So I have made the trip and am now in Ireland. I thought I would post a few pictures to show what I'm doing here.

Firstly I just want everyone to know that street signs in Ireland have Gaelic on them as well as English. I knew this before going. What I didn't know is that most streets in Dublin don't have signs AT ALL and even then sometime they only have Gaelic. This makes getting around confusing before you figure out what you are doing.

This is the Temple Bar where I am staying. Basically it is a concentrated group of bohemians. Which is cool, its just easy to feel out of place if you are looking for peace and quiet. I can't really complain though because I am within a two minutes walk to all the good places to eat.

Ha'Penny bridge is right across the street from my hostel.

Dublin town at its best. Double decker buses on cobblestones and brick buildings

Trinity college. Really beautiful buildings, right in the middle of Dublin.

More of Trinity College

Molly Malone.

Grafton street (Which probably would have been a lot cooler if I liked shopping)

St. Stephen's Green. I sat on a bench and wrote for 2 hours before I realized what time it was

Christ Church. So the only lens that I have that would stop down far enough is my 50 prime and I couldnt get back far enough to get a good picture but hopefully you can see how beautiful the building is.

Obviously I had to go to the Guiness storeroom. I am, after all, a 21 year old male in Ireland.

After the self-guided tour, where you learn all about how Guiness is made and distributed you get to the top called the Gravity Bar where they give you a free pint. I'm not saying I drank it, and that's all I'm saying.

The aftermath of "someones" Guiness.

Keep in mind all of this has happened today. Needless to say I am extremely tired. To remedy that I think that I am going to go to bed, and I don't plan on waking up for a while.

Pictures

So my parents came to visit this weekend. I got to take some pictures with the family. Here are some of the shots that I got:

It's not spring but...

I think it may be time to clean up my desk.



I went and saw the latest Harry Potter movie tonight. In my opinion it is the best of the movies so far. Obviously nothing compares to the books, but I thought that they did a good job with this movie. It was enjoyable to watch and didn't leave me with a lot of gripes like the last one did. There are a lot of flaws as far as movies go (i.e. really only making the story accessible to people who have already read the book and know whats coming) , but for me more Harry Potter is like more Christmas; I will take it however I can get it.

see mom I can cook

I thought I would prove to my mom that I can cook more than Ramen and Frozen waffles. I made this black bean and green chile quesadilla thing last night.









I also got a new lens for my camera:




I am going to put it through its paces later today.

Thoughts on REU's and working hard

My GPA is not good. It is, in fact, what most people would call "below par". This does not in any way discourage me. In my understanding, it is not being able to regurgitate mathematical formulas that mater to being an engineer. What does matter is the ability to reason and design. It took me about 3 years of college to realize that I am never going to have a good GPA and, more importantly, that it doesn't matter. That very notion is what got me a very well paying REU at the University of Arkansas this summer. It also helped that one of my favorite professors wrote me a glowing recommendation (don't ever underestimate the power of other people). My application to the REU program there was originally thrown out because my GPA was "below par", however with recommendation in hand I made the 30 minute drive to the UofA in order to track down the head of the REU programs. For moral support I took my amazingly loving and ever encouraging girlfriend (She thought we were going to take pictures for one of her classes but really we were there for me). I finally found the head of the REU program, a man by the name of Ken Vickers, tucked away in the physics building. I approached him told him my name and said that I would like to meet with him about reconsidering my application. Mr. Vickers looked me over, thought for a moment, and said "Come to my office tomorrow so we can talk." That was all it took. I went back the next day and we had a great time talking about different REU programs and what they were doing. At the end of the interview he turned to me and said, "Well Chris, I think we can work something out. I will pass your name around to all of the different programs and get you in somewhere". That's how I came to be working in the Chemistry department at the UofA.

I know nothing about chemistry...this was sometimes problematic. But I made it work. I learned a lot about peptides and cytokines and relative recovery of dopamine. I learned a whole lot about being out of your comfort zone. I had a great time. Most importantly I saw that it doesn't matter that thousands of other people from all over the country had better GPAs then me. I was the one who got the job.

So here is the moral of the story. Don't worry if outward appearance initially keeps you from doing what you want. If you want something bad enough then all you need to do is work hard at achieving that and be willing to put in a lot of extra time...and occasionally ask for a really good recommendation.

Florida cont.

So I was going to talk a lot about my trip to Florida, but I decided that a lot of pictures would do...

I'm floating down a river

Oars freed from their holds long ago

Lying face up on the floor of my vessel

I marvel at the stars

And feel my heart overflow - Incubus

I walked across, an empty land

I knew the pathway like the back of my hand

I felt the earth, beneath my feet

Sat by the river and it made me complete - Keane

I go home to the coast. It starts to rain, I paddle out on the water alone,
Taste the salt and taste the pain. Im not thinking of you again,
Summer dies and swells rise, the sun goes down in my eyes,
See this rolling wave, darkly coming to take me, home,
And I never been so alone, and Ive never been so alive. -Third Eye Blind

Peace~