Adam Sunny Flanders

Today was a long day. I woke up at 8am, without an alarm, oddly enough, and got ready for a graduate presentation. I was pretty nervous because most of the other students are currently seeking their doctoral degree, but I felt my presentation went well. I discussed my undergraduate work with functional plant genomics, that is, describing the basic process involved in genetically modifying rice. I haven’t yet planned my graduate research, but I have been making a list of ideas. I’m sure it will involve plants. My professor called me a geneticist today. I’ve been doing work in functional plant genomics for over two years now, but something about him calling me a geneticist brightened my day. I’ve known I wanted to be a geneticist since I was in middle school, and I only love it more every day.

Afterward I had my 3D Design course, which I also love, especially because my best friend June is also in the class. We’re having a lot of fun with it and it’s really improving my skills in graphic design. I already feel comfortable with the Maya interface, having already had several years experience working with the open-source Blender 3D. A couple weeks ago we were required to create an animation using just a ball and a cube. We had to use at least one particle effect and deformation effect. I decided to create metallic materials and blue fire. You can view the video below, along with a screenshot of the our latest and most difficult assignment, modeling a human hand. I was happy with the results.

My Atropa belladonna plant is doing really well. It continues to produce flowers and it’s now bearing about 10 small fruits. I will photograph them when they turn black upon maturity. Every part of the plant is toxic, but it has several medicinal properties. I used to use a belladonna infusion to get to sleep. It also has a permanent place in folklore, particularly witchcraft, rivaled only by mandrake. I intend to grow mandrake in the future. I like the challenge, but I really enjoy gardening and raising heirloom and novelty plants from seed.

Even though I got my degree in biology and continue that line of work now in my graduate career, I have received little to no instruction about horticulture. I’ve learned many technical skills in genomics and molecular biology, but little about the basics of raising plants, even in the lab. I have grown at home the two model plants, arabidopsis and brachypodium. At UMaine there is a significant divide between plant molecular biology / genomics and botany / horticulture / plant sciences, but I’ve been gardening my whole life, so it’s something I learn from trial-and-error as a hobby. The plants I grow seldom disappoint me. I got some blue iris bulbs and chinese lantern seeds today. I’m just starting some Gloriosa superba seeds germinating and waiting for some Colchicum autumnale seeds to come in the mail.

These latter two plants both belong to the family Colchicaceae. Their family name is somewhat telling of an important aspect of these two species – they both produce a relatively high concentration of colchicine. This chemical is extremely toxic, but has been used in small concentrations to treat gout. More importantly, colchicine can interrupt meiosis. In plants, this can induce polyploidy, especially the doubling of chromosomes. Polyploidy can yield some interesting results. Because of its effects on spindle formation, colchicine is also useful in preparing microscope slides if you want to hault mitosis in order to view a specific phase. I have been researching protocols to extract a crude form of colchicine from Gloriosa superba and Colchicum autumnale. Colchicine is prohibitively expensive – 1 gram can easily cost over $100. In any case, both of the aforementioned plants are amazing and beautiful.

I also got a blue orchid today. It’s artificially colored, but I thought it was pretty cool, so I got it. I don’t know how they make it blue – I would be a little surprised if they absorb liquid coloring the way a carnation does. The orchids are sold by Silver Vase, a company based in Florida. A picture of my blue orchid is below. While on the point of blue flowers, Florigene and Suntory recently announced they will be selling their genetically altered true-blue roses in the United States this November. The image in the article isn’t very blue, in my opinion. Florigene has better examples on their website. They also discuss some of the basic biochemistry behind flower color, which is really cool! I would love to work in this newly emerging field of floriculture. Perhaps someday I’ll be making roses even bluer, although it’s not quite as philanthropic as research focused on improving food crops.

Look for me in this coming week’s Village Soup / Republican Journal. My parents announced my graduation. It’s online here: Belfast man graduates with degree in biology from umaine

Just wanted to say that if any of you thought I deleted you, I didn’t – my Facebook accounts keep getting deleted. I keep making more, but under different names. I probably won’t add most of you back because I’m more interested in Google Plus, which will likely replace Facebook anyway. I have numerous other online accounts, too, and in any case, I have my website here, and that’s not going away. I have everything backed up (messages, photos, and my past friends lists), so I haven’t lost anything. If any of you need to get in touch with me, my email is adamsunny@rocketmail.com

Wow, it’s already been a month since I wrote anything here! I’ve been busy starting grad school, having completed my Biology Bachelor’s over the Summer. But I’ve still made time for my hobbies.

Over the Summer I successfully induced germination in a Belladonna seed, which are very recalcitrant. The plant is now about 2 feet tall and has 5 flowers in bloom, with more to come. They have a mild odor similar to almonds, although Atropa belladonna is in the Solanaceae family, whereas almonds are in the Rosaceae family. Belladonna is also called Deadly Nightshade because it produces a potent alkaloid called atropine, among other compounds. Even a small amount of any part of the plant is sufficient to kill an adult. I used to take a small dose to get to sleep. Supposedly it’s called Belladonna (“beautiful lady”) because women used to take very small amounts to dilate their pupils.

I used my dad’s telescope to photograph the moon, Jupiter, and its moons. With some patience, I was able to photograph directly through the eyepiece using my Canon EOS. It was really incredible to be able to look directly at Jupiter like that, and to see its moons. I look at NASA photos all the time, but even at much lower resolution, nothing compares to seeing it for myself. I can’t describe the feeling. I also just finished reading Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot, which was just as awesome as Cosmos. I highly recommend both books!

My dad also caught a chipmunk today in a Havahart cage. He was exploring our gym. My dad relocated him in the woods far behind our house. Apparently the cat had been toying with him, but he’s OK.

