life, the universe and everything

Signs of Spring

2009-03-24T16:28:00.002-04:00

Me staring intently at trees to see if they are finally budding
Getting sick of the sight of my winter coat
Allergies
Smell of mulch
Driving with the windows down

So it does have a name

2009-03-19T16:43:00.001-04:00

I did not realize there was an actual name for it.

a day in the life

2009-03-12T13:12:00.003-04:00

I usually wake up at 8am. I know, don't hate me because I'm a grad student. I do set my alarm for 7:30 just in case I wake up with a burst of motivation to start work early. That rarely (never?) happens so I press snooze twice. By the time I'm up Paul's already at work. He usually drops in before leaving and calls me a different variations of sleepyhead and tells me not to sleep for too long because I will regret it. I grunt back.

There are two variations to my morning. Variation 1) is shower and then breakfast and 2) is (guess?...) breakfast before shower. The variation I pick is usually a product of my decisivness (or indecisiveness) about what to wear. If I can't make up my mind, I eat first.

Breakfast is normally oatmeal (mostly with milk but sometimes water) and bagel/english muffin and a fruit. If I'm feeling especially homesick I have rice, spam/tuyo/longganisa and fried egg. This doesn't happen a lot due to time constraints. Coffee is a constant though. I usually sit and eat my breakfast while watching some of the Today show in hope of learning something interesting. I'm out the door by 9am (some days).

The drive to work is about 10 minutes long. It's actually not a bad drive because I don't need to take the highway and I drive by a pretty golf course. I listen to the morning show at CD 101 and sometimes think of calling in for contests but could never remember the phone number. Also drivers who talk on their cellphones annoy me to no end.

Work is really not much of a routine. I plan my own experiments and am usually doing different things each day of the week. My experiments can be categorized into two a) microscope/cell biology work and b) molecular bio work. I like a) about 10 times more than b). During the day I am also very easily distracted by the internet. and chatting with people. and whatever baked goodie Ali has brough that day.

I usually leave at around 5:30. The drive home is even prettier because of the way the sunset colors the sky. I usually listen to NPR but have stopped doing that since they decided that the only thing really worth talking about is how bad the economy is. So I've since just popped different CDs. I'm now listening to The Weepies on repeat. They go great with orangey-pink skies.

I get home before Paul does (he gets paid more than I do so don't give me a hard time) and I usually start with dinner or make a grocery run if I need something else for dinner. Lately I've also been going to jazzercise classes so I could workout my hips, thighs and buns to the music of the greats such as Frankie goes to Hollywood, Britney Spears and Pussycat Dolls. Don't knock the jazzercise though because I swear in 3 months I'll have Michelle Obama's guns.

Dinner is a relaxed affair with Jeopardy on the background. Paul usually ends up doing the cleaning because he can't stand dirty dishes on the sink whereas I can. And since I usually do the cooking I think that's just fair. We're really not the most exciting couple on the block so most nights we just sit on the couch and watch TV (24 on Mondays) or an episode (or two) of Arrested Development.

We usually start getting ready for bed at around 10. I've started taking after Paul in writing a gratitude journal listing 5 things that happened in the day that you are thankful for. My journal is pink and has flowers on the cover and I use a purple Le Pen to write on it. Paul used to write his on random pieces of paper that he keeps in between random books. Once while I was in Woods Hole the summer after we got married, I found his journalf for the week we got engaged. The day we got engaged his list went

Got decent sleep(crossed out) She said yes
Got decent sleep
Something
Something
Something else

I just thought that was hilarious. And it made me miss him even more. Three weeks was a long time to be away five months after you get married.

For our first anniversary I gave him a 'manly' journal with a fabric cover depicting different robots. He loved it. He got me flowers with purple tulips. I loved him for it.

back to blogging?

2009-03-06T14:50:00.000-05:00

been thinking of reviving this old thing. figured if i want to have a career in (science) writing instead of (science) research i better start somewhere right? but do you really see me writing about science here? i guess i have the sci-fi sounding title to boot so why not live up to the name.

will you stick around to see if i do?

randomness

2007-10-16T12:05:00.000-04:00

1. spent weekend in iowa for laura's (paul's friend from undergrad) wedding. (paul) drove there friday night and drove back sunday. will not be doing that again anytime soon. but wedding was lovely and also got a chance to see 1/2 of the nichols family.

2. my digital camera died :(

3. i'm co-organizing a tailgate for the osu-michigan state this weekend. hope that turns out well.

4. we got a wii!!!!

5. i''m growing older tomorrow.

staying put

2007-08-18T11:40:00.000-04:00

finally! in columbus at least. all the summer travelling is done along with the craziness that comes with it. which is good because the new apartment is still empty and this current one is getting old.

just got back from trip to california. spent time mostly in LA. paul did a lot of driving around though which lead us to either the beach or to see Filipino friends/relatives. had lots of food at almost no cost thanks to the pinoy's penchant to feed guests even in the middle of the afternoon. but i am not complaining mind you.

i really am not doing any of this justice. i'll just post pics to let you in on it. . .

also, 6 months to go til the big day. freaking out slightly now. . .

because blogging is so 2003. . .

2007-07-06T16:54:00.000-04:00

pownce.com

cure for the lazy blogger but incessant e-mail checker/web surfer. . .

but i promise not to totally abandon you, my dear blog. and as evidence i will continue writing. . .

there's really not that many new things to talk about although fun and exciting things will be happening soon. i will be leaving for woods hole, massachusetts next friday to TA for my boss while she teaches a course there. should be interesting as in any instance when you are required to do lab work with the boss =) it shouldn't be too bad since we'll be right by the beach.

i will also be moving soon. what fun. at least this time i will have about a one month difference between when my new lease starts and when the old one terminates. it will of course be more expensive but there is the chance that paul will let me get away without putting things into boxes and just carrying random things off to the new apartment (which is probably less than sometime during the month. as all of you may know, moving sucks, which is mostly owed to the fact that packing (and unpacking) sucks. it is still exciting though because it shall be paul and mine's first place together , although it will be all mine for the first 6 months (just to make things clear :).

so there. i have updated. unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it) i have no pictures of newborn babies to put up =) i would like to congratulate all new (and not-quite-new) parents out there ais, frank and peng. and also congrats to justine and george for having such a cutie pie of a baby boy (who's not quite a newborn anymore). my generation is reproducing! omg is the world ready for this?!??! =)

weekend post-trauma extravaganza

2007-06-04T22:23:00.000-04:00

now that i'm done with my candidacy and am an official PhD candidate (that's really all that passing entails, you don't get kicked out NOW), i of course felt the need to compensate for the weeks of misery i underwent for this thing. paul was a sweetie and started it of by giving me flowers=) but that was not enough for me apparently, so this past weekend i went a little crazy and celebrated as only a soon-to-be-wed grad student can. . .

1) dress shopping: got THE DRESS already. and it was half-off! and 2 sizes smaller than the usual. and it still fits! it's like some sort of post-candidacy miracle! of course wearing it involves the use of a bed post and 2 maids pulling at cords at my back and me yelling tighter! tighter! in my best southern belle voice. but it eeeesssss verrrrrry purrrrrdy. . . with sparkly things and all. you all just have to wait to see it though, unless of course you're not one of the two dozen or so people i've sent pics to because i thought they'd be half interested in seeing it. . .in which case just comment and i'll get those to you. . . unless of course you happen to be paul. . .

