Black Friday

11:28 am, Sat Nov 29

8 GB flash drive, $16.23

Starbucks coffee and scone, $3.60

Rainbow Six Vegas 2, $11.89

Having some random guy come up to you in the mall shouting, "Go Bears!" ... Priceless.

Posted in Go Bears!.

2 happies!

Five years

10:00 pm, Mon Nov 24

On November 24, 2003, I decided that I would start writing a journal that would chronicle my thoughts and allow me in the future to look back to see where I had been and reflect on where I would be going. And now, 925 entries and 5 years later, I think I have a better idea of who I am and how I have matured over the years.

Sure, there's a bit of narcissism involved when you're writing online. Friends and family, as well as complete strangers, read all about me and leave nifty comments that brighten my day. And I respond in kind by writing quasi-witty remarks about the state of society, recollections of my fucked-up dreams, and lately, rantings about my qualifying exam. But I've never forgotten that the primary purpose of this journal is to give me a sounding board and the ability to ramble on, often incoherently, and then to apply the private setting so that my internal rhetoric is quarantined from the rest of the world. This thing is full of such linguistic crap.

Reflecting on the past five years, I realize that I have a lot to be thankful for.

I am thankful that I passed my quals.

I am thankful for the friends and family that have supported me over the past year, especially those who continue to do so, even though I ignored them over the past seven months.

I am thankful for clean underwear.

I am thankful that I have a good job, a warm bed to sleep in, and lots of Dad's home cooking.

And I am thankful that Cal kicked Stanfurd's ass 37-16 on Saturday's 111th Big Game. Go Bears!

Posted in Milestones.

Happy?

Thank you

3:35 pm, Tue Nov 18

I passed!

Updated: 9:26 am, Fri Nov 21

Okay. I think I've recovered sufficiently from my quals. For those who don't know, the exam on Tuesday was the culmination of over 7 months of intense studying and preparation. My entire graduate career hinged on that three-hour exam, and luckily for me, I did well enough that the committee passed me and allowed me to continue my graduate studies.

It was the single most intense exercise I have ever been through. Going all the way back to May 2008, I have done nothing else but focused on this exam. It was only by the love and generosity of friends and family that I survived. There are so many people that I need to thank, here in this blog and in person, over the next few days. How fitting it is then that next week is the holiday for giving thanks.

Thanks for the kind words of support, the invaluable practice talks, the help with technical questions, and of course, the dinners specifically designed to get my ass out of the lab. I never would have made it this far without you guys. Thank you.

Posted in Science-man!.

5 happies!

One day left.

9:24 am, Mon Nov 17

I'm a little nervous. I'm kinda stressed. I'm completely burned out. I threw up this morning. I haven't done that since I was in elementary school. My back hurts. My neck hurts. My wrists hurt. I keep mixing up lysine and arginine; they both have four carbons in the side chain. How does homologous recombination work again?

One day left.

Posted in Science-man!.

4 happies!

Murphy's Law

12:26 pm, Fri Nov 14

Bad news: My laptop died this morning. It was fine last night. But this morning, it died.

Badder news: It's 4 days until my quals.

Good news: Dad arrived in Berkeley within an hour of my calling him. He's lending me his laptop. Dad, you're my hero.

Gooder news: All my files were backed up last night. I am so glad that I spent $150 for the 500 GB external hard drive with automatic backup software.

More bad news: Now I've only got 5.5 hours until my practice talk tonight.

Updated: 9:13 pm, Fri Nov 14

Wow. I just finished a complete 3 hour (minus ~30 mins of beer-induced levity) practice qualifying exam. Complete primary and secondary proposals. And I survived. There was lots of hard questions that I did not know, but they were questions that I can and will definitely look up tonight and over the weekend.

Dare I say it? Dare I think it? ... I might actually pass!

Even better, there were no lasting reprecussions from my laptop's extremely unfortunate and even more extremely untimely demise this morning.

My poor laptop. ... ... You've served me well over the past 4-5 years. We've had plenty of laughs, lots of hard times, and a few happy moments of snuggling. Wait, was I supposed to keep that a secret? Whoops. Oh, if only my quals hadn't been postponed from the 6th, that I might have been able to reformat you in time. Oh, woe is me. I hope the magical tech dudes can fix your presumed motherboard malfunction.

May the Force be with you, dear friend.

Posted in Science-man!.

1 happies!