Lots of Happenings...Movie Star Sightings...Charmed...Oregon visit

First photo is actor Vince Vaughn's signature on a research paper from our lab, that I had with me when he signed it during the movie premiere tonight for "The Breakup" -read details below.
These are flowers on my patio-some re-potted and some new ones got this past weekend-see below.

A ton of stuff going on lately-Okay, so my last celebrity sightings was back in Feb. over Oscar weekend (see earlier blogs for recap) and tonight was the world movie premiere of The Break-up with Jennifer Aniston and Vinice Vaughn in Westwood- a few blocks from my bldg. I was having a busy day at work so wasn't sure what time I would be able to walk down there and figured that I wouldn't see anyone b/c of the crowds. So I left work about 6:15pm, and walked down-there were very small crowds and nobody by these barricades across the street from the theater entrance. The red carpet which had tent coverage b/c of the earlier heavy rain was not very visible from the other sidewalk so I had a prime location. I did see Alyssa Milano (star of Charmed) from far away but she didn't come over to say hi (though more on Charmed series finale later). So, didn't really see anyone interesting for an hour or a half but then, Jennifer Aniston made her way to the theater and our crowd started screaming to her and sure enough-she came across the street and was like 6 inches from me, I tried to get her to autograph this research paper but some ass guy shoved his paper is front of me but I did snap close-ups of her and had a "moment" where she was asking us how we were doing and I was like "how are you?" and she looked right into my eyes and smiled was like "I'm good thanks." Now I like Aniston, she's funny, decent but not my favorite movie star but she is so sweet and she is stunningly gorgeous. She makes Angelina Jolie look plain (remember, I saw Angelina back last June at the Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie premiere). Jennifer's hair is golden, her eyes a brillant green and she has great skin tone. She looked really happy too! Then she goes into the theater and people start shouting for Vince Vaughn to come over-he comes right over to me and signs our grad student's research paper which I held for him-again, another conversation-I said something like "this is my friend's science paper" and Vince goes "well, I hope she gets a good grade on it" he was all chatty, had a nice drawl, and he is so handsome in person-dark skin, tall, nice blue suit, very sculped face, he was hanging out for a while chatting, so yeah-got photos of him too! Stay tuned for pics in a future blog! It was so exciting!

On to other news...so I worked my ass off last weekend thru middle of the week doing revisions on my Arizona manuscript-got the reviews back again on Sun, and I am pleased to report it has been accepted for publication in JComp Physiology A. It was such a long saga and I still want another paper but at least this one is done. Then, I was working furiously on a presentation for lab mtg-which turned into a 3 hour lab mtg! Also managed to have fun and go to my friend Kate's house for our gal dinner and Sex and the City watching. But after all of this I was so pooped that I did absolutely nothing this weekend and loved it. Well amost nothing-Sat was a beautiful day so I went with my neighbor and her guy to Home Depot and got a bunch of flowers-check them out here, incl my patio with the blooming jasmine and hydrageans. We also had an excellent Kosco pizza, it was awesome to be in the warm sun. I also gave my grill a through cleaning as I will be having company over a few nights this week.


And most importantly, I watched the series finale of Charmed-it was one of their best episodes ever-they tied up all loose ends, brought back characters from the past (no Prue=Shannen Doherty though), I taped it and have watched it again 3x already-sick I know. I think it resonates with me because I watched it from 23-31, so most of my twenties and so many changes were going on in my life -like starting grad school, finishing, etc and it was a constant thing, I grew up with the Charmed sisters!

Allright, now the other piece of news is that I will be going to Oregon this memorial weekend to visit the gang-Lisa, Ken, Taryn, and Paul-we'll be in Portland and Eugene, I have never been to Oregon and can't wait! So, stay tuned for photos!!!


Julie

Exhaustion...the list goes on...

