Five Centimeters Per Second

Update time!

2011-12-03T15:48:00.001-08:00

Previously, on a very special Roth. I was just finishing up data. Did I finally write that thesis. Yes! I currently am adding more substance to a couple of sections but once that's done, defense time!

Second, all my apps are in and I'm working on completing them. Sent in st. George...

Third, I got a new job at UCSF working in cancer research. After a month, I still love it.

That's it for a short update... More soon.

A typical day...

2011-08-05T13:34:00.001-07:00

So what does a person do, studying for the biggest exam of his life?

Here's a breakdown of what happens.

7:00 Wake up, hit snooze.

7:30 Actually get up, trip over dog, shower, brush teeth, etc

8:30 Get to UCSF library, remark whole seemingly empty it is.

9:00 After catching up on emails and wasting time reading, actually study

11:30 Pack up stuff, and grab books of the shelf to pretend someone is still there.

11:45 Avoid eye contact with old people in the men's locker room. Change quickly to avoid glances.

12:00 Work out, run, etc, sweat

12:45 Go to Subway, order a blt, still sweaty from the work out because showering takes too much time.

1:15 Eat, text, listen to music...

1:30 Got to Library, and find that spot has been taken by some weird guy reading just a newspaper.

1:45 Find a quiet spot and study.

3:00 Still studying

5:00 Still studying

7:00 Still studying

7:30 Security guy tells me the library is going to close soon. Better pack up.

7:50 Security tazes me

8:00 Carried out of the door and onto the bench.

8:15 Regain consciousness. Head home

9:15 Eat dinner, watch TV

11:00 Weep, that this is going to happen again for next 3 weeks.

12:00 Sleep

So far, it's been a month of this. It gets better right? RIGHT?!? =)

Test

2011-07-20T00:16:00.001-07:00

Why be surprised?

2011-07-19T13:56:00.001-07:00

Part of the experience of studying/writing thesis/ filling out secondaries for 12 hours in a library, is the people that come here. A few minutes ago, I had a cube mate sighed angrily out loud. And patrons who crack open a cold one in the library.

It's the small things like this that makes studying enjoyable.

You've got residents, law students ( I could tell, because they were better dressed), and random people in one place. And they're all nuts.

The wifi here has been decent so far, but not great. Which is good for someone like me, who get tired of physics as circuits. Though, now, I can teach the damn thing now.

Still, I'm sure if I wait long enough, I'll have crazy stories about the people who inhabit this study haven of mine.

Back to studying.

P.S. Here's a pic of the "view"

Halfway through the summer

2011-07-18T17:57:00.001-07:00

I should stop making posts about just studying. But I swear, it's all I do. I'm looking forward to the Gilroy garlic festival this weekend. That and salsa lessons.

I'm not really progressing as well l as I wanted in salsa, mainly because, i have no idea how to string a lot of spins and turns together.

I might have to find a different salsa instructor.

The library, a great place to bring your beer?

2011-07-15T16:09:00.003-07:00

It's pretty interesting when you see someone snack away in the library, but it's even more funnier when someone brings a bottle of beer. Granted, she's working and all but wow. Cajones on that girl.

Things have been relatively quiet, salsa is picking up and I can't wait to do swing dancing at the Cal academy. Additionally, I haven't exercised in a while.

Yesterday, I did discover this really great and cheap place to get sashimi. Suruki market in San Mateo. Kinda far, but worth it.

Studying for 12ish hours is hard, I do get a roll sometimes, and finish some sections faster. Other times, i'm taking my time so I can really understand what I'm reading.

The library, a great place to bring your beer?

2011-07-15T16:09:00.001-07:00

It's pretty interesting when you see someone snack away in the library, but it's even more funnier when someone brings a bottle of beer. Granted, she's working and all but wow. Cajones on that girl.

Things have been relatively quiet, salsa is picking up and I can't wait to do swing dancing at the Cal academy. Additionally, I haven't exercised in a while.

Yesterday, I did discover this really great and cheap place to get sashimi. Suruki market in San Mateo. Kinda far, but worth it.

Studying for 12ish hours is hard, I do get a roll sometimes, and finish some sections faster. Other times, i'm taking my time so I can really understand what I'm reading.

Finished data! And other life choices

2011-07-07T15:58:00.001-07:00

Probably because I've been ridiculously busy, I have gotten a chance to update. So here's a recap.

In June, I finally finished all the data I needed to collect. Yay. And I also submitted my application for med school. Double yay. Currently, I'm studying (again) for the MCATS. I know I can score a wee bit higher. My exam is in August 23. This time it's in state.

So what's up next? Finish thesis. Study for MCATS. Send out secondaries. Defend thesis. Get job.

Never a dull moment that's for sure, but I wish I didnt have all these things at the same time. Sigh. That's what I get.

Right now, I'm at the library working on physics, the section I'm most weakest on, doing problem sets. Let's see how much I can get done before the library closes.

FYI, this library is sooo amazing. I cannot believe how much work I can get done. It helps that I can maintain focus longer than I was in undergrad.

Back to work!
-R

To think, it's almost been 3 years

2011-05-18T17:43:00.001-07:00

Since I've started grad school. Wait. Wasn't supposed to take 2 years? Oh yeah, about that...

