Minnesota.....

CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

Christmas.....

Christmas

Christmas......

Christmas....

Christmas......

Christmas.....

Christmas '05

edited version of: my random conversation with Jen Brown on my last day of work in 2005

Jen says:
are you whining?
Amenah says:
NO!
Amenah says:
not at all
Amenah says:
how is my Jen?
Jen says:
lol.
Jen says:
Fantastic. U?
Amenah says:
hey, are you going home for Christmas?
Jen says:
Are you home in MN yet?
Jen says:
I am home.
Amenah says:
nope
Amenah says:
tomorrow
Amenah says:
YOU"RE home!!
Amenah says:
you and Imran beat me
Jen says:
I'M HOME!
Jen says:
lol.
Jen says:
we did; we did.
Amenah says:
well
Amenah says:
will you be in Willow?
Jen says:
Christmas Day until... sometime around the 30th, I believe.
Amenah says:
IN WILLOW???!???!
Amenah says:
YAY!
Amenah says:
actually, i'll be at Azra's for Christmas
Jen says:
NO GOOD.
Amenah says:
in the cities
Amenah says:
heh
Amenah says:
but,
Jen says:
But you'll be around at some point, not?
Amenah says:
i'll be home sometime i think
Amenah says:
YEs
Jen says:
rockon.
Amenah says:
well, we should do lunch
Amenah says:
or dinner
Amenah says:
or breakfast
Amenah says:
or ....
Amenah says:
man,
Amenah says:
we should invent a meal
Jen says:
that'd be cool, but I'm sick of eating, so maybe we can wrestle in the snow or something.
Amenah says:
i haven't been workin my upper body
Amenah says:
i'll lose
Amenah says:
we could run though
Amenah says:
rafce
Jen says:
lol
Amenah says:
how can you POSSIBLY be sick of eating?:????
Amenah says:
what's WRONG with you???
Amenah says:
say, what's your cell?
Jen says:
Meh... when I'm home, I have lunch and dinner and all sorts of meals w/ everyone I need to see, and I Just get sick of eating.
Jen says:
***.***.****
Amenah says:
me=***.***.****
Jen says:
If you want to call my baby brother, his is the same --- just switch the last 6 for a 7.
Amenah says:
you mean DAN!!!
Amenah says:
how is he,
Jen says:
Yep, dan. He's still a nerd,
Amenah says:
well, if you want to call my big bro
Jen says:
but he's cool.
Amenah says:
i dont' remember what number to switch
Amenah says:
sorry
Jen says:
lol --- I have his #.
Jen says:
np
Amenah says:
good
Amenah says:
which number do i switch
Amenah says:
well..a.
Amenah says:
i have it
Amenah says:
i'm too lazy to figure it ou
Amenah says:
i'm flyin in tomorrow
Amenah says:
(my stinkin flight ias at 6 AM!!)!
Jen says:
Not sure, it's on my cellphone, so I don't have it near me right now.
Jen says:
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH
Amenah says:
woah
Amenah says:
sele
Jen says:
I do that on the way out from Denver in January
Jen says:
lol
Amenah says:
set tle
Jen says:
NO.
Jen says:
NOL.
Jen says:
IDF-ASDHFOIAUSET
Jen says:
ASDBFIOA,.
Jen says:
B
Jen says:
NO.
Amenah says: crazy woman
say, what should i get Imran for Christams?
Amenah says:
(I'm a lit tle lat eon these minor details)
Jen says:
LOL.
Jen says:
I do hate food.
Jen says:
Get Imran... a care package.
Amenah says:
what?
Amenah says:
i already did that
Amenah says:
that's so 10 days old
Jen says:
OH, NEVERMIND THEN.
Jen says:
BITE ME.
Amenah says:
heheh
Amenah says:
i feel as if i should save this conversation and post it to my blog
Jen says:
LOL
Jen says:
DO IT DO IT DO IT
Amenah says:
well, say something INTERSTING
Amenah says:
then
Amenah says:
gosh
Jen says:
I WILL NOT.
Jen says:
WE WILL NOT POST THIS IM CONVO.
Amenah says:
who's we?
Jen says:
*grumble*
Amenah says:
its MY blog
Jen says:
whatever.
Amenah says:
btw
Amenah says:
you've already made your debut
Amenah says:
in it
Jen says:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Amenah says:
yep.....
Amenah says:
www.tigerlily7.blogspot.com
Jen says:
I've seen your blog, but don't recall seeing myself mentioned.
Amenah says:
GO
Amenah says:
NOW
Amenah says:
i'm hungry
Amenah says:
you are in the meat and potatos one
Amenah says:
the irony
Jen says:
i see me.

