I promised to show you guys my new embouchure. I wasn’t completely warmed up so it sounds a little airy sometimes. Excuses, excuses, right? Oh well. I hope you like it, and just know that I’m really proud of where my abilities are heading. The song doesn’t show off much, but I am excited! On another note I hope y’ll had a great Christmas and have a happy new year!

I just published three or four of my papers that I’ve written in my freshman writing class. I normally take a lot of pride in my writings and enjoy sharing them you guys. I hope you read them, but would definitely understand if you did not!

Things are going well here. I was sick all last week with a bad fever/flu. Still recovering, but I feel 100x better.

As the semester comes to an end I’m beginning to become quite busy. Concert band just started up and we’re cramming for a concert on December…5th? We only have like two or three more rehearsals until the concert and we’ve only rehearsed three or four times now. We’ll see how they go!  My grades are doing well, and I’m happy to say I’m keeping up in school! I still have a B in my freshman writing class, but I’m hoping my most recent paper (My evolution paper that I shared with you guys) will burst that up to an A, if not my final exam.

I currently work for the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, here, but am glad to say that my “career” there will probably be ending shortly. I’ve picked up a job as a trumpet player in the pep band here and that pays well enough to make ends meet

My love life is good. Things are looking promising! I’m excited for this spring to see where things take us.

I’m heading home tomorrow afternoon for a much need Thanksgiving break! I’m really excited to see all of my friends and family and I have a lot of plans made!

That is what is going on here. I’m sorry I haven’t been posting much lately, but I’m a heck of a lot busier now than I ever was in high school… I know I promised a video on the new embouchure, hopefully I can get around to it over break! As…I will be practicing a lot! Considering my jury (I have to perform in front of the music professors here and they basically tell me if I’m fit for music or not, and give me my final grade for my lessons) is coming up on December 8th, I really have to get cracking on a few things!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, guys!

A fiction paper I wrote based off of a Harvard University recently.

Princeton University: The Death of Two Researchers

Officer Sturgis walks swiftly into the main office at Princeton University; his presence demands attention.   He turns to another officer and demands that fingerprints are taken.  Afterwards, he looks around for clues of what could have happened, or maybe a motive.  The body of Holly Jackson was poisoned; her coffee seemed to have had been purposely poisoned with a toxic chemical called sodium azide.

A gentleman walks in unaware of what is going on.  With all of the officers in the office he begins to wonder what has happened.

“Hello officer,” the man says, offering out his hand.

“Hello young man, what are you doing here?” Sturgis replies, annoyed.

“Well, I was simply coming in to finish up some more research.  This is where I do it. May I ask what is going on?”

“Do you know someone by the name Holly Jackson?”

“Why yes sir, I do! She was a classmate of mine.  We’ve been working on the same project for a long time here.”

“She died last night in this office.  It appears to have been a poisoning.  Would you be willing to go in for questioning?”

“Well, I have a lot of work to get done, but if you think it could help, sure I’ll go in.  My name is Jason Daniels by the way.”

“Alright Jason, I’m Officer Sturgis and this is my colleague Officer Sawitzky.  Sawitzky will be taking you in for questioning; I have a lot of things to be getting done here.”

At this moment Jason turns around trying not to show any emotion.  His heart begins to beat faster as he looks back to see Sawitzky escorting him to the police car…

…On the other side of town a man who goes by the name Minnesota, his real name being Aleks Nagel.  Aleks deals with the financial aid office for Princeton University and has close relations with the science department.  You see, Aleks once went to Princeton University, but he failed his third chemistry class and was told to give up.  Aleks didn’t and instead of majoring in Chemistry he decided to major in Accounting.  Now Aleks works for the university as a financial aid advisor.  He tries to keep nice relationships with the current chemistry students just so he feels that sense of it still being “a part” of his life.

Some say Aleks Nagel is bitter of the current students, treating them kindly only to secretly hate them.  Nobody knows if it is true, but they can only assume.  He treats them so well, but every time he turns his back he has this bitter, cold face.  Some think it’s jealousy, others think he just wants to somehow get back at the college for treating him poorly.  On the other hand, other people believe he just truly loves chemistry enough to make him want to do everything he can do to further the university’s research.

