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Good Golly it's been a while

Just thought I'd put something down for my legions of fans stuck in outrageous anticipation mode.

The recording studio thing was fun for a while, I managed to get a few of my songs recorded. The problem is sound insulation, I can't really sing as loud as I need to without pissing off my neighbors. Still, it's a fun hobby to mess around with.

Life as a T.A. was difficult but fun and rewarding at the same time. Grading is terrible, but everything else about it appeals to me bigtime. If you ask me right now, I would say that I want to be an educator for life. I think I'm naturally quite good at it and you can really influence a lot of people that way.

Now I'm taking classes and preparing for my first oral exam, a hypothetical project proposal.

All my friends are moving this summer or after, and there is a lot of temptation to move. There is also a lot of temptation to stay, for equally obvious reasons. I've decided if I can live within a 10-15 min walk of the beach I should move there.

"Sorry buddy, your coats are going to have to wait outside..."

So I've decided that I need a hobby. First I was thinking about making jewelery or something crazy, but I decided that I've always loved music so I'll try to make some. I've set up a mini-recording booth (see the picture?) in my front-hall closet. Maybe in a few decades I'll actually have some descent stuff recorded. For now it's just fun.

Not just a U2 album

Today Stan and I went to Joshua Tree National Park outside LA. It was a truly spectacular day: clear, chilly but not cold, and just cloudy enough to add ambiance. We hiked, bouldered, drove, and took lots of photos. Stan will be developing his own B&W film, but I'm too lazy so I took digital. I've included my two favorites.

Democracy: Not good enough, just the best we've got

OK so this is sorta scary. I've sure you've heard that Hamas, the most active terrorist organization in Palestine, has won a landslide victory in that state's elections. This can only mean one thing: war.

While Hamas simultaneously denies the existance of the State of Israel and wants to destroy it, they clearly have the support of countries such as Iran, Syria, and Lebanon. Egypt and Jordan seem to have cooled considerably since the late 70's, becoming trade partners with Israel and generally being non-hostile.

The kicker is that Israel and (maybe/probably) Iran are nuclear powers. I doubt Israel would hesitate to respond to an all out attack on their borders by levelling Damascus or Tehran, but nuking Jerusalem is completely out of the question for Iran. Tel Aviv may be a target, but the two cities are so close, a major nuclear attack may make both cities uninhabitable.

So if Palestine and Iran wish to destroy the Jewish governement in Israel, it is unlikely that they would bring a full scale assault. After all, they have tried several times already, and Israel usually ends up actually gaining terratory rather than loosing it. Where does this leave us?

Doubtless Hamas and Iran will collaborate on their typical suicide-style terrorism in Israel, but they will also likely be forced to use more subtle techniques such as enforcing their political, social, and economic will. At the current rate, there will be more Palestinians in Israel of voting age than Jews in thirty or forty years. Hamas will thus plan to wait it out. Continue as a sporadic threat until they win the numbers game. While technically Palestinians are not allowed to vote in Jewish Israeli elections, a democracy cannot persist if elegible voters are a minority group. Revolution is inevetable.

The best option for Israel to persist as a state indefinitely is to lure Palestine/Iran into a fullscale non-nuclear war, and to win that war. Much like FDR "allowing" Pearl Harbor to awaken the US to WW2, Israeli leadership must find a way to rationalize an invasion of Palestine in order to defend its existence. Of course the losers in all this are the Palestinian citizens, but they elected a terrorist group to lead their country and they will have to face the consequences.

Here's my Spain Blog

If I tried to fit all the pictures and all the events from my trip to Mardid, I'd need 10 more pages. So I'll summarize.

=)

That's the summary. I had a great time, it was wonderful to spend time with Rebecca, the museums are great, the food and drinks are great, and Spain generally kicks ass. Toledo was a blast (from the past), and I only wish I had more time to explore. I'll just have to go back.

I will eventually put up some key photos to highlight the trip, but right now I'm at work and I don't have them so stop bugging me.

Happy New Year

Well folks, I am off to Madrid to start 2006. I figure starting the year off with an exciting trip to Europe should get the ball rolling. Yif is returning to Chicago, but other than that, I've got a good feelin about '06.

My Contribution

I took a vid of my favorite harvey birdman clip (there's a still from the same endeavor a few blogs down), and it's now posted on video.google.com/. Just search "harvey birdman" and it's one of the first couple.

Gotta love the DigiCam video taken off a tivo'd show. High technology at it's finest.

Did you notice?

I bet you did. The new scholor cheme, the pseudo-floral banner at the top, the way the title is now a really bad pun in context of said banner... soak it all in. Welcome to your new home for all logs Sam.

Finally

This is hilarious. People are finally starting to realize how awful christmas is!

The right wing is bitching that corporate america is taking the christ out of christmas, and the left wing is bitching that it's weird to hear religious-themed music in stores in november which encourages them to buy buy buy.

I think the daily show said it best, as usual (paraphrase): "Christmas is the only religious federal holiday. This way, non-Christian Americans have a day to sit at home and reflect on the division of church and state."

This all means that I've come to a point where christmas is funny to me, not just annoying. Thanks America for your squabbling!

Chi-Chi-Town-Town

This November, I went to Chicago twice. It was cold and windy.

First, my (awesome) cousin Annie married (also awesome) Dan. The wedding had their stamp all over it; the place-cards, telling you which Cubs legend was your table's namesake, had a pack of baseball cards attached. I got Raphael Palmeiro and Paul Konerko. MONEY.

It was a lovely affair mostly because weddings are always great when the right people are getting hitched at the right time.

I went back two weeks later for Thanksgiving. I was nice to get to hang out with the newlyweds downtown and stay up till 4 in the morning at the local hangouts and playing madden with Dan. Also I got to see my HS buddy Matt for the first time in ages.

Are you really still reading this? Wow. You must be bored.

Harvey Birdman: Watch it!

This would be funny if you did.

Salt Lake Stromy

Last week I went to my first scientific conference! It was intellectually stimulating and really fun. I got to hang out with Chris and his labmates as well as my own labmates. Lots of beer and free food was the talk of the town.

A little clarification on the three photos:

1) This is the logo of the conference (ASHG is the big kahuna in my field).
2) Downtown Salt Lake City, the locale for this particular conference. No, I did not take the photo.
3) These fine folks happened to be on my return flight. The 6'11" dude happens to be Andre Kirilenko, NBA All-Star. I had the pleasure of seeing his Utah Jazz in action for a preseason game the night before. Buck and I had 4th row tickets. It was sweet.

New Heading

I wanted to check out how my last post looked and I was just sick to my stomach at the thought of someone being greeted to my blog with that.

So here's a pretty sunset. Yay!

The Smugshot

In case you live under a rock and you missed it, Republican Congressman Tom DeLay was booked this week, which involved this "mugshot."

According to his lawyer, "If you saw Congressman DeLay's mugshot, he was smiling... He's eager and he's ready to go."

I have a simple question: Why should a US Congressman be eager to face charges with serious legal and ethical ramifications? I understand that there is a great deal of curruption in Congress, but it almost seems as if DeLay is flaunting it. His attitude in this matter epitomizes the crude, smug arrogance of our current leadership, a disgrace to our government and the people they serve.

I wasn't expecting a Nick Nolte caliber mugshot (yikes), but he should at least attempt to acknowledge the gravity of the charges against him.

We'll be right back...

