Wednesday, February 22, 2006
perpetual dance party?
Today Gus (the post-doc I'm working with) and I brainstormed about where our project is going and to do a little trouble shooting. (Okay, it was really him talking and me asking questions, but whatever). We got custom made sandwiches at the med school cafe. And not having eaten there before I was perusing the list of options while humming and dancing to my own tune (a normal occurence). I looked over at Gus and he was laughing at me (not for the first time)! He said that he just realized that there is a "perpetual dance party going on in my head." I thought about it for a minute and then promptly agreed. I'm so used to being around people who know me and therefore overlook my constant humming and grooving, that I forget that to relatively new people, this might be an unusual occurrence. Oh well!....what tune are YOU grooving to? ;)
Monday, February 20, 2006
What kind of shoes are you?
Ballet shoes- beautiful, graceful, and creative,
you enjoy dancing writing and music. You are
often very poetic and sometimes dramatic.
Even if dancing isn't your thing, you are
still very creative. You keep to yourself
aside from a few close friends that you can
relate to. You find your own ways to express
yourself and don't have a need to br
surrounded by tons of people. A small group
of friends is fine.
What Kind of Shoe Are You?(new and updated results!!)
brought to you by Quizilla
Hmmm, what a chuckle!
Friday, February 17, 2006
Cupid Quote
I nearly forgot that it was Valentine's day on Tuesday, but the campus newspaper "The Daily" ran a special ad entitled "How doe S--- students feel about Valentine's Day?" There were the usual grumbles about how it sucks to be alone on V-day,and the opposite "let's love everyone" comments. However, my particular favorite was this..."Cupid tried to pierce me with his arrow, and I capped him in the ass with a bullet!" It had me laughing all the way home!
Pleasantly Exhausted
So it's Friday and for once the week wasn't so stressful - busy, but somehow not direly stressful. I even went to dance class tonight - a slightly more advanced one than ususal and it was good but I am now pleasantly exhausted. On tap for the 3-day weekend?...
...some shopping. My roommate and I are going to the grad student formal in two weeks and we're going to check out the dress selection at the mall. I don't technically need a new dress as I have about 4 or 5 that I've collected over the years, but what they hay...maybe it's time for something different. On the most recent update about the formal, they listed the attire as "creatively black-tie." What does that mean? I think I'll be on the look out for something short (not too short!), flirty, and in a halter style. Shoes are covered, but what about handbags?
...some studying. Well, I am in school and I can never seem to get away from the constant work. But I have learned "all in moderation" means studying, too.
...some "life" as my sister calls it. This means laundry, grocery shopping, getting an oil change, etc.
...some Olympics. Unfortunately, I haven't watched as much of the winter olympics as I've hoped, but maybe I'll get some in (and then again maybe not).
...a non-date with my speed dater. Yep, that's right folks. I got an email from one of the guys at the speed dating event from last week. We've decided to meet up for dessert (interesting choice and infinitely more appealing than the coffee/tea/soda option) on Sunday afternoon. We're meeting at a sufficiently neutral place, the CoHo on campus, and my roommate will be ready to give me an emergency call on the cell if it looks like a bust. Hmmm, we'll see how it goes.
...and finally, some sleep?
...some shopping. My roommate and I are going to the grad student formal in two weeks and we're going to check out the dress selection at the mall. I don't technically need a new dress as I have about 4 or 5 that I've collected over the years, but what they hay...maybe it's time for something different. On the most recent update about the formal, they listed the attire as "creatively black-tie." What does that mean? I think I'll be on the look out for something short (not too short!), flirty, and in a halter style. Shoes are covered, but what about handbags?
...some studying. Well, I am in school and I can never seem to get away from the constant work. But I have learned "all in moderation" means studying, too.
...some "life" as my sister calls it. This means laundry, grocery shopping, getting an oil change, etc.
...some Olympics. Unfortunately, I haven't watched as much of the winter olympics as I've hoped, but maybe I'll get some in (and then again maybe not).
