Panda (tentatively) Survives the Semester

Hello my dear little cheese curls! I have finally lived to see the day when I'd have time (or patience) to update my blog yet again! I finished my finals on Thursday of last week. The weekend was a blur due to my celebratory festivities, although I will try my best to recap the highlights. Although this week should be my most productive in lab since I don't have any classes, the equipment I need to use is currently down, and I have no estimate as to when it will be usable again. Thus, I am stuck at my desk, trying my best to concentrate on reading papers and The Economist. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) I have decided instead to update my blog! Usually I reserve non-school/lab work to be completed outside of the 9-5 block of time, but as of late I have just been going home and making Youtube videos instead.

To curb this inefficiency in the abode, I have decided to force myself to complete work RIGHT THIS SECOND as I sit here, otherwise I will be tempted to go on Facebook, which is another no-no between 9-5. Plus, my efficiency has risen dramatically over the past month or so, so I deserve a break to write this.

This is certainly an improvement from my first summary of negative efficiency some time ago.

Also, about a month ago I washed my Ipod nano that I received for Christmas from The Boyf several years ago. It has served me well; but alas, I had to be an incompetent fool and forget to check my jacket pockets before throwing it into the washer. And of course, the Ipod has not worked since then, even though I have been plugging it in every day to check if it charges. I stopped trying altogether about a week ago because I am hanging on the verge of hopelessness, although I did have a dream last night that it ended up charging. Let me try it now...

Nope. I'm screwed.

And because I am so stubborn, I refuse to buy a replacement Ipod. Perhaps I will take this to the Apple store and claim software malfunction. I never thought I would be able to survive without listening to music on my walk to and from school every day, but I have before and I am starting to get used to it again. Although sometimes I do really miss it, it is nice listening to the sounds of REAL LIFE: birds chirping, cars beeping, the garbage truck, drunk people at happy hour, some homeless guy asking me for money...I digress. And I think I really miss listening to music. Usually I go on Billboard 100 to stay up to date with and download new music, but I have just been so busy lately that I haven't had time to do that. With 4 classes and even a minimal amount of labwork, I still manage to find myself sitting in lab 10-12 hours a day, and also on the weekends. At least it is better now, since I no longer have classes. And this weekend I finally went out, which was a good way to wind down after a crazy semester. Anyway, I am in love with this "Good Feeling" song by Flo Rida, which is apparently originally from Avicii, but it really THE BEST remixed by Skrillex. LISTEN TO IT. NOW. I am. And I keep having to resist the urge and start flinging my body around in the vicinity near my desk. The poor Muslim lady sitting next to really has to put up with a lot, although she reminds me a lot of Yashmak, my roommate from college, and I really like them both. 

On to the weekend! On Friday, we had "Girls Night" at one of our labmates' house. I highlight the title because it was not completely accurate. Although almost all the attendees were female, Papa Ray was also invited to "babysit" her son, although we all know better. Every woman in our lab, single or not, is vying for Papa Ray's hand in marriage because not only is he a great guy, he is well educated, a mean chef, and is really good with kids. And somehow STILL single...ah, the perks of academia... So on Friday, we had delicious homemade Korean food. Then a few of us met up with a few others, and went to the CLERMONT LOUNGE! It is a strip bar for old people - as in the strippers are old, not the crowd. We talked to "Porscha", a 65 year old stripper who has two children, aged 25 and 40, and offered to give one of our guy friends a lap dance. We politely refused as he ran to the bathroom to throw up. But in all seriousness, it was actually a very fun time and the people were very chill. The best highlight of the night was the CRUSHING OF THE BEER CAN IN BETWEEN A STRIPPER'S BUTTCHEEKS! Yes, I never thought I would type that sentence either. But believe me, once you've seen the sight, you will always be hungering for more. I have also heard that one of the strippers ("Blondie"?)  crushes the can in between her breasts. So glorious. Afterwards, we were so enthralled that we ordered a dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kreme.

