4th of July Birthweekend (continued)

Saturday we went to the Taste of Chicago. I had discovered after a couple of Tastes of Ann Arbor and Detroit, that Tastes were a waste of money. They make you think that you've got "pretend money" and that everything is cheap, but really, it's an expensive event and everything is fried. Everything. But it is fun to look at all the foods, and to be out in the sun with your friends. I have to admit, though, that my treats were pretty tasty. The funny part was that Nadder and I (we discovered this weekend that we always end up together no matter what) ended up sharing 2 sets of tickets and carefully planned out the remainder of our meal. Only we were 1 ticket short of getting a fancy cheesecake. We left the cheesecake stand with our plain cheesecake and met up with our friends, who had 1 ticket left. So Nadder went back with 1 ticket in hand to ask for a ladle-full of strawberries... aw... "Excuse me sir, I'm a poor lost little boy, please help me... can I have some strawberries please? I have 1 ticket."

This is also when the famed turkey leg made its appearance. Amateurs... couldn't even finish a turkey leg.

Later we had drinks at the house and went to Empire Liquors where... well, we'll leave it at that. :)

4th of July Birthweekend

What an amazing weekend. It reminds me of why I loved grad school so much.

Since a bunch of my grad friends were turning 30 this month (and in a few months from now), we decided to get together in the good ol' city of Chicago... where nobody lives. :) Well, maybe mj claims to live there, or at least holds an address there, but she's been in Egypt and the Middle East for most of the year. In any case, it was a good midway point for most of us. We flew in from New York, Seattle, Boston, Alberta, and Dubai, and drove in from Ann Arbor and Cincinnati. Phew! It was convergence for the weekend!

We all got in on Thursday and hung out at the house that we rented in Lincoln Park for the weekend. We had drinks at the house and played a nice wholesome game of Asshole. Guess who was caught cheating and was anointed Asshole but then objected because she didn't actually mean to cheat? Yes, that's the queen Asshole, mj. I was Vice Queen Asshole.

Friday was 4th of July, and as you might imagine, it's hell trying to get anywhere with 10 people (who are perhaps hungover, tired, and lazy). So we made it out of the house at 4 pm and went down to the lake to hang out for awhile. As we walked over to the lake, I finally nabbed that Chicago-style hot dog that I had been craving. We then headed to procure some foods for the imminent BBQ that we were hosting... well, maybe only 1 car made it to the grocery store. The others decided to leave the work up to us and stop in at a bar for "just one beer.:" Huh, thanks guys.

We had drinks at the house and prepared for the bbq. The party got going, and then when it got dark enough, we went up to the rooftop deck to view the fireworks, which were an amazing 360 degree spectacle. It was like a solid line of fireworks from one end to the other. When we got tired of the fireworks, we went back downstairs for some more drinks, hour-long beer pong games on a tremendously long kitchen counter, and of course, some dancing with Santa.

Michol-Jesse-Sheila-Santa-Sheela-Jessi-Michael Sandwich!

Ah Santa... one of the many random things found at the house in addition to Jesus cat nip and aviator sunglasses, which got some good use as props for dancing. This was the first moment when rock star Sheila emerged. There were a good 15 people hanging out with 2-3 girls trying to get some dancing going, but Sheila took the bull by its horns. With crooked aviator sunglasses on and a Santa statue to dance with, Sheila began her 5-hour long solitary dance party. Okay, so maybe around Hour 3, people began to join in. But Sheila was the real superstar of the evening.

The very next morning, or rather a mere 3 hours after we went to bed, crazy parents (who also went to bed late) took their adorable daughter to the zoo. By the time we got up, they were back from the zoo and on their second meal of the day. This was the day that I decided I needed some healthy food as I had eaten 2 hamburgers, 1 bratwurst, and 1 salad, and 2 slices of cake the night before.

(to be continued...)

