hobbes

New obsessions:

Kenken: sudoku-like crossword puzzle.

Way-obvious lesbians.

Manga/cartoon drawing (renewed obsession).

Crossword puzzles (also renewed).

I'm feeling guilty. Details later.

Tonight I go to bed early. Is midnight early?

stochastic

Science blows my mind. 1st came physics, then came chemistry, and finally biology in the baby carriage.

My current tiny obsession is black holes. Event horizons. SO GOOD!

Perhaps Clare was right about me focusing my blog towards a specific topic, even though it seems like the actor's equivalent of a pigeonhole.

Well science has been preoccupying my mind. I'm just going to ramble off a list of things. If any of you have answers, by all means.

What regulates histone/chromatin modifiers?

Is there a specific "clock" gene that instructs stem cells to differentiate at a specific point, after a certain number of cell divisions?

Could cell specification in neural stem cells mirror that of hematopoeisis? With the subsequent binding of cell adhesion molecules, the cell may finally stop at that location and undergo cross-talk/signaling with its neighboring cells to receive a program to differentiate. Then, could the cell travel to its final destination through signaling molecules, morphogens, etc.? Hmm, this could be a possible collaboration with Janey, since she's so into immuno research. Although I think her favorite area was the thymus or T cells...

Going to read more "The Singularity is Near." Blows my mind!!!

chateaubriand

Dim sum Sunday with Clare. And Drab...

Dim sum place next to Tong Palace, not so great. The service was bad, possibly because we arrived there towards the end of the brunch shift, but still, the food had no kick, no excitement. Good thing I had a stomachache- I probably would have tried to order more in order to fill my stomach.

Clare picked me up first, before we headed over to Drab's place. Once we got there, we started walking up the street trying to figure out where Drab's apartment was located, but it turned out that he found Clare's car before we were able to find him. Clare and I headed back down the hill towards the car, only to find Drab standing in the middle of the road.

At first glance, I immediately noticed he had cut his hair, but who?! Upon closer examination, it looked like he had taken a shower before meeting up with us, the front seemed to have been cut an appropriate length, but the sides and ESPECIALLY the back were of a poor design. Later on during dim sum, Drab told us that his roommate Peter Pan had been the one at that murder scene. Soft, but rough around the edges. Although, it was nice seeing that he had finally cut his hair after all this time.

Clare's clothing style seems to have toned down since college. Today it was the typical blue and gray long-sleeved shirt, khakis, and Jack Purcells. Very normal. Hmm, I've just realized that I left his skinny jeans in the back of his car. So much for borrowing them. Oh well. Drab was wearing this weird, knit, red long-sleeved shirt, although I did approve of the jeans. If I had to guess, they were probably Levi's.

Headed out to dim sum, before grabbing boba tea along Clement. My honeydew boba was decent, considering my stomachache still lingered. Then we had to go drop off Drab since he wanted to head back to lab. The backyard was cluttered, the puzzle looked interesting, his room looked filthy. Drawers open, empty beer can lingering on the table. What was new, though, was this dark wooden IKEA frame he bought for his bed. Upon closer glance, if you just focused on the headboard, it looked very much like a more comfortable park bench.

Later on, Clare and I headed out to Dolores Park to meet up with his high school friends, to see off Carl's Jr. before he flies to New York. 'Twas nice, just sitting, bumming around, not doing anything productive. Like being a kid again. Also getting sick from having ice cream, like a kid again.

Invitation to a Wilco and/or Deerhoof concert. Hmm.


It's a see-through face!

cotyledon

I had 2 dreams about Danimals last night. Oy. What does this mean...

The first one involved me sitting on the schoolbus with him and his wife- mostly it was his wife drilling me questions about lab.

The second one consisted of me sitting in the lobby, with Danimals walking around and talking to me. Suddenly he just freezes and seemed like he was starting to have a heart attack. I panic and try to figure out what to do.

In ACTUAL lab today, I noticed Danimals wearing a SpongeBob bandage on his left pinky finger. I actually cut the same finger earlier in the week with my santoku knife cutting vegetables. Well, I don't know what's more awkward, him wearing a cartoon band-aid at his age, or me knowing that the character on the band-aid, Mrs. Puff, is from the SpongeBob show.

Maybe I am a workaholic... every time I keep counting, it still adds up to me being in lab at least 30 hours a week. Not sure how I really get anything done with 12 hours of classes.

So if someone was born left-handed, but trained to write with their right hand, does that mean they will have switch left/right brain dominance? Or is it just a change of hand dominance? That is, if there were an object- pencil, cup, what have you- sitting on a table, would that person then reach out with their left hand or their right hand?