I've been watching television for, oh 23 years now, but I noticed this trend recently. Commercials are about 150% louder than regular programming. I am starting to think that this is a major contributor to the high background level of rage in all of us. I understand that advertising is necessary to pay for TV, but I already pay $70+ for cable every month, isn't that enough?

I guess the easiest way to solve this problem is to pick up a book or something. That or be really on the ball with the mute button.

Words of Wisdom

Here's two bits of serious and not serious thoughts I've had lately.

1) If you know what makes you happy, do it and learn to appreciate how rare a gift that combination is.

2) President Bush might be mildly autistic.

Ok, can you guess which is serious?

Well actually, they both are. The first being the one sentence of advice I'd pretty much give anyone.

As for the second, there has always been something wrong with W. He never seems to pay attention to anyone else. I'm not saying he is acutally autistic, but as someone who studies the disord for a living, I see a subtle social disconnect in our president. Either that or he is just really good at ignoring people.

I'm Commentable

Hey, people are starting to comment on this thing. Even people I don't know. But mostly robots. Please, don't send anymore cheap airline links, business deals, or Zambian bank accounts with $4B in them.

I just saw and ad from a CA congressman offering aide to Hurricaine victims ("If you have family or friends in need of aoid, please call my office.. etc). What a cheap trick. He appears to be compasionate and helpful on tv, but it's about a month too late for him to actually do anything. Dispicable. And he was a democrat. Makes me sad, I probably voted for the jerk.

It's easy to complain. That's why I do it. ;)

Ok, politics

I pretty much decided last november as soon as W took ohio that I was going to check out for the next 2/4 years until the next elections to pay attention to politics. But then the supreme court thing happened and well. It's hard to stay quiet this long anyways.

So we live in a christian country. I realize that now after the media, US government, and my own religious education attempted to brain-wash me otherwise. And I guess I'm sort of ok with that. After all, 70% of the country is protestand, then next are the catholics at ~20%; Muslims 2%, Jews 1%, that's it. Oddly enough, it's in the same proportions as the earth's atmospheric molecules, but I digress.

Here's my point. It would be ok if the majority of americans were christians in the mold of GWBush, because then I'd simply get the hell outta here. But it's not. The majority of people in this country, while they love jesus and hate gays, are nowhere near as zealous or frankly, crazy as these born-again nuts that now have a stranglehold on all three branches of government. Decent christian folk in this country are being exploited to extreme degrees by the current atmosphere of aggression and fear.

I know I'm not the first person to key in on this. I've known it for years. And likely, so have you. The question remains, why are people buying it? Why is the only outrage webloggers (ie me and you) and Ciny MF Sheehan? Somehow the Bono's and Dixie Chicks of this generation are falling totally flat. We need some new leadership to break this spell. In the 1960's it was the revolution of the youth. Music, drugs, sexual freedom, etc etc. Now youth have entirely too much freedom. Cellphones, internet porn, GTA, etc etc. This new revolution has to start not with the college students as it did previously, but with the college graduates. Those with degrees and advanced degrees that can lend a credible voice. I don't know how it should be done, but I know that once college is behind us, my generation turns inward. We focus on our jobs and careers and possible marriages. We turn a cold shoulder to the sickeningly perverse pendulum swing to the right.

Protest serves no purpose anymore. Organizations such as PETA and Greenpeace have made a joke out of it. The first sit-ins meant something. Now it would be cliche.

Force is no option. Violent resistance is the antithesis of our cause.

So what do we do? Watch the daily show and vote Democrat? Is that enough? Will the seemingly unending string of political, environmental, moral, ethical, and human follies finally catch up with the new Red Menace?

We can wait and see or we can come up with a better idea. I don't have it. But I'm thinking about it. And I hope you are too.

~SpS

Here's a pretty impressive record...

I have now worked 9 days in a row... oooooooh...

I know for most people that's not that much, especially for a grad student. But the good news is that I kept working and everything went great! I've got 12 pairs of cousins fully analyzed now. So yeah it's been all work and no play for me. Well all work and some Half-Life 2 on my new computer.

Bearded

So I grew a beard. Then I decided that I didn't like it so I bought a shaver.

About 1 minute into the shaving process, the regargeable battery (which I had not charged) died. I think the picture says it all.

Raandom

I randomly remembered part of a Simpsons Halloween episode that really cracked me up. I found the quote online. I reaaaally want a poster depicting Principal Skinner with a big grin on his face about to take a bite of Uterbraten with his line below:

Lisa: Bart, does it strike you as odd that Uter disappeared and suddenly they're serving us this mysterious food called "Uterbraten"?

Principal Skinner: Oh, relax, kids. I've got a "gut" feeling that Uter's around here somewhere. (starts laughing) After all, isn't there a little "Uter" in all of us ? (laughing harder) In fact, you might even say we just "ate" Uter and he's in our "stomachs" right now! (stops laughing) Wait... scratch that one.

A $200B Alarm Clock

So today at 5:07am PST, I was awoken by a loud BOOM noise. I was startled, and had the horrible feeling that something bad had happened to the space shuttle. I was relieved when I checked the internet and saw that Discovery had landed safely.

What I didn't realize until later that morning was that the shuttle had landed at Edwards AFB, and not in Florida. And that it had landed at 5:11am. And that there was a large sonic boom audible in southern california as the shuttle re-entered the atmosphere at 16,000 MPH.

Put it all together, and the Space Shuttle woke me up this morning! Coool!

Come on! Feel the Illinoise

That's the title of this kickin' album by folky Sufjan Stevens. The first song is about a UFO sighting in the suburbs of Chicago, so I HAD to check the rest out.

With lines like:

"Stephen A Douglass was a great debater but/Abraham Lincoln was the Great Emancipator"

and songs like: "Casimir Pulaski Day" I felt right at home with this masterwork. I seriously recommend this album for anyone who is familiar with Illinois/Chicago or creative well-written modern folk-rock (wink wink Yif).

A tall, possibly time-consuming task

I just added a bunch of apartment-of-sam pictures, as well as a lengthy exposition of what I've been up to lately. You should check it out, it said you were cool...

So scroll down and behold!

Got pool?  

My closet... go ahead, walk in 

This is where it sleeps 

Living Room and Kitchen Reflection 

Living (Moving) Room 

Split Screen 

Catsup

It's been a long time since I've written anything, but you can see all them pictures are real pretty! I've managed to clean up a lot since then (I had just moved in when those were all taken). I picked up a coffee table named Majicker and a bookcase named Billy. I don't think I need to tell you where I found em. Freakin swedes.

Work has been good, another group made the big breakthrough instead of us so we'll see how that shakes down.

I went to Chi-town for Annie's engagement, that was fab. Got to see the fam and extended fam (ie Weinsteins/Genas), and share Giordano's... mmmm.. (best pizza on earth for those uninitiated).

I've been hanging out with a new crew lately, just to spice things up. Mike introduced me to a bunch of folks on the 4th of July, mostly UCLA people one year ahead of me. This one girl Shannon has been particularly inclusive, inviting me to several goings-on in the last week. It's nice to have some new people to hang with.

Last quarter was kinda Rachel-poor, but she really jumpstarted the summer by hanging out with me after I returned from chicago. We had a great time just catching up and now we have lunch almost every day (we work in the same building).

Stan is greatful to be out of his hell-lab and things between he and Melissa seem to be finally getting off the ground.

As for my relationship, I had to break things off with internet date Ilana. She was a nice person but she wanted to marry me I think. I'm not at all shocked, but I could barely stand her for more than a few hours, so eternity woulda been rough.