Never ever do the hardest research project that has baffled post docs previously. Recipe for disaster. Much less tasty than a recipe for mac n cheese.

But I'm nearing the end! Soon. I will be done. Oh, yes. I will be done.

What's that fireball in the sky?

2011-03-31T09:24:00.001-07:00

Went out last afternoon to enjoy some sun and brought the T2i with me to record in it's awesome glorious... I think it turned out really well!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w6AfIC5Zho

My dad used to talk to cows

2011-03-27T21:52:00.001-07:00

So over the weekend, I talked to my dad and he told me a story about when he was in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge.
At the time, there were different factions of Khmer rouge. East, west, north , south. Each faction had their own scarfs to show to which ones they belonged. At the time, the strongest Khmer Rouge claimed that the others have strayed from the "true beliefs" of the Khmer rouge and started attacking and killing the people of the villages to which each faction belonged. At a point, it was too time consuming and difficult to kill entire villages of khmer rouge factions. So the strongest khmer rouge, decided to bring people to the mountain where it was a lot easier to kill a large group of these people. My dad was forced to work for the strongest Khmer Rouge to bring supplies from the river to the soldiers in the mountains who were fighting. These supplies were heavy and required an ox cart to bring these items. On his first trip from the river to the khmer rouge, he would see entire families and farmers with kids, singing songs about how they were going to get more supplies and food at the mountain where he was going. My dad, would pass these people and arrive way before the villagers. By the time he got there, he witnessed soldiers killing and disposing these people into these "killing fields". My dad was horrified but was even more afraid to show it in front of these soldiers. It was obvious that the families that he passed were going to get killed. So he would quietly unloaded his supplies, picked up what he needed and returned to the river. It killed my dad, as he drove his ox cart pass these families and villagers. He wanted to tell them but was afraid that by telling them, a spy or a soldier working for the stronger khmer rouge nearby would hear him and kill him instead. Even those these villagers supported these khmer rouge, they really had no part to play except grow crops and supplies from their khmer rouge armies. At night, he couldn't sleep, no matter how tired he was from driving the ox cart. He had to think of some way to tell them without alerting a spy or soldier for the khmer rouge. On his trip bringing more supplies from the mountain, he stopped at a local village to give his ox a rest in the river. While he washed them, he realized, that out here, no one could really hear him except for the villagers of these places who also came to bathe in the river. So, slowly, he got as close to one of the families, he started to talk to his cows. He started talking about how there weren't any food for them and that it wouldn't be a great place for them to be stuck at. Some of these families laughed at my father, thinking he's a country bumpkin, a farmer who spent too much time with his animals. As some of these family members started to leave and head back in the direction the mountain, one of the older members of the village got close and asked where they should go instead? My father, realizing that this man is too old to be a spy or soldier, nonchalantly said that the river where he was returning would be a great place to start. The old man went back to the rest of the group and my dad, hoping that he didn't just get himself killed, finished taking care of his cows start back on the road back to the river. As he traveled down the road towards the river, a few people started to follow him 20 meters behind. As he passed other villages, that small group began to grow pretty large. When he finally made it to the river, the old man asked them where they should go? My dad looked around and saw how large this group has gotten and realized that the stronger khmer rouge wouldn't be able to do anything against such a huge crowd. So he told them to head into the city nearby where only a handful of khmer rouge soldiers would be. They thanked my dad and entered the city where they were able to get to safety. After my dad unloaded his supplies at the river, the viet kong had started to invade and my dad used the opportunity to join his family at the capitol city where he met up with my mom.
I don't usually document stories but I think, I will now from now on. Some of these stories I can see myself in my father and others I can see myself become more like him.

Research update!

2011-03-18T19:41:00.001-07:00

So apparently, it's difficult to cajole your undergrad into doing work. Abu (not his real name) has not been in to do work. Irritating. I would be more annoyed if I didn't expect this already. But luckily, this is why you have more than one undergrad. Without Ty, I truly would have been screwed. Yeah for cramming a weeks worth of data in one day. So, the nitty gritty of research. As it looks, I have reached my sample of size for one of my experimental groups. This means I can move onto my dosage curves. I'm going to try 10-7 concentrations first and then convince my advisor that dosage curves are just fine...She did say 3 groups are fine as it is. Currently, this weather as of now sucks! Its totally making it difficult to see the actual pertinent spikes in my ephys. Luckily, technique counts for something, I can still use the data, without having baseline noise cover it up. The writing portion is doing well, I finally have an idea how to write everything. Cut, copy, paste. And repeat......

I'm a creeeeep, I'm a winner....

2011-03-06T03:19:00.001-08:00

So as of late, I've been showing my friend Diana around the city. Took her to a couple of outings, generally showing her around. Tonight, I invited her to join my friends Sam, Celeste, lilia and various of other friends.

We met up with Julia and her friend, Amanda and danced all night. I got tired and we decided to hang out at the bar to talk and chat. More precisely, Sam and Diana spent most of the night talking with each other as I stand there awkwardly bouncing my head to the music. I suggested that we head out and so they talked as we walked to my car. Talked as I drove them home. Talked as I waited outside sam's house as they continued to talk.

