Grichu's world

New home

2008-08-03T18:06:00.002-05:00

Hello!

So Ryan and I have a website and blog together now. I'm not sure if I'll keep updating this one...

so check it out:

www.apartmentfour.com

Taking one for the team

2008-06-24T16:34:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a pretty hectic day.

It was Monday, trying to get into gear with things. Analyzed some data. Went to a thesis defense. Ate cake.

Then 5pm rolls by and I change into my softball attire. It was game four. The previous game we won by one point, and we had actually improved our game a lot.

Then we learn that this team we're playing is actually very good. We get there and they're measuring (with a tape measure, not just steps) the distance between the bases. They also have multiple bats, which up to now has meant that the team can play.

We have one bat.

I digress. So, we warm up for the game. I'm feeling particulary lazy and sleepy. Our best and most competitive player, Jody, is out of town. And there's no beer.

So we start playing, and they demolish us from the start.

First inning: They score 6, we score 0.

Second inning: They score 3, we score 0. I pitched, we were happy that their score went down.

Third inning: They score 4, we score 0. Becky pitching, ok but they still scored a bit.

Fourth inning: They score 5, we score 0. Me pitching isn't helping.

Fifth inning: We decide to let Steph pitch, I can back her up if things go badly. I take 2nd base for the first time. Tim is being really helpful and trying to get the balls. Then a girl comes to bat. Hits the ball straight at me. I think, I can do this, I will try to catch it. I'm trying to figure out where to place my glove and bam, it hits me in the face.

My first reaction, because my vision was a bit blurry, was that I broke my glasses. Uh, no, I'm wearing contacts. Then I notice the blood spewing out of my nose. Some guy takes off his shirt and gives it to me to try to stop the bleeding. Dr. Jon comes to the rescue (an MD/PhD on our team), tries to get the bleeding to stop. A yellow towel is swapped for the tshirt. After a while the bleeding is better, I guess. But now everyone is wondering whether my nose is broken, and whether to take me to urgent care at the health center or to the ER. Jon whispers that he thinks it's either broken or my cartilage is torn.

This is not good, I think.

I get Becky to call Ryan, as Amanda comes with her car. We're off to urgent care. It's hurting quite a bit, although it's not as swollen as I would have thought.

Once at urgent care it went pretty quickly. I filled out the "triage" form (reason for visit: took a softball to the nose.)

Then they give me some ice, take my blood pressure. And it's off to wait for the doc in a room with a cushy bed. Jon came by to make sure I was alive :P That was sweet of him. I freak out a little bit.

Anyway, the doc finally comes in, he's very nice. Kind of didn't know where to start since there most of been a lot of blood around the area. It hurt quite a bit when he was cleaning it. He didn't think it was broken, though. He gave me two stitches right then and there (the softball cut into my skin a little bit), and I was on my way.

This is me now:

Not too bad I guess. It's just a bit painful. Certain facial expressions are a no-no, which I learned the hard way. Apparently I use a lot of facial expressions when I talk.

So I stayed home today, preparing for my meeting with Sue tomorrow, reading some papers, organizing my week, etc.

Off to do some more of that now :)

Summer Cleaning

2008-06-22T16:48:00.004-05:00

This is the official first weekend of summer!
Weekend recap (although it's not over yet!!)

FRIDAY: I felt like crap, so I went into lab late (did read a paper in the morning, yay me!) and then came home right as happy hour was starting. Which lead to marathon "Weeds" watching. My new addiction. We finished Season II with a terrible cliffhanger... and Netflix only has season III on DVD (not streaming live), so we'll have to wait until next week to find out what happens. This is just as well, since we are way too addicted to this.

Ryan made a yummy meat and cheese platter for dinner, salami rocks! Oh, and we tried this Chilean cheese... I'm not a huge fan.

Then we watched "Thank you for Smoking", which was okay, but not great.

SATURDAY: Sleeping in, yay! What else did we do? Not too sure. I know I read three papers (my goal was between 3 or 4, so I'm pretty happy). Then we both worked out with Wii fit. Then at 6pm we were finally ready to go shopping!

I'm not sure if I talked before about Clinton Crossing, but it's a great outlet mall about 25 min away. I had to return some shoes, Ashley needed to return some stuff too, and Jessie was on a mission to get some jeans. We were all pretty successful (although I found jeans and Jessie didn't). Then we went to the Log Cabin for dinner. We were starving, which was a good thing because the portions were huge! We all took a ton of leftovers (so much that Ryan and I had my leftovers for lunch, and we'll probably have his for dinner).

SUNDAY: This is where the title of this post comes in.

My goal for today: start writing my prospecuts proposal.

Reality? Well, we woke up pretty early (talked to my folks in Argentina), had some breakfast... and then I started going through my closets. Massive spring cleaning (but it's summer now, so I guess it's summer cleaning). I finally threw away/donated a ton of clothes that I haven't worn in ages. Same thing with shoes. Plus we reorganized our drawers and closets. Very productive. The apartment actually looks great this weekend, we've been good.
And now I've actually written two paragraphs and Ryan went to do some shopping... ok, off to help him unload stuff from the car.

Crushing on Jon (but I still love you Ryan)

2008-06-14T09:44:00.002-05:00

For some odd reason Jon Stewart decided to stop by Wallingford, CT last night and do some stand-up. It was so much fun! He is my favorite comedian, ever!

Ryan got me the tickets for my birthday. So we went there yesterday, and we got there by pure luck, Wallingford is confusing. Wallingford is where my BMS internship was... and that's about as exciting as that town gets. We were wondering to ourselves, why Wallingford. It turns out Jon Stewart had the same question. He was like, it's great to be here in... where the fuck am I?

He was very funny, minus a few times when he used some material from his show (I think it was when he was either nervous or needed a transition). I think he was funnier without those bits, he's just such a funny person.

Anyway...

In other news, I've actually read some papers. Although I'm quite behind. But hopefully I'll get at least 5 papers read this weekend. I'm also planning on having some of my classmates over for dinner and board games. We'll see if anyone shows up. It's kind of perfect for it, though, bc it's supposed to thunderstorm.

Another update, we got wii fit. It's pretty awesome. Awesomely brutal. But awesome. We've been good about using it every day. It keeps a chart of your BMI and weight, as well as your wii fit "age" (how balanced your body is or whatever). Ryan's lost a ton of weight already. Mainly because we've also been doing at least 30 minutes of exercise a day! Plus Ryan's doing tennis and golf. I've joined a coed softball team. It's been great. I'm pretty bad, but slowly getting better. I was pitcher the other day, which ended with one nasty bruise from being hit by a ball.

Quarter of a Century

2008-05-16T07:12:00.002-05:00

Today is my 25th birthday :)
There will be a bbq on Sunday (if it doesn't rain) that I'm pretty excited about, as well as yummy cake!!
Tonight it'll just be Ryan and I, and I hear he's baking me a cake.

Have a great day!

Put down your novel and pick up a paper.

2008-04-21T17:37:00.002-05:00

Wise words from my PI :)

This blogging more frequently may still be sporadic. Sorry.

I'm in my qualifying preparation time, or whatever. I had my preprospectus about 10 days ago, and will have my prospectus in less than two months. Hence the title of this post. I really need to crack down and get some reading/learning done.

What am I talking about?
So, as you know I'm getting my Ph.D. In our program, before the start of third year we have to pass our 'qualifying exam'. Basically a 2hr oral exam about topics related to my proposed thesis project.
What does this entail?
1. Summary of my research in one page: completed
2. Research in progress talk in front of whole department: completed
3. Meeting with committee to see if they like my project: completed, committee happy
4. Picking topics for my prospectus: completed
5. Coming up with lists of papers that I'm actually going to read: in progress
6. 10-page N1H style paper on my proposal: to do
7. Revamped presentation with more detail: to do
8. Actually reading 50+ papers:to do
9. 2hr qualifying exam: to do

So that's what I have been up to.

In better news, I got this prestigious fell0wship from the nati0n@l science found@ation!!! I'm very excited about this! Plus it increases my stipend!! Yay!!

In non-science news, I saw Smart People and was deeply disappointed!

Jag sameaj... Happy Passover!!

Back from hiatus

2008-03-23T17:22:00.003-05:00

Hi...

The plan is to start blogging again...

I'll keep you posted.

Happy 1st Anniversary to us...

2007-07-30T18:13:00.000-05:00

It's been a year since we said I do!

Yey!

Ok, off to celebrate with Ryan (he's making salmon and asparagus... and a yummy red velvet chocolate cake! I'll post pictures later)...

In the meanwhile, here's a bit about me.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Edit: for some more info on tonight, you can read the husband's blog.

Hallow Obsession

2007-07-26T20:46:00.000-05:00

So, yay or nay on the handwriting?

Cook Out (and other ramblings)

2007-07-08T20:21:00.000-05:00

... not a BBQ, nope, here on the East Coast it's a cookout... (like it's not a yard sale, it's a tag sale... they're weird here).

In any case, we (ok, so I did most of the grilling, how cool is that) grilled some chicken kebabs, veggies and corn, had some rasberry lemonade and a yummy salad!

<----- Here I am preparing the yummy salad...

...and a close up of the said salad.

All the while, Ryan had to do some work, but was able to take it outside:

all in all, a perfect afternoon/evening.

We actually hung out all day... it started with Ryan making almond, coconut pancakes, then us running some errands and having lunch at TGIF (which has a very nice revamped look)... and then home to marinate the chicken, do some housework... talk to the 'rents...

Oh yeah, so we have our vacation all planned out. We're going to North Carolina to see Ryan's dad and then down to Florida to their beach house.... we're thinking that Disney World may be part of that... which would be sooo exciting. I've been to Disneyland, but never to the World!!

But, we're debating on whether to go to both Magic Kingdom and Epcot, or just one of the two, and if so, which one? We're probably only going to go for one day... Suggestions are appreciated.

Ok, so back to work tomorrow morning... But a great weekend overall (last night we had a potluck at Mikki's house... I made fried spinach things: tortillas de espinaca, which came out soo yummy!! and we watched Catch and Release, which I did actually like...)

It's July already! I can't believe it...

which reminds me, I got Ryan's anniversary present on Friday, a watch (he picked it out with me), so that was cool. And we both got some new shoes, all at the outlet mall in Clinton...

Ok, I'm off to enjoy the last of my Sunday.

East Coast Extravaganza (a few months late...)

2007-06-25T17:13:00.000-05:00

We had a blast back in March when Melissa and Claudia came over. We went to Providence, Rhode Island; Boston, MA; NYC, NY... it was sooo much fun!! And I got to see a lot of the East Coast... Here are some pictures...

<--Legal Sea Foods, Boston

Harvard Library with Melissa and ClaudiaBoston scenary....

The White House, Washington DC... that was sooo cool to be there!!!

NYC, with the host of the comedy show!

Museum of Natural History, NYC with the girls!

NYC Subway... me getting everyone lost!

Not so 9 to 5 :)

2007-06-25T17:03:00.000-05:00

Week 2, internship.

I started at 7:30am and ended at 5:30pm... it's been a long day... but I did take a lunch break (yay!!) and talked to Ryan during that time, as he was heading to LAX... on his way home! Double yay!
He was so cute, he left me tons of text messages after that, while I was working. :) I can't wait to have him back.. I'm a bit selfish, and it's ok!!

Oh, and I have been witholding some big news from my blog readers (barely plural, but hey)... I have a lab home!! I finally heard back from my first choice!! I've talked to him about projects somewhat, and I have some ideas brewing... so I need to solidify them by July 9th when I meet with him again. Yay!!!

More on the internship...
I really like the person I'm working with, she's so positive! I was trying to get these cells to come off a plate (lab lingo, sorry) and they just wouldn't do it! So I tried again, and not so much... So I tried counting the cells I got out, and they were really low... This took like 2hs or so, of me freaking out and trying different things. Finally I found my mentor and she was like, oh, seems like these are tough cells (they were new to her too, so she didn't know what the conditions would be), lets add a higher concentration of trypsin... plus she was saying how great I was doing, and that it was a problem with the cells, not with me...

Later on I did get the cells to come off, but I think I must have sucked them all out and lost them... She was a little disheartened, and told me we'll just try again tomorrow together... So, I was a bit sad that it ended up being all screwed up, but I still felt good about myself at the end of the day... so I stayed another hour to prepare for tomorrow and write what I did today in my notebook...

Now I'm home and oh so exhausted...

Ryan comes home in like 4hs though! Yay!!!

Intern

2007-06-23T12:38:00.000-05:00

Moi.... a real picture, as promised...

Intern Perks, Part 1

2007-06-21T17:12:00.000-05:00

As you may know I am an intern for the summer... and well, it came with some perks (nothing too fancy, mind you).

1) I have my own computer, which is nice. It's set up with my name and everything.

2) I have my own phone and own extension (and have recorded a greeting on my voicemail, which is pretty much useless since I doubt anyone will call)

3) My name is on my cubicle (I don't have the nice perk of an office... like the other interns... I think they assigned things in alphabetical order... and my last name starts with Z... maybe I should switch the order of my last name from Z-C to C-Z... maybe!)

4) There is a nice coffee machine that makes a cup of coffee or tea from these nifty pouches (so it's not like day old coffee at 5pm)... :)

That's about it for now...

Ok, and these are not real pictures... I am slowly upping my blog from no pictures, to googled jpegs, and eventually real pics...

Working hard though... and I finally got decent sleep last night... crashed at 10pm, woke up at 6am.. I think I'm finally getting used to getting up crazy early...

intern, that's me

2007-06-19T06:31:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So, I started yesterday as an intern for a biotech company-- a little break from grad school and a glimpse at career possibilities. It turns out that everyone dresses up (ie: no jeans), and I like it... So, I went to Target yesterday and got some cute shirts, like the one I wore today:

So far the internship is going great. I have a desk in a cubicle (others have actual offices, oh well), and my own computer and a phone with my own extension. Quite different than my Yale rotations...

The commute does tire me out. I have flashbacks to the kind of tired I uesd to be back in California when I got home... and tomorrow is an early day for me, I start at 7am, because there are long incubation times.

My mentor/pi is really awesome. She's really laid back and I feel comfortable around her.

...still no word on the lab front, but that will clarify itself soon enough, I hope.

Oh, and the other interns are pretty cool too!

Oh, and I'm trying to learn how to knit...I bought this book, which in retrospect may not be the best one for beginners, but I got some help from the yarn co. (theyarnco.com) for really learning step by step how to knit. Wish me luck!!

Breakfast edition

2007-06-18T06:42:00.000-05:00

Hi!
So this weekend was pretty nice.
It started Friday evening with a bbq and mojitos at GPSCY. It was really fun and the mojitos were yummy... my new favorite drink.

On Saturday we went to New York city with two of my friends.. We went to Max Brenner (chocolate by the bald man)...

and let me just say... it was heavenly... we had some real food, since we hadn't had lunch which were delicious!! And the desserts were oh so chocolatey!!! Heaven in food form. Yummy

This is kind of what one looked like... a chocolate cake with gooey madness in the middle.. and then we had a brownie type thing with ice cream, whipped cream and strawberries.... I must if you're in NY (or Israel or Australia or.... let's just say they have multiple locations).

Then we walked around NoHo and SoHo, and we did some shopping, since it was raining (what else is a girl to do?)

We finished the NYC trip by having dinner at La Nonna in little italy.. so yummy.. Sorry there's no real pictures, maybe next time!

Now, I'm off to work at my internship at a biotech company.

Till later!

The Ultra Ultimate Personality Test

2007-06-15T13:33:00.000-05:00

Your Score: The Giver

You scored 52 Extroversion, 69 Intuition, 55 Emotional, and 27 Spontaneity!

ENFJ

Outgoing and friendly.

ENFJs cheif concern in life is other people, and fostering harmony and cooperation, between themselves and others. Warm personal interactions-strokes of approval and appreciation- keep them going in life. Sympathetic, cooperative and tactful, with high ideals, they make a consistent effort to say and do the right thing. They are patient and conscientious and make an effort to stick to a job until it's finished.

Relationships

ENFJs put a lot of effort and enthusiasm into their relationships. To some extent, the ENFJ defines themself by the closeness and authenticity of their personal relationships, and are therefore highly invested in the business of relationships. They have very good people skills, and are affectionate and considerate. They are warmly affirming and nurturing. The excel at bringing out the best in others, and warmly supporting them. They want responding affirmation from their relationships, although they have a problem asking for it. When a situation calls for it, the ENFJ will become very sharp and critical. After having made their point, they will return to their natural, warm selves. They may have a tendency to "smother" their loved ones, but are generally highly valued for their genuine warmth and caring natures.

Strengths

Good verbal communication skills
Very perceptive about people's thoughts and motives
Motivational, inspirational; bring out the best in others
Warmly affectionate and affirming
Fun to be with - lively sense of humor, dramatic, energetic, optimistic
Good money skills
Able to "move on" after a love relationship has failed (although they blame themselves)
Loyal and committed - they want lifelong relationships
Strive for "win-win" situations
Driven to meet other's needs

End of rotation

2007-06-14T16:44:00.000-05:00

So, this is the last week of my third lab rotation. I presented my data (or lack thereof) last week. So I've been just tying some loose ends, compiling protocols, etc. Not terribly exciting, but necessary of course.

I still don't know which lab I'll join, which was freaking me out at first, but now I'm just trying to take it easy and see where things lead. I'm sure whatever happens is for the best, and I'll make the most of it for sure.

The whole high school thing lifted my spirits in this if-I-could-survive-that-I-can-survive-anything kind of way. Not that high school was horrible, but things didn't always go as great as I would have liked, but I still graduated and made the most of it. So, I will take this as my new philosophy, and see how long that lasts.

Ryan left again for cali this morning (way too early if you ask me.. the plane left at 6:30am, so we got up at 3am.. yawn!). I miss him, of course. But in a week or so he will be back :)

Ok, laters!

Reunion

2007-06-13T12:31:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So, I found out my high school classmates have been meeting up back in argentina. I so wish I could go and see everyone. It's been 6 and a half years since I've graduated... I do miss them. I did get some updates... some people getting married and stuff. But my friend says most of them haven't changed that much.

In any case.. I wish I could meet up with them again.

If only I could take 2 weeks off and go to argentina... that would rock!!

**EDIT

So, I've been thinking back at high school, and my goodness a lot has passed. I've changed quite a bit, and quite literally too, I've moved to a different country, finished college, gotten married (to an american, gasp! ok, not too shocking), started grad school.... and that world seems so far away. They posted a you tube video of a charades game they played and I was slightly jealous, wanting to be there, see what they've been up to; and at the same time I was thinking that all my changes are going to be apparent, or not, I don't know. It's been too long since I've been down there, since I've felt argentinean. It's weird.

It's cool to hear of them though, and how we've all moved on, and some haven't changed a bit. I'm sure I haven't changed all that much, although I've gained a few pounds...

ok, enough with the memories and stuff... back to the real world...

the husband leaves tomorrow morning for a week again... just as I was starting to get used to having him back... and I start an internship on Monday.

Good times.

New car

2007-06-08T17:44:00.000-05:00

We got a "new" car. A 2006 chevy aveo, in white. It is sooo cute!!! Yey!!! I'm so excited!!! We have a pretty car that actually fits passengers comfortably!!!

OK, that's it for now... :)

decisions, decisions

2007-05-28T11:38:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged in ages. Which is fine with me. I've been keeping busy. Have gone to Boston a total of three times, NYC three times, DC one time, and all around Connecticut for multiple occasions. I should post pictures, and maybe I will later, I have loads of them, from when Mel and Claudia came, but also when my parents came. I've also recently had a bday (am 24 now, yey). And the husband has been away for 5 weeks, but will be back on Thursday.

Classes are over. WHich is wonderful!!! Spring is here!!! Flowers everywhere!!! We had a bbq on Sat which was great!

But, now it's time to decide on a thesis lab. I'm on my third and final lab rotation, and our DGS (director of grad studies) would like our decision by Friday, although officially July 1 is when I have to give it. So, the nightmares have started.

Yup, I keep having these dreams that people are asking me which lab I'm joining, including the actual PI's. So, yeah, talk about pressure from within me, you know?

I have made a decision, but I haven't talked to the PI yet, so I won't say much. It's just going to be tough telling the other PI that I'm not planning on joining that lab. Unless the first PI says no, and then I'll have to rethink my decision...

Anyway, so I'm a bit troubled at the moment. Big decisions, you know?