I have this feeling in my gut that I don't feel like application will be ready/competitive, but I probably should stop stalling the inevitable. If I don't get accepted this season, I most likely will not get accepted in the next. Perhaps I'm just freaking out because I was advised to turn in my AMCAS early, but I probably won't be submitting it until early/mid-July. Which means less spots available, more competition for the remaining spaces. Going to eat something now. Enjoy the pics.

significand

I think I've reached that phase again where I may be tired of caring about grades. Either I'm going to get in somewhere now or never, so it seems kind of pointless to take any more classes before med school. ALTHOUGH there is this one English class I wanted to try- Age of Wit. British writers! Swift, Pope, Addison. And I do enjoy math...

Quick n' dirty news: data from microarrays have arrived, ready to go and sift through candidate genes that may determine the fate specification of different types of cells in the adult brain.

Wasted time watching a terrible movie, along with looking through summer and fall course schedules.

Nights.

platonism

More legs on the bus! Maybe I am sexually frustrated? Seeing these girls in see-through shirts, swimming shorts, short skirts, all going to the beach. Good thing it's going to get cold and rainy again starting tomorrow. I hate sweating. And thick thighs.

Last night, the electricity went out in my building. This is the ONE time that I've considered buying my LED flashlight to not be a waste of money. I basically used it to find my other non-LED flashlight. Then I used the regular flashlight to study human physiology in the dark. Honestly I was more worried about the food in my fridge thawing than the exam I have tomorrow.

It's midnight here already. Happy Birthday, MattPatti Mayonnaise.

Danimals sent me an e-mail that my data had finally arrived. His email included exclamation marks. Haha what a dork. Then I respond by sharing some links of stuff posted on Gizmodo because I know he's interested in guns, explosions, jets, boats, chaos/mayhem.

...I have no friends outside of lab. Or within my age group here in SF.

Trying to pull an all-night for the exam tomorrow morning, and I feel sticky and EXHAUSTED. This must be how porn stars feel after a long day's work sexing and whatnot. Don't porn stars use something like Kimwipes for cleaning themselves off after they're done with their business? I think they actually call them Kumwipes or whatever.

harlow

If my grampa undergoes the operation, he may never fully get his voice back, in addition to the high risk.

The fortune teller that my grandparents have been going to predict that he'll live to 90.

Furthermore, the rest of the family is helping my grandmother prepare for his departure/death, while also getting things ready for her when she reaches that stage in her life.

It was SO hot today in SF, even hotter on the bus with the windows closed. Yet surprisingly it was refreshing seeing a gaggle of girls wearing short shorts, showing off their long legs.

So I was waiting again, for the 28 bus to stop and for me to get on, and I do what I usually do, which is to wait for ALL the passengers that want to leave to get off the bus before boarding. Unlike all the older Asian people who push themselves to the front of the line to nab a space on board. As soon as I try to get on the bus through the back, without even having extended an entire leg in, the doors close in and clamp down on my ankle. Luckily, those doors can sense if something's in the way, and they automatically opened up for me, but the girl standing next to me looked at me, and we both starting laughing. She asked me if I were okay.

Never thought I would get great advice from professors. Maybe I should have bothered to see them more during their office hours.

consomme

Sweating like a hog all day today. The weather's jumped up to 80 today, will rise to 85 Monday, and then go back down to 65 on Thursday. Only in SF...

So I've been back to watching my Asian TV shows, started getting sentimental on this Korean show called "We Got Married," where Korean stars are paired together and live out their day as if they were a real couple.

One specific episode I saw tonight involved the guy "purposefully" forgetting his wife's birthday. He continues to make her feel bad throughout the day, by not helping her pack their belongings-they were moving to a new house- by dragging her all over the place at night, trying to find the right place for her to eat. He also took her to visit the old place where he used to play piano, even though she didn't feel like it. Once she started playing a few keys, he wanted to leave to get dinner, so she had to go as well. But he planted his cell phone, leaving it in the studio, so that once they were out walking a while, he made her start calling his phone to find out where it is.

She finally discovered where it was when someone answered on the other end, and the "husband" asked her to go up to the piano studio to pick it up for him. Once she returned, she found a pianist playing the Happy Birthday song for her. The guy turned out to be Yuhki Kuramoto, a pianist whose songs she played when she was learning the piano back in middle school. Afterwards, he played Lake Louise for her, with her crying throughout most of the performance.

That was a good birthday gift idea. Why can't people be creative like that, aside from the money issues? Their relationships, too, appealed to me in a way opposite to most couples I know.