I've been talking to RHart a lot since she moved back to the States, she moved to Raliegh (sp?) to be near her sister an work, seems like a good place if not somewhat underwhealming. Her job, like so many others (yif, matt, ilana, etc) is not intellctually at her level, and her superiors are hostile because they are threatened by her obvious superiority. Another thing to like about my job.

And I do like, no love my job. It's not the best money in the world, and the hours can be weird, but generally I don't have to wake up early or wear a special outfit (uniform, tie, whatever), and my work requires me to actually think... hard. Plus at the end of half-a-decade-or-so I get to be a doc. Not too shabby.

Ok now I can go back to pithy crap that I used to put up here.

I moved...

... then I got a new apartment.

Pictures forthcoming, but I've got a new place and I love it.

It's a large 1-bedroom apartment in Westwood close to work. For real, my own kitchen. No more mess from others. Plus there's a pool and a small gym! This is the place I've been wanting for the past 5 years, and I am loving it.

Batman Begins: Go see it. Now.

I usually try not to gush over summer blockbuster type movies anymore, but watching the new batman movie was pure pleasure. The baddest-of-all-superhero-asses has finally gotten proper treatment. Great casting all around; from michael cane as alfred and gary oldman as gordon, to some new guy they found to play a perfect Dr. Crane, it all worked. They even attempted to have a theological discussion. It was pretty silly, but they tried. Anyways, go see it it's fun!

As an aside, it's better than Star Wars III, which was better than Star Wars I & II. Shame on George Lucas. Shame on you.

Best Week EVER!

I can't believe I didn't post this at the time, but I guess I was just too damned busy. But hopefully this will give you an idea about how awesome this particular week was. A previous entry was made the first day of this week, but I will go into more detail here.

May 14th – May 22nd 2005

Saturday : I woke up determined to find an apartment. I made a ton of calls, mostly unanswered, but I find two places to visit. One seems close but is a little expensive, the other seems a little too good to be true. I visit the first, some frat dude is working the building and shows me into what would be my place. I like the euphemism “debris garden” to describe the place. Walls ripped up, dirt and plaster everywhere. Apparently they are fixing it up and need $500 right now to reserve the place. Plus it’s too expensive and not very close to campus (25 min walk). So I’m feeling a little down.

I visit the second place later in the afternoon, I am shocked. The place is right next to campus, has its own pool/minigym, the room is unique, quirky, and spacious plus it’s cheaper than the other place and rent controlled. I knew I was going to live there right when I stepped in.

Sunday: Nice relaxing day, got an email from a girl I had been talking to online named Ilana. She gives me her phone number and I call her in the early afternoon and we talked for like 2 hours. All sorts of stuff. Then we plan on meeting for a date later in the week. Then we decide that we'd rather meet now, so she drove down to meet me in westwood. We had a lovely time sipping coffee at starbucks and walking around town. It was my first date in over a year and it felt great.

Tuesday: I met with Stan Nelson, the professor who I am rotating with. This is to be my official mid-quarter review meeting, where we discuss my progress and sign a form. But I've got more on my mind. I want to ask him if I can join the lab.

He says “I think having you here would be really fun. What do you want to study?”
So I say “Well, I don’t have anything against working on wherever I am most needed, but it would be very exciting to me to work on autism” (this is all true).
So he says “Perfect, Jen is here for another few months, but after that we’ll need a new person in the autism group. I have to check with the other prospective students and my finance person, so nothing official yet, I should have an answer in a few days.”
So I say “Great, take your time no need to rush.”
So he says “No, I want to rush.”

Thursday: After lab meeting I ask what the situation is he says we are good to go. The rush continues.

Saturday: Ilana and I spend the entire day on Santa Monica and Venice beaches, just walking and talking. We watch the sunset and I kiss her for the first time. This type of day only comes along once in a long while, and that’s if you’re lucky.

So I guess technically it was 8 days, but still. Best Week EVER.

Invation of the Adults

I have been made aware of a disturbing fact: There are adults reading this blog. You might even be one of them.

Even more frightening is that I might be one of them.

For those of you who aren't too blog-savvy, here are a few facts to note:

1) Blog entries are meant to be public.
2) Blogs may in some cases be personal, but the blogger (me) is aware that bloggees (you) have open access to the blogged information.
3) You can't blog a blogger without stamped approval from a licenced Bloggery.
4) Bloggage may occur if your internet connection is not unblogged on a regular basis.
5) Many bloggers use their blogs to passively communicate with friends, parents, and loved ones.


PLEASE ADVISE: Two of the previously stated 'facts' are complete bullshit (#'s 3&4)

I don't have to be homeless!

My new place?!

Checked out this apartment today, and I really like it! It's really close to work (walking distance), has a pool, and the rooms are nice and big. I will probably be moving the third week of june (right after Buck's birthday).

I had expected to spend the whole weekend looking, but this was the second place I looked. Everywhere else is either more expensive or much farther (further?). I think it's worth the extra money to be close, I think most people would agree that not having to commute in LA is pretty invaluable. Plus I'll save a bunch not having to pay for on-campus parking or gas.

Seema's Birthday!

Friday was my friend (and former UR classmate) Seema's 23rd birthday, and we had a nice celebration. Dinner and wine at "The Terrace" in Marina del Rey (great atmosphere, ok expensive food), and followed that by three round of team 4-on-4 bowling!

Are you sitting down? I rolled a 123 in game 2! That is definitely a personal record (pathetic I know, but gimme a break), and our team won the fist two contests. That meant a free whiskey-and-coke for moi.

Everyone had a nice time, especially Seema which was the point in the first place. Yaaay.

Nah

I'm not that down. I had a nice conversation with Susan which pissed me off at first, but then helped a lot. Enough of that.

I went home to Orange County for Mother's Day which was nice and relaxing. But the Bulls lost in game six, so that was a downer. No more Bulls games till november.

I'm starting to look for a new apartment, and oddly enough one of my first finds is on Rochester avenue... from one Rochester to another I guess. It looks like I'll be living in a single next year, which will be the first time I will truly be living alone. Scary.

I've gotta talk to Dr. Nelson (calling him Stan would just start confusion) about joining the lab for real asap. I'm very apprehensive because there might not be any room for me. If this lab is a no-go, I really don't know what to do. I have some backup options, but none of them are guaranteed to work. I keep ending up in these seat-of-the-pants type situation, which of course stems from my own mistakes, only making it more nerve-wracking.

One Year

My friend scott from college informed me today that it has been roughly a year since college graduation.

This is notable for several reasons, but really it's just scary. I haven't so much as been on a date since. I'm not asking for sympathy or pity or even encouragement. I don't know why I'm writing this other than it feels good to get my frustration out on something.

I thought about writing a whole bunch more but it would just sound whiny so I'll stop. I know I'm very lucky to have such a loving family and great friends, and I wouldn't trade that. But one year is a very long time.

NFL All Name Team

[This is in honor of Zach, who most of you don't know but was a college roommate of mine. If this finds itself on your screen, I hope you're doing AWESOME.]