And, I can't wait until Ryan comes back!! I've missed him so much!

Oh, and I'm doing a summer internship at a pharmaceutical company nearby (BMS), just for 6 to 8 weeks. That'll be interesting too.

Ok, now off to do real work.

Jag Sameaj

2007-04-05T18:14:00.000-05:00

This week is Pesaj (Passover), so no leavened things at all, which includes many items (including coke and pasta). It actually hasn't been that bad, mostly bc Ryan has joined in on the matza fun!

He actually was pushing me to actually do a seder on Monday, so we did! It was wonderful! We had a nice plate (with some liberal substitutions) and a nice matza basket (instead of bread basket) sent by my parents (who are getting better at this care pacakage thing!). We printed a haggadah online (yes, we didn't get around to buying one this year), and overall it went lovely. I even made matzah ball soup and we had these "breaded" (matza-ed?) chicken things... Very yummy.

And Ryan even had me look for the Affikomen...

Is it there?

In here? (Isn't that apron cute? my mommy sent me that too!)

Over here?

In the end it was in the printer, where the paper comes out... very funny!

Anyway, good times had by us!

Have a happy passover!

Coed Recreational Volleyball

2007-03-11T11:59:00.000-05:00

I joined a volleyball team, in a recreational league, so it's okay that I'm not the best player. We had practice today and it was pretty fun! I haven't done that in like 2 years since the SAACS spring picnic. It's the one sport that I am fairly okay at, mostly cuz that's all we played in high school.

Sunday still winter (they lied!)

2007-03-04T13:13:00.001-05:00

Hi!

So they said it would be a max of 50 degrees outside today… but no, it isn't even 40. And it might flurry tomorrow. Where's the hint of spring? Nowhere to be found apparently.

Yesterday I ended up going as a catholic school girl, since Ryan went as a priest. It was fitting, a good couple costume. Albeit a little naughty and slightly, oh, what's the word… blasphemy. Except that I'm Jewish. And we were supposed to go as something we weren't or haven't ever been. And I've definitely never been a catholic school girl. I wore Ryan's cross. First time ever wearing one. We found it funny, though Ryan felt a little odd. It was cuter than my leprechaun idea, so oh well.

The party wasn't as bad as Ryan was dreading it would be like. We talked with this new postdoc who's really nice and young (ie: our age-ish). So to that extent it was good. We left as more people that I actually knew where arriving. I think it was a good compromise (since Ryan wasn't too happy about going), and we went to watch a movie at Ashley's. It was really funny, about two average Americans that get frozen in time and go to 2055 where they are the smartest people in the world/America. Good times.

Now I've been working on my hw. Wish me luck. (Oh, and I'm posting from word… we'll see how it translates)

March Madness

2007-03-03T19:32:00.000-05:00

No, I am not suddenly in love with basketball. I just cannot believe it's already March! Oh well, such is life.

I'm so glad this week is over, although I have so much work to do and won't do it until tomorrow, because I'm a great procrastinator like that.
My experiment did not go well this week-- not enough cells or good viabilities. So I will be repeating it on Tuesday, I guess. Yay for another long day.

Friday was nice though, I thought about implications of my project, kind of-- basically thought about the rest of the pathway that I'm studying. Then went to RIP (research in progress) and happy hour (Friday rituals). Talked to some people in the lab I'm rotating in bc we had this thing at Bar (this pizza place/bar/brewery) at 6:30pm and RIP ended at 4:30pm. So I mingled and the such, and then headed over to bar for a large gathering... Their mashed potato and canadian bacon pizza is so yummy-- kind of an odd combination, but somehow it works. I might take Claudia and Mel over there and get that-- minus the bacon. Or to Sallies (a famous pizza place here in New Haven... pizza is a main topic here, and there are mini disputes over favorite pizza places... the big one is Pepe's vs Sallies... I've only been to Sallies, and it was really yummy.. but we had to wait like 45min in the freezing cold to get a table!)

I followed up bar with a poker night at our place (Ryan cleaned up and set everything up very nicely since I was late to our own gathering!). We had mojitos and strawberry daiquiris (made from real strawberries!) prepared by my very own bartneder and husband. THey were awesome! Oh, there were cosmos too, and a keg. Needless to say we drank a lot! But it was so much fun!

Today was basically a lazy day... I'm off to a purim party soon! Yey! I'm dressing up as a Leprechan! If there are pictures, I'll post them later. I'm very excited to do something Jewish... at least remotely. I haven't done anything jewish in such a long time!!!

Off to get ready!

Lunes por la madrugada...

2007-02-26T18:22:00.000-05:00

Hoy decidi escribir en castellano por varias razones. Una, porque no mucha gente va a entender lo que escribo. Que, se que es medio mal porque la idea (ahora) de este blog es que la gente lea lo que escribo. Pero bueno, por lo menos se que tengo por lo menos dos lectoras que entienden rebien, y algunos q entienden maso o van a traducir lo que escribo. Mi esposo ya se queja porque no escribo en ingles. Tambien lo hago porque hace mil que no escribo en castellano, y poco a poco lo estoy perdiendo.

Bueno, hoy conoci a una chica que va a mi misma facultad pero hace unos anios que esta aca. Fue raro, como siempre es conocer a alguien nuevo. No creo que le haya caido bien, porque se fue medio abruptamente, pero que se yo. Lo raro es que creo que ultimamente no lo caigo tan bien a la gente, como que la primera impresion que doy (?) no es tan bueno como era antes. Bah,no se si la fue. Porque como que no se de que hablar, me gusta mas escuchar. O hablo mucho, no se, los dos extremos no son tan buenos.

Esto del mundo cientifico es raro, escucho que hay mucho discriminacion contra mujeres y pareciera que tener una familia y una vida normal y divertida es casi imposible, bah no imposible pero hay dos opciones. O se tiene una familia y se encuentra un laburo no tan increible, o se tiene familia pero la mayoria del tiempo se pasa trabajando. Hay gente que hace los dos bien, pero lleva esfuerzo y apoyo de la familia. Tengo el apoyo de mi esposo y mi familia, y creo que si encuentro un proyecto que me encante podria hacer los dos. El tema es que desde llegue a Y@le siento que mis prioridades han cambiado y lo que antes pensaba que era seguro lo que queria hacer, ahora cuestiono. Cosa que no es tan malo, pero es raro no saber que es lo que quiero.

But now I must go meet up with the classmates for some birthday dinner at a pho place. Yey!

Tomorrow is my big experiment day. I'll be there at 7:30am and hopefully be out by 6 or 7pm... Hope all will go smoothly.

Making reservations

2007-02-25T12:19:00.000-05:00

Since my friends are coming for spring break, we're doing this East Coast travel extravaganza.

We're going to Boston for a day, which I've been to in January so I understand may way around better than before. Then we're heading to New York to meet up with my other really good friend Jade who's there with her mom and bf for a few days, and tour the city. I have yet to go to NY (unbelievable, I know! so close yet so far) so this will be my chance to enjoy the city.

Then we're going to D.C. for a few days... and this is where the reservations come into play. We can get a car for $164 which is pretty good, I think. Taking the train costs $120 per person. Both take about 5.5hs. That's 306 miles according to google. If we get 25 miles to the gallon, then that's 12 gallons. At $3/gallon, that's $36 each way. So about $100 on gas. So it's either $264 ($88/person) taking the car or $360 ($120/person) for the train. So the train may be very well worth it, less stress, we can all sleep in the train, no parking problems etc. Plus, we'll be getting around with the metro anyway.

So that's all that I've figured out now... It's all very exciting though!

Thursday

2007-02-22T07:29:00.000-05:00

We have no lab meeting today, which was really nice (9am lab meetings are a drag), but I still woke up early. Too early actually... Ryan had me set the alarm for 6am (!) and then took 30 minutes (and 3 snoozes from me) to get out of bed after I finally threatened him (no, you will not wait for the 4th alarm to ring, you will get out of bed).

I'm glad he got up though, bc he's going to this microsoft event that's going to get him Vista for free. I got my version for free from Yale, so this would be a double score. Although I am not too happy with Vista and/or my computer lately. Ryan rebooted it... but it's not that much better, actually it seems a little worse, albeit a bit faster in starting up and stuff.

Anyway, so one more article to read for cancer and I'm done with the reading... and then I'll actually start studying and putting concepts together... fun...

Oh, and in other news, my parents are coming out in May, just in time for my birthday. Yey, I love that people are coming out to visit us... we get to show our pretty apartment to people that knew us before we got married, it's very exciting. Haha, I just love our apartment, and even though I've shown people pictures, I want to see their reaction... Wow, I sound silly! It'll be great to have some family over (aside from my awesome friends that are coming for spring break); it makes life a lot more happier and something to look forward to!

Hmm, I was about to say that the weather is nicer too, but it seems that its 24 degrees outside... But it'll probably get up to 40... 40 I can handle --without gloves! (Ugh, weather channel says it might rain... but it's so pretty outside!)

Anyway, I'm off to finish reading and get started on my day!

____________________
*Edit: It was actually a thing to get the office for free (!), which I actually love (I tried the beta version and it rocked), but Ryan signed up for the wrong event-- it was geared to gov't officials to which they cannot give free software... so he drove right back... poor thing woke up for nothing, whereas I got all my reading done! And he went to get the truck serviced yesterday, where they broke the heater, so he was driving in the 24 degrees with no heater... so now he's getting that fixed.

Oh, and excuse me as I update my blog settings, colors, etc. It might be done by this weekend, hopefully!

Back to blogging

2007-02-21T18:55:00.000-05:00

I haven't blogged in a while, as always seems to be the case when I'm busy. But of course now I am procrastinating on studying for my friday cancer class...

But, I will try to update more frequently, since I feel a little guilty that I read a lot of blogs daily, yet don't update my own. I've been pleasantly surprised to find many female scientist blogs (some who are Jewish too), and it's comforting. Especially since I have a daily or weekly why-am-I-in-grad-school crisis, which my husband seems to be good at making better... but still. The gym did help last night though, got rid of some stresses.

Yeah, so the first year is stressful, although a little better this semester than the last one.

This weekend was recruitment weekend... which is weird that it's been a year since I went through that process. It was fun, but very odd to be telling them about the program and stuff. I had fun though, got free food and stuff... Plus we went to see La Boheme, which I actually liked. I'm liking Operas, especially when there are subtitles-ish... screens with translation into english, makes it way more understandable.

We also tailgated on Sunday to a hockey game... that was fun, our first tailgating event (hot cocoa with mint schnapps + marshmallows = yummy!). Yale lost, but that happens all the time. It was a close game, although I didn't get to see the last 30 minutes or so because I decided to go study (for my class on monday... I had a few papers to read and a question to respond to).

Ooooh, and I went snowboarding two weekends ago! Very fun! I hurt for like three days! But it was great to be part of a winter sport, and use muscles I never even knew I had. I like feeling active, it's so exhilarating. It's a little scary to be flying down a mountain (ok, a bunny slope...) and having control-- it's just the not freaking out about it part that would make it more controlable.

Hopefully if I do more of these sport/gym things I'll feel more confident in myself and I won't freak out about grad school... Wish me luck, I guess.

Hmm... oh, and two of my friends from college are coming out to visit me for Spring break! We're going to Boston, NY and D.C., maybe Providence too (and some of New Haven, of course). I'm very excited about that...

Ok, enough for now... back to cancer reading.

Awareness (copied)

2007-01-29T19:42:00.000-05:00

I'm copying mercurialscribe on this...

At Delphi: “Know thyself - and thou shall know all the mysteries of the gods and of the universe.” Fact or fiction?

Click hereand fill out the form… do i know the mysteries of the universe? Let us see…

* January Is Cervical Health Awareness Month*

2007-01-28T18:53:00.000-05:00

Hi!

Why am I bringing this up in my blog? Because of the new HPV/cervical cancer vaccine (hello! I'm studying immunology, of course this is right up my alley, haha!). I haven't had it yet, but I will in March when I have to go get my third hepatitis shot... So, spread the word!!! So, I've added some info and here are some helpful links too:
http://www.nccc-online.org/
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/vaccine/hpv/hpv-faqs.htm
Federal health programs such as Vaccines for Children (VFC) will cover the HPV vaccine. The VFC program provides free vaccines to children and teens under 19 years of age, who are either uninsured, Medicaid-eligible, American Indian, or Alaska Native.

Anyway... so go get your vaccine if you're a woman from ages 9-26... take your sister, cousin, niece, daughter, friend, etc. (unless you or they are pregnant, then wait until after the pregnancy is over). Because even though she may not be having sex yet or you are in a totally monogomous relationship and are never going to sleep with any other guy (ie: me), you never know, and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Side effects are just like any other vaccine (it might itch or hurt where they injected the stuff in your arm, or you may feel a little sick), but much better than cancer, which you could die of (yes, I'm also taking a cancer class this semester and am hyper aware of how horrible it is... aside from having one parent and almost all my grandparents die of it)...

Facts:
The human papilloma virus (HPV), is the most common sexually transmitted disease in the United States, and it can lead to cervical cancer. Many lawmakers in states throughout the Unted States want to now require girls to get a vaccine against it before entering Middle or High School.

Number of people affected by HPV: About 20 million in the United States. 80% of women by age 50 will test postive for HPV.

New cases each year: 6.2 million

Health effects: Usually causes no symptoms, but certain strains can lead to cervical cancer and/or genital warts.

Cervical cancer data in the United States: 9,700 new U.S. cases a year. 3,700 deaths.

New vaccine: Gardasil (Approved by the FDA on June 8, 2006), which is effective against four HPV strains. Two of the HPV types, Type 16 and 18 cause about 70 percent of cervical cancers. Combined, all four types of HPV in the Merck Gardasil product acount for about 90% of Genital warts.

Recommended recipients: Girls 11 and 12 years old, or before onset of sexual activity. The vaccine can be given to girls as young as 9. The vaccine is also advised for 13-to-26-year-olds.

Cost: $360 for a set of three shots over asix month period. Now being covered by vast majority of insurers. (Although some universities, cities, states are offering it for free!!)

Side effects: No serious ones reported; some pain at injection site.

Source: National Cervical Cancer Coalition and the CDC.

* 11% of United States women report that they do not have regular cervical cancer screenings
* In the United States, About 14,000 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer disease each year and more than 3,900 women die in the USA each year from this disease.
* In the majority of developing countries, cervical cancer remains the number-one cause of cancer-related deaths among women.
* A woman who does not have cervical cancer screening on a regular basis significantly increases her chances of developing cervical cancer.
* High-Risk HPV Types are directly related to cervical cancer, yet many women are unaware of what HPV is or the relationship it has to cervical cancer disease.

STILL GET YOUR ANNUAL PAP SMEAR!!

Get your Pap smear, even if you have received the HPV/cervical cancer vaccine.
A Cervical Cancer/HPV vaccine has been approved by the FDA. However, phone calls we receive on the NCCC Hotline indicate that you might be confused about what to do with regard to your regular Pap smear if you have been vaccinated. Some women, maybe you, have thought that Pap smears are no longer necessary. It is important to restate the facts even with the vaccine.

Even if a women has had the HPV/cervical cancer vaccine, she will continue to require a cervical cancer screen by the Pap test. At this time, this vaccine only protects against 70% of the potential cervical cancer cases. The Pap smear has reduced cervical cancer rates in the United States by more then 70%. Pap smears, like the one you receive regularly, is the single most effective cancer screen in the history of medicine. Remember to have your Pap test. Early detection saves lives.

End of the year review meme

2006-12-24T14:40:00.000-05:00

I've seen this around and thought I could do it. The idea is you copy the first sentence you posted each month in the previous year.

January
Guardian (SJ): You are sensible, down to earth, and goal oriented.

February:
Hello! So, I've ceased blogging as things have been hectic. A brief summary: I got 7 interviews, but am only going to 6 (the other one never really got back to me about rescheduling) out of the 8 schools I applied.

March:
Hi! I have decided to accept Yale's offer....

No posts from April or May...

June:
So, today I had my bridal shower... it was so awesome, and fun, and just plain awesome.

July:
So today was a pretty good day. It turns out, I can sew.

August:
Ah, the new zip code, with a zero in front!!

September:
We have a dining set in our dining/living room!!

October:
We just came back from a Halloween costume party at GPSCY (pronounced gypsy), the Graduate and Professional School Club at Yale.

November:
So, I took part in a Pharmaceutical Case Competition this week.

December:
So today I'm participating in something really cool: Basically, there's this amazing writer/blogger, Amy -->
and she has just written a book, Three Fallen Women, that sounds so great (and I have yet to buy, but am very curius about... I'm thinking, maybe after today's final is over I can actually read it!!)

Some comments:

It turns out I start a lot of posts with "So, today", which is quite funny... A lot has been going on this year... Graduated from college, got married, moved to Connecticut, start Grad school at Yale... and now back to Cali for the holidays. Overall, a very good year, I must say... though a little stressful. But some stress is good, I guess!

Merry Xmas, happy belated hannukah... happy new year...

G in CA

Night number 6: Hannukah!

2006-12-20T09:21:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So today I'm participating in something really cool:

Basically, there's this amazing writer/blogger, Amy -->
and she has just written a book, Three Fallen Women, that sounds so great (and I have yet to buy, but am very curius about... I'm thinking, maybe after today's final is over I can actually read it!!)

Anyway, so I have been tagged for the sixth night of Hannukah, tonight. So there are five other bloggers tonight that are also responding to these questions. It should be interesting!! (You can check previous nights or Amy's blog at: http://bigmouthindeedstrikesagain.blogspot.com/)

1. Quick! You must turn a plate of latkes into an upscale gourmet delight
(as if they aren't already?). What would you add to them to dress them up,
flavor and/or garnish them?

I would place them in a nice plate (like my cool black and white square ones, yey) and add one latke, one spoonful of sour cream with a little parsley on top, and a trace of apple sauce... Some pepper on top of the latke... and well, if it looks pretty and there's barely enough food, it must be gourmet, right?

I don't really do anything extra special with latkes. I've had to make A TON of them once for a Hannukah party at my old Hillel, and we didn't do too much to them. Although, I think we did spice things up a bit, because we had a student chef help us out... but of course I have no idea what we did differently... there was just a lot of potato shredding involved.
This year-- I bought a box, and have yet to open it and make some (I've basically been living in the library for the past four days... fun fun).

2. What is the dumbest thing you've ever heard anyone say about Chanukah?

Um, well, specifically about hannukah, I don't know. But, one of my classmates just recently found out that Jews don't believe in Jesus... a big!! shock to the poor southern boy. And at out Thanksgiving feast, he did the prayer, and now aware that people believe in different things, asked, does everyone here believe in God? The nice thing was he did the prayer just saying a generic, God thank you for.... Because I always feel awkward when they say something about Jesus in the prayer... silly me, I guess :)

3. What's the best possible use for olive oil?

Olive oil is the most awesome thing ever... The last thing I used it for was a mozzarella, basil and tomato sandwich... squirted some olive oil on the bread and it was great!! However, olive oil, garlic and toasted bread makes yuummmy garlic bread.... that may be my favorite use!

4. Settle it once and for all. Latkes or hammentaschen? Which to you
prefer? What about pitting the winner of that contest against sufganiyot?

Hammentaschen! Maybe because they bring back memories of grade school in Paraguay, and my mom learning the recipe, and we trying it at home... My mom was way more involved in judaism back then, some PTA-esque thing I think, but it was tres cool (my mom's not Jewish... but was very much involved in my jewish grade school... and likes hammentaschen very much herself).

Plus, I don't think I've ever had sufganiyot... though even I find that hard to believe. I must have at some point...

5. What's the best way to mix up a game of dreidel?

Good friends, good chocolate, good wine... a round table... and there goes 2 hours of spinning... I guess that's not mixing it up...

It's funny to play with people that don't know hebrew... though they learn faster than I did the first time (what each letter means, I mean).

6. My novel, Three Fallen Women, shockingly enough, is about the lives of
three women. Which three women would you like to have over this year for
latkes and why?

I would like to have my old mora, Sara... which I totally have lost track of, but gave me my hebrew name Ada (I totally thought of her now that I think about hammentaschen!). I think I wrote her a mini-letter in hebrew once--- when I actually knew enough hebrew to do so. In any case, it would just be cool to do so.

My friend Caroli, which I haven't seen since 2001, when I left Argentina... I've known her since we were 3... she now lives in Israel... I miss her!

My friend Laila from Argentina. We've lost touch in all these years (again 2001 was the last time I saw her). It would be great to see what she's up to... she's probably a Dr. by now!