2) molly woo's: good, kind of pricey asian bistro in columbus. eggplant dish that is not torta but is still to die for. also firecracker shrimp. best of all it was still a free dinner since we had some cash left on a gift card from christmas. another post-candidacy miracle i guess. to add to this too, resto was in a mall and there are stores in the mall and there is plastic in my wallet and now there are two blouses in my closet. and weekend day one is done.

3) memorial tournament a.k.a catch that tiger: was up bright and early to watch people golf. now as most of you probably know, i don't golf. nor have i ever watched golf. i'm like "that's called a birdie? . . . where i come from. . . ok let's not go there". but anyway, again with the free stuff, this time tickets, and a chance to see the highest paid athlete in the world play i'm like, well, might as well. game was delayed for an hour because people don't want to walk on wide open spaces holding metal clubs in a thunderstorm. did get to see tiger play though, and he wasn't doing very well from what i gathered. not enough birdies and eagles or whatever. what there was a lot of though were drunk, rich, old men at 10am. which made it rather entertaining. also makes you wonder what type of crazy person decides which type of grass goes where and how short they should be cut on a golf course. . . i may be hanging out with a lawncare company market research analyst dude for far too long. . .

4) cirque du soleil: theme for the weekend-- "if you can't get it for free, at least get it for half-off". got tickets for cirque at half price too. was worth more than that though. it was just jaw-droppingly amazing. if any of you have a chance to see it, do. people do crazy things with chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. also popcorn is not cheap but that is besides the point. there are all the stuff you'd expect from a circus like clowns! and jugglers! and tight-rope walker! but all in a rather stylized, let's-somehow-connect-it-to-a-french-funeral way. as for the flying trapeze, cirque says "those are for sissies, all we need are big, burly men with ginormous arms to swing and toss little ladies back and forth". exciting stuff i tell you. what also made it more exciting is the friendly usher who told us of horrible injuries incurred by the acrobats. that put me at the edge of my seat. that and the feats of engineering required to run that thing. . . but then that just reveals how big of a geek i am so i shall not elaborate on that.

so there. that's how i roll. i never go anywhere or do anything if i have to pay full price. and those blouses i bought? also discounted PLUS additional student discounts. there is just no end to this is there? unlike this entry that ends. . .

I'm now EBD. . .

2007-06-03T22:47:00.001-04:00

in grad schoole-ese, translation is "everything but the dissertation (to graduate)". . . I think need to add another D to that acronym though for data. . .

if i've lost you by now, all i meant to say was i passed my candidacy exam! Thank God! Because this is one of those times when I really can't take any credit for any of it. the night before I got all of 2 hours of sleep due to a really bad case of nerves. but I did spend 5 hours praying.

anyway, thanks to all of you who encouraged me and prayed for me. I really, really appreciate it!

i did it!

2007-05-21T08:07:00.000-04:00

. . . and i did not vomit!!!

yep, i ran my first 5k this weekend at the race for the cure! i think i crossed the finish line at precisely 45 mins which was not bad at all. it did feel a little bad when people who were walking were passing by me the whole time. they should've had the decency to walk slower than i run. but they would have had to be strolling. . . i also may have improved my time if i didn't wave to people by the road or if i didn't high-five an entire line of bikers. but that was what made the whole thing fun. that and the tons of free food and stuff once you get to the finish line. i got a week's worth of bananas and yogurt among other things.

i also don't have pictures to prove this so you'll just have to take my word for it. also i don't think me wearing the neon green scott's racing team t-shirt would've registered on a normal camera anyhow.

my poster and i

2007-05-13T20:14:00.000-04:00

this is how i choose to spend beautiful spring saturdays. . . *sigh*

impending doom

2007-05-11T17:30:00.000-04:00

. . . june 1st

my last committee member hasn't "officially" approved my proposal but according as my adviser said

"i don't think he'll say anything crazy. . ."

i don't know about that. . . i think Dr. V is a crazy guy. . .

but anyway, so now i am in a state of panic. sometimes denial. then panic again. . . and more mounting panic. . . but as they say, this too shall pass. . .

that's also what they said about my gall stone. . .

okay, that's kinda gross. . .

still alive. . .

2007-05-02T16:16:00.000-04:00

. . . yep. i'm still here.

candidacy exam has not destroyed me yet. but there's still about half of it to get through so i shouldn't speak too soon. i turned in my proposal last week and am now waiting for feedback from my committee. and of course waiting=catching up with lab work.

did go to our church retreat this weekend. it was a fun and refreshing time. and i got a tan so hurrah!

got to see jorge cham's talk last night. it was hilarious!also got the PhD book 1 and had him sign it which was pretty neat. of course i'm a dork since shiela already gave me a signed copy of the second one but he was there so why not. and in fairness, it was addressed to paul and jona :)

am also training for a 5k. i'm going to run a 5k! even i couldn't believe i was signing on to do that. i've been training for a while now. hope it pays off. it's for a good cause though (breast cancer research) and better still is i'm not paying for it (paul's office is). paul also got me fancy running shoes because apparently i don't have normal-sized feet and because he's sweet that way. so i guess i really need to run now.

that's it really. will try to update if anything exciting happens. . . maybe y'all have to wait a while then :)

stardust

2007-03-27T16:48:00.000-04:00

every neil gaiman book i read always makes me think "how cool would this be as a movie?!?". when i was first introduced to netflix i got pretty excited when i saw this. but my excitement was quickly turned to something akin to embarassment after the first, oh, 5 minutes of the tv-movie. let's just say the special effects left a lot to be desired. plus the acting was really cheesy. but then i saw the trailer for this while randomly skimming through yahoo and i was very pleased. looks like a *stellar* cast. . . get it stellar. . .haha. . .

in other news: my one month to write my grant proposal for my candidacy starts tomorrow. the horror!!!

also. . . the buckeyes are in the final four!

and. . . it is about 80 deg outside. . .

now i'm confused whether i should be happy or not. . .

sleeping for the buckeyes

2007-03-23T15:31:00.000-04:00

ha! the buckeyes are in the elite eight!

apparently they rallied from a 20 point deficit and all while i was in bed dreaming! i saw the first half when they were down by 17 but then i went to bed and lewis scores 17 points. . . i was also not watching (i.e. cowering behind the couch) last game when they went back from a being behind 9 points against xavier and when lewis made that miraculous 3 point shot with 2 seconds left in regulation to send it to OT. . .maybe i should just sleep all the way to the finals. . .

go bucks! zzzzzz. . . .

reference fun! fun! fun!

