Calmness Returns...

Let's see-from Wednesday on, I had no visitors, no social plans, but a lot of work to do at the lab. I was happy when Friday hit. I rented another cheesy movie to relax-the Pacifier with Vin Diesel. It was funny but bad at the same time. I also proceeded to eat macaroni and cheese and a huge bag of cheddar cheese popcorn! Definitely a junk food night. The rest of the weekend I have spent writing, working on figures for the Arizona papers. The handyman was over at my house all afternoon yesterday trying to fix my oven still. I waited a month and a half to get a part in and it doesn't seem to work still so either the landlord buys me a new oven or I just use my top oven which is small. The whole thing has been a pain in my ass and I already spent 130 bucks of my own money. My landlord at Linden would have easily taken care of this for me so I do miss how nice they were. Well, oven or no oven, I am still going to have a housewarming party probably at the end of the month. Meanwhile, I used my grill twice this week-once when Dan and Esa came, we made grilled corn, veggies (eggplant and onions), and veggie burgers and they all turned out yummy. It was so pleasant to sit on my patio and enjoy the fresh air and grill. It's a charcoal grill and I use a charcoal chimney to heat up the coals. I used the grill for a second time tonight by myself and again, it worked well. I found a new place to do some work and get out of my house. I went to this coffee cafe near my house today-called the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf or Beanery and Tea Leaf-it's pleasant, wooden tables, nice staff, I plunked myself down and did work for a long time. So tonight, I have the evening free, and have just been sitting on my patio reading the LA Times. It will be a quiet week.

Julie

soccer legs

Whew-what a crazy busy week. At work this week, I tried to do a million things at once, multitasking like crazy and trying to supervise a pair of undergrads. I felt like I accomplished alot but there is still more to do. I still felt like I was in a crappy mood but my mood neutralized by the end of the week. On Friday, to decrease my stress, I had to make lists of things still to do and questions to ask my boss tomorrow who was out of town this past week. We have lab mtg first thing tomorrow at 10am. And I have to find a "bird article" for next Monday's lab mtg as it will be my turn to present. I also made a trip down to Anaheim (home of Disneyland) to deliver some birds to a bird farm and on the way there, took a circuitous route through Irvine. Not my intention!

So, last weekend was my vegging, solitary reading weekend. This weekend was the social one-a lot of visitors in town. On Friday night, I had dinner with some friends and friends' family at a luxurious hotel down in Santa Monica. I had some lovely halibut fish and mashed potatoes. Then, on Saturday morning I had breakfast with some old friends of my brother's, Meghan and Drew, who live in Philadelphia and were visiting LA on vacation. Drew is a wonderful example of a former research scientist (has his PhD) who loves teaching and has taught high school biology for years. He has designed specialized courses like molecular biology, anatomy and physiology, for his high school students which is amazing b/c normally in high school you take straight biology. He has even designed interesting labs for them. Meghan works in the art field doing a lot of fundraising for museums. Anyways, Drew and I talked science stuff, it must have been at least 6-7 years since I saw them. I do find the idea of teaching high school biology appealing and haven't ruled it out-we'll see what the future holds. My high school biology teachers really inspired me to pursue it so I feel very grateful for their mentoring.

Okay, well then some friends of Drew's had an extra ticket to a men's professional soccer match at the Home Depot Center in Carson City. DC United played LA Galaxy. I have never been to a match before-I really liked it although it's frustrating because no one scored until the last few minutes when DC United's youngest player shot an amazing goal. I have to admit that since we were sitting right behind the goal, I did duck a few times, they hit that ball hard, but a lot of them use their heads and it makes me worry about possible brain damage. I did read an article some time ago that found that young kids that head butt soccer balls are at risk for brain damage. Okay-it's my scientist side. It was pretty damn hot out too. Well, I liked it but I still prefer UA Men's bball games-they're faster-paced. Of course, starting last spring I became obsessed with the Wildcat games, (thanks to a close Tucson friend of mine).
Okay, I digress...on our way home, we all got a donut from the famous Randy's Donut chain. I didn't think they were that good but then, I only eat donuts like once a year. Oh yeah, their friends both work for the Teach for America program-which places teachers in rural and economically disadvantaged schools for two years. So, if someone out there is looking to try something different....it's an opportunity to make a difference in a kid's life, go somewhere you haven't lived before, and challenge yourself...see the website:
http://www.teachforamerica.org/flash_movie.html

Sat. night I just pooped out-started to re-read Harry Potter-I am all out of books to read, will have to hit the library again. Oh yeah, talk about friendly neighbors- some guy walking his dog saw my t-shirt which said Wellesley College and said-hey, that's funny-did you go there and you now live on Wellesley Avenue...smart guy.

Then today, I enjoyed the company of another Tucson visitor-our friend Taryn-my 2nd Tucson friend to see my place. Taryn and I had breakfast down on the Santa Monica promenade at a cool cafe with outdoor seating then we strolled around and caught up. I drove her around SM a bit. Then she took off and I proceeded to do glorious bird duty. I also managed to lose my car-that is I forgot where I parked it-in some back streets behind UCLA where you don't need a permit. Well, I found the car and also discovered that I need a new pair of glasses soon as one lens popped out.

Well, tonight I am pooped, will go to bed early and get up early to workout then prepare for a busy workweek. Tomorrow night I am going to join a new gal pal who works on birds down at USC and my labmates for dinner at a new place, Cafe Montana. It's in a section of town near Brentwood (you know, where Jennifer Garner of Alias lives...) and has some ritzy shops, cute cafes, I live it. Also, some of my old Tucson Linden neighbors, Dan and Esa, will be coming through town on Tuesday so I plan to fire up my grill for the first time. We'll see-I am a little nervous about grilling in the absence of experienced grillers.

So, no time this weekend to work on my Arizona paper edits, that will have to be fit in during the week. I had a nice hiatus for a while though.

Julie

a normal weekend...well almost...

Let's see- so this week at work was extremely busy-I had to run an immunocytochemistry experiment with some undergrads and it took us all week-first we had a practice run and then a real run based on brain sections that had been gathered over many months by some former undergrads in our lab. So, of course I was nervous about making certain that everything went okay but it made me tense all week. By Friday, I was utterly exhausted so I wrapped things up and left in the late afternoon to go home and do laundry, relax, and prepare for my workfree weekend. I didn't even have the energy to stay late at work and go to this postdoc happy hour-which I felt a little bit guilty about b/c I haven't really socialized much with people outside my lab at work, incl other postdocs. But after the week that I had, there was no way that I could stay at work till 7pm.

This weekend was absolutely rejuvenating. I didn't set my alarm clock either day and on Sat, went to pick up my pre-ordered copy of Harry Potter at Borders. Apparently, there were hundreds of people there the night before at midnite but I am not that obsessive. I did however have to restrain myself from buying other books including John Irving's new novel. He is the author of The World According to Garp, Cider House Rules, he's one of my favortite authors, right up there with Wallace Stegner, Richard Russo, and Russell Banks. Although lately I have been reading a lot of female authors incl Jodi Picoult and Elizabeth Berg. Well, some poor woman at Borders with her kid didn't do a pre-order and so those without preorders have to wait until Monday to pick up their books-I felt bad for her but not bad enough to give up my copy! Okay, so I then came home, went down to the beach and spent a few happy hours reading Potter, then on my walk home (about 40 min, 3 miles), I stopped in at the branch library, got a card, and picked up some more books. The Potter book is really good of course, and except for a trip to the airport to pick up a friend, I spent all night reading it, finished it at 1am, whoah. Oh yeah, I also read another book for our book group, Eva Moves the Furniture- wasn't too into that one, it was okay.

This morning I finally explored LA a bit more-drove down Wilshire Blvd all the way through Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Bev Hills is much closer to me than I imagined-about a 15 min drive from Santa Monica. It was pleasant-not too much traffic, I checked out Little Ethiopia and several blocks of Jewish culture and shops-an area called Fairfax Avenue. I came home, ducked into a little French cafe near my house, got a cookie, and hunkered down and read like a fiend again-a suspenseful book called The Rule of Four which has a big historical bent to it. Earlier in the week I had finished The Historian- all about the legend of vampires and about some historians pursuing the truth- I highly recommend it. So, I have been enjoying being completely lazy this weekend. But then this workweek will be hellish-have to do another big experimental run and a million other things, feeling the pressure of some deadlines...

Oh yeah- and this weekend would have been completely normal except for a couple of weird things as usual- and I am not talking about toilets outside my door. I heard the sound of my outside hose running this afternoon-a homeless woman was using it to brush her teeth and clean her clothes. I didn't really know what to do but after a while, she finished and walked with her cart off somewhere. Yeah, then my neighbor Jesse who I have neglected to mention-he's a good soul who makes bad decisions, well I have talked to him on my way out this weekend on errands a few times, he is extremly paranoid and keeps on imagining that people aren't what they seem. He told me that our neighbor who works in real estate doesn't really "work in real estate" b/c of some phone conversation he heard. Man, I just roll my eyes and tell him that he's imagining things. Yeah-odd neighbors but it makes life interesting. Apparently, I have a new next door neighbor too with a dog but I have yet to meet her.

I actually let the weekend go by without purchasing any entertainment rags. I am sure the lab will be disappointed. I have just been reading so much-have to make up for all those weeks I wasn't reading!

Julie

Weird weeks & an unexpected reprieve

Well, I spent this past week at work chatting a lot-to my boss about scientific ideas and random things like the tenure process (she comes up for tenure in a year and a half) and also working on Arizona papers. I was in a pissy emotional mood too -not sure why. It was one of those "wanting to get out of town" weeks but I had just been in Tucson so that doesn't make much sense. Anyways, on Thursday I found out that I was going to have the spend the weekend in the lab watching our undergrads run an experiment because they are both leaving and I can't start my experiment until we have our results from theirs. So, my mood got worse, the last time I worked weekends was when I was close to finishing my dissertation. I try to avoid it because it just doesn't make you feel healthy. I did however manage to feel not guilty working on my papers at the lab with my boss's okay of course. So, I wrote for hours on end. The good news is that I got a reprieve, ended up having to go into the lab for only one hour on Saturday, and spent most of that day finishing the papers, mailed them off to Arizona, and felt reborn. I then proceeded to spend a lot of money-went to Cost Plus, bought a little tabletop wine rack b/c I have discovered that I like looking at wine bottles, also went to Home Depot and bought soil, pots, and grill tools. My boss game me her old characoal grill but I have yet to use it- I feel like I need company to do that. I am a little gun shy doing it on my own. Well, then I came home, proceeded to repot my plants-they have been looking really sad lately especially my hydrangea. So maybe this will do the trick. I also picked up a few other flowers-just because I liked how they looked. A few years ago I would never have guessed that I would turn into a little garden nut-I have my Linden neighbors to thank for that. Well, after all of that, I decided to clean my house -scrubbed, swept, etc it felt great. I knew then that I could enjoy my Sunday. So sure enough, got up this morning, went and worked out (bike and treadmill!), then went to see the movie Bewitched. It was great and funny-I loved the old series too. It was just me and two other people in the theater. I also hit Borders and went crazy-bought 3 books, hardcover even. I just finished one now-My Friend Leonard by James Frey- the author of A Million Little Pieces-one of the must gut-wrenching memoirs I have ever read- I recommend it highly, our book group read it and gave it high ratings. It feels good to see a movie and read for long stretches of time. I have been so wiped out lately by working and also writing. Tonight, I sat in my backyard and lit a candle and watched the sun go down. One of those Sundays when you are so calm that you don't want to go into work the next day.....

Tucson weekend!

It's July 4th and I have been vegging out all day after arriving back from Tucson this morning. I even needed to take a nap! Rented a DVD to watch-Flight of the Phoenix with Dennis Quaid-a decent action movie but a bit unrealistic. Anyways, my flight on Fri. got in late, but still early enough to experience the hot Tucson weather-ha! and go with some friends to my favorite bar in Tucson, Kingfisher, and have a few glasses of wine. Well, I drink so little these days in LA that I have no tolerance so I was very buzzed, which kept me up at night and so I was pretty comatose on Sat. as were my companions. I did manage to go and close my Bank 1 account and receive a check for 94 bucks which will rapidly be drained from my account here! So, I sat on the porch at Linden place (tried to peep in at my old house but without success, didn't meet its new occupant) most of the day until book group. It was pleasant just to sit and do nothing. Book group of course was fabulous-we had a lively discussion of Kite Runner (got a high rating, 7.6 out of 10), a nice meal, and a lot of laughter. It was decided that book group will come to LA in September to visit and we will have a double book discussion-The Archivist and Eva Moves the Furniture. Perhaps a discussion on the beach? Anyways, I was so tired on Sat nite that my host and I went to bed early, woke up on Sunday, went for a long bike ride -yes I have to leave Tucson to be willing to get excited about being on a bike, hahah, maybe b/c Tucson seems tame now in comparison to LA?....biking in Tucson is so much easier than driving a car in LA traffic...
Well, then I went into my old lab for a few hours, had a nice chat with Rick, and went through some data- it didn't feel too weird to be there andI definitely don't want to turn back time and be a graduate student again. Then, later on Sunday, we had a big ole' bbq at Linden place so it was nice to see friends although sorry to have missed those of you who were out of town. It did feel like old times and once again, I ate so much that I felt bloated! It was a busy weekend but it felt good to be there and not too weird. I do feel like LA is my home now but it is nice to go back and visit Tucson. Thank you to my Linden neighbor hosts-I love you guys!

Well, back to reality tomorrow and work!

Julie