These are women that I haven't seen in a while... but there are quite a few that I'll see in a few days... so maybe I can really have latkes with them!!

7. Other than Three Fallen Women (har har), what book do you think would
make a great Chanukah gift this year? What book would you like to receive
as a gift this year?

Actually, I really want The Devil Makes Prada... I don't know, it just sounds like a great holiday break kind of book... very superficial, I know... If not, cookbooks would be great! I'm very into cooking lately...

A book I'd recommend: 100 years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
I read it in Spanish, but I'm sure it's just as good in English :)

8. What bloggers didn't participate in Chanukah Blog Tour 5767 and you
think should have?
(link to them)

Um, I'm thinking maybe Marie although I did send her an email about it (so maybe she signed up). And I only know of another jewish blogger, that I read, Sara, but I don't know if she actually reads my blog.

Anyway, that was fun! Thanks Amy for putting this together!! When I find out who the other candles for tonight are, I'll include them here. (this probably won't happen until after my final, that ends at 5pm EST).

Ok, here are the other five "candles": Everyone needs therapy, minor fast day, Anthropologist for Corporate America, Jewbiquitous
, and Nani
Happy Hannukah!

Hannukah is almost here...

2006-12-12T07:55:00.000-05:00

Here's something to cheer us jewish kids :)

Can you believe I get to spend Hannukah all alone this year? And I have yet to find a menorah...

Pizza time

2006-12-10T20:54:00.000-05:00

Guess what, I actually made this pizza... from scratch! With Jessie's help. It turned out so great and yummy! Sorry, I was trying to cut and take a picture at the same time.
We made three pizzas total... which turned out really yummy! Yey for us!
My classmates came over last night and we had lots of fun and food and stuff. It was a nice break from working on my presentation. Which I spent ALL day on it today!! I'm so sick of studying...

Anyway... I miss Ryan, of course.... and trying to relax a little.

I'm off now...

It's snowing!!

2006-12-08T08:17:00.000-05:00

I looked outside this morning and there was snow everywhere!! I think they call them snow fluries... But everything is covered in white! And its 19 degrees, with a sensation of 5 degrees.

So, after I finish breakfast, make lunch, and get dressed... I'm off to be silly in the snow!!!

YEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cross your fingers that I don't get sick.

Also, I went to a broomball game yesterday, it was so much fun!!

On a sadder note... Ryan left for CA yesterday... I won't see him until Dec 21, when I fly over there!

:)

Is this good or bad?

2006-12-03T23:20:00.000-05:00

Fiaca

2006-12-02T17:56:00.000-05:00

Hey!!
So we have WEDDING PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!! YEy!! (the professional ones). Gary did a great job! Yey!!!!!!

Anyway... here's a different note...

Things I've Done
(Obviously those that are in bold are the ones that I have done.)

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse of the moon.
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Good times with Pharma....

2006-11-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

Hiii!

So, I took part in a Pharmaceutical Case Competition this week. We had a team of 5: an MD/MBA student, MBA student, and two other scientists. On Saturday they gave us the case study and we had to come up with a 10 minute presentation about it, both the financial and the science sides of things. So, we got together Sunday through Wednesday nights... it's been a long week, let me tell you. But it was so much fun, I learned so much this week!

So, today at 12:30pm we gave our 10 min presentation, and apparently we did pretty well. We got first place!!! I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But of course they didn't tell us this until after we had dinner. But it was great! The best compliment I got: that I seemed as a student from the school of management. Yey! That, to me, means that I talked very professionally. But, really, my team was amazing. We all worked so well together!

Anyway, I'm very very happy!! Yey!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not bad for a first year, huh?

Oh, and the prize; $1500 per team... So $300 each! Sweet, huh?!

Ok, I'm off now!! To spend some time with Ryan, since I had to sacrifice a lot of that this week for this.

Griselda

Grad Student :)

2006-10-29T08:41:00.000-05:00

Halloween Party at Yale :)

2006-10-28T22:50:00.000-05:00

Hi!

We just came back from a Halloween costume party at GPSCY (pronounced gypsy), the Graduate and Professional School Club at Yale. It's basically a house turned into a bar/club/hangout. It was so much fun! We got there kind of early (around 8:30pm) because we had heard that the line can get long to get in... they were right! We waited like 5minutes... but people at 10pm had to wait like an hour to get in!

It was so great to see so many people dressed up and stuff! Ryan went as Steve Jobs (from Apple) and I went as a princess.... Not terribly creative... but I got to wear my tiara again (from the wedding!).

Ashley went as a stewardess, and Mikki as a statue of liberty... they were great!!

Anyway, it was fun, but we left at like 11:30pm. It really wasn't Ryan's, or Ashley's scene.... I'm definitely coming up with a better costume next year! I love that the whole town is so into this Halloween thing! We saw so many Yalies walking around in costume, both yesterday and today! College towns are sooo much fun! Yey!!!
Oh, here's another pic of me, slightly odd and chirpy!

Anyway!!! Yey!! Oh, and I had my big test for immuno last Friday. I think it went okay... we'll see...

So, as you can see, me and my classmates, we're getting along just fine! Things are looking up! Oh, and it was like 60 degrees today (which is warm by the standards here, so it was nice... though it did rain today).

Anyway, that's all for today! Happy (early) Halloween!

G

Wife Alone...

2006-10-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So Ryan's on his way to North Carolina to visit his dad... Which is very exciting, and I wish I could be on the road with him (though I have tons of work, which I will hopefully get done tomorrow... as I did none today). I am home because I have an immunology retreat from Sunday to Tuesday (very odd times to do it, I know). So, I get to catch up on all my studying and start preparing NSF and other applications... And then Sunday morning I head to Woodshole, MA (close to Martha's Vineyard, I hear).

In any case, here I am, blogging after such a long absence.

Graduate school. The biggest challenge I've ever faced, I think. It's getting more manageable. So yeah. The best part of graduate school: feeling stupid among the smart people. Worst part of graduate school: balancing life, classes, rotating in a lab, etc.

Why is feeling stupid so great? Because I've always been the one on top of things in undergrad, but feeling like I really didn't know everything. Turns out I was more than right... I'm the slacker now, convincing people not to study. So, now I'm trying to revert to my previous status of actually knowing what's going on. But it's refreshing to be a new environment and trying to learn as much as possible, and keep up with the smart people of this world. It's an honor to be studying amongst such amazing people.... The bad thing about yale: the undergrads! Don't even get me started!!

Ok, so Rosh Hashanah went really well, as did my Iom Kippur fast. It's so different to be away from my family on this time of year. Finding out where to go, what times, fasting, etc. I really like services here, reminds me of the south american ones (they're from the new york school of thought/prayer). Oh, and I guess today is Sukkot... maybe I'll go to a sukkah next week (the Grad Jews @ Yale are organizing something to this extent), but I don't know if I'll have the time. Sukkot was more exciting as a kid, I think.

AWESOME NEWS: I found my favorite ice cream EVER: Sambayon/zabaglione, in this ice cream shop in New Haven called Ciao Bella. It was very exciting. Ryan tried it and really liked it!

Unfortunately right as I was halfway through eating my cup of zabaglione I got some sad news about a close friend of mine. So last weekend was harsh.

In any case... here I am, a first year immuno student at Yale. Enjoying spending time with my classmates. Enjoying learning so much, and becoming more familiar with everything, with much less headaches.

I have yet to balance everything perfectly. And the homesickness hits in every now and then. But the busier I am, the less I can think about this. I do miss my friends and family, and can't wait till Thanksgiving/Christmas/Hannukah, when I can see everyone... Especially because I don't know if I'll be able to see anyone until the following year.

But life is good. Challenging and incredible. And I really need to acknowledge the support of my husband. He's been so great... I've really leaned on him for moral support. He rocks. and I miss him (this is the first time we've been apart since we got married... a little over 2 months ago!)

Anyway... here I am, still alive, surviving year one of this 6 year journey towards my PhD...

-Class of 2012!!

Dining room + dining table, yey!

2006-09-19T22:02:00.000-05:00

We have a dining set in our dining/living room!! Yey!!!!!! I'm so excited.. It looks like the one above.. and maybe I'll post actual pics when they come out decently and not like this:

Anyway, so this is how it looks like in our apt... the reflections are these two lights we got form ikea... If I weren't so lazy I would have turned them off, and/or taken a picture now, with lights off... Oh well.

Yey!!!!! our apartment is almost complete!!!!!! I love our dining table, it's just perfect (there's a bench on the wall side, so when more people come, they can sit there... So we can seat 6 + people, yey!!!

Yey for Tuesday....

A student again

2006-09-18T15:42:00.000-05:00

Hi!

SO I'm feeling like a student again... I have been one since after labor day, but my nasty cold left me with no energy to study or think. Now, I'm regaining the ability to think, yet I don't think it's up to par of my Yale classmates. Yes, my friends, I feel a bit stupid. Not completely, just a bit. I try to tell myself that there is a reason I'm here, that I'm probably not as stupid as I feel, or maybe I fooled them, and myself, well. Whatever it is, it's giving me the drive to study much harder, because I don't like feeling stupid.

Today I was in my pathology seminar class, and did make a comment on the paper we read (I am aspiring for High Honors, after all, aka: an A in the class), but I did NOT get the main fallacy with the paper. I was talking to Ashley before class and she was like, it really bugs me that they didn't do the experiment with this one knockout, when they did it for this other one. It turns out that maybe the problem I had with the paper would have been solved if that knockout was used, and I kind of saw that and thought that, but it didn't really really hit me... So I feel a bit foolish. I dunno, I need to think more critically-- which is tough.

I also feel very very stupid when sitting in on lab meetings. I follow things until one point, and then boom, I'm lost. And I have yet to go talk to my PI bc I feel very stupid, and do not wish to appear so... But I am determined to stop by tomorrow with my questions.

So, life at Yale is a challenge... exactly what I was looking for in grad school. Apparently I like to feel stupid, or something. Grad school is a much larger challenge than I ever thought it would be. A lot of it is becoming the person that I know I can be, with all the hurdles that I put on myself-- all mental hurdles, of course. It's very hard to see how I will accomplish all the things in store for me... but I guess I just have to take it one day at a time, and try to enjoy myself in doing so...

Hopefully all will go well... I am so afraid of failure, that I think that if I were less afraid of failing, I wouldn't be so scared... Oh well...

But so far so good. The people in my lab are very nice, and I enjoy myself there. I kind of feel silly that I go in every day, and spend most of the time reading journals, but I want to be available and inmerse myself in the lab, even if my project has yet to start. Also, there's tons of meetings to attend and stuff.

Anyway... I'm back at the apartment after a long day of class, lab meeting (it started at 1pm.. I left early at 2:45pm, and it was still going on... probably until 3:30pm or more), and then more class... And I will work on getting my desk cleared so I can actually do some work on it!

Finally, a new post...

2006-09-16T19:38:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So hopefully I'll actually finish a post, not like last time.

So, we are almost almost finished with our apartment. Just like I am almost almost over my wonderful cold. And, I must say, the apartment is looking good.

Funny thing... the first room we finished (minus this one thing from Ikea that is out of stock and driving us crazy) is the kitchen, but I don't have any pics of it yet... It's all red and fabulous... pics to come soon.

Then we finished the bathroom... which is all green and beautiful!
Very many candles (yey) and a pretty green curtain... but, there's more!Notice the very pretty flowers and the soap dispenser... and the pretty towels... and the green carpet... ah, I love our bathroom...

Ok, so I'm off ( I know, I promised a long post)... at least I added pics this time.

Griselda

Zabaione

2006-09-16T12:06:00.000-05:00

home menus recipes music merchandise

Hazelnut Zabaione Semi Freddo

This has to be one of our favorite desserts, after blackberry pie of course. Toasted hazelnuts, frozen custard and this elixir of chocolate, espresso and Marsala are to die for. One bite and you are whisked away to Italy.

You can make the simple syrup a few weeks ahead of time. You can make the zabaione a month ahead of time and freeze it and the chocolate sauce holds in the refrigerator for a day, and then you stir in the butter just before serving. So while this looks like a lot of work, you can do quite a bit ahead of time if you choose which is nice. This recipe also doubles nicely.

Here are the ingredients for each component:

Zabaione

	1 cup heavy cream, chilled
	1 Tbs. sugar
	4 Tbs. water
	3 Tbs. sugar
	1 ¼ cup (4 ½ oz.) hazelnuts, toasted and skinned
	2 Tbs. sugar
	6 large egg yolks
	¼ cup dry Marsala
	¼ tsp. vanilla extract

Chocolate Marsala Sauce

	1 ½ Tbs. instant espresso coffee granules
	½ cup boiling water
	1/3 cup dry Marsala
	4 oz. bittersweet chocolate
	5 tsp. sugar
	2 Tbs. unsalted butter

Garnish
1/3 (1 oz.) hazelnuts, toasted, skinned and coarsely crushed

Making the Zabaione: Combine the cream and the 1 tablespoon sugar in a medium bowl, and whip to soft peaks. Refrigerate until ready to use. Next you make what is called a ‘simple syrup’ or sugar water. Combine the water and 3 tables spoons sugar in a tiny saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once the sugar has dissolved and the liquid is clear, simmer another 2 minutes. Set the sugar syrup aside and allow to cool. Then refrigerate until needed. This can be made ahead of time if you like. Combine the hazelnuts and the 2 tablespoons sugar in a food processor or blender, and grind to a paste. Set aside.

Turn the cooled sugar syrup into a large metal bowl, and whisk in the egg yolks and Marsala. Set the bowl over a pan of boiling water, making sure the bowl does not touch the water. Wish 3 minutes, or until the custard is thick, leaving a clear trail at the bottom of the bowl when stirred with a spoon. It will be between 160-165° F. on an instant-read thermometer. Do not let the mixture boil, or the yolks will curdle. Immediately turn the custard into a mixing bowl, and beat with a hand-held or freestanding electric mixer at medium speed until cool, 8-10 minutes. Beat in the ground hazelnuts and the vanilla until well incorporated. Using a large spoon, fold in about a quarter of the whipped cream to lighten the mixture. Then add the remaining whipped cream, folding until it is thoroughly blended. Spoon the mixture into six to eight small ramekins that have been rinsed with cold water (but not dried). Set them on a small tray, over with plastic wrap and freeze. (The mousse can also be frozen in a 1 ½ quart shallow dish or deep soufflé dish, and then scooped into individual servings at the table, which is what we usually do).

Making the Sauce: Combine the coffee granules with the boiling water and stir until dissolved. Turn into a small bowl, and add the Marsala, chocolate and sugar. Set over a pan of hot water, and stir until the chocolate has melted. If necessary, re-warm over hot water before serving. Stir in the butter just before serving.

Serving: If you used individual ramekins, spread a pool of the warm chocolate sauce on each dessert plate. Dip the molds into a bowl of hot water, loosening the edges with a small knife. Turn each mousse out onto the sauce or next to it. Sprinkle with the crushed hazelnuts and serve. If you used one large dish like we do, you can serve the mousse partially defrosted and creamy. Transfer it from the freezer to the refrigerator about 4 hours before serving. At serving time, use two large spoons to scoop out ovals of the mousse and place them on dessert plates. Spoon a band of warm chocolate sauce across each oval, then sprinkle with crushed hazelnuts.

Notes: Marsala is a blended, fortified wine of Sicilian origin, aged for 2 years or more in casks. Marsala is a dark amber color with a deep rich flavor, and varies from sweet to dry. In a pinch, you can substitute a high quality dry sherry for the dry Marsala in this recipe, but really – you should get some Marsala to cook with.

This recipe was adapted from ‘The Splendid Table – Recipes from Emilia-Romagna’.

Sub Rosa Recipes
Sub Rosa Desserts

Sunshine with a cough

2006-09-04T17:56:00.000-05:00

Hello blog world :)

So, we are indeed very much settled in our apartment, minus the bedroom and dining set. So, still a little caos in Zuc-Cat world, but not too bad. We got through all of the boxes (minus my clothes boxes) yesterday.

06511

2006-08-28T17:35:00.000-05:00

Ah, the new zip code, with a zero in front!! How weird is that?!

Yes, my friends, we are now residing in one of the thirteen original colonies... We saw a town that was established in the 1600's. We are not in Kansas anymore, Dorothy. Although we are much closer to it than back in "Cali", as Ryan refers to it now.

Married life is wonderful. I really enjoy it. I guess that's what happens when you marry your best friend :) The apartment is looking quite good. The kitchen, bathroom and office are pretty much done. The living room/dining room is almost there... it's the bedroom that is lacking... I think by tomorrow we should get the bed and dresser... so it'll be much better. We bought every piece of furniture, except one bookshelf all new... so we were truly happy to be able to count on the wedding gifts to pay for it all, or add to the decor, depending on the case.

So, last week we moved into this apartment, here in New Haven, CT... I can't believe it's been a week now! After driving for 5 days I think... We left on a Wednesday morning from Azusa, CA... got to Vegas that night and spent it there with my cousin... That was really nice, and I got to see my 92 year old great aunt again!! Yey!!! But, driving a U-Haul trailer hitched onto Ryan's truck took way more time (max speed 55 mph, or else it would start fish-tailing). Then we made it to Vail, Colorado on the second day... after like 15 hours of driving through Arizona and Utah. We were going to visit Ryan's cousin, but it was 2 more hours of driving, so that didn't happen. It turns out Vail is a ski resort city, but since it was summer all rooms were pretty much open, and much cheaper than I think it would be come December. Friday morning we drove through the rest of Colorado and rested in Omaha, Nebraska. Nebraska is very boring. Very boring. Saturday, we drove through Iowa (a bit better) and then got into Illinois, and stayed at Ryan's other cousin's place in Chicagoland (40 min from Chicago). A very beautiful house!! And we ate Chicago style deep-dish pizza, a must have!!! Yuuuummmy!! That was a nice stay... Then on Sunday we drove through Indiana and stopped in Ohio. And then Monday we drove through Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and then got to New Haven, Connecticut!!! Yey!!!

In the end we were sick of being in the car... Ryan had to drive all the way out, because I couldn't get it stable. So it was very long.

Monday we got all the boxes into the apartment (that killed my calves by the way). Then it was massive shopping spree days + building furniture, very long days let me tell you. The cool things to mention:

* Our kitchen is red... Red table (small Ikea one where we are presently dining at), red drying rack, red towels, red toaster/toaster oven... very fun!

* Our bathroom is green (ie: green towels and candles) with white toothbrush holder and the like... and a green curtain! Very very cute...

*Our living room is white and blue. We have an Ikea bookshelf/entertainment center
where our new 37" LCD HDTV (that arrived today and Ryan is currently mounting) will reside... and we have a lot of blue-hued decorations (ie: lamps, vases, candles.... we're big on candles!)

*Our office is also very cool. We have matching desks that go on opposit walls (they're L shaped desks, though). We did decorate ours differently, matching our different tastes. I have green pushpins and green and blue file and pencil holders, while Ryan's is all metallic.

Um, so little by little apartment feels like home. I do miss friends sooo much... it didn't hit until last Friday when I met up with the immunology people. I dunno why that kind of hit me hard. It's been a little hard ever since. Oh well, I will survive. Ryan and I can do anything together, and that keeps us going! Huh, sweetie?

Anyway, that's all for today...

G

All good things....

2006-08-08T18:43:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! I, the notorious new husband, have hijacked Griselda's blog to inform everyone of the last several days in Hawaii! Unfortunatley, like so many great things, our honeymoon is coming to an end. We are currently awaiting a shuttle to the airport, and will be arriving in the wee hours of wednesday morning...its back to reality, and moreso packing for the big move to connecticut.

But lest this not distract us from the great time we've been having these last few days! Let's soo were we left off...ah, of course Day 6: This day was primarly spent relaxing and recuperating from the busy couple of previous days. We walked around Waikiki ffor most of the day and settled in for dinner on the balcony overlooking the sunset, (which included the BEST pineapple throughout the whole trip!) We also celebrated with a bottle of champagne that was delivered to our room on behalf of the hotel! We even made passion fruit and pineapple mimosas!

Here are some pics:

The next day included the rescheduled tropical island fun cruise! It was great, we took this medium sized vessel out of honolulu to ironically enough about a half mile from the shore of our hotel. It also included a pretty darn good BBQ for lunch! Some of the best pictures were from our underwater camera, so I cant post those but here are some anyway. (Just a sidenote, you'll only see pictures of Ryan in the water because after snorkeling, G was al little afraid of going back into the non-shark-infested waters.)

