My purple world

R.I.P. Purple World

2006-09-23T19:57:00.000-04:00

Hello All (whoever you are),

Please check out the latest happy news on George and my joint blog www.justineandgeorge.com. Thanks :D

Justine

2006-01-03T23:52:00.000-05:00

Karen's gifts

Mocha rolls atbp.

2006-01-03T23:36:00.000-05:00

Hello my frisky little ponies (sabi nga ni Craig) !

I have just one thing to add about mocha rolls, especially if you are attempting to make one from scratch. Use DECAFFEINATED coffee. I cannot stress this point enough. George and I were left tossing and turning till the wee hours of the morning (Being the good soul that I am, I didn't even tell George that it might be the mocha roll. I just hoped he wouldn't notice. Hehe, too late.). Aside from that, it was great :D.

I posted a pic of a very pleasant surprise in the mail. Thank you Karen! I've always wanted a cookie press/ cutter thing (no, I am not being sarcastic, I really do want one!) and now I have a new thing to play with. Also, perfect kasi I had all these cheesecake ingredients which I haven't yet made into a cheesecake (You know, kasi that would be TOO matakaw. Yeah, right.). But now, I can make mini cheesecakes and give some away. Hooray!

During "down time" in the lab (centrifuge is spinning, cells are incubating), I was able to write the story of how George and I, you know, fell in love...and stuff. Haha. But I now emailed it to him and as I told him, "It's outta my hands now!". So if you don't see it on our site soon, kulitin nyo sya. Content lang ang contribution ko sa site na yan e, I dunno the website programming stuff.

Owkidowkie, um, pagod na ako so I think I am off to bed but see, so far I am keeping to my resolution of posting more and trying to update wedsite. Hopefully my next post will have cookies and mini cheesecake pix. Yey!

=:)

2006-01-01T23:29:00.000-05:00

New Year Feast

2006-01-01T23:28:00.000-05:00

mocha rolls... a success!

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T22:49:00.000-05:00

Hello people! (or whoever is still checking this very un-updated blog :p)

First of all, yes I am married (wohooo!) and for all marriage related info check out George and my wedsite www.justineandgeorge.com. George has finally uploaded our pics (big smile). Just to show how pahabol we are, we have still to add our story and how the big day went (eventually :D um, resolution #1). My sis is also getting married (something in the air, um, love? love is in the air dadadadaladida) on the 14th of Jan. Now it is my turn to keep her calm and relaxed.

Like the heading says, Happy New Year to all! Nalungkot ako ng konti sa New Year festivities dito (um, WALA kasing festivities aside from the stupid ball dropping) so I decided to make a feast for two. Check out the pix. I made dinner rolls from scratch, cooked a big ham and made a mocha roll to boot. Hehe. Takaw talaga noh?

Well, I kinda remember my last new year's resolutions and um, hehe, alin kaya yung natupad ko dun? But a new year is a new start, so I'll just have to try again. Needless to say, I will try to update this more often ,if anything, for my sanity. (resolution #2)

One thing I have learned from this past year is that there are so many more important things in life other than work, work, work (I know it's pretty obvious but I've been pretty dense, ok? Plus, I am a born worrier). Everyone has been telling me to not forget the Lord. Thank you because I honestly think I have sometimes. But stress and disappointment are no excuses. George's mom, talking to me on the phone, asked me that I pray with George every night. We have been doing just that as often as we remember and it's been very helpful. There are so many things to be thankful for and so many things and people to pray for. (resolution #3)

So the holidays end and it's back to work tomorrow (aha! another resolution is to start waking up earlier #4). To fulfill that resolution I have to start sleeping earlier. Well, that's all I have for ya tonight. Hope the year has been good to each and every one of you and here's wishing everyone a year filled with love (yihee! see : jona's fafa wish), with patience (grad students will understand; i.e. patience in getting data, haha), with thankfulness (if my boss finally lets me propose) and with hope (that I will graduate, eventually).

Later =:)

Coldplay media

2005-09-05T00:02:00.000-04:00

crowd taking a picture of itself

swallowed in the sea

Coldplay

2005-09-04T20:10:00.000-04:00

My labmate Stefi is quite the Coldplay fan. After explaining to her that I was down on cash (and already felt guilty for paying for pricey DMB tickets) she surprised me by buying me non-lawn tickets(NON-LAWN - I can't stress how important this part is) to see the band play in Columbus this Aug 31st.

I must admit, I was really touched but wasn't super thrilled. I like Coldplay's music but they weren't on my top fave bands of all time. But after we got back on Wed night, I had to hand it to them. They know how to give one heckofa concert.

The light show was amazing. And they pretty much customized the effects for each song. Highlights were yellow balloons and confetti coming down during "Yellow". They had cameramen perched (yes, perched) above the stage filming the bandmembers individually and they had it set up so that you could see all four of them in a video-like style in the screen they had set up behind the band. Midway through one of their songs, the screen flashed "Get Your Cameras Ready" "3...2...1" . Then the cameras focused on the crowd so that you could see the crowd taking a picture of itself on the big screen with the lights dimming in and out. Pretty cool stuff. During "Swallowed by the Sea", Chris Martin's handwritten lyrics were projected all over the stage and surrounding area. It was quite breathtaking. I'll try to get the mini-video which Stefi got set up so you guys can see. There was a lot of audience interaction as well. He talked about hurrican Katrina, the MTV awards and during the encore ran into the crowd to finish the song. It was the best concert I've been to. Of course we had to buy the overpriced merchandise afterwards :p

Maybe I do have a bit of a life

2005-06-19T21:27:00.000-04:00

This week was pretty swell, I must admit.

