2 Weeks

There are two weeks now remaining before I move to Manhattan. I'm more excited than ever, and I've dreamt almost nightly about the city and how my life may be for the next few years. At the same time, I've been thinking more about the things I'm leaving behind in Florida. Most of them are things I'd gladly put down a giant garbage disposal if it were possible--the unbearably moist heat, St. Augustine grass, mosquitoes, the Florida Mall, Sand Lake Rd. traffic, tourists, and FSU fans. I will miss some things about my current home, but very few of them are inanimate. Here is a brief list of Florida features I'd take with me if I could:

1. My family
2. My friends
3. My dog
4. UF athletics
5. Orlando International Airport
6. Fishing

NYC has two very large airports, but neither of them compare to OIA's cleanliness and comfort. I thought for quite a while about this list, and while there are other aspects about Florida and Sunshine-state culture that I enjoy, none of them are absent in New York. I'm quite truly not a fan of our Florida weather, but I do love the change of seasons, colorful falls, and snow. I enjoy many of the ethnic cuisines available in Orlando, but to say these won't be available in NYC would be ridiculous.

After putting together this list, I've focused on each of these 6 items while I can still enjoy them. I've been to the airport a few times in the last weeks, my dog and I play for at least 4 hours daily, I'm well-read on UF preseason practices, and I've spent as much time as possible with my loved ones. That leaves fishing, which I did yesterday. My dad and I took the SeaSpirit II out of Daytona Shores for a half-day trip with hopes of bringing home dinner. It was a much slower fishing day than normal, but we did pull in 9 fish total. In fact, we were more foturnate than most people on the party boat. There were two guys, though-buddies, it seemed-who raked in at least 16 fish, including a large flounder and a huge cobia. The cobia chased down one of their yellow-tail snapper, and one of the ship's mates hooked the beast with a long pole and hoisted it into the boat. The cobia thrashed around until the mates smashed its head with a baseball bat to ensure quick death.

I made the mistake of saying I'd clean the fish myself rather than having the crew do the deed. I've filleted fish before, but for some reason these snapper proved difficult to skin, and the bones were impossible to remove until the fish had been baked. Anyway, freshly caught fish is a meal I enjoy more than any other, and there's something primevally satisfying about catching, skinning, and cooking your own food. Here's a photo synopsis of the trip:

The dock just after sunrise:















The day's "keepers":















A couple of my snapper:















Very tasty dinner:

Friends

There's a new study, described by Newsweek (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20149020/site/newsweek/), published by Virginia Commonwealth University that suggests there's a large genetic role played in how we choose our friends. The study focused on males age 8-25, and the investigators found that not only do genes play a role in choosing friends, but that this role grows even more influential as we age. The study's authors say that as a child, environmental factors limit our choice of companions--your parents need to approve of friends, you can't travel to meet people so you befriend your neighbors, and you see your classmates every day. As you grow older, though, you get a car, go to a large university, and move away from your family. Without the same environmental limits you were faced with as a child, your genes are free to shape your choice of friendships.

This study made me very happy because it is one more tidbit of evidence that I am an incredibly lucky person. For the most part, my closest friends are those that have been my friends since childhood. Two of my best friends were with me in elementary school, and two others in middle school. I have built strong friendships with people I met in high school and college, but for the most part I still feel closest to my oldest friends. This made me think--not only did I happen to meet people who fit my environmental limits as a kid, but my genes still "approve" 12 or 13 years later. I feel, quite sincerely, like my friends were placed in my life to help fulfill it. I've learned so much from my closest buds and have grown immensly with their help. I'm incredibly excited to move to New York and start the next phase of my life, but I'm torn that this phase is making me move away from my friends. I know most young college graduates go through this very experience, but honestly, I feel I'm probably closer to my friends than most college graduates are.

Anyway, I guess this post is just one big thank-you to my friends for being there, and for having qualities my genes endorse.

Also, since I've been quite bored lately, I've been watching dissections from the anatomy course at the University of Wisconsin (where my PI did med school). For anyone interested, here is the link:
http://www.anatomy.wisc.edu/courses/gross/index.html