Later that night we ventured back to the Outrigger Waikiki (were we had eaten previously at Duke's) to try out the Hula Grill. I forgot the camera so no pictures here, but let me tell you if you want THE BEST seared Ahi tuna steak I have ever had, along with great drinks and friendly sevice, this is the place to go! Grise had a shrimp stir fry, which was good too, but I think she ended up having more of my ahi. Dessert was also a scrumptuous brownie and ice cream dish....mmmmmmmm.

Monday, our last full day in Hawaii was spent parousing the streets of waikiki, particularly the International Marketplace. It was pretty funny because earlier in the day we happened to stumble across an old episode of Saved by the Bell, where the group goes to Hawaii to save Kelly's gradfather's hotel. Waikiki looked so different then! (they also showed the marketplace, which looked the same but minus the hundres of other buildings around it). Anyway, G got a new belt and another necklace! I wont post many of the pictures, as I dont want to spoil things for the peeps back home!

That night we went to the beach for some fun in the water and a sunset strol on the beach. We ended up parking it up on a jetty of volcanic rocks. The sunset was just beautiful! This is the reason people come to Hawaii! I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

That night it was dinner at the Shorebird beachfront grill. Here you have the option of grilling up your own meat! G had the Teriyaki Beef Kabob, whereas I opted for some filet mignon.. This was the best service on the island and had it not been for the ahi the previous night, would have been the best food of the trip. Word of advice to anyone who may be staying at the Outrigger Reef and eating at the shorebird...the drinks are REALLY strong, I had a 'Flying Coconut' and it deifinately felt like I got hit by one. Griselda's maitai was quite good however...

That brings us right back to now, sitting in the lobby of the Outrigger Reef, we have checked out and are waiting for our shuttle.

Goodbye Hawaii, or should I say Aloooooooooohaaaaaa, and mahalo!

Hope you enjoyed my first post on the wife's blog...depending of how she likes it, it may just be the last...Ciao!

--Ryan "el Esposo"

Honeymooning in Hawaii (Pictures)

2006-08-06T01:02:00.000-05:00

Alooooha!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I don't feel like writing too much, so I'm going to post some pictures, for your seeing/reading pleasure. We are having loads of fun, and enjoying the sun. SO here are some snapshots from the past few days....

Day 4- Polynesian Cultural Center
Some notes: Very cool and fun. We enjoyed the luau, I ate poi, Ryan suffered with his rash. It rained, but felt good. IT WAS FUN!!!

This is me in "New Zealand"... these ball thingy totally killed me...
Here, Ryan is looking for a pig to sloughter for his new wife... me!!! Don't worry, it was just for pretend.
Here we are at the Luau... food was yuuuuuuuuumy
And then we got to see this awesome show!! It was so much fun!

That was day 4! Ryan survived, amazingly, and had fun!! Yey!!!

Day 5 and 6 (today) were spent lazily... on the beach, at the poolside, walking around Waikiki... eating a lot... and watching the sunset... and fireworks!! (we could see them right from our room... we have the best views of sunset, the beach.. and, well, fireworks! Waikiki rocks!)

Hawaii... with my husband

2006-08-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

Hi!
So, the reason we decided to blog is to not forget the details. This might be silly, I know. Yesterday it took way too freaking long discussing the wedding... so I gave up on describing what we are doing on our honeymoon, asides from the obvious.

I write now, in the lobby, as Ryan takes a nap. I took a lot of naps during the tour today, because it was like 30 min stretches in a car, and I LOVE taking naps in cars.

So, we arrived here in Waikiki on Monday. The plane ride was fine. Arrived at 2pm. Ryan's luggage did not arrive at the same time (was delivered at 5am on Tuesday). In any case, we got leid right off the plane, well, maybe 20 min after we landed (I had a bridezilla moment freaking out bc we didn't get a lei).

So, we arrive at the Outrigger Reef and get into our room... with a very nice view of the ocean. Then, after unpacking and stuff, we walked around Waikiki, had some food at Duke's and then headed back to our place-- stuffed! Where we found champagne and two plastic flutes, which made us very happy (I love surprises).

Day two started with a 7am orientation breakfast (Ryan wone a camera), where we booked a couple of tours. Then we went to this shopping thing and Ryan got me this awesome black pearl necklace at this one place that I forget the name. Then we went to Hilo Hattie, and we got a lei of sea shells, which was awesome, and we bought some stuff. Then we walked down the beach and enjoyed the beautiful view!!! Then we went back to our hotel and had dinner there, at this very romantic garden restaurant, where the food was sooo yummy. The fish here rocks!!!!!!!!!

Day three (today) started off at 7:30am meeting at the Sheraton Bus depot. But we realized a couple of things:
1- Ryan developed a rash to the sunscreen I brought (one of the reasons he's taking a nap now= benadryl)
2- The map they gave us to get to the bus depot was crappy
3- Griselda forgot to put the memory card back into the camera!

Yeah, that kind of sucked. We got to the bus depot at like 7:45am, they had to pull back and pick us up!! In any case, we got an awesome tour of the island. We went all the way up to North Shore, through the Dole plantation. Stopped by some beautiful beaches (like the one in this picture) and bought some yummy macadamian nuts covered in coffee. Oh, we also hiked (in flip flops) this one park that had a waterfall all the way up top!! It was beautiful. Lunch was at this place by the lion mountain or whatever (which took me like 10 minutes to see the crouching lion...). I had great naps. Ryan has the worst rash ever, poor sweetie. So I'm off to comfort him, I feel bad enough taking all this time for blogging.

Anyway, Hawaii is awesome. We're having an awesome time. And we're blogging bc we're nuts. haha

Yey for honeymoons!

I do

2006-08-02T02:29:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So, yes, I am on my honeymoon, and we're taking a few moments to blog our memories of these past few days, and our time here in Hawaii... we don't want to forget any details.

Anyways, so on Sunday, July 30 I said I do. But here's more info and details...

Ok, so on Saturday I woke up WAY TOO EARLY (aka 5am) and I went to get flowers for the wedding in LA. I ordered arrangements and bouquets, but needed flowers to take the petals off of them, and it is much cheaper in LA (read: 4 dozen roses for $14). And, might I mention that we stayed up late with Ryan the night before working on the music. So, I was tired. But very happy and excited. So, we went to Carmen's and removed all the petals and put them in containers. Then, took a little nap, and went for a manicure and pedicure (Carmen's treat!). It was great!! It was a whirpool pedicure, which is the bomb! (who says the bomb anymore, huh?)

Anyway, that took FOREVER (like two hours), but it turned out SOO PRETTY! Yey for my nails. Then Melissa came over and we finished up wedding stuff. And then followed Claudia, Ryan, Justin and Marie. We had a bbq, laughed a lot... and I stressed about the music again... stayed up til 12:30 working on it. (HAha, Ryan just called me a 'starbucks tall' as he sips his blackberry green tea... we have a starbucks and jamba juice at our hotel, very very awesome)... anyway... so then I wake up on Sunday (WEDDING DAY!!!) at 7am... I made sure all the music was a-okay (I know, I was stressing way too much about it), finished packing, had some milk (couldn't have a real breakfast) and then took a shower. At around 10am, Eduardo, the hairdresser, arrived, and started doing my hair. It turned out very pretty, if I do say so myself (ton of hairspray!!). Then, at 11am, he finished and we took off to Pomona.

Pedro almost made me cry on the way, because he was saying how proud he was of me, and how much I accomplished with my life (graduating, getting into Yale, getting married). He was like, what more could we ask for? It was really touching (I get a little tear-y eyed just remembering).

Anyway, we get to Cal Poly by noon, tiara in place... haha. Everything looked great!!! There was only one thing a bit off (where the heart souvenirs were placed), but that was taken care of. I just needed to finalize the seating arrangements and make some final decisions. Everyone did an AMAZING job!!! I was so happy and relaxed... we were in great shape!!

Plus, we took sandwiches for everyone to eat (not many people did, I think... but I ate 3-- the first thing I ate that day, milk doesn't count...). And then it became 12:45 and everyone was bugging me to start getting ready. Finally I did. Oh, but before that I saw the cake, which looked a little different than I had imagined, but still very very cool. So, my mom started doing my makeup, and it became 1pm, and I hear that my cousins had arrived. So, I tell someone to tell them to come over and see me. So both of my cousins helped me do my make-up, which was sooo much fun! I miss them so much, just hanging out with them and stuff. In any case, then it came time to put the dress and jewelry on! It was so beautiful, and went to well with my hairdo. I really felt like a princess....

and then people had to go line up (ie maids of honor, etc) and I was left alone in this big room. So, I was just kind of standing around and looking at myself in the mirror... ME! A bride... It was weird and exciting and so just happy! Then the officiant came and almost made me cry with what he was saying (I was imagining Ryan and I saying our vows and stuff, and it made me really emotional).
Then he left, they called me out... hand in hand with Pedro, and my other hand with my lovely bouquete.

It was great to see everyone's faces in the audience. And to stare at Ryan, as he gazed at me with the biggest smile, and that amazed and oh so happy smile. He's so awesome. He was so cute, whispering "I love you" and "You're so beautiful" every now and then. He was so awesome! Haha, he IS so awesome!

In any case, the ceremony went beautifully. With the rock ceremony (which allowed me time to see everyone and make eye contact and smile, and I'm sure there were some pics of that too!). Then we said I do and our vows, stomped the glass and were pronounced husband and wife. For the first time called Mr and Mrs Catania (although I will be, haha, am : Mrs. Z-C)...

then for a billion pics with everyone... and then we were announced.... and then the perfect party. Great food! Everyone we love! Lots of dancing!!! And everyone complimented us on all the details! The first dance, the dance with Pedro! Oh so nice.... My first tossing of my bouquet that made it past the 10 people lined up, and then the second time Jade caught it. Frito caught the garter... and well, everyone was so great! Mel and jade got drunk... I got a little tipsy. My argentinean songs rocked my world. But, best of all, I was married (am married) to the most wonderful guy in the world.

So, then, after much dancing and singing out loud, we picked up everything. I finally peed (how do you spell that?) which was not hard at all (bc of the dress, I mean).

Then we saw the car that Jade and Daniel were going to take us to Ryan's with all decorated with a "Just Married" sign and condoms all over it -- slightly gross, but very cool!

Then we got to Ryan's house -- I was carried over the threshold by Ryan into his bedroom... and then off to unload the car! Haha! Then we all (jade, daniel, marie, justin, rhett, ryan and I) ate the top tier of our cake (a chocolate cake with chocolate icing-- very awesome!). THen people left.... we opened our gift cards (which we are very very amazed about!) and then headed off to start the honeymoon....

Some pictures of things I have described:

on a lighter note

2006-07-25T22:13:00.000-05:00

So today was a pretty good day.

It turns out, I can sew. I know, amazing. I whipped out my mom's sewing maching and made some great things. I'll show only one or two things, bc others are a surprise for Ryan and the guests.

so I made a pillow cover for the ring bearer's pillow (the picture doesn't do it justice).

and I made a little baggie...

Haha, I'm sooo proud of myself. :P I'm a dork, I know...

Yey, 6 more days till he wedding. (I LOVE RYAN!)

War

2006-07-25T00:55:00.000-05:00

Check out some of these blogs... Israel is at war, and the people are really courageous... Unbelievable. Very similar to what I lived in London during the bombings. Europeans (Israelis included) are amazing.

I just read this blog, which came from this person, and it freaked me out. My best friend since I was 3 lives in Israel, and it's scary. Yet this one gives me a little hope. Maybe I'm silly to believe in rationality and peace. I sure hope I'm not.

In any case. Think rationally, not with paparazzi pictures and emotions. please.

Friday

2006-07-21T17:55:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So, I have no idea why my blog is all screwed up, so I thought maybe changing the format would help... well, it didn't help. And now I don't really like any of them. Oh well.

Went to the dentist- just a cleaning! Yey!! I was bracing myself for a lot of pain... but no. Yey!

Um... nothing new to report. I guess.

Yey for 9 more days!!!!!!!!!

Um, I need something borrowed and a veil. Off to shopping tomorrow.

My great-aunt is in town from Paraguay!

And.... can't wait to GET OUT OF THE HOUSE!

Yey!!

G

__________________________
Edit: Ok, never mind, it fixed itself, I think... Let me know if it screws up again

Edit 2: My blog is best viewed on Firefox....

Stem Cells

2006-07-20T11:58:00.000-05:00

Hi!

SO my parents told me yesterday about how Bush vetoed another stem cell bill...and at first I was like, yeah, nothing new. But then I read this morning's OC Register (actually read a lot of it today, quite unusual, very proud of myself) and the article about the veto.

People are ignorant.

And, as Pedro points out, very closed minded.
Hello people! Scientists aren't going to stop you from making babies!!! The fact is that there are A LOT of embryos waiting for mommies, and you know what, there aren't enough mommies. So they're just sitting there in freezers, waiting, when they could be used for research that may well save your mommy when she gets Alzeimers (or insert any one of multiple diseases). So they bring in parents with their "snowflake" children. I think that's great, that parents that can't have kids adopt embryos. If there were a shortage of embryos, then maybe, ok, let's not kill a life. BUT THIS IS NOT WHAT IS HAPPENING.

Don't give me any religious crap either. I'm religious, I'm Jewish. Whatever. I am also a scientist. Let me correct that, I am a scientist, and I am a Jew. AAAAND!!!!!!! There is a separation of church and state, so don't tell me you did this because you're a good Catholic. Because then, then I will be furious.

I respect all religions. I respect your right to think and chose to do whatever you please. But please don't mix your religious beliefs with those of the rest of the country. Because you are not supporting my beliefs... I am not catholic, ok, so don't offend me with your "morals".

Ok, I'm sorry.

Another things that pissed me off--> representatives from Diamond Bar, Irvine and Fullerton voted against this... and I'm thinking, how many scientists live in these cities, how many universities are located in or around these cities? And they voted against this. THIS is a moment when schools need to do something about this. You know? Yes, everyone gets rowled up over tomatoes and immigration... how about scientific issues?

---- Griselda walks off her soap box--------

Ok, Griselda needs a breather.....

------------------------------------------

Ok, so, back to more mundane stuff....

What are the ethics of blogging? Like, I feel weird commenting on stranger's blogs that I don't know, yet have bookmarked. Should I announce my presence, like "hello, you do not know me, but I find your blog quite entertaining. I apologize if I check your blog 3 times a day, but I am currently on vacation where my responsibilities are to pack and plan a wedding. To keep myself sane I read other people's lives and am very intrigued. Thank you for keeping me occupied and sane. Come September I will probably visit your site once a week. Come November maybe once a month. But I look forward to reading you daily again in December. In 2007, when my PhD will really start rolling, hopefully, I will read your blog once a week. Thank you."

Anyways. What are the rules?

Ok, I gueeeess I should go start on the packing thing.

Laters.

G

PS: You do not need to comment on my blog, but it would be interesting to see if anyone, besides Marie and Ryan read this. I actually do not think so. But, I could be wrong.

PS2: You think I offended someone with the top half of my post?

PS3: I really really like PS's

Wednesday

2006-07-19T19:26:00.000-05:00

My life is rated R!

Your life is rated R!

What is your life rated? (MPAA Scale)

Take Other Caffeine Nebula Quizzes

It's hot.. as always...

I feel a bit ridiculous. My wedding dress hanging from the back of my door, a sign that says in font 160 "Ryan & Griselda's Wedding"... and a print out of how I want the centerpieces to look. I would post the pics, but I do want them to be a surprise. And I found my iriver cable that I've been looking for. yey!

Am I the only one that finds comedy in this?

Non comedic note- my maid of honor may/or may not be attending the wedding. Let's all hope for "may"...

Ok, off to appear productive.

G

Tuesday...

2006-07-18T22:35:00.000-05:00

Hiiii

Ok, watching people move a fridge (albeit with wheels) is really really funny. Funny thing is they were cal poly students. I kind of recognized one guy, don't know why, and he was wearing his orientation shirt... anyways, very very comical.

So now all of ryan's food is in my mini fridge... and some light fixture things are gone... as will the sound system in a few days.... we are so moving! yey!!!

Umm... also, Ryan is a very good kisser... sorry... just thought I should mention that. haha, I need to stop blogging!

Off to eat chicken, yey!!!!

My venting ... and yet, I feel cheerful towards the end...

2006-07-17T16:31:00.000-05:00

Haha... so, I dunno. I think it's partially the hunger and stuff talking. But I was thinking about friends. ie Ryan and my friends. So, although most of our friends seem supportive and stuff about our moving, I can't help but think that most are getting used to us moving away by ignoring us. I've had friends try to pick fights before, bc it's easier to say goodbye when you're mad at someone. I've also had a group of friends make a truce until I left.

This time around, I've actually seen more of some friends than I've ever seen during my break. Yet, with others it seems that between the craziness of my interviews and ending classes, a distance has been formed. I dunno. I can't help to feel bad and stuff, because, yes, we're leaving, but we're not dying or disappearing off the face of the planet.

Oh well..

In other news, 13 days until the wedding, and I'm stoked! I'm so excited, I can't wait!!! Yey wedding! Yey Hawaii!!...

Also, I got the worst sunburn ever last Friday. We went to the beach, and I only put sunblock on my face, chest area and the back of my knees. Result, a Griselda tomatoe that has been in pain all weekend. I am feeling better, but oh my goodness... Now I have to get rid of bad tan lines, but am terribly afraid of the sun, haha! I might have to use that fake tan stuff, ugh!!!

I did get a pretty dress for my cousin's wedding at Nordstroms, with a gc I got from her, actually. I almost got this crazy outfit, which was really really expensive, but way fun. Instead a got a cocktail style, wrap-around dress that is fun as well, though not as sexy... but classy. I guess I must play the part of a yale grad student... haha. Whatever. It's a cool dress though :)

Um, also, Ryan has started packing... I helped him out yesterday... so, we're getting there, slowly.

Oh, and we saw pirates on sat, which was very good. can't wait till may until the third one comes out-- just in time for my bday... we should go to ny to see it--- I doubt that'll happen :P but it would be cool. I'm sure I'll have finals during opening weekend, or something.

Um.... what else? I dunno... I'm gonna continue with paperwork stuff... and getting over my tummy ache (I am doing better though).

Oky dokey...

Byes

G

Cheating :P

2006-07-17T14:17:00.001-05:00

You Should Get a MD (Doctor of Medicine)

You're both compassionate and brilliant - a rare combination.
You were born to be a doctor.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

Hahaha! Do they not know that I faint at the sight of blood?

After tweeking it..

You Should Get a PhD in Science (like chemistry, math, or engineering)

You're both smart and innovative when it comes to ideas.
Maybe you'll find a cure for cancer - or develop the latest underground drug.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

What do you think?

2006-07-13T17:51:00.000-05:00

You Are 59% American

Most times you are proud to be an American.
Though sometimes the good ole US of A makes you cringe
Still, you know there's no place better suited to be your home.
You love your freedom and no one's going to take it away from you!

How American Are You?

You Belong in Dublin

Friendly and down to earth, you want to enjoy Europe without snobbery or pretensions.
You're the perfect person to go wild on a pub crawl... or enjoy a quiet bike ride through the old part of town.

What European City Do You Belong In?

Officially... Yale, here I come!!!

2006-07-11T17:35:00.000-05:00

Finally.....

DEGREE CONFERRED:

Bachelor of Science-Summa Cum Laude

PLAN:    Biotechnology

MINOR:   Chemistry Minor

DATE CONFERRED:  JUNE 9, 2006

Yey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's official now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I knew there wouldn't be problems, but there's that 0.1% of doubt that kills you, you know?

ok, one more time:

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYY!!

Yale, here I come!!

Some pictures.

2006-07-11T01:21:00.000-05:00

We're off to my bachelorette party...

Sporting our tshirts and having fun...

Jade and Claudia..

Jade and Melissa

Crazy girls..

Ready to go party...

a close-up for Ryan...

Ready to party..

Bachelorette Anecdotes. Back in Cali :( :)

2006-07-10T16:05:00.000-05:00

Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I feel beaten up. After years of not clubbing, my body is in protest. Yet nooo regrets whatsoever, because my bachelorette party was AWESOME!!! I would post pics if I were at home (I will be home in a little bit, before traffic hits).

Yeah, Vegas was a blast, though I was sooo tired almost all the time I was there. Crazy crazy... It was soooooooooooooooooo hot.