On wednesday, George and I went to a Dave Matthews concert. It was a last minute thing (coz I was feeling a bit sorry for myself). We got the tickets off of eBay and at $75 apiece, it wasn't too bad. Our seats were sooooo great! We were the second section from the front, a little to the right. Oh my gosh! Sabi ko kay George for that night pwede bang mahal ko si Dave? (payag naman sya, one night lang naman daw). I think there have been better setlists in his other concerts but when he sang Crash AND Crush it made it sooooooo worth it. I also realized when you are Dave Matthews, you can get away with incoherent mumblings and the crowd just goes wild (I'm pretty sure he told me he loves me too, he said I was his Dreamgirl, hehe). Anyway, see setlist below.

jun.15.2005
Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, OH

Dream Girl
One Sweet World
American Baby
What Would You Say?
Hello Again
Crash
Bartender
Hunger For The Great Light
Two Step
Steady As We Go
Grey Street
Dancing Nancies
You Might Die Trying
Crush
Stand Up
*Encore:
Stolen Away On 55th & 3rd Louisiana Bayou
*Special Guests:
* Robert Randolph

My cousin is in Cleveland taking a pre-med course thingy and I'm grateful because that made for an eventful weekend. Saturday we spent getting busog on Filipino food at Nipa Hut for lunch and then going to watch Batman Begins. I must say, its my favorite of the Batman series (it doesn't hurt to have a teenage crush on the lead either, Christian Bale of Newsies and Swingkids fame).

Today is Father's day. Happy Father's Day to all the fathers everywhere! George stood up when the priest asked all fathers to stand up and my cousin was like, "Is there something I don't know?". Ako naman, "Yeah, me too. Is there something I don't know?". Hehe. Made for an interesting final blessing. We ate our fill at BD mongolian barbeque, and me and Annmarie went to a comedy show (Jeff Allen) afterwards. The guy was pretty funny. The set was timely Father's-Day-oriented but all the hirits on the missus and (teenage) kids were hilarious. Ended the day with some West Wing on DVD.

Gonna present some of my data tomorrow. Yep, you heard me right. I think I actually have some data of worth and it looks pretty good (if I do say so myself). Happy, happy week.

20 questions

2005-06-10T22:50:00.000-04:00

Hello my cheekyweemonkeys!

Today I ask for your help. George and I are making a wedding website (me:content, george:the actual website, hahaha!). We wanted to put a "Story of Us" section in it pero both of us didn't want to go mushy or anything so we were thinking of a "He Said, She Said" type of section, where we get asked the same questions and we should both answer truthfully and to the best of our knowledge (now, what was I REALLY thinking?). This is where you (um, any of YOU) come in. So, be creative (no, not bastos), be funny, and be willing to help out. Thanks in advance and looking forward to your suggestions.

Events since my last post :
1) summer is here! THE HEAT IS KILLING ME!!!. It's been 80s and 90s over here for this past week now and it distracts me sooooo much (can't sleep without a fan).
2) got a ring bearer and flower girls
3) been obsessing over centerpieces
4) surprisingly, at a SLOW phase in the lab so not much lab work to whine about
5) lab is soon moving to a new location (near you!) so maybe there is some ligpitation to be done
6) on DVD : Hero and Resident Evil 2 (can I say Milla Jovovich is hot? She's such a badass! George giving me THE LOOK)
7) got some invitation prototypes and some save the date magnets (home made)
8) did I mention it's HOT?

2005-05-10T23:54:00.000-04:00

feeling bride

2005-05-10T23:53:00.000-04:00

pardon the bra

2005-05-10T23:51:00.000-04:00

jona, o ano, sabay na ba tayo?

2005-05-10T23:50:00.000-04:00

paul and jona (sitting in a tree)

Just so you know...

2005-05-10T23:08:00.000-04:00

I saw this one coming. Really. From the moment these two went home from the Sting concert, I've been thinking and hinting and gossiping of nothing else. Hehe. Look, Jona, my fortune was right. O sige na, tama na ako kaka-alaska.

In other news, George and I went to Wisconsin (yes, Hello Wisconsin!, That Seventies Show Wisconsin) because it had the only store which carried my wedding dress. The bad thing was they didn't have the colored version but at least I could try the white one on and look around and take a picture of another dress with the "powder purple". So my dress will be a bit more baby pink than purple but it still looks gorgeous. The people were very friendly and helpful. I guess naawa rin sila that we had to do some 10 hours of driving. Hehe. Well, George drove most of the way, but allow me to brag that I did do a good 2 and a half hour stint on the highway (nevermind the trucks passing me by and all).

We also spent some time in Chicago. Nope didn't get to meet up with Angelyn, unfortunately. We left around 2pm Friday and got to our hotel at 7ish. I talked George into walking to a restaurant which turned out to be a good 30-40 mins walk away. Hehe. Suffice it to say we were both famished by the time our deep-dish pizza was served up. Next day bright and early we were off to Elegant Occassions in Wausau, Wisconsin. They seemed pretty busy but they still were very maalaga and even went to some lengths to try to find a swatch of fabric like my "powder purple". Lunch at McDo and it was back to Chicago. We headed straight for the Navy Pier and rode the big ferris wheel (in the freezing cold, I might add. Well, it is the windy city after all). Dinner in Chinatown then straight to bed. I have to hand it to George, my boy has the street smarts. We took public transport to the Adler Planetarium the next day and after some interesting facts about Pharaohs and the stars, headed back home (actually, straight back to the lab). I want to warn people though that even though we had a blast, Chicago is an expensive city to play tourist (kerching!). Their museums and attractions all have an admission fee. Parking is outrageous and then you have to factor in food and toll fees and gas if you're driving there. Hehe. But hey, George said it was worth it when he saw me try on my dress :p Aaaaw.

Later.

2005-04-17T04:02:00.000-04:00

toy flower

3 am I must be lonely ...