Weekend in California

One of the perks of my job (the other is getting free breakfast... and that's it for perks) is that I get to travel to San Francisco a lot. I guess this isn't a perk per se, but it certainly is one for me! I get the chance to surf with my friends and spend time with my family. And this is exactly what I did the past weekend. The weather and waves made it a PERFECT day for surfing! For the Hook in Santa Cruz, it was pretty big which brought out all the surfers and made it a competitive day. Nonetheless, I was totally stoked as they say. :)

Later that night, the sis and I went to the Greek Theater in Berkeley to relive some old times and go to the Death Cab for Cutie concert. We started out with dinner at the old faves (Thai Basil and IB Hoagies) and ordered the same dishes that we used to order, and then walked through campus to the Greek Theater. I love open-air theaters and summer concerts!

Museum Mile

Last week, every museum on 5th Ave. was free! I went to the Met first.The Superhero exhibit is going on right now. The REAL Batman, Spiderman, X-men, and Wonderwoman suits worn in the movies are on display! They are incredibly intricate and amazing!

After the Met, I wanted to go to the Guggenheim and the Institute of fine arts, but discovered very very long lines and decided I was too hungry to wait in them. I did get to see a lot people drawing with chalk on the sidewalk (as encouraged by the event), and it was great to see adults getting into it!

I gradumatated!

Me and Tim

Racism sucks

There's an ad in the subway trains that reads:

Trolman, Glaser, & Lichtman

No se conforme con menos!

1-888-MARGARITA

Note: There is no version of this in English. If there were it would say,
Hey, Mexicans, remember your favorite drink and give us a call!

Only in New York City

(-)
I was running in Central Park last week with some friends, when we passed by this guy walking in his work clothes, aviator sunglasses, and an arm cast... with a Louis Vuitton pattern on it!

(+)
Today I was walking home from the subway on Broadway, when a flatbed truck passed by me. It was carrying a taxi, lights, a film crew, and a rain-making machine. Cool, huh? They were filming in motion right in my neighborhood! I wonder who was in the taxi!!!! I wish I could have gotten a look! It was probably one of my celebrity best friends.

I GOT PAID!!!!!

My first paycheck. This makes me feel happy!!! :D

Happy like this:

Who needs power tools?

I've been in my new apartment on the upper west side for 3.5 weeks. I JUST put up my curtains 2 days ago. When I didn't have my furniture yet, I would move around my makeshift bed back and forth in the morning to avoid the strong morning sun (which is actually a good problem to have in NYC!). After I got my furniture, I fashioned a temporary curtain with a bedspread by jamming the corners of the bedspread in the window cracks.

So I was determined to put up my new curtains, which were painstaking in themselves to purchase. First of all, the window is long and no standard rod will cover it. Also, it takes 3 curtain panels to cover. But the real problem was the rod, which I had to construct from 2 separate decorative rods. Keep in mind that I don't have any power tools or a screwdriver. All I have are a hammer and a pair of small pliers. And these are the tools that I used to install my rod and curtains. I devised a plan.

1. hammer in a nail to introduce a hole
2. screw in a medium length wood screw (w/ pointy end) to widen the hole
3. screw in actual bracket

Phew! This took me about an hour and a half to do. Oh but how satisfying. :) I put them up all by myself!!

Update (little by little)

Nadder and others of the Michigan group came to San Francisco for the Orthopedic Research Society conference at the end of February/beginning of March. Apparently, after the engineers leave (research is the first 3 days), 30,000 docs come into town to receive their CME credits. I hear that some docs get to the conference, punch in, and then go sightseeing. Reassuring, huh? You think that your specialists are keeping up with the times, but not necessarily! I guess, if I were them, I might actually attend only half the time. After all, what really happens in a year? Not much!

Anyway, after the conference was over, Nadder and I got to hang out in my neck of the woods, finally!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

And then we went on this lawyer retreat with my lawyer sibling and her lawyer friend. We also attended a crazy lawyer dinner where we ordered a ridiculous amount of alcohol because we could... and to compete with the other lawyer tables.
We also went for a hike/snowshoe in the Sequoia grove. We did some tree hugging we sure did. Jeanne heart trees.

Update (little by little)

Here is another photo from the Late Show. Me and the sis in the "green" room! Obviously, it's light blue. It's also known as the snack room, i.e. where all all the employees (including Paul , the orchestra, etc.) go to get drinks and cookies.