Anyway. So, we got there Saturday at 2am. I made lasagna and pasta on Friday night for all 11 of us, though not everyone ate. It was great. Then we headed towards Vegas. We got to the Excalibur and used the Valet, for free, yey (it's free for everyone, but was very cool) and checked in. By the time we got there I was dead tired. But everyone wanted to go exploring (- Marie) so we went downstairs and I had some nachos, and the boys lost, um I mean gambled, some money. I was so tired though, but it was fine. It was good to hang out with the girls and Ryan, and the boys too of course. I'm so happy the boys came to vegas for Ryan's bachelor party at the same time as us. I would have been happier with a joint bachelor/-ette party, but I dunno if everyone else would have enjoyed it.

In any case we woke up Saturday around 10 I think. I went to cuddle w Ryan in his room, not wanting to wake up. That was nice. :) Then we all took a shower and got changed (which is an endeavor with 5 girls and 6 guys). In any case, we got ready and some of the boys were staaaarving, and were already in line for the buffet at the Excalibur, but we told them that we were going to the Paris Buffet. So we finally head there (a bit far away) and had the awesome Champagne brunch buffet, a bit expensive, but the mimosas made it worth it! We had our bride/maid of honor/bridesmaid's shirts on, so we attracted attention. I got a lot of congratulations, some "don't do it"'s but it was fun!!!

Then, we split up :( Bc there was no time to go to the NY,NY (double :( ) THat would have been soooo much fun. But the girls wanted to go shopping. We found some cool stuff on the strip (that Claudia later bought) and then went to the room. We took a nap bc we were soooo tired (mimosas make me sleepy). Then I took off my contacts and went to stateline to the shops/ discount stores (whatever they're called... outlets maybe). It was fun, though I was still tired. I actually did enjoy that part. I bought some awesome earrings and some cool bangles. The girls all bought something too, except Jade I think. Then we tried to get Starbucks, but they were out. And it was 7pm (crazy, how time flies). In any case, we went to another Starbucks (I just got water, as did Jade, it was crazy expensive). Then we headed back, I went to Ryan's room (screwed up their keys in the process-- but told them about it) and took a nap. I very much needed nap (I had the biggest headache ever). And then did my hair (very nicely, might I add). Melissa brought me my clothes and I changed. I did my makeup (very much unlike me). And lets just say my boobs were very much out there... Pictures will explain more later... Haha, oh, and I put I shot glass in my cleavage, which remained there until about 1am.

Anyway, so around 10pm I am allowed in our room, which was very well decorated. We got a bag with beads, shot glasses, a condom, pins, stickers, and cards. We had to give a sticker to each guy (ie: worst dancer, best overall, etc) and cards with something to do (I had to get some guy to buy me a "sex on the beach" and the bartender to get me a free drink... I did neither, Melissa bought me a drink, I bought myself two other ones).

Then, we went to NY, NY and got pizza and water. We met some very funny and nice guys. Then it was off to Tabu and Studio 54.

Tabu was ok. My drink was a little too strong (a Mai Tai... and half of Mels), Claudia looked freaked out, Melissa was worried about time, and we kept losing Jade and Marie. Jade was so ready to go to Studio 54, and I was a little ticked off the whole time. I did do some dancing on top of their tables, so that was fun. Then we headed to Studio 54--Melissa's heal was doing weird things-- we almost headed back to the room, but didn't. Got into the club (VIP and free for both) and had another drink (rum and coke... well, theoretically there was coke there). It was kind of boring at first, but then we spotted a boy go-go dancer, and my entourage got wild and happy (a very good thing). Even Claudia was dancing and happy. The club was really cool- there were dancers doing cirque du soleil-ish things from chains on the ceiling. Confetti was thrown, balloons were bouncing about. It was fun. Then I go to the bathroom and think the following- I am a bit tipsy, if I have one more drink I will be drunk. So, I decide to have another drink-- Sex on the beach. Then, they're telling Claudia to touch this one guys ass, but I touch the other guy's butt, and then run out. I'm caught by Mel, and the guy's friend says he has a gf, I tell him I have a fiancee, and shrug as I am walking away -- I was just being silly, not hitting on the guy, for goodness sake (and yes, Ryan knows about this, and he forgives me. Plus, his butt is much cuter than anyone else's we saw that night).

So, then I'm having my drink and dancing... I danced with one guy, then with two, and back to one. I was a little bad for a few minutes, and then went to normal Griselda dancing. We were having fun though. But then Mel and Marie encoutered the bad snobbish sides of the club. I'm sorry about that, though. At 3am we left. I was drunk. And, I've never been drunk, so this was something new. It was fun though. Then, I decided to give my stickers away to deserving passerby's -- I was on a mission. I might have freaked some guys out. But my mission was accomplished. I drank some of Mel's $5 water. Talked to some guys attending a karate convention, and a guy that had been engaged three weeks before, and then broke up with her. It was fun. Then Justin came for Marie, and tried escorting us back to the room. I could NOT walk straight, nor fast. So that took like 30 min. Back at the hotel, I peed, had some water, and went to Ryan's room. He was also drunk. But looked very sexy. And then we swapped stories. He was ready to pass out, but I was too drunk to try to fall asleep, or else I would have done so then. So I headed back to our room, where Claudia and Mel were not doing well. So, in our PJs we go to a sit down cafe downstairs, I had a bagel and water. THen we head back and try to sleep -- it was 6am. At 9:30am Daniel comes to wake us up, and I just totally go off on him, in a sleepy way. Haha, I was so pissed that he woke us up. Then Ryan came over, all dressed, to say hi. It was nice. Then we all packed, I took a quick shower.... Then Marie, Justin and Rhett went their way, bc they were staying a while longer. The rest of us went to In-n-out and had some burgers and fries. Ryan ordered fried onions-- not a good idea!! But he discovered that Sprite is good for upset stomachs. I ate my burger and his other half of the burger, and some fries.

Then we went to get gas, water and snacks. We ended up taking a side street, instead of the freeway, then going back to where the gas station was and getting on the freeway--- all which took like 30 min.... Then we were on the road. We got home in like 4 hs (30 min behind the boys), what was funny is that I had a key to Ryan's, but Rhett had Ryan's keys... so yeah, they had to wait for us.

So, that was my bachelorette party. It was soooo much fun. I really am going to miss everyone. And, can you believe my wedding is 20 days away? Crazy!

Anyway. I LOVE RYAN!!!! Yey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a long post, huh?

Yey!!!

G

Vegas, baby!

2006-07-09T20:42:00.000-05:00

Hiii!

So, we just got back from the bachelorette/bachelor parties. Yes, four hours ago or so we were in Vegas!!!!!

It was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much fun!!!

Melissa and Jade did an awesome job w everything.

I will post more later. We must sleep!!!!!!!

G

Translator needed

2006-07-06T11:09:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So, I know I posted stuff in Spanish, I apologize, I guess. I did post them more for my sake than anyone elses, I've been cleaning my room and have found some interesting things that I wrote in HS, but they were on floppy disks, so imagine that! I decided to post them. Then, Ryan used google translate on some of them (which is fine) and found out I wrote pretty angsty poems... Haha. Not everything I posted was stuff I wrote. Inconciente colectivo is a song, kind of a sad song, but one of the typical/classical "rock nacional" (argentinean rock) songs. The one is "eramos pocos" I can't remember if I wrote it or not. THen there's a short essay about democracy (I was kind of involved in the student body-- which is a totally different beast in argentina). The last one I did write, about this guy I had a crush on, who was kind of a jerk-- then again, back then it seemed I only had crushes on arrogant jerks who thought they were better than anyone else, and knew they were cute. Whatever. So, I would write poems when I would get really really frustruated, or a bit gloomy....

Which is why I don't write poems now. Bc I have the sweetest most wonderful man ever. SO, now he doesn't feel so bad that I haven't written a poem about him... though he has written me the best poems ever!!

Anyway... so I was sooooooo productive yesterday with my room. Turns out hearing comedy central stand-up acts works really well when trying to pack. My room is nowhere near done, but it is much emptier... which is kind of sad. yet, I'm glad it's about half way done. I've collected sooo much stuff in the past 23 years. My mom is the culprit of some of it (I have a doll that was given to my mom for me when I was born, I have a lot of my drawings and pictures from preschool - since I was 2 and a half!). No, I'm not taking everything... I have thrown out A LOT!!! But there is still soooo much more.

What else? I finally opened up my iPod nano the other day! And was listening to podcasts while grilling chicken downstairs... Good times! :)

um, ok, I guess that's it for today. I'm going to try to be productive and go out into the world and run my errands... can you believe I have been posting for the last 3 days... crazy!

ONE MORE DAY TIL VEGAS (my bachelorette/Ryan's bachelor parties!!) Yey!!!!!!!!!!!!!

High School Pictures!

2006-07-05T13:42:00.000-05:00

This is my 16th bday!

This is at camp....

INCONCIENTE COLECTIVO

NACE UNA FLOR
TODOS LOS DÍAS SALE EL SOL
DE VEZ EN CUANDO ESCUCHAS AQUELLA VOZ
COMO DE PAN
GUSTOSA DE CANTAR
EN LOS ALEROS DE LA MENTE
CON LAS CHICHARRAS
PERO A LA VEZ EXISTE UN TRANSFORMADOR
QUE TE CONSUME LO MEJOR QUE TENÉS
TE TIRA ATRÁS
TE PIDE MÁS Y MÁS
Y LLEGA UN PUNTO EN QUE NO QUERÉS

ESTRIBILLO:
MAMA LA LIBERTAD
SIEMPRE LA LLEVARÁS
DENTRO DEL CORAZÓN
TE PUEDES CORROMPER
TE PUEDES OLVIDAR
PERO ELLA SIEMPRE ESTÁ...

AYER SOÑÉ CON LOS HAMBRIENTOS LOS LOCOS
LOS QUE SE FUERON
LOS QUE ESTÁN EN PRISIÓN
HOY DESPERTÉ CANTANDO ESTA CANCIÓN
QUE YA FUE ESCRITA HACE TIEMPO ATRÁS
ES NECESARIO CANTAR DE NUEVO UNA VEZ MÁS

Eramos pocos, eramos tristes, eramos uno.
Hoy ya no somos y esperamos ser
Hoy ya no sabemos que hacer.
La tristeza invade y oscurece nuestro ser,
Cada dia es mas distinto al anterior, y nunca se podra volver a un instancia intermedia
Mediados de año se acerca
Y esto acecha a un grupo como un lobo ambriento a las pobres e ingenuas ovejas
Y talvez nadie se de cuenta del peligro, que puede adelantar el fin.
El terror me esta acechando, me quita la sonrisa, me carboniza el alma.
Donde estan los que eramos,
En alma, espiritu, cuerpo y esperanza?
Algunas vez seremos tan felices como lo fuimos entre ayer y hoy.
Ya ni me acuerdo de ese lapso, ya no recuerdo sonrisas y tiempos divertidos unidos.
Talvez la segregacion es buscada por uno mismo, y culpada a los demas.
O talvez son todos y no es nadie.
Y quizas se aislen los que pusieron el primer grano de arena,
Y sin ellos, los otros se quiebren, despedazen, se vayan, sin que nadie se de cuenta.
Quizas yo me quede, yo nadie mas, y todos esten juntos, y yo sola, y solo ahí me dare cuenta de lo mal que estuve
Solo ahí me reprochare una y mil veces. Solo ahí encontrare una solucion.
Pero donde esta esa solucion ahora?
Donde estan mis sonrisas y recuerdos. Mis momentos de alegria que cubrian y llevaban cercano al olvido tantos dias de pena, angustia y lagrimas.
Que hoy estan tan presentes como lo estuvieron siempre, pero hoy talvez me identifique mas con esos tiempos, que hace cinco sabados atrás.Ojala que no, que juntos encontremos una salida sin angustias, sin rencores, sin perder vidas para salvar otras, sin rechazar a nadie y sin salir insatisficho....

Stuff I wrote in High school

2006-07-05T13:04:00.000-05:00

This is a pic from Junior Year:)

October 17, 1999
FICCIÓN

Me costó levantarme esa mañana, no por el sueño habitual de todos los días escolares, sino por el miedo a la humillación. A la humillación que causó defender mis derechos. Era incomprensible como después de dormir sólo tres horas, o menos, no estaba cansada, pero supongo que el pavor anula cualquier sentimiento, hasta el corporal. Esos quince minutos de colectivo y diez de caminata fueron los más largos de mi vida, tanto pasó por mi mente en esos instantes. No podía ser ésta la realidad en la cual vivía, no podía ser éste, mi mundo, tan ciego. Tal vez era todo sólo un sueño, quizás nadie realmente pensaba que lo que yo había hecho estaba mal... ¡Tal vez algunas personas hasta me felicitarían! Pero, me di cuenta que esto no era un sueño, era una pesadilla viviente, y choqué con la cruda realidad al ver el rostro de asco e indignación de una alumna, también de mí colegio, subirse a mi colectivo, al verme. Peor fueron los murmullos y risas que compartían entre miradas de burla. ¿Podrían ser estas alumnas de mí mismo colegio, en mi mismo país, de mi misma edad y (¿supuestamente?) bajo la misma doctrina y DEMOCRACIA? ¿Podría ser esto la realidad? Porque, no podría ser yo la que estaba equivocada, ¿o sí? ¿El mundo se ha vuelto a ser como en épocas militares, nuevamente? ¿Cómo puedo yo entender esto, y cómo puede la gente tornarse en lo que más odia sin darse cuenta? ¿Nadie aprende ya de la historia?
Llegar al colegio. Meta casi inalcanzable y eterna, pero llegué. Me hubiese quedado en casa, ¿por qué no lo hice? ¡NO! Esconder la cara sólo les daría la razón. Yo tal vez puedo "entender" este pensamiento de un dirigente, una autoridad del colegio, que sólo ha nacido, vivido y aprendido en un país dictador, pero de mis propios compañeros, conocidos y amigos, ¡no! Pero así fue y es. Entré al colegio y fui recibida con caras más claras que una ventana de vidrio, con todos sus contenidos. El odio, la confusión, tan clara como el agua, ¿pero tan pura? No entiendo esto proviniendo de adolescentes que sólo conocen la democracia (¿entre comillas?). La formación. Ya me sentía rebelde hasta en eso, ¿para qué honrar a un país democráticamente mientras vivimos realmente en opresión? No podría ser la gente tan hipócrita, pero lo es. Hoy, más que nunca, sentí lo que era esa bandera celeste y blanca, hoy las canciones y los poemas de la patria parecían escritos para alentarme...
Rompió mi pensamiento tan profundo y esperanzado la voz de una de las autoridades, solicitando mi presencia en dirección. ¿¡Cómo!? ¿Qué era eso? ¿A tal extremo había llegado mi grito de libertad, la libertad y los derechos constitucionalmente permitidos?
¿Qué me podrían hacer por exigir justicia? ¿Qué castigo sería debido para alguien que exigía democracia? Y sólo escuchaba las voces de gente, ciudadanos, habitantes de mí edad, pero de pensamientos totalmente opuestos, diciendo lo bien que estaban haciendo las autoridades, que justas sus acciones, y que cara dura lo mío de exigir cosas totalmente incoherentes. No pudo dejar de salir mi lágrima, que aunque única, simbolizaba los derechos, la libertad y la democracia, de un pueblo que no sabe exigir lo que es suyo, y ha sido, desde hace tiempo...
Grichu

13.12.99
EL Y YO
El y yo, no somos uno
A penas somos dos en un mismo mundo.
El y yo nos conocimos
Pero ni el ni yo nos conocemos.
Hablamos ayer (aquel dia, tan lejano)
Hablamos hoy, aunque por un saludo unico
Y talvez hablaremos ma;an.
El y yo somos un Pico Dulce,
Unas moneditas, unas asquero-papas fritas,
Somos un saludo, un enojo, una escena de pelicula.
El y yo somos una mirada,
Somos una mirada discreta tras la ventana,
El arriba, yo abajo,
Los dos mirando.
Pero el no sabe si yo lo miro
Y yo no se si el me mira.
Yo bajo la lluvia, mojada,
El bien sequito, a dentro, mirando.
Somos. Pero nunca seremos. Talvez fuimos.
Talvez, talvez. Porque, o sino que son esas miradas llenas de palabras pero
sin sonidos .
El y yo nunca seremos uno,
Pero el y yo somos dos en un mismo mundo.

Vacation. (or, rather 26 days til W-Day)

2006-07-05T01:55:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So, I am addicted to blogs. No, not writing in them (obviously), but reading them. Yes, a bit voyeuristic (no, I don't care about spelling at the moment), though I do post on some. or have posted at some point in the past.

Why? Well, lack of social interaction, maybe. Lack of emails, most definitely. I dunno, it's interesting to learn about peoples lives. Most of the blogs I read are from strangers that live in the UK, bc I really miss London. But, believe it or not, (I think) I am a good listener bc it's interesting to hear what people say and how. Of course I read the blogs of people I know too, and that's cool on a different level, I guess. I dunno.

Yeah, I'm a bit bored, but with plenty to do.
Like FINISH packing... I pack for like an hour each day and then get engulfed in the internet, or letters from who knows whom from way back when. And wedding stuff.

Most of which is completed. Kind of. Most is assembled, yes.

Um. Went to see cars today with Ryan. Very very good. Ryan is in love with Pixar, I think. More in love with me. But still in love with Pixar. :P Haha

And went to Island's with Melissa, Matt, Claudia and Frito. That was fun!! and they helped me assemble wedding stuff.

And we swam a few laps in the pool (I was a bit lazy though) at Ryan's.

Happy fourth of July.

Bridal Shower

2006-06-26T00:48:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So, today I had my bridal shower... it was so awesome, and fun, and just plain awesome. My friends did a great job, I'm very appreciative and impressed.

A few things to note:

1. It's kind of sad to be leaving, and now that time is kind of flying by and people are realizing more and more that we are indeed leaving, it's just hard and sad... but it's so nice to hear how happy people are for Ryan and us... and how proud they are of us and our accomplishments. I feel so blessed and just plain lucky, and thankful to have such a wonderful guy, with a great family that loves me a lot.

2. It's so nice to spend all these moments with my friends... and again, a bit sad too, bc in two months everything will be so different.

3. Gifts are cool. I don't think I've ever received as many gifts as today. Also, it's very weird to have 20 people looking at me as I open gifts.... Should I mention I'm really bad at reacting at gifts and I get shy... But, they were cool... Lots of gift certificates to bed bath and beyond (awesome), lots of money, jewelry... nightgowns... and other things that have already made me blush a lot.... But the most awesome gift (aside from cards, which rock) is having everyone there, and knowing they are there to share this joyous occasion with me. That was cool and weird at the same time... I felt comfortable being the center of attention, thanks to my friends and laughter... But I felt it the most at the time of opening gifts... again, all eyes on me. But, like I faintly whispered, the best gift was having all of those people there... it really is nice to feel loved and thought of.... Hopefully everyone felt welcome and had a good time... I did!

4. Gosh there was sooooo much food. :) I made empanadas with my mommy today, they turned out sooooo yummy! I had everyone try some (I guilted people into trying some by telling them we made them!)

5. Weddings are a big deal.

Yes, I know, I didn't discover America or anything, it's a known fact that weddings are a big deal... But, wow, I just thought that ours was going to remain simple and not a big deal. I just can't wait to be married to Ryan, not have to say goodbye, only goodnight... Sharing my life and dreams with him at a much deeper level. but like the wedding, it's like a beast... it really is. I got engulfed by it a bit on Saturday night, and it was kind of scary and emotional... I just have to remember that even everything goes wrong with the event, it will still be the most awesome perfect day of my life, because on that day I will be Mrs. (Zuccarino-)Catania and from that day forward we will lead our lives as one. and that is all that matters.

Now, about the cake... hahaha j/k

6. It's funny how my step-family is really my family. How I'm going to miss Thanksgivings at Josefa's, and I'll miss the kids (my niece and nephew) and Carmen.... and just how they're always there for me, no matter what. Which is not exactly what I can see about my extended family (not counting my parents who are ALWAYS there for me, even when I don't want them to be, haha).

7. Don't watch "The BreakUp" a month before your wedding, and the day of your Bridal Shower. Just some good advice. :P

In any case, this has been an awesome month. I'm extremely happy, blessed, touched.... and humbled at how awesome people are...

oh, one more thing:

I LOVE RYAN!!!! Yey!!!

Goodnight!