2005-04-17T03:32:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all! Just made my grand blog rounds. Sheesh! I feel so old. I'm so happy for so many people. I miss a lot of people. I wonder, wonder, wonder about others. I think could I have been a better friend to other people (I mean, I know I could have, I'm not exactly Miss keep-in-touch nowadays) and then I worry about others. Must be the early am nostalgia setting in. Hehe.

On an entirely different note...

Just got done with making (another) presentation. Serves me right for procrastinating for so long. Didn't help I that I got addicted to playing gamecube again *grin* (what? its my outlet for the moment, I'm too broke to shop). And now, I have a pile of twenty-some papers I gotta make into a review paper due by...Wed! Tadah! Gahleng ko talaga. But I'll be fine. Today I got my data-dependent-happiness fix. I think I got another one of my assays running! That's 2 out of 3. OMG! Please Lord, let it not be a fluke! Happy happy joy joy (as my sis always says). Oh and Happy Mom's day to mom's everywhere!

Wedding update (finally, something actually about the wedding)

2005-04-11T17:24:00.000-04:00

Welcome back my little lovelies (said with a scottish accent ala Craig Ferguson)!

Well, as you can tell, I move very slowly with all these wedding prep things but the latest is :

Dec 9, 10:30 am at Caleruega (reservation paid) for the wedding
Caleruega hall for the reception (reservation fee awaiting payment)
Josiah's for catering (reservation fee awaiting payment)
Flowers of May for the florist (no reservation as of now)

It's been taking longer than usual because of a certain MOM who has been trying to put down every decent suggestion I make (I swear...). So I hope you guys are close with your mothers because sometimes I'm not sure whose wedding she is helping to plan. But I digress... *cheeky monkey smile*

Have not finalized my entourage (Did you guys know there was a Bible bearer? I didn't) or my final final final guestlist (I'm trying to cut it down), have not found my dress (Why advertise it in a wedding magazine in the first place? Weird) or my cake artist or make up artist but you wanted an update, so there. (I am not stressed. I am not stressed. I am not stressed.) Hehe. No really, I'm not.

Reserve the date ha? *cheeky monkey smile*

In other news, I bought a Sting ticket on a whim (kasi mayaman na daw ako gawa ng tax refunds. Wohoo! Go IRS!) so OK lang ba maging MH Jona? Joke lang. Yiheeeee!

Later

2005-04-01T00:18:00.001-05:00

Aaaaaaaw, birthday surprise!

2005-04-01T00:18:00.000-05:00

Steffi, Felix and I on a rare sunny Cleveland day

2005-04-01T00:17:00.000-05:00

Heaven in a bite courtesy of mahal

2005-04-01T00:16:00.000-05:00

Tobi's flowers (I love the foam one)

2005-04-01T00:15:00.001-05:00

Felix' farewell gift

2005-04-01T00:15:00.000-05:00

rubber duckie

Birthday

2005-03-31T23:42:00.000-05:00

Yey! I can post once again. It was my birthday yesterday (and Mel's - Happy Birthday!). George had told my labmates (I was trying to keep it a secret) and I was soooo touched with the fuss all of them made. When I got in, there was a Happy Birthday banner over my desk, a gift from Steffi of coffee and mugs (genuine Koln stuff, from where she's from in Germany), and CD player from Felix. George gave me a yummylicious chocolate mousse cake which we devoured straight away. Tobi came in later with flowers and Raffi even later with a rubber duckie (which really squeaks!). I decided to reschedule my experiments and instead cram reading (i.e. skimming) through 5 papers for my class. My BS-ing worked pretty well (hehe, go me!) and I still got to go have dinner at Cheesecake factory (free bread!!! *drool*) and ended the night quite busog. Such a happy day. Today was hell though. Worked straight through lunch and found out the plates I used were leaky and might not work at all (aaaaaargh! *expletive deleted*). Hinde. Actually, I think George was sorrier for me and I was kind of laughing the whole thing off. What was that line sa Indigo girls? "You have to laugh at yourself, because you would cry your eyes out if you didn't ". Speaking of Indigo Girls, such a great concert! Aaaaaaw, go Emily (such as sad voice/soul) ! Amy was sooo happy with the crowd. She seems like such a nicie! Check out my B-day pix. Later.

Segue

2005-02-05T22:28:00.000-05:00

I know I was supposed to make this a wedding blog but I am just too harassed to take care of anything "wedding" at the moment. I have to give a presentation on the 18th and I'm so panicked I can't focus on anything properly. I'm going to get my data 3 days from my presentation and I still have a bunch of papers to read. I got a couple of CDs to make me feel better. One of them was BTE's live in New Orleans and OMG, they are so awesome! This is the first time I heard their song "A Lifetime" and I'm falling for them all over again. Grabe, nagbabasa talaga ako ng journal papers noh?

And you move like water (water)
I could drown in you
And I fell so deep once
Till you pulled me through

Bride-to-be

2005-01-22T22:24:00.000-05:00

Yep. It's true. I am engaged and will be wed December of this year. Quite exciting ! Hehehe. I guess it's time to clue in people on what I've been about. You know your chicka is due when people from higher batches know about your engagement before your other relatives and close friends. I know, I know, I should have said something sooner. The thing is we didn't even have a time and place yet. But thanks to Cris and George's bro we were able to find a location. And now Jona is gonna see if her sisters have any suggestions for reception. Thank God for good friends. We are planning to do the wedding at Caleruega church in Tagaytay. The tentative dates are the 9th or 12th of Dec at 10am (Fri or Mon coz all the weekends got snatched up). I'm also posting pics of my dream gown. Feel free to suggest locations and caterers for reception. I have a few ideas from George's bro, Arnold, but Jona brought up some other good locations too. I will post more as the whole thing progresses.

caleruega church

inside caleruega

dream gown front

dream gown back

2005-01-04T16:46:00.000-05:00

deepness kuno

2005-01-04T16:45:00.000-05:00

no idea

2005-01-04T16:43:00.000-05:00

bottom

2005-01-04T16:42:00.000-05:00

pins and needles

The Magic of Magnetic Poetry

2005-01-04T16:36:00.000-05:00

I just got this set from my sister kasi she said it was just lying around. Lo and behold! I have made such wonderful creations. See for yourself.