After sam went inside his apt, I pulled away and drove to Diana apt. Diana tried to give me a compliment on how I went to such a nice high school. I accepted politely and we talked briefly about Buddhism.

I felt kinda bummed out, that she hardly talked to me. Especially, since I really took the time to introduce her to my friends, showed her around. But I knew that, as hard it would be, i needed sam to hang out with her.

Sam's a shy guy, had flings but not any real relationships. He's a great guy and pretty decent.

So I suggested to Diana that instead of me going with her to the concert, maybe Sam should go. She asked me why I didn't want to go and I told her that they seem to have a lot to talk about. I told her I'd text sam's number, which I did. I then told sam that maybe he should go with her since it sounds like she would have a good time with him.

He asked what it was about and I sent him, her number as well.

Dropped off Diana, helped her find her phone and got a wimpy hug and left.

I know what I probably did was for the best, as they had a good time together but it's hard not to feel snubbed a bit. I guess, later down the road, I'll feel good about it. But selfishly, I wish I was able to get that sort of response.

As it is late, and I should probably sleep before I wake up in 6 hours to do bug duty, I should go to sleep.

I'm a creep. I'm winner. What the hell am I doing here. I don't belong here.

The best iPad stylus for a grad student

2011-03-04T00:00:00.001-08:00

So if you just recently bought an iPad for dirt cheap on craigslist, and got yourself a notetaking app for lab meetings, experiments, boring colluqiums in which you're just doodling odd star trek episodes, you're gonna want two things. Fingerless gloves (one will suffice) and a griffin or targus iPad stylus. For realsies.

I've been searching for an iPad stylus that would work and actually bought a pogo one. That sucked. Hard.

I've read reviews, seen dozens of YouTube videos of griffin stylus and they look amazing... I'm quite impressed with the sensitivity, the bounce it has, and build quality. And you can pick up these guys (targus) at Bestbuy.

And I'm sure this will work for an iPad 2 as well, ;).

Till next time.

-Roth

Hemlock and vertigo

2011-01-12T11:42:00.001-08:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

A night out at hemlock and vertigo was amazing. Here are so pretty blurry moments of the night. It was topped of by some delicious donuts at Bob's donuts!

I punk'd out around 12:45. Yes, I know I'm lame. Slowing down...

And some photos of Vegas malls

2010-12-30T20:04:00.001-08:00

Woo!

In Vegas!

2010-12-30T20:03:00.001-08:00

It's been a fun few days here! Went shopping with my bro to Zara's and got to see a fashion show.

Happy holidays

2010-12-19T16:31:00.001-08:00

I wouldn't think this last year but the best gift my advisor could give me is cutting my research experimentals in half. I only have to do two dosage curves. Which roughly translates into two weeks of experimental data. Woohoo.

So while my undergrads rest up, I'll be writing a few more chapters. My GABA and last chapter, is on it's way.

And here's a photo of some of the holiday merriment.

Hat party?

2010-12-06T14:25:00.001-08:00

I usually post research stuff because currently, I'm not that interesting at the moment. What was going to be a quiet saturday night at home became a trip to the Haight for a hat party with some grad students. It was definitely an interesting party, but nothing to exciting.

Afterwards, we went to Cafe Deluxe, paid only half of the cover and listen to some jazz while seeing the bar tender do some fire breathing in a red Russian suit. Wish I had a picture to show but instead here are some of the friends that came with me.

Writing, writing the night away.

2010-12-04T01:47:00.001-08:00

The hardest part about writing a thesis is getting started. At least that's what they tell me. For me,iIt's the amount of papers you have to read. So apparently, im switching gears and analyzing my data first. It feels weird because I would rather write. Gah.

Research and some gobble goble

2010-11-26T20:32:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was a bust in terms of doing anything remotely productive research wise. Got up at 10 to take my bird out of the brine to prep it for cooking, and it surprisingly it came out well! Definitely know what to do next time I cook it. Lots of cooking, trips to the store, entertaining guests and what have ya. Still for my first bird, I liked how well it came out.

Today, went out shopping a bit, got my bro a nice jacket from Zara, along with fingerless gloves from banana republic. So that was nice, wrote half a page of my introduction for my research so that was great! I'm going to write more tomorrow as I felt really tired in the evening. I'm going to shoot for a page tomorrow. Sunday, I'll come in and score slides and write.

Say anything

2010-11-24T16:39:00.001-08:00

One of my favorite movies. I feel really tired, mentally drained. Poor food, little sleep. However I've gotten through 13/17 of my slides! It's funny how cold this room is. As soon as I turn off tr heater, it's gotten uber chilly. So I was excited to see such good baseline firing ( meaning no user errors in the experiment) but I got poor response from the ETH. Emailed the advisor and she said it's on order and I should probably focus on setting up my graphs ready for the inclusion of my data.

I'm feeling kinda good, getting work done. I wish I had an easier project, but I've gained a lot of experience from this lab. It's getting done! Painfully.

At a snail's pace.

2010-11-23T17:12:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I sorted all the literature that u was going to use for my thesis. And I made some progress on my thesis. Granted, all it says is "Dh and LK are important to ecdysis..." but still.