Every year, former coach and analyst John Madden picks his "All-Madden Team," his favorite players at each position. I'm here to list my "All-Name Team," the players at each position with the most kick-ass given or nick-names. Here goes:


Offense:
QB: Bubby Brister (I don't care if he isn't playing anymore)(retired)
RB: Patrick "Punt" Pass "and Kick" (Patriots)
FB: Mack Strong (Seahawks) - Perfect description of the fullback position
WR: TJ Houshmandzadeh (Bengals)
WR2: Amani “it’s not a” Toomer (Giants)
TE: “Tight End” pretty much speaks for itself
O-Line: Chukky Okobi (Steelers)(the fist name would’ve been enough…)

Defense:
MLB: Brain “G”U“rrrr”rlacher (Bears)
OLB: Greg “Sexual” Favors (Bills)
DB: Sammy Davis (Chargers) Extra points for not going by “Sam”
DE: Ebenezer “The Scrooge” Ekuban (Broncos)
DT: Orpheus “Take the Blue Pill” Roye (Browns)

P: Hunter “The Punter” Smith (Colts)
K: Martin “Automatica” Gramatica (Colts)

Honorable Mention:

Ken-Yon Rambo (Former Cowboy)
Adimchinobe Echemandu (Browns)
Chris Fuamatu-ma’afala (Steelers)
“Famous” Amos Zereoue (Raiders)

Well, there you have it. If you don’t like football then this should at least seem silly.

Long time... again

Haven't blogged in a while...

I shored up the PSP issue, getting it on the internet. Had to drive downtown in the middle of the night to pick it up from UPS, but that's a different story.

I've had waaay too much time off to play WoW and PSP and watch Cubs games on the internet, but I'm finally starting my new lab which is fun stuff. Lots of computers, but oh well.

That's it for now, I'm kinda hammered [(for the second night in a row)(for the first time in a looong time...)] so I'll finish later.

Peace out yo

PSPness

Say that out loud.

But seriously folks, Yif got one of the last PSPs on the planet and now I totally lack any PSPness.

Please try to keep you minds in context people.

In any event, I am stuck with tons of free time and no Portable PlayStation (although I still have money in my bank account which is a plus).

I always feel like a sap when I want to buy something that is sold out. Some company has my on such a tight leash that I will call, wait in line, and/or drive several miles just to get information on how and when I can spend my $300+ on their product. I felt the same way with iPod Sfufles. I sure showed them... by buying the more expensive and immediatly obsolete 4gb Mini... damnit, I'm such a bad consumer!

House Arrest

By arrest, I do not mean in the criminal sense. I mean it as the conidtion of being stopped. I finished the Chen lab last week, and since then I've been pretty bored. I'm not quite ready to start in my next lab, and I'm not quite sure what to do with myself during the day, so I've been spending way too much time at my computer. I was thinking about going to the new "Grove" shopping mall, but the traffic would just piss me off too much.

Got some new sneaks and shades though! Coolness!

Pair 'o Dice Lost, Found

A clever pun was wasted during a family game of Monopoly at the Schmidt residence in Poughkeepsie, New York yesterday afternoon. With their father still at work, the attempt of Jimmy and Marie, to restart their heavily contested battle for real estate and rail interests was halted by their inability to locate the two die required for play. When Jimmy approached Anne, his mother with their conundrum, she pithily replied "Oh, I guess it's Pair-o-dice Lost then, eh?" to which Jonathan responded with a slight tilt of the head and a vacant stare. The obvious literary reference to John Milton's 1667 classic set of poems "Paradise Lost" was completely lost on the six-year-old Jimmy, who cannot yet read. Soon thereafter Marie announced that the dice were found in between the couch cushions, along with two dimes and a juicebox straw.

[Another "News in Short" attempt]

Indie Rock Band Hustled by Internet Giant

Popular independant rock group "The Postal Service," originally intended as a loose association of musicians sharing musical ideas via US Mail, wanted to change their image for their next album. They are however facing stiff legal resistance. The name change, described as "more acurate, and more 21st century" by front-man Ben Gibbard has elicited a less-than-warm reception from internet giant Google inc.

The new proposed new title "Gmail Attachment" reflects on the band's updated music-sharing methods, which include sending MP3 audio files via the popular (and free) e-mail service offered by Google. According to electronica wizard and co-founder of The Postal Service Jimmy Tamborello, "sending music to each other on gmail is way faster than that snail-mail [explitive]. Plus, they give you like a gig for free. I'm never gonna use all of that anyways. No more coaster CD-r's for me."

Despite possible future advertising opportunities with the band, Google inc. is not amused. "Gmail was a terrible idea in the first place. I mean, how the hell are we supposed to make money giving out a gig at a time?" Larry Page, founder of Google inc. said in a recent private business meeting. After sacking Janine Chambers, the intern who suggested Gmail to the Google R&D department, Larry Page has decided that the best course of action is to bring suit against the musical group hijacking their name. When reached for comment, Mr. Page emphasized his views on Gmail's economic viability: "If somebody is going to make money off this wild-goose chase it might as well be us."

Precident for cases such as this have been set previously when "The Chicago Transit Authority" or "CTA" was bullied into changing their name to "Chicago" by the political machine of the Windy City in the mid 1970's. When asked if there were any other names under consideration, Mr. Gibbard claimed that "there were some other names on the short list, but eDonkey Hotlist doesn't quite have the same ring to it."

[This is more of me pretending to be an Onion writer. It's a fun exersize, I highly reccomend it]

A Proclaimation

I have turned a corner. From now on, I will work out 3 times a week, actively seek female companionship in a positive way, eat better, read more, play fewer video games, and spend more time really working hard and studying.

I say this about 4 or 5 times a year to myself and it hasn't ever been true for more than a week. This time, I give it even less than that.

I really wish I had more discipline.

An End. A Beginning.

So the quarter ended today with a very un-fun final exam in Cell Bio. It actually took me 2 hours and there were only 6 questions. It took the rest of the class 3 hours, just in case you were worried that I wasn't done way early as always.

Also I finally got a response from Stan Nelson inviting me to rotate in his lab. I will finish up Jau's lab this week and move on to Stan's next week. (!!!!! excited!!!!)

Spend the weekend with my only biological 1st cousin, Annie. It was low key and relaxing.

WFT??!

UW-Millwaukee? Matt, you screwed me!
Vermont? Rachel, I love ya, but I had Syracuse in the Final Four!

Ok calming down.... I had like 95% of the first freakin round but those two reaaaally messed everything up. I guess that's why they call it March Madness... stupid cliches, I hate my stupid bracket! =p

Look who got noticed?

I officially got published by the NBA! Well kinda. I wrote a letter to Bill Wennington, a former Bulls player who now writes a column for Bulls.com (my favorite website on earth). This week, he used my question in his article! Of course he dismissed my question as nonsense, but hey, my letter was sycophantic enough to get noticed. You can revel in the public use of my full name here. Hazzah!

Digging a Ditch

Sam: So I've got a lot of work tonight after this dinner. There's going to be a lot of waiting, but I've got some West Wing episodes on my computer I can watch. Seriously, what did people do in lab to kill time before the internet?

Table of people: Chuckle chuckle

Professor Sam really wants to work for: Well, I used to design my next experiment... (sarcastic?)

(Sam gets home and notices huge stain on shirt that's been there all night)
Sam (to himself): Crap

Chimp Chomping Champ Rewarded Chump Change

CHICAGO, IL Bonzai, a fixture at the Lincoln Park Zoo's heralded monkey house for over 12 years, was outraged today when his bamboo-chewing contest victory was rewarded with a large, unripened banana. Sources close to Bonzai claim that he was disheartened by the "chump change" the chimp was rewarded for the chimp chomping championship last week. When reached for comment, Bonzai flung feces at onlookers and flailed his gangly arms skyward, apparently protesting the meagre compensation for his chomping prowess. One Zoo insider claimed that this week's events "spookily" reminded them of last years Dunk the Dirty Dingo Down the Drain debacle.