Next Year Baby

2005-01-03T18:14:00.000-05:00

New year's resolutions. Again. Hopefully, this time I'll stick to it.

1. Exercise ebriday (wahahahaha)
2. Eat right (see comment for #1)
3. Drive (George always does the driving)
4. Budget and stick to it (don't look...at that...cute accessory...whoops! too late)
5. Wake up earlier (yawn!)
6. Make a schedule (add : stick to schedule)
7. Keep contact with friends and relatives (post more often, and heller? reply to emails!)
8. Be more aware of academic duties (i.e. choosing a committee and all that other stuff)

I guess dats dat for now. Must go. *hunger pangs*. Till later

=:)

I just don't understand it

2004-11-03T23:09:00.000-05:00

How? How could Ohioans have voted for Bush? Didn't all you people lose jobs? Aren't all your able sons in the military? Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Now its all our fault! I just don't understand it. Most of today was spent just talking about the election results and people just being puzzled at how Ohio could have voted for that... that... grrr... Bush-person! Weird talaga mga tao. Its not fair. And Kerry was so nice at his speech nung tanggap na nya na talo sya. Sana pumuti na ng tuluyan buhok ni bush sa stress ng pagkapresidente! I was saying far more nasty things this morning. Hehe. Galit ba?

Ang kababawan ko

2004-10-26T20:41:00.000-04:00

This weekend we went to visit Jona in Columbus. I had the most self-control ever coz we went to this high end mall and I bought nothing! Nada! (I did buy 3 things at Wal-mart but still that's saying something). Namumulubi na ksi ako sa car payments e. Hehe. We also dance-revo'd sa mall. Grabe! Boys, boys be my boy(s)? Nostalgia ba raw. Remember that MBB batch party na no one was talking just dance revo-ing? Funny.

Tapos tonight nakakahiya ksi naiyak ako sa Biggest Loser. Its this reality show na the one who loses the most weight wins. There was this guy na kailangan nyang maglose ng 7 lbs para manalo team nya at walang i-eliminate. Tapos for all the hard work he did he gained 3 lbs. Naiyak talaga sya dun sa scale. Ang babaw ko na talaga. Hehe. Ok, gotta prepare pa for this person I'm gonna tutor tomorrow. O o , no eyebrow raising. Alam ko yung mga iba jan "tutoring" ang iniisip. Hah! Sige na nga, babay!

I am sooooooo sabog!

2004-10-21T17:59:00.000-04:00

I feel really weird. I have been staying in the lab until 9:30 pm for the last 2 days and will have to come back at the same time later today. I slept at 3am preparing for a presentation I gave today and in spite of all the people that came (they were just pouring in and I was like "No, no more, please!" in my head). You see, the more people, the more chance of someone asking a very difficult question which I am never ever ready for. Good thing most of them were quiet. Hah! I knew they just came for the food. And since I was so nervous, I didn't eat until after my talk (and by that time, medyo naubusan na ako ng pizza, poor me). The bad thing was my boss was sooooo disagreeing (i.e. angry) with the paper. Dude, I didn't write the paper, I'm just presenting it! And this other guy na medyo kinakatakutan ko was actually pretty nice to me. Kahit nagtatanong sya ng mahirap parang sinasagot na rin nya. I was so spaced out during lab meeting (actually, even now). Hunger and sleep deprivation do not a good combination make. Owkay, I'll go get food...

Still in the lab...

2004-10-19T19:12:00.000-04:00

... as usual.

It's 7:11 by this computer's clock and I still have about, oh, an hour more or so to go. Damn. I'm so tired coz George and I went playing badminton yesterday night. For 2 hours! I'm not saying it wasn't fun, it was great. But now my back is sore, my thighs are sore, my tushie is so so sore. Just goes to show how in shape I am. Sabi ko nga "in shape naman ako ah, bilog nga lang". Hwehwehwe.

May farewell party rin pa naman yung German kong labmate. Pero mukhang di ko na makakayanan (nask). I hear the centrifuge has stopped. Later.

Who's Sam?

2004-10-10T16:33:00.000-04:00

Went home Friday feeling that I hadn't accomplished anything during the week. My mice for the experiment were incomplete. The order for 1 of the peptides I needed wasn't placed. Like, ok, what else could go wrong? Hopefully, this coming week would turn out better. I even made a 'to do' list with bullets and all. Data, data, data, show yourself!

Got the ultimate cure-all yesterday - shopping! I felt that I didn't have enough cozy wear. And so shopping I went even if I didn't have a right to. Lord knows I'm still so baon sa utang. Damn these credit cards!

Went to watch The Forgotten today. I liked it. Few movies can make me jump out of my seat. I even gasped at one point (then laughed at myself after, of course). Don't want to give anything away so I'll just say "watch the trailer". I mean, its not everybody's type of thing.

O well, Monday na naman. Here we go. Haaaaaaay....