Blegh, when did I become soft? Time to distract you with pictures.

mirepoix

Drab is slow in responding to my emails. Then again, any one I bother to email a reply either takes forever to write back, or just doesn't write back at all. No manners, the youth these days.

Kaiser is a conundrum. She's like an unsolvable equation that you just keep looking at on paper, but have no idea where to go with it.

I keep looking at pictures of food on facebook, that a friend made while in culinary school right now...

That option's still lingering in the back of my mind. I could choose a career in public service while trying to find some universal truth in research, resulting in something that may benefit the human race one day. OR, I could be selfish, cooking and eating all day long, creating something/anything I want, making people feel content inside, if only for an instant. I suppose it's a matter of long-term versus short term gratification.

Not sure if this is true, but the Monterey aquarium is one of the larger ones in the U.S.? 2 floors, several petting exhibits, rotating showcases, too many kids running around.

sarutobi

Why did I choose not to go to dinner w/ Drab, Leigh-Ugh, mAlice? Besides my personal preference for not seeing Drab more than once per month?

I'm spending the night catching up on TV shows, and figuring out how to create a transgenic mouse that utilizes the Cre-loxP system.

One of the few times I hate riding the bus: when a FAT man sits right next to me on the bus, and their huge leg/arm pushes against me, and I have to sit like that pressed against the other side for half an hour.

The other surprise? When he got off the bus, there was this streak of liquid running down the middle of his seat. Butt sweat. I immediately wiped the side of my jeans being crushed by his gargantuan right leg.


Sharkie.


School.

español

Note to self: do not put off ~60 chemistry problems until the night before the test. Too much input!

Get the feeling that I know more about my PI/lab mates than I do about any single friend. Soooo... the rotation student isn't so bad, it's only been a month with him so far. I think his rotation project right now depends on getting mice to mate, which may takes weeks before anything comes up. Only 8 more weeks with him... What puzzles me though, is how he's packed on so much weight even though all he eats for lunch each day is a banana and a protein bar, in addition to his being vegetarian.

Do I still sound possessive? Trying not to be. I mean, if I think about the big picture, all labs eventually rotate out all their people every 3-5 years. It's always changing, unless you're the unfortunate grad student who can't seem to get publishable data, or start so many projects and are not able to finish just one. I'm going to be out after one more year- maybe it's that I don't want to be bothered by people while I'm still there? A matter of convenience I suppose.

I tire. And I have 2 tests tomorrow. This post was supposed to be short. Ok, aquarium pictures!


Me gusta pipes.


Little Ian.


También me gustan los peces.

bregma

What a beautifully windy day, if the sun's rays weren't burning my eyes out. And if the wind weren't swirling garbage in front of my face or kicking dust in my eyes.

How am I going to tackle 2 tests in one day... it used to be easier back in high school, even when I had 4 tests per day. Now I just get tired. How am I going to survive possibly 8 more years of school.

I SUPPOSE I could give a spoiler alert: regarding the latest House episode (the one where Kutner shoots himself). It seemed cheesy at the end when House found a picture of Kutner's face turned to the side, with shadows covering part of his face to represent some darker side that no one seemed to know about. In a sense, though, it would have been nice to do what House did, rummage through the person's room/belongings, just to see what was going on inside their head. Why is it that people don't want others to know? It's a given that nobody is without flaws, so why does everyone try their hardest to hide things?

The Ponceau S staining solution in lab reminds me of salt and vinegar chips. Or pickled vegetables.


If you saw a grape like this in your dish, would you still eat it?

Time to start posting my pictures from Monterey, and my aquarium series.

There were deer on the grounds where I stayed (Asilomar).


My postdoc's bebe. Not so cute in this snap, but there's more pics of him.

candelabra butt plug

I was originally going to title this entry "jewellery," because it fascinated me how Australians have their unique way of spelling words like the British, but hidden sex toys are just more hilarious. It's like Transformers for the bedroom.

Hmm, my Danimal's wife has the same birthday as my brother. He has no idea what to get his wife for her birthday, so he's enlisted the lab's help. The only clue we've been given is that she likes tech toys/gadgets.

Why have I been so possessive of people lately? Hmm, who knows, but once I've started reverting back to my I don't give a shit attitude (old self) about who steals my friends, everything's peachy.

The "1" button on the UV spec reads "Bradford" on it. How inconvenient.