...a non-date with my speed dater. Yep, that's right folks. I got an email from one of the guys at the speed dating event from last week. We've decided to meet up for dessert (interesting choice and infinitely more appealing than the coffee/tea/soda option) on Sunday afternoon. We're meeting at a sufficiently neutral place, the CoHo on campus, and my roommate will be ready to give me an emergency call on the cell if it looks like a bust. Hmmm, we'll see how it goes.
...and finally, some sleep?
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Quote of the Day
"I don't need a break! I never need a break! I'm a professional damn it!" - prof this afternoon during microbial pathogenesis
Saturday, February 11, 2006
What a wonderful way to start the day!
So I just got back from ballet class and I feel so good! I'd forgotten how wonderful dance can make you feel, and ballet is a great way to start the day!
Friday, February 10, 2006
A week in review
Whew, there's been a lot this week, but it's finally Friday and I can just chill. (I apologize for any run-on sentences...my brain can only take so much on a Friday evening).
This week was a little stressful because I had two assignments due at 9 am this morning. Those of you in school may scoff at me, but what can I say - I'm a grad student. I'm usually pretty good about organizing myself in such a way that in a week when I have multiple assignments due at the same time, most things can be completed in a timely fashion. I say mostly because, as is becoming the trend lately, I start early on one assignment and get it completed, but when it comes to the last assignement my discipline starts to fall by the way-side and it takes me twice as long to get tht one assignment done as it does ALL of the assignments preceding it! Does this happen to anyone else? It's like your energy just whittles down until you're just barely scraping by. Anyway, one assignment for this week was a written critique of a cell bio paper looking at the mechanism underlying the substrate ordering in protein degradation by APCs in mitosis. It was actually pretty interesting, but so long. I was very proud of myself when I completed it by Monday night. However, my last assignment wasn't finished until midnight yesterday. For this assignment we had to come up with an original idea that addresses a key question in cell bio, research it and write a "letter of intent" detailing the question we would be investigating (including background) as well as 2-3 aims and the experiments we would do to investigate these aims. (This letter of intent will eventually morph into a written proposal with an oral defense worth 40% of my total grade). I had the hardest time coming up with an idea/question to ask! I really wanted to do something related to my rotation project so that any research I had to do would directly benefit me for my rotation presentation. But, my rotation project is very heavily pathogenesis focused (as it should be for someone in microbiology & immunology), and so I had to use the basic principles of my project but apply them to a more "cell bio - like" processes. Hmmm, easier said than done. I really wanted to look at miRNAs (rotation project) and their regulation of the cell cycle; however, my school doesn't appear to have a subscription to those journals with good papers in them for this topic. Of course, I found out yesterday as I sequestered myself in the library that there's a neat feature called "doc express" that will obtain any journal article that the school doesn't have a subscription for. Great! But it takes 3-5 days to receive the article. Did I mention that my assignment was due the next day? So, I decided to look at miRNA regulation of apoptosis instead. Everytime I came up with a good idea, I did a lit search and found out that someone else also had this idea and published their results in June 2005. Anyway, long story short. I came up with something, but who knows if it's good. I'm just glad that the assignment is turned in for now (and can only hope that my topic/question won't come back to bite me in th butt later when it comes time to write the proposal and give the defense).
Second interesting thing of the week...speed dating! So, it was my roommate's 25th birthday on Wednesday and she really wanted to do speed dating. For all of you that need a speed-dating refresher course, it goes something like this: there are equal numbers of girls and guys and you talk with each guy (or girl) for 3 min. In that time you have to decide whether or not you want to pursue an interest in this person, but no personal info like last names, phone numbers, addresses, etc can be exchanged. At the end of the night you put a check by the names of the people that you are interested. Only if you and your "interest" have checked off each other's names will you get their personal info (determined by the mediator). As it so happened, there was a speed-dating event on campus on Wednesday night and we just so happened to secure to spots (although that was in doubt for a while). Let's just say this - it was "interesting" and it takes all kinds.