[I had this crazy idea for a "News In Short" while hanging out with Susan. Had to write it down, it was too goofy.]

I'm funny

I just read a whole bunch of my old posts, and I must say, I find my self quite amusing. I laughed out loud on several occasions.

Unfortunately, I have no idea if this translates to any other person on the planet, but I am assuming that Rebecca, Susan, and Seema would (at the very least) giggle from time to time. That's good enough for me. I especially like the nay-sayers joke. Classic.

Reblogged

Should I redouble my Blogging efforts to amuse my friends? Or should I rebel against this seemingly limiteless fad?

Stupid questions, I agree.

So what have I been up to? Working very weird hours, trying to figure out what lab I'll be working in and what room I'll be sleeping in next year. Rediscovering West Wing. Hooking susceptible friends on WoW. Not working out enough, but whatever.

I decided I was going to read a little bit of the bible every day just to figure out what the big deal is. Of course I didn't get much past noah before I gave up, but really a lot of it just plain makes no sense. God creates adam and eve, they have two sons, then 4 generations later - wait, how have there been 4 generations with one woman? Where the hell did Cain's wife come from? Anyways, I guess this whole religion thing is never really going to sit well with me. Also, why did all these people early on live to be 700+ years old? How am I supposed to believe that? eh, nevermind.

For the 1000th time this year, I've decided that I need to go out more, but it's probably not going to happen.

Spring break might be a ski trip with Buck, haven't been in too long.

Going to see my Bulls play against the Clips this weekend, second game this year they play in LA. I'm 2 for 2, and plan to be 100% as long as I live here.

I put a (several)wicked scratch(es) into my iPod mini, so it's not pretty anymore. I really wish I didn't care.

Stan keeps talking about going back to Vegas. $70 roundtrip airfare he says. So dangerous.

Well it's Friday and next week is my last in my 3rd rotation. No more fishies for Sammie. Of course, I haven't actually worked with any fish in 3 weeks, but that's not the point.

If you are reading this, get back to work, studying, or whatever it is that is more productive than reading some silly blog by some silly person. That or paint a picture, write a song, or create a dance. There can never be too much beauty in the world.






Is he kidding?






Who knows?






Sounds pretty nice though.

Viva Las Vegas

So here's the skinny on my Vegas trip:

Friday 4pm: Leave Westwood for Vegas

Friday 8pm: Arrive in... Barstow, CA about 1/3 of the way to Las Vegas

Saturday 12am: Arrive at Mandalay Bay in LV extremely tired and hungry. Go directly to go club "Ra" and party hard with Sarah, Stan, Seema, Chris, Chris' sister + BF. Do not pass go. Do not collect dinner.

Saturday 2am: Help Sarah back to the hotel room. Get in bed with Stan [nothing happened]. Keep an eye on Sarah

Saturday 5am: Fall asleep

Saturday 1030am: Wake up to learn that Stan has won 109,000 pennies at a slot machine. Woohoo!

Ok I'm tired of itemizing. On Saturday we visited a lot of different strip casinos (most of them it seemed), and I saw Caesar's and Venice for the first time. We went to the Bellagio's crazy buffet for dinner, which is definitely worth doing once. It's not really that amazing, but it's quite a spectacle.

I ended up winning $20 at a 3-card poker table, and going from $20 to $85 and back down to $40 on slots. Can't complain.

Sunday was buffet at Mandalay and then home. It was a real fun weekend, but I really need a weekend just to relax at some point.

Upcoming is another recruitment weekend, and seeing a play with my parents up in Brentwood. I need to start posting funny things again, this post is super-lame...

Happy Happy!

I had a really nice birthday week, thanks everyone for making it happen! On Monday night, Yif and his friends took me out to a bar and then to a Modest Mouse concert. They were incredible; I highly reccomend seeing them if possible, and their 2004 album "Good New for People Who Love Bad News" is an instant classic.

Last night my UCLA friends took me and Rachel out for our birthdays (her's is Feb. 10). I never knew that I had 7 friends! Plus there's some people who couldn't make it. I'm so popular all of a sudden. We had a fun dinner at the cheesecake factory and then went to the Laugh Factory, where laughs were refined, manufactured, packaged, and shipped right to our table. Modern industry is amazing.

This weekend I've signed up to spend all my time babysitting the recruits for next year and driving them around in huge vans (in the rain). Hopefully it'll be interesting, but mainly I'm doing it to pay back this program that has given me so much.

I should post early next week, cause on Valentine's Day we've got an exam, followed by Sarah's unofficial single-ACCESS-night-on-the-town. That means she, Stan, and I will be going to a bar and hitting on people like it's our jobs. I have a feeling it will be worth writing about =p

Irony Turns Ugly

Here's my submission for Irony of the Year:

I get in my car to do some errands. One of them is depositing $218 worth of birthday checks. I park at a meter between a Range Rover and white van. I go to the ATM, wait in line, do my thing. I head back to my car and see the Range Rover up on a flatbed. And my car is next.

They were going to tow me becuase 1) Those meters are not parking spots before 7pm and 2) my California registration sticker is on the front liscence plate, not the back. They call it in and realize that the registration is ok, and I just have to pay them to get my car back.


Birthday money: +$218
Towing fee (they didn't tow me anywhere): -$95
City Fee (aka City Council kickback fund): -$46
The actual parking ticket: -$65
Total: $10
Blowing my birthday money instantly with nothing to show for it: Irony of the Year.

Phew

That could've been a LOT worse.

My exam last Wednesday was fairly straighforward and very short. I didn't have to present either hell-paper. PHEW!

So then I went home with Yif and visited my parents, heathcliffe, and our TWO HDTV's. The "Good One" LCD is upstairs, and the "Big One" Plasma is downstairs. Excessive? Probably. Definitely. But what the hell, if it makes my dad happy.

Speaking of excessive, I got an iPod Mini today to replace my old 15gb. I'm sending my old one in and keeping my fingers crossed that they give me my money back (in the form of a Circuit City gift card). Then I'll either get a photo or a huge honkin video card for my computer... or maybe a 19" LCD monitor... So if I get the card, I get two birthday presents. If not, just the mini then =p

This week is way lower key, I barely have anything to do which is a nice respite. I am contemplating heading back home for the super-bowl/mom's birthday. It's worth the drive just for the TV(s).

Yif got his job @ Gladstone's (which we all call "Gallstone's"), which is nice and close to Westwood. It'll be great to have him around, and if it's a longterm thing, maybe next year we can get an apartment together. As he would say "hoo-nosstryannasaurss" (translated, "Who knows?" It is implied that the tyrannasuar is silent.)

The Stressor's Guide to Stressiness

So first quarter of grad school I had two tough classes and a laid-back lab. Things clicked, I had lots of freetime, when I studied I learned, I made new friends and learned to love LA.

Now for second quarter. I have one class that seems easy where I'm not sure I'm learning anything. Then there's the seminar (see previous). Then there's my lab where I do everything wrong and live my life in accordance with the life cycle of a tiny fish.

This isn't to say that I'm not happy. I still appreciate my situation. But now it seems like every day just piles on more and more stress.

Of course there should be some release tomorrow. After the exam I haven't studied for and the seminar for which I am woefully underprepared.

The reason I am behind? I was unable to get any work done this weekend because last week drained me completely. Excuses excuses, it's my lazy butt that sat around all day vegging.

Only time will tell if I can pull January 26th 2005 out of my ass and do well.

School and lab is my job. Everything else is my life. I've always known what is more important to me, and I won't let a few challenges change that. And unlike election day, I choose life in this situation. Don't think I'll get a bumper sticker to advertise that though, might leave the wrong impression.

