Upgrades, schools and posters

William 5 Comments

How do you guys like the new site banner? I am running out of things to add. I think a Cody Report icon for the address bar will be next. Maybe next weekend. It appears I owe my father an apology. He did in fact post his pictures from the reunion on his flickr site. He also removed some of the more graphic photos of his trip to Haiti, so those with a weak stomach can now take a look.

In other news, I somehow missed the Newsweek report on the top U.S. High Schools. Check out #5. It’s seems Stanton has slipped since my days as a Blue Devil. (It was still ranked #2 as late as 2003)… I could spend hours discussing my opinions on why Stanton is dropping, but I will save that discussion for when it falls out of the top ten. The #1 school is in Dallas. This list is made up of only public schools. I’ll leave it up to Kyllan to speculate where Hockaday would be on a private school list. The last person from Dallas that asked me where she went to high school let out small whimper and gave a look of awe when they heard the name.

You heard the story in a previous post. Below is a picture of my ASM poster. After conferences we put old posters in the hallways of the department. If you would like to hear about the research, give me a call.

ASM poster

Cody Reunion Wrap-Up

William 12 Comments

Kyllan and I had a great time at the reunion this past weekend in Memphis. I really have to thank my parents for inviting her up. So far this year we have managed to see each on about the monthly basis. Hopefully we can keep this up. My parents and I hung out at my grandmother’s house on Friday until it was time to pick up Kyllan from the airport. Saturday was the Civil Rights Museum and the family banquet. My mother’s mother and her three sisters still live in Memphis and joined us that evening. (My parents met as college students at Memphis State.) In between we checked out Beale Street. We also caught “The Da Vinci Code” movie. The book was much better than the movie. (I’m not sure what all the controversy is about. The book has never claimed to be more than fiction and one of the overall themes was that faith is worthy of its’ own sake.) Sunday was church and an afternoon cookout at my grandmother’s house. The air conditioning was out at my grandmother’s house and it was HOT! As always, you can check out more pictures on my flickr site. Most of my pictures are of my immediate family, which now includes Kyllan, and Beale Street. My Dad took a lot of pictures at the reunion events, so we will all have to wait for him to upload those… if he ever does.

At B.B. King's Resturant on Beale Street

 

 

Cody Family Reunion- Memphis, TN

Kyllan 1 Comment

This past weekend, William’s parents invited me to Memphis, TN for the Cody Family Reunion. I got the opportunity to meet both of William’s grandmothers (from his mom’s side and his dad’s side) and well as several aunts, uncles, cousins, and family friends. I already feel like part of the Cody family. My favorite part of the trip was getting the opportunity to visit the National Civil Rights Museum, which was constructed around the former Lorraine Motel (site of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s assasination). The museum does a wonderful job of telling the story of the Civil Rights Movement and prominent persons involved. The exhibits are extremely well put together and provide great historical experience. During the trip, we also visited Beale St. and some other tourist attractions. William took lots of pictures that I am sure he will post after he gets some R&R after the long drive back to New Orleans from Memphis.

To top of the weekend, I returned back home to Dallas to find the house framed! Below is a view from the front of the house. As always, you can view more construction photos on my flickr site.

Front View of Frame

Cody Family Reunion

William 3 Comments

Kyllan and I will be spending Memorial Day weekend in Memphis, Tennessee where my father’s family is having a reunion. I probably won’t be updating the blog while we are there, but I should have plenty of pictures to share after our return.

ASM Rap Up

William 1 Comment

These last few days have been exhausting. The poster presentation went great. It was really nice to have a chance to discuss my work with some of the top names in the field. It was even better that they liked where the project was going… On a side note, this discrepancy over the name of the gene I am studying is a little frustrating. A decade old pissing contest over which of two names should be used was resolved earlier this year. Apparently a few people were not aware of this and tried to take a tinkle on my leg. What’s the deal people? I am going by the sequenced genome. The name thing was resolved in the literature. What more am I supposed to do? Oddly enough, the major player on what was the opposing side liked the project and offered some resources from his lab for future studies. It looks like things are really going to get exciting over the next few months. (I am reluctant to name the gene or protein simply because I don’t want random researchers to google these names and happen upon my blog.)