Jason enters the police station he begins to sweat.  Before he sits down, he gently pulls on his jacket to keep from sitting on it.  He nears the seat he stands back up again and calmly says, “I want my lawyer.”  Sawitzky looks at him strangely, but of course agrees to allow Jason to call his lawyer.  Jason begins to ponder, “oh shit, oh shit…was that a mistake?  Should I have just sat down and answered the questions?  Now this is only going to seem suspicious…shit…shit…” As he thinks he pulls out his cell phone and calls a good friend of his to come in as his lawyer…

Back in the Princeton lab Officer Sturgis has been digging for objects and signs of what could have had been used for the sodium azide: earnestly fingerprinting vials, doors, and even the coffee cup.  All the while he has multiple officers questioning students, professors, and security.  Things just are not making sense.  The students seem to think that by no means could the chemical have gotten there accidentally, it just doesn’t make sense.  However, they did not have anything to back these statements up with or anyone to blame.

Later in the day, Aleks heads into work.  He has to get some more work done, and would like to stop in to see what Jason and Holly have accomplished.  He is aware that they are in the process of working on the same project, yet not together.  He tried to encourage them to work together, but they refused.  So, now, he can only hope that they will keep a hostile environment out of the picture.  As he enters the parking lot he sees several police cars parked.  He can’t help but wonder what was going on.

Aleks walks into the office, looking around warily for someone who looks like he might have answers for him.

“Uh hello Officer; my name is Aleks Nagel, and I work for the financial aid department here.  Mind if I ask what the trouble is?” Aleks says, stumbling through his words.

“Listen kid, we ain’t got no time for your bull crap.  Unless you have facts, I suggest you walk your butt down to that aid department where you belong,” said Officer Sturgis.

“But sir, with all due respect, I have close affiliations with this office.  I deserve to know what is going on,” Aleks replied.

“Fine. Do you know a young lady by the name Holly Jackson?”

“Yes, yes I do.  I was actually on my way up here to visit with her and Jason Daniels.  The two of them have been working on the same project, but not working together.  I was coming to make sure everything was still running smoothly.  Things here get pretty competitive and I wanted to make sure they were acting fair.  Why? What happened?”

“Mr. Nagel, she was poisoned last night. Would you mind making a statement, on record, of what you just said?”

“Not at all.  I would do anything to help!  You don’t think it was Jason that did it, would ya?”

“Well I just don’t know Nagel.  I’m willing to take a shot at anything right now.”

Back at the police station Jason’s lawyer finally arrives.  At that point the questioning begins.

“Jason, where were you last night from 9-11 pm?”  Sawitzky asks accusingly.

“I was in the office working with Holly.  Everything was fine.  She wanted to stay a bit longer than I did and decided to make coffee, but I had left before she even started the pot. “

“What were you guys working on?”

“We’re working on trying to find a cure for the swine flu.  We aren’t working together, but we are working on the same project.  We tend to be in the office at the same time because of it.”

As the interrogation continued Jason started to get nervous.  He didn’t want people to find out about their secret relationship.  Yes, they were dating.  In fact, they loved each other, but due to professional reasons they never let it out.  And even though she was now dead, he still did not want the news to get out.  It would only hurt him that much more.  It really bothered him that he was a suspect for the murder of his own lover.

“Sturgis!  We’ve got results on some fingerprints on the vial. You need to get over here quickly.”

“What’s the issue Cole?  Who’s do they match?”

“The fingerprints belong to Nagel, sir.”

“No way, why would his prints be on the vial at all?  What kind of chemical did the vial contain in it or was it already rinsed out?”

“Sir it’s not my job to figure out motive, but the vial did contain sodium azide.  I would have to link it to Nagel.  I’ve also had a recent issue with Nagel.  I offered him coffee and he refused. He was having a difficult time keeping his composure as he began to shake, I can only assume he was afraid of what was in that coffee.  We never once told him that she was poisoned by the coffee.  How else would he have known?”

Officer Eric Sturgis calls Officer Sawitzky and asks him to stop the interrogation.  “Get your ass over here.  We need to get Nagel under arrest and now. His fingerprints were found on the vial.  He is the murderer.”

