Atlanta Panda!

In accordance with my promise, I shall be updating TWICE in this merry month of November, or should I say...MOVEMBER! Obviously, I have decided to once again participate in the hair growth festivities, and without obvious facial hair, have been exercising the right of my underarm, leg and other (ahem) areas to FOLLICLE HEAVEN! Needless to say, The Boyf is not pleased. In fact, I suspect the reason why he isn't coming home for Thanksgiving is less that he "has to work," but more that he is disgusted by the feathery delight that is emerging on my legs. But hey, at least I don't have to pay for those tights that prevent rape - I can just grow my own pair!

In other news, The Boyf has been working so hard lately...to the point of pulling all nighters and even taking intermittent naps on the office couch (that was especially brought in for the purpose of resting his weary head) between 23 hour days. This means that I am...STRESSED OUT! Even the promised annual Christmas card collage photo session did not happen this trip...which lead to a series of pathetic shots of just myself in travel mode...without a partner.


Like a blowfish, I have been simmering my stress internally until the day my unshaven body parts decide to blow up into a large inflatable ball! While this may seem entertaining to the average bystander, it is EXTREMELY entertaining to even myself, although typically I enjoy the blowfish effect on The Boyf and not myself. Nevertheless, I have learned to freak out less about these things and am instead pursuing other ways of getting involved and being productive while in the city.

A particular venture with which I am very excited is the starting of volunteer consulting services! I have started assembling a spreadsheet of student groups that offer pro bono consulting for local businesses and nonprofits, in hopes that we may be able to produce our own group to help biotech startups around the city. This also provides me a platform for networking, which is always fun because I still have a million business cards that have outdated information on them that I need to finish handing out, so I can buy more because I still can't part with my Atlanta roots.

I am also in the process of applying for scholarships since the NSF grant runs out next year. Not only does this entail writing applications/grants/essays for the money, but also "drafting" (writing everything except the header and signature) recommendation letters for my selected references. Gone are the days when your advisor sings your praises; instead, you sing your own praises in this new era. Although it's a little weird writing about yourself, it's actually a great idea for references that are too busy or haven't been able to interact with you thoroughly. Plus, they'll verify the letter is true before placing their John Hancock on the document. And if you're slightly schizophrenic, it can be a fantastic experience writing from the perspective of different people. See how mental illness can actually be a contribution in the academic workplace!

Last week I had a chance to go to Atlanta for a conference. The conference was pretty good, and REALLY GOOD if you take into account that some sort of delicious food was served almost at every break. Who could not love a conference that serves apple pie and ice cream at a poster session? Plus, it was a pretty productive trip. I got to see The Boyf, some friends from school, a bunch of people from school at the actual conference, some faculty members, AND eat at the best brunch spot in town! And, you'll never (no, you will) believe this, but...

I USED SHAMPOO!

Four dreadful months of baking soda and vinegar are over! I haven't been happier. And of all shampoos, I ended up using Head and Shoulders (apparently the worst kind according to the sulfate-free enthusiasts) to break the fast, since it was the only one available in The Boyf's bathroom. But with amazing results! No blow dry, no brush, air dried quickly, no tangles, shone beautifully, and did not get oily for 2 days! I've used shampoo twice again since then...and I'm totally converted back to traditional hair products. Although I may try out castile soap, since it's more natural. But what I really need is a trim and some country fried lovin' from my hairdresser. GOD IS GOOD!

Posting soon....

Weekend Adventures with Panda and Goat!

Hola Cheese Curls! Today I have some exciting adventures to share with you. Little goat (my roommate) and I have been frolicking around this weekend after an especially depressing week and abrupt Skype meeting with our advisor on Saturday morning. To relieve some stress, we decided to go to DC!

Driving to DC was not too bad, since we went on a Saturday afternoon and came back late at night. The drive was expected to be around 1hr 45min according to Google maps, which was just shy of our actual drive time. However, we did stop at the POTOMAC MILLS (aka Potato Mills) outlet, which was AMAZEBALLS. Seriously, what is the point of going to a real mall or even department store when you could drive an extra 30 minutes and go to the BEST MALL EVER!? Plus, it's an INDOOR outlet mall! I have never seen such a thing. It's nice during the winter, but actually it would be nice to walk around outside during the summer. Plus, the muck of children running around in the food court was slightly unappealing.

Anyway, the trip was a nice departure from our dear, quaint, *ahem* lovely Richmond. We tried to find a hair salon in Chinatown DC for Little Goat to get her hair cut, but apparently the "Chinatown" in DC is not real, as evidenced by a CHINESE website we found afterward (I guess you have to Google in Chinese to get any real information around here...ironic because Google and China hate each other). So we drove about 10 miles away to Falls Church, VA to get dinner. We ended up at a restaurant that had "Hong Kong" in the name but served Szechuan. Again, go figure.

