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| I got lost finding the registrar's building this morning. I remember getting lost finding the same building 6 years ago when I had to fill out paperwork for my student ID so that I could start grad school. To start and end my graduate career in the same building was completing a mental full circle trip.
This time, I was directed to the student records department where a woman, who looked as old as the archives behind her, sat. Excited, I told her that I'm here to turn in my thesis and "exit" paperwork. She responded in a passionless voice "That's great." I gave her my bound thesis and held my breath while she flipped through the pages to check on the pagination and quality of paper. Then she briefly flipped through my unbound copy (for microfilche scanning). Finally, she scanned through my "exit" paperwork and with the same passionless voice, she said "You're all set...good-bye."
"Good-bye." That was it. There were no cheerleaders jumping out from behind the dusty archives. No party confetti dropping from the ceilings. No champagne bottles uncorking (then again...it was only 9:05 AM). No handshakes. No "well done." After 6 long years, I didn't even get a simple hug. It felt like a bad break-up with no closure. It kind of made me sad. It's been a long but meaningful 6 years.
Later in the evening, I celebrated/mourned by opening a bottle of scotch, which I saved for this special occassion. | | |
| Now that thesis is done and bound (YAY!), I have time and energy to pursue new goals!
I) EATING RIGHT
I've been grabbing most of my meals on-the-go for the past 5 months, which meant my fridge has been pretty empty since Christmas. Pecs came to the rescue and drove me to THREE supermarkets this weekend so that I can refill my freezer, fridge, and cabinets with food. While shopping, Pecs was particularly stringent as to what can go into my cart. Grape soda was strictly forbidden. Wonder Bread was also not allowed, which is why I now have a loaf of wheat bread instead. Organic gummy bears made it into my cart okay.
For breakfast, I made a 2-egg omelet with orange bell peppers, parsley, proscuitto, and romano cheese. Pecs made French toast with cinnamon. We also made pancakes, and had those with super sweet organic strawberries. For dinner, I put a filet mignon on a grill, and cooked some scallops on a pan. I miss cooking..
II) BACK TO THE GYM
Things I want to do: biking, running, TaeKwanDo classes, and weight-lifting.
III) SERIOUS APARTMENT CLEANING
I've lived in my studio for 3 years, and it's time to sort and get rid of stuff. I started on the kitchen this afternoon. I cleaned out all the cabinets. There was stuff that I hadn't touched in 3 years (sauces, tea leaves, a dusty cereal box, a lump of brown sugar). I also came across an apron I bought while on a trip to England. It is green and has farm animals on it. I have no idea what possessed me to buy such a tacky thing. I wiped down all the spice containers, and I also scrubbed my kitchen appliances so that they look like new. I even wiped down the trash can. I threw out a lot of junk and made room for a toaster oven that I would like to get one day. Tomorrow...after work...I'm going to tackle the pantry area.
IV) READ BOOKS
Working on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...
V) NETFLIX MOVIES
Finally watched "Inconvenient Truth."
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| Last week, I flew into San Diego for a conference in La Jolla, California. The conference was held at a golf/spa resort, and nothing was accessible by foot. I arrived late Sunday night and went to the resort's only restaurant for dinner. I dined on a most tender steak and paired it with red wine. I also soon discovered that it was no fun eating at a fancy restaurant alone.
On Monday, conference attendees were served a salad for lunch. The salad, which included avocado, blue cheese, ham, bell peppers, alfalfa sprouts, was tasty, but unfulfilling. I was ravenous by dinner time. I took the resort's complimentary vehicle (which turned out to be private car service) to downtown La Jolla and had dinner at the Roppongi Restaurant. I had the most amazing seared ahi. It came with crab napolean and some wasabi-mustard sauce. Every bite melted in my mouth. The green tea martinis were not bad, either, and I had two of them.
For dinner on Tuesday, I took the complimentary vehicle and went to Del Mar for dinner. I was still craving West Coast sushi and found a sushi bar. I sat in front of the sushi chef, and he kept serving me HUGE nigiri pieces. Every piece tasted so fresh. I'm not a big fan of sake, but I enjoyed immensely the Otokoyama - served in a shot glass which was placed in a wooden box, and both the glass and box are filled with the sake.