More than the truth....is that possible?

Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge;his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

thank you God for protecting us. Thank you for protecting Kent.

The Truth

"Despite me, God is. "~ Amenah to Amenah's upper consciousness

Give me some old fashioned meat and potatoes

I have a small, minor confession to make. Let's not sing and dance about it, I'll be frank. I have always been suspicious of rich people. The big houses, the nice fancy cars, the digital this and that, the big wigs. And when I went to Carleton, my freshmen year I lived next door to a millionaire, lived with a girl who's parents could buy the statue of liberty and plant it in their backyard with their yachts and pools, I ate with sons and daughters of UN reps, conversed with ordinary offspring of world renowned doctors, and argued with republicans and democrats (that has no connection whatsoever, btw). I have always viewed myself as poor--if numbers could speak, they would say I grew up in poverty--and from a completely different fabric then those with jaguars and bmw's for birthday gifts. And I laughed in disbelief or something like that, when I heard, at all places a Posse retreat, a rich girl--daughter of two doctors--express her shame of being rich. She actually said to us that she hated to discuss economics because she was so rich. Imagine that, I thought, someone being ashamed of being rich! I was ashamed of being poor, how dare she be ashamed of being rich! And I have always been exasperated at the rich dressing poor. Well, I say, if I had all that money, I'd at least wear decent styles for crying out loud. Why in the world do the rich like to dress sloppy???

And then it struck me. I was sitting at lunch with Belia. Now Belia is a 24 year old, married with a sweet daughter, and she's from Riverside Church. I had never had a real conversation with her, but somehow we found each other having lunch at Perkins together on a Sunday afternoon. I didn't even ask her to, and that's a first--I'm very inquisitive, and usually draw this out--, but she proceeded to tell me her whole life story. And in that two hour conversation, I was humbled to humble crumbs. All my moanings and "depressing" sob stories were diminished to frivolties. My five year silence with my father was nothing compared to her living in abuse by stepfathers that led to mental breakdowns. My time living in a trailer without water and heat at times was nothing compared to the fact that Belia wasn't able to spend money to go see the chronicles of narnia with us this weekend. And college? Belia had attempted to go to community college--she wanted to be a teacher. But that didn't work. And look at me-- the moron, complaining about her major life decision as to whether or not to apply to Harvard for fun, and wasting $60 on an application fee. That's my worry! HA HA HA. And my car? I was ashamed to even walk to it. I have this automatic door opener, and I've never used my key to open the door. I've forgotten how. She was proud that she had bought her car for 200 bucks, and owned it herself. The funny thing? She is 24, and I feel so much older than her. It was like I decided to hang out with someone I knew from highschool back in Willow. They say Carleton shelters us, and its true. But I've gotten such a different perspective than most of my peers who have gone elsewhere--and not been sheltered. Yeah, I'm naive, for sure. I still dont' know why some rich people dress so sloppy, though. When I figure it out, I'll let you know. Alls I know, that if I ever become rich, i'll probably still be suspicious--of myself included. Hmmmm.....But I'll dress like a queen. I'll still eat meat and potatoes--not to have forgotten those "good ol times"--not to worry. Do people like me always say these things? I feel like a cliche.