The next day, I had to finish some work in the lab (surprise, surprise). But I also managed to sneak some time in to visit the local doughnut shop with two other friends in lab (do the doughnuts ever end, you ask? "the answer is nooooooo..."). Although they didn't have penis doughnuts, the selection was otherwise great and very delicious. In the afternoon, I headed over to the opposing lab's Kario Mart party, which is basically Mario Kart but with drinking. Although I was the only non-lab member present that also was not someone's significant other (um, awkward turtle?), it actually wasn't too turtle (yes, I just said that). We had a lot of fun and went to dinner at a pizza place nearby. On Saturday night, a bunch of us went to Opera, a nightclub in the area. I am not sure what the deal is with nightclub/bars that are named after random things, like Church, which is a bar but often gets mistaken for a CHURCH because, well, you know...turtle. 

Anyway, we parked to go to Opera in a $3 lot after much debate and evasion of the $10, then $5 lots. I kept opting for free street parking, but was overturned by a vote of 4-1. It turned out that we didn't have $3 in cash between the 5 of us. So we just left and figured we would come back afterwards and pay, or not pay (probably the latter). However, when we came back roughly 4 hours later, there was A BOOT ON OUR CAR. Which cost $75 to get off! In retrospect, we should have just googled "how to get a boot of your car" and found out that all you have to do is deflate your tire and it slips right off, but of course we were being ignorant fools. I'm still pissed about the situation, although I suppose it was our own faults for not paying. BUT STILL. Apparently there is a "real life superhero" in England called the Angle-Grinder Man that goes around cutting boots off people's cars. Because I'm slightly less apt with heavy machinery, I am considering just handing out print-outs of the previous website so that other people with boots can get rid of them without having to pay the ridiculous fine. 

But talking about real-life superheros, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO movie is being released TOMORROW!!! 

Last summer, I read all three of the books in the trilogy by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. Then I saw all three of the Swedish movies. I even went as Lisbeth Salander for Halloween. Now the movies are being remade in Hollywood, and I CANNOT wait to watch them! As of today, the wallpaper on both of my computers are of a tattooed Rooney Mara. 

She is so badass.

I've posted this on Facebook and may or may not pass out before I make it to the theater to watch the premiere. It's even got a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which you KNOW is near impossible (Fine, it is 85% now, but as of last night it was still 90%, and I'm sure it will go back up! Haters gon' hate...). I think I'll have to wait to see it with The Boyf when I go home after Friday, so I don't know how I'm going to contain my excitement until then. 

This week, apart from the dreadful wait for the contact angle machine to go back up, is filled with exciting things! Tomorrow I am going to see the Atlanta Ballet's The Nutcracker, showing at the Fox Theater right next to my place. Then Thursday night I am going to the Atlanta Brewing Company to finally use my Groupon. Then Friday night I am going HOME! So home. In college I hated going home. But now that I've finally told Padre about The Boyf, he is finally giving me a bit more freedom and it's actually nice to go home now. Also, today at 6pm I find out if I passed MASS TRANSFER (passing with a B, that is - still reminiscing over the days when I could get by with a D in fluids). So wish me luck! 

I just received an email that the contact angle machine should be back up soon. EL KHEMDULLILAH! (I know it's spelled wrong, deal with it). 

Happy holidays! More updates to come soon (hopefully)...

Panda is "B"sian

Instead of replying to my regular email correspondence with Coral Diver, I have decided to FINALLY update this damn thing. It seems that every time I promise to update "soon", it ends up being taking even longer than my usual update time. Part of the reason is because I get lazy: I have started reserving all work for the lab, so that when I go home, I tend to vegetate and eventually succumbing to ingesting alcoholic beverages. Unfortunately, as a graduate student the WORK NEVER ENDS. In trying to keep my work-home life separate, I have started to spend approximately 12-14 hours PER WEEKDAY in lab, and about 6-8 hours per weekend day. It's nice to be braindead when I return to the apartment, but at some point my office chair is going to start growing mold from the constant warmth emanating from my butt. Anyway, I am here now. So let's start with some very exciting news:

THE BOYF WILL BE MOVING TO HOTLANTA! We have been dating for 5 years, 4 of which have been distance. And as you probably know, 2 years where I have considered calling it quits (and 1 time where we did, but luckily we are back together). Somehow, though, we made it. The Boyf just received his job offer on Friday afternoon, and he will be accepting on Monday morning! Once things are finalized, he finish his last semester of school and move down in mid-January. However, I am a bit confused as to where our relationship stands. Now that he is actually moving to Atlanta, we still won't be living together. His best friend Danto is also working in the same company, so they want to be roommates. Although The Boyf and I agreed on living separately, part of my is still pissed about having to continue to pay full rent while Danto and The Boyf can subsidize each other. Oh, but socially, you mean? That's fine. 4 years of distance should probably be mended slowly. It might be better to see each other mostly on the weekend, then move in together when we both decide that the time is right. If things don't work out, he still has a sweet job and I am still at an awesome school (unless I don't pass qualifying exams).

I HAVE A PLAN FOR MY FIRST PAPER! Dr. Zebra is in town again, and my meeting with him yesterday went smoothly. At the time, I thought things were very clear. In hindsight, I have no idea what is going on and what the plan is for my first paper. However, the holiday party is this Friday at Dr. Barbie's hizzouse, and I am hoping that I can acquire a very aesthetically displeasing sweater for the event in order to throw off Dr. Zebra from my social antics. Apparently upper management is not amused with my jokes. So for the next unspecified period of time, I will have to remain boring and nondescript. Usually things turn around once everyone realizes I'm not a bimbo (OR AM I). For the time being, I can still express myself online (OR CAN I). And at least winter break is coming up and classes are ending, so I'll be able to have some time to enjoy myself (OR WILL I). I guess the point here is that nothing is certain in grad school, and I would really like some ice cream.


THERE IS A COCKROACH IN MY CEREAL! About three weeks ago I started seeing an increased number of cockroaches in my kitchen. I called pest control twice, bought two cans of raid and still have yet to set off my three fumigator bombs. I stopped cooking and started eating cereal. Unfortunately, I did not expect a cockroach to crawl out of my cereal box. So basically I haven't entered my kitchen within the past two weeks. Yesterday I cleaned out my entire fridge of rotting food, and gave most of my pantry items to my lab and apartment neighbor. And lo and behold, when I threw out my cereal, the damn cockroach was still crawling around INSIDE THE BAG. I am hoping the problem is getting better since I haven't seen any more cockroaches crawling around (although I hardly enter the kitchen anyway) and hopefully the removal of the food will keep the roaches away. I am also armed with RAID anytime I enter the kitchen. Anyway, the apartment lease ends in May so I am actively looking for roach-free locations to live. If you have suggestions, let me know!

IT IS STILL WARM IN ATLANTA! One of the great things about living in the South, besides the nicer people, is that the weather is fantastic. It is already December, but it was 70 degrees as I was walking to campus this afternoon. I am so unused to this weather, but it is still amazing. I'll be going home for one week for the holidays, and although it will be cold, at least it will feel more familiar than this Twilight zone weather.

I AM A "B"SIAN, NOT AN ASIAN! I believe the minimum GPA requirement for taking my qualifying exams in May is a 3.0, which means all B's. As you may recall, most Asian parents are crazo (not a typo) about their kids getting perfect grades. This semester, I will most likely be getting all B's, as long as I don't fail my mass transfer course, in which case, I am going to quit the program and join the traveling circus as the "black sheep Asian". Hopefully I will pass all my classes, but it won't be with flying colors. Although research is the main priority, I still have to get through the program first. And Dr. Zebra and Dr. Barbie prefer students with better grades. At least Padre doesn't know a lick about graduate school and isn't breathing down my back anymore about studying (a typical phone conversation: "hello? where are you? are you in the library? are you studying? did you eat yet? can you call the phone company because there is an extra $5 charge on my statement this month? is my email account KMAIL OR GMAIL [disclaimer: THIS WAS A REAL QUESTION]?). Today I finished my last exam for my biology course (remember "Block 0"?). I have a paper due next week, then one final in my management course and one final for my mass transfer course.

Until then, I'll be studying in lab! Wish me luck! And wish the The Boyf congratulations (now if I can ever get him to read my blog...)!