On monday we had our first Tosca staging rehearsal. I haven't been in a theatre performance of any kind since the good old days at St Nicks when we had to do the morning assemblies once a year centered around such moral themes like sharing. So I approached last monday's rehearsal with quite a bit of apprehension. But it turned out to be rather low key and really quite fun. We were given some stage directions (like where to go etc), but other than that, we were told to be ourselves. only 3 more rehearsals left before the show. The drive to Redlands will be long though.

People I dislike

Your Birthdate: October 28

Your birth on the 28th day of the month (1 energy) adds a tone of independence and extra energy to your Life Path. The number 1 energy suggest more executive ability and leadership qualities than you path may have indicated. A birthday on the 28th of any month gives greater will power and self-confidence, and very often a rather original approach. Unlike much of the other 1 energy, this birthday is one that endow with the ability to start a job and continue on until it is finished. You may prefer to use the broad brush, but you can handle details as well. You are sensitive, but your feeling stay somewhat repressed. You have a compelling manner that can be dominating in many situations.

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Nightline did a story on Sarah Reinertsen last night. Hats off to her! This woman is amazing.

Noah Lucas Swaving arrived yesterday at a hefty 9lbs 6 oz. Both mother and son are well.

Friday and old friends

Had lunch with Djuna at Baja Fresh today. I love the food and would eat there all the time if it weren't so expensive. It was really good to see Djuna. Hadn't seen her for quite a while since we parted choirs a while back, but she had my labcoat from over a year ago (a friend wanted to be a scientist for Halloween). She's back at her original job designing robotic arms and is having a good time.

And tonight Elizabeth is coming to Pasadena for dinner with me. Now that is another person I haven't seen in a while (I believe since she crashed with me while she was interviewing for residency programs). She's finally settled in at Olive View Medical Center, got an apartment in Van Nuys (first time she doesn't have a roommate) and is a practicing physician! We were chatting the other night and I can't believe I've known her for 10 years!

My good friend C is having some trouble with her pregnancy. I hope it all works out for her. She's a very very brave woman in my opinion.

J and I have to meet with EHD before I can go off tonight. V and I were discussing EHD's deviousness in manipulating us to do what he wants earlier. I wonder what he has up his sleeve this time. Hmmm...

Back in the lab!

Am finally done with checking references for EHD's book. Took me quite a few days, and in some cases, quite a bit of digging and detective work. But I'm glad its done! Phew. Just glad to be back in the lab where I can chat with others.
yes I crave social interaction.

Smadar gave birth to Zohar early saturday morning. In true Smadar fashion, she got to the hospital at 1:30am and the baby was born at 1:45am. It's her third baby and she has never had time for an epidural.

After recovering from the runner's trots, I now have a terrible cold. Felt rather funny at the concert last night, and woke up this morning feeling crappy. Eventually I managed to haul myself into the lab, but am not in much of a mood to do anything. Just want to go back home and sleep. It's rather strange, catching a cold in the middle of summer while dressed in tank tops.

JN told me his dad passed away last night. He seems to be taking it really well, especially considerin that he won't be able to go to the funeral as his visa has expired and it takes about a month to get one once he gets back to Korea. Normally that wouldn't be an issue, but his wife is 8 months pregnant and he really can't leave her alone here for so long.

Am finally working on this little (or rather reasonably big) project of EHDs. The job of checking references turns out to be larger than expected as some of the same genes have different names in different species. I am almost done with the first part--alas, the first part is also the shortest one. But I figured I might just get better at it as time goes on so it might go faster.

I have the worst case of runner's trots. I thought that it would be all back to normal by now but apparently not.

Our Beethoven concert is tomorrow. It's good collaborating with Korean choirs. Some nice Korean lady made 200 sandwiches for all the singers yesterday, including water and bananas. And they are providing our dinner tomorrow too!

Check out the new website dedicated to Tom Cruise's recent rantings.

Cherry Garcia!

CHERRY GARCIA! You scored 74% SWEET, 59% CHUNKY, and 66% UNIQUE!

cherry sweet cream base with cherries and fudge chunks Awesome...you are one of my personal favs: Cherry Garcia. You fall in the middle on all measurements- sweet, wild, and unique, but not overwhelmingly so on any of those. You make a good friend, able to share your unique perspectives on things, and able to have fun without winding up in jail or something. Good job.

Link: The Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Flavor Test

10K

I celebrated my July 4th by running in my first ever 10K race. I know that the city of Anaheim Hills holds an annual 5k and 10k race on independence day. Being at home last night, I sort of decided at the last minute that it would be fun to run a race. The last race I ran was the Saddleback Memorial half maration over a year ago, and I remember how fun they can be (even though at the moment they seem like torture). So I woke up early (6am), drank a cup of coffee and made my way to Canyon high school (where my brother went) and paid $25 to run the race. As it was only a 10k (half of the half marathon), it was very doable and I finished in a good time (53:19, 8:36 mile pace) and in the top third of the pack even though I had not been training (I HAD been staying fit by running/kickboxing and yoga, but I didn't do any speed work). There were no rewards except for the fruits, yogurt, cookies, T shirt, towel and water bottle I got, but I had a good time. It's amazing how good it feels to finish a race and to know that each time I ran, I've gotten faster. No wonder they say participation in sports help girls build self esteem.

Sandra Day O'Connor annouced that she will retire from the supreme court as soon as a replacement is named. The biggest fear is that George W will nominate a conservative idealogue like Thomas or Scalia. Which is scary as Bush has publicly expressed his admiration for Thomas. Now what is the deal with Clarence Thomas anyway? He never says at word at the hearings.

Went to Jessica's baby shower today. Turnout wasn't so good, I guess people have taken off for the July 4th weekend. We get friday and monday off, which meant that we ended up with a 4-day weekend. I felt that we didn't really deserve all that timeoff, so I was at work on friday. What a dork, but that's my curse. Always trying to do too much. I do miss the good old days when Jon and Takuya were around and people didn't have kids. Everything was a lot laid back then. Now people just take off early and spend their evenings and weekends with their families.

My brother and I are in the market shopping for a home. Housing prices are exorbidant in the area, so we are looking at townhouses/condos around 500K. Figured that at least if we are paying the mortage the money is going somewhere other than another person. The only difficuly is that perhaps we might both move in a year or two, which will make it less worthwhile to buy a place, but homes in Pasadena are pretty much in demand so it should be no problem selling, and there is definitely no problem renting it out around here. But that is all too far into the future. God knows what will happen in a year?