Earlier last week, I once again broke out the bbq and made grilled chicken with teriyaki sauce, corn, mashed potatoes, and salad for my gal pals for our Sex and the City night. I must say that I am getting better at cooking chicken on the grill, I am no longer afraid that it is raw and thus, I must cook it until it becomes firm and rubber-ha! I also had some busy days at work, my boss taught me JMP a great stats program which we used to look at my data and then the end of the week was spent writing drafts of Neuroscience meeting abstract, submitted by Fri evening thank god. I was praying that I wouldn't have to work on it during the weekend.
I then went out half-comatose with my labmates to a wonderful Japanese restaurant. I used to associated sushi with Japanese food only, never realizing that there is so much more variety than that-not just vegetable tempura but sweet potatoes, weird sounding vegetables, dumplings, you name it and you don't feel that full afterwards. It made me want to go to Japan. Next year maybe-after all, LA is closer than the ecoast. On Saturday, I stayed home most of the day as I have been having periods of terrible allergies lately, so just kicked back and read, watched some cheesy dvds like that flick The New World, and ate a lot of junk food. On Sunday, I felt much better so after popping over to work, I exercised and then started work part II-I had just received my reviews back on my Arizona manuscript (to review the saga-it was submitted last August, it took 4 months to get the reviews back, I made revisions and resubmitted in Feb, and just got the second set of reviews, 3 months later). So some minor changes-been working nonstop since Sunday to get them done and in so that I can find out if it's finally accepted and will go to press. Jesus. Of course my sleeping habits suck b/c of this, I am too wired so was comatose today at work. Oh, but I will say that on Sunday I played tennis for the first time in a year-since Arizona (Caroline-since you and I played!). I played with my neighbor Keith and the nice thing is that we are both at the same level, we played at some tennis courts in a park near my house for 1.5 hours, came back, had some beer (one of the few occasions when I want one), and then I did some writing. It felt great (my backhand still sucks though)! -I am sore all over today...so hopefully it can become at least a monthly thing as the weather is beautiful and it makes me feel alive. Although my neighbor's schedule is more chaotic than mine-with his travel, work, friends in town visiting, etc pretty amusing.
So this week is busy and playing catchup, also have to prepare to give lab mtg on fri, gone are the days when I have weeks ahead of time to prepare, now I am lucky if I have a few days. What else-have to pick up our new postdoc who will be settling in on Wed nite, also another Sex and the City girls' night on Thurs, and then this weekend should be chill. I finally bought my ticket for the ecoast, will be heading thru Tucson first in late June, then making the circuit to see family and friends back east-cramming alot in as usual, first going to Boston, then NYC, then Long Island, then Albany, then Lake Placid, back to Albany...2 plus weeks in total.
Ps. for those of you who are big Charmed fans, it will have its series finale (8 years, longest running female lead series ever) this coming Sunday night-boo hoo.

Julie

Ah..the life...

I have to be honest and say that this past weekend was ideal-I had no obligations (other than 1.5 hours of work duty) and the weekend to myself to do as I pleased, even admire my jasmine and hydragea in my back patio which have started to bloom. The weather was warm and in the 70s so on Saturday I walked down to the beach from my house and over to some shops, made a stop in Old Navy for some summer clothes (clothing excursion repeated on Sunday I am afraid to say), and just strolled around enjoying myself. On Sat nite, my neighbor and her dog came over, well since our yards are adjacent it was more of a few steps over, and we grilled-chicken in a asian style garlic/soy marinade, corn, potatoes, etc and after a few false starts my grill was going beautifully. Yeah, we had some wine too. On Sunday, I exercised which included swimming laps in my gym's indoor pool, I must say that miss the Tucson Racquet and Fitness Club with its large pools outside. This pool gets crowded so you can't always get in there, and I don't enjoy the lockeroom b/c alot of old ladies walk around naked and sagging and cleaning themselves. Sure, that could be me in another 40 years but yeeech...Still, I hadn't swum in LA at all, so it was a pleasant feeling. I will be having another grill session tomorrow night, it's girls' night and some of my gal pals from work are coming over to watch Sex and the City and gossip. We talk so much that we are only a few episodes into the first season.

