Huh?

I got carded when buying Nyquil at Target.

I did not get carded when I bought a bottle of wine at Safeway....on the same day!

Again, I say....Huh?

Theater Etiquette

I've been to the theater twice in the last couple of weeks - to see Chicago and Wicked - and BOTH times I was seated by people who were in serious need of a lesson in Theater Etiquette!...

Lesson #1: DO NOT talk during the show! I always thought this was a given (I mean come on - common sense people!), but apparently some people are lacking in that mental capacity. During the Chicago show, there were 2 older women seated behind us and they talked during the entire show! Despite attempts to shush them, they just kept right on gabbing - and we're not talking at whisper level, oh no, it was full volume! I finally couldn't take it any more and turned around during the second act and said, "Do you mind? It's hard to understand when you're talking!"


Lesson #2: If you must eat candy during the show, kindly remove it from its wrapper BEFORE the show starts. I can understand needing a mint during a performance especially if you have a cold and sucking on a mint will help prevent you from coughing during the entire show. But what I can't understand is someone continually rustling their LOUD candy wrapper during a show.

Lesson #3: Get that child a booster seat. If you're child is too short to see over the adult ahead of her, kindly procure a booster seat for her. Do not continue to pass said child back and forth between parents during the show, and the parents definitely should not be switching seats during the show too. I paid $75 (well $50 really b/c it was subsidized, but that's beside the point) for my seat and I expect to be able to see the show, so pick a seat and stick to it!

This next gripe isn't really about theater etiquette but it drives me nuts all the same. Why, oh why, do theaters not stagger their seats? Again this is just common sense... It's kind of hard to see if someone's head is taking up the entire center stage!

One year ago today...

I was sitting on a plane ready to embark on my first Asian adventure. One of my really good friends from college was doing an international med school rotation in Taiwan (where she's from originally) and asked me if I wanted to come for a visit. My response??..."Hell yeah!" Five months later I was leaving on a jet plane bound for Taipei and my first authentic Chinese New Year.

During the next 10 days I learned how to eat proficiently (although not correctly) with chopsticks, drink barley tea without (outwardly) grimacing AND without sugar (that's a big one for a girl from the South!), navigate the subway system (not too hard since every stop was also written in English), and say "thank you" relatively well in Mandarin. I also learned that authentic Chinese food is probably not for me (although the fish was awesome 100% of the time).

I had an awesome time and it was really cool meeting my friend's family (they were so kind and so generous), experiencing a new culture, seeing the sites - including tallest building in the world (Taipei 101), and chuckling over how Western culture has pervaded EVERYWHERE. (I'm not kidding! We saw Outback, Macaroni Grill, and even a small replica of the Statue of Liberty!).

Here are some interesting things I noticed...

1. A lot of people wear masks that cover their nose/mouths. My friend says that this is not always because they're in respiratory distress. Hmmm, definitely makes for interesting people watching, especially when most of the masks have cute designs on them and are definitely not the disposable kind.

2. Food is a major thing here. Check out some of these yummy (in the mouth of the beholder) snacks...
Here's my friend eating (congealed) pigs blood. I tried it - not such a fan.













Squid on the barbie, anyone?

Snails for sale!














And my personal "favorite" - stinky tofu with a side of liver!













3. Squat toilets. I had never seen these before in my life! It was my first full day in Taipei and my friend and I were on our way to explore a popular area by the river. Before departing she insisted that we stop at Starbucks (see..Western invasion! and we coming from lunch out with the fam) to use the restroom because she couldn't guarantee that the bathrooms by the river would have toilets. Umm, excuse me? A restroom with no toilets???! I soon found out what she meant and boy was I glad that I used the facilities at Starbucks!

I even saw heavily pregnant women coming out of these stalls! That must have been some balancing act!








4. It rains A LOT in February (everyday but one afternoon I was there).

5. Chinese New Year is not the best time to visit Taiwan. Everything shuts down for the holiday and Taipei becomes deserted b/c everyone goes back to their home town. (But, this makes for shorter lines for the things that are open=)


Okay, I'm running out of steam, so I'll just post some of my favorite pics and let them do most of the talking. Enjoy!
I loved this sign. It' s a classic!

