“Oh Tiktaalik, Transitional Form”

*sings, to the tune of “Oh god our help in ages past” Oh Tiktaalik, transitional form Our fav’rite pseudofish Thy stubby legs and half formed lungs Would make a tasty dish! Great Tiktaalik, make us believe ev’lution does take place where once you flapped upon the shores is a new amphibian race Dear Tiktaalik, we [...]

The Road I Traveled By: October Scientiae

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth. -Robert Frost Two roads diverged, and there I stood Trying fruitlessly to see ahead Tried to divine, as [...]

Poem of the Day: #9

There was a grad student of yore who had neither office nor door at his desk in the lab, students gathered to gab until he could stand it no more. All this chatting he could not abide for his writing he wished he could hide so when no one would leave he rolled up his [...]

Poem of the Day: #8

After Lunch I. After lunch, it creeps Death of my motivation the dread Food Coma II. The coma slips in Data wavers on the screen Just to close my eyes… III. No, foul sleepiness! I shall not submit! Hook up My caffeine i.v.!

Poem of the Day: #7

I. the lab’s dismal air mourning your unborn paper alas, you’ve been scooped II. lab mates crowd around printed copies fly like birds try to find a flaw III. your data can’t die publish you must, or perish find a new angle

Poem of the Day: #6

The following poem is dedicated to my labmate, post-doc, and colleague. You know who you are. Boom! How cruel my labmate yesterday Upon my computer screen played dance music, bad 80′s style “YOU BEEN RICKROLL’D!” he screamed. At first I laughed, ’twas no big thing And the dancing was funny and wry but now I [...]

Poem of the Day: #4

With apologies to Lewis Carroll, who is spinning in his grave. ‘Twas grad school, and the slithy gels did gyre and gimble on the bench All mimsy was the PCR In front of this lab wench. “Beware the Dissertation!” they cried “The data that sucks, the committees that catch Beware the late night hours and [...]

Poem of the Day: #3

From Childhood. Eenie meenie miiney moe Catch your advisor by their toe If they agree to submit your manuscript, let them go eenie meenie miiney moe (Sci and her advisor. You pick who’s who.)

Poem of the Day: #2

This poem saw its first incarnation on Twitter, the best place in which to write the short and sweet. But it’s now gone through several phases as it lingers in the twilight of my brain: Poem of the Day #2: Hemoglobin is red, Western blot bands are grey, my data is SWEET, perhaps I’ll graduate [...]

Poem of the Day: #1

Sci wrote haikus for a while. She found them relaxing. And this gave her a small, evil little idea: daily poems. Poems of SCIENCE. And grad school. Perhaps mostly grad school because it’s more of a tragicomedy. Why write poetry? After all, it will never be the kind that shows you the dark recesses of [...]