2 Weeks Til Christmas

It's Monday and in two weeks I'll be in Texas! Whoopee!

I'm always happy when I go to Texas. Warmer weather, good mexican food, terrific BBQ... my stomach just tingles with delight.

Forward Thinking

You would think that 50 years after my grandfather escaped the North Koreans, 20 years after immigrating to America and living in my uncle's basement, I would be somewhat content to the progress I've made in life.

But I'm not.

I still feel the need to make a positive impact on the world (as naive as that sounds).

Modest Mouse - Broke

One Salad a Day

If there is one area that I indulge myself, it is food. I love it. Fried Chicken Wings, BBQ Ribs, T-Bone Steak, Korean Galbi, you name it, I enjoy it. Nevertheless, I feel I have been a bit too indulgent lately. From today forward, I aim to replace one meal a day with a Salad. Hopefully, the combination of a lower calorie intake and exercise should help me achieve my ideal weight.

Current Weight: 176
Goal Weight: 160

Today's Song: Snow Patrol - Set The Fire to The Third Bar

I got a new Driver

I got a new golf driver today! Ashley bought me a spanking brand new TaylorMade Burner. It's definetly improved my driving. I'm going to my golf league game tomorrow with a different mindset.

Another Year

After a year of contributing 20% of my pre-tax income, my retirement account is finally back to where it was... last year in May.

One More Exam

I got one more Final Exam on Monday and then I'm done for the year. One year down, one more to go!

It's Sunday and I got a lot of crap to do.

Maybe I should get started.

Someone hit me

On my way home from school yesterday, while I was sitting in my car at a stoplight about 6 blocks away from my house, someone hit me from behind. It was just a tap, but the bumper was cracked.

I'm meeting with the insurance adjuster on Saturday.

Mountain Goat. 10 Miles. Done!

Ran the mountain goat today. It was a blast. I didn't do as well as I wanted but now I'm even more excited about the 15K Boilermaker. I think I'm addicted.

Mountain Goat

I signed up for the Mountain Goat. It's a ten miler in Syracuse, NY.

I'm always a bit terrified at the beginning of a race. I am overcome with a desire to quit. That's when I press on anyways. I think life is like that sometimes.

Running Again

After giving my left knee a break from running, I did an easy jog today at the gym and surprisingly it did not hurt one bit. If tomorrow turns out to be nice, it would be good to run the loop around RIT (approximately 3 miles).

Rollerblading with Shorty

Went rollerblading with Shorty today. Discovered that she will not make a good sled dog.

1 Bioinformatics Paper = 4 Hours

I just spent 4 hours today reading a bioinformatics paper on developing a bayesian framework for the analysis of microarry expression data. Need that in english? Say you want to find out the differences between a gene from a cancer cell and a gene from a normal cell. You combine the two genes using a process called hybridization to place the combination onto a device called a microarray. In bioinformatics, these differences are called "expressions". Then you use probabilities (Bayesian) to find out if the diffrences you have found are significant or not. Here's a good picture from wikipedia.

Another Half Marathon Down

Just finished the SunTrust National Half Marathon this past weekend. Legs are still a little bit sore but it feels good.

FitDay.com

Yesterday, one of my co-workers informed me of an online calorie counter: FitDay.com. I've tried counting calories before on a simple notepad but was always frustrated with the length of time it took me to jot down what I ate that day. Fortunately, FitDay.com makes it easy with a simple search feature that allows you to select what food you ate and the quantity (lbs, kg, cups, etc). Although the user interface could use some work, I've inputed what I have eaten for the day and whatever activies I've done and it does the rest of the work for me.

Discover's Spending Analyzer

Recently, I've been playing around with Discover Card's Spending Analyzer. With some nifty animation, I am able to see my spending displayed in a pie chart format for the last 3, 6, 12, or 24 months.

And I've realized that our spending shoots up in November and December. I need to find a way to start saving for those months.

It's Tuesday and I need to work on my Thesis

My thesis proposal is due at the end of spring quarter. I need to get started on it pronto.

Another Quarter Down!

I'm already 2/3rds into the year. One more quarter and I'll be done for the year. I'm hoping to pull off straight A's again this year. Cross my fingers, knock on wood...

I'm still amazed at how fast the academic year is going.

Kings of Leon - Use Somebody

It's my Sister's B-Day

It's my sister's birthday this Thursday and what I wanted to get her is temporarily out of stock. It's a lapdesk for laptops from Logitech. Looks nifty, no?

Taxes

I finally filed my taxes today. I hope it's correct. It took a lot longer than I thought and it was more complicated due to my stipend and scholarships from the university. I'm getting a refund though so all is well.

Yesterday

Last night, while I was relaxing with a beer with my friend Gerardo, someone decided to smash their car against Ashley's Camry. I didn't notice until I was driving home and heard something scraping. I guess shit happens sometimes.

My reactions:
Disbelief
Anger
Acceptance
Sadness

Mentally Exhuasted

This week has been very mentally exhausting.

love is..

hard, soft, wonderful, exciting, angry, hurtful, mean, pretentious, wow, surprising, meaningful, tall, short, nice, sunny, happy, neat, messy, controlling, relieving, romantic, unbelievable, gentle, kind, confusing, enlightening, selfish, bruising, sensitive, empty, depressing, dark, rewarding, changing,

Sometimes...

Life has a funny way of working itself out on its won.

Kicking Caffeine in the Butt

Now that the school quarter has started again, I've made a resolution to reduce my caffeine intake. This will be difficult as caffeine allows me to focus better especially when I am studying late at night.

I'm hungry!

I am hungry like a hippo.

Christmas Break has increased my appetite.

Need to get my head back in gear

School and Work has started again and my brain is in a funk. I need to kickstart it back in gear.

It's 10 Degrees Fahrenheit

No snow but it's freezing cold today. Hello New Year!