G

Graduation pics

2006-06-13T19:37:00.000-05:00

This is me, YiShuan, Jade and Johnny

This is me and Eric :) This is me, very excited about graduating...

This is me and my mommy :)
Do you see me? I'm the second one with the banner?

Graduation Day

2006-06-09T11:32:00.000-05:00

So, today I graduate from Cal Poly. Yey!!! Double yey... Hey, make it four yeys, one for each year.

I need to vacuum and clean my room for tonight's mini grad party at my place.... I'll do that in a bit.

So, yeah, I'm a bit bummed... Why, you ask, on this very happy day, am I sad? Ridiculous!

But, well, I just talked to my aunt and found out that my cousin is indeed in town, but is not coming, at least I don't think she is.... Because they're going to go buy her fiance's son a condo in San Diego. My aunt flew in with them, so of course my cousin knows that the graduation is this week. So, I'm a bit disappointed. Yes, my family is kind of odd... And you know, I would totally go to her graduation without even thinking about it... Yet, my cousins just love themselves and their future husbands, and don't care about this side of the family. Mishpoja!!! But oh well...

I'm also sad because everything is ending, and it's so hard to say goodbye, and to think that people I have seen daily, I won't be seeing again, maybe ever. That's weird.

It's also gloomy today... and real life, grown up life is kind of scary... This I realized the day before yesterday, as I was trying to study for my last final, but billions of things were happening and I just could not concentrate on the last final I was to have at Cal Poly...

But, I am happy, and excited. And I can't wait until tonight at 4pm. And, guess what? I get to carry the banner for the Biology Department, and my name may or may not be mentioned by the President during his speech. All of this is amazing. This year has been really amazing. Things I never thought could be possible, are. And things that I've always wished for are coming true.

Hopefully I haven't been arrogant about any of this. I really am just incredulous at what this year has produced...

Yey!!! Graduation. Four years of hard work, frustrations, long hours, smiles and tears... Yes, they've gone fast.... but at a good pace I think.

Yey!!

Ok, I'm off to vacuum!

G

Yale

2006-03-23T13:56:00.000-05:00

Hi!

I have decided to accept Yale's offer....

YEY!!!!!!

Griselda

Ignorance is Bliss

2006-03-09T18:52:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So, I was looking through some pics of an old high school friend of mine from argentina. Granted, I was never one of the beautiful people, nor did my family ever really go on vacation... but still, like, I did have some awesome one week vacations and stuff... and looking through her, and other of my friend's pics, it just kind of ... I dunno I get this weird feeling of nostalgia and jealousy... like this unreachable thing that I somehow passed... Like, all of them are still in this let's party all day kind of thing... though they're all in college... but they are so more laid back, no rush to get a diploma, no rush to move on. GOing on vacation for a couple of weeks, going out with friends. I totally miss that, just hanging out at a friend's house doing nothing. I'd just go and eat, watch tv, drink mate... Now I barely have time for friends, though Melissa's coming over on Fri (tomorrow!! yey) to have breakfast and talk about bridal shower stuff... but it's so weird here, like people don't just hang out and do nothing... ok, I do take that back, but it's so much more planned. Like, if I were to tell that to some of my friends, like, can I just go and sit around your house and do nothing, I think they'd think i was weird.... I guess that's what I miss about London... we would just hang out in the kitchen, cook food, watch tv, vegetate... I MISS THAT...

I was thinking the other day about when we went to Oxford, and basically pub crawled all night... or how i'd email people and say, let's go to paris next weekend... it's kind of tripey that i was in europe and experienced all that.

I think i have this feeling that new england might be kind of like that.... i dunno if that friendly, but like more things to do and people doing them. then again in the south they're so laid back...

so about the grad school thing. i got into 5 schools (boston u, yale, duke, unc, umn) and i'm either going to yale or duke. no idea where. please don't ask. I'll let everyone know once i know.

um, so the interviews were cool. a bit tiring, but cool. i learned so much on them. learned a lot about myself, and i think i grew up a bit... then again i think we always grow a bit more each day. but i was out there, alone, mingling, telling people who i am, where i've been. and so many people have had similar experiences, and gone to europe, or africa, or other places on research. that was cool. and then talking to sooo many profesors, i think around 50 total, and learning about what they do... it really helped me connect a lot of things, see how different people use similar techniques for different ideas, and learn new things i never new existed. very very cool.

Where did I go? I started off at UCSF (who later rejected me)... that was fun, but they crammed in way too many activities. played my first drinking game, and rocked at it. learned that interviewing isn't that bad... and the best advice really is to be yourself.... haha, i guess they realized that i didn't want to stay in CA... oh well, that is the truth. (read above to understand the whys, or some of them anyways)

A week later I went to Yale (New Haven, CT). I loved it there. The professors were really nice, challenging in a way that actually got me to think and come up with logical scientific answers that i hadn't ever thought about. the people were nice. I liked the place, in spite of all the horrible things i have heard about new haven... the DGS (director of graduate studies) was awesome... and I got in! Yaaaaaale!

A couple of days later I went to Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory (CSH, Long Island, NY). the most intense experience ever. it's really hard to convince someone that you're interested in something you're not, and to hide what you are interested in. but, guess what? I'm interested in immunology. it's awesome. but I don't know nearly enough on it... i do know the basic gists of it (which came useful in other interviews). however, no immunologists at CSHL. really intense. I met James Watson (yeyy!!!) and got a book signed by him. it was worth it just for that.

Weekend off-- Ryan gets sick...

Then i was off to UMN (Minneapolis, MN). It was cool. always cool when the DGS starts off the "interview" saying, so, what can we do to get you here. they're willing to fly ryan over there to convince him... however, there's limited funding, limited spaces in labs... but they seem to have an awesome stem cell person... got in, probably not going there.

so, i was in UMN from thu to sunday... that sunday i flew into raleigh/durham, north carolina. I had an interview at unc-chapel hill from sunday to tuesday. also, very cool place, good science, but it's a genetics program and i just don't want to take all these genetics classes. plus their labs are kind of old. oh, and their prelim seemed too easy (i'm crazy, i'm full aware of this fact). got in

then i hung out at ryan's dad's place tues and wed, which was very cool, and relaxing.

then, thu through sat i interviewed at Duke (durham, nc). my host was awesome, as was her fiance. the fellow interviewees were a bit odd... not too bad, but a bit odd... the program seemed good, very interdisciplinary. met with the dgs of immunology who was really cool, and seemed to like me, even sent an email telling me so later. then i met with the dgs of the cell molec umbrella program who told me i got the Duke Endowment Fellowship... which means more money per year (a bit more than what yale is offering) and i'd be in the society of duke fellows... kinda cool, prestigious... and gave duke an edge.... got accepted there too.

so, now it's between duke and yale... and yeah, i dunno... it's driving me nuts.

meanwhile, back at the ranch....i've got finals next week, and a 10 page paper due.... and i'm like feeling very odd, moody, sensitive, unhappy, weird this week. so, give your empathy to ryan, my wonderful fiance, who hasn't been feeling all that hot himself, due to a chemically induced ulcer. I love you ryan.

bear with me readers!

February Updates..

2006-02-16T00:31:00.000-05:00

Hello!

So, I've ceased blogging as things have been hectic.

A brief summary: I got 7 interviews, but am only going to 6 (the other one never really got back to me about rescheduling) out of the 8 schools I applied.

First, I went to UCSF.... at the end of January. It went okay, I really liked two professors, and the other four were iffy... and today I got their rejection.... That's okay though, because I purposely scheduled it a week before Yale to get practice, and I REALLY want to go to the east coast.

So, I went to Yale two weeks ago... and that went sooo great... people were sooo nice, and the place was great... and the interviews were really smooth. And, I got in!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yey!

Then I went to Cold Springs Harbor... which was really stressful.... and I got to meet James Watson (father/discoverer of DNA structure, along with Crick)... that was awesome...

And now, off to Minnesota, UNC and Duke... three in a row.

So, for now, Yale is my first choice.... but no decisions to be made until March...

In other news, I already bought the cloth/material for my wedding dress!!! Yes, I'm having it made! So, everything is slowly coming together.

The bad news, my wonderful fiance is sick. He got food poisoning, and isn't doing well :( I'm going to miss him soooooooooooo much.

That's all for now...

G

Marie's thing-a-magigs

2006-01-18T00:05:00.000-05:00

Your Personality Is

Guardian (SJ)
You are sensible, down to earth, and goal oriented.Bottom line, you are good at playing by the rules.
You tend to be dominant - and you are a natural leader.You are interested in rules and order. Morals are important to you.
A hard worker, you give your all at whatever you do.You're very serious, and people often tell you to lighten up.
In love, you tend to take things carefully and slowly.
At work, you are suited to almost any career - but you excel in leadership positions.
With others, you tend to be polite and formal.
As far as looks go, you are traditionally attractive. You take good care of yourself.
On weekends, you tend to like to do organized activities. In fact, you often organize them!

The Three Question Personality Test

Your Life Path Number is 6

Your purpose in life is to help others
You are very compassionate, and you offer comfort to those around you.It pains you to see other people hurting, and you do all in your power to help them.You take on responsibility, and don't mind personal sacrifice. You are the ultimate giver.
In love, you offer warmth and protection to your partner.
You often give too much of yourself, and you rarely put your own needs first.Emotions tend to rule your decisions too much, especially when it comes to love.And while taking care of people is great, make sure to give them room to grow on their own.

What Is Your Life Path Number?

Yale Interview

2005-12-24T03:24:00.000-05:00

I GOT AN INTERVIEW TO YALE!!!!!!

YEEYY!!!

I get home from Justin & Marie's and after trying to extinguish a fire (more details later), I open my email: and see an email with subject: Yale Interview...

Yeeyyyy!!! Yeyy!! Yeyyyyy!!!!!

Um, did I mention yey!!!

Ok, maybe I'll post more coherently tomorrow.

G

PS: YEYYYY!!

43% = Not good enough

2005-12-15T20:23:00.000-05:00

Hi!

So, I was happy today, I really was... not that I'm miserable now, but maybe a little bit... Because I decided to fork over $10, not wait the extra day or 2 or 10... and get my GRE subject score... and, what did I get? A 500, 43%, meaning that I suck... just like I thought I would... I hoped I was wrong, but no.... Perspective: Duke recommends getting in the 70th percentile... Yeah, last time I checked 43% was far away from 50 and farther away from 70...
Otherwise, my applications don't look that bad... and then they'll see this and go, oh wait, she doesn't know any biochemistry, cell or molecular biology. I do, though. I just didn't have time to review...
And now, now when it's too late, what do I find... Two websites that would have helped a lot:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0886851882/102-0653164-8162524?v=glance&n=283155

http://www.neyhaber.com/

So. If you happen to run across my blog and are taking this GRE subject test, go to these sites, buy the books... study for 3 days or so... I think if I had reviewed the information I would have done much better.

So, now I feel like crap... bc I did just as bad as I told everyone I thought I did.. and for once I was right... i wouldn't mind being wrong on this one..

oh well...

In other news. I got an A in immunology (yey!!) and an A- in two of my GEs, which is fine, and a late report on my acting class... which means she forgot to turn in grades.

Oh, by the way, I did a little better on my GRE general test: 530/800 (67%) on verbal, 730/800 (76%) on quantitative, 5.5/6 (86%) on the writing section...
And I've turned in 5 applications... 3 more to go...

I'm happy with my immunology grade though...

But, i get to sulk today about my general test.

Oh, and aside from stressing about applications and stuff, I've been cooking. Yup, my break tradition has started up again... I made brownies, from scratch, last week, and made some for Dr. Alex (she wrote one of my letters of rec). Scones from scratch last sunday... and yesterday I made corn muffins (cornbread in a sweeter muffi-er format)...

I also bought new jeans.. yey!! and a new black jacket, a nice shirt, and beautiful shoes!!! plus the shoes (dress shoes) are very comfy and very very awesome...

and and and... I'm still sad...

Eric got an interview for cornell today... well, the interview is in february, but hopefully you know what I mean... I'm soooooooo excited for him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I must work on personal statements and sulk a bit...

Byes

merry xmas, happy hannukah, happy new year!!!

G

Yey Argentina!

2005-12-02T12:55:00.000-05:00

Good News for Argentina!

Yeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Hopefully things stay well :)

G

Argentine Merval Rises on Tax Revenue: World's Biggest Mover

Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Argentine stocks rose, the biggest fluctuation among equity markets included in global benchmarks, as a report that the government beat tax collection targets spurred a rebound after the economy minister's ouster earlier this week.
The Merval index rose 38.63, or 2.5 percent, to 1558.49, as of 11:01 a.m. New York time, the biggest gain in a month. The index has still fallen 4.4 percent this week, the second-biggest drop of 80 primary stock indexes tracked by Bloomberg. Tenaris SA, the world's biggest maker of seamless steel pipes for the oil industry, led today's gain.
The tax collection report revived optimism that the economy will stay strong, said Anibal Pires, analyst at Zaiatz & Compania Sociedad de Bolsa in Buenos Aires. Argentina's tax agency last night said it collected 108 billion pesos ($36.3 billion) in the first 11 months of the year, exceeding the annual target of 107 billion pesos. The index fell earlier in the week after President Nestor Kirchner ousted Roberto Lavagna as economy minister.
``The good tax revenue numbers relieved the markets, which are very sensitive this week because of the change,'' Pires said in a telephone interview. ``The index will remain volatile until the new minister explains her policies and priorities.''
Kirchner named Felisa Miceli, the president of state-owned Banco de la Nacion, after a dispute with Lavagna over how to stem inflation.
Price Agreements
Miceli yesterday said Argentina and dairy producers agreed to hold prices at Nov. 1 levels for the next two months in a bid to stem inflation. The government also agreed with supermarkets including France's Carrefour SA, Coto CISA SA and Hipermercados Jumbo SA, to cut prices 15 percent on food, clothing and toiletry prices as part of a government plan to slow rising prices.
``This measure also helped relieve concern about inflation in the next months and will ensure higher sales and a growing economy,'' Pires said.
Tenaris SA (TS AR) rose 1.6 pesos, or 4.7 percent, to 35.55 pesos. Crude oil may rise as stockpiles dwindle and cold weather in the U.S. Northeast increases demand for heating fuel, a Bloomberg survey showed. Twenty-three of 54 analysts surveyed, or 43 percent, said prices will increase next week. Fourteen, or 26 percent, said oil will fall and 17, or 31 percent, expect little change.
Grupo Financiero Galicia SA (GGAL AR), the country's biggest banking group, rose 4 centavos, or 1.9 percent, to 2.16 pesos.
Siderar SAIC, Argentina's biggest steelmaker for the automobile and construction industries, rose 95 centavos, or 4 percent, to 24.60 pesos, the highest price this week.
To contact the reporters on this story:
Eliana Raszewski at eraszewski@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: December 2, 2005 11:47 EST

I'm so in love...

2005-11-26T20:25:00.000-05:00

Today, I'm so in love... with the love of my life, of course, but with life itself as well...

I dunno, I guess I was looking at some pics of an old classmate of mine from HS and I just got all melancholic... She had great pictures of snow and a river, and smiling beautiful faces. Her sister's married... and I thought, how beautiful argentina is, and how I never got to experience all its beauty...

But then I remembered that I got to go to Europe this summer, and have great pics in my collection now because of it, and better than that, I have wonderful memories of a different wonderful world that's out there... and that I too have river pictures :) And that I too will visit snow and oceans and other wonders as my life continues, and I'm sure I'll be surprised by where it will take me... Finally, I too will be married soon. Such an exciting thing, this... So I can't help but smile from the inside, from heart, where it counts... and today, studying with Jade, I realized that I was in a much lighter mood. And although this is dissipating as I realize all I have to get done in two weeks, I can't help to smile.... and think of what a great weekend this has been. How many things I'm thankful for... how wonderful it is to have family and friends who care... having so many people wanting to help me out for the wedding... how great it is to laugh and eat pies... and, I dunno.. yeyy

Even though things are weird at home... I dunno, I've decided to ignore them, though I know it'll just end up worse...
in any case. Yey, happy thanksgiving!!!
GRE's are done!!!
applications are getting there!
and the quarter is almost over!!!
YEEEYYY!!!!!

Ah... :)

I'll write more in December...

Until then! Smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Griselda

I'm published

2005-11-04T21:19:00.000-05:00

Yeyyyyyyyyyyyy!!

Finally, after doing the nerdy search in Pubmed for myself, I found the "short communication" in the European Journal of Neuroscience where I'm now published. Third out of 5 authors.... and no, I don't want to study Neuroscience....

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEYYYY!!!
(note, I didn't put my name bc I don't want anyone to google me and randomly find my blog...)

Rosales, Carlos R., Osborne, Kyle D., Me., Scheiffele, Peter & Silverman, Michael A. (2005)A cytoplasmic motif targets neuroligin-1 exclusively to dendrites of cultured hippocampal neurons.European Journal of Neuroscience 22 (9), 2381-2386.doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.04400.x

http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1460-9568.2005.04400.x

Yeyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Very exciting...

G

Cultural and personal experiences outside the laboratory

2005-10-30T13:17:00.000-05:00

As our plane started its descent into London, England, our excitement grew exponentially. Looking outside our window, we could already tell England was going to be very different from what we knew from our desert home state of California. All we saw was green, a bright vivid green of life, coming from the millions of trees that seemed to overtake the UK. The images of buildings and palaces that I had imagined seeing were overcome with the beauty of nature. As we walked into Heathrow and told the customs officer that we were STUDYING at King’s College in London, we realized we did not know what to expect from this great country, but we loved the accents. We came walking out with our suitcases and bags and coats, and found my mentor and some lab mates from Lauren Smith’s laboratory. We fully expected one or two cars picking us up, I mean, who does not have a car, right? This was not the case, we learned; in London, everyone takes the “tube”. The tube being the London Underground, or subway as we call it here in the “States”. We began to realize that not only did we have to adapt to a new way of life: lugging suitcases from one subway train to another, but we had new words to remember too. It is not the elevator, it’s the lift; the WC or toilet, not the bathroom, etc. However, the people were really friendly and engaging. We were so touched that three people came to meet us and help us with our stuff. Even though the tube is relatively simple to understand, coming right off the plane I doubt we would have gone to the right place. In addition, Heathrow is far away from London City and we would not have known which pass to get.
When we did arrive at our “flat” (or apartment) and checked in, which we learned had only been confirmed a few days before, we were happy to see we had our own bathroom—even though the space was minimal and we had to shower with the toilet! We were also given a few grocery bags of start-up food from Lauren’s advisor, which was a nice and welcoming surprise!
After taking a red-eye flight all we wanted to do was sleep, but Lauren’s lab mates were so hospitable that they took us out pub-hopping right then and there. That is when we learned that not only did they call things by different names, but they also pronounced words differently. They laughed at our American way of saying Southwark, pronounced Sud-ark in England, as they bought us pint after pint of alcohol—oh, yes, the brits can drink! I am still amazed about how we got back to our flat using the tube from SoHo. I was so exhausted by the time that I got to my flat that all I really could think about was falling asleep. As I walk into the common area of the flat: a hallway with a big kitchen, I see one of my flat-mates. I am not sure if it was because here in California people are not as friendly, or if I was too tired to be cordial, but I did not stop and talk with this girl. A few minutes later, as I’m getting ready to have a good night’s rest, I hear knocking on my door! It was my flat mate, introducing herself, asking who I was, and letting me know that they would be glad to show me around London! Wow, roommates that were cordial and wanted to meet me!

Anyway, Saturday morning came around—with a fire alarm that went off in the middle of the night (there’s this obsession with fire alarms in London, I guess because of the great fire of London) –the day after we flew into London. That day and all that weekend in fact, we did marathon sightseeing. I think we covered more places in those two days than at any other time in the following two weeks—except Rome and Paris, but I will talk about that later.

By the time we met with our advisors Monday morning, we had seen a great deal of London, understood the tube fairly well, and knew painfully well the pound-dollar conversion rates. We had a great talk with our advisors, who seemed to be great people. We were given some idea about what our research was going to be, and we learned that normal research/work days in our labs started at 10 or 10:30am, not earlier, and ended around 4 or 5pm. This gave us time to have a nice breakfast in the morning, and be able to stay up later at nights, as well as time to explore the city after research. In fact, we were encouraged to see all that we could of London and of other countries as well. My advisor would ask me every day what new things I had seen of the city, and reminded me to start booking trips to other places in England an in Europe!