Taipei 101, tallest building in the world and the one with the fastest elevator;)

Yes, that is a gigantic rat in the background. (It was the year of the rat).

My friend's grandparents were a riot! I didn't understand a word they said but some things are universal!

The view from this temple was great.

Thanks S for an awesome time!

I'm feeling like this...

It's been a bit of a chaotic week, but at the moment I'm feeling absolutely great! (Dance class is responsible for this ;) )

This pic was taken on a whale watching trip this summer on Cape Cod. It was amazing! We saw tons of whales including one that was totally showing off right in front of our boat for nearly 30 minutes! It was my first time being on a boat (my roommate couldn't believe that) and I loved it!!!!

I'm hoping to keep some of these good feelings continuing throughout the weekend. TGIF!

I'm right on top of that, Rose!

I love movies.  I even think in terms of movies sometimes (well, not lately... my brain's been too full).  Anyway, whenever my PI (principle investigator - not private investigator) has asked me lately if I have done any of the bazillion things on my lab to do list, I always feel like saying, "I'm right on top of that, Rose!"  

Does anybody recognize which movie that line is from?  If you guessed "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead," you win the prize (well, the imaginary prize anyway).  In this movie, whenever Rose, Sue Ellen (played by Christina Applegate)'s boss, is on the phone and needs something from her, she's supposed to say "I'm right on top of that, Rose!" regardless of whether she is or not.  

Well, that's how I feel.  There are so many things that I'm trying to get done in lab right now, and my priority list is, shall we say, slightly different from my PI's.  She's worried about getting data for the addendum to her grant, and I'm worried about getting data for my poster and talk together (I'm presenting at a conference in TWO weeks!).  To be honest, I could care less about her grant.  I have to get up and talk in front of people, damn it!  Obviously, that is more important, right?!

Pieces

Tired and stressed out.

Planning happy hour, but I'm convinced the gods are plotting against me.

Been to Asia and back.

Seeing someone new. Fun, stressful, exciting, and unsure.

...pieces of my life.

Quals update

In my last real entry (some 7 months ago!), I was in the midst of my qualifying exam. I won't rehash the gory details (and they were gory!), but I am proud (and relieved) to say that I am officially a Ph.D candidate! What does that mean, you might ask? Well, at some schools it would mean that I have a master's degree...but not at my school. My school does not award master's degrees for its biosciences programs. Indeed, if I were to quit now, I would have to petition to be awarded a master's degreee (and it would not in anyway be guaranteed). To my school being a Ph.D candidate means I am now capable of thinking. To my P.I. (principle investigator...read Ph.D. mentor/advisor) it means I become cheap labor, yet oddly enough expensive at the same time. Cheap because I get paid the least in the lab, but work long hours (or at least I should), and expensive because soon the majority of my stipend will come out of her pocket instead of the NIH's. But to me, being a Ph.D candidate means simply this...I can stop wasting(?) my time on classes and get on with the real work...research (and one step closer to graduating!).

Blog Revival? and Confessions

I have a confession to make...I am addicted to reading blogs (suprise, suprise!). Literally, I check at least 8 blogs daily. Yet, despite this compulsion(?), I am terrible at updating my own blog (as evidenced by the extremely few and far between entries witnessed here). It's funny because I constantly write little entries in my head, but they never seem to make it from my head to my hands, to my computer and finally to here. Nevertheless, I've decided to give it another go...so here's to my blog revival!

3 down, 2 to go

I know that I've been missing in action for the last, well, SEVERAL months, but what can I say?...sometimes school has to take a front seat. That has definitely been the case these last 3 months. I won't go through all of the gory details, but I hope to see the horizon two months hence as an official Ph.D candidate. Until then, I'm learning to scale some mountains. Besos!

Today I'm feeling...

Tired. Frustrated. Annoyed.