2007-03-22T21:14:00.000-04:00

as you've probably seen me mention in one of my many whiny blog entries in my 3(?) different blogs, i am now doing my candidacy exam. i was just looking for protocols on purification of murine macrophages and i found a reference 1985 paper written by a guy named Richard who for better or worse has the last name Crapper. . . yes, I have a reference for Crapper et al., 1985 in my Experiment Outline portion. . .

books by e-mail

2007-03-09T00:30:00.001-05:00

brilliant idea!

daily lit

you get several pages worth (about 5 mins reading's worth according to the site) everyday via e-mail. and it's free! and you don't even need to register!

i just subscribed to King Lear. . . of course the reading list is limited to classics. but there are boatloads full of classics that i haven't read. they also have biographies and old self-help books (as in lao tzu old). i started with shakespeare because it's relatively short (only 20-some installments). but you could subscribe to something like war and peace which is a LOT of installments =)

enjoy!

here comes the sun (doroorooroo)

2007-02-19T15:36:00.000-05:00

finally!

we are now above freezing! yey! it has been two weeks i think since we went over 0degC. it's pretty sloppy out and the snow is really gross but it's not cold!!!

this is really good timing too because i'm just now getting over a bout of flu. viruses are evil. they attack when you least expect them and they just hate you. and you whine and whine and they don't leave until you have conceded to them that maybe they are actual living things. and they leave but they exact revenge by making you go back to work again after three days of sleeping for 16 hours. on president's day no less. when we should be remembering presidents (or is it a specific president? who knows?)

and why the heck did i even get that shot if it wasn't going to work anyway?!?

and because of the flu i did not get to work on my candidacy preps. i still have no idea how i am going to go about this stupid thing. the more papers i read the dumber i feel. i wrote out aims already but i just keep on having to erase them one by one because they've all been done to certain degrees. maybe the secret is to just base everything on ONE paper and DENY KNOWLEDGE of everything else. . .

other than that, boss is out today so i will be leaving in 15 minutes. still recovering from the flu y'know=)

bonnaroo

2007-02-14T16:06:00.001-05:00

i want to go. . .

the police!!!
spoon
damien rice
the white stripes
the decemberists
wilco
the flaming lips
ben harper
franz ferdinand
fountains of wayne
to name a few. . .

waaaahhhhhhh!!! i need $189.50!

bye january. . .

2007-01-25T21:49:00.000-05:00

that was fast.

so january was pretty busy. what with crazy obsessive wedding planning going on all. which is how we got our venue, caterer and photographers booked within the first month of our engagment. . . but then this is not our wedding blog.

i was also busy with work, of course. i finished my big 3rd year talk last week too. it's the last talk i'll ever have to do for mcdb. also i found out i'll be going to woods hole MBL this summer with my boss! it's in cape cod! where there are lobsters! and scallops! maybe crabs! so looking forward to it. although it would be 2 weeks of lab work from 9 til midnight apparently. and living in a dorm. why conjugal bathroom, why? well, i should just think of the lobsters. yummmmmm. . .

also another thing work-related; may have finally gotten the dratted 3' end of my cDNA. i was close to giving up on it but instead i changes a bunch of variables in one run and voila! bands! which is good because i really need something to push me to work. it is sooooo hard to get motivated to work. i don't know if it's the weather or just that there are a lot more things i could be doing. . . and i can't help but think that i might not be cut out for this after all. it requires too much. . . thinking. . .and commitment. . . everytime i get asked about what i'll do with my PhD, I honestly don't know what to say. it's easier to fib though and say i'll put up my own lab blah blah blah. . . i really think i would much prefer to get a real job although what those actually are i'm still not sure of. . .

there's time enough to think about that i guess. . .

Happy 2007 all!!!

2007-01-02T17:32:00.001-05:00

joint account

2006-12-21T14:50:00.000-05:00

so i still haven't gotten around to writing something about the proposal but i'm planning to do that in our new account:

www.paulandjona.blogspot.com

so just check that out for that and other wedding-related stuff. i'll still keep this blog though and also my multiply because i foresee a lot of non-wedding related venting in the near future. . .

and if i don't get to come back again, merry christmas to one and all!

12/13/06

2006-12-13T17:52:00.000-05:00

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

drivers everyewhere, beware! . . . and skating advice from me!

2006-12-11T10:51:00.000-05:00

. . . i am licensed and ready to take on the streets of ohio! . . . but first i have to get insurance. . . oh and take care of a minor detail which is also known as a CAR. but i'm just saying, beware!

other than being theoretically-able to drive there are other perks to having this temporary permit:

i can buy beer/alcohol! on my own! and then not drink it. because the permit doesn't keep me from getting allergic to alcohol/yeast/hops or whatever it is i am allergic to.
i can go to bars/clubs without having to bring my passport
i have such a pretty picture on my permit! you should see it! it's probably my best ID picture ever

other than getting my permit, this past weekend have been productive/worthwhile in other ways. I went ice-skating for the first time last Friday. It was frightening for me as well as for the little children skating around me because by golly i am not letting go of that wall however nicely a little girl who is celebrating her birthday asks me to because, hey! i just can't! also if any of you reading this is planning on ice skating in the near future remember these words: PUSH DON"T PULL!!! because ice-skating is not like walking at all, contrary to what you may think (it really doesn't look like walking either but before that day i thought walking was the only way my legs could move). Because i tried the walking thing for one whole lap around the rink and it got me nowhere. but i should warn you, learning these wise words does not give you one other important aspect to this exercise which is BALANCE. which i am in total lack of. and for which i reckon, there is no cure. so i shuffled, and glared at people going over 0.001mph more than I, and clung to the wall. i swore i glided a couple times but it scared the heck out of me and i'd start saying nasty things and run into the wall (one of those times wherein having a second language comes in handy. . . so the little kiddies don't understand what you are saying). also for all you single people out there: GO SKATING. good place to pick up guys/girls whether you want to or not. just wait for them to stop by the wall and glide/shuffle/slam into them (depending on your skill level) and "hello strange person!". it's like ice hockey, but slightly romantic. but that did not happen to me at all, i promise. (or if it did, it wasn't romantic, really. . . hehe). also if you do decide to do this make sure that your significant other is not standing next to you. . . because that totally ruins the moment. and he/she could just as easily pick up some poor soul who has fallen on the ice. but by then it's all good all around! also ice skates leave marks. you have to tie them up as tightly as you possibly can and they hurt. but by the next day you really don't feel them because EVERTHING ELSE HURTS. but it's a workout. and there's ibuprofen.

in other news: christmas shopping almost done. thank you internet! it was also nice that i did more than half my shopping in september. also did some this weekend at the mall. i miss malls back home. you get so much more for your money. and the fact that you don't have to go walking around outside in near freezing weather helps too.

also you might be wondering why all these posts. well it's mainly because i am done with my course work! yey! and i got a B+ in my blasted biochem class. PLUS! i was soooo aiming for a B and i got a PLUS! how great is that?!?

that's my update for now. hope to have more interesting stories next time. babush!

bad blogger, bad

2006-12-05T16:24:00.000-05:00

yo.

so sorry my poor, neglected blog. how long has it been since i've graced you with my presence? 2 months? i apologize.

so in the spirit of the season, i will now share with all of you. nuggets of wisdom? yeah right. exciting adventures? not really. random ramblings? most probably. so enjoy!

since last i was here (10/29 when i checked) many things have happened. that does not mean these are things that deserve to be immortalized (?) in cyberspace, but they happened nonetheless. there was. . . . hmmmm. . . me going to work. . . and class. . . and work again. . . . ooh! i started a ladies Bible study in my apartment which is sometimes nerve-wracking (apartment must be clean. i must be understood. tea must be had) but it's loads of fun on wednesday nights. . . also saw my first college football game. and it is my ardent belief that it is due to my rooting for the ohio state buckeyes this season that they have become number one. OH (can i hear an -IO?!?) . . . most of you probably have no idea what i'm talking about but let's just say i now know which direction football players ought to run towards and could promptly yell "run! run" at roughly the right moments. yey magical yellow lines! . . . also had my first taste of a real american holiday with, er, americans when i went to celebrate thanksgiving with paul's family in iowa. had to drive 12 hours there (and back) but it was fun (and tasty). and it's really not like i actually drove there. i basically sat and stayed awake (well, majority of the time at least).

so there. i hope that satisfies all ya'll's need for updates on my very interesting life. and now. i shall brave the cold. for it is taco tuesday (ole'!) and there is beef to be thawed. also, i need to study for my stupid final for my stupid biochem class in which i am not performing admirably so to speak. so pray for me on thursday. that i will not boo my prof and throw my shoe at him. and also that i may pass the exam. but mostly for the latter.

what do you do with the extra hour?