Town Hall Presidential Debate (Round 2)

2004-10-08T21:50:00.000-04:00

Well, it appears that Bush performs better in an audience environment (may pa wink-wink pa, jeez) but it doesn't mean he's speaking sense (not that he ever would). Maybe he just enjoys the sound of his voice and then he gets distracted by it and says crap. Or maybe that's just what his head is filled with...nothing. The President even had the gall to shush the moderator when the moderator said 'time's up'. Just because you're the president doesn't mean the rules don't apply to you. Good thing Kerry was still performing great - simplifying issues, and swearing into the camera (as requested) that he would do what he proposes (not raise taxes). Things did get a bit touchy though when they glanced upon the issue of stem cell research (Kerry was for embryonic stem cell research) and abortion (which I think he handled pretty well). He said (and you may disagree) that as a Catholic he respects life, but if ever elected President he would have to represent all the people and give them their legislative rights. He said what you could do was counsel people to be more responsible about their choices. My favorite question was one addressed to Pres. Bush : "What 3 mistakes would you say you have made and what have you done to correct them?". Bush didn't give 1 specific mistake (hiring people who didn't agree with you and not being able to get rid of them doesn't count), instead he kept saying Iraq wasn't a mistake, Saddam wasn't a mistake. Whatever. Talk to the hand. I've never been a follower of political/social issues but these debates are quite interesting. Yun lng. Hehe. Thought I'd share.

Feelin' high

2004-10-07T23:17:00.000-04:00

Well, sugarhigh, that is. Went through about half a bag of kisses and now my throat feels swollen (yes, i drank water), and im kinda woozy (and gigly-crazy). I was a very good couch potato when I got home (feelin' pretty rebellious, I am) and watched Blue Collar TV, Drew Carey Green Screen, and the latest episode of CSI (Who are you? Who, who, who who?). Two words. Catherine and Warrick. Yiheeeee to the max. Ano ba? Padapa-dapa pa tong babaeng to. Just grab and kiss the hunk, that's what I would do!

(Peace George, I mean if I wasn't with you, of course).

Like yung ka-lab ko and yung gf nya in the neighboring lab making out by the sterile hoods. Tsk, tsk. Those Germans! (pero in fairness, mababait naman sila, sly nga lang. haha)

Man, how long will this take to wear off kaya? Reminds me of my caffeine OD nung college. Hehe. Weird, very weird. O sige na, so much nonsense.

O yeah, I came across this site which put music to various CSI scenes "spliced" together. Hilarious.

Race at Case

2004-10-05T23:17:00.000-04:00

I left quite early today, 3 pm to be exact, to avoid the road-closing, building-shut-downing mayhem for the VP debates at Case. It just finished about an hour ago and I think that Sen. Edwards did pretty well. Plus, I can't remember VP Cheney giving any specific defense to the Halliburton accusations. Basically, it was Edwards saying that Bush and Cheney have been giving a rosy colored view of the current affairs and Cheney saying "don't vote for this guy coz' Kerry's a flip-flopper and Edwards has a short political record". Of course, it could just be me but didn't Cheney's closing sound like it could have been followed up by "Mwahahahaha" ? ...

Tomorrow, back to work for the amazing grad student, Tiggy.

presidential debate

2004-09-30T22:36:00.000-04:00

Hahahahaha. Ang tanga ni Bush (pardon my expression)...pero ang tanga nya talaga. Nagkaka quiet moments sya tapos pauli-ulit na yung sinasabi nya. Instead of answering the question directly, Dubya slandered his opponent to get people off track (um, not working). Pero nakakatuwa yung news afterwards where they showed Republicans changing their vote after seeing Bush's peformance. Woohoo!

In other news, baka raw maging tumor immunology project ko. Naaawa na daw boss ko ka hard work and no data state ko. And if things still don't go as we planned, e switch na raw ako.

Lumalamig na ang panahon. Sweater weather na. Buy your coats and (cute) boots and (kikay) caps and mitts. Here we go 4 months of no sunshine and wet, bitter, blistering cold .

Sa Tues, The Race at Case (Vice Pres debate) will be held at Case (hehe, obvious ba?) and people are thinking of not coming in on account of no parking, sooper tight security and um, many many peeps. Pwede di na rin pumasok ng Mon?

P.S. Ian L, andito pa Sugarfree album mo (di lang imbento ni Yona yun).

P.S.2. Dumating si Leo diCaprio sa Case to introduce some guy for the environment in an open-to-the-public talk. Why do I never know about these things? Oh yeah, kasi ang sipag ko (hahahahaha).

Phew! That was close.

2004-09-28T18:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I got so depressed. I reread this paper that my present project was based on and it hit me that maybe I failed to do something to my mice. I got so praning, nag-iisip na ako mag-quit at naghahanap na ako ng trabaho sa web sa sobrang pagkadepress (Research Associate II, salary $32,000, hmmm sounds good). Nagising pa ako ng 3am panicking and dreading to tell my boss (well, technically I told her already coz I sent her an email to which she still hadn't replied). When, finally, I got to sit down and go over the paper with her, narealize namin na tama naman pala yung ginawa ko. Nabaliw naman ako sa sobrang tuwa (see title). Plus, my mice are showing signs of sickness (they're supposed to). Go me!

Can I take 4+ years of data-dependent happiness? Stay tuned...

2004-09-25T22:16:00.000-04:00

George (in the shadow) and Chris at Burke Lakefront Airport

Up, up, and away...

2004-09-25T21:54:00.000-04:00

I finally got to give George my surprise birthday gift : a introductory flight lesson ! He's been so virtual flight sim and ATC crazy I knew he'd love it.

I can't tell you the plane specs and whatnot, but I can say that it was quite small (a two seater) and that his flight instructor (na kasing edad lang pala nya) was pretty nice. Medyo mukha lang naman akong lost because all the planes looked the same and planes were coming and going and so I ended up taking pictures of planes na di pala sya nakasakay and um, missing shots of his takeoff (gahleng talaga!). As suspected, after the whole flying experience he's now thinking of alternative careers (and more importantly, ways to pay for them).

Check out George and Chris posing by the Cessna.

