mecp2

Didn't feel so well yesterday afternoon, but I had agreed to stop by Drab's lab.

So off I went to Mission Bay. Security... not so tight over there either. All the security guy asks me is if I'm being expect. "Yes?" "Ok, here's your badge!"

Drab's lab. Definitely much wider space than mine. Woodwork- not as attractive as the black slate tabletops in my lab.

I was there, asking him about neuroscience graduate programs, about his lab, and then about his research. During our conversation came blaring a song I NEVER expected to come out of his laptop: No Doubt's "Hollaback Girl." Don't even ask.

For the longest time, I thought he was saying MSTP2, in reference to a protein that we was studying in the olfactory bulb. But I noticed a sticky note at his desk labeled MeCP2, a protein I was very familiar with 2 years ago, so I mentioned to Drab,"Oh, I used to work on this protein..."

Then Drab had immediately clarified to me that THAT was the gene he was working on in mice. NOT MSTP2, but MECP2.

UGH!!! Why do our lives have to be intertwined in our research as well?!?! This feels like that terrible movie with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves (not Speed), where their lives are separated by time. The Lake House? Terrible!

After watching him take care of some postnatal mouse pups, he started getting hungry, so I unwillingly agreed to accompany him to one of the cheap restaurants right by his lab. The Pub. Definitely sounds like something Drab would frequent.

Chicken pesto sandwich. $4.50. Considering that the places Drab chooses leads to unfavorable reactions in my stomach, and given the circumstances that I've been starving all day still suffering from food poisoning, it must have been the best time to have dinner with Drab. The inside of the right side of my mouth was hurting from sores along the cheek as well as the tongue, so it was difficult chewing things on the left side of my mouth.

What did I learn about Drab at dinner... our labs seem to operate differently. It seemed as though he never goes out to have lunch/dinner with his Greek lab mates, and it didn't seem as though they were that close, even though his lab membership is just as tiny as mine. Very peculiar to me because my lab mates always like having lunch together, even waiting on me as I type away at my computer. "You coming?" "ummm.... sure!"

Aside: just offered Danimals a can of Monster Energy drink I picked up from school because the truck parked there was giving them away. He looked tired, but SO happy.

Dinner with Drab: found out about him having not such a grand birthday, something I could relate to a year ago, and also about him being antisocial, something I find hard to believe. He finds social scenes cumbersome and prefers eating by himself whether it be lunch or dinner. Why does he say all the right things at the wrong time? Still, I'm a little bit skeptical about the antisocial part, as he purposefully puts himself into situations that involve interactions with multiple personalities, e.g., housewarming parties, grad student parties, snowboarding trips with friends. Another thing to have in common with Drab, ugh.

Possible explanations for us leading two different lives: he's more popular, or I have a lower tolerance for the public. First rationale: he naturally draws in more crowds, which basically sucks for him. Second rationale: I'm stuck within the same bunch of people, yet get annoyed more easily and will voluntarily remove myself from the scene if I find it intolerable. Only problem with this scenario is if I bummed a ride from a friend and can't leave until he/she is tired of the social scene.

This post bores me. Back to MCAT studying, which is equally as boring if not more so. Already started gathering data about MSTP, research programs from various associates. Perhaps Teh Ben Shields will offer good recommendations for school?