soundtrak: coldplay: the hardest part

this week has been special, especially yesterday. i didn't have internet access for awhile (heavens forbid), but we just got it back this evening. it's been extremely humid (more than normal) for the past couple of days and the major thunderstorm last night really didn't help, but it did cut off power (and my la. add on top, i had complete insomnia last night and woke up majorly late this morning (everyone didn't even bother to wake me up). my sequences were sequenced today, so i didn't have much to do in the lab and left early, which was good because i was particularly restless today (heat, no sleep and no work will do that to you).

finally, bush is using his noggin and funding the malaria fight. quoted from linked article:
Because the disease is highly preventable, the money will pay for approaches such as providing insecticide-treated sleeping nets, encouraging greater use of insecticides indoors and financing a new generation of anti-malarial drugs.

ah, but you see, that's only part of the problem. giving money for new anti-malarials is all good and dandy (if the parasite doesn't gain resistance from those, we hope), but many of the people (i.e. children) that die from malaria don't have the money for the drugs. if a vaccine was avaliable, then all a child would have to do is recieve one treatment and be set for life. but of course, that wouldn't be cost affective for pharmie companies; they want to make money, not help people. in the end, it's always about the money. nice try bush, but try harder. the trick is to be affective.

dinner on sunday was interesting. (mr.) forrest is still the same old forrest, except with a wife and kid. it was me, Y, B and the mututal friend that we went out with last time, who i will call 'ana; we all went to high school together and had forrest for history.
we played catch up for awhile, talking about the time between junior year and now. forrest stayed at our school for about two years before he ventured out and travelled most of the world, expanding upon his political science career. we talked about other classmates; the ones we kept in touch with as well as the ones he kept in touch with (apparently, forrest ran into 'ana when she was living in brazil). it seems that all of my high school class works/lives/thrives in dupont circle, including forrest. i'm surprised i haven't been called out yet. i know it will come eventually.
we played with his daughter, who fell asleep on my chest (i mean what baby can resist 'the human pillow'; no, i didn't give myself that name). after dinner, we talked about what we remembered from history class, the state of secondary education in maryland, then and now, the political climate, the war, and a bit of science (for my sake, the only scientist). it was a very stimulating conversation than ran late into the night.
forrest mention how he still had the cards that he made us fill out on the first day of class, with our name, what we like at the time and the most important: where would we see ourselves in 10 years. the interesting thing was that he also made our parents fill out similar cards, asking what they would see their child doing in the next ten years.
"i think i can remember what your mom wrote," forrest remarked. when i mentioned it to her, she claimed she forgot, but i know she wrote down 'doctor'. i mean, come on, it's a given.

got good feedback from, at least, one of the labs that i emailed about a rotation. i don't know if i'll have things set up in the next two weeks, so i can finish up in the lab that i'm currently in and go on mini-vacation. if not, i just might take some time off anyways and visit mic before she goes off to her lab assignment for the summer (in the carribean; i'm jealous...).

no plans for the 4th, other than sleep. i was invited to this party, but the guy didn't give me directions. if he doesn't stop by the lab tomorrow, i'm not making the effort. i ain't all that pressed. and anyways, i can see the fireworks on pbs. sweet.

peace.

soundtrak: n/a

there's shade in the air. it must be in the water too, because i'm feeling it from many people (also see shadester; shady lady).

how does he do it? B called me this evening (he's already been calling me too much) to ask if i was still a vegetarian (for forrest's dinner on sunday) and then somehow lures me in this conversation on i should let him take me out and when i would be free. is he kidding me? does he still think i'm as dumb as i was in high school? he claims that we have a date on some random friday afternoon (ha! that's funny); whenever i'll make the time for him he says... yeah right.
B also let me know that Y's girl is back in town, which would explain the hang-up when i tried to give him a call this evening to see if he was going to forrest's house on sunday. i mean, is this girl really threatened? trust me, i am not threat, even to myself (if you minus the clumsiness...). but she's making it increasingly difficult to continue being her friend. the shade has got to stop.

aren't you proud of me? i went out after lab today and finally got myself some shoes; 7 months is too long to go without. shout out to the ladies at ladies foot locker: now that's real customer service.