2006-10-29T15:42:00.000-05:00

. . . because of the time space warp that happens during fall. . . also known as DST

i throw out trash that has accumulated in my room
i don't study for biochem
i sleep

what about you?

in places no one will find. . . .

2006-09-14T00:42:00.000-04:00

celebrity look-alike thingy results. . . who is that korean guy?!?

4 boxes left. . .

2006-09-07T21:39:00.000-04:00

moving sucks. everybody tells you that. they don't tell you how much unpacking sucks too. i'm half tempted to just throw all these boxes out and call it good. who needs all these paper stuff anyway?. . . burn them all. . . maybe not.

but how can i unpack when lucy lawless is singing with kenny loggins and jai rodriguez is singing "back at one" with brian mcknight?. . . and who the heck writes all those stupid puns for marie osmond? and exactly what is little richard high on?. . . ahhhhh, thursday night tv. . . very distracting. all my good intentions of unpacking, gone. ta-ta.

i've moved

2006-09-01T10:49:00.000-04:00

. . . to my new apartment. . . our new apartment i mean, hanna's and i. finally said goodbye to the old one yesterday when i turned over my keys. rather bittersweet; bitter because that was my very first apartment ever so it holds a lot of memories, and also a full size bed and free cable and internet. sweet because i now save 200 bucks a month in my new one=) you can't have it all i guess.

i'm still in the process of settling in, what with about 70% of my possessions still in boxes and suitcases all over the apartment. i still couldn't figure out how i'd fit all my stuff (i.e. clothes and shoes) anywhere. hanna and i are trying to downsize as evidenced by the big mountain of stuff right smack in the middle of our living room.

i've also been having bad dreams since moving in. probably caused by my fear of falling off the smaller bed and also by my bad shoulder. i'm sure i'll get over it.

i'm still in the lab now and i think i'm just delaying going home because i need to unpack. better accept the inevitable and leave. *sigh*

(everybody knows) it sucks to grow up. . .

i need therapy

2006-08-17T16:50:00.000-04:00

. . . for many, many things really but i'll tell you later what specific therapy i'll be getting.

so, i've been having a tough week overall. which sucks because you'd think the boss being on vacation would give the mouse time to play, or something like that. but no. i've been leaving no earlier than 5:30 pm for the past 4 days. and most of you out ther with real jobs are probably rolling your eyes and saying "boohoo" but i have a non-real job and non-real means i get to go home at 4:30 at the latest. and with the boss away, i don't even get any credit.

on top of all this, i found out that i need a visa to go see my relatives in toronto. and the country of canadia demands $70 for me to be able to apply so they can consider having me visith their great country 'eh. and this application of course includes photocopies of all my documents, letters from important people that i lose at every opportunity, ugly pictures that have to be taken twice because of incompetent photographers, my precious passport and did i mention i pay them $70 for all this? i've had some choice words for the country of canadia the past couple of days and she must appease me. i think ginormous waterfalls will not do it. maybe good shopping, we'll see. you better make this worth it canadia. 'til then i will not call you your proper name, canadia.

as for the therapy, i've been seeing a pt for my thumb. my thumb was strained and was therefore pretty much annoyed with lab work. so for 3 weeks or so, i had therapy on my thumb which consisted of ultrasound treatment and thumb/wrist exercises. slightly entertaining but the trek to the health center from my lab is less funny. today, i found out that i need to do more therapy. for my shoulder this time. it's still bothering me and everyone says it's better to get these things checked sooner rather than later so off i went to the sports doctor and that was the verdict. she said this usually takes a month. unless "therapy" involves a massage then this sucks.

this blog is running long but one more thing, i'm in the process of moving to a new apartment. and i discovered that i am what can be called a packrat. i hold on to things. like invitations to parties i never went to. or old tests. or little pompoms that fell of throw pillows that i could never sew back. and old burned out light bulbs. which of course makes it harder to pick through my things and pack them. is there therapy for that?

sbc packers. hehe.

tama na nga ito.

check my multiply

2006-08-02T11:59:00.000-04:00

dami ng nangyari. seriously.

no more drama

2006-07-18T10:28:00.000-04:00

so ganito pala nangyayari pag nagda-drama ako. . . interesting. i still have no idea what you all are thinking but:

jem: sure, why not
george: huh?
kaka: thanks!
prek: lalo pa nga e

at least now i'm sure that people are still reading my blog. and caring. and that's nice.

please stop asking. . . .

2006-07-11T15:51:00.000-04:00

you all are just making me nervous, among other things. . .so quit it because it's not like it's up to me. . .

multiply

2006-07-05T15:10:00.000-04:00

i've been updating this website more often than this one. easier to upload pics and stuff. . .

word cloud

2006-06-29T14:39:00.000-04:00

mukhang cool pero di ko alam kung may meaning siya or what. nakuha ko kay frank ang link

halata bang walang magawa?

on other news. . . fish finally gave (embryos) after a week-long dry spell. was tempted several times to sing "let's get it on" to fishies in hopes of getting them in the mood ika nga. so now they give. at the end of the week. when my boss is not around. so i need to work even if i can totally slack off tomorrow. a friday of course and part of a long weekend. fishies really don't like me that much and are conspiring to keep me from getting a vacation. that's my theory anyway.

2006-06-28T23:23:00.000-04:00

this is tiny, my giant pink gorilla

2006-06-28T23:22:00.000-04:00

tiny sitting down

blogable

2006-06-20T15:51:00.000-04:00

been trying to blog many, many times but for some reason, i'm having a hard time finishing anything i start. many good things have happened recently so i really would like to share 'em. let's see if photo blogger lets me. . .

woohoo. it worked. anyway, paul graduated last weekend. and this picture confirms what i've believed for so long. i am dating a dork. seriously, see those cords falling all over him? those are for several awards that he got. i think he got 4 out of a possible 5. he also got the most outstanding marketing student award. geeez. the dude makes me look bad with my B+ average.

his family drove up for that weekend too. that's his youngest sister heather. she's 16 and 5'8"! they drove up in their 15 seater van to help paul move to his new apartment. and to buy his new. . .

very blue full-size couch! i'm so jealous. . .

i also just got back from the international zebrafish conference held in madison, wisconsin. it was 5 days of eating and listening to talks and eating and listening/napping to more talks and eating. also ran into shiela there. . .

i did do some work while there. this is my poster that i had to stand next to for 3 hours. wasn't too bad really because people were nice and didn't laugh and point and call me "silly girl with silly poster. . ." which is what i was fearing. . .

also, university of wisconsin is right next to a lake. a body of water! sure everyone says it's soooo cold there in the winter but it's summer and it was gorgeous! i want a lake in my campus too. . . oh and these are my labmates kristin and myron.

wisconsin is known for its dairy. here's shiela enjoying ice cream made right at the UW union. shie and i actually got obsessed with the painted cows scattered all over downtown madison. . .

the police cow

2 artsy cows

"pasture bedtime"

o the wondrous cows! made shie and i very happy. . . or was it all the food and ice cream we ate?

last and definitely not least, i got a new baby. . .

ain't it cute?. . . still getting used to using it but so far so good. 8 GB folks. beats the crap out of a nano in my opinion since it's about the same price as a 2GB nano. and did i meantion it was pink? love it!!!!

that's it folks. things have been good this past month. a little stressful but all ended well =)

random. . .

