AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! I’ve just officially turned a quarter-century old! I can almost feel my muscles getting weaker and my joints creaking as I move about. Fortunately, I was joined by a group of good friends this evening to bring some light to my misery, and celebrate my 25th birthday together over some fried calamari, a plate of Shrimp Bistro Pasta, and a yummy slice of Coffee Heathbar Crunch cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory. As always, they made us wait the usual hour and a half, but thanks to the comedic genius of my peers, we were able to entertain each other and prevent ourselves from eating each other while we waited. Unfortunately, though I would’ve liked to continue the festivities after the big meal, I had to go back home to work on my professor’s grant. It turned out that his R01 was due Monday, and considering the fact that it’s the most crucial NIH grant supporting the lab, and I am among the beneficiaries of the money, it’ll be important for me to help out as much as possible over the next several days.

After a long-fought 2-hour battle, I’m happy to report that I’ve passed my qualifying exam! It feels as if a huge weight has been lifted off my chest… I can breathe more easily and even the air smells better! =D My oral defense went from 11am-1pm, during which time a lot of tough questions were thrown in my direction. Fortunately, the examiners were incredibly helpful and gave me pointers to help confirm my preliminary studies. I’ll definitely need to unwind for the rest of the week before returning to hardcore lab work.

Yuube, tomodachi wa hayai tanjoubi no purezento ga moo kuremashita! Miyazaki no Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi no DVD desu! Kanashii kana, jikan ga nai kara, kono eiga ga mienai. =( Ima, benkyoo shinakereba narimasen! (Man! I’ve forgotten so much Japanese, I think I had to use my entire repertoire of Japanese vocab for these four sentences =P)

After 2 very long weeks, I’ve finally completed the written proposal for my PQE! The last several days’ been pretty screwed up though. It appears that when left to my own devices, I will function on a 25-hour circadian cycle. As the days progressed, I slept later and later until eventually, I was sleeping…early (think about that). Woke up at 8pm last night and actually went into lab around midnight to get papers printed, and on the way back noticed the Bomb Squad parked outside the parking lot at the BI. Strange. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera with me, so I just took a quick shot with my cell phone. Anyway, now that my proposal’s in the hands of the examiners, I’ll be spending the next several days working on my oral presentation. Wish me luck!

Hey everyone, say hello to my little friend! =D Yes ladies, you are looking at the components for my new multimedia SFF PC, which finally came today courtesy of NewEgg.com. This little guy will be built on a Biostar barebone pumping out 2.4Ghz of processor power with a 256MB stick of Crucial RAM. The DVI output to my TV will be provided by an Asus Radeon 9200 (old school, but cheap!). I’ll also slap in an old 40GB Caviar, Pioneer DVD-ROM, and a Toshiba floppy, along with a USB wifi adapter and an IR keyboard to totally deck it out. Grrr… I’m itching to start building it, but I’ve got to write my proposal. =(

I’m sitting at my computer right now and I can hear the sound of rain and sleet pounding against my window. Though I’ve been stuck in my apartment for 3 days reading papers in preparation for my PQE, I’ve still managed to keep up my daily allowance of movie-watching. Here’re my thoughts on the movies I’ve watched this week:

Spider: David Cronenberg is crazier than Ralph Fiennes who’s crazier than the crazy main character

2 Fast 2 Furious: 2 pretty cars, 2 bad actors

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind: kudos to Sam Rockwell as a convincing TV producer/CIA assassin

Down with Love: colorful, sassy, and incredibly charming

Underworld: never thought Kate Beckinsale or black leather looked good until they were put together

Happy New Year! This day marks the 1-year anniversary of the initial launching of Xephalon.Net. Looking back, though it’s certainly been a rough year at work, it has also been an eventful year which has brought new and wonderful changes in life. I hope the new year will bring even better fortune. The official date for my PQE has been set for January 26th, so back to reading I go!