Deep inside somewhere lies my personal motto, "grin and bear it." I guess this is "grin and bruin it."

(I honestly don't know what's worse: trying to pass that last sentence off as poignant or trying to pass it off as humorous. It's clearly neither.)

The Village

I just watched "The Village" with Yif and I have to say that everyone I talked to hyped up the ending as silly, but I think it was very clever. Completely unbelievable, but clever. I thought it was well paced, had a great mood, a very nice soundtrack, and M. Night Shylamalamadingdong gets a bad rep for not living up to the Sixth Sense. He's never going to make a movie that good ever again, but I have enjoyed two of his last 3 films a lot (Unbreakable was just... well bad). And for all you nay-sayers out there: Yif agrees with me =p

Also, "nay" is a little outdated so stop saying it. "You must be trippin!" or "It don't play like dat!" are much more appropriate these days than saying "nay."

Pretend that I said that in deadpan and it will seem more amusing.

By the way, my alternate suggested ending for that movie is that it's just the 4th season of "The Mole." If "Truman Show" taught us nothing, it's that Reality show endings can be great. Or did it teach us that Jim Carey can be taken seriously as an actor? Nah, it didn't do either.

Screw it all and go with the Scooby-doo ending:

-"The monsters are just old Mr. Taberwanky and his gang from the abandoned amusement park!"

-"I woulda gotten away with it too if it weren't for you pesky daughter of Ron Howard!"

If Bill Gates is satan, does that mean Steve Jobs is Jesus?

This question was posed today by Katherine, a grad student in my new lab. At first we all had a good chuckle, but later I thought "what if the analogy could be extended so far that it isn't funny anymore?"

That's what I would write about if I didn't realize that that would suck.

Instead, I'll just write about my new lab, now that I've been here one whole week!

I now work with Jau-nian (or nien, I'll never get it right) Chen who is a really great lady who studies heart development in Zebrafish. I am definitely having to adjust to working in a lab where everyone pretty much lives there (we're talking 16+ hour days), but the work is interesting and it won't kill me to learn how to work longer hours. Getting to the gym has been tough though, my new 4x a week policy is in serious jeopardy this week (I have to go today and tomorrow, so no worries).

My Seminal Seminar at Seminary

okay, so I'm not at seminary, and who knows if this 4 unit course I'm taking will be seminal, but it is definitely a seminar. Semen is the base off all those words, but I'm not at all aroused by the daunting task put before me in this course.

Here's the format (from the website) of the course:

"Each student will give two oral presentations on research articles chosen from the list provided on this website. The students will meet once a week in groups of 8 with a facilitator. Two students will give oral presentations during each meeting. The selections will be made during the first organizational meeting. A student’s first presentation should be done in the first half of the quarter and the second one in the second half of the quarter."

There are 6 or so different sections. Here is the format of the section that I am assigned to: Changes indicated in bold

"Each student will give two oral presentations on research articles chosen from the list provided on this website. The students will meet once a week in groups of 8 with a facilitator. Two students will give oral presentations during each meeting. THE SELECTIONS WILL BE MADE RANDOMLY ON THE SPOT, SO BE READY TO GIVE TWO PRESENTATIONS EVERY WEEK.

???????????

WTF

????????!!!!!

Needless to say, I am stressed, pissed, and have various other emotions that contain "ss" in the middle. (Sassy, classified, mississippi, etc.). Mostly confussed at how I got so freakin screwed.

I made babies!

This morning, I removed the barrier between the males and the females and in one half our made 100's of babies. As long as Zebrafish embryos count as babies, that statement is true and I am something like Posiedon's 38-cousin 100 times removed. Cool huh?

what's a good name....

I think is "La Marck" a good name for a french giraffe. Here's why:

"The classic example of Lamarck is the giraffe.  Newly discovered, it caused a sensation, as it should.  Even today, the sight of a giraffe in the zoo is breathtaking.  Lamarck reasoned that early giraffes relied on leaves as their food source, and over the course of their life reached high into trees to get the leaves.  They stretched their neck slightly, and this was passed on to their offspring, which also stretched their neck, passing this on to their offspring.  Similarly, the legs and tongue would be stretched in the pursuit of leaves, both of which would be passed on to their offspring."

I think that should quiet any naysayers. I know the gender is all wrong but that's part of why it's funny.

If you have NO clue what I am referring to, just laugh and remember that people thought he was right. Then try and strech your neck in a vain attempt to improve yourself.

2004

Well, lemme see. It's been sort of a big year. Personally, nationally, internationally, preternaturally... anyways, I think chronology will help here...

Jan - Spent the first part of my winter break in SoCal with my parents, interviewed with Wayne Grody @ UCLA and got really excited about the possibility. Headed to Miami and Rachel's wedding. Interviewed with Herr Docter Werner at U Miami. Scared me but at least I was invited. (BIG DATE - 1/17, Rachel Strom and Bradley Ross are wed)

Feb - I turned 22! Hazaaah. Got rejected from UC San Diego, U of Chicago, U of Washington. Haz-crap. Thought I was gonna be rejected from UCLA, so I emailed Wayne. Got an invite to the recruitment weekend. Hazaaah. (BIG DATE - 2/8, my birthday)

Mar - UCLA interview weekend. Met Rachel J, got even more excited about UCLA. Spent the rest of the month freaking out bigtime. (HUGE DATE - 3/31, I come home to an email from Jody Spillane from UCLA telling me that I'm in!!!!!!!)

Apr - Mostly school stuff and hanging out with Rebecca. Final Finals. Hazaah.

May - Senior week, trip to Toronto. Split with Rebecca. Tears. Drive to Cali. (BIG DATE - 3/10?, I graduate from the University of Rochester with a B.S. in Molecular Genetics and a minor in Psychology)

Jun - Arrive in Cali with Yif and hang out for a few days. Spend the whole time worrying about housing and a summer job. (BIG DATE - 6/25, I officially become a Los Angelino)

Jul - Work in the lab of Dr. E Delot
Aug - Work in the lab of Dr. E Delot
Sept - Work in the lab of Dr. E Delot. Program starts during the last week.

Oct - Classes, work in the lab of Dr. R Gatti, meet Stan, Susan, Mariam, Melody, Curtis, Brewer, Chris, Glen, others, re-meet Rachel, Seema... new iBook, ACCESS retreat@Lake Arrowhead

Nov - George Jr. gets re-elected, mope about morosely and write despondant blog posts for a few days. More classes, more lab, get replaced in lab by sergio, have tests, etc.
FL

Dec - World Premier of Closer! Hazaah. Finals week, everyone being lame. Winter break in FL. Meet up with Yif and Cindy. Write this blog.

REVIEW: This was a monumental year for me personally. Getting into UCLA and graduating from UR, getting a brother for the first time, big stuff. Stupid George W. really brings this year down a few pegs. But in selfish terms, everything is ay-okay. I blame John Edwards. What a useless tool.

Felize Navidad, Noel Joyeux, Mery Crismas (I might as well spell it wrong in all the languages...)

Sorry folks for not updating in so long, but nobody cares anyways. I can imagine that last post probably cause a bit on confusion by any sorry persons who may have stumbled on it. It was one of those late-nite finals-week ramblings that came out of nowhere.

So to update, finals week is in the rearview mirror and I passed all my classes first quarter. yaaaaay. The night of my last final I headed to LAX to head to Miami to visit with my sister and brother-in-law and my parents. We had a really nice time, spending time in Aventura, then Key West, then Miami Beach. The weather was good for the most part and the eating (as is necessary on any Strom vacation) was totally out of control (in a good but guilty kinda way).