2006-05-15T23:40:00.000-04:00

paul got a job! yey! na-realize na ang potential maging sugar-daddy! hehe. pero seriously, sobrang answered prayer. thank you lord!
i'm on a diet. not yey. and i've been working out. i went twice this weekend. doesn't it suck that when you're on a diet, all you could think about is food? i'm sooooo cranky. . . kasi kulang sa kanin. which prompted paul to ask "couldn't you just exercise more and diet less?" yep, i'm that cranky i think i scared him. . .
speaking of this weekend, we got to go to the big free concert featuring teddy geiger (of love monkey fame. . . oooh. just typing that makes me seethe at cbs. . .) and jason mraz! it was great! mainly because it was free. free things are always good. anyway, i'll post pics later. that teddy geiger kid is one cutie patootie.

yun lang. 3 more weeks 'til end of this quarter!

how i come to (partly) own a $400 vacuum and other updates. . .

2006-04-30T23:15:00.000-04:00

i really just want to post some pics but i think this picture warrants some sort of explanation . that is paul and i in formal clothes. with a $400 vacuum between us which we like to call dyson (never loses suction. ever) believe it or not i (who my parents insists have a birthmark in an unfortunate place that dooms me to bad luck my entire life) finally won a prize in a raffle. and a rather nice one at that. well, technically, paul won it (this was at a formal dinner-dance thing at the college of business) since he purchased our tickets, but i was holding on to the winning ticket. now dyson and paul's dirt devil are both sitting in my living room, staring suspiciousl at each other. although dyson does it from inside its box since we can't even take it out of the box lest it decreases in value once we sell it on ebay. it's kind of ironic seeing a $400 vacuum sitting on a carpet that obviously hasn't been vacuumed for a while. This is another picture from the formal. i just think i look cuter in this one that's why i posted it.

also that weekend, paul ran a 5k at the college (which according to his classmates was to "cure" the boys and girls club of columbus. . . gets?) anyway, he did pretty well for someone who didn't really train much for it. he placed 50th in a pool of about 300 runners. i was mighty proud =)
next update is probably not obvious from this pic but apparently, i lost 4 lbs in the last 6 weeks. which makes it 6 lbs in the last 3 months. not bad for someone who's not even trying. my doctor actually said this is the lightest i've been since i started seeing her, which was about a year ago. so yey for not dieting and not exercising!

this weekend is our anniversary weekend! one year! can you imagine? typical though, that i have to work this weekend. again. for the third weekend in a row. bleagh. anyway, i'm making a scrapbook for him. which is not finished yet because, hey, i'm blogging. also, in case he's not too thrilled about that, i got him bruce springsteen's latest album and the one before, which if you know how terrified i was of bruce springsteen as a kid, seems like a very brave and sacrificial thing for me to have gotten him =) which is pretty good since i don't think sitting on my bum and ordering the cds in amazon hardly qualifies as a very demanding activity. this of course makes me anxious too about what he's getting me. i really don't want a repeat of the bill crosby debacle.

i think i stopped making sense five sentences ago. 'til next time then!

"what do ducks eat?" . . .and other scientific questions. . .

2006-03-29T12:53:00.000-05:00

had my first lab class as TA yesterday. OMG. that was exhausting. it's a 3 hour class for introductory biology for non-majors/people-who-are-not-at-all-interested-in-biology. My students were actually not bad in the sense that they sat there and stared at me like i was crazy but they did not say anything about it. i really don't blame them because i was so disorganized and all over the place. it also probably did not help that even before i tell them who i am i immediately go on to take their pictures with a digital camera (to paste on info cards) because the other class needed the camera too. anyhow, the first lab activity was pretty easy and fun, well as fun as a bio lab activity can be. it included a "field trip" to collect specimens. since it was a little rainy, i opted to not take them to the woods on the far side of the campus but we just ended up going to mirror lake (pond really, with ducks). i knew it was not a good sign when, as i was struggling with the key box that holds the key for the lab room, i turn around and all of my students were gone! so i had to run down 4 flights of stairs and out of the building!

anyway, the object of the activity was to collect as many specimens as possible, bring them back to the lab, and classify them according to what you observe. specimens include both plants and animals. some classifications that stood out were "green stuff" vs "creatures", plants vs animals vs insects, and my favorite, "dead" vs. "alive".

one question they had to answer was whether the specimen they collected was a producer or primay/secondary/tertiary consumer.
someone asked me "what do ducks eat?".
man, was i stumped. "bread?" i said.
"so what does that make them?" said the student
"well, where does bread come from?" was my next question,
"wheat?" piped in another student
"so does that make them primary consumers?" asked the first student
"er, yes?" said the smart TA.

ain't that the most genius scientific repartee' you have ever heard?!? man, am i good or what? "what" would be the right answer to that. . .

also, seeing that i'm very, very, bad with names, someone had the great idea of giving me 6 students named matthew (4 in one class, 2 in another). what are the chances of that happening? at least when in a bind, i could just go ahead and call any guy matthew and there would be close to a 1 in 3 chance that i'm right.

so there. a new chapter in my life. . . as a molder of the minds of this country's future. . . kawawang mga kano =) dito na ba magsisimula ang pagkokolonisa natin? hehehehehehe.

Happy flower day!

2006-03-20T11:48:00.000-05:00

apparently, that's what the first day of spring is called. . .

does anyone know what these are?

just curious. paul gave them to me last week. they're pink. and slightly strange. but still sweet.

he's in iowa now . . . =(

after a very long time. . .

2006-03-07T22:11:00.000-05:00

i bought shoes online. . . again. . . couldn't resist. . . i'd like to think of it as my end of quarter reward?. . .and i was doing so well with my spending. . .

2006-03-01T17:17:00.000-05:00

now i don't know how to put more than one picture in an entry. . . hmmmm. . . anyway here's a picture of the roses i got for coming back here. oddly enough, i didn't get any for valentine's. . . hmmmmm. . . i wonder why?. . . and you'll also see my christmas tree. . . my itty bitty tree that is being dwarfed by roses. . . poor tree. . .

2006-03-01T17:13:00.000-05:00

whoa. new picasa layout. uncharted territory. must tread carefully. how will this look like in my blog i wonder. in preparation for seeing kurt vonnegut tonight, i decided to upload some pics from my camera from after i got back here. all in all there were 8 pics. 3 were of the same thing. anyway, here's one from the cgsa winter retreat. notice how bad i look. i was fighting a cold all that weekend. much fun.

now to try this out. . .

am i really this entertaining?!?

