The Cali beaches have cliffs and rocks right up to the water. Danny and me did a little nighttime rock climbing around the shore front. Unfortunately, as we realized on the way back, the tide was coming in. So, we got a little wet.

Sort of foggy up on Skyline. The only thing more fun than 100 mph in thick fog is 100 mph at night, with the lights off.
Oh yes, there is also drifting an all-wheel-drive STi on the way up. And, yes, an AWD STi will drift...if you go fast enough.

Standing next to a rock. Looks small compared to my Pecs, right?

We found a cave. It was totally dark. We took these pictures too see what it looked like inside.

We ended the night with burgers at In and Out.

Then I headed over the Lyman party. As usual, I felt sort of out of place. So I just went home and went to sleep.

Ryan tried to get me to drink and play some cup flipping game. But, y'all who know me well know that I don't do that kind of thing. Nope, I'm a good boy, especially behind the wheel and under the sheets.

Like we learned in Practice of Medicine during orientation, a good surgeon gets in and out quick. So I'm out...but still listening to "Tear it up" by Young Jeezy.

Got to sleep with lots of med school girls. Unfortunately, they were safe in their own bags--usually.

See some pics here. For shizzle.

Dinner the night before leaving for camping at a local Thai place.

At the trail head morning of first day. As you can tell, group is in good spirits.

On the first day, we hiked about 7 miles. My bag was like half my weight. But since I'm a real boy, I didn't complain--at least not till we got to the camp site.
This is us taking a break.

Taking a break again. As you can tell from this photo and the last one, Will and company like to bring up the rear. I was usually at the front, cause I don't really like it from the back. You now how it is: we stay on top down South.

Night one tent arrangement. We had some funny inter-tent conversations, especially about how ripe and rotten Will's farts are and about how Makeda thinks my car is sexy. But that's not new news, cause my car will blow the panties off a nun.

Day two, post hike, big pimpin' Makeda's big sun glasses.

Morning day three. Our team leader took this picture as my future campagn photo for public office. Vote for Brandon--top Stanford Med hick, real southerner. (Take that, Mr. Arkansaw. I probably can't even spell Arkansaw, so it ain't southern.)

Went hiking around the lake. And, for those of you wondering, no, I didn't jump. But, later that day, me and Amanda Casto did swim across Alpine lake and back. So, not only are we both southerners, but we also out swam all the sissy Yankees (except Wei Gu) who thought the water was too cold.

Group picture at upper Kenny lake. Aparrently, Jaramiah thinks that when a camera comes out the clothes go off.
But, that ain't right. It's actually more like, when Brandon gets into the tent with the girls, the cloths come off. Y'all who remember our skit know what I'm talking about. I'm a beast...or, at least, a one-soon-e tal-bo.

So to y'all out there in internet land, "See you later" and "Be easy." At least I am. Meera knows what I'm talking about.

Over and out.

Sunday: This guy was so happy to be moving out of Lyman that he was dancing on his U-Haul in celebration. I do not know, though, what the deal with that is, because the only bad thing about Lyman is the skunk community that lives around here and waits at night for unsuspecting students to come too close. Remember, just because the skunks are cute does not mean that they are friendly, much like raccoons.

WASHING THE CAR 101

This weekend I washed and sort of waxed my car. The only thing I take better care of than a good car is a good woman. But maybe you did not want to know that.

When you do not have access to a water hose, the next best think is a cart full of milk jugs. I also have a lot of car cleaning supplies. So these pictures show my car cleaning supplies.

Some pictures of the car after an initial exterior wash. And, yes, I did wash the car in the sun. But, as far as that goes, it is the expert opinion of Professor Seagle, a renowned scholar in car care, that the last step of the car wash is what matters most.
For the initial wash without access to a hose, it is important not to over apply soap. This is why I added one cap full of concentrated car wash detergent to an empty spray bottle full of water, and then used the spray bottle of apply the detergent to the car, after having rinsed the area to which the detergent was applied by liberally pouring water over it. The detergent water was then wiped off, along with the dirt and grime, before liberally rinsing again.

