Interesting conversations & Hollywood notes

Allright, lots to say and I may fall asleep shortly. First off, I spotted a movie star today as I waited for a friend outside a shoe store in Santa Monica. Aaron Eckhart passed right by me-he's a guy who played Julia Roberts' biker boy in Erin Brokavich, also in that movie with Gwyntheth Paltrow called Posession, and then that sci fi movie, The Core. Here's a link to a site for him. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001173/

Yeah-well he looked totally normal and blended into the crowd. Then, I just found out that my next door neighbor acts as an extra in movies and so has worked with a bunch of them famous people-she filmed a scene with Jennifer Aniston not too long ago, around the time of Brad and Jen's separation announcement, for this film Rumor Has It. She says that Aniston is beautiful is person, meanwhile, my neighbor was perusing "W" magazine while sitting in a Bev Hills hair salon, and she is reading an interview with Kirsten Dunst and discovers that she happens to be sitting right next to her-surreal. Well, my neighbor and I got to know each other better tonight-we had an impromtu grilling session-corn, veggie burgers, grilled onions. We were just talking about our background, our lives, she worked as a bartender for years (you can make a shitload of money) then made enough money to get into real-estate and buy houses, now she's back to finishing her education. She has the cutest black lab named Tatum. So, it was cool-it felt like being in Arizona almost, sitting on the patio, grilling and chilling.

In other news, I have finally gone shopping for new clothes-I have done away with some of my grandma clothes and am picking up a bit more style-maybe an LA influence? I went shopping at the mall with my lab pals and bought a lot of new stuff, went shopping today too, got new shoes, just a new wardrobe. Part of it is that LA has a different climate than Arizona-so I wear shorts and t-shirt less, also I think that I have been unintentionally losing more weight cause I am running around more in the lab and doing more cardio. So, I actually needed to go down a size in jeans and just felt like getting more style. Even my labmates are stylish, so I am definitely being influenced. I did realize that I feel better when I dress better-I was so used to Tucson casual for so long.

My work-week was okay, a bit stressful trying to get a lot done. My boss is out of town for two weeks so I had to meet with her repeatedly on stuff and come up with a game plan on what I have to do. Meanwhile, Friday afternoon hit and I just wanted to book out of there. So I went to happy hour at Westwood's Brew Co and met this same group of international postdocs from the previous week. We had a blast-I was laughing so hard at times. It was a real mix of countries-2 Americans, 2 Canadians, 2 Aussies, an English, a Greek, an Irishman whose stories revolve around drinking and falling off his barstool, meanwhile my margarita was so disgusting-I had ordered it without salt and it came full of it-even in the damn drink, so I start taking the salt off, get it on the table, and then the English guy starts making a US map out of salt. Hilarious. We had all sorts of random discussions, it reminded me of my days after class in Scotland back in college where would all go to the pub and hang out. It makes me want to travel again.

Well, we were all there for 5 hours-unbelievable, so I was pretty pooped when I came home. Today I did shopping, worked out, then had dinner with my neighbor, tomorrow should be a calm day. I have started feeling adventurous in the last week-decided to start dating again-so have been hanging out/talking with a few guys, just seeing how things go. It's been a year since I have been out on any dates and I had no desire to before, but now I feel ready. It definitely puts me in a positive mood but it takes a goddamn amount of emotional energy. So, this week will be busy in other words, and I am also scheduled to go to a Goth concert (long story) with my labmate and her boyfriend on Tues night at the Roxy-which is actually on Sunset Blvd so I might spot some stars!

Yeah-so been too busy to watch movies, tv, or read although I did finish a book by Haruki Murakami. Managed to do my bills this morning, catch up on all of my un-read newspapers, etc.

Yeah-so LA had an electricity blackout earlier this week-our bldg lost power and it was interesting-we were worried about losing precious samples. Turns out that some stupid employee cut a wrong cable but that totally caused most of LA to lose power! Well then people have been talking about earthquakes-we are supposed to have one-a big one-within the next 4 years, I hadn't really given it much thought but some people are stocking up and I might just put an emergency packet together.