2006-02-26T19:28:00.000-05:00

got this personality test from kaka's blog

apparently i'm an artisan, much like elvis, judy garland and liz taylor. . .

why must someone so entartaining have to learn how to write fake grant proposals? why? sure didn't say anything about being responsible. . .

thank you. thank you very much.

valentine's '06

2006-02-15T22:46:00.000-05:00

just got back from kroger's. it's the day after valentine's. and there are no chocolates on sale! this is soooo wrong!

anyway, first valentine's with the boyps went well. he got me a present. i did not return it. so he's happy. plus got him a scarf too.

so what did he get me? he got me a card. with a box of those necco sweetheart candies. really sweet. plus tickets to a tristan prettyman concert next wednesday. which funny enough was what i was thinking of getting for him too. but didn't because i was too cheap=). plus 4 tango lessons for both of us. . . he does get a whole lot of brownie points for that. we went to the first one tonight. i was a little worried at first because, paul's great and i love him but he's not the best dancer out there. we only danced for the first part of the lesson because they make you switch partners so i really didn't know how he was doing. at the end of the lesson, there was a "free dance" and the instructor danced with him. she said he was doing well! i was so proud. and he seems to be enjoying it too.

so that was valentine's 2006 for me. hope all of yours were as sweet. . . now to figure out where the chocolates are actually on sale. . .

fave vacation pics

2006-01-30T23:58:00.000-05:00

just some more pics from the trip home. thought i'd do it now while my neighbor is being generous with the wifi. enjoy.

p.s.
buhay pa kaya yung mga tuta?

2006-01-30T23:55:00.000-05:00

john(l) and yoko(r) (or paul and jona, depends on who you ask)

2006-01-30T23:54:00.000-05:00

mel's gig

2006-01-30T23:53:00.000-05:00

"we are family. .."

2006-01-30T23:52:00.000-05:00

photon pips and friends at mel's gig

2006-01-30T23:46:00.000-05:00

pang-postcard

2006-01-30T23:44:00.000-05:00

picha, picha, picha pie. . .

2006-01-30T23:41:00.000-05:00

"sa likod lang ho ang hawak"

2006-01-27T11:32:00.000-05:00

quick blog, just to let you all know that i'm still alive (all meaning my sister and whoever accidentally clicks on a link to me from other blogs). couldn't blog from my apartment because of lack of internet (greedy neighbor won't share wifi, how do they do that?) so i'm doing this in the office. got through my 880 presentation fabulously. finished it 30 minutes ahead of time because people didn't have any questions. . . because i presented the heck out of that paper! yeah, that's right. am now thinking of making paper presentations a career, because, man, i'm good =). . . anyway, thought this weekend would be a little more relaxing for me. . . turns out i'm doing lab meeting next week and have to present another paper. . . i guess word gets around that i'm that good =)=). . .

on other things, my luggage has finally been put away (after three years or so). i've almost run out of pastillas and dried mango. but things are still good with the corned beef and luncheon meat. i'm starting to walk faster again (because it's so darn cold) and i think i'm finally over the cold my last week at home. . .

that's about it. still haven't gotten around to posting pics from christmas. will do that soon when my dratted neighbor decides to be nice and share his/her internet. . .

2006-01-10T20:53:00.000-05:00

hmmmm. . . second blog of the day. . . still haven't had sleep since the last one. . . but i thought i might as well put my clock to rights and wait 'til my proper bedtime to get to sleep. . . hope i feel normal tomorrow. . .

anyway, just wanted to share this really sweet song. . . for christmas, paul gave me, among other things, a cd of songs that reminds him of me (awwwww). this song from the garden state soundtrack was track no. 7.

I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You
by Colin Hay Band

I drink good coffee every morning
Comes from a place thats far away
And when i'm done I feel like talking
Without you here there is less to say

Don't want you thinking I'm unhappy
What is closer to the truth
That if I lived til I was a hundred and two
I just don't think I'll ever get over you

No longer moved to drink strong whiskey
I shook the hand of time and I knew
That if I lived 'till I could no longer climb my stairs
I just don't think I'll ever get over you

A face that dances and it haunts me
With laughter still ringin in my ears
I still find pieces of your presence here
even, even after all these years

I don't want you thinkin that I don't get asked to dinner
Cuz I'm here to say that I sometimes do
And even though I may seem to feel a touch of love
I just don't think I'll ever get over you

If I lived til I was a hundred and two
I just don't think I'll ever get over you

awwww ulit. . . how sweet is that? . . . and i forgot to mention that when he picked me up from the airport, he had a pink rose waiting for me at the car ( he didn't bring it when he met me because he knew that i had 2 50+lb luggages and that it would most likely get crushed. . . he's not only sweet, but really smart too). when i got home, there were 2 more pink roses in a vase. . . he still does not understand why i like getting flowers, but he gives them anyway =). . .

it was really sad leaving home. . . but i'm also surprisingly glad to be back=) . . .

2005

2006-01-10T04:00:00.000-05:00

jetlag! aaaaarrrrgggghhhh. . . hate it, hate it, hate it. . . i should be at work in 5 hours. . . but i woke up at 3 this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. just had to have that queso de bola spread right now. so i did hoping it could help me sleep. so here i am. blogging at 4 am.

being awake at this time does not mean i am awake enough to write things that make sense . so i'm borrowing from ais's and jae's blog and trying to sum up the year 2005. . .

january

it's been 51hrs and 2 mins since i arrived here in columbus

february

i'm so sick and tired of being cold.

march

I'm done with my presentation!

april

finally got around to uploading pix from the indigo girls concert.

may

seeing as justine already "outed" me, i thought i might as well put in my two cents' worth. . . yes, yes, the seemingly impossible has happened. . . i am no longer single. you heard (read) me right, i, jona, have a boyfriend. . . i am not making this up.

june

alam kong na-sentihan kayong lahat sa huling post ko.

july

nothing new here really

august

so i haven't been blogging in a while

september

still alive. . . no internet in apartment. . . will blog soon. . .

october

delingkwenteng blogger na po ako

november

hehe. . . walang post

december

vacation time so brain not functioning

ok. so that sucked. apparently, nothing much happened from august to december. . . which is not true. hehe.

anyway, happy new year to you all! sana. . . makatulog na ako. . . ang labo.

boracay photo blog

2005-12-31T05:36:00.000-05:00

vacation time so brain not functioning. pictures are worth a thousand words so see for yourself how much fun and food we had in boracay!

2005-12-31T05:31:00.000-05:00

parents on the plane with unidentified person. . . our flight was the maiden voyage of this plane

2005-12-31T05:28:00.000-05:00

aklan welcome

2005-12-31T05:25:00.000-05:00

first view of the island

2005-12-31T05:22:00.000-05:00

lunch! yummmmm

2005-12-27T09:42:00.000-05:00

sis and i by sand castle. . . donation required

2005-12-27T09:38:00.000-05:00

can't get enough of this view

2005-12-27T09:31:00.000-05:00

i like this pic. . . you can almost hear the waves crashing

2005-12-27T09:28:00.000-05:00

pa-cute nga, magulo naman buhok

2005-12-27T09:25:00.000-05:00

slightly lopsided boracay sunset

2005-12-27T09:22:00.000-05:00

in front of the Red Coconut where we did not stay. . .

2005-12-27T09:17:00.000-05:00

my tattoo!!!

2005-12-27T09:15:00.000-05:00

sad to leave. . .

can you hear me?

2005-12-25T07:45:00.000-05:00

doesn't seem like it. . . but if you're there, hope you had, or are having, a wonderfully blessed Christmas, surrounded by people you love, and eating lots of good food. . .

and to YOU who aren't allowed to read this blog, hope your eye gets better and that you don't need to get surgery. . . and wish you were here. . .