SO HAPPY to find DC Chinatown! Before the disappointment in realizing that it wasn't a real Chinatown, just commercialized for tourists. Bummer.

IMPORTANT UPDATE! So to read more about our roommate adventures, especially in the arena of frugality, check out my and Little Goat's NEW BLOG! You can read it at: www.toomuchpanda.wordpress.com. Depending on the amount of traffic and website availability, we may purchase the domain and turn it into a full fledged website! SUPES EXCITING!

In other news, today I finally (I think) found a church that I want to attend on the regular. I have been church hopping around town and so far all the congregations are measly compared to the ones in Atlanta. Howevs, the church I attended today had a nice sized congregation. I ended up meeting two of the young adult members there, and apparently many people leave Richmond for the summer (if it's any indication of the quality of living here, as already evidenced by the degeneration of my life...sigh) so most churches in the area will cut Sunday School and move their services from 11am to 10am. No wonder everything was out of sync when I was trying to go to church! Hopefully everything around here will beef up come late August/early September and I can start meeting more interesting people. As it stands now, I think I will be coming back again. Phew! It's always difficult to find a congregation. We will see how this one turns out!

So things in lab are okay. The system in academia is so structured and yet inexplicable in a way. There are a lot of politics going on behind closed doors, which is seen much more as a graduate student in the field than someone who "likes" science and just heard about research and says, "Wow, that's cool!". Obviously, it is a VERY cool field, otherwise I wouldn't be wasting 5 years (or more, but hopefully not, inshallah) enslaving myself for minimum wage payment. Truly, according to my advisor it is the "last great apprenticeship of our time." But indeed, "our time" is now "past time", and the educational system must also adjust to fit the needs of a new generation of students. More on that later...but just something to munch on in the back of your brain.

Since the last time I updated, The Boyf and Dr. Rey visited us in Richmond, and we all parted for a brief vacation weekend over the Fourth of July holiday. It was refreshing getting away from Richmond (isn't it always), and seeing my family. Hair's wife and son successfully immigrated and arrived in America that weekend, so it was very busy registering them for new social security numbers and enrolling Little Hair for school (he is 8 and so cute!). Hair also celebrated his 35th birthday with a grand feast at our humble Peking Restaurant! And Padre finally enrolled in Medicare since he is now eligible. Life moves so fast!

Although things back in Qville are not so bad, the restaurant has been suffering. It's not really the economy but more of  a changing culture (a new "our time", if you will, in reference to my earlier paragraph). Even though we are the only Chinese restaurant in town, we only provide eat-in or take out. The eating-in part isn't really happening, since our air conditioning doesn't work very well in the summer and the heating doesn't work well in the winter (Hair is really a trooper for being able to handle the temperature fluctuations all year!). I tried to get Wifi, but it's a small town and I doubt many college students (or high school) would want to come and do homework at a Chinese restaurant. The vibe just isn't there. I had talked to Padre about starting delivery service, but our staff is low and we can't afford to hire another person just for delivery, unless it's guaranteed business. On top of that, online reviews are slamming us! I cannot believe how mean people are. There are some Google reviews that are just downright slander, so we will probably have to work on improving our online image. It's been difficult thriving without technology in an era where everyone is online. Since we are small, we are still a cash operated business, which is also tough for customers. Padre is willing to try Square, but again, we don't have Wifi (this may change soon; I am looking at getting a plan for his phone so we can run it directly from there).

Hair celebrates his birthday with Little Hair! Situated in Peking Restaurant...our little restaurant is filled with big memories!

Panda's life is starting to get stressful! With the restaurant business down and the academic environment lackluster, I am trying to find new ways to motivate myself. Hopefully our new blog will perk up my spirits! Also, if any of you Cheese Curls have suggestions, suggest away! I always love hearing from my readers.

Until a happier time...

Panda Goes On Vacation

CHEESE CURLS AND SUNSHINE! Such was this past Labor Day weekend. Thank goodness for Labor Day, because I can break out all my white clothing and become the fashion faux pas of the autumn season. SO FANTASTIC!

To celebrate, I went out with my awesome labmates to Daytona Beach, FLORIDA! This was my first time to Florida, and I was definitely kind of disappointed. I don’t know what I was expecting, but Daytona Beach turned out to be a small town redneck feel. If you live in Daytona, I don’t mean to offend you. But the whole town seemed dead, and it was Labor Day weekend! There weren’t even OLD people around. You KNOW it’s bad when you can’t find old people in FLORIDA. It wasn’t like people had many other options. Originally we planned on going to New Orleans, but apparently it was in a state of emergency due to the tropical storm in the Gulf. 