Taking the Lead

Yes, I know that "Take the Lead" is a movie, and this post is someone related as it involves dance. For the past couple of weeks, I have been attending salsa rueda classes (aka Cuban Salsa or salsa done in a circle) and it's been TONS of fun. Usually, there are lots of people that come to the class (it's free and is offered on a "drop-in" basis) and ususally the guy to girl ratio is pretty even. If anything, there are 1 or 2 more guys than girls. Last night however, this was not the case and so some of the girls had to be leaders instead of followers. Now, I've lead before in regular salsa, but leading in salsa rueda is a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Needless to say, I was totally confused. I got some of the basic steps like enchufle and enchufle doble, pas la con hermanos, and dame. But when we got to some of the twisty, curvy ones I was usually at lost. I often forgot which way to turn the follower for the first turn and would often get cofused somewhere in the middle. Nevertheless, I struggled through it and it was fun. However, I definitely prefer to be the follower! I also learned some key lessons:

1. Cut the leaders a little slack. Their job is difficult.
2. It really helps if followers know what they're doing....e.g.. know which way you will turn and what partner you will be going to
3. Followers: don't preempt the leader. Wait until he/she gives you the signal.
4. Most of all...no matter what...KEEP DANCING!

Still here...

Just a short note to let you all know that I'm still here! I've spent a lot of time in the last two months reading science articles, writing a proposal, editing said proposal, and preparing powerpoint presentations. The end is near though, just on the horizon. Come 3pm on Monday, Decembr 4 I can come up for air. Until then, I'll keep swimming.

Happy Holidays!

Shoe Randomness

I was at Target tonight shopping for some last minute travel items before I leave for our annual departmental retreat tomorrow when a girl came up to me and asked me about my shoes. Now that in and of itself is not that unsual but she continued to ask non-fashion related (and slightly personal for a stranger although not offensively so) questions. I had just come from dance class and was wiped out. The last thing I wanted to do was reveal my life history to some random girl in the toiletries aisle. However, I scrounged together some manners and chatted politely with her. I'm rambling here...(remember the tiredness????). Anyway, she said something that striked me as funny. She said, "That my shoes looked like J.Crew." Now what does that mean????... That they look expensive? or that they look preppy? Hmmm, thanks to the former but I'll pass on the latter. I don't think that my shoes were anything out of the ordinary. They're brown slip-ons, slightly (and only slightly) reminiscent of bowling shoes. I bought them three and a half years ago in preparation for my trip to England. (I was really excited about these shoes at the time and my friend Stephanie reminded me that is was going to be rainy in England and that perhaps backless shoes were not the best items to be taking with me. While that made a lot of sense, I took them with me anyway and they were great. I bought rainproof sneakers (or trainers if you prefer) for the rain and THEY were definitely the best shoe buy ever! Go Montrail and REI!!!). They were in no way expensive...I doubt I paid more than $40 for them at Dillards. Ah the randomness.....

wanderlust

I'm thinking of taking a trip overseas towards the end of next (this?) summer. Destination not yet determined. Maybe Europe, maybe South Pacific? Hmmm...

Quote of the Day

A postdoc in my lab was describing something she heard on a talk show and she said that this event occurred "down south....in SOUTHERN California." How freaking hilarious is that?! Since when has "down south" come to mean "Southern California!?!!!"

Quote of the Day

Yesterday in the school newspaper (yay for the return of The Daily!...and it's crossword puzzles!), there was small blurb. It read, "There's not enough art in our schools. No wonder people think that Martha Graham is a snack cracker." Gotta love it!