2005-12-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

i'm back. . . and i'm home here in manila. . . and i've got pictures. . . i'm a nerd though coz i posted pictures in reverse chronological order! so scroll down first 'til you get to the last picture and work your way up and you'll see how my vacation has been so far. then come back up here and finish the rest of this post.

done? well, here's to fill in parts that weren't photographed. so i did get to justine's wedding on time, albeit a bit, no a lot jetlagged. and the dress fit for most part save the straps which i just snuck into the dress and then put a sweater over as you'll see from the pic.

my family's doing well and our house is completely decked out for the holidays, as usual, with a bright orange-themed christmas tree. it was nice spending time with my family and my cute nephews which i got to do a lot last week since i spent almost 4 days at home fighting the flu. it was kind of a bummer since there was a lot of shopping to be done. but i did make up for lost time once i got well. and will continue to do so 'til i fly out=)

saw friends from high school this weekend too which was fun. lots of gossiping and catching up. also got to go to church for our christmas fellowship and was extremely blessed by how my "kids" have not only continued but grown in serving the Lord and the church.

well, that's it for now. we're headed to boracay tomorrow! so excited. will most definitely post pics from that.

if i don't get to you before then; have a very merry christmas and an awesomely blessed new year to you!

2005-12-19T21:54:00.000-05:00

photon dinner

2005-12-19T21:01:00.000-05:00

korean superstah!. . . with kid's from church

2005-12-19T20:59:00.000-05:00

leeron and zeth rocking out with toddler's class singing "happy birthday Jesus!"

2005-12-19T20:56:00.000-05:00

leeron and zeth in church

2005-12-19T20:52:00.000-05:00

lunch out with folks and sis

2005-12-19T20:50:00.000-05:00

. . . at joan's condo

2005-12-19T20:48:00.000-05:00

out with the girls

2005-12-19T20:46:00.000-05:00

our christmas tree

2005-12-19T20:41:00.000-05:00

from justine's wedding

i got a B!!!!!

2005-10-27T16:18:00.000-04:00

in my neuroscience test! yey!

they actually sent our grades via e-mail. it was weird. the coordinator first e-mailed us that the mean was such and such and the range was from this to that. . . then a couple of minutes later, which gives you time to contemplate if you were the one with the lowest score in the range, you get your grade with the letter grade. . .. i'm sooooooo relieved i passed. . . . thank you Lord!

it's not yet 4:30pm and i'm already the last person in the lab. i really like this lab. we're also almost done moving into our new and bigger lab. so much space though = so much walking around. i could very well get half of my recommended 10,000 steps just doing my usual experiments. . . well ok, maybe not half, but i've sure walked a lot today.

it's about that time of the year again when i start complaining about the weather. the cold actually came much earlier this year than it did last year which is really depressing. it was 36 deg F when i left this morning! and we've been having highs in the 50s all week! it's really grey and miserable and as a result , i have been pretty grouchy all week (or pretty and grouchy. hehehe).

this entry is so disjointed. i apologize. i'll try to post pictures next time. those speak better for me than i do.

2005-10-21T16:16:00.000-04:00

2nd entry of the week? whoa. i can't believe it myself. but here it is. just had time to spare while stupid gel runs ever so slowly. while poor boyfriend is waiting for me to go to college of business social thing. i agreed to go because there is, surprise, free food. and the grad student in me just can't say no to that.

you may think i blog because of something exciting happening. well, you think wrong. except maybe for the fact that this morning has been the second class in a row that i haven't dosed off during my neuro class. . . yes, wonder of wonders. this is the 830-1030 class mind you. it may have something to do with the last long exam that scared me out of my wits. . . or maybe it was because the professor was cussing like crazy. . . it was the first time i heard cuss word during a lecture. . . about signal transduction. . . go figure. . . but that kept me awake. . . he was actually a pretty good lecturer. . . but he probably sed a** like five times and d**n at least once. really odd.

and then i did rt-pcr. with 18 samples. yey. exciting.

had lunch.

ran gel.

which brings us here.

gosh.

i am only good for one entry per, i don't know, 3 weeks?

well, til then =)

last beautiful fall day. . .

2005-10-19T12:37:00.000-04:00

or so it seems. . . it is just GORGEOUS outside today. the leaves are starting to change and the temp is somewhere in the 60s. but the weatherman says this will all end tomorrow. rainy and chilly. until april. . . sadness. . .

anyhow, it has been this beautiful all this last weekend til today. i would like to think this is nature's way of celebrating the time i was brought into this earth. but that might be a tad bit too egocentric of me to think so. so yes, a couple of days have passed since i turned 24. doesn't that just sound sooooooo old (sorry to other folks in their "early mid-twenties" and beyond). it feels just like yesterday when i thought that by 24, i'll be all mature and moneyed, wearing a suit to work and driving a car, maybe owning a home. . . ahhhhh, but that just isn't the case. mature? i don't think so. moneyed? definitely not. suit? i'm in jeans and sneakers today. car? i wish. home? i'm a renter. so there. i'm definitely not where i thought i would be. not that i'm complaining. a lot. maybe just a little.

i would've written about all this earlier, like maybe on my birthday. but i was way too stressed out that. stupid neuro test. but that's done. the day itself was pretty ok. got to talk to all the people who mattered. got a couple of cool gifts. shu gave me a bear that says "born to shop, forced to cook", which i think is soooo apt. leigh got me a gift card to urban outfitters (which i've already blown on a pair of slacks and shades. thanks leigh!). and the question that a lot of my friends asked me: what did paul get for me? hmmmm. . . that's actually a funny story. maybe i should start with what he didn't give me. he apparently got me tickets to see john legend live here in columbus. even joined the fanclub to get good seats. but that was not meant to be as the concert was moved on a wednesday. he has classes til 10pm on wednesdays. and that's the week before my 2nd long exam. so that didn't work out. so for my birthday, he made me a card and "pretend" tickets to. . . well, . . .bill cosby's show. . . you could probably sense the lack of enthusiasm on my part for that one. but i was like, ok, sounds like fun, thanks. . . he gave me the card before he went to class. and after he left, well, i got all dramatic and upset. talked to leigh about it and being the upfront and forthright person that she is, advised me to just tell him how i feel. so i did. i felt horrible, but i thought that would be better than me pretending to like bill cosby. i mean he's not bad, but i just can't see me in a bill cosby show. so paul's gift to me: an i owe you. i told him i could wait for when a good act comes to town and he could get me tickets. he felt bad at first i think. he said something about his first gift to me being rejected. . . well, it wasn't really rejected so much as. . . deferred. definitely not how i thought my first birthday with him would turn out. i'm ever so slightly disappointed but at least now i know his flaw: gift-giving.it's funny because he told me this story about his dad's first christmas gift to his mom after they got married was a vinyl carpet runner. and his mom cried and called her mom. so apparently, it runs in the family. but he did bake me a cake last saturday. and hung out with pinoys all weekend (claudine and hanna on saturday, justine and george on sunday). so he's been really nice. and he still makes me happy. and i better stop before this becomes a total sap-fest.

so the question i ask you all now is: did i do right? how else should i have reacted? bring 'em on.