Anyway, we ended up on the beautiful beaches of Daytona. We stayed right on the boardwalk, in the HILTON! It was surprisingly affordable, most likely because the town was deserted except for the six of us. We rented a car and drove the SEVEN hours from Atlanta (no surprise that the two guys got the front seats). I know I’m complaining about the beach, but it was actually beautiful there. We spent all day on the shore and the water was so salty! We tanned and even rented a body board (even though the boys monopolized it, fail). At night, we had dinner at the Oyster Pub and then went bar hopping along the ONE street in Daytona. Actually, I ended up talking to a group of girls that turned out to be really cool. We hung out with them for a little bit, mostly because one of the guys from the lab is obsessed with blonde girls and I had to play awkward third wheel for a minute. All in all, I still had a great time. We bought wine and beer and drank it on the beach at night, and avoided the patrol car driving past.

View of Daytona Beach from the back of our hotel, right on the boardwalk.

The next day, we went crabbing. BAD IDEA. This, of course, is what happens when you have two men in your group who feel like doing outdoorsy things to accentuate their manliness. What was supposed to be fishing and crabbing ended up being lowering a net into the a creek, no crabs, and almost dying in a rented canoe because we got lost and tired of paddling for two hours straight. In other words,

“We are PhD students! We only know how to paddle! KEEP PADDLING!”

And forgot to stop and enjoy the view.

This was later termed the “PLACE OF DANGER”, after listening to a song on The Game CD that was found in our rental car. The sweetest, most innocent exchange student from Peking University was soon corrupted and singing, “Gangsta Boogie” nonstop. 

We arrived in Florida late Friday night, and left on Saturday evening. We had dinner in Jacksonville (NOT at Hooters, despite desperate pleas from the boys), and returned to Atlanta early Sunday morning, but not without stopping at Krispy Kreme (PANDA LOVES TO EAT). 

I am now home and cramming to finish my homework for tomorrow! The past week has been pretty low key. I am still getting my training in for microscopes and such. I still have to interview faculty in the department, and so far I have 3 of 4 signatures on my sheet. Mass transfer is starting to f me in the b and I am not enjoying it very much.

I don’t remember the last time that I posted, but Big K left last Tuesday and now I am alone in my apartment. Alas, I do not have a tendency to walk around naked. HOWEVER, I do sometimes pick my nose in front of the window. So maybe instead of boobs you’ll just see boogers. 

This Saturday is the whitewater rafting trip with the graduate students! Oh, and before I forget…

I GOT PAID!

NSF has not forgotten about me after all. But after paying off all my expenses from August, I only have $400 left to last me the rest of the month in September. Good thing I blew $200 on the trip to Daytona and another $300 on clothing and a guitar while I was online shopping last night. 

As you can see, I am making all the right decisions in graduate school!

Numero Uno: Panda Post

Welcome [back], folks! If you’re new to this blog, hats off to you! You’ve found the greatest place on the web, within (not very good) reason. If you’re an old reader, you’ll be surprised (or maybe not) to see that I’ve changed things around a bit. Apparently I was swearing a little too much for my own good on the previous blog, and including excess incriminating sexual exploit details…which was fine for a Penn State undergrad student. After all, it IS the #2 party school (whatever, Boulder). But now…

NOW…

NOW I AM A NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION GRADUATE FELLOW (or fellowette, rather. Aren’t there female versions for these things?)! Oh yes, my little corn dogs! No one at school believed me, either, when it happened. I suppose no one thought I would actually get it, since it is a PRETTY EFFING HUGE DEAL. But here I am…$30,000 stipend per year for the next three years, plus tuition and travel included! Anyway, I’ll stop talking about it before the “Foundation” starts creeping on my posts. And hence, the reason why I revamped this blog.

On August 22, 2011, I will officially be a graduate student/PhD candidate at Georgia Tech (coincidentally, on the other end of the party school spectrum). With that, and the previously heeded advice from Doctor Professor to tone down the Facebook account, I present:

PUBLISHING PANDA PANDEMONIUM! Reppin’ the [cell] hood since 2011! The life and times of Alice the Panda in graduate school, and if failure arises she can still hopefully get a Master’s degree!

Okay, now don’t panic. I KNOW you already miss “Boogers in My Jungle Juice.” But seriously, never fear! I have a sweet apartment in Hotlanta and even though I promise to tone down the swearing (PLEASE DON’T LEAVE, AT LEAST WAIT UNTIL THE END OF THIS POST G-D*MNIT), “3P” (you know, Publishing Panda Pandemonium...) is still going to rock your socks off! Just in a more “nice, clean fun” type of way. NODONTLEAVE.