And all that jazz...

2004-09-24T16:42:00.000-04:00

Im going to Chicago in November! Galing ksi ng boss ko eh. She suddenly announces to all the students in the lab that they'll be attending the autoimmunology conference and submitting abstracts (the deadline of which was the next day, wahaha). Syempre she mentioned this to me before but because I only just got data that day (and was still waiting for some other data), I assumed that I wouldn't be able to submit one. So suddenly, everyone is writing an abstract (which really doesn't matter in the bigger scheme of things since they rewrote EVERYTHING) and everyone gets to go. Yipee! Three days lang naman pero hey, reimbursible sya. Kaya naman ang tahi-tahimik ko ksi I've been tripping over myself trying to get data for the thing. And suddenly my boss wants even more than double the mice I previously did. Talaga naman o...

In other news, may magb-birthday ngayong Sabado. Hahahaha. Namamatay na sya coz he can't guess what my gift is. Oh, well. Patience, after all, is a virtue, and as we all know....Ha? Oooops, biro lang po. Dapat pala mabait ako sa yo :p

2004-09-12T13:40:00.000-04:00

Jona's bathroom

2004-09-12T13:39:00.001-04:00

Jona's bedroom

2004-09-12T13:39:00.000-04:00

Jona's kitchen

2004-09-12T13:38:00.000-04:00

Jona's breakfast nook (near kitchen)

2004-09-12T13:37:00.000-04:00

Jona's living room (near kitchen)

2004-09-12T13:36:00.000-04:00

Jona's living room (near window and door)

Fold me up, take me out, I'm portable...

2004-09-12T12:40:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a very eventful day indeed. It came time at last to help bespren Jona move in to her new apartment in Columbus. Unfortunately for us, it happened to be game day for the Buckeyes and there was absolutely no place to park. People were trying to sell us parking spots and Jona was the resident. Um, hello? But (drunken) people in red and no place to park aside, everything turned out great. Jona's apartment was fully furnished and her "predecessor" left some quite valuable goods - a brand new rice cooker, a microwave and a stereo to name a few. After we assembled her bed and put the furniture in order we decided to go to America's one-stop-shop-for-those-newly-moved-in. Syempre ang layo pala ng walmart na napadpad namin and tig-isa isa pa kami ng cart to fit all of Jona's goodies pagdating sa checkout. We got bedsheets, towels, pots, pans, utensils, dinnerware, pillows, and all sorts of kitchen appliances. After we squeezed everything into our RAV4 (and lost nearly all view from the rear) medyo pagod at gutom na kami so we grabbed a bite at KFC/A&W. After we got all the stuff for cooking of course we needed food, so it was great that there was a Kroger's nearby. We piled our cart to full capacity and pagdating sa checkout talo kami sa aming Price is Right game (nalo si George) coz the bill was a heart stopping $377 dollars! Pero ganyan talaga sa simula, you have to buy all the stuff you really need and probably will never need to buy again. Amazingly napagkasya din namin yung grocery. Sabi nga ni George, we could be an ad for the most stuff crammed into a RAV4. We were also able to get Jona a prepaid phone (6143719679) pero weird yung prepaid ksi bilang yung minutes no matter who calls who. Today, she's supposed to get her landline hooked up and hopefully take a walk along N. High street to see what shops are of interest. See the photos I took of Jona's New Pad (I also got some video clips but I have yet to figure out how to post that). Hats of to Jona, our newest Independent Woman (syempre tawa sya nung sinabi ko to) !

2004-09-07T00:55:00.000-04:00

jona feeding the birds

2004-09-07T00:53:00.000-04:00

Me, with my must-have souveneir

2004-09-07T00:49:00.001-04:00

Spotty, the giraffe

2004-09-07T00:49:00.000-04:00

polar bear really feeling hot

2004-09-07T00:48:00.000-04:00

finally on the tram

2004-09-07T00:47:00.000-04:00

with the elephants

If I left the zoo

2004-09-07T00:05:00.000-04:00

It was hot, hot, hot today at the zoo. So hot even Jona, just arrived from the Philippines, felt quite uncomfortable (i.e. naluto kaming lahat). Ian got to habol along as well to see the animaws and fortunately didn't have much trouble finding us. There was an Aussi animal area (na medyo sawa na yata si Jona makita coz she had just been there) but it was quite interesting na may thing pala na wallaroo (parang joke, wallabie and kangaroo). Jona got to feed some parrots (above) and George has no proof that he got to feed some too (sorry, ang bilis nila lumipad e). And then this whole incident with the tram arose (notice the bitter tone of the succeeding narrative). Here we were, patiently waiting in line for the tram to take us to the Primate, Aquatic whatever and when it finally gets there like, no one is following the line at all, so nauna pa yung sa likod and people were just rushing in from all sides. And while me and Jona thought we had managed to snag a couple of seats we were informed that they were being reserved. We are just too damn nice I tell you! Syempre sakto pagdating ni Ian e we decided to have lunch na lng (and he had just had his breakfast).

Learning our lesson from the previous tram experience, we were finally able to get to the Primate area (Jona had this monkey butt fascination going on, si Ian naman sampaloc - ksi tamarin monkey daw). We saw Dory, Nemo, that lungfish we always used to study, some morays and an electric eel (old news for Shiela na nakapag dissect na pla ng mga ganito, and we were expecting like sparks pa naman or sumthing). The cats in this area were all sluggish and there was this one really slow moving creature whose name I can't remember (there you go, a real educational experience!).

The best part I guess was the polar bear who posed atop this big rock (as if to show off) and then dived into the water in front of us. That was so amazing! There were noisy seals too, hiding tigers, sleepy wolves, active otters (or was that beavers, I confuse myself) and of course, we could not get away without seeing Jona's giraffe, hereby christened Spotty. There was a rainforest too, but I guess that's kinda Duh? for the folks in the Philippines. It was so gross that cockroaches could actually be on display (Ugh!) but the snakes and frogs and crocs and monkeys were pretty cool.

