Lifehouse!!

Got to see Lifehouse at the fair yesterday, which was an awesome show. Hanging By A Moment and You And Me are officially 2 of my favorite songs of alltime. Afterwards walked around the fair a bit to try some of the unhealthy foods and drinks, and look at all the shops selling stuff we didnt want to buy. Nothing too exciting except for deep fried oreos, which were weird but surprisingly delicious.

Superman Returns was cool, although it doesn't quite rank as high as Batman Begins. Great special effects, good acting, and a nice job of capturing the "greatness" of superman. The only thing was that he was basically always just saving people; not really any fights or actions sequences. Therefore, I hope the sequel takes my professional advice of including giant robots in it (also a great suggestion for fantastic four). But in the end, the new superman guy was pretty good, kevin spacey was funny, and kate bosworth was hot.

Astro Blasters at Disneyland; check out the improvement in score as well as the one-eyed Pop-eye look.

So Disneyland was lots of fun, especially the Buzz Lightyear ride where I got to put my time crisis skills to some productive use. My alltime favorite ride is still indiana jones, but space mountain was pretty cool too. Pirates unfortunately was closed down as they were doing their movie tie in remodelling, but we saw the big huge screen where they were going to premiere Dead Man's Chest the next day. Can't wait to see that.

Spent the next day or two driving around LA, which consisted of mall shopping and eating some crab and lobster at this dock food stand village place.

Nacho Libre was pretty funny. "Get that corn outta my face!"

Hey, we finally graduated. Woooo! Got a nice seat in the 3rd row sitting next to our good old buddy Vic, whose name was pronounced Vik-Tor. The ceremony itself was impressivley quick despite having 1200 names to get through. Highlights include a huge Shamu balloon toy being tossed around and hitting people in the back of the head, tortillas being thrown around, someone shooting a confettie cannon, and the name reader who sounded like a game show host. Then of course the chaos of running around RIMAC field trying to find everyone and getting pictures with them. Overall got a couple of good pics, (more on facebook) so now that college is over we can lay back, reminisce about the times, and look forward to the future ... namely watching Nacho Libre and going to Disneyland!!!

Congratulations UCSD class of 2006! It's been fun.

Last sunday was the birthday of our old but still handsome friend victor. Celebrations involved a lunch at rock bottom followed by some gamecube at Amy's apartment along with some funkily mixed drinks. Good fun, but unfortunately the horrors of finals had to haunt me one more time, forcing me to leave early so as to give my last TA review session, not to mention proctoring one last final for 3 hours.

But now that all that stuff is done and over with, we now have time for more important things. Such as getting boba with mario. And also playing some ultimate frisbee at the beach with mario + friends. Great stuff, including my 1 touchdown catch, and my amazing across the field pass to the surprisingly frisbee-pro eupheme. This was followed with some infinite fries at red robins and also some *gasp* karaoke!! Wooooo!!!

Also hung out with some of the extended folks, which included dinner at the barona buffet (again) followed by a little late night conan o'brien and walker texas ranger. And a visit by some of the san francisco peeps including the kids who amazingly still have as much energy now as they did 2 months ago.

Saw Cars, which was good. But, not quite as good as Monsters, Inc., still the best pixar movie ever.

Graduation tomorrow. UCSD is down and out for the count. (check your yearbooks to see if i said the same thing about MCHS 4 years ago. haha)

An Ode to Graduation 2006

So here we are now four years after,
At the end of another chapter.
The days were long and there were many,
But they were worth each dime and penny.
So what better way to recall the times
Than a poem filled with Michael’s rhymes.

After high school we watched fade
So many friendships that we had made.
But freshman year was fun and new
Still hanging out with Victor Chiu.
Lots of time spent with Steve Chang
Plus all those mornings drinking Tang.
And more new friends I got to know.
Kevin, Jan, and Mario.
And I can’t forget Chem 6BL
AKA the depths of hell.

Of memories 2^nd year is rich
You know O chem is still a *!@$!
Physics B with the pals was fun
We never got any learning done.
And Revelle semi was good to me
Getting to meet peeps from CEC.
Then there’s my first laboratory.
I'll save those times for another story.

3^rd year was tough with lots of classes,
The MCAT was a pain in all our asses.
Hospital volunteering was another gig
Wearing a uniform a bit too big.
And hanging out with Preuss kids too
Their math problems I still can’t do.

TA’ing in senior year where I found out,
Metabolic students love a handout.
In micribio lab we were surly
Slacking off and leaving early
The class was tough but a waste was not
Since the girl behind me was real hot.
And working in the lab of Kiger
Eating pho and getting brighter
Gels and digests and watching flies.
Was worth the view of ocean and skies.

4 years are done, it seemed so fast
But now its time to leave at last.
I look back to see what it was I learned
The mistakes I made, and the things I earned.
As I put things to rest and face the next sight
With all things considered I think I did all right.
So thanks to you who helped me along
Who told me jokes and kept me strong
The time has come to say farewell
What lies ahead you can never tell.

Happy Graduation and goodbye UCSD!!!

Kiger Lab at Forever Fondue

So microbio lab was something of a drag for most of the quarter, but it did have its ups, especially our last class. We had a potluck which involved lots of cookies, chips, ice cream, watermelon carvings, and pizza. Anytime you involve free pizza, you get a Mike Stamp of Approval.

Also getting a Mike Stamp of Approval was the Kiger Lab undergrad goodbye dinner. We went down to Forever Fondue in downtown La Jolla. The whole meal took close to 3 hours for appetizer, entree, and dessert, and actually required a little work. They basically cook a pot of cheese, broth, or chocolate right on your table, and its up to you to cook your various food items in the boiling stew. Needless to say this resulted in comedic consequences involving the loss of various carrots and mushrooms to the bottom of the pot. But, overall things were good, especially the chocolate, and despite taking 3 hours for dinner it was a great sendoff to what has been yet another fun and educational lab experience.

Add on to that the last installment of the Mike and Mario end of the week Lunch at Sam Woooooo, and this has been a week filled with too much food.

The Sentinel was decent, especially since Eva Longoria was in it, but it was weird seeing Jack Bauer running around without swearing or killing people.

Expect a sappy "Ode to College" in the next few days ...

"It's like your standing in the endzone with nobody around you, and they throw you the ball but you drop it!" -Prof. Berman commenting on my literary essay.

"The infield looked like the Everglades. I didn't want to hit a grounder for fear that I'd ruin the habitat of some endangered species." -Mike Piazza describing the rain-drenched field conditions.

"Is that for you?" -guy at Target as I purchase The Lizzie McGuire Movie.