2005-10-16T22:54:00.000-04:00

with birthday boy at the fire on the mile

2005-10-11T11:09:00.000-04:00

haha. just opened my dashboard and who comes into the office? my boss of course. great timing jona. i don't realy have much to do this morning in the lab =) really. had to go to an animal welfare training course thing and have to get to seminar in an hour. so i can't really start anything now can i? . . . excuses. . .

anyhow, i'm done with my presentation, which went well (thank you Lord!). the moderators said i did a "great job" which makes me really happy. although i don't know how often they tell people that. . . my favorite comment was from a student writing on the evaluation forms which said "ease up on the (laser) pointer. . ." hehe.

we also celebrated paul's birthday this saturday. . . well, it wasn't much of a celebration really, poor guy. i did make breakfast for him (chocolate chip pancakes which he loves. . . i swear i'm dating a 12 year old. . . not literally of course) and he helped me do my laundry. . . he's really great like that. . . i felt really bad for that but needed to wash my coats and sweaters and such because it's starting to get cold. . . we also went out for lunch (which i paid for). it was actually kind of freaky during lunch because as we were paying for the bill and getting ready to leave, the waiter wished us a good day and we said the same to him. then he was like "oh, it will be because it's my birthday!" so there was a little love shared there between the two birthday boys for a bit. and he mentioned how he has a bunch of friends celebrating their birthdays that weekend.incidentally, it was also christina's and ians birthdays that weekend. . . and then i mentioned that it was my birthday next monday and the guy was like "it's my daughter's birthday on monday!" plus it's also paul's brother's birthday last saturday, my dad's this thursday, his sister's on sunday . . . and the list goes on. how weird is that?

anyway, after that, paul had to study ( he's not just, like, 12 he's also dorky. . .=) then later that evening we went to the waterfire art installation at the scioto river downtown. I'll post pictures later. basically, someone put bonfires on floaters on a mile's stretch of the river. it was rather pretty with the cityscape in the background and all, if it were not so frigging cold! after that we went to see "serenity" which was a pretty good movie and you all should see it.

so that's how his birthday went. i still think that was a much better day than how mine will be. i have a test on my birthday, lucky me. at 830 in the morning too. what fun.

2005-10-02T18:40:00.000-04:00

delingkwenteng blogger na po ako. patawad. been pretty busy, what with classes starting and all. aaaarrrrgggghhhh. classes. di lang nagkaklase nung summer nanibago na ulit. and it doesn't help that the class i'm taking is MWF 830am - 1030am. . . noooooooo. . . i'm a grad student! sanay sa gising na alas-otso. this is just not right. . .

i'm also having my 2nd year presentation thursday this week. paper presentation for one hour. i've been working on it for a while pero i still haven't practiced it. everytime i look through my slides, i end up adding more and more slides. now i'm up to 48 slides. yey. mabilis naman ako magsalita e so i'll probably get through the whole thing in half an hour. . . pero scared pa rin ako. i'm soooooo bad at answering questions. my mind goes blank and i start to giggle. very un-scientist-like. i usually get through the actual presentation pretty well and then somebody asks me a question and . . . bleagh. . . ewan ko ba. hope it doesn't happen this time. pagdasal niyo ako please.

birthday's coming up in a couple of weeks (hint hint). tatanda na naman ako. pero mauna muna ang fafa. next weekend siya (8th). i was a bit worried about what to get for him kasi ano ba naman experience ko sa mga bagay-bagay na ganun. pero i've bought him his present na. he better like it. hehe. bad trip pa pala sa birthday ko may midterm ako. ang saya-saya. oh well.

o siya. i better get back to practicing my presentation. . . how exciting.

pic posting frenzy

2005-09-17T20:51:00.000-04:00

just had some photos from the past month that i thought i'd post. . . enjoy!

2005-09-17T19:54:00.000-04:00

from the meet the folks weekend - - - (left to right) leigh, kev, greg, marilee, paul, me. . . in front of glass sculptures by a famous glass. . . er. . sculptor. . . knowledgeable, i am.

2005-09-17T19:51:00.000-04:00

home . . for two nights anyway. . .

2005-09-17T19:50:00.000-04:00

i camped. . . really! the hello kitty pillow can attest to that!

2005-09-17T19:49:00.000-04:00

girls in the (fake) beach

2005-09-17T19:47:00.000-04:00

happy camper!

2005-09-17T19:46:00.000-04:00

ang cute! (ng llama)

2005-09-17T19:43:00.000-04:00

curious baby llama =)

2005-09-17T19:42:00.000-04:00

kelangan ng proactiv!

not soon enough. . .

2005-09-16T15:01:00.000-04:00

ok. so it wasn't soon. . . it was more. . . eventually. . . i totally understand if you all don't read my blog anymore . . . (nag-drama). . .

still no internet in my apartment. i've actually resorted to sitting on the steps to my building where i could get a signal. i'm just too cheap to go to the cafe place and buy coffee so i could get internet. been getting strange stares though so i don't really stay there for long. . . anyhow, the past couple of weeks or so have been pretty boring. i've mainly been working and not much else. hanna (mbb 99) came here last week so that was pretty exciting. helped her settle into her apartment and all that. it was fun. i'm so happy i have someone to say 'ang taray' to. . . or 'kebs'. . . or 'wagi'. . . at iba pang salitang bakla. . . hehe.

this week was mostly spent in the TA training seminar. tuesday to thursday. 9-4. all day. ano bang ginawa ko at pinarusahan ako ng ganun? hehe. . . actually, nag-half day pala ako kahapon. . hehe. . . delingkwente

paul has moved back to columbus pala. . . and left again. . . for iowa this time. pero for 4 days lang. . .

and school starts next week. ang saya-saya.

2005-09-04T16:13:00.000-04:00

still alive. . . no internet in apartment. . . will blog soon. . .

post na talaga

2005-08-17T23:14:00.000-04:00

so i haven't been blogging in a while. even i think photo-blogging does not count as blogging. so here i am.

i have cable again! for a month at least. got another one of those try-it-for-free-for-a-month deals from time-warner. i was more than happy to oblige. i seem to be favoring E channel today. saw top 50 hollywood breakups, but in true tv addict fashion, didn't see who was no.1. . . because i was channel surfing. . . am now watching old SNL episodes with will ferrel and chris kattan as mango. . . funny stuff. . . but i stupidly missed the rockstar:inxs results show. aaaarrrggh! that's the trouble with having too many channels. . . but did you guys see mig's performance last night? wasn't that great! i never really liked that song but the way he sang that. . . ooohhh. . . so sexy. . . so i voted form him thrice!

saw phantom this weekend. it was gorgeous! even if we had cheap, nose-bleed seats so far from the stage that i wouldn't have recognized any of the actors had any of them fallen out of the sky and onto my lap, we were that far. first of all, ohio theatre itself is beautiful. it's an old theater with really fancy gold trimmings and chandeliers and stuff. feeling taga-bundok talaga ako nung pumasok ako dun. then of course, the guy who played phantom was really good, i liked him better than the phantom in the movie. also the sets and the costumes were so rich. sulit ba sa bayad. and of course i so love the music from phantom. i cried twice =) once during the rooftop scene where christine and raoul sing 'all i ask of you' (during which paul reached over and took my hand. . . awww sweet. . . insert puking sound here), and towards the ending. i still think the whole story of phantom is psychotic but they tell it with such beautiful songs that i don't really care.

speaking of paul, his folks are coming to town this weekend. scared! i'm kind of nervous about it. i'm just scared of doing or saying something stupid. should i really be this worried? is there really anything i should be worried about? if there is you'll tell me right?

sige. 'til next time.