The CNS didn't make it, don't know why. I'm optimistic though. I'll try again tomorrow. I'm on 9 out of 17 slides, I should be nearly finished by tomorrow, and tonight I'm going to outline my intro for the diuretic and leucokinin portion of my thesis. The other half will be my electrophysiology, which I'm hoping I'll be able to add more too. So yay.

Thanks to @molecularbond for totally picking up my spirits.

Research update!

2010-11-22T18:20:00.001-08:00

The Cns didn't respond to the ETh, going to have o try again tomorrow. Also, 2/17 slides analyzed so far. No progress on the thesis writing. Will try tomorrow. Maybe I'll do lit searches tonight

Gotta figure out the funk

2010-11-11T00:20:00.001-08:00

I don't know why I can't get back into research. I wish i can isolate what my issue is. I can't figure out what drives me any more. I think I'm slightly demoralized by what my advisor said, that I need to get more work done. Sigh. Have to stay home and read papers...

Sooo sad

2010-11-09T20:48:00.001-08:00

Download now or watch on posterous

p62.mov (3816 KB)

Awwww

From my highschool!

2010-11-08T20:35:00.001-08:00

Exciting

2010-11-07T20:54:00.001-08:00

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Download now or watch on posterous

p19.mov (12692 KB)

I love this new interface. Completely, clean and streamlined. The user interface is great and the upload is sooo fast.

Burned out .. to laziness

2010-10-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

I don't know what has happened to me. Before I used to study from 9-1, go into lab, run some experiments and then study from 6-11 or 12. For days straight. Now I can barely muster the energy to write a paper on Crohn's disease. And I haven't written jack for my thesis. I do have some ideas how to write my materials and methods section though, as for my data, well, that needs more.

I saw my brother's white coat ceremony, which was pretty amazing. My little brother is going to be a doctor. Which, I know, he'll be great at because he's capable. I'm going to try taking some allergy medicine to see whether it's the my allergies that's not allowing me to get a full night's rest.

And multitudes of halloween parties coming up! woohoo

Poof! He's back!

2010-08-19T00:49:00.000-07:00

Where did i disappear to? Mostly the land of "get your data together or die." Wasn't really hard when faced with thesis or death, mentality. Ever since I finally figured out how to use my sleep apnea machine well (apparently, air goes in the nose), I've had more energy and mental fortitude to put up with undergrads and interns.

The days have been the same, getting up early(crack of 9:00) to do research, get home before 12 to review MCAT material (tons of pratice questions and understanding why i didn't get the right answer). I like that by doing practice questions, and getting the answer right, i never question that i never got the material down. There are days where i get every single question right (woo!) and days where I miss everything but one (go law of averages).

But what I'm really impressed, is that after a full day of research (read: trying to not blow stuff up), I can go to the gym, get home around 6, eat and walk my dog ( mmm dog) and then studying till 12 (with a few breaks of youtube distactions and iphone games). I suppose I should try to fit in more studying time, but sometimes that just doesn't happen. Tomorrow though, I'm going to try and quickly get an animal on the rig, run back home to study and then prepare to go out with friends for once! BTW: y'all don't know this but I've been studying everyday non-stop without breaks, so yeah, i deserve this one.

Next episode: Roth's going to do co-keynoting a biology graduate retreat? Whaaaa...?

OMG data collection

2010-04-21T01:12:00.001-07:00

Just ran an experiment yesterday, and things are somewhat coming along. It sucks that I come into lab almost everyday to generate data and some grad students in the lab, never show up, and generally are on the "good" list.

No matter. I can't possibly be concern with crazy lab mates and instead, will have to focus on my own research. I have the data, and I can possibly come up with some decent graphs if I keep at it! So there is some hope.

Last night, I decided to get myself a quick treat to fries and a caramel sundae at McDonald's. I feel a bit gross. Ever since I started to cook for myself, I felt better and felt disgusted by processed fast food. Tomorrow, I hope to get some running in (missed monday and tuesday). Tonight (wednesday), is goign to be another long night of setting up lab. Soooo yay? (Not really).

Mixed greens and turkey meatballs

2010-04-12T21:07:00.001-07:00

Got home from class and had frozen turkey meatballs, rice and greenbeans and carrots as starting ingredients.

For a quick meal, and mostly from trader joes ( I got the meatballs from costco), this turned out well! Cooked the veggies in olive oil, pepper, italian seasoning.

I'm thinking pasta tomorrow's dinner.

-- Posted from Roth's iPhone

Location:Greenpark Way,South San Francisco,United States

To iPad or not to iPad

2010-04-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

Besides the arrival of the iPad, there are some serious tablets out there. Just early today, they announced the pricing and specs of the new HP Slate. Despite the low battery life (5+hours vs. 10 hours for the ipad), you get a full fledged working tablet. And a front-facing camera. And a digitizer and fully capacitive multi-touch screen.

Research-wise, I can see myself bringing in the slate to run the spike-sorting software in the lab while simultaneously jotting in data in my excel spreadsheet. Maybe even do a video journal of how my research is going. Pretty awesome!

On a personal note, sleep has been better for me but it feels like my body hasn't had sleep for years and is trying to catch up. I do feel more awake then usual, but man, I really do enjoy sleeping. It's given me at least the energy to be awake to go running. And finally, my endurance has return so i can faster and longer miles.