Third thing. Tonight is the start of the Winter Olympics in Tourino!!!! I'm so excited! This is my treat for the week. Surprsingly, not many people here are into the Olympics. I had a rather lively discussion with my roommate about the purpose of the Olympics and why everyone should be excited about it. Well, let's just say that we've agreed to disagree. I've discussed the Olympics this week with nearly everyone I know and I'm the only one who knew that the Olympics started today let alone was excited about them! When I asked the new post-doc in my lab if she was an Olympics fan, she begrudginly said yes but quickly declared that she was not an "Olympic fanatic." When I queried her about what makes a "Olympic fanatic" she said, "someone that absolutely HAS to watch the Olympics." Well in that case, I'm a self-declared "Olympic fanatic!" I just love the Olympics, and the winter olympics more than the summer ones. I will watch ANY winter olympic sport, literally, but my all-time fav is short-track speed skating, People are always surprised when I say that. I think they expect me to say figure skating, and while I like figure skating, short-track speed skating is what really rocks my boat. It's so exciting - face paced and dangerous! I love to watch for the moment when the atheletes make their move and send people crashing into the ice. It's just great (as long as I'm only a spectator of course)!. The opening ceremonies tonight should be good. I've heard a rumor from the TODAY show that that roller blades are involved. So cool!
I realized this week that my rommate and I have (or will) become somewhat of social butterflies this month. We had games night last weekend. We did speed dating this week. We're going out to dinner and to the Vagina Monologues on Saturday ngiht. We're going to the ballet in two weeks ("Rodeo" choreographed by Agnes de Mille will be performed and I can't wait to see it live!), and to a grad student formal just a week after that. (This is a lot for us, but we're definitely looking forward to it). Well, I've finally run out of steam and my stomach's starting to growl, so I'm going to grab some food and chill before the opening ceremonies begin. Good Night and Good Luck!
This week was a little stressful because I had two assignments due at 9 am this morning. Those of you in school may scoff at me, but what can I say - I'm a grad student. I'm usually pretty good about organizing myself in such a way that in a week when I have multiple assignments due at the same time, most things can be completed in a timely fashion. I say mostly because, as is becoming the trend lately, I start early on one assignment and get it completed, but when it comes to the last assignement my discipline starts to fall by the way-side and it takes me twice as long to get tht one assignment done as it does ALL of the assignments preceding it! Does this happen to anyone else? It's like your energy just whittles down until you're just barely scraping by. Anyway, one assignment for this week was a written critique of a cell bio paper looking at the mechanism underlying the substrate ordering in protein degradation by APCs in mitosis. It was actually pretty interesting, but so long. I was very proud of myself when I completed it by Monday night. However, my last assignment wasn't finished until midnight yesterday. For this assignment we had to come up with an original idea that addresses a key question in cell bio, research it and write a "letter of intent" detailing the question we would be investigating (including background) as well as 2-3 aims and the experiments we would do to investigate these aims. (This letter of intent will eventually morph into a written proposal with an oral defense worth 40% of my total grade). I had the hardest time coming up with an idea/question to ask! I really wanted to do something related to my rotation project so that any research I had to do would directly benefit me for my rotation presentation. But, my rotation project is very heavily pathogenesis focused (as it should be for someone in microbiology & immunology), and so I had to use the basic principles of my project but apply them to a more "cell bio - like" processes. Hmmm, easier said than done. I really wanted to look at miRNAs (rotation project) and their regulation of the cell cycle; however, my school doesn't appear to have a subscription to those journals with good papers in them for this topic. Of course, I found out yesterday as I sequestered myself in the library that there's a neat feature called "doc express" that will obtain any journal article that the school doesn't have a subscription for. Great! But it takes 3-5 days to receive the article. Did I mention that my assignment was due the next day? So, I decided to look at miRNA regulation of apoptosis instead. Everytime I came up with a good idea, I did a lit search and found out that someone else also had this idea and published their results in June 2005. Anyway, long story short. I came up with something, but who knows if it's good. I'm just glad that the assignment is turned in for now (and can only hope that my topic/question won't come back to bite me in th butt later when it comes time to write the proposal and give the defense).
Second interesting thing of the week...speed dating! So, it was my roommate's 25th birthday on Wednesday and she really wanted to do speed dating. For all of you that need a speed-dating refresher course, it goes something like this: there are equal numbers of girls and guys and you talk with each guy (or girl) for 3 min. In that time you have to decide whether or not you want to pursue an interest in this person, but no personal info like last names, phone numbers, addresses, etc can be exchanged. At the end of the night you put a check by the names of the people that you are interested. Only if you and your "interest" have checked off each other's names will you get their personal info (determined by the mediator). As it so happened, there was a speed-dating event on campus on Wednesday night and we just so happened to secure to spots (although that was in doubt for a while). Let's just say this - it was "interesting" and it takes all kinds.