So if someone allows you to go through their food stash, how often will you keep eating their food? Do you just take a little now and then? Do you feel guilty taking their food at any moment in time, or is it just when the ration dwindles to a few pieces left in the container? Who has the guts to eat the last few pieces of chocolate/candy without feeling any remorse?

It seems like everyone should be able to publish really good papers into either Cell, Science, or Nature. Maybe it's because of the constraints placed upon lab work (time and/or money) that force people to just throw whatever current data they have out into the open.

I am now a certified Translink trial user!

Of all the people, the stockbroker sends me a birthday card through the mail. Happy 24th Elle (yesterday).

avm

I just had to post this disgustingly cute picture of my cousin that I found on my other cousin's flickr. She definitely does <3 those cupcakes. Blegh.



Also flipping through Janey's flickr account and caught sight of her wearing something that exposed her midriff. Definitely unpleasant experience.

The manager at KFC knows me by name now. That probably means I'm eating too much unhealthy fast food, AND I should stop going to KFC until he forgets who I am.

Starting to get the feeling that fobby Asian girls are more aggressive than Asian American girls, which surprises me because I always thought the people over there constantly tried to bottom shelf sex.

Everybody in my family, as they get older, their faces tend to widen, or fatten, I can't tell which. Hoping my face doesn't turn out like that.

My mother also has been getting adjusted to using the internet, so now she's constantly emailing me pictures of her rose garden. So THAT's what she's been doing with her free time as of late, in addition to the bugging me to ask my PI to hand me a job ASAP.

Hmm, next time, expect pictures from the aquarium! And maybe my PI, but I want to keep that picture for the future, in case I want to blackmail/incriminate him. It's a picture of him sleeping during one of the talks.

bissap baobab

Senegalese food.

Dinner with Clare and Drab.

Observations... Drab still hadn't cut his hair, Clare was wearing a nice green shirt, Drab's arm is substantially hairy, Clare's are significantly smoother, Drab's standing stance has become a bit feminine.

What grade do I give this place... B+ for the appetizers, B- for the main dish, and C- for the dessert. I suppose if I do a weighted average: B-/B, still.

The waitress recommended that I get this lamb in vegetable sauce. It was sour, the sour taste overwhelming the moderate quality meat, placed next to two scoops of rice that was boiled in too much water. The appetizer that Clare ordered was far better than my main dish; the appetizer that Drab ordered consisted of overcooked plantains and too mild of a tamarind dipping sauce. The dessert I decided to try was a yogurt (Tchaikry?) laden with bits of couscous, raisins, nutmeg, and some other spices that made eating the whole damn cup a challenge.

What did I learn about those two: Clare's trying to better himself, and Drab's still a horny mofo. Ugh, I probably shouldn't have shared my spoon with him. Who knows who his mouth's been in. Ewww.

Although, it was nice of Drab to buy my beer for me, and for Clare to pay for my dinner.

ablation

I took the facebook quiz that should have told me what age I will get married. Their answer? Never.

I don't think I need a faulty and mathematically inaccurate facebook application to tell me that...

This week's episode of Dollhouse- much better than the last few. My preferences lean towards espionage, conspiracy. Not really sure if I can pinpoint a specific favorite genre. I like all sorts of shit, ranging from cartoons/anime, to spy-thrillers, martial arts, quirky, fragility of human morality...

Water Closet has begun bothering me yet again on AIM. Telling me he misses me. All types of bullshit.

There's still BIRD CRAP. On my wall!!!

bullosa

Back from the retreat!

Drinking. Over 2 days. Dinner, after dinner, and after the after dinner. No more. Jeezus, I must have had over 10 beers/wines in that time span. Ohhhhhhhh.

Contemplated going to Clare's friend's going away party in Castro tonight, but I'm thoroughly exhausted, and I should probably get work done if I'm to have a dinner meeting with Clare over the weekend. I've basically put everything off while I was away at the retreat. ---Thinking about it more, most likely I am exhausted from having to socialize with strangers at the retreat. All that TALKING, ughhhhhh, how do you people do it?---

Summary of the extracurricular activities: bonfire the 1st night, karaoke the 2nd. Skipped some of the talks on the 2nd day to go to the aquarium. Mmm seafood and water.

Jan Brady was also at the retreat, except he was not all that friendly, even when drunk. I really don't feel an obligation to be nice to people who aren't considerate enough to say "hi" to you, especially when that person's known you through a mutual friend. Can't really say I like his dancing style either. I prefer hip hop; he is more lame jazz hands.

recalcitrant

My hair!!! My issues with speaking Cantonese to Cantonese people isn't just isolated to hair salons. At lunch today, I was asking the lady in the lunch line what kind of meat was in the chicken-fried steak-looking thing, and she answered back to me in Cantonese, saying it was beef. I started talking to her in Cantonese- she completely ignores me. And then when Benihana and I ate the damn thing, there wasn't even beef inside!

