Suuuny Sky

Wow this week has been fun and also really busy. I had a great time seeing my parents and sister and the weather was beautiful while they were here. My sister stayed with me from Wednesday to Saturday and during those days she helped me at work, went to class with me, hiked through the woods and also went to a potluck at Maya's house. Iv been trying to catch up on all the school work and our final health projects will be due soon so im working hard every day to get some editing done. Today i had a very interesting class about genetics and epigentics. Today mainly focused on senescence (aging) and how its a product of selection and is adaptive. Our teacher in his past did a big study about aging and found that many tumors and cancer are actually the product of old age and the same mechanism which causes them, actually keeps us healthy when we are young and natural selection ignores these effects in old age. Basically most tumors and cancer are cells which keep repairing and dont receive a message to turn off. This is the same with moles except they stop growing. My teacher discussed how telomeres repair cells but eventually hit a point were they cease to do this in old age. Genetics still have lots to uncover and certain theories such as, antagonistic pleiotropy, state that genes have good effects early in life and later in life will consequently have bad effects after a human being enters sexual maturation. Also throughout the past years the average life span has risen, but the maximum life span has not. Our class still has a lot to learn about this area of study, but society's perception of health is obviously skewed and there are many other dimensions to investigate.

Family

This weekend was great and i was able to see my family briefly. On Saturday i had a very early work meeting from 8 to 10 and once we finished i went back to my room and slept for a while. Once awake i cleaned a little bit, did some reading for my class, and got a quick workout in at the CRC. My parents and sister later met me at my dorm and got to see my amazing/colorful living conditions. Although my mom was a bit shocked they took it pretty well.... That night we went out for Thai food and had some amazing meals downtown. They dropped me off back at my apartment after dinner and i spent the night with friends. I met up with my family in the morning and they took me shopping at the food co-op and stocked me up for a long time. We then ate a late breakfast at QB(Quality Burrito) which is one of my favorite places! After the meal we walked around downtown and then headed back to campus. I had no class or work yesterday and had a nice rest day with lots of reading and laundry. The weather has been getting very nice and spring will be here soon!

Wilderness Ethics

Oh one other thing i forgot to mention is that on thursday night i attended The Willi Unsoeld Seminar which was in honor of an old teacher who died on Mt. Rainier. This lecture was pretty much all done by Dan Mazur who is an amazing climber and has been up Everest 15 times and has also climbed 8 other highest mountains. His stories were incredible and the first time he climbed up Everest he had to leave his partner behind and ended up climbing down at night. His partner ended up surviving after another group found him and brought him back down the mountain. He discussed how during such intense acts people discover their ethics and morals and how saving a persons life is more important than reaching the top of the mountain. In recent years Everest has become more commercialized and is loosing its sacredness. Dan told a story about a rescue he performed on Everest and how passing groups simply said they didnt speak English(they did) and walked by without offering any help. This is increasingly happening and people are left on the mountain and climbers will literally walk by instead of trying to save the failed climber. Also during part of the climb after camp three and before the top he was ascending an ice wall which he could see through ice pick holes Tibet on one side and Nepal on the other. It was very inspiring and he has also worked with remote regions in Nepal. This lecture spiked many interests and i learned about some interesting programs im investigating.

Kayaking

What a great past few days! On Thursday i woke up early and my teacher picked me up on campus and we drove to the motor pool to check out a van. I picked up a nice twelve passenger van and drove back to campus where the class was waiting. Once loaded up we headed to the Body Exhibit in Seattle. This place was amazing and it consisted of two floors with various unidentified bodies and parts that had been plasticized so they would not deteriorate. We also got little audio hand helds which spoke about various presentations. It was very amazing to see all the muscles and bones and the different complex layers. Something which particularly stunned me was a case showing a brain with all the tiny wires in our body which is the nervous system. It was a bit strange to view all these detailed parts and networks of cells within our body but it gives a great idea of how everything in our bodies are connected and designed with such complexity. After walking through the museum we then went downtown to Pikes Places and wandered the streets for a while snacking on the best food! After we left and drove back to campus. That night was Mollys birthday so we had a little celebration at my friends apartment. The next day/morning i was awoke to a knock on my door and my Curtis was there with big plans for the day. After fully waking up and eating we biked over to his house five miles north right next to water. Once there we prepared for a long kayak trip across the inlet to Hope Island State park/Squaxin Island. It was about a 1o mile paddle there and back and it was very beautiful. On the ride over we had seals following us and once there we saw huge crabs, large trees, and very colorful starfish. After exploring the island for a while we then paddled back during sunset. Once back i hung out at Curtis's cottage for a while then biked back to campus. On Saturday i did lots of cleaning and also went grocery shopping at the co-op. That night there was a little party downtown and i also wandered around with a group of friends. Today is going to be a work day and i have almost three minutes done with the movie but still much more editing and reading to do....

Seattle

I had a great weekend with friends and things have been moving very smoothly. Class this week has been great and im really enjoying all the lectures and seminars. Tomorrow i will be driving a van to Seattle with our class to visit the body museum. Its contains many cadavers and is supposed to show how various human functions(nervous system, muscles, sight....) work. We also get a lunch break during which we will be going to Pikes Place! Class today was great and i got a very nice mid-quarter review from my professor. After class and had a quick snack and did a quick workout at the rec center. Now im back at the gym and am working from 215 to 830. Its a long day but the place is very quiet and i brought my computer so i can get more work done on my movie.