So weird coincidence today-I got an email announcing a talk by a faculty candidate for neurobiology, turns out she went to Wellesley about 6 years before I did and did her senior thesis in the same neuro lab that I did, so she comes out of the same lineage, so chatted with her and went to her talk which was just dynamite! It was so cool to see someone who has their shit so together.

Well tonight I am pleased to report -I saw yet another favorite author of mine-Augusten Burroughs, author of "Running with Scissors,", "Dry" and now, "Possibe Side Effects"
His website is: http://www.augusten.com/index_flash.html
He's hilarious. Here's an excerpt from an email that I sent a friend about it for those of you who
like his stuff and my ramblings, as always, I get as giddy as a schoolgirl seeing these authors in person.
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"So after work I drove down to this Cajun-like cafe south of my house,
kinda in a Little Mexico area, a little sketchy so that made me nervous but it was like a
club/cafe-dark interior, red drapes, a stage, and a bar with little tables for sitting on
the side. I ended up sitting with my butt on the floor by the stage so I could get a good
view of Augusten and I ended up falling into conversation with this girl Nicole who drove
1.5 hours from Bakersfield, Calif just to see him as she just started reading his books.
Yeah and apparently Bakersfield has the worse pollution in the country or one of the
worst b/c all of LA pollution wafts up there. We basically chatted for a long time b/c we
got there early, exchanged emails so we can talk about books. So I made a book buddy! She
teaches sixth grade too so we were chatting about kids. She said that she likes listening
to his books on tapes, that he has a good voice. I have never listened to books on tape
before. There were a ton of people there-probably 50-75 people at least, a real mix too,
lots of girls, guys, gay men, etc incl one guy who kept on shouting out-I love you
Augusten to which he replied-"love you too" and yes, Augusten is gay. He showed up in jeans, a striped shirt, a baseball hat, glasses, and a scruffy beard with a big belt buckle and a cowboy like tan jacket. He read a chapter from his book-and took questions from the
audience-he said his hardest book to write was Dry b/c of his friend pighead, that
Sellevision was the most fun, his first book which he wrote in 7 days, he said that if he
ever had to get another job or the writing didn't work out, he would be a hospice nurse
cause he said that taking care of people who are dying just strips away all the other
shit and is emotionally efficient, he said that running with scissors was written from
his head but also from the journals that he kept when he was 14 and dragged around
everywhere, he said that initially he didn't want the book adapted into a movie b/c he
wasn't sure they could do it justice but the writer kept on calling him and as it turns
out the screenwriter had a similarly crazy mom so understood things totally and did an
awesome job with the movie, he said that Annette Bening who plays his mom is so eerie on
target like her, he's still with his partner dennis and things are great, dennis stays
home while he's on book tour and plants trees and takes care of the tires, etc...he said
that he has so much stuff to write about, he is going to write another memoir but about
his father then he wants to write more fiction like sellevision, he said that once he
came down to his livingroom and found the whole floor flooded and that made him go
upstairs and write a whole story, he said that success hadn't changed him cause he lost
alot before he got into writing, to get here so if it got taken away, he would be
fine...someone asked him how he remembered details from his childhood and he was
like-well you would remember it if people in your house started trying to tell fortunes
by looking at the toilet bowl...someone also said, you seem to have mystique or
fascination with your brother, what's up with that...he said that his brother lives down
the block from him in massachusetts, that he has asperger's syndrome which means he's a
genius but lacking in social skills, and he can't lie so his brother will say things like
to his sisterinlaw, you're 50 and not dating, i guess it's too late, the only thing left
for you is to become a lesbian, or his brother installed all the crazy ass shit, like a
big iron steam pipe outside his front door to let the steam out of the hot water heater,
his brother loves his books and likes talking about them and it helped him talk about
stuff from their childhood, apparently that Bookman character from the family tried to
molest his brother too...crazy ass shit.

he just is really funny in person. at first he seemed nervous but then warmed up. i
half-expected him to be mean b/c he can be mean in his stories but he was totally nice
and sweet, i managed to get in the line to get the books autographed early, tried to snap
a pic with my phone but it didn't work, before i knew it, he was looking at me and i was
like all nervous and tongue-tied-and was like "your books really make me
laugh and you're one of my favorite male writers" and he just looked deep into my eyes and
was like so sincere and said "thank you so much."
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Random Dreams...