I love West Coast sushi... | | |
| Berkeley Trip
Had quite an adventure while at Berkeley for a hapkido event. I flew into SF on Friday night and had plans to stay with a college friend, who lives up on a hill. This "hill" is a bit like a mountain with few residential houses. It was almost midnight PST by the time the cab dropped me off somewhere on this hill. He drove away before I realized that he had dropped me off in front of some mailboxes...in the middle of nowhere. I was left in ptich darkness since there were no such things as street lamps. Imagine night hiking w/ luggage and laptop. Not fun at all... I couldn't even describe my whereabouts when I called my friend, except to tell her that I was surrounded by trees. I was envisioning some wild animal grabbing me when I saw a bright light. It was an elderly man on a bike, and he gave me directions. He also asked if I had a flashlight, and he even offered to bike to his home and bring me one. The thought of standing in the dark, waiting for him, was too much, since I just wanted to get to my friend's house ASAP. I ran up the hill (w/ luggage) and had my friend on the phone the entire time in case I did get grabbed by an animal. Later, she told me that the only wild animals around were raccoons. Still...
Thesis is Done!
It didn't take too long to incorporate corrections that my exam committee had suggested. In the meantime, I was looking into places to get my thesis bound. Apparently, Kinkos is not Harvard-approved. One of the places that does meet all the specific paper and binding requirements is located in downtown Waltham, near my alma mater. To get there, I had to take 2 busses and then walk 15-20 minutes. I had forgotten how sketchy things were outside the campus. After visiting the bindery, I stopped by my favorite ice cream shoppe. I have fond memories of running one mile from campus to this shoppe and then calling the shuttle to pick me up (since I can't run and hold a waffle cone full of armagnac plum at the same time). Sadly, the shoppe wasn't open. After all, it was 9 AM by the time I got there. I'll have to wait until I go back next week to pick up my bound thesis copies.
Guilt-Free Leisure
On Saturday, the day after I turned in my thesis for binding and after waking up on the wrong side of the bed, I told Pecs that it's weird not having to spend the weekend thinking that I should be in the lab or that I should be working on thesis. So, I experienced my first day of 100% guilt-free leisure in 6 years. We had a nice long brunch, went to watch Spiderman 3 on IMAX, and then went to an outdoor shooting range. We bought snacks (I was craving fried chicken wings) to bring to the range. Pecs taught me how to shoot using a .22 WWI rifle. This historical weapon now has greasy fingerprints. NRA tournament - here I come!
I also met Mama and Papa Pecs...and also Big Brother Pecs. | | |
| I suspected something was up when Pecs insisted very early in the week that I take the train to meet him after work on Friday afternoon. During the week, I tried to pry it out of him, but he didn't say anything. Dr. Whoop-Ass (my new nickname) does not like surprises...
So, I rushed to get stuff done at work and made it to the train station with enough time to get a lychee bubble tea, which is a flavored drink containing black gummy balls (bobas) made of tapioca, for the commute. It comes with a thick straw so that one can slurp up the bobas. On the train, I sipped and slurped noisily. Pecs met me at the train station and told me that the the bobas looked like murine poop pellets. A nice start to a romantic evening...
Pecs drove us to the mall, and he led me to a spa where he surprised me with an appointment for a facial! I've never had one and was really excited, and I was immensely touched by Pecs' thoughtfulness. I went into a darkened room, and there was soothing music playing in the background. Zit Extractor introduced herself and proceeded to tell me what she was going to do: two cleanings, an exam, followed by an extraction (it was starting to sound like a dentist appointment), an exfoliation, an upper body and arm massage, and ending with a cooling mask. Sounded serious...
I laid down on the table, and she wrapped me in a blanket like a burrito. It was nice and warm, but I was too curious (and worried about the "extraction") to fall asleep. The two cleanings went by very quickly. Then came the exam. She placed two wet cotton pads over my eyes, and then she looked at my face under a magnifying glass and a bright lamp. I heard a few "hmmm's", and then we had a discussion about the zit on my chin. This stress zit appeared the day before my defense, and it had grown to the size of Mt Kilimanjaro that I had to e-mail a friend for advice. She had recommended icing it to bring down the swelling. It was that big. It has significantly shrunk since the defense, but it was still there. It was even too much for the Zit Extractor, so the general consensus was to let nature take its course.
During the extraction, she unclogged a few pores on my nose. At one point, she was applying so much pressure on my nose that I thought she was going to break it. I stopped breathing, and Zit Extractor, panting from her efforts, told me to breathe through my mouth. After the extraction, she applied some jellylike substance and said that it was deep-pore cleanser that is steam-activated. Sounded kind of bogus, and I almost laughed when she had a humidifier placed over my face, but it felt quite nice. The exfoliation went by quickly, and the massage was nice. The facial ended with a cooling mask. My face was absolutely gleaming and radiating when I went to find Pecs in the lobby. He looked relieved, and he admitted later that he was worried that I'd appear with a blotchy face.
Now I want to go for a full body wrap! | | |
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