Longtime no Bloggie

2010-03-30T16:33:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a looong time since I've blogged anything! I think it's because I haven't had much to say, research has picked up a lot quicker than I thought and I've been overall busy. However, spring break is here, and it's either blog or write a few pages of my thesis. You can see what I've obviously wanted to do.

So I've had these amazing dates and I want to post some of them on my blog. Generally, I'll give insider dating tips in San Francisco and the Bay Area. Far too often, I've heard that boyfriends haven't had a clue where to take their girlfriends for a date night. Sometimes dinner and movie doesn't cut it. I've got some fairly inexpensive (and fun!) dating tips for guys and gals who haven't had a clue what to do.

I'm really not much of a bar person, so going to a bar and calling it a night, isn't what I call a special and unique evening. I'm also a grad student, so I can't afford to pull off a large production. But hopefully, in the coming days, you'll get to see a few of the awesome dates I've been able to pull of.

Angela Aki, singer-songwriter and purveryor of excellent frames.

2009-12-09T11:49:00.000-08:00

I sort of stumbled across her when I was looking for final fantasy XIII music and saw that she's got the whole Asian Lisa Loeb thing going on. This is an example of what happens when you choose the right frame and have the right style to go with it. I think the slightly wavy hair, jeans and chucks and dark frames speak volumes.

Her father is Japanese and her mother is italian-american. Looks to me like a wonderful hapa combination and wow, can she sing. Just check out on youtube her rendition of "Eyes on Me": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1T_m2hIn3U

I personally like her collaboration with Ben Folds:

How not to manage research, schoolwork, fitness and social life

2009-11-29T01:36:00.001-08:00

Wow, I'm so behind on each of those things. Well, not really school work since I'm acing my scientific writing class and I'm sure i'm doing well on the rest of my classes. I used to really focus on my classes, but it's been second nature as of lately to complete them on time. Research needs a bit more focus, I really do see that I haven't been ramping it up as I should have been. But I think after my talk with Megumi on tuesday, I should be steered back on track. I really just need to read more papers, specifically on cGMP/GABA and inhibition in invertebrates.

GSCB stuff has been busy as normal but now I'm faced with developing a conference. A freaking research conference! I have some experience of running a conference but in terms of developing a program, I'm completely lost. I should also be having that meeting this week too as well as trying to "offically register" the Graduate council of biology with the Student Union. Hopefully, Dr. G has completed his end.

Running has been great after I've been giving almost 24 hour access to a treadmill. So i've been running continually for a while until last week. Ah, a social life. I'm sure that has suffered as well.

Anyways, I'm going to try and get back everything on track. We'll see if I'll go insane first or i completely collapse from exhaustion.

2009-11-29T01:33:00.001-08:00

This is going to be a crazy next couple of weeks. I have to collect applications for travel grants in a couple weeks, coordinate and develop a symposium for conservation biology department (with the help of Gavin) and continue collecting data for my research. It would definitely explain for the fact I've been falling asleep in class more often.

In other news, I'm looking foward to that turkey and Black Friday... Woohoo!

Hollaween

2009-10-29T18:52:00.001-07:00

This year, I'll be spending halloween in the city and not in seattle. Which would be awesome seeing that I have an awesome costume all ready to go. This year, I'll be going as a "Significant Otter". I'll have a name tag, a bouqet of flowers and I'll ask people if i can be their significant otter.. I'm going to buy a bear and sew the ears onto a hat. Then I'll use black face paint to make the nose and whiskers. I think i'll use some furlike material near my hands to give more of the appearance....

Whoa... I have blogged in a while...

2009-10-28T00:29:00.001-07:00

New news! I recently got a new netbook! 6.5 hours of battery life!!!! What?!? In other news, I am awesome.

4th of July on a boat!

2009-07-07T20:09:00.001-07:00

This fourth of july, i spent celebrating it on a boat in Redwood City, CA. We were docked in the marina, taking in the inland breeze and enjoying the heat that's common to the peninsula. I picked up Sam from the Mission and we brought over some veggie tofurkey dogs, coronas, and wine. Gavin headed out there before us and we spent the rest of days eating awesome bbqs and playing (and singing!) songs over the guitar.

Gavin got his groove on and we all decided to record him, for blackmail purposes:

After that, had some awesome fireworks, seen from the boat... oooo:

Research during the summer!

2009-07-06T14:32:00.001-07:00

It's been a tough couple of days of accidentally snipping the wrong cords (what's going on?). I guess i'm feeling the strain of getting things in before the conference in August. Ahhh!

img_0563

2009-06-23T14:28:00.003-07:00

2009-06-23T14:28:00.001-07:00

Waiting for my new iPhone 3GS/ Annual neuroscience party @ Chabot Space Center.

2009-06-18T00:41:00.000-07:00

It seems like forever but I'm excited for my new iphone this friday.. I'm a bit worried since according to apple.com, it's still "prepared for shipment" and it's wednesday. Crap. I'm hoping, that it does come in on friday because I've taken the day off. It'll be awesome to take some videos of the neuroscience party at the chabot space center. I've been a little obsessed, checkign apple.com almost every hour to see if there's been any change or tracking number. It should be shipped tomorrow and you can bet that I'll be blogging about it.

