I had to give lab meeting this past Wednesday, which was pretty painful given all the obscure negative data I had to present. On a lighter note, and I know you guys have all been waiting for this moment, my review article has finally been published! It appears in the October issue of Current Opinion in Neurobiology. And since you must be dying to read all about the signaling mechanisms of myelin inhibitors, here is a link to the abstract. Enjoy!

Stepping off the plane after spending a weekend in Los Angeles, I was greeted by a gust of freezing wind reminding me that I have indeed returned to Boston. My third trip to LA this year felt a little bit too short, mainly because it WAS too short. I flew there just Friday evening and returned on an overnight flight arriving a little past 6am this morning. Over the course of the two days, we spent our time mainly eating, sleeping, and playing pool (what did you expect?). We tried out a new Dim Sum place called Hong Kong Palace which the LA times had the gall of considering the “Best Dim Sum in town”. Perhaps by “town” they meant “within a half-mile radius”. We also ventured into the outskirts of South Central to savor some authentic BBQ pork and beef ribs at Philip’s Bar-B-Que. We also spent some time at The Grove, an upscale outdoor shopping mall which features a “Red Car” trolley as well as a musical fountain. Though I wish I could have stayed longer, I’ve got a stack of 170 midterm exams to grade, a recitation section to teach tomorrow, and a lab meeting on Wednesday to prep for. Man! The fun just keeps on coming!

Waking up this afternoon after 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep, I realized how much I’ve missed a good night’s rest over the last couple of weeks. I looked out the window through my squinting eyelids and noticed that it was already getting dark. Yet despite how unaccomplished I felt, it was truly revitalizing. Overall, the week’s been relatively uneventful, though I was able to get a lot done, cleaning the apartment with Jeff, doing my groceries and laundry, and most of all, installing Windows and reconfiguring all my software on the new harddrive I got for my laptop. I even got to check out my very first full lunar eclipse last night on the way back from the local Stop & Shop. Though less dramatic than the solar eclipse I witnessed back in college, it exhibited a rather subtle beauty, the kind I tend to appreciate a bit more. It was too bad I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, so I will leave you with a picture of all the fun I had with the computers instead. =)

After the long week spent cooped up in lab, even on Halloween night, some friends and I decided to head back out and reexperience the Boston clubbing scene. Through some of Bob’s connections as an ex-promoter, we found out that Saturdays were International Asian Night at Club Aria, and was able to get into the VIP “Angel Room” with discounted admission. The crowd was pretty attractive and the music featured a good mix of hip-hop, reggae, smooth dub, and even a dab of Latin. Overall, highly recommended.