Third thing. Tonight is the start of the Winter Olympics in Tourino!!!! I'm so excited! This is my treat for the week. Surprsingly, not many people here are into the Olympics. I had a rather lively discussion with my roommate about the purpose of the Olympics and why everyone should be excited about it. Well, let's just say that we've agreed to disagree. I've discussed the Olympics this week with nearly everyone I know and I'm the only one who knew that the Olympics started today let alone was excited about them! When I asked the new post-doc in my lab if she was an Olympics fan, she begrudginly said yes but quickly declared that she was not an "Olympic fanatic." When I queried her about what makes a "Olympic fanatic" she said, "someone that absolutely HAS to watch the Olympics." Well in that case, I'm a self-declared "Olympic fanatic!" I just love the Olympics, and the winter olympics more than the summer ones. I will watch ANY winter olympic sport, literally, but my all-time fav is short-track speed skating, People are always surprised when I say that. I think they expect me to say figure skating, and while I like figure skating, short-track speed skating is what really rocks my boat. It's so exciting - face paced and dangerous! I love to watch for the moment when the atheletes make their move and send people crashing into the ice. It's just great (as long as I'm only a spectator of course)!. The opening ceremonies tonight should be good. I've heard a rumor from the TODAY show that that roller blades are involved. So cool!
I realized this week that my rommate and I have (or will) become somewhat of social butterflies this month. We had games night last weekend. We did speed dating this week. We're going out to dinner and to the Vagina Monologues on Saturday ngiht. We're going to the ballet in two weeks ("Rodeo" choreographed by Agnes de Mille will be performed and I can't wait to see it live!), and to a grad student formal just a week after that. (This is a lot for us, but we're definitely looking forward to it). Well, I've finally run out of steam and my stomach's starting to growl, so I'm going to grab some food and chill before the opening ceremonies begin. Good Night and Good Luck!
Monday, February 06, 2006
Mrs. Fields I'm not
I have a weakness for cookies. I absolutely love them! For some people it's chocolate, for others it's cake, but for me it's definitely cookies! I think I developed this passion for cookies in college when I discovered Mrs. Field's cookies at the St. Louis Galleria. Finally, someone got innovated with the non-chocolate cookie! As I am allergic to chocolate, my childhood was plagued with only one cookie option - sugar. While tasty, it quickly grew old. I know, I know, you're saying "but what about peanut butter and oatmeal raisin?" Well, I hate peanut butter and I don't like raisins. (I know...I'm so picky, but I prefer to call it "selective!" ) Anyway, at Mrs. Field's I discovered rainbow-sprinkled covered sugar cookies and my favorite, butter toffee. Alas, when I graduated and left The Lou and returned to a place where the only Mrs. Field's came in chocolate varities in the grocery store instead of at a specialized kiosk. After 16 months of Mrs. Field's deprivation, imagine my excitement when i discovered that the school hospital cafeteria sells real Mrs. Field's cookies! Only a short walk away from my lab....ahh, heaven!
I was in line at Boston Market one day (I didn't feel like cooking dinner) when I noticed cookies placed so conveniently by the register. There were 2 kinds: the oh so predictable chocolate chip and a suprising oatmeal scotchy cookie. Intrigued, I investigated further. This Oatmeal Scotchy contained butterscotch chips (hences the scotchy part) and some kind of nuts (walnuts or pecans or something). I couldn't help it...I bought one. And the next time, I bought two! They were so good! Definitely my new favorite cookie! I sometimes dream about them during the middle of the day and even contemplating getting in my car and driving to Boston Market just to buy cookies! (Ludacris, I know, and I don't actually go JUST to buy cookies...I'll usually buy dinner, too!). Anyway, I was at the supermarket one day and saw Betty Crocker's oatmeal cookie mix was on sale and had a great idea. I would make my own oatmeal scotchy cookies! So I purchased the butterscotch chips and crushed walnuts and followed the directions on the back of the package. Well, much to my dismay, I've discovered that I am no Mrs. Fields! I guess I'll just have to stick to Boston Market and Mrs. Fields for my cookies fixes.