So Yif is actually in town today (for those of you who don't know, Yishai (aka Yif) is my best friend from the age of 4), and is planning on living somewhere in either LA or Orange county and get a job that (I'm quoting him verbatim) "pays a living wage." He is currently a mystery to me and I really have no idea how much I will see him. I could either meet him once or twice a month, or he could be living with me for some time. I really have no clue.

I'm back now in the OC to visit with my grandparents who are in from Chicago. I'll only be here for another couple days, then back to glorious Westwood. Ta-ta.

Samism: A Preamble

You are alive. That's good.
You are literate. That's good.
You have access to the internet. That's good (maybe).
You have shelter (see previous). That's good.
You have enough food. That's good.

Are you starting to see a pattern? Chances are, your life is way better than you think it is. Think about that for a minute. The only reason you are miserable, dissatisfied, or unhappy is because you don't fully appreciate what you alreay have. If you can accept this, you are ready for Samism.

Wutz UR Skedge?

For those of you who have noted my bizzare AIM away messages and/or erratic behavior, that is because I am a different person this week. I am finals week Sam. The version of me is intensely motivated by a godlike entity known simply as "The Schedule" (often truncated to skedge when I'm into the brevity thing).

Last year around this time, I realized that I was spending a lot more time sitting at my compter/TV doing nothing than I was studying. So I drew up a comprehensive finals week program that tracked every hour of my life. Do not be scared: this schedule does not encourage spending more time studying than playing computer games and watching basketball, it simply attempts to acheive a reasonable balance. Here's a typical day. This is not a joke.

9am Wake up
9:30 Gym
11am Study X for one hour
12pm Lunch
1pm Prepare for presentation
2pm Play World of Warcraft* for 2 hours
4pm Study X for one hour
5pm-7pm Think about / prepare / eat dinner, watch football
7pm-9pm Play GTA*, watch bball/more football
9pm Study X for one hour
10pm Play World of Warcraft*
~Go to bed at some point

*These are computer/video games. I actually do plan which one I want to play ahead of time. I don't know what people who don't play video games do all day. Read? Frolic? Nah, it's probably just bad TV. At least I'm honing my hand-eye co-ordination and math skills while I destroy my vision / rest of my brain.

The key thing to notice here is that on this weekend day, I actually got 4 hours of productivity in. 3 studying, 1 working on my presentation. This represents an order of magnitude increase in productivity when compared to a normal weekend (or weekday for the last 2 months).

In college I would draw these up for an entire week and tape the entire thing to my desk on all four edges so that I couldn't move it. It would just stare me in the face. I fiddled with the idea of using such a system on a regular basis to structure my regular life, but that didn't last much more than a week.

On a side note, my grandfather does do this every day. He has a little appointment book that he carries with him. If I want to see him when I come to town he's like "hmm, how's Friday at 5?" I think this makes him feel busier than he really is, and that is the last thing I want to seem like. Other than efeminite (spelling?).

Okay, the skedge says that I'm supposed to go to bed at 2am today, so I had better get going. Wouldn't want to piss him off.

Merry Chanukkah

Here is a rant. If you are easily offended when it comes to religious topics, be assured: the following rant has NOTHING to do with religion.

The only thing I hate more the "Christmas" is Chanukkah. Let's unpack this statement.

1) Assumption #1 is that I hate "Christmas" a whole lot. Here is why:

a) Jesus was born on one day. In America, we celebrate from ~October 25th until December 25th. For those keeping score at home, that's about 3 months.

b) Americans do not recognize Jesus from Oct25-Dec24, instead they (we?) worship two things: Santa Clause, and the almighty dollar.

c) The single most important event of the year in America is a religious event.

d) Heroic parents and relatives who work hard for their money, and work even harder to please their children with lavish gifts fail to teach their children the spirit of giving by saying that Santa Clause gave the gifts. This teaches children subconsciously that giving things to others expecting nothing in return is a shameful thing, and is to be pinned on the nearest obese individual.

2) Assumption #2 is that I absolutely despise Chanukkah, despite years of pleasant family experiences (from trips to the Carribean to gobs of video games and cash) that I clearly did nothing to deserve.

a) Chanukkah teaches Jewish children (and all Americans in fact) that when you are different, fake it. Make up something "Jewish" that is similar enough to the white people so that white people still think you are white people.

b) People think that by saying "Happy Holidays" or "Seasons Greetings" they are being exceptionally tolerant, because they are accepting us other people that are supposed to have our own holiday. Chanukkah is a B.S. holiday. It isn't technically even a holiday. It's a "festival," and thusly was left out of the Torah because it was unimportant. Until ~1980, Chanukkah was an arcane celebration for a bygone victory against the Greeks. There was no gift-giving tradition whatsoever, and the junk about the candle burning for 8 days was simply made up at a rabbi convention about 1000 years after the actual battle.

Now that I have vented, here's some changes that I recommend for both holidays:

Christmas first:

1) Absolutely NO Christmas, Holiday, or Seasonal music untill DECEMBER 14th.
2) Absolutely NO Santa Clause crap. Let the kids know you are rewarding them.
3) Just say "Merry Christmas" to everyone. I won't be offended. I don't expect you to be a psychic, and I don't feel it necessary for the 90% of you to cater to us loudmouthed Jews, it just makes you hate us more.

Now Chanukkah:

1) Get rid of it.
2) Instead, spring a party and some gifts on your kids in mid December and say: "You kids are great, I love you, it's cold out, here's some toys."

There you have my "Holiday" Rant on this, the first Night of Chanukkah. Please send all hate mail to ssdnaboy@aol.com. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Sevaral Speling Erors Maid

I have to say, given the circumstances my last blog is remarkably coherent. I only count 4 or 5 major spelling/grammatical errors, and most of the words between "." do indeed form sentences. Sentances. I can never remember which one goes where.

A) In one sentence, he was sentanced to 30 years in prison.
B) In one sentance, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison. You be the judge.

[I have checked with Microsoft Word, and apparently "SENTANCE" is not a word. I guess the answer is C) None of the above.]

That aside...

Today I got so stir crazy that I studied just to pass the time. To celebrate my getting something done, I went to the Promenade and got new shoes and a new outfit. For the amount of money this cost, I could have gotten an X-Box and Halo2. But I didn't. This is all part of the growing process I imagine. But don't think I didn't think about it.

I'm kinda sick of dressing up for no one all the time. I mean, I know that I do it for me more than anyone else, but that's a tough sell to the male brain.

I feel like I'm going to really benefit from getting out of Westwood for a few weeks. I still love it here, but I'm getting bored with myself and I need some new experiences. If I sound mopey and negative, it's because I'm feeling mopey and negative, and I apologize. Right now my attitude (ie being at UCLA is an amazing opportunity, I am lucky, privaleged, etc.) is not in harmony with my mood (mopey/negative). It's a weird kind of funk, similar to but distinct from any other I've had. Further introspection is likely, if not neccessary.

Thanks for tuning in.

wheeeeeeeeee

I thought to myself it would be humorous if I did a drunken Blog. So I did. here it is.

