Holy Moly! I’m looking down at a welt on my left forearm measuring more than 3 inches in diameter – truly an incredible sight! It all began yesterday after a memorial service for our beloved HST instructor Bill Quist, a few of us attended an MD-PhD summer dinner at our program director Nancy Andrew’s house out in Winchester. The dinner took place outside under a tent, which without the aid of citronella candles, became a feasting ground for our friend the mosquito … actually, more like our arch nemesis the mosquito. Anyways, despite using various kinds of bug repellants, which I was sure was only helping to select for some super mutant multi-bug-spray-resistant mosquitoes, most of us got nailed pretty badly. I came away with bites all along my forearms, on the back of my neck, and even down at my ankles (they must’ve bit right through my socks). Now I gotta go get me some hydrocortisone cream pronto before the welts get any bigger. 🙁

I always knew this day would come. In a matter of minutes, I will be reformatting my desktop computer. After installing my new video card (if you must know, it’s a Winfast 128MB GeForce3 Titanium Ti200), my computer’s been experiencing a number of DirectDraw and Direct3D problems. Troubleshooting has been an absolute nightmare, so I’ve decided to take an early day off from work today, treat myself to a juicy slab of grilled sirloin steak, and type in the long-dreaded command: “format c:”

Leo organized a potluck at his new apartment this evening. And despite ample notice in advance, I pulled a Glenn and waited till the last minute to throw a salad together. Fortunately, the salad turned out quite well, as was much of the food that other people brought. It feels good to finally take a break from lab to hang out with some of my old friends… will probably try to organize a similar shindig at my place in the near future.

Leo organized a potluck at his new apartment this evening. And despite ample notice in advance, I pulled a Glenn and waited till the last minute to throw a salad together. Fortunately, the salad turned out quite well, as was much of the food that other people brought. It feels good to finally take a break from lab to hang out with some of my old friends… will probably try to organize a similar shindig at my place in the near future.

Thanks to Site59.com, the home of last-minute getaway deals, I was able to schedule my first weekend
trip to LA to visit my girlfriend! I took off right after work Thursday afternoon, and despite the flight there being a total nightmare with a 3-hour delay, I was glad to finally see her again, and enjoy some quiet time with her over the course of our 3-day weekend together. After lunch at Noodle Planet and some taro-coconut boba tea, our Friday was spent mainly kicking back and relaxing at her apartment. Dinner, however, was a different story. Cafe Sierra, located in the Hilton at Universal City, featured an all-you-can-eat (Yeah baby!) prime rib & seafood buffet consisting of an endless supply of stuffed lobster tails, king crab legs and shrimp cocktails, sushi and sashimi or any kind of hand roll of your choice, shark fin soup, ginger-scallion crawfish, roast duck, and many other Asian or American goodies. Top that off with some delicious mango pudding, tiramisu, flan, and an ultra-rich chocolate cake with everything a la mode, and you’ve got yourself a very satisfied couple =9. We spent Saturday at the Aquarium of the Pacific at Long Beach, the highlight of which included a number of petting ponds with various sharks and skates for our groping pleasure 😉 We later joined Jeff and Thu for some noodles at a Chinese restaurant that is run by Koreans… an interesting concept. On Sunday, after a quick lunch at In-N-Out Burger (my first time in this Cali fast food franchise), we visited the beautiful Getty Center, a modernist architectural marvel sitting atop the Santa Monica Mountains overlooking the ominous haze of LA’s smog-filled horizon. The buildings were erected using a material called travertine, a beige-colored fossilized stone that reflects all that SoCal sunshine in a warm, cozy glow. We spent most of the afternoon lying on the grass near the central garden, listening to the nearby parents playing with their toddlers. We finally headed back to Westwood for some dinner at Olive Garden. I was so exhausted on my red-eye return flight that I never remembered taking off, landing, or when the passenger in the next seat even got on! I pretty much passed out once I buckled in and woke up when the seatbelt sign was turned off at the arrival gate Monday morning. Thinking back to this weekend still puts a smile on my face. Thanks for everything, Melody. I love you! (btw, the new thumbnails will link to larger versions of the photos)

Along with a few friends’ help, Jeff moved into the apartment today. It was perfect timing since my parents visited this weekend and helped me pick out some home accents from a place called HomeGoods out in Newton, including new area rugs, lamps, and plants. He’ll be taking off for LA soon for a 1-month rotation so I’m helping him settle in during the next couple of days. Meanwhile, I’m kinda planning my own little weekend getaway with my gf, though last-minute deals are often quite difficult to come by, so we’ll see what happens.

Just headed out this evening with Leo and Bob to catch today’s last matinee of Terminator 3. I went into the theater with few expectations and got just what I expected. The film had all the elements reminiscent of the second movie, but haphazardly thrown together into a flimsy plot with no character development, desperately trying to redeem itself with bigger guns and trucks, louder explosions, and a higher body count. What distinguished Terminator 2 was not only the groundbreaking use of special effects, but James Cameron’s stylistic cinematography and his ability to weave action sequences into a well-drawn plot. Yes, plot. For example, he’d add a blue tinge to certain scenes to connote the stark, cold nature of the robot killers. He’d also choose interesting locations like the steel mill or the psychiatric hospital for various scenes. Despite T3 being an overall mediocre production, it was still fun watching Arnold carry out his one-liners. After the movie, Amy and John joined us for dinner followed by some bubble tea in Chinatown. Oh, btw, my CGI guestbook script turns out to be badly written, so hold off signing in until I find a suitable replacement.

The all-new CGI script for my guestbook is up and running. A link is also available at the bottom of this page. Hurry and sign it ’cause …errr… it’s good for you! Also let me know if you have a webpage I should link to.

My old friend John came up from NYC to visit me and my new apartment this weekend. Since he has already visited Boston a couple of times before, we spent most of the time just chilling out. On Saturday, we shot a few rounds of pool at Boston Billiards, though I haven’t held a cue in like 2 months (I can hardly believe this myself). We also caught the Sunday matinee of “Bad Boys II” at the Fenway theater with Jeff. As expected, coming from Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay (director of “The Rock” and “Armageddon”), the movie went from your basic, run-of-the-mill car chase in Miami to a full-scale military assault operation in Cuba! Truly 100% testosterone. As a friend of mine would say, “made by boys; made for boys.” The big news this weekend, however, is that starting in September, Jeff will be joining me as my roommate! Though I’ve been thinking about renting out the other bedroom and parking spot for a while, it wasn’t until Jeff suggested the idea that I realized how perfect it would be, especially since he is probably the only person who is as neat and OCD as I am!

I answered the door this morning to find a UPS delivery guy holding out a flattened package, telling me apologetically: “I hope there isn’t a real video card in this box”. Needless to say, my brand new GeForce3 Ti500 DVI video card was completely destroyed by the time I got my hands on it, and I’ll probably need to file an insurance claim this afternoon. The good news, however, is that my furniture from Rotman’s was delivered this morning as well, and without a hitch. Now with both my living and dining room at least partially furnished, my apartment is finally beginning to feel more like a home.