Bleeding Fiction

Presented with great joy, but without comment, from New Scientist:

Bladders engineered in the laboratory from patients' own cells and then implanted into the body have succeeded in their first clinical trial ... Growing organs from a patient's own cells means the organs are not rejected after transplantation.

To create the new bladders, the researchers took a biopsy from patients whose bladders functioned poorly due to an inherited nervous system disorder. The team then placed muscle cells and cells from the bladder lining on a biodegradable bladder-shaped scaffold and allowed them to grow for about two months.

The scaffolds were made of the structural protein collagen, in some cases adding polyglycolic acid, a polymer used in surgical sutures.

I can't snap with my right hand. At all. I really wish I could, but I've been trying for as long as I can remember, and I've never come close.

In other news, all but one of my old archaeology textbooks are in boxes up in my parents' attic. This isn't a surprise - I put them up there myself, after all - but I wish I had them with me right now. There's useful things in those books. On the upside, the one book I do have with me is probably the most useful; it's the one that most directly talks about method and process, in other words the book that most directly explains how to do archaeology. Still wish I had the rest, though.

Should probably say something else about what's going on here, but not a whole lot to report. New quarter's started; taking four classes, grading for a fifth. I'm pretty much in class Tuesday-Thursday and doing homework the rest of the time. Not as fun as it sounds, but overall pretty tolerable. I got an internship this summer, for which I'm overqualified. But I need an internship to graduate, so an internship I have. The place seems pretty cool, so I'm looking forward to it.

More as it occurs to me.

Sort of slacked off on talking about stuff, haven't I? Sorry 'bout that. Let's see, what's been going on...

I saw a show at Neumos on Thursday, which I realized I'd been to before, with The Delightful Jeni Garber. The first opening act was Smoosh, who are two 12 year old girls. I'm not joking. I missed their set, though, because I got lost. Second opening act was Viva Voce. Indie band with a rock sensibility; they use kazzoos and love the whammy bar.

Mates of State, my reason for going to the show, closed the night. Last time I saw them live was four years ago; they were good then, but they've gotten a lot better. It's weird to watch them, though. Most bands look at the audience every so often; not so, here. A husband/wife pair (on drums and keyboards, respectively), they spend pretty much their entire time on stage making eyes at each other. It's sweet, but sort of disgusting at the same time.

Speaking of relationships, my folks are apparently trying to set me up with someone. The idea is even sillier when you know that the girl lives in Jersey. It's like a double shot of parental manipulation; move back to Jersey and get set up. Christ. I think I'll just stay in Seattle; I won't stand for this shit.

In unrelated news, I saw Silent Hill on Friday. Highlights included Sean Bean surviving the movie and the main character wearing sturdy boots instead of shitty high heeled shoes. I wasn't so happy with the ending, though that may be more a reflection of my opinions on horror movies than on this movie in particular. Cool and well done, though, overall, but not as scary as I thought it'd be. Maybe a good thing, since I'm sort of a pansy when it comes to horror.

I think that about covers it. I'll check back in with something entertaining soon.