As a result, we got to visit many museums, like the Tate Modern, Natural History Museum, National Gallery; go to many plays, two at Shakespeare’s globe, and a handful around the West End and other areas; visit Buckingham Palace, Picadilly Circle, Leicaster (“lester”) Square, etc.

Eventually, after much procrastination, we visited Oxford, England; Paris, France; Rome, Italy; and I visited a cousin in Germany, and visited Salzburg, Austria; Traunstein and Munich, Germany. These trips usually were on weekends, for three or four days, much of which involved walking around the cities and taking hundreds of pictures! It was so exciting to visit places that were historically significant, and get a feel for the European lifestyle. The major hurdle was the language barrier, knowing only a few phrases to order food or ask for tickets, and not being able to communicate with anyone else past that. It was interesting to see the varying responses to American visitors and the differences among European countries.

In addition, I had 6 flat-mates from various places in the world, who had been in London for at least one year. They showed me around London, advised me to go to places such as Burough market and many contemporary plays. More importantly, they made me feel at home at comfortable in London. Additionally, we got together with other MIRT students when we visited Oxford, and then went together to Paris, France. It was helpful to share experiences with people of the same area, and together visit foreign places together.
Overall, this was an amazing experience. Visiting Europe has given me a different perspective on the world, the perception of Americans, but also the effects of globalization, more so in the realm of science. I’m very grateful for this experience, and hope more students will be able to take advantage of this program in years to come.

It's raining...

2005-10-17T16:59:00.000-05:00

Hi... yeah, i've been busy... and not busy enough... so behind on everything...

and apparently a horrible friend.

So yeah, fun times... and now I'm here at ryan's trying to study immunology, but this past hour i got nothing done... and found out the place we were getting excited about kind of sucks. so we ahve to search again. which i'm trying to do now, so it gets done. bc dates are already getting filled up. and it seems that boys just don't realize this.

anyway... can't wait till applications are due...

i'll stop here, since i'm not a happy camper today. it's been a really really horrible day. ugh.

i like the rain though :)

g

12 hours at Cal Poly

2005-09-23T11:12:00.000-05:00

Hello all!!

So, the quarter has begun.... and yesterday, the first day of it, was the longest day ever!!!!!!!!!

So, I got to school at like 6:45 am... yupp, you heard right. So, parking wasn't that bad... and went to my Ant 112 online course orientation. Bla bla. Kind of those monotone voice teachers.

Then, we went to try to add the Mic 415 lab, Immunology/Serology at 8am... but I didn't get in, and neither did Jade... So I went to my 8am Sociology class, 30 min late. Whatever. It was fine. Guy giving us his whole resume about how great he is and how much he knows. Cioffi is his last name, so he cracked some italian mobster jokes ("I had a meeting with the russians.. and I'm italian... so that tells you to be scared of me" or something like that). Anyway. whatever.

Then, met up with Jade and we hung out, got some paperwork I needed to pick up. Went to the Honors room and talked to people (this one girl just broke up with her bf, so I wasn't about to tell her how I just got engaged... felt awkward when the male bashing started, as, at the moment, I think boys are great... at least mine :P... but I'm kind of glad they broke up, he was a jerk to her, and all she did was suffer.) Yeah, and then Dorothy introduced me to this lady that's gonna help me submit my NIH/NSF fellowship application. I'm not really hopeful that I'll get it, but, gotta try. Then found Jeannie, hung out with her, told her my news (yeeyy!! I was telling anyone that cared a bit)... Then met up with Jade, and went to lunch. Saw Lauren, which was cool, we're meeting up Monday for lunch or dinner or something. I can't wait to hear his crazy stories from Amsterdam... Saw Eric, which was cool...

At 1pm we tried to get into the class... I didn't get it again (almost did, but there was some confusion, damn it!)... Jade did get it... which is cool, though I'm a bit jealous... especially bc I then had to go to my original 1pm class: Advanced Genetics. Ugh! With Campbell! Yeah, not looking forward to that. At all. That class really freaks me out. I DON'T WANT TO TAKE ADVANCED GENETICS. So, I may try to either add Animal Tissue Culture, or I dunno, still have hope for MIC. Yeah, and then I went to the lecture for MIC, just in case... Such an awesome lecture too... and that was out at 6:45pm... left campus at 7pm... and so ended my 12 hours or so at CPP... I was a bit tired...

UGH!!!!!!!! I'm so not inspired this year. I have total senior-itis. I want to be done, and be in grad school. Can't I just fastforward to graduation? Please?!!!

Yeah, so I'm PR of Hillel, President of the Honors Program Club... why? ugh! I was excited, not I'm just overwhelmed. Why, you ask?

TO DO LIST:

1. Write a 150 word abstract for the San Diego Honors Program Conference regarding my research in London.

2. Study for Advanced Genetics (practice crosses and stuff --> I have a horrible genetics background... bc of my prof.... ugh! "Easy" A's aren't the best things sometimes)

3. PICK GRAD SCHOOLS TO APPLY TO!!!

4. Complete NSF application --> due in November

5. Take GRE --> Oct. 29th

6. Take GRE Subject test ---> Nov

7. Prepare presentation for San Diego Conference --> Oct 8th

8. Complete applications to grad schools --> deadlines in Dec and Jan

9. Plan a wedding --> date to be confirmed

10. Write a budget for Hillel --> ASAP

11. Write an agenda for HP meetings --> first one next Thursday

12. Study for the rest of my classes

13. Work out regularly

14. Freak out --> the only item on the list I've actually accomplished.

Why am I a lazy bum? I could have had the grad school stuff done by now...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah... such is the life of G right now. I'll be sane again next August. See you then!

G

PS: Yeah, and I thought a spot opened in the mic class this morning... but it was Jade's already reserved spot. Yeah, great news for me, I know.

Griselda's Engaged!!!

2005-09-20T18:21:00.000-05:00

Hello Blog world!

Here I am... as normal... slightly trying to be productive... realizing I have a heck of a lot of GRE studying to do if I am to do remotely well on it... and I have no idea where I'm going to apply to.

Ok, maybe that's a lie. I'll probably apply to Duke and UCSF... maybe UCLA, since they also have an umbrella program. Probably UMN, since I probably have the application fee waived... Anyway, I still need to choose some universities I can actually get into. I can probably get into UMN bc I did that one summer program there. Okay, okay, I can read the comments from my fiance now, how I shouldn't be worrying about getting in... But, I dunno... I do worry... Mostly bc I'm way behind in my applying and writing and studying and stuff... My GPA alone can't do all the work, but it would be nice if it could.

Anyway, so that's the same old news as always, I suppose.

Class starts up again on Thursday. Not really doing all the planning and stuff I should be doing. Surprise surprise.

Went to Olive Garden with Ryan and my parents, Ryan's treat... and it went well... I was so nervous, I don't think I really talked. I kept on playing with my knife and looking at my stepfather's spaced out look... so basically my mom and Ryan pulled the dinner through, and had a nice conversation... After the bill came... and left... we actually mentioned the true reason for the dinner... Ryan kind of apologized, which really surprised me... He's so sweet, he was composed for the both of us, I assume. And my stepfather congratulated us and actually smiled. Things are weird between us, though (Pedro and I)... and hopefully they'll be better soon. I guess it's both our faults... He said some mean things (I was ruining his life doing this) and I insinuated some mean things, which I tried to patch up a minute later, but still stung (that he's not my real dad)... so yeah... But, I'm trying to forget about all that was said. My mom really wants me too... and I will for the sake of normalcy, and bc I don't want to lose them as a part of my life. Anyway... so yes, the glass is half full, and all is well again... Though I anticipate another conversation sometime between now and July, in which my stepfather will enquire about our plans as a bireligious couple. Which I am prepared to answer and am confident about... We really have covered our bases, me and Ryan that is... we can talk about anything and everything... and we do...

Though, Marie's blog got me thinking about how he would feel if I went to a strip club. I don't think I'd find it enjoyable either. Girls just don't get as excited at guys taking off their clothes... especially their underwear... unless it's our men... and then we are more likely to aid in the process...

Anyway... so I dunno what my friends are gonna do for my bachelorette party, but they're already talking about it... But, the only one Ryan has to really worry about is Jade, because Lisa is this timid Catholic girl, though it sooo doesn't seem that way. She blushes when someone says moist... it's really funny... In Argentina the bride and groom get one party together, and the friends just make a fool out of them. We are in the States though...

In other news, my cousin Carla gets married on August 11th... and Gisella is turning 30 next year... so it'll be two months of parties!

It's so weird not seeing Ryan everyday. Ok, not that it's weird, but I really miss him... It's so hard to say goodbye at night... I'm so silly sometimes, you know? I just have to be a little bit less selfish and stronger and stuff... Oh well, that'll never happen... But, in a year or so, we'll be living together, so it'll be cool...

Anyways,

That's all for now...

G

I'm engaged!!!!!!!!

2005-09-19T18:30:00.000-05:00

A week ago, on September 12th, 2005 the most wonderful guy in my life, Ryan Catania, asked me to marry him.

And I said: Yes!

So now, we're engaged! Yeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How did it happen? Where?
Well, we were in Florida... Jensen Beach to be precise. We went to Mulligan's for lunch... really good place. Then waited a while, and at sunset walked over to the pier. A beautiful pier, over the water. We took some pictures, and sat down to admire the water, the sunset, and each other. Ryan started telling me how much he always remembered the pier... and that he thought I wouldn't forget it either... then he stands up, pulls a ring from his pocket, gets down on one knee, and asks me to marry him... when I said yes, he placed the ring on my left hand... and we went from boyfriend/girlfriend to fiance/fiancee....

So, some time next summer, after I graduate, we're going to get married... July maybe.

All I can say is that I'm head over heels in love, and now I will marry this man I love, admire and adore so much.

It was an amazing vacation... relaxing, fun, exciting and emotional.

yeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!

I LOVE RYAN!!!!

G

Immature love says: "I love you because I need you." Mature love says: "I need you because I love you." -- Erich Fromm

Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. -- Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Things change for the better (and I always exaggerate too much)

2005-08-30T12:21:00.000-05:00

Hi!
So, of course, things are so much better today... As they tend to be once I vocalize how "bad" things are.
Granted, I do have a bad cold, which is slowly getting better... Which reminds me, I should go drink some grapefruit juice. ---------
yummy!!

Ok, so here I am, on my laptop, on my mom's bed, with the TV on mute and KROQ playing on the stereo, with my cell phone by my side. I quite enjoy this actually... More so now that the blinds are cracked open so sunlight can get through.

So, I wake up with Ryan on the phone telling me that he's head over heals in love with me... Ah, such a nice day to start up the day!! Had my cheerios (the whole grain one) with milk. Then talked to Melissa--- at last!!! Her cell phone died this weekend while she was away.. I was getting a bit worried, and sad, that she hadn't called me back. She's one of my best friends... So, yeah, all is well. And I'm going to go get books with her tomorrow at school and have lunch at Applebee's (it's a tradition of ours... Yeah, we're nerds... More so bc this is finals week for the summer people-- and that's our tradition, to get our books during finals week for the following quarter)... So yeah, I'm happy. I miss Melissa.

Also, I'm helping to plan Jade's bday party... We're going to Buca di Beppo next week.. So far Mel, Eric, Brandon and of course Ryan (and me, and Jade) are going. So I need to find her a gift soon.

Yeah, so I got Leslee's invitation to her bridal shower mailed to Ryan's house... Which is cool. The bad news is that it's on the day that we get back from Florida. So, Ryan's finding out exactly at what time we get back -- I might still be able to make it. But we can't remember at what time the flight gets in. We wanted an afternoon one, but maybe it's at 9am... We'll see...

I dunno if I've ever been to a bridal shower... I'm thinking maybe once, but I really can't remember... So, I'm thinking no... Nor have I been to a Jewish wedding... Random comments, I know... But yeah... Oh well, if I don't go to this one, maybe to Mel's and Jade's, in a couple of years :P

Annnyyywaayyyy.... 9 days till Florida!!!!!

Also, I got a sweet email from Lauren, who just got back from Amsterdam... And Eric, wondering why I never called him back about Las Vegas... In my defense, I was sick this weekend, though I didn't know that last week, when I should have called him back :P Maybe if I wasn't so broke I would be more adamant about going...

Goodness it's hot...

Umm.... what else is new? I saw Napoleon Dynamite on Sunday... very odd... and The forty year old virgin on Saturday, which was funny.

Not much more to tell right now... Oh, I got new tennis shoes... they're brown and have no laces, which is cool... :P So yeah... that was cool... I still need to get a new bathing suit and I think that's it for now... Keeping myself on budget.. I need a job this year... It's hard to go from having money and being able to spend it (ie: this summer) to now my emptier bank account and the realization that it's not magically filling up (ok, working is no magic, but you know..)

Oh well... we'll see what this year has in store for me, ne c'est pas?

Byes for now!

Griselda: in a better more hopeful mood (what not working will do to a woman!)

What do I do all day???

2005-08-26T10:53:00.000-05:00

Well, since you have all seen my wonderful recepies (I really have trouble spelling that word) and other complaints... let me tell you what I do all day....

Let me preface this with: MY DAYS ARE BORING!!!!!!!!!! My afternoons and nights get better, early morning is nice to... So, if you know any of my friends, can you tell them G is lonely?

Ah, but G should be lonely... Why you say? Well, G needs to find a grad school to apply to... well several to apply to. Well, there's loads out there, you say... Yes, that is a big problem I face right now. To make things even jollier, I have no idea what I want to research.... Like none. Ok, I have a general area, but I haven't done enough research to know exactly what I want.... And now I'm freaking out bc I read that sometimes grad schools will google you, and if they find your blog they will read it... and it usually doesn't help you (which can be clearly seen in this paragraph). So, Mr./Mrs./Ms./Miss Grad School Admitter... Please admit me!! I will be a good grad student, and if I've applied to your university it means that I found a couple of faculty members I would be interested in working with, and that your program really interests me...

Hhaha.. anyway, back to the blog... So, yeah, I'm trying to find universities to fill my needs: good faculty, good program and funding available. The last two don't seem to be a problem... and not that the faculty is bad, but there's not one project -yet- that jumps right at me as being really really really exciting.

So, my days. I wake up, around 7am... and lately go back to sleep and wait for Ryan to call... So I talk to him as he's commuting to work... and then I got have breakfast, usually with my mom (which is nice... having people around is nice) which consists of (lately) ruby red grapefruit juice, cheerios and milk... A change from my usual coffee and toast... and it is wholemeal cheerios... so yeah... Then I start my websearch for uni's... I just go a'searchin', and read, and clic clic... and like that... till lunch time, where I figure what to eat (oh, shit, I didn't prepare my mom's lunch... she liked my chicken wrap idea that I ate yesterday --- idea stolen from Borough Market :P) and eat it... then I either watch tv or... well I watch tv with lunch, and then I read or watch more tv. THen I force myself again in front of the laptop... to search again... Think about what to make for dinner... find a recipe online, and put it on my blog (which proved useful yesterday, as I had to make alfredo sauce, and new the recipe was on my blog)... then I eventually start cooking until someone arrives... Sometimes I go out for groceries, or for a doctor's appt... and on Wed I went to Ryan's, and did NO work, just read this crappy book called The Wives of Bath, because it was set in England... and I got a cheap thrill at reading "holiday" and other British terms...
Yesterday I went to the pool: a tiny pool actually... but a pool nonetheless... and I didn't have my bathing suit, and I had to pull out my old high school suit, ugh.. yeah, I'm going shopping this weekend...

So,yeah, exciting times... I might have lunch with Jade today... and I'll have fun this weekend... Maybe next week I'll see Melissa, and maybe go to Disneyland with Eka next Friday...
So, next week seems more promising..

I'm not really depressed, it's just that any time there's a lack of social interaction (as I like to coin it) I kind of go in lul mood.... some people may not understand... and I shouldn't complain as I'm on vacation. But it's hard having to do all this research alone.

But, it will get worse. As I will have to be writing essays soon, and taking the GRE general (oct 29th) and subject tests... so yeah, fun fun.

Um yeah.. so I'm thinking I might have to get a job next year. And I'm having an internal debate of working in industry part time, or working as a tutor... I dunno...

so yeah... that's why I'm so looking forward to Sept 8th... getting away... again... and this time with Ryan... not feeling guilty about being lazy... and we're going to see Coldplay! And drive up to North Carolina... so yeah... can't wait!!!!!!!!!

Ok, that's it for now...

HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

G

Red Bell Pepper and Broccoli Pasta Sauce

2005-08-25T17:26:00.000-05:00

RecipeAdapted from Real Stew, by Clifford A. Wright (Harvard Common Press, 2002).

The recipe is simplicity itself:

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 fleshy red bell peppers, seeded and cut into strips
1 medium-sized onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bunch fresh broccoli (about 1 pound), broken into florets and stems cut into 1/2-inch pieces
Salt and freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Grated cheese (optional)

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the red peppers, onion, and garlic until soft, adding small amounts of water to keep the skillet from drying out and stirring from time to time, about 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of water to a boil, salt lightly, and cook broccoli stems for a few minutes, then add florets. Cook broccoli until tender but still bright green, no more than about 10 minutes. Drain, break up slightly with a fork, and toss with the red bell pepper mixture. Season with salt and pepper, top with grated cheese, if desired, and serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Helpful Hints The secret to success here is not overcooking the broccoli. Make sure it remains bright green

Back in California

2005-08-23T19:06:00.000-05:00

Hello!

So here I am, in sunny California... again... Bittersweet... I'm totally glad to be back... I missed Ryan sooo much, and here I am again with him... Kind of... haven't seen him since Sunday -oh, the travesty!
Now, I totally miss London, and I miss Ryan... hmmpf... hahha... I'm just being silly.

So, the extent of my walking now is around supermarkets and to my car. Such a Californian. But maybe I should start in chronological order, eh?

So, my last days in London were nice. I worked quite a lot Monday and Tuesday (a week ago!), and on Wednesday I went to do last minute souvenir shopping. Went to Buckingham Palace first to see the changing of the guard. That was cool! And then I did some marathon walking, to Picadilly Circus - went to Hemley's (the toy store) it was sooo much fun!!!, then Covent Garden and got Ryan's sweater, which is really nice :) and my glasses broke somewhere in between.... but I got lunch, Ben's cookies and a few other souvenirs... Surprisingly I don't have a ton as I thought I would.
Then I went into the lab, got last results and said goodbye to Dr. Knight and

Adrian. There we are in the lab... And then I went home and relaxed a bit I think... Thursday I packed in the morning, and was done by lunchtime. So I went to look for Lauren, made copies of my lab notebook, and went to have Fish and Chips at Fishcoteque with Jen and Steph. We were so full after that! And, we ate them by the Thames River near the National Theatre (by the Waterloo bridge). Then I returned my lab book, and went to Lauren's lab to say goodbye to everyone. Dr. Rob Evans gave me a red King's College hat, which was really sweet of him! Then I went home, and hung out, then made mashed potatoes. We had a huge dinner with my flatmates, including a great Tiramisu that Dora made.

And on Friday we woke up at 6am and had breakfast. Everyone was up except Jen. It was so sweet of them! And then Lauren and Julia took the tube with me until Paddington, and then I took the Heathrow Express alone. At the airport I met up with Myesha, Jason, Claire (?), the two Ls-- Luciano and Leonardo-- and Jaime, and Dr. Tolmasky. THe flight was cool, we got to share a row of 5 seats between two of us! So I got some good sleep. And the food was yummy!!!

Then, we finally flew into LAX, after 10 + hours of flying... And as I leave the gate, there I see my love, Ryan, standing there, with his typical black and white shirt :) I was soo happy!!! I could not believe I was again in his arms, after 2 months of being so far apart.

So, we hopped into his car (after getting a lovely bouquet of flowers and a variety of photo holder things... I'm so articulate, I know) and drove to Carmen's work to retrieve my keys. Talked to her for a bit, and then came home :) THen, Melissa and Claudia stopped by to say hello. And then mom, Ryan and I had milanesa with salad. By 9pm I was drunk tired...

Saturday morning I wake up at 5am, and start unpacking -- I couldn't go back to sleep. Then, Ryan came over around noon... or 1pm :P And then we headed over to Marie's bday party. It was to be a pool party... So much fun!!! I hadn't been in a pool in ages!!! We had loads of fun, and even went in the spa. So that was cool!!! Again, by 9pm I was sooo tired, but the poker chips were out... so after a while I fortunately lost, and seeked refuge of a couch, where I dozed off a bit.... and then around 11pm we left, and Ryan took me home.