I guess the best thing I'm looking forward is the compass feature. Too many times I get lost and don't know which way I'm going. To actually orientate myself in the map is important. And word on the street is that, lattitude is on its way for the iPhone. I use google map soo often, it's not even funny. Second most used feature would be the nike plus system. If it works well enough, I'm selling my nano.. Seriously...

Anyways, I'm getting the white 32GB iphone (upgrading from my white 16GB iphone).

Uploaded - 6\3\09

2009-06-16T02:32:00.001-07:00

In flight web browsing...woo

2009-06-10T18:39:00.001-07:00

Checking Facebook on my flight

And I'm here!

2009-06-04T17:34:00.001-07:00

2:38am: At long last I'm here, waiting for my baggage to show up from the underbelly of the plane. The plane that was delayed more than 2 hours. And that loud screaming noise in the background would be the baggage carousel. time to look for mine... Eeep!

3:30am: Tone's friend's passed out on the futon, crashing on the bed with bro.. Not until I finished eating an awesome meatball sub from WaWa. You basically order what you want on a touchscreen. Nice touych

11:00am: Headed out to have one of the best philly steaks in norrisburg with Beth! Good stuff, had some water ice (gelatos here in CA).

2:00pm: Took the Septa back to my bro's place. Played some wii with Beth. Not shabby for an artists.

7:00pm: Watched some entourage.. Surprisngly goood.

10:15pm: Went to my bro's favorite sushi place, hit up a few bars and then a dinner

12:10: Drank too much. Passed out.

Traveling to Philly

2009-06-03T18:11:00.001-07:00

8:09: So apparently, there's crazy lightning storms delaying my flight to philly lame... This is irritating... good thingi have hulu and internet. The flight from San Jose was a bit unique, lots of old people. But generally, people here in texas are pretty friendly. I like it.

First Blog!

2009-05-01T00:04:00.001-07:00

Enjoy! Enjoy!!

Significant Otters

2009-04-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

I think this photo would be a great segueway for this paper:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11787162?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Finally!

2009-04-26T17:23:00.001-07:00

Just a quick note that my experiments are finally working due to the fine tuning of my preps. That's all! Woo!

Shinichi Osawa - Our Song (A Lonely Girl Ver.) (DVD HQ ver.)

2009-04-19T18:54:00.001-07:00

This actually sounds a bit like MGMT, and it totally rocks...

Favorite Blogs to follow: Thisisphotobomb.com

2009-04-13T00:32:00.001-07:00

As you know, I love to waste time on the internet rather than doing actual research. Here's one of my favorites: This Is Photobomb . What is photobombing? You know how you get a group together and you take a photo and some people in the background are doing something pretty funny (intentionally or unintentionally) and they happened to be captured along with the group. Usually, said phototaker does not realize this until after the fact.
Here's an example:

This is hilarious because, unintentionally, it looks like we took his beer away from him and he is sad. Behold! Photobomb.

P.S. He does really look that sad. Look through your old photos, and see what you come up with!!!

Seattle!

2009-04-08T22:51:00.001-07:00

I had an awesome time in Seattle, playing various video games, eating fried wings, spam musubi, pizza, ribs, baked fish (cooked between two planks of smoked wood), pie, copious amount of pepsi max. We did get a chance to go out on friday. We hit up Finn MacCool's and hung out with Gary and Colin's AuD group. Jayme, Shivani, Beth, Wendy and few others that I can't remember. I know Dara was annoyed that I didn't go out as I should, but eh, I just wanted to chill with the guys and play some video games.

It was definitely a great break from all the research and lack of sleep I've been getting. Research is draining but I think I'll have more time this week.

Spider Research

2009-03-13T12:47:00.001-07:00

Developing a few ideas for my research based off this video..

Photo Post!: Favorite Photos

2009-03-08T20:50:00.001-07:00

I'm such a hipster (btw, i love PBR).

This place will sell your stuff on ebay for you. Seriously.

I love this Cal Academy Photo. It definitely shows off my digital SLR.

Ahhhh, it's been forever since I posted anything!

My Band Name: The Beiijing HsingHai Musical Instruments Corporation

2009-02-26T00:27:00.001-08:00

The Album: "In fact, they do so"

Upgrades

2009-02-14T00:45:00.001-08:00

Wow. That took seriously almost 14 hours to clone my old mac 60g hard drive and replace it with a 500 gig hard drive. That should be plenty of space, I'm thinking...

Time for some sleep..

Eating Greener!

2009-02-04T22:21:00.001-08:00

So last week, my coworker microwaved something that smelled really, REALLY good. To my surprise, it was some veggie steamers by the Green Giant. When I think frozen veggies, i usually think bland, watery mush. These were really good and came with a not too salty yet tasteful seasoning. I HIGHLY recommend these. Only 100 Cals for one entire package. Katie (my coworker) told me you could mix this with pastas.