After the initial exterior wash, the car is taken into a parking garage for a little waxing and detailing. The most important products are shown below.

In the first picture we have Turtle Wax Bug and Tar Remover and Spray and Dry Wax, along with a spray bottle of water that used to contain Hot Rims solution. If any water spots and/or excess soap remained after the initial exterior wash in the sun, this last step will remove those, as well as draw attention to any missed spots or hard-to-remove grime. The procedure is to spray water onto the car, spray the wax on top of the water, and then wipe off the area until dry, keeping an eye out of persistent spots, which are removed easily with the foaming action Bug and Tar remover. This makes for a fast exterior detail that leaves a brilliant shine.

Armor All makes a lot of products, and almost everything they make now comes in at least three forms: a gel, a spray, and a wipe. For tires, use the Tire Shine gel. But be very careful not to over apply and then remove all excess from the tire that can be wiped off, or else as soon as you start driving you will have now black-colored gel all over your car. I do not recommend using the Power Wash gel unless you have access to a water hose. If so, it is very good. As for the traditional Armor All treatment, go with the wipes. The Gel will give the longest lasting shine, but it is the least convenient to use because of the dispenser on the bottle and because of the inevitably of over-application, which is always a problem when Armor Alling. However, the wipes help prevent over application, and give a nice surface to trap dust and dirt that you want to wipe away. This is the easiest, fastest, and most convenient way because, as we all know, Armor All is sticky. The wipes are also very economical. I can do my whole car, inside and out, serious detailing, with five or less individual wipes.

Plus, these things work so good that I thought that people who show pigs should use them to wash and shine their hogs. One of my cousins used to show hogs. Most of you all probably do not know this, but there are hog shows and some serious competition to raise the hottest hog.

Some final exterior photos:

Professor Seagle Car Washing Proverb:
If you ain't making a mess, then you ain't cleaning anything.

Professor Seagle Motivational Statement to use during Long Car Washes:
Get'er Done!

Then I went to meet another first-year MSTP student named Shoa to go riding fast in the mountains in my newly cleaned car.

But first, I stopped to get some more gas at the Stanford gas station. As all of you out there who know me well know, I often get gas, or, should I say, I often have gas. Proper English is not the forte of a real southerner, but we usually get gas frequently.


This is Shoa preparing to go for a ride in the mountains. Shoa is a brave man. And, after all the deer we saw up there (like at least ten instances, three of which involved deer crossing the road right in front of us), I will be a brave man too if I ever go back up there.

This is my car parked at the top of Skyline.

So after cruising around in the mountains with Shoa for a couple hours, I came home and went to sleep.

Sunday morning: Now to the interior cleaning. And you thought it was over. But, no, this was when I really got busy busting out the Armor All wipes.

The inside of my car after being cleaned:





Don't you wish your Porsche had so much passenger room.

Have a nice day.

This is a model of the extracellular pore region of a sodium channel rendered to show the solvent accessible surface of the molecule. Green atoms are carbon, white is hydrogen, red is oxygen, and blue is nitrogen. In the center of the picture is a molecule render as a ball and stick and colored completely yellow. This is a sodium channel toxin called zetekitoxin that I have modeled binding into the extracellular pore of the channel. As you can see, it fits down into the pore quite nicely, blocking flow of sodium ions through the channel.

Actually, I have been running molecular dynamics simulations once the toxin is bound in the pore, and then trying to figure out how to make a little movie of the toxin chemical groups and sodium channel residues giggling around as energy is added to the model system. As the energy is increased, observing the contact points between the toxin and the sodium channel pore that are most stable during the dynamics simulation should help identify the most important interactions contributing to binding affinity between the toxin and the sodium channel pore. So beyond just building a model, I am trying to use my model to make movies. I never thought that so soon after moving to Cali I would be contributing the model industry and dabbing into movie production. Maybe this is what the Red Hot Chili Peppers were talking about when they wrote that song Californication.

