An Epic Ballade of Texas

It’s official: this Spring Break was my most boring Spring Break ever. I did nothing, I went nowhere. I didn’t even celebrate St. Patrick’s day. I did plan to take a roadtrip on Saturday, but it snowed around 4 inches so I canceled that. Then the Jayhawks lost in possibly their biggest upset ever. Then the next day the “Healthcare Bill” passed, meaning I will be forced to purchase health insurance or pay a “fee” of nearly $700. So, you could say that my Spring Break was not cool (although my mom and grandma probably appreciate the mandatory health insurance part.) However, I did have a few good times locally. First, my band played a show in Topeka, where I saw a sign saying “Home of the 3 Pound Burger.” Upon further inquiry, it turned out that yes, that was 3 pounds of beef. So of course, I ordered one. (To share with Rafael.) And what comes as a side dish to the 3 pound burger? My sister was out in the Midwest, and I had a chance to see her for awhile, and to see her bling-ring as wel...

February, as you may know, is a short month. This February, however, seemed to be filled with enough stuff for me to fit into two regular-sized months. Anyhow, now that February is long gone, let me tell you about a few things that occurred. First, as I mentioned last time, I have been fairly busy with the band in which I am- practicing, recording, playing concerts and then eating IHOP pancakes late late at night. In the meantime, I won this award called the Newmark Award for biochemistry at the University of Kansas . Basically I had to submit a résumé and reference letters to the department, which invited five finalists to give a brief talk on their research; based on these, they chose their winner. And this year, that winner was me! Huzzah. This is nice because (a) it will look good on my future résumé, and (b) it comes with a nice $$$ (cash) prize as well. Also, this semester KU started up an official men’s club volleyball team. Tryouts were in February, ...