Something to think about. Especially if you're going to eat one of these:

Stone Ale

2009-02-03T22:55:00.001-08:00

Crazy amount of alcohol in such a tiny container. I think this was the night that I thought I would be here for may be till 9pm. I ended up leaving around 12. Damn you Gavin and Michelle. Damn you toronado. Damn you sad old man at the bar..

This also happened to be the night where I created a new rule. If I unnecessarily apologized, and someone caught it, i will owe that person a beer. I henceforth proclaim it on my blog.

Today was an odd day. I was a lot more tired than I'm usually am. I completely passed out from work, not because of work. I think I need to jumpstart my metabolism.

Anyways here's a link to the worst songs medley done by Kate Micucci and Riki Lindhome:

Not looking forward to next friday

2009-02-01T12:03:00.001-08:00

Crap, what happened to my animal physiology class? Only 5 students in the class? How is this going to work? Did everyone just suddenly drop the course? What the hell?

UPDATE: I'm an idiot, I just figured that the other students are probably in a different section. I was freaking out that I might have to be partners with a certain someone.

Yay grad school happy hours...

2009-01-29T23:20:00.001-08:00

Went out for a drink after work with a couple of grad students to watch the Mexico/Sweden game (boo, Sweden won). Had some really good mexican food and then a beer at Toranado across the street. I decided to bug the hell out of my friends by videotaping.. It's what I do.. Enjoy how i digitally capture the embarrassment. Good times

No ticket!

2009-01-26T00:51:00.001-08:00

I usually love the fact that I find something in my pocket, whether it be extra change or even a five dollar bill I didn't think I had. Instead, while digging around in my pants, I found that I had an unpaid parking ticket given by my institution. Boo-urns!

In other news, I finally did it. I got myself a macbook (circa 2006 model). It's pretty snappy and quick and I feel a lot safer using it to purchase online (less viruses). The only that sucks is that there are fewer freeware programs for it. I'm using this new blog software so I can type offline and manage my posts from far away.

It looks like my netbook is going to be sold. I'm thinking of either selling to a friend for either $200 or on craigslist for $400 or so with its upgraded 32gb ssd.

I think one of these days, i'm going to sell my laptop and this macbook and end up buying a high end macbook air (i need a large drive, 128gb is tiny for me and my uses and I want the new video graphics card too). In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my macbook.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-26T00:51:00.000-08:00

Let's hope this year tops last year's! Happy New Year everybody!!

Office day-dreaming

2009-01-21T01:28:00.000-08:00

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Very Scrubs-like dream like montage...

Jake and Amir: Interpreters 2 (Cheer Up)

2009-01-21T01:17:00.001-08:00

This is what happens when i drink...

Bowling For Soup - Girl All The Bad Guys Want

2009-01-19T12:36:00.001-08:00

Guilty pleasure song...when no one's looking..

Jake and Amir: Tissue

2009-01-17T17:32:00.001-08:00

Hilarious... we all have someone like this...

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T22:53:00.001-08:00

Let's hope this year tops last year's! Happy New Year everybody!!

Douchebags... in a music video!

2008-12-28T14:01:00.001-08:00

Oh, it's soo bad, soo bad. But check it out, they all have matching haircuts!!! AHAHAHA

Dumb and Dumber

2008-12-19T10:35:00.001-08:00

Good times

Jizz In My Pants by Andy Sandberg with guest start JT

2008-12-09T10:37:00.001-08:00

Hilarious...really.

Polite people asking me to rob them.

2008-12-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

I was searching for an extra lcd monitor so that it'll be easier to read and write papers. I came across this little gem.

"HP 20 inch LCD Computer monitor.. serious buyer only, cash only transaction
Please Rob call 415.368.3619.."

It would be almost rude not to steal this.

90s Alternative Dance Party otherwise known as Debaser

2008-12-07T14:33:00.001-08:00

So last Saturday night, I met up with a few grad students to hit up this awesome dance party "Debaser" at the Knock Out in the mission. The place is a cool scene with ironic hipsters in flannel everywhere. And for some reason, i think the new "hip" drink is Tecate. I'll stick to my hoegarden, thank you very much. Anyway, it was a solid night for nirvana, mosh pit dancing, and crowd surfing. I had enough to drink to inspire me to do the "Carleton Dance" from Fresh Prince of Belair. I couldn't help it with the 90s theme of the night. Did I mention that the bar we stopped at first played "Hold On" by Wilson Philips? Fun times and I didn't feel the effects of alcohol like i used to. Woo!

I'm not used to not having finals this semester. I have a presentation on tuesday (read: procrastination) and a paper on friday. Good times.. Well off to work I go!

DJ Format featuring Jurassic 5-We Know Something

2008-11-29T13:38:00.001-08:00

Because I know you love dancing mascots...

Indie Running Song of the Week: Young Galaxy - The Alchemy Between Us

2008-11-26T00:40:00.001-08:00

I love the floaty dancey muzak, makes for a relaxing run.

Sea Things on Xbox

2008-11-25T22:30:00.001-08:00

Karaoke with songs from your ipod!

2008-11-25T14:59:00.001-08:00

So I just got this new karaoke game for the xbox which comes with two wireless microphones. Completely awesome! You can connect your ipod to your xbox and sing along with songs from your playlists. Not only that, you can just leave the game on jukebox mode and just have your songs playing in the background. And should someone (sober or not) want to sing along at the current song playing, all they need to do is shake the microphone and start singing.

