Last week was great – I essentially attended all classes and did my assignment for the next Monday’s genetics tutorial (a non-good copy at least) and I really had no excuse for not completing this same goal, but for some reason I just decided that my bed was more important. Sunday’s alcohol might have had something to do with it, but we were really craving greasy veggie dogs and cheap beer from the Rumpus Room and so we couldn’t help it. I also lost 11 out of 12 Jenga games and it’s a wonder why I haven’t broken more bottles at the wine shop. I have a count going. One of my nicknames is “Unnecessary Josh”.

I’m reaching that hilariously bad point where I’m behind enough in school work that learning new material is almost useless, and busy enough that learning the old stuff is almost distracting and makes me feel uneasy about how behind I am.… read more

My goal this week was to attend all my classes. I ended up skipping genetics tutorial again (oopsies) to buy (legitimately important) things. But I attended everything else! That’s something!

The Doc Martens I ordered came in on Monday. Hilariously painful at first, just like listening to that one friend tell the shittiest jokes over and over again, but now they’re quite fine, like punching him in the face.

BIOL 210 – Vascular Plants
Roots and Shoots! So much terminology. So many processes. Midterm next Wednesday. Scared.

Lab was cool(er) than usual. I forgot that my lab partner and I planted sunflower seeds at the beginning of the course, and three out of the four seeds germinated and grew to a considerable height.… read more

BIOL 210 – Vascular Plants
Favourite class. We learned about tissue systems and the cells that comprise them. Sclereids, for example, sometimes make up sclerenchyma tissues which provide support and flexibility in vines.

I’m also sure my lab partner hates me. I can hardly section plants to save my life, and I tripped on a chair on the way back to my desk from the demo potato and I instinctively yelled “YOLO”. I hate myself.

BIOL 234 – Fundamentals of Genetics
Mitosis, meiosis, Mendel, and the fear of God instilled into my soul from hoping that my crappy cell division drawings wouldn’t be selected to be displayed on the projector only to be corrected by the prof, complete with humiliating collective questions to the class (“does this cell look right to everyone?”).… read more

2nd week of school was cool too. Started off the week with a leftover final exam, which was fine but a total chore – two-sided sheet of notes allowed and exam questions given ahead of time so I’m really complaining about nothing. The future will perhaps be filled with robots but I find the theory-based path interesting yet slightly dull and too open. I can drink wine now and I can see plants around me. Practicality and hands-on stuff makes things so much easier to study.

Robots are cool BUT IN BIOLOGY YOU GET TO PLANT THINGS AND TAKE THEM HOME

BIOL 210 – Vascular Plants
So good! We learned more about plant cells. Most interesting to me were pigments, like anthocyanins and betalains.  … read more

The first class of any course is arguably exciting. I love course outlines and seeing what we get to learn. Of course, I’ll complain halfway through, fall to my knees, and ask God what the hell possessed me to take these courses. For now, though, they’re all pretty cool.

BIOL 210 – Vascular Plants
It’s only two classes in so far and I realized how much I LOVE PLANTS. OH MY GOD. We haven’t done much so far – maybe brushed up on basic plant cell parts and discussed why plants are important (Wine, duh). Main topics including basic terminology and sporic meiosis. Awesome.

BIOL 234 – Fundamentals of Genetics
This class in contrast is intimidating. Likewise, a brief refresher on some terminology and history.… read more