Mic called me after game seven (great game, btw). we talked about things, people and situations. i know it may appear sometimes (even on here) that i'm miss-know-it-all and everyone else is always in the wrong... but i know (and i admit to it...) i have faults of my own. i keep things internalized until i explode on people. i keep grudges (i.e. B and i not talking for seven years.... Mic says i should forgive... he's not ready for my forgiveness yet...). i always have to have a plan for everything, even when sometimes God just wants me to stand still and wait for the blessing.

i know that's not how i work; i know i have these problems. you think i don't know, but i do. and i know you're thinking: well, if she would only stop judging me... but i'm not. there are going to be people that do (even when they shouldn't) and it all depends on how you take it. you can let it bother you and fester and you can try to change for them, or you can note it and move on. it seems harsh to say, but everybody will let you down. i know it even seems that i let you down, but don't say that i didn't warn you. i told you.
i'm letting you know right now that you're going down the wrong path. how do i know? because i've been there and it's not pretty; there's nothing for you there. i love you and i tell you this out of love and care for you. the climb back to where you don't have to feel this way is rough. i did it and it wasn't easy. you can do it too, but you need to try. you need to make that attempt. things can get better than this.

you know who you are.

peace.

soundtrak: nba finals: game seven

this game... geez. overtime. i can't watch.

anyways, so i'm talking with jam, who is looking forward to getting engaged and married to his girl soon. they both know that they want to marry each other, a feeling that i find foreign. to be able to let go, your anxieties and joys, to this one person... just to be so certain to take such a huge step. well, for some people it's different, but with them you can tell that they really love each other. there is no hesitation. i find this concept amazing, be it, i hesitate with pretty much everything (even these puma shoes that i was trying to buy this evening...). i'm always switching my position, changing my mind. i don't think i'll ever have that kind of certainty.

how do you help someone when you don't know how to helo them? if you were in that same exact situation, you wouldn't know what to do either? i'm having a hard time confronting the issue.

anyways. my mind's just thinking. i'm off. nite.

peace.

soundtrak: coldplay: things i don't understand/ fix you

so i was in the garage the other day, when i looked over at dad's car and realized that it wasn't the trusty, faithful, saab 9000 turbo. no, dad got a benz. i tell you, a stab to my heart. i'm the only one left to keep the saab dream alive.
and it was funny, because i was watching seinfeld today and it was the episode where jerry has to id his car (because his mechanic stole it...) and the detective's like: blah, blah, blah, turbo and jerry goes, "i don't have turbo... i have a 900s..." and i'm thinking, 'dude, you should have gone for the turbo... what were you thinking..." and then the woman who's car it was came in and was like, "is it a 9000 turbo?" and i'm getting all excited because i know exactly what she's talking about.
sorry for that ramble. my love for saabs runs deep.

it's summer and my brain has turned to mush. i work in the lab and then i come home and do nothing. and it's sad because i have so much stuff to do. first off, i need shoes. i've been needing shoes for the past 4 months. the shoes i'm wearing now (because i have to wear close-toe shoes in the lab and i hate those half-sandal, half-sneaker thingies, so i just wear daggone sneakers...) are just dead... my feet hurt everyday.
i can barely carry conversation with people (too much thinking), i have yet to start on the website that i will only work on during summer (during classes... ain't gonna happen), 50 books that i bought and haven't read, backup of magazines that i haven't read yet, my novel that i haven't started, my running program (ha!).... i mean, the list goes on. i don't know if it's because it's hot and the humidity gets me tired or what. i can't even blog (i mean, just read this mess of an entry...). i'm trying to get my act together, but i don't know how to begin.