Tonight I went to a bar with my friend stan and his NYer friend marisa. We had a nice time, martini's liberal rhetoric and all. then we went to jack in the box and there was some crazy crap goin on in the parking lot. some SUV was being towed away when we arrived and there was a security guard inside. also there was a homeless dude inexplicably being nice to us and telling us (on our way out) how "right on" we were. after like a good 30mins inside, we left to find yet another car being towed. apparentl, veteran and santa monica was a mecca of towage on this particlar evening. we decided that it is best to ignore anything in LA that you don't already know and just move on.

Incidentally, the burger I had at jackinthebox had katsup on it, which I really didnt mind that much. This marks the first time I have ever eaten food with katsup on it and not even tried to remove any of it. I don't know what this means, but purhaps I am open to new experiences, as my astrological predictive measures have implied on multiple occasions.

In summary, laurus ipsum, ergo propter hoc, donde esta venezuela. That last part was to prove that I'm hammered, because there's no way in HELL that any sober person could possible come up with such a mishmash nonsenesical statement. Rebecca, I hope you enjoyed this.

Later

On Orgy of Roundball

Last night was crazy. First, the U of I Illini knock off #1 Wake Forest in a blowout. Then, the Bulls pick up their first home victory against the LA Kobies (ie Lakers) on KCAL 9. Then the Clips beat up on the Pacers to got 10-6 for the first time since like '93. Needless to say, I got absolutely nothing done last night. It was damn fun though.

yip-Yee

Last night I went over to Susan's place to study. We got through one lecture (it took an hour) and then just chilled for the rest of the evening. Somehow I was over there from 8pm to 2am. This marks the first time we've ever really bonded in person (as opposed to online), so it was nice. She lives in a guest-house in a really swanky neighborhood (the guy who owns the property drives an SL 500. Nuff said). I should check out the guest-house option for next year, as there appeared to be enough room for either 1 or 2 people.

Slight appontment

If my last grades were a slight dissapointment, my latest is a slight appointment, thus being the opposite. I did well, but not fantastic. It pretty much means I'll eitehr get a B+ or a B in m253, which is fine by me. There's an outside shot at A- but I don't really care. Sarah Brewer wants to kick me out of the mean girl's club for this, as I no longer meet either criteria. But that's exclusionary so I'm going to stay in the club as a legacy. For those who are wondering, the club is totally made up, so if you want to join you can. I think I allowed Susan to join, setting precident.

Back-bloggin, turkey style

Here's a quick recap on my thanksgiving week. Please note the odd writing style (most verbs in the imperitive tense). Please do not ask why I am using said writing style.

Tuesday: Run into boss as I'm leaving, awkwardly tell him that I can't meet with him tomorrow because I will be in chicago.

Wednesday: Wake up intending to go to class, but realize that the lines at LAX are ENORMOUS and that I just can't. Get to the airport with no traffic, and watch in horror at the lines in terminal 1 (3 newsvans, ~1 mile of lines). Sigh in relief when the United terminal has a bunch of open self-checkins. Flirt with a pretty jewish girl in the security line. Never see her again. Wait in the terminal forever because the flight is delayed. Play Starcraft. Buy "Blood, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond and read for a while. Get on plane, watch "O, Brother" on my laptop, land in a snowstorm. Meet parents at baggage claim. Run into Paul and Scott Greenfield (with girlfriend Aliyah); this is the second time in three years that we have randomly ran into eachother at the airport at thanksgiving... freaky. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. Go directly from airport to Giordano's to get the best pizza in the world. Meet Yif there. Go home with Yif and pass out.

Thursday: Go to Grandma Pat's house for Thanksgiving. Meet cousin Annie, soon-to-be-fiance Dan, sister Rachel, brother-in-law Bradley, parents. Spend time chatting and catching up. Watch the Colts destroy the Lions. Dan's parents (who I've never met) arrive. They seem nice (but kinda hick). Eat turkey at 3:30pm. Watch the Bears pitifully fail to do anything with the football for the whole darned game. Play pool, sega genesis, kachino, and ping pong with Buck, Annie, Rachel, and Brad in that order. Meet up with Yif and try to find something to do. End up in a bar in Evanston. Go home after a while and watch "The Girl Next Door." Watch in horror as a movie about porn stars is boring and lacks any real excitement. Drool at the hotness of Elisha Cuthbert. Pass out.

Friday: Get "irving's" hotdogs for lunch and bring back to g.pat's despite Rachel's best intentions to avoid the place. Play trivial puruit and clean the house with my enormous knowledge. Teammate Yif tags along for the ride. Go with Yif on some bizzare errands where he squanders what little money he has on a present for his father's birthday; it is an M3 Power Razorblade kit. Go to dinner with family in evanston. Drink too many margaritas and not talk to your grandparents enough. Stumble out of the restaurant and head back to Yif's place. Pick up some Captain's for if along the way and rent some a Seinfeld DVD. Watch a few episodes and pass out.

Saturday: Wake up and go to grandma's for sandwiches. Hang around all day not doing anything memorable. Say goodbye to Yif, parents, grandparents. Head downtown and visit annie's new apartment. Gawk at its hugeness and niceness. Pet Max the dog. Go to second city and have a fun time. Also split two pitchers of Killian's with Dan. Catch a cab and pick up pizza. Head back to evanston.

Sunday: It's now midnight, so meet matt at Rachel's hotel. Head to the 1800 club bar in e-town for drinks and catching up with the now engaged matt+nicia. Continue until 3am. Get dropped off at grandparents. Sleep until 4:30am. Go to the airport. Get on the plane. Pass out.

Well there you have it. Thanksgiving 2004 in a nutshell. I don't have any pictures, and the weather was awful and I was sick the whole time. But it was nice to see everyone and I miss them already. I now have zero desire to move back to the midwest.

Me and Rachel at the World Premier of "Closer"  

I love LA

I just got back from the premier of "Closer," which means that I spent the night in the same room as Natalie Portman, Jude Law, and Clive Owen. It was completely amazing and fun. Rachel and I walked down the red carpet together, and I waved pretending to be a movie star and a member of the paparazzi humored me and snapped away. The movie was really good actually, and the whole evening was just so exciting. Only in LA.

Speaking of which, on Saturday I saw the opening game @ Pauley, and yesterday I saw the Bulls play/lose to the Lakers with Buck. And tomorrow there's another bruins game. Then off to chicago to see matt and yishai! Woohoo. Pretty good week I must say... =)

Picture Wall

Mel is awesome because she gave me the idea to do a picture wall. Despite its obvious crookedness, I so far have really enjoyed the project. I have almost 30 pictures up there, most ones I've take, some taken by friends, and a handful from the net. I posted my favorite so far. This picture may look kinda bad on the digital, but the printout is fantastic; you can really see the sunset in her face and it looks like th falls are frozen. (For those of you who are newer friends, this is my girlfriend from senior year if college who is in Spain now)



Rebecca at Niagara 

Never buy a lamp from target

That pretty much says it. I bought this lamp from target in september, and it busted like 2 weeks ago. I finally got a new bulb for it from home despot, but that didn't fix it. now I have a desk lamp in my living room. fun! yaay

So I got an electric piano for my mac yesterday. It's really fun but man do I suck! I need to get some piano-for-dummy books or something.

Another exam on wednesday, and I feel like I've read chromosome IP papers nonstop for like 2 weeks. Thank god there's only 5 papers for this one.

The sole purpose of this paragraph is to make this entry look longer.

This paragraph is to inform you that I have laker-bulls tickets a week from sunday. can I get a hell's yeah?

Oh yeah. Earlier in the week (wednesday I think) I got everyone in my genetics class (that includes the prof who is famous) to laugh at a dorky joke that I didn't mean to say out loud. something about a gradient. it was clutch.