At any rate, everyone went away tired but happy (and a little darker) and we still had a great home cooked dinner with Tita Pats and Tito Paul (mangoes included). Tomorrow we bring Jona to Columbus so I think I'd better get some sleep right... about... now...

2004-09-05T21:40:00.000-04:00

Naputol si Ian sa Pic

2004-09-05T20:05:00.000-04:00

At the concert

2004-09-05T20:04:00.000-04:00

Blues Traveler

2004-09-05T20:03:00.000-04:00

jona at the "Rak en Rol!" Hall

2004-09-05T20:02:00.000-04:00

jone arrives at cleveland

But anyway...

2004-09-05T18:28:00.000-04:00

Jona is finally here and if I do say so myself, we've done a helluva lot of shopping for 3 days! Labor day weekend is really the best time for her to be coming over with sales going on right and left so of course, that's the first thing we set out to do. We covered Kaufmann's, Victoria's Secret, Bath and Body Works and JCPenny's on her second night here (since the stores were closing and we hadn't eaten, Sears was spared). Naturally, I took her to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (customary Cleveland fare), then off we went to Burlington Coat Factory for a coat (supposedly ONLY a coat) and the night we spent at Tower City for the Taste of Cleveland (patikim-tikim), listening to Blues Traveller till close to midnight.

Today we went to a mini history museum (of course, we found out later that we actually could have gotten away without paying, hehe). At least I was able to show Jona my campus at Case. It is really a pretty campus, very UP Diliman - like and with lots of non-academic things to do and see. We have a number of museums, The Cleveland Orchestra, and a pretty lake/park to go walking around in (of course, being a graduate student, a lot of these things go unnoticed).

Tomorrow, we're planning a trip to the zoo. Metroparks is suppossed to be pretty impressive (Ian, you're invited!) and we'll probably be occupied for most of the day. As inappropriate as it sounds, my guest is making Carbonara right now (Jona ang bait mo naman). I'll post some more pics as I get them. Till then...

2004-08-24T22:43:00.000-04:00

taray? you haven't seen taray till now

2004-08-24T22:41:00.000-04:00

pose with your pet

2004-08-24T22:39:00.000-04:00

george and pete

Pet Parade

2004-08-24T22:10:00.000-04:00

Went to a pet parade this past weekend. There were greyhounds for the petting (these guys were huge!), a persian cat (shown above) and all sorts of cute wittuw dowgies, a shih tzu, a terrier, bearded collies, a bulldog and a few exotic pets like a snake and tarantulas. George and I spoke with a "testimonial" about caring for a greyhound. I mean, I've never seriously had a pet before that I took care of all by myself. I once had an askal named Rascal (hehe). I rarely ever bathed him because he was scared stiff (literally) and would pee all over the place so that you had to drag him to the bath and then afterward he was still too much in shock to shake himself dry. At all other times he was too hyper. Weird dog. At any rate, this testimonial says that greyhounds are pretty easy to take care of, not demanding on food, exercise (and even space believe it or not), plus they don't stink and they don't shed. Greyhound adoption was their special event because they had so many hounds in ohio which were retired from or who didn't make the cut for racing, and they were just being put down. As you can see, George is seriously considering helping the cause...

Fire alarm...you know the drill

2004-08-20T10:28:00.000-04:00

Daym! And I was soooo ready to do work pa naman din.

No, seriously, I had all my calculations done in the car so I'd be all ready to go, and then you see it... people outside waiting in the rain. As it turns out, totoo daw syang fire. Pero most likely it'll be a bunsen burner set off or something like that (diba Prek? )

Watched Big Fish a couple of nights ago. It's cute (syempre, ksi andun si Ewan McGregor), and quite...surreal. And now I found a DVD of The Feast of All Saints adapted for TV. Well, its not quite what I expected ksi their french spokening Creoles were speaking with such an american slang and exag umarte yung bida nila. But maybe part 2 will redeem it somewhat.

Ok, I think people are starting to trickle in. Better see if I can make it past the guards...

2004-08-19T20:55:00.000-04:00

shaker square

I'm (kinda) famous!!!

2004-08-19T20:48:00.000-04:00

A friend of mine found this picture on a website. Apparently, may mga sneaky photographers na nagrarandom pics lng pla sa paligid namin. This area, Shaker Square, is just a couple of blocks from where I live. I'ts pretty cool ksi may sinehan, some shops and restaurants and, as you may notice, a small grocery. It used to be cooler ksi may Gap and bookstore pa. But the rumor is masyadong mataas yung rent in that place shops are having a hard time surviving. It's not fair. Wala nang Gap pero natira yung Ann Taylor Loft. Grabe, afford na afford ko. George will tell you my ritual of drooling alongside the Ann Taylor windows on our way to the movies. I always promise myself "pag pumayat na ako" to lessen the guilt. Haha. Kelan kaya yun?

Long time, no post...

2004-08-17T18:01:00.000-04:00

Hello ebriall !!!

This past weekend I told my boyfriend I really, really wanted to go this Filipino buffet/grocery. I had the worst craving for longganisa...and cheese rings. As in naglalaway na craving.

(Mmmmmmm. See, ayan na nga.)

I'm kind of a scaredy cat driver and he's pretty adventurous so he said yes even though he'd never driven on a US freeway before. Hehe. Ang masasabi ko lng mabilis sya (and I was cringing all the time). But well, we're still alive especially me ksi kala ko papatayin na nya ako nung sarado pla yung buffet on Sundays. Heehee. How was I sposd to know?

