Friday, September 26, 2014

Birthdays in Chemistry Land

I've always enjoyed chemistry but as time goes on I find more and more reasons to call it my favorite subject. The list of reason is extensive, but here are some of the better ones: the absence of dull moments when hangin with my fellow "Chemistry Campers" (in the words Of Dr. Sally Ghizzoni), the great chats I have with the heart and soul of the Chem. department (a.k.a Jill and Tracy from the stock room), and I can't forget about all the cool drugs I've synthesized in lab (and no this isn't Breaking Bad, synthesizing Aspirin and Ibuprofen is more my style). I didn't know it could get much better, but today's organic chemistry lecture did just that; It knocked all other reasons I've found down a notch on my list. Today's lecture was no ordinary lecture... In order to celebrate the birthday of my chemistry professor, the Great Dr. Jens Kuhn, our class had a special visit from the King of Rock 'n' Roll himself. Many props to the chem. department and Jens' wife for arranging the resurrection of Elvis Presley for his post-mortem debut performance in my lecture hall this afternoon.

The harmonious performance by the kings (yes plural) was a sound worth hearing and a sight no one would want to miss, and lucky for me it took place in such an intimate venue; I never thought I'd be able to see a performance of this caliber in a venue that only seated abut 80 adorning fans and groupies... who we can refer to as students on any other given day.

After today's performance I was left a little confused as to why Jens decided to pursue a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry rather than a career in showbiz, but at least the man has something to fall back on if he ever gets tired of teaching O-chem. He was a natural: effortlessly pullin off those stunna shades while keeping the crowd roaring with those dance moves of his. Apparently every year there is a new surprise for Jens' birthday: this year Elvis arose from the dead, last year the Tooth Fairy bridged the gap between our two realms to wish him a happy birthday, and I'm sure the years before brought in some heavy hitters also.

The cake prior to me get my hands on it
For the encore performance the birthday man ditched the shades in order to lay down some knowledge on stereochemistry and organic reactions. Concluding the show I engorged myself with the delicious home baked cake that Jill whipped up for Jens and others (told you the stock room Ladies are great!). I'm usually not a huge fan of cake, but this cake was someth'n else! guess this goes to show that chemistry and baking aren't all that different after all.
Cake post Austin. They had to cut me off

Good thing we got our midterms graded prior to today's lecture (or should i say performance), otherwise I'm not sure if I would be blogging this right now. I'll keep my fingers crossed that by the time he's grading our next midterms this post will be a very distant memory of his. Well all in all, Happy Birthday to the Man, the Legend, the All-Knowing Dr. Jens Kuhn!


No comments:

Post a Comment