The Poster

William 2 Comments

My lack of posting to the blog this past week was due to working on my poster for the American Society for Microbiology general meeting (ASM). It’s 70in x40in and had to be taken to a printer. The lab took our two posters, a post-doc is also presenting, to Kinko’s Wednesday. They told us they could turn them around in 24 hours. Thursday they gave us one poster. The resolution was horrible. It was pixilated and illegible. Of course we tell them that this was unacceptable and to redo the job, including the second poster. Friday they call us and tell us to pick them up at 3pm. When we arrived, they just kind of shrugged their shoulders and told us 6pm. At 6pm, they told us 8pm. At 8pm the guy running the printer told us he was going home and we could pick them up Saturday. Keep in mind that you have to apply to present a poster at this meeting and if you fail to present at the meeting, you are banned for 3 years. We had a 10am flight Sunday!!! Not being able to participate in ASM meetings is not something I want to explain to future employers. 9am Saturday my PI calls Kinko’s about picking up the posters, and they have no idea what he is talking about. He reminded them. Noon Saturday they call my PI and tell him, “We can’t do them.” Of course every other graphics company in New Orleans was A) Not reopened since the hurricane B) Closed on Saturday C) Closed on Election Day (Nagin won re-election, by the way.) In a mad dash to the lab around 2pm, to discuss our options with my PI, I saw two guys putting graphic decals on a car in front of a shop. I pulled over and asked if they could do large format printing. Turns out they are the largest in the State. They do all of the signs and posters for the Superdome. The owner had stopped in to pick up some papers, and I caught him just as he was walking out of his office. He took me to the production floor and printed both posters in a little over an hour, while I waited. Stumbling by this place may have been the luckiest thing that has ever happened to me, other than meeting a very pretty girl while taking out the trash…

106th General Meeting

William 1 Comment

I have just arrived in Orlando Florida for the American Society for Microbiology’s 106th general meeting. I will be here until May 25th. This is going to be an exciting week. I have a poster presentation on Wednesday, but other than that I will be checking out symposiums and keynote speakers. I will also be spending a lot of time at other posters. Just for the record, getting my poster printed was hell… I’ll get to story later. I have to go pick up my registration pack.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

Kyllan 4 Comments

Happy Mothers Day to my mom, Sandra Brown, William’s mom, Betty Cody, and my sister, Kim Nickerson. All three of these women are epitome’s of outstanding mothers who have set a wonderful example for me to follow.

First to my mom- I would like to thank you for all of the sacrifices you have made and support you have given in order for me to grow and develop physically, intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally. You should be overwhelmingly proud that you have raised two beautiful daughters who look up to you as courageous, loving, gracious, intelligent, talented and kind. No words or gifts could ever repay you for the love you have shown, but know that our hearts are full with gratitude for being such a wonderful example for Kim and I to live by. Did I tell you I love you today? I love you Mom! And I love you Grandma (Eva Curtain) for raising such a wonderful daughter

Mrs. Cody- The first time I met you, I immediately felt comfortable and at home. You have an aura about you that is so sincere and genuine that I greatly admire. Your strength as a mother and wife is immediately evident and something I hope to emulate. Thank you for raising and nurturing such a wonderful son. Your relationship with him has clearly had a profound impact on his life and has in turn impacted me. I appreciate that you have passed on such wonderful characteristics to him that prove to me just how strong a support system he has been provided with. Your smile, laugh and joyous nature can make anyone immediately feel better. Thank you for being so supportive to me and making me feel like a part of the Cody family. You are truly the epitome of a strong woman. I love you!

Kim- It is still hard for me to believe you are a mother. If I think back on when I was 9 and you were 18 and your unwillingness to get out of bed on an early Saturday morning to watch the Smurfs, I don’t think I would have though that was “mother-like”. But watching your interactions with Drew and watching you raise a very hyper toddler shows me just how much you fit into the role. You are doing an amazing job! You have always been like a second mother to me… there when I needed a shoulder to cry on, someone to laugh with, or a word of advice. I truly cherish our relationship and continue to learn from you. I love you!

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers! We are truly thankful for you! 🙂

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We have a foundation!

Kyllan 3 Comments
The finished product!, originally uploaded by Kyllan.

On Friday, May 12th, the slab pour took place making me one excited person! I watched the process for about 2 hours and it was very interesting and educational to observe. I was also able to meet a few new neighbors and talk with a few others I had already met. The slab will dry over the weekend, and they should be set to frame next week. So… the excitement begins and the house starts to take form. Check out my flickr site for more photos!

Seminar and ASM

William 2 Comments

If you don’t know the real reason I started this blog, it was because I had a seminar presentation coming and needed something to do while procrastinating. Well, that seminar has now come and gone. I presented a good portion of what will become the first specific aim of my thesis dissertation to the department yesterday. Even though I waited until the last minute to prepare for it, it went pretty well. I usually judge my presentations by the questions I receive afterwards (including those from my PI). If I get none, I lost everyone in the audience. I probably got a few more than I was expecting, but they were good and everyone seemed interest. I’ve been scrambling to produce data for the American Society for Microbiologist (ASM) General Meeting, which will take place May 21-25th in Orlando. I still have two more experiments I would like to complete for the poster presentation I will give there. I know I can get one done before the poster goes out to print, but I am unsure about the second… I will be working on those this weekend while catching up on video game time… What happened to my gamercard in the bottom right hand corner? I will have to fix that this weekend.