Food on the Brain

I love food. It's nearly always on my mind. So, I thought I would jot down some of my favorite eating spots. Some unique, some chains, all good. Here we go...

St. Louis area:
Pointers Pizza - Clayton (yummy, cheap, great Italian specialities, horrible pizza)
Stir Crazy - Olive Blvd. (the best stir-fry ever!)
Zoe - Central West End (a little spicy, very yummy, and kind of expensive...go for lunch!)
Cunneto's - The Hill (so good and huge portions!, you'll leave stuffed with lots of leftovers)
Maggie Moo's - (really, really good ice cream. Mmmmm)
Mrs. Field's Cookies - (they have so many non-chocolate options! I love the Butter Toffee ones the best)

Atlanta area:
The Flying Biscuit - Candler Park (so southern and so good. I particularly like the jam)
Sonny's BBQ - by CDC
Mama Fu's - Toco hills (the yummies noodle bar in Atlanta. I LOVE the beef curry rolls)
Cracker Barrel - (gotta love those maple pancakes)
Famous Dave's - Snellville (BBQ - 'nough said)
Harry and Sons - Virginia Higlands (best Thai food in the ATL)
Jason's - Lavista (love the New York Yankee!)
Joli Kobe bakery - (the best French pastries around)

London:
Wagamama's - (yummy, cheap Japanese)
???? - Russel Square (I can't remember the name, but it's right around the corner from the British Museum and they make the best sandwiches in London)
Coffee Republic - Brighton (better and cheaper than Starbucks)

Finis

I am finally done!...

Cell bio oral defense - check! (it wasn't my finest 15 minutes, but it's done!)
Pathogenesis take-home final - check! (completed a whole day early!)

My roommate and I went to Stacks, a great little place with really yummy breakfast, for lunch to celebrate. I had a chicken philly. Let's just say that I'll stick to breakfast from now on. It wasn't bad, just lacking in flavor. My roommie and I are also headed off to Sacramento tomorrow for a Black-Eyed Peas concert! The Pussy Cat Dolls are opening for them, too! We bought tix on the spur of the momment and I hope it's great (at least worth the 2-hour drive!). We'll be stopping at one of the 4 northern California outlet malls on the way for a little retail therapy. Let spring break begin!

Fire hydrant warning

As I sit here in the med school library attempting to work on my take-home final for my microbial pathogenesis class, I find myself surrounded by eager and diligently studying med student and am reminded of an interesting analogy I heard a couple of weeks ago. A grad student and a med student were discussing the differences between grad school and med school classes. It went something like this...the amount of information med students are being asked to learn/absorb is like standing in front of an open fire hydrant going full blast. For grad students, it's more like having an open fire hydrant and deciding whether or not you want to go over and take a sip. I, personally, am all in favor of the second scenario, which is why I'm in graduate school instead of medical school. However, right now I don't even feel like going over to take a sip, which is too bad since my final is do in a couple of days. Hmmm...

When I grow up...

I've been reminiscing with my roommate over the careers I wanted to have growing up. Here's my list, what's yours?

(In order from youngest to now)
1. Veterinarian
2. Astronaut
3. Pilot
4. Volcanologist
5. Microbiologist

Whew!

So, to update the checklist from earlier,

- cell bio proposal written, revised, and turned in - check!
- lab meeting presentation - check!
- oral defense of cell bio proposal - Tuesday AM
- take-home pathogenesis final - next Friday
- Spring break - not soon enough! ;)

I just gave lab meeting for my rotation, and now I'm so tired. I wasn't nervous until this morning, and adrenaline kept me going through the actual presentation. Although, I was stumbling over my words a lot (nerves), and I failed to answer some of the questions. Correction, I attempted to answer the questions, but I just didn't understand what they were asking sometimes. All in all, it was okay. Everybody said I did a good job, but don't you ever wonder what they really think? I mean, rarely will people tell you that you sucked. I think that 's why I always take compliments with a grain of salt. (Translation, compliments make me uncomfortable).

Well, this rotation is over. So long toxoplasma. How would I rate it? Definitely a 150% improvement over my last one! But this one wasn't perfect either. The research is very interesting, and I like the people but it's not quite as sociable as I would like. Last time, it was too sociable, but this time not quite enough. My mom said that they could just be waiting for me to institute some social togetherness. I replied, "Hmmm," in a doubtful tone. I'm not quite sure where I see myself, lab wise, but this is a possibility. Now, I just have to find out what the PI thinks when we meet tomorrow to go over how my rotation went.

Much thanks to Sandeep for the use of his lab desk the last couple of days, and to Jon Jones for letting me listen to his playlist. You gotta love Bob Marley and John Legend!

Peace out until later, peeps!

Hmmm...

On the Today Show (my favorite morning show), they're doing a segment about genocide in Sudan and Chad. It never ceases to boggle my mind that people can think that they are "superior" to others, and that they have the right to exterminate an ENTIRE race because they are different! Equally disturbing was a comment made by one of the correspondants covering the genocide. He said, "Rape is an instrument of war." Wow. What is wrong with the world?

If you don't have something nice to say...

We all know the old adage "Think before you speak" or "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." Well, today I forgot those simple sayings. I had no intention of saying something mean, but it just slipped out. How do you know when you've done something wrong? You feel bad about it, and I felt bad almost before the words were out of my mouth. Never fear, I sincerely apologized, but I still regret not thinking before I spoke.

It's been a while

Life has been busy and it will only get busier. Let's review the checklist...

1. Recruitment weekend (including chauffeuring recruits around, giving a housing tour, and lots of conversation) - check!
2. Grad student formal with my roommate - check!
3. Last cell bio critique - check!
4. Cell bio written proposal - hmmmm, I wish I could say it's a work in progress, but so far it's been a work in procrastination
5. Finish lab work/rotation - getting there
6. Prepare and give lab meeting
7. Microbial pathogenesis final
8. GDAW (Graduate Diversity Admit Weekend) - hmmm, still thinking about this one
9. Cell bio oral defense
10. Spring break - bring it on!! too bad I have to get through everything else on this list first!

I may be slow in updating as school takes over my life....Pray for me!