Last night I had the weirdest series of dreams in a while...I dreamed that I was dating some guy that I have never met before but he had a civil war battlefield in his backyard with little toy soldier dudes and there was some sort of reenacment going on...Bizarre, plus I had a hard time waking up...I have been exhausted constantly, most recently because I hosted our new postdoc from Fri-Tues at my place and helped her find a place to live. Although I tried to prepare her for how different LA is than small town New Hampshire, she was still shocked and unprepared for housing costs, LA city driving, and parking issues. We spent 7-8 hours a day driving around looking at places, it was really hard to be with someone who was so negative and complaining about everything. I had an adjustment period too after living in sleepy Tucson for so long but still, I have found so many more exciting professional and personal opportunities here and tomorrow marks a year that I have lived in LA. Anyways, she signed a lease on a cute place currently rented by a work friend of mine, and it's close to alot of good stuff and only a few blocks from the beach. At the same time, I have also been working like a maniac to get data collected for a Neuro abstract, I have one more week of pushing but it looks good! Frustratingly, I am still waiting for the re-reviews from my first grad school manuscript-the same one I submitted last August, waited 4 months to get the reviews back, resubmitted it in Feb, and now we're approaching 2 1/2 months of waiting.

On the bright side, after a bad grilling session a few weeks ago when I used too much lighter fluid and caused my coals to get too hot and burn all of my meat on my grill, I managed to grill the other night-fish, potatoes, eggplant, corn and it turned out great. It didn't stop me from craving a hot dog, rather having a foot long hot dog, the other night for dinner.

Also, UCLA was host to the LA Festival of books this past weekend-I only went to one panel because I was doing the apt hunting, but it was cool-it was on feminism, identity, etc and featured a few women journalists and some authors including Al Gore's oldest daughter whose new book profiles 9 courageous women in history, also Hope Edelman, whose book back in 1994 Motherless Daughters, had such a profound comforting effect on me. Authors are like celebrities to me-I get really excited about seeing them. Some of the discussion centered around whether we are moving backward rather than forwards-that the climate in our country as influenced by the current administration has become more conservative, that young girls are looking up to ditzy pop culture icons and not having the self-esteem to be proud of who they are but rather obsess about their own body image. Also that there's this idea prevalent more recently that there must be something wrong with being a single woman in her 30s, that it's weird she's not married, etc. That the young generation doesn't know what our mothers went through to get equal rights and to have careers. It was a really empowering discussion.

On the topic of books, my father recently sent me Eric Kandel's memoir which I have yet to start. I haven't had much concentration to read books lately although next week Augusten Burroughs authors of Running with Scissors and Dry will be reading from his new book at this Cajun cafe so of course I will go and get all giggly with excitement.

So California is a crazy place for cars-a friend recently had his parked car on the street hit by a drunk driver at 3am while sleeping, the car was totaled. A few days later my neighbor came to confess that he was a bit buzzed and hit my parked car on our street-there was no evident damage to my car, rather I told him that it was stupid ass to be driving (which he agreed of course). It just makes me wonder why people get in a car buzzed or drunk -things can get bad really fast.

In other news, I am desperately looking forward to some vacation time-I am trying to plan my trip to the east coast in late June, again a multicity tour, NY, Boston, etc to see family and friends that I haven't seen in a long time. Of course, my first break will come later in May when I go up to Oregon to see the ole' gang and go camping with the guys and mom Lisa and sister TJ.
TJ-I promise to try to enjoy "nature." :)

I cannot wait to relax this weekend, hopefully the weather will be nice and I can do some planting and biking to the beach. Tomorrow night I will have dinner with a gal pal-we try to meet up once a month and eat in a different place.

Julie