Leslie Babonis, an attendee at the 2013 NGS course, posted the following on facebook. I'm reposting with permission. --titus

an ode to my lab bench...:

i've returned, my dear friend, after a fortnight away
delighted to find you, in just the same way
your tube racks still brilliant in hues of day-glo
your tip boxes full, vortex ready to go

please accept my repentance for leaving your side
but alas it was time to swallow my pride
to the cloud! for computing i'd hoped to avoid
it takes more than bench work to keep me employed

a summit of nerds, the timing was right
to wget some new skills from where ever i might
the hours were long and the tutorials- hell!
oh how i longed to run out a gel

there was trimming and mapping and assembling in haste
pretending to grasp as i abused copy/paste
then, as if beckoned, it came unto me-
man: the savior of every unix newbie

man curl, man grep, man bamtools, man screed
my first days at nerd camp were challenging, indeed!
but suddenly i felt like the boss of the code
i'd mastered the flags and my for-loops - they flowed

there were late nights, and errors, and PuTTY!!*&@PuTTYPuTTY%%PuTTY@!PuTTY!$
but i gunzipped my grit and relied on my buddies
with guidance and patience and man by my side
i'd done it: de novo assembly! (but then my laptop died.)

considering i'd arrived with good humor, at best
i'd say my endeavors were a tremendous success
i no longer cry when i see "java -jar"
but i can't say i'll miss the same...old...salad...bar. (seriously...)

though i'll never forget this nerdtacular retreat
and i'll cherish the nerdmigos that i was lucky to meet
nothing can top my pipette's perfect fit
i enjoyed my time in silico but i couldn't git commit