B just called me. we're (we = B + me! ha!) going to dinner with one of the teachers we had in high school. it's funny because at the time he was fresh out of AU and our class really broke his creative teaching spirit ("look dude, just teach us the facts... that's all we need to know..."). we used to call him forrest (gump), because he was innocent guy and he would believe anything that we told him. it's going to be weird having dinner at his house.

more later. hopefully.

peace.

soundtrak: nba finals

i don't even know why i'm bothering to watch; i'm not all that interested. and yet, i still watch. well, it's not that bad; it's an active (fouls in the first five minutes...)

today was the hottest day of the year. and of course, today i had to run to the chem store to get some reagents... my ice halfway melted on the way there. i wish it would just rain and the humidity would just go. my sinuses are better; i just keep on popping the pills.

talking about work, with my initial project done, i have already started working on my next one: introducing my mutation into a mammalian vector, so we can look at in vivo effects. i'm trying to set up my other rotations for fall. so i figure that i'll probably have a month off before starting classes again. i don't know what i should do or where i should go. trying to get it all figured out.

my spending as of late has been really out of control (i.e. i can't stop going into target...). this coming from the girl that hates to shop. my credit card bill is ridiculous. i'm really trying to nip it in the bud. but i'm saving most, so that's good.

it seems like everyone i know is buying a condo. not that the market is all that good, but it seems that everybody is going for the plunge. i think i would like to own something here (which is mostly a dream because the market here is just crazy), but i know that the dc/md/va area is probably a place that i would come back to, if not stay. even though i don't have the funds, i'm looking.

been kind of bored lately, haven't been doing anything really, just bumming. everybody's busy for the summer. T is taking 20 hours of classes + working 40 hours a week; and i wonder why he just didn't even just take one class (instead of the three he's taking now) during the school year and ease his load just a bit. crispy is mia. JK, bbq and Y make their brief guest appearances. surprisingly, B has been mia as well. i'm not complaining. unfortunately, MB has returned to town and already started rubbing me (and i do mean literally rubbing me...) the wrong way. dude: no means no.

anyways, how are things going with you?

peace.

soundtrak: a tribe called quest: electric relaxation

man, this song... takes me back...

anyways. i don't care what they say: summer has officially started in dc. how can i tell, you ask? 1. it's humid as hell; to the point where i'm sleeping on the train, it's so daggone hot. 2. large influx of tourists; just large groups of people looking lost. yay summer.

i officially finished my initial project in lab yesterday. i finally ran the assay comparing function of my wildtype and mutant proteins. of course, i won't mention any results, but yeah, i'm done. i came into work today with a tiny headache (which happens every year with summer.... hot and humid outdoors + dry and cold indoors = havoc on my sinuses), which blew into a nasty migrane (i had to sit in the dark for awhile, it was that bad). and of course, the only medication i had was sudafed, which just knocked me out. i left early, disappointed. i don't know when my sinuses will flare (i.e. i was fine yesterday and it was more humid that it was today), but it seems that anything will set them off. i'm not to the point where i want (need?) to have surgery, but they do bother me alot.

T is taking two summer classes (yet he doesn't take classes during the school year...), so i haven't talked to him in awhile. crispy is somewhere doing something. i need to email people. you know, i forgot about the hex for about a month, but it's definetly kicking. it's annoying.

more later.

peace.

soundtrak: various

the random list:

- planning a thing to go see the washington monument... yes, you don't have to tell me how sad it is that i've been living here for 25 years, have seen everything else (even the library of congress... hmm) and have yet to see the washington monument. it mocks me and i must conquer the beast.
- so the p.i. sat me down today and asked me if i was extending my stay with her. there's nothing else i can do; all labs are full. she's trying to give me another project to do (since i basically got my mutant... finally!) so, i'm staying. probably going to take a break for a month, complete classes (thankfully, not a whole lot of them) and two rotations in fall semester. gah!
- did i mention that i got a stipend raise... i don't particularly know why, but i'm not asking any questions.
- during incubations, i like to read the washington post and i always seem to find these amusing stories... case in point: this woman killed her husband by shooting him and then dismembering his body, placing the pieces in luggage and dumping them off the chesapeake bay. what makes the story amusing is that fact that the luggage was not only the victims own, but that it was a matching set. i mean, was that piece of information really necessary for us to know and why did the reporter even include it. well, it seems they traced the luggage back to the wife anyways, so maybe that wasn't such a smart idea. more here.
- working on new playlist. got common's new cd; it rare when i like every song on a cd, but it's that good. pre-ordered coldplay's newest and i heard that oasis is coming back out with something new. i'm excited.

***edit 06/05/05: updated radio.blog below
peace.