The real thing is, and sorry for making you walk with me through this melodramatic episode of "amenah's got issues", is that I'm dripping in gold. Seriously, I "worry" about finances at times, but really, I've got so much. And I'm not just talking $, although i sure got enuf, I'm talking my family. Imran is the best thing since sliced bread. (I've always wanted to use that line) I have a brother who's not only brilliant, going to Yale, humble, the best bro I could ask for, but also strong in his faith and loves his family. I have no idea what or where i'd be without him. And my sister, a doctor who's going to move mountains, has taken care of us--protected, guided... loved!--one of my best friends. She's the one who said, "we can do it" against all odds, and broke down walls with her fists. "Though one may be overpowered two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken."-Ecclesiastes 4:12. And my mother and my grandmother. what more do i need to say?

But let me tell you, every time I eat with a Christian, I'm literally overjoyed to tears to have someone to pray with. No more sticking up my thumbs (i've taught many your thing, Josh), I don't care if we're in public! if you say you're a Christian----YOU"RE PRAYING WITH ME!!! I miss prayer, and mustard seed. sigh.

As I was telling Jennifer, and these are my exact words (okay, a little off): "Yeah, I'm living in isolation. I think it ought to be good. I'm thinking, yep, God is going to make me a pillar in this experience. But then sometimes I'm like, yo where the party be at?" I think the GRE has had some positive effect on my grammar. And my math. Kent gave me some numbers to add the other day---2.8, 1.2, and 3--and I took five minutes to say, 'of course, 6.' He looked at me, "i'm sorry Amenah, I was puttin you on the spot." heh. 7, you dope. Kent is this amazing guy who was goin to work for the FBI. He's 35, and has two kids, and is married. He's like, so awesome. I'm going snowmobiling (for the first time!) with him and Akochi next weekend. I've been hangin out with guys alot. I think I ought to find me some friends that are female.

Oh, and, about my car (Elmo--everlasting love m=? o=? still pondering those letters). Akochi and I went to subway, and I get this fantastic idea to leave my car running--its freazing out, and i like warm cars. Now, don't freak out, people in Hamilton do this ALL the time. But I'm not as trusty as Hamiltonians, so I lock the car--but before I do this, I take my electronic door opener with me. How many of you have done this? Raise your hand. Don't be ashamed. Anyway, my car wouldn't lock with the electronic door opener, so i HAND lock it. ha ha. you'd think i would have figured out that that's not smart. Then i try to open it. heh. nice try. nope. so these high school boys drive up next to us, and they're chuckling away--it turns out that they had done this recently, and knew what I had done--and Lucas, a junior, ends up driving me home to get my spare. Nice boy, smart and respectful. He thought Akochi was my husband. This is happenin way too frequently. No way of gettin around this....

AND. I went to the post office the other day. I was bundled up like a mummy in antartica--there was no way you could have seen anything but my eyes. And the lady goes, "so, were you born here?" I'm not joking. No, I'm not. I was so startled, that i had her repeat it, "huh?"
"were you born here?" WHAT?!?!?!??!? i had written a note to myself once and it came in handy, "don't go postal in a post office". I calmly looked at her, and said, "no comprendo, no hablo ingles." and then i did an African dance with some salsa, and showed her my war paint. Okay okay. I didn't. i said I was from MN. That's it. No guts, I tell ya. Someday. At the right moment.

What else?

Ah, yes. Recently I led home group, and the dicussion topics centered around God's wrath and predestination. Leave it to me to come up with such easy topics. We ended, as I had predicted on the statement, "God is good". Amen.

WORK rocks as usual. And apparently, Steve, my boss (btw, he's a world renowned doctor, and I didnt' figure this out until recently) has signed me up to speak at the INRO conference in Feb. I have to talk about my postbac experience(s) for the NIH, and help recruit. I'm already nervous. AHHHH!!!!! in front of all those doctors and smart students???!?!??!

I'm amazed to have gotten you through all of that. This is one jumpy post.