Two weeks later Nagel is sitting in a court room for his trial.  He sits there, annoyed and nervous. During his questioning he becomes offended and irate.  “I did it damnit!  And do you want to know why? Those two love birds were pissing me off.  They were accomplishing so much, and not even working together. Their work was complimenting each other, but they refused to share it.  Yet the bastards were in love.  They didn’t know that I knew, but I did.  And by golly I’m proud to sit here and say that I killed her. I wanted to kill Jason too, but he left before the coffee was even made.  They were doing it all wrong, the complete opposite of what I would have.  Arrest me, I do not care.  They deserved it and it will teach this blasted school a lesson!”

At this point Jason Daniels begins to weep.  He cannot hold back the pain any longer.  The woman he loved was now dead and he was looking the man responsible in the eyes.   Never again will he be able to hold or hear Holly’s voice.  Holly might be physically dead, but Jason was emotionally dead for the rest of his life.

My Cross: How Its Meaning Has Changed

It was December 25, 1998; I woke up to the smell of an amazing Christmas breakfast. Like every other child in the world, I had snuck downstairs to see the presents all wrapped under the tree. When the time came to open my presents I was so excited! I received multiple toys that I now never use. There is one thing that I received, that I have not taken off since the moment I opened it.

My Uncle Jack lives in California, so, I never get to see him. He has always been good about sending presents or at least a card for my birthday and Christmas. He has also always been my favorite uncle.

I opened this tiny box titled “To: Hope…My favorite niece, From: Uncle Jack.” The minute I read that I began to grin from ear to ear. I opened it up and pulled out this beautiful, shiny necklace. What the emblem was didn’t matter; I thought it was beautiful. I looked up and said “Mom! Put it on me!” At this point my mother stood up and put the gold cross necklace around my neck.

As time progressed I eventually started going to church, still wearing that same cross three years later. At this point the cross around my neck began to mean something. It represented the beliefs I held so dear, but it also reminded me of my uncle who lived so far away.

For example, in middle school, I was on the swim team. When you have swim meets you are not allowed to wear any jewelry. I absolutely refused to take my necklace off when I swam. It caused a bit of a debate, but I won. It was my religious views and I had every right to wear it.

Now the cross around my neck does not represent my religious views, but it still means so much to me. I have not taken it off in over ten years and I do not plan on changing that anytime soon. Many people ask me why I wear it, as an Atheist. Granted, that is a good question, but there is no real reason. It may be out of habit, but it reminds me of my uncle. I wake up every morning with it on my neck. It’s the first thing I see when I look in the mirror, not my face, not my messed up hair, but this beautiful necklace.

This is a paper I wrote one evolution. Enjoy

Evolution: Not Just a Theory

Evolution in a very broad sense is merely change. Biological evolution is the change of a population over a period of time.  When genetic material changes from one generation to the next, it is considered to be evolutionary (Moran).

If we take dog breeding as an example, we can see how natural variation and selection can change species in a profound way. For example, dog breeders will have a set of dogs and choose which dogs breed with each other. The breeder is basing this off of the different types of traits that will make the dog that the breeder wants (Onstott). In actuality, whether the breeder realizes it or not, what they are actually doing is selecting genes each dog has. Over a period of time the genes in the dogs’ pool will change, causing the vast variety of dog breeds we have today.

If you’ll notice though, this is an example of artificial selection, not natural selection. Using this example, natural selection works exactly like the breeder, but instead of a person sitting around selecting what should go with what, it happens due to simple survival or better reproduction.

With this being artificial selection, natural selection works in a slightly different way. In wild species will change over time due to natural selection. This occasionally has different groups of the same species diverging, eventually giving us all of the diversity we see today. Organisms are all related by common descent, with the different forms coming about, due to natural selection operating on random mutation.

Have you ever wondered why trees are tall? If trees were shorter they’d spend a lot less energy. It takes more energy for a tree to grow tall compared to short. We come to this conclusion because the thicker trunks of the tall trees take up more energy. Smaller trees are lighter and consequently do not need a thick trunk. However, with evolution small trees are unstable. If the plants are close together taller plant will dominate, taking up all of the sunlight. Therefore, in this case the taller tree is more fit (Dawkins p. 20).