Rollerblading out of the chemistry lab to go home for dinner.

Dinner menu at my Lyman dorm room: pepperoni pizza or cookies and cream ice cream? Since I ate ice cream for breakfast (there was two of those ice cream containers!), I decided to go with pizza.

But while the oven warms, there is not reason not to get started with dessert.

And while the pizza cooks, I have to wash some dishes from all the ice cream and Fruity Pebbles I have been eating.

Clean! Ready for more ice cream!

I have literally eaten pizza every day for the last three weeks. This one was cooked a little too long. Pretty soon, when I run out of what is in the fridge, I am gonna switch over to a straight powdered donut diet.

Can you believe that I have actually lost weight and gained muscle mass since coming to Stanford!?

After dinner, I went back to lab to work on this blog and then I watched some Law and Order in the med student lounge before coming back home to sleep.

So today I continued looking into different research groups. Despite being rather serious these days about what I am looking for in a lab and project for my PhD work, the truth is that one of the first things I noticed after arriving at Stanford is that Stanford does not have an atmosphere of scholarship.

Coming from UChicago, I am used to an atmosphere of scholarship feeling like a looming, ominous burden directing me to work and study all the time. But here at Stanford, I think there is an atmosphere of athletism and prettiness.

The guys I work with in the chemistry department talk as much about going to work out as they do about chemistry, and these are chemists! When I spotted a girl at the gym, running on the treadmill while reading Glamour magazine, I knew for sure that the atmosphere here is also one of prettiness. Quite simply, the campus is pretty. A lot of the people are good looking. I reckon the atmosphere is inevitable when places and people are pretty.

So I have been giving into the compulsion to exercise, and since moving here I have literally lost over two inches off my waist line and gained an appreciable amount of muscle. I have not worked as hard in lab as I usually do, but I am looking and feeling better and healthier.

So I am happy and I really do not care about lost time from research. Alas, already, despite coming from probably one of the thickest (like choking) atmospheres of scholarship around at UChicago, I have already acclimated into the Stanford atmosphere and begun shaping myself to fill my niche here in the land of pretty places and pretty people.

Since the summer is almost over, I am mostly not starting any new benchwork in lab. This means that my days now are really chill. This morning I came into lab and took some pictures of Kiran hard at work in the hood and John putting on some background music. Believe it or not, the chemists here in Du Bois group work best with loud gangsta rap in the background.

Kiran doing real work.

John turns on some crunk music.

The first thing I did in lab today was work on some molecular modeling of toxins binding into a sodium channel. Then I got back to work on evaluating labs around campus and considering who to talk to about working in their lab. The following photo shows my 2nd generation list.

While doing this, I kind of felt like Santa Claus because nearly everything I do reminds me of a song, and making this list of labs to evaluate reminded me of the song that says: He is making a list, checking it twice, gonna find out who is naughty or nice.

After a while at lab, I walked home and found myself thinking about the Stanford wildlife. Since I have been on campus, I have had close calls with squirrels, skunks, raccoons, shedding trees, and a hair. The squirrels here are not like normal squirrels that live in the trees. The Stanford squirrels are big and black, and they live in holes in the ground all over campus.

Any time you are rollerblading or biking down a path, it is a safe bet that kamikaze squirrels are planning their assault on your wheels. Like a flash, a squirrel will run up out of the ground and straight into you.

Skunks: if you hear rustling noises in the bushes at night, DO NOT go check it out. Very likely, it will be a group of skunks, at least two of them, picking at the ground. And, trust me, when you get too close, they will suddenly turn and back that thing up. It will not be pleasant.

Shedding trees: Stanford campus is full of some kind of big tree that sheds bark all over the place. In large clumps of thick pieces, this park can be a serious hazard to downhill rollerblading. I tried to run one piece over going about 20 mph and crashed.