Tonight my postdoc and I started gchatting about the poster we're going to present on Wednesday. I have no friends outside of lab...

Uh oh. Riding in the car with my PI, for 2 1/2 hours BOTH ways. Talk about extending the awkward phase.

Sometimes it's hard for me to believe that fat people are vegetarians. Perhaps I just associated vegetarianism with healthy eating, when in fact a majority of them may just be frying all their veggies for dinner.

I've been comparing myself to the recent rotation student in my lab. It could be the difference in age and/or experience, but 2 people seem to have vastly different approaches to scientific questions. I think I'm just venting because it seems he's getting more and more excited about his mini-project during his 11 (10?) weeks left here.

Oh right, happy birfday, Sophbox's sister.

strannik

Anastasia wasn't a Disney movie was it? She has that weird huge combover thing going on that's similar to Ariel's or Jasmine's hairstyle.

In the credits, they have a list of names for "Inbetweeners." What are those people supposed to do?

So there's this favorite Banh Mi place I like to go to, even though they charge $3.25 for their primary combo sandwich, and the owner there finally knows what I like to order every time. Never though I would end up becoming a regular, being predictable, at any restaurant.

Thinking more about the future. Future relationships anyway. If I ever get over my initial misgivings, it would still seem weird to me if I ended up marrying someone I met in med school. Meeting someone then is just as odd and unrealistic to me as meeting the one in college. Plus, based on my past failed relationships (which basically falls under all my relationships), my standards might be too high and unlikely to be met by anybody. Maybe I should stop picking the blonde-haired ones, the blue-eyed ones, and the krazy ones with the kurly hair.

Even in my fantasies, there really isn't a woman in my life. I've been picturing myself recently being a single father of this really cute little Asian son I get to raise all on my own, me sitting across from him at diners, him asking me all these questions about things beyond his current understanding. So I have weird daydreams.

Crap. Was supposed to start studying for my exam 8 hours ago. 8 hours lost in studying time. Talk about productivity.

boomeritis

SO unbecoming of me.

Lab's been picking up again. I've tagged onto one of Danimals' projects, so I've been relearning the art of Western blots, Coomassie stains, annnnd messing up while doing those.

Had Indian food for journal club today. I don't know HOW my lab mates can enjoy really spicy food. DEAR LORD, a few seconds after eating their dishes, my tummy started burning the fire of a thousand suns.

Even more disturbing, Danimals and Benihana looooove zombie movies. Ugh, I bet they would have gotten along with my old roommates just fine. Resident Evil, Dawn of the Dead, EVEN Shaun of the Dead. Benny's has it next on his netflix queue. WHY?!?!?

I'm getting the feeling that the new rotation student will more likely pick another lab instead of ours, mainly due to the way he continues to speak about the research going on in the other lab. Crossing my fingers... is that wrong, to not want someone in my lab?

ALSO, now that the grad student is in our lab, Danimals now offers HIM rides home. No more awkward car rides for me. What is this odd feeling, and why am I feeling it? Jealousy. See, nothing good ever happens out of getting close to people. Intimacy. I need to invent a bug spray for that affliction.

les bonbons

Fat chick standing really close in front of me on the bus. Fat chick sitting next to me on my left. The thing is, when I sat down, I ended up grazing her right side, and she turns away from her phone to stare at me, as if I've done something wrong. If anything, I should be shooting her down with an ICBM for invading my airspace, what with her huge arm hovering over on my side.

The other day, though I was sitting to the right of a fat black woman. No issues with her, AND she was soft to lean on.

Rotation student already joined my lab. He doesn't talk much with the other lab members, not when I'm there anyway. Getting the feeling that he won't be choosing our lab. Yes?!

UGH, another grad student's going to be doing a 4th rotation in our lab this summer. From what Drab has told me, grad students only do a 4th rotation as a last ditch effort. NOOOOOooooo.

Kaiser surprised me the other night by talking to me online. She and I never chat online- only communicate by e-mail on rare occasions. Seems like her future is set. I knew she'd be able to get into a med school, but had the sinking feeling that she wanted to stay in Texas. And she's still emotionally dead. Excellent!

SF has been awfully bright and warm ever since daylight savings. Maybe it's time to revisit the city whose weather suits me better- dark, cloudy, rainy, humid, twisted.

Have any of you ever tried peeing upside down?