Salsa Craze

I am discovering the salsa scene in the bay area and loving it! This weekend is the last weekend before classes start and as such, the campus is overflowing with new face and lots of get togethers. Tonight there were 2 salsa parties going on on campus. One was at the international center and was playing a variety of latin music from salsa to cha-cha to bachata (spelling?) to merengue, etc. The other on was playing at one of the grad residential community centers and this one was just salsa. My salsa buddy and I (the one I can always rely on for being up for a little dancing action) decided to check both of them out. We headed to the one at the international center first. When we firs walked into the door, I was a little skeptical. It didn't look like too many people were there and those that were there were primarily beginners. Despite this, however, we had only been standing in the doorway for less than 30 seconds when we were both asked to dance. Never ones to turn down guys who were willing to dance, we agreed. For the first couple of dances, it was painfully bad. After that though, the action picked up a little and guys got better. I was particularly impressed with two of my partners. One was french and studing astro engineering and he was pretty good - innovative, rhythm, a good lead. He said he hadn't danced salsa in a while and so he was still trying to remember all the things you can do. The second guy was from Norway and studying petroleum engineering but was at school only for the year taking some computer science classes. He was great and we danced for 3 songs. Both guys were cute and I was tempted to ask for their information....ONLY so that I could ask them to come out salsa dancing with us! (right! ;) ). Shortly after the that third dance, my salsa buddy mentioned heading over the the other salsa party to check it out. I was game, so we headed over.

On the way, i was talking to her about salsa rueda (aka casino salsa) and how I wish I could find a place to take lessons or a club that dances it. Well, low and behold, what do we find at the other party??? A group doing salsa rueda! I was in between partners at the time and was just staring at them agog in amazement. I was just thinking about salsa rueda and here they are doing it in front of my face! At the end of the dance, I asked on of the guys (one I had danced with earlier) if they took lessons or had a class. Well, not only is there a class, but they also taught me a few of the basics quickly and I was able to join it! I was in seventh heaven! I got one of the guys' contact information so that I have a point of reference for the class (directions and so on). I am so excited! I will definitely have to check the lessons out! Oh, and the best thing is...they're FREE!!!! (Now that's what a poor graduate student wants to hear!!!).

I feel really blessed. This summer, I have really come into my own here at school. I've been out trying new things and going new places - doing some things with friends and some on my own. Over the past two years, I had forgotten how independent I used to be. Too often (during the 2 years) I found myself relying more and more on others and less willing to try and do things on my own. Part of that was due to my surroundings and part of it was due to health, but I feel so glad now that I have recaptured some of my independence. I feel like I'm coming closer and closer to that girl who wasn't afraid to travel an hour and a half by train to a busy foreign city in order to see a show that looked interesting. That girl that wasn't afraid to wander around a big city alone at night (I was cautious not stupid!) to soak of the experience of being abroad. We all have detours in life, but it sure feels good to come the center core that is you.

Full Spectrum

Today I felt nearly the full spectrum of emotions? I'm not sure what the right word is....this morning I woke up with a pretty bad headache. As per usual when I feel icky when I wake up, I buried my head under the covers and tried to coerce myself back to sleep in the hope that the oblivion would eliminate my pain. Also as per usual, this tactic did not work (the fact that my roommate was up and moving about at 6:30 in the morning probably had somethign to do with that, too). Anyway, I could't dawdle too long b/c I had a meeting with my PI (principle investigator...grad school lab mentor) at 11am and I needed to do some last minute reading before hand. So, I dragged myself out of bed and despite the pounding in my head decided that the headache wasn't as bad as the one I had earlier in the week and as such, I could afford to shower and get dressed before drugging myself up with advil. Well, halfway through dressing, I suddenly felt very woozy. I needed to boost my blood sugar NOW and get some food in my system so that I could take the advil. Heedless of the fact that I was only half-dressed (thank goodness my roommate had already left! Although, I was feeling so bad that I probably wouldn't have cared!), I stumbled into the kitchen, poured my self a glass of juice to sip, turned on water for oatmeal, and stumbled onto the couch in the living room before I collapsed. The juice helped raise my blood sugar and soon the water was hot enough for my instant oatmeal. I got through about half the oatmeal before the nauseousness settled in. Skipping the rest of the oatmeal, I downed 2 advil right away, pulled a blanket out of the storage ottoman, set my phone alarm for 20 min and passed out on the couch to let the advil take effect. Twenty minutes later the worst of the pain had subsided (God bless Advil!!!) and I was at least functional enough to finish getting ready and get to lab.