Mountain lions: enough said. Advice: Do not bend over to tie your shoe strings on Stanford campus. Apparently this is when the mountain lion following you will be most tempted to attack.

After going home, I put my rollerblades on and went to the gym.

Ladies, I know what you are thinking: Who is that sexy man lifting those heavy weights?

After working out that gym, I went to the med student lounge to watch some TV on the awesome big screen. And, yes, I am watching Star Trek.

Then I got hungry so I went to the Safeway grocery store to get some food.
Here is my Viper-killer STi in the parking lot.

If you know what you are looking at here in the middle gauge, then you'll know that my car is very fast.

Got home from the grocery with the loot, two of the greatest things man ever made: Frosted Flakes and Fruity Pebbles.

After eating some Fruity Pebbles, I was sleepy and so I went to sleep.

The end.

My name is Brandon-Luke Labron Seagle. But most people call me Brandon, which I like because I think "Brandon-Luke" sounds a little up-a-dee. Though, some people who know me and want to make fun of my name call me "Brandon hyphen Luke." I prefer both Brandon and Brandon hyphen Luke to Brandon-Luke. My middle name is Labron, after some old relative I never met. Seagle is like eagle but with an S in front. Yet people rarely spell it correctly when I am asked my name.

I grew up in Leesburg, Georgia. That is in southwest GA. I am 22 now. I will probably be 30 when I graduate from the MD/PhD (MSTP) here at Stanford. Then I will probably by 36-7 after completing a residency. Then I will either apply for a real job, or enter a fellowship for another year or two of training.

As you can tell, I am on the spend-half-your-life-in-school/training plan. But, the nice thing is that spending your life in school is not so bad. In fact, it is a pretty nice life indeed. There are lots of opportunities every where you turn, you are always able to think about who and what you want to be, and then pursue those goals in ways that can earn you recognition throughout society while reaching your goals. Plus, the bottom line is: though working in and during school can be like a job, in many ways, working in school is a lot easier and less stressful than working for a living. A student will never really be unemployed if he wants to work. A student will have health insurance, access to basic needs, and will not go hungry. Plus, here at Stanford, it is a really nice to place to live. Actually, I feel really fortunate and appreciative to be here at Stanford every day. It never fails that in some seemingly random moment of the day I really look around and appreciate being here and what the opportunities and potentials here can mean for my career and life.

Before coming to Stanford I (guess what!!!) went to college. Really exciting background, right? Well, to say the least, I went to the University of Chicago, where the most popular school motto really reads: Where fun comes to die. I have tee-shirts to prove it.

I got a BS and BA in Biological Chemistry and Chemistry, respectively. I did research all four years of college and published some papers, which I believe were very important selling points in my medical school application. HINT FOR PREMEDS: do a lot of research and if you do not like it then pretend like you do. All the top med schools are pushing research.

I like to rollerblade, lift weights, drive my car, watch TV and movies, and work. So I am a pretty simple guy.

I like this picture I found in a modern Chinese history book several years ago because I think that I look a lot like this guy. So I drew glasses on him to make him look more like me.

I used to be so cute when I was about 4.

This is a picture of me when I was about six years old putting together a weight bench on the back porch.

When I was growing up I went swimming almost every day in the summer and this is the spot on the creek where me and my friends biked to and went swimming.

This is my STi parked at Windy Hill on Skyline. More to come on the car in later posts. This area is located on the top of the mountains you can see behind campus.

This is a picture of me in downtown Chicago my second year of college.

This is a picture I made showing some data I collected in college plotted and placed inside an eye. Looks cool, huh?

Another cool looking picture from undergrad research showing electron density map for a chlorophyll molecule calculated from x-ray diffraction data.

Me and my two younger sisters, Savannah and Abigail, who were both born with different birth defects.

Savannah tring to get away with wearing my hat.

Abigail going for a ride in Bubba's truck.