Almost Feb....

Well I know that I have been MIA from my blog as of late but really, it has more to do with my lack of anything exciting to say-no visitors (although a college friend and my cousin will be coming thru town in a few weeks), just work, work, work. Since my b-day, I have been pushing hard in the lab over the last few weeks so that I could get some data finally and put it in my talk which happened on Friday. My 2nd talk at UCLA which went well but I certainly, had a lot of tough questions. In the old days, I used to have the luxury of a week to practice the talk, given my recent schedule, it was 1 day so the end results was that I winged it a bit, but at least it didn't come out too forced. I had a lot of questions and although I did feel grilled, I handled it alot better than my old grad student days. My boss and I went for a glass of wine after and I got seriously buzzed. It's been really interesting to watch her go through the pre-tenure process and find out what they expect. Other faculty give me tips too-like about keeping a notebook to write a list of ideas for projects as I think of them -projects which potentially could be rotation projects for students. Other people have told me to start looking for jobs in a year from now-yikes! But considering that come May, I will have been here for a year, it seems wise.

Now, I am trying to get back to working on my paper revisions so that I can resubmit my Arizona paper and finally get something published. It has been virtually impossible to work on it because I have been putting in 12 hour days but this week should be a lighter week. One of the undergrads asked me to write a letter of recommendation for her-my first official one-and so I am nervous about doing a good job and also touched that she asked me. It's really one of the only times where I get to use that 'Dr" in front of my name.
On the social front, I have just been hanging out with work friends-we went to a weird Asian fusion place one night near campus-you basically place your order using a touch screen on a little ipod like device. They also had a big screen which played kung fu movies. Nice place but not great food. I've also been watching alot more bball and some people will gasp-football. I actually sat and watched football at a friend's house who has a gigantic tv and it's HDTV-oh my god, amazing, the clarity (sidenote to Natalie-it's good stuff!). Yeah-well, people explained the rules to me and I started to get it. And yes, I will be going to a superbowl party at the same place next weekend and I may actually watch it. I am sure people are chuckling b/c how many years did I not watch it in Tucson? I find it funny that whenever I watch sports, it makes me want to play them. Most recently, I have been trying to find partners to play tennis again (Caroline--any tennis in Hawaii?).

I've been out on a few dates here and there but nothing too exciting-pleasant people but my mindset is just not there. I will say that the pool of available, single men in LA is huge, huge compared to Tucson, there's so many people out there.

Hmmm, well I have done some reading lately-read a great book called Max Tivoli (thanks Amanda), about a boy born physically looking like an old man and then he ages backwards. The last movie that I saw was either The Family Stone or Narnia, both of which I liked but the Stone was depressing. I haven't really paid too much attention to Hollywood stuff here (gasp) nor seen anyone famous lately although apparently, there is something called the Independent Spirit Awards that's held the day before the Oscars on Santa Monica beach. Votes are from the acting community. So I will probably check it out.

I have yet to ride my used bike around-laziness and weather. Today is sunny though but I am trying to be good and work inside. All my plants are dead-they did last a long time though...still the weather has been nice, 70s and such.

Julie

Now it's Official...

Hmm, So last time I wrote a blog entry, I had just got back from DC. Well, the weeks have gone by quickly, I have just been working, trying not to stress out over all of my lab work, having to work on Arizona paper revisions, having to give another talk at the end of this month, uh-what else?
I had a great birthday-went out for dinner and drinks with a bunch of work friends last Friday, laughed alot, told stories, and didn't get home until 2am. I was just pooped on Sat from it so I just mustered energy to watch the basketball game and tv, hah, I do enjoy going to bars and watching games by myself-people tend to chat with you more, just casual conversation.

So yeah, nothing else too exciting-I did get some book gift cards for my b-day from family so I am looking forward to hitting the bookstore-I did just read a fun book called Max Tivoli-about a character born into an old boy who ages but physically regresses. Fun and interesting.

This weekend will be a working weekend-I need to start preparing my work talk, also work on some paper revisions, hopefully take a break and cruise down to the beach. The weather has been warm so I actually walked out of the house in shorts today.

Julie

31 soon...

I had a great time in DC visiting my brother-we reverted back to our childhood states of sleeping 12 hour days, eating at weird times, watching tv (although we didn't fight over the remote), and seeing movies (Munich-very good). It was very relaxing. For New Year's we went to his friend's house for a get-together-stayed up til 2am and saw the ball drop, nice and mellow.
We also had a wonderful brunch and reunion at my friend Holly's house in MD whom I hadn't seen in a few years. It was very pleasant to walk in the city-we took my brother's dog Liu for walks in the park-I am a proud aunt and I swear, Liu seems to recognize that I am family. See the photo of Liu pulling my hair. The weather was pleasant-50s. The area near my brother where I used to live has changed somewhat-gotten more commercial-one of the old Deli's is closing and that's a little sad-I couldn't bear to walk in there. I used to get bagels and stuff in there and talk to the owner-a nice old Jewish man who died last spring.

The flight back was really long,although I had a nice seatmate whom I chatted with and I constantly listened to the pilots chatter on my headset cause I get all freaky when I fly in turbulence. So I was happy to get home. Although now I have a huge amount of work to do, experiments, and revisions on my Arizona manuscript, and starting next week, I have to take a class-yup, that's right, b/c I am on a training grant, it's a requirement to take this neuroendocrinology course which meets 4 hours a week. I thought that I would be done with school. Ugh.

So my birthday is this Friday and I turn 31-yikes-couldn't see that coming, I don't feel mature enough to be 31-ha! I am trying to organize a dinner or party with friends for Fri nite so that should be fun. Meanwhile, there's a few Arizona bball games coming up-UCLA and USC vs. Arizona so I will actually get to go to a bar and see it on tv! Yipee!

Okay-here is a link to my album of DC photos-
You're invited to view these photos online at Kodak Easyshare Gallery!
Just click on View Photos to get started.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=s1ndvt3.200d24gv&x=0&y=-9lgfst