Sunday morning I woke up and hung out with my mom for a bit... and then went to Ryan's, to see his new apartment. A very cool apartment it is, very spacious. And well, got to spend some nice quality time with him, which was awesome :) haha, but by 9pm I was tired again, so I drove home... and watched some tele with my mom.

Monday morning I was awaken by a phonecall from sweetie... a nice way to wake up if you ask me :) But after I had breakfast with my mom, and she left for work, the emptiness of being back hit me.

After two months of being surrounded by people, being left alone to do pressing work kind of hits you. So I really missed London. A lot. I called Melissa, but she was at work I assume... so I just went to the supermarket -- the peak of my social interaction-- and came home to make salmon and potatoes. My mom was very pleased with it -- it was very good, if I do say so myself. Then I got to speak to Ryan, which was great!

Today, woke up to continue the search for grad schools... THe excitement of the day was a wonderful doctor's appointment. On my way there I called Eric, we talked for a long time... I think he was just as bored and anxious for social interaction as me :) The call ended with him telling me we should plan a trip for Vegas this weekend. He's serious too. It sounds fun, but I'm not sure... not sure Ryan would want to either... I wasn't definite in my answer, to which he was puzzled, so I said I wanted to talk to Ryan about it, to which he made a crack, which he promised not to tell Ryan about -- too late I guess, since he reads this blog. In any case, it was good to speak to him. He's a nice friend.

And then it was to the doctor's... it's so funny how you can be in the most awkward situation, as women exams tend to be, and yet they have no problem engaging in normal conversation. Today's was about her wanting to learn spanish, that she learned a bit when she started working at the hospital/clinic, about 5 yrs ago... It's so funny, bc it's so awkward, yet the conversation makes me want to laugh, but then I'm like overly aware of how my body convulses when I laugh.... which might not be something wants to do in that situation. Anyway, I'll stop there, for many reasons... one of which is the male viewers, which make up 75% of my blog readers...

Anyway, and here I am, after another grocery shopping trip... I bought some yummy Hallumi-- such yummy cheese!!!

So yeah, hi! I'm back in California!! Yeyy... now, looking forward to Sept 8th, when I'm going to Florida..

Ok, that's enough for today.

Tchuss

What I'm eating right now

2005-08-22T19:41:00.000-05:00

Trail Mix Tacos

Recipe Ingredients:
4 Mission® Fajita Size Flour Tortillas
8 Tbsp. Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter
6 tsp. Tsp. honey
4 Tbsp. raisins
4 Tbsp. granola or granola cereal
1 small apple, cored and sliced
1 banana, peeled and sliced
Recipe Instructions:
Spread 2 tbsp. peanut butter and 1 ½ tsp. honey in the middle of each tortilla.
Sprinkle 1 tbsp. each of raisins and granola.
Place equal amounts of banana and apple slices on top of the tortillas.
Fold over tortillas and enjoy!

Bell Pepper and Lemon Salmon

2005-08-22T11:05:00.000-05:00

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1 pinch kosher salt
2 (8 ounce) salmon fillets
2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
1/2 red bell pepper, cut into 1/4-inch strips
DIRECTIONS:
In a shallow dish, mix the olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, and salt. Pierce the salmon fillets on both sides with a fork, and place in the dish. Coat with the olive oil mixture, and marinate at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Place each salmon fillet on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Fold the foil around the fillets to form packets. Pour the marinade mixture over the fillets, and top with capers and red bell pepper strips. Tightly seal packets, and place in a baking dish.
Cook salmon 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until easily flaked with a fork.

Weird

2005-08-12T07:15:00.000-05:00

Hello...

So, today's Friday, which means in a week I will be on a plane home.

So, am I excited, am I ecstatic, and I being really touristy, am I smiling non-stop... Well, yes and no... I've been in a weird mood as of late. I really dunno why... I think... Well I dunno what I think...
So, I am very excited to go back home!! And I found out that Melissa was almost going to go by the airport as a surprise, but can't bc of work... But it was very touching. SO, hopefully she'll stop by my place after work. In any case, Ryan's picking me up, so I couldn't be happier.

Am I ecstatic? Well, I'd have to say no, as I'm dreading going back home and doing all that work and stuff... I dunno how I'm going to choose a graduate school and program, and study for the GREs and start on my applications, all in 2 weeks... I guess by just sitting down and doing it :P Do it!!! I've been a bum long enough here in London.. Which reminds me of the report I have to get done, sometime in the next 4 months... Plus, I'm going to miss London, regardless of anything I might add later in this post.

Not really being touristy... I've been in the lab quite a bit, now that Adrian's gone, and I have to do the experiments by myself. I actually sort of designed the one I'm doing today, which I have a feeling Adrian wouldn't have done... But, that also means that I'll have to be here both Mon and TUes doing experiments... No going to Cambridge or Brighton for a day trip, I'm afraid. I will be very touristy this weekend.. And hopefully tonight's flat party won't ruin my Sat morning.

Am I smiling nonstop? That's a definite nooo!! I've been really moody and mean and stuff lately. But more than anything jealous. Jealous at the stupidest most minute things. I think I realized just how jealous I can get, on this trip, and I really want to move past it... And you're wondering exactly why and in what circumstances... Well, in some ways, too many to count... But yesterday I got really jealous, and thankfully after a while my logical side kicked in and I realized that I do the same things that make me jealous. Ah, but I will not explain this... Any of this paragraph, really...

anyway, about Rome... It was sooooo awesome! We got there on Thursday, after very few hours of sleep (which made me not the happiest person in the world, but still bearable)... We walked around and saw the Trevi fountain, the famous expensive street, Plaza Navona, and maybe a bit more... I found Sambayon!!! My all time favorite ice cream!!!!!!!! I was soooo excited!!!!
On Fri we got up at 6:30am and went to the Vatican.. So, planning for this I wore a long skirt, and I was going to take a light sweater... But I forgot it at home... And I was wearing a sleeveless shirt. SO, I had to buy a tshirt in order to let me in... Ah, tolerance towards other religions and their ways, a good thing to learn indeed... But it was amazing. We got to go up on top of the dome (after walking up 320 steps.. Which is more than I thought it would be... All in non-traction flip flops, which I wore bc they matched my outfit. Granted that with the tshirt, I did not match whatsoever)... Anyway, beautiful view from up at the top of the dome, and the inside of the church was beautiful. As was the Michelangelo statue... And then we went to the Sistine chapel, which was amazing and just incredibly full of paintings, so much so that ignorant G forgot to look for the most famous of the ceiling paintings. Oh well, I'll have to go back sometime in the distant future. Afterwards we walked through Trasteveri (mind you, I'm spelling all the names wrong, sorry!) and ate Sambayon again (yeyy) and then found Ancient Rome!! It was sooo awesome, so beautiful... And ate at the place where they invented Fettucini Alfredo... It was soooo yummy!!! By the time we got to the hostel, we were sooooo exhausted, though we did play rummy... Getting on the top bunk of the bunk bed was horrible, but I survived it... And on Sat we went to the coliseum... Such a beautiful structure, and what it must have been in its full glory. By then Lauren was dead tired, and had a horrible headache. I wasn't as tired, but it was nice to relax...
Anyway, Rome was amazing, and now I want to go and learn more about European history, as I know I missed out on sooo many things.... Next time, I suppose, I'll know more....

Anyway, I should get going, I suppose....

Quick F*ck

2005-08-09T18:45:00.000-05:00

Hi!
Here I am at 2436... smelling like smoke (no, I don't smoke... it's the smoking in the pub) and a bit tipsy... not too much though, more tired than anything... I should be heading to sleep like 30 minutes ago..

So, it's Shruti's bday today, she turned 22... so we went to Southwark (pronounced sudark), the first pub we went to when we arrived... but the cool dungeon/cave- like place was closed, bc of quiz night... noooo idea what that is... and I had Fruti, or something like that... which is beer that tastes like strawberry.. only half a pint... 4.1%... and then the place closed (at 11pm) and we went to Dover Castle.. this bar/hostel... and I wasn't gonna have anything bc I got hungry (I had a proper 5'o'clock english tea today! With shortbread, crumpet, scones, and obviously english tea!!! so i wasn't hungry at normal dinner times)... but then I had this shot, called quick f*ck... it had kalua and bailey's and something else... pretty tasty... but then all I wanted to do was sleep... which is what I should be doing now..

So, Rome was excellent!!!!!!!!! I loved it! I'll have to talk more about it later..

Byyyeeeeees

G

This is nerdy funny...

2005-08-09T14:23:00.000-05:00

I found the funniest thing on a different blog.

Awesome Translations:::::

Something I found on the -80 freezer at work.The following list of pharaess and their definitions might help you understand the mysterious language of science and medicine. These special phrases are also applicable to anyone working on a Ph.D. dissertation or academic paper anywhere!

PHRASE
Translation

"IT HAS LONG BEEN KNOWN"
I didn't look up the origonal reference.

"A DEFINITE TREND IF EVIDENT"
These data are practically meaningless.

"WHILE IT HAS NOT BEEN POSSIBLE TO PROVIDE DEFINITE ANSWERS TO THE QUESTSIONS"
An unsuccessful experiment, but I still hope to get it publisehd.

"THREE OF THE SAMPLES WERE CHOSEN FOR DETAILED STUDY"
The other results didn't make any sesne."

TYPICAL RESULTS ARE SHOWN"
This is the prettiest graph.

"THESE RESULTS WILL BE IN A SUBSEQUENT REPORT"
I might get around to this sometime, if pushed and/or funded.

"IN MY EXPERIENCE"
Once.

"IN CASE AFTER CASE"
Twice.

"IN A SERIES OF CASES"
Thrice.

"IT IS BELIEVED THAT"
I think.

"IT IS GENERALLY BELIEVED THAT"
A couple of others think so, too.

"CORRECT WITHIN AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE"
Wrong.

"ACCORDING TO STATISTICAL ANALYSIS"
Rumor has it.

"A STATISTICALLY-ORIENTATED PROJECTION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THESE FINDINGS"
A wild guess.

"A CAREFUL ANALYSIS OF OBTAINEDABLE DATA"
Three pages of notes were obliterated when I knocked over a glass of beer.

"IT IS CLEAR THAT MUCH ADDITIONAL WORK WILL BE REQUIED BEFORE A COMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THIS PHENOMENA OCCURS"
I don't understand it.

"AFTER ADDITIONAL STUDY BY MY COLLEAGUES"
They don't understand it either.

"THANKS ARE DUE TO JOE BLOTZ FOR ASSISTANCE WITH THE EXPERIEMENT AND TO CIDNY ADAMS FOR VALUABLE DISCUSSIONS"
Mr. Blotz did the work, and Ms. Adams explained to me what it means.

"A HIGHLY SIGNIFICATN AREA FOR EXPLORATORY STUDY"
A totally useless topic selected by my committe.

"IT IS HOPED THAT THIS STUDY WILL STIMULATE FURTHER INVESTIGATION IN THIS FIELD"
I quit.

Alfredo sauce

2005-08-03T01:28:00.000-05:00

SALSA BLANCA

Ingredientes: manteca 50 g.harina o fecula de maiz 2 cucharadasleche 1/4 de tazasal a gustopimienta a gustonuez moscada 1/4 de cdta

Preparado: Poner a derretir la manteca con la sal en una ollita chiquita, cuandose haya disuelto la manteca completamente agregar(fuera del fuego) laharina o fecula y la leche, revolver bien y colocar nuevamente sobreel fuego. cocinar 3 o 4 minutos hasta que espese agregarle lapimienta y nuez moscada. servir caliente.

18 more days...

2005-08-02T01:30:00.000-05:00

London is slipping away...

Ah, so my cousin talked to my mom and complained about my stepfather, saying that they keep me as a prisoner in my own home... which I tell him that it's not that bad, but that they are overprotective... to which he says that thanks to that I am what I am... and that they do appreciate what I am, even if I am really rebelious at times....

I think I reserve my comments on this bit...

As I was saying, London is slipping away... which means I'm getting closer to seeing Ryan again (yeeeyyy!!!!!!!!!!)... that's why I'm so happy about the countdown..

and at the same time I'm so not happy, because I will miss it here. I'm going to miss living on my own... well, on my "own"... Because in my flat we are: Lara, Jill, Jen, Steph, Azar and Dora... and Lauren's always around... Yeah, tons of people... and sometimes we have visitors too. I love this!! As an only child, I always treasure moments in which I can be surrounded by people, it's so much fun (ie: camp and get togethers).... though I do need some alone time sometimes...

like today... it was such a long day in the lab. Granted, I got there really late (10:45am), but stopped only for 30 min until 6pm. We were doing a thousand things at once. And tomorrow promises to be worse... and I had an assignment due today... so I got home just cranky. SO I went into my room and was about to start reading, when I hear Lauren knock. He acts so oblivious to my crankiness... like he'll see I'm in a bad mood, and just be nonchalant about it. It's great... then he heated up some scones I bought yesterday and made a mocha... How can you be cranky after that? So we both sat at my desk eating, drinking, and reading about science ethics... still was cranky for a while... but I kept hearing Jill and Lara around, making funny comments... so, after a while I was in a good mood, and silly, and laughing... and went outside to play! or at least talk to people and be merry... So I didn't do some lab stuff I should have... but I'm happy now and ready for a long tomorrow...

Laughed a lot today. And saw a stupid movie (baby maybe, or something like that)...

so, I'll miss the flat... Miss having my own little place... miss not having to worry about coming home late, or not coming at all (like when I got back from oxford at 5am)...

But, what I will treasure most about this experience is the knowledge that I can so do this. I can live alone, and cook (though I get spoiled by my flatmates and lauren a lot)... but I can do smart grocery shopping, and think of foods to make that are actually healthy! I can survive on a set budget, and still have fun and stuff... It sounds a bit trivial, but always living with my folks, it's like I needed to do it and prove it to myself... So now, I can go ahead and live my life the way it will play out (whichever way it decides to do so), and I will know that if need be I can survive by myself. Did I have a doubt that I could do it? Well, a little bit, but not really. I knew I could do it, I just needed to prove to myself that I could...

Also, London is so much fun! So much to do! SO much walking! I love it! Where am I going to walk back home? It's like I don't have to try to keep in shape bc with as much walking as I'm doing I'm feeling great without extra effort. I miss that about Argentina.... I'd like to have that for grad school... a city, a big city, with good transport system and loads to do... THough I've realized I'll still have to have a car... but at least having the option not to!

haha, I'm finally writing all those things I've been thinking about writing in this blog :P

Ah, update! We have eaten the MacAweenie and Cheese!!! It was horrible! IT didn't come with the promised cheese! So we greated some english cheddar (which is white... kind of fiting.. haha), but it just does not taste like macaroni and cheese.. It was better when we heated it up (again, fitting)... ok, I'll stop with the inuendos... Lauren, Lara and I did eat it though... that was sunday night dinner...

oh, and (*smile*) the number of blog readers is expanding. Amazing! So, if you're reading this and you haven't already posted, leave me a comment!

Ok... I should to go sleep, being 11:30pm and all..

Goodnight/Good afternoon!!

G

PS: I love and miss Ryan!! (thought you were saved from such talk, but noooo!!)

Random facts about me that you probably don't care anything about...

2005-07-29T18:46:00.000-05:00

So I got this email from my friend Erika from Minnesota...

Welcome to the new edition of getting to know your friends. Okay here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be lame and spoil the fun! Just copy (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste into a new e-mail that you can send. Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you. Some of you may get this several times- that means you have lots of friends.

1. What is your full name now? GVZ
2. What color pants are you wearing? blue jeans

3. What are you listening to right now? people in the computer room

4. What was the last thing you ate? a fruit smoothie from Nero (now my throat hurts)

5. Do you wish on stars? only shooting ones

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? fuchsia

7. How is the weather right now? great! No more humidity AND the sun is out!

8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? um... Shruthy called yesterday for Lara and I answered...

9. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Of course, I haven't talked to her for ages though!

10. How old are you today? 22

11. Favorite drink? strawberry daiquiri...

12. Favorite sport? soccer

13. Hair color? brown

14. Siblings? 2 step-brothers

15. Favorite food? milanesa, empanadas, sambayon ice cream...

16. What was the last movie you watched? um, Y tu mama tambien!

17. Favorite day of the year? May 16th and April 23rd

18. What was your favorite toy as a child? Pin y Pon

19. Summer or winter? spring

20. Hugs or kisses? both, together if possible

21. Chocolate or Vanilla? chocolate... belgian chocolate or dark chocolate

22. Do you want your friends to email you back? mais, oui! (yes)

23. Who is most likely to respond? not sure

24. Who is least likely to respond? Erika, cuz she sent it.

25. Living arrangements? Now, flat in london (Until aug 19th).

26. When was the last time you cried? hmm, a couple of weeks ago I think...

27. What is under your bed? three suitcases

28. Who is the friend you have had the longest? Caroli (since we were 3)

29. What did you do last night? watched tv with flatmates, ate dinner, wrote emails, turned off the light, slept

30. Favorite smell? this one perfume that gives me good flashbacks

31. Favorite TV show? um, gosh, it's been a while since I watched anything regularly... The Daily Show on comedy central, I guess.. i just love jon stewart

32. Happy In life? yup

33. What are you afraid of? being alone

34. Plain, buttered or salted popcorn? buttered and salted

35. Favorite car? VW beetle or some BMWs

36. Favorite Flower? daisies, sunflowers... all flowers are wonderful!

37. Number of keys on your key ring? 2

38. How many years at your current job? job??? um, I've been doing research for about a year... but that's been among 3 different labs in 3 different cities... I'm a student, that job's been off and on for like, 20 yrs haha

39. Favorite day of the week? Friday... you've got the whole weekend ahead of you.. but actually, saturdays... I only really dislike sunday nights..

40. What did you do on your last birthday? Celebrated my bday with friends at this one restaurant... but that was on sat... the day of my bday i went to class, went to lab, made dinner (mac and cheese) and had people over, family and my bf.. got some amazing presents, all related to the trip, which was way cool

41. How many cities have you lived in? I think 10...

42. Do you make friends easily? yes

43. How many people will you be sending this to? Many!

Skype craze

2005-07-29T13:02:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! And welcome to the craziness that is Skype... Actually, I love skype, a lot. It lets me talk to Ryan everyday, as long as he's not at work and I don't sleep in, and to my family at home... for free... with a great connection... and it survives the massive firewalls installed at my flat...

But it seems that the craze is worldwide... as I was notified of this great service by my friend Jade, that's in China right now, and Rosemarie, that's in San Diego/Pomona right now... So, if you want to talk to anyone for free, with a good connection, via the internet, download the program at www.skype.com.

Felt I should at least try and tell people, since I got reprimanded from Jade for not telling her about it... Ok, sorry, I didn't know everyone was an internet addict as me... oh, no, I guess people just love to talk for free...

Anyway, it's 11am, at the PAWS room in the lab building (Franklin Wilkins Building), and nothing will commence until 12:30... so in a bit I'll walk over to the Strand campus and take care of some financial matters.

In other news, the mints were a success. Jen and I had a whole one; Lara, Steph, Jill and Lauren all had halves... which halves I will not tell.. hahaha!!! And we are all anxious to see if the pasta is any good... so once I make it, I will inform...

okey dokey... bye bye

G

Peppermint Peckers...

2005-07-28T19:19:00.000-05:00

I'm sucking on these mints I got for my bday (a gift from Lisa and Audra) which boosts: "satisfaction plus breath confidence"... they're mints in the shape of a penis... pretty big too... It just broke into pieces, as I write... I forgot I had brought them... I brought them here, as well as my macaroni and cheese, or should I say "MacAweenie & Cheese: The Original Cheese Weenie", bc I would die of shame if I should this to my folks... and I don't think my bf would want to eat it, haha... I've got to show my flatmates... I think they'll be shocked that I have this :P

anyway, today all was well... didn't really do much... Slept at 11pm last night! Woke up at 6am, and didn't take a nap thereafter! Amazing!!

Bought Harry Potter, with the adult cover, bc I think it's the most ridiculous thing ever!!! Here's a pic of the cover (the only thing that's different):
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/074758110X.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Here's a pic of the mints: http://www.enjoy.co.uk/prodv/peppermint-peckers/457.html
and a better pic http://www.condomania.com/jump.jsp?itemType=PRODUCT&itemID=417

byyeeee