As you know from the youtube clip, I got a new job! I actually did the Late Show (see how I say "did the Late Show"? I can also say things like "The Late Show booked me") right after I accepted, and took advantage of the free ticket that The Late Show got me to look for apartments. This is my first surly experience with the "real NY."

The owner of the apartment building is a big pain in the neck. First of all, they are so over-the-top meticulous (you must make at least 40x your rent, your guarantor must make 80x your rent), and I spent over $100 just APPLYING for the apartment. They also don't care that you make enough now to pay for rent, you have to have made that much in the past to not need a guarantor. What is the difference really? And they really don't care how much you have in the bank, they want you to have made 40x rent last year and this upcoming year. THEN, you can only move in on a weekday, 9 am-12 pm, or 1-5 pm. Come ON! Also, when I got into my apt, the refrigerator wasn't working, and it took them 1 week to get me a new one. So THEY aren't held to the same standards as their tenants are? One more thing: 70% of the floor must be covered with carpet or rug. You must also move in within 15 days after your start date. Seriously.

Anywaaaaay...

At the beginning of March, I also spent a lot of time with my cousin and his family. Here we are skiing at Heavenly. We were also lucky enough to have his family around, 3 generations!, to celebrate my dad's birthday.

Can you believe???

Sundance '08

Where Film Takes Place

... and where a lot of snow play takes place. Or at least that's how we festival.



We saw the movies Kicking It (documentary about the Homeless World Cup) and Incendiary (Michelle Williams and Ewan McGregor). I LOVED Kicking It, and you'll get to see it because it got picked up by ESPN! There are some heart-of-gold people in that movie, and it has a sense of humor. It's about a World Cup for the homeless and impoverished. Through soccer, they gain self-confidence and a sense of solidarity with their fellow human beings. Many have gotten their lives on track ("kicking the habit") because of it. We also met one of the coaches before the movie! He seemed somewhat surly at first probably because we beat him by narrow margins to the waitlist line, but he warmed to us later.

Incendiary the movie was okay, but the acting was amazing. Unfortunately, uncharacteristic of how things usually go the large Eccles Theater, none of the actors were there! Ewan McGregor did however send a video clip of himself talking about the movie.

Here are some more celeb pics. :)

Quentin Tarantino

Scott Wolf

Dennis Quaid

Bill Rancic

Snow Bunny Returns

The frequency of my skiing was greatly reduced when I decided to live in the great non-mountains of Michigan. I went twice to the Boyne Mountain area, and it was all right. I've also been to the holes and mini-hills like Alpine Valley, not to be confused with Alpine Meadows, Lake Tahoe. Anyhow, it became sort of a once-a-year ski event, and I even stopped bringing my skis to MI. But now being back on the west coast, I've already made multiple day trips to Lake Tahoe and visited the great resorts of Utah. Utah! (That's what it looks like on the license plate.) See if you can tell where's where.

A

B

C

D

Answers:
A. Sugar Bowl, Lake Tahoe, CA
B. Alpine Meadows, Lake Tahoe, CA
C. Deer Valley, Park City, UT
D. Snowbird, Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT

Note the new goggles in D. 50% off! Also, B occurred right after the big wave surf contest Mavericks. D is substantially more snowy than A-C, and can be declared thus far, the best day of skiing of my life.

Arm-shots show even less when your head is enlarged by a helmet. :P

New Year's 2008 in Costa Rica

This year was like all the others.

We surfed all day, inevitably became exhausted, took a nice long nap, and then got up in time to celebrate New Year's... for about an hour. We just made it in time to get to a club 15 minutes before midnight, and then left soon after the clock tolled twelve. Whaddyagonnadooo? In past years, it's been skiing all day, and then managing to stay awake just barely past twelve. Party animals, I know.

So on this day, New Year's Eve, it happened that I was surfing with a crocodile in the waters at Jaco beach. I was happily surfing along, when I noticed that some of my fellow surfers had gone ashore, and that there was a small crowd forming at the water's edge. I went to shore, only to have someone ask me if I had seen the crocodile. What??? Thanks, guys, for letting me know that there was a croc in the water. Thanks for not waving me to shore. Jeeeeeez.