Just saw this on Animal Planet and I had to post it. It’s the cutest thing I’ve ever seen – Boo Boo, the world’s smallest dog. She’s a teacup long-hair chihuahua. Our little ChiChi isn’t much bigger than her, but ChiChi is a pomchi.

If the video isn’t appearing, just click here for the video on Animal Planet.

I wrote both of the articles below. Enjoy 🙂

EqualityMaine Jump-Starting the Next Campaign for Marriage

Republicans Offer Little Hope to Gay Americans During Iowa Debate

Saw this video today and I wanted to post it. It’s “Make It Stop (September’s Children)” by Rise Against, from their album, Endgame. It addresses the recent bullying against GLBT youth and resulting suicides, made in cooperation with the It Gets Better Project. It reminded me of my time at Belfast Area High School, where I was harassed every day by students and teachers and the vice principal, Bruce Mailloux. The regular threats caused me to carry a knife in my backpack and in my locker. The music video reminded me of how I used to stand on the edge of the Belfast bridge and think about jumping, and how I tried to later kill myself with an overdose. The video ultimately presents a message of hope – that if you keep going and believe in yourself, believe it does get better, you can do incredible things. I’m glad to be alive today. I’ll have my Bachelor of Biology degree soon and things continue to look better every day, especially with court matters and civil rights. Never give up!

I know how bad it can get and the importance of recent efforts to end discrimination and homophobia in our country. We have the media on our side and even the US Senate recently created its own “It Gets Better” video. We continue to move closer to full equality. Just yesterday, the “Department of Justice filed a brief in federal court employee Karen Golinski’s federal court challenge, supporting her lawsuit seeking access to equal health benefits for her wife and arguing strongly that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional in terms unparalleled in previous administration statements.” (From Metro Weekly).

Despite all these changes, winning marriage equality in NY, having the media on our side and vocal supporters in positions of power, like Lady Gaga and President Obama, we still face many challenges and have a long way to go. Leading GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann’s husband recently stated that gays are barbarians and need to be disciplined. Equality Maine just announced that it will be once again seek to place marriage equality on the ballot, this time in November 2012. Minnesota is poised to become the next state to take up the issue, even though an anti-gay organization is working to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Despite live feeds of Casey Anthony’s trial currently airing on every news station, the Prop.8 trial, which easily affects millions more Americans than Casey Anthony, is still being concealed from the public and remains confidential.

We must ensure that individuals like Bachmann are silenced and never get into a position of power. A major aspect of the “It Gets Better” concept is that we must continually work to ensure it gets better for all of us and those to come. We must stand up and continue to fight for what is right, and never, ever give up.

Congratulations New York for doing what California and Maine couldn’t! Respect and equality for all New York families. This will surely set things in motion and lay the stage for more equality until we have Federal recognition! If marriage equality can make it in the Big Apple, it can make it anywhere!

I went to Portland Pride yesterday with my boyfriend Dean, and it was clear that times are changing fast. The events felt more natural – it was no big deal. There were no counter protestors, no Christian Civic League members harassing us. The Press Herald reported on the record numbers of people in attendance, yet there was not the slightest mention of strife or concern. It was as if we had assimilated into Maine’s culture.

6 years ago, when I spoke before the Judiciary in favor of the anti-discrimination bill, things were a lot different. Today we live in a safer and more accepting society for GLBT individuals. Recently, a Florida high school elected a transgender student as their prom queen and a gay student as king. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell was repealed. We have the most GLBT-supportive president in history, and he proclaimed June National LGBT Pride Month. Just yesterday the United Nations passed a resolution to address international violations against GLBT people the world over.

We are so close to nationwide marriage equality. Another Federal judge has upheld Judge Walker’s ruling and set precedent by showing that Judge Walker’s sexual orientation does not create any bias for his decision in favor of same-sex marriage. Meanwhile DOMA continues to be ruled unconstitutional and remains virtually unsupported in the Legislature. Polls show a majority of Americans favor same-sex marriage.

It’s partly because I’m living in Portland, but when I walk down the streets with Dean, nobody yells out “faggots!” or even takes a second look. Nobody cares. It’s as if we’ve already won. I know we still have a way to go, but I can’t help feeling that we’re nearly there. All I want is to just live my life.

BTW, Happy Father’s Day everyone! 😉

Wow, the last few days have been tech overload for me. During the Apple Developer’s Conference, they announced iCloud, iOS 5, and OS X Lion. Then E3 began yesterday and Nintendo (the only videogame company I really care about) showed some of its up and coming games and the new Wii U console to be released next year.

I’m not sure how I feel about it, but I felt the same way back in 2006 when Nintendo introduced the Wii and its odd motion controls. The idea of having a tablet-like touch screen as the controller, albeit not to be used as a portable system, adds a lot of depth for hardcore gamers. The Wii got Nintendo stuck in a sort of “everybody can play” mode that left behind the hardcore croud, so this will likely be a welcome addition that will nonetheless maintain the console’s openness to beginners and family players. Nintendo offered a huge (and much anticipated) update for the 3DS as well, so that’s been cool – the ability to download and play original Gameboy games like Super Mario Land is pretty awesome.

I noticed I haven’t blogged in a month. I’ve been pretty busy, having gotten an apartment in Portland and figuring out what I want to do for graduate school and when. Portland is nice with its gay bars, shopping selections, and parks, though I still feel a bit confined by the city. I’m definitely not a city boy, but it’s fun for now. My apartment is within walking distance of the major parks, so I won’t have to drive to Pride this year, lol.

Speaking of Pride, Maine’s House just shot down the so-called “Bathroom Bill” (LD 1046) that would have reversed parts of the Maine Human Rights Act and enabled schools and businesses to discriminate based on perceived gender identity. It is a victory for the GLBT community: House won’t block transgender suits against schools, businesses.