Gel-icious

It's dark outside my lab window. And I'm the only one left. Sigh. And its FRIDAY!!!
Guess where I'm going next? I'm going to the IRON HORSE rec center!!! Yeah work out, here I come. This has got to be a first, Amenah is paying people to let her work out. Boy, I sure didn't realize what I had with Carleton.

And if one more person turns to me innocently and says something to the extent, "Man, you're English is pretty good. HOw long have you been here?" or "So where are you from? No originally? Were you actually born here, then?" I'm going to have a hissy fit! Right there. Right then.

So last Monday was the umpteenth time I have been asked this here in Montana, right before, of all things, my GRE. I arrive late, right--but I'm not really late, since it was 10 minutes before my test, and I was suppose to be there 30 minutes before departure...err....before the online test does its thing. And the lady gasps "You're late!" Freaky enough to be there in a huff, but to have someone exclaim this announcement to the world--that can get you even more nervous for a test that measures every output of every stinkin neuron you own!!!!! AHHHHHH! (actually, the inventors of such tests can't be all that brilliant) So my heart went up like 100 notches in its pumping...But, then the lady tells me my English is pretty darn good. Heh. Alls I can do is laugh, if only this woman reall yknew how good my English really was. Anywho.....My GRE went well this time, thank God. :) I really mean that, thank God.

OH, and everyone should congratulate Miss Rashi Elfkin Perera herself for getting a fine acceptance to U of MelbornIAY. And Smart E (Edaeni) is going to do fine on her upcoming test, be assured. Nothing but the best baby!

Samara, where have you been? And Sooms?

I'm currently debating whether or not to apply to Harvard. ANyone have any advice? The deadline is on the 15th. Sigh.

Next time I shall write a more engaging piece, one that will inspire men to battle!

Sending out all my love to all my fraggles.

Oh, you're prollie wondering why the title is Gel-iciuos. That's cuz I just took a pretty decent snap shot of some genomic dna on a gel, and its pretty. I will frame it. :)

tete a tete

tete a tete means a conversation between two people. with all this time on my hands to write in my blog, you'd think I'd be conquering the GRE.

time is nugatory. overrated really.

"beverly hills! that's where. I want. 2 BE!"

By popular vote, Hamiltonian voters to be specific:
Amenah needs to get a boyfriend.
Yep.

So, Akochi, if you are reading (he's not, but if so) you better work on this for me.

At least 10 times, I have been mistaken forAkochi's wife. Heh. ANd when I'm alone, by myself, people think I'm 17 or 18. The irony.

there's no misoneism in this entry. nope.

I don't have a sinecure. MY job is quite full of things to do, and explore, and conquer.

and btw, if anyone was worried, which no one better be, the people i work with are awesome! like, for real. now that that is resolved, let's go onto something more productive.

Like discussing.......the end of the world.

No.

That' s actually not that interesting of a topic.

I'm hungry. I tend to write that alot in my blog. Sorry.
GOing to eat chicken curry. Yum.

Ode to 3730xl DNA analyzer

Pop quiz. Which quality graph shows better sequencing?


A.)







or

B.)











Well.... you were right! A.) shows a consistent q value above 20, which means that there is only about 1/10000 chance that the reported base is incorrect. And the sequence in general was about 750bp. That's good.

B.) is fighting to sequence. This is most likely due to the sample template not doing its best with its primer.

Hamilton MT

The pictures below are not taken by me, but here is a brief taste of the place I'm in. (I feel like I'm doing some sort of brochure...heh.)

















Chief Joseph, 250-400 Nez Perce warriors and their families passed through the valley in their futile flight to freedom in Canada, in what is known as the Nez Perce Indian War of 1877. Their attempt to maintain their freedom and avoid the reservation was the only time the Nez Perce fought the whites.



















Need I say more?