Finally! I can stop buying karaoke revolution 6,7,8 now. I'll upload a clip that I took while karaoking to Melody's band, "The Definite Articles" (check them out on myspace). I'll post that soon as I can.

Balboa sushi

2008-11-25T14:46:00.001-08:00

I went to see the new bond movie last week with my friends from grad school, Tina and Natalie. On the way home, we stopped by balboa sushi. Great sushi spot. Check out the size of this roll for $6.50! They even gave us a free roll too!

I'm currently planning a kayaking trip with andrea. Really cool girl. I'm going to be adventurous and opt for the starlight paddle.

Alright, I'm going to pass out and sleep.

Ummm... Yeah

2008-11-25T14:45:00.001-08:00

I'm sure they didn't mean this when they said bike parking..

Touch by Stan Bush from the Transformers The Movie

2008-11-23T13:55:00.001-08:00

I will update my blog sometime soon...

Frightened Rabbit - Keep Yourself Warm

2008-11-19T00:20:00.001-08:00

Awesome song! Highly reccomend.

JT and Beyonce on SNL

2008-11-16T15:29:00.001-08:00

Bee skit @ (Nov 15 2008)
by thebeyoncenetwork

Real Life Robotech Mecha!!!

2008-11-10T00:28:00.001-08:00

It's only weakness is ewoks and log swings...

For Gary....

2008-11-05T20:05:00.001-08:00

Sting her!!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T15:51:00.001-07:00

Just being an banana... I'm quickly blogging before I board my plane to Seattle. Good times. Next Halloween I will be some sort of fruit. Can't wait!

I think I'm planning my next visit up to France again....

2008-10-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

Remember when i went to Paris and met up with Heather? How's this for a lure back to europe...Ah good times..

Roth versus the Halloween Costume

2008-10-26T01:26:00.001-07:00

Can you figure it out?

Pictures from the Cal academy of science

2008-10-25T18:26:00.001-07:00

I wish this was my lab. Too bad I hate plants (they don't move!) .

We Are Scientists - After Hours

2008-10-25T01:37:00.001-07:00

Wishful thinking?

2008-10-24T01:23:00.001-07:00

Something I saw lurking on one of the labs at school. Now it has to work!

Dimsum at work!

2008-10-24T01:20:00.001-07:00

I love shozu and it's awesome ability to blog and post pictures from the iPhone. Here's a picture of dim sum we had at work...

Halloween

2008-10-22T19:54:00.001-07:00

I love how i was able to quickly post a picture of my halloween costume through my Iphone. Right now I'm just waiting for one more central piece of hte costume. I'm waiting to get the paints somewhere, probably Ross or something. I'll do something special. Stay tuned..

And all I needed was some cranberry vodkas...

2008-10-16T18:17:00.000-07:00

On my way to work, I saw a fleet of Redbull Mini Coopers lining Buchannan Street at JapanTown and I had to take a picture of this. Also, if you notice, there are bags of ice next to each Mini, which looks like they were about to hand out Redbulls. I didn't stick around too long but if I had maybe I would be more wired right now..

They give you wiiiiiiiiings...

Indie Running music: Love it all by The Kooks

2008-10-15T00:57:00.001-07:00

I like to chill out to this music on a nice a day...and it helps smooth out a run..

Medical Student Prank

2008-10-13T00:33:00.001-07:00

Oh boy... i can see a ton of HIPAA violations here... but it's soo funny.

Oh noes, online predators!!!

2008-10-12T00:47:00.000-07:00

So apparently, there's an online studbook (basically a place where you can find potential animals to breed your pet/animal/circus animal) that you can peruse. SNL did a little stint on that, saying they prefer eFarmony (haha). But oh noes, online predators have already gotten to the sites.

Grad Student Party!

2008-10-11T13:34:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we had an awesome grad student party. It was my first debut as GSCB president and it turned out really well. I wish I had my camera to take photos but it was awesome to see everyone there. More interestingly, I noticed we have more women than girls in our department. No complaints, I love nerdy girls who wear glasses. It's one of my weakness, hah! Apparently the food went quick, and fruit and veggies were a big hit. I think I'll try to include some sweets next time. We went through a lot of alcohol too, I guess three cases are the minimum. These guys can sure drink…

Sam, one of our grad students had an interesting drunk conversation about how taxonomy of arachnids and primates… Even our drunk babble is geeky...

I really had to thank my group for pulling together and helping me. I decided to give them the week off and resume our meeting the week after. I'm sure many of them have tons of work to catch up. I need to start thinking about the travel grants …

It's been so busy lately, I'm sure I'm ignoring some people. I didn't even get a chance to go run as much as I wanted too..

12 seconds of Randomness: Apricot Tomfoolery

2008-10-11T02:38:00.000-07:00

Apricot tomfoolery on 12seconds.tv

Running Indie Song of the day! : Magic Numbers - This is a Song

2008-10-02T00:19:00.000-07:00

So every few days, I'll update my blog with my favorite indie song that I listen to when I run. The beat is pretty consistent, fits my pace and is just plain awesome. Check this out and let me know in the comments what you think?