A low grade headache persisted until lunch. Lunch...food, I am convinced, is the cure all. I felt much better after lunch, but was still a little tired through out the day...surreptiously taking cat naps at my desk. I finally gave up at 4:30p and head home. Another short catnap on the couch and I conviced myself to get up and go to dance class. I considered not going, but I had missed a class a couple of weeks in a row earlier (I usually go twice a week) and I recalled how much it sucked getting back into the swing of things. So I hauled my butt of the couch and into my leotard and tights, grabbed a bottle of water, and money for a snack on the way and headed out the door. Two and a half hours later, I was in heaven. I had such a great class (Friday class is always challenging both technically and endurance-wise, but is so much fun) that I felt I could keep on dancing the night away. I grooved to music on the way home and was dancing around the house when I got home (I was looking VERY forward to having the house to myself for a little bit tonight while my roommate hung out with her new classmates). I was still grooving when she came home unexpectedly with a classmate to pick something up. Her classmate was from Argentina, and the poor thing must have thought that I was absolutely off my rocker given the way I was acting (I couldn't help it! The radio was on loud and I couldn't help but jam away...my adrenaline was still pumping from class). I tried to tell her that I'm normally not this crazy (well at least to people I just meet anyway! hehe), but I don't think she believed me. Oh well! You win some you lose some! I am thoroughly grateful that today ended on a "high" given the very "low" I had this morning!

One Year Anniversary

On this day one year ago, I moved to California. I was both nervous and excited. I would be starting a new phase in my life - graduate school. Was I ready? Had I made a mistake? Did I pick the right school? Was I smart enough? Was taking a year off the wrong decision, and was it going to come back to bite me in the butt in the year to come? I was also transitioning to less money with more expenses, not to mention going from being paid biweekly to quarterly (that's right - only 4 paychecks a year). How would that work? It would be the first time that I had to generate a very specific, detailed budget instead of just a general idea. Would I like my roommate? Would she like me? More importantly, would we be able to successfully live together? Would I like the west coast? All of these thoughts were rambling through my mind on the flight over from the east coast and during my first few days of being in Cali.

Well, now a year later, I am happy to say that all is well. Though the first few months were hairy, I can honestly say that I now feel that I made the right decision in terms of school. I survived my first year of grad school classes and all of my lab rotations. And while, I certainly was not the smartest in any of my classes, I am glad to say that I pulled through just fine. Afterall, the motto for grad school is "You don't have to get an 'A,' you just have to pass." Hehe. To top it all off, I have chosen a thesis lab and am now fully entrenched in grad school life. It also turns out that I LOVE being paid on a quarterly system. No more having to wait until the next paycheck to pay a bill. I can pay it right when I get it. And budgeting is no problem...it suits my detailed and organized personality quite well. My roommate fears were also unfounded. We get along great and live together extremely well. While I primarily consider myself a "Southern girl," I really like the west coast. The weather can't be beat (no humidity, no hurricanes, no tornadoes) - nearly the perfect temperature for 6-8 months of the year. There's a variety of things to do with both the ocean and the mountains close by. The atmosphere is relaxed and laid back, and if the people aren't exactly as friendly as back home, well...you can't have everything! Thus, on the eve of my second year in Cali, I can only hope that things continue to go well and that life continues to blossom!

A lesson to be learned...

...from online shopping. I caved into to my desire to shop by purchasing 4 items from the REI outlet and 4 items from Dancewear Solutions. Of the four items from REI: bike lights, a waterproof, fleece-lined jacket, and 2 pairs of shoes, I only ended up keeping the first two items. One pair of shoes was too wide and the other was too big even though I ordered my normal shoe size. Evidently, I am not meant to purchase shoes online. Thank goodness I can return the items to a nearby REI store for a full refund (and I didn't even lose money on shipping, since shipping to an REI retail store is FREE!). Of the dance items: 2 pairs of tights (I really needed these! Mine are a little holey) and 2 leotards, I ended of keeping NONE of them! That's right folks...the tights were the wrong kind (it's hard to tell from the catalogue description), and the leotards were too big. To compound matters, the correct sizes of all of the items are backordered! From these experiences, I have learned that sometimes it's just better to go to the store. At least that way you can be sure that you get the items you want AND that they fit.