Imagine that trees were just bushes, located closely together.  Then suddenly a mutation occurs at random, causing one of the trees to be slightly taller than the rest. Due to this that tree would take up more sunlight than the rest. Because of the access of more sunlight the taller tree is able to have more offspring than the rest of them. This causes the tall tree gene to spread through the area. Then another mutation occurs causing another tree to be a tad taller than the others, causing another domino effect of the trees having to grow even more. Eventually, you get to the point where we are now, with an entire forest full of tall trees. This is wasteful and unnecessary because now that all the trees are taller they are taking in the same amount of sunlight as they were when they were smaller, but wasting a lot of energy growing taller.

Another piece of evidence for common ancestry is a gene found in all mammals called gulonolactone oxidase (also known as the GULO gene). In most mammals, this gene contributes to the production of Vitamin C.  However, in all Haplorrhini (“dry nosed”) primates, though we contain the gene, it is broken.  By broken I mean, it is missing a single base pair. Since DNA works on a three base pair sequence, losing one base pair interferes with the entire system and the gene no longer functions (Fairbanks p. 53). This leaves us incapable of producing Vitamin C. The most interesting part about this is that not only do humans contain this broken gene, but all primates do.  Not only is it the same broken gene, it is the exact same base pair that is missing. The probability of approximately 200 different species having the same sequence is ridiculously unlikely to have just happened. Intelligent design has no explanation for this, nothing to test. However, with evolution you can find the chances being much more likely. If primates evolved from a common ancestor that lost function in this gene, then that error would have simply been copied from the original primate that had the mutation.

Though the above evidence is exceedingly strong, perhaps a more visceral example of how life just doesn’t make sense without evolution is the laryngeal nerve. The laryngeal nerve is the nerve that supplies motor functioning and sensation to the larynx (also known as the voice box). The interesting part about this nerve is the path it takes, which is a very circuitous route.  The left laryngeal nerve branches down and around the aorta, before coming back up (Gray pg 912). The right laryngeal nerve does the same thing, going down and around the aortic artery. The route is unnecessary, but occurred due to evolutionary purposes.

The nerve first came about in fish, and began by connecting directly to its target. Also, this is exactly what our embryo does, but then tissues move and shift around enough to make shapes we are familiar with. It just so happens to move and shift around to position at which it loops down and around the aortic artery. But since it looped around in the embryonic stage, it did what it had to do by making the nerve longer as we began to develop further. The reason it originally looped around was actually very random. It did not cause any extra costs to the early animals to have it loop one way or the other. I find this even more unnecessary with animals such as the giraffe, with very long necks. The laryngeal nerve in a giraffe also does this, by branching all the way down its long neck, around the aorta, and ascending back up.

For a better understanding allow me to quote Richard Dawkins from his book The Greatest Show On Earth:

During the evolution of the mammals, however, the neck stretched (fish don’t have necks) and the gills disappeared, some of them turning into useful things such as the thyroid and the parathyroid glands, and the various other bits and pieces that combine to form the larynx.  Those other useful things, including the parts of the larynx, received their blood supply and their nerve connections from the evolutionary descendants of the blood vessels and the nerves that, once upon a time, served the gills in an orderly sequence.  As the ancestors of the mammals evolved further and further away from their fish ancestors, nerves and blood vessels found themselves pulled and stretched in puzzling directions, which distorted their spatial relations one to another.  The vertebrate chest and neck became a mess, unlike the tidily symmetrical, serial repetitiveness of fish gills.  And the recurrent laryngeal nerves became more than ordinarily exaggerated casualties of this distortion (360).

One thing that must be pointed out is that these are not the only arguments to support evolution. Evolution is such a broad area to study, that it would take much longer to explain every little bit. Nobody ever made the claim that evolution is not complicated, it is. These examples are very minute, and tiny, to explaining what evolution is and why you should believe in it. Another point is that evolution is what makes biology make sense (Dobzhansky).  The examples I have introduced are nothing very striking examples of the statement that biology does not make sense without evolution.