"When you work at NIAID's Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana, there's a time to work and a time to play. Dr. Steve Porcella (left), a postdoctoral fellow, shows NIAID summer students "the ropes." During the summer, 26 high school and college students worked with RML scientists. Some students worked in other areas, caring for animals, performing secretarial and administrative tasks, or doing jobs in the shop and maintenance department. Four of NIAID's 16 intramural laboratories are located at RML and conduct basic and applied research in viral, bacterial and prion diseases and related clinical disorders. Prion diseases such as scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy and tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease are major research areas."
~Missoula Times (newspaper)
This is Steve when he first came to RML. Steve is now head of the Core I work for, and today, we (!) celebrated the Core's 1 year anniversary.















Bitterroot national park. This is located four blocks from me--this is where I go jogging.













Bitterroot Valley (Hamilton is located in this valley) next to the mountains I see outside my window.

Left: Bitterroot River--I cross this when I go biking towards the mountains (in the distance)

Below: Building 1 of the Rocky Mountain Labs was constructed in 1928, after some doctors--Dr. Ralph Parker, Dr. Howard Ricketts and Dr. Spencer--paved the way in a schoolhouse lab. The lab is now about 10 buildings.

Weeeeeeeeeeee!

Raise your hand if you remember Amenah's comps topic.
Heh heh heh! so, i'm like surfin the RML site [which btw, you out in the real world could never have direct access too, since like everything here is super duper secure (i mean, go and google the RML and you won't find diddly squat)], and there he was!

Dr. Hinnebusch!












I used his papers for my comps, and he's like around the corner, down the hall, and to the left! budabing, budabang!

I told Kent all about this discovery, and he pushed me out the door, and introduced me to the man.

So, here's a tribute to Yersinia pestis, the alleged etiological agent--but not--of the BLack Death:












and here is my intro to my paper.....

The Culprit of the Black Death

Arguably, no other disease has surpassed the devastation that was the Black Death. Claiming an estimated 17 to 28 million Europeans at a speed of 1.5-5 miles per day during 1347-1350 (Scott, 2001), the Black Death robbed Europe of its livelihood, leaving an unidentified black fingerprint upon its Medieval history. Until recently, the acceptance that Yersinia pestis was the etiological agent of the Black Death has gone uncontested. Currently, studies that suggest otherwise (Cohn, 2002; Gilbert et al., 2004; Scott, 2001) assert that molecular and epidemiological evidence shed light on the flawed connection between these two apparently dissimilar diseases. The elucidation of the causative agent has been previously based on pure speculations of the similarities between symptoms and misuse of archaic medical records. It is necessary to extinguish un-substantiated conclusions formerly declared by these methods, and to replace them with the molecular and epidemiological research that strongly indicates the impossible, if not unwarranted, relation between Y. pestis and the Black Death. It is also crucial to resolve the discrepancies within this controversy in light of a potential threat of the re-emergence of Black Death. Indeed, in order to develop treatments, the causative agent of Black Death must be identified to prevent the effects that claimed the lives of many. To address this question, an examination of aDNA studies, and Y. pestis transmission will be discussed.

and here are some of Joe's papers:

Hinnebusch, B. J., Rudolph, A. E., Cherepanov, P., Dixon, J. E., Schwan, T.G., and Forsberg, A. Role of Yersinia murine toxin in survival of Yersinia pestis in the midgut of the flea vector. Science 296: 733-735, 2002.

Hinnebusch, B. J., Rosso, M.-L., Schwan, T. G., and Carniel, E. High-frequency conjugative transfer of antibiotic resistance genes to Yersinia pestis in the flea midgut. Mol. Microbiol. 46: 349-354, 2002.

Hinnebusch, B. J. Transmission factors: Yersinia pestis genes required to infect the flea vector of plague. In: M. Skurnik (ed.) The Genus Yersinia, Kluwer Plenum Press, 2003.

untitled

the genomics CORE

well....here is a picture of the people i'm currently kicking it with at the core, minus Akochi and I. (And Stacy, the woman on the right, is not here anymore)
From left to right, Steve (my boss) Kent (the dna sequence head), Dan (the microarray guy--dont' get in a fight with this guy, he's buff), John (computer guy--how ironic, yi yi), and in the front is Amy (everything) and Stacy (new mother)