So now that introductions are out of the way, let’s move on to the juicer stuff. First, a SUPES recap of my summer: three weeks in India, a planned six weeks in China but after a Visa fail (and my new hatred toward China Eastern airlines…do NOT fly with them!) only less than a week in Hong Kong, I arrived back home in good old Amishville. Alright, alright. I know you’re dying to see picture of my trip, so I’ll humor you. BUT ONLY A FEW…OKERRRR!?

Finally graduated with my B.S. diploma (no pun intended)! Major in bioengineering, minor in Chinese and Engineering Leadership.

During senior week and for my birthday, visited friends in Portland, OR. At VooDoo Donuts in the wee hours of the morning!

Interviewing RUDIben in India to see how women become micro-entrepreneurs. Read more about Penn State Prerana team’s work with the Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) at www.projectprerana.weebly.com.

Finally got a day to escape by myself to Lamma Island while in Hong Kong. Took a ferry and enjoyed the beautiful ocean view.

At the traveling petting zoo in Amishville with Big K (don’t know why we didn’t take a picture together). Watch our Youtube video, a cover of “The Lazy Song” by Bruno Mars!

Attending the first high-school reunion wedding with The Boyf, whose hair has finally morphed (NOT to be confused with ANIMORPHS!) to 50-year-old-fantastic!

The past few weeks I spent hanging out with Big K, visited Bottleshop Cupcake Enthusiast’s grave during Arts Fest and even spilled the beans to Padre about The Boyf! But enough about the first part of my summer…this blog is dedicated to the GRADUATE PANDA! Okerrrr but FIRST: bad news and good news, in that order:

BAD NEWS: Amy Winehouse is NOT alive! I was recently just watching drunken videos of her performing “Valerie” live, because there wasn’t a good sober one of her. She definitely got what was coming, but still…she would have been so amazing if she could have just stood up straight. But who knows? The autopsy report hasn’t come out yet and for all we know she could have been clean for the past 6 months and just choked on a Dorito or something. Oy vey.

GOOD NEWS: Adriama Lima is a MILF! I had no idea that she had a daughter. She is still beautiful (Adriana, but her daughter is probably beautiful, too). So the moral of this story is that I STILL HAVE HOPE when I have children (which won’t be for awhile)! Plus, she’s my favorite model and I’m glad that she’s still got it!           

I had set up the new blog a few days ago, but waited until today to put up my first post. After reading the assignment for Block 0 (seriously, block ZERO!?) for my first med school class at Emory last night, I had a minor panic attack (when I say minor I mean GODZILLA) and had to relay my fears via text with Pedro Cottontail at 1:30am in the morning. But today I finally got started and memorized all twenty amino acids! Just give me a blank sheet of paper and I’ll write the name, abbreviation, letter symbol, acidity and draw the structure of each amino acid! After a lifetime of working in the Chinese takeout restaurant industry, I am proud to say that I’ve still got the ability to hardcore study while still frying egg rolls intermittently. VERY GOOD! And for those of you who care (it’s a grad school blog, get used to it), here are some tricks I used to memorize the amino acids:

Nonpolar: PIG CAMP TVL (Phenylalanine has the benzene group, Isoleucine has an extra carbon dangling, Glycine is the easiest and my favorite, Cysteine is the easiest with sulfur, Alanine is the easiest with carbon, Methionine is the harder version with sulfur, Proline loops the alpha carbon and amino group, Tryptophan is the crazy one and makes you sleepy because it’s in turkey, Valine has more carbons, and Leucine has the extra carbon on top).

Uncharged Polar: T TAGS (Tyrosine is the complicated one with the benzene group, threonine is the more complicated one with the hydroxyl, Asparagine has the amine and double bond oxygen, Glutamine is the more complicated one with amine and oxygen, and Serine is the easy one with the hydroxyl).

Acidic: AG (Aspartic Acid is Asparagine with two oxygens, Glutamic Acid is Glutamine with two oxygens).

Basic: LAH (Lysine has four carbons and a nitrogen, Arganine has three carbons and a nitrogen-carbon-nitrogen end, Histidine also has the weird end but it is looped in a pentagon).

Right, so you didn’t read it and you didn’t care. THAT’S OKAY! I am still a proud panda. And to prove that I’m back in the swing of things (or getting there, it’s only the first day!), I have even started listening to Pandora again! I can’t believe how much I’ve missed it. One can only take “Give Me Everything” by Pitbull for so long. If you haven’t tried it, PLEASE do! Pandora is fantastic, if only without the ads that keep popping up in between songs.

Well, that’s it! Thanks for reading my first blog post! Last week I also signed an author submission for a journal, so hopefully these posts won’t be the only thing I’ll be publishing in the near future! Updates soon! Tomorrow I am going with Padre to his doctor’s appointment, most likely going to a buffet, and comparing prices at clearance racks at the outlets. BEST. ASIANS. EVER.