weekend post-trauma extravaganza

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. . .

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!

. . . 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

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

impending doom

. . . 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. . .

. . . 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

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

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!

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

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)

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

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. . .

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!!!

joint account

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

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

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

. . . 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:

1. 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.
   
2. i can go to bars/clubs without having to bring my passport
3. 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

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?

. . . 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. . . .

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