After enjoying the warm waters of the Costa Rican Pacific beaches, Pete and I went to the volcano and rainforest. And oh my, does it RAIN in this rainforest! It basically rained the entire time, but it just ranged from drizzle to torrential rains. Loud scary torrential rains. However, the rainforest made for an amazing landscape for zip lines! On some of these lines, we went straight through clouds, and all you could see around you was white. Simply amazing.



We also went to the hot springs. This was my first time at a hot spring, and it was so much fun!! I was told that not all hot springs are like the ones in Costa Rica. In Costa Rica (La Fortuna), they have water slides!

PURA VIDA!!

Birthday revisited

Was sifting through pictures and found this one of my birthday. Aren't these friends the best?



I miss our volleyball games and all the smack-talking and bickering. :)

California girl

I've moved back!

Actually, I really have no (semi-)permanent home for the moment. About a third of my stuff is still in NYC (car included), about a third is in Ann Arbor (fabulous bed included), and the rest is with me in CA. I am literally all over the country.

At the moment, I'm enjoying being fed by my parents again and am going through all of my middle school to college clothing to make some room for an updated and perhaps more chic wardrobe? (one tends to hope) Quite a few items are going to the Salvation Army. Some memorable items such as a white sweatshirt that I puffy-painted a bumblebee on (probably grade school - middle school level) are staying in my closet. I can't bear to part with that gem. My lovely senior prom dress, which I contend is STILL lovely, is also staying, along with the matching wrap that I will probably never wear again. But the memories!! I also tossed a table centerpiece that I had nabbed from prom. Wow, I had that for 10 years! About time I let that go. I am also contemplating taking down the pictures of hot celebs that I put up on my wall during high school and my 1994 poster of the USA Olympic Women's basketball team with autographs (who am I kidding, that's staying up).

It's odd to think that I've been away for 5+ years. It doesn't sound that long, and before I came back, it certainly didn't seem that long! But now I realize that I'm going to be experiencing a very sunny December for the first time in 5 years. The beautiful weather is weirding me out a bit. It has snowed in both MI and NY, and I have to admit that I really love the first snow and wish I were there to experience it. But oh boy will I love not having to lug around a huge coat with me wherever I go!

Deeeeeeetroit!

Ooooh, Detroit slipped! No matter how data was misused, Detroit is still ranked one of the most dangerous cities. #2 isn't much better than #1.

Experts say 'most dangerous city' rankings twist numbers

Group ranked U.S. cities based on FBI crime statistics. Their analysis says Detroit is most dangerous, followed by St. Louis. Experts, including FBI, say the report misuses statistics, gets misleading results. Critics say report works against understanding of crime, hurts low-ranked cities.

Ranked Most Dangerous
1. Detroit, Michigan
2. St. Louis, Missouri
3. Flint, Michigan
4. Oakland, California
5. Camden, New Jersey
6. Birmingham, Alabama
7. North Charleston, South Carolina
8. Memphis, Tennessee
9. Richmond, California
10. Cleveland, Ohio

Ranked Safest
1. Mission Viejo, California
2. Clarkstown, New York
3. Brick Township, New Jersey
4. Amherst, New York
5. Sugar Land, Texas
6. Colonie, New York
7. Thousand Oaks, California
8. Newton, Massachusetts
9. Toms River Township, N.J.
10. Lake Forest, California

DETROIT, Michigan (AP) -- In another blow to the Motor City's tarnished image, Detroit pushed past St. Louis to become the nation's most dangerous city, according to a private research group's controversial analysis, released Sunday, of annual FBI crime statistics.

The study drew harsh criticism even before it came out. The American Society of Criminology launched a pre-emptive strike Friday, issuing a statement attacking it as "an irresponsible misuse" of crime data.

The 14th annual "City Crime Rankings: Crime in Metropolitan America" was published by CQ Press, a unit of Congressional Quarterly Inc. It is based on the FBI's September 24 crime statistics report.

The report looked at 378 cities with at least 75,000 people and their per-capita rates for homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary and auto theft. Each crime category was considered separately and weighted based on its seriousness, CQ Press said.