I was in line at Boston Market one day (I didn't feel like cooking dinner) when I noticed cookies placed so conveniently by the register. There were 2 kinds: the oh so predictable chocolate chip and a suprising oatmeal scotchy cookie. Intrigued, I investigated further. This Oatmeal Scotchy contained butterscotch chips (hences the scotchy part) and some kind of nuts (walnuts or pecans or something). I couldn't help it...I bought one. And the next time, I bought two! They were so good! Definitely my new favorite cookie! I sometimes dream about them during the middle of the day and even contemplating getting in my car and driving to Boston Market just to buy cookies! (Ludacris, I know, and I don't actually go JUST to buy cookies...I'll usually buy dinner, too!). Anyway, I was at the supermarket one day and saw Betty Crocker's oatmeal cookie mix was on sale and had a great idea. I would make my own oatmeal scotchy cookies! So I purchased the butterscotch chips and crushed walnuts and followed the directions on the back of the package. Well, much to my dismay, I've discovered that I am no Mrs. Fields! I guess I'll just have to stick to Boston Market and Mrs. Fields for my cookies fixes.
Let the Good Times Roll
In the words of Ray Charles, we "let the good times roll" on Friday night. Games night was a huge sucess! We must have had close to 20 people come throughout the night and had a steady 11-13 people for each game. We played Taboo, Cranium, 90's Trivial Pursuit, and even got in a short game of the Disney's Scene It. And the best part is that everyone had a good time! It was pretty science-heavy people wise and I even met a new science person (who loves to go dancing...I see an outing in our future!), but we 2 additional musicologists show up, too, although I can't say they were a huge help during the humming tasks of Cranium! As far as snacks went, we bought way too much stuff! We only ended opening 1 bag of chips, 1 bag of pretzels, and 1 bag of candy. The leftovers have gone into what we have designated as our "games night cupboard" for next time. I think we will definitely host games night again and maybe we can also think up other fun themed nights for the future. Hosting a get togethers is a lot of fun!
Friday, February 03, 2006
Let the Games Begin
I just about an hour the second ever JP and KH "Games Night Extravaganza" will commence. My roommate and I tried this last quarter and it was an abysmal failure. We invited 15 people and got 2. So, what is Games Night Extravaganza you ask? Well, it's simple..you gather some friends together, gather some snacks together, and settle down for a relaxing (and competitive?) evening of board games. I our original thinking was that this would be a great way to bring together friends from our respective programs (KH is musicology and I'm microbio) and meet some new people. (Heavy emphasis on the meet new people aspect - we're trying to expand our horizons and our network of friends...okay, basically, we're just trying to meet people!). Not discouraged, we decided to try this Games Night thing again this quarter - only this time we invited almost everyone we know! In fact, ever since last time, I've been collecting a mental (and email) list of people I've met through various occassions to invite to tonight. I think the invite totat this time around was around 30 people. (I was going to invite the second-years in my program, but as there's 14 of them and limited space in our apartment, they will have to wait until spring quarter). So on Sunday the invitations went out via email (last time we did the evite thing, but suprisingly, it wasn't such a resounding success...go figure), and we waited with baited breath over the week for RSVPs. At first there were a lot of "Thanks, but no thanks" type of responses, but by midday today (the day of the party!) we've had increased our numbers to about 20 people! I can hardly believe it! We'll see how many people actually show up but keep your fingers crossed! I'll let you know how it goes! Oh, and by the way, the games we have for tonight are:
Scrabble
Monopoly
Cranium
Taboo
90's Trivial Pursuit (harder than it sounds)
Scene It - movie version (a fun new DVD game)
Disney Scene It (I can't wait to give this one a try)
Scrabble
Monopoly
Cranium
Taboo
90's Trivial Pursuit (harder than it sounds)
Scene It - movie version (a fun new DVD game)
Disney Scene It (I can't wait to give this one a try)
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