 2007 when I saw Obama speak in Oakland.

That's enough for now, until next time.