Last year's crime leader, St. Louis, Missouri, fell to No. 2. Another Michigan city, Flint, ranked third, followed by Oakland, California; Camden, New Jersey; Birmingham, Alabama; North Charleston, South Carolina; Memphis, Tennessee; Richmond, California; and Cleveland, Ohio.

The study ranked Mission Viejo, California, as the safest U.S. city, followed by Clarkstown, New York; Brick Township, New Jersey; Amherst, New York; and Sugar Land, Texas.

CQ Press spokesman Ben Krasney said details of the weighting system were proprietary. It was compiled by Kathleen O'Leary Morgan and Scott Morgan, whose Morgan Quitno Press published it until its acquisition by CQ Press.

The study assigns a crime score to each city, with zero representing the national average. Detroit got a score of 407, with St. Louis close behind at 406. The score for Mission Viejo, in affluent Orange County, was minus 82.

Detroit was pegged the nation's murder capital in the 1980s and has lost nearly 1 million people since 1950, according to the Census Bureau. Downtown sports stadiums and corporate headquarters -- along with the redevelopment of the riverfront of this city of 919,000 -- have slowed but not reversed the decline. Officials have said crime reports don't help.

Detroit police officials released a statement Sunday night disputing the report, saying it fails to put crime information into proper context.

"Every year this organization sends out a press release with big, bold lettering that labels a certain city as Most Dangerous, USA," Police Chief Ella Bully-Cummings said in the release.

"It really makes you wonder if the organization is truly concerned with evaluating crime or increasing their profit," said Bully-Cummings, who noted the complete report is available only by purchase. "With crime experts across the country routinely denouncing the findings, I believe the answer is clear."

The mayor of 30th-ranked Rochester, New York -- an ex-police chief himself -- said the study's authors should consider the harm that the report causes.

"What I take exception to is the use of these statistics and the damage they inflict on a number of these cities," said Mayor Robert Duffy, chairman of the Criminal and Social Justice Committee for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

The rankings "do groundless harm to many communities," said Michael Tonry, president of the American Society of Criminology.

"They also work against a key goal of our society, which is a better understanding of crime-related issues by both scientists and the public," Tonry said.

Critics also complain that numbers don't tell the whole story because of differences among cities.

"You're not comparing apples and oranges; you're comparing watermelons and grapes," said Rob Casey, who heads the FBI section that puts out the Uniform Crime Report that provides the data for the Quitno report.

The FBI posted a statement on its Web site criticizing such use of its statistics.

"These rough rankings provide no insight into the numerous variables that mold crime in a particular town, city, county, state, or region," the FBI said. "Consequently, they lead to simplistic and/or incomplete analyses that often create misleading perceptions adversely affecting communities and their residents."

Doug Goldenberg-Hart, acquisitions editor at CQ Press, said that the rankings are imperfect, but that the numbers are straightforward. Cities at the top of the list would not be there unless they ranked poorly in all six crime categories, he said.

"The idea that people oppose it, it's kind of blaming the messenger," Goldenberg-Hart said. "It's not coming to terms with the idea that crime is a persistent problem in our society."

The report "helps concerned Americans learn how their communities fare in the fight against crime," CQ Press said in a statement. "The first step in making our cities and states safer is to understand the true magnitude of their crime problems. This will only be achieved through straightforward data that all of us can use and understand."

The study excluded Chicago, Minneapolis, and other Illinois and Minnesota cities because of incomplete data.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Yum Yum Yum Pinkberry

Only in the L.A. area and New York. Sooo good...
Thanks, Weilyn, for introducing me to joy in frozen form!

Lucky Charm

On Halloween, Tim (the lucky charm from Ann Arbor) won lottery tickets to Wicked! This was attempt #4 for me, and while I'm not the one who won, I still got to see it! This was a fun musical as we are all familiar with the story of the Wizard of Oz. However, this story is told from the witches' perspective, beginning before Dorothy's arrival to Oz and ending after the meeeellllting of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Hooray for $26.25 second row lottery tickets!



And thanks to the IEEE UFFC for holding this year's conference in New York City, so that I could see all my former labmates!!