Karen also gave me a motivational call (thank you Kaka) to like, um, not get to depressed about my project going nowhere. And so here I am back in the lab... (bakit ulit?) trying to do work and reading papers, papers and more papers.

Hey, bespren Jona is coming to stay with me! Lapit na, lapit na (Kelan ulit dating mo, Sep 3?) at magstart na rin sya ng kanyang gradskul life (Shopping tayo!!!).

Owkay, I better post this na. Nagugutom n ako e. Jam, si Justine po ako and actually, I'm more of an Animal Crossing Fan than Harvest Moon but both are great games . Till next post...

Guuuuuuuuu.....

2004-08-14T11:27:00.000-04:00

.....tom na ako. But seriously, this is what the game character in Harvest Moon says when he's hungry. He goes *groan* with Guuuuuu.. written all over him.

It's so pathetic I'm in the lab on a Sat doing, well, labwork (and posting, hehe). But I look forward to lunch at Karma, this Indian Buffet resto that's supposed to be really good. *groan* *hunger pangs*

I watched (tried watching) Curb Your Enthusiasm last night. Um, not very good. Actually, very bad. It's supposed to be some sort of improv comedy sitcom but it felt like an act by some sour clowns...

Finally...

2004-08-13T16:38:00.000-04:00

...the weekend begins!

Alas, my worries do not end.

Today we had an organizational meeting for our friday seminars (in my case, for my dreaded friday seminar). Every sem, students give a talk and present their data and get grilled afterward in a sort of mini defense type of thing. And just when I thought it was great to be a Path student (your requirements are basically a proposal and your defense), the faculty are now suggesting an extra requirement (i.e. masyado daw madali ang Path compared sa iba *ahem* *ahem*), an extra preliminary where you get grilled on a paper you present. I know, it doesn't sound that bad. Nagpe-present naman tayo dati db? The thing is, the audience is so different now. Di na pwede masyado mambola. You have to know all the nitty gritty. Plus, I felt it was kinda unfair ksi the other programs even if they do have this added preliminary don't need to present their data on a sem/yearly basis, just at the end. I mean, it was obvious that the students were highly against it (or maybe it was just me :D). Anyway, at least the matter isn't final (though the faculty did seem to lean strongly in its favor) and will still be voted upon in Dec. In another piece of good news, the sked for my first talk got bumped to Feb 18 (thank you Erika!). Hopefully, I'll have some figures to present by then :D.

Hello couch, tv, R n R, fooooood! Hello weekend!

P.S. haha! learned (well, okay, was taught) how to post emoticons today

Do Read This Instead

2004-08-12T15:32:00.000-04:00

I recant, I take it all back. *grin* Really I do. Sorry medyo tinetepok lng akong ng hating gabi. Ayan, wat a depressing post tuloy. Pero sabi nga ni Scarlett O Hara, "Tomorrow is another day".

No, but seriously, graduate school is a pretty cool deal. For one thing, tuition and health insurance is free and then you even get a stipend. This RA I rotated with last year computed it at like 50+k per year spent on each of us. Then of course, there's the avoiding the real world deal. Because technically, its less stressful than work work (well, depending on your boss) since you can work at your own pace and time. Meaning to say, I can get in at 10 and leave at 4 if I wanted whereas in my other job our hours were signed in (lunch didn't even count) and I came in at 8:30 and left at 5:30 and I even had to pay my own health insurance.

Hehe, and see? There's so much free time in between experiments. Time to check emails and write blogs.

Today, I totally spazzed out and forgot about our lab meeting (bad, bad tiggy). I was so caught up in my experiment ksi and then I got so hungry (yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses). So I came in like 5 mins before they all finished. Heeheee. Charing! Smile sheepishly n lng ako.

I got mice's brains today. Quite a messy ordeal it is. Looks like I did some mass murdering or something (sorry, gross si tiggy). Hopefully I'll be able to stain something this time.

Owkay, better get back to acting bust and run a PCR or something. *sigh* Almost the weekend, almost the weekend...

Hey, to those out there just starting out in graduate school…

2004-08-11T23:55:00.000-04:00

Don’t read this.

Ever want to just forget about all the responsibilities and make a complete 180? I mean, really, really make a life-changing decision?

My friend introduced me to this nice, little old lady. I felt kinda sorry for her when we left, “Mag-isa lang sya? In this big mansion? Aaaaw.” But then I found out later that she was a former singer AND pilot (plus she drives 75 on a 35mph street shouting “move it grampa!”). Made me laugh outright. Made me kinda envious too. What’s your secret, Lola Rene?

I love music, making music, listening to it. Then why on earth aren’t you a musician, you poophead? I love cooking, baking, eating. Well then, shouldn’t you be enrolled in culinary arts instead of Pathology? I dunno. They say I am a scientist, a researcher, an academic. Sabi nga nung isa, “that’s why they call it research, it means to search and search again”. I thought it was mighty clever when I first heard it, a kind of positive attitude in the face of negative (or nonexistent) data, but now its flat-out depressing. Search again? How many more times again? Why am I doing this? WHY ON EARTH AM I DOING THIS??? Even my second boss (hubby of my boss) says “We can’t cure humans so we just make mice sick” Hahahaha……Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh. Running a lab and continually stressing about funding is not an exciting prospect. Writing and reading and writing does not a happy person make.

Ah, listen to me whine. You can’t be depressed just yet, tiggy. Why, you have 5-7 years more to go! Grrrreat! (parang Kellog’s). Hehe, sorry. I just had to vent somewhere right? Right? Hey, to those out there just starting out in graduate school, don’t read this. Ooooops, better put this at the top.

P.S. Finally found a way to edit this thing so that my purple world is, in fact, purple. Hmmm. Could it be I am getting techier?... Naaaaaaaah!

-whiner tiggy