Julie

Getting Up Early Ain't Easy

Allright, well I have been so tired lately between work and everything else that I had to force myself to get up early this morning so I could go workout which I have yet to do because I am still waking up. I had the most bizarre dream too-about applying for some permit or something and having to show this lady proof of my life-where I have lived, etc maybe it was because friends of mine have to go through security checks, I have no clue.
I barely had the energy to do laundry last night, this weekend I wanted to sleep in but woke up at 7:30am, hmmmm. Let's see- so last week was a more normal work week, my boss and I are getting along well despite a third head-butting incident the week before over going to this conference, but it also helps that I am just busy all day long. Although on Friday I got to the point where I was so frazzled with my experiments, that I was like-shit, I am going to happy hour. The postdoc society on campus organizes happy hours-this was at chili's. I actually had a great time-I expected it would be awkward just hanging out with a bunch of strangers but it was fun-it helped that I had a margarita! Also chowed down on some fish and chips but it was not good-kinda greasy, not like kingfisher. Well, at my table was an international bunch-Ireland, Australia, England, and just a great fun bunch of people. I got to talk about my Scotland days cause one of the guys did his PhD there. Yeah, we were also talking about how dating culture to them seems different in the US-meaning how here if a guy asks a girl out for a drink, it means a date whereas abroad, it doesn't necessarily mean that, it's way more casual. It reminds me of what my Norwegian friend Geir said to me when we went out for the first time in Scotland-kinda the same thing, I was a little anxious about it being a date but he was asking out a potential friend. Just to hang out, ya know? Well of course those waters got muddier later on-wink, wink, but then, I was 21 then. Ha! Anyways, we all had such a good time that we exchanged emails and are meeting for coffee at this cafe on campus on Wed. I forgot how good it is to just do something social after a long day of work.
On Saturday, I had bird duty and work for a few hours, ran errands, bought a book and vegged on Sat nite, on Sunday I had a bunch of Wellesley ladies over -for this service event to knit caps for preemie babies. I have no idea how to knit but I did learn-it was kinda absorbing. Except this was an odd bunch of ladies-they all seemed socially awkward and insecure, although one of the ladies had some interesting stories to tell-she was Hillary Clinton's roommate at Wellesley.

Well this week at work is not too crazy yet, more later on recent events.

Julie

Barely Awake...

Allright, so my new post is late. I plead tiredness. Two weekends ago I spent part of the weekend preparing for my first house party. It went well-most of the people who came were from my lab so ended up with between 15-20 people total. I did invite my neighbors too but none of them could really make it. But lately I have been talking to them a lot-it's such a friendly neighborhood-one of my neighbor's kids set up a lemonade stand with donations given to the hurricane victims.
And my other neighbor Chuck got carted away in an ambulance one night-turns out he had pneumonia-I know how that feels. My other neighbor Mark, who acts in soaps (no, no idea which ones), got a part in this new Kelly Clarkson video, pretty cool.
Well, I digress, for the party, I did a lot of cooking-made lasanga, Asian noodle salad, green salad, people brought dessert and some things to grill. I have to admit there was some science talk but also interesting discussions such as male vs. female drivers. I ended up with a full case of beer left and as most of you know, I don't drink beer, so it will be in my fridge for a while.
So, I was happy but tired after my party. Then, I worked like 60 hours the following week-learning how to run Western blots. I worked pretty much 12 straight hours each day and although it made me tired, I felt energized-to be learning new techniques and getting results.
I had a second head-butting incident with the boss which was worse than the first and I spent part of this weekend agonizing over it but I am learning to just let it roll off my shoulders and focus on my research. There is a certain amount of pressure to get data because our project is competitive so my stress level as a postdoc is certainly higher.

Hmm, so this weekend, in honor of my hard work week, I decided to veg a lot. I walked around the beach, bought Rufus Wainwright's CD, strolled around the Santa Monica shops, and watched marathon episodes of Nip/Tuck, the 2nd season just came out on video, it's an addiction for me. Yeah-so I ate a ton of junk food and watched it. I did try to look for a book at the bookstore but no luck-I don't seem to have the patience to read. Just magazines and newspapers but lately I have been so tired when I get home, that I can't even do that. My sleep patterns have been off though b/c I have been working so much.

This week has been really busy so far but not as long hours as last week. I am also trying to balance my work with being more social-tonight I went out to dinner at a cute Italian place in Brentwood (you know where OJ simpson lives) with a gal pal, so nice to bitch and relax, going to try to go to this postdoc happy hour on Fri night in UCLA, and then on Sat/Sunday, will be meeting some of my fellow Wellesley alums living in LA. In fact (Taryn you will chuckle on this), on Sunday I am hosting an event at my house-it's service day across the country, and the LA alums are going to be knitting caps for preemie babies. So, yeah-I